THE 
 
 ;.4-7- 
 
 GREAT REBELLION; 
 
 A HISTORY OF THE 
 
 Ciyil War in the United States. 
 
 BY J. T. HEADLEY, 
 
 AUTHOR OF "NAPOLEON AND HIS MARSHALS," "WASHINGTON AND HIS GENERALS," 
 "SACRED MOUNTAINS," ETC., ETC. 
 
 WITH NUMEROUS FINE STEEL ENGRAVINGS. 
 
 AMERICAN PUBLISHING COMPANY, 
 
 BRANCH OFFICE, COLUMBUS, OHIO. 
 
 R. C. TEEAT, CHICAGO, ILL. 
 
 SOLD BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY. 
 1866. 
 

 ENTERED ACCORDING TO ACT OF CONGRESS, IN THE YEAR 1866, BY 
 
 AMERICAN PUBLISHING COMPANY, 
 IN THE CLERK S OFFICE OF THE DISTRICT COURT OF CONNECTICUT. 
 

 PREFACE. 
 
 THE earth has been cursed with civil wars from the earli 
 est times in which we have records of the race Though 
 characterized by more or less ferocity, and assuming various 
 shapes, they all may be divided into two general classes. 
 Those that occur under a despotic form of government, 
 spring from oppression which the people, no longer able to 
 bear, venture all the terrible hazard of a revolution to throw 
 off. Those that take place under a democratic form of 
 government, are brought about by a few ambitious men, 
 who seek by faction to obtain power. Those of the former 
 class possess dignity and grandeur, from the fact that 
 they are based on the great doctrine of human rights. Man 
 asserting his inherent, God-given rights on the battle field 
 against overwhelming odds, is a sublime spectacle. 
 
 The latter are based on falsehoods, and kept alive by de 
 ception. Such were the civil wars of the early republics. 
 
 In the time of Cromwell, both religious and civil liberty 
 were the grand prizes of the struggle ; and whether we look 
 at Hampden, calmly suffering for the sake of liberty, or at 
 Cromwell s Ironsides, sweeping like a thunder cloud to battle, 
 Tith the fearful war cry " RELIGION" on their lips, our deep- 
 
10 THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 est sympathies and admiration are excited, and we forget the 
 horrors of the carnage in the mighty stake at issue. So in 
 the bloody revolution of France; though the views of the 
 masses were vague, and their speech often incoherent, yet 
 when we behold inscribed on their banner the great charter 
 of human rights, and the head of a king thrown down as the 
 gage of battle, we no longer see the crimson field with its 
 " garments rolled in blood," we see only the divine image of 
 human liberty hovering over t. 
 
 Ours is of a mixed character, and hence in some respects 
 unlike all others that have preceded it ; but like all civil wars 
 in republics, it sprung from a faction who sought only polit 
 ical power. Those make a great mistake who suppose it 
 grew out of a desire merely to perpetuate slavery. Slavery 
 was used as a means to an end a bugbear to frighten the 
 timid into obedience, and a rallying cry for the ignorant, de 
 luded masses. The accursed lust of power lay at the bottom 
 of it. 
 
 The entire north, including the Republican party, had 
 repeatedly declared, in the most emphatic manner, that it 
 had no intention to interfere with slavery in the states where 
 it existed ; for they had no right to do so under the Consti 
 tution. Its perpetuity there was conceded, until the states 
 themselves should get rid of it. Hence, the southern con 
 spirators had no fear on that point, but they knew they 
 could not carry the people with them unless they convinced 
 them that slavery was to be assailed in their very homes, to 
 be followed by a servile insurrection. They desired, of 
 course, to extend slavery, because in that way alone the} 
 
PREFACE. 11 
 
 could extend their power. The perpetuity of slavery was 
 a necessary consequence of all this ; because the power they 
 sought to obtain was founded on it it was the chief corner 
 stone. Here is where the mistake is made in getting at the 
 true cause of the rebellion. 
 
 The whole question may be stated thus : southern politicians 
 saw in the rapid increase of the free states, both in number 
 and population, and the deep hostility to the admission of 
 any more slave states, that the power they had so long 
 wielded in the Government would be broken. 
 
 The only course left them was to set up an independent 
 government. Though they might be weak at first, slave 
 states could be added, as circumstances should determine. 
 To effect their purpose they would seize on the tariff or 
 slavery, or any thing else that would unite the South. Cal- 
 houn tried the former and failed, they, the latter and succeed 
 ed. Thus it will be seen that the perpetuity and extension 
 of slavery is a necessary consequence of the present rebellion, 
 if successful ; not its first cause, -just as free trade would 
 have followed the attempt of Calhoun to take the South out 
 of the Union, had it succeeded. 
 
 The great, moving cause ivas the desire of power slavery 
 the platform on which they worked their diabolical ma 
 chinery. 
 
 This was unquestionably the view taken by our Govern 
 ment, and the cause of its extreme leniency at first, which 
 so many condemned. It sought to disabuse the people of 
 the idea that we meant to attack their peculiar institutions, 
 and hoped they would see that they were being duped and 
 
12 THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 led into ruin by -desperate, unscrupulous, ambitious men. 
 So also did the mass of the northern people view it, and 
 hence rushed to arms, feeling but little animosity, except 
 towards the leaders. The " CONSTITUTION " was their rally 
 ing cry the preservation of the Government the sublime 
 motive that sent them to the field of carnage. 
 
 On the one hand the world saw men crowding to battle, 
 pretending to fight for the very freedom which they were all 
 the time in the full enjoyment of on the other hand more 
 than a million of citizens rising in arms, with no object 
 beyond the desire to see their enemies secure in that very 
 freedom. 
 
 The future historian will stand amazed at this strange spec 
 tacle. No wonder European nations are puzzled as they con 
 template us from beyond the ocean. They can understand 
 the struggle of a brave people to overthrow a government 
 that robs them of liberty, but not one to destroy the very 
 charter of human liberty. 
 
 True, there has become mixed up with the determination 
 of the North to uphold the Constitution, a desire to strike a 
 deadly blow at slavery. Forbidden by this very charter to 
 touch it in the states where it existed, many believe the re 
 bellion has cancelled all obligations growing out of the pro 
 visions it contained, and that in its wasting, bloody track, 
 it will sweep that relic of barbarism from the bosom -of the 
 republic. 
 
 Clouds and darkness wrap the future, and we are safe only 
 as we look up to the Throne that is founded in " Justice and 
 Judgment." 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 VOLUME I. 
 
 1. PORTRAIT OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN, Frontispiece. 
 
 2. BOMBARDMENT OF FORT SUMTER, Vignette title page. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 3. PORTRAIT of Major-General GEORGE B. MCCLELLAN, 29 
 
 4. " " AMBROSE E. BURNSIDE, 29 
 
 5. " " ULYSSES S. GRANT, 29 
 
 6. " " FRANZ SIGEL, 29 
 
 7. " " DAVID HUNTER, 29 
 
 8. " " IRVINE McDowELL, 29 
 
 9. " JOHN E. WOOL, 29 
 
 10. " " BENJAMIN F. BUTLER, 29 
 
 11. " HENRY W. HALLECK, 29 
 
 12. ATTACK ON THE MASSACHUSETTS TROOPS IN BALTIMORE, 71 
 
 13. GENERAL LYON S CHARGE AT THE BATTLE OF WILSON S CREEK, ..129 
 
 14. PORTRAIT OF JEFFERSON DAVIS, President of the so called "Con 
 
 federate States," 147 
 
 15. PORTRAIT of General P. T. G. BEAUREGARD, 147 
 
 16. " " J. E. JOHNSON,. . , 147 
 
 17. " A. S. JOHNSTON, 147 
 
 18. " " R. E. LEE, 147 
 
 19. " " S. B. BUCKNER, . .147 
 
 20. " " BRAXTON BRAGG, , -.147 
 
 21. " Commodore HOLLINS, 147 
 
14 THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 FAGS. 
 
 22. DEATH OF COLONEL BAKER AND BATTLE OF BALL S BLUFF, ( . . . . .173 
 
 23. BOMBARDMENT AND CAPTURE OF FORTS WALKER AND BEAUREGARD 
 
 AT PORT ROYAL HARBOR.. 191 
 
 24. PORTRAIT of Major-General WINFIELD SCOTT, 197 
 
 25. CHARGE OF THE IOWA TROOPS AT FORT DONELSON, 269 
 
 26. LANDING OF TROOPS OF GENERAL BURNSIDE S EXPEDITION AT 
 
 ROANOKE ISLAND, . . 277 
 
 27. BATTLE BETWEEN THE MONITOR AND MERRIMAC FIRST CONFLICT 
 
 BETWEEN IRON-CLAD VESSELS, 297 
 
 28. PORTRAIT of Rear-Admiral A. H. FOOTE, 829 
 
 29. " " S. F. DUPONT, , 329 
 
 30. " " L. M. GOLDSBOROUGH, 329 
 
 31. " " D. G. FARKAGUT,.. , 329 
 
 32. " Commodore DAVID D. PORTER, 329 
 
 33. " " CHARLES H. DAVIS, 329 
 
 34. Lieutenant JOHN L. WORDEN, 329 
 
 35. BATTLE OF PITTSBURG LANDING, 347 
 
 36. GREAT NAVAL BATTLE UNION FLEET PASSING THE FORTS BELOW 
 
 NEW ORLEANS, 369 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 VOLUME I. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PRIOR TO 1861. pAOE 
 
 Causes of the .Rebellion Danger of Sectional Parties History of 
 Slavery in the Government Causes of Hostility between the North 
 and South Missouri Compromise Hostile Legislation of the States 
 Congress The Whig and Democratic Parties Necessity of a New 
 Party in the place of the Whig The Republican Party Southern 
 Conspirators Their Plan Election of Lincoln First Steps to 
 wards Disunion. . , 31 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 DECEMBER, 1860-APR1L, 1861. 
 
 South Carolina takes the Lead Reception South of its Act of Seces 
 sion Anderson in Fort Sumter Distraction of the Government 
 Resignation of Southerners The North Divided Progress of Dis 
 union South Seizure of National Property Star of the West 
 Scenes in Congress Rights of the People Right of Secession 
 Lincoln s Passage to Washington and Inauguration His Cabinet 
 Virginia Southern Commissioners Fort Sumter Preparations for 
 its Bombardment 41 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 APRIL, ISffl. 
 
 First Shot at Fort Sumter Its fearful Significance The Bombard 
 ment Surrender of Exultation of the People of Charleston Re 
 ception of the News North Union of all Parties Proclamation of 
 
16 THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 the President calling for Seventy-five Thousand Troops Response 
 of the North Reply to it by Southern Governors Enthusiasm of 
 the North Delusion of both Sections Davis calls for Southern 
 Volunteers and for Privateers Virginia Secedes Embarrassments 
 of the Government Surrender of Norfolk Surrender of Harper s 
 Ferry and the Burning of the Arsenal 55 
 
 CHAPTER IY. 
 
 APRIL, 1861. 
 
 Enthusiasm of the People and Baseness of Contractors March of the 
 Regiments The Massachusetts Sixth Attacked in Baltimore . 
 Departure of the Seventh New York Enthusiasm South Fears of 
 the People and Mayor of Baltimore Collision prevented by the 
 Troops going by way of Annapolis Their arrival at Washington 
 Defection in the Army and Navy Robert E. Lee Effect of the 
 States Rights Doctrine Great Union Meeting in New York 
 Its Reception South Proclamation of the President Increasing the 
 Standing Army Tennessee joins the South Action of the Govern 
 ment Suspension of the Writ of Habeas Corpus Mistake in not 
 calling Congress together sooner 70 
 
 CHAPTER Y. 
 
 MAY-JUNE, 1861. 
 
 Public Expectation Position of the Forces in Front of Washington 
 Appointment of Generals Occupation of Alexandria Murder of 
 Colonel Ellsworth Effect on the North Fight at Big Bethel- 
 Feeling of the People respecting it Captain Lyon at St. Louis 
 Refuses to obey the Public Commissioners of the City Takes the 
 entire Force of Governor Jackson and General Price, Prisoners 
 His Troops Mobbed Pursues Jackson Fight at Booneville Gen 
 eral Harney His vacillating Course McClellan made Major-Gen 
 eral and sent to Western Virginia His Past Career Harper s 
 Ferry Evacuated Concentration of the Rebels at Manassas Junc 
 tion Fight at Phillippi Kelly Wounded Schenck Surprised neai 
 Vienna The Question of Fugitive Slaves Capture of the First ^ 
 Rebel Privateer Savannah The Privateer Suinter at Sea. 83 
 
CONTENTS OF TOLUME I. 17 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 JUNE, 1861. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 McClellan Takes Command of the Army in Western Virginia Ad 
 vances on the Enemy Battle of Rich Mountain Gallant Action of 
 Rosecranz Of Lander Defeat of Pegram and Capture of his 
 Forces Pursuit of Garnett Action of Carrick s Ford A Terrible 
 March Death of Garnett Defeat of his Forces Cox on the Kan- 
 hawa Action of Barboursville Retreat of Wise Close of the 
 Campaign in Western Virginia Sigel in Missouri Battle of Car 
 thage His Admirable Retreat State of Kentucky Unionism in 
 Eastern Tennessee 92 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 JULY, 1861. 
 
 Meeting of Congress President s Message Chief CommandersTon bpth 
 sides at this time The " On to Richmond " Cry The Question- of 
 Funds Lack of Statesmen in Congress The Radical Element 
 Increasing the Navy An Onward Movement resolved upon 
 Reasons for it Johnston and Patterson McDowell to Command the 
 Army Its Departure for Manassas Splendid Appearance of 
 Artillery Fight at Blackburn s Ford Advance of the Army from 
 Centreville Plan of the Battle Hunter and Heintzelman Battle 
 of Bull Run The Defeat The Rout Danger of the Capital- 
 Effect of the News on the North Causes and Lesson of the Over 
 throw Surrender of Fort Fillmore in New Mexico 105 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 JULY-AUGUST, 1861. 
 
 State of the Army after Bull Run Its Disappearance from the Field 
 A New Army to be Raised Greatness of the Task McClellan Sum 
 moned to the Capital to take Chief Command Banks and Fre 
 mont The Latter sent to St. Louis The Enemy s Outposts in Sight 
 of the Capital Rising of the North Lyon Advances on McCul- 
 loch Kentucky votes to remain in the Union Fremont in St. 
 Louis Battle of Wilson s Creek and Death of Lyon Retreat of 
 the Union Army Public Feeling on the Death of Lyon Diaboli 
 cal Spirit of the Southern Clergy 123 
 
J 
 
 18 THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 AUGUST, 1861. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Action of the General Government Arrests Confiscation Refuses to 
 Exchange Prisoners Retaliation by Davis McClellan Quells a 
 Mutiny in the Seventy-ninth Regiment-^Southern Privateers ^ 
 Wreck of the Jeff. Davis Surprise of Tyler at Summerville Wool 
 sent to Fortress Monroe Foote ordered West to take Charge of Gun 
 Boats Naval Attack on Cape Hatteras Error of the Secretary of 
 the Navy Proclamation of Fremont Effect of President Requires 
 him to Modify it The Rebels Occupy Columbus and Hickman 
 State of Affairs in Western Virginia Battle of Carnifax Ferry and 
 Retreat of Floyd 137 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 SEPTEMBER, 1861. 
 
 Lexington attacked Repulse of Rains Distress of Mulligan Heroism 
 of his Brigade Fall of Lexington Fremont Blamed for it Char 
 ges against him He takes the Field Attitude of Kentucky Its 
 Legislature Order the Rebel Forces to Leave the State McGoffin 
 
 O 
 
 General Lee sent to Western Virginia Fight at Cheat Mountain 
 Pass Defeat of Lee at Elk Water Death of John Washington 
 Position of the Armies on the Potomac Fortifications around 
 Washington Occupation of Munson s Hill Observance of the 
 National Fast 146 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 OCTOBER, 1861. 
 
 Position of the Two Great Armies Expectations and Feelings of the 
 People-^Gallant Naval Exploit at Pensacola Destruction of the 
 Privateer JudahpX>ccupation of Ship Island Western Virginia 
 Fight at Green Brier Creek Attack of the Enemy at Cape Hat 
 teras Surprise of the Wilson Zouaves at Santa Rosa Island 
 Attack of the Blockading Fleet at the Mouth of the Mississippi by 
 the Ram Manassas- Fight at Lebanon, Missouri Fight at Frederick- 
 town Fight at Blue Mills Ferry Battle of Wild Cat Camp, Ken- 
 tucky 158 
 
CONTENTS OF VOLUME I. 19 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 OCTOBER, 1861 
 
 PA as. 
 
 Affairs on the Upper Potomac Fight at Bolivar A Gallant Action 
 Reconnoissance across the River Battle of Ball s Bluff Death of 
 Baker Heroic Devotion Strange Conduct of General Stone Indig 
 nation of the People McClellan Hurries to the Scene of Action 
 Colonel Lander takes the place left vacant by the Death of Baker 
 Is Wounded Affairs in Missouri Gallant Charge of Fremont s Body 
 Guard, , 172 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 NOVEMBER, 1861. 
 
 General Dissatisfaction Public Expectation of an Advance from the Poto- 
 mac Blockade of the Capital Feeling at the West Great Secret 
 Naval Expedition Overtaken by a Storm Joy of the South and 
 Fear of the North Description of the Wreck Arrival at Port Roy 
 al, Hilton Head and Bay Island Preparations to Attack Them 
 Grand Appearance of the Vessels The Attack The Victory Ter 
 ror of the People of Charleston and Savannah Strange Inactivity of 
 the Land Forces Proclamations Timidity and Weakness of the 
 Government Retirement of Scott from Public Life McClellan Takes 
 his Place Public Confidence in him Grand Review of the Army 
 of the Potomac 185 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 NOVEMBER, 1861. 
 
 Expedition from Cairo Battle of Belmont Criticism upon it Nelson s 
 Expedition to Piketon A Long March The Battle Rout of the 
 Enemy Nelson s Order Adjutant-General Thomas sent West to 
 Investigate the Charges against Fremont His Report Its In 
 justice Conduct of the Secretary of War Removal of Fremont 
 Hunter Appointed in his place Superseded by Halleck and sent to 
 Kansas Reconstruction of the Western and South- Western Depart 
 ments Dix Sends an Expedition into Eastern Virginia Capture of 
 Mason and Slidell Exultation of the People Creates a Storm of 
 
20 THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 PA OB. 
 
 Indignation in England War Threatened Their Surrender De 
 manded Is Complied with Wilkes s Course clearly Unjustifiable- 
 Sinking of Stones in Charleston Harbor The Tuscarora and Nash 
 ville in an English Port Conduct of the British Authorities (I 
 McClellan s Stringent Orders to the Army The Negroes and Cot 
 ton of Port Royal 200 
 
 CHAPTER XY. 
 
 DECEMBER, 1861. 
 
 Opening of Congress Aspect of Affairs President s Message The 
 Question of Finance Tax Bill-CArmy and Naval Force of the /> 
 Country Drafting in the South The Iroquois and Sumter Pope 
 and Halleck at the West The Indians take part in the Rebellion 
 A Battle between them Affairs in Missouri Battle of Milford 
 General Curtis Fight at Mount Zion Fight at Rowlett s Station, 
 Kentucky Western Virginia Battle of Camp Alleghany 213 
 
 CHAPTER XYI. 
 
 DECEMBER, 1861. 
 
 Battle of Drainsville The " Stone Fleet " Correspondence concerning 
 it between Lord Lyons and Mr. Seward Dupont s Operations on the 
 Coast of Georgia and South Carolina The Army of the Potomac 
 in Winter Quarters Release of Mr. Ely from Prison in Richmond 
 Dissatisfaction with McClellan s Inaction Division in Congress re 
 specting the Manner of Carrying on the War Danger of these Con 
 flicting Views Firmness and Integrity of the President 224 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 JANUARY, 1862. 
 
 Opening of the New Year around Washington Fight at Pensacola 
 Bombardment of Fort Pickens Fight of Port Royal the same 
 day Expedition by Milroy in Western Virginia Jackson Advances 
 to the Potomac and tears up the Baltimore and Ohio Rail Road 
 Fight opposite Hancock Fight at Blue s Gap Battle of Middle 
 Creek, Kentucky, and Victory of Garfield Pope in Missouri 233 
 
CONTENTS OF VOLUME I. 21 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 JANUARY, 1862. 
 
 Position of Affairs in Kentucky General Thomas moves against Zolli- 
 coffer s Camp on the Cumberland Battle of Mill Springs A Sunday 
 Battle Bayonet Charge by Me Cook Death of Zollicoffer The 
 Enemy Routed The Victory Importance of it The Cairo Expe 
 ditionMovements East Disaster to Burnside s Expedition Opera 
 tions on the SavannahFort Pulaski cut off Resignation of Came 
 ron Launch of the Monitor 243 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 FEBRUAY, 1862. 
 
 The Opening of February Kentucky The Enemy s Line of Defense to 
 be Broken on the Tennessee and Cumberland Forts Henry and Do 
 nelson Expedition against the former Capture of it by Foote with 
 Gun Boats Description of Expedition up the Tennessee undei 
 Lieutenant Phelps Grant advances across the country and Invests 
 Fort Donelson Attack by Foote with Gun Boats 252 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 FEBRUARY, 1862. 
 
 Fort Donelson The Enemy Attempt to Cut their Way out Partial Suo 
 "cess Prevented by General Wallace Grant Arrives on the Field 
 A General Assault Determined upon Success of Wallace s Division 
 on the Right Gallant Exploit of Smith on the Left The Night 
 Bravery and Endurance of the Troops Surrender of the Fort 
 Johnston Receiving the News near Nashville It Reaches the City At 
 Church Time Terror of the Inhabitants Scene of Pillage Flight 
 of the Rebels Southward Curtis Drives Price out of Missouri 262 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 FEBRUARY, 1862. 
 
 Burnside Advances with his Fleet to Roanoke Island Its Splendid Ap 
 pearance The Attack Landing of the Troops The Advance 
 Against the Enemy s Works Gallantry of a Chaplain Of Midship- 
 
22 THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 PAOB. 
 
 man Porter The Victory Attack on the Rebel Fleet at Elizabeth 
 City by Captain Rowan A Fierce Combat Gallantry of Assistant 
 Gunner Davis Capture of Edenton Wmton Burned Inauguration 
 of Davis at Richmond Reading of Washington s Farewell Address 
 at the North on his Birth Day Battle near Fort Craig in New 
 Mexico Gallantry of Captain McRae 2*75 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 MARCH, 1862. 
 
 The Nashville Runs our Blockading Squadron Rebel Battery Destroyed 
 at Pittsburg Landing Death of Lander His Last Gallant Action 
 Capture of Fernandina and Fort Clinch Race between a Gun 
 Boat and Rail Road Train The Merrimac makes her Appearance 
 Her Approach to the Cumberland The Combat The Cumberland 
 Goes Down with her Flag Flying The Congress Strikes her Colors 
 Attack on the Minnesota Gloomy Feeling at Fortress Monroe 
 Arrival of the Monitor Burning of the Congress Battle between 
 the Merrimac and Monitor Defeat of the Former Feeling of the 
 Public Respecting it 288 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 MARCH, 1862. 
 
 Battle of Pea Ridge A Forced March Skill and Bravery of Sigel Cuts 
 his way through the Enemy Disciplined Valor A Cavalry Fight* 
 Gallant Defense of Carr Death of Me Culloch The German Camp 
 at Night Second Day s Fight The Final Charge The Victory 
 Death of Mclntosh Johnson made Governor of Tennessee Concen 
 tration of the Rebel Army Foote moves against Island Number Ten 
 The Mortar Boats Pope s Victory at New Madrid The Enemy 
 shut up Poor Prospect of Reducing the Island 302 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 MARCH, 1862. 
 
 Capture of Newborn by Burnside The March The Attack The Vic 
 tory Action of the Fleet Feeling of the People Burnside s Dis 
 patch The President Assumes Active Command of the Army and 
 
CONTENTS OF VOLUME I. 23 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Orders a General Advance An Important Epoch in the History of 
 the War Fremont in Command of the Mountain Department Ma- 
 nassas Evacuated Chagrin of the People Jackson beyond the Blue 
 Ridge Pursued by Banks Trap set for him by Shields Battle of 
 Winchester Pound Gap in East Tennessee Taken by Garfield 
 The Nashville Escapes from Beaufort The President s Message 
 Concerning Emancipation in the States 314 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 APRIL, 18G2. 
 
 Island Number Ten Channel Cut Around it by Colonel Bissell Diffi 
 culties of the Undertaking Transports got Through Buford s At 
 tack on Union City Colonel Roberts Spikes the Upper Battery of 
 the Island A Daring Exploit The Carondelet Runs the Batteries 
 in a Terrific Thunder Storm The Pittsburg Follows Pope Moves 
 his Army Across the Mississippi and Captures the Enemy Island 
 Number Ten Surrendered with all its Armament 328 
 
 CHAPTER XXYI. 
 
 APRIL, 1862. 
 
 Battle of Pittsburg Landing The Surprise of Sherman s and Prentiss* 
 Divisions Capture of the Latter The Retreat Gallantry of Sher 
 man Arrival of Grant^ Gloomy Prospect The Last Onset Arri 
 val of Nelson The Gun Boats Tyler and Lexington take part in the 
 Fight : Buell Reaches Savannah Hastens to Pittsburg Landing 
 Scene at the Wharf Arrival of Troops Night after the Battle 339 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 APRIL, 1862. 
 
 Second Day s Battle of Pittsburg Landing Formation of Buell s Divi* 
 ion Nelson A Desperate Rally Crittenden McCook A General 
 Advance Wallace Smith Sherman s Attack McClcrnand Hurl- 
 burt The Enemy Driven Back Our Camps Recovered Aspect of 
 the Battle Field Sufferings of the Wounded Sanitary Commission 
 Halleck takes Command Mitchell in Alabama.. . .355 
 
24 THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 APRIL, 1862. 
 
 PA OB. 
 
 Expedition against New Orleans The Fleet The Forts and Obstructions 
 in the Mississippi to be overcome The Bombardment of the Forts 
 Fire Rafts Row Boat Fleet Farragut determines to run the Batte 
 ries A Desperate Battle Captain Boggs of the Varina A Gallant 
 Boy The Victory New Orleans Surrendered State of Feeling 
 there Farragut s Order directing Thanks to be offered to God for 
 Success Butler Occupies the City Porter s Letter concerning the 
 Bombardment, and the Rams 364 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 APRIL, 1862. 
 
 Success along the Atlantic Coast McClellan with his Army at Fortress 
 Monroe How the News was received by the Public General Plan 
 of the War Plan of the Peninsula Campaign How broken up The 
 Army Advances to Yorktown Escape of the Nashville The Sumter 
 Blockaded at Gibraltar Vessels Running the Blockade at Charleston 
 Progress of the Siege at Yorktown Fremont in the Mountain De 
 partment Augur Advances to Fredericksburg The Siege and Cap 
 ture of Fort Pulaski Battle of Apache Pass Reno sent to Elizabeth 
 City Defeats the Enemy 379 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 APRIL, 1862. 
 
 Siege of Fort Macon Difficulties attending it The Bombardment Its 
 Surrender Fighting at Yorktown Attack on Lee s Mills Bayonet 
 Charge of the Eleventh Massachusetts Halleck before Corinth 
 Mitchell in Alabama Congress The Emancipationists Hunter s 
 Proclamation Dignified CouVse of the President The Question of 
 Slavery in Congress The Secretary of the Navy Empowered to 
 Build Iron-clad Vessels Report of Committee on Treatment of our 
 Dead at Bull Run Views of Foreign Countries respecting us Na 
 tional Debt at the End of the Year of War. . . . 391 
 
CONTENTS OF VOLUME I. 25 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 MAY, 1862. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 An Approaching Crisis Public Feeling The Two Great Armies 
 McClcllan ready to Commence the Bombardment at Yorktown 
 The Enemy Evacuate it Scene at the Evacuation The Pursuit 
 The Battle of Williamsburg Bravery of Colonel Dwiglit Berry 
 comes to the Rescue Kearney Follows Heroism of the Eleventh 
 Massachusetts Hancock s Gallant Bayonet Charge Inspiring Effect 
 of Martial Music Heintzelman amid the Raining Bullets Hooker s 
 Unconquerable Brigade The Night after the Battle Franklin arrives 
 at West Point, and Engages the Enemy 402 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 MAT, 1862. 
 
 Our Gun Boats Ascend the James River Surrender of Norfolk Destruc- 
 tion of the Merrimac Gratification of the People Attack on Fort 
 Darling Repulse of the Fleet McClellan s Advance on Richmond 
 General Stoiieham s Cavalry in Advance The Chickahominy Reach 
 ed A Bold Expedition A Gloomy March Battle of Hanover Court 
 House Rail Road Destroyed Porter s Skill Flight of the Enemy 
 The Victory The Road Opened for McDowell to Advance Rich 
 mond not to be Taken unless he does Dissatisfaction and Unreason 
 ableness of the Public A Dear Experiment. 412 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 MAY, 1862. 
 
 A Flood in the Chickahominy McClellan s Forces Separated by it 
 The Enemy resolves to Attack the Portion Across the River and De 
 stroy it Battle of Fair Oaks Rout of Casey s Division Heintzel 
 man Comes to the Rescue Kearney s Division Berry s Brigade 
 Jamieson s Veteran Brigade A Fearful Fight Balloon Reconnois- 
 sance Telegraphing to Head-Quarters Sumner succeeds in Crossing 
 The Field at Night THE SECOND DAY S BATTLE A Fearful Sun- 
 day Bravery of the New Jersey Regiments Bayonet Charge of the 
 Second Excelsior A Frightful Struggle McClellan on the Field 
 The Enemy Repulsed The Victory Appearance of the Field 
 McClellan s Dispatch 423 
 
26 THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 MAY, 1862. 
 
 PAOB. 
 
 McDowell About to Join McClellan Shield s Division Detached from 
 Banks Jackson Resolves to Attack Banks Gallant Defense of 
 Kenley at Front Royal Banks Resolved to Fall Back to the Poto 
 mac The Rear Guard Cut Off Panic in the Train A Critical 
 Situation Battle at Winchester The Retreat Continued A Sad 
 Sunday The Army Reaches the Potomac in Safety and Crosses into 
 
 Maryland Banks as a General Fright of the Secretary of War 
 
 The Militia Called Out Success of Jackson s Plan McDowell and 
 Fremont Ordered to Intercept Jackson s Retreat 438 
 
 CHAPTER XXXY. 
 
 MAY, 1862. 
 
 Quiet Along the Coast Pensacola Evacuated Halleck at Corinth The 
 Enemy s Communications Cut Off Naval Action at Fort Wright 
 Repulse of the Rebel Fleet Fight at Farmington, Near Corinth 
 Gallant Cavalry Charge Corinth Evacuated Elliot s Cavalry Expe 
 dition Butler at New Orleans His Various Orders Mitchel in 
 Alabama State of Affairs at the Close of the Month Importance 
 of a Victory before Richmond Anxious State of the Public Mind.. 450 
 
 CHAPTER XXXYI. 
 
 JUNE, 1861. 
 
 Movements at the West Evacuation of Memphis Naval Action Before 
 ^i it Total Wreck of the Rebel Fleet Expedition up the White 
 River Explosion on Board the Mound City Fort at Saint Charles 
 Captured by Colonel Fitch Butler at New Orleans Pierre Soule 
 Sent North Under Arrest Chatanooga Taken Buell Supposed to be 
 Advancing to the. Relief of East Tennessee Gratification of the 
 People Sufferings of the Unionists there Parson Brownlow 
 Keeps the Old Flag Flying Heroism of his Daughter Relieved and 
 Comes North His Story of the Barbarities of the Rebels His Re 
 ception in the Northern Cities Governor Johnson at Nashville 
 Morgan Seizes Cumberland Gap 461 
 
CONTENTS OF VOLUME I. 27 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 
 JUNE, 1862. 
 
 PA OB. 
 
 Fremont Starts in Pursuit of Jackson His Energy His Cavalry Am 
 bushed Battle of Cross Keys Retreat of Jackson and Attack on 
 Shields Advance, at Port Republic Abandonment of the Pursuit 
 Public Disappointment at Jackson s Escape Object of his Raid 
 Perplexity of Government The President Reorganizes the Virginia 
 Department General Pope Placed in Command His Address to the 
 Army Movement Against Charleston Battle of James Island He 
 roism of the Eighth Michigan and Seventy-ninth Highlanders Our 
 Defeat Cause of Disgrace of Benham . . ^ 469 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
 
 JUNE, 1862. 
 
 McClellan Before Richmond Labor of the Soldiers McClelland Ad 
 dress to the Army McDowell Expected Rebel Knowledge of his 
 Plans McCall s Division Sent to his Support The Force Left with 
 which to Attack Richmond Anxiety of McClellan Insufficiency of 
 his Force to Protect his Right Flank Stuart s Cavalry Raid Encir 
 cles our Entire Army Attacks a Rail Road Train Attempts to 
 Cross the Chickahominy Its Return to Richmond Effect on the 
 Rebel Army Balloon Ascension in View of the Rebel Capital 
 Movements and Rumors Rebel Plan to Destroy McClellan s Army.. 483 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIX. 
 
 JUNE, 1862. 
 
 Proximity of our Earth Works to those of the Enemy Character of the 
 Ground between them McClellan Resolves to Seize it Arrange 
 ments for the Battle Heintzelman s and Kearney s Divisions 
 Hooker s Brigade The Battle McClellan s Arrival on the Field 
 His Enthusiastic Reception Takes Personal Command Gallant Ef 
 fort of Captain Dusenbury The Enemy Beaten at all Points Mo 
 Clellan s Dispatch to Washington Public Expectation Preparations 
 to Celebrate the Fall of Richmond Perplexity of our Government 
 Great Plan of the Rebel Leader, Lee McClellan Informed that Mc 
 Dowell would not be Sent to his Aid Effect of the News Trying 
 Situation Final Determination Its Discovery by the Enemy.... 495 
 
 NOTE. Exchange of Prisoners 503 
 

THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PRIOR TO 1861. 
 
 CAUSES OP THE REBELLION DANGER OF SECTIONAL PARTIES HISTORY OF 
 
 SLAVERY IN THE GOVERNMENT CAUSES OF HOSTILITY BETWEEN THE NORTH 
 
 AND SOUTH MISSOURI COMPROMISE HOSTILE LEGISLATION OF THE STATES 
 
 CONGRESS THE WHIG AND DEMOCRATIC PARTIES NECESSITY OF A NEW 
 
 PARTY IN THE PLACE OF THE WHIG THE REPUBLICAN PARTY SOUTHERN 
 
 CONSPIRATORS THEIR PLAN ELECTION OF LINCOLN FIRST STEPS TO 
 WARDS DISUNION. 
 
 THE Rebellion of 1861 stands out unique and extraordi 
 nary, in all the features that compose it. Whether 
 viewed in its colossal proportions suddenly summoning to 
 the field nearly a million of men or the purely imaginary 
 evils that produced it, or the benign and equitable form of 
 government sought to be overthrown, or the state of civili 
 zation and Christianity in which it occurred, or the totally 
 visionary good it proposed to obtain, or the frightful, appall 
 ing evils which were sure to follow, it forms one of the 
 most extraordinary chapters in human history that the pen 
 of the historian was ever called upon to record. States 
 having a common interest and origin, baptized in the same 
 patriotic blood, were arrayed against each other in deadly 
 strife families divided, parents against children, and broth 
 ers against brothers churches with a common faith and 
 communion split asunder, and ministers and people who had 
 wept at the same altar, suddenly began to pray each for the 
 other s discomfiture; and the happiest land the sun ever 
 
32 CAUSES OF THE REBELLION. 
 
 shone upon became drenched in fraternal blood, and filled 
 with sighs and lamentations ; and posterity will ask for what ? 
 Volumes will unquestionably be written on the causes that led 
 to these appalling evils, and the guilt be placed upon this or 
 that class or section, according to the peculiar views or prej 
 udices of the writer. The time has not yet come for the 
 people to receive a just, dispassionate account of them. A 
 generation, at least, must pass away, before this can be done. 
 With the frightful catastrophe which has overtaken us, full 
 in view, no section or party is willing to accept the responsi 
 bility of its existence. All know the immediate cause of it. 
 The north and south were at length arrayed against each 
 other in two great political parties on the question of slavery. 
 The northern party triumphed, and though no illegal act 
 was charged against it, and no pretense offered that it had 
 not succeeded in a legitimate, constitutional way, the de 
 feated southern party refused to accept the decision of the 
 ballot box, and rushing into open revolt, proceeded to organ 
 ize a government of its own. Unreasonable, unnatural, and 
 criminal as this course appears, it was in perfect keeping 
 with the history of former republics, and an event, which 
 every one not blinded by fanaticism, or selfishness, or igno 
 rance, or contempt of the past, could easily have foretold 
 without any spirit of prophecy. It makes no difference 
 what the cause may be, whether slavery, unequal legislation, 
 or imaginary evils; whenever east and west, or north and 
 south, shall now, or hereafter, stand arrayed against each 
 other in hostile political parties, if the attitude is main 
 tained, peaceful dissolution or civil war must follow. It was 
 in view of this possible calamity, that Washington, in his 
 farewell address, used the following language: "In contem 
 plating the causes that may disturb our Union, it occurs as 
 matter of serious concern, that any ground shall have been 
 furnished for characterizing parties by geographical discriuii- 
 
DANGER OF SECTIONAL PARTIES. 33 
 
 nations, Northern and Southern, Atlantic and Western, 
 whence designing men may endeavor to excite a belief that 
 there is a real difference of local interests and views." 
 
 This advice, it is the historian s imperative duty to impress 
 on the public mind, let whatever party or section of the 
 country be guilty of political factions, based on geographical 
 lines. How much it may be the duty of one portion to suf 
 fer from the aggressions of another, before it ought to stand 
 up in its own defense, is strictly another question the great 
 truth which should be engraven as with the point of a dia 
 mond on the public heart, is this: ivhenever the position is 
 taken, let it be assumed with the full understanding and con 
 sent, that it shall end in peaceful separation or open war. 
 Let the people never again be deluded by ignorant, selfish 
 leaders, into the belief that it can be done without danger. 
 Whenever the first step is taken towards the arraying of one 
 section of this country against the other, in a political con 
 test, let every one who engages in it, make up his mind to 
 go to the bitter end, and not delude himself and others, by 
 the contemptuous cry of u no danger." Boastful and proud 
 as we as a people undoubtedly are, we shall always find in 
 the end, that we form no exception to the history of nations. 
 What has wrecked other republics, if persisted in, will assur 
 edly wreck us. Our advanced civilization and Christianity, 
 cannot avail us to escape their doom, except as they enable 
 us to avoid their errors and crimes. 
 
 But though the time has not yet come for a calm and dis 
 passionate discussion of all the causes that brought about this 
 rebellion, certain historical events may be given as the found 
 ation for our own judgment. This, too, is necessary to any 
 right understanding of it. When we had achieved our inde 
 pendence of Great Britain, and our patriotic sires assembled 
 to lay the foundation of the new government, they found 
 themselves confronted with a glaring inconsistency, which 
 
34 SLAVERY EMANCIPATION COTTON. 
 
 they could see no way to avoid incorporating into the very 
 structure itself viz., slavery. Right in the face of the decla 
 ration of independence, by which the rebellion had been 
 justified, and on which the battle had been fought and won, 
 they had to accept human slavery as one of the strange 
 features of the new republic. To us it seems a singular 
 providence that fastened this necessity upon them. They felt 
 the embarrassment it produced, and feared the evils that 
 would result from giving such an incongruous, demoralizing 
 thing a place in the temple of liberty. They solaced them 
 selves, however, with the hope that it would gradually dis 
 appear under the benign influence of free institutions, and 
 the palpable advantages of free labor. Their anticipations 
 were to a certain extent realized, and state after state released 
 itself from the curse of slavery, until emancipation reached 
 nearly to the parallel of thirty. Here its progress was 
 arrested ; though in Maryland, Virginia, and Kentucky, influ 
 ences were at work, which promised before long to place 
 them beside the free states of the north. Bills were intro 
 duced into their legislatures, looking to gradual emancipa 
 tion; and the subject was publicly and fully discussed within 
 their borders till it looked, for a time, as though the problem 
 of slavery was to have a peaceful and happy solution. In 
 dependent of moral considerations, on the score of economy 
 alone, it was plain that these states should range themselves 
 on the side of freedom. But just at this critical period, a 
 few violent abolitionists commenced a fierce crusade against 
 slavery and slaveholders. This alarmed the timid, lest 
 emancipation should end in insurrection; and enraged oth 
 ers, who would not be driven by vituperation into any meas 
 ure, until all thought of gradual emancipation was dropped. 
 Added to this, the cultivation of cotton rapidly acquired 
 prominence as a source of wealth, and the importation of 
 slaves being prohibited, the value of those in the country 
 
MISSOURI COMPROMISE. 35 
 
 who were needed for its production, necessarily became very 
 much enhanced. Thus the hope of the extinction of slavery, 
 which most looked to at some future period, was gradually 
 abandoned by the southern states, and it was accepted as a 
 permanent institution. It then became necessary to defend 
 and strengthen it. To do this, it must have its proportion 
 of the new states that were constantly asking for admission ; 
 for the moral sense of the north was becoming more and 
 more averse to a system fraught with every abomination that 
 disgraced the darkest days of feudalism. Here was the 
 starting point of the collision between the north and the 
 south, which finally resulted in an appeal to arms. To let 
 slavery extend itself, and move pari passit beside freedom 
 in the enlargement of the Republic, was revolting to civiliza 
 tion and Christianity, as well as clearly contrary to the pur 
 pose and expectations of the framers of the constitution. 
 Still, neither of the great political parties would incorporate 
 this sentiment into their platforms, and the warfare betAveen 
 freedom and -slavery assumed a desultory character ; and 
 various propositions and compromises were offered to get rid 
 of the vexed question, till finally the Missouri -Compro 
 mise," fixing the southern boundary of that state as the line 
 beyond which, southward, freedom should not go, and 
 beyond which, northward, slavery should not be extended, 
 seemed to make a final disposition of it ; for no one proposed 
 to interfere with slavery in the states where it existed. But 
 the tide of emigration, rolling westward, peopling with mar 
 vellous rapidity our wild territory, soon revealed the start 
 ling fact, that in a short time the free states would greatly 
 outnumber those in which slavery could be established. 
 
 The south, naturally became alarmed at the prospect of 
 thus being put in a hopeless minority, and proportionably 
 bitter in its feelings towards the north. The repeal of this 
 compromise awakened a feeling of intense indignation 
 
36 HOSTILE LEGISLATION. 
 
 throughout the north, and had it been exclusively a southern 
 measure, might have been attended by disastrous conse 
 quences. But being introduced by Mr. Douglas, a northern 
 man, and voted for by many northern democrats, it could 
 not wholly be charged on the south. In the mean time, the 
 fertile plains of Kansas had attracted settlers into it, and it 
 was seen that a new state, which lay mostly north of the line 
 which the Missouri compromise prohibited to slavery, would 
 soon ask to be admitted into the Union. Immediately there 
 arose a fierce struggle between the north and south, respect 
 ing the future status of the state on the subject of slavery. 
 It is now evident, that had it been let alone, the character 
 of the emigrants would have settled it without bloodshed. 
 But as it was, the young and struggling territory became the 
 theater of a terrible strife, which shook the nation to its 
 center. 
 
 It must not be forgotten, that during these years of in 
 creasing excitement and danger to the Republic, though the 
 general government stood uncommitted to either section of 
 the country, the states, north and south, in their sovereign 
 capacity, legislated against each other, and intensified the 
 bitter hatred, the end of which every patriotic statesman 
 trembled to contemplate. Freedom was declared in some 
 states to belong to every slave brought northward by his mas 
 ter, while fugitives, whose rendition was commanded by the 
 Constitution, could, in many places, no longer be recovered 
 with any certainty, or if so, at an expense that discouraged 
 the attempt. On the other hand, pains and penalties were 
 inflicted on u abolitionists," as all were termed who dared to 
 express sentiments condemnatory of slavery, by the southern 
 states, and men, and even women, were subjected to treat 
 ment that would disgrace barbarians. These acts, in turn ex- 
 exasperated the north, and the feeling of indignation was 
 intensified still more, by lecturers, who carefully collated all 
 
POLITICAL PARTIES. 37 
 
 true and reported instances of cruelty to slaves ,and retailed 
 them to northern audiences. Thus the breach between the 
 north and south gradually widened, till without some radical 
 change, it became apparent that a separation, or an attempted 
 separation was inevitable. Scenes were enacted in every 
 Congress that did not tend to allay the excitement, and we 
 gradually became more hostile in feeling and sentiment thaq 
 any two entirely separate nations in the civilized world. In 
 this state of the public mind, the whig party, which with the 
 democratic, had by turns ruled the nation, fell into a hopeless 
 minority. The United States bank, tariff, subtreasury, etc., 
 which had furnished its platform, were finally disposed of. 
 The American party completed its demoralization, and there 
 was nothing left for it to rally on. In this emergency, some of 
 its old leaders cast about for something on which to reorganize 
 a new party, and seeing how deep and wide-spread was the 
 anti-slavery sentiment of the north, determined to make it, 
 in some form, its platform. This was the first great step to 
 wards placing the north and south face to face to each other 
 in a struggle for the control of the government. In ordinary 
 times, the advice of Washington, which the people had been 
 taught to revere, and their common instincts, would have 
 rendered this attempt powerless to do evil. But the outrages 
 committed in Kansas on free citizens, by lawless ruffians, who 
 proclaimed themselves champions of slavery, and the worse 
 than brutal attack on Mr. Sumner, in his seat in the Senate, 
 awakened such a feeling of indignation at the north, that it 
 threatened for a time to overleap every obstacle, and, if need 
 be, rush to arms to avenge the insults and wrongs heaped 
 upon it. 
 
 The election, however, resulted in the defeat of the Re 
 publican party, and election of Mr. Buchanan, and all imme 
 diate danger of a disruption of the Union seemed to be over. 
 It would have been, but for some few southern conspirators, 
 
38 THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 
 
 who for many years had plotted the overthrow of the gov- 
 eminent, and only waited a favorable opportunity to give 
 success to their schemes. They had been able, under the 
 excitement of the political canvass through which they had 
 passed, so to educate and poison the public mind of a portion 
 of the south, that they saw, with skillful management, they 
 could make the future triumph of the republican party a 
 pretext on which they could raise successfully the flag of 
 secession ; and from that moment their dark and hellish pur 
 pose was taken. The north little dreamed of this, and 
 meditating no disloyalty against the government, did not 
 imagine those political leaders, though bold and unscrupu 
 lous, would dare raise their parricidal hand against it. 
 
 Buchanan s administration, though characterized by imbe 
 cility, and a disregard of the grave responsibilities of his 
 high position, was quietly acquiesced in, and the freedom 
 of Kansas being secured, the public feeling of the north 
 became more calm. At the next election, in 1860, though 
 the republicans took the bold, unprecedented step of select 
 ing both their candidates on the electoral ticket from the 
 north, thus inevitably making a direct sectional issue, very 
 little apprehension was excited. All our wide domain, except 
 the territory of New Mexico, was disposed of, and that, as far 
 as it could be, by any immediate action of the government ; 
 and there seemed nothing to contend for but political suprem 
 acy, for its own sake. The southern conspirators were 
 perfectly aware of this, and knew that if the southern states 
 went together in a solid body, they could carry enough north 
 ern ones to secure the election. The nomination of Douglas, 
 they knew, and all knew, would be equivalent to his election. 
 They were satisfied also, that under his administration they 
 would suffer no invasion of their rights. But they had got 
 beyond the desire to control the government they deter 
 mined to have an independent, southern one. To effect this, 
 
ELECTION OF LINCOLN. 39 
 
 they resolved to sow division in their own ranks, and thus 
 secure the success of the republican party. They did so, 
 and leaving the campaign to its inevitable result, spent their 
 time and efforts in preparing for a revolution. Yancey and 
 Davis were outwardly the leaders in this foul conspiracy, 
 while Floyd and Thompson, members of Buchanan s cabinet, 
 were secretly using their official positions as members of the 
 government, and perjuring themselves in the presence of 
 Heaven and the civilized world, to carry it on. The former, 
 as Secretary of War, had, as far as lay in his power, so 
 arranged the commands of the different forts, and distributed 
 the army, and accumulated arms at the south, as to cripple 
 the incoming administration, and render it powerless to assert 
 the rights of the government. 
 
 The election of Mr. Lincoln took place early in November, 
 and almost immediately the extreme south set in motion the 
 already prepared scheme of dissolution. Though the false 
 hoods that had been freely circulated respecting the designs 
 of the republicans which they said were to emancipate, the 
 slaves and arm them against their masters, and the triumph 
 of a northern party, naturally excited indignation and 
 alarm ; yet, when the hour came for the final blow to be 
 struck which should dismember this great Republic, even the 
 hardened leaders trembled. Northern fanatics and southern 
 conspirators had for years talked about disunion with a light 
 ness that seemed close akin to madness, and laughed at the 
 fears and warnings of statesmen, whom they stigmatized as 
 " Union savers." Yet they hesitated when they stood on the 
 brink of the yawning abyss, whose mysterious depths, not 
 withstanding their vaunted confidence, they feared to try. 
 The people, especially, started back from so hazardous an 
 experiment. In this crisis, the southern leaders tried in 
 various ways to defend their own course, or to satisfy the 
 
 people it was safe and right. To the timid they declared 
 3 
 
40 FIRST STEPS TOWARDS SECESSION. 
 
 that no war would follow the act of secession, for a large por 
 tion of the north, they alleged, sympathized with them, and 
 denounced, as bitterly as they did, the sectional, aggressive 
 action of the republicans, and would never permit them to 
 hold their power by force of arms. This was unquestionably 
 true at the time. To all they said that submission now was 
 vassalage forever. Meanwhile the whole south was tossed on a 
 sea of agitation, some wishing to delay final action till there 
 could be a convention of all the southern states, so as to secure 
 harmony, others declaring that delay would give the north 
 time to organize and consolidate its power. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 DECEMBER, 1860 -APRIL, 18GL 
 
 SOUTH CAROLINA TAKES THE LEAD RECEPTION SOUTH OF ITS ACT OF SE 
 CESSION ANDERSON IN FORT SUMTER DISTRACTION OF THE GOVERNMENT 
 
 THE NORTH DIVIDED PROGRESS OF DISUNION SOUTH SEIZURE OF NA 
 TIONAL PROPERTY SCENES IN CONGRESS RIGHTS OF THE PEOPLE RIGHT 
 
 OF SECESSION LINCOLN^ PASSAGE TO WASHINGTON AND INAUGURATION 
 
 HIS CABINET VIRGINIA SOUTHERN COMMISSIONERS FORT SUJaTER 
 
 PREPARATIONS FOR ITS BOMBARDMENT. 
 
 SOUTH CAROLINA, with her accustomed arrogance and 
 pride, cut the Gordian Knot, and in the latter part of 
 December, declared herself a free and independent State. 
 When the news was received at Mobile, a hundred guns were 
 fired, and a military parade ordered in honor of the event. 
 At New Orleans, the thunder of cannon, singing of the 
 Marsellaise, and the unfurling of the Pelican flag, attested the 
 excitement of the people ; while secession flags were hoisted 
 and meetings held over all the south. The State immedi 
 ately took steps to get possession of the national forts in its 
 borders. 
 
 In the mean time, Major Anderson, commander of the forts 
 in the Charleston harbor, having but a handful of men under 
 him, and seeing that fort Moultrie, in which the garrison was 
 quartered could not resist an attack of land forces, quietly 
 withdrew on the night of the 28th of December, and took 
 possession of fort Sumter, situated on an island near Jby, and 
 considered well nigh impregnable. Great fears before this 
 had been entertained for his safety some even doubting his 
 loyalty, he being a Kentuckian. This masterly move electri 
 fied the nation, while its open confession that civil war was 
 inevitable, created the most profound sensation throughout 
 
42 RESIGNATION OF SOUTHERNERS. 
 
 the country. The south was loud in its denunciations of this 
 act, declaring that he was guilty of inaugurating hostilities, 
 while from the north, one shout of approval went up, show 
 ing the readiness of the people to sustain the government in 
 defending its rights. John B. Floyd immediately resigned 
 his position as Secretary of War, on the ground that the Pres 
 ident had broken his promise, that no movement should be 
 made in Charleston, while negotiations were pending for the 
 adjustment of difficulties. 
 
 The South Carolina troops then took possession of the 
 arsenal of the city, containing many stand of arms and a large 
 quantity of military stores, while strong fortifications were 
 ordered to be erected around fort Sumten 
 
 The new year opened gloomy enough. Southern members 
 of Congress had begun to resign their seats- the wildest 
 excitement was sweeping the Gulf states, and before the ris 
 ing storm, the general government seemed crumbling to- 
 atoms. Buchanan having surrounded himself with southern 
 advisers, and lacking both the firmness and resolution neces 
 sary to a chief executive in such trying circumstances, vacil 
 lated, temporised and delayed thus strengthening the con 
 fidence of the conspirators, and discouraging the loyal men 
 of the north. Added to all this, the feeling of the north was 
 divided. The exasperated feelings that had attended the 
 campaign of the fall previous, had not yet subsided, and 
 thousands were willing that an administration, which they as 
 serted was coming into power on a sectional issue, and which 
 had been pushed directly in the face of the very troubles 
 which now threatened the Republic, should be hampered and if 
 needs be, overthrown. All was confusion, doubt, and anger, 
 and the nation reeled to and fro on the surging, conflicting 
 elements of popular passion. 
 
 Between those at the north, anxious only for the preserva 
 tion of party, and those reckless of consequences in their 
 
U. S. MINT AT NEW ORLEANS. 43 
 
 fierce indignation against those who from mere political 
 ambition they said had brought about this appalling state of 
 things, and those who had foreseen and foretold all this, and 
 now looked on in still despair, there seemed no hope for the 
 Republic. South, also, there was almost equal distraction and 
 division ; for between the better class of people, still adhering 
 to the old government, or at all events unwilling to hazard 
 the experiment of inaugurating a new one, and those intent 
 on dissolution, there seemed to be an irreconcilable antago 
 nism. The southern leaders, alone, appeared calm and reso 
 lute, and pursued the course they had marked out with 
 unfaltering determination. 
 
 In the mean time, troops were drilling in the various 
 southern states, and state after state went out of the Union, 
 and ranged itself under the leadership of South Carolina, 
 The Governor of North Carolina, celebrated the incoming 
 year by the seizure of fort Macon at Beaufort, the forts at 
 Wilmington, and the United States arsenal at Fayetteville ; 
 and the Governor of Georgia by the seizure of fort Pulaski. 
 Southern Gommiasioners were sent to Washington to consult 
 with the government, and to the border states to secure their 
 co-operation. The North Carolina troops took possession of 
 forts Caswell and Johnson, and Secretary Thompson resigned 
 his seat in the Cabinet. The Mississippi state convention 
 passed the ordinance of secession, followed by Florida, and 
 fort Barrancas, and the navy yard at Pensacola fell into the 
 possession of the state troops. Louisiana soon followed, com 
 pleting her ignominy by seizing the United States mint, and 
 subtreasury at New Orleans, in which were a half a million of 
 dollars. In the mean time, the steamer Star of the West, sent 
 to reinforce fort Sumter, was fired into in the bay of Charleston, 
 and was compelled to return amid the suppressed murmurs of 
 the people. The Little Hock arsenal with its munitions of war 
 Was seized by the state troops of Arkansas, and by the latter 
 
44 THE NORTH DIVIDED. 
 
 end of February, a Southern Confederacy was formed and a 
 provisional government established at Montgomery, Alabama, 
 at the head of which was placed Jefferson Davis as President, 
 As the time drew near for the inauguration of Mr. Lincoln, 
 and the assumption of the government by the republican 
 party, the southern conspirators seemed to redouble their 
 energy, for they knew that their career, which thus far had been 
 smooth and unobstructed, would meet with a sudden check. 
 
 In the mean time, the appointment of Mr. Holt of Kentucky, 
 as Secretary of War, and Mr. Dix of New York, of the Trea 
 sury, in the places of Thompson and Floyd, arrested the gov 
 ernment in its downward rush, infused some little life, and 
 seeming patriotism into Mr. Buchanan, and erected a sort of 
 breakwater, to check the devastating flow of the waves of 
 sedition. General Twiggs, commanding the department of 
 Texas, was dismissed from the United States service, for hav 
 ing surrendered the military posts and other property under 
 his charge to the state authorities, and the most peremptory 
 orders were issued by Mr. Dix to national officers in the 
 southern states. 
 
 The revolt of South Carolina, at the first, had awakened 
 very different feelings in different classes at the north. The 
 more thoughtful saw in it the beginning of evils, the end of 
 which no man could foresee. Others, wfio had learned to des 
 pise this splenetic, captious, and disloyal state, only laughed 
 at it, as an ebullition to be expected, and that would soon 
 subside. But as the revolt rapidly spread, all saw that an 
 abyss was opening under the nation, which would require the 
 most consummate prudence to span. 
 
 It is necessary now to go back a little to the meeting of 
 Congress in December. Most of the southern members took 
 their seats as usual. It was evident, however, that they had 
 done this, not to allay excitement, or adjust difficulties, or even 
 to obtain redress of grievances ; but to endeavor to influence 
 
MASON SLIDELL WIGFALL. 45 
 
 public opinion in their favor, alarm the government into sub 
 mission, and render the final act of separation more imposing 
 and formal. Specious arguments, heartless propositions, and 
 threats were used by turns. Mason from Virginia, Slidell, 
 and Benjamin from Louisiana, and Wigfall from Texas, were 
 the leading spirits in the Senate. The former was haughty, 
 malignant, and cautious. Slidell, artful and hypocritical, and 
 Wigfall open, specious, and daring. The arguments used 
 were various, and calculated to influence different classes, 
 north and south. To day it was an appeal to the north to 
 let the south go peaceably and without resistance. They 
 said " you hate us and we hate you our social systems are en 
 tirely opposite, and can never harmonize. You declare that 
 slavery is repugnant to free institutions, and a disgrace to the 
 Republic now as you cannot get rid of it, let us go by our 
 selves, and bear the obloquy alone. If we cannot live to 
 gether peaceably, let us separate amicably, and form treaties 
 of friendship like foreign nations. Why insist on a union 
 that is only so in name ? " etc. To-morrow, it was a 
 long recapitulation of the wrongs heaped on the south by 
 the north. u They had been assailed in every form, and 
 the north was determined to deprive them of their share of 
 the territory which had been won by common valor, or been 
 paid for from the common fund. The rights guaranteed by 
 a common Constitution, such as the return of fugitive slaves 
 had been struck down, and a compact broken in any partic 
 ular was abrogated all together. It was the height of Injus 
 tice," they claimed, u to rob them of the protection guar 
 anteed by that instrument, and yet demand of them contin 
 ued allegiance to it." There was a semblance of truth in 
 some of these allegations, and thgugh laughed at and ridi 
 culed in the excitement of a political campaign, now that the 
 Union was confronted with serious danger, various plans 
 for an adjustment of the difficulties, and to guarantee rights 
 
46 SCENES IN CONGRESS. 
 
 in the future, were freely offered. At length, a commit 
 tee of forty members of Congress, with Corwin of Ohio at 
 its head, was appointed to report some basis of settlement. 
 But a spirit of acrimony and hostility governed the majority 
 of both parties, and it was soon apparent to a calm looker- 
 on, that nothing would come of it. Besides, it was plain 
 that the leading conspirators wished for no adjustment. 
 Their complaints and harangues were designed solely to 
 strengthen the opposition party at the north, and to draw 
 the reluctant border states into their schemes. A conven 
 tion of the states which was called to meet at Washington at 
 this time, to take into consideration the causes of disagree 
 ment, proved equally powerless to effect any good. 
 
 Among the many propositions offered in Congress and out 
 of it, which those making them hoped would prevent a colli 
 sion of the states, there was one by Mr. Crittenden restoring 
 the Missouri Compromise ; another by Mr. Adams of Massa-. 
 chusetts which placed in effect the vexed question of sla 
 very out of the reach of the federal government. Mr. 
 Seward, in the Senate, made a third, which was not very 
 definite. These two latter gentlemen showed themselves to 
 be not only patriots but statesmen ; and could they have 
 carried their party with them a very different result would 
 have been reached. They might not have prevented the re 
 bellion, but they would have arrested its headway and dis 
 comfited its leaders. But the statesmanship of both availed 
 nothing against party clamor, and their lofty patriotism could 
 not stem the tide of fierce indignation that had been aroused 
 by the haughty, defiant tone of the south. 
 
 One other course only remained : to submit the whole 
 question, in some form, to the people. Ours is a govern 
 ment of the people on them fall the burdens and horrors 
 of war, and on them directly should rest the sole responsi 1 
 bility of inaugurating it, especially if it be a civil one. 
 
FALLACY OF SOUTHERN ARGUMENTS. 47 
 
 All efforts, however, proved abortive ; and the ship of 
 state, reeling on the turbulent waves of passion, drifted 
 steadily towards the vortex of disunion. 
 
 The chief defense made by the south, was the right to 
 secede from the confederation, which the several states re 
 served to themselves when they entered it, if at any time 
 they thought fit to do so. A great deal of able yet useless 
 argument was wasted on this question* It was denied on 
 the part of the north, for they asserted that such a right 
 made the Union a rope of sand, and the government guilty 
 of providing for its own destruction. Besides, said they, 
 Louisiana cost us $15,000,000, Florida $5,000,000, to say 
 nothing of $40,000,000 expended in driving the Indians 
 from her swamps, and Texas directly and indirectly more 
 than $200,000,000, and to suppose that these states, as soon 
 as they had pocketed the money of the government, could 
 withdraw, and set up for themselves, was the climax of ab 
 surdity. More than this, to whom did the Mississippi river 
 belong if it did not to the whole Union ? The whole dis 
 cussion, however, was a waste of breath, for the doctrine of 
 secession as explained by the south was never acted upon by 
 them. They advocated it to justify rebellion. The right 
 of rebellion under unbearable oppression, can never be 
 vitiated by former compacts, however strong, nor by favors 
 how great soever they may have been. If the right of 
 secession be granted, it can take place only in the form, and 
 by the legal process that characterized the formation of the 
 compact. The state wishing to withdraw, must present her 
 self before the confederation, and proceed with the same 
 formality and respectfulness she did when she entered it, 
 and be bound by the same decision of the parties concerned. 
 If her claim is refused she must acquiesce, no matter how 
 great the wrong done her, or then fall back on the right of 
 secession. This the south never proposed to do, and to say 
 
48 NO GROUND FOR SECESSION. 
 
 that any state, when she entered the confederacy, reserved 
 to herself the right whenever she saw fit, to rush to arms, 
 seize the forts and soldiers, and post-offices, and mints, and 
 ships of the United States, is a falsehood on the face of it, too 
 gross to need a reply. And yet this is just what the southern 
 states did. It is, therefore, as before remarked, a waste of 
 breath to argue a question on which no action was ever taken 
 to discuss a right it was never proposed to claim. The 
 south rushed into rebellion, and unless their act can be justi 
 fied on the ground that they were grievously oppressed, and 
 had exhausted every peaceable means to obtain redress, as we 
 did previous to our revolt against the mother country, even, 
 as we asserted u prostrating ourselves at the foot of the throne" 
 in vain appeals, they stand convicted of a crime too heinous 
 to be expressed in language, and which will grow blacker 
 with the lapse of time till "the memory of the wicked shall rot/ 
 
 If the above succinct narrative of events be correct, it is 
 easy to see that it will be vain for either the north or south 
 to prove itself entirely guiltless before impartial history. 
 The great moral difference between them is the former was 
 contending against a giant wrong, and the latter defending 
 it the former never contemplated lifting its hand against 
 the government, while the latter deliberately precipitated us 
 into all the horrors of civil war. The former were unwise in 
 their action and reckless in the manner in which they carried 
 out their political schemes the latter were traitors in heart, 
 conspirators while professing loyalty, and open rebels at last 
 This statement of course refers to the leaders. The major 
 ity of the southern people, were doubtless deceived, and- 
 believed they were in danger of subjugation, and all the 
 horrors attending a sudden emancipation of the slaves. 
 
 To return to our summary of events, which brought us to 
 the close of February, when a southern confederacy was 
 formed, and the border states were vacillating between the 
 
r" PRESIDENT LINCOLN S JOURNEY. 49 
 
 north and south, we come to the arrival of President Lincoln 
 in Washington, February 23, to be inaugurated President of 
 the United States. 
 
 When he left Springfield, 111., the place of his residence, a 
 large crowd assembled to witness his departure, and express 
 their sympathy with him in the perilous duties before him. 
 In a short speech, he expressed his thanks, and desired their 
 prayers, to which their hearty response was, u we will pray 
 for you." The eyes of the Nation were turned towards 
 him in his progress, and every word he uttered to the dif 
 ferent assemblages on the way, was carefully noted down, 
 and commented on. He spoke confidently and hopefully, 
 saying all the- disturbance visible was u only an artificial 
 excitement" His utterances, though pleasing to many, gave 
 rise to gloomy forebodings in the more thoughtful, who had 
 been anxiously waiting for one to assume the reins of gov 
 ernment, that had measured the length and breadth and 
 depth and heighth of the gigantic rebellion, who would 
 treat it as a terrible reality. 
 
 In the mean time rumors had been circulated that he 
 would be assassinated on the way, or if he succeeded in 
 reaching the Capital, an organized mob would prevent his 
 inauguration and seize the city. General Scott, in command 
 there, had been informed of the plans of the conspirators, 
 and took measures to defeat them. 
 
 The President elect, however, had considered these rumors 
 as exaggerations, and proceeded with his family without 
 anticipating any trouble. But when he reached Philadel 
 phia, he entered a different atmosphere, and began to awake 
 as from a dream. His honest heart, incapable of guile, or 
 even of conceiving such monstrous atrocity, was compelled 
 at last to admit the terrible truth, that A-merican citizens 
 sought his life, for no other crime, than that of obeying the 
 voice of the people, and assuming the office to which their 
 
50 INAUGURATION MESSAGE. 
 
 votes had elected him ; and when he reached Harrisburg he 
 left his family behind him, and anticipating the train which 
 was to take him, proceeded in disguise by a special train to 
 Washington. That a constitutionally-elected President of the 
 United States, should be compelled to steal into the Nation 
 al Capital, like a criminal, in order to enter upon his office, 
 smote every loyal citizen like a personal disgrace. Had it 
 been fully believed beforehand, a half a million of men would 
 have volunteered to escort him there. 
 
 The fourth of March, 1861, came without violence, and 
 Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated President of the United 
 States. His message was every where read with the deep 
 est anxiety. Its moderate tone gratified reasonable men, 
 though many felt the want of any stirring appeal to the 
 patriotism of the people. Still, the closing paragraphs, " I 
 am loth to close. We are not enemies but friends. We 
 must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it 
 must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords 
 of memory stretching from every battle field and patriot s 
 grave to every living heart and hearthstone, all over this 
 broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when 
 again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of 
 our nature," struck a chord of sympathy in every heart. 
 Still, kind and appealing as these words were, it showed, 
 that he had not yet comprehended the full measure of hu 
 man wickedness connected with the rebellion. This is per 
 haps not strange, for the same delusion seemed to rest on 
 those who were to be his chief advisers. Mr. Seward as 
 late as the latter part of December, had said that in "sixty 
 days" we should have a "brighter and more cheerful atmos 
 phere." Those who designed to inflict no wrong, and be 
 guilty of no injustice, could not comprehend the existence 
 of such madness and ferocity as seemed to characterize the 
 southern disunionists. 
 
THE CABINET. 51 
 
 Three days after, Peter G. T. Beauregard, late major in 
 the engineer corps of the United States, was ordered by the 
 southern confederacy, to take command of the forces in 
 Charleston, destined to act against fort Sumter ; and two 
 weeks later the supplies were cut off from fort Pickens, 
 Florida, 
 
 The President in forming his cabinet, seemed not to com 
 prehend the extent of the danger that threatened the Repub 
 lic. The selection of Mr. Seward as Secretary of State, was 
 regarded as a wise measure. But Mr. Cameron s claims to 
 the responsible position of Secretary of War were based prin 
 cipally on political considerations. Mr. Holt had manfully 
 stood between the country and ruin, and was well qualified 
 for the duties of that position. The President, in his trying 
 situation, needed the sympathy of all parties, and should 
 have disregarded the clamor that sought only party ends ; 
 and would have been justified in retaining Mr. Holt. The 
 united patriotism of the north, and a change in the course of 
 the administration, alone saved the country from the incal 
 culable evils which would otherwise have resulted from a 
 misconception of its true condition, and the distribution of 
 political rewards. 
 
 In the mean time a state convention of Virginia had been 
 called, to take into consideration the proper course for her 
 to pursue in the pending crisis, and commissioners were ap 
 pointed to confer with the President on his future policy. 
 The southern confederacy had also sent commissioners to 
 propose terms of adjustment, without resorting to war. To 
 the former the President made a short reply, doing little 
 more than reaffirming the policy he had proclaimed in his 
 message. The latter he refused to receive in their alleged 
 capacity as commissioners from an independent government, 
 for it would be recognizing the southern confederacy of 
 seven states, 
 
52 SOUTHERN CONSPIRATORS. 
 
 The southern leaders had managed their cause with a 
 great deal of adroitness. To the extreme south, they had 
 spoken in glowing terms of the advantages of an indepen 
 dent confederacy. To Virginia they had described the evils 
 she would suffer in case of a civil war, which was sure to 
 follow should the general government attempt coercion of 
 the revolted states, until she insisted, that the only condi 
 tion on which she could stand by the Union was, that no co 
 ercion should be attempted. The conspirators knew this 
 would never be granted. To Kentucky, they pointed to the 
 rejected resolutions of Mr. Crittenden, looking to a peaceful 
 solution of the difficulties. To Maryland which more than 
 any other state had cause to dread a civil war, should she 
 join her fortunes with the south the commissioners from 
 Mississippi used the following mild language. " Secession 
 is not intended to break up the present government, but to 
 perpetuate it. We do not propose to go out by way of 
 breaking up or destroying the Union as our fathers gave it 
 to us, but we go out for the purpose of getting further guar 
 antees and security for our rights ; not by a convention of 
 all the southern states, nor by congressional tricks, which 
 have failed in times past and will fail again. But our plan 
 is for the southern states to withdraw from the Union for the 
 present, to allow amendments to the Constitution to be made, 
 guaranteeing our just rights; and if the northern states will 
 not make those amendments, by which these rights shall be 
 secured to us, then we must secure them the best way we 
 can. This question of slavery must be settled now or never," 
 etc. Nothing could have been more plausible or apparently 
 just than this. It is not surprising that the people of Mary 
 land were deceived by % these representations, for many 
 northern men were. The truth was, the southern disunion- 
 ists did not wish war, and they did not believe it would hap 
 pen. The state of their finances would not sanction it, to say 
 
THEIR MANAGEMENT. 53 
 
 nothing of the dubious result of a collision with the colossal 
 power of the north, backed by her navy. The surest way to 
 prevent this, they believed, would be to make the contest 
 appear equal as possible, by getting the entire south to act 
 in unison. Then the north would shrink from the appalling 
 evils of a civil war, and grant them their independence. To 
 secure this, they were willing to stoop to any deception, and 
 apparently consent to any measure the border states might 
 propose. But events were rapidly hastening to a crisis. 
 Major Anderson stubbornly refused to strike his flag to the 
 southern confederacy. It is true, starvation would soon 
 compel the humiliating act. But whether Davis, impelled by 
 an insane spirit of revenge, or, foreseeing that war was inevi 
 table, concluded it was best to precipitate it at once ; or 
 whether the blustering, arrogant spirit of South Carolina 
 forced him to the measure, or whether he feared our fleet, 
 which had arrived off the mouth of the harbor, might force 
 a passage, we know not ; he refused to wait the sure and 
 speedy work of famine, and determined to open his guns 
 upon it. Notwithstanding the state had openly revolted, Mr. 
 Buchanan had allowed the most formidable works to be con 
 structed around the fort, refusing to give his sanction, to 
 Maj or Anderson to prevent their completion. With his heavy 
 artillery, he could easily have kept the surrounding shores 
 clear, but not a shot was permitted to be fired. This brave 
 commander, with his little garrison of seventy-five men, saw 
 month after month the frowning batteries rise around him, 
 preparatory to opening their concentrated fire upon him. 
 The batteries lining the entrance to the harbor had long 
 since cut him off from all hope of reinforcements and supplies 
 by sea, while not a pound of food could reach him from the 
 hostile shore. Without orders to abandon it, and without 
 permission to stop the preparations going on for his over 
 throw, he had been compelled, day after day, and week after 
 
54 , ANDERSON S TRYING SITUATION. 
 
 week, to sit still, and watch the steadily rising fortifications des 
 tined to effect his humiliation. A more trying and cruel posi 
 tion a commander could not be placed in. At length the work 
 of preparation was completed the bomb-proof batteries at 
 fort Moultrie and on Sullivan s Island ready, and the floating 
 battery in its place, with their grim columbiads pointing on 
 the devoted garrison and with that patience and serene confi 
 dence springing from the consciousness of having dis 
 charged his duty, and a firm reliance on Heaven, which had 
 characterized him throughout, he now waited the coming 
 storm. To the summons of Beauregard to surrender, he re 
 turned the calm reply that neither his " sense of honor" nor 
 " obligations to his government" would permit him to 
 comply. Knowing that in a few days, famine would compel 
 the surrender of the fort, Beauregard, under instructions from 
 L. P. Walker, the rebel Secretary of War, proposed to refrain 
 from bombarding it, if he would fix a day, when he would 
 evacuate it. Bold and bad as he was, he hesitated to open 
 a war which should drench the nation in blood. Anderson, 
 looking over his scanty supply of provisions, replied that if 
 no supplies reached him, or no orders to the contrary were 
 received from his government by the fifteenth (his letter was 
 dated April twelfth), he would then surrender the fort. Not 
 liking the conditions attached to this promise, though it was 
 difficult to see how the beleaguered little garrison could get 
 either orders or provisions, Beauregard, the same day, at 
 half-past three o clock in the morning, sent word that in one 
 hour he would u opeu the fire of his batteries on fort 
 Suniter." 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 APRIL, 1861. 
 
 FIRST SHOT AT FORT SUMTER ITS FEARFUL SIGNIFICANCE THE BOMBARD 
 
 MENT SURRENDER OF EXULTATION OF THE PEOPLE OF CHARLESTON 
 
 RECEPTION OF THE NEWS NORTH UNION OF ALL PARTIES PROCLAMATION 
 
 OF THE PRESIDENT CALLING FOR SEVENTY-FIVE THOUSAND TROOPS RE 
 SPONSE OF THE NORTH REPLY TO IT BY SOUTHERN GOVERNORS ENTHUSI 
 ASM OF THE NORTH DELUSION OF BOTH SECTIONS DAVIS CALLS FOR 
 
 SOUTHERN VOLUNTEERS AND FOR PRIVATEERS VIRGINIA SECEDES EMBAR 
 RASSMENTS OF THE GOVERNMENT SURRENDER OF NORFOLK SURRENDER 
 
 OF HARPER S FERRY AND THE BURNING OF THE ARSENAL. 
 
 IT was fit that a deed so monstrous as the commencement 
 of civil war should have been committed in darkness. 
 Treason shuns the light of day, and even the conspirators, 
 though steeped in crime, were in haste to begin their ac 
 cursed work before the bright sun should rise to throw his 
 light upon it. 
 
 As soon as Anderson received the message of Beauregard, 
 he ordered the sentinels to be removed from the parapets Of 
 the fort, the posterns closed, and the flag that had been low 
 ered with the coming on of night, flung to the breeze, and 
 then sat down in the darkness to wait the coming shock. 
 It was a mild spring night, and not a sound disturbed the 
 quietness that reigned over the peaceful waters of the bay. 
 Nature gave no sign of the dread event so near at hand, 
 which should summon a million of men to arms, and send 
 state dashing on state in fierce collision, drench the land in 
 fraternal blood, and unsettle the civilized world. At half- 
 past four o clock, before the full dawn could reveal to them 
 the flag under whose folds they had so long lived in peace 
 and prosperity, the first shot was fired. The deep thunder 
 
 
56 FIRST SHOT AT FORT SUMTER. 
 
 woke the morning echoes, and rolled away over the trem 
 bling waters of the bay. At that moment the great dock 
 of destiny struck its warning note. No single cannon shot 
 before, ever bore such destinies on its darkened flight. It 
 shivered the mightiest republic the earth ever saw into 
 atoms, arrested the onward march of civilization, and chang 
 ed the history of man. A few moments of dead silence 
 followed this first explosion, as if all nature paused at the 
 awful deed and then came the earthquake. From fort 
 Moultrie, Point Pleasant, fort Johnston, the floating bat- 
 ery Cumming s point and Sullivan s island, the well trained 
 batteries poured in their concentric fire, till sea and shore shook 
 to the fierce reverberations. A line of volcanoes seemed ,ud- 
 denly to have opened in the sea, and the broad glare from 
 the blazing guns, and bursting shells traversing the air in 
 every direction and crossing in a fiery net work over the 
 doomed fort, heralded in the day. Anderson and his little 
 band sat quietly within their stronghold, listening unmoved 
 to the wild hurricane without, till the sun had climbed the 
 heavens. The ponderous balls of the enemy were knocking 
 loudly for admittance without, but not a shot had been firod 
 in return. At half-past six, the mere handful within sat 
 quietly down to their breakfast, and finished their meal as 
 leisurely as though preparing for a parade. They were then 
 divided into three reliefs the first under command of Cap 
 tain Doubleday and the men ordered to their places. Soon 
 the order to fire was given, and the ominous silence that had 
 so long reigned round that dark structure was broken, and 
 a sheet of game ran along its sides. Gun now answered gun 
 in quick succession, and for the next four hours, the heavy, 
 deafening explosions were like a continuous clap of thunder. 
 Forty-seven mortars and large cannon directed their fire 
 against the fort, and shot and shell beat upon it, and burst 
 Within and over it incessantly. The heavy explosions called 
 
BOMBARDMENT OF FORT SUMTER. 57 
 
 out the inhabitants of Charleston in crowds, and the house 
 tops and shores were lined with, excited spectators, gazing 
 earnestly over the water, where the tossing clouds of smoke 
 obscured the sky. Every portion of the fortress was search 
 ed by the enemy s fire, and loosened bricks and mortar were 
 soon flying in every direction. It was impossible to serve 
 the guns en barbette, arid they were knocked to pieces one 
 after another by the shot and shells that swept the crest of 
 the ramparts. These were the only guns that could throw 
 shells, and hence Anderson was able to reply to the enemy 
 only with solid shot. These, in most cases, thundered harm 
 lessly on the solid works of the enemy, or glanced from 
 their iron sides. The barracks again and again caught fire, 
 but each time were extinguished, chiefly through the energy 
 and daring of Mr. Hart, a New York volunteer. The car 
 tridges were soon exhausted, when the men made them of 
 their shirt sleeves. Noon came, and the soldiers were served 
 with their meagre dinner at the guns, snatching a hasty bite 
 of the last of their hard biscuit and salt pork, and then calmly 
 went to their work again. During this tremendous can 
 nonading, Major Anderson and his officers coolly watched 
 through their glasses the effect of the shot, and ever and 
 anon turned their eyes anxiously towards the mouth of the 
 harbor, where our succoring fleet lay, not daring to run the 
 gauntlet of batteries that stretched between them and the 
 fort. Thus the toilsome day wore away, and as darkness 
 enveloped the scene, Anderson being no longer able to ob 
 serve the effect of his shots, ordered the port holes to be 
 closed, when the firing ceased and the men lay down to 
 rest. The enemy, however, did not remit his attack, and all 
 night long his ponderous shot kept smiting the solid walls 
 of the fort, and his shells, whose course could be seen by 
 their long trains of light, dropped incessantly around and 
 within the silent structure. Early on Saturday morning, 
 
58 DEFENSE OF FORT SUMTEK. 
 
 the little garrison were again at work, and gun answered 
 gun in quick response. The barracks for the fourth time took 
 fire, but the attempts to put it out as before were soon found 
 to be fruitless, for the hot shot of the enemy, dropping inces 
 santly among the combustible materials, kept the flames 
 alive, and in a short time the raging conflagration within 
 became more terrible than the hurricane of shot without. 
 The whole garrison was called from the guns to save the 
 magazine, and barrels of powder were rolled through the 
 smoke and embers to a place of safety. Ninety-six barrels 
 had been thus removed when the heat became too great to 
 continue the work, and it was abandoned, and the magazine 
 locked to await its destiny. The fire now raged uncontrolled, 
 and the smoke, driven downward by the wind 7 filled all the 
 interior of the fort, so that the men could no longer see each 
 other. Choked by the stifling air, they flung themselves on 
 the ground, and throwing wet handkerchiefs and cloths over 
 their mouths and eyes, lay and gasped for breath. The last 
 biscuit had been eaten the day before the walls were 
 crumbling around them the main gate had been burned 
 down, leaving an open passage to an advancing force, and 
 it was evident to all, that the contest was a hopeless one. 
 Still Anderson stood unmoved amid the wreck, and refused 
 to strike his colors. The cartridges were nearly exhausted 
 the magazine could not be reached for more powder, yet 
 now and then a shot was- fired to let the fleet outside and 
 the enemy know they had not surrendered. To add to the 
 horrors of their position, the shells and ammunition in the 
 upper service magazine caught fire and exploded with a 
 frightful crash, sending splintered beams and blazing frag 
 ments in every direction, and adding tenfold to the terror 
 of the conflagration that was raging in every part of the 
 inclosure. This went on hour after hour, the men compelled 
 to work with wet cloths over their mouths. At length the 
 
WIGFALI/S WHITE FLAG. 59 
 
 fire approached the men s quarters where the barrels of pow 
 der that had been taken from the magazine lay exposed. 
 The soldiers rushed through the flames with wet blankets, 
 and covered them over ; but the heat soon became so in 
 tense, that it was feared they would take fire and blow up 
 the fort, and they were rolled through the embrasures into 
 the sea,, till all but three were gone, which were piled over 
 thickly with wet blankets. Only three cartridges were now- 
 left, and these were in the guns. At this crisis the flag-staff 
 was shot away. The flag w r as brought in, after having been 
 shot down, by Lieutenant Hall; but was afterwards (by 
 order of Major Anderson) planted on the rampart by Lieu 
 tenants Snyder and Hart, who nailed it to the flag-staff, 
 where it continued to wave defiantly. A few minutes 
 after this occurred, a man was seen at an embrasure, with a 
 white flag tied to his sword. It was Wigfall, late senator 
 froni Texas, who had come from fort Moultric, and now 
 desired admittance. Entering through into the casemate, 
 he exclaimed in an excited manner, that he came from Gen 
 eral Beauregard, that he saw the flag of the fort was down, 
 adding, " let us stop this firing. 17 " No sir," replied Lieuten 
 ant Davis, " the flag is not down, step out this way and you 
 will see it waving from the ramparts." General Wigfall 
 then asked that some one should hold his white flag outside 
 the walls, " No sir," replied the gallant lieutenant, ." we don t 
 raise a white flag, if you want your batteries to stop, you 
 must stop them yourself." Wigfall then held the flag out 
 of the embrasure. As soon as he did so, Lieutenant Davis 
 ordered a corporal to relieve him, as it was not the act of 
 the fort, but of Wigfall. But the cannon balls continuing 
 to strike around the corporal, he exclaimed with an oath, 
 "I won t hold that flag, they don t respect it." Wigfall re 
 plied, "They fired at me three or four times, and I should 
 think you ought to stand it once." He then placed the flag 
 
60 SURRENDEROFFORTSUMTER, 
 
 outside of the embrasure and sought Major Anderson. Wig- 
 fall introduced himself by saying, " I am General Wigfall r 
 and come from General Beauregard, who wishes to stop 
 this." Anderson, whose usually quiet blood had in the terrific 
 bombardment of these two days got fairly roused. r rose on 
 his toes, and as he came down with a sudden jar on his heels, 
 replied, "Well sir!" " Major Anderson," said the former, 
 u You have defended your flag nobly, sir you have done- 
 all that is possible for men to do, and General Beauregard 
 wishes to stop the fight. OB what terms will you evacuate 
 this fort ?" 
 
 u General Beauregard is already acquainted with my only- 
 terms," was the calm reply. 
 
 u Do I understand," replied Wigfall, "that you will evac 
 uate upon the terms proposed the other day ? " 
 
 u Yes, sir," said the Major, "and on those conditions only." 
 
 " Yery well," Wigfall replied, and retired. 
 
 A short time after, a deputation of four officers arrived, sent 
 by General Beauregard, and asked foran interview with Major 
 Anderson ; when it turned out, that Wigfall had acted en 
 tirely on his own responsibility, and without even the knowl 
 edge of Beauregard. The latter seeing the fort on ire, they 
 said, had sent them over to inquire if any assistance could be 
 rendered. They were amazed when Anderson informed 
 them that he. had just agreed upon terms of capitulation 
 with General Wigfall, acting under orders of General Beau- 
 regard. Seeing the state of. things, Major Anderson re 
 marked that it put him in a peculiar position, and the flag 
 must be hoisted again. After some conversation, however, 
 they requested him to put in writing what Wigfall had said 
 to him, and they would lay it before General Beauregard. 
 } Ie did so, but before the statement reached the rebel gen 
 eral, he had sent the Adjutant-general, and members of his 
 staff, to propose the same terms on which Major Anderson 
 
EXULTATION OF CH A RLESTONI AN S. 61 
 
 had consented to go out, with the exception of being allowed 
 to salute his flag. They asked him if he would not dispense 
 with the salute. He replied u -No," he would however leave 
 the question open for conference. They returned with the 
 reply, and shortly after an officer came over saying that the 
 terms first proposed were accepted. 
 
 What motive had prompted General Wigfall to volunteer 
 iiis services, and take upon himself the responsibility of ne 
 gotiating for Beauregard, is not known. It is but charita 
 ble, however, to suppose that the feelings of a man had been 
 aroused in him at sight of that burning fort, within which 
 a mere handful of men had for thirty-four hours borne the 
 concentrated fire of four powerful batteries, and which, 
 though unable to return only an occasional shot, and wrap 
 ped in a, fierce conflagration, still refused to yield. ] t was a 
 sight to move the pity of any thing human. 
 ^ Thus, fell fort Sumter ; and the opening act of the most fear 
 ful tragedy the world has ever seen, had closed. The people 
 of Charleston seemed utterly oblivious of the true character 
 and swift results of this first act of violence, and were wild 
 with enthusiasm and joy. Beauregard was a hero indeed 
 all were heroes. They had succeeded in firing the train, and 
 now danced in the flickering light it emitted, unconscious 
 that the fitful blaze was on its way to a magazine, the explo 
 sion of which would shake the continent. The Roman 
 Catholic bishop ordered a Te Deum to be chanted in honor 
 of the victory r and the Episcopal bishop, though blind and 
 ieeble, declared that the resistance was obedience to God. 
 
 On Monday morning preparations for the evacuation com 
 menced. But first, the only man killed during the terrible 
 bombardment, a private by the name of Daniel Hough, who 
 lost his life by the bursting of a cannon, was buried with 
 military honors. When this was done, and the baggage all 
 on board the transport, a portion of the little band who 
 
62 UNION OF ALL PARTIES. 
 
 stood under arms within the battered fort, were toled off as 
 gunners, to fire the one hundred guns as a salute to the flag. 
 At the fiftieth discharge a premature explosion killed one 
 man, and wounded three more one seriously. When the 
 last gun was fired, the handful of heroes marched out, the 
 band playing Yankee Doodle and Hail to the Chief) Yast 
 crowds were collected in the vicinity to witness this last 
 ceremony, little dreaming what it foreboded. That night 
 the troops remained on board the Isabel, and the next morn 
 ing were transferred to the Baltic, and started for New York. 
 Though South Carolina had long before declared herself 
 out of the Union, both postal and telegraphic communica 
 tion was kept up with Charleston, and never did the electric 
 wires of the country quiver with news so pregnant with the 
 fate of a great nation, as those which kept registering the 
 progress of the bombardment. And when at last the news 
 came that the stars and stripes had been lowered to the inso 
 lent, rebellious state, the nation was struck dumb with indig 
 nation and amazement. The first effect was stunning, par 
 alyzing 1 ; and the north seemed to hold its breath in suspense. 
 But it was the slow settling back of the billow, as it gathers 
 to break in thunder on the shore. The north had hitherto 
 been divided. The democrats, and those opposed to the 
 republican party had sympathized with the south in their 
 indignation at the triumph of a faction, whose battle cry 
 had been hostility to an institution that was inwoven into 
 the very structure -of its society. Every where threats had 
 been heard that if the republican party endeavored by any 
 unconstitutional act to carry out its hostility to slavery, there 
 would be an uprising at the north. So bitter was this feel 
 ing, that many rejoiced at the serious difficulties and embar 
 rassments their sectional victory had involved them in. 
 Indeed, it wa^s clear to the careful observer, that if the 
 couth managed discreetly, the party would have more 
 
"BLOODY WAR. " 63 
 
 trouble at the north than at the south. What course would 
 this powerful opposition take now, was a question fraught 
 witli life and death to the administration. But there was 
 no time given for arguments and appeals and attempts to 
 conciliate. Political animosities vanished party lines dis 
 appeared and all opposition went down like barriers of mist 
 before the rising patriotism of the people. Though the 
 democrats believed the spirit of the compact originally made 
 between the north and south, had been broken by the form 
 ation and success of the republican party, and that its very 
 existence was contrary to the spirit of the constitution, and 
 a violation of good faith though they felt it meditated a 
 great wrong on the weaker portion of the republic, they 
 suddenly forgot it all. The flag, our boast and pride, the 
 emblem of our nationality and record of our glory, had 
 been assailed by traitorous hands, and trailed in the dust at 
 their bidding. All minor differences disappeared before 
 this gigantic wrong ; and from the Atlantic to the broad 
 prairies of the west, there went up one loud cry for ven 
 geance. The President, who with his administration had 
 seemed to be laboring under a strange incredulity, see 
 ing state after state throw off its allegiance, and forts and 
 arsenals one after another seized by the rebels, with a calm 
 composure, as though all those high-handed acts were mere 
 parts of a stage play, and meant nothing more than the talk 
 about secession and a bloody revolt, that had characterized 
 the political campaign of the autumn previous was at last 
 aroused by the thunder of cannon at fort Sumter. The 
 President at length saw that this was not merely an u ar 
 tificial excitement;" and the "sixty days" which the Sec 
 retary of State prophesied were to bring a more* "cheerful 
 state of things,", had instead brought "bloody war." 
 
 The very next clay after fort Sumter had surrendered, the 
 President issued a proclamation, calling for seventy-five 
 
64 PRESIDENT S PROCLAMATION. 
 
 thousand volunteers, for three months, to protect the capital, 
 and secure the property of the government seized by the 
 rebels ; and commanding all those in arms to return to their 
 homes in twenty days. It also summoned congress to meet 
 on the 4th of July. It was calm in its tone, and reserved in 
 the claims put forth. It contained no appeal to the patriot 
 ism of the people, being almost exclusively confined to 
 statement of the rights of the general government over its 
 wn? property, which it would be the duty of the army to 
 take from the rebels after the safety of the Capital was* 
 secured. It was fortunate that the aroused people of the- 
 north needed no stimulus, and their instincts no instructions 
 respecting the true issue that had been forced upon them.. 
 This proclamation, which could not have been more carefully- 
 worded, or have said less, was received throughout the south 
 as a declaration of war. At the north, although it was a 
 confession that civil war had commenced, it was received 
 with one loud shout of approval, that showed that the Union 
 was not to be destroyed without a struggle that sh-Qiild 
 drench the land in blood. Enthusiastic meetings were held 
 in every part of the north the calls of the respective gov 
 ernors for troops were responded to with an ardor that* 
 showed that five times seventy-five thousand men could be 
 had. At Philadelphia, New York, Boston, Cincinnati, Pitts 
 burgh, and almost every large place r money was raised for 
 the volunteers and their families. Legislatures made large 
 appropriations, and abundant means seemed at the disposal 
 of the general government to put a speedy end to the 
 rebellion. 
 
 The call on the slave states, still in the Union, for their 
 proportion* of the army of seventy-five thousand men, was 
 received in a very different spirit. Governor Magomn of 
 Kentucky replied, " Kentucky will furnish no troops for the 
 wicked purpose of subduing her sister southern states, rj 
 
RESPONSE TO THE PROCLAMATION, 65 
 
 Governor Letcher of Virginia "the militia will not be fur 
 nished to the powers of Washington for any such use or pur 
 pose as they have in view." Governor Ellis of North Carolina, 
 in a more guarded tone, telegraphed to the President that 
 he could not respond to the call, as he had doubts of his 
 authority under the constitution to make it. Similar re 
 sponses came from Tennessee, Arkansas, and other states. 
 Maryland and Delaware were the only exceptions to a per 
 emptory refusal. Governor Bieks of the- former state, would 
 raise troops only for the defence of Washington, and not for 
 any other purpose. Little Delaware took her place- without 
 hesitation beside the- loyal states. Throughout the north the 
 lave- of the old flag suddenly became a passion, and the stars- 
 and stripes draped every street, and waved from every 
 church spire. Patriotic songs were in every mouth, and the 
 regiments gathering to their places of rendezvous, or stream 
 ing- through the cities towards Washington, were greeted by 
 shouting crowds ; and the general feeling was like that 
 which accompanies a triumphal march. Civil war was an 
 evil we had never contemplated besides, we had been 
 taught so long to regard it as a political bugbear, a mere 
 party menace, that we looked upon it with little or no alarm. 
 More than this, the north had been told so long by unscru 
 pulous politicians, that the south dare not fight, that at the 
 first call to- arms the slaves would rush into insurrection, that 
 it really believed at the first show of determination, the 
 south would decline the contest. The people at the south 
 had been beguiled in the same manner by their lead 
 ers they had been assured over and over again, that 
 the money loving north would never go to war with the 
 source of their wealth a race- of shop keepers would never 
 fight for a sentiment, and if they attempted it, would be 
 crushed at the first onset by the chivalrous, warlike south. 
 Thus the two sections were hurried, through ignorance and 
 
66 SOUTHERN PRIVATEERS. VIRGINIA SECEDES. 
 
 blind presumption, towards all the untold horrors of civil 
 war. It was plain to every one who had studied the history 
 of nations carefully, that this blind confidence on both sides 
 was doomed to a terrible disappointment. 
 
 The proclamation of the President was met on the part of 
 Davis of the Southern Confederacy by one calling on the 
 southern states for volunteers, and also for persons to take 
 out letters of marque as privateers, to prey on the commerce 
 of the north. The call for volunteers was responded to 
 with the same alacrity as that of President Lincoln had been, 
 and the same enthusiasm was exhibited. Like the north, 
 they thought there might be some conquering, but there 
 would be but little fighting. With many, however, especi 
 ally the more religious class, a different feeling prevailed. 
 They had been told, and they believed, that the seventy-five 
 thousand men summoned to the field by Mr. Lincoln, were 
 not designed for the defence of Washington, but to com 
 mence the work of emancipation by direct invasion of theii 
 soil, and hence rushed to arms under the full belief that they 
 were called upon to defend their homes, and firesides, and 
 all they held dear. 
 
 Immediately on the issue of the President s proclamation, 
 Virginia, which had long been wavering, through her con 
 vention elected to determine the matter, declared herself out 
 of the Union. It is more than probable that this was done 
 by direct fraud at least intimidation was used. Her best 
 men, and among them John Minor Botts, fought against 
 it to the last. It is difficult to say what motives promp 
 ted the leaders in this state to such a suicidal course. The 
 western part was known to be loyal, and certainly a large 
 minority of the eastern. Besides, in the issue of war, 
 which ever side should succeed, site was certainly to consti 
 tute the chief battle ground, and must be ruined in .the con 
 test. It is probable, that proud from her traditions, and 
 
EMBARRASSMENT OF THE GOVERNMENT. 67 
 
 overestimating her importance in the Union, she really 
 believed, that by casting her lot in with the southern con 
 federacy, she secured the co-operation of every southern 
 state, and thus made the contest so even, that the north 
 would not attempt coercion; while the magnitude of the 
 rebellion would secure at once the recognition of foreign 
 powers. Thus civil war would be prevented altogether. 
 
 The government, at this crisis, was surrounded with diffi 
 culties calculated to bewilder the strongest minds. Treason 
 was on every side, and it knew not where to strike, nor had 
 it the means to plant the blows it knew should be given. 
 Every thing had been thrown into chaos, and in the whirl 
 pool of conflicting elements, neither the President nor his 
 Cabinet seemed to know what to do. It was a state of things 
 never anticipated, and hence wholly unprovided for. Mr. 
 Lincoln felt himself wholly at sea, while unfortunately the 
 two Cabinet officers on whom the nation must chiefly rely 
 had not been selected for their fitness to meet such a crisis. 
 Mr. Cameron, the Secretary of War, soon proved this to the 
 satisfaction of the country and the President. The Secre 
 tary of the Navy, though a man of probity and true patriot 
 ism, could not be expected from his limited experience in 
 naval matters to give, at once, this arm of the government 
 its full efficiency. At all events, he was much blamed for a 
 heavy disaster following the fall of fort Sumter. The navy 
 yard at Norfolk, was the largest, and the most important one 
 in the country. To the rebels it was of vital importance, for 
 notwithstanding the thefts of Floyd, while Secretary of War,- 
 the south was deficient in heavy cannon, and here were 
 gathered a vast number, some of them of the largest caliber. 
 Virginia had seceded, and her Governor had summoned the 
 people to arms, and it was plain to the simplest mind, that 
 the navy yard located on her soil would be the first object 
 she would attempt to grasp, and yet sufficient precaution was 
 
68 SURRENDER OF NORFOLK HARPER S FERRY. 
 
 not taken to prevent the catastrophe. The Secretary of the 
 Navy seemed to think its surrender a foregone conclusion, 
 and intent only on saving the vessels there, ordered Commo 
 dore McCauley to remove them to a place of safety. 
 
 When he found it was not done he despatched Commo 
 dore Paulding to take his place. When the latter arrived 
 he found that they were being destroyed, the Merrimac and 
 other ships having already been scuttled. Seeing this would 
 not prevent their falling into the hands of the enemy, he 
 applied the torch to them and to what other public property 
 he could, and abandoned the place. The Cumberland, 
 towed down by the tug Yankee, escaped only eventually to 
 meet a worse fate than burning, from her former consort the 
 Merrimac. The country enraged asked why the ships 
 did not shell the batteries the enemy were erecting in the 
 neighborhood, and the place itself, and leave them a heap 
 of smoking ruins, and destroy the guns. Instead of this, we 
 succeeded in scuttling and firing the Pennsylvania, Delaware, 
 and Columbus, each seventy-four guns; the Merrimac and 
 Columbia, forty-four ; the Raritan, forty-five ; the sloops-of- 
 war Germantown and Plymouth, each twenty-two guns ; the 
 brig Dolphin, a powder boat, and the frigate United States, 
 (in ordinary.) Of these, the Merrimac was to be heard 
 from again. The value of the property was estimated at 
 fifty millions of dollars. This, however, was a small matter 
 compared to the advantage we gave the enemy by supply 
 ing him with hundreds of cannon. 
 
 Two days before, Lieutenant Jones, commanding the arsenal 
 at, Harper s Ferry, hearing that twenty-five hundred Vir 
 ginians were advancing to seize it, set it on fire, destroying 
 it with all its arms and munitions of war. Why these had 
 not been removed, when it was only some thirty miles to a 
 place of perfect safety, the public was not informed. But 
 for the gallant conduct of Lieutenant Jones, the arms so 
 
INACTIVITY OF THE GOVERNMENT. 69 
 
 much needed by the rebels, would have fallen into their 
 hands. 
 
 These apparently unnecessary disasters, produced an out 
 burst of indignation from those who had been the warmest 
 friends of the administration, and for a time shook seriously the 
 confidence of the people. .It is true, Gosport navy yard was 
 ^ surrendered five days after the proclamation of the Presi 
 dent on the 15th of April, and Harper s Ferry on the 18th. 
 Events were marching with fearful rapidity, the hands of 
 the government were tied for the want of means to carry 
 out its plans, and it knew not where to look for loyal men N 
 But with six weeks (the time since the inauguration of the 
 President) in which to gather its energies, it might have 
 done something. The fault was, that those six weeks had 
 been wasted in listening to the claims of politicians greedy 
 of places. With the lightning rending the clouds that were 
 rolling up the angry heavens, and the thunder breaking on 
 every side, the administration calmly devoted itself to the 
 filling of offices. All this time the rebels were at work. 
 
CHAPTER IY. 
 
 APRIL, 1861. 
 
 ENTHUSIASM OF THE PEOPLE AND BASENESS OF CONTRACTORS MARCH OF THE 
 
 REGIMENTS THE MASSACHUSETTS SIXTH ATTACKED IN BALTIMORE DE 
 PARTURE OF THE SEVENTH NEW YORK ENTHUSIASM SOUTH FEARS OF THE 
 
 PEOPLE AND MAYOR OF BALTIMORE COLLISION PREVENTED BY THE TROOPS 
 
 GOING BY WAY OF "ANNAPOLIS THEIR ARRIVAL AT WASHINGTON DEFEC 
 TION IN THE ARMY AND NAVY -ROBERT E. LEE EFFECT OF THE STATES* 
 
 RIGHTS DOCTRINE GREAT UNION MEETING IN NEW YORK ITS RECEPTION 
 
 SOUTH PROCLAMATION OF THE PRESIDENT INCREASING THE STANDING 
 
 ARMY TENNESSEE JOINS THE SOUTH ACTION OF THE GOVERNMENT 
 
 SUSPENSION OF THE WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS MISTAKE IN NOT CALLING 
 CONGRESS TOGETHER SOONER. 
 
 WHILE indecision wa i thus characterizing the govern 
 ment at Washington, patriotism and a stern determi 
 nation to settle the quarrel by the bayonet, were rousing the 
 people of the north, and it was soon evident that a power 
 was gathering that the government must control and let 
 loose on the rebellion, or it would go down before it. To a 
 thoughtful man, this indecision of the administration on the 
 one hand, and this tremendous energy and purpose of the 
 people on the other, were calculated to awaken serious alarm. 
 The people had forgotten politics, and were fully aroused 
 to the danger of the country. The regiments kept pouring 
 in, but, relying on the government to provide for their wants, 
 were ill supplied with the things necessary to their comfort 
 and efficiency. Seeing this state of things, a Union Defence 
 Committee was formed in New York to supply the troops 
 with necessary means. But politicians, greedy of gain, soon 
 assumed control of its affairs in order to fill their own pockets. 
 General Wool, who came to New York to direct matters, 
 attempted to put a stop to the wasteful extravagance, but 
 
MARCH OF THE GATHERING HOSTS. 73 
 
 through the efforts of these same politicians, who had an 
 influence with the government at Washington, was sent home 
 to Troy in disgrace. Contractors all over the^country took 
 advantage of the general enthusiasm to rob the public treas 
 ury, and unmolested by the Secretary of War, expe 
 rienced no difficulty in amassing wealth out of the 
 public necessities. The people had no eyes for these gi 
 gantic swindling operations they saw only their country s 
 flag in danger, and were pressing to its defense. From east 
 to west arose the murmur of gathering hosts. Massachusetts 
 and Rhode Island, Ohio, Illinois, and Indiana, and the far 
 west moved simultaneously. The Massachusetts Sixth led 
 the van, and four days after the. President s proclamation 
 was issued were entering Baltimore. Threats had been ut 
 tered that northern troops should not be allowed to pass 
 through the city to the Capital, which was now threatened 
 on every side. Patrols were kept up night and day over the 
 long bridge cannon commanded its passage the govern 
 ment, under the veteran and patriot Scott, was securing itself 
 as best it could with its limited means, anxiously looking 
 northward for the troops hastening to its defense. The 
 Massachusetts Sixth, occupying eleven cars, reached Balti 
 more on the 19th of April, and proceeded quietly through 
 the streets, drawn by horses, to the (Jepot on the farther side. 
 As they advanced, the crowd, which had been collected, 
 steadily increased, so that the horses could hardly effect a 
 passage through it. Soon shouts and yells, mingled with 
 threats, arose, on every side, followed by stones, brick-bajs, 
 and other missiles, which rained in a perfect shower on the 
 cars, smashing the windows and wounding the soldiers within. 
 The latter, however, made no resistance, but kept quietly on 
 their way, and nine of the cars reached the depot in safety, 
 and started for Washington. The two remaining cars, car 
 rying about one hundred, were thus cut off from the main 
 
74 MASSACRE IN BALTIMORE. 
 
 body, and hemmed in by some eight thousand infuriated 
 men. At this moment news came that the Pennsylvania 
 volunteers had arrived, and were about to follow the Massa 
 chusetts regiment. This increased the excitement, and the 
 Massachusetts troops, rinding the cars could not go on, came 
 out, and forming in a solid square, with fixed bayonets, and 
 at the double-quick, began to advance the Mayor of Balti 
 more, who had in vain endeavored to keep the peace at 
 their head. This was the signal for a storm of brick-bats, 
 stones, and clubs, varied with an occasional shot from a re 
 volver or musket. The soldiers suffered severely, but bore 
 the indignity and violence with a forbearance that was won 
 derful. The firing increasing in severity, and one after 
 another of the soldiers falling wounded, and two being killed, 
 their companions became exasperated, and leveled their miis- 
 kets at the crowd. No order was given to fire, nor was there 
 any platoon firing the shots that were delivered were scat 
 tering, being fired by a few whose forbearance was not equal 
 to such a trial and thus, struggling through the crowd, they 
 at length reached the depot with two killed and eight 
 wounded, and embarked for Washington. Seven of the 
 rioters were killed, and several wounded. No other but New 
 England troops (with loaded muskets in their hands) would 
 have borne that attack with such moderation. The com 
 manding officer would have been perfectly justified in order 
 ing a general volley into the crowd, and then a charge of 
 bayonet, which would have left the streets of Baltimore 
 slippery with the blood of its lawless citizens. The news of 
 this murderous outrage filled the north with boundless rage, 
 and the universal cry was, to lay the city in ashes, if neces 
 sary, to secure a safe transit for our troops. The mob im 
 mediately took possession of Baltimore, and the President 
 was notified by the Mayor and Governor that no more troops 
 be allowed to pass through the city. But the stop- 
 
ENTHUSIASM OF THE PEOPLE, 75 
 
 page of the direct route to the Capital was not to be enter 
 tained for a moment. If troops could reach the seat of 
 government in no other way, they must do it over heaps of 
 dead and smouldering ruins. The news reached New York 
 just before the Seventh Regiment the favorite regiment of 
 the city, composed of some of the most intelligent and 
 wealthy young men of the metropolis, and perfect in its ap 
 pointments and drill set out. This superb body of men 
 heard it, and took forty -eight rounds of cartridge to clear a 
 passage for themselves. Other regiments followed, and a 
 bloody fight was expected in Baltimore, 
 
 Massachusetts, in six days, responded to the President s 
 proclamation with five full regiments of infantry, a batallion 
 of rifles, and a fine corps of flying artillery. The south was 
 equally alert in answering the call of Davis for volunteers, and 
 even Alabama, in the same short space of time, had five 
 thousand ready to march for the seat of war. The same en 
 thusiasm attended the passage of troops from both sections of 
 the country. Crowds were gathered to witness theii depart 
 ure and herald their progress through the various towns. 
 Flags were presented, patriotic speeches delivered, and 
 shouts and words of greeting, and waving of handkerchiefs, 
 and flaunting of streamers, made their march one great ova 
 tion. To a spectator, these hostile forces appeared as if they 
 were gathering to some grand and peaceful review, instead 
 of, being citizens of the same republic, hastening to imbrue 
 their hands in each other s blood. 
 
 In the mean time, all eyes at the north were turned to 
 wards Baltimore, in expectation of a bloody battle in its 
 streets. A delegation from the young men s " Christian As 
 sociation" of the city waited on the President, and Governor 
 Hicks presented a communication, asking that the troops 
 might not pass through Maryland, and for a cessation of hos 
 tilities till a reference of the national dispute could be 
 
76 ARRIVAL OF TROOPS IN WASHINGTON. 
 
 made to Lord Lyons, the British Minister to the United 
 States, at Washington. The President, through the Secre 
 tary of State, replied that our troubles could not be referred 
 to a foreign arbitrament, and that the Commander-in- Chief 
 had decided that the troops must come through to Washing 
 ton there was no alternative. 
 
 The dreaded collision was prevented by the troops 
 stopping at Havre de Grace, and taking steamers for Annap 
 olis. General B. R Butler had taken his regiment by this 
 route, and there the. New York Seventh joined it, and were 
 placed under the command of that officer. We had the Naval 
 Academy here, and the old frigate Constitution, with cadets 
 aboard, was attached to it. This the rebels had planned to 
 seize, but were prevented by the prompt action of Butler. 
 This officer then seized the railroad leading to Washington 
 relaid the track that had been torn up took possession of 
 the hights around Annapolis, and hurried on the troops to 
 the menaced Capital. .Marching through the darkness along 
 the uneven track T expecting every moment to be greeted 
 with hostile vollies from the woods that lined the deep cuts 
 in the way, the New York Seventh, tired and worn out, at 
 length reached Washington, and marched up Pennsylvania 
 avenue to the President s mansion. Shcuts and the waving 
 of handkerchiefs greeted them, and the hearts of the loyal 
 men of the city were relieved of the heavy fears that had 
 oppressed them. A feeble effort was made by Governor 
 Hicks to prevent troops from crossing the state by this route, 
 but a passage had been cleared, and it was resolved that 
 nothing should close it Regiment after regiment was now 
 hurried forward, and though much privation and suffering 
 were endured, owing to the want of proper preparations, 
 which there had been no time to make, yet no murmuring 
 was heard. Both chambers of Congress, all the public 
 squares, and even the President s house, were filled with 
 
DEFECTION IN THE ARMY AND NAVY. 77 
 
 troops, till Washington looked like a besieged city. Arms 
 were stacked in the Rotunda of the Capitol, fire Zouaves 
 lounged in the cushioned seats of members of Congress, and 
 the building itself was turned into a fortification. General 
 Scott, though past his three-score-and-ten, seemed endowed 
 with the energy of youth, and immediately set on foot meas 
 ures for the security of the national Capital The nation 
 breathed free again, for the seat of government was safe. 
 The south had threatened to seize it, and its possession by 
 them, it was felt, would be an advantage at the outset not 
 easily overcome. Had Virginia been the first, instead of 
 among the last to have joined the southern confederacy, it 
 would easily have fallen into their hands. A few heavy guns, 
 planted on Arlington Eights, would have rendered it un 
 tenable. 
 
 Now commenced defections in the army and navy, and it 
 was impossible to tell whom to trust. A large portion of 
 the officers in both branches of service were natives of the 
 south. Since the war with Mexico, resignations of officers 
 of the army belonging to the north, in order to accept more 
 lucrative civil positions, had been numerous, while those from 
 the south had retained their places. Colonel Robert E. Lee, 
 connected with the family of Washington, and a great favor 
 ite of Scott s, and who stood high in the public estimation, 
 hesitated long before he cast his lot in with the rebels. As 
 he sat on his piazza at Arlington House, and gazed off on the 
 Capital, he shed bitter tears while he revolved the painful 
 question in his mind whether he should stand by the Union or 
 go with his native state, but finally felt it his duty to cast his 
 fortunes in with the latter. In this crisis of our affairs, we 
 first felt the full evils of the states right doctrine, so long and 
 so ably advocated by Calhoun. We saw, too, one of the in 
 herent weaknesses of our form of government. There ever 
 will be more or less of a conflict between state sovereignty 
 
78 PATRIOTISM AT THE NORTH. 
 
 and the confederated government. A man who holds a 
 double allegiance one to his state, and another to the 
 United States will not always fix the exact line where fealty 
 to one ends, and loyalty to the other begins to be paramount. 
 We at the north did not allow enough for this in our charity, 
 and never have since. To strike at "one s own mother, and 
 join those who are to invade his native soil, and help slay his 
 own kindred and neighbors, requires a higher patriotism 
 and loftier sense of duty than belongs to most men. Hence, 
 those at the south who stood the test of this terrible ordeal, 
 and remained faithful to the national flag throughout, deserve 
 greater honor than the most successful warrior of the north. 
 The spoiling of our goods, the entreaties and taunts of kin 
 dred and friends, imprisonment, and even death, are easier to 
 be borne than to come as an enemy into the home of our 
 childhood. 
 
 While matters were assuming such a warlike aspect around 
 Washington, the entire north became a great camp, and the 
 sound of arms, and the strains of military bands, drowned the 
 bum of industry, and occupied the thoughts of young and 
 old. Patriotic sermons were preached, prayer^were offered, 
 and voluntary contributions made, and war became the theme 
 of every tongue. The great north-west was stirred like a 
 hive, and her hardy sons gathered in uncounted thousands to 
 the defense of the national flag. A similar military frenzy 
 swept the south, and the two sections that had so long been 
 members of the same government, now seemed impelled by 
 a burning desire to close in mortal conflict. Hitherto, New 
 York city, the stronghold of democracy, and the emporium 
 of the country, had not spoken. Her trade with the south 
 had been one of her chief sources of wealth. She had also 
 millions at stake, in the shape of debts, owed by merchants 
 and planters there. She had never been accused of fanati 
 cism, and no sickly sentimentality or mock philanthropy 
 
GREAT UNION MEETING. 79 
 
 characterized those who controled her world-wide commerce. 
 The President had issued a proclamation on the 19th of the 
 month, blockading all the southern ports, and denouncing as 
 pirates the privateers commissioned by Jefferson Davis. The 
 commerce of New York must stop, her southern debts re 
 main unpaid, and her wharves and storehouses stand idle, in 
 order that a political faction might carry out its mad and un 
 constitutional schemes, was the language of the south. Would 
 she submit to such a state of things, was a question every 
 where asked, and the universal response was u no!" The 
 truth of this was soon to be tested, for a Union meeting was 
 called to be held in Union Square on the 20th April. This 
 meeting was one of the largest ever assembled on this, conti 
 nent. Leading men from every part of the country, demo 
 crats, republicans, and whigs joined hearts and voices, and 
 from the uncounted thousands that were gathered but one 
 cry went up, "down witli the rebellion /" New York had at 
 last spoken, and with bankruptcy staring her in the face, de 
 clared she would stand or fall with the government. The 
 news of this meeting was received with astonishment at the 
 south. At New Orleans such a state of public excitement 
 was created that the police had - to be called out to keep 
 down the mob. The last hope of the rebels of sympathy 
 from the north had failed them. The latter was a unit, no 
 division weakened its force, and the dread issue which the 
 south had provoked, she now saw was to be settled by the 
 comparative strength of the two sections. As a last resort 
 she turned to Europe, and despatched Messrs. Mann and 
 Yancey to obtain a recognition of their government, and to 
 get the blockade broken by promising free trade and an 
 ample supply of cotton. The conspirators, instead of flinch 
 ing at the dread prospect that opened before them, grew 
 bolder. Though Missouri was divided, Kentucky neutral, 
 and the western part of Virginia in open revolt against their 
 
80 CALL FOR VOLUNTEERRS. 
 
 assumed government, they boldly pressed the issue of 
 combat. United States vessels were seized in southern 
 ports the Star of the West captured at Galveston, and 
 turned into a southern national vessel forts in Arkansas and 
 Texas were seized, and arsenals and troops captured, and 
 northern property confiscated as recklessly as though no day 
 of reckoning was at hand. 
 
 On the 3d of May, the President issued an important procla 
 mation, portions of which caused a good deal of discussion at 
 the north. He called for forty- two thousand and thirty-four 
 volunteers to serve for three years or the war, and 
 directed the increase of the regular army by the addition of 
 eight regiments of infantry, one of cavalry, and one of artil 
 lery, and the enlistment of eight ee en thousand seamen for 
 not less than one nor more than three years in the navy. It 
 was asked where the President obtained the power to 
 increase the regular army without the sanction of Congress 
 which could not meet for two months to come. If he could 
 increase it by ten thousand men, why not by a hundred 
 thousand ; and if it could be called together two months 
 before the meeting of Congress, why not for a year. It was 
 undoubtedly an extraordinary stretch of executive authority 
 considering the well known repugnance of the people to a 
 large standing army. But in the appalling evils that threat 
 ened the government, and in the anxiety to save the country 
 at any and all hazards, the remonstrances uttered against the 
 measure by a portion of the northern press were little 
 heeded, or drowned in the one cry for self-preservation. 
 
 The south openly proclaimed its determination to have 
 Washington, and the two armies were rapidly coming fece to 
 face on the Potomac. At the West the neutral position of 
 Kentucky, which had resolved to side with neither party, but 
 present herself as a barrier to prevent the collision of armies 
 along the Mississippi, alarmed the government, and troops 
 
THE COMING CONTEST. 81 
 
 were concentrated at Cairo, which in turn was looked upon by 
 the traitorous governor of that state, McGoffin, as a menace. 
 In the mean time, Tennessee had entered into a league with 
 the southern confederacy, which, in a few days (May llth), 
 ended in her formally joining it. Affairs gradually assumed 
 definite form. The only three forts of importance in the 
 slave states which at present we could reach, Me Henry at* 
 Baltimore, Monroe in Virginia, and Pickens at Pensacola, had 
 been reinforced, and the number of states we must meet in 
 open rebellion pretty nearly ascertained. Maryland had re 
 considered her action, and under the leadership of her loyal 
 governor, decided to remain in the Union. Missouri, it was 
 evident, must be the scene of fierce internal strife. Her 
 governor, Jackson, was a traitor, and a great portion of the 
 southern and western parts of the state for secession, while St 
 Louis stood loyal. Kentucky was still firm in her determi 
 nation to stand neutral, though the government well knew 
 that every effort would be made through her governor and 
 the late Vice President, Breckenridge, and other leaders to 
 take her over to the south. Against these were the noble 
 Romans, Crittenden, Holt, and others, and the powerful in 
 fluence of the Louisville Journal, edited by Prentice. It was* 
 not difficult, therefore, to measure somewhat the magnitude 
 of the coming contest. Some reliance was placed on the 
 portions of North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, and Ala 
 bama, bordering on the Alleghany Mountains, for their 
 inhabitants had shown from the outset an invincible repug 
 nance to leaving the Union. Still, for the present, until 
 victory was thoroughly inaugurated, they would practically 
 have to be left out of the calculation. 
 
 Secretary Seward had previously instructed our foreign 
 ministers who had been hurried abroad to see to our interests 
 in foreign courts, that the United States would permit no 
 interference whatever in our domestic troubles. It was 
 
82 TRAITORS. HABEAS CORPUS. 
 
 especially important that France and England should not be 
 induced by the representations of southern commissioners to 
 recognize the Southern Confederacy. Attention was then 
 turned to clearing all departments at home of secret traitors. 
 This latter was no easy task, for they swarmed in every 
 public office at Washington, and were busily at work in every 
 important city at the north. The telegraph was suddenly 
 seized to find evidence of treason. Numerous arrests fol 
 lowed, anl some thus seized took advantage of the writ of 
 habeas corpus to get released. The President felt it neces 
 sary in self-protection to suspend this writ, which caused a 
 great deal of angry discussion at the north, for the power of 
 doing so had always been supposed to lodge in Congress 
 alone, and was never before assumed by the chief executive. 
 The right to exercise it admitted the most serious doubts. It 
 was one that the King of England dare not assert. 
 Congress under the Constitution, rules the republic, and tho 
 President, with the exception of a few reserved rights, 
 designed mostly to act as a check on unconstitutional legisla 
 tion, is but its minister to carry out its will ; and no antici 
 pation of evil can justify an unnecessary assumption of its 
 appropriate powers. If the President had assembled Con 
 gress sooner he would have been spared many executive acts 
 that furnish at least bad precedents for the future. The 
 people, however, submitted, for in the present imminent 
 danger they refused to consider remote evils. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 MAY-JUNE, 1861. 
 
 PUBLIC EXPECTATION - POSITION OF THE FORCES IN FRONT OF WASHINGTON* 
 APPOINTMENT OF GENERALS - OCCUPATION- OF ALEXANDRIA - MURDER, OF 
 COLONEL ELLSWORTH - EFFECT ON THE NORTH - FIGHT AT BIG BETHEL - 
 FEELING OF THE PEOPLE RESPECTING IT - CAPTAIN LYON AT ST. LOUIS - RE 
 FUSES TO OBEY THE PUBLIC COMMISSIONERS OF THE CITY - TAKES THE 
 ENTIRE FORCE OF GOVERNOR JACKSON AND GENERAL PRICE, PRISONERS - HIS 
 TROOPS MOBBED - PURSUES JACKSON - FIGHT AT BOONEVILLE - GENERAL 
 BARNEY - HIS VACILLATING COURSE - MC CLELLANMADE MAJOR-GENERAL AND 
 SENT TO WESTERN VIRGINIA - HIS PAST CAREER - HARPEIi s FERRY EVACU 
 ATED - CONCENTRATION OF THE REBELS AT MANASSAS JUNCTION - FIGHT AT 
 PHILLIPPI - KELLY WOUNDED - SCHENCK SURPRISED NEAR VIENNA - THE 
 QUESTION OF FUGITIVE SLAVES - CAPTURE OF THE FIRST REBEL PRIVATEER 
 SAVANNAH - THE PRIVATEER SUMTER AT SEA. 
 
 uncertainty and chaos into which civil war always 
 JL throws a country, especially one with a democratic form 
 of government, occasioned at this time but little concern with 
 the great body of the people; for they confidently believed 
 the great battle to be close at hand which should at once 
 settle the controversy and restore the supremacy of the 
 federal power. 
 
 Hence all eyes were turned to the Potomac, for it was 
 evident that the first serious collision must take place in front 
 of Washington. From the Chesapeake to Edward s Ferry, 
 twenty-five or thirty miles above the Capital, the southern 
 confederacy was resolved to defend the "sacred soil of Vir 
 ginia, " as it was called, from invasion. In the mean time, 
 the appointment of brigadier and major-generals became an 
 every day occurrence, and although it was not governed by 
 political considerations alone, these controlled it far too much 
 at first. 
 
84 MURDER OF ELLSWORTH. 
 
 It soon became apparent that Alexandria, a few miles from. 
 Washington, must be occupied, in order to secure the safety 
 of the Capital. So on the 24th of May, a little after noon, 
 General Mansfield, with the seventh New York regiment, 
 left their camp at Washington, and proceeded to the Alex 
 andria bridge. Another force, at the same time, passed the 
 Chain bridge, a few miles above Washington, and took pos 
 session of the Loudon and Hampshire railroad, capturing 
 two trains and several hundred passengers. Other regiments 
 took part in this general movement into Virginia, making in 
 all some thirteen thousand men. Several companies, among 
 them three of the fire Zouaves of New York, proceeded in 
 steamers direct to Alexandria. About five o clock in the 
 afternoon Colonel Ellsworth, the Zouave commander, landed 
 in good order, and marched forward in double-quick, driving 
 the rebels before him. One company was immediately de 
 tailed to destroy the railroad track leading to Richmond, 
 while Colonel Ellsworth with the remainder proceeded to the 
 telegraph office to cut the wires. On his way through the 
 street, he caught sight of a large secession flag flying from the 
 top of the Marshall House kept by a person named Jackson. 
 He immediately turned and entered the hall, and meeting a 
 man asked, u Who put that flag up ?" The man answered, 
 " I don t know, I am a boarder here." The colonel then with 
 a lieutenant, the chaplain, and four privates, proceeded to 
 the top of the house and cut down the flag. As they were 
 coming down stairs, preceded by private Brownell, they met 
 the man they had just before accosted, standing in the hall 
 with a double-barreled gun in his hand. Instantly leveling 
 it, he fired. Both barrels were discharged at once, lodging 
 their contents in the body of Colonel Ellsworth. He was at 
 the time rolling up the flag. Suddenly falling forward on 
 his face, with the exclamation, "My God ! " he instantly ex 
 pired. Private Brownell, quickly leveling his musket, sent 
 
BIG BETHEL. 85 
 
 a bullet crashing through the skull of the murderer. In 
 about ten minutes a company arrived, and making a litter of 
 their muskets carried their dead commander aboard the 
 boat. 
 
 The death of this gallant young officer produced the pro- 
 foundest sensation throughout the north. It was the first 
 great sacrifice on the altar of freedom, and his remains were es 
 corted with great honor to his friends in the state of New York. 
 
 Skirmishing between pickets, and collisions between small 
 bodies of troops, in which the Unionists were almost inva 
 riably successful, kept the public feeling at fever heat, and 
 inspired the north with unbounded confidence in its power to 
 crush out the rebellion in a very short time. The first serious 
 affair occurred at Big Bethel, near Fortress Monroe. In the 
 early part of June, a few regiments under the command of 
 General Pierce were sent by General Butler to occupy New 
 port News. From thence they proceeded to Little Bethel 
 which they occupied, and then pushed on to Big Bethel. 
 Here they were met by the enemy entrenched behind works, 
 and after a short action driven back with a loss in killed and 
 wounded of some forty men. The whole affair was badly 
 managed the regiments through mistake firing into each 
 other and had the enemy shown any energy the whole 
 command would have been cut up. Lieutenant Greble of 
 the regular service, and Major Winthrop, volunteer, and aid 
 to General Butler, were among the killed. This disaster" 
 awoke a storm of indignation at the north. Defeat was a 
 contingency never anticipated, and the most unsparing de 
 nunciations were visited on the heads of the supposed offend 
 ers. The newspapers now began to assume the control of 
 military matters, and it was evident that the unreasonable 
 demands of the public would ere long force the government 
 into worse blunders. 
 
 In the mean time, Captain Lyon of the regular army, in 
 
86 GENERAL LYON. 
 
 command of the arsenal in St. Louis, began to develop those 
 military qualities which promised to make him one of the 
 most prominent supporters of the government. In May, he 
 refused to obey the order of the police commissioners of St. 
 Louis to remove all the United States troops outside the 
 grounds. Governor Jackson, with General Price, took the 
 field against him, and established a camp at Jackson, near the 
 city. Lyon, by a sudden movement, succeeded in surround 
 ing it, and taking the whole force, six hundred and thirty- 
 nine, prisoners. A great mob followed the troops back to the 
 camp, saluting them with yells and volleys of stones. One 
 company, receiving orders to fire, poured a volley into the 
 crowd, killing twenty, and wounding many more, which 
 created the most intense excitement. Promoted to the rank 
 of Brigadier-General, Lyon dealt his blows right and left with 
 a vigor that showed he was determined to make short work 
 with the rebels. Governor Jackson having taken position at 
 Jefferson city, he moved against him there. The latter fled, 
 burning and destroying bridges, railroads, and telegraphs in 
 his retreat. Reaching Booneville, forty miles distant, and 
 one of the strongest secession towns in the state, he made a 
 stand, throwing up earthworks. Pushing on after him, Lyon 
 landed four miles below the town, and after crossing several 
 bluffs commenced ascending a slope a half a mile long, on the 
 top of which the enemy were posted in a strong position. 
 
 FIGHT AT BOONEVILLE. 
 
 Arriving within easy range, Captain Totten threw some 
 nine-pounder shells into their ranks, while the infantry 
 obliqued to the right and left, and commenced a deadly fire 
 of musketry. The enemy, after a brisk but short fire, left 
 the lane in which they were posted, and clambering over a 
 fence into a wheat field, again formed in line of battle, 
 
GENERAL HARNEY. 87 
 
 and advanced some twenty steps towards the Unionists. The 
 battle now fairly commenced, but Lyon, though he had some 
 two thousand troops with him, owing to the nature of the 
 ground, could not bring more than live hundred into action. 
 He led the advancing column in person, cheering on the men. 
 In twenty minutes the battle was over, and the enemy, flying 
 in every direction, hastened in their retreat by the cannon 
 balls that went ploughing through their disordered ranks. 
 
 A large quantity of stores fell into our hands with two se 
 cession flags. Leaving a small force in charge of the camp, 
 Lyon pushed on to Booneville, and when near the town was 
 met by a deputation of citizens bearing a flag of truce. The 
 Union inhabitants received him with every demonstration of 
 joy, and soon the Stars and Stripes waved above the place. 
 Here he issued a proclamation, calling on the rebels to lay 
 down their arms, and threatening with punishment those who 
 refused. 
 
 General Harney was at this time commander in the Depart 
 ment of the West, as it was termed, and though his loyalty 
 had been called in question, no evidence had been produced 
 against him. It was evident, however, whether from aver 
 sion to shedding the blood of citizens, or from want of sym 
 pathy with the administration, he could not be relied upon 
 in the prosecution of prompt and decided measures. Per 
 haps, however, at this time he was quite up to the adminis 
 tration. It did not seem so much averse to have others act 
 with energy, as it was disinclined to assume responsibility of 
 doing anything which would produce bloodshed. 
 
 After an attack of the mob on the Home Guards at St. 
 Louis in May, in which several were killed, Harney issued a 
 proclamation rather deprecatory than authoritative. So in an 
 agreement he afterwards made with General Price, the rebel 
 Governor s right hand man, he showed a willingness to tem 
 porize with the rebels, which Lyon, with his greater sagacity, 
 
 <S~ OK TFTR "vf 
 
 ISITY] 
 
88 GENERAL MC CLELLAN. 
 
 and clearer ideas of the rights and powers of the general gov 
 ernment, saw was foolish and suicidal. 
 
 MCCLELLAN ASSUMES COMMAND IN VIRGINIA. 
 
 Western Virginia, having taken a decided stand for the 
 Union, asked for assistance in men and arms to drive the 
 rebels over the mountains. George B. McClellan, appointed by 
 the President as major-general, was ordered to take charge 
 of this department. Educated at West Point, he saw active 
 service in Mexico, and afterwards, with two others, was sent 
 by the government to the Criraea to witness the grand mili 
 tary operations going on there between Russia and the com 
 bined forces of England and France. Returning from this 
 mission, he resigned his position in the army to accept the 
 more lucrative one of President of a western railroad. At 
 the breaking out of the rebellion his services were sought for, 
 and he was the first to receive the appointment of major- 
 general in the regular army, thus ranking next to General 
 Scott, for General Wool was only major-general by brevet. 
 Just before starting for Virginia, in the latter part of May, 
 he issued an address to his soldiers fall of spirit and patriot 
 ism, and another to the people of Virginia, His presence 
 there, and the occupation of Virginia by our troops in front 
 of Washington, stung the pride of the south, and roused the 
 secessionists to the highest pitch of indignation. The north 
 ern hordes had dared to pollute with hostile feet southern 
 soil, and the cry rung over the slave states to rise and hurl 
 back the daring invaders. The Potomac, from just below 
 Alexandria, nearly to Fortress Monroe, began to be lined 
 with their batteries, while from little above Washington, the 
 river, for most of the way, also served as a dividing line be: 
 tween the hostile forces. The movements of our troops, 
 however, rendered the occupation of Harper s Ferry which 
 
BATTLE OP PHILLIPPI. 89 
 
 the rebels had held since Lieutenant Jones set fire to the 
 public works there untenable, and they evacuated it. Their 
 main force was rapidly concentrating at Manassas Junction, 
 a strong natural position, about thirty miles southward from 
 Washington. Skirmishing between the pickets along the 
 lines was now incessant, relieved occasionally by more or less 
 important engagements between large bodies of troops. 
 
 FIGHT AT PHILLIPPI. 
 
 One of the most important of these engagements occurred 
 on the first of June at Phillippi between a force of the enemy, 
 variously estimated at fifteen hundred and two thousand 
 under Colonel Porterfield, and four regiments of Union troops 
 in two divisions commanded by Colonels Lander and Kelly. 
 The two latter left Grafton at ten o clock at night on the 
 second of June, and proceeding by railroad to within twenty- 
 five miles of Phillippi, disembarked their troops in a terrible 
 storm of rain. The columns were formed in total darkness, 
 and set forward rapidly. In dead silence they pushed on 
 through the storm, but the darkness and mud so impeded 
 their progress that they did not arrive before Phillippi till 
 near light. The attack was to be in two divisions, Colonel 
 Kelly making a circuit so as to take them in rear, while Co 
 lonel Lander should move on them in front. The hour fixed 
 for the attack was four o clock in the morning, but Colonel 
 Kelly was unable to be at the designated place at that hour. 
 Colonel Lander s command, in the mean time, stood and 
 waited in the darkness for the order to advance, till daylight 
 revealed them to the enemy. The Colonel, then, seeing the 
 enemy s camp in commotion, and fearing they were about to 
 escape by flight, ordered his artillery, situated on the brow 
 of a hill, to open upon them. At that moment the column 
 of Colonel Kelly came in sight across the river below the 
 
90 KELLY WOUNDED. 
 
 camp, and hearing the heavy boom of Lander s guns, rushed 
 forward with a shout. The rebels hearing the rapid roll of 
 drums in front and rear, and catching sight of the gleaming 
 bayonets, turned and fled in confusion. Kelly broke with a 
 shout into the town only to find it emptied of the enemy. 
 Passing along, he suddenly fell from his horse, shot by some 
 one concealed behind a fence or in a house. He was struck 
 full in the breast, and was supposed at first to be mortally 
 wounded. Wagons loaded with munitions of war, forage, 
 officer s blankets, and baggage were abandoned by the enemy 
 in their precipitate flight, and fell into our hands. 
 
 Another small affair occurred in the latter part of this 
 month, which provoked a great deal of comment at the 
 north. General Schenck of Ohio was sent with six hundred 
 and sixty-eight men to take possession of Vienna, a small 
 village in front of our lines on the Potomac. Leaving com 
 panies stationed at different points along the way, he pro 
 ceeded with four companies in the cars to within a quarter of 
 a mile of the place, when he run right into masked batteies 
 placed near the road. The balls went crashing through the 
 cars, when the engine was suddenly stopped, the men hurried 
 out, and ordered to fall back along the road. The enemy, 
 instead of following up his success, and completing the de 
 struction of the detachment, thinking a larger force close at 
 hand, also retreated. Our loss, in killed, wounded, and mis 
 sing, was twenty-one. This marching on the enemy in a rail 
 road train, without any scouts being sent in advance to recon- 
 noiter, was looked upon as a most extraordinary mode of pro 
 ceeding, and received the severest condemnation. It was, 
 however, strictly in keeping with the unreasonable, headlong 
 spirit of the north, that seemed to think our brave troops 
 Lad only to take the first train, and rush unchecked over 
 the south. 
 
 Thus the month of June wore slowly away, without any 
 
THE SUMTER AT SEA. 91 
 
 thing decisive being done, and serving only to reveal the 
 chaos and embarrassments in which the country was strug 
 gling. Fugitive slaves escaping to our army now began to 
 present a problem difficult of solution. What should be 
 done with them, was a question pressed on the government 
 from every side. 
 
 General Butler, who had been placed in command in 
 Maryland, had, for the time being, disposed of it by calling 
 them " contraband of war;" and they afterwards took the 
 name of " contrabands," a species of property not before 
 recognized in international law. But it was becoming appa 
 rent that the question was too complicated to admit of a so 
 lution in this way. 
 
 The close of the month was signalized by the capture of 
 the schooner Savannah, the first rebel privateer that had 
 ventured out upon the ocean. 
 
 All eyes were now turned towards the approaching session 
 of Congress. Its presence was required to sanction some of 
 the acts of the President, which, though deemed necessary 
 by all, were felt by the best men of the country to need the 
 authority of Congress. Many, however, who were familiar 
 with Congressional history, and remembered how it had al 
 ways, from the Revolution down, made politics paramount 
 to success in the field, trembled with anxiety. While the 
 members were slowly gathering to the Capital, on the first 
 of July, the commercial men of the north were startled with 
 the report that the first formidable privateer, the steamer 
 Sumter, had escaped the blockade at New Orleans, and was 
 off on her mission of destruction on the deep. Whether she 
 would waylay our richly freighted steamers from California, 
 or sweep down on our unprotected commerce on the Atlan 
 tic, no one could tell ; and in the uncertainty attached to 
 her career, her power to work mischief became greatly mag 
 nified in the public imagination. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 JUNE, 1861. 
 
 MC CLELLAN TAKES COMMAND OF THE ARMY IN WESTERN VIRGINIA ADVANCES 
 
 ON THE ENEMY BATTLE OF RICH MOUNTAIN GALLANT ACTION OF ROSE- 
 
 CRANZ OF LANDER DEFEAT OF PEGRAM AND CAPTURE OF HIS FORCES 
 
 PURSUIT OF GARNETT ACTION OF CARRICK*S FORD A TERRIBLE MARCH 
 
 DEATH OF GARNETT AND DEFEAT OF HIS FORCES COX ON THE KANHAWA 
 
 ACTION OF BARBOURSVILLE RETREAT OF WISE CLOSE OF THE CAMPAIGN 
 
 IN WESTERN VIRGINIA SIGEL IN MISSOURI BATTLE OF CARTHAGE HIS 
 
 ADMIRABLE RETREAT STATE OF KENTUCKY UNIONISM IN EASTERN TEN 
 NESSEE. 
 
 WHILE Congress was thus consulting on the proper 
 way to conduct the war, and a portion of the North 
 ern press was furnishing General Scott and the administra 
 tion with gratuitous counsel respecting their duty, General 
 McClellan, who had taken command in person in Western 
 Virginia, was showing what a competent military leader, 
 conducting war on strictly strategic principles, could ac 
 complish. On the 22d of June, Pierpont, who had been 
 elected provisional governor of Virginia by the loyal inhab 
 itants west of the Blue Ridge, issued his proclamation, call 
 ing together the new constitutional legislature of the state. 
 On the 23d, General McClellan issued Ms proclamation, 
 stating the course he should pursue towards those who were 
 loyal, and those found with arms in their hands against the 
 general government. Immediately after, he began his series 
 of movements, which met with no successful resistance till 
 he had finished the work assigned him. With a definite 
 object in view, he pushed straight forward, deterred neither 
 by mountains, streams, almost impassable roads, nor the 
 enemy, till he accomplished what he set out to perform. 
 
FLANK MOVEMENT. 93 
 
 After various successful skirmishes, he came in presence of 
 the enemy under Colonel Pegram, formerly an officer in the 
 United States army, strongly posted on Rich mountain. 
 The force of the latter numbered some four thousand men, 
 and stood drawn up in order of battle at the foot of the 
 mountain. He had rolled down trees from the sides, and 
 lapped them together, filling in with earth and stones, 
 behind which he had placed his army. McClellan, after 
 reconnoitering the position, sent General Rosecranz with 
 some Indiana regiments and one Ohio regiment, together 
 with a body of Cincinnati cavalry, to get in their rear. 
 Taking a hasty breakfast, they started about daylight, and 
 entering the woods, preceded by a guide, pushed resolutely 
 forward towards the top of the mountain, where the rebels 
 had an entrenchment directly in rear of their main army. 
 There had been a cold mountain rain, and the bushes were 
 dripping wet, which soon drenched the soldiers to their 
 skins. But keeping their ammunition dry, they pushed on 
 in dead silence through the tangled laurel bushes, and over 
 the rocks, still toiling upward the daring, chivalrous Lan 
 der keeping close to the guide till after a march of five 
 miles amid unparalleled hardships, they arrived at noon, at 
 the top of the mountain. McClellan intended to keep the 
 enemy in profound ignorance of the movement, but a 
 diagram of the route, which had been sent after the column 
 with dispatches, was captured by them and thus revealed 
 the whole strategem. Pegram immediately dispatched 
 twenty-five hundred men and three pieces of artillery to the 
 top of the mountain to resist the advance of Rosecranz, 
 Arriving there before him, they greeted his arrival with a 
 sudden discharge of cannon. The day had been overcast, 
 and now the long threatening clouds began to descend in 
 torrents on the weary column. Rosecranz had no cannon 
 with him, for it was impossible to drag guns up the rough 
 
94 ROSECRANZ AND LANDER, 
 
 and tangled path the troops were compelled to cut for 
 themselves. This unexpected resistance arrested the pro 
 gress of the column. Halting in its place, it stood still for 
 half an hour in the pouring rain, while the necessary recon- 
 noisances were made. The bushes were so thick that the 
 opposing forces could not be seen, and the whereabouts of 
 the enemy was known only by the dull explosions of cannon 
 in front, whose shot crashed through the tree tops above 
 them, scattering the shattered limbs on every side. Colonel 
 Lander immediately* took twenty sharp shooters and hurrying 
 forward, posted them behind some rocks ? and began to pick 
 off the gunners. But as fast as they fell others took their 
 places, when Lander endeavored to make hia little handful 
 charge the guns. The attempt, however, was too desperate, 
 and they refused to obey. He then coolly seated himself 
 on the rocks in open view of the rebel artillery,, to show 
 them there was no danger. They still hesitating to follow 
 him, he called to the chaplain to come up and sit by his 
 side > that the men might see how harmless the enemy s fire 
 was. But the latter not deeming this extraordinary move 
 ment to be a part of his duties, declined the invitation, and 
 the gallant colonel was compelled to abandon his desperate 
 purpose. In the mean time, an Indiana regiment came up, 
 and the order to "fix bayonets" ran along the undaunted 
 line. The rattle of the iron sounded ominously in the pelt 
 ing storm. The next moment an Ohio regiment, posted on 
 a rising piece of ground, poured in a volley, and then the 
 Indianians with a loud and ringing cheer sprang forward. 
 The enemy, panic stricken, broke and fled with the excep 
 tion of a single man, who stood to his gun till he was shot 
 down by a revolver. Rending the air with their loud hur 
 rahs, the victorious troops now pressed forward, driving the 
 enemy back full three hundred yards, when the bugle 
 bounded a recall They then halted and formed in line of 
 
PURSUIT OF GARNETT. 95 
 
 battle, to receive the force of Pegram at the foot of the hill, 
 which they supposed would immediately advance to meet 
 them. But dismayed at this sudden apparition in their rear, 
 the latter broke for the woods, and fled in every direction. 
 McClellan, in the meantime, was cutting a road through the 
 woods towards the entrenchments at the foot of the hill. 
 The heavy firing came down to him from the top of the 
 mountain, and ignorant of the result of the contest there, he 
 kept pushing on through the driving storm, till he came to 
 the enemy s works. Cautiously advancing against them, he 
 found them to his surprise, deserted. Guns, tents, horses, 
 baggage, every thing had been abandoned in their wild 
 flight. 
 
 Many prisoners were taken, while the mountain was 
 strewed with the dead and wounded one hundred and fifty 
 being buried on the field. Pegram, with about six hundred 
 followers, after wandering about in the woods, and finding 
 no way of escape, surrendered prisoners of war. General 
 Garnett, stationed a few miles distant, near Beverly, with 
 six thousand men, hearing of Pegram s defeat, commenced a 
 hurried retreat through the mountains. General Morris 
 took possession of his camp on Laurel Hill, on the 12th, next 
 day at eleven o clock five regiments of Ohio and Indiana 
 troops started in pursuit. The rebels had taken a by-road 
 directly over the mountains, pushing straight for" Cheat 
 river. Our column pushed on that afternoon and encamped 
 about two miles south of Leedsville. The next morning, at 
 two o clock, the loud reveille called up the weary soldiers, 
 who snatching a hasty breakfast started after the fugitives. 
 The rain soon began to fall in torrents, turning the roads into 
 a bed of mortar, and making the wild and desolate scene still 
 more forbidding. They wanted no guide to direct the 
 course which the enemy had taken, for the trampled mud, 
 the abandoned tents, trunks, haversacks, and blankets, strew- 
 
96 A TERRIBLE MARCH. 
 
 ing the road marked plainly enough the route they had 
 taken. Trees had been felled across the road to obstruct 
 our passage, which the axe men ahead were compelled to 
 clear away ; and hour after hour, the only sounds that smote 
 the ear, were the rapid blows of the axe, as though the stern 
 occupation of the soldier had given place to that of the peace 
 ful wood-chopper. Over creeks and rocks, across hills and 
 through dense forests, the rebels took their course, hoping 
 to elude pursuit but like the western hunter on the track 
 of his game, these western soldiers, pressed steadily after. 
 Across swollen streams, up muddy heights, adown which the 
 kneaded mire flowed like thick tar, they kept on, only halt 
 ing long enough in the storm to snatch a bite of biscuit. 
 At last they emerged from Laurel mountain, and came out 
 on Cheat river, at Kahler s ford. It was now noon, and 
 after a halt, the tired troops were glad to clash into the 
 stream, to wash off the mud of the mountains, which plas 
 tered them to their waistbands. As they emerged from the 
 ford, they caught sight of the rear of the fleeing rebels, and 
 at the second ford below, found them drawn up in line of 
 battle. But the first cannon shot set them in motion again, 
 and throwing away their remaining baggage, even their 
 canteens, they streamed in disorder forward. Again being 
 pushed so close that their baggage train was in danger of 
 falling "into our hands, they a second time drew up in line 
 of battle, and seemed determined to dispute our passage. 
 But as soon as the baggage got under way, they resumed 
 their retreat, the shouts of the teamsters, as they flogged 
 the tired animals, rising in discordant sounds above the tree 
 tops. It was a wild chase, through a wild country. Three 
 miles farther on, they came to "Carrick s ford," where the 
 mountains receding away from the river, left an open space 
 which had been turned into a farm. The bank of the stream 
 here was fringed with laurel bushes, and a fence, while a 
 
CARRICK S FORD. 07 
 
 bluff, farther back, completely commanded the approach. 
 On this, Garnett had placed his artillery, while the infantry 
 was drawn up behind the laurel bushes and fence. It was a 
 capital position, and no one knew it better than Garnett. 
 With good troops under him he . could hardly have been 
 driven from it. The teams had been left standing in the 
 stream, whether on purpose to draw our soldiers under fire, 
 or from inability to proceed, was not known, and apparently 
 as little heeded. The skirmishers dashed fearlessly up to 
 the bank, when the teamsters called out, "Don t shoot, we 
 jirc going to surrender." The captain then called out, 
 " Colonel, they are going to surrender." Colonel Stedman 
 then ordered his regiment forward at the double quick, 
 but as it came up shoulder to shoulder, Garnett shouted, 
 "Fire!" The bank of the stream was instantly a long line 
 of flame. The fearless fourteenth Ohio, though taken by 
 surprise, never flinched, and halting only long enough to 
 deliver one volley, sprang forward. At this moment the 
 artillery on the bluff opened, and had it been well directed 
 would have shattered that regiment to atoms. But the shot 
 flew just over their heads. Milroy s regiment then came 
 up and delivered an oblique fire. In the mean time, Colo 
 nel Dumont, with six companies, was ordered to cross the 
 stream some three hundred yards farther up, and ascending 
 the hill take the enemy in rear. Before his difficult mission 
 was fulfilled, the order was countermanded, and he was 
 directed to proceed down the ford with his command, and 
 charge them in front, on the road. Wheeling, he took the 
 middle of the stream, wading down, often waist deep, 
 through the fire, till he reached the position assigned him. 
 Seeing his advance, the enemy broke, and crossing a wheat 
 field, pushed for another ford, a quarter of a mile below. 
 Reaching it, they dashed through the stream without stop 
 ping to defend the passage, and continued their flight. 
 
98 DEATH OF GARNETT. 
 
 Garnett, incensed at their dastardly conduct, strove in vain 
 to rally them. The last to cross the stream, he dismounted, 
 and stood waving his handkerchief, and shouting to them to 
 halt, when Major Gordon, of the United States army, came 
 up, and seeing the enemy huddled together in the road on 
 the opposite side shouted to the advance of Dumont s com- 
 mand which was already coming down on a run. The next 
 instant a bullet pierced the brave but erring rebel com 
 mander, and throwing up his hands he fell dead where he 
 stood. Not an officer was near him ; all had ingloriously 
 fled, leaving him alone, save a young and delicate boy from 
 Georgia, who nobly refusing to desert him, fell dead by his 
 side. 
 
 The pursuit was kept up for two miles farther r when our 
 troops gave out from exhaustion, and bivouacked for the 
 night. The scattered dead and wounded were picked up, 
 the latter tenderly cared for, and the former consigned to 
 their hastily dug graves. But none was handled more 
 gently than that gallant boy r who had fallen beside his Gen 
 eral. Those fierce soldiers laid him in a grave by himself T 
 and placed a board at his head, on- which they wrote, "name 
 unknown, a brave fellow who shared his General s fate ? - 
 and fell fighting by his side while his- companions had fled." 
 General Garnett, while an officer in the United States army r 
 had won distinction in the Mexican war. Our loss was 
 slight. All told, in both engagements, it would not reach 
 sixty, while that f the enemy in killed alone was nearly 
 two hundred, besides a thousand captured. 
 
 This forced march of over thirty miles r in less than 
 twenty-four hours, through rain and mud, and over moun 
 tains, rocks and streams, the troops almost without food r 
 some tasting nothing for thirty-six hours, speaks volumes for 
 the volunteer forces under General MeClellan. Veteran 
 regulars could not have done better. 
 
MARCH TO BARBQURSVILLE. 99 
 
 The whole rebel army in Western Virginia was estimated 
 to be ten thousand strong. A portion of these w^ere at the 
 south, on the Kanhawa river, under General Wise. General 
 Cox, from Ohio, was opposed to him, and at the time these 
 victories were being achieved in the northern part of the 
 state, was gradually pushing this terrible, erratic fire eater 
 of Virginia before him, The same day on which McClellan 
 had dated his despatches to the government, this general 
 put his force in motion to attack the enemy, which had 
 taken position at Barboursville. At midnight, a portion of 
 Colonel Woodruff s command was roused from their slum 
 bers, and under Lieutenant-Colonel Neff, with one day s 
 rations in their haversacks, started off, a union man from 
 Barboursville being their guide. The plan was to attack at 
 daylight. But the dead silence that reigned along their 
 march rendered the commander suspicious that all was not 
 right, and he made frequent halts in order to send out 
 scouts. This delayed the march so that he did not arrive 
 before the place till the sun was two hours high. The 
 enemy had been apprised of their approach, and when the 
 little band came in view of the place, the sight that met 
 their astonished gaze would have appalled less gallant 
 hearts. On the brow of a hill, just beyond Guyandotte 
 river, which was spanned by a single bridge, the rebels were 
 drawn up in line of battle their bayonets gleaming in the 
 early sunlight while around them, on every side, stretched 
 a vast level plain. Near the base of the hill was a large 
 body of cavalry, that immediately began to fall back right 
 and left, in order to take our column in flank and rear, after 
 it had crossed the bridge. Though fearfully outnumbered, 
 the fearless column never faltered, but pushed straight for 
 the bridge. The moment the head entered it, the rebels 
 poured in a destructive volley. Receiving it without flinch 
 ing, the little band with a loud cheer dashed on a run across 
 
100 FIGHT AT BARBOURSVILLE. 
 
 it. But when nearly over, they were brought to a sudden 
 halt by a chasm made by the up torn planks, which had been 
 carried away. The mule of the guide went through before 
 he could be brought to a halt, and the rider saved himself 
 only by clinging to the timbers. The rebels, seeing the 
 column thus suddenly arrested, rent the air with cheers 
 and yells. Maddened by these shouts of triumph and loud 
 taunts, our soldiers dashed forward, each for himself; and 
 some crawling along on the string pieces, and some swing 
 ing along the rafters, they at length cleared the gap, though 
 in utter confusion. The rebels, before they had time to 
 form, charged on their flank. But the blood of the men was 
 now fairly up, and without waiting to re-form, they sent up a 
 shout, and clambering up the hill, holding on to roots and 
 bushes, charged like madmen on the solid Ijne. Appalled at 
 the desperate daring, the rebels fired one volley, and then 
 turned and fled like a herd of frightened deer down the hill 
 in rear. The victorious troops sent a few flying shots after 
 them, and then, with streaming banners and victorious 
 strains of martial music, turned and marched through the 
 town. It was nobly, gallantly done. Following up his 
 success, Cox overtook Wise at Gauley bridge, who retreated 
 without risking a battle. Thus in a little over a month, 
 Western Virginia was cleared of the rebels. 
 
 McClellan s short but brilliant campaign, had electrified 
 the north, and all eyes were turned to him as the man on 
 whom the mantle of Scott would ultimately fall. The old 
 veteran and hero was too far advanced in years to take the 
 field in person, while his physical infirmities rendered him 
 unequal to the tremendous responsibilities connected with 
 the conduct of so vast a war. 
 
 While these stirring events were occurring in Western Vir 
 ginia, and the army along the Potomac was quietly gathering 
 its energies for a great battle, Missouri was rent by the ravages 
 
FIGHT ON THE PRAIRIE. 101 
 
 of civil war. Side by side with LyOn, another officer was rap 
 idly acquiring a national reputation.* Colonel Sigel had seen 
 service in Europe, and being placed in command of a Ger 
 man regiment, took the field in Missouri, early in summer 
 and arrived at Springfield on the 23d of June. Hearing 
 that Jackson was making his way southward to form a junc 
 tion with General Price, who was encamped in Neosho, the 
 county seat of Newton county, he determined to attack the 
 latter before the rebel governor could come up. Reaching 
 Neosho on the 1st of July, he entered it without opposition, 
 Price having retreated. The next day he learned that Price, 
 Rains and Jackson had succeeded in uniting their forces 
 about eight miles north of Carthage. He immediately in 
 formed General Sweeney, who was at Springfield of the 
 fact, and received orders in return to proceed at once and 
 attack his camp. Accordingly on the 4th of July, with 
 about twelve hundred men, he took up his line of inarch, 
 and on the morning of the 6th came upon the enemy in 
 great force, encamped in the open prairie, most of them 
 mounted. Though plainly outnumbered, he moved his 
 column, which looked a mere speck on the wide prairie, 
 steadily forward, till he came within eight hundred yards of 
 the rebel camp. He then halted, and unlimberjng his artillery 
 which was composed of six six, and two twelve pounders, 
 opened fire. On the right and left, the white puns of smoke 
 shot out over the prairie, followed by the deep reverbera 
 tions of the guns, rolling away over the vast expanse. The 
 rebels, who occupied a slight swell on the plain, replied, and 
 for a time a brisk artillery fire was kept up, while not a tree 
 or a shrub or hill obstructed the view or sheltered the com 
 batants. The rebel practice was miserable, their balls and 
 shells going over the heads of Sigel s command, and ex 
 ploding in the prairie. On the other hand their guns were be 
 ing dismounted one after another, when at two o clock, their 
 
102 SIGEL S ADMIRABLE RETREAT. 
 
 cavalry moved off to the right and left, with the intention 
 of outflanking Sigel, and cutting off his baggage train, 
 which had been left three miles in the rear. The latter pen 
 etrating at once the design of the movement, ordered two 
 six pounders to the rear, and changing front, commenced 
 falling back in a steady orderly manner, keeping up a con 
 tinuous fire as he moved. Not a sound was heard through 
 the quiet, determined ranks, except the occasional orders of 
 the officers, as the line of glittering steel moved swiftly over 
 the prairie, while the clouds of calvary hovered darkly on either 
 side, afraid to venture within range of the death dealing 
 guns. At length he reached his baggage wagons, fifty in 
 number toiling slowly forward. These were at once formed 
 into a solid square, and surrounded by the artillery and in 
 fantry, moved slowly back till they approached Dry Fork 
 Creek, where the road passed between two bluffs. On the 
 opposite side of this stream, the cavalry, failing to cut off the 
 baggage train, were drawn up to stop the retreat. But along 
 that road, which led to Carthage, it was absolutely necessary 
 Colonel Sigel should pass, for to fall back to the open prairie, 
 would leave him to be surrounded by a yastly superior force, 
 while to remain where he was, would expose him to a similar 
 danger. He immediately dispatched two cannon to the right, 
 and two to the left, followed by a part of his force, as though 
 he intended to cut a road for himself at these points at all 
 hazards. The enemy, seeing these movements, immediately 
 left the road in which they stood massed, and moved to the 
 right and left to prevent it. Sigel allowed them to ap 
 proach within a few hundred yards, when suddenly unlim- 
 beririg his guns, he poured in a terrific cross fire, and at the 
 same time gave the orders to the main army to double- 
 quick. The column started off on a sharp trot, and with 
 loud cheers cleared the bridge, while the enemy s cavalry 
 tent by shrapnell and canister, scattered in every direction. 
 
BATTLE OF CARTHAGE. 103 
 
 Horses with empty saddles went neighing and galloping 
 madly over the plain, and the whole body fled in the wildest 
 confusion. Several prisoners were taken, who stated that 
 the rebel force was five thousand five hundred strong. Col 
 onel Sigel now moved rapidly forward towards Carthage, 
 occasionally saluting squads of the enemy that kept hover 
 ing along his flank with his artillery. But on reaching the 
 town he found it to his surprise in the hands of the enemy, 
 and a secession flag waving from the top of the court house. 
 This the exasperated soldiers soon shot down. Sigel seeing 
 himself thus outnumbered and his ammunition giving out, 
 determined at all hazards to effect a junction with the bal 
 ance of the southwestern army, concentrated at Mount Yer- 
 non and Springfield. To effect this he saw it was necessary 
 to reach Sarcoxie, some eight miles from Carthage. The 
 road to this place, led through a dense forest, which if he 
 could gain, would protect him from the- enemy s cavalry. 
 Aware of this, the rebels had taken possession of the road 
 leading to it, and prepared to dispute his passage. The 
 infantry now for the first time on both sides, came into close 
 conflict and the action became at once fierce and bloody. 
 Though the rebels outnumbered SigePs force almost five to 
 one, their short guns, and old fashioned muskets, were no 
 match for the Mi nie rifles of the latter, and they fell by 
 scores before the murderous vollies that were poured into 
 their ranks. For two hours, from quarter past six to half 
 past eight, the battle raged without a moment s intermission. 
 The sun sank on the strife, twilight came and went, and dark 
 ness finally settled over the woods, but still the struggle did 
 not cease. Sigel s progress, however, could be detected by 
 his advancing line of fire and at last the enemy retreated. 
 Our troops had now been marching and fighting for ten hours 
 under a hot July sun, but Sigel fearing to endanger his com 
 mand by halting long in the presence of so superior a force, 
 
104 SIGEL S SUCCESS. 
 
 kept on in the darkness, reaching Sarcoxie in the morning, 
 from whence he leisurely continued his retreat to Mount 
 Yernon. 
 
 Sigel had handled his little force throughout the trying 
 circumstances with which he had been surrounded, with 
 consummate skill and shown himself an able tactician, as well 
 as a cool and resolute commander. His entire loss in killed 
 and wounded was only forty-four, while that of the enemy 
 was supposed to be between three and four hundred. 
 
 While these events were occurring in Missouri and west 
 ern Virginia, the Union men in Kentucky were making des 
 perate efforts to keep the state out of the hands of the 
 secessionists. Success, however, seemed doubtful. Breck- 
 enridge was very popular with the young men of the state, 
 and he and others were equally determined that the power 
 ful aid of Kentucky should be secured for the southern 
 confederacy. East Tennessee stood loyal to the Union, and 
 was struggling manfully to keep at least that part of the 
 state true to the old flag. Her devotion to the Union was 
 admirable and cost her afterwards untold suffering. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 JULY, 1861. 
 
 MEETING OF CONGRESS PRESIDENT S MESSAGE CHIEF COMMANDERS ON BOTH 
 
 SIDES AT THIS TIME THE " ON TO RICHMOND" CRY THE QUESTION OF 
 
 UNDS LACK OF STATESMEN IN CONGKESS THE RADICAL ELEMENT IN 
 CREASING THE NAVY AM ONWARD MOVEMENT RESOLVED UPON REASONS 
 
 JOR IT JOHNSON AND PATTERSON MCTTOWE1L. TO COMMAND THE ARMY 
 
 THE DEPARTURE FOR MANASSAS SPLENDID APPEARANCE OF ARTILLERY 
 
 FIGHT AT BLACKBURN S FORD ADVANCE OF THE ARMY FROM CENTBEVILLE 
 
 PLAN OF THE BATTLE HUNTER AND HEINTZLEMAN BATTLE OF BULL RUN 
 
 THE DEFEAT THE ROUT DANGER OF THE CAPITAL EFFECT OF THE NEWS 
 
 IN THE NORTH CAUSES AND LESSON OF THE OVERTHROW SURRENDER OF 
 
 TORT FILLJ&Q-RE IN NEAV MEXICO. 
 
 ON the 4th of July, Congress, in pursuance of the Pres 
 ident s proclamation*, assembled in the Capitol, and 
 elected Galusha A. Grow of Pennsylvania, speaker. The 
 President s message to which the country looked with a good 
 deal of solicitude, did no-t meet the public expectation. It 
 consisted chiefly of a detailed history of the secession^ move 
 ment, and an argument to prove that the doctrine of state 
 rights, on which it was founded, was unsound and ruinous. 
 But this had been fully discussed and disposed of long ago. 
 The country demanded energetic actions The long-abused 
 and forbearing north had finally got thoroughly roused. It 
 had done with argument the moment it had drawn the 
 aword, and was impatient of any appeal except the trumpet 
 call to battle. It was providential that the President took a 
 calmer survey of affairs. The excited state of public feel- 
 ing needed the restraining power of his well balanced mind 
 to prevent rash measures which might cripple our resources 
 and endanger our ultimate success. With all his. conserva 
 tism he could not wholly save us from disaster, by which we 
 learned more., perhaps too great, caution.. 
 
106 "ON TO RICHMOND" CRY. 
 
 At this time the chief divisions of the army along our line 
 of defense under Scott, were commanded as follows : General 
 Butler at Fortress Monroe, General Banks at Annapolis, Mc 
 Dowell in front of Washington, Patterson near Harper s Ferry, 
 McClellan in Western Virginia, Anderson, the hero of fort 
 Sumter, in Kentucky, and Harney in Missouri. On the rebel 
 side Beauregard was at Manassas, J. E. Johnston opposed to 
 Patterson up the Potomac. Bishop Polk of Louisiana, 
 made major-general, on the Mississippi, Sidney A. Johnson, 
 a traitor from the United States army in California, in the 
 south-west, and Price in Missouri. Davis had called put man 
 for man to .offset the army of the north, and everything was 
 supposed to turn on the result of the first meeting of these 
 two mighty armies. In the far west, among the Indians 
 bordering on Kansas under our protection, and in the barren 
 regions of New Mexico, the rebels were hard at work stirring 
 up treason, and assailing the weak detachments of the army 
 stationed on our outposts. In the south, fort Pickens, the 
 only stronghold we still held on the gulf, was menaced. 
 
 It was .soon .apparent that politicians in congress, pushed 
 forward by reckless partisan newspapers, were bent on a 
 sudden advance ,of the army on the Potomac. Some of 
 the most influential of these kept flying at the head 
 of their columns, "ON TO RICHMOND." The military sa 
 gacity of Scott was ridiculed as "old fogyism," his cautious, 
 wise policy pronounced to be the result of disinclination to 
 invade his native state, and the elaborate fortifications he was 
 erecting across the Potomac laughed at as evidences of im 
 becile -old age. In short, military science and experience 
 were derided, and the organization and proper preparation 
 of .an army for an .arduous campaign in the ordinary way 
 stigmatized as a proceeding of the "circumlocution office." 
 The southerners were dastards, the north invincible, and 
 hence these elaborate/ preparations and delays totally uncalled 
 
FINANCES. 107 
 
 for. We had the power, and all that was necessary to assure 
 success was to let it loose. Never before in the history of 
 the world did popular passion at the beginning of a fearful 
 mighty war, so overslaugh military science. Out of this state 
 the nation must be extricated, by reason and moderation, or 
 startled from it by a thunder clap of misfortune that would 
 make every heart stand still with terror. 
 
 The probable cost of the war had hardly yet received the 
 attention of the people. We had been so accustomed to 
 believe our wealth and resources absolutely exhaustless, that 
 money, the first thing that should have been thought of, was 
 apparently the last. Funds for immediate use were of course 
 wanted. The President, in his message, had called for 
 $400,000,000. But Congress, taking a more moderate view 
 of the public exigencies, proposed a loan bill authorizing the 
 Secretary of the Treasury to borrow $250,000,000 on the 
 faith of the United States the revenue of the government 
 being pledged to the payment of the interest. This gave to 
 the small opposition in the house an excellent opportunity to 
 make an onslaught upon the administration, and a spirited 
 debate ensued in which Vallandigham of Ohio led off against 
 the measure. It passed, however, July llth, by an over 
 whelming vote. The fact that Congress thought this sum 
 would be sufficient, and that the necessary expenses could 
 be met without resorting to extraordinary taxation, shows 
 how destitute of well read statesmen that body was. Such 
 men as Webster, Clay, Calhoun, and others, who illustrated 
 the Congress that carried us through the war of 1812, were 
 wanting, and thoughtful men, in this most trying period of 
 our existence, looked anxiously around for the leading, con . 
 trolling mind, which could embrace the full measure of our 
 wants and our dangers. A portion of the more ultra repub 
 licans seemed to see in this appalling crisis of the country 
 only an excellent opportunity to push their measures for the 
 
108 INCREASING THE NAVY. 
 
 abolition of slavery. The loyal members from the border 
 states became alarmed at this, and evinced great uneasiness. 
 Western Virginia, having formed a provisional government, 
 with Pierpont as governor, sent members of Congress to 
 Washington. Owen Lovejoy of Illinois, having offered 
 a resolution to repeal the fugitive slave law, these were in 
 structed by the Legislature in session at Wheeling, the im 
 provised capital, to vote against it, while at the same time 
 they were directed to vote for money and men to carry on 
 the war. The Senate seemed to have a more correct view 
 of the magnitude of the struggle on which we had entered, 
 and passed a bill authorizing the employment of five hundred 
 thousand volunteers, and voting for an appropriation of half 
 a million of dollars. The southern congress, thinking the 
 north was playing simply a game of brag, responded with a 
 similar call for men and money. Thus, whether the movers 
 in the matter comprehended it or not, the war was assuming 
 proportions so vast that the mind shrunk aghast at the con 
 templation. Acts were also passed sanctioning the blockade 
 proclaimed by the President, and providing for the collection 
 of the revenues of the seceding states. In the mean time, 
 news having reached the country that the privateer Sumter 
 was burning our ships on the high seas, a bill was. passed 
 authorizing the Secretary of the Navy to purchase or con 
 tract for such vessels, and to make such increase in the naval 
 foyce, as he might deem necessary to suppress privateering,, 
 and enforce the blockade, and appropriated $3,000,000, for 
 the purpose. Having done what it thought its duty in the 
 present emergency, it was anxious to see the army begin its 
 work. Scott, whose far reaching sagacity saw that the pub 
 lic expectation of a great and decisive battle which should 
 end the rebellion was doomed to disappointment, and that 
 an immediate advance on the enemy even if victorious could 
 not be followed up to any decisive result, scarcely knew what 
 
. THE ARMY TO MOVE. 109 
 
 course to adopt. In the first place, the troops assembled 
 before Washington were mostly enlisted for three months, 
 and if they were disbanded without being allowed to strike a 
 blow the public would be disheartened, and future enlist 
 ments might be rendered difficult, B esides the public ex 
 pected something of this vast army it could not see why, if 
 the war was ever to begin, it should not commence at once 
 while the Capital was threatened. Our troops were certainly 
 as brave, numerous, and better armed than the enemy. It 
 could not see the vast difference between raw and unskilled 
 troops moving to attack a foe in a strong position of his own 
 choosing, and one standing on the defensive behind its in- 
 trenchments. Congress was pressed by politicians, the Presi 
 dent and Cabinet by Congress, and Scott by both, till finally 
 a forward movement was determined upon. But difficulties, 
 which none but a military commander could see, lay in the 
 way. Regiments already formed and equipped could with 
 our railroad facilities be transferred with comparative ease to 
 the Capital, but provisions, the means of transportation, and all 
 the appliances and accessories necessary to the movement of 
 a great army, were not so easily improvised. Still after full 
 deliberation it was resolved to force a battle. The enemy at 
 Manassas was supposed to be in immense force, yet no one for 
 a moment dreamed of a defeat. 
 
 Beauregard commanded at this point, while J. E. Johnston, 
 at the head of some thirty thousand men, was in the neighbor 
 hood of Harper s Ferry. General Patterson, who had com 
 manded a division of volunteers in the Mexican war, was as 
 signed to the troops which had been concentrating at Hagers- 
 town and Williamsport, to operate against -him, and on the 
 second of July crossed the Potomac driving the rebels before 
 him. In a skirmish near Haynesville, the army had behaved 
 well, and much was expected of him. He was, however, 
 bordering on his three-score-and-ten, and not being distin- 
 
110 THE ADVANCE. 
 
 guished in his best days for energy, could not be expected in 
 his old age to exhibit much of this quality, so necessary to 
 the vigorous prosecution of a campaign. In the approaching 
 advance of the army he was charged with the responsible 
 duty of taking care of Johnston to hold him where he was, 
 and thus prevent him from reinforcing Beauregard, or if he 
 attempted to retreat to compel a battle. 
 
 To Colonel McDowell, of the regular army, who had the 
 reputation of being a brave and skillful officer, was assigned 
 the command of the division which was to move against 
 Beauregard. He had been consulted as to the number of 
 troops he should need, and allowed all that he asked for. In 
 fixing the force, however, he expressly stated that he did not 
 embrace in his calculation the army under Johnston. He 
 promised success only on the condition that the government 
 should take care of him. 
 
 Everything being in readiness, the army over forty thou 
 sand strong, took up its march on the 17th of July in five di 
 visions the first commanded by General Tyler of the Con 
 necticut militia, the second by Colonel Hunter, the third by 
 Colonel lieintzelman of the regular army, the fourth by Gen 
 eral Runyon, and the fifth by Colonel Miles. The news of 
 this imposing array having taken up its line of march for 
 Manassas, as it traveled over the electric wires, created the 
 most unbounded enthusiasm throughout the north. No 
 gloomy forebodings dashed the general joy, no doubts 
 clouded the belief that traitors were about to receive their 
 just punishment. Visitors at Washington, and members of 
 Congress, an 61 members of the press, besieged the administra 
 tion for permission to accompany the army ; and men on 
 horseback, in carriages, and in four horse omnibuses brought 
 up the rear, or obstructed the march of the victorious troops. 
 They went forth as to a great Derby day. To the spectator 
 it looked like a splendid military picnic about to come off 
 
ARTILLERY DUEL 
 
 111 
 
 among the wooded fields of Virginia. In gay spirits, the air 
 resounding with the stirring airs of the regimental bands, the 
 July sun flashing on the long lines of gleaming bayonets, the 
 army moved rapidly over the country. Driving the enemy s 
 pickets before it, the main column entered Fairfax, and en 
 camped for the night. The troops let loose from their long 
 confinement plundered every thing they could lay their hands 
 on, and the spirit of frolic ran riot in the camp. 
 
 As General Tyler approached Centreville, he was directed 
 by McDowell to establish himself there, and carefully observe 
 all the approaches to it. Instead of doing this, he pushed 
 on to Bull Run, and observing the enemy s batteries on the 
 farther bank opened fire on them. An extraordinary artillery 
 duel followed which lasted for some time with but little effect 
 on either side, and which resulted in Tyler withdrawing his 
 batteries. This action, brought on so suddenly, was wholly 
 unexpected to McDowell, and done without his orders, and 
 hence was the cause of much comment and angry discussion 
 afterwards. Only one thing need be said of it, however, the 
 enemy s line of battle lay along this stream, and no action was 
 proper till the advancing army was in position, and a con 
 certed attack could be made. No reconnoisance had been 
 made, and such a movement ran the hazard of bringing on a 
 general engagement while the bulk of the army was on the 
 march, and wholly ignorant of what was going on. 
 
 The next day, Friday, a wide reconnoisance was made of 
 the enemy s position with a view to turning his flanks ; for a 
 straightforward movement on his strongly posted batteries 
 was too desperate an undertaking to be thought of except 
 everything else should fail. From Centreville three roads 
 branch off like the three spokes of a wheel toward Bull Run, 
 and McDowell determined to make the attack in three col 
 umns. Bull Run is a sluggish stream running from north-west 
 to south-east, and crossed by numerous fords. Behind it the 
 
112 SUNDAY MORNING. 
 
 ground rises into elevations, while the shores are heavily 
 wooded. Along these the enemy had posted himself his 
 line extending for nearly eight miles. To the east on our 
 left was Blackburn ford, ivhere Tyler s artillery action took 
 place. The strength of the enemy there was found too great 
 to permit a movement on that flank, and so McDowell de 
 termined to turn his extreme left by a ford which was so far 
 to the west that the enemy, not dreaming of an attack in that 
 quarter, had left it undefended. This task was assigned to 
 Hunter s division. Heintzelman was to move against the 
 strongly defended ford next below this, and the moment 
 Hunter s division came down on the other side of the stream, 
 driving the enemy before him, cross over and join him, when 
 they together would keep down the stream. Tyler was to 
 move along the Warrentown road that crossed Bull Run just 
 west of Centreville, and occupy the enemy at Stone bridge, 
 while this flank movement was being carried out, McDowell, 
 fearing that while this was going on, the enemy at Black 
 burn ford, on his extreme left, might attempt a similar move 
 ment on him, concentrated a heavy force there to keep him 
 in check, and make him think that the main attack was to be 
 made in that direction. The fifth division, under Miles, was 
 stationed on the Centreville ridge as the reserve. The plan 
 seemed an admirable one, and gave every promise of success. 
 
 *, BATTLE OF BULL RUN. 
 
 Saturday at four o clock in the morning, the order to march 
 was given. It was a warm moonlight night, and the army 
 presented a magnificent spectacle as it began to move off 
 through the green fields and overhanging woods. The fires 
 by which the host had cooked its midnight meal the last to 
 many a poor soldier dotted the hill-sides and hazy valleys 
 as far as the eye could reach. Long lines of steel, flashing in 
 the moonbeams extended rows of army wagons with their 
 
TYLER S POSTION. 113 
 
 white tops the dark looking ambulances winding columns 
 of cavalry now bursting into view, and now lost in deep 
 shadows combined to form a scene of thrilling interest. 
 Not a drum or bugle cheered the march a deep silence, 
 broken only by the heavy rumbling of artillery carriages, or 
 the muffled tread of the advancing host, rested on forest and 
 valley. The divisions, separating like the rays of a fan, 
 moved off to their respective positions. Hunter and Heintzel- 
 man took the same road until they came to the turn off to 
 the ford where the latter was to be dropped. Hunter then 
 kept on alone. It was evident that the battle was to be lost 
 or won by these two divisions, fourteen thousand strong. 
 The rest of the army was only to keep the enemy in front 
 occupied till they were seen coming down the opposite bank, 
 then the general advance was to take place, for the battle was 
 assuredly won. The Sabbath morning broke warm and 
 pleasant, and at six o clock Tyler was in front of the enemy s 
 centre, and soon a thirty pound rifled Parrott gun the signal 
 agreed on by which he was to announce he was in position 
 awoke the morning echoes, and the shell bursting in mid air 
 announced to the enemy that the decisive hour had come. 
 The duty assigned him was to threaten the bridge which here 
 crossed the stream till the appearance of Hunter s and Heintzel- 
 man s divisions on the other side coming down the stream, when 
 he was to move across to their support. He had reached his 
 position at half-past five, and hence had ample time to survey 
 that of the enemy on the farther side. The latter was posted 
 on bights that rose in regular slopes from the shore, broken 
 into knoirs and terraces, crowned here and there by earth 
 works. The woods that interfered with his cannon ranges 
 had all been cut away, and his guns had a clean sweep of 
 every approach. On our side the descent was more gradual, 
 and covered with a dense forest. A lookout was stationed in 
 a tree that overlooked the surrounding country, from which 
 
THE FLANKING DIVISIONS. 
 
 lie could observe the progress of the flanking columns under 
 Hunter and Heintzelman. Hour after hour this division 
 stood tlius on the ridge that overlooked Bull Run and the 
 bridge, doing nothing except now and then sending a shell 
 from its thirty-two pound Parrott gun at bodies of infantry 
 and cavalry that far inland could be detected moving in the 
 direction of Hunter s and Heintzelman s divisions. 
 
 Colonel Richardson, with his brigade (detached for the 
 time-being from the fifth division in reserve under Miles) took 
 the position at Blackburn ford, still farther down the stream, 
 to threaten a passage there. While Tyler was to wait the 
 appearance of Hunter and Heintzelman across the stream 
 before commencing his attack, Richardson, below him, was to 
 wait the thunder of Tyler s artillery as the signal for him to 
 move on the ford. It will thus be seen that but one division 
 (Tyler s) and one brigade (Richardson s) were on the stream, 
 while the two divisions of Hunter and Heintzelman were to 
 open the battle the other two being out of the fight Miles 
 in reserve at Centreville, and Runyon s protecting the com 
 munications with Vienna. The whole interest, therefore, 
 centred on the two former divisions, and from little after 
 sunrise every eye was strained in the direction they were ex 
 pected to appear, and every ear open to hear the thunder of 
 their artillery. These two columns, as before remarked, 
 moved steadily along the same road, on their unknown jour 
 ney up the stream and back of it, until they came to the 
 place designated for Heintzelman to turn off to the left to the 
 ford where he was to cross. But the road laid down on the 
 map, and which he was to take was found to have no exis 
 tence in fact, and so he kept on after Hunter ; and about 
 eleven o clock came to Sudley s Springs ford, where the 
 latter had just crossed with the exception of one brigade 
 which was then entering the water. It was ten miles from 
 Centreville to this place and the soldiers before reaching it 
 
THE ENEMY S FLANK TURNED. 115 
 
 had become mucli exhausted. The enemy had got informa 
 tion of this movement, and from high points of observa 
 tion large masses of troops could be seen moving rapidly 
 towards the threatened point. The roar of artillery soon 
 announced that Hunter was engaged with the enemy. 
 Heintzleinan immediately pushed forward his division, but 
 finding it slow work to get it over in a body, he ordered the 
 regiments to break off and cross separately. The men, how 
 ever, suffering from thirst, stopped to drink and. fill their can 
 teens which delayed the march. McDowell, having stationed 
 himself where he could the most quickly receive reports from 
 the different divisions, had at length flung himself on the 
 ground to get a little rest, as he was suffering from illness. 
 At half-past ten a courier dashed up to him, and announced 
 that Hunter was across Bull Run. He immediately sprang 
 to the saddle, and galloped off to accompany the column on 
 which the fate of the day depended. The brave Porter, the 
 gallant Burnside, and the chivalrous Sprague were in the 
 advance of Hunter, driving the enemy steadily before them. 
 Soon Heintzleman appeared also on their left, and the amazed 
 enemy saw their position turned. The advancing columns 
 were at last seen from the lookouts at Tyler s position, and 
 huge columns of smoke rising in the summer air and waving 
 to and fro in the sunlight showed where the encountering 
 hosts were struggling for victory. Then all along that slug 
 gish stream, for five miles in extent, the artillery opened, and 
 the columns were put in motion. Tyler s left wing swept 
 forward, the famous Irish regiment, sixteen hundred strong, 
 leading the van. With the quick-step at first, then the 
 double-quick, they, with shouts that shook the field, flung 
 themselves forward, skirting with their glittering steel the 
 edge of the forest. Coats, haversacks, everything that could 
 impede their progress were cast loose. Meagher galloped 
 at their head, and shouting, "come on, boys; your have got 
 
116 THE BATTLE. 
 
 your chance at last," led them fiercely on the foe. The 
 Seventy-ninth Highlanders, the Thirteenth New York, and 
 First Wisconsin, followed. It was now high noon, and the 
 battle began to rage with terrible fury. Hunter had been 
 wounded, but his and Heintzelman s divisions kept on their 
 terrible way, steadily pushing the enemy before them. 
 Riekett s battery, after losing nearly every man at the guns, 
 fell into the hands of the enemy. Out of the woods volumes 
 of smoke writhed fiercely upwards, telling where bodies of 
 infantry struggled for the mastery regiments on the double- 
 quick streamed across the open meadows, and the next 
 moment, like two thunder clouds charged with lightning, 
 burst in flame on each other, while the incessant roar of can 
 non shook the earth. The surrounding inhabitants grew pale 
 with affright, and the deafening reverberations rolled 
 sullenly away, till they broke with a muffled sound over 
 Fairfax and Alexandria, and even Washington itself, blanch 
 ing the cheeks of listeners, and filling their hearts with vague 
 fears. Those stationed near Tyler s position listened with in 
 tense eagerness to Hunter s and Heintzelman s charges in the 
 northern woods, and ever and anon cheers were heard 
 mingling with the roar of artillery. Some regiments flinched 
 through want of proper officers, and Rickett s battery was 
 lost by the cowardly flight of the fire Zouaves who had 
 boasted of the deeds they would perform beforehand. Others 
 came gallantly into the fight for a while, but soon broke and 
 fled in dismay, a few stood firm until all was lost. The Second 
 Minnesota, ordered to the extreme right, moved for a mile 
 across the field of battle at the quick and double-quick, and 
 drew up within close pistol shot of a superior foe. Heintzel- 
 man was everywhere present now in talking distance of the 
 foe, and now dashing amid the wavering battalions to steady 
 them. Where such men as he, and Porter, and Burnside ? 
 and Sprague led, there could not but be deeds of heroism, 
 
THE REPULSE-. 117 
 
 and where such batteries as Griffin s, and RickettX and the 
 Rhode Island, were- directed by their respective commanders, 
 the harvest of death was reaped fast. By little after noon 
 these two flanking divisions had worked their desperate way 
 down the farther banks of Bull Run until they were opposite 
 Tyler s position at the Stone bridge. The- enemy hurried up 
 regiment after regiment to arrest the reversed tide of battle, 
 but all in vain. Tyler, sending forward reinforcements 
 across the stream, brought help to the, exhausted, thirsty 
 troops which had been marching and fighting ever since two 
 o clock in the morning of this hot July day. Sherman and 
 Keyes led their brigades gallantly forward, and by two 
 o clock the battle was to human view won. Many of the 
 enemy were already in full flight the whole army borne 
 back a mile and a half and Beauregard was preparing to 
 retreat to his lines at Manassas Junction, when clouds of dust, 
 rising in the distance, told him that reinforcements were hur 
 rying to his relief. As Blucher- stale away from Grouchy at 
 Wavres, to decide the fate of the battle of Waterloo, so had 
 Johnston beguiled Patterson, and pushing his troops forward 
 by railroad, had now come to make a Waterloo defeat to the 
 Federal arms. Hunter and Heintzelman, after their long 
 march and long fight without rest or food, and part of the 
 time without water, now found a fresh enemy approaching 
 on their right flank, and partly in their rear. It matters not 
 whether this was- the- cause of the panic that followed or not, 
 it made -the loss of the battle certain. Ten thousand fresh 
 troops thrown suddenly on these two divisions, that had been 
 marching and fighting without any respite for thirteen hours-, 
 could have but one result. It must be- remembered that 
 those thirteen hours told heavier on our raw troops, fresh from 
 the counting house and workshops, than twenty-four would 
 have done on old soldiers. An orderly retreat might have- 
 been effected but fox the panic,, nothing more. The brave 
 
118 THE PANIC. 
 
 and dauntless Heintzelman galloped among the broken ranks 
 in vain. Porter, Burnside, and others were helpless in the 
 loosened, refluent flood. Griffin, raging like a young lion at, 
 as he believed, the useless loss of his guns, turned savagely 
 back,, powerless to stay the reverse tide of battle. The gal 
 lant young governor of Rhode Islend, seeing that all was 
 lost, spiked, with his own hands, the guns of his regiment 
 before he fled. McDowell, hearing heavy cannonading down 
 by Blackburn ford, and fearing his left flank would be turned, 
 which would secure the total annihilation of his force, gal 
 loped thither, and drew up the reserve under Miles to arrest 
 the progress of the enemy. The spectacle now in the center 
 was painful in the extreme hosts of Federal troops some 
 detached from their regiments, all mingled in one disorderly 
 rout, were fleeing along the road and through the fields on 
 either side. Army wagons, sutlers teams, and private car 
 riages, choked the passage, tumbling against each other amid 
 clouds of dust. Hacks, containing unlucky spectators of the 
 battle, were smashed like glass, and the occupants lost sight 
 of in the debris. Horses flying wildly from the battle-field, 
 many of them in death agony, galloped at random forward, 
 swelling the tumult, while wounded men, lying along the 
 banks, appealed with raised hands to those who rode horses 
 to be lifted behind. Then the artillery such as was saved, 
 came thundering along, smashing and overturning everything 
 in its passage. The regular cavalry joined in the melee, ad 
 ding to the accumulated terrors, for they rode down footmen 
 without mercy. The trains from Hunter s division soon came 
 rushing in from a branch road, and from every side fresh 
 torrents swelled the confused and enrolling tide. The 
 Wounded were left to the tender mercies of the victors, and 
 the roads and fields, along which, on this early Sabbath morn- 
 Ing such a confident imposing array had passed, were black 
 with terrified fugitives, and cumbered with abandoned cannon, 
 
THE KILLED AND WOUNDED. 119 
 
 wagons, arms, and accoutrements. It was a wild flight. The 
 calm presence of the reserve under Blenckcr, drawn up in line 
 of battle at Centreville, checked the hitherto uncontrollable 
 terror, but not sufficient to allow McDowell to make a stand 
 there, -and the turbulent stream rolled on towards Washing 
 ton. As night deepened the rain came down in torrents, 
 drenching the living and dead alike. All night long the 
 weary, straggling army, toiled on. and at morning began to pour 
 in tumultuous masses over Long bridge, carrying consternation 
 to the Capital. Some regiments, however, preserved their 
 order, and marched into Washington with ranks unbroken. 
 
 The news of this terrible disaster travelling over the elec 
 tric wires, made every cheek turn pale, and sent a shudder 
 throughout the north. Not only was a great battle lost, but 
 " the Capital is lost," trembled on every tongue. On the heels 
 of such a routed host, a mere section of the rebel army could 
 enter Washington. But it did not follow up its success. 
 Whether the severe beating it had received up to the last 
 moment, or ignorance of the extent of the panic, or 
 fear of losing all it had gained by pressing forward in the 
 darkness on unknown dangers, restrained it at all events 
 it attempted no pursuit, and the discomfited army had noth 
 ing but its own terrors, the darkness, storm, and hunger, and 
 weariness to contend with. 
 
 The battlefield presented a sickening appearance the 
 dead and wounded were everywhere, and citizens of a com 
 mon country, of the same lineage the blooming youth 
 and the gray-haired man lay, side by side, sprinkled with 
 each other s blood. The pitiless rain came down upon the 
 sufferers whose low moans loaded the midnight air. 
 
 Our loss in killed, and wounded, and missing, amounted to 
 nearly two thousand, of which one thousand four hundred 
 and twenty-three were taken prisoners. Among the killed 
 were Colonel Cameron, brother of the Secretary of War 
 
120 FEELING AT THE NORTH. 
 
 and Colonel Slocum of Rhode Island, whose bodies were 
 left on the battle field. Among the prisoners taken, were 
 Colonel Corcoran of New York city, and Mr. Ely, member 
 of Congress from Rochester. Beside other trophies which the 
 enemy secured, were twenty -three cannon of various sizes, 
 four thousand muskets, artillery wagons, ammunition, and a 
 large quantity of equipments and stores. Of our whole 
 army, not twenty thousand had been in the fight, while the 
 number of the rebels actually engaged at first was probably not 
 much greater. We had the largest force in the field pre 
 vious to Johnston s arrival, when they loth together outnum 
 bered and outflanked us. 
 
 The north, though at first stunned by the defeat, showed! 
 no discouragement. The press, however, was filled with 
 clamors against this and that person, or set of persons, who 
 had been instrumental in bringing it upon us. Less, how 
 ever, than might have been expected was visited on McDow 
 ell. There seemed to be an instinctive consciousness that he 
 had beeii ruined by either the inefficiency, or cowardice, or 
 treachery of Patterson ; and the latter for some time after 
 would scarcely have been safe in any northern city. Othera 
 turned their wrath on the papers and the party whose 
 cry "On to Richmond" had filled the land for weeks, 
 General Scott, it was declared,, had been forced to consent 
 to a movement which his judgment disapproved; and 
 fierce denunciations were hurled at the heads of those who- 
 had attempted to control the military authorities. The ad 
 ministration came in for its share of abuse, and the want of 
 confidence everywhere felt in its, ability to conduct us safely 
 through the war, threatened for a while to produce a greater 
 calamity than the defeat itself. But as the smoke of the? 
 conflict cleared away, it became easier to fix the blame. It 
 was evident, notwithstanding the many criticisms to the con 
 trary, that McDowell had planned and conducted the battle 
 
CAUSES OF THE DEFEAT. 121 
 
 wisely. The charge of overtasking the men was, perhaps, 
 true, but it is not shown how it could have been prevented. 
 That the troops were not provided with sufficient food, was 
 owing to the negligence of the subordinate officers, and still 
 more to the carelessness of the men who, not believing that 
 the task of whipping the rebels was to be a serious one, did 
 not prepare for their work, as older soldiers would have 
 done. Many regiments were not properly officered, no 
 doubt, but that was an evil that could not have been avoided. 
 McDowell thought if he could have been supplied with the 
 means of transportation, so as to have started earlier, as he 
 designed to dt>, defeat might have been prevented, notwith 
 standing the other difficulties he had to contend with. But 
 the enemy were thoroughly acquainted with his movements; 
 and it is more than probable, if it had been necessary for 
 Johnston to be atManassas earlier, he would have been there. 
 But it is unquestionably true that Patterson s failure to take 
 care of Johnston, made defeat certain, whether Beauregard, 
 as he intended to do, had attacked McDowell, or waited as 
 he did to receive him in position. To the believer in an 
 over-ruling Providence, there will appear reasons for this 
 defeat that are not laid down in military books. 
 
 To say nothing of the utter ruin that would assuredly 
 have overtaken an army of that size and composition, had it 
 succeeded then, and attempted to march on Richmond as it 
 must have done under the pressure of public opinion, and 
 of the consequent greater peril to our cause, or of other re 
 sults that would have happened that defeat was necessary 
 to crush out the rash, headlong, and too confident spirit with 
 which we had entered on our task. Scarcely any price was 
 too great to pay to secure such a result. Its permanent es 
 tablishment over the government would have driven us into 
 such desperate straits that no avenue of escape would have 
 been left us but by the way of military despotism. The 
 
122 OUR MISTAKE. 
 
 struggle on which we had entered, was too mighty ; the war 
 before us of too vast proportions to be disposed of without 
 the most careful and ample preparations. A battle was well 
 enough to punish the audacity of the rebels, and secure the 
 Capital, but the blind confidence and arrogant boastfulness 
 that demanded it, would not have been content with such a 
 result. It had become a condition of our success that the 
 public press and politicians should cease to direct the manage- 
 ment of the war, and that it should fall into the legitimate and 
 proper hands. This the defeat at Bull Run secured at least for 
 a time. The nation took the attitude of calm reflection, and 
 began to measure somewhat the mighty task before it. It un 
 questionably hurt us abroad, but that could not be helped. 
 
 The huge blunder of taking three month s men now became 
 apparent. It was seen that a grand army, in all its appoint 
 ments and preparatory drill, must be had before any import 
 ant movement could be made. We found that there was a 
 great difference between offensive and defensive war. The 
 latter can be carried on in a country difficult of access, with 
 out much previous drill ; the former never. The New 
 England farmers fought like veterans behind their temporary 
 breastworks on Bunker Hill, but had affairs been reversed, 
 and they been called to mount the naked slope, in face of a 
 murderous fire, as were the British regulars, they never 
 would have moved with unbroken ranks for the last and 
 third time as the latter did into the face of death. Here was 
 the cause of our error we forgot that we were to wage an 
 offensive war cany intrenchmeiits, and storm strong posi 
 tions held by our own flesh and blood. 
 
 On the top of this disaster came the news that on the 
 twenty -fifth of this month Major Lynde surrendered Fort Fill- 
 more in New Mexico, with seven hundred men, to a body of 
 Texans without firing a shot, and under circumstances that 
 left no doubt of premeditated treason* . 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 JULY-AUGUST, 1861. 
 
 V OF THE ARMY AFTER BULL RUN - ITS DISAPPEARANCE FROM THE FIELD - 
 A NEW ARMY TO BE RAISED - GREATNESS OF THE TASK - MC CLELLAN SUM 
 MONED TO THE CAPITAL TO TAKE CHIEF COMMAND - BANKS AND FREMONT - 
 THE LATTER SENT TO ST. LOUIS - THE ENEMY^S OUTPOSTS IN SIGHT OF THE 
 CAPITAL - RISING OF THE NORTH LYON ADVANCES ON MC CULLOCH - KEN 
 TUCKY VOTES TO REMAIN IN THE UNION FREMONT IN ST. LOUIS - BATTLE OF 
 WILSON S CHEEK AND DEATH OF LYON RETREAT OF THE UNION ARMY PUB 
 
 LIC FEELING ON THE DEATH OF LYON - DIABOLICAL SPIRIT OF THE SOUTHERN" 
 CLERGY. 
 
 forces of a great nation were probably never in a 
 JL more chaotic state than ours, immediately after the bat 
 tle of Bull Run. The time of many of the soldiers was out 
 just before it occurred ; and Patterson explained his tardy 
 action in regard to Johnston on the ground that some of his 
 regiments refused to fight because the term of their enlist 
 ment had expired. McDowell, in his official report, said, 
 that in a few .days he would have been compelled to dis 
 charge ten thousand men, and that on the very eve of the 
 battle, the fourth Pennsylvania regiment of volunteers and 
 the battery of the New York eighth militia refused to remain 
 a day longer. All appeals to their patriotism were in vain, 
 they insisted on their discharge that night ; and the " next 
 morning when the army moved forward into battle, these 
 troops moved to the rear to the sound of the enemy s can 
 non." If such disinclination to serve was exhibited on the 
 eve of a battle, in which it was confidently believed we 
 should be victorious, it is easy to imagine what would be 
 the feeling of the troops after an overwhelming defeat. The 
 chaos which a totally demoralized army presents, though 
 
124 MCCLELLAN TAKES COMMAND. 
 
 originally composed of the best materials, is a lamentable 
 sight ; but that of one made up of such newly-created sol 
 diers as these, was a fearful spectacle. The consciousness 
 that their time of service was nearly expired, took away all 
 sense of responsibility. There were, of course, some noble 
 exceptions, but the mass of these seventy-five thousand men 
 became a disorganized mob. It was to disappear from sight, 
 and a new army to be raised in its place, equipped, drilled, and 
 prepared for the field. The task before the government 
 was herculean ; and even Napoleon would have stood aghast 
 at it. To raise and fit, in three months, for the field an 
 army of half a million of men, without, at least, the skele 
 ton of a veteran army on which to build as a base, was a 
 work of frightful magnitude. It was evident that Scott s 
 age and infirmities rendered him unequal to it. A younger 
 man, in the prime of life, with a constitution of iron and a 
 will to match, was needed. It was fortunate for the nation 
 that the young general who had won such renown in west 
 ern Virginia was the first full major-general in the regular 
 army after Scott, and hence must, from seniority of rank, 
 occupy his place. It was still more fortunate that to 
 his natural executive ability and military experience he had 
 added a knowledge obtained in the Crimea, in the war be 
 tween Russia, France, and England. 
 
 McClellan was summoned at once to the Capital, where he 
 arrived on the 26th of July. In the mean time, General 
 Banks was transferred to the command of Patterson s divi 
 sion, on the upper Potomac. About this time, also, Fremont, 
 the second major-general, who had returned from Europe in 
 June with arms for the government, had been appointed over 
 the western department, including Illinois and all the states 
 west of the Mississippi to the Rocky mountains, departed 
 for St. Louis, to take command. Of these three appoint 
 ments, the first two were unanimously applauded, while by 
 
WASHINGTON THREATENED. 125 
 
 a portion of the people the latter was looked upon as a mere 
 political act, which would result badly. One thing, at least, 
 may be said of it ; that it was putting an untried man in a 
 place where there was already one who had shown his 
 admirable fitness for it. Had Lyon been put in command, 
 at least of Missouri, we might have been saved many defeats 
 and losses. Innumerable and hazardous experiments in the 
 way of appointments were unavoidable in the sudden and 
 gigantic civil Avar into which we had been precipitated ; it 
 was therefore a very unwise act to make any unnecessary 
 ones. 
 
 McClellan immediately entered on his work like one who 
 fully understood the difficulties before him. Washington, at 
 the time, presented a deplorable spectacle. Its bar-rooms 
 and groggeries were filled with drinking officers and sol 
 diers, and the idea of military subordination seemed not to 
 have Qntered the minds of either. In the mean time, the 
 exultant enemy had pushed forward his outposts, till his flag 
 flaunted defiantly within sight of the Capital. Thanks to 
 the soldierly foresight of Scott, the works across the Poto 
 mac, which had called forth the sneers of men of the "On 
 to Richmond " school, saved us from the danger of a direct 
 attack. He threatened, however, to pass the Potomac some 
 twenty-five miles above and below, and precipitate Mary 
 land, never too loyal, and now ready for hostile action, into 
 revolution. This had to be guarded against, while the col 
 lection, equipment, and organization of the vast army sum 
 moned to the field was going on. 
 
 The response of the north to the call made upon it for 
 soldiers was without a parallel in the history of the world, 
 and it was soon evident that more troops would be in the 
 field than the act of Congress authorized. Camps of 
 instruction were formed in various sections regiments were 
 collected and drilled in almost every Congressional district 
 
126 LYON SEEKS THE ENEMY, 
 
 camps dotted the peaceful farms on every side flags vraved 
 from almost every public and private building, and the drum 
 beat from the rugged coasts of Maine to the far off shores of 
 the Pacific. The north was rising in its majesty ; and no 
 one doubted, if the government was equal to the emergen 
 cy, but that the disaster of Bull Run would soon be avenged, 
 and the tide of success, which had from the first set against 
 us, be reversed. 
 
 While McClellan was at work at the Capital, trying to 
 restore order out of chaos, the fighting still went on in Mis 
 souri ; and Cox and Rosecranz kept the field in western Vir 
 ginia. In Missouri an important step was taken for the 
 Union, in the election, by the state convention, of Hamilton 
 R. Gamble as Provisional Governor, in place of Jackson, who 
 had joined the secessionists. 
 
 In the mean while, General Lyon was so occupied with the 
 enemy .that he seemed unaware of the various internal and 
 external changes affecting the state. On the 2d of August, 
 the day before Fremont reached Cairo, he advanced on a 
 portion of McCulloch s army at Dug Springs, and offered 
 battle. The enemy, however, retired, after receiving a stun 
 ning blow from a small body of cavalry that charged them 
 with reckless daring. 
 
 It was a hot August day, and the troops suffered intolera 
 bly from thirst. The next morning the column moved on. 
 Twenty-six miles beyond Springfield, finding himself short 
 of provisions, his men exhausted, sick and sore, and his 
 communication with Springfield threatened, Lyon resolved to 
 retrace his steps to that place. 
 
 Kentucky, in the mean time, had held her election, and 
 decided by an emphatic vote to stay in the Union. The an 
 nouncement of the fact in the Capitol by Mr. Wickliffe, member 
 of Congress from that state, was received with the wildest en 
 thusiasm. In our darkest days, that gallant state had cast her 
 
FREMONT IN MISSOURI. 127 
 
 lot in with the free states, which was far more important to our 
 success west than the winning of a great battle. At the 
 very time this loyal son of Kentucky was proclaiming this 
 cheering fact, John C. Breckenridge was being serenaded in 
 Baltimore, on account of his secession views. On the same 
 day General McGruder, in command of the rebel forces at 
 Hampton, near fortress Monroe, either in a drunken frenzy, 
 or fearing an assault,, marched out of the town, and then de 
 liberately applied the torch, burning it to the ground. 
 
 In the mean time, Fremont had arrived in St. Louis, and 
 entered, it was said, with vigor on the difficult task assigned 
 him. Whether his subsequent actions deserved condemna 
 tion or not, it is certain that the difficulties of his position 
 were but little understood by the public. 
 
 On no other major-general, except, perhaps, McClellan, 
 had fallen such a load as suddenly fell on him. Unaccustom 
 ed to a large command, without time to acquaint himself with 
 the wants of his extensive department, with an army to 
 create, and a system to settle, he was thrown at once into 
 the midst of battling armies, where the odds were against 
 him. And yet, the very guns he needed were not within 
 his department, even the harnesses for his teams not ready. 
 Every thing was in chaos around him, while Pillow, with a 
 large army, iwas reported to be at New Madrid, ready to 
 march on St. Louis ; and McCulloch and Price threatened 
 with a vastly superior force to overwhelm Lyon at Spring 
 field. Fremont may not have been the man for such an 
 emergency, and it would have been difficult to find^ one that 
 was. He must have been capable of impossibilities. He had 
 hardly time to look around him before the battle of Wilson s 
 Creek rendered still more complicated the bewildering state of 
 things into which he had been thrown. On the 10th of 
 August, Lyon, then at Springfield, heard that McCulloch and 
 Price, outnumbering his force four to one, were only some 
 
128 LYON ADVANCES ON THE REBELS. 
 
 ten or twelve miles distant, advancing full upon him. His 
 need for reinforcements was most urgent, yet he was told 
 they could not be furnished him. What should he do? 
 Strict military rules demanded a retreat ; but then the Union 
 ists at Springfield and the surrounding region would be aban 
 doned to the tender mercies of the rebels, from whom they 
 had just been delivered, and a moral defeat sustained, full of 
 peril to the Union cause in the state. In this painful dilem 
 ma, he resolved, like a true hero and patriot, to make one des 
 perate effort to arrest the progress of the enemy, and if he could 
 not save Springfield, at least give Fremont time to rally his 
 forces at St. Louis before crushed by the double armies 
 approaching him from the west and south. 
 
 BATTLE OF WILSON^S CREEK. 
 
 So on the 9th, he determined on the following morning to 
 march forth in two columns, and at daylight fall like a thun- 
 derbolt on the enemy, and by a sacrifice as great as it was 
 noble, stop him in his victorious career. At five o clock in 
 the evening, the little army set forth on its perilous under 
 taking, and marching all night, long before the first gray 
 streak of dawn appeared in the east, approached the camp 
 of the enemy. Here the column halted, to wait for daylight. 
 Sigel was directed to make a detour around the right of the 
 enemy, and fall on his rear, while Lyon moved straight on 
 his position. 
 
 Driving in the enemy s pickets, Lyon ascended a ridge, 
 and there in the valley before him, glittering in the early 
 sunlight, lay more than a thousand tents, dotting the green 
 fields, and sprinkled among the thickets and surrounding 
 forests. The rebels had been apprised of his approach, and 
 stood in battle array, ready to receive him. Less dauntless 
 soldiers would have been appalled at the overwhelming force 
 
WILSON S CREEK. 131 
 
 that stood massed below, but the men of Kansas, Iowa, and 
 Missouri, surveyed the work before them with undismayed 
 hearts. It was then that the batteries of Totten and Dubois, 
 by the skillful manner in which they were worked, showed 
 that they could supply the lack of numbers. The enemy 
 came resolutely on, and halting three ranks deep the first 
 lying down, the second kneeling, and the third standing 
 poured in a continuous and murderous fire on our thin line. 
 Totten s battery coming into action by sections, and by single 
 piece, as the wooded hights would permit, hurled its shells 
 and canister, tearing with frightful effect through the rebel 
 ranks. The firing was incessant and awful; the opposing 
 lines often coming within a few yards of each other, before 
 delivering their vollies, while their shouts and yells rose 
 over the deafening roar of the guns. For a half an hour the 
 conflict was deadly, and the contending lines swayed to and 
 fro like two fierce opposing tides meeting in mid ocean, but 
 each surged back only to leap to its place again. General 
 Lyon, seeing the troops on the left of Totten s battery in dis 
 order, led his horse along the line to rally them when the 
 dapple gray fell dead by his side, and two balls struck him, 
 one in his leg and the other on his head. He then walked 
 slowly a few paces to the rear saying, u I fear the day is lost. " 
 The next moment, however, he mounted another horse, and 
 swinging his hat over his head, and shouting to the troops to 
 follow him, dashed where death was mowing down the brave 
 fastest. The enemy, in the mean time, had massed a large 
 force in a corn field on our left, and for a short time it seemed 
 as if that wing must be overpowered. But at this critical 
 juncture, Dubois battery came into position, and sent such a 
 shower of shells into their ranks that the enemy withdrew. 
 There was now a short lull in the contest in this portion of 
 the field, but on the right, where the gallant first Missouri 
 stood, the battle raged fiercer than ever. Though contest- 
 
132 DEATH OF LYON. 
 
 ing every foot of ground like veterans, they were gradually 
 being forced back by overwhelming numbers. An officer, 
 dashing up to Lyon, reported the perilous state of things 
 when he immediately ordered up the second Kansas 
 and the brave lowas, to their support. Coming into 
 position, they lay down close to the brow of the hill, and 
 waited the approach of the enemy as they came on in im 
 posing, overwhelming force. Not a word was spoken as they 
 lay with their eyes along their Minie muskets, till the foe, 
 firing as they came, arrived within forty feet, when a sheet 
 of fire ran along the ridge, and the crash of a simultaneous 
 volley rolled along the astonished ranks. As the smoke lifted,. 
 a disordered host was seen staggering reluctantly back, 
 Lyon now ordered them to charge bayonets. One of the 
 regiments had lost its colonel, and called for a leader, saying 
 they would follow him to the death. U I will lead you," 
 exclaimed Lyon, u Come on, my brave men ! " and placed 
 himself in front of the lowas, while the one-armed Sweeney 
 rode to the head of the Kansas regiment. On came the 
 enemy, pouring in a destructive volley as they advanced, ant} 
 the brave Lyon fell dead from his steed one of the bravest, 
 noblest, purest patriots, that ever gave his life in a holy cause. 
 But these gallant regiments stood rooted to the field, and the 
 enemy finally withdrew from the fire they could not make 
 head against ; and there was a lull in the contest, while each 
 commenced carrying their wounded to the rear. 
 
 The command now devolved on Major Sturgis, wlio began 
 to rally his disordered line. Aifairs were looking gloomy 
 enough ; for twenty thousand men still stood in battle array 
 in front, while that brave little army, though standing un 
 daunted amid its own dead, had not tasted water since five 
 o clock the day before, and if it should retreat could expect 
 none till it reached Springfield, twelve miles distant. To go- 
 forward was impossible. Not a word had been heard from 
 
FINAL ATTACK OF THE ENEMY. 133 
 
 Sigel, and it was evident the enemy was not alarmed for its 
 rear. Ayhat had become of him ? asked the anxious com 
 mander of himself. He stood, and listened anxiously to catch 
 the first thunder of his cannon beyond the hights. Could he 
 hear it, the order "forward" would break from his lips, and 
 the loud roll of his battered drums send his exhausted army 
 once more on the overpowering foe. But it did not come 
 an ominous silence rested on the field where he should have 
 been. Had he retreated ? then it was plain he must retreat 
 also ; but could he retreat ? Tossed in painful doubt, he sum 
 moned his remaining officers to consultation. They met, but 
 their deliberations were brought to a hasty close by the 
 sudden appearance of a heavy column in the direction where 
 in the morning they had heard, as they supposed, the roar of 
 Sigel s guns. Was he coming ? trembled on every tongue. 
 Yes, they carried the American flag, and deliverance had ar 
 rived at last. On they came in easy range down the oppos 
 ing slope, until- close upon our lines, when they suddenly 
 opened a terrible fire of shrapnell and canister, and unfurled 
 the rebel flag to the breeze. Totten s battery in the center 
 was the prize they were making for. As soon as the decep 
 tion was discovered, this gallant commander opened a ter 
 rific fire upon them. But they kept steadily on^ill they came 
 within twenty feet of the muzzles of his guns, and the smoke 
 of the contending lines blending together, rolled upward in 
 one fierce column. Supports were ordered up at the double- 
 quick, and coming into line with loud shouts, stood firm as 
 iron. Not a regiment flinched or wavered. A solid ada 
 mantine wall they stood, against which the advancing tide 
 broke in vain. A few companies of the first Missouri, first 
 Kansas, and first Iowa, were quickly brought up from the 
 rear, and hurled like a loosened rock on the right flank of 
 the enemy. Before the determined onset, the rebel ranks 
 disappeared like mist. Totten s battery, supported by Steele s 
 
134 DEFEAT OF SIGEL. 
 
 little battalion, a moment before seemed scarcely worth an 
 effort, so enveloped was it in the enemy s fire. 
 
 But now the tide was changed, and the right flank pour 
 ing in a destructive fire, rendered the overthrow complete ; 
 and the disappointed enemy retired from the field. The 
 fight had now lasted for six hours, and the ammunition being 
 well nigh exhausted, there was no alternative left but to re 
 treat, and Sturgis taking advantage of this last repulse, 
 reluctantly gave the order to do so. 
 
 At this critical moment, an officer from Si gel s column 
 arrived breathless in ^ the lines, saying that Sigel was routed, 
 his artillery captured, and he himself killed or a prisoner. 
 This was appalling news to the exhausted little army, and it 
 moved rapidly off the field, carrying its wounded with it, 
 to the open prairie, two miles distant, where it made a short 
 halt, and then took up its march for Springfield. Fortunate 
 ly, the enemy did not molest it his punishment had been 
 too seve/e, to admit of pursuit. On reaching Little York 
 road, it met the principal portion of SigeFs command, 
 with one piece of artillery. This officer had proceeded on 
 the. route marked out for him, and striking the Fayetteville 
 road, came to a place known as Sharps farm. Here meeting 
 soldiers as if 4n retreat, he supposed Lyori had been success 
 ful, and was following up the enemy. He therefore formed 
 his command across the road to receive the fugitives. In 
 the mean time, the skirmishers which had been sent out, 
 returned and reported Lyon coming up the road. Soon, 
 heavy columns appeared in sight, and orders were given to 
 the different regiments and the artillery not to fire, as they 
 were our own troops ; and flags were waved to show they 
 were friends. Suddenly the approaching forces opened a 
 destructive fire, and the cry "They (meaning Lyon s troops) 
 are firing on us" spread like wild-fire through the ranks. 
 The artillerymen believing it was a horrible mistake could 
 
RETREAT OF THE ARMY. 135 
 
 \yith difficulty be made to return the fire, while the infantry 
 would not level their pieces till it was too late. The enemy 
 came within ten paces of the muzzles of the guns and killed 
 the horses. A panic followed the men broke ranks and 
 scattered in every direction. There was no fighting noth 
 ing but a wild, disordered flight. Sigel lost five of his guns, 
 and nine hundred in killed, wounded, and missing, out of 
 the two regiments he commanded. \With the residue he 
 made the best of his way towards Springfield. 
 
 Our total loss was reported to be one thousand two hun 
 dred and thirty-five, though it was probably much larger. 
 The rebels reported about the same loss. We lost the bat 
 tle, but the nation claimed a victory. Five thousand had 
 met twenty thousand, and after six hours fighting retired 
 leisurely from the field, having disabled their antagonist so 
 that he could not pursue them. Undoubtedly, so far as the 
 fighting was concerned, the triumph was ours, but in the fall 
 of Lyon we lost more than a battle or an army. 
 
 The defeated army fearing for its communications did nofc 
 tarry long at Springfield, but fell back to Holla. This left a 
 great portion of Missouri, in the hands of the rebels. Small 
 bodies, however, kept the field, and incessant skirmishes and 
 combats, the alternate occupation of remote towns by the 
 loyalists and rebels, the destruction of rail roads and 
 bridges, the firing of houses and barns, the scattering of 
 families and desolation of neighborhoods made the state a 
 scene of devastation and blood, and carried the mind back 
 to the days of barbarism. 
 
 The news of the death of the gallant Lyon was received 
 with the profoundest grief by the nation. His energy, 
 heroism, purity of .character, and lofty patriotism, had 
 endeared him to the people ; and his glorious past was 
 regarded as the mere promise of what he would become. 
 In their sorrow and indignation at his fall, they sought for 
 
136 . SOUTHERN CLERGY. 
 
 some one on whom to lay the blame. Fremont being chief 
 of the department was held responsible and sternly arraigned 
 at the bar of public opinion. But it must be remembered 
 that the battle took place, only a week after he reached St. 
 Louis, and before he had time to take in fully the real wants 
 and difficulties of his position. Wholly unprepared for 
 active operations, he saw General Pillow just south of him 
 at New Madrid, threatening St. Louis, and he might well 
 hesitate on a sudden movement of forces that might leave 
 that city at the mercy of the enemy. 
 
 The spirit of Pandemonium seemed now to be let loose 
 all over the south, invading even the pulpit, and sending the 
 ministers of God not only to the battle field, but on expedi 
 tions of plunder and rapine. It was to be expected that the 
 churches south would sympathize with the rebellion, but the 
 world stood aghast at the diabolical spirit that took posses 
 sion of many of those who had been known as messengers 
 of peace. The spectacle of ministers and members of the 
 same church, each invoking the aid of the God of battles 
 ere they rushed on each other in deadly collision, was sad 
 and appalling enough without this- frenzied hate and exhibi 
 tion of the worst passions of our nature. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 AUGUST, 1861. 
 
 ACTION OF THE GENERAL GOVERNMENT ARRESTS CONFISCATION REFUSES 
 
 TO EXCHANGE PRISONERS RETALIATION BY DAVIS MC CLELLAN QUELLS A 
 
 MUTINY IN THE SEVENTY-NINTH N. Y. REGIMENT SOUTHERN PRIVATEERS 
 
 WRECK OF THE JEFF. DAVIS SURPRISE OF TYLER AT SUMMERVILLE WOOL 
 
 SENT TO FORTRESS MONROE FOOTE ORDERED WEST TO TAKE CHARGE OF 
 
 GUN COATS NAVAL ATTACK ON CAPE IIATTERAS ERROR OF THE SECRE 
 TARY OF THE NAVY PROCLAMATION OF FREMONT EFFECT OF PRESI 
 DENT REQUIRES HIM TO MODIFY IT THE REBELS OCCUPY COLUMBUS AND 
 
 HICKMAN STATE OF AFFAIRS IN WESTERN VIRGINIA BATTLE OF CARNIFEX 
 
 FERRY AND RETREAT OF FLOYD. 
 
 ALL this while the government seemed hardly to under 
 stand its position, and was slowly, painfully, feeling its 
 way to firm footing and a clear field of action. For a long time 
 after many of the states went out of the Union, it kept the 
 mails running regularly for their benefit, and treason was 
 hardly regarded as a crime. It could not bring itself to con 
 template the terrible fact that we were entering on one of 
 the most fearful wars that ever cursed the world. But now 
 everything was changed. Congress had appointed a com 
 mittee to clear the public offices from traitors men in every 
 part of the north found themselves suddenly arrested, and 
 without the form of a trial hurried off to prison. No writ of 
 habeas corpus could release them. The bayonet was stronger 
 than the order of the court. Men began to look aghast, and 
 spoke of the star chamber and lettres dc cachet of -France. 
 The government had^ suddenly aroused to its danger, and its 
 action now had the effect to destroy that sense of security in 
 the plotters against the government which its former leniency 
 had caused to exist. Secret informers lurked everywhere, 
 
138 NO EXCHANGE OF PRISONERS. 
 
 and traitors suddenly felt themselves enveloped in mysterious 
 danger. Newspapers were stopped, and an era of despotic 
 power seemed about to be inaugurated. To all these meas 
 ures the people submitted quietly, feeling that self-preserva 
 tion was the first law of nations, as well as of nature. Con 
 fiscation of rebel property was proclaimed, and the govern 
 ment seemed determined to strike wherever there was a pros 
 pect of planting a successful blow. Peace meetings had been 
 called after the battle of Bull Run, and leading papers and 
 men in Congress proposed terms of accommodation. These 
 were now no more heard of. About this time a serious diffi 
 culty arose respecting the treatment of prisoners. Our gov 
 ernment endeavored to carry out the theory that the southern 
 confederacy, being nothing more than an organized rebellion, 
 it could not be recognized so far as to treat with it for ex 
 change of prisoners. To do so would be a concession that 
 far outweighed in importance the fate of our brave officers 
 and soldiers in the rebel hands. This question now became 
 still more embarrassed, as the south had resolved to treat our 
 men precisely as we treated the crew of the privateer Savan 
 nah, whom we had incarcerated as pirates, and threatened to 
 hang as such. Davis imprisoned man for man, and declared he 
 would Jiang man for man. Our indignation had been aroused 
 because England had recognized the rebels as belligerents, 
 and the government endeavored to avoid doing anything 
 which might be construed into a similar recognition. While 
 it professed to act on this hypothesis, it treated rebel officers 
 taken in battle with more courtesy than is usually extended 
 to prisoners of war. It conformed to every other rule of 
 war except that of exchange of prisoners. This course was 
 looked upon by a portion of the people as unreasonable, 
 while all lamented the sufferings and dreary imprisonment it 
 entailed on our soldiers captured by the enemy. 
 
 In the mean time, McClellan went steadily on with his 
 
QUELLING A MUTINY. 139 
 
 herculean task. The way he disposed of a mutiny in the 
 seventy-ninth New York regiment the middle of this month, 
 gave the country and the army a hint that set both thinking. 
 He drew up infantry and cavalry around them, and planting 
 loaded cannon in their front, gave them their choice, sub 
 mission, obedience, or the fire of a battery within pistol shot. 
 Volunteers, men who, of their own free will, had gone to the 
 field for the defense of their country, did not believe he dare 
 resort to such extreme measures. The lesson was a whole 
 some one, and saved much future trouble. 
 
 The reports that from time to time through the summer 
 reached the country of the capture of American merchant 
 men by the southern privateers, caused much excitement and 
 alarm, especially in New York city. The utmost efforts of 
 our cruisers failed to capture them. The Sumter and Jeff. 
 Davis were commanded by bold, skillful sailors, and moved 
 from point to point with astonishing celerity. At last the 
 Jeff. Davis met her fate on the Florida coast, on which she 
 was driven in a storm, and became a total wreck. 
 
 A fight at Summerville, Western Virginia, where Colonel 
 Tyler with his regiment was surprised and surrounded while 
 at breakfast, and had to cut their way out with the loss of 
 two hundred men, and some fierce combats in northern Mis 
 souri, between the Union citizens and rebel forces, were all 
 the movements in the field in the interior that marked the 
 closing days of August. The veteran Wool, who had been 
 kept from active service by some political management, and 
 was at last ordered to the field only on the peremptory de 
 mand of Governor Morgan, took command of fortress Mon 
 roe, and the country felt assured that that department, at 
 least, would be well taken care of. Captain Foote also was 
 ordered to the command of the naval forces on the western 
 rivers. A large fleet of gun boats was under contract, and 
 when they were finished it was believed that he, with such 
 
140 CAPE HATTERAS TAKEN. 
 
 commanders as Porter, son of the hero of the Essex, and 
 others, would soon clear the Mississippi to New Orleans. 
 
 FIGHT AT CAPE HATTERAS. 
 
 In the mean time, a naval and military expedition, under 
 the command of Commodore Stringham and General Butler, 
 sailed from Hampton Roads (August 26th) to attack the 
 rebel fortifications on Cape Hatteras. The inlet here had 
 long been a lurking place for privateers, and a highway for 
 small craft carrying contraband goods to the enemy. The 
 naval force consisted of the flag-ship Minnesota and four 
 other national vessels, beside transports ; and the land force 
 of about nine hundred men. Arriving off Hatteras, an 
 attempt was made to land the troops, but on account of the 
 heavy surf, only three hundred and fifteen could be got 
 ashore, w^ith a twelve-pound rifle gun, and a twelve-pound 
 howitzer. Two forts had been erected here Henry and 
 Hatteras manned by some six hundred men, commanded 
 by Captain Barron, recently of the United States navy. 
 The latter was immediately evacuated, and the guns spiked. 
 Night coming on, and the wind rising, the vessels had to 
 secure an offing, thus leaving the little band on shore to its 
 fate. A part encamped in the works, and the rest bivouac- 
 ed on the open beach. The next morning the vessels moved 
 up in front of the remaining fort, and opened fire ; and soon 
 the shells were bursting in and around the doomed fortifica 
 tion. Being some two miles off, the shot of the enemy 
 could not reach them ; and the rebels seeing their helpless 
 condition, at eleven o clock hauled down their flag, when 
 Barron came aboard the flag-ship and surrendered his entire 
 command. Twenty -five pieces of artillery, a thousand stand 
 of arms, and a large quantity of ordnance stores, provisions, 
 etc., fell into our hands. The victors immediately returned 
 
FREMONT S PROCLAMATION. 141 
 
 with their trophies to receive the ovation of the people. 
 The loud laudation of this enterprise, as well as the import 
 ance given to every skirmish which was magnified into a 
 battle, showed how keenly the north felt the defeat at Bull 
 Run. Indeed, our successes were so few that we needed to 
 magnify them to keep up any courage. 
 
 If the expedition had been properly fitted out, so that 
 after the forts were captured it could have kept on into Pam- 
 lico and Albemarle sounds, and made a descent on the 
 unprotected coast of North Carolina, great results might 
 have followed. But the vessels drew too much water to 
 allow them to go over the bar, besides the orders of the 
 Secretary of the Navy were to return immediately after the 
 one object was effected. 
 
 The last of August was signalized by a proclamation 
 of Fremont, declaring martial law in Missouri, and that 
 under the decree of confiscation the slaves were free. It 
 caused great excitement in Kentucky and throughout the 
 country ; for it was looked upon as the entering wedge to 
 general emancipation. Great pressure was brought to bear 
 upon the President to disavow it, for fears were entertained 
 that it would utterly destroy the Union cause in the border 
 states. There was probably some truth in this, at any rate 
 the President directed Fremont to modify his proclamation. 
 Perhaps it was good policy to do so under the existing cir 
 cumstances, but the latter must have been guzzled to know 
 what the government meant by its confiscation scheme, 
 unless it designed to embrace all the property of rebels, and 
 it would be difficult to see what it could do with confiscated 
 slaves but to give them their freedom. 
 
 Events were slowly dragging the most important elements 
 of the struggle into the valley of the Mississippi ; and Ken 
 tucky evidently would soon become important battle ground. 
 Governor Magoffin had addressed a letter to the President, 
 
42 MARCH OF ROSECRANZ. 
 
 requesting him to withdraw Federal troops from the bound 
 aries of the state. This he declined to do, and soon after, 
 in the early part of September, General Polk issued a proc 
 lamation, in which, after stating that the presence of Fed 
 eral troops opposite Columbus threatened the occupation of 
 that important place, he declared he should at once take 
 possession of -it, and did. The southern confederacy had 
 made up its mind to hold Kentucky in spite of its Union 
 vote. Of course Columbus and Hickman could not be held 
 alone, flanked as they were by the Cumberland and Tennes 
 see rivers. The possession of a position on the Mississippi 
 necessitated the occupation of other points inland, in fact, 
 of a line of intrenched camps reaching to the Alleghanies. 
 
 In Western Virginia the success that had marked the career 
 of McClellan still continued to follow his lieutenants in the 
 field. Rosecranz was a worthy successor to him in that de 
 partment. The rebels, though driven out of the valley, had 
 not abandoned the design of getting possession of it, and a 
 new army, under the notorious Floyd, was sent thither. He 
 took position at Carnifex ferry, on the Gauley river, and there 
 strongly intrenched himself. Rosecranz immediately moved 
 towards his stronghold to give him battle. For more than a 
 week he led his column through the broken country, and 
 along the difficult roads of the mountain region. Now fol 
 lowing the bed of the torrent, and now climbing by a tortu- 
 ; ous road, a rugged hight, dragging their heavy cannon after 
 them, the dauntless soldiers toiled uncomplainingly forward, 
 and at last reached the highest mountain summit, from which 
 east and west, spread a glorious panorama the successive 
 ridges of the forest-clad mountains rolling away in green bil- 
 .lows, till they lost themselves in the dim horizon. Winding 
 down the mountain they encountered a body of cavalry which 
 they dispersed. Night came on as they reached the valley, 
 and lighting their bivouac fires, which shed a feeble light in 
 
BATTLE OF CARNIFEX FERRY. 143 
 
 the dense fog that had settled over them, they lay down in 
 the green meadows with the mountains standing like grim 
 sentinels around them. The drum and bugle echoing through 
 the solitude, roused them up before the light, and at dawn 
 the column was winding its way towards Summerville. Soon 
 firing ahead put them to the double-quick, and breaking into 
 the town along the single street that traversed it, they saw 
 the rebels fleeing along the hill-sides beyond. Halting here 
 to question the inhabitants respecting the roads, and examine 
 the official map of the country, found in the clerk s office, 
 Rosecranz again took up his line of march, and entering the 
 hills, pressed forwards towards the enemy s intrenchments. 
 They soon came upon his pickets, and the irregular firing of 
 the advance skirmishers commenced. 
 
 BATTLE OF CARNIFEX FERRY. 
 
 Rosecranz knew he was in presence of the main body of the 
 enemy, but of his position or the character of his defences he 
 was totally ignorant. In this dilemma, General Benham asked 
 permission to take his brigade forward to feel the enemy. 
 Rosecranz consented that he should make a bold reconnois- 
 ance, nothing more. The brigade started forward, and Rose 
 cranz rode to the top of the hill with his staff to get, if 
 possible, a better observation of the condition of things. He 
 stood here a moment, while the artillery was laboring up the 
 hill, when suddenly a deep, prolonged roar of musketry burst 
 from the woods directly in front where the first brigade was 
 moving. The terrible suspicion flashed over him that it had 
 been led into ambush, and would be inevitably cut up, but 
 the next moment the swift, deliberate volleys of our men as* 
 sured him it was not so, and that they were calmly facing 
 the enemy. Soon the artillery opened, making stern music 
 there among the mountain crags. Rosecranz now ordered 
 
144 MC COOK S REGIMENT. 
 
 up the twelfth Ohio under Colonel Lowe. Charging along 
 at the double-quick, the regiment saluted the general as they 
 rose the crest of the hill, with thundering cheers, and then 
 plunged forward into .the thicket out of which the incessant 
 volleys rang. Howitzers and field-pieces toiled heavily after, 
 followed by the teams straining up the steep acclivity, and it 
 seemed, for a time, as if a desperate battle was to be fought 
 there with an unseen foe, and on an unknown field. Hastily 
 protecting his rear, Roseeranz put spurs to his horse, and 
 dashed to the front amid a shower of balls. Crossing the 
 woods he came to a clearing in which were the enemy s 
 works. At this critical moment word came to McCook s 
 German brigade, that had not yet been in the fight, that they 
 were to move forward, and storm the intrenehments. This 
 was just what the gallant colonel wanted, and rejoiced at the 
 tidings, he dashed along his lines, shouting in trumpet tones 
 to his brave troops what they were to do. Wild, tumultuous 
 cheers greeted the announcement, and waving swords, clash 
 ing muskets, and hats thrown into the air, made it a scene of 
 thrilling excitement. The drums beat, and gaily as to a 
 banquet, the steady column moved forward. But orders at 
 this juncture were received from Roseeranz, forbidding the 
 assault. A part of the regiment had charged almost up to the 
 enemy s work on the extreme left, and had to be recalled 
 by the bugle. Night was coming on, and the commander did 
 not deem it prudent to make the attempt in the darkness. 
 Besides if it were successful it might be at a great expense 
 of life which the morning light would prevent. The battle 
 had raged for four hours, and now in the darkness the 
 troops were ordered to fall back on the lines. They lay on 
 their arms all night, and a part of them within two or three 
 hundred yards of the fort. When the morning dawned, it was 
 discovered that the enemy had fled. Floyd, finding himself 
 so furiously assailed in front and flank, deemed it prudent to 
 
DEATH OF COLON EL LOWE. 145 
 
 decamp, and leaving large quantities of ammunition, stores, 
 etc., hastily crossed the Gauley river, and destroyed the 
 ferry-boat, so that pursuit was impossible. Our loss was some 
 hundred and twenty killed and wounded. Among the for 
 mer was Colonel Lowe of the twelfth Ohio, who fell at the 
 head of his regiment. 
 
 
 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 SEPTEMBER, 1861. 
 
 FALL OF LEXINGTON FREMONT BLAMED FOR IT CHARGES AGAINST HIM 
 ATTITUDE OF KENTUCKY ITS LEGISLATURE ORDERS THE REBEL FORCES TO 
 
 LEAVE THE STATE MAGOFFIN GENERAL LEE SENT TO WESTERN VIRGINIA 
 
 FIGHT AT CHEAT MOUNTAIN PASS DEFEAT OF LEE AT ELK WATER DEATH 
 
 OF JOHN WASHINGTON POSITION OF THE ARMIES ON THE POTOMAC OC 
 CUPATION OF MUNSON S HILL OBSERVANCE OF THE NATIONAL FAST. 
 
 SOON after this brilliant exploit, the national heart was 
 saddened by the news of the fall of Lexington, Missouri, 
 and the capture of Colonel Mulligan (who held the place), 
 with his entire command. On the first of the month, Colonel 
 Mulligan, in his intrenched camp at Jefferson City, received 
 orders to proceed with his Irish brigade to Lexington, a 
 hundred and sixty miles up the river, and reinforce the few 
 troops already there. He reached the place on the ninth, 
 swelling the force to about three thousand five hundred men. 
 He had, however, been there only three days at work, when 
 the driving in of his pickets announced the near approach 
 of the enemy. After the battle of Wilson s Creek, Price 
 chased Lane and Montgomery from the state, and then 
 turned his steps towards Warrenburg, where, he heard, there 
 was a Federal force. The latter fled at his approach, and he 
 continued his march to Lexington, with an army variously 
 estimated at from fifteen to thirty thousand men. 
 
 Midway between the towns of old and new Lexington, 
 situated about a mile apart, Mulligan took his position, and 
 commenced throwing up a breast-work ten feet high, sur 
 rounded by a broad ditch, but had time only partially to 
 complete it when the arrival of the enemy compelled him to 
 suspend operations. A large, brick building used as a col- 
 
LEXINGTON ATTACKED. 149 
 
 legt? Blood within the fortifications, and was occupied as head- 
 quarts^. The river was about half a mile distant. 
 
 An attack was made on the twelfth, led by General Rains 
 in person, with a battery of nine pieces of artillery ; but was 
 repulsed with heavy loss. The assault was directed against 
 an angle of the works poorest defended ; and the fierce, 
 determined manner in which it was resisted, showed Price 
 that it would not be prudent, even with his overwhelming 
 numbers, to attempt to carry the place by storm ; and he 
 commenced on Friday morning a new system of approaches. 
 Bales of hemp from the surrounding region were carted in, 
 and after being thoroughly saturated with water, to prevent 
 them from being set on fire with red hot shot, were rolled 
 forward as breastworks to protect the batteries. Mulligan, 
 in the mean time, burned a portion of the old town, to pre 
 vent the enemy from taking shelter there, and sat down to 
 wait for reinforcements. On the tenth, he had sent a lieu 
 tenant with a squad of twelve men on a steamer to Jefferson 
 City, a hundred and sixty miles distant, for more troops ; 
 but they had not proceeded far before they were captured. 
 He then dispatched other messengers by different routes, to 
 avoid a failure. The rebels expected that aid would be sent 
 him, and threw out columns in different directions to inter 
 cept it. On Wednesday, they planted four batteries, num 
 bering in all thirteen pieces, and opened a terrible fire on 
 the beleaguered little garrison, while their sharp shooters 
 from every rock, tree, fence, and house, within range, rained 
 an incessant shower of balls upon them. If a single head 
 appeared above the works, it became the target of a hun 
 dred rifles. Mulligan had but six small pieces of artillery, 
 with which to reply to this overwhelming fire, but they were 
 worked with great gallantry. A large, brick house stood 
 towards the river, to which Mulligan had nearly extended 
 his line of earthworks. This, during the day the rebels got 
 
150 DISTRESS OF MULLIGAN. 
 
 possession of, and from the windows, doorways, and behind 
 the chimneys to which they had clambered some even shel 
 tering themselves in the cistern kept up a galling fire on 
 the garrison. Determined to bear the annoyance no longer, 
 Mulligan ordered a platoon to clear it, which they did in a 
 twinkling, at the point of the bayonet. Night at length 
 came and put an end to the combat. The next morning 
 Price retired some distance with his main army, to wait the 
 arrival of his ammunition. Day after day now wore away 
 with no fighting except between detached parties. On the 
 18th, his ainrnunitioji having arrived, Price moved back in 
 front of the works, preparatory to his final attack. With a 
 strong force he occupied the brick house near the works, seized 
 the boats in the river to prevent the escape of the garrison, 
 stormed and took possession of some bluffs that overlooked 
 the position, and began to fortify them. The fighting now 
 was incessant. The bright moonlight nights brought no 
 cessation to the combat, and the besieged being cut off 
 from the river, began to suffer dreadfully from want of water. 
 The large number of horses and mules within the inclosure, 
 also grew frantic with thirst and threatened to break away 
 from their fastenings, and spread terror through the camps. 
 From the hights that the enemy held in spite of all the 
 efforts made to dislodge them, they on the twentieth began 
 to roll slowly downward a breastwork of hemp bales. From 
 this last device of the rebels there was no escape, and Mul 
 ligan looked with alarm on the steadily approaching ram 
 part, along the crest of which ran an incessant sheet of flame. 
 Sally after sally was made, and deeds of desperate valor 
 were done, and partial successes gained ; but it was evident 
 that the doom of the garrison was sealed. They were driven 
 back to their inner defenses, while the home guard retired 
 entirely, refusing to fight any more. No water was to be 
 bad, and the agony of thirst was becoming stronger than the 
 
FALL OF LEXINGTON. 151 
 
 fear of death. The wreck and ruin that surrounded them 
 was rendered still more appalling by the putrifying carcasses 
 of hundreds of horses that had fallen before the fire of the 
 enemy, and now filled the air with an insufferable stench. 
 For more than a week they had borne up against overwhelm 
 ing numbers, looking anxiously for the aid for which they 
 had long ago sent. Every morning Mulligan bent his ear to 
 catch the sound of distant cannonading, telling him that help 
 was at hand ; and every night he turned his eye anxiously 
 towards the silent river to catch the first signal of deliver 
 ance, but in vain. He bore up heroically through these long 
 days and nights of pain and toil, and his brave brigade stood 
 nobly by him, showing themselves worthy of their gallant 
 commander ; but buffet it back as he would, the painful truth 
 that his flag must be struck to the foe, would return with 
 every revolving hour, crushing him to the earth. Had there 
 been any definite point within reach, where a desperate stand 
 could be made, he would have cut his way through the host 
 that environed him sword in hand ; but turn which way he 
 would, he saw no avenue of escape. On this last day he 
 was twice wounded; bnt not until the home guard had 
 refused to fight longer, and the hempen breast-work was 
 within fifty yards of his fortifications, did he finally consent 
 to surrender. Two thousand six hundred men, including 
 the five hundred home guard laid down their arms, and one 
 of the most important posts of Missouri fell into the hands 
 of the enemy. 
 
 Fremont s career had commenced badly, and one loud voice 
 of condemnation went up against him all over the land. 
 Some few of his friends pretended that the loss of this place 
 was only a part of his strategic plan which would result in the 
 capture of Price s entire army, but the common sense of the 
 people was not to be duped in this manner. A strategy, they 
 said, that required the death of Lyon, and the surrender of 
 
152 FREMONT TAKES THE FIELD. 
 
 a whole army was not one by which Missouri could be saved. 
 Fremont, in defense, declared that he did send reinforce 
 ments, and events over which he had no control prevented 
 them from being received. Much angry discussion and sharp 
 criticism followed. A good deal unquestionably could be 
 said in his excuse, but the clamor could not be allayed. The 
 people always have judged, and always will judge a general 
 by his success, and no- apology will satisfy them for defeats 
 where no evidence is given of efforts having been made equal 
 to the emergency. One fact seemed palpable to all he 
 should have known the circumstances in which his subordi 
 nate was placed, and if the difficulties that surrounded him 
 were insurmountable, told him so, and left him to secure his 
 retreat as he best could. 
 
 From this time on, Fremont s enemies never let him alone, 
 till they secured his removal from the department. Charges 
 of gross frauds on the government in the purchase of arms 
 and army supplies, and in the giving out of contracts, of sur 
 rounding liimself with favorites to the exclusion of the fight 
 ing officers of the army, of keeping up an aristocratic estab 
 lishment, and finally of total incompetency in the manage 
 ment of his department, multiplied on every side. He saw 
 that he had awakened a storm that would overwhelm him 
 without immediate signal victories, and he took the field in 
 person, and began to concentrate his forces against the enemy. 
 While Mulligan was contending at Lexington, Colonel Scott 
 met with a repulse at Blue Mills, but the enemy retired 
 before our main force could come up. 
 
 Notwithstanding all these reverses in the west, Kentucky 
 never faltered in the loyal stand she had taken. The legisla 
 ture called on the rebels to leave the state forthwith, and 
 when Polk agreed to do so, if the Federal forces were also 
 withdrawn, it refused to grant the condition ; and though 
 their acts were vetoed by the governor, they passed them 
 
LEE SENT AGAINST REYNOLDS. 153 
 
 over his head. Grant took possession of Paducah, and issued 
 his proclamation, but the rebels, instead of retiring, began to 
 move more troops into the state under orders of A. S. John 
 ston who had taken command of the rebel western depart 
 ment. While affairs were wearing this doubtful aspect in the 
 west, the campaign which McClellan had so successfully pros 
 ecuted in Western Virginia, was being followed up triumph 
 antly by the generals still in command tjiere. Floyd, in the 
 southern part, could not make a stand against Rosecranz, to 
 whom neither mud, nor storms, nor mountains, could present 
 insurmountable obstacles. Farther north we still held our 
 own, though the enemy made a determined effort to drive us 
 back. Wise and Floyd, having both showed themselves un 
 able to cope with our generals, General Lee, the best officer 
 of Virginia, was sent with nine thousand men against our 
 position in Cheat Mountain held by General Reynolds. 
 
 LEE AT CHEAT MOUNTAIN AND ELK WATER. 
 
 On the same day that Price advanced against Lexington, 
 Lee moved against Reynolds, stationed at Elk Water. Ap 
 proaching Cheat Mountains, he divided his force into two. 
 columns, and sent one along the Staunton turnpike to attack 
 our post on the summit, and led the other by the Huntersville 
 road towards Elk Water. These two posts of ours were only 
 seven miles apart by a bridle path over the mountains, but 
 eighteen miles by the wagon road, which led through Cheat 
 Mountain pass, where the brigade had a short time before 
 been located. Lee, advancing along the pass, attempted to get 
 to the left and rear of Elk Water. But for the gallantry of 
 four companies of Indiana troops, which held the whole force 
 in check, he would have succeeded in this, and made Rey 
 nold s situation a desperate one. As it was, the enemy w^ere 
 forced to the rear and right of Cheat mountain, completely 
 hemming in the three hundred who held the summit. When 
 
154 REPULSE OF LEE. 
 
 night closed in, the communication between our posts was en 
 tirely cut off. Determined at all hazards to open it, Rey 
 nolds, at three o clock next morning, dispatched Sullivan with 
 the thirteenth Indiana, along the main road, and most of two 
 Virginia and Ohio regiments by the bridle path, with orders, 
 if possible, to fall simultaneously on the enemy, and force 
 their way to the little beleagured band on the summit. The 
 latter, ignorant of what was going on at the base of the 
 mountain, determined to cut its own way through to the 
 army. So on the same morning Colonel Kimball put his 
 little column in motion. Not knowing the number or posi 
 tion of the enemy, he started off -his wagon train with a small 
 escort. It had proceeded but three quarters of a mile when 
 it was met by a sudden fire. Kimball thought at first it 
 came from only a scouting party, but on hurrying to the 
 front, he found himself in presence of twenty -five hundred of 
 the enemy. Nothing daunted, he immediately threw out his 
 skirmishers, and ordered his men to hold their position. 
 They did so, and opened such a fierce fire on the enemy that 
 he turned and fled in confusion, leaving the woods strewed 
 with dead and wounded, and guns and clothing in large 
 quantities. The two columns below heard the firing, and 
 pushed on up the mountain, but before they reached the 
 scene of action the battle was over. As the heads of the 
 columns appeared in sight, they were greeted with loud 
 hurrahs, which were answered till the mountain rang again. 
 They then proceeded to the summit, and secured the provis 
 ion train, thus reopening the communication with Reynolds. 
 While this was going on up in the mountain, Lee advanced 
 straight on Elk Water. Checked in his progress by Reynold s 
 artillery, he withdrew a short distance and took position. 
 Towards night he heard the result of the fight in the moun 
 tain, and discouraged by it, fell back still farther. Next day 
 The renewed his attacks on both positions, but was again re 
 
FORTIFICATIONS AROUND WASHINGTON. 155 
 
 pulsed with severe loss, and retreated ten miles. Our loss 
 was only nine killed, while that of the enemy was one hun 
 dred, and among them Colonel John Washington, recent pro 
 prietor of Mount Vernon. A strange fatality attended every 
 attempt of the rebels to occupy Western Virginia, While in 
 every part of the Union we met with nothing but reverses, 
 here we never lost a battle. McClellan had finished up his 
 work so well, and given such a high, moral tone to the army, 
 that it deemed itself invincible, and began to be regarded so 
 by the enemy. 
 
 During all this time, no general movement of troops 
 occurred in front of Washington. The idea that the rebels 
 meant to attack the Capital had taken full possession of the 
 government, and very extensive preparations were made for 
 its protection. A net work of fortifications was steadily 
 pushed forward, so that on both sides of the Potomac thirty- 
 two works were completed, or nearly so, of sufficient import 
 ance to call forth a general order from McClellan, assigning 
 them names. The work of drilling the troops was steadily 
 prosecuted, both at Washington, and in the various camps 
 in the several states. As fast as the regiments were properly 
 equipped, they were ordered on, and a vast army soon 
 stretched in a semi-circle, from near Alexandria in Virginia 
 to the Potomac, some ten or fifteen miles above Washington, 
 while we held the Maryland side up to the Alleghanies. 
 
 Whether McClellan shared the general fear that the enemy 
 would make a descent on Washington, or whether he was 
 willing it should be entertained, so as to give him more time 
 to discipline his army, does not appear. It is hardly to be 
 supposed, however, that a military commander should feel 
 much alarm, lest an enemy without adequate means of trans 
 portation should put a broad river between him and his sup- 
 plies and reserves, while seventy thousand .men held the 
 bank he proposed to leave. 
 
t 
 156 NATIONAL FAST. 
 
 Armed reconnoissances and skirmishes between pickets and 
 small detachments served to break up the monotony of camp 
 life. We pushed our lines to Lewinsville on the right, and 
 fonyard in front, so as to include Munson s Hill. The occu 
 pation of the latter position was accompanied by a repetition 
 of the blunder which occurred at Big Bethel : our troops firing 
 into each other, but, as usual, nobody seemed to blame. It 
 was said that but for the knowledge of this movement, which 
 (in some mysterious way, and from some high official source) 
 reached the enemy, we should have captured ten thousand 
 men, who, being forewarned, had time to escape. It was 
 soon apparent that no secret of importance could be kept 
 from the rebels. The confederate government constantly 
 received news of intended movements on our part, which 
 the most assiduous, pushing reporters of the northern press 
 could not obtain. The source from whence it was derived 
 baffled the keenest scrutiny. 
 
 The most noteworthy event that marked the closing days 
 of September was the observance of the national fast, which 
 the President in accordance with a resolution of Congress 
 had proclaimed soon after the defeat at Bull Run. No 
 national fast since the time of the revolution had been kept 
 with greater solemnity. Previous to the signal defeat of our 
 arms at Bull Run, rulers and people had exhibited an arro 
 gance and confidence in the ability of the north to crush out 
 the rebellion with a blow, that filled thoughtful men with 
 alarm. Not only in the economy of God is u pride sure to 
 go before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall," but 
 even in human arrangements they always prevent that care 
 and preparation which are necessary to insure success. We 
 did not feel that help from on high was necessary, we 
 thought the flag was quite sufficient ; and it looked as though 
 minister and people thought more of the stars and stripes that 
 draped every pulpit and waved from every church spire than 
 
THE NATION HUMBLE. 157 
 
 they did of Him who presided over the sanctuary. Our con 
 duct in this respect contrasted strikingly with that of the south 
 ern confederacy. It had begun its work with proclaiming 
 a fast ; and its Congress passed resolutions recognizing most 
 emphatically its dependence on God. Our terrible defeat 
 had humbled this boastful spirit which assumed that we 
 were altogether righteous ; and the fast, to all human appear 
 ance, was a sincere self-abasement of the nation before Him 
 to whom all the nations of the earth are as the small dust of 
 the balance. 
 
 From the outset, it had been apparent to every one who 
 was not carried away by political prejudice or blind fanati 
 cism, that this terrible war, whatever its end should be, 
 would inflict the sorest punishment on both sections which 
 had, though unequally, exhibited an uncharitable, bitter, and 
 angry spirit. 
 10 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 OCTOBER, 186L 
 
 POSITION OF THE TWO GREAT ARMIES EXPECTATIONS AND FEELINGS OF THE 
 
 PEOPLE GALLANT NAVAL EXPLOIT AT PENSACOLA DESTRUCTION OF THE 
 
 PRIVATEER JUDAH OCCUPATION OF SHIP ISLAND WESTERN VIRGINIA 
 
 FIGHT AT GREEN BRIER CREEK ATTACK OF THE ENEMY AT CAPE HATTERAS 
 
 SURPRISE OF WILSON ZOUAVES AT SANTA ROSA S ISLAND ATTACK OF THE 
 
 BLOCKADING FLEET AT THE MOUTH OF THE MISSISSIPPI BY THE RAM MANAS- 
 
 8AS FIGHT AT LEBANON, MO. FIGHT AT FREDERICKTOWN FIGHT AT BLUE 
 
 MILLS FERRY BATTLE OF WILD CAT CAMP, KY. 
 
 THE country looked to the cool nights and temperate days 
 of October with ardent expectations. Our army, which 
 had been assembling and drilling all summer, was to move, 
 at once it was believed, and not only wipe out the disgrace 
 of Bull Run, but give a fatal blow to the rebellion. The 
 position in which affairs stood, seemed to make a forward 
 movement inevitable. West of the Mississippi there ap 
 peared to be no stable line of defense, and the waves of 
 civil war drifted backward and forward over the distracted 
 state. But east of the river the enemy had established his 
 line with but a single break in it, clear to the Atlantic. 
 Starting at Columbus, it crossed the Tennessee and Cumber 
 land rivers on nearly the same parallel, to Bowling Green ; 
 and thence to the Alleghanies. From this to the Blue Ridge, 
 there was an unoccupied interval. Then it commenced 
 again, and keeping near or on the Potomac, swept on to 
 Fortress Monroe. Along this line, a thousand miles in ex 
 tent, chosen for its commanding position, were stationed, it 
 was supposed, some three hundred thousand men in battle 
 array. Confronting, and threatening it, were a half million 
 of northern troops. A fierce collision somewhere could 
 
PRIVATEER JUDAH DESTROYED. 159 
 
 not be long delayed, and the general expectation was, that it 
 would first take place in front of Washington. General 
 McClellan was the hero of the hour, and to him the nation 
 had transferred, without the least reservation, the unbounded 
 confidence it had hitherto reposed in General Scott. The 
 rebels had improved their time in fortifying their strong po 
 sitions, and it was felt that the battle, whenever it should 
 come, would be a bloody one. 
 
 The intense interest, however, with which the public 
 watched these two mighty armies, was somewhat diverted 
 by naval preparations for an attack along the Atlantic coast, 
 and the evident near approach of a battle at fort Pickens. 
 There was also a great and growing distrust of the ability 
 of the administration, with its present cabinet, to carry us 
 through the mighty struggle on which we had entered. The 
 public heart was in that feverish, angry, excited state, that 
 always forebodes trouble. A great and sudden defeat might 
 have whelmed the administration in utter ruin. It was evi 
 dent that it was not aware on what precarious ground it 
 stood. The army partook of this excited feeling of the peo 
 ple, and in passing through it, one was alarmed to see on 
 what a thin crust the government at Washington rested. 
 One of the strongest securities at this perilous crisis, was the 
 unlimited confidence that all classes had in the patriotism 
 and integrity of the President. It was the sheet anchor of 
 the Republic. 
 
 In the mean time drops of comfort came from the southern, 
 coast. News was received of the destruction of the priva 
 teer Judah, near Pensacola, on the eighteenth of September, 
 by a boat expedition, as she lay off Pensacola bay. Three 
 boats, containing in all about an hundred men, sailors and 
 marines, composed it ; two of them were to attack the priva* 
 teer, while the other should proceed to the shore and spike a 
 battery which had been erected there. The attack was made 
 
160 FIGHT AT GREEN BRIER. 
 
 at half past three in the morning, and resulted in complete 
 success. It was one of those daring, gallant actions for 
 which our navy has always been distinguished. The priva 
 teer was burned, and the battery spiked, with the loss of 
 only three or four killed and a dozen wounded. The three 
 lieutenants commanding the boats, Russell, Blake, and Spros- 
 ton, received the highest commendation for their skill and 
 bravery. About the same time the news arrived of the oc 
 cupation of Ship Island, which occurred on the twentieth. 
 The rebels upon it. ; after setting fire to their barracks, and 
 destroying the light-house, fled to the main land, leaving the 
 place in possession of the federal forces. The capture of this 
 island was important only in view of prospective operations 
 on New Orleans and Mobile, as circumstances might direct. 
 
 From Western Virginia favorable reports continued to be 
 received. On the second of October, General Reynolds 
 started from his camp at Elkwater, to make an armed recon- 
 noissance of Lee s position, twelve miles distant on Green 
 Brier river. 
 
 FIGHT AT GREEN BRIER CREEK. 
 
 Taking with him five thousand men, and a heavy force of 
 artillery, he set out from Cheat mountain at midnight, and 
 marched in dead silence over the rugged way. Colonel 
 Kimball of the fourteenth Indiana, was ordered to move 
 against the enemy s front and right, and push back his 
 advanced regiments, while Milroy, after driving in the pickets, 
 was to deploy to the left of his intrenchments, and force him 
 within them. Just after daylight the latter came to Green 
 Brier bridge, and found it occupied by the rebels. The In- 
 dianans, without waiting for orders, cast aside their knapsacks, 
 and blankets, and with a loud cheer dashed on the bridge, clear 
 ing it with a bound. The regiments now came one after 
 another gallantly into action, driving the enemy from the 
 
REYNOLDS FALLS, BACK, 161 
 
 hillsides and the valley, behind their intrenchments. The 
 artillery was then ordered up, and soon thirteen guns were 
 pouring their shot and shell into the works. The rebels re 
 plied, though some of their guns were hidden by the trees. 
 For over half an hour, it thundered there in the Virginia 
 mountains as if a tropical storm was bursting along the 
 ridges. At length three of the enemy s guns were disabled, 
 when his fire slackened. Soon after, a couple of rockets 
 shot over the treetops where the enemy lay concealed, and 
 burst in mid air a signal for reinforcements that were far 
 ther off amid the hills. In a short time, a column several 
 thousand strong, was seen streaming down the mountain in 
 the rear, their artillery thundering before them. As they 
 approached the fortifications, cheer after cheer went up from 
 the rebels. Our infantry, exasperated at the shout, asked 
 permission to storm the works, but Reynolds thinking it 
 would be a useless sacrifice of life, and having accomplished 
 all he sought, ordered the recall to be sounded, and the army 
 took up its line of march to its old camp, with thirteen pris 
 oners, having lost but eight killed and thirty-two wounded. 
 Lee s mission to western Virginia was evidently drawing to 
 a close. 
 
 FIGHT AT APE HATTERAS. 
 
 \ 
 
 Two days after this, the rebels undertook to surprise a 
 part of the troops stationed near Hatteras inlet. Colonel 
 Brown, with the twentieth Indiana regiment, eight hundred 
 strong, had its encampment about thirty miles from fort Ilat- 
 teras, and on the fourth about fifteen hundred men landed 
 some three or four miles above him. As soon as he was ap^ 
 prised of it by his lookouts, he dispatched a messenger to 
 Colonel Hawkins at the fort, informing him of what was 
 going on, and stating that he should fall back on the fort. 
 Soon after, another body of rebel troops commenced land 
 
162 ATTACK ON CAPE HATTERAS. 
 
 ing below him to cut off his retreat. Brown, made aware 
 of their intentions, set on fire what he could not easily carry 
 away, and immediately started his regiment on the double- 
 quick through the heavy sand, and after a terrible march, 
 succeeded in reaching the light-house in the evening. In 
 the mean time, Hawkins T having received Brown s note T dis 
 patched a messenger to Captain Lardner of the Susque- 
 hanna, lying near the shore T and hurried off six companies 
 of Zouaves to meet and reinforce the retreating regiment. 
 Captain Lardner quickly got the Susquehanna under way, 
 and ordering the Monticello to double cape Halt eras and 
 proceed along the shore, at eight o clock in the evening 
 anchored within half gun-shot of the light-house. The Mon 
 ticello had not proceeded far, when she caught sight of the 
 enemy coming down in full pursuit, and over the woods on 
 the other side of the shoals, the masts of several rebel 
 vessels. The commander,, Lieutenant Braine, immediately 
 opened on them with shelly which exploding in their midst 
 scattered them in all directions. Rolling up their flag, they 
 made for a clump of trees for protection, The Monticello 
 followed them, pitching its shells with fatal accuracy into 
 their midst. Their triumphant march had been sadly inter 
 fered with, and fleeing like frightened deer, they at length 
 reached the woods, abreast of which their vessels lay, and 
 began to embark. The Monticella then shelled the vessels, 
 sinking some of the boats laden with the fugitivesy a part 
 of whom rushed wildly into the water to wade to the 
 launches, ducking their heads in the mean while to escape the 
 shells that fell momentarily around them. The belt of land 
 where they were first discovered, was not more than a third 
 of a mile wide, so that they presented a fair mark to the 
 guns of the steamer, which for two hours played incessantly 
 tipon them. 
 
FORT PICKENS. 163 
 
 NIGHT ATTACK ON SANTA ROSAS. 
 
 The enemy seemed at this time to have formed a con 
 certed plan to drive us entirely from their shores. For four 
 days after this, a similar attack was made on Santa Rosa s 
 Island, on which fort Pickens stands. A force fifteen hun 
 dred or two thousand strong, landed on the island about 
 four miles from the fort, where they remained undiscovered 
 till next night, when they surprised the camp of Wilson s 
 zouaves, situated a mile from the fort, intending to follow 
 up their success, and carrry the place by assault. The plan 
 was well laid, and every thing seemed to favor its successful 
 execution. The night was pitchy dark and their movements 
 were so noiseless and sudden T that they were almost within 
 the camp before they were discovered. Their shots and 
 shouts together, roused the regiment from its slumbers, and 
 though the long roll was beat, and an attempt made to form 
 the men, yet the onset was so sudden, that in the utter dark 
 ness but little was done. The flash of musketry only served 
 to reveal the d 7 Border, and soon the rebel torch was applied 
 to the entire camp. In a moment the tents were in a blaze, 
 the conflagration lighting up a scene of utter terror and con 
 fusion. The shouts of officers and men mingled in with the 
 crackling of flames and crash of musketry, while on every 
 side swarmed the infuriated foe. The zouaves, panic-stricken, 
 fled for the protection of two batteries, situated about four 
 hundred yards from the fort, followed by the enemy, who in 
 the darkness, was now also thrown into confusion. In the 
 mean time, as the sound of the first volleys broke over fort 
 Pickens, the long roll was beat, and major Yogdes hurried 
 off with two companies in the direction of the firing ; while 
 the guns on the ramparts were ordered to be manned. Soon 
 after, the commander, Colonel Brown, saw the flames of the 
 
164 THE RAM MANASSAS. 
 
 burning camp, and sent off a staff officer to communicate 
 with Major Vogdas. But the latter had proceeded scarce a 
 mile, when he became, in the darkness, entangled in masses 
 of the enemy, and before a shot could be fired, was made 
 prisoner. Major Arnold was immediately sent to take com 
 mand, but before he could arrive, the regulars under Captain 
 Hildt had opened such a destructive fire on the enemy, that 
 they beat a retreat. Colonel Williams now succeeded in ral 
 lying a part of his regiment, and other companies from the 
 fort coming up, they pushed on after the flying enemy, who 
 made for their boats, nearly three miles distant. Reaching 
 them, they rushed madly into the water, followed by the 
 steady fire of their pursuers. When the boats shoved off, 
 the murderous volleys plunging into the closely packed 
 masses, struck them down by scores. Our loss all told was 
 about sixty that of the enemy could only be guessed at. 
 As, on Hatteras shoals, the main success of the enemy con 
 sisted in destroying the camp of a regiment. 
 
 THE RAM MANASSAS ATTACKS OUR FLEET. 
 
 The very next week Captain Hollins, formerly of the 
 United States navy, now in command of the rebel naval 
 force at New Orleans, made an attempt to destroy our block 
 ading fleet at the month of the Mississippi. In an iron-clad 
 vessel, armed with a long iron prow, accompanied by two 
 small steamers, he came boldly down on the night of the 
 twelfth, and before the fleet was aware of his presence, 
 dashed in their midst, and steered straight for the Richmond. 
 The ^tlarm was scarcely given, when the "ram" struck hei 
 well forward, going through her side with a tremendous 
 crash, and tearing the schooner from her fastenings. Slowly 
 backing, th3 uncouth monster then made a dash at her stern, 
 but succeeded only in tearing off a few planks. Though 
 
THE MANASSAS DEFEATED. 165 
 
 taken by surprise, the crew coolly responded to the beat to 
 quarters, and as the ram passed abreast of the ship, an 
 entire broadside was poured into it. Hollins, finding one 
 of his engines would not work, now endeavored to haul off, 
 and sent up a signal rocket. The blazing curve had hardly 
 disappeared in the darkness, when farther tip the river, a 
 broad, bright flame leaped into the air, revealing a row of 
 fire ships moving down to complete the work of destruc 
 tion. The whole river was lighted up by the steadily 
 increasing conflagration. The Richmond and Preble irnme- 
 
 o o 
 
 diately dropped down the pass, while the Vincennes and 
 Water Witch remained to watch and see what could be 
 done. The fire ships kept steadily on their way, and the 
 Vincennes seeing that she would be struck if she remained 
 where she was, also concluded to drop down the pass, leav 
 ing the Water Witch, as she was faster and smaller and 
 could easily get out of the way, to remain and report pro 
 ceedings. Seeing, at length, several gun-boats coming down 
 the river, she finally went below to give the information, 
 when, to her dismay, she found the Vincennes fast aground 
 on the bar. To complete the disaster, the Richmond soon 
 grounded also ; and it looked for a moment as if the vessels 
 must be destroyed. But fortunately, the latter vessel swung 
 round, broadside upstream as she struck, so that she could 
 bring her guns to bear admirably. They immediately open 
 ed a rapid and furious fire, which so disconcerted the enemy 
 that he abandoned the enterprise, and withdrew up the 
 river. 
 
 Hollins on his return to New Orleans, gave such an 
 extravagant report of his achievements that the city was 
 wild with delight, and made an illumination in his honor, and 
 hailed him as the hero of the day. To the excited imagina 
 tion of the people, the navigation of the Mississippi seemed 
 already open. The accounts first received at the north, hav- 
 
166 A GALLANT AFFAIR. ~ 
 
 ing come through rebel sources created much uneasiness for 
 the safety of the blockading fleet in the Mississippi, and 
 the papers teemed with prognostications respecting the 
 invulnerability of these new war vessels. But not long after, 
 a true report of the occurrence was received, when Hollins 
 became the subject of boundless ridicule, instead of dread. 
 Enough, however, was accomplished to furnish the south 
 with important suggestions, and should have given the Sec 
 retary of the Navy a hint, which if he had taken, would 
 have saved us much future trouble. 
 
 The first half of October was full of promise to the Union 
 men in Missouri. Fremont, with a well appointed army, 
 was in the field, while in almost every minor engagement 
 the Federal troops were victorious. 
 
 . FIGHT AT LEBANON. 
 
 On the thirteenth, a brilliant dash was made by Major 
 Wright with two companies of cavalry, upon three hundred 
 mounted rebels, near Lebanon, in which the? latter were com 
 pletely routed, with the loss of some fifty or sixty killed and 
 wounded, and thirty-six prisoners. Many of the wounded 
 at Wilson s Creek being on their way in ambulances from 
 Springfield, happened to be near the scene of action, and 
 witnessed it. The rebels were drawn up parallel witlr the 
 road, expecting an attack in front. They had stood in this 
 position nearly an hour and a half,. the ambulances contain 
 ing the Union wounded a little way off, where they had been 
 stopped, with the brutal declaration that they would soon 
 give them "another load of wounded to take along," when 
 suddenly, over the brow of the hill in their rear, came 
 bounding the two companies of cavalry. One blast of the 
 bugle, one wild cheer, and they dashed down. Suddenly 
 halting when within a hundred paces, they delivered a mur 
 derous volley. In a twinkling, the rebels scattered like chaff 
 
THE ENEMY AGAIN DEFEATED. 167 
 
 before the wind, tearing through the brush, and along the 
 road, in their mad flight towards Lebanon. The drivers of 
 the ambulances threw up their hats, and shouted. The cav 
 alry returned the shout with a loud hurrah ; and even the 
 poor wounded, raising their heads, took up the cheer and 
 sent it gloriously over the field. Wyman (in command of 
 the whole force) arrived soon after the battle was over. 
 The two gallant captains, Switzler and Montgomery, were 
 highly commended. The latter, after emptying every barrel 
 of his revolver, and bending his sword nearly double in a 
 hand-to-hand fight, charged a last rebel with his clenched 
 fist, and knocked him from his horse. 
 
 Two days after, the same officer pounced upon Linn 
 Creek, and captured twenty-four rebels. The next day, Lex 
 ington, with sixty or seventy prisoners, fell into our hands. 
 
 FIGHT AT FREBEHICKTOWN. 
 
 In the mean time, the rebels under the notorious Jeff. 
 Thompson and Colonel Lowe were reported to be near Fred- 
 ericktown, advancing on Pilot Knob and Ironton. A recon- 
 noitering party under Colonel Carlin had a severe skirmish 
 with thm, when two thousand Illinois, Indiana, and Wiscon 
 sin troops, under Colonels Carlin, Ross, and Baker, started 
 .to give them battle. On the twenty-first, the combined 
 forces were in Fredericktown r which the enemy had evacu 
 ated the night before. Pushing on after him, they had not 
 proceeded a mile when they came upon him drawn up in 
 line of battle. The Federal troops immediately advanced 
 to the attack. The enemy opened with grape and canister ; 
 but nothing could check the daring soldiers of the west, 
 (now they had at last got the foe within striking distance,) 
 and sending up their loud shouts, they pressed over the 
 broken field, regiment after regiment, and company after 
 
168 BLUE MILLS. 
 
 company, coming into action with the steadiness of veterans. 
 For nearly two hours the rebels withstood the determined 
 onset, but at last turned and fled. Major Gavitt, charging 
 with his cavalry on a gun, fell mortally wounded. In a few 
 moments the retreat became a rout ; and the enemy fled in 
 every direction, leaving sixty-four prisoners in our hands. 
 One hundred and. fifty dead were picked up on the field, 
 among whom was Colonel Lowe. The pursuit was contin 
 ued for several miles along the road towards Greenville, 
 which was strewed with the wrecks of the fight. The next 
 day it was resumed, and continued for twenty-two miles, but 
 the enemy proved too fleet of foot, and it was abandoned. 
 Our loss in killed and wounded was only sixty. 
 
 On the return of the soldiers to Fredericktown, believing 
 that the inhabitants had co-operated with the rebels, they 
 committed some acts of violence, and but for the officers 
 would have burned the place to the ground. As it was, they 
 succeeded in applying the torch to six or seven buildings . 
 The citizens were terror-stricken by the conflagration and 
 for a time thought their town would become a heap of ashes, 
 and themselves houseless wanderers. It was hard for the 
 soldiers, after marching past Union towns levelled to the 
 ground, to keep their hands off this nest of rebels. 
 
 FIGHT AT BLUE MILLS. 
 
 A few days before this encounter, five hundred of the 
 third Iowa regiment, under the command of Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Scott, advanced on the enemy four thousand strong 
 at Blue Mills Ferry landing, near Liberty, whither he had 
 retired from Lexington. Simultaneously with this move 
 ment, Colonel Smith, with the Illinois sixteenth and a part 
 of the thirty-ninth Ohio regiments, was to come up from St. 
 Joseph, and form a junction with the former. Scott waited 
 for him till nine o clock, and then sending him word that he 
 
WILD CAT CAMP, 169 
 
 would push forward after the enemy, advanced. A hot 
 engagement followed, lasting for an hour, when he was com 
 pelled to fall back, bringing off his wounded, and dragging 
 hrs single gun after him by hand, the horses having all been 
 killed. Smith had been detained by heavy rains that ren 
 dered the roads heavy ; but the moment he received Scott s 
 message, he ordered his cavalry and mounted men to the 
 front, and pushing forward at a rapid pace, reached Liberty 
 after dark, where he found Scott s exhausted command. Early 
 the next morning, the combined forces moved back on the 
 enemy. But on reaching Blue Mills, they found him across 
 the river, and beyond pursuit. Scott, in his unequal con 
 test, lost in killed and wounded nearly ninety men. The 
 loss of the enemy was not known. 
 
 In Kentucky, also, affairs wore a promising abpect. The 
 effect of a proclamation by the rebel Buckner at Bowling 
 Green the month before, had been more than counterbal 
 anced by that of the brave Anderson in command of the 
 department, soon after, and that of the loyal General Crit- 
 tenden. A. S. Johnston also gave his proclamation to the 
 people of Kentucky ; and it was evident that the soil of the 
 state would soon witness a severe struggle. A foretaste of 
 what was coming was given on the twenty-first of October, 
 four days after the battle of Blue Mills. Colonel Coburn, 
 with three hundred and fifty men, was ordered by General 
 Schoepff to take possession of a place known as- Camp Wild 
 Cat, on the road leading to Cumberland Gap. 
 
 BATTLE AT WILD CAT CAMP. 
 
 He had hardly done so, when the rebels, concealed in the 
 woods around, began to fire upon his command. Shortly 
 after, a half a mile away in front, the enemy appeared in 
 large force. "V^hile they were preparing to advance to the 
 attack, Colonel Woodford, with two hundred and fifty Ken- 
 
170 DEFEAT OF THE ENEMY, 
 
 tucky cavalry, (Unionists,) came riding up the slope, and 
 formed under fire. Suddenly, two Tennessee regiments (a 
 part of Zollicoffer s command) broke from the woods below, 
 and the next moment, in four ranks advanced on two sides 
 of the position, and opened a heavy fire. Though it was 
 fiercely returned, they kept on till within twenty-five yards 
 of the rude breast-works which had been hastily thrown up. 
 The Kentucky regiment wavered for a moment before the 
 determined onset, but soon rallied, and the conflict though 
 short was close and bloody. Unable to breast the steady 
 volleys, the enemy at first halted, and then fell reluctantly 
 back. 
 
 Information had previously reached tjie commanding gen 
 eral (Thomas) that Zollicoffer was about to swoop down on 
 this part of the country, directing his first attack on Wild 
 Cat Camp ; and he ordered forward the seventeenth Ohio, sev 
 eral miles distant, to support the Union forces which had been 
 sent there. Eagerly starting off, this brave regiment toiled 
 forward, now climbing rugged hills, and now fording streams 
 breast high; and at eleven o clock four companies of it 
 approached the scene of combat, and striking up "Hail 
 Columbia," rushed up the hill at the double-quick, and 
 formed in line of battle. They had scarcely time to deliver 
 one volley, before the enemy fell back. About two o clock, 
 however, he again advanced to the attack. In the midst of 
 the fire, two companies of the Ohio fourteenth appeared, 
 sending up their cheers, while responsive cheers came back 
 down the smoke-enveloped- hill. Lashed to their utmost 
 speed by their drivers, the horses dashed at full gallop up 
 the hill with the artillery, which forming rapidly, rained a 
 terrible fire on the rebel ranks. Astonished at the steadily 
 increasing force before him, the enemy again retired. Rein 
 forcements now kept constantly arriving in camp till ten 
 o clock at night. At two o clock in the morning, sounds 
 
. 
 THE VICTORY IMPORTANT. 171 
 
 were heard in the distant camp of the enemy ; and when 
 daylight broke over the hills, it was found he had retreated. 
 Our loss in the engagement, in killed and wounded, was only 
 twenty-three, while that of the enemy must have been 
 heavy, as he left nineteen dead on the field, which he was 
 unable to carry off. This battle was an important one, as it 
 secured a very desirable position, and highly encouraged the 
 Union inhabitants. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 OCTOBER, 186L 
 
 AFFAIRS ON THE UPPER POTOMAC FIGHT AT BOLIVAR itiECONNOISSANCE 
 
 ACROSS THE RIVER BATTLE OF BALL S BLUFF STRANGE CONDUCT OF 
 
 GENERAL STONE INDIGNATION OF THE PEOPLE MC CLELLAN HURRIES TO 
 
 THE SCENE OF ACTION COLONEL LANDER TAKES THE PLACE LEFT VACANT 
 
 BY THE DEATH OF BAKER 13 WOUNDED AFFAIRS IN MISSOURI GALLANl 
 
 CHARGE OF FKEMONT s BODY GUARD. 
 
 TWO days subsequent to this, a scene occurred on the 
 banks of the Potomac, that filled the land with mourn 
 ing and indignation. General Stone was in command of a 
 division under General Banks, with instructions to watch the 
 enemy near Leesburg, which constituted the extreme left of 
 the rebel line on the Potomac, and prevent his crossing at 
 that point into Maryland. For several days there had been 
 more or less skirmishing, which showed that the utmost 
 watchfulness and care were demanded. 
 
 On the eighth, Major Gould crossed the river at Harper s 
 Ferry to seize a quantity of wheat held by the enemy at 
 that point, and having accomplished his mission was about 
 to re-cross, when on the sixteenth a brisk skirmish of the 
 pickets near Bolivar (a little over two miles from the Poto 
 mac) occurred, which soon ended in a sharp encounter. 
 
 FIGHT AT BOLIVAR. 
 
 The rebel force was soon drawn up on Bolivar hights, from 
 which the pickets had been driven, and planted their cannon 
 so as to command our camp. At the same time, another 
 body appeared on Loudon hights, within cannon range of 
 the ferry, to prevent the troops from using it for transporta 
 tion. While these preparations were going on, a body of 
 
GALLANT ACTION. 175 
 
 Cavalry charged fiercely towards the upper part of the town. 
 Three times they came gallantly on, and each time were 
 hurled back by the thirteenth Massachusetts, under Captain 
 Schriber. Our troops then fell back steadily into the town ; 
 and from behind the houses, in the corn fields adjacent, and 
 wherever shelter could be obtained-, poured in ceaseless vol 
 leys upon the enemy, who strove in vain to make headway 
 against them. Colonel Geary had sent for reinforcements, 
 and soon Lieutenant Martin, who had been stationed with a 
 rifled cannon to protect the ferry, came up. Dashing through 
 a scourging fire of shot and shell, he galloped into the town, 
 and unlinibering in the street opened on the bights. Our 
 forces now steadily advanced, firing as they moved, when 
 the order to u fix bayonets !" passed along the line. A 
 sharp clatter of steel followed, and then u charge! " rang on 
 the astonished ears of the enemy. Forward, through the 
 fire, the gallant band moved shoulder to Shoulder, and 
 swept the bights with loud cheers. The enemy undertook 
 to rally, but our artillery, firing with the precision of rifle 
 practice, dismounted their guns, and scattered their cavalry. 
 The fight had lasted from eight till one, when the little bam\ 
 scarce two hundred and fifty strong, encamped on the bights 
 they had so gallantly won, and flinging themselves on the 
 earth rested till midnight. Again summoned to their ranks, 
 they took up the line of march, and retracing their steps, 
 crossed the river unmolested. Our loss was only thirteen, 
 while that of the enemy was over a hundred. Four days 
 after, General Kelly advanced on Romney, and drove the 
 enemy from it, capturing several prisoners. 
 
 BATTLE OF BALlAs BLUFF. 
 
 It being desirable to ascertain more exactly the position 
 
 and numbers of the enemy in the vicinity, it was determined 
 ll 
 
176 LEE AT BALL S BLUFF. 
 
 to make a reconnoissance, and at midnight on the twentieth, 
 Colonel Devens of the fifteenth Massachusetts crossed over 
 from Harrison s Island, at a spot known as Ball s Bluff, with 
 about three hundred men, intending to take a rebel camp 
 reported to be about a mile from the river ; and after 
 making a thorough reconnoissance to return to the river, and, 
 if he thought fit, report, and wait for reinforcements. The 
 means of transportation furnished him consisted of three 
 miserable boats, capable, all together, of carrying only thirty 
 men. Hence, it took him nearly four hours to get his little 
 band over. 
 
 When he reached the shore, he found no road leading to 
 the high bluff that rose dark and sombre above. The scouts, 
 however, discovered a mere bridle path, which, after wind 
 ing some sixty rods down the beach led to the top. Along 
 this steep, narrow way, the troops marched in dead silence, 
 and at length reached the top, where they halted till day 
 break. Many a gallant heart as he looked down on the dark 
 flowing river far below him, and remembered that it had 
 taken four hours to cross it, felt that if met by superior num 
 bers, his fate was sealed. There was no retreat it was vic 
 tory, or death, or capture. 
 
 About daybreak, Colonel Lee, with a hundred men from 
 the twentieth Massachusetts joined him, when he moved to 
 wards Leesburg, till he came to the spot designated as the 
 rebel encampment ; but found that the scouts in the dark 
 ness had mistaken corn-shocks for rebel tents. The sun had 
 not yet risen when they came in full view of Leesburg. 
 Seeing no appearance of the enemy, Colonel Devens deter 
 mined, instead of returning, to report and wait for reinforce 
 ments. He did this without hesitation, because he knew a 
 large scow had been added to the three boats in which he 
 had crossed, capable of carrying sixty men at a time, while 
 the stream was so narrow that a trip could be made in ten 
 
BAKER TAKES COMMAND. 177 
 
 minutes. Soon after, a company of riflemen was reported 
 on his right, and he sent out Captain Philbrick to attack it. 
 A sharp skirmish followed, and he was about ordering up 
 reinforcements to the captain, when a company of cavalry 
 appearing on his flank, he directed him to fall back to the 
 woods in which the main body was concealed. Here, after 
 waiting for half an hour in expectation of an attack, in vain, 
 he concluded to join Colonel Lee on the bluff. But after 
 remaining with him a short time, and thoroughly scouting 
 the woods, he returned to his first position. About eight 
 o clock, the messenger he had sent across the river returned 
 with orders to remain where he was, and reinforcements 
 should be sent him. In an hour and a half the remainder 
 of his regiment rejoined him, making in all six hundred and 
 twenty -five men. At noon the enemy was reported in force 
 on his left, and in half an hour the attack commenced. The 
 men resolutely held their ground, but the Colonel seeing 
 that the enemy was making vigorous efforts to outflank him, 
 ordered them to fall back to an open space in the woods, and 
 called in his skirmishers. 
 
 " After waiting a short time in expectation of an attack, he 
 again fell back to the bluff, where he found Colonel Baker, 
 who had just crossed to take command by order of General 
 Stone. Reinforcements had arrived, but why they were 
 sent when no way of increasing the means of transportation 
 had been discovered, instead of recalling the small force 
 already across, is a mystery which no explanation has been 
 able to solve. With every company that crossed, the possi 
 bility of a retreat became more hopeless, while the difficulty 
 of furnishing proper assistance, in case the enemy used the 
 facilities within his reach, of rapidly reinforcing himself, may 
 be gathered from the report of Lieutenant Bramhall, who 
 was ordered to take some light pieces of artillery over with 
 all possible dispatch. "The means," he says, "provided for 
 
178 DIFFICULTY OF CROSSING. 
 
 this purpose, consisted of two scows manned with poles, and 
 which owing to the swiftness of the current, consumed a 
 great deal of time in the trip from the main land to the 
 island. I crossed with the first piece after half an hour s 
 hard labor to keep the boat from floating down the stream. 
 We ascended the steep bank, made soft and slippery by the 
 passage of the troops, and at a rapid gait crossed the island 
 to the second crossing. Here we found only a scoiv, on 
 which we did not dare to cross the piece and horses together, 
 and thus lost farther time by being obliged to make two cross 
 ings. Upon arriving on the Virginia shore, we were com 
 pelled to dismount the piece and carriage, and haul the former 
 up by the prolonge, the infantry assisting in carrying the 
 parts of the latter, to a point about thirty feet up a precip 
 itous ascent, rendered almost impassable by soft mud, where 
 we remounted the piece, and hitching up the horses, drag 
 ged it through a perfect thicket to the open ground above, 
 where the fighting was going on." How many field pieces 
 at this rate it was expected could be got across in case of 
 need, or how many it was supposed could be saved^in case 
 of retreat, can easily be imagined. It appears that they 
 managed, however, to get this one gun and two howitzers 
 on to the field of battle. 
 
 In the mean time, Colonel Baker moved forward his 
 force, and took position the Massachusetts fifteenth and a 
 portion of the Tammany regiment being on the right, the 
 Massachusetts twentieth on the left and center, and the Cali 
 fornia battalion in the center. The three guns were placed 
 in front, the howitzers one on each wing, and the six-pounder 
 in the center. Soon the enemy made his appearance, and 
 advanced against the whole line, but more compactly against 
 the left and. center, yelling and firing volleys at short inter- 
 vals as they came on. It was soon evident that they out 
 numbered us ; but, taking our three guns into the estimate, 
 
DEATH OF BAKER. 
 
 it was not a very unequal fight. The rebels seemed to 
 understand this, and, determined to get rid of the cannon, 
 directed a murderous fire on the gunners. In a short time, 
 those manning the six-pounder were wounded and missing, 
 and with one of them disappeared the lanyard and tube 
 pouch, and the gun was hauled to the rear. In a few min 
 utes, the missing articles stained with blood, were found, but 
 only one cannoneer was left Baker, Cogswell, and Lee 
 immediately seized the gun, and, with the help of Bramhall, 
 rolled it into position again, when they spurred to their res 
 pective commands. The lieutenant then called for volun 
 teers from the infantry; and the gun again opened with 
 shell on the enemy. The battle raged hotter and hotter, 
 and soon Bramhall had but one man left to help him a 
 brave California!! named Booth, who stuck to him gallantly 
 to the end. Not more than eighteen or twenty rounds, how 
 ever, were fired from first to last. The same fatality attend 
 ed the other guns. The enemy, emboldened by their success, 
 pushed their attack more vigorously, but they were firmly 
 met at every point by our undaunted troops, as they were 
 determined to hold their ground till the promised reinforce 
 ments came. General Gorman had crossed the river with a 
 part of a brigade, a few miles below, and an adjutant of 
 General Stone had arrived, saying that he would soon be on 
 the field to aid them, but no signs of his coming appeared. 
 At this critical moment, Baker, while gallantly leading on 
 his men, fell. This was the turning point of the battle. 
 
 No one seemed to know on whom the command now de 
 volved. Colonel Lee, supposing it belonged to him, decided 
 that the battle was lost, and they must retreat to the river. 
 But Colonel Cogswell at that moment galloping up, it appeared 
 that he was entitled to it, as the senior colonel ; and he 
 determined to cut his way through the enemy down to 
 Edward s Ferry, and changed his line of battle accordingly. 
 
180 SINKING OF THE SCOW. 
 
 While the different movements were being executed to carry 
 out this plan, a rebel officer on a white horse galloped up to 
 the Tammany regiment, and shouted "Charge I " pointing to 
 the woods where the enemy was concealed. The regiment 
 supposing the order came from their own officer, gave a 
 shout, and dashed forward, followed by the dauntless Massa 
 chusetts fifteenth, who supposed that the whole line was 
 ordered to advance. A deadly volley received the brave 
 fellows, and they fell back in confusion. The officers, con 
 founded at the terrible mistake, ordered the recall to be 
 sounded, and hastily re-formed their men. They strove gal 
 lantly to retrieve their error, and poured in volley after vol 
 ley, but it was too late. The enemy seeing the success of 
 their stratagem gave them no time to restore their order -of 
 battle, but pressed furiously forward, rending the air with 
 shouts. The army rapidly fell back to the river bluff, then 
 over it to the shore, where they stood packed in dense 
 masses. In vain skirmishers were sent to the summit to keep 
 back the foe. They came resistlessly on and from the bights 
 above sent their plunging fire into the brave men, who 
 could neither fight nor retreat. The only scow by which 
 even a portion could be crossed, overloaded with the 
 wounded and fleeing, had already pushed off into the river. 
 Presenting a fair mark to the enemy, the bullets fell like 
 rain into their midst. Those in the hind part, rushing for 
 ward to escape the deadly volleys, unbalanced the unwieldy 
 thing, and with one heavy lurch it went to the bottom with 
 all on board. The scene at this moment was fearful enough 
 to appall the stoutest heart. Before the exhausted, bleed 
 ing band rolled the rapid river, while mingled with its sul 
 len roar there struggled up from the deepening gloom 
 groans, and cries, and shrieks for help. Behind, and above 
 them, in the intervals of the demoniacal yells, came the 
 plunging volleys, strewing the crimson shore with the slain. 
 
HEROIC DEVOTION. 181 
 
 Still no voice called for quarter, no white flag floated in 
 the darkness. Overwhelmed, but not conquered, they dis 
 dained to surrender, and there on the. banks of the Poto 
 mac, on that gloomy October night, were exhibited deeds 
 of personal devotion and self-sacrifice which have never 
 been surpassed in the history of man. Men plead with their 
 officers to escape, and officers used their right to command, 
 to compel their troops to abandon them, and save them 
 selves. 
 
 Devens ordered his men to fling their muskets into the 
 river that they might not fall into the hands of tLj enemy, 
 and swim for their lives. * Captain Bartlett of the twentieth 
 Massachusetts, directed those immediately about him who 
 could not swim, to follow him up the river, in order to get 
 out of the murderous volleys that kept the bluff above in a 
 blaze of light. About eighty obeyed him, and they pro 
 ceeded up stream till they came upon a sunken skiff. Rais 
 ing it, he found it could carry five men at a time. Sending 
 over a lieutenant with the first load to take charge of the 
 men as fast as they crossed, he with Captain Tremlett and 
 Lieutenant Abbott remained behind till all were over, then 
 crossed themselves. Opposite Harrison s island^ towards 
 which the swimmers struck, the Potomac ran blood, for the 
 bullets of the enemy pattered like hail-stones on the water 
 darkened by the heads of the fugitives. Many a bold swim 
 mer, struck by a bullet in his head, went down in midstream. 
 Soldiers swam slowly by the side of their wounded officers, 
 refusing, though repeatedly ordered to do so, to leave them. 
 At last the struggle, the flight, and the slaughter was over, 
 and silence fell on the Potomac, broken only by the roar of 
 the torrent and groans of wounded men that lined the shore 
 and the bluff. Far down, over the rugged rocks, were roll* 
 ing the lifeless bodies of the brave, while the living sat 
 down in sullen rage, feeling that they had been led like 
 
182 FEELING AT THE NORTH. 
 
 sheep to the slaughter. Of our whole force, numbering not 
 far from eighteen hundred, full half were killed, wounded, 
 or taken prisoners. Among the latter were Colonels Cogs 
 well and Lee. The news of this disaster spread a gloom 
 over the land. Not only was the fall of Baker, a gallant 
 man, and senator of the United States, deeply lamented, 
 but the destruction in the two Massachusetts regiments, com 
 posed as they were of some of the finest young men of the 
 state, was felt to be a national loss. Added to all this, was 
 the universal feeling that they fell victims to an unpardon 
 able blunder, or to treason. McClellan had never ordered 
 a movement of this kind, and the blame was at first divided 
 between Stone and Baker, but finally settled down on the 
 former. The whole affair remains a mystery to this day. 
 A portion of Banks division, under General Gorman, had 
 in the mean time, been thrown across the river at Edward s 
 Ferry, five miles below. But when McClellan, who had hur 
 ried up from Washington, arrived on the field, and examined 
 the state of affairs, the whole force was ordered back again 
 to Maryland. Colonel Lander was at once appointed to 
 take the place made vacant by the death of Baker, but was 
 almost immediately rendered unfit for the field by a wound 
 which he received in a skirmish with the enemy. 
 
 ..: f CAVALRY CHARGE OF ZAGONYI. 
 
 Four days after the battle of Ball s Bluff, a little light 
 broke through the cloud that hung over Fremont s opera 
 tions in Missouri. Hearing that Springfield, fifty-one miles 
 from his camp, was held by only three hundred rebels, he 
 dispatched Major Zagonyi, a Hungarian, with his body 
 guard of a hundred and fifty, to seize it in advance of his 
 arrival. Putting himself at the head of his gallant band, 
 this officer started off at eight o clock in the evening, and 
 
A BRILLIANT CHARGE. 183 
 
 making the whole distance in nineteen hours, was before the 
 place at three o clock in the afternoon of the next day. But, 
 rapid as had been his approach, the enemy were apprised 
 of his coming, and stood drawn up in line of battle to re 
 ceive him. The Union inhabitants came out of their houses as 
 he passed, welcoming him with tears, but beseeching him not to 
 advance, for the enemy were nearly two thousand strong. But 
 this gallant officer had not made his forced march of fifty 
 miles for nothing, and determined to give the rebels a taste 
 of his steel before he returned. He thought too, perhaps, 
 of Wilson s creek, near by. The rebels were drawn up in 
 an open field, about half a mile from the city. The major 
 had no time to waste in skirmishing, and pressed right on 
 through the fire of the enemy s skirmishers, which emptied 
 several saddles, till he came in sight of the main body just 
 before him. Finding the place too confined to form his men 
 in, he galloped for two hundred and fifty yards down a lane, 
 all the while exposed to a murderous fire, when he came 
 upon a rail fence. Scattering this from his path, he emerged 
 into the open field and formed his little band of a hundred 
 and fifty, right in the enemy s camp. The next moment, 
 the shrill bugle sounded the charge, the riders plunged 
 their spurs into their horses, and raising their swords above 
 their heads, dashed up the slope with a cheer. The enemy 
 saw the clattering tempest close upon them, and giving but 
 one volley, broke and fled. Through and through the dis 
 ordered ranks this hundred and fifty swept like a hurricane, 
 the sword drinking blood at every step. Horse and rider 
 tumbled on the field, but the living kept on, shouting their 
 war cry, "Fremont and the Union." The infantry soon 
 found shelter in the woods, when the bugle sounded the re 
 call, they then rallied, turned and pursued the rebel cavalry, 
 which had fled towards the town. Down through the streets 
 like a torrent, came the decimated band, clearing them on 
 
184 RESULT OF THE CHARGE. 
 
 every side. Twenty times did these bold riders charge 
 through the streets, till not a vestige of the enemy remained. 
 When the bugle finally sounded the recall, only two-thirds 
 of the entire band drew up before their leader. " They had 
 marked their course, however, with destruction ; having 
 killed and wounded more than their entire number, besides 
 taking twenty-seven prisoners. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 
 
 NOVEMBER, 18G1. 
 
 GENERAL DISSATISFACTION PUBLIC EXPECTATION OF AN ADVANCE FROM THE 
 
 POTOMAC BLOCKADE OF THE CAPITAL FEELING AT THE WEST GREAT 
 
 SECRET NAVAL EXPEDITION OVERTAKEN BY A STORM JOY OF THE SOUTH 
 
 AND FEARS OF THE NORTH DESCRIPTION OF THE WRECK ARRIVAL OFF 
 
 PORT ROYAL, HILTON HEAD, AND BAY ISLAND PREPARATIONS TO ATTACK 
 
 THEM GRAND APPEARANCE OF THE VESSELS THE ATTACK THE VICTORY 
 
 TERROR OF THE PEOPLE OF CHARLESTON AND SAVANNAH STRANGE INAC 
 TIVITY OF THE LAND FORCES PROCLAMATIONS TIMIDITY AND WEAKNESS 
 
 OF THE GOVERNMENT RETIREMENT OF SCOTT FROM PUBLIC LIFE MC CLEL- 
 
 LAN TAKES HIS PLACE PUBLIC CONFIDENCE IN HIM GRAND REVIEW OF 
 
 THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC. 
 
 THE month of October closed up gloomily for the admin 
 istration, though it did not seem to be aware of it. 
 There was deep dissatisfaction throughout the country with 
 the manner in which things were conducted. In Missouri, 
 Fremont was still continued in command, though the popu 
 lar demand for his removal was very urgent. The de 
 feat at Wilson s creek, and the fall of Lexington, had 
 destroyed public confidence in his ability to manage his 
 difficult department. Even his friends, the Blairs, had turned 
 against him. 
 
 The conduct of affairs directly around Washington gave 
 almost equal dissatisfaction. The beautiful month of Octo 
 ber, so well fitted for active operations in the field, had 
 passed, and November, with its dreary storms and impass 
 able roads was close upon us. Throughout the entire month, 
 almost every day had its rumor of an immediate advance 
 upon Manassas. At one time it seemed certain that a sud 
 den flank movement was determined upon. The enemy ap- 
 
186 DISSATISFACTION OF THE PEOPLE. 
 
 peared to think so too, and to suspect that it would be made 
 down the Potomac ; and suddenly extended his lines to the 
 river at Aquia creek, thus presenting a front reaching from 
 it to the Blue ridge. This river, too, was blockaded by the 
 heavy batteries he had erected along the Virginia shore, so 
 that the Capital had no water communication with fortress 
 Monroe, except when some daring craft, taking advantage 
 of a stormy night, ventured to run the gauntlet of their fire. 
 This was felt to be a national disgrace, and the question was 
 asked on every side, u Why is not the Potomac opened?" 
 The national heart became restive under the menacing pres 
 ence of the rebel army at Manassas, and this blockade of the 
 Capital by water. Delay of active operations was cheerfully 
 acquiesced in during the warm, unhealthy season, but now 
 there seemed no excuse for it. Was there not a splendid 
 army around Washington, eager to advance ? In the winter, 
 active campaigning in Virginia would be impossible on account 
 of the roads. To leave every thing to be done in the few 
 spring months . would necessarily prolong the war another 
 year, and that would bankrupt the nation. Such was the 
 language used on every side. 
 
 Besides, France and England were growing restive under 
 the derangement which our blockade caused to their com 
 merce, and if nothing was accomplished before spring, they 
 would it was thought, demand its abandonment. 
 
 The Secretary of War was denounced on every side as in 
 efficient, and was accused of being more anxious to make 
 fat contracts for his friends than to save the country. The 
 whole Cabinet was declared to be sound asleep. A night 
 mare seemed to rest on every thing, while there was a rest 
 lessness in the community that would not be allayed by excuses. 
 Grand reviews were held in Virginia, but the country needed 
 action. General Scott had to bear his share of the public 
 complaint. He was too old and infirm to stand at the helm 
 
PORT ROYAL EXPEDITION. 187 
 
 while the ship of state was struggling in such a storm. The 
 west was especially discontented. It said, u Do something 
 with the tens of thousands of brave men we have sent you, 
 or send them back that we may use them." The western 
 mind can not brook inaction. Activ.e itself, it demands ac 
 tion in others. It had rather be defeated once, and try 
 again, than not try at all. 
 
 EXPEDITION TO PORT ROYAL. 
 
 One thing alone served to divert public, attention from tho 
 inactivity of the army around Washington, and that was the 
 departure of a secret naval expedition of grand proportions. 
 Nearly twenty thousand land forces and marines together, 
 the former under General Sherman, and a fleet of fifty vessels, 
 eighteen of them, men of war, commanded by Dupont, left 
 Hampton Roads on the twenty-ninth of October, and pro 
 ceeded southward. Bad management had delayed its depart 
 ure several days after the troops had embarked, thus losing 
 the most beautiful portion of Indian summer; but at length it 
 disappeared in the horizon, and the nation was in a state of 
 intense excitement respecting its destination. Every point 
 along our extensive coast was in turn suggested. The very 
 mystery that enveloped the expedition increased the interest 
 felt in its fate, while at the same time it magnified the im 
 portance of the results to be accomplished by it. Of one 
 thing, all were certain, it would strike terror to the south. 
 
 THE STORM. 
 
 It had been out but a few days, however, when one of the 
 most terrific storms ever experienced in this latitude swept 
 our coast. The triumph in anticipation was changed into 
 alarm for its safety, and north and south the fate of the 
 Spanish Armada was revived in the memory of all. Many 
 
188 A STORM. 
 
 of the vessels that composed it, though freighted with human 
 beings, were small and never designed for the open sea. 
 Even ferry boats figured in the imposing display. Wreck 
 and ruin had strewed the land, and how could these frail 
 things outride the storm? It seemed as if the heavens were 
 frowning on the enterprise. The south so regarded it, and 
 fervent thanksgivings were offered to God for his providen 
 tial interference in their behalf. 
 
 The fleet was scattered by it like sea foam, and had it not 
 been of short duration, the loss of life and of vessels would 
 have been terrible probably great enough to have broken 
 up the expedition altogether. Dupont saw the gathering 
 tempest with the deepest anxiety, and every thing was got 
 as snug as possible. The gale, at first moderate, rapidly in 
 creased, till it became a hurricane, sweeping the sea with a 
 wildness and power that was appalling. The scene on Fri 
 day night on board the ships baffles description. Scattered 
 in every direction, each had to ride out the fearful night of 
 the first of November as it best could. When the gloomy 
 morning dawned, Dupont, from the deck of his flag-ship, the 
 Wabash, anxiously surveyed with his glass the wildly heav 
 ing sea. But one solitary sail of all his vast fleet could be 
 seen. The crew of the transport Peerless were taken from 
 the ship in a sinking condition, while the steamer Governor, 
 with the marine battalion on board, was left a helpless wreck 
 on the sea. All night long she labored in the billows the 
 smoke-stack went overboard, the steam-pipe burst, chains and 
 ropes snapped like threads, the water poured through her 
 opened seams, and it was feared she must go down with all on 
 board before morning. As daylight slowly broke over the 
 angry waste, she saw- a steamer in the distance, rolling on the 
 billows, and sent up rockets as signals of distress. To the 
 great joy of those on board, an answering rocket streamed 
 through the misty air. The vessel was the Isaac Smith, 
 
WRECK OF THE GOVERNOR. 189 
 
 which immediately stood down towards her. Approaching 
 cautiously, she was able to fling a hawser on board, but it 
 soon had to be cast loose. Another with great difficulty was 
 got on board, but soon snapped under the strain of the roll 
 ing wreck, and she was once more adrift. The Rover now 
 approached, and the captain hailing said he would stand by 
 them to the last. A loud cheer from those grouped on the 
 drenched deck of the Governor, came over the sea, announc 
 ing their heartfelt gratitude. Still later in the day, the Sa- 
 bine hove in sight, and seeing the signals of distress, bore 
 down, and three vessels now hovered around the sinking 
 consort. Night came on, increasing the danger, but by 
 eight o clock, the stern of the Sabine was brought close to 
 her bow, when spars were rigged out, and about thirty were 
 thus "whipped" on board. But hawsers and cables soon 
 gave way under the heavy strain, as the two vessels rolled on 
 the heavy seas, and they parted. The Governor had now 
 three feet of water in her hold, and was fast settling in the 
 waves. The Sabine then made the hazardous experiment to 
 get alongside, though it was feared the disabled vessel would 
 go to pieces if she struck; but by careful management she 
 was brought up, and forty more got on board the frigate, 
 though one was crushed to death in attempting to pass over. 
 At length she struck the vessel, carrying away a part of her 
 own -bow, when the former was dropped astern, and it was 
 determined to wait till daylight. It was doubtful if the 
 Governor could be kept afloat so long, but by throwing 
 everything overboard, and keeping the men at the pumps 
 and bailing, she weathered the night, and at daybreak the 
 frigate launched her boats : but they dared not approach the 
 rolling wreck, arid the men had to jump- overboard and be 
 picked up. In this manner, all but six were saved, who in 
 their fright left their ranks, and leaped over before they were 
 ordered to. In a short time the ill-fated ship gave a heavy 
 
190 THE FLEET AT BEAUFORT. 
 
 lurch and went to the bottom. At length the gale abated, 
 and the scattered vessels one after another Came up, and the 
 voyage was resumed. In passing Charleston, Dupont sent in 
 for the Susquehannah, which was on blockading duty, to 
 join him, and on Monday morning anchored off Port Royal. 
 This was the entrance to Beaufort, the port for the finest 
 cotton section of South Carolina. Every thing to indicate 
 the course of the channel had been removed, and it was 
 necessary to buoy it out anew. By night this was accom 
 plished, and the vessels began to pass over the bar. The 
 next day was spent in reconnoitering and getting the vessels 
 in their proper places. The two islands, Hilton Head and 
 Bay Point, lay nearly opposite each other, and on their ex 
 treme points, two forts, Beauregard and Walker, guarded 
 the entrance, the former mounting twenty-three and the 
 latter six guns, some of them of the largest caliber. It was 
 thought no vessels could succeed in passing these. Inside, 
 was a rebel fleet of eight steamers, ready to render such 
 assistance as circumstances might require. 
 
 THE ATTACK. 
 
 By Thursday, all the preparations were completed. The 
 elements, as if satisfied with their useless rage, were at rest. 
 The bay slept like a summer lake, and a bright, genial sun 
 lighted up sea and land. The fleet presented a magnificent 
 spectacle as it moved slowly up toward the forts. Inside 
 the island, little steamers were crowded with spectators, who 
 had come down from Charleston to witness the defeat of the 
 Yankee ships. 
 
 The large war steamers, thirteen in number, formed in 
 single file the Wabash leading the van. Every thing had 
 been made snug and the decks sanded; and with ports 
 thrown open, the noble ships came steadily on towards the 
 
THE ATTACK. 193 
 
 forts. All was silent on Hilton Head until the Wabash got 
 directly abreast, when the guns of the fort which had been 
 trained on her, suddenly opened. Fort Beauregard, on the 
 opposite side, responded ; and the heavy shot came crashing 
 through the rigging and spars, and tearing up the water on 
 every side. Still not a shot replied. But as the second 
 steamer came opposite the works, the three leading vessels 
 opened their broadsides at once, and shot and shell from 
 seventy-five guns fell in one wild crash on the fort. Each 
 vessel in turn as it came alongside delivered its broadside, 
 till the thunders shook the bay. The Wabash, as it forged 
 sloVly ahead, wheeled and came down alongside the fort on 
 the opposite island, folio wed in single file by the fleet, de 
 livering their broadsides as they passed. Again wheeling, 
 they swept back, taking the first fort as before and thus 
 kept moving on in flame, describing a huge letter 0. It 
 was a grand, terrific spectacle. Amid this rain of death, 
 the men in the chains kept calling the soundings with the 
 calm precision they would if only buoying out the channel, 
 while the heavy shot fell on the doomed fortress as fast as a 
 horse s feet beat the ground in a gallop. Said one of the 
 aids of Dupont, who watched the fire from the deck of the 
 flag-ship, u The Wabash was a destroying angel hugging 
 the shore ; calling the soundings with cold indifference ; 
 slowing the engine, so as to give only steerage ; signalling 
 to the vessels their various evolutions ; and at the same time 
 raining shells as with target practice, too fast to count," 
 
 Thus for four hoars, with only a little interval to cool the 
 guns and rest the men, that line of vessels swept round .and 
 round on their destructive course until at length the rebels, 
 unable longer to stand the horrible tempest of shot and 
 shell, broke and fled for the main land. Some of the gun 
 boats had got inside, and hugging the shore, poured an en 
 filading fire into the fort. Others outside did the same, till 
 12 
 
194 THE VICTORY. 
 
 it became too hot for mortal flesh to stand. At half past 
 three, the stars and stripes went up "where the rebel flag had 
 floated; and then from ship to ship the cheers arose, till 
 they reached the transports in the distance, when the watch 
 ing thousands took it up and sent it "strong and great against 
 the sky." The garrisons, in their wild dismay, left every 
 thing behind them. The commander of fort Walker, Gen- 
 eral Dray ton,, had a brother in our fleet,, a captain, who helped 
 to shell him out. 
 
 The sound of the heavy cannonading had been heard far 
 inland ; and when the news of the fall of the place reached 
 Charleston and Savannah on either side, the utmost conster 
 nation seized the inhabitants. Men packed up their house 
 hold goods and fled into the interior; expecting an immedi 
 ate march inland of the invading forces, against whose vic 
 torious advance they had no adequate means of resistance. 
 At the north the news of the victory was received with the 
 most unbounded delight. Not only had the flag been plant 
 ed on the rebellious soil of South Carolina ; but -it w^as 
 looked upon as .a mere preliminary step to an advance by 
 the army under Sherman. To the amazement of the nation, 
 however, this officer contented himself with issuing a procla 
 mation to the inhabitants, and then turned his attention to 
 building docks. 
 
 Indeed, it had seemed for a time impossible to convince 
 the administration that there was not sufficient Union feeling 
 at the south to overthrow the rebels of itself the moment it 
 dare speak. Like the belief that the slaves would rise the 
 moment war was declared, it could only be eradicated by 
 the stern evidence of facts. East and west proclamations 
 had followed the slightest success, until it seemed as though 
 more was expected from them than from bayonets. 
 
 What definite idea the government had in this descent 
 wpon Port Royal, does not appear. It was said to have 
 
PURPOSE OF THE EXPEDITION. 195 
 
 been done that we might have a convenient port on the 
 southern coast for the rendezvous, etc., of our ships in that 
 region and in the gulf. But we already had Key West; be 
 sides, why for that purpose did we need such an array 
 there ? A few gun boats could hold the place securely. 
 Some consoled themselves with the fact that we had opened 
 a cotton port a great desideratum to us and to Europe ; 
 but as time passed on, the positive advantage we had gained 
 became less and less apparent. Sherman of course acted 
 under orders in not advancing inland. The government, 
 ignorant of the forces of the enemy along the coast, was 
 doubtless afraid of some catastrophe. It had become nerv 
 ous, while at the same time it lacked the genius necessary to 
 prosecute an offensive war. Bonaparte often succeeded by 
 conduct that the world called rash, and attributed his success 
 to luck alone. But he knew that moral power was half, 
 even where every thing seemed to depend on hard blows. 
 A disconcerted, frightened army, he knew, was already beaten ; 
 and a blow planted in the midst of terror needed not to be a 
 very heavy one to complete the work of destruction. It is 
 a truth that generals seldom learn, that moral force is strong 
 er than artillery, and can be relied on with more absolute 
 certainty. With the terror inspired by that sudden descent 
 on the Carolina coast, the army under Sherman could, no 
 doubt, have marched into Savannah without firing a gun. 
 After this display of power, the panic-stricken inhabitants 
 were amazed to see the victors turn their exclusive attention 
 to building wharves and collecting negroes. The army lay 
 for a long time on board the transports, without attempting 
 to land, even, on the deserted island. 
 
 But while the navy was thus making its first essay along 
 our coast, an important change took place in military affairs 
 at Washington. The veteran Commander-in-Chief, General 
 Scott, weighed down by age and infirmities, sent in his 
 
196 RETIREMENT OF SCOTT. 
 
 resignation to the President. It was an affecting spectacle 
 to see the old hero, who had carried our flag over so many 
 victorious battle fields, lay down his sword forever. Taking 
 his final leave of public affairs, he was escorted by a part of 
 the Cabinet to New York ; and on young McClellan now 
 fell the mighty responsibility that he no longer felt able to 
 sustain. Never did the eyes of a great nation turn with a 
 more anxious solicitude, a warmer affection, and a deeper 
 trust on any one man, than they did on McClellan. His words 
 on the presentation of a sword to him by Philadelphia: "The 
 war can not last long. It may be desperate. I ask in the 
 future forbearance, patience, confidence:" sank deep into the 
 public heart. The former expression was supposed to indi 
 cate an immediate movement of the army of the Potomac 
 on the enemy s lines at Manassas. A grand army was assem 
 bled at Washington around the city every hight was dot 
 ted with encampments heavy divisions were on the lower 
 and upper Potomac on the Maryland shore, while a wilder 
 ness of encampments in Virginia stretched from below Alex 
 andria to Lewinsville, some ten miles above the Capital. 
 Every day the public ear was bent to catch the long roll of 
 the drum, running from the center to each extremity, which 
 .sliould send this vast host onward. . But the mild, autumnal 
 weeks wore slowly away, and still it came not. Each one 
 asked "his neighbor what could it mean ? Now and then a 
 cold storm reminded all of the coming on of winter, yet no 
 provision was made for winter quarters the tens of thou 
 sands of cavalry horses stood picketed in the open fields, ex 
 posed to the weather ; and yet the order that was to bid 
 this mighty host march was not heard. But at length a 
 grand review of all the divisions together that were located 
 in Virginia was appointed. The interdict was taken off from 
 Long Bridge, no passes were required for that day, and all 
 \vho wished might go to see it. The announcement of this 
 

 i JEUT. GEN. WTNF1ELD SCOTT, U.S.A 
 
 VJ-:!) KXl KKliRLY FOR HKAOT.XYS HrS l OKT OF THK HEBELLION 
 
GRAND REVIEW. 199 
 
 from headquarters created the most intense excitement in 
 Washington. It was supposed to be the last of passes, and 
 that the review was intended as the preliminary step to a 
 forward movement Did not a grand review with Bonaparte 
 always precede a great battle ? The time of decision and 
 of fate had certainly come. 
 
 The review itself was a grand display, such as was never 
 before witnessed on this continent, and may never be again. 
 Nearly a hundred thousand men infantry, artillery, and 
 cavalry were drawn up in an open field, near Bailey s 
 cross roads, and were reviewed by McClellan, the President, 
 and a portion of the Cabinet. As the young commander 
 galloped up and down the long lines, thunderous cheers 
 rolled after him, and countless sabers gleamed and shook in 
 the air. The^e seemed to be no end to the marching col 
 umns as they afterwards defiled past him. It was a grand 
 display of power ; and as one looked upon it, it seemed that 
 nothing could resist that mighty host when once set in mo 
 tion. But it passed away like the reviews which had pre 
 ceded it, and quiet once more settled on the Potomac. 
 
CHAPTER XIY. 
 
 o 
 
 NOVEMBER, 1861. 
 
 5XPEDITION FROM CAIRO BATTLE OF BELMONT CRITICISM Ui?ON IT NEL- 
 
 SON S EXPEDITION TO PIKETON A LONG MARCH THE BATTLE ROUT OF 
 
 THE ENEMY NELSON^S ORDER ADJUTANT-GENERAL THOMAS SENT WEST TO 
 
 INVESTIGATE THE CHARGES AGAINST TREMONT HIS REPORT ITS INJUSTICE 
 
 CONDUCT OF THE SECRETARY OF WAR REMOVAL OF FREMONT HUNTER 
 
 APPOINTED IN HIS PLACE SUPERSEDED BY HALLECK AND SENT TO KANSAS 
 
 RECONSTRUCTION OF THE WESTERN AND SOUTH-WESTERN DEPARTMENTS 
 
 DIX SENDS AN EXPEDITION INTO EASTERN VIRGINIA CAPTURE OF MASON AND 
 
 SLIDELL EXULTATION OF THE PEOPLE CREATES A STORM OF INDIGNATION 
 
 IN ENGLAND WAR THREATENED THEIR SURRENDER DEMANDED IS COM 
 PLIED WITH WILKES COURSE CLEARLY UNJUSTIFIABLE THE TUSCA- 
 
 RORA AND NASHVILLE IN AN ENGLISH PORT CONDUCT OF THE BRITISH 
 
 AUTHORITIES MC CLELLAN s STRINGENT ORDERS TO THE ARMY THE NE 
 GROES AND COTTON OF PORT ROYAL BOMBARDMENT OF FORT PICKENS 
 
 BURNING OF THE ROYAL YACHT. 
 
 IN the mean time, Grant at Cairo plaimed an expedition 
 against Belmont in Missouri, nearly opposite JColumbus, 
 where the enemy had established a camp with the inten 
 tion, as he was informed, of sending off reinforcements 
 from it to Price, who was being pushed by a superior force. 
 To prevent this, and at the same time to protect, some col 
 umns that he had sent out against Jeff. Thompson, Grant de 
 termined to drive the rebels from the place. With two thou 
 sand eight hundred men, he started from Cairo in transports, 
 and moving nine miles down the Kentucky shore, (as though 
 his destination was Columbus,) tied up for the night. 
 Two other columns had been sent forward from Paducah 
 across the country to complete the deception. At daylight 
 next morning, (the seventh,) Grant proceeded down the river, 
 till almost within range of the enemy s guns, when he sud- 
 
BATTLE OF BELMONT. 201 
 
 denly landed his troops on the Missouri shore, about two 
 miles and a half above Belmont, where the enemy were 
 encamped. 
 
 BATTLE OF BELMONT. 
 
 Leaving a detachment in charge of the transports, he 
 moved up the bank, and going a mile drew up in a corn 
 field. Skirmishers were thrown out, and soon the dropping 
 fire in the surrounding woods showed that the enemy was 
 aware of his purpose and prepared to receive him. After 
 a short halt, the whole column was ordered forward in line 
 of battle, with the exception of Colonel Buford s regiment, 
 which was directed to make a detour inland to the right, so 
 as to come upon the camp in that direction. The enemy 
 soon appeared in force, and the fight commenced. Pushing 
 on through the timber, floundering through the underbrush, 
 the gallant men of Illinois and Iowa steadily forced the 
 rebels back, though they contested every inch of ground 
 bravely. Shell and shot from their artillery, and a storm of 
 bullets from their infantry, fell without cessation into our 
 ranks, sometimes so terrifically as to occasion temporary dis 
 order, but never a backward movement. At length the 
 enemy fell back for a quarter of a mile, when being heavily 
 reinforced, they made another determined stand. Again 
 our troops rushed forward with cheers, passing on a run over 
 the rebel dead and wounded ; the latter appealing in the 
 uproar most piteously for mercy, evidently expecting no 
 quarter. Now and then, a soldier, moved with pity, would 
 stop to give a sufferer a drink from his canteen, and then 
 press forward after his comrades. The enemy made their 
 last stand behind a natural bank, and being somewhat pro 
 tected, maintained their position for half an hour. In the 
 face of a tremendous fire, our troops steadily advanced, led 
 by officers worthy to command them, and who by their 
 
202 CAPTURE OF THE CAMP. 
 
 dauntless bearing and reckless exposure of life, won the un 
 bounded admiration of their Commander -in-Chief. He and 
 McClernand rode forward into the fire, with their staffs, of 
 fering conspicuous marks to the enemy s sharp shooters. 
 The horse of the former soon fell under him, but he mounted 
 another, amid the cheers of his men. A bullet pierced one 
 of McClernand s holsters, while horse after horse of the staff 
 officers went down. Colonels Logan and Foulke cheered 
 on their men with heroic words that rung over the din of 
 battle. Answering with cheers, the soldiers dashed on, and 
 drove the enemy back to the camp. Trees had been felled 
 all around this, making a rude abatis, through which our 
 troops saw it would require a desperate effort to force their 
 way. But closing steadily up on three sides at once Colo 
 nel Buford having reached his point of destination they 
 poured in a wasting fire, and leaping over the abatis bounded 
 with a shout into the open space around the camp. The 
 twenty-seventh Illinois was first within, and the shout they 
 sent up made the whole line spring forward as one man. 
 The camp was won, the rebel flag hauled down, and the 
 stars and stripes hoisted in its place, while the bands struck 
 up national airs, and cheer after cheer shook the shores of 
 the Mississippi. The tents and all the camp equipage were 
 set on fire, and soon became a mass of flame. The garrison 
 in Columbus, seeing the camp in our possession, opened a 
 brisk fire with their heavy guns, and shot and shell went 
 hurtling and shrieking through the air, making it evident 
 that the position which had been so gallantly won, must be 
 abandoned. At this juncture, it was reported to Grant, that 
 a heavy force was crossing the river between them and their 
 transports, so as to cut off their retreat. The wearied troops 
 had fought their way, inch by inch, into the enemy s camp, 
 and now, they saw, must fight their way back to the boats. 
 The bugles sounded the recall, and gathering up their 
 
, THE RETREAT. 203 
 
 dead and wounded, the victorious little army reluctantly 
 took up its retreat over the ground it had so nobly won. 
 The enemy by this time had landed, and were drawn up in 
 line of battle across their line of progress. Colonel Logan 
 ordered his. flag to the front of his regiment, and moved 
 straight on the enemy, followed by the whole army except 
 the twenty-seventh Illinois and Dollins cavalry, which had 
 made the detour to the right in the morning. These fell 
 back by the same circuitous way they had advanced. A& 
 the force entered the woods again, they were met by the 
 rebels and the battle commenced fiercely. Though out 
 numbered two to one, and exhausted by their long struggle, 
 the soldiers knew that their only safety lay in reaching 
 their transports. Hewing their bloody way, they fought 
 desperately, and though sometimes thrown into disorder, 
 always rallied again and pressed fiercely forward. When 
 the order to retreat was first given, McClernand asked Logan 
 what he proposed to do. " Cut our way through, Sir" was 
 the laconic reply, and now he was doing it. The shot fell 
 fast, and .the dry and leafless woods were carpeted thick with 
 the dead, yet the banners kept advancing. Two gun boats 
 had accompanied the transports of Grant, and these now 
 opened a destructive fire on the enemy. Except for these, 
 the retreat would have ended in a complete overthrow when 
 the embarkation commenced. But their shells screaming 
 along the shore, and tearing through the forest, kept the 
 rebels back. Dougherty rode backward and forward through 
 the fire to bring up his lagging brigade, and though struck 
 again and again, kept his saddle, until at last his horse fell, 
 when unable to walk from his wounds, he sunk on the 
 ground and was taken prisoner. At length the whole 
 force was re-embarked, with the exception of Buford s 
 command and Dollins cavalry, which had not yet been 
 heard from. The enemy kept up a steady fire on the trans- 
 
204 RESULTS ACCOMPLISHED. 
 
 ports, so that the gun boats had to follow and protect them 
 till they got beyond the reach of the enemy, when they re 
 turned to look after the missing regiment and Dollins 1 cav 
 alry. Had they been cut off and captured, or lost their way 
 to be overpowered in the end? were anxious questions. 
 But soon the music of their bands swelled up from the shore, 
 and the next moment their colors were seen advancing. A 
 loud shout went up from the tired column as they saw the 
 gun boats, Tyler and Lexington, lying to, aAvaiting their 
 arrival. They were hurried on board the transports, and the 
 whole force slowly made its way back to Cairo, which it 
 reached at midnight, with the loss of two hundred killed, 
 wounded, and missing. They brought away with them over 
 two hundred prisoners and two cannon. 
 
 Both sides claimed the victory, for both were victorious 
 by turns. 
 
 What positive good was accomplished by us in this move 
 ment, does not appear, and hence it was the cause of much 
 sharp criticism. How the destruction of a camp, which we 
 could not expect to hold under the guns of the enemy at 
 Columbus, and hence could be replaced in a few hours, could 
 have any very important effect in frustrating the designs of 
 the enemy in Missouri is not so clear. The whole expedi 
 tion, to say the least, was of doubtful policy. 
 
 If the breaking up of the enemy s camp at this place really 
 secured the results aimed at, it was unquestionably a decided 
 victory. Our men fought gallantly and drove the enemy 
 from every position which they attacked. They not only 
 accomplished what they set out to perform, but got back to 
 their boats with only such loss as might be expected. The 
 difficulty was to trace any connection between this success 
 and any other movements in the field. The enemy claimed 
 the victory because they thought the design of Grant was to 
 take Columbus, which he did not do. 
 
NELSON S EXPEDITION. 205 
 
 FIGHT AT PIKETON. 
 
 On the same day that Grant was fighting the rebels on the 
 banks of the Mississippi, Nelson, with two thousand men, left 
 Prestonburg and commenced a forced march of thirty miles 
 on the enemy at Pikeville, Kentucky, in the eastern part of the 
 state. The soldiers were ordered to take two days rations; 
 and without tents or other supplies than those they carried 
 on their persons, started off on their long march. A portion 
 of the command under Colonel Sill, left on the seventh to go 
 by way of John s Creek, and pass to the left of Piketon, a 
 distance of forty miles, and thus turn and cut off the reb?.ls. 
 The next day before daylight Nelson moved off with the 
 main column on the direct road to the place, a distance of 
 about thirty miles. Encumbered with no wagon train, the 
 force marched on at a rapid pace. After toiling forward 
 eight hours, with scarcely a halt, they came to a narrow defile 
 through the mountains, terminating at Ivy Creek. The road 
 here is but seven feet wide, and cut along the precipitous 
 side of a mountain, twenty-five feet above the bed of the 
 stream. This ridge, as it rapidly descends to the gorge, 
 curves inward, making a sharp elbow in the road. Behind 
 this ridge, and all along the breast of the steep mountain, the 
 enemy, seven hundred strong, lay in ambush, and did not fire 
 until the head of Colonel Marshall s battalion, which was in 
 advance, reached the sharp turn. Then, all at once, a de 
 structive fire was opened upon it, and the "mountain side 
 was blue with puffs of smoke," though not an enemy was to 
 be seen. The first volley brought down thirteen men. Nel 
 son immediately ordered the Kentuckians to charge. Two 
 regiments sprang forward and began to scale the steep sides 
 of the mountain. Over rocks and stones sometimes pulling 
 themselves up by main strength they made their desperate 
 
 UIIVBEGIT 
 
 
206 NELSON S ORDER, 
 
 way towards the astonished enemy. In the mean time two 
 pieces of artillery were got in position in the road, and 
 opened on those in front and on the opposite side of the 
 creek. It was slow work scaling the steep mountain side 
 under the enemy s fire, but the dauntless Kentuckians never 
 faltered, and in an hour and a half the rebels were forced 
 back at every point. They however cut the bridges over 
 the creek as they retired, and felled trees across the road, 
 which made the pursuit very slow and laborious. Wearied 
 and lame, the column bivouacked that night four miles be 
 yond Ivy Creek. Next morning a heavy November rain 
 storm set in, which lasted all day; yet the drenched column 
 pushed on, cutting away the trees that impeded their march, 
 and rebridging the creek, marching nearly all the time over 
 shoes in mud or knee deep in water, and at night without 
 shelter of any kind and nothing but meat to eat without salt 
 or bread, lay down in the pelting rain. At daylight, they 
 again took up their line of march, and reached Pikeville, 
 where Colonel Sill had arrived the day before, only to find 
 the enemy in full flight. This bold and rapid movement 
 completely broke up the enemy s plans in eastern Kentucky, 
 and scattered their forces which were rapidly concentrating, 
 to the winds. Nelson had laid his plans so well, and pushed 
 them with so much vigor, that he had accomplished this im 
 portant result in a campaign of three weeks. In his order 
 dated the eleventh, he said, "In a campaign of twenty days 
 you have driven the rebels from eastern Kentucky and given 
 repose to that portion of the state. You have made contin 
 ual forced marches over wretched loads, deep in mud; badly 
 clad, you have bivouaced on the wet ground in the Novem 
 ber rains, Avithout a murmur. With scarce half rations you 
 have pressed forward with unfailing perseverance. From the 
 only place in which the enemy made a stand, though am 
 bushed and strong, you drove him in the most gallant 
 
FKEMONT SUPERSEDED. 207 
 
 During this time Fremont had accomplished little of 
 importance in Missouri, though his friends declared that he 
 was in a position where he would soon either capture Price 
 or drive him from the state. 
 
 In this condition of affairs Adjutant-General Thomas was 
 sent west to investigate the charges against him, and his re 
 port, through the permission of the Secretary of War, was 
 given to the New York Tribune. It was seized with avidity, 
 but the impartial reader scarcely knew which to condemn 
 most, the Adjutant-General or Fremont. If the half of^what 
 the former said was true, Fremont ought to be immediately 
 removed from his department, but the manner in which evi 
 dence had been taken, and the whole animus of the report, 
 (besides the reference to matters that had no place in it,) 
 was unjust, and calculated directly to injure the public ser 
 vice. The Secretary of War also suffered in the public esti 
 mation quite as much as either, in giving it, as he did, to the 
 public press, thus precipitating a judgment on the whole 
 case. The result was, General Fremont was suddenly de 
 prived of his command, and General Hunter put in his place. 
 
 In the mean time, General Halleck, who had been sum 
 moned from California, arrived, when the department was 
 made over to him. This, with other events, necessitated a 
 reconstruction of some of the departments, and an order was 
 issued making New Mexico one, with Colonel Canby at its 
 head, another including Kansas, a part of the Indian territory, 
 Nebraska, Colorado, and Dacotah, to be commanded by Gen 
 eral Hunter. That of Missouri included Iowa and Minnesota, 
 Wisconsin, Illinois, Arkansas, and Kentucky west of the 
 Cumberland. The department of Ohio, embraced that state, 
 Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky east of the Cumberland, and 
 Tennessee, to be commanded by General Buell, transferred 
 thither from the Potomac. Western Virginia was placed 
 under Rosecranz. 
 
208 MASON AND SLIDELL CAPTURED. 
 
 General Dix, who commanded in Maryland, made a sud 
 den move during this month into the counties of Northamp 
 ton and Accomac, Virginia, and occupied them without 
 bloodshed. 
 
 But the most exciting event of this month, and which, for 
 a time, so engrossed the public mind that military move 
 ments were almost forgotten, was the capture of Mason and 
 Slidell, who had been sent by the southern confederacy to 
 represent its interests in England and France. Their escape 
 from Charleston in the steamer Nashville was known to our 
 government, and a steamer was sent in pursuit of them. 
 These rebel leaders, however, landed at Havana, and took 
 passage in the English mail packet Trent for England. Cap 
 tain Wilkes, on his way home from the African coast, heard 
 of it, and waylaying the Trent, brought her to, under his 
 guns. He then transferred these gentlemen with their sec 
 retary, Mr., Eustace, to his own ship, and brought them into 
 port. The news of their capture was rqceived with 
 unbounded delight ; and judging from the extravagant joy, 
 one would have thought that some immense success had 
 been achieved, instead of the capture of two rebels, who 
 were far better out of the country than in it. The exulta 
 tion, however, was soon tempered by the serious question, 
 what would England say to this insult to her flag ? 
 
 The press, with scarcely an exception, vindicated the act 
 of Captain Wilkes, and declared that the government, rather 
 than surrender the prisoners, should go to war with En 
 gland. 
 
 But whatever the result would be to us, of having two 
 Such momentous wars on our hands at the same time, the 
 rashest defender of our rights could not but see that the south 
 ern confederacy would be established. Reflecting men stood 
 appalled at this new evil that threatened us. 
 
 At length, the response came from England. The outrage 
 
THE PRISONERS GIVEN UP. 209 
 
 to the British flag, as it was regarded, threw the Kingdom 
 into a tumult of passion. One voice rang from limit to limit 
 the prisoners must be immediately surrendered, or war 
 declared. The press helped to inflame the public feeling, 
 and it was evident that the government itself would be 
 borne away by the torrent. Troops were ordered to Can 
 ada, and war preparations set on foot. 
 
 The south was elated. It had begun to despair of forc 
 ing England to interfere for the sake of obtaining cotton, 
 but now an unexpected event had precipitated a quarrel be 
 tween her and the general government. 
 
 In the mean time, Mason and Slidell lay in fort Warren, 
 near Boston, waiting the action of the two governments. 
 In process of time, the demand for their release came, and 
 the answer of the Cabinet at Washington was waited on 
 both sides of the water with the deepest solicitude. The 
 reply \ of Secretary Seward was long and able, and ended- 
 with the surrender of the prisoners, on the single ground 
 that Captain Wilkes did not take the vessel into a neutral 
 port to have the case adjudicated. This was a satisfactory 
 reason for the surrender of the prisoners ; for the duty of a 
 vessel of a nation engaged in war towards neutral ships sus 
 pected of carrying contraband articles is the same as that of 
 a sheriff on land : to arrest and bring to trial, not to seize 
 and adjudicate both. If the act of Captain Wilkes was justi 
 fiable, then the commander of every gun boat or war schooner 
 can seize any ship, arid converting his deck into a court, adju 
 dicate on his own seizure. That so monstrous a doctrine 
 could be upheld, only shows how feeling will warp the best 
 judgments. It was, in fact, defending a species of legal 
 ized piracy. 
 
 The case, however, was weak in another point : the vessel 
 was not bound to a belligerent, but to its own, port; and if 
 Mason and Slidell could be legally seized in going from the 
 
210 "MASTERLY INACTIVITY. 
 
 5 ) 
 
 West Indies to England, it is hard to see why they could not 
 have been while passing from Southampton to Havre. 
 
 It was supposed that the administration would be over 
 whelmed by the popular clamor, and not dare to do right, 
 even if it wished to. But the country, much to the surprise 
 of the English nation, quietly submitted to the decision of 
 the government. 
 
 Much solicitude was felt respecting the course Congress 
 would take when it met in December. The history of our 
 Congress in time of war, from the Revolution down, does 
 not reflect much credit on the nation. Too often, individ 
 uals and party have received the first, and the country a second 
 ary consideration. Some of the western members, who 
 arrived in Washington the latter part of the month, were 
 loud in their denunciations of the " masterly inactivity," as it 
 was termed, of McClellan ; and it was evident that a party 
 would be formed against him. Various reasons were assigned 
 for his immobility : some asserted that whenever he was 
 ready to make a move, his plans were rendered abortive 
 by being divulged to the enemy, and suspicion began to rest 
 on persons in high position. Others declared that the Sec 
 retary of War blocked his path ; others still that he was not 
 yet ready to move, and till he was, no outward pressure 
 could make him. It was evident, however, that he had the 
 Presidents confidence, and that the latter had decided to 
 stand firmly by him, in spite of friends or foes. 
 
 At this time the public irritation towards England was 
 still farther increased by the news that the Nashville, which 
 started with Mason and Slidell, had arrived in English 
 waters with the crew of the Harvey Birch, an American 
 merchantman, on board; she having burned the vessel at 
 sea, and was receiving the same protection afforded to 
 vessels of any other nation. The Tuscarora, which had been 
 sent in pursuit of her, had also arrived, and after waiting a 
 
BOMBARDMENT OF FORT PICKENS. 211 
 
 while to seize the pirate when she put to sea, was informed 
 by the British government that she could not leave in pur 
 suit till the rebel steamer had twenty -four hours start, thus 
 securing the safety of the latter. This privilege was ac 
 corded to all belligerent vessels when forced by stress of 
 weather or want of supplies into a neutral port, and it must 
 be granted to the southern rover. This Shylock view of 
 legal right, without any regard tb moral obligation, exas 
 perated the American people, and made many wish for peace 
 at home that they might have a war with England, and teach 
 her that the country would brook no such insults, though 
 committed under technical forms. 
 
 With the foreign war cloud still resting on the horizon, 
 the last month of autumn drew to a close. McClellan, fear 
 ing the effect of an idle camp life on his army, grew more 
 strict respecting grog shops and intemperance, and issued an 
 order requiring the observance of the Sabbath, and a regu 
 lar attendance of the troops on the services of the chaplains. 
 
 South, no especial advantage had been gained. Men 
 ceased to talk of an advance from Port Royal, inland, and 
 the country seemed occupied with the question, -\that should 
 be done with the vast crowd of slaves claiming our protec 
 tion there. For a while they were employed in gathering 
 the cotton ; but some permanent system was needed, and 
 yet no one seemed able to devise a satisfactory one. Mean 
 while the little cotton that had been seized was forwarded to 
 New York ; but where one bale passed along the coast in 
 transports, fifty lighted the midnight heavens with flames 
 kindled by the owners to prevent them from falling into the 
 hands of the hated "Yankees." 
 
 On the twenty-second of the month, the long-looked-for 
 q^tack of fort Pickens on the rebel batteries opposite, took 
 place. These extended from the navy yard to fort McRae, 
 a distance of four miles, and were mounted with heavy orcl- 
 
 13 
 
212 THE ROYAL YACHT. 
 
 nance. The steamers Niagara and Richmond took part in 
 the engagement, and all day long till dark, thunder answered 
 thunder, shaking the solid land with the terrific explosions. 
 The next morning it was resumed, but the ships took very 
 little part iii the action, as a change of wind had made the 
 water too shoal to allow them to approach within effective 
 range. Fort McRae was silenced and the navy yard at War- 
 renton and other buildings set on fire, making a frightful 
 conflagration. 
 
 The enemy s winter quarters were evidently badly broken 
 up and his works deranged, but no serious loss was inflicted 
 on him. On the other hand, the Richmond had received an 
 ugly shot between wind and water, which killed one and 
 wounded seven, and fort Pickens showed the marks of heavy 
 pounding, but no breach was made in its walls. One killed 
 and six wounded was the only loss sustained by the garri 
 son from the enemy s fire. 
 
 For nine months both parties had been occupied in mak 
 ing their defenses so complete that but slight results could 
 be expected, from a mutual cannonade, though it was of the 
 most terrific kind. 
 
 Previous to this, on the seventh, a gallant exploit had 
 been performed by Lieutenant Jouett of the frigate Santee, 
 off Galveston harbor, in burning the rebel schooner Royal 
 Yacht. Taking with him two launches, he set out just be 
 fore midnight, and pulling for seven miles through an intri 
 cate channel and against a head sea, wind, and tide, boarded 
 her and set her on fire. Two officers were killed and six 
 men wounded in this daring expedition, the chief object of 
 which was the destruction of the man-of-war steamer Gene 
 ral Rusk, lying under the Pelican fort, if they could ap 
 proach her without being discovered. Failing to do thjf, 
 they were compelled to abandon the desperate undertaking, 
 and content themselves with the destruction of the schooner. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 DECEMBER, 1861. 
 
 OPENING OF CONGRESS ASPECT OF AFFAIRS PRESIDENTS MESSAGE TUB 
 
 QUESTION OF FINANCE TAX BILL ARMY AND NAVAL FORCE OF THS 
 
 COUNTRY DRAFTING IN THE SOUTH THE IROQUOIS AND SUMTKR POPE 
 
 AND HALLECK AT THE WEST THE INDIANS TAKE PART IN THE REBELLION 
 
 A BATTLE BETVVEKN THEM AFFAIRS IN MISSOURI BATTLE OF MILFORD 
 
 GENERAL PRENTISS FIGHT AT MOUNT ZION FIGHT AT ROWLETT^S STATION, 
 
 KENTUCKY WESTERN VIRGINIA BATTLE OF CAMP ALLEGHANY. 
 
 IN the beginning of December, public attention was di 
 verted for a moment from operations in the field to the 
 opening of Congress. It met under peculiar circumstances; 
 for the army it had in the summer authorized the President 
 to raise, had effected comparatively nothing the young 
 commander of whom so much had been expected, still re 
 mained on the Potomac the Capital was blockaded and 
 beleaguered the vast sums it had voted for the war had 
 proved to be but a drop in the bucket, and even much of 
 that had been recklessly squandered the President had as 
 sumed vast and unprecedented powers, and must either be 
 sustained or condemned our foreign relations were in a 
 precarious state the country dissatisfied and agitated, and 
 the Cabinet itself believed to be discordant. To add to this 
 gloomy state of affairs, there was not a leading mind in 
 either branch of Congress to whom the country could look 
 with confidence. 
 
 For the first time in the history of the Republic, the west 
 was the controlling power, and would its action be prudent 
 and conservative or rash and radical, was a question that 
 each one felt to be of vital importance. The President s 
 
214 TAXATION. 
 
 message was calm and confident, but like all his other state 
 papers, not belligerent enough to suit the popular feeling. 
 
 Congress had appointed a committee at its previous ses 
 sion to investigate the stupendous frauds that had crept into 
 the contract system, of which Mr. Van Wyck was chairman ; 
 and startling developments were expected to be made in its 
 report. A system of finance was to be adopted that would 
 test the resources of the country to the utmost. Besides all 
 this, a radical element was sure to be present in great force, 
 demanding an immediate act of emancipation as the only 
 way to terminate the rebellion, of which slavery was de 
 clared to be the root and cause. Fears were also enter 
 tained that Congress might propose to take the conduct of 
 the war into its own hands, or at least force the President 
 from the policy he had adopted. It, however, (much to the 
 relief of the fearful,) showed no inclination to embarrass the 
 administration. The subject of finance at once took the 
 lead of all other questions. Congress had shown itself will 
 ing enough to vote any sums that might be wanted to crush 
 the rebellion, but when it cast about for the ways and 
 means by which to raise the money, it was staggered. 
 
 A high tariff would not furnish a moiety of the amount 
 needed. A direct tax sufficiently heavy could not be levied, 
 for the Constitution required that all direct taxation should 
 be laid according to representation ; and to levy a tax ac 
 cording to population, and not according to property, would 
 be very unequal between the eastern and western states 
 indeed, intolerably oppressive. The government could not 
 borrow money in such vast amounts without a better secu 
 rity than the revenue of the customs or its simple note of 
 hand. In this dilemma, Congress was forced at length to 
 see that it must resort to internal taxation. It was very 
 hard to confess that we must adopt a system that had beg 
 gared the old world, but there was no help for it. It was 
 
ESCAPE OF THE SUMTER. 215 
 
 therefore resolved to issue a hundred and fifty millions in 
 treasury notes, and perfect a tax bill that should seeure the 
 interest on the amount, This was not only unpalatable, but 
 novel legislation, and the committee appointed to bring in 
 a tax bill achieved but poor success in perfecting it. But 
 having resolved on the measure as a necessity, they went to 
 work with such desperate energy and thoroughness that they 
 soon presented a system of taxation that quite eclipsed the 
 English mode, and made the assessors duties partake very 
 much of the nature of domiciliary visits. It was very evi 
 dent that such a bill, before it could, pass berth-houses of 
 Congress, would receive very many modifications. 
 
 The reports of the Secretaries of War and the Navy 
 showed that the government had in service for the suppres 
 sion of the rebellion, six hundred and eighty-two thousand 
 nine hundred and seventy-one soldiers, divided as follows^ 
 volunteer militia, six hundred and forty-two thousand 
 six hundred arid thirty-seven ; regular army, twenty thou 
 sand three hundred and thirty-four; seamen and marines, 
 twenty-two thousand. The rebels, alarmed at the immense 
 force we were arraying against them, and finding that they 
 could not raise one to match it by the volunteer system, 
 resorted to drafting, which caused much dissatisfaction at 
 the south. 
 
 In the beginning of this month, news was received of the 
 escape of the privateer Sumter from the port of Martinique, 
 where she had been a long time blockaded by the Iroquoisj 
 captain Palmer commanding. The country had thought she 
 was caught at last, and when it was told she had got safely 
 to sea again, the deepest mortification was felt, and Palmer 
 was bitterly denounced on every side. The government 
 shared in the general indignation, and superseded him in the 
 command of the vessel. On after investigation, however, it 
 was ascertained that he was not to blame. The authorities 
 
216 INDIANS IN THE FIELD. 
 
 of the place threw every obstacle in his way, compelling him 
 to keep outside of the harbor, where he had an extent of 
 fifteen miles to watch. The Sumter, taking advantage of a 
 dark night, succeeded in dodging her adversary, and under 
 shadow of the land crept safely to sea. The facts being 
 made known, Palmer was acquitted of all blame and placed 
 in honorable command. 
 
 West, General John Pope was assigned to the command 
 of all the national troops between the Missouri and Osage 
 rivers, in Missouri. , His force consisted of the largest part of 
 the army- which Fremont took to Springfield. This officer, 
 by his energy and boldness, was soon to change the aspect 
 of affairs in that part of the state. Halleck, in the mean 
 time, issued the most stringent orders against the rebels, and 
 the power of the government began to be felt in every part 
 of that distracted state. All this while, minor engagements 
 were continually taking place in various sections. In Arkan 
 sas a fight occurred near Bushy creek, between the rebels 
 under Colonel Cooper and a Union Cherokee chief 0-poth- 
 ley-ho-lo. The Choctaws, Chickasaws, and Creeks fought 
 on the rebel side ; and we had the strange exhibition in this 
 war of the Union, of Indian armies meeting in the same con 
 test which shook the Atlantic coast. The war whoop 
 was heard, and the scalping knife did its barbaric work 
 among the red men of the west, in a struggle for the su 
 premacy of the Federal government. The rebel leaders had 
 stirred up sedition even there, and armed the savages of the 
 frontier against American citizens. Albert Pike, the poet, 
 was conspicuous in this nefarious business, and has thus con 
 signed his name to eternal infamy. The loyal Indians driven 
 from their homes suffered great hardships during the winter. 
 
 West of the Mississippi the war was assuming a vindictive 
 character, and burning towns, sacked houses, with roving 
 bands of marauders, and homeless fugitives, made the state 
 
POPE IN,THE FIELD. 217 
 
 of Missouri a scene of devastation. Pope, however, waa 
 getting his forces in hand, and before the month closed, 
 dealt those terrible blows he knew so well how to inflict 
 On the fifteenth he started from Sedalia with about four 
 thousand men, to get between the army of Price and his re 
 cruits and supplies on their way south, from the Mississippi 
 river. Marching fifteen miles, he encamped, and the next 
 day made a forced march of twenty-six miles, and coming 
 suddenly upon the enemy, twenty-two hundred strong, en 
 camped six miles north of Chilhowee, scattered them in 
 every direction. Capturing cavalry, tents, wagons, and bag 
 gage, he pursued them all night, next day and night till mid 
 night Lieutenant-Colonel Brown leading the pursuit until 
 he reached Johnstown, when it was learned that the enemy s 
 force had got reduced to five hundred men. In the mean 
 time the main body of the Union army moved on towards 
 Warrensburg. On the morning of the eighteenth Colonel 
 Brown joined it, when the whole continued its march in 
 search of another large force which Pope had been informed 
 was in the vicinity. Ascertaining through his scouts that 
 they were marching towards Milford, and would encamp 
 that night near that place, he pushed forward, and late in 
 the afternoon came upon them in a wooded bottom land, on 
 the Black Water, opposite the mouth of Clear creek. A 
 long, narrow bridge crossed the stream at this point, which 
 was held by the rebels who stood prepared to defend it. But 
 as soon as the supports and reserves could be got up, Lieu 
 tenant Gordon of the fourth Ohio cavalry was ordered to 
 carry the bridge. Lieutenant Armory with the regular cav 
 alry immediately advanced, but seeing that his detachment 
 would be annihilated if ij undertook to charge over the long, 
 narrow bridge, he ordered his men to dismount; and every 
 fourth man holding the horses of the other three, they with 
 sabers and pistols approached it as skirmishers. Desultory 
 
218 FIGHT NEAR*MILFORD. 
 
 firing followed with but little advantage on either side, when 
 the artillery came thundering up, under Davis. The rebels 
 seeing it approach, did not wait for the guns to unlimber, 
 but turned and fled. Armory then ordered his men to 
 mount, which they did in hot haste, and the bugle pealing 
 forth the charge, they dashed over the bridge on a gallop, 
 and charged, shouting along the road which the rebels had 
 taken. Passing through a piece of woods, the latter formed 
 in line of battle in an open space ; but finding themselves 
 outflanked and outnumbered, they raised the white flag, and 
 a young officer came forward and asked if thirty minutes 
 would be allowed for consultation. Colonel Davis> in com 
 mand of the advance force, replied " that as night was clos 
 ing in that was too long. 1 An immediate surrender followed, 
 when Colonel Davis started back for Pope s camp, at which 
 lie arrived at midnight, amid the shouts of the soldiers. 
 
 The next morning the army took up its backward march 
 to Seclalia, in a biting December blast, that froze the ears 
 and feet of many of the cavalry. It arrived in safety with 
 about fifteen hundred prisoners, twelve hundred stand of 
 arms, nearly a hundred wagons, and a large quantity of sup 
 plies. Our loss in all did not amount to more than a dozen 
 men. In five days the infantry had marched a hundred miles, 
 and the cavalry two hundred. 
 
 A fight which took place at Mount Zion, about a fortnight 
 after, oil the twenty-eighth, closed up the month, and the 
 year sixty-one, in Missouri. General Prentiss, on the twenty- 
 fourth, left Palmyra with five companies of cavalry, and pro 
 ceeded to Sturgeon ; when learning that a force of rebels 
 was concentrated in IHllsville, Boone county, he sent for 
 ward a company to reconnoiter. Captain Howland com 
 manding it, found the enemy two miles beyond the town. 
 In a skirmish that followed, he with one private was taken 
 prisoner ; but the rest of the company made good their re- 
 
GENERAL PRENTISS. 219 
 
 treat. When Prentiss, at Sturgeon, heard their report, he 
 ordered forward his cavalry, under .Colonel Glover, and five 
 companies of sharp shooters, under Colonel Birge, in all. four 
 hundred and seventy the march to commence at two o clock 
 in the morning. It was a dark and wintry morning, but the 
 men pushed cheerfully forward, and by eight o clock had 
 made eighteen miles. Here a halt was ordered, for the 
 scouts reported the enemy to be in close proximity. Ascer 
 taining that his force consisted of but one company, an im 
 mediate attack was made, in which five rebels were killed 
 and nine taken prisoners. From the latter, Prentiss learned 
 that the rebels, nine hundred strong, were drawn up near a 
 church -known as Mount Zion. 
 
 FIGHT AT MOUNT ZION. 
 
 Their left lay sheltered in a piece of woods, and the sharp 
 shooters were sent to dislodge them. They advanced cau 
 tiously, and soon the woods rang with the crack of their 
 rifles ; but being only three companies strong, they could not 
 succeed in driving the enemy from his cover. Soon, how 
 ever, Colonel Glover came up on a run with reinforcements. 
 Birge s men were at this moment falling back in disorder, 
 but seeing the approach of help he dashed among them, 
 while the balls pattered like rain-drops around him, and ral 
 lying them, shouted u Come on, men. 7 Obeying their gallant 
 leader, they flung themselves with a loud hurrah forward, and 
 Glover coming up at the same time, the woods were cleared 
 and the enemy broke and fled, leaving all their camp equip 
 age, and nearly a hundred horses behind them. The battle 
 lasted two hours, and part of the time was almost a hand-to- 
 hand fight. Our loss in killed and wounded was only sixty- 
 six, while the enemy left on our hands a hundred and sev 
 enty-five killed and wounded, and thirty prisoners. Pren- 
 
220 GALLANT ACTION. 
 
 tiss, after collecting the enemy s wounded, and placing them 
 in the church, and sending to the farmers in the vicinity to 
 take care of them, put his own in wagons and started back 
 for Sturgeon, where he arrived at nine o clock at night. 
 
 A few days previous to this, a fight occurred at Hewlett s 
 Station, near Mumfordsville, Kentucky, between a part of 
 Colonel Willich s Indiana regiment, of Buell s division, while 
 on outpost duty, and a column of the enemy, consisting of 
 one regiment of cavalry, a battery of artillery, and two 
 regiments of infantry. Against this superior force the In- 
 dianians fought as skirmishers, forming quickly into squares 
 when threatened with a charge of cavalry, and defending 
 themselves bravely till reinforced by other companies of the 
 regiment. In one instance a whole battalion of Texan 
 rangers charged with deafening yells upon the seventh com 
 pany, not over fifty in number, drawn up in square. The 
 gallant little band waited till they came within seventy yards, 
 when they swept them with such a deliberate, well aimed 
 volley, that they staggered back, broken before it. They, 
 however, rallied again, and at the sound of the bugle came 
 on the second time, with gleaming sabers some of them in 
 their wild rage forcing their horses to the points of the bay 
 onets but the same deadly volley smote them, emptying 
 the saddles with frightful rapidity, and they again wheeled and 
 galloped out of the fire. A third and last time they formed, 
 and moved steadily forward, their leader, Colonel Terry, 
 shouting in the advance. But when they came within the 
 fatal range of those western marksmen, the deadly fire that 
 smote them tumbled their commander in the dust, when the 
 whole force broke and fled. Willich, at this time, arrived 
 on the field and took chief command ; but the courage of the 
 enemy, though outnumbering us nearly four to one, was com 
 pletely broken and he withdrew from the field. Our loss in 
 killed and wounded was only twenty-eight, while that of the 
 
GENERAL MILROY. 221 
 
 enemy was over eighty. It was a gallant fight, and Buell in 
 complimenting the thirty-second Indiana regiment, ordered 
 that " Hewlett s Station" should be inscribed on its banner. 
 
 Four days previous to this, on the thirteenth, a severe 
 engagement occurred in Western Virginia, between General 
 Milroy with his brigade of two thousand men, and an equal 
 number of rebels under General Johnson, of Georgia, at 
 Camp Alleghany. This camp was situated on the top of the 
 Alleghany mountains, about eight miles and a half beyond 
 the Green Brier rivsr, where Reynolds made his bold and 
 successful reconnoissance against General Lee, in October. 
 The army took up its line of march on Thursday morning, 
 of the twelfth, and reached the old camp of Lee at eight 
 o clock at night. Here it was divided into two columns, 
 one being directed to advance on what was known as the 
 u Green Bank road," to attack the enemy s left, while the 
 main" column under Milroy in person, moved along the 
 "Staunton turnpike." At ten o clock at night this column 
 took up its march, and an hour after, the other moved off on 
 the Green Bank road. 
 
 BATTLE OF CAMP ALLEGHANY. 
 
 Milroy kept on in the darkness till he came within half a 
 mile of the enemy s camp, when he halted. Hastily recon- 
 noitering his position, he wheeled his column off the road 
 and began to ascend the mountain. It was very steep and 
 rocky, but the soldiers, though weary with their long night s 
 march, toiled cheerfully forward, and at length just as the 
 first gray of dawn began to streak the far off eastern sky, 
 reached the summit. Here they were to await the attack of 
 the other column on the left, but as they rose over the crest 
 of the mountain they came upon the enemy s pickets, who 
 immediately fell back on the camp. Colonel Jones, who 
 
222 A REPULSE. 
 
 commanded the advance, seeing that the rebels would be 
 advised of his approach, immediately ordered Lieutenant 
 McDonald, of the thirteenth Indiana, to pursue them on the 
 double quick. Starting off on a run, the regiment pressed 
 over the rocky ground till it came to the edge of the woods, 
 in full view of the camp. The enemy was expecting them 
 and stood formed in line of battle. Daylight had now 
 broadened on the lonely mountain, and the cold December 
 blast swept by in fitful gusts. The waning moon which had 
 just risen, paled in the increasing light, and the whole win 
 try scene was dreary and desolate. McDonald immediately 
 deployed his men, and the battle commenced. The enemy 
 being hastily roused from their slumbers, seemed to have no 
 heart for the fight, and after a few rounds retreated in great 
 confusion, leaving their dead and wounded behind them. 
 Their officers, however, succeeded in rallying them, and they 
 again advanced with great determination. Some of our 
 troops now began to falter and fall back, but were finally 
 rallied, and again repulsed the enemy in an attempt to turn 
 our right flank. The contest now raged fiercely, and the 
 bleak summit of the Alleghany rang with the incessant crack 
 of small arms and roar of artillery. Again and again the 
 rebels were driven back to their cabins, but as often rallied, 
 and threw themselves with fierce determination and over 
 whelming numbers, now on this wing and now on that. 
 They were repulsed in every attempt; but after three hours 
 fighting, many of our men having left their ranks and skulked 
 to the rear, and the ammunition being nearly exhausted, 
 McDonald ordered his command to fall back to head quar 
 ters. This became the more necessary as the other column 
 that was to attack the enemy s left did not make its appear 
 ance. Colonel Moody in command of it, found the march 
 more difficult than he anticipated. The hill was very steep, 
 and for three miles his men had to toil up the ascent, made 
 
MILROY DEFEATED. 223 
 
 almost impassable by trees that had been Mien by the rebels 
 in every direction. The combined attack was to have been 
 made before daylight, at four o clock in the morning, but the 
 first column did not reach the summit of the mountain till 
 daylight, and the other not till eight o clock, or just after 
 McDonald had fallen back. Thus this division, like the first, 
 had to encounter the whole force of the enemy. This they 
 did most gallantly, advancing with yells and shouts against 
 him, and driving him back to within two hundred yards of 
 his camp. At this point the rebel volleys became so destruc 
 tive that our troops were compelled to take shelter behind 
 logs and trees and rocks, where they kept up so fierce and 
 destructive fire, that every effort of the enemy to advance 
 was repulsed. Majors Milroy and Owens maintained their 
 position here for a long while against three times their num 
 ber, when seeing no prospect of their being supported by the 
 other column, they too fell back in good order, taking their 
 dead and wounded with them. Why, during this long and 
 unequal fight, General Milroy did not again advance and 
 succor them does not appear. Our men, with few excep 
 tions, fought nobly, but the attack was a failure, and a long, 
 wearisome, wintry march proved barren of results. Our loss 
 in killed, wounded, and missing was a hundred and thirty- 
 seven ; that of the enemy was probably about the same. 
 
 Thus beginning at the extreme west, successive conflicts 
 took place all jilong nearly the same parallel to the Atlantic, 
 yet apparently without any effect on the relative position of 
 the two great armies that stood confronting each other. 
 The fight at Hewlett s Station, Kentucky, and Milford, Mis 
 souri, occurred within one day of each other at Camp Alle- 
 ghany four days previous, and at Mount Zion on the twenty- 
 eighth. Keeping along the parallel east, we come to the 
 army of the Potomac, whose inaction was suddenly broken 
 on the twentieth by the battle of Drainsville. 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 DECEMBER, 18GL 
 
 BATTLE OF DRAINSVILLE THE " STONE FLEET" CORRESPONDENCE CONCERN* 
 
 ING IT BETWEEN LORD LYONS AND MR. 8EWARD DUPONT s OPERATIONS OW 
 
 THE COAST OF GEORGIA AND SOUTH CAROLINA THE ARMY OF THE POTO 
 MAC IN WINTER QUARTERS RELEASE OF MR. ELY FROM PRISON IN RICH 
 MOND DISSATISFACTION WITH MC CLELLAN s INACTION DIVISION IN CON 
 GRESS RESPECTING THE MANNER OF CARRYING ON THE WAR DANGER OF 
 
 THESE CONFLICTING- VIEWS FIRMNESS AND INTEGRITY OF THE PRESIDENT. 
 
 THE battle of Drairisville, occurring so near to Washing 
 ton, and the first of any magnitude in which the army 
 of the Potomac had been successful, was given an importance 
 by our leading papers that did not properly belong to it. 
 Its chief value lay in showing the mettle of our troops, and 
 in inspiring the army with confidence in its power, and an 
 eagerness to measure its strength with the enemy. 
 
 On the twentieth, Gen. Me Call commanding the Pennsylva 
 nia reserve occupying the farthest point up the Potomac, 
 on the Virginia side ordered General Ord to take his brig 
 ade the next day, and move in the direction of Drainsville, 
 for the double purpose of driving back the enemy s pickets 
 which had become troublesome, and of procuring forage for 
 his animals. So on Saturday morning at six o clock, Ord 
 put his column in motion, taking with him the first rifles 
 commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Kane, brother of the 
 northern explorer, and Easton s battery, and proceeded to 
 Drainsville without opposition. Here he posted his men so 
 as to command the approaches to the town and cover his 
 foraging party. When he first arrived, he saw some mounted 
 rebels on a slope beyond a piece of woods, and near them a 
 smoke ascending, which led him to believe they were plan- 
 
THE BUCKTAILS. 225 
 
 ning mischief. Soon scouts arrived, who informed him that 
 the enemy was advancing in force towards the turnpike from 
 the south, and had already driven in his pickets. Taking 
 position on the turnpike, with flanking regiments on both 
 sides of it, Ord prepared to receive him. Suddenly from the 
 woods on his left a fierce fire was opened both by artillery 
 and musketry. The cannon, six in number, were in a road 
 that passed through the woods, but their position could only 
 be conjectured by the smoke of the discharges. Easton s 
 battery, ordered up to reply to this, came on at such a tearing 
 gallop that it went by the spot it was directed to take, and 
 one gun was upset. They soon, however, got in position and 
 opened a rapid, heavy fire on the concealed battery. Find 
 ing a spot where the road could be raked, Ord ordered the 
 capsized gun to be righted and brought thither with the two 
 other pieces, which soon caused the rebel fire to slacken. 
 
 At this time, Colonel Kane, with the gallant Buck tails, 
 who were on the right, saw a body of rebels crossing an 
 open field, close by the woods, evidently to make a flank 
 movement, or occupy a brick house which stood on a hill 
 about a hundred yards distant from his regiment. He im 
 mediately sent a detachment to take possession of the build 
 ing, which they did on the double quick, and opened a 
 galling fire on the enemy. The remainder of the regiment 
 lay on their faces behind bushes, fences, and any thing that 
 furnished shelter, rising only to fire, and then dropping again 
 and loading on .their backs. So rapid and well aimed were 
 their volleys, that the rebels who had kept steadily advancing 
 as they fired, at length gave way and took shelter in the 
 woods. The order then came for the whole line to advance 
 and take the battery. It was received with a loud cheer by 
 the men as they sprang to their feet. Kane was on foot, and 
 at the moment of leading the charge, received a ball through 
 his cheek, which brought him to the ground. But the next 
 
226 THE ENEMY REPULSED. 
 
 moment he sprang to his feet again, and hastily bandaging 
 up the wound with .a white handkerchief, led his men fiercely 
 forward. Colonel Taggart of the twelfth regiment, dis 
 mounted, and drawing his sword and flinging away his scab 
 bard, strode at the head of his troops. The two regiments 
 with an unbroken front moved straight on the woods, receiv 
 ing without flinching the fire of the concealed enemy. The 
 timber was thick with underbrush, which at once broke up 
 the firmly set line, and they struggled forward as they best 
 could, while the shells burst among the branches overhead, 
 and the shot flew on every side. Every moment they ex 
 pected to come face to face with the battery, but the unfal 
 tering line swept irregularly onward, until at last they 
 emerged into an open field of some ten or fifteen acres, from 
 whence they caught sight of the enemy in full flight the 
 artillery bounding in a gallop along the turnpike. Loud 
 hurrahs rent the air, and picking up the dead and wounded, 
 they were about to start in pursuit, when the recall was 
 sounded. McCall, who had arrived a short time before on the 
 field, not deeming it prudent to push the victory, had ordered 
 a halt. Bivouac fires were kindled around Drainsville, and 
 the tired army was glad of a short repose. 
 
 The battle was over by three o clock, and our loss all told 
 was but sixty-seven. The rebels acknowledged a loss of two 
 hundred and forty. It is a little singular that in this battle 
 both sides complained of regiments .being deceived, by their 
 adversaries claiming to be friends, until they could deliver 
 the first volley. 
 
 With the exception of some slight skirmishing on the 
 tipper Potomac, and a somewhat sharp affair at New Market 
 Bridge, near Newport News, two days after the battle of 
 Drainsville, the forces along the Potomac remained quiet the 
 remainder of the month. 
 
 The "stone fleet," as it was called, which consisted of a 
 
THE STONE FLEET. 227 
 
 number of old vessels loaded with stone, designed to obstruct 
 Charleston harbor, so as to render the blockade more com 
 plete, reached its destination this month and was consigned 
 to the deep. On the very day that the fields and woods 
 around Drainsville were trembling under the roar of cannon, 
 sixteen old whalers, loaded with stone, were quietly sinking 
 one after another to the bottom, off Charleston harbor. The 
 event created a great sensation at the time, and was the 
 cause of much angry discussion here and abroad ; for many 
 supposed it was the intention of the government to destroy 
 Charleston as a seaport forever. Some said that it was visit 
 ing on the next generation the sins of this, and that no ad 
 ministration had a right thus to ruin the commercial facilities 
 of a state for all time. 
 
 Even England remonstrated against the act ; but Mr. Sew- 
 ard assured the British minister that we had no intention of 
 destroying the port of Charleston. It was done for tempo 
 rary convenience alone, as there were so many channels lead 
 ing into the harbor it was impossible to guard them all. In 
 conclusion, the Secretary significantly remarked, that it was 
 evident that the port was not destroyed, as English vessels 
 with goods contraband of war had entered since the sinking 
 of the "ships. 
 
 But so bitter was the feeling at the north towards this city, 
 which had begun the war, that it is questionable, if the news 
 that an earthquake had sunk it with all its inhabitants 
 would not have caused the profoundest gratification. A ter 
 rible conflagration that swept it about this time, turning 
 crowds of families out of doors, awakened no commiseration. 
 
 Our naval force during the month did but little except 
 to maintain a rigid blockade. Steamers and gun boats were 
 being rapidly built, all over the country, and we expected 
 soon to be able to accomplish something worthy of the navy. 
 
 Much indignation was felt because the rebel Captain 
 14 
 
228 THE ARMY IN WINTER QUARTERS. 
 
 Lynch succeeded, in cutting out a schooner almost under the 
 guns of fortress Monroe. It was humiliating enough to sub 
 mit to the blockade of the Potomac, without being defied 
 in this way in the presence of a powerful fleet. 
 
 South, Dupont s mission seemed to have ended with the 
 taking of Port Royal, and he was left apparently to amuse 
 himself in any way he thought proper. There was a strange 
 want of definite purpose about this whole expedition, which 
 succeeding events instead of clearing up obscured the more. 
 He, however, had his instructions, and commenced a series 
 of explorations along the Carolina and Georgia coast, during 
 the month, which served to keep the inhabitants in a state 
 of alarm. The bay of St. Helena, valuable as a harbor, and 
 for its proximity to Charleston, was taken possession of by 
 Drayton, as well as Tybee Roads. Another expedition, un 
 der Commander Rodgers, went up Warsaw Sound, to within 
 ten miles of Savannah. A little later, on the eleventh, he 
 with several gunboats started up the Yernon river and the 
 Great Ogeechee to Ossabaw island. 
 
 On the sixteenth, Dray ton made an exploration of the north 
 and south Edisto rivers, but found little except deserted for 
 tifications and plantations, denuded of every thing but slaves. 
 Here and there a battery, placed where the gun boats could 
 not operate, was discovered. 
 
 Nothing of importance occurred along the gulf, and affairs 
 at fort Pickens seemed to have fallen back to their old state 
 of quietness since the bombardment of the month previous. 
 
 Around Washington, the eventful year of 1861 went out 
 quietly. The two great armies lay front to front, and seemed 
 occupied chiefly in making themselves comfortable during 
 the inclement season. Log cabins, tents banked with earth 
 and supplied with every variety of heating apparatus that 
 American ingenuity could devise, and sheltered by cedar 
 bushes set in the earth to break the force of the wind, and 
 
RELEASE OF MR. ELY. 229 
 
 stables built of evergreens, combined to make the vast en 
 campment of the army of the Potomac a curious and inter 
 esting sight. Thus housed, the mighty host, composed of 
 mechanics, farmers, clerks, lawyers, and men of every trade, 
 accustomed to all the comforts of life, prepared itself to 
 meet the biting gales and storms of sleet and snow that 
 made up the dreary winter. 
 
 A little excitement was created in Washington by the re 
 turn of Mr. Ely, member of Congress from Rochester, who 
 was taken prisoner at Bull Run, and had ever since been 
 confined in prison at Richmond. Mr. Faulkner of Virginia, 
 our minister to France under Mr. Buchanan s administra 
 tion, had been arrested on his return to this country, on the 
 suspicion of treason, and confined in fort Warren. Being 
 .released on parole for the purpose of effecting an exchange 
 for Mr.. Ely, he succeeded, and the latter returned to Wash 
 ington, where his description of his prison life, and that of 
 the soldiers, awakened considerable interest. It was hoped 
 that his release would be the means of some general system 
 of exchange of prisoners being adopted, and movements to 
 that end were set on foot, but failed to accomplish it. 
 
 Congress in the mean time was getting restive under the 
 inaction of the army in front of the Capital. The impassa 
 ble condition of the roads, it seemed to be admitted on all 
 hands, rendered a winter campaign out of the question; but 
 members were dissatisfied that no forward movement had been 
 made before they became so, and the germs of a strong op- 
 position to McClellan began to develop themselves. The 
 country, however, was appeased by the assurance that a 
 great plan was maturing, Avhich required delay, but at the 
 proper time would be developed and crush the rebellion at 
 a blow. Unfortunately for McClellan, not only did the con 
 servative part of the country uphold his course, but the op 
 position seized upon him to play off against the a^ient re- 
 
230 THE BORDER STATES. 
 
 publicans, thus creating a party hostile to him, independent 
 of military matters. The more considerate thought they 
 saw the beginning of incalculable evil in this, for it was 
 plain that the army was determined to stand by its young 
 commander, and if the opposition party made an onslaught 
 on him, and carried the administration with it, we might 
 have serious trouble on our hands. But it soon became ap 
 parent that the President was firm on this point, and would, 
 at least until further developments, stand by the Commander- 
 in-Chief. His position was so decided and determined, that 
 the party leaders saw that to press the matter would bring 
 them in direct collision with the administration. McClel- 
 lan s indifference to politicians, and his habit of reticence, 
 deigning neither to excuse nor explain, made it certain, 
 however, that the first mistake that he should be guilty of, 
 would rouse an intensely active opposition. Whenever he 
 should move, it must be to unqualified victory, or the storm 
 that would burst on his head would be the severer from 
 having been so long delayed. 
 
 This firmness of the Executive, however, was the great 
 redeeming feature of the administration; for the conviction 
 that the hand at the helm was steady gave the country con 
 fidence and courage. 
 
 In the mean time, the members from the border states 
 were in a very uncomfortable position : they wished to stand 
 by the Union and put down the rebellion, but differed toto 
 coelo from the republican party, respecting the manner in 
 which it should be done. They wished to leave slavery alone, 
 to reduce the rebels by force of arms, and let the Union 
 men in the slave states, held down by tyrannical power, have 
 ft chance to speak and act, and thus bring back the old 
 Union, with the Constitution unimpaired. But the former 
 insisted that slavery was the cause of the rebellion, and it 
 vas absurd to suppose you could destroy an effect so long 
 
UNION BORDER MEN. 231 
 
 as you let the cause remain. On this subject the north was 
 much divided, and it was plain it would cause the President 
 more trouble and vexation than all other things put together. 
 What should be his line of policy under the circumstances, 
 was a most- serious and perplexing question, and one which 
 would become more embarrassing at every step of the pro 
 gress of the war. He would be between the upper and 
 nether millstones, and vast and untold evils lay dimly shad 
 owed in the future. He was, however, steadily rising in the 
 confidence of all classes, exhibiting grander proportions of 
 character than even his warmest admirers had ever claimed 
 for him ; but how long he would be able to hold a steady 
 helm in the turbulent sea through which the vessel of state 
 was dashing, no one knew. Events were crowding fearful 
 responsibilities upon his shoulders, and it seemed more than 
 likely before another year came round, on him alone would 
 turn the destiny of the nation. 
 
 The Union border men trembled for their own states, as 
 they saw the tendency of things, and tried in various ways 
 to prevent the evil they feared. The most extraordinary 
 proposition made, perhaps, was one by Mr. Saulsbury, sen 
 ator from Delaware, in the latter part of this month : that a 
 certain number of commissioners should be appointed, 
 among them Messrs. Fillmore and Everett, to meet a similar 
 number from the south, for the purpose of agreeing on some 
 basis of settlement by which the divided states could come 
 together once more in peace. But the question, u Shall 
 there be war or not?" had long since passed, the moment 
 ous one now was; on what principles shall it be conducted? 
 and to what end shall it be pushed? The abolitionists 
 and one wing of the republican party demanded that uni 
 versal freedom should keep pace with the army, while the 
 more conservative insisted that the war should look only to 
 the restoration of the states to their old status. One 
 
232 OPPOSING VIEWS. 
 
 declared that rebellion cancelled all the obligations enforced 
 by the original compact, and the other replied that a war 
 waged on this basis would be a war of conquest, and could 
 end only in ruin to the Republic. The former asserted that 
 the rebellion could be crushed. in no other way except by 
 the destruction of slavery, the latter said that neither Con 
 gress nor the President had any more right or power, ex 
 cept tyrannical, to abolish slavery in the states than slavery 
 in India ; and if they had, sudden emancipation would as 
 effectually destroy the states, as a part of the Federal Union, 
 as though they were physically cut off. 
 
 These opposing views necessarily more or less distracted 
 the administration, and threatened a serious division in the 
 north. The President was troubled, and felt that the people 
 were making a grievous mistake in quarreling over the ques 
 tion of slavery, while the whole thought and energy of the 
 country should be given to the defeat of the rebel armies in 
 the field. Fortunately for the nation, he was not swayed 
 by any fanciful theories, but took a practical view of the sub 
 ject, and endeavored so to shape his policy as not to distract 
 the country, but unite it. In this he showed a remarkable 
 penetration, and a capacity and force of character that ele 
 vated him still more in the estimation of the people. He 
 wished to crush the rebel armies first and dispose of the 
 question of slavery afterwards, but some of his friends 
 seemed determined that he should make an effort to settle 
 this first, and take the chances of its effect on the rebellion. 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 JANUARY, 1862. 
 
 OPENING OF THE NEW YEAR AROUND WASHINGTON AT PENSACOLA BOM 
 BARDMENT OF FORT PICKENS FIGHT OF PORT ROYAL THE SAME DAY EX 
 PEDITION BY MILROY IN WESTERN VIRGINIA JACKSON ADVANCES TO THE 
 
 POTOMAC AND TEARS UP THE BALTIMORE AND OHIO RAIL ROAD FIGHT OP 
 POSITE HANCOCK FIGHT AT BLUE S GAP BATTLE OF MIDDLE CREEK, KEN 
 TUCKY, AND VICTORY OF GARFIELD POPE IN MISSOURI. 
 
 THE new year opened with comparative quiet around 
 Washington, and indeed all along the great line of de 
 fense that crossed half the continent. Even at Richmond, 
 the rebel capital, more than usual gaiety prevailed ; but far 
 off, on the southern coast, the thunder of cannon heralded 
 it in with ceremonies more becoming the terrible scenes of 
 carnage that were to mark its passage. 
 
 FIGHT AT PENSACOLA. 
 
 On new year s morning, a small rebel steamer was observed 
 from fort Pickens, making her way towards Pensacola navy 
 yard, waving a secession flag in a defiant manner. As she 
 drew near the fort, it opened a fire on her, sending the shot 
 and shell so thickly around her that she beat a hasty retreat. 
 The rebel batteries on shore immediately replied, and a ter 
 rific artillery fight commenced which lasted all day. Both 
 sides had been so long occupied in obtaining the accurate 
 range of each other, that the firing was characterized -by 
 great precision. Shells fell like hail stones within the fort, 
 and thundered incessantly on its massive walls, while its own 
 heavy guns hurled a terrible storm of iron on the opposing 
 batteries. 
 
234 A FIERCE CANNONADE. 
 
 The sun went down on the fight and darkness fell over 
 land and water, yet the heavy cannonading was kept up. 
 The fort, however, confined itself chiefly to its thirteen-inch 
 mortars, but the enemy kept all its batteries in full play. As 
 night deepened, the scene became indescribably grand. 
 Every shell could be traced in its course by its burning fuse, 
 till it burst in flame on the shore. The screaming missiles 
 crossed each other in their flight, weaving a strange tracery 
 in the gloom, and lighting up as by incessant flashes of light 
 ning, that dark structure and the resounding shores and dis 
 tant shipping. During the night the navy yard was set on 
 fire by our shells, and burst into fierce conflagration, casting 
 a lurid glare on the heavens, and shedding a strange, weird 
 light on island, stream, and forest. Its reflection was seen 
 forty miles at sea. The heavy thunder, however, gradually 
 died away, and when the dull gray light of morning broke 
 over the desolate scene, the useless bombardment ceased. 
 But little damage was done on either side, and if there had 
 been, no important result would have been gained, for nei 
 ther was in a condition to take advantage of any success it 
 might achieve. Bragg, commanding the rebels, if he had 
 effected a breach, would not have dared to storm the works, 
 while Brown, commanding the fort, even if he had dis 
 mounted every battery, had no force with which to seize and 
 hold the place. 
 
 On this same new year s morning, a combined attack of 
 the land and naval forces at Port Royal, was made on the 
 enemy who had concentrated in large numbers in the 
 vicinity, with the intention of driving our army out of Beau 
 fort. Roclgers commanded the naval force, which was to 
 protect the debarkation of a part of the troops under Ste 
 ven s, at Haywood s landing, and to cover the route of the 
 column to Adams plantation, and then protect the landing 
 of the rest. The rebels were driven from their battery, at 
 
A GALLANT DASH. 235 
 
 Port 3-oyal ferry, and our troops took possession of it. The 
 former made a feeble resistance, and our total loss out of a 
 force of some three thousand men, was only ten or twelve 
 killed and wounded. The movement was well planned and 
 skilfully carried out. The enemy s works were destroyed, 
 themselves driven five miles into the interior, and the naviga 
 tion of Broad and Coosaw rivers which it was their intention to 
 close, permanently opened to our transports and gun boats. 
 The night before new year s, an expedition, composed of 
 seven hundred men and thirty-eight cavalry, all under com 
 mand of Major Webster, was sent by Milroy, in Western Vir 
 ginia, to destroy a quantity of rebel stores known to be ac 
 cumulated at Hunt.ersville, in Pocahontas county, about forty 
 miles from Staunton. New year s morning was freezing cold, 
 and the wintry wind from the snow-clad mountains swept in 
 fierce gusts across the open valley where the detachment 
 had encamped. The bugle that summoned them to the 
 march at daylight, had any thing but a cheerful sound in the 
 howling blast, but the men left their blazing fires with alac 
 rity, and marched twelve miles to the foot of Elk mountain, 
 and encamped in a pine grove whose dark arcades were 
 soon all aglow with the roaring camp fires. Here they found 
 the road so blockaded by fallen trees, that they were com 
 pelled to leave behind their ambulances and wagons, and 
 take a mountain trail which led to the summit. Keeping on 
 their way, they at length came in sight of the enemy at a 
 bridge over Green Brier river, about six miles from Hunters- 
 ville. The rebels retreated, and the detachment followed in 
 pursuit till it came within two miles of the town, when it 
 again encountered them. A skirmish followed, and the 
 rebels again fell back, while the cheers and shouts that fol 
 lowed them made the mountains ring. At length their cav 
 alry drew up in imposing force on a- level plain as if about 
 to charge, but as the excited little band dashed toward them 
 
236 EXPEDITION OF JACKSON. 
 
 on a run, they turned and fled. The whole force then broke 
 on the double quick into the town, shouting like madmen. 
 The enemy had all fled, and Major Webster finding six build 
 ings filled with provisions set fire to them, and by the light 
 of the conflagration took up his backward march. 
 
 The expedition was gone six days in all, and marched in 
 that time over a hundred miles. 
 
 The rebel General Jackson, stationed at Winchester, also 
 chose the first day of the new year on which to start an ex 
 pedition towards the Potomac, for the double purpose of 
 clearing out our scattered forces between him and the river, 
 and tear up the track of the Baltimore and Ohio rail road. 
 
 On Saturday, the fourth, as they approached Bath, they 
 surprised forty men of the thirty-ninth Illinois, out on a 
 scout, and killed one and took eight prisoners. The regi 
 ment at Bath immediately planted cannon, so as to com 
 mand the roads leading to the place, and soon as the rebels 
 came in view, opened on them. Colonel Murray, with the 
 eighty-fourth Pennsylvania, hastened over the river to its 
 support, but on arriving and assuming command, he ordered 
 a retreat, leaving all his stores and camp equipage in the 
 hands of the enemy. 
 
 It was a terribly cold day; and both parties suffered 
 severely. An artillery fire was kept up as we retreated, and 
 the regiments effected a safe passage across the river to Han 
 cock, on the Maryland shore. 
 
 The next morning at daybreak, the rebels appeared on 
 the opposite bank, and commenced shelling the town. No 
 damage, however, was done, and they contented themselves 
 with tearing up the rail road track. In the mean time, Lan 
 der arrived, and prepared to defend the town. The rebels, 
 however, made no farther attempt, and on Tuesday retired, 
 taking with them a few -prisoners. 
 
 On this same day, (the seventh,) an expedition from 
 
FIGHT AT BLUE S GAP. 237 
 
 Kelley s command at Romney, which had set out at midnight, 
 approached Blue s Gap. The night had been clear and cold, 
 and the ground was covered with six inches of snow, which 
 made the march slippery and difficult. But the men, though 
 benumbed with frost, pressed forward with spirit, and after 
 proceeding some fourteen miles, came up with the outposts 
 of the enemy, just as the cold, wintry morning was broaden 
 ing over the mountains. The latter turned and fled ; and 
 though the gap was still some two miles distant, Colonel 
 Dunning (in command) shouted "Forward! Double quick!" 
 The excited troops started off on a trot, and as the measured 
 foot-falls beat the frozen ground, they sent up a shout which 
 they kept up in a sort of measured cadence to their tread. 
 They thus unfortunately announced their coming, so that the 
 enemy was prepared to receive them. 
 
 FIGHT AT BLUE S GAP. 
 
 The gap in which they had taken position was formed by 
 two high hills, which, as they approached the road, became 
 two precipices, leaving a gorge not more than twenty or 
 thirty feet wide, through which wound a narrow road skirted 
 by a stream. Here the enemy had planted two cannon, 
 while the hill on the north side was protected by a rifle pit. 
 The one oil the south side was left undefended, it being con 
 sidered too precipitous for any troops to- scale. Just before 
 reaching the gap, a bridge crossed the stream, which the 
 enemy undertook to tear up ; but before they could accom 
 plish it, the advance guard was upon them, and replacing 
 the up torn planks, dashed across. Colonel Dunning then 
 drew up his force, and ordered the Ohio fifth to charge on 
 the rifle pits, the fourth to scale the steep south mountain, 
 and the seventh, when the action had fairly commenced, to 
 push straight along the road. The fifth mounted the hill in 
 
238 GARFJELD ADVANCES ON MARSHALL. 
 
 face of the intrenchments, and losing all order scrambled 
 over the rocks with yells. Receiving the rebel fire without 
 halting, they stormed over them in one wild hurrah. They 
 then dashed down the mountain, in rear of the cannon, and 
 bayoneting the gunners captured the pieces. In the mean 
 time, the fourth scaled the precipitous sides of the south 
 hill like wild cats, and falling on the fugitives captured thirty- 
 five prisoners. Before the center column could get into ac 
 tion, the fight was over, and the enemy scattered in every 
 direction. The rebel force was nearly two thousand strong, 
 of which about forty were killed and as many more taken 
 prisoners. Gathering up their spoils, consisting of a large 
 number of cattle, wagon loads of ammunition, and stores, 
 the victorious little army took up its line of march for camp, 
 where it arrived at four o clock, having accomplished thirty- 
 two miles in seventeen hours. 
 
 West, our forces seemed equally determined to crown the 
 opening year with victories. On the same day that Colonel 
 Dunning drove the enemy from Blue s Gap, Colonel Gar- 
 field broke up his camp at Muddy Creek, Kentucky, and 
 moved towards Paintsville, the county town of Johnston 
 county, to attack Humphrey Marshall, who occupied that 
 region with a force estimated at five thousand. The latter 
 being advised of his approach, retreated to some bights on 
 Middle Creek, about two miles from Prestonburg, leaving 
 three hundred cavalry at the mouth of Jennie Creek, near 
 Paintsville, as a corps of observation. Scattering this force, 
 Garfield pushed on for Prestonburg, fifteen miles distant, 
 with a thousand and one hundred men. He had only three 
 days rations of hard bread for his whole force, yet with this 
 meager supply, he boldly set out on his difficult march. 
 Arriving within one mile of the place at eight o clock at 
 night, he learned that the enemy were encamped three miles 
 distant up the creek. Sendino- back to Paintsvillo to have 
 
THE ATTACK. 239 
 
 all the available forces immediately pushed forward, he en 
 camped on the crest of a wooded hill in a pelting rain storm, 
 the men sleeping on their arms. 
 
 BATTLE OF MIDDLE CREEK. 
 
 The next morning at four o clock, the troops were sum 
 moned to arms, and snatching # hasty breakfast of hard 
 bread, pushed on a mile up the creek, then crossed over to 
 Middle Creek, which empties into the Big Sandy, opposite 
 Prestonburg. Garfield thought the enemy were encamped on 
 Abbot s Creek, and moved up towards Middle Creek slowly, 
 throwing out skirmishers as he advanced. Proceeding thus 
 a couple of miles, he came to the mouth of Middle Creek, a 
 thousand yards up which he now ascertained the enemy to 
 be in position. The morning had dawned gloomy and chill, 
 but the troops were in the highest spirits, arid eager to be 
 led against the enemy. 
 
 Not knowing the exact position of the rebel force, Garfield 
 sent forward a body of skirmishers to draw their fire, and 
 thus ascertain it. Failing to do this, he at noon ordered his 
 escort of cavalry, only twenty in number, to charge. Away 
 they dashed, with pealing bugle, and the rebels thinking the 
 whole force was upon them, opened with shot and shell. 
 This disclosed in part their position. One regiment was posted 
 behind the ridge, a point of which he himself occupied, and 
 on the left of the road commanding it. Another was behind 
 a ridge on the right of the road, while the artillery was posted 
 between. It was their intention to draw Garfield along the 
 road between these enfilading fires and destroy him. But in 
 their haste they had revealed the trap, and Garfield at once 
 formed his plan of attack. He sent two Kentucky companies 
 along the crest of the ridge on the point of which he was 
 encamped while one Ohio company was ordered to cross the 
 
240 THE VICTORY. 
 
 creek, which was waist deep, and occupy a spur of a high, 
 rocky ridge to the front and left of his position. In a few 
 minutes the enemy opened with two cannon, and soon the 
 sharp firing of musketry showed that the detachment to the 
 left was hotly engaged. The rebels, however, were found to 
 be in overwhelming force, and Garfield hurried forward 
 reinforcements. As these came shouting up the hill the 
 contest became fiercer. The rebels at length succeeded in 
 occupying the main ridge, at a point nearly opposite to Gar- 
 field s position, and opened a heavy fire on his reserves. To 
 prevent being outflanked, the latter ordered Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Monroe to cross the creek a short distance below, 
 and drive back the enemy, which he did in gallant style. 
 In the meantime, Colonel Cramer and Major Pardee, though 
 outnumbered three to one, pushed the enemy inch by inch 
 up the steep ridge nearest to the creek. Never did troops 
 behave more gallantly ; still Garfield became exceedingly 
 anxious as he saw against what overwhelming numbers they 
 were slowly making their desperate way. A thousand fresh 
 troops, and he felt the day would be his own ; still they did 
 not come; and hour after hour he had to maintain the une 
 qual conflict. The day was drawing to a -close, and still the 
 enemy held those rugged heights. But just as the sun was 
 disappearing behind them, loud cheers in the rear announced 
 the arrival of reinforcements. Lieutenant-Colonel Sheldon, 
 with the forty-second Ohio, had marched fifteen miles with 
 out breakfast, toiling at the top of their speed through the 
 deep mud, and for the last two miles on a run, and now be 
 spattered, hungry, and exhausted, demanded with loud clamor 
 to be led against the enemy. As Garfield saw "the bayonets 
 of the brave fellows dancing along the stream, he gave a 
 shout of joy, and flinging his coat into the air as he stripped 
 himself for the last struggle, immediately ordered forward 
 the whole of his reserve under Lieutenant-Colonel Brown. 
 
FIGHT AT SILVER CREEK. 241 
 
 He knew the decisive hour had come, and hurling his entire 
 line of battle forward, pushed the enemy back up the slope 
 and over the crest of the ridges, and finally forced him to 
 retreat in confusion. Night had now come on, and fearing 
 that his troops would get confused among the hills and fire 
 on each other, he ordered a halt, designing to finish the work 
 in the morning. The firing had scarcely ceased, when a 
 bright light streamed up from the valley below, where the 
 enemy had disappeared, showing that he was burning his 
 stores, preparatory to an ignominious flight. 
 
 The next day the victorious army entered Prestonburg and 
 found it nearly deserted. Seventy-five of the enemy s dead 
 were picked up on the field, showing that his loss must have 
 been severe, while our own was less than thirty. 
 
 Unable to obtain provisions here, Garfield moved back his 
 brave, half-starved and foot-sore army to Paintsville. 
 
 While he was inflicting this severe punishment on the 
 rebels in Kentucky, Pope in Missouri wag dealing them 
 another of his unexpected blows. On the .eighth, he sent 
 out Major Torrence from Booneville, who came upon the 
 enemy encamped near Silver Creek. The latter were in a 
 strong position, protected by ravines, underbrush and woods. 
 The cavalry could not charge through the obstructions, and 
 so the men dismounted, and with saber and revolver, and 
 guidons flying in the breeze, dashed forward with shouts on 
 the camp, followed by the infantry. A short, fierce struggle 
 followed, and the field was won. Darkness coming on, and 
 a heavy fog settling over the broken and wooded country, 
 no pursuit was attempted; and after setting fire to the 
 wagons, tents, and camp equipage, Torrence took up his 
 backward march. His loss in killed and wounded was 
 twenty-five, while that of the enemy was at least three times 
 as great. 
 
 Two days after, Porter, commander of a part of the gun 
 
242 THE WEST MOVING. 
 
 boat fleet on the Mississippi, hearing that the enemy vras 
 moving up from Columbus, sailed down to meet him, and a 
 contest followed which resulted in the enemy being driven 
 back under the guns of their fort. 
 
 Thus every thing at the west in the opening of the year 
 betokened stirring times, and the eyes of the nation were 
 turned thither in anxious solicitude. The main movements 
 there had been conducted so secretly, and such a strict 
 espionage was kept upon newspaper correspondents, that 
 the public were almost completely in the dark respecting 
 what was going on. It had come to think that a suspension 
 of hostilities till the opening of spring had been resolved 
 upon there as well as in front of Washington. But now 
 there seemed to be a sudden wakiilg up, and before the 
 month closed, the first of a succession of heavy blows was 
 struck which in the end nearly cleared the valley of the 
 Mississippi. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 JANUARY, 18G2. 
 
 POSITION OF AFFAIRS IN KENTUCKY GENERAL THOMAS MOVES AGAINST ZOL- 
 
 LICOFFER S CAMP ON THE CUMBERLAND BATTLE OF MILL SPRINGS BAY 
 ONET CHARGE BY MC COOK THE VICTORY IMPORTANCE OF IT THE " CAI 
 RO EXPEDITION" MOVEMENTS EAST DISASTER TO BURNSIDE S EXPEDITION 
 
 OPERATIONS ON THE SAVANNAH FORT PULASKI CUT OFF RESIGNATION 
 
 OF CAMERON LAUNCH OF THE MONITOR. 
 
 AS before stated, the rebel line of defense in Kentucky 
 extended from Columbus on the Mississippi, to the Alle- 
 ghany Mountains. About midway was Bowling Green, where 
 Johnston commanded in person. East, towards the mountains 
 was Zollicoffer with a large force, where early in the winter 
 he had taken up an intrenched position on the Cumbeiland 
 river near Mill Spring. Against this line of defense, Grant 
 and the gun boats under Foote, were preparing to move on 
 the west. Buell was advancing on Bowling Green in the 
 center, and Thomas on the east, near the mountains. The 
 latter with his advance regiments reached Logan s cross roads 
 within ten miles of Zollicoffer s intrenched camp, on the seven 
 teenth instant. The rest of his command was struggling for 
 ward over almost impassable roads, and he halted here to 
 await their arrival. 
 
 About the first of the month, General Crittcnden, son of the 
 old patriot from Kentucky, arrived at the rebel camp and took 
 command. The position was a strong one, and might possi* 
 bly have been held against the force that General Thomas 
 was moving upon it. Bat Crittcnden ascertaining through 
 his scouts the scattered condition of our army, determined to 
 attack and destroy the portion in advance before the rest 
 
 could come up. 
 15 
 
244 A SUNDAY BATTLE. 
 
 BATTLE OF MILL SPRING. 
 
 Carrying out this plan, he early on Sunday the nineteenth, 
 left camp with eight thousand men, expecting to take Thomas 
 by surprise. The tenth Indiana, Colonel Manson, was in ad 
 vance, and about six o clock in the morning a courier dashed 
 up to his head-quarters, announcing that the enemy in im 
 mense force was close upon him. The long roll was imme 
 diately beat, and the regiment sprang to arms, the next 
 moment the heavy firing of the pickets in front confirmed the 
 news. Manson immediately ordered forward a company to 
 support the pickets, and then with the remainder of the regi 
 ment moved steadily down the road in the direction of the 
 firing until he came within seventy -five yards of the enemy, 
 when he formed his line of battle. The latter came on three 
 regiments strong, and poured a deadly fire into the Indianians. 
 They, however, stubbornly held their ground for an hour 
 against this overwhelming force, when the right wing too 
 heavily pressed, began to fall back. At this critical moment, 
 the fourth Kentucky, under Colonel Fry, came up and took 
 position on the left and poured in a fearful volley. Manson 
 then rallied his right wing. At this moment, General Thom 
 as rode on to the field and saw that the enemy w as advancing 
 through a corn-field to gain the left of the fourth Kentucky, 
 which was holding its ground with the most determined 
 bravery. Unappalled by the tremendous force that was con 
 stantly accumulating on their front and flank, they stood 
 with thinned ranks, apparently determined to die in their 
 places rather than yield one foot of the ground they held. 
 But their ammunition and that of the brave Indianians was 
 becoming rapidly exhausted, and it was apparent they could 
 maintain their position but a little longer. Thomas, seeing 
 their danger, ordered up McCook with the ninth Ohio, and 
 second Minnesota. This gallant officer moved rapidly for- 
 
A BAYONET CHARGE. 245 
 
 ward, and took position on the right and left of the Mill Spring 
 road. Learning 1 that the enemy were in position on the top 
 of a hill beyond a piece of woods in his front, he gave the 
 order t:> advance. Moving in line of battle through the 
 woods, he came upon the fourth Kentucky slowly retiring, 
 while the Indianians were scattered among the trees waiting 
 for ammunition. He immediately ordered the second Min 
 nesota to move by the flank, till it shook itself clear of these 
 exhausted regiments. It did so till it occupied the ground 
 they had just left, their right flank advanced to within a 
 few feet of the enemy. The ninth Ohio then rapidly closed 
 up to prevent its being outflanked, and a close and murder 
 ous conflict ensued in a part of the line the muzzles of the 
 combatants. almost touching. The rebels unable to stand the 
 hot fire of the Minnesotans retired behind some piles of rails, 
 where they were enabled to hold their ground, and main 
 tained a desperate resistance for half an hour. Close in front 
 of the ninth Ohio, were a log house, stable and corn crib 
 which sheltered the enemy. These McCook charged and 
 took. Still, covered by the woods, the enemy stubbornly 
 maintained his ground. McCook soon seeing that though 
 their artillery fortunately overshot his line, their superior num 
 bers and this mode of fighting, would in the end tell against 
 him, ordered the ninth Ohio to charge bayonets. Discharging 
 their pieces, the gallant fellows quickly fixed bayonets, and 
 with a shout that rung over the tumult of battle, sprang 
 forward. The enemy saw them advancing, but stood firm to 
 meet the shock. On came the line of leveled steel rigid as 
 the unbending brow of wrath. They that bore it onward 
 saw the unfaltering ranks waiting to receive them, with de 
 light, and with shouts louder than the crash of the volley 
 that smote them, charged like fire through the smoke. Their 
 firm, close formation, fearless bearing, and determined look 
 were too much for the rebels, and their line began to undu- 
 
246 THE ENEMY ROUTED. 
 
 late, tlien sway backwards, and just before the shock came, 
 broke in utter rout. One bullet pierced the horse of Me- 
 Cook, another his coat, and a third his leg; still he limped 
 forward on foot at the head of his column. The shout that 
 went up from that hill top was heard in every part of the 
 field, and all knew that the victory was won. Zollicoffer 
 fell mortally wounded, killed it was said by Colonel Fry, who 
 was himself wounded. 
 
 Thomas immediately re-formed his regiments and advanced 
 after the flying enemy, till he at length came in sight of their 
 intrenchincnts, on which he opened a cannonade and kept 
 it up until dark. Had he moved on their works at once he 
 would have captured nearly the whole army. But ignorant 
 of their character, and unwilling to risk every thing on an 
 uncertainty, he determined to wait till morning before he 
 made the attack. 
 
 Taking advantage of this delay and of the darkness, the 
 enemy fled across the river in utter confusion, burning the 
 ferry boats behind them. The r.cxt morning, the army 
 marched into the deserted works, where they found twelve 
 pieces of artillery which the rebels had abandoned in their 
 flight, a hundred and fifty -six wagons, a thousand horses and 
 mules, beside a large quantity of muskets, ammunition, com 
 missary stores, and camp equipage. 
 
 Thomas having no means of crossing the river, it was im 
 possible to pursue the enemy, who, it was afterwards ascer 
 tained, fled in a disorganized mass through the country, leav 
 ing their wounded scattered all along their route. 
 
 Our loss in killed and wounded was a hundred and eighty - 
 six ; that of the enemy including prisoners, so for as known 
 certainly,, was three hundred and forty-nine. 
 
 It was a brilliant victory in itself, while its bearing on fu 
 ture operations was of the greatest importance. The enemy s 
 \jne of defense in Kentucky was broken in one point, which 
 
THE CAIRO EXPEDITION. 247 
 
 rendered a flank movement possible, even though it resisted 
 in the center and on the Mississippi. 
 
 The return of the u Cairo expedition," as it was called, 
 closed military operations in the west for the month of Jan 
 uary, With about five thousand men, infantry and cavalry 
 together, General McClernand set out from Cairo on the 
 tenth, scouring the country south of the Ohio in the direc 
 tion of Columbus. Tedious and difficult marches were 
 made, but no battles fought, and the force returned in the 
 latter part of the month, with nothing to show as the result 
 of this expedition in midwinter over almost impassable 
 roads. The public wondered what it had been undertaken 
 for, and to this day its object remains a mystery. McCler- 
 nand s official report failed to clear it up. He said they had 
 * * discovered several important roads not laid down on the 
 maps," "had exploded many false reports studiously and sedu 
 lously circulated to our detriment," " forcibly and deeply 
 impressed the inhabitants of the district through which it 
 passed, with the superiority of our military operations, and 
 of our ultimate ability to conquer the rebellion," and u in 
 spired hope among many loyal citizens" whom, he adds, 
 "our unexpected withdrawal will probably leave victims of 
 rebel persecution and proscription." For a inarch of one 
 hundred and forty miles by the cavalry, and seventy-five by 
 the infantry, over intolerable roads and in the most inclem 
 ent, trying part of the year, this catalogue of valuable 
 results achieved docs not impress one as very remarkable. 
 
 East, the month closed in sad disappointment, for disheart 
 ening news was received from the famous Burnside expedi 
 tion, as it was termed. It had been a long time in prepara 
 tion, and by its formidable character awakened in the public 
 extravagant expectations. The naval force consisted of 
 twenty- three gun boats all but three, steamers under the 
 command of Goldsborough. These were accompanied bj 
 
 O*" 0? THT5 
 
248 WRECK OF BURNSIDE S FLEET. 
 
 some twenty thousand troops under Burnside, an energetic 
 and popular leader. The country was kept in profound ig- 
 norance of its destination, but nil believed, when it sailed on 
 the eleventh from Hampton roads, that a great and/ decisive 
 blow would be struck somewhere on the southern coast, and 
 waited with the deepest anxiety to hear from it. 
 
 At last the mystery that had enveloped it was cleared up, 
 and the news that the fleet had been scattered and wrecked, 
 burst like a clap of thunder on the land. It was expected 
 that the south would be kept in complete ignorance of its 
 destination, till the thunder of cannon against some of its 
 strongholds should reveal it; but alas, a part of it lay dis 
 mantled and wrapt in a fierce storm in Pamlico sound, and 
 a part pounding on the bar in Hatteras inlet, vainly endeav 
 oring to get over exposing at the same time its destination 
 and its powerlessness to effect any immediate injury. r l he 
 largest vessels had been contracted to draw only a certain 
 depth of water which was known to exist on the swash, but 
 now they were found to draw more, and hence were totally 
 useless to the expedition. Burnside had reason to expect 
 the storm, for this part of our coast, at all times dangerous to 
 navigation, is especially so in midwinter, but not this decep 
 tion respecting the draft of vessels. His great heart was 
 overwhelmed at the magnitude of the disaster that had over 
 taken him, yet it did not yield to despair. A religious man, 
 and believing in the righteousness of his cause, he felt confi 
 dent that the Supreme Governor of the Universe would over 
 rule it for good. 
 
 The propellor "City of New York" foundered on the bar, 
 and for forty-eight hours lay at the mercy of the sea the 
 waves making a clean breach over her. She was laden with 
 ammunition, tents, blankets, and valuable stores, and her loss 
 would be a terrible blow to the expedition. Dut though 
 thirty vessels lay in sight they were unable to afford any 
 
A SAD PROSPECT. 249 
 
 relief, and all Tuesday and Tuesday night she wallowed amid 
 the breakers, a helpless wreck. All her boats but one had 
 been carried away or crushed, and her despairing crew 
 lashed themselves to the rigging to prevent being swept 
 away by the seas that incessantly rolled over her. Their 
 destruction seemed inevitable, when two mechanics from 
 Newark, William and Charles Beach, volunteered the des 
 perate undertaking of launching the last remaining boat and 
 pulling through the surf to the fleet. They succeeded with 
 the aid of three others, and obtaining surf boats, saved the 
 entire crew. The vessel, however, was a total loss. 
 
 The steam gun boat Zouave sunk at her anchorage, and a 
 transport laden with stores went down on the bar. The 
 Ann E. Thompson, with the New Jersey ninth volunteers lay 
 outside, and Colonel Allen and Surgeon F. L. Weller took 
 a boat and pulled over the bar through the inlet, to report 
 their condition. Having accomplished their perilous under 
 taking successfully, they attempted to return, when the boat 
 swamped in the heavy seas, and they both perished. Other 
 vessels got aground one transport was blown to sea, and 
 for five days was without water, the Pocahontas, loaded 
 with a hundred and twenty-three horses, was wrecked, and 
 and all but seventeen perished. 
 
 The situation in which Burnside now found himself was 
 enough to fill a less resolute heart than his with despair. 
 The magnificent fleet that a few days before had crowded 
 after his flag as he moved over the ocean, was scattered and 
 wrecked his ammunition and stores at the bottom* of the 
 sea, while his best vessels lay tossing outside, unable to cross 
 the bar. 
 
 To lighten these so that they could be got over, was the* 
 first object to be secured, and after incredible labor, was ac 
 complished. But even then he could do nothing, for the 
 weather was terrible even for this inhospitable coast, and 
 
250 FORT PULASKI CUT OFF. 
 
 storm after storm swept him with a fury that threatened to 
 mako a complete end of the destruction that had been begun. 
 The immense pains that had been taken to keep the precise 
 point against which his expedition was to operate, had all 
 been in vain. Tho elements had revealed it to the enemy, 
 and ample time was now given him to prepare for his de 
 fense. Surprise was out of the question, and if any thing 
 was to be accomplished it must be by hard fighting. At all 
 events, this imposing land and naval force must lie idle the 
 remainder of the month. 
 
 While Burnside was attempting to repair his disasters, in 
 Pamlico sound, events were occurring on the Georgia coast 
 which promised in a short time to place fort Pulaski in our 
 possession, if not Savannah itself. Reconnoissances had been 
 pushed by Sherman, at Port Royal, up the various inlets and 
 channels that run from the Savannah river through the vast 
 marshes that border it to the sea, to ascertain if there was 
 any way of getting to Savannah, without passing the guns 
 of fort Pulaski. After immense labor and hardship, Lieu 
 tenant Wilson, chief of Topographical engineers, succeeded 
 in reaching the Savannah through Mud and Wright rivers, 
 as they were called, and reported them navigable for gun 
 boats of light draught. In the mean time, another passage, 
 on the right side of the Savannah, leading to it from Wil 
 mington sound, had been discovered. Sherman immediately 
 determined to avail himself of both of these, and succeeded 
 finally in cutting off Pulaski from Savannah. Batteries were 
 erected on mud banks scarcely above the water level, and 
 guns mounted where the rebels deemed such a thing impos 
 sible ; and eventually an island in the river itself was occcu- 
 pied, which shut up Tatnall s fleet, and filled the people of Sa 
 vannah with consternation. 
 
 In the prosecution of these enterprises the soldiers were 
 Subjected to trials more severe than those encountered on 
 
LAUNCH OF THE MONITOR. 251 
 
 the battle field, and exhibited an endurance and energy that 
 entitles them to the highest praise. 
 
 But perhaps no event of this month wrought so great a 
 change in the manner of prosecuting the war, as the rcsig- 
 nation of Cameron. The President who had clung to him 
 with -a strange tenacity, was at length compelled to yield to 
 the pressure of public opinion, and in a gentle and diplo 
 matic manner informed him that he would dispense with his 
 services. Mr. Stan ton of Pennsylvania, a democrat, was ap 
 pointed in his place, and the sudden energy he infused into 
 his department, inspired both army and people with conli- 
 dencc. It was believed that the day of contractors was 
 over, and that the war would begin in earnest. 
 
 The fall of the former Secretary of War was broken by 
 his nomination soon after, as minister to the Russian court. 
 In doing this, the President followed a custom universally 
 practiced by European monarchs, but one which was consid 
 ered of a very doubtful propriety by the American people. 
 
 But the most important event that marked the close of the 
 month, on the Atlantic coast, was the launch of the Erics 
 son floating battery, on the thirtieth day of January, at 
 Green Point, Being constructed on an entirely new mode, 
 and asserted by her inventor to be absolutely shot proof, she 
 excited a good deal of curiosity. With her deck but just 
 above water, and surmounted by a single iron revolving tur 
 ret, pierced for only two heavy guns, she presented a novel ap 
 pearance. She was a naval curiosity, and looked upon as an 
 experiment on a small scale, which might work some changes 
 in naval architecture, nothing more. Those who saw her slip 
 olf into the water, little dreamed that in a few days she \vas 
 to save us from disasters that the imagination trembles even 
 yet to contemplate startle the maritime nations from their 
 composure, and work a sudden revolution in naval warfare 
 the like of which the world has never witnessed. 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 FEBRUARY, 18G2. 
 
 THE OPENING OF FEBRUARY KENTUCKY THE ENEMY*S LINE OF DEFENSE 
 
 TO BE BROKEN ON THE TENNESSEE AND CUMBERLAND FOKTS HENRY AND 
 
 DONKLSON EXPEDITION AGAINST THE FORMER CAPTURE OF IT BY FOOTS 
 
 WITH HIS GUN BOATS DESCRIPTION OF EXPEDITION UP THE TENNESSEE! 
 
 UNDER LIEUTENANT PHELPS GRANT ADVANCES ACROSS THE COUNTRY AND 
 
 INVESTS FORT DONELSON ATTACK BY FOOTE WITH HIS GUN BOATS. 
 
 THOUGH the month of January had shown considerable 
 activity in the field in various sections of the country, it 
 was the* mere skirmishing of outposts compared to the tre 
 mendous movements that inaugurated the month of February. 
 Nearly a year had passed since the war had commenced, and 
 though the Federal forces had gained some valuable points, 
 yet no deadly blow had been struck at the rebellion. 
 
 The government was well aware that whatever advantages 
 were secured elsewhere, they would avail but little long 
 as the valley of the Mississippi remained in the hands of the 
 enemy. Bowling Green and Columbus were places of immense 
 strength, and it had long contemplated the plan of breaking 
 the rebel line of defenses by the way of the Tennessee and 
 Cumberland rivers, instead of at these points. These streams 
 flow north into the Ohio, and while in the state of Kentucky, 
 run nearly parallel and not far apart. In the winter time, 
 they are sa swollen that they admit for a long distance the 
 passage of first class steamboats. Where they cross the 
 Tennessee line they are about twelve miles apart, and here 
 the enemy had erected two strong fortifications fort Doncl- 
 son on the Cumberland and fort Henry on the Tennessee. 
 Could these points be forced, both Bowling Green andOolum- 
 
FORT HENRY. 253 
 
 bus would be effectually turned, and their evacuation become 
 a necessity. 
 
 After much deliberation it was resolved to attack fort 
 Henry first. To make success certain, Halleck determined 
 to move against it simultaneously by land and water. Foote, 
 with* seven gun boats, was directed to engage the batteries in 
 fro:it, wliile Grant, with a largo land force from Cairo, should 
 land below and take it in flank and rear. 
 
 EXPEDITION AGAINST FORT HENRY. 
 
 The expedition started on the fifth of February, and pro 
 ceeding up the river, landed the infantry four miles below 
 the fort. A reconnoissance was then made by Footc, by 
 which ho ascertained the position of the batteries, and suc 
 ceeded in discovering and removing several torpedoes which 
 had been sunk in the river for the purpose of blowing up the 
 vessels. 
 
 As night came on, the fleet cast anchor abreast of Grant s 
 camp, to wait till the next morning, when the combined 
 attack was to be made. The numberless camp fires that 
 lighted up the shores, and were reflected in the swiftly flow 
 ing stream, and those seven dark monsters sleeping ominously 
 on tho water, combined to form a scene of thrilling interest 
 The night was dark, for heavy clouds wrapped the heavens, 
 and the wind swept by in fitful gusts, making weird harmony 
 with the monotonous roar of the turbulent waters. Soon the 
 gathering storm burst upon the camp in all its fury, making 
 the long night seem still longer. 
 
 At length the welcome day broke, and all was preparation 
 for the first great struggle on the western waters. Foote, 
 aftor admonishing Grant that he must hurry or he would not 
 arrive in timo to take part in the engagement, about ten 
 o clock steamed up toward the fort. It stood on a bend 
 
254 THE ATTACK. 
 
 of tlio river, and commanded it for a long way down. An 
 island lay about a mile below it, behind which Foote kept 
 his boats, so as to escape the long range of the rifled guns of 
 the enemy. His orders were for the iron-clad beats to move 
 slowly and abreast, straight on the batteries, while the wooden 
 ones should follow at some distance in the rear. In this way 
 he kept on under cover of the island, and at length emerged 
 at its head in full view of the fort. Here the wooden ves 
 sels halted, while the Cincinnati, St. Louis, Carondelet, and 
 Essex slowly steamed on. 
 
 CAPTURE OF FORT HENRY. 
 
 The next moment the enemy s batteries opened, and the 
 heavy shot and shell came raining on the little squadron. 
 From the bows of those vessels there burst simultaneously, 
 white puffs of smoke, and the battle commenced. The gar 
 rison had obtained perfect range, r.nd their heavy shells 
 smote with terrible precision the advancing boats. Foote 
 had given orders to fire slow and deliberately, and his shells 
 burst with fearful effect amid the enemy s guns. The rebel 
 infantry outside of the works became terror-stricken, as the 
 ponderous missiles screamed and exploded around them, 
 and fled precipitately. The little garrison, however, under 
 the command of General Tillghman, stood bravely to their 
 guns. Their heavy rifled piece soon burst, but they did not 
 slacken fire. Sand bags and earth flew around them, and 
 the bursting shells filled the air with fragments; yet they 
 never flinched. The flag-ship Cincinnati and the Essex, 
 seemed to occupy their chief attention, and the two boats 
 received a terrible pounding, yet they never swerved. Mov 
 ing on in flame, they crept nearer and nearer to the bat 
 teries, sending their shot with such precision that gun after 
 of the enemy was dismounted. The heavy explosions 
 
A TERRIBLE SHOT. 255 
 
 shook the shore, sending terror to the inhabitants far inland. 
 The battle had raged nearly an hour, when a twenty-four 
 pound shot entered a port-hole of the Essex, through Avkich 
 Porter was watching the effect of his shot. The fearful mes 
 senger of destruction struck young Brittain, r,n aid who 
 stood at his side at the time, leaving his head a mangled 
 mass ; and flying on its terrible way, crashed through the 
 thick oak planking that surrounded the machinery, and 
 plunged into the middle boiler. The steam, rushed out with 
 a frightful sound and enveloped the crew. Immediately all 
 was confusion the sailors ran hither and thither in their 
 agony to find a breath of fresh air, and some threw them 
 selves out of the port-holes into the river. The two pilots 
 struggled de.-perately to get out of the pilot-house, and in 
 their agony stretched their arms through the look-outs, to 
 feel the fresh air ibr which they were gasping, and sunk suf 
 focated at the*.f posts. Twenty-nine officers and men, in 
 cluding Captain Porter, who was badly scalded, were hilled 
 or disabled by the effect of this single shot. The boat, of 
 course, was compelled to drop out of the fight. Yv hen the 
 rebels saw it they sent up a cheer, and sprang to their guns 
 with renewed vigor. 
 
 But Foote, with his three remaining vessels, never paused 
 in his terrible advance, but with bows on, moved steadily 
 forward till he got within six or seven hundred yards of the 
 fort. At length, most of his guns being dismounted, Tiilgh- 
 man lowered his flag, and the day was won. The battle had 
 lasted an hour and twenty minutes. 
 
 All this time Grant was toiling forward with his army. 
 But the rain had made the roads so muddy that his progress 
 was slow, and he was still a long way off when the heavy 
 cannonading broke along the shore. As the sullen echoes 
 died away, the troops sent up a loud shout, and breaking 
 into the double quick, pressed forward. For more than an 
 
25G EXPEDITION UP THE TENNESSEE. 
 
 hour they struggled on through mire and swamps, when sud 
 denly t:ie firing ceased. What could it mean ? was the anx 
 ious inquiry of every one. Had Foote been beaten back? 
 Soon, however, one of the scouts who had been sent -out 
 in advance, came galloping up bespattered with mud, arid 
 announced that the fort had surrendered. 
 
 Tiie ne .vs spread like wildfire through the army, and then 
 such a shout went up as never before shook the shores 
 of the Tennessee. In half an hour afterward Grant arrived 
 at the fort, when the command was turned over to him. 
 
 Footc, in his official report, put his loss in killed and 
 wounded, and missing, at forty-eight. His own ship, the 
 Cincinnati, was struck thirty-one times, the Essex fifteen, the 
 St. Louis seven, and the Carondelet six. On the t\vo latter, 
 however, were no casualties. The garrison that surrendered 
 consisted of sixty or seventy men, with sixty invalids. The 
 fort was mounted with twenty guns, most of them of heavy 
 caliber, which with barracks and tents sufficient to hold fif 
 teen thousand men, fell into our possession. 
 
 x 
 
 EXPEDITION UP THE TENNESSEE RIVER. 
 
 Foote immediately sent three gun boats up the river 
 andcr the command of Lieutenant Phelps, to destroy the 
 rail road bridge leading to Columbus, and capture two boats 
 that had flecl on the surrender of the fort. Finding they 
 could not escape, the rebels set these on fire and abandoned 
 them, when they soon after blew up with a terrific explosion. 
 Proceeding up the river, Phelps destroyed the bridge and 
 captured a gun boat which was in progress of completion. 
 Continuing on into the state of Mississippi, he captured two 
 more steamers, one freighted with iron for rebel use. He 
 went as far as Florence, Alabama, where were three steam 
 ers which the enemy succeeded in burning. All along his 
 
LOVE OF THE OLD FLAG. 257 
 
 route lie witnessed demonstrations of loyalty. Old men and 
 women flocked 10 the shore to greet the old flag many 
 even shedding tears as they once more sa\y the stars ancj 
 stripes waving before them. 
 
 The news of the capture of fort Henry was received all 
 over the north with demonstrations of delight. Foote was 
 hailed as a hero, and our brave tars took, if possible, a still 
 higher place in the affections of the people. 
 
 All eyes were now turned towards fort Donelson, which 
 lay nearly opposite on the Cumberland, some twelve miles 
 distant. This was a stronger and more important position, 
 and was garrisoned by fifteen thousand troops. It was the 
 key to Nashville, the capital of Tennessee and an important 
 depot of supplies to the rebel army, the possession of which 
 would render the evacuation of Bowling Green by Johnston 
 inevitable. Baell had for a long time been slowly advancing 
 against this stronghold, impeded at every step by the de 
 struction of bridges, and every device which a skillful enemy 
 could invent. 
 
 ADVANCE ON FORT DONELSON. 
 
 Six days- after the surrender of fort Henry, Grant started 
 across the country with fifteen thousand men, in two divis 
 ions under McClernand and Smith six regiments having 
 been sent off by water the day before. At noon he was 
 within two miles of the place, and drove in the enemy s 
 pickets. The gun boats, under Foote, not having arrived, 
 but little was done the next day except to complete the in-- 
 vestment of the place. In doing this, Generalise wis Wallace 
 was ordered to make an assault on the enemy s middle re- 
 doubt. Three Illinois regiments, under the command of 
 Colonel Hayne, as senior colonel, were selected for the des 
 perate undertaking. Forming in line of battle, they moved 
 
258 STORMING A UEDOUBT. 
 
 in fine order across the intervening ravines, and mounted 
 \vith the coolness of veterans the steep hight on which the 
 redoubt stood.. The enemy, screened behind their embank 
 ments, poured into the exposed ranks a terrible fire of mus 
 ketry still the brave Illinoisans steadily advanced. But at 
 this critical juncture it was found that the line was not long 
 enough to envelop the works, and the forty fifth was ordered 
 to their support. While these movements were being carried 
 out, the enemy threw forward strong reinforcements of men 
 and field artillery, which soon swept the advancing line with 
 murderous effect. But onward pressed those undaunted 
 regiments, leaving their dead and wounded strewing the 
 slope till they came to the foot of the works, where a fringe 
 of long poles and brushwood presented a tangled wall of 
 jagged points, through which no troops under Heaven could 
 force their way in the face of such a fire. Braver officers 
 never led men to death, but they found they had been sent 
 to accomplish an impossible work, and gave the reluctant 
 order to fall back. Colonel Morrison commanding the forty- 
 ninth Illinois, was wounded, and many brave , officers fell in 
 this attempt, which is certainly open to criticism. 
 
 The troops lay down in point blank rifle range of the ene 
 my, without tents or fire. At dark, a cold, heavy rain began 
 to fall, which soon turned into sleet and snow, accompanied 
 by fierce gusts of wintry wind. It was a night of great 
 hardship and suffering, yet it was borne without a murmur 
 by these indomitable men, who were about to give a world 
 wide reputation to their state. The sharp sound of picket 
 firing was heard during the pauses of the storm, while muf 
 fled murmurs rising through the thick air in front showed 
 that the enemy were receiving heavy reinforcements. 
 
 For twelve long hours the men lay in the cold, pelting 
 storm, cheerful, not because the day would bring repose and 
 comfort, but because it would usher in the deadly combat, 
 
DESCRIPTION OF THE FORT. 259 
 
 , when they would teach rebels how freemen could strike for 
 the land they loved. 
 
 The works before them were but imperfectly known to 
 the officers, though it was certain they were of the most for 
 midable character. On the river side were two batteries 
 the lower one mounting eight thirty-two-pounders and a ten 
 inch columbiad the upper, thirty feet above this, two thirty- 
 two-pound carronades and a thirty-two-pound rifled gun, 
 which completely commanded the river. The main fort was 
 in the rear and occupied a high ridge, cut on the south by a 
 deep gorge. In front of it run a line of rifle pits, protected 
 in turn by fallen trees and brush, cut and bent over breast 
 high, making an almost impassable obstruction. The cannon 
 mounted on the hights behind these, swept the whole coun 
 try for miles. Establishing a line parallel to the enemy s, 
 Grant gradually extended his wings to the right and left to 
 wards the river, so as to completely encircle them. 
 
 While the process of investment was thus going on, Foote 
 on the fourteenth advanced to the attack with his gun boats. 
 With his four iron-clads in front and two wooden ones 
 in the rear, he moved steadily up towards the batteries, 
 and as soon as he came within range, opened with his heavy 
 bow guns. But little fear was felt for the vessels, for the 
 Carondelet had gone up the day before on a reconnoissance, 
 and single handed engaged all the batteries, maintaining her 
 ground till she had fired over a hundred shots, and receiving 
 but little damage, except from one enormous shot which 
 happened to enter one of her forward ports, wounding eight 
 men. 
 
 The boats therefore moved without hesitation into the 
 fire, steering straight for the batteries. When they got 
 within close range the fire became terrific. The enemy s guns 
 were well served, and their heavy metal smote the advanc-i 
 
 ing boats with tremendous force. The water was plowed 
 16 
 
260 A SERIOUS ACCIDENT. 
 
 up in every direction, and the air filled with the scream\ 
 ing, bursting shells; yet the pilots, steady to their work, kept 
 the vessels bows on to the volcano in front, and the slowly 
 revolving wheels carried them nearer and nearer, while the 
 smoke rolled away from them in huge, white clouds. 
 
 They thus fought and advanced for an hour and a quarter, 
 the flag-ship alone having received fifty -nine shots. Under 
 the horrible fire that smote it, Foote saw that the pilot was 
 getting nervous, and advancing, laid his hand on his shoul 
 der and spoke encouragingly, when at that moment a shot 
 struck the poor fellow, leaving him a mangled corse. Foote 
 himself was wounded in the foot, but still limped around on 
 his deck, giving his orders coolly as though taking sound 
 ings. He had now got within four hundred yards of the 
 batteries, and their lire began to slacken under the heavy 
 rain of shells that momentarily exploded in their midst, and 
 the victory seemed about to be won, when a shot carried 
 away the wheel of the Louisville. There was a tiller aft 
 which the pilot instantly seized, but he had hardly fetched 
 the bow back to its place as it was swinging off before the 
 swift current, when an accidental shot from her own consort, 
 the Tyler, smote it, knocking it into fragments. The help 
 less boat then swung backward, and began to drift out of 
 the fire. The wheel of the flag-ship St. Louis was also shot 
 away, and she became unmanageable, while the other two 
 boats were seriously disabled, and soon floated down the 
 current with the rest. 
 
 Fifty-four on our side had been killed and wounded in 
 this desperate fight, while no perceptible damage had been 
 inflicted on the enemy. The water battery, it is true, had 
 been pretty effectually silenced, but the guns on the bluff 
 above were too high to be reached from the decks of the 
 boats, and it was evident if the place was to be captured it 
 must be done by the land forces alone. 
 
A REBEL CONSULTATION. 261 
 
 The comparative ease with which the gun boats had dis 
 posed of fort Henry, had created the utmost confidence in 
 their power to demolish, at least, the river batteries of fort 
 Donelson also. But for the singular accidents that befel the 
 St. Louis and Louisville, rendering them totally unmanage 
 able in the swift current of the Cumberland, Foote believed 
 that in fifteen minutes more he would have accomplished 
 this. Be this as it may, the attack by water had failed, and 
 the disabled boats could not be put in condition for a second 
 attempt for many days. Grant then determined to com 
 plete the investment, and wait till they should be ready to 
 co-operate with him. With his superior numbers he could 
 do this, and in time starve out the garrison, and this was 
 what they feared. Floyd was in chief command of the fort, 
 and Pillow and Buckner next in rank. The former immedi 
 ately called a consultation of the officers to determine under 
 the circumstances what course it was best to take. After 
 full deliberation, it was resolved that only one was left open 
 to them offering any chance of success, and that was, to 
 break through our lines up the river, and so escape to the 
 open country towards Nashville. 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 FEBRUARY, 1862. 
 
 IX)RT DONELSON THE ENEMY ATTEMPT TO CUT THEIR WAY OUT PARTIAL 
 
 SUCCESS PREVENTED BY GEN. WALLACE GRANT ARRIVES ON THE FIELD 
 
 A GENERAL ASSAULT DETERMINED UPON SUCCESS OF WALLACE^ DIVI 
 SION ON THE RIGHT GALLANT EXPLOIT OF SMITH ON THE LEFT THE 
 
 NIGHT BRAVERY AND ENDURANCE OF THE TROOPS SURRENDER OF THE 
 
 FORT JOHNSON RECEIVING THE NEWS NEAR NASHVILLE IT REACHES 
 
 THE CITY AT CHURCH TIME TERROR OF THE INHABITANTS SCENE OF 
 
 PILLAGE FLIGHT OF THE REBELS SOUTHWARD CURTIS DRIVES PRICK 
 
 OUT OF MISSOURI. 
 
 IN pursuance of the plan adopted, Floyd concentrated his 
 main force upon his left on Friday night, and placed it 
 under the command of Pillow, with orders to attack McCler- 
 nand, who commanded our right wing, early in the morning. 
 Buckner in the mean time was to fall on Gen. Wallace, who 
 held the center, and open, if possible, the "Wynne road" 
 that led back into the country. Only a small force was left 
 to watch General Smith, who commanded our left wing, 
 which, resting on the river below the fort, completed our 
 semicircular line of investment. 
 
 CAPTURE OF FORT DONELSON. 
 
 Friday had been a cold, bleak day, and the ground was 
 covered with snow, but Saturday dawned damp and chill, 
 and the soldiers as they were roused from their wintry couch 
 moved stiff and shivering to their places in the ranks. But 
 in a few moments, snow and frost were alike forgotten as 
 the heavy roar of the enemy s guns broke over the wooded 
 fields. Seven or eight thousand strong, the enemy moved 
 out of their works at daylight, and in separate columns, sup- 
 
OUR LINES BROKEN. 2G3 
 
 ported by numerous artillery, advanced straight on McCler- 
 nand s encampment. His division consisted of three bri 
 gades, all Illinoisans with the exception of one Kentucky and 
 one Wisconsin regiment As they came on in splendid line 
 of beat tie, McClernand prepared to receive them. The Ken 
 tucky regiment, stationed near the river, attacked by over 
 whelming numbers, broke and fled, but the brave Illinoisans 
 met the shock with- undaunted bravery. The enemy fixing 
 themselves forward in such masses that our advance regi 
 ments had to contend against fearful odds. 
 
 It was a strange battle field, made up of hills, hollows, 
 and ravines, all covered with a dense forest, through which 
 the roar of battle swept like a tornado. On every com 
 manding eminence cannon were placed, which dropped their 
 shot and shell incessantly into the troops massed below. 
 But little concert of action could be had among the different 
 regiments, for the woods swallowed up the contending lines, 
 and one could tell only by the advancing or receding roar 
 of musketry, or the columns of smoke rising above the leaf 
 less tree tops, how the battle was going. Backward and 
 forward it surged through the forest, leaving it strewed with 
 the dead and wounded ; but at last the enemy by suddenly- 
 concentrating an overwhelming number on a single point, 
 broke through McClernand s lines, and threatened to sweep 
 the entire field. McAlister s battery of twenty-four pound 
 ers, that all the morning had made havoc with the rebel 
 ranks, had by ten o clock fired away the hundred and fifty 
 rounds of ammunition with which it had entered into action. 
 While he was trying to obtain some more from the rear, 
 a single shot from the enemy passed through three of his 
 horses a second tore the trail off one of his guns while a 
 third smashed the wheel of another. Only one gun was left 
 unharmed, and hitching six horses to this, he endeavored to 
 drag it off the field ; but after getting it a little way it be- 
 
264 WALLACE COMES TO THE RESCUE. 
 
 came mired, and was abandoned with the others to the ene 
 my. Many of the regiments were out of ammunition, and 
 though they fell back in good order, could do nothing to 
 stay the progress of the enemy, who came on with deafen 
 ing yells. The day was apparently lost, and an open roacl 
 left for the garrison to make good their escape. 
 
 At eight o clock in the morning, McClernand, seeing that 
 he was being overwhelmed by numbers, sent to Wallace, 
 who was holding the center, for reinforcements. The latter 
 immediately dispatched the request to headquarters, as his 
 orders had been to hold his position in the center. But 
 Grant could not be found, he having left the field entirely 
 and gone on board Foote s boat to consult about another 
 attack by the fleet. Wallace waited long and anxiously to 
 hear from him, when a second message came from McCler 
 nand, stating that the enemy had turne d his flank, and his 
 whole division was in danger of being annihilated. Unable 
 to resist this last appeal, he immediately ordered forward 
 Colonel Cruft (acting as brigadier,) to his support. 
 
 The whole line of investment extended several miles, over 
 broken ground, across ravines, and through dense forests. 
 It was necessary, therefore, to have a guide to conduct the 
 column by the proper roads. But the one Colonel Cruft 
 took, after* leading him a part of the way, absconded. The 
 Colonel, however, kept on, and soon found himself on the 
 right of McClernand, and between him and the advancing 
 enemy having pushed the head of his column directly into 
 an overpowering force of the rebels. A severe conflict fol 
 lowed, the gallant Illinoisans, for a long time holding at 
 bay the superior numbers that flushed with victory, pressed 
 upon them. 
 
 While they were thus maintaining an unequal fight, a por 
 tion of the brigade of McClernand to the right began to 
 retreat in confusion ; and some of the shattered regiments 
 
THE REBELS CHECKED. 265 
 
 came full on CrufVs line of battle, striking it obliquely, and 
 passing through it like a rolling rock. Colonel Shackleford 
 (in immediate command,) instantly closed up his column 
 again, but being left alone by the retreat of the brigade, he 
 was compelled to fall back, which he did in good order, and 
 took up a new position. The confident enemy came on him 
 with shouts and yells, but were driven back. A second time 
 moving fiercely to the charge, they were again repulsed, 
 when Shackleford charged in turn, driving them back some 
 distance. But seeing himself in danger of being outflanked, 
 and a regiment on his left giving way in confusion, he moved 
 the whole brigade in perfect order to the rear, and took up 
 a strong position. 
 
 No dispatches had yet reached Wallace, and he sat on his 
 horse, anxiously listening to the roar of battle steadily re 
 ceding away in the woods on his right, when suddenly a 
 crowd of fugitives rushed up the hill on which he stood, and 
 the next moment a mounted officer came on a tearing gallop 
 along the road, shouting u We are all cut to pieces." The 
 effect on the troops was electrical, and as Wallace saw the 
 sensation run along the lines he was afraid a panic would 
 seize the whole brigade, and immediately ordered it to move 
 forward to the right, riding in front himself to keep it steady. 
 In a few moments he met broken regiments retreating for 
 want of ammunition. Colonel Wallace, one of the ccmman- 
 ders, in reply to General Wallace, asking of the state of af 
 fairs on the field, replied as coolly as though he were moving 
 off parade, that the enemy were close behind and would at 
 tack him soon. The latter immediately ordered Colonel 
 Thayer, commanding the brigade, to form a new line of 
 battle across the road, and sent for Wood s Chicago light 
 artillery. Thayer s column moved off at double quick, to its 
 assigned positiota, while Wood s guns came bounding up on 
 a gnllop, and unlimbering, were posted so as to sweep the 
 road in front. 
 
266 STORMING THE WORKS. 
 
 The regiments that were retiring for ammunition, halted, 
 and the soldiers coolly filled their cartridges under the ene 
 my s lire. Scarcely was the formation completed, when the 
 enemy was seen coming swiftly up the road and through the 
 oak bushes and trees on cither side, making straight for the 
 battery, and the first Nebraska supporting it. But Wood s 
 battery, served with great rapidity, mowed them clown as 
 they advanced, while the fire of the Nebraska regiment was 
 most terrific and deadly. The rebels bore up firmly for a 
 while against it, but at length, unable to breast the fiery 
 sleet fell back in confusion. Wallace then dashed over the 
 broken country to ascertain the condition of his other bri 
 gade under Cruft. Finding it standing in perfect order he 
 immediately connected it with Taylor s by a line of skir 
 mishers, and waited for the enemy to advance. His punish 
 ment, however, had been too severe, and he fell back to the 
 ground he had won from McClernand in the morning. 
 
 About three o clock, Grant rode on to the field, and fired 
 at this attempt of the rebels to force his lines and their well 
 nigh success, determined at once to move with his entire army 
 on their works. McClernand was directed to storm them on 
 the right up the river, and Colonel Smith of the regular army 
 on the left below. McClernand asked Wallace to lead the 
 assault with his division. He consented, and immediately 
 formed his plan of attack. Selecting two brigades, Cruft s 
 and one composed of two regiments under Colonel Smith of 
 the eighth Missouri, and giving them the simple directions 
 to march up the hill in columns of regiments, and act as cir 
 cumstances should suggest, he set the columns in motion. 
 Knowing well it was a desperate mission on which these brave 
 troops were going, he showed his confidence in them by tell 
 ing them so. But this announcement, which was made to 
 the regiments as they moved past him, instead of discour 
 aging them, filled them with delight, they answered with 
 
THE VICTORY. 271 
 
 their terrible way, grim and silent as fate, till at length the 
 liights were reached. Then, with one loud and thunder 
 ing cheer one swift, tremendous volley into the closely 
 packed ranks below, they flung themselves forward with the 
 bayonet. The astonished enemy recoiled before the descend 
 ing avalanche, and turning, fled to the inner works. The 
 next moment the stars and stripes swung out in the wind 
 above the ramparts, and amid the hurrahs that greeted it, 
 floated forth the exultant strains of the "star spangled ban 
 ner." Guns and supports were immediately brought forward, 
 and the commanding position made secure against any force 
 the enemy could bring against it. From this point, the 
 whole of the rebel strong works could be enfiladed. 
 
 Thus ended the day, and the cold, long night came on in 
 which no cheerful camp fires lighted the gloom or warmed 
 the stiffened limbs of the weary soldiers. 
 
 In the morning, the grand assault all along the lines was 
 to be made, and as soon as the first gray streaks illuminated 
 the eastern horizon, the drum called Wallace s heroes to 
 their post. Though hungry and chill, they swiftly closed 
 their ranks on the blood-stained snow, while not a heart beat 
 faint. No sublimer spectacle was ever witnessed than those 
 gallant men presented on that Sabbath morning, as they took 
 their position for the final assault. Marching from fort Henry 
 without tents or rations, except such as they could carry in 
 their haversacks exposed for three days and nights without 
 shelter or fire, and two out of the three to driving snow or 
 piercing cold, all the time under fire, and compelled to bi 
 vouac on the field of battle with their arms in their hands, 
 they yet with undaunted, fearless hearts, closed up their 
 ranks in the early dawn, eager for the order " forward, 7 to 
 launch themselves on the frowning defenses before them. 
 
 Below, Smith was at the same hour training his guns on 
 the devoted garrison, and all was ready for the final strug- 
 
,272 JOHNSTON RECEIVES THE NEWS. 
 
 gle. At that moment, Colonel Lauman heard the clear, 
 shrill strains of a bugle from within the enemy s works, 
 pealing forth neither the reveille nor the rally. Attracted 
 by the strange sound, he turned his eye thither, and lo, a 
 white flag was dimly seen waving in the wind. The fort 
 had surrendered. Then there went up a long, loud shout, 
 which, taken up by regiment after regiment, as the exciting 
 news traveled round the line, shook the heavens, till at last 
 it reached the division of Wallace on the extreme right, just 
 ready to move forward to the assault. In a moment their 
 caps were in the air, and cheer after cheer swept down their 
 line of battle, and the bands struck up inspiring airs till the 
 whole atmosphere was alive with notes of exultation. 
 
 The night before, the rebel generals had held a consulta 
 tion, in which it was decided that Floyd should hand over 
 the command to Pillow, and he to Buckner, who should sur 
 render the place, while the former made their escape by 
 night, with a brigade up the river. 
 
 About twelve thousand men, with all their arms and stores, 
 etc., fell into our hands. It was a great victory in itself, but 
 important chiefly because it broke the rebel line of defense 
 in the center, and opened the gate to Nashville. 
 
 On this same Sabbath morning, Johnson, who had evacua 
 ted Bowling Green, with the guns of Mitchell playing on his 
 retiring columns, sat at breakfast in the little town of Edge- 
 field, opposite Nashville, and turning suddenly to the lady 
 of the house, said, "Madam, I take you to be a person of 
 firmness and trust your neighbors are; don t be alarmed; a 
 courier has just arrived from fort Donelson, saying that our 
 forces there must surrender." 
 
 The news reached Nashville just as the people were 
 assembling for church, amid the ringing of bells. 
 
 The last news that arrived- the night before was a dispatch 
 from Pillow, saying, "TnE DAY is oun s." All, therefore, 
 
PANIC AND PILLAGE. 273 
 
 was animation and exultation, and the inhabitants crowded 
 to the sanctuary to offer up their thanksgivings for victory, 
 when suddenly there passed through the streets the startling 
 murmur, "Fort Donelson has surrendered. 1 Faces turned 
 pale with affright the assembling congregations halted and 
 anxiously inquired each of the other what it meant the 
 bells stopped pealing, and suddenly Governor Harris, 
 dashed on horseback through the streets like a madman, 
 shouting that the enemy was at the door. In an instant all 
 was commotion and alarm. The frightened inhabitants 
 rushed for their homes, and seizing such things as they could 
 easily carry, jumped into carriages, omnibusses, carts, indeed 
 every thing on wheels, and streamed a panic-stricken crowd 
 from the city. The public stores were thrown open, into 
 which the rabble rushed to pillage, and a scene of indescrib 
 able terror and madness followed. In the midst of the con 
 fusion, Johnson s columns entered the city, and marching 
 through it struck southward for Murfreesborough. All day 
 and night and next morning the panic continued, during 
 which the city was under a reign of terror. 
 
 But the Federal gun boats not arriving, comparative tran 
 quillity was restored, and the rebel stores began to be moved 
 to a place of safety. 
 
 Thus fell Nashville, though our forces did not take formal 
 possession of it till the next week. But little Union feeling 
 was found among the inhabitants that remained, and it was 
 evident the place would have to be held with the strong 
 hand. 
 
 The rebel forces fled south, and it was uncertain where 
 they would next make a stand. All eyes were now turned 
 to Columbus, as the next stronghold to yield before our ad 
 vancing columns. 
 
 In the mean time, Curtis, who had taken command of the 
 army in Missouri, had steadily pushed Price before him, t\ll 
 
274 CURTIS IN MISSOURI. 
 
 lie had driven him over the Arkansas border, and was still 
 pressing his retiring columns. 
 
 Thus closed the month of February in the valley of the 
 Mississippi. East, scarce less stirring events had marked its 
 passage, and every where the national arms were victorious. 
 
CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 FEBRUARY, 1862. 
 
 BURNSIDE ADVANCES WITH HIS FLEET TO ROANOKE ISLAND ITS SPLENDID 
 
 APPEARANCE THE ATTACK LANDING OF THE TROOPS THE ADVANCE 
 
 AGAINST THE ENEMY S WORKS GALLANTRY OF A. CHAPLAIN OF MIDSHIP 
 MAN PORTER THE VICTORY ATTACK ON THE REBEL FLEET AT ELIZABETH 
 
 CITY BY CAPTAIN ROWAN A FIERCE COMBAT GALLANTRY OF ASSISTANT 
 
 GUNNER DAVIS CAPTURE OF EDENTON WINTON BURNED INAUGURATION 
 
 OF DAVIS AT RICHMOND READING OF WASHINGTON S FAREWELL AD 
 DRESS AT THE NORTH ON HIS BIRTH DAY BATTLE NEAR FORT CRAIG IN 
 
 NEW MEXICO GALLANTRY OF CAPTAIN MC RAE. 
 
 ON the same day, February fifth, that Foote was moving 
 up the Cumberland to fort Henry, Burnside set sail 
 with his fleet from Hatteras inlet, where he had lain over 
 three weeks, for Roanoke island. Swept by successive storms 
 he had, nevertheless, by herculean labors, sufficiently repaired 
 his disasters to commence active operations. 
 
 The day was mild and balmy, and the fragmentary clouds 
 went trooping lazily across the sky, as the fleet of sixty-five 
 vessels swept majestically onward over the rippling waters 
 of the sound, towards its place of destination. In three 
 compact columns nearly two miles long the watery aisles 
 between, broken only here and there by a little propeller 
 darting across to convey orders to the different vessels it 
 moved on, the embodiment of awful power. Piled with 
 cannon and missiles of death, and loaded to the gunwales with 
 ranks of brave men, that cloud of ships presented a specta 
 cle never before witnessed on American waters. At sun 
 down, being within ten miles of the southern point of the 
 island, the signal to anchor floated from the flag ship, when 
 the fleet rested for the night, and the mellow moonlight 
 flooded the inspiring scene. 
 
276 APPROACHING ROANOKE I&LAND. 
 
 The next morning at eight o clock it was again under 
 way. But the aspect of the heavens had changed, and 
 dark, heavy clouds lay along the horizon, betokening a storm. 
 At eleven o clock it burst upon them and the entire squadron 
 came to a halt. After a time the storm broke, and it moved 
 slowly on again. 
 
 The weather was too dark to attempt the passage of the 
 Roanoke inlet that night, and- the fleet again came to anchor. 
 The following morning, the sun rose in a sky mottled with 
 fleecy clouds, indicating fine weather, and soon the long line 
 was once more under way. 
 
 The vessels continued slowly to approach the enemy s 
 works till eleven o clock, when the first gun from the flag 
 ship broke the silence that brooded over the water. As the 
 heavy echo rolled away, the signal was run up, "This day 
 our country expects that ever?/ man will do his duty" The 
 effect was electrical, and the men sprung to their guns with 
 flashing eyes. 
 
 Roanoke island, situated between Albemarle and Pamlico 
 sounds, and completely commanding the channel connecting 
 them, had been carefully fortified by the rebels. Two strong 
 works, mounting together twenty-two heavy guns, three of 
 them one-hundred-pounders, rifled four batteries of twen 
 ty-two guns eight supporting steamers, and formidable ob 
 structions in the channel, together with a garrison of three 
 thousand men, constituted the means of defense relied upon 
 by the enemy, and were deemed quite sufficient to repel any 
 attempt of Burnside s fleet to pass up the sound. 
 
 By twelve o clock the action became general our squad 
 ron saluting the rebel batteries and gun boats by tunas and 
 the steady roar of artillery, bursting of shells, with ever and 
 anon the thunder crash of the one hundred-pound Parrott 
 guns, made sea and shore tremble. Clouds of rolling smoke, 
 how hugging the water, and now shooting out in fierce puffs, 
 
THE ATTACK. 279 
 
 huge jets of water thrown up by the bursting shells, and the 
 shrieks of the terrific missiles through the troubled air, com 
 bined to form a scene at once grand and terrific. In a short 
 time, the rebel fleet, finding our fire too destructive, with 
 drew behind a row of piles that had been sunk in the chan 
 nel, when our gun boats gave their exclusive attention to 
 the batteries on shore, and dropped their shells with cool 
 precision into the hostile works. About one o clock the bar 
 racks took fire, and huge volumes of black smoke rolled up 
 the sky, and fell like a vast pall over the intrenchments. 
 The fire on both sides now slackened, and Burnside turned 
 his eye anxiously down the sound in the direction the trans 
 ports with the troops on board were coming. 
 
 In a short time, however, the enemy having partially ex 
 tinguished the flames, reopened their fire, while their gun 
 boats be gan to maneuver so as to cut off the transports 
 which were now in sight. This movement was soon check 
 mated, and the bombardment again commenced in all its 
 fury. About four o clock the transports arrived and took 
 their position beyond the range of the rebel guns. In a few 
 moments, every spar and all the rigging were black with 
 human beings, watching the fight, while ever and anon their 
 loud hurrahs came faintly over the water. 
 
 Again the enemy s fire slackened, and Burnside determined 
 to land his troops and storm the works. 
 
 The spot selected for the landing was known as Ashby 
 harbor, where there was a bold shore. After the gun boats 
 had shelled the neighboring woods to clear them of the 
 enemy, the small boats were launched, and regiment after 
 regiment, in the deepening twilight, was rowed swiftly to 
 land. In an hour, six thousand men were safely got on shore, 
 and pickets advanced in the direction of the enemy s works. 
 By eleven o clock all was arranged for the night ; and for a 
 mile in extent the shore was lighted up with the cheerful 
 
 17 
 
280 THE FIGHT ON LAND. 
 
 bivouac fires. But in a little while, a cold, driving rain set 
 in which soon deluged the encampments. The troops had 
 left their blankets and knapsacks on board the transports, 
 and so were compelled to pass the long and dreary night 
 with nothing but their . overcoats to protect them from the 
 pitiless storm. But little sleep was had, and the morning 
 light was most welcome, though they knew it heralded the 
 deadly combat. 
 
 The interval between them and the enemy s works was 
 covered by a swampy forest, filled with a dense growth of 
 underbrush, and traversed by a single half-worn cart road. 
 The fortifications consisted of an earth-work with three sides, 
 surrounded by a ditch eight feet wide and three deep, filled 
 with water. In front, the woods had been cut down for the 
 distance of three hundred yards, to give their guns a clean 
 sweep, while the trees lay piled in every imaginable direc 
 tion over the marshy ground, through which the advancing 
 force would be compelled to work their difficult way, ex 
 posed at every step to a devastating fire. 
 
 In the morning the ranks were formed, and the center 
 column, under the command of General Foster, composed 
 of three Massachusetts regiments, and the tenth Connecticut, 
 moved off a battery of six twelve-pound boat howitzers at 
 its head. The second column, under General Keno, was to 
 make a flank attack on the enemy s left, and the third, under 
 General Parke, a similar one on his right. 
 
 The center column moving cautiously forward, soon came 
 upon the skirmishers, which they drove steadily back till 
 it reached the open space in front of the works. The artil 
 lery was immediately placed in position at a curve of the 
 road, and opened a rapid fire. The concentrated fire of the 
 enemy, however, soon thinned off the gunners, when Rev. 
 Mr. James, chaplain of the twenty-fifth Massachusetts, step 
 ped forward and helped work the guns till the ammunition 
 
A GALLANT CHAPLAIN. 281 
 
 was exhausted. The shot fell like hail stones around him, yet 
 the gallant divine fought on like one who had spent his life 
 in the church militant. The loader and sponger was shot ; 
 another took his place and immediately fell, when a midship 
 man, Benjamin A. Porter, took the sponge himself and loaded 
 till the fight was over. The twenty -fifth Massachusetts, in ad 
 vance, maintained its position under a terrible fire till its 
 cartridges gave out, when the tenth Connecticut took its 
 place, and rivaled it in steadfast courage. The wounded, as 
 they were borne back to the rear in the arms of their com 
 rades, or on litters, faintly smiled or cheered the advancing 
 regiments, and a lofty heroism animated all alike. At every 
 flash of the enemy s cannon, our men were ordered to crouch 
 down to escape the iron hail, but this was not so easily done, 
 for many of them stood up to their hips in mud and water, 
 into which the dead and wounded fell with a heavy plash, 
 where they lay half submerged. 
 
 In the mean time, the two flanking columns were slowly 
 making their way through the almost impenetrable thickets 
 to the right and, left of the intrenchments. The enemy, 
 thinking this tangled net-work of brush impassable by troops, 
 had not cut it down, but left it standing close up to the 
 works, deeming it a sufficient protection to their flanks and 
 when they saw the gleaming bayonets advancing through it 
 on cither side, their astonishment was boundless. As the 
 column under Parke approached the battery, it was met by 
 a galling fire, when the ninth New York, (Hawkins zouaves) 
 were ordered to charge. Major Kimball led them gallantly 
 OIL It was in this charge that Lieutenant-Colonel Vigier 
 de Monteil, who had left his regiment which had been sent 
 back, and volunteered for the fight, fell while cheering on 
 the men. 
 
 While the zouaves were steadily advancing on the battery, 
 Reno s column, on the right, had also cleared the woods, and 
 
282 THE PURSUIT. 
 
 the colonel at that moment riding up, ordered the twenty- 
 first Massachusetts to charge. It answered with a cheer, and 
 dashed forward at the same instant that the fifty-first, under 
 Colonel Ferrero, was charging on the left, and soon the stars 
 and stripes waved from the ramparts. The rebels, when 
 they saw this sudden apparition on the right and left, broke 
 and fled, and the victorious columns from either flank met 
 in the deserted works with deafening cheers. The tenth 
 Connecticut, at the same time these charges were made on 
 the right and left, advanced in front, where their gallant 
 commander, Colonel Russell, fell, pierced with the enemy s 
 bullets. As soon as the works were gained, two columns 
 were formed to go in pursuit of the fugitives. 
 
 The fifty-first and ninth New York advanced along the 
 road on the east side of the island, to cut them off from 
 crossing to Nag s Head. Here the redoubtable ex- Governor 
 Wise lay an invalid, but not so ill as to prevent him from 
 riding some thirty miles to escape capture. The columns 
 soon came upon some boats loaded with the fleeing rebels, in 
 tow of a steamer. Two more were just putting off from 
 shore. These were immediately ordered to return, which 
 they refusing to do, a volley was poured into them, when 
 they put back and surrendered themselves prisoners of war. 
 Among them was Captain 0. Jennings Wise, son of the ex- 
 Governor, whq was so severely wounded that he died the 
 same night. 
 
 The twenty-first Massachusetts advanced in another direc 
 tion, to the north of the works, where a negro woman told 
 them was a large camp of the rebels. A few companies 
 were soon overtaken, who, after a single volley, fled. The 
 twenty-first following after, was soon met by a flag of truce. 
 The officer bearing it was sent to Reno, who was advancing 
 with his other regiments, when an unconditional surrender 
 was mada 
 
THE SURRENDER. 283 
 
 About the same time, Foster, at the head of the first bri 
 gade, which had just landed, advanced against another camp 
 of the rebels. He also was met by a flag of truce, the officer 
 bearing it demanding what terms would be granted them. 
 An unconditional surrender, was the reply. Again asking 
 what time would be allowed, was told u While you are going 
 back to camp to convey the terms and returning." In a few 
 minutes the flag came back, announcing that the terms were 
 accepted. The brigade immediately marched triumphantly 
 into camp, when Colonel Shaw, commander of the post, ad 
 vanced and delivered up his sword to General Foster. 
 
 Wooden barracks were found in the two encampments, 
 capacious enough to hold several thousand men, in which 
 our troops took up their comfortable quarters. 
 
 Thus fell Roanoke island, with its garrison of three thou 
 sand men, its batteries mounting thirty guns, and all its 
 stores, ammunition, etc. Our total loss in killed and wound 
 ed was about two hundred and fifty. 
 
 The gun boats escaped towards Elizabeth City, thirty-five 
 or forty miles distant. Preparations were immediately made 
 to pursue them there, and on Sunday morning, the ninth, 
 fourteen steamers, under the command of Captain Rowan, 
 started from the island, and at three o clock in the afternoon 
 came in sight of the place, in front of which they were dis 
 covered, seven in number, drawn up in line of battle. They 
 were commanded by Captain Lynch, well known as the 
 leader of the Dead Sea expedition, sent out by our govern 
 ment several years ago. 
 
 On a point which projected out a quarter of a mile or so 
 beyond the line of battle, stood a fort mounting four large 
 guns. Directly opposite it, a schooner was anchored, on 
 which were two heavy rifle guns. Our squadron, at this 
 time, was about two miles off, and all was anxious expecta 
 tion to know what the commander would do. The ordinary 
 
284 A DARING ATTACK. 
 
 course would have been to silence the fort and demolish the 
 schooner, that stood like two sentinels in advance of the 
 steamers, and then engage the latter. But this was too slow 
 a process to suit Captain Rowan, and he ran up the signal, 
 " Close action" This was received with wild delight by the 
 gallant tars, and instantly there began a race between the 
 steamers, which should first grapple with the enemy. The 
 flag-ship, with her gallant signal flying, dashed into and 
 through the cross fire of the fort and schooner, followed by 
 the rest of the squadron. Crowded together in the narrow 
 channel as they swept on, they presented a sure mark for the 
 enemy s guns, and shot and shell fell in a perfect shower on 
 their decks. 
 
 Without stopping to reply, they plunged with a full head 
 of steam on into the midst of the rebel boats. The Perry 
 in advance made for the rebel flag-ship Sea Bird, and strik 
 ing her amidships crushed her like an egg shell. The Ceres 
 in like manner ran into the Ellis and boarded her at the 
 same time. In quick succession the Underwriter took the 
 Forrest and the Delaware the Fanny, in the same style. The 
 bursting of shells the deafening roar of broadsides within 
 pistol shot of each other the crashing of timbers as vessels 
 wrapped in flame and smoke closed in the death grapple 
 and sinking, abandoned wrecks, combined to form a scene 
 of indescribable terror. A shell entered the Valley City 
 and burst amid a mass of fire- works, setting them on fire. 
 The men were immediately called to u fire quarters," but 
 finding it took too many from the guns, the commander, 
 Chaplin, ordered them back, and jumped down into the 
 magazine himself and passed up loose cylinders of powder 
 while he gave directions about extinguishing the fire. The 
 rockets were whizzing around, blue lights burning, signal 
 lights blazing, the shell room on fire, the fight going on, and- 
 he (the captain,) passing up the powder and putting out the 
 
JOHN DAVIS. 285 
 
 fire, with the most" imperturbable coolness, thus keeping the 
 men steady and at their work. The assistant gunner, John 
 Davis, was in the magazine assisting him, when a shell 
 knocked the cover off from a barrel of powder. He imme 
 diately sat down upon it, to keep the sparks from falling 
 within, when Chaplin called out to him to help put out the 
 fire. "Don t you see, Sir, I can t?" he replied. "If I get 
 out of this, the sparks will get in the powder." A cooler 
 courage than this can not be imagined. It was afterwards 
 presented to the notice of government, and the gallant fel 
 low promoted. 
 
 Of the rebel navy, all the vessels were taken or destroyed 
 except two, which escaped up the Dismal Swamp canal. 
 
 The rebel troops immediately evacuated Elizabeth City, 
 setting it on fire as they retreated. The flames, however, 
 were extinguished before much damage was done. 
 
 These victories gave us control of the whole coast of 
 North Carolina down to Newbern. Following so close on 
 the heels of those at the west, they filled the country with 
 exultation, and a speedy termination of the war was looked 
 for. 
 
 Burnside followed up his victory by land at different 
 points along the coast, and from Norfolk to Newbern the in 
 habitants were filled with terror. To-day, it was thought he 
 ( was preparing to advance on the former place by way of 
 the Dismal Swamp canal ; to-morrow, an inland movement 
 was feared that would cut the great southern line of rail 
 road. Various speculations were rife at the north concern 
 ing his future course, but all believed it would have an im 
 portant bearing on General McClellan s movements. It was 
 very plain, however, that his force was too small to allow 
 him to make any extensive inland movement. Until heavily 
 reinforced, his efforts must be confined to the coast. That 
 he would remain idle, those who knew his enterprising char- 
 
286 VASTNESS OF THE FIELD OF BATTLE. 
 
 acter did not believe. Edenton was occupied, while Winton 
 on the Chowan river, attempting to stop our ascending gun 
 boats, was burned to the ground. 
 
 In the mean time the Governor of North Carolina issued 
 a proclamation calling for troops to defend the state. 
 
 While the reports of these successive stunning blows were 
 being borne to the reb9l Capital, Davis who had hitherto 
 been only Provisional President, was inaugurated the regu 
 larly elected President of the confederate states. A more 
 inauspicious time could not have been selected for the cere 
 mony, nor more gloomy omens have attended it. 
 
 On the same day, (Washington s birth day,) so desecrated 
 by the traitors, Washington s Farewell Address was publicly 
 read by the recommendation of Congress in all the loyal states. 
 Its solemn warnings against -all sectional strifes, which had 
 been unheeded and almost ridiculed in the heat of political 
 contests, and amid the storms of passion, now that we were 
 encompassed with all the horrors of civil war, fell with strange 
 power on the national heart. 
 
 Nothing could convey a more vivid impression of the vast- 
 ness of the territory we were called upon to defend, than the 
 reception at long intervals of reports of different battles that 
 occurred, often on the same day those of one reaching Wash 
 ington within a few hours from the time it was fought, and 
 of the other taking weeks in their passage. 
 
 Thus, while the coast of North Carolina and the banks of 
 the Cumberland were shaking to the thunder of cannon, far 
 away in New Mexico, the shores of the Rio Grande witnessed 
 a bloody struggle between the Federal and rebel forces. 
 Colonel Canby in command of fort Craig, hearing that Colo 
 nel Steel with a large body of Texans was advancing against 
 the place, marched out on the twenty-first to meet him. Driv 
 ing the enemy from the river, he crossed, and a fierce ar 
 tillery combat followed which lasted till afternoon. Two 
 
A TRUE HERO. 287 
 
 batteries flanked the Union forces, which the enemy saw must 
 be taken, or the battle lost. Consequently two desperate 
 charges were made upon them that on the right commanded 
 by Lieutenant Hall, by cavalry, which was repulsed, and 
 that on the left under Captain McRae, by Texans on foot. 
 The latter was one of the most desperate on record. About 
 a hundred and fifty yards in front of the guns was a thick 
 wood, out of which the band which had volunteered for the 
 purpose, started on a run, with nothing but revolvers in their 
 hands. As McRae saw them coming, he opened a terrible 
 (ire of grape and canister, piling them like autumn leaves over 
 the field. The survivors, however, never faltered, but dashed 
 forward full in the blaze of another volley, and still keeping 
 on their terrible way, rushed up to the very muzzles of the 
 guns, where they shot down every one that manned them 
 except two or three. Even the regulars, whose duty it was 
 to defend the battery, appalled at such desperation, turned 
 and fled. Captain McRae however, stood single handed to 
 his pieces, and disdaining to surrender, was shot at his post 
 as gallant a man as ever faced a foe. The loss of the bat 
 tery, compelled Canby to retreat to the fort, which he reached 
 with the loss in killed and wounded of about two hundred. 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 MARCH, 1862. 
 
 THE NASHVILLE RUNS OUR BLOCKADING SQUADRON - REBEL BATTERY DE 
 STROYED AT PITTSBURGH LANDING - DEATH OF LANDER - HIS LAST GAL 
 LANT ACTION - CAPTURE OF FERNANDINA AND FORT CLINCH - RACE BE 
 TWEEN A GUN BOAT AND RAIL ROAD TRAIN - THE MERRIMAC MAKES HER 
 APPEARANCE HER APPROACH TO THE CUMBERLAND - THE COMBAT - THE 
 CUMBERLAND GOES DOWN WITH HER FLAG FLYING - THE CONGRESS STRIKES 
 HER COLORS - ATTACK ON THE MINNESOTA - GLOOMY FEELING AT FOR- 
 TRESS MONROE - ARRIVAL OF THE MONITOR - BURNING OF THE CONGRESS 
 - BATTLE BETWEEN THE MERUIMAC AND MONITOR - DEFEAT OF THE FOR 
 MER - FEELING OF THE PUBLIC RESPECTING IT. 
 
 excitement which the stirring events of February 
 J_ had created in the nation steadily increased with the 
 opening of spring. 
 
 On the first of March, the southern papers announced the 
 safe arrival of the rebel steamer Nashville at Beaufort, North 
 Carolina. Hoisting the national colors, she steered boldly 
 for the blockading fleet, and before her true character was 
 discovered, had got so far in that she could not be stopped. 
 
 On the same clay, Lieutenant Gwin attacked with his gun 
 boats a battery at Pittsburgh landing, on the Tennessee, and 
 cleared the shores, where in a short time was to be fought 
 the first great pitched battle of the war. 
 
 On the third, Colonel Lander died of congestive fever at 
 Paw Paw, Virginia, an officer of great promise, and des 
 tined, if he had lived, to become one of the leading mil 
 itary men of the nation. His last act was a brilliant cavalry 
 dash on the enemy at Blooming Gap, on the fourteenth ulti 
 mo, in which seventeen commissioned officers were taken 
 prisoners five of whom surrendered to him alone. Two 
 
A SINGULAR RACE. 289 
 
 columns of two thousand men each, between four o clock in 
 the morning and eight o clock at night, marched respective 
 ly thirty-two and forty- three miles, besides building a long 
 bridge. What to other men seemed impossibilities, was to 
 him the proper way to conduct a campaign. His bravery 
 bordered on rashness; and whoever followed his lead, 
 must reck little of life. General Shields was appointed to 
 take his place. 
 
 On the same day, a body of Union cavalry entered Co 
 lumbus, and hoisted over that stronghold of the enemy the 
 national ensign. The rebels, after setting fire to it, and 
 pitching the heavy guns they could not carry away with 
 them into the river, retired to Island Number Ten, a few 
 miles above New Madrid. The next day Captain Foote ap 
 peared before the place with his gun boats, and took pos 
 session. 
 
 On this same day, Dupont s fleet entered the old port of 
 Fernandina, Florida, and hoisted the Federal flag on fort 
 Clinch, the first of the national forts on which the ensign of 
 the Union had resumed its proper place since the war com 
 menced. Its strong works were uninjured; and the fright 
 ened garrison in its hasty flight left all the guns behind. 
 
 A scene occurred in approaching the town itself, entirely 
 new in the annals of war. Captain Dray ton, seeing a large 
 rail road train leaving the town, ordered Lieutenant Stearns of 
 the Ottawa to stop it. The track for four miles lay directly 
 along the shore, and Stearns immediately crowded on all 
 steam in pursuit of the train. But he soon saw that the 
 race between a gun boat and locomotive was a hopeless one, 
 and opened his guns upon the train. A shell struck a plat 
 form car, killing two men, when the conductor cut loose 
 some of the rear cars, and escaped with the remainder. 
 Many of the frightened passengers leaped from the train, 
 among them ex-senator Yulee, and hid in the bushes. 
 
290 THE MERRIMAC. 
 
 But the two most important events of the early part of the 
 month, and which occurred on the same day, were the battle 
 of Pea Ridge and the attack of the rain Merrimac on our fleet 
 at Newport News. Though the Government had been fre 
 quently warned respecting this vessel, it appeared to be in 
 credulous, and made no preparations adequate for its recep 
 tion. The fleet, however, better informed or possessing 
 more sagacity, watched her appearance with the deepest 
 anxiety. 
 
 DESTRUCTIVE MISSION OF THE MERRIMAC. 
 
 The morning of the eighth dawned bright and beautiful, 
 not a ripple broke the still surface of the bay as it sparkled 
 in the sunlight, and all was calm and peaceful when the iron 
 clad monster left her moorings, and accompanied by two 
 steamers, slowly started off on her mission of destruction. 
 Past the wharves thronged with excited citizens waving 
 their hats and cheering past the batteries whose parapets 
 were dark with soldiers gazing on the mysterious structure 
 out into the placid bay, glided the ponderous thing, and 
 turned her steel prow towards the Congress arid Cumber 
 land, that lay quietly on the tide, with boats hanging at the 
 booms and the wash clothes in the rigging, apparently unsus 
 picious of the approach of their powerful foe. A Sabbath 
 stillness rested on sea and land, and those on board the Mer 
 rimac wondered what this strange apathy meant. But sud 
 denly the heavy boom of a gun beyond SewalFs Point broke 
 the stillness. The deep reverberations died away in the dis 
 tance, but still the wash clothes hung in the rigging, and all 
 seemed quiet on board the frigates. Soon after, another gun 
 thundered over the water, and then they could see a tug 
 start out from Newport News. In a few minutes, two black 
 columns of steam, darkening the air in the direction of James 
 
A FIERCE NAVAL COMBAT. 291 
 
 river, announce the approach of the York and Jamestown to 
 join their forces with her. 
 
 In the mean time, those on the look out at fortress Mon 
 roe, had caught sight of her, and the long roll sounded, and 
 the flag-ship, lying in port, signaled the naval vessels to get 
 under way. The Minnesota had her steam already up, and 
 in a short time moved off towards Newport News, where the 
 Congress and Cumberland lay on blockading duty. Five 
 gun boats and the Roanoke in tow followed. 
 
 The gallant crew of the Cumberland, as they saw the un 
 couth monster come round Craney island, instantly recog 
 nized her as the Merrimac. All hands were beat to quarters, 
 and the vessel swung- across the channel so as to bring her 
 broadside to bear. As the commanding officer scanned her 
 through his glass, she looked to him like a solid mass of iron 
 plowing its way through the water. The slanting roof ap 
 peared to rise about ten feet from the surface, while not an 
 opening was anywhere visible, except the narrow ports from 
 which the guns pointed. In front, her long iron prow 
 combed the water as she came steadily, and in grim silence, 
 on. 
 
 When she had got within about a mile, the Cumberland 
 commenced firing with her pivot guns, to which the Merri 
 mac deigned no response. As soon as they could be brought 
 to bear, the whole broadside of thirteen nine and ten-inch 
 guns opened on her. The heavy metal fell like hail on the 
 approaching vessel, but made no more impression than so 
 many peas, shot from a child s blow gun. Broadside fol 
 lowed broadside in quick succession, but still the Merrimac 
 maintained her onward course. At length one of her shot 
 crashed through the Cumberland, killing half a dozen in its 
 passage. She, however, had no intention to make a broad- 
 side engagement of it, mailed though she ivas, but dashed 
 straight on the anchored vessel with her iron prong. The 
 
292 THE CUMBERLAND SUNK. 
 
 fated frigate could not get out of the way, and the huge 
 mass of iron struck her with a shock that sent her back upon 
 her anchors, and heeled her over till her top-sail yards al 
 most touched the water. As she backed off, a hole was left 
 in the Cumberland as big as a hogshead, through which the 
 water poured in a torrent. Delivering a close and murder 
 ous broadside into the disabled vessel, she again came on, 
 striking her amidships. She then lay off, and fired leisurely, 
 but with terrible effect, while the broadsides of the Cumber 
 land were delivered with a rapidity and precision that would 
 have sent the Merrimac, had she been a wooden vessel, in 
 twenty minutes to the bottom. Lieutenant Morris, in com 
 mand the Captain being on shore on business saw that 
 his vessel was rapidly filling, and knew that in a few min 
 utes she would be at the bottom ; but he proudly refused to 
 strike his flag, determined if he could do no better, to sink 
 alongside. A nobler commander never trod the deck of a 
 ship, and a more gallant crew never stood by a brave com 
 mander. One sailor, with both his legs shot off, hobbled up to 
 his gun on the bleeding stumps, and pulling the lanyard fired 
 it, then fell back dead. Deeper and deeper settled the 
 noble frigate, yet her broadsides kept thundering on till the 
 water poured into the ports, submerging the guns. Still the 
 flag waved aloft, and as the vessel was disappearing below 
 the surface, the pivot guns on deck gave a last shot at the 
 enemy, and then the swift waves closed over ship and gal 
 lant crew together. Some came to the surface, and swam 
 to the shore others kept afloat till they were picked up by 
 boats that put off from shore to their rescue; but of the 
 four hundred gallant souls on board, only a little over half 
 survived the disaster. The chaplain and the wounded be 
 low, went down together. 
 
 The work of destruction had occupied only about three-* 
 quarters of an hour, and now the victorious Merrimac turned 
 
ARRIVAL OF THE MONITOR. 293 
 
 her prow towards the Congress. The latter saw that the 
 contest was hopeless, but engaged her invulnerable adver 
 sary for half an hour, when completely riddled with shot and 
 shell, and her commanding officer killed, she struck her 
 colors. 
 
 . The Merrimac, still apparently unharmed, then turned her 
 attention to the other vessels which had come to the rescue, 
 and soon came up with the powerful steamship Minnesota, 
 which unfortunately had got aground. Both vessels opened 
 fire, but the Merrimac, whether afraid of getting aground 
 herself, or whether her steering apparatus was damaged, did 
 not seem inclined to come to close quarters. 
 
 At length night came on, but still the heavy guns lit up 
 the darkness with their glare, and their deep thunder filled 
 the hearts of those at fortress Monroe with the gloomiest 
 forebodings. Where would this destruction end? A sense 
 of powerlessness oppressed the bravest. Shot and "shell 
 were alike wasted on this monster, and there seemed noth 
 ing to do but stand still and let her lay waste and destroy, 
 till exhausted with her own efforts, or nothing more being 
 left to destroy, she would retire to her den again. 
 
 That was a gloomy Saturday night. There seemed no 
 hope for the Minnesota. One plunge of that iron prow and 
 she would follow the Cumberland to the bottom ; and every 
 thing that floated in the Chesapeake bearing the national 
 colors must share a similar fate. 
 
 ARRIVAL OF THE MONITOR. 
 
 While all were desponding and knew not which way to 
 turn for relief, suddenly the little Monitor arrived from New 
 York. Her voyage down had been a long one, and proved 
 her unsea worthy, so much so that she came near foundering 
 off the coast: Her appearance, when she arrived at fortress 
 
294 THE CONGRESS BLOWN UP. 
 
 Monroe, though hailed with delight, (as a drowning man 
 will catch at a straw,) did not promise much in an encoun 
 ter .with the powerful Merrimac that had wrought such havoc 
 the day before. A mere raft, with a revolving turret carry 
 ing but two guns, did not seem a very formidable antago 
 nist. But her commander, Lieutenant Worden, had un 
 bounded confidence in her invulnerability, and immediately 
 resolved to go out next morning, and grapple with the vic 
 torious Merrimac. He needed more time to get his vessel 
 in proper trim, after her trying voyage, but none could be 
 allowed him ; for the Merrimac would certainly in the morn 
 ing attack the Minnesota, and when she was disposed of like 
 the Cumberland and Congress, there was nothing to stop her 
 in her career of devastation. Fortress Monroe itself was 
 not safe, and if she should prove seaworthy, there was noth 
 ing to prevent her from moving down the coast, destroying 
 and scattering our blockading squadrons, or even to hinder 
 her from entering New York harbor, and burning the city to 
 ashes. There seemed no end to tlie .destruction she could 
 accomplish, and a danger so unexpected and appalling made 
 every heart tremble. Never before on a single new experi 
 ment, did such momentous events turn. 
 
 To add to the gloom that hung round fortress Monroe, and 
 the Union fleet in the adjacent waters, a bright light was 
 seen during the evening in the direction of Newport News, 
 which soon rose into a tower of flame, shedding a lurid 
 glow far and wide over the water. The ramparts were lined 
 with spectators, wondering what this sudden illumination 
 might portend, when there came over the deep a sound of 
 thunder, shaking the shore, followed by sudden darkness and 
 silence. The Congress had burned till the fire reached the 
 powder magazine, when she blew up with a force that sent 
 some of her fragments a dozen miles. General Mansfield, 
 commanding at Newport News, had driven off the rebels, 
 
MONITOR AND MERRIMAC. 295 
 
 who had endeavored to get possession of her the day before, 
 by playing upon them with his batteries and sharp shooters, 
 and determined to make sure of her not falling into the 
 hands of the enemy, had ordered her to be set on fire. 
 
 It was soon after this sad omen the Monitor arrived. A 
 consultation was immediately held and it was resolved to 
 send her forthwith to the assistance of the Minnesota, still 
 hard aground. At eleven o clock she set out, and her arri 
 val on the scene of action was hailed with delight by those 
 on board the frigate, though the sailors shook their heads at 
 the strange little craft, that looked more like a great toy than 
 a champion fit to contend with a vessel that had proved her 
 self more than a match f6r two frigates. 
 
 BATTLE BETWEEN THE MERRIMAC AND -MONITOR. 
 
 Sunday morning broke bright and beautiful, and soon as 
 daylight allowed objects to be revealed distinctly, every glass 
 was turned towards the Minnesota. Not far from her lay the 
 Merrimac, blowing off steam, and hovering near her, the two 
 rebel steamers, Patrick Henry and Jamestown. The enemy 
 too, from all their look-outs, were gazing off on the same fear 
 ful objects of interest, but not with the same feelings of doubt 
 and anxiety. The iron monster seemed to be deliberating 
 what to do, whether to attack the Minnesota first, or the 
 Union fleet, anchored near the Rip Raps. His mind was, 
 however, soon made up, and at seven o clock he started for 
 the Minnesota. As the vessel slowly approached the ground* 
 ed frigate, the Monitor steamed out from behind, and boldly 
 advanced to meet her antagonist. The rebel craft was non 
 plused at the appearance of this new adversary,, so unlike 
 any thing ever before seen on the water. She looked 
 scarcely more formidable than a ferry boat, and as she drew 
 
 near her antagonist, her disproportionate size gave almost a 
 18 
 
296 A STRANGE NAVAL DUEL. 
 
 ludicrous aspect to her bold, audacious movements. When 
 \vithin a mile of each other, both vessels stopped. The 
 Merrimac first sent a shot at the Minnesota, as if she disdained 
 to notice the queer machine that had crossed her path. She, 
 however, changed her mind, and fired one gun at her. The 
 latter replied, sending one of her ponderous shot full against 
 the Merrimac, near her water line. The latter staggered 
 under the tremendous force of the concussion, and for the 
 first time seemed to realize what kind of an adversary she 
 had to deal with, and gave her her undivided attention. 
 The contest now opened fiercely, and the two vessels ap 
 proached and receded alternately, all the while firing terrific 
 broadsides, as if testing each other s impenetrability, for 
 nearly two hours. They then closed, and muzzle to muzzle, 
 hailed their heavy metal on each other s sides, while the 
 smoke of the guns wrapped the combatants in a cloud, con 
 cealing them from view. The firing was rapid and fierce, 
 and while the fearful duel lasted, the spectators that lined 
 the ramparts of fortress Monroe were silent and anxious, 
 almost afraid to see the cloud lift, lest it should reveal the 
 little Monitor, a helpless wreck on the water. But when the 
 smoke did at last clear away, there she lay alongside her 
 antagonist, light as a duck on the water, the stars and stripes 
 flying proudly from her stern. At the sight, an involuntary 
 shout went up from thankful hearts. She had stood her bap 
 tism of fire uninjured and undismayed. The vessels had now 
 drifted where the Minnesota could take part in the conflict, 
 and her heavy guns helped to swell the chorus. The Merri 
 mac, finding she had the worst of it, determined to destroy 
 the Minnesota before she herself was completely disabled, 
 and turned her steel prow full on the helpless frigate. But the 
 Monitor threw herself in the path, and poured in her broad 
 sides with redoubled fury. Again and again foiled in this 
 attempt, the Merrimac resolved to make one desperate effort 
 
LIEUTENANT WORD EN WOUNDED. 299 
 
 to sink the Monitor, and with a full head of steam, drove 
 straight upon her. But the iron prow glided up on her low 
 and sheathed deck like a runner, simply careening her over. 
 But in doing this, she exposed her hull below the iron 
 casing, which the Monitor immediately took advantage of, 
 and sent under her sheathing one of her ponderous shots. 
 The former was glad to back off, and concluded not to try 
 that experiment again. Other steamers engaged in the con 
 test, but the whole interest of the conflict centered on these 
 two vessels. 
 
 A little after twelve, the Merrimae abandoned the struggle, 
 and wheeling, slowly steamed under the battery at Sewall s 
 Point where she signaled for help showing that she was 
 seriously disabled. Tugs came up, and taking her in tow, 
 steamed away to Norfolk. The Monitor was uninjured. 
 Some of the gunners in the turret had been stunned by a 
 heavy shot striking against it, and rendered unfit for duty for 
 several minutes. Lieutenant Worden had been seriously 
 wounded in both eyes by fragments of iron that had been 
 thrown off, as a shot struck the pilot house at the very mo 
 ment he was looking through a small aperture to direct the 
 management of the vessel. These were the only casualties 
 all through these hours of terrible fighting. Buchanan, the 
 rebel commander, was severely, and it was thought mortally 
 wounded. 
 
 After the battle was over, Lieutenant Wise jumped into a 
 boat, and went off to the Monitor, to ascertain her condition. 
 As he descended through the " man-hole T to the cabin below, 
 a scene as calm and quiet met his view, as if nothing unusual 
 had happened. One* officer stood by the mirror leisurely 
 combing his hair, another was washing some blood from his 
 hands, while the gallant commander lay on a settee with his 
 eyes bandaged, giving no signs of the pain that racked him. 
 The first thing he said on recovering from the stunning effects 
 
300 NARROW ESCAPE. 
 
 of his wound, was, " Have I saved the Minnesota?" "Yes." 
 was the reply, u and whipped the Merrimac." Then said he 
 44 / don t care ivhat becomes of me" Noble words, that will 
 live as long as the memory of this novel momentous engage 
 ment. 
 
 Fortunately for the country, the news of the first day s 
 devastation by the Merrimac, and the victory of the Monitor 
 on the following day, were in the same papers on Monday, 
 thus preventing the excitement which would otherwise have 
 been created ; still much alarm w r as felt, especially in New 
 York, which suddenly saw herself wholly unprotected. Her 
 strong forts had crumbled in a single day, and all pondered 
 with the deepest alarm on what might have happened, had 
 the Monitor not arrived just as she did to prevent the Mer 
 rimac from going to sea. Her arrival at the critical moment 
 seemed like a special interposition of Providence in our be 
 half. 
 
 The whole story reads like a tale of the Arabian Nights. 
 The sudden appearance of the Merrimac, a new engine of de 
 struction, and her career as a destroying angel the first day, 
 checked only by the night the burning and blowing up of 
 the Congress the unexpected appearance of the Monitor in 
 the very crisis of events, looking, like nothing that had ever 
 been seen on earth or water before her dash to the rescue, 
 and her victory, are all so many parts of a fairy story. 
 
 After the first burst of astonishment and wonder had sub 
 sided, there went up a loud cry of indignation against the 
 Secretary of the Navy for his neglect to provide against the 
 appearance of the Merrimac. One of the vessels which had 
 been only partially destroyed at the burning of the Navy 
 Yard, she had been put on the dry dock at Norfolk, and cov 
 ered with iron, and armed with a prong to do the very work 
 she had accomplished. All this had been known and dis 
 cussed in the public press the entire winter, and only a month 
 
SENSATION IN EUROPE. 301 
 
 before she came out, some French officers who had visited 
 her declared her a most formidable vessel. And yet nothing 
 had been done to prepare for her reception, except to wait 
 the completion of the Monitor, which might have been, and 
 nearly was, too late to prevent disasters to which there 
 seemed no limit, and which at the best was an untried experi 
 ment that might not be successful. Such declarations were in 
 every one s mouth, and when it is remembered that the quaint 
 device carried but two guns, which in a long, close combat 
 might have bursted or been struck in the muzzles by a shell, 
 one cannot but look back on the encounter with trembling 
 The merchants of New York were especially* indignant, and 
 all felt that though we had been saved, it was not by any 
 foresight or good management of the Navy departn/ent. The 
 news of this first conflict between two iron-clad vessels pro 
 duced the profoundest sensation in Europe, especially in En 
 gland. Her boasted navy had vanished in a single day. Her 
 thousand national vessels, which in case of a war with us were 
 to drive us from the sea and blockade all our ports, became 
 powerless as river steamers. The little Monitor alone would 
 sink a whole fleet of them in an hour. As her inventor had 
 said when he named her, she had proved a Monitor to 
 England. 
 
CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 MARCH, 1862. 
 
 UATTLE OF PEA RIDGE SKILL AND BRAVERY OF SIGEL GALLANT DEFENSE 
 
 OF CARR DEATH OF MC CULLOCH SECOND DAY S FIGHT THE VICTORY 
 
 DEATH OF MC INTOSH JOHNSON MADE GOVERNOR OF TENNESSEE CONCEN 
 TRATION OF THE REBEL ARMY FOOTE MOVES AGAINST ISLAND NUMBER 
 
 TEN THE MORTAR BOATS POPE ? S VICTORY AT NEW MADRID THE ENEMY 
 
 SHUT UP POOR PROSPECT OF REDUCING THE ISLAND. 
 
 A LTHOUGH the decisive battle of Pea Ridge occurred 
 -LA. on the same Saturday that the Merrimac made her 
 attack on the Cumberland and Congress, the two days preced 
 ing it had witnessed some very hard righting in fact there 
 were three distinct battles. As before stated, Curtis had 
 steadily driven Price before him till he chased him across the 
 Arkansas border. But here McCulloch and Van Dorn, with 
 their respective commands, joined him, swelling the rebel 
 force to thirty thousand men. 
 
 BATTLE OF PEA RIDGE. 
 
 The latter immediately took chief command, and deter 
 mined at once to give Curtis battle. The army of the latter 
 was greatly inferior in numbers, but he gladly accepted the 
 conflict, for he was getting tired of this long, tedious pursuit. 
 He had, during the week, sent out three different expedi 
 tions to capture rebel bands said to be gathering in south 
 western Missouri and northern Arkansas, and also to obtain 
 forage, and hence his force was much scattered. Couriers, 
 however, were dispatched to these as soon as he heard of the 
 arrival of Van Dorn and his army, to return with all speed. 
 
SI GEL CUTS HIS WAY THROUGH THE ENEMY. 303 
 
 i 
 
 One of these, under Colonel Yandevere, in obeying the order, 
 made a forced march of forty-one miles, with but three halts 
 of fifteen minutes each the whole distance, and arrived at 
 headquarters only the night before the battle. Considering 
 the country this was a most extraordinary march. General 
 Sigel was near Bentonville Davis at Sugar Creek, and Carr 
 at Cross Hollows, all of whom hastened at once to head 
 quarters at Pea Ridge. Sigel received his orders on the 
 fifth, and the next morning with less than fifteen hundred 
 men, began his march. Two hundred infantry were sent 
 forward to prevent his being cut off, but the scouts soon 
 came in, reporting that the rebels, four thousand strong, were 
 rapidly moving down upon his line of march. This skillful 
 commander saw at once his danger, but with that cool, confi 
 dent manner which characterized him, prepared to meet it 
 The teams were hurried off at a tearing pace, in order to 
 leave him disencumbered, and a courier dispatched in hot 
 haste to- camp for succor, and then the ranks closed firmly 
 up. He had scarcely completed his preparations before the 
 enemy appeared, and making the air ring with their shouts 
 and yells, advanced boldly upon his little band of Germans. 
 The latter waited till they were within two hundred yards,- 
 when the word "fire" ran along the steady line. A terrible 
 volley of Minie balls smote the front rank of the rebels, 
 shriveling it up like a piece of parchment. They staggered 
 back at the murderous fire, but in a few minutes their offi 
 cers, by riding along their front, with gestures and appeals, 
 rallied them again, when they came on still nearer than be 
 fore. Breasting the first volley, they still pressed on, when 
 a second smote them. Swaying a moment before this, they 
 once more rallied, and with hoots and cheers and oaths that 
 turned the field into a pandemonium, made a last effort to ad 
 vance. So desperate was the onset that some of their cavalry 
 actually got in the rear, and the battle seemed lost, when a 
 
304 DISCIPLINED VALOR. 
 
 third volley, and a headlong charge of the bayonet sent them 
 broken and discomfited back. Maddened at this stubborn 
 resistance, the rebel officers once more re-formed their men 
 for a third, still more desperate assault. It was now two 
 o clock in the afternoon, and Sigel was still seven miles 
 from camp. The prospect before him was gloomy enough. 
 He had not heard from Curtis, and began to fear his messen 
 ger had been cut off. Still undismayed, however, he closed 
 up his thinned ranks, and firmly awaited the attack. In over 
 whelming numbers four to one the enemy now dashed for 
 ward, firing as they came, and spurring their horses up to 
 the very points of the bayonets. They completely enveloped 
 the little band, and for a time it seemed swallowed up in the 
 engulfing flood. Clouds of smoke rolled around it, out of 
 which arose cries and shouts, and incessant volleys of small 
 arms. But still Sigel towered unhurt amid his devoted 
 followers, and as long as he lived that band, though slaugh 
 tered, could not be conquered. The enemy thought so too, 
 and wherever his glancing form was seen, there the bullets 
 fell like hail. One pierced his coat, another cut the visor of 
 his cap, showing to what a deadly fire he was exposed, but 
 he seemed to bear a charmed life, for not one touched his 
 person. Ordering his men to clear the way with the bayo 
 net, they, with their deep German war cry, moved with un 
 broken front on the foe, sweeping them like chaff from their 
 path. Those western men were fierce fighters, but stood 
 amazed at the disciplined valor that scoffed at numbers, and 
 kept the ranks, though enveloped in flame, solid as iron. 
 As the brave fellows paused to take breath, a courier dashed 
 up announcing that reinforcements were close at hand, when a 
 cheer that made the welkin ring, went up from the beleaguered 
 band. The baffled enemy, knowing well what it meant, made 
 a sudden dash to capture the train, but were again driven 
 back, and the column, without farther molestation, effected 
 
FIRST DAY S BATTLE. 305 
 
 its junction with the main army. All the divisions finally got 
 safely in, and Curtis prepared for battle. 
 
 The morning of the seventh broke clear and bright, and 
 the stirring sound of the drum and fife called every soldier 
 to his feet. Curtis had taken his position on Pea Ridge, and 
 receiving information that led him to believe that the main 
 force of the enemy was coming from the westward, he sent 
 out Sigel with his division to meet him, while Colonel Davis 
 held the center on the ridge. The former advanced some 
 three miles, when he came upon the enemy and opened with 
 artillery. After a few rounds, the command to cease firing 
 was received, and Osterhaus, with the third Iowa cavalry, 
 was ordered to clear the timber in front. The bugles rang 
 out, and away dashed the squadrons. The enemy, however, 
 was in much stronger force than Siegel supposed, and the 
 cavalry was driven back in confusion. The rebels seeing 
 their advantage, rushed after with furious yells, and dashing 
 on a battery of three guns, captured it. Their triumph, 
 however, was of short duration, for Osterhaus, bringing up 
 his Indiana regiments, led them fiercely forward. Delivering 
 their rapid volleys as they advanced, they at length charged 
 bayonet, strewing the ground with the slain, and recapturing 
 their guns, which they bore back with shouts. The artillery 
 then commenced playing again, but after awhile the rebels 
 abandoned their position, and fell back. Sigel then ordered 
 a general advance, and pushing on, drove them before him 
 for two or three miles. 
 
 In the mean time, a force having appeared in front of 
 Davis, he moved forward, and after a short, severe contest, 
 also drove the enemy back. But as he and Sigel followed 
 up their success, neither found the main force of the enemy. 
 These attacks were mere feints on their part, while the main 
 army was quietly gaining our rear. 
 
 Colonel Carr with his brigade, had been sent out in the 
 
306 A CAVALRY FIGHT. 
 
 morning in this direction, as a precaution against any possi 
 ble move of this kind. While passing along through farms 
 that stretched away from the road, he suddenly came upon 
 masses of the enemy posted on a declivity covered with 
 woods. It was now about nine o clock, and Carr ordered 
 Colonel Dodge to move to the right, and open with his ar 
 tillery. He did so, and the enemy responding, a close artil 
 lery fight soon raged all along the line. Bodies of infantry 
 in the mean time advanced on each other, and for more than 
 an hour the conflict was hotly maintained without any definite 
 result, when another battery was ordered up to Carr s sup 
 port. At the same time, the cavalry had made their way 
 along the ridge, beyond the road by which the enemy had 
 advanced, and were about to seize his wagons, when a bri 
 gade of rebel cavalry and infantry suddenly appeared. In 
 stantly the bugles on both sides sounded the charge and 
 these two bodies of cavalry, shaking their sabers above their 
 heads, fell with loud shouts upon each other. First their 
 carbines, then their pistols were emptied, but neither were 
 arrested in their course, and they closed sword in hand. 
 The clashing of steel against steel, rang like the hammers on 
 a hundred anvils chargers plunged and reared, while the 
 shrill bugle rang out over the tumult. The Texans fought 
 furiously, but the better armed Missouri cavalry cleared their 
 way through them, like reapers in a harvest, until overborne 
 they fell-back in disorder. The victorious squadrons pressed 
 after, driving them back for a mile, when they came upon a 
 heavy battery which completely swept the. ground over 
 which they were advancing. Immediately the bugle sounded 
 the recall, and the column fell back. In the mean time, the 
 battle raged furiously all along the lines, on both sifres of the 
 road, and Carr soon saw that he had the main army on his 
 hands. Regiment after regiment kept arriving on the field, 
 till he found himself in danger of being surrounded. He 
 
A BRAVE RESISTANCE. 307 
 
 immediately sent back to Curtis for help, and in the mean 
 time made desperate efforts to maintain his position. The 
 occupation of a knoll on the east side of the road prevented 
 the rebels from outflanking him, and this they determined at 
 all hazards to gain, and at last by mere weight of numbers 
 succeeded, but not till our force had left nearly half its num 
 ber on its summit and slopes. Carr was now compelled to 
 fall back to a new position. 
 
 Messengers had been hurrying to and from headquarters, 
 but no reinforcements could be sent, for Sigel and Davis had 
 not yet returned from pursuing the enemy. Carr looked on 
 his thinned division with gloomy forebodings. u Three bat 
 teries and two regiments, or night, or we are lost," he ex 
 claimed. He was now not more than a mile from camp, and 
 yet he must still retreat. As a last hope, he resolved to make 
 one desperate effort to. regain the knoll he had lost, as with 
 out it he could not maintain his position an hour longer. 
 The chances were fearfully against him, but to allow himself 
 to be driven back on the unprotected camp, was certain ruin 
 to the whole army. As the order to advance passed along 
 the lines, a loud cheer from the returning column of. Davis, 
 announcing that help was near, was borne to the ears of the 
 exhausted troops, nerving them to tenfold daring. Straight 
 on the hostile battery that now surmounted the knoll, they 
 moved with a determined front, and taking the fiery storm 
 on their unshrinking breasts, swept it like a hurricane. 
 
 In this last gallant charge the rebel leader McCulloch fell. 
 The enemy now fell back in confusion, and night closed the 
 scene. 
 
 Within a few hundred yards of each other, the two armies 
 lay down to rest, and prepare for the morning struggle. 
 The dead were left where they had fallen, but their wounded 
 were carefully picked up and carried where their wounds 
 could be dressed. The soldiers knew that their retreat was 
 
308 THE GERMAN CAMP AT NIGHT. 
 
 cut off, and that they must win on the morrow, or surrender 
 as prisoners of war ; yet they exhibited no discouragement. 
 The regiments had been dreadfully thinned the enemy had 
 gained their rear, and the prospect seemed gloomy enough. 
 Curtis was oppressed with sad forebodings, and there was 
 little sleep at headquarters that night. The gallant Sigel, 
 however, who had returned from his long pursuit of the 
 enemy, promised certain victory in the morning. In his 
 German camp, the songs of the " Fatherland" stole sweetly 
 out on the evening air, showing that his soldiers, like him, 
 felt little, anxiety for the result. Still the night was a pain 
 ful one, and it was -made still more sombre by the pitiful 
 complainings of the poor mules which had eaten nothing for 
 two days, and had not tasted water for twenty-four hours. 
 All night long they made the air resound with their moans. 
 But the heavy hours at length passed away, and the morning 
 of the eighth dawned dull and gloomy. 
 
 The appearance of the enemy in the rear, made an en 
 tirely new order of battle necessary, and what was the rear 
 became the front, and the whole force was concentrated to 
 the north of the camp. Here, on a ridge, nearly two hund 
 red feet high, sloping away behind, but precipitous in front, 
 the enemy had, during the night, planted several batteries, 
 while at the base, at the right, were other batteries and 
 heavy bodies of infantry massed. A less force, similarly 
 posted, was on the left. This was the enemy s position as the 
 daylight revealed them, from which they could almost look 
 down into our camp. A road ran up towards this ridge, pass 
 ing through one of those immense western corn fields, which 
 gave ample room for displaying our force. Amid the white 
 and withered stalks, our line of battle was formed. Carr, oc 
 cupying the road and a portion of the field on either side, 
 formed the center, while Davis was en the extreme left On 
 Bigel was to rest the fortunes of the day. This accom- 
 
THE FINAL CHARGE. 309 
 
 plislied officer saw that if he could turn the enemy s left 
 flank, and drive him from the ridge, the battle would be 
 won. 
 
 Occasional shots were exchanged from early in the morn 
 ing, but it was eight o clock before the action became gen 
 eral. The cannoneers were all at their places the whole 
 length of the line when the order to open fire was received. 
 The battle of the previous day had filled the whole air with 
 smoke, and there being no wind stirring to drive it away, 
 it had settled down over the field ; so that the sun as it now 
 rose in the troubled sky, looked dim and red. For two hours 
 after the action commenced, an incessant cannonade was kept 
 up, and it soon became evident that the enemy s line was 
 shaken by the superior accuracy of our fire, while he dared 
 not advance in a decisive charge over the open field. A 
 battery of three guns to the left of the road was terribly 
 galling to our troops, and it was resolved to take it. The 
 twelfth Missouri was selected for the undertaking, and just 
 as the order to charge was given, a sudden gust of wind blew 
 away the smoke, showing the exact position of the guns. 
 The brave fellows accepted the omen, and dashed forward 
 on the run. Breasting the storm of fire that smote them, 
 they charged up to the very muzzles, and captured the pieces 
 and held them under fire until support came up. The ene 
 my s line now began to waver, and it was evident they were 
 preparing to withdraw. Two Indiana regiments were imme 
 diately thrown forward when the ranks in front of them fell 
 back in confusion. The whole line then was ordered to 
 advance and close the contest with the bayonet. A loud 
 cheer rolled over the field, answered with a cheer from the 
 enemy. Delivering their rapid volleys as they advanced, 
 our troops were about to close with the bayonet when the 
 whole rebel army turned and fled. Sigel had succeeded in 
 turning the right flank and now pressed fiercely in pursuit. 
 
310 SIGEL S PURSUIT. 
 
 Over fallen trees which had been leveled by a hurricane, cav 
 alry and infantry struggled frantically together, while shot 
 and shell struck and burst in their midst Down the slopes, 
 over the fields they rushed, spurred on by Sigel s artillery, 
 which strewed the ground with dead and wounded. The 
 wooded and broken country rendered pursuit by cavalry im 
 possible, or a large portion of the army would have been 
 captured. Sigel however kept up the chase for twelve miles, 
 and the next morning marched his exhausted but victorious 
 troops back to camp. The routed army divided into two 
 portions, and felling trees along the road behind them, suc 
 ceeded in effecting its escape. The battle field, especially 
 where Sigel s artillery had played, presented a ghastly spec 
 tacle. Amid dismounted cannon, broken carriages, shattered 
 trees, and along the furrowed up earth, the dead and wound 
 ed, mangled by shot and shell, lay thick as autumnal leaves. 
 To add to the horrors of the scene, the woods, which had 
 been set on fire by the shells, now began to blaze up in va 
 rious directions.. Our exhausted troops made every exertion 
 to rescue the bodies of friends and foes alike from the de 
 vouring flames, and nearly all were removed to a place of 
 safety. A few however, who had fallen in secluded places, 
 or crawled off to thickets, were overtaken by the fire, and 
 their charred and blackened corpses were afterward found ly 
 ing amid the ashes and cinders of the forest. The rebels 
 had Indian allies in the fight, who in accordance with their 
 savage custom, scalped those of our dead they were able 
 to reach. This afterward drew forth a stern remonstrance 
 from Curtis, when Yan Dorn, under a flag of truce, requested 
 permission to bury his dead. 
 
 Our loss in killed and wounded was full a thousand men 
 that of the enemy could only be conjectured among them 
 were the two rebel Generals, McCulloch and Mclntosh. It 
 was a nobly fought battle. The Iowa, Missouri and Indiana 
 
JOHNSON GOVERN OR OF TENNESSEE. 311 
 
 regiments covered themselves with glory, while the Germans 
 had again proved themselves worthy of their heroic leader. 
 Two of the regiments, while under tire, actually struck up a 
 national song, and its loud chorus rang over the field making 
 strange harmony with the stern roar of the artillery. 
 
 This victory settled the fate of Missouri. Price had strug 
 gled desperately to save the state to the southern confed 
 eracy, but failed at last. 
 
 It was evident that the rebel forces would not venture to 
 give Curtis battle again, and he quietly went into camp 
 among the hills and woods of Arkansas, while other acts in 
 the great tragedy were being enacted on the Mississippi and 
 Atlantic coast. 
 
 Andrew Johnson, former governor of Tennessee, had been 
 appointed provisional governor of the state, and entered on 
 his duties, while the great army of the west was slowly 
 moving southward in rear of the enemy. , The latter imme 
 diately began to concentrate his forces preparatory to a great 
 decisive battle. A. Sidney Johnston eifected a junction 
 with Beauregard, who commanded at Memphis, while Bragg 
 was ordered up from Mobile, with nearly the whole army 
 that had been stationed in its vicinity. From every part of 
 the south-west, troops were hurried forward to resist the ad 
 vance of the northern hordes," and in a short time a mighty 
 army was assembled at Corinth. Towards this point, our 
 various divisions began slowly to move, and all eyes were 
 turned thither in expectation of 1 a battle that should settle 
 the fate of the valley of the Mississippi. 
 
 FOOTE MOVES AGAINST ISLAND NUMBER TEN. 
 
 In the mean time, Foote, having got his gun boats ready, 
 moved down towards island number ten. Ten gun boats, 
 twelve mortar boats, and a large fleet of transports filled the 
 
312 MORTAR PRACTICE. 
 
 river as far as the eye could reach, and it was believed that 
 nothing could long stop their victorious progress towards 
 New Orleans. Each of the mortar boats carried a mortar 
 weighing seventeen thousand one hundred and eighty pounds, 
 and throwing a shell weighing, before loaded, two hundred 
 and fifteen pounds. Impelled by a charge of twenty-three 
 pounds of powder, this ponderous m-issile would reach a dis 
 tance of over two miles. 
 
 These were finally got into position along the banks on the 
 fifteenth, and opened fire on the enemy s works. They were 
 of the most formidable character, consisting of batteries both 
 on the island and bluffs on the main shore, in which guns of 
 the heaviest caliber were mounted. 
 
 The fire of the mortar boats was found to be less effective 
 than had been anticipated. The several batteries were small 
 objects to hit two miles off, by shells thrown at an angle of 
 forty-five degrees. , Had it been a large enclosed fortifica 
 tion, filled with troops, on which the fire was concentrated, 
 the destruction would have been terrible; but here, an ex 
 actness was required, that it was impossible to attain. The 
 slightest puff of wind, acting on a shell in so long a flight, 
 would frustrate the nicest mathematical calculation. It was 
 soon evident, that if they alone were to be relied on, the 
 enemy would be able to maintain his position for an indefi 
 nite length of time. The gun boats might have succeeded 
 in demolishing the works, but Foote thought it too hazard 
 ous to engage the batteries down stream on the rapid current 
 of the Mississippi ; for the slightest accident to their machinery 
 would leave them to drift directly under the enemy s guns, 
 where they would be quickly sunk. 
 
 The bombardment however, went on day after day, while 
 other means of reducing the place were carefully canvassed. 
 Thus for weeks it was almost a continuous thunder peal along 
 the shores of the Mississippi. When the gunners fired off 
 
POPE AT NEW MADRID. 313 
 
 those monstrous mortars they had to take shelter behind 
 the timber work that enclosed them, so heavy was the con 
 cussion. 
 
 POPE S VICTORY AT NEW MADRID. 
 
 In the mean time General Pope, in command of a division 
 in Missouri had moved down from Commerce, by order of Gen 
 eral Halleck, to Point Pleasant near New Madrid, a few miles 
 below the island, where he found a large force of the enemy 
 intrenched. Not having any heavy guns, he sent to St. Louis 
 for them. These he transported over roads almost impas 
 sable, and working with an energy and resolution that mocked 
 at difficulties, at length got them mounted, when he opened 
 on the enemy. Finding the fire becoming too hot, they de 
 camped in the night in such haste, that they left all the bag 
 gage of the officers and knapsacks of the men behind, and 
 their dead unburied, and took refuge on the Kentucky shore. 
 Our loss was about fifty killed and wounded. Pope then 
 planted his batteries on the shore v shutting the rebel fleet 
 up between him and the island, and cutting off communica 
 tion from below by water. Beyond this, however, he was 
 powerless to do any thing to aid Foote. Without a single 
 transport or gun boat, and no way of obtaining them, he was 
 confined to the task of simply holding his position. It was 
 a terrible trial to an energetic, active commander like him, to 
 sit idly there on the banks of the river, listening day after 
 day and week after week, to the heavy cannonading above 
 him, and think how easily with a few boats he could cross 
 over to the Kentucky shore and end this long struggle. 
 
 19 
 
CHAPTER XXIY. 
 
 MARCH, 18G2. 
 
 CAPTURE OF NEWBERN BY BURNSIDE THE MARCH THE ATTACK THE VIC- 
 
 TORY ACTION OF THE FLEET FEELING OF THE PEOPLE BURNSIDE s DIS 
 PATCH THE PRESIDENT ASSUMES ACTIVE COMMAND OF THE ARMY AND OR 
 DERS A GENERAL ADVANCE AN IMPORTANT EPOCH IN THE HISTORY OF THE 
 
 WAR FREMONT IN COMMAND OF THE MOUNTAIN DEPARTMENT MANASSAS 
 
 EVACUATED CHAGRIN OF THE PEOPLE JACKSON BEYOND THE BLUE RIDGE 
 
 PURSUED BY BANKS TRAP SET FOR HIM BY SHIELDS BATTLE OF WINCHES- 
 TEH POUND GAP IN EAST TENNESSEE TAKEN BY GARFIELD THE NASHVILLE 
 
 ESCAPES FROM BEAUFORT THE PRESIDENT S MESSAGE CONCERNING EMANCI 
 PATION IN THE STATES. 
 
 WHILE the daily reports from Island Number Ten were 
 the same dull record of a bombardment without re 
 sults, news from Burnside s expedition electrified the nation. 
 Rumors were current that this gallant officer was moving on 
 Norfolk, and great fears were entertained by many that the 
 rebel army in front of McClellan, would suddenly fall below 
 Richmond, and crush him before he could receive reinforce 
 ments, or reach the protection of his gun boats. But the 
 uncertainty that had prevailed respecting his movements, 
 was suddenly dispelled by the news that he had captured 
 the city of Newbern. 
 
 CAPTURE OF NEWBERN, NORTH CAROLINA. 
 
 A combined attack on the place, by land and water, hav 
 ing been resolved upon, the expedition, with the gun boats 
 in advance, followed by the vast concourse of transports, set 
 sail from Roanoke island, on the twelfth, and slowly moved 
 in the direction of Newbern. Reaching the mouth of the 
 Neuse on which the city is situated, the fleet ascended the 
 
A QUIET SCENE. 315 
 
 river some twenty miles, and came to anchor, to wait for 
 daylight. The night was clear and balmy as summer, and 
 as the bright moon sailed up among the stars, flooding the 
 stream with light, and throwing the woods on the adjacent 
 banks into deeper shadow, it looked down on a scene of 
 tranquil beauty that gave no indications of the carnage and 
 death soon to follow. The troops, inspired by it, sent their 
 songs over the quiet waters, while far inland the bright fires 
 of the enemy checkered the landscape. But as night wore on, 
 every sound died away, and the soldiers lay down to their 
 rest. Before morning it began to rain, and the thirteenth 
 dawned gloomily on the expedition. But the clouds soon 
 broke away, and the warm, bright sun came out, and was hailed 
 as a cheering omen. About eight o clock, the small boats 
 were lowered and filled with troops, and it was soon evident 
 that the land forces were going no farther by water towards 
 Newbern. The spot selected for the landing was near the 
 mouth of Slocum s creek, about twelve miles from the city 
 by water, but four or five miles farther by land. The regi 
 ments formed on the beach, and after marching a little over 
 two miles through the sand, came to an encampment. At sight 
 of it the men dashed forward with a cheer, but they found 
 it deserted. The rebels had fled in such haste, that they left 
 blankets and camp equipage behind, while the warm break 
 fast lay untouched, anft the fires that cooked it were still 
 burning. A brief halt only was made here, and the column 
 again took up its line of march, while over the forest, like 
 heavy thunder, came the steady explosions of cannon from 
 the gun boats, as they moved up the stream, shelling the 
 woods in advance of the army. The promise of a . bright 
 day which the morning wore, now suddenly vanished, and 
 heavy, leaden clouds closed rapidly over the sun, flinging a 
 deep shadow on the earth. Soon the rain began to descend 
 in torrents. All day long it poured, drenching the soldiers 
 
316 THE MARCH. 
 
 to their skins yet they inarched steadily on through it and 
 the deep mud. About noon, skirmishers, who had been 
 sent out, returned with the report that a short distance ahead 
 there was a formidable earthwork, erected directly across 
 their route. A halt was ordered, and a reconnoitering party 
 sent forward, which soon returned and reported the works 
 abandoned. The march was then resumed, and the troops 
 passing through them, came to the rail road leading to the 
 city. Where the highway crossed the track there were some 
 meadows, in which the troops stacked their arms and 
 snatched a hasty meal from their haversacks, and drank from 
 the water by the roadside. Here the army divided into two 
 columns, one keeping along the rail road track, and the 
 other the stage road. 
 
 After marching for two hours, the rail road and highway 
 again crossed each other, and the two columns once more 
 came together. Here, in some meadows, a halt was ordered, 
 and the troops breaking line, laid aside their knapsacks, and 
 throwing themselves on the ground, or sitting down on logs 
 and fallen trees, rested their weary limbs. But soon the 
 drum called them to their ranks again, and though foot-sore 
 and wet, they marched cheerfully forward. Night came on, 
 yet they still moved carefully along in the darkness till eight 
 o clock, when they encamped. Some few found shelter in 
 the scattered farm houses and barns, but the main army rested 
 on the soaked fields. The long night passed quietly, and at 
 daylight the troops stood to their arms again. About seven 
 o clock, sharp firing ahead told that the skirmishers had en 
 countered the enemy. In a few minutes the regiments were 
 in their places, and moved forward. Burnside rode on with 
 his staff to examine the ground, and as he came to a wide 
 field, a battery on the farther side opened, and a shell struck 
 witltout exploding, within ten feet of him. The rail road, 
 highway, and river Neuse, at this point run nearly parallel 
 
THE VICTORY. 317 
 
 to each other, and not far apart. The river bank was lined for 
 a long distance towards Newbern with batteries, which com 
 manded both the river itself, and the road inland leading to the 
 city. From the first of these, a line of rifle pits, half a mile 
 in length, extended across the roads, ending in a swamp. 
 Burnside immediately ordered Foster to advance along the 
 road against the enemy s left, Parke to follow him up till 
 opposite the enemy s center, while Reno was to keep along 
 the rail road and attack his right. The artillery was then 
 advanced, and the battle opened. At the -first gun, the rebel 
 infantry stretched out in line, from the battery on the banks 
 of the river to the rail road. At this point commenced a 
 series of redoubts and rifle pits, extending nearly three miles. 
 But of these the flanking brigade was entirely ignorant, as it 
 floundered through the swamp to get in rear of the first 
 works. The regiments in every part of the field moved 
 steadily into their places amid a storm of shot, and soon the 
 wounded were borne rapidly back through the lines. The 
 enemy were concealed behind their works, so that nothing 
 but their heads were visible, while our troops stood exposed 
 to their long line of fire. It was hopeless to sustain any 
 length of time, such an unequal contest, and the order to 
 charge was given. A shout went up from the whole line at 
 the order, and the intrepid regiments moved straight on the 
 enemy s works. Four companies of the Massachusetts twenty- 
 first were first inside, but were almost immediately driven 
 out again by the overwhelming numbers of the enemy. Re 
 inforced by the New York fifty-first and New Jersey and 
 Rhode Island troops, they again turned to the assault, when 
 the whole mounted the ramparts together, with a shout that 
 rose over the roar of the guns. Hand to hand, and breast to 
 breast, they fought their desperate way, till the enemy broke 
 and fled in dismay. When the brigade on the right heard 
 the charging cheer of those on the left, they dashed from the 
 
318 THE ENEMY SET FIRE TO NEWBERN. 
 
 woods that covered them, and moving at double-quick over 
 the intervening field, charged up to the very muzzles of the 
 guns. But our success on the left had spread a panic on 
 every side, and. the rebels broke and fled without attempting 
 to carry off the artillery. The victory was won we were 
 within the enemy s works, and shout after shout went up as 
 the regimental colors were planted on the ramparts. Soon, 
 Burnside and his staff galloped up, and as he passed within, 
 the cheers were redoubled, and caught up and sent back, till 
 from far and near, the field shook wifh wild hurrahs. Less 
 than seven thousand men had done all the fighting, and car 
 ried these strong works in the face of eight regiments of in 
 fantry, five hundred cavalry, and eighteen cannon in position, 
 and with a total loss of killed and wounded of only five hun 
 dred. 
 
 Leaving knapsacks, blankets, and arms strewed along the 
 road and rail road track, the enemy fled towards Newbern, 
 burning the bridges behind them. Reaching the city, they 
 crowded into the cars, and streamed inland. Our troops 
 were soon formed in two columns as before, and taking the 
 stage road and rail road track, pressed on with drums beat 
 ing and colors flying, after the fugitives. They had not pro- 
 ceeded far, when clouds of black smoke ahead told them 
 that the bridge across the river, and the towii itself, was on 
 fire. They reached the smoking bridge about half-past three 
 o clock in the afternoon. Through the ascending columns of 
 smoke, the spires of the churches could be seen, and it was 
 thought that the entire city was on fire. But the rebels 
 were in too great haste to consummate their diabolical work, 
 and the citizens rallying, extinguished the. flames. Soon af 
 ter, our gun boats were seen moving up to the wharves. 
 They had passed slowly up the river, shelling the woods in 
 advance of our army till nightfall, when they came to an 
 chor, Next morning, a heavy fog lay on the water, conceal- 
 
CONDUCT OF THE FLEET. 319 
 
 ing every object at a distance, even the shores ; but it soon 
 lifted, and they again moved forward. First, one fort, and 
 then another, was silenced, when they at length came to a 
 more formidable obstruction. More than twenty vessels had 
 been sunk in one channel, their masts sticking out above the 
 surface in every direction. In the other, heavy spars had 
 been sunk with the long points down stream, to pierce any 
 vessel that might attempt to force a passage. To these, un 
 der the water were attached torpedoes, so arranged that 
 when a vessel pressed against the point of a spar, it would 
 spring a lock, which by striking a percussion cap, would ig 
 nite the powder, causing an explosion. 
 
 The raid of the Merrimac had re-called Goldsborough to 
 the Chesapeake, and Rowan was in command of the squad 
 ron. He, after carefully examining the obstacles before him, 
 determined, though heavy guns commanded the passage, to 
 force his boats over the sunken vessels. In this he succeeded ; 
 and though other forts commanded the river beyond they made 
 but feeble resistance, and he moved up to the smoking city. 
 
 Between sixty and seventy cannon were captured in the 
 various works, besides a large quantity of small arms. The 
 city was nearly deserted, and but little of that Union feel 
 ing, said to exist south, was found. The slaves alone seemed 
 rejoiced at our coming, for here, as every where else where 
 our forces penetrated, these simple-minded creatures looked 
 upon our victorious banners as signs of their approaching 
 millennium. 
 
 The great victories at the west could not eclipse the briL 
 liancy of this exploit, and every where Burnside was spoken 
 of with enthusiasm. Not only had our troops won a great 
 victory, but they had done it without the aid of our gun 
 boats by superior valor alone. The enemies of McClellan 
 were especially loud in their praises, contrasting his brilliant 
 achievements with the" dilatory action of the Commander-in- 
 
320 BURNSIDE S DISPATCH. 
 
 Chief. West, too, our leaders were winning imperishable 
 laurels, while the head of the army, with two hundred thou 
 sand men, could do nothing more than hold Washington 
 against the rebels. Such language was held by certain mem 
 bers of Congress, and a portion of the press which sympa 
 thized with them. But soon after, Burnside s official dis 
 patch arrived, in which was a single paragraph, inserted to 
 all appearance casually, which struck dumb these cavilers, 
 and let the country see that all these movements, extending 
 from the Mississippi to the Atlantic coast, were not isolated 
 ones, but parts of a great plan. Said he, " I beg to say to 
 the General commanding the army that I have endeavored 
 to carry out the very minute instructions given me by him 
 before leaving Annapolis, and thus far events have been sin 
 gularly coincident with his anticipations. I only hope that 
 we may in future be able to carry out in detail the remaining 
 plans of the campaign ; the only thing I have to regret is 
 the delay caused by the elements." 
 
 Burnside having quietly taken possession of Newbern, the 
 soldiers established a newspaper there, evidently intending 
 a long sojourn among the disgusted inhabitants. Washing 
 ton and Morehead were soon after occupied, and prepara 
 tions were set on foot to lay siege- to Macon near Beaufort, 
 a United States fort that commanded the entrance of the har 
 bor of the city. 
 
 Dupont, in the mean time, was pushing his explorations, 
 and conquests along the coast of Florida, Jackson and St. 
 Augustine were occupied in which a considerable Union feel 
 ing was discovered, and before the month closed the chief 
 part of this refractory little state was under the national flag. 
 
 THE PRESIDENT ORDERS A GENERAL ADVANCE. 
 
 While events were thus marching forward with fearfully 
 rapid strides west and east, the mighty army of the Potomac 
 
THE FORWARD MOVEMENT. 321 
 
 was put in motion, and all believed that the finishing blow 
 to the rebellion was to be struck. It was divided into five 
 grand corps d armee and began to feel its way towards Ma- 
 nassas. A mountain department in the mean time was cre 
 ated, embracing Western Virginia over which Fremont was 
 placed. The President had issued an order for a general 
 movement all along the lines on the twenty-second day 
 of February, though it was not made public until this month, 
 and, according to general rumor, had assumed the active 
 duties of Commander-in-Chief. It was asserted and be 
 lieved, that in a council of war called to determine on the 
 propriety of an immediate movement, McClellan and all but 
 four Generals declared it to be unwise. But the President, 
 it was said overruled this decision, and ordered it to com 
 mence at once. The press and the people were jubilant at 
 this act of the President, while, if it were true, they should 
 have been filled with sadness. The President, who may be 
 taken from any of the professions of life, is not supposed to 
 know any thing of military science, and hence was never 
 designed by the Constitution to take the personal responsi 
 bility of the movements of the army. His power as Com 
 mander-in-Chief, was given him to restrain military en 
 croachments check lawless action, displace incompetent 
 leaders, and ^ see that every thing worked in harmony with 
 our free institutions and the laws of the land. If, therefore, Mr. 
 Lincoln, from the sudden confidence inspired by our successes, 
 took the responsibility of breaking up carefully matured 
 plans of the very officers he had put at the head of military 
 affairs, he took a fearful risk. Incompetent leaders should 
 never be left at the head of an army if competent, they 
 should not be meddled with as long as they are in the strict 
 line of their duty. At this point, the people should erect a 
 great landmark ; for if future developments show that the 
 military decision was overruled by the President, they will be 
 
322 MANASSAS EVACUATED. 
 
 able to fix this as the turning point of our fortunes, and as 
 certain where the guilt rests of the stupendous blunders that 
 followed, about which the country was so much divided. 
 
 MANASSAS EVACUATED. 
 
 McClellan, under this order, took command of the army 
 of the Potomac, and issued a stirring address to his troops, 
 in which he praised their discipline, offered to share their 
 dangers, and promised them victory. 
 
 But while the public were waiting in eager expectation to 
 hear of the onset of this vast army against the strong defenses 
 of Manassas, news came that on the eleventh they were 
 evacuated. The enemy had fled, burning every thing they 
 could not take with them, except the huts in which they had 
 wintered. Great chagrin and disappointment were felt at 
 this barren triumph, and the land was filled with murmurs 
 that the rebels had been allowed to escape. The most ab 
 surd stories were circulated, and nothing seemed able to ap 
 pease the public, that had waited so long and patiently for 
 this grand army to fully prepare itself for the desperate 
 struggle before it. A deserted camp was a sorry trophy to 
 present to the American people, after so many months of 
 eager expectation. There was one thing, however, that 
 somewhat alleviated the disappointment the army had 
 finally got in motion, and now, sweeping every thing before 
 it, would not stop till it drew up around the rebel capital. 
 From Leesburg to Alexandria, the mighty columns moved 
 majestically on. 
 
 Though the main army of the enemy was retiring behind 
 the Rappahannock, beyond the Blue Ridge, Jackson was still 
 in force; and it was hoped that while Banks pressed him in 
 front, his retreat towards Richmond might be cut off by our 
 army at Manassas. 
 
A STRATAGEM. 323 
 
 The latter followed up the retiring enemy till he came to 
 Strasburgh. Here, on the eighteenth and nineteenth, a re- 
 connoitering force reported that Jackson occupied a strong 
 position at New Market, within supporting distance of the 
 main army under Johnson. Shields, in command of the ad- 
 .vance division, in order to decoy him from this position, fell 
 rapidly back to Winchester, on the twentieth, making the 
 whole ^distance, nearly thirty miles, in one day, and secreted 
 his main force about two miles from town, on the Martins- 
 burgh road. The next day, Ashby s cavalry showed them 
 selves in front, but no infantry force appearing, Banks con 
 cluded the bait had not taken, and so on the following day, 
 the twenty- third, sent off his division to Centreville. This 
 movement convinced the enemy that the place was evacuated, 
 and only a few regiments being left in garrison, the inhabit 
 ants supposed so too, and signaled to that effect to the dis 
 tant enemy. Shields saw the signals, and divining their 
 meaning, stood prepared for any emergency. About five 
 o clock Ashby s cavalry attacked his pickets, and drove them 
 in. He immediately ordered forward a brigade to arrest 
 th^ir advance, allowing, however, only two regiments to be 
 seen, and a small body of cavalry. This confirmed the delu 
 sion of the enemy, who supposed this small force was all that 
 was left to defend the place. As soon as it became dark, 
 Shields ordered a brigade under Kimball to take up a strong 
 position, and pushed forward four batteries to its support, 
 and placed Sullivan s brigade on both flanks to protect them, 
 and prevent surprise, while Tyler s brigade was held in re^ 
 serve. While engaged in these movements, a little skirmish 
 occurred, in which Shields was struck by the fragment of a 
 shell, that broke his arm, and prevented him from taking the 
 field in person. 
 
 About eight o clock next morning, two officers were sent 
 forward to reconnoiter, who reported no enemy in sight, ex- 
 
324 BATTLE OF WINCHESTER. 
 
 cept Ashby s cavalry. Convinced from this circumstance 
 that the rebels did not meditate an attack, Banks left, to 
 overtake his division. But about half past ten, it became 
 evident that Jackson was approaching the place in force, 
 though he kept his troops so adroitly concealed by the woods 
 that Shields could obtain no estimate of their numbers. But 
 by degrees, they began to show themselves, and battery after 
 battery came out and took position on commanding points, 
 and opened fire. Our artillery responded, and until half-past 
 three, a fierce cannonade was maintained on both sides. 
 
 THE BATTLE OF WINCHESTER. * 
 
 The two lines of. batteries were posted on two ridges, 
 about a half a mile apart, between which was a ravine, run 
 ning east and west, free from woods. We stood fronting 
 the north, and the rebels the south. On our left, to the 
 west, ran the turnpike, and beyond it spread an open coun 
 try. To the east, the two ridges were connected by a belt 
 of forest, through which run a mud road, and on its outer 
 skirt still another, leading to Cedar Creek. 
 
 While the heavy firing was going on, our infantry grad 
 ually moved up to the support of the guns, till it stood with 
 in a thousand yards of them. The enemy immediately ad 
 vanced a heavy battery, which sent shells with great rapid 
 ity and accuracy both into our batteries, and infantry and 
 cavalry in the rear. Kimball, in command, as Shields was 
 disabled, saw at once that this battery must be taken, and 
 determined on a flank movement to the east, by the mud 
 road in tlie forest and the one just beyond it leading to 
 Cedar Creek. Captain Schriber of Shields staff immediate 
 ly sent to him, asking his approval of it. It was granted, 
 and six regiments moved rapidly into the woods on our 
 right Colonel Tyler s column reaching to tb.e load just be- 
 
A FLANK MOVEMENT. 325 
 
 yond the woods and swept out of sight down the enemy s 
 left flank. In the mean time, Colonel Down kept the artil 
 lery in front in full play, to distract the attention of Jack 
 son from this important movement. 
 
 The columns kept silently on through the woods for about 
 half a mile, when they wheeled, and came suddenly on the 
 enemy s flank, posted behind a stone wall, only two hundred 
 yards distant. The rebels immediately opened on them with 
 a terrible fire from their rifled pieces. The ranks began to 
 melt like frost-work before it, but Forward! FORWARD!" 
 ran along the unfaltering line, and the brave fellows, with 
 leaning forms, and without firing a shot, clashed forward 
 with tremendous cheers, till they came within five paces of 
 the stone wall, when they poured one fearful volley into the 
 closely packed ranks behind it. The enemy, appalled at the 
 close, destructive fire, and the faces of wrath and determin 
 ation that confronted thenvso closely, turned back over the 
 field. As they did so, they unmasked two iron six-pounders 
 which, as soon as they were cleared in front, opened with 
 canister, and hurled death and destruction into our ranks. 
 They did not stop, however, for a single instant the living 
 mass of valor, and it rolled over them like a resistless wave. 
 Here the victorious regiments came to a halt, when two 
 more brass pieces were unmasked, which sent such a shower 
 of balls into their midst that they were compelled to fall 
 back. But just then the fifth Ohio and eighty-fourth Penn 
 sylvania came up, and threw themselves forward with fixed 
 bayonets. It was a splendid charge, but the loss of life here 
 in a few minutes was fearful. The color bearer of the Ohio 
 regiment fell, when a second seized the flag and waved it 
 aloft. The next moment .he fell also, when a third picked 
 it up, but had hardly lifted it from the ground when he fell 
 , forward with his face to the foe. A fourth shared the same 
 fate, when Captain Whitcomb seized the colors, and waving 
 
326 THE VICTORY. 
 
 them in front of his men, cheered them on, but fell while 
 the brave words were still on his lips. The carnage was 
 awful. Colonel Murray of the eighty-fourth Pennsylvania 
 was shot at the head of his regiment, and many other brave 
 officers fell, either killed or wounded. In the midst of the 
 fire, Captain Schriber hurried back and brought up the one 
 hundred and tenth and the fourteenth Indiana regiments, 
 and hurled them obliquely on the enemy, when they fell 
 back, leaving one gun and several caissons in our hands. 
 
 In the mean time, as soon as the rebel flank was turned, 
 a general advance was ordered along the whole line, and 
 the hotly contested field was won. Two guns, four caissons, 
 a thousand stand of arms, and three hundred prisoners, 
 were the trophies of the victory. 
 
 Our loss in killed and wounded was about three hun 
 dred and fifty, while that of the enemy, Shields reported 
 to be, over a thousand. 
 
 A courier had been dispatched after Banks, and he ar 
 rived on the field next morning. A vigorous pursuit was 
 immediately ordered, but he failed to overtake Jackson s 
 main force, though he harassed his rear as far as Wood 
 stock, where the troops were halted from mere exhaustion. 
 For twenty-two miles beyond the battle field, he found the 
 houses filled with the dead and dying, while along the 
 road were strewed evidences of the the terror and sufferings 
 of the enemy. 
 
 Among the minor incidents of this month was the tak 
 ing of Pound Gap, in eastern Tennessee, by General Gar- 
 field, in one of his brilliant dashes, and the escape of the 
 Nashville from Beaufort, in the face of our blockading 
 squadron, much to the chagrin of the nation. 
 
 Perhaps, however, nothing occurred this month that 
 caused more comment at home and abroad, than the trans 
 mission, in the early part of it, of a message to Congress by 
 
EMANCIPATION MESSAGE. 327 
 
 the President, recommending a joint resolution "that the 
 United States ought to co-operate with any state which 
 may adopt a gradual abolishment of slavery, giving to 
 such state pecuniary aid" as a compensation for its loss. 
 The difficulty was, to see the precise object the President 
 proposed to gain by a mere resolution at this time. 
 
CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 APRIL, 1862. 
 
 ISLAND NUMBER TEN CHANNEL CUT AROUND IT BY COLONEL BISSELL DIFFI 
 CULTIES OF THE UNDERTAKING TRANSPORTS GOT THROUGH BUFORD s AT 
 TACK ON UNION CITY COLONEL ROBERTS SPIKES THE UPPER BATTERY OF 
 
 THE ISLAND A DARING EXPLOIT THE CARONDELET RUNS THE BATTERIES 
 
 IN A TERRIFIC THUNDER STORM THE PITTSBURGH FOLLOWS POPE MOVES 
 
 HIS ARMY ACROSS THE MISSISSIPPI AND CAPTURES THE ENEMY ISLAND NUM 
 BER TEN SURRENDERED WITH ALL ITS ARMAMENT. 
 
 THE first of April brought dim intimations of some new, 
 strange movement on the part of the army of the Poto 
 mac; but the excited public curiosity was withdrawn for a 
 moment from it, by stirring news that came from the west. 
 The tedious bombardment of Island Number Ten had been 
 kept up for so long a time, that the public began to be weary 
 of hearing the place mentioned, for we seemed no nearer 
 its possession than when the fleet of Foote first appeared 
 before it. If transports could only be* got to Pope, below, 
 the work would be accomplished, and the following plan to 
 do this was adopted. A slough of standing water struck in 
 land through the swamp from the Mississippi, where the fleet 
 lay, and at length joined a stream which emptied into the 
 river below the island, and near New Madrid. If Foote 
 could only get some light draft transports through this, he 
 could run the batteries with some of his gun boats for their 
 protection. Pope, with his accustomed resolution, deter 
 mined to accomplish this with his corps of engineers under 
 Colonel Bissell. When he first took position at New Madrid, 
 he had sent this accomplished officer to see if he Could not 
 establish batteries on the shore opposite the enemy s works, 
 
BOLD ENGINEERING. 331 
 
 and shell them out ; but the Colonel, after spending three 
 days in the swamps in canoes, with negroes as guides, re 
 ported it impracticable. He declared, however, that he 
 could by hard labor, cut a channel for transports through 
 this slough. Pope at once gave him full permission to take 
 whatever force he wanted, and order every thing he needed 
 and go to work. The latter immediately sent to Cairo for 
 four steamboats, six flats, and such guns as could be spared, 
 and put his regiment into the swamps, to commence the her 
 culean task. The route to be laid open was twelve miles 
 long, two of it through timber, and the remaining ten 
 through narrow, crooked bayous, matted with brush and 
 small trees that had grown up from the bottom. The stand 
 ing timber, to a common observer, presented an insuperable 
 obstacle. Large trees that had been growing there from 
 time immemorial, sent their huge trunks out of the water, 
 some of them nearly six feet in circumference. These had to 
 be sawed off four feet below the surface of the water, for 
 the space of fifty feet in width. In one short stretch, sev 
 enty-five of these trees had to be thus cut. The machines 
 for doing this were rigged on rafts and flats, and worked by 
 twenty men. Ahead of them went large gangs of men to 
 clear away the drift wood and Mien timber that loaded the 
 surface, and behind came two barges and a steamboat, the 
 last of which, with long strong lines, hauled out the logs 
 that the men could not handle. Last of all came the fleet, 
 the flat boats being converted into floating batteries, for no 
 one knew how soon the enemy might ascertain what was 
 going on, and fill the swamp with sharp shooters. 
 
 At the very outset, the difficulties that presented them 
 selves were sufficiently formidable, for it was five hundred 
 feet from the shore to the levee, the whole way filled with 
 stumps. Then the levee itself had to be cut. But the 
 
 ground inland, being lower than this, when an opening was 
 20 
 
332 A DASH BY BUFORD. 
 
 made the water -poured through it like a torrent, tearing a 
 channel across a corn field for a quarter of a mile, to the 
 woods. The boats had to be dropped through this cut with 
 lines, it taking five men to manage the largest. The two 
 miles through the timber, occupied eight days. It some- 
 times took twenty men a whole day, to get out a half 
 sunken log. If the saws worked well, they would cut off a 
 tree two feet through in a quarter of an hour ; but if they 
 ran crooked or pinched, itVould require two or three hours 
 of hard work, even after all the brush had been fished *up 
 around its roots. Three bayous had to be traversed after 
 the woods were cleared, in the middle one the water run 
 ning like a mill-race, making it necessary to check the boats 
 down with lines. At last they came in sight of the Missis 
 sippi, near New Madrid, and the song, u Jordan is a hard 
 road to travel" which the men had chanted through these 
 days of toil, was changed to "t other side of Jordan." It 
 was an astonishing feat of engineering skill and energy, and 
 reflected as much credit on the commander, as though he 
 had won a battle. 
 
 While this gigantic task was being accomplished, the mo 
 notonous life of the flotilla above the island was broken by 
 two brilliant exploits. The rebels who occupied Union city, 
 nearly opposite the head of Island Number Ten becoming 
 very troublesome to the Unionists at Hickman, Colonel Bu- 
 ford, at the head of a thousand men, made a night march 
 upon the place, and surprising them, drove them in affright 
 from it and took all their camp equipage. The other, was a 
 night attack by boats, upon the upper battery of the enemy 
 on the island. Two weeks had elapsed since the fleet set 
 sail, and no perceptible progress had been made towards de 
 stroying the rebel works. The troops were wearied to death 
 with their long idleness, and many of the officers were ready 
 Tor any undertaking, however desperate, that would give 
 
A BOLD ADVENTURE. 333 
 
 them action. In this state of things, an expedition was got up 
 under Colonel Roberts, consisting of fifty men in five launch 
 es, who were to steal on this battery in the darkness, and 
 spike it 
 
 The night of the second of April was selected for carrying it 
 out. It was dark and threatening, and the wind blew in fierce 
 and fitful gusts, while up from the western horizon, below 
 which the moon had just sunk, heavy thunder clouds were 
 pushing their corrugated edges, and incessant flashes of light 
 ning and the low mutterings of distant thunder gave omin 
 ous warnings of an approaching, storm. Nothing daunted, 
 the little party pushed off from shore, and keeping under the 
 shadow of the bank, dropped noiselessly down stream, and 
 disappeared in the darkness. The most perfect silence was 
 enjoined, and even the commands were passed along in whis 
 pers. They paused a moment as they neared the battery, 
 to ascertain its exact locality, and on discovering the recess 
 in which it was placed, a low "give way" passed from boat 
 to boat, and with Roberts leading, they shot like arrows to 
 the shore. Quickly leaping out, the party formed in line, 
 and with fixed bayonets started for the battery, about two 
 hundred yards distant. The low bank was overflowed with 
 water two feet deep, through which they had to flounder in 
 the darkness. Not a word was spoken, and the only sound 
 that broke the stillness, was the plashing of their feet in the 
 water. The roar of the coming storm was now terrific, but 
 they pushed rapidly on till they came to the ditch in front 
 of the works, when a sudden flash in front, followed by the 
 crack of a musket, told them they were discovered. Still 
 they neither halted nor spoke, but kept right on, skirting 
 the "ditch to find the entrance, when a second shot whistled 
 past them. The affrighted rebel who fired it, immediately 
 turned and fled, while two of our men dashed after him in 
 the darkness. The next moment, a third flash lit the gloom, 
 
334 SPIKING A BATTERY. 
 
 but the bullet flew wide of its mark. Says an eye witness, 
 " Just as our men had gained the entrance of the fortifica 
 tion, there came a terrific, blinding flash of lightning, illu 
 minating as with the blaze of noon-day the works before 
 them. In a twinkling all was dark as Erebus. The vivid 
 sheet of lightning blinded them, and the crack and roar of 
 the thunder that followed, stunned their hearing. It was a 
 moment when the bravest might have faltered. The flash 
 that pointed the way to the guns in battery also disclosed to 
 the enemy a foe in their midst. Whatever was done, must 
 be done quickly, or the whole enterprise was a failure. While 
 the echoes of the thunder were rumbling away in the distant 
 hills, the deed was done ten minutes sufficed to execute 
 what the cannonading of a fortnight had failed to accomplish. 
 With rocket and files in hand, the Colonel passed around the 
 works spiking five guns, one of which was knocked down 
 and in process of re-erection. The last was the crowning piece 
 of the affair, a magnificent ten-inch columbiad in the center of 
 the work, on a pivot. A rat- tail file was driven in tight, and 
 broken off close to the top of the vent." A more dashing, 
 gallant exploit was never performed. 
 
 But now movements of grander proportions were about 
 to be set on foot. The arrival of transports at New Madrid- 
 rendered it necessary to get one or two gun boats down to 
 protect them in moving troops to the opposite shore. So 
 two days after this daring feat of Colonel Roberts, the Car- 
 ondelet was put in the best possible trim to run the gauntlet 
 of the batteries. Hawsers and chains were coiled around 
 the pilot house and the vulnerable parts the guns run in 
 and ports closed cord wood piled up round the boilers, and 
 the hose connected with them to repel boarders. Twenty 
 sharp shooters were added to the crew who were all armed 
 to the teeth. A boat loaded with pressed hay was lashed 
 to the side exposed to the batteries, while to balance this, 
 
RUNNING THE BATTERIES. 335 
 
 and at the same time furnish the steamer with fuel, should 
 she get through safely, a barge freighted with coal was fast 
 ened to the other side. Every thing being ready, she was 
 cast loose about ten o clock at night and started on her per 
 ilous voyage. As if on purpose to give success to the un 
 dertaking by affording more perfect concealment, a terrific 
 thunder storm burst over the river and shores at this moment, 
 making the night one of Cimmerian gloom. The rain came 
 down, not in a pouring shower, but in solid masses of water. 
 Not at intervals, but every instant, the invisible clouds gaped 
 and shot forth flames that swept in one vast, broad sheet over 
 heaven and earth, while the rapidly succeeding claps, fol 
 lowing and blending with each other, sounded along the 
 lordly Mississippi like the explosion of a thousand cannon. 
 
 After rounding heavily to with her cumbersome barges, 
 the Carondelet put her bow down stream, and steering 
 straight for the batteries, disappeared in the gloom. It was 
 a hazardous task those bold men had undertaken, and those 
 left behind, held their breath to hear the first explosion of 
 cannon that should announce that the enemy had discovered 
 their approach. In the mean time, the boat, wrapped in the 
 thunder storm, moved on and was rapidly approaching the 
 batteries, and those on board began to discuss the probability 
 of their passing unobserved, when the soot in the chimneys 
 caught fire, and a blaze five feet high leaped out from their 
 tops, lighting brightly the upper deck of the vessel and 
 every thing around. The word was instantly passed to 
 the engineers to open the flue caps, when the flames subsided, 
 but not till the rebels had the fairest opportunity to discover 
 our approach. This was a fearful mishap, for no signal, even 
 if arranged beforehand could more completely disclose our 
 purpose. Those on board expected to hear the drum beat 
 loudly to quarters, and see the signals flash from battery to 
 battery along the hights, but strange to say, the blaze was 
 
 TTTP! 
 
336 A THRILLING SCENE. 
 
 not seen either on account of the blinding storm, or its sudden 
 appearance and disappearance in the darkness so bewildered 
 the guard, that he did not know whether it was near or dis 
 tant. They were congratulating themselves on their almost 
 miraculous escape, and had got just abreast of the upper fort, 
 when, as if on purpose to secure their destruction, the treach 
 erous chimneys caught fire again, and blazed like a flaming 
 torch, right in the face of the foe. This time they could not 
 escape detection. 
 
 Suddenly the report of the muskets of the guard broke 
 the stillness, signal rockets from the island and main land 
 shot into the heavens the rapid roll of drums was heard, 
 and then came the loud explosion of a cannon, shaking the 
 shore. Concealment was at a*n end, and but one hope was 
 left for the Carondelet, and putting on a full head of steam, 
 she swept silently on. A man stood forward, heaving the 
 lead and line, and as he coolly called out the soundings, a 
 second man on deck sent them on to the captain, who stood 
 near the pilot. A moment s silence followed the first fierce 
 preparations, and then came a crash Jouder than the thunder 
 that shook the heavens. From shore and bluff, cannon and 
 musketry opened on the devoted boat. The island was 
 ablaze with the flashes, before which the lightning paled. 
 The rain fell in a tropical thunder shower, amid which the 
 artillery of heaven and earth played in wild response; yet 
 not a sound broke the stillness that enveloped that daring 
 boat, as the darkness opened and shut upon it from the 
 flaming heavens and the flaming earth, save the steady call 
 of the man at the lead and line, or the short, quick order of 
 the captain to the pilot, as he stood amid the raining balls. 
 There was great danger in the pitchy darkness of getting out 
 of the channel and running aground within range of the 
 enemy s guns, when their destruction would have been cer 
 tain. Hence, the entire attention of the officers had to be 
 
POPE CROSSES WITH HIS ARMY. 337 
 
 given to navigating the vessel, forgetting for the time, that 
 they were the target of a hundred cannon. Once, in a longer 
 interval of the flashes of lightning, the current had swung 
 the boat so that she was heading straight for shoal water. 
 The next flash, however, revealed the danger, and "hard 
 op0r" fell from the captain s lips as calmly as though they 
 were running into a harbor instead of rushing on destruction, 
 and the boat swung back to the channel. All this time the 
 heavy shot were shrieking through the gloom and plunging 
 into the water on every side, but not one hit the Carondelet. 
 The captain had taken his vessel close under the enemy s 
 guns, on purpose to deceive him, and render it difficult to 
 depress them so as to cover his vessel. 
 
 At length she passed out of range, when the ports were 
 thrown open, and the guns run out, to fire the signals agreed 
 upon, both to notify those above the island of their safety, 
 and those at New Madrid, that friends and not enemies were 
 coming. The dull echoes, as they rolled over the distant 
 fleet, caused cheer after cheer to go up from the crowded 
 decks, while the shore at New Madrid fairly rocked under 
 the wild hurras of the army, as they saw the gun boat come 
 up, unharmed, to the wharf. Rushing down, the soldiers 
 seized the sailors in their arms, and bearing them upon their 
 shoulders, carried them up the bank to the nearest hotel. 
 
 Sunday night, the Pittsburgh, following the example of the 
 Carondelet, run the same gauntlet of fire unscathed. 
 
 This settled the fate of Island Number Ten. The gun boats 
 easily silenced the batteries that had been placed on the 
 Kentucky shore, where Pope wished to cross, and the army 
 was safely carried over. The rebel army, finding their way 
 blocked from below, scattered into the woods and along the 
 by-ways, though they were eventually taken, to the num 
 ber of five thousand. MqjCall, the rebel commander on the 
 island, then surrendered the garrison of a few hundred men. 
 
338 ISLAND NUMBER TEN SURRENDERS. 
 
 This strong hold had finally fallen, and with it we had cap 
 tured a hundred heavy guns, several field batteries, immense 
 quantities of small arms, tents, wagons, horses, and provis 
 ions. The news was received at the north with the firing 
 of cannon, hoisting of flags, and general joy. The Mississippi 
 was now open to forts Wright and Pillow, some sixty miles 
 above Memphis, and Foote immediately prepared to move 
 down with his flotilla and attack them. 
 
CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 APRIL, 1862. 
 
 BATTLE OF PITTSBURG LANDING - THE SURPRISE OF SHERMAN^ AND PREtf- 
 
 DIVISIONS - CAPTURE .OF THE LATTER - THE RETREAT - GALLANTRY 
 OF SHERMAN - ARRIVAL OF GRANT - GLOOMY PROSPECT - THE LAST ONSET 
 - ARRIVAL OF NELSON - THE GUN BOATS TYLER AND LEXINGTON TAKE 
 PART IN THE FIGHT - BUELL REACHES SAVANNAH - HASTENS TO PITTS- 
 BURG LANDING - SCENE AT THK WHARF - ARRIVAL OF TROOPS - NIGHT 
 AFTER THE BATTLE. 
 
 UT while these events were passing at Island Number 
 Ten, a terrible battle was raging on the banks of the 
 Tennessee, at Pittsburg Landing. On the very Sunday 
 night the Pittsburg ran the batteries, the two hostile armies 
 lay face to face on the field where they had struggled des 
 perately all day. On the next day, when our troops were 
 moving across to the Kentucky shore to assured victory, our 
 army there was struggling to recover the bloody Held lost 
 the day before. 
 
 Johnston, as we have seen, after retiring southward 
 through Tennessee, moved west towards Memphis, and final 
 ly concentrated his army at Corinth, in Mississippi, near the 
 Tennessee line, and ninety-three miles east of Memphis. 
 Grant had moved up the Tennessee with his army and estab 
 lished it on the west bank of the river at Pittsburg Land 
 ing, where he was to await the arrival of BuelPs corps which 
 was crossing the country from Nashville. When the junc 
 tion should be effected the entire army was to move forward 
 on the rebel camp at Corinth. Why Grant placed his divi 
 sion on the west bank of the river, thus provoking an attack 
 on his inferior force before Buell could arrive, while a safe 
 passage could at any time be secured by the gun boats does 
 
340 THE BATTLE FIELD. 
 
 not appear in any official document. The fact that he had 
 done so was known to Johnston, as well as to the whole 
 country. That he would attack him before Buell could ar 
 rive, if he could concentrate his forces in time, was a moral 
 certainty. His water and rail road communications with 
 New Orleans, Mobile, and the entire south, rendered this 
 extremely probable ; and those accustomed to study mili 
 tary movements feared a catastrophe. It came, and well 
 nigh proved a fatal one. On the fourth of April, Johnston 
 moved his entire army forward, intending to attack Grant on 
 Saturday ; but the muddy roads so impeded his progress 
 that he was unable to do it till Sunday morning. Grant s 
 force at the time was disposed in the following manner. 
 .From Pittsburg Landing a road strikes straight for Corinth, 
 twenty miles distant. About two miles from the river it 
 divides, one fork leading to lower Corinth, and the other 
 keeping the ridge straight on. A little farther inland, a 
 road from Hamburg Landing, a few miles farther up the 
 river, intersects the former. On the right, two roads branch 
 off towards Purdy. On and between these several roads, 
 from two to five miles out, lay the army. The three divi 
 sions of Prentiss, Sherman, and McClernand, were the far 
 thest advanced. Between them and the river, were Hurl- 
 burt s and Smith s, the latter commanded by W. II. L. Wal 
 lace, Smith being sick. Sherman s brigade was on the 
 right, and Colonel Stuart on the left, and Prentiss in the 
 center. 
 
 On the extreme left, up the river from the landing, were 
 precipitous hights and a ravine, that were considered a suffi 
 cient protection of themselves against any serious advance 
 of the enemy down the left bank. 
 
 . The rebel army seventy thousand strong came on in three 
 great divisions, not feeling its way cautiously, but in a 
 swift, overwhelming rush. Johnston, though Commander- 
 
THE SURPRISE. 341 
 
 in-Chief, had especial charge of the center. Soon after day 
 light on Sunday, the pickets of Prentiss and Sherman were 
 driven in, when the long roll sounded through the camps. 
 
 Wholly unprepared for such a sudden attack, the troops 
 were scattered around, some preparing their breakfasts and 
 others sitting idly in their tents. They had hardly time to 
 form, when the compact masses of the foe, in far extending 
 lines, came sweeping down in one unbroken wave on the 
 camps. Right on the heels of the shouting pickets, dashed 
 the dark columns ; and while the artillery suddenly appear 
 ing on the hights began to pitch shot and shell into and 
 beyond the encampments, the regiments stormed through 
 them, firing volleys as they came. So complete was the sur 
 prise and so sudden the rush, that officers were bayoneted in 
 their beds. The on-pouring thousands swept the camps of 
 the front division like an inundation, and the dreadful spec 
 tacle of a vast army in disorderly flight, before it had time 
 to form in line of battle, was presented. So swift was the 
 onset on Buckland s brigade of Sherman s division, that be 
 tween the long roll of the drum and the actual presence of 
 the shouting foe in the camp, the officers not yet up had not 
 time to dress, and the troops seizing their muskets as they 
 could, fled like a herd of sheep towards the rest of the divi 
 sion. This, Sherman made desperate efforts to get in a po 
 sition to receive the coming shock. Though the shot and 
 shell which the enemy sent after the fugitives crashed and 
 burst around him, he rode up and down his agitated lines, 
 steadying his men by the reckless exposure of his person 
 and his gallant words. The sight of Buckland s broken, 
 fleeing brigade was enough to shake the firmest troops, yet 
 the fearless bearing of their leader held them firm. 
 
 In the mean time, Me demand moved up to fill the gap 
 caused by Buckland s flight, and a noble effort was made to 
 stay the fearful refluent tide of battle. The woods and 
 
342 PRENTISS TAKEN PRISONER. 
 
 fields were filled with the rolling smoke, and it was one con 
 tinuous crash and roar of musketry and artillery on every 
 side. Our officers fell fast in the unequal struggle, and it 
 was plain to Sherman that he was fighting against hopeless 
 odds, and he gave the order to fall back. 
 
 In the mean time, still more disastrous results had befallen 
 Prentiss division. Surprised, as the advance of Sherman s 
 had been, the camp was not swept so as by a whirlwind, and 
 the men had time to form in line of battle. Unfortunately, 
 however, they formed in an open field, and stood there to 
 meet the attack. The enemy, streaming through the woods, 
 halted at the edge, and poured in a murderous fire upon the 
 uncovered troops, mowing them down with great slaughter. 
 But they held their position like veterans, and did what men 
 could do under such disheartening circumstances. Their 
 volleys were rapid and steady, but the Commander-in-Chief 
 was not on the field, and hence there could be but little 
 unity of action, so that supports could be brought up at the 
 proper time and place. Each general had as much as he 
 could do to take care of his own division, and his whole 
 efforts were used in simply holding his ground, hoping in 
 the mean time that help would come. There was no time 
 to form a regular line of battle, and no one to do it. On 
 the other hand, the rebel army was handled like a single ma 
 chine, and hurled its whole power on our broken, disjointed 
 divisions. Hence, while Prentiss was holding his men to the 
 slaughter, the supports on either flanks had given way, and 
 over the ground which they had occupied, the flanking col 
 umns of the enemy swept without opposition, inclosing him 
 in a wall of steel. He saw at once that he was lost, and this 
 mutilated portion of his division, three thousand strong, laid 
 down their arms. They were immediately sent to the rear, 
 and over the ground they had held the victorious rebel 
 columns stormed, with loud exultant shouts, driving the re- 
 
GALLANT STAND OF SHERMAN. 343 
 
 mainder of Prentiss division by companies and regiments, 
 in a confused mass, before them. 
 
 McClernand brought up brigade after brigade to support 
 Sherman, and the struggle here became desperate. The con 
 fident enemy, apparently unexhausted by his tremendous 
 efforts, charged incessantly along his bleeding line, which 
 for more than two miles stood wrapt in clouds of smoke, 
 while cannon and musketry rolled in one. continuous thun 
 der peal over the broken ffeld. The rebels stormed up to 
 the very muzzles of our guns and took several, while around 
 them occurred some of the most bloody hand-to-hand fights 
 ever witnessed in war. Sherman s brave, protracted stand, 
 though made at a terrible sacrifice of life, saved the army 
 from being borne in one wild panic into the Tennessee. 
 Still the enemy was not driven back, but was only checked 
 for a short time. 
 
 Greatly inferior at the outset in numbers taken by sur 
 prise, and forced to seize such positions as we might find in 
 the confusion of retreat and tumult of battle a general of 
 division and three thousand men captured at one fell swoop, 
 and as many more panic stricken wretches gone in wild ter 
 ror from the field, our prospects at ten o clock on that bright 
 Sabbath morning were gloomy enough. All over the land 
 the church bells were calling the quiet worshipers to the 
 house of prayer, while here was passing one of the most 
 terrific scenes the Sabbath sun ever shone upon. 
 
 McClernand held his ground stubbornly, but Sherman be 
 ing at length compelled to fall back, left a gap through 
 which the enemy could march on his right, outflanking him, 
 and soon the heads of their columns were seen dashing at 
 double-quick along the road. Seeing this dangerous move 
 ment, Dresser opened on them with his battery of rifled 
 guns, which swept the road with such a terrific fire that the 
 rebels, with all their desperate daring, could not make head 
 
344 LOSS OF GUNS. 
 
 against it, But fresh regiments were hurried up, and our 
 exhausted forces were fast reaching that point where resist 
 ance must cease. Charge after charge was repulsed only to 
 be renewed with redoubled vigor. Our line officers were 
 falling with frightful rapidity, while the artillery horses were 
 shot down by scores, rendering it impossible to move the 
 guns from the field, and one after another fell into the hands 
 of the enemy. Schwartz had lost half of his guns, and six 
 teen horses ; Dresser as many more horses and several of his 
 rifled pieces, and McAlister half of his twenty -four pound 
 howitzers. By eleven o clock the division was driven back 
 in a line with Hurlburt s, which was stretched across the 
 Corinth road, fighting as it retreated, when it made a des 
 perate rally and fell like a loosened cliff on the advancing 
 foe, driving him back in confusion. But it could not hold 
 the ground it won at such a great sacrifice, and again 
 retreated. 
 
 Colonel Stuart commanded a brigade on Sherman s ex 
 treme left at the outset of the battle, and it became so iso 
 lated in the retreat, that but for a mere oversight of the 
 enemy it would have been completely cut off. When he 
 did turn his attention to it, and two brigades were sent on 
 the double-quick down the Hamburg road, to attack it, 
 Stuart was compelled to fall back. The enemy followed on, 
 and dashing across a shallow creek, formed in front of him 
 in close musket range, while the color-bearers stepped boldly 
 out in front, and a short but bloody combat followed. But 
 swept by the rapid volleys of the musketry, and the plung 
 ing fire of the artillery on the bluffs farther back, the bri 
 gade was compelled after a struggle of ten minutes to retreat, 
 carrying with it its wounded leader. Reaching the next 
 wooded ridge, they made another stand, where though hard 
 pressed, they maintained their ground for three-quarters of 
 an hour. Me Arthur s brigade, sent to their support, lost its 
 
GRANT ARRIVES ON THE FIELD 345 
 
 way, and, left alone, they had to fall back again and again, 
 till broken and bleeding, the brigade was taken to the real 
 to be reorganized. Twelve o clock came, and the enemy 
 had full possession of the camps of Sherman, Prentiss, and 
 McClernand, and were still pushing on. 
 
 Grant, who was at Savannah, several miles farther down 
 the river when the battle begun, had hurried up, but his 
 presence failed to arrest the disorder or check the retreat. 
 
 General Wallace s division, which was at Crump s Landing, 
 five miles distant, had been promptly ordered up in the morn 
 ing, and its arrival would strengthen greatly the right of our 
 extended line; but he lost his way, and wandering around all 
 day, and nearly falling into the hands of the enemy, did not 
 reach the battle field till night. Had the rebels known this, 
 and how weak we were on this wing, and ceased their deter 
 mined efforts on the left and center, and hurled their entire 
 force in that direction, they would have driven us into the 
 Tennessee before nightfall. 
 
 Hurlburt s division took position, as the others fell back, 
 in a thick wood, with open fields in front, over which 
 the enemy must pass in his victorious advance. Here he 
 harangued his officers, and gallant and daring himself, filled 
 his followers with the same resolution that animated him. 
 In front of him, Sherman drew up the remnant of his battered 
 brigade, and again stood a wall of iron on the lost field. He 
 saw the awful crisis that had come, and knew that nothing 
 but almost superhuman exertions for the next few hours 
 could save the army from utter annihilation. 
 
 The rebel leader, Johnston, in thus directing his entire 
 strength on the left, saw at once that he must break this firm 
 formation, and he led his columns forward with a desperation 
 that threatened to sweep away all opposition. Flushed with 
 their unbroken success, the troops came on with buoyant 
 confidence that was of itself a presage of victory. But as 
 
346 TERRIFIC SLAUGHTER. 
 
 they emerged into the open field, the very gates of hell 
 seemed to open before them, and a hurricane of fire swept 
 their ranks that flesh and blood could not withstand, and 
 though bearing up heroically for a few moments in the face 
 of it, they soon broke and fled to the woods for protection. 
 Here they were again reformed, and after a short delay led 
 forward the second time in splendid order. But the moment 
 the uncovered columns undertook to cross the field, the same 
 blinding sleet drifted along their whole line of battle, dis 
 solving it like thin mist in its fiery passage, and they again 
 sought the shelter of the woods. But fresh regiments were 
 brought up, and under their intrepid leaders led forward 
 over their own dead and wounded that carpeted the ground. 
 
 Here Johnston fell, gallantly leading on his columns to 
 the frightful slaughter. For the third time they recoiled 
 from the merciless tempest that beat on every inch of that 
 devoted field. The shot rained in a perfect shower around 
 Sherman, yet he moved unhurt along his line of battle, the 
 incarnation of valor. Hour after hour, did this mere fraction 
 of our army stand between it and total destruction. But the 
 fresh regiments that kept pouring in and swelling the already 
 overwhelming numbers that pressed on our jaded troops, 
 who had been for so many hours under constant fire, com 
 pelled them at length to fall back, which they did in good 
 order strewing the earth with dead as they retreated. The 
 enemy pressed fiercely after, leaving the field behind them 
 black with the slain. 
 
 Thus step Ipy step, the whole left wing, bleeding and shat 
 tered, swings back towards the river, already lined with 
 thousands of fugitives, whom no appeals can bring again 
 into the fight. When that is reached, the battle will become 
 a massacre, for there are no boats to receive the defeated 
 army. Already the sheen of the river can be seen through 
 the openings in the woods, and the commanders hold their 
 
LAST EFFORT. " 349 
 
 breath as they see the gallant columns reluctantly, though 
 surely moving back to the abyss open to receive them. 
 Wallace, on the extreme right, has nobly held his position, 
 and four times hurled the enemy back, until at last he 
 too is forced to retreat, and falls mortally wounded from his 
 horse. Every camp but his is occupied by the enemy, and 
 towards this, our entire left wing is now slowly receding, 
 Even the reserve lines are all carried, and the army that in 
 the morning stretched in a semi-circle over six miles in ex 
 tent, is now compressed within a circuit of a little more than 
 half a mile. One more push, and the day is won for the 
 rebels, and the valley of the Mississippi, up to the Ohio, is 
 again theirs. "Oh that Buell or night would come!" ex 
 claimed many an officer, as he surveyed the gloomy prospect, 
 
 As the sun stooped to the western horizon he looked on a 
 battle lost to the Union cause, and a whole army balancing 
 on the verge of destruction. Just then a body of cavalry 
 dashed up to the river on the farther side, the advance of 
 BuclFs army. Help was at hand, and if the victorious col 
 umns of the enemy could be held in check but one hour 
 more, the army might yet be saved. The former were also 
 aware that Buell s columns were approaching the Tennessee, 
 and knew that what was done must be done quickly, and 
 summoning his energies for a final effort, bore down on our 
 crowded, confused columns. A last charge, and the declara 
 tion that Beauregard had made in the morning, that his steed 
 should drink from the Tennessee at night, would be fulfilled. 
 
 At this critical moment, two movements were made which 
 saved the day. Colonel Webster, chief of the staff, and an 
 accomplished artillerist, seeing that the storm was about to 
 burst on our center and left, hastily collected in the short 
 lull that preceded its advent, all the guns from the broken 
 batteries around him, some of large caliber, and arranged 
 them in a semi-circle around the landing twenty-one in all. 
 
 21 
 
350 "THE GUN BOATS TAKE PART. 
 
 feathering such artillerists as he could from the various bat 
 teries, as well as every man who knew how to handle a gr.n, 
 among whom was the gallant surgeon, Dr. Corbyn, of Mis 
 souri, he prepared to meet this last onset. 
 
 He was hardly ready, ere the wood in front was lit up by 
 the flash of the enemy s musketry, and the heavy columns came 
 pouring forward. Suddenly, from that semi-circle of twenty- 
 one guns, leaped forth a line of fire, and shot and shell went 
 crashing into the living masses that darkened all the road 
 and fields. The astonished enemy staggered back, appalled 
 at the horrible tempest. But they were making their last 
 crowning effort, and their leaders rallied them for a second 
 onset. And at this juncture, a new enemy appeared on the 
 field. The two gun boats, Tyler and Lexington, lying in 
 the stream, had remained all day, excited, idle spectators of 
 the fight. . Moving up and down the bank, they had sought 
 in vain for an opportunity to bring their heavy guns to bear. 
 But now the rebels had pushed our left wing so close to the 
 river that they could be reached. The commander of the 
 Tyler sent a messenger ashore, to inquire if he might shell 
 the enemy. The permission was gladly given, and the two 
 boats opened with their twenty-four pound Parrott guns and 
 rifled cannon. The ravine mentioned before, that here run 
 inland from the river, gave a free passage to their shells that 
 went screaming through the gloom, and bursting among the 
 terrified ranks. Trees were shivered in their course, and the 
 branches hurled through the air. The guns were worked 
 with astonishing rapidity, and the sound of the shells as they 
 shrieked through the twilight, and traversed the whole line 
 of battle in their devastating course, was almost as terrifying 
 as the wild work they made when they burst in the center 
 of a column. No efforts of the rebel generals could urge 
 the men forward against these new engines of destruction. 
 There was something mysterious and awful in the very sound 
 
ARRIVAL OF BUELL. 351 
 
 they made passing through the air, and as they fell fast and 
 furious among them, they halted, then turned and sought 
 safety beyond their deadly range. 
 
 In the mean time, Nelson, commanding the advance of 
 Buell s division, had succeeded in crossing the river with a 
 single brigade, and taking possession of a battery of artil 
 lery which he found on the shore, opened a heavy fire on 
 the enemy. 
 
 But night had now come on, and the exhausted rebels, find 
 ing themselves unable to complete the clay s work which they 
 had marked out for themselves, withdrew and bivouaced on 
 the field to wait for daylight. In the mean time, the divis 
 ions of Buell s army, six miles apart, were hurrying forward 
 by forced marches, to the river. Buell himself reached Sa 
 vannah, Grant s head-quarters, seven miles farther down on 
 the river, in the early part of the day, just after the Gene 
 ral had left for the battle field. The cannonading was dis 
 tinctly heard, but the officers there told him that it was of 
 common occurrence, and was doubtless merely an affair of 
 outposts. But the deep, continuous roar had an ominous 
 sound to his practised ear, and after listening intently awhile, 
 he determined to go up and see about it himself. Nelson 
 had arrived across the river and been ordered to march up 
 opposite Pittsburg landing, and get ferried across, leaving 
 his artillery to be carried forward on steamers, as the roads 
 were almost impassable. This gallant commander immedi 
 ately started off, and hurrying his men forward through the 
 deep mud, reached as we have seen, the battle field just as 
 night was closing over the routed army. 
 
 As soon as a boat could get up steam, Buell and the chief 
 of his staff, Colonel Frey, started also for Pittsburg landing, 
 As they drew near the place, the incessant, deafening explo* 
 sions of cannon told too well that a great battle was raging. 
 Soon they came within sound of the small arms, and the 
 
352 A SCENE OF DISORDER. 
 
 rapid, uninterrupted volleys so near the river, startled him. 
 But the sight that met his eyes as the steamer approached 
 the landing, was still more appalling. The shore was lined 
 with fugitives, skulking under the bank some five thousand 
 of them who had fled from the disastrous field. An 4 still 
 the throng kept increasing, till a wild and swaying multi 
 tude darkened all the shore, while the teams were rushing 
 in and pushing their way amid the crowd, huddling as close 
 to the river as they could get. It was a fearful spectacle, 
 and told of disaster and ruin, 
 
 As soon as the steamer touched the wharf, Buell sprang 
 ashore and met Grant, of whom he hurriedly inquired the 
 state of affairs. He found them gloomy enough. Grant told 
 him that Crittenden s division was opposite Savannah, and 
 urged him to send steamers for it immediately. He then 
 rode among the fugitives, and finding them insensible to 
 shame or duty, denounced them as cowards, and turned 
 away. It was now getting late in the day, and the steadily 
 approaching fire had come so near, that the balls were drop 
 ping along the bank. It was at this moment, that the im 
 petuous and daring Nelson, crossed with a part of his bri 
 gade, and added his volleys to those that hastened the 
 enemy s retreat. 
 
 The battle was over, and the most fearful Sabbath the sun 
 ever shone upon on this continent, drew to its bloody close. 
 Along the roads, through the woods, and covering thick the 
 ppen fields, the dead and wounded lay in vast winrows. 
 Amid the ghastly groups were scattered artillery horses, bro 
 ken caissons, drums and muskets, the sad wrecks of the fight. 
 
 The rebel army, though exhausted and bleeding, was still 
 confident, and only waited for the morning to complete what 
 they had so nearly finished. On our side, the broken, deci 
 mated columns lay down on their arms, gloomy, yet deter 
 mined. 
 
NIGHT AFTER THE BATTLE. 353 
 
 The tumult and uproar of the day had died away, and 
 silence and night wrapt the slumbering hosts. The stars 
 came out upon the sky and looked mildly down on the 
 torn, trampled, and bloody field, and the gentle wind 
 stole softly by, giving no tokens of the terrible strife that 
 had just closed. All was tranquil and serene, when sud 
 denly the shores and river were lit up with a bright flash, 
 followed by the report of cannon. The gun boats having 
 ascertained nearly the position of the enemy, began to heave 
 shells into the woods arid fields, that burst far inland like 
 replying cannon. All night long, at short intervals, the sul 
 len roar broke the silence, rousing up the tired enemy, forc 
 ing him back still farther from the spot where he had sunk 
 down exhausted. It was a terrible night for the wounded, 
 for thousands still lay on the field where they fell. 
 
 Around the landing it was a scene of bustling activity. 
 The rest of Nelson s division was brought across, and soon 
 Crittenden s came up on the loaded steamers from Sa 
 vannah, and were marched forward and placed in front of 
 Sherman s shattered line, with orders to advance on the 
 enemy at daylight. Word was also received that McCook a 
 division had reached Savannah, and were waiting to be 
 brought down to the battle field. This gallant commander 
 had heard all day long, the heavy cannonading that unceas 
 ingly shook the shores of the Tennessee, and kept his men 
 at the top of their speed, who eager as himself, strained des 
 perately forward to be up in time to save the battle. The 
 rest of his army, Buell thought could not arrive in season to 
 take any part, and the victory must be won without them if 
 won at all. But during the night a portion of the regular 
 batteries of Captain Mendenhall, Terrell and the Ohio bat 
 tery, Captain Bartlett, arrived bringing word that the rest 
 would be on hand early in the morning. The news of the 
 arrival of these- heavy reinforcements, sent a thrill of joy 
 
354 A STORM. 
 
 through our dejected camps. The brave men who had borne 
 up against such fearful odds, though defeated, now felt that 
 they were not to.be conquered, and that the morning s sun 
 Would light them to victory. 
 
 Though the day had closed serenely, at midnight the 
 heavens became suddenly overcast, and soon a heavy thun 
 der storm broke over the two armies, drenching the living, 
 the dead, and dying, alike. The vivid flashes of lightning 
 set forest and field in a blaze, while the artillery of the skies, 
 responding to the loud explosions on the river, made strange 
 music on that fearful field. 
 
CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 APRIL, 18G3. ^ 
 
 BECOND DAY S BATTLE, OF PITTSBURG LANDING FORMATION OF SHELL* 3 
 
 DIVISION NELSON CRITTENDEN MC COOK WALLACE SMITH SHERMAN 
 
 MCCLERNAND HURLBURT THE ENEMY DRIVEN BACK OUR CAMPS RECOV 
 ERED ASPECT OF THE BATTLE FIELD SANITARY COMMISSION HALLECK 
 
 TAKES COMMAND MITCHELL IN ALABAMA. 
 
 AT length the eventful morning dawned, and at five 
 o clock the two divisions of Nelson and Crittenden 
 moved forward upon the enemy. They soon came upon 
 his pickets, which they drove steadily and cautiously before 
 them, and at seven o clock approached his line of battle. 
 Crittenden s division formed on the right of Nelson, with 
 Bartlett s battery in the center. Mendenhall s splendid bat 
 tery, in Nelson s division, at once unlirnbered and opened a 
 rapid fire. The heavy cannonading shook the field, and told 
 those nearer the landing that the battle had commenced 
 At this moment, strains of martial music were heard, and 
 the soldiers looking back, saw the colors of McCook s divi 
 sion which had arrived, moving up to their support. It took 
 position on Crittenden s right, making the whole line of bat 
 tle of Buell s forces a mile and a half in extent Wal 
 lace with three brigades formed the extreme right, and at 
 seven o clock he also opened with his artillery on a battery 
 of the enemy, planted within easy range. 
 
 For a time it was an artillery duel on a grand scale. In 
 front of Nelson, the ground was an open field nearly level 
 while a thick undergrowth covered a portion of that in 
 front of Crittenden, which was a wide hollow. The same 
 proportion of woods and field characterized McCook s front. 
 
356 A DESPERATE RALLY. 
 
 Nelson s division came first into action ; and the contest 
 at once became close and bloody. The compact line, the 
 steady movements and confident bearing of the regiments, 
 soon showed that a better drilled, if not a braver, army was 
 in the field than that of the day before. Colonel Hazen of 
 the nineteenth brigade made a gallant charge on a battery 
 of the enemy, and took it ; but finding his command ex 
 posed to a heavy cross fire of artillery, was compelled to 
 abandon his prize. Still, nothing could resist the steady ad 
 vance of Nelson. His long lines swept on like an unbroken 
 wave over the ground lost the day before, on which lay 
 thickly strewed the dead of both armies. 
 
 Crittenden, next to him, though every inch of ground was 
 hotly contested, also pressed the enemy back in his front. 
 The brigade under Smith made a desperate dash on one of the 
 enemy s batteries and captured it, though it cost them dear. 
 The stung and maddened foe charged again and again to 
 recover their guns, and for half an hour that spot seemed to 
 form the vortex of the battle. 
 
 Still farther on, McCook s magnificent division moved like 
 veterans of a hundred battle fields into action, completing the 
 general advance of the army. Thus, till ten o clock, the line 
 of battle slowly advanced, when the e.nemy, under cover of 
 gome heavy woods, made a sudden and desperate rally, and 
 fell with such fury on Nelson s division that it halted, then 
 wavered and finally fell back. At this critical moment, Ter 
 rell s regular battery arrived from the landing on a headlong 
 gallop, and unlimbering with the speed of lightning, hurled 
 the shells from his twenty-four-pound howitzers, into the 
 astonished, compact ranks of the enemy. They staggered 
 under the rapid, destructive fire; but bearing up bravely 
 against it, again advanced straight on the murderous guns. 
 Horse after horse went down, the gunners dropped in their 
 places, till not a man was left at one of the pieces : when Tcr- 
 
A GENERAL ADVANCE.. 357 
 
 rell and a corporal stepped up and worked it alone till a 
 regiment dashed forward and saved it. For two hours after, 
 it was one incessant crash and thunder peal all along the 
 front of that gallant division. 
 
 Nelson, in the mean time held his men to their grim work, 
 and refused to retire further, determined to see which could 
 stand such terrible pounding the longest. But the same 
 fierce rally that forced him back at first, extended along the 
 whole rebel line, and Crittenden caught the full force of the 
 refluent wave and was forced to fall back to a new position. 
 The shouting enemy followed up their success, when Men- 
 denhall s and Bartlett s batteries, especially that of the former, 
 sent their shells ploughing through his ranks, making huge 
 gaps at ev r ery discharge. The rebels could not make head 
 way against the awful fire; still they refused to yield the 
 ground which they had made red with their own blood. 
 
 In the mean time, Buell had arrived on the field, and see 
 ing the stubbornness with which the enemy held his ground, 
 although it was evident his whole line was badly shaken by 
 our artillery, gave the order to advance by brigades at the 
 double quick. That was all .the brave fellows wanted, and 
 with a cheer that rolled like the shout of victory along the 
 mighty line, they sprang forward. The sudden, simultane 
 ous onward movement of that vast host, was a sublime spec 
 tacle. The rebels, though they had fought bravely, recoiled 
 before its terrible front, so dark below, yet bright with glit 
 tering steel above, and step by step fell back, pushed as they 
 receded by the determined divisions, till they lost all the 
 ground they had won. At length the punishment became 
 so severe that they fell into confusion, when our artillery and 
 musketry mowed them down by platoons. Sweeping the 
 ground of our defeat the day before, we captured all the 
 guns lost on this part of the field, besides two of the enemy. 
 Unwilling to lose all the fruit of their previous victory, the 
 
358 SHERMAN S ATTACK. 
 
 rebel officers made a last desperate stand in front of McCooFs 
 division. This commander had driven the enemy steadily 
 before him, and though repeatedly exposed to flanking move 
 ments that threatened to crush him, refused to fall back. 
 Rousseau s brigade maintained its high reputation, and the 
 whole division fought with a valor that made defeat impos^ 
 sible. If a brigade recoiled a moment under the withering 
 fire of the foe, the next it sprung like a bent bow to its place 
 again, while all along its dark and steady front, there rolled 
 an incessant stream of fire, and their shouts shook the field. 
 
 Wallace firmly pressed the enemy on the extreme right. 
 As his division advanced on the field in the morning 
 it halted on a swell of ground that overlooked the whole 
 space in front. Just then, out of the woods that bounded 
 their vision, emerged a strong rebel column with colors fly 
 ing. Regiment after regiment came on in the double-quick, 
 till the rebel line seemed interminable. Their long array 
 presented a magnificent sight as it formed in line of battle 
 parallel to his division, and unlimbered its artillery under the 
 rapid and destructive fire of his guns. In a few minutes the 
 cannonading on both sides extended along the whole front. 
 Wallace then threw out his sharp shooters to pick off the 
 artillerists, while batteries with heavy supports of infantry 
 were moved forward into the open fields, and for an hour 
 and a half the flash and roar of guns were incessant. 
 
 At length, Sherman, for whom Wallace had been waiting, 
 came up with the remnant of his heroic, battered division, 
 and moved straight on the rebel line. Midway in the open 
 field, it met such a horrible fire, that it halted. Even these 
 heroes paused as they saw the red mouth of the volcano be 
 fore them, and fell back, though in good order. But the 
 wounded Sherman dashed along their lines, rousing the en 
 thusiasm of the men to the highest pitch. His horse sunk 
 under him, when he leaped to the saddle of another and 
 
THE REBELS RETREAT. 359 
 
 i 
 
 again gave the order, "Forward." With sloping bayonets, 
 and leaning forms, Marsh at their head they leaped forward 
 on the double-quick and gained the woods, completely flank 
 ing one of the enemy s batteries. This was the turning 
 point of the battle, and the rebel guns began to limber up 
 in hot haste. In an instant Wallace s division was upon them, 
 completing the victory. " Forward," then ran along the 
 whole line, and forward it was through the rough corn fields 
 till they drove the enemy into the woods. Here the latter 
 made a short, determined stand, and again forced Sherman s 
 division back. But this indomitable chieftain, though bleed 
 ing from two wounds, while three horses had been shot from 
 under him, again rallied his broken regiments, and regaining 
 his lost ground, hurled them like a descending avalanche on 
 the foe. Among th,e many heroes of that hard fought bat 
 tle, he outshone them all, and from first to last moved with 
 his shattered division like a citadel of fire over the tumultu 
 ous field. 
 
 Here too, on the right, later in the day, Hurlburt and Mc- 
 Clernand came up with their jaded, broken battalions the 
 heroes of fort Donelson and again and again charged with 
 fury on the enemy, adding new laurels to those which already 
 wreathed their brows. 
 
 Thus the action, which had begun on the left, with Nel 
 son, and rolled steadily along the other divisions to the 
 right, as if the enemy were feeling our whole line of battle to 
 find a vulnerable point, was here, on the right, at last deci* 
 ded ; and the whole rebel army, maddened and mortified, fell 
 slowly back over the ground it had won at such a terrible 
 sacrifice, until it was driven beyond our last camp. A body 
 of three thousand cavalry, which had quietly stood spectators 
 of this sanguinary struggle, were now ordered to charge. 
 The bugles rang out, and down came the thundering squad 
 rons, making the earth shake under their tread. But they 
 
360 THE BATTLE FIELD. 
 
 found no unguarded spot where a charge could be made, for 
 the enemy, though acknowledging the day lost, showed no 
 signs of demoralization, but kept his firm formation as he 
 retired, planting his batteries at every commanding point, and 
 hurling destruction on the victorious columns as they at 
 tempted to turn the defeat into a rout. 
 
 Finding it impossible on ground so well fitted for defen 
 sive positions, andevery foot of which was thoroughly known 
 to the enemy, to throw them into disorder, Bucll gave the 
 order to halt, and the tired host bivouaccd on the field. 
 
 In the morning, Sherman, who seemed made of iron, was 
 sent forward with his shattered division, in pursuit. On his 
 way he fell in with Wood, who had been dispatched on the 
 same errand. Advancing along the road to Corinth, he came 
 upon the enemy s cavalry, and, after a sharp skirmish, drove 
 them from the field with the loss of several killed and wound 
 ed. He found the road strewed with abandoned blankets, 
 haversacks, and muskets, which the wearied, disheartened 
 enemy had flung away. 
 
 Thus ended the battle of Pittsburg landing, or as Beau- 
 regard named it, u Shiloh," from a little church that stood 
 near the center of the field. Johnston, the rebel leader, 
 had fallen, and Johnson, the provisional governor of Ken 
 tucky, and many other distinguished officers, while the dead 
 of both the contending hosts lay in heaps on every side. 
 Scattered through the woods, gathered in groups on open 
 spots where there had been hard struggles for the possession 
 of important batteries, stretched along the road, they lay 
 in every conceivable shape, and disfigured by every form of 
 wound. Here the rifle and musket had done its deadly 
 work -leaving the slain like so many sleepers, with nought 
 but the purple spot, or the pool of blood to show how they 
 met their fate there, headless bodies, disemboweled corpses, 
 and shattered limbs, told where the heavy shot and shell had 
 
SANITARY COMMISSION. 361 
 
 ploughed through the ranks. Among this mighty multitude 
 of the dead, hundreds of artillery horses lay scattered, with 
 their harness upon them. It was a ghastly spectacle, 
 such as was never before seen on this continent, and was be 
 lieved never would be seen. 
 
 The burial of such a host was a gigantic and mournful 
 labor, for the enemy had left his own dead to be interred with 
 ours. Full ten thousand, but late brothers of the same great 
 national family, lay stark and stiff in death, while double 
 that number were wounded. That the rebels fought bravely, 
 the field over which they had struggled for two days abun 
 dantly testifiei So had our troops, even on the first disas 
 trous day, though at fearful disadvantage, with the. excep 
 tion of some four or five thousand, who disgraced the flag 
 they bore, and scattered in affright. On the second day all 
 were heroes there was no flinching no thought of defeat. 
 A stern determination to win back the lost field carried 
 every regiment to the charge, and though they suffered 
 severely, they baffled the enemy s designs, and sent him back 
 to his stronghold crippled and disheartened. Some of the 
 divisions were fearfully cut up. McClernand lost nearly a 
 third of his entire force, a dreadful mortality, and showing 
 the severest fighting, such as veterans only can stand. Some 
 of the regiments lost every field officer, while several com 
 panies could muster the morn ing fter the battle but a single 
 squad. The north-west was clad in mourning, for this car 
 nage folio wing so quick on that of fort Donelson, left scarcely 
 a settlement without one of its number killed or wounded. 
 
 The value of the sanitary commission was now felt. Or 
 ganized at the outset of the war, it had been rather a costly 
 machine, without- any results to show equal to its promise. 
 
 Though multitudes had been slain and wounded since the 
 commencement of the war, they had fallen in small numbers, 
 and at times and points so far from each other that the extra 
 
362 SUFFERINGS OF THE WOUNDED. 
 
 supplies and efforts of the commission were not so imperatively 
 demanded. But here, all the ordinary means of relief were 
 wholly inadequate, and its whole force was called into active 
 service. Yet even this was not sufficient, and the western 
 cities poured forth their stores for the wounded, and loaded 
 steamboats with nurses and physicians and dispatched them 
 to the scene of suffering. But such wholesale slaughter was 
 new to our people, and they were unprepared for it, and 
 many of the wounded suffered from unavoidable neglect. 
 If, with our means, facilities, and wealth, our wounded suf 
 fered for want of proper care, it is easy to imagine that 
 those of the enemy must have endured untold privations. 
 
 Oar entire loss in killed, wounded, and missing, was near 
 ly fourteen thousand. This included the three thousand 
 prisoners. The loss of the enemy, with the exception of 
 prisoners, of which we took but few, was probably about the 
 same. 
 
 This battle was severely criticised, for it was well nigh lost ; 
 and if it had been, the whole west up to the Ohio would 
 have been once more in the hands of the rebels, and at least 
 another year added to the war. Hence, the first question in 
 every one s mouth was : why, when such momentous events 
 hung on this battle, was it allowed to take place before we 
 were prepared for it ? A single severe storm that would 
 have kept Buell back for twenty-four hours, would have anni 
 hilated our army, and brought about this disastrous result, 
 that one even now trembles to contemplate. There seemed 
 no necessity for running such a terrible risk, and the feeling 
 was universal that there was bad management somewhere. 
 Again it was asked, if it seemed necessary to hold the west 
 bank of the Tennessee with only a part of our force, while 
 the enemy was in striking distance with the whole of his, 
 why was our army allowed to be surprised ? The friends of 
 rrant, feeling that this implied condemnation of him, denied 
 
MITCHELL IN ALABAMA. 3G3 
 
 that it was a surprise. But if sweeping the*camp of one en 
 tire division before the men could fall into rank, and the 
 storming of another so suddenly, that only a portion of the 
 troops could be rallied, while even those were captured with 
 their comimnder, does not constitute a complete surprise, 
 then it is hard indeed to define one. Whether the blame 
 rests on Grant or on the commanders of the front divisions, 
 is a question it may not be easy at present to decide ; but 
 that there was negligence or ignorance somewhere, is indis 
 putable. The rebel army on the first day was handled with 
 consummate skill ; while on our side there seemed but little 
 done by our Generals, except to hold their troops as steady 
 as possible under fire, and delay the catastrophe that ap 
 peared inevitable, as long as possible. That we were not com 
 pletely overthrown is due alone to the merciful interposition 
 of Providence. 
 
 Of course this battle stopped for the time being, all farther 
 movements in that locality. The remainder of Buell s di 
 vision was brought up, and Halleck hastened to the field to 
 take command in person, and reorganize the army. 
 
 In the mean time, the enemy began to fortify himself in 
 Corinth, and prepare for the next grand struggle for the 
 valley of the Mississippi; while Foote appeared before fort 
 Wright to repeat the bombardment that had accomplished 
 so little at Island Number Ten. During this interval, Gen 
 eral Mitchell, with his brigade had been detached from 
 BuelFs army, and by a rapid, masterly march on Huntsville, 
 Alabama, seized it without any loss, and captured two hund 
 red prisoners. In the telegraph office, he found and deci 
 phered a dispatch from Beauregard, asking for reinforce 
 ments and giving the effective force of his army. He also 
 seized the rail road for fifty miles on either side, capturing 
 Borne fifteen locomotives and other rolling stock. . 
 
CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 APRIL, 1862. 
 
 EXPEDITION AGAINST NEW ORLEANS THE FORTS AND OBSTRUCTIONS IN THE 
 
 MISSISSIPPI TO BE OVERCOME THE BOMBARDMENT OF THE FORTS FIRE 
 
 RAFTS FARRAGDT DETERMINES TO RUN THE BATTERIES A DESPERATE BAT 
 TLE CAPTAIN BOGGS OF THE VARINA A GALLANT BOY NEW ORLEANS 
 
 SURRENDERED STATE OF FEELING THERE FAR*RAGUT 8 ORDER DIRECTING 
 
 THANKS TO BE OFFERED TO GOD FOR SUCCESS BUTLER OCCUPIES THE CITY 
 
 PORTER S LETTER CONCERNING THE BOMBARDMENT, AND THE RAMS. 
 
 THE month of April closed gloriously for the national 
 cause in the valley of the Mississippi ; for_ it gave us 
 New Orleans, the most important city of the southern con 
 federacy, and thus made certain to us the final possession of 
 the entire river. 
 
 Captain Farragut, with a fleet of gun boats, and Porter, 
 with a mortar fleet, had long since left our northern waters 
 for some unknown point. Much anxiety had been felt for 
 its success; and when at length news was received that it had 
 left Ship island, where it was known to have rendezvoused, 
 for New Orleans, accompanied by a land force under Butler, 
 great fears were entertained of its ability to force the formi 
 dable barriers that blocked the river below the city. 
 
 Two forts, Jackson and St. Philip, nearly opposite each 
 other, the former very strong and casemated, the two mount 
 ing in all two hundred and twenty-five guns, commanded 
 the approach. In addition to these, a heavy chain had been 
 stretched across the channel, buoyed upon schooners, and 
 directly under the fire of the batteries, so that any vessels 
 attempting to remove it, could be sunk. There were be 
 sides, heavily mounted iron-clad gun boats, ponderous rams, 
 
BOMBARDMENT COMMENCED. 365 
 
 before whose onset the strongest ship would go down, and 
 fire rafts and piles of drift wood, ready to be launched on 
 our advancing vessels. It was believed by the rebels, 
 that nothing that ever floated, could safely pass all these ob 
 structions, tut should some few by a miracle succeed, bands 
 of young men were organized in New Orleans, to board 
 them at all hazard, and capture them. 
 
 Such were the obstacles that presented themselves to Far- 
 ragut and Porter, as they, in the middle of April, slowly 
 steamed up the mighty river. 
 
 It was laborious work getting th.e fleet over the bars at the 
 mouth of the Mississippi, and up the rapid stream, to the scene 
 of action, for the mortar boats were not steamers. Weeks 
 were occupied in it, and the north almost began to despair 
 of hearing any good report of the expedition, and event 
 ually it was quite lost sight of in the absorbing news from 
 the upper Mississippi, and the Tennessee. But though shut 
 out from the world, its gallant commanders were quietly, 
 but energetically preparing for the herculean task assigned 
 them. 
 
 Six war steamers, sixteen gun boats, twenty-one mortal- 
 vessels, with five other national vessels, among them the 
 Harriet Lane, Porter s flag-ship, making in all nearly fifty 
 armed vessels, constituted the entire force. It was a formi 
 dable fleet, but it had formidable obstacles to overcome. 
 
 On the eighteenth the bombardment commenced, and the 
 first day nearly two thousand shells were thrown into the 
 forts. Some burst beyond them, others in mid air, and some 
 not at all, while hundreds fell with a thundering crash inside 
 the works, cracking the strongest casemates in their ponderous; 
 descent. On one side of the river, the mortar vessels lay 
 near some trees on the bank, and the men dressed the masts 
 in green foliage to conceal their position. Decked out as for 
 a Christmas festival, they could not be distinguished at the 
 
 22 
 
366 SURVEYORS ROW BOAT FLEET. 
 
 distance of the forts from the trees, so that the enemy had only 
 the smoke that canopied them for a mark to aim at. On the 
 other side, tall reeds4ringed the banks, and the vessels in posi 
 tion there were covered with rushes and flags, and daubed 
 with Mississippi mud, which sadly confused the artillerists in 
 the forts. The exact distance from the spot where they 
 lay anchored, to the forts, had been determined by triangu- 
 lation, conducted by the coast survey party under Captain 
 Gurdes. The surveys to accomplish this, had been per 
 formed under the fire of the enemy, and great coolness and 
 daring were shown by the.party. The sailors had wondered 
 at the presence of a coast survey vessel, carrying a crew 
 armed with nothing ^more formidable than surveying instru 
 ments, save a few pocket revolvers, but it was now seen that 
 science must first prepare the way, before the heavy shells 
 could perform their appropriate work. 
 
 Early in the morning of the day on which the bombard 
 ment commenced, the rebels set adrift a huge flat boat, piled 
 with pitch pine cord wood in a blaze. As it came down the 
 stream, the flames roared and crackled like a burning forest, 
 while huge columns of black smoke rose in swift, spiral col 
 umns, sky-ward. As it drifted near, two of our advanced 
 vessels hastily slipped their cables and moved down stream. 
 At first it was feared the blazing structure might contain tor 
 pedoes or explosive machines of some kind, and rifled shot 
 were thrown into it. But it floated harmless by, lighting up 
 the muddy stream as it receded. In order to be prepared 
 for another, Captain Porter ordered all the row boats of the 
 flotilla to be prepared with grapnels, ropes, buckets and 
 .axes. At sunset, this fleet of a hundred and fifty boats was 
 reviewed, passing in single line under the Harriet Lane, each 
 answering to the hail of the commander, "Fire buckets, axes 
 and ropes?" "Aye, aye, Sir." 
 
 About an hour afterward, just as night had set in, a huge 
 
A FIRE RAFT. 367 
 
 column of black smoke was seen to rise from the river in the 
 vicinity of the forts. Signal lights were immediately hoisted 
 on all the vessels, and the next moment a hundred boats 
 shot out in the darkness, ready for action. A fire raft was 
 on its fearful way, lighting up the broad bosom of the Mis 
 sissippi with its pyramid of flame, and sending the sparks in 
 showers into the surrounding darkness. It made a fearful 
 sight, and seemed well calculated to accomplish its mission 
 of destruction. On it came, slow and majestically, swinging 
 easily to the mighty current, when suddenly the Westfield 
 opened her steam valves, and dashed fearlessly into the burn 
 ing pile. Burying herself amid the crashing timbers and 
 flying sparks, her captain turned a hose upon it, and a stream 
 of water as from a fire engine played upon the lurid mass. 
 The next moment the crowd of boats approached the 
 bronzed faces of the sailors, with buckets and ropes, standing 
 out in bold relief in the broad glare and fastened to the 
 horrid phantom. Then, pulling with a will, they slowly 
 towed it ashore, where they left it to consume ignobly away. 
 It was bravely done, and as the boats returned they were 
 cheered by the entire fleet. 
 
 For a whole week the bombardment was kept up, while 
 shot and shell from the enemy fell in a constant shower 
 amid the squadron. 
 
 The gunners on the mortar boats were getting worn out, 
 and when released from the guns, would drop down exhaus 
 ted on deck. They began at last to grumble at the inactiv 
 ity of the larger vessels. 
 
 At length, Farragut determined to run the rebel batteries 
 engage the gun boats and rams beyond, and then steam 
 up to New Orleans, cost what it would. The chain had been 
 cut a few nights before, and the schooners that sustained it 
 were trailing along the river bank. On the twenty-third 
 of April, every thing being ready, at two o clock signal Ian- 
 
368 RUNNING THE BATTERIES. 
 
 terns were hoisted from the Hartford s mizzen peak, and soon 
 the boatswain s call, u up all hammocks," rang over the water. 
 It was known the evening before, that the desperate conflict 
 would come off in the morning, and there was but little sleep 
 in the fleet that night. The scene, the hour, and the mo 
 mentous issues at stake made every man thoughtful. Not a 
 breeze ruffled the surface of the river the forts were silent 
 above the stars looked serenely down while the deep tran- 
 quility that rested on shore and stream was broken only by 
 the heavy boom, every ten minutes, of a gun from the boats 
 on watch. But the moment those two signal lanterns were 
 run up on the flag-ship, all this was changed. The rattling 
 of chains, the heaving of anchors and commands of officers, 
 transformed the scene of quietness into one of bustle and 
 stern preparation. In an hour and a half every thing was 
 ready, and the flag-ship, followed by the Richmond and 
 Brooklyn and six gun boats, turned their prows up the .river, 
 steering straight for fort Jackson. The Pensacola, Missis 
 sippi, Oneida, and Yarina, under Captain Bailey, with four 
 gun boats came next, and were to engage fort Philip. The 
 Harriet Lane, Westfield, Owasco, Miami, Clifton, and Jackson, 
 under Porter, came last, and were to take position where they 
 could pour an enfilading fire of grape and shrapnel into fort 
 Jackson while Farragut hurled his heavy broadsides into it 
 in front. As soon as the fleet started on its terrible mission, 
 all the mortar boats opened their fire., and canopied by the 
 blazing shells, that crossing and recrossing in every direction, 
 wove their fiery net work over the sky and dropped with a 
 thunderous sound into the doomed works the flag-ship, ac 
 companied by her consorts steamed swiftly forward through 
 the gloom. As soon as they came within range, signal rock 
 ets darted up from the low fortifications, and the next instant 
 the volcano opened. Taking the awful storm in perfect si- 
 , Farragut kept steadily on, till he was close abreast/ 
 
A FEARFUL FIGHT. 37 L 
 
 when his broadsides opened. As each ship came up ; it de 
 livered its broadside, and on both sides of the river, it was 
 one continuous stream of fire, and thunder peal, that shook 
 the shores like an earthquake. For half an hour, it seemed 
 as if all the explosive elements of earth and air were collec 
 ted there. The vessels did not stop to engage the forts, but 
 delivering their broadsides swept on towards the gun boats 
 beyond. Fire rafts now came drifting down the tide, light 
 ing up the pandemonium with a fiercer glare, and making that 
 early morning wild and awful as the last day of time. The 
 shot and shell from nearly five hundred cannon filled all the air, 
 and it seemed as if nothing made with human hands could sur 
 vive such a storm. The Ithaca, with a shot through her, was 
 compelled to drop out of the fight, Jn doing which, she came 
 under the close fire of the fort, and was completely riddled, 
 yet strange to say only two of her crew were struck. Ex 
 ploding shells filled the air, hot shot crashed through the 
 hulls, yet the gallant fleet, wrapped in the smoke of its own 
 broadsides, moved on in its pathway of flame, while the* 
 river ahead was filled with fire rafts and iron clad gun boats, 
 whose terrible fire crossing that of the fort, swept the whole 
 bosom of the stream. Sharp shooters crowded the rigging, 
 dropping their bullets incessantly upon our decks, yet still 
 the commander s signal for close action streamed in the morn 
 ing breeze, and still that fleet kept on its determined way. 
 An immense iron-clad vessel, the Louisiana, lay moored near- 
 fort Jackson, armed with heavy rifled guns, which sent the 
 shot through and through our vessels, while ours rattled like 
 peas on her mailed sides. The famous ram Manassas came 
 down-on the flag-ship, pushing a fire raft before her. In at- 
 tempting to avoid the collision, Farragut got aground, when 
 the raft came plump along side. The flames instantly 
 leaped through the rigging, and ran along the sides of his 
 vessel, and for a moment he thought it was all up with him. 
 
372 A GALLANT BOY. 
 
 But ordering the hose to turn a stream of water upon the 
 fire, he succeeded in extinguishing it, and backing off, again 
 goured in his broadsides. 
 
 The Varina, Captain Boggs, attacked the rebel gun boats 
 with such fury, that he sunk five in succession, their dark 
 hulls disappearing with awful rapidity, under the turbid 
 waters. Even then, his work was not done, for a ram came 
 driving full upon him. He saw at once that he could not 
 avoid the collision, and knew that his fate was sealed. But 
 instead of hauling down his flag, he resolved since he could 
 not save his ship, to carry his adversary down with him, and 
 bidding the pilot throw the vessel so that her broadsides 
 would bear on the vulnerable part of the rebel, he sternly 
 received the blow. The sides of the Yarina were crushed 
 by it as though made of egg shells. As the ram backed off, 
 the water poured in like a torrent, and he ordered the pilot 
 to run her with all steam on, ashore. In the mean time, his 
 broadsides fired at such close range made fearful open 
 ings in the enemy s hull, and she too began to settle in the 
 water, and attempted to haul off. But those terrible broad 
 sides were too swift for her, and they were poured in till the 
 gun-carriages were under the water. The last shot just 
 skimmed the surface as the hissing guns became submerged, 
 and the gallant vessel went down with her flag flying, car 
 rying her dead with her, A more fitting tomb for them 
 could not be found than the hull of that immortal boat. 
 
 A boy, named Oscar, only thirteen years old, was on board, 
 and during the hottest of the fire was busily engaged in pass 
 ing ammunition to the gunners, and narrowly escaped death 
 when one of the terrific broadsides of the enemy was poured 
 in. Covered with dirt and begrimed with powder, he was met 
 by Captain Boggs, who asked where he was going in such a 
 hurry : u to get a passing box, sir, the other was smashed by a 
 i>all." When the Yarina went down Boggs missed the boy and 
 
THE VICTORY. 373 
 
 thought he was among the killed. But a fe,w minutes after 
 he saw the lad gallantly swimming towards the wreck. 
 Clambering on board, he threw his hand up to his forehead, 
 in the usual salute, and with the simple, u all right, sir, I 
 report myself on board," coolly took up his old station. 
 Though a boy, he had an old head on his shoulders, and if he 
 lives and is given an opportunity, will be heard from in the 
 future. 
 
 The Kineo was accidentally run into by the Brooklyn, and 
 badly stove, yet she fought her way steadily for ward, though re 
 ceiving twelve shots in her hull, and with twelve others, passed 
 the terrible ordeal. The description of the conduct of one 
 boat is a description of all. Though riddled with sho$ from 
 the forts, they closed in with the rebel gun boats so fiercely, 
 that in an hour and a half eleven went to the bottom of the 
 Mississippi. 
 
 The victory was won and the combat ended, yet the mad 
 dened enemy could not wholly surrender, and the ram Ma- 
 nassas came down on the Richmond. The Mississippi, see 
 ing her intentions, instantly steamed towards her, when the 
 affrighted crew ran her ashore. Even after the surrender 
 was made, and while terms of capitulation were being agreed 
 on, the rebels cut adrift the Louisiana, which had cost nearly 
 two millions of dollars, and sent her down past the fort 
 amid our mortar fleet. She failed, however, to do any dam 
 age, and soon went ashore. 
 
 The forts being passed, New Orleans was ours ; yet still 
 the former, though completely cut off, refused to sur 
 render. 
 
 Farragut sent Captain Boggs in an open boat through a 
 bayou, inland, to Porter, to report his success. One would 
 have thought from his letter, that he had encountered scarcely 
 more than pretty stormy weather. " We have had a rough 
 time of it, as Boggs will tell you," he says, and then pro- 
 
374 FALL OF NEW ORLEANS. 
 
 ceeds to tell him that as soon as he goes to New Orleans he 
 will come back and finish the forts. 
 
 The next morning he steamed up towards the astonished 
 city. The inhabitants had deemed it unapproachable by any 
 naval armament whatever, and in their fancied security were 
 building vessels of offensive warfare, that soon would have 
 given us far more trouble than the Merrimac. Lovell, in 
 command of the troops in the city, immediately left, for 
 it lay completely at the mercy of our vessels. The mayor 
 undertook to avoid the humiliation of a formal capitulation, 
 and wrote a ridiculous letter to the commander, but it mat 
 tered little how it was done the great commercial port of 
 the confederate states surrendered, and the most difficult part 
 of opening the navigation of the Mississippi was accomplished. 
 
 Martial law had long been established in New Orleans, 
 and the city, bereft of its commerce, drained of its money, 
 and even of its provisions, was in a deplorable state. The 
 people, either cowed, or sullen, looked moodily on the old 
 flag as it once more floated in its accustomed place from the 
 public buildings. But little Union feeling was found, nor 
 could it be expected till the armies in the field had measured 
 strength. Captain Bailey, who had so ably seconded Farra- 
 gut, and won from him the highest commendations, was sent 
 home with dispatches. On arriving at fortress Monroe, he 
 sent the following telegraph to the Secretary of the Navy : 
 " I have the honor to announce that in the providence of 
 God, which smiles upon a just cause, the squadron under 
 flag officer Farragut has been vouchsafed a glorious victory 
 and triumph in the capture of New Orleans, forts Jackson, 
 St. Philip, Lexington, and Pike, the batteries above and be 
 low New Orleans, as well as the total destruction of the ene 
 my s gun boats, steam rams, floating batteries (iron-clad,) 
 fire rafts, and obstructions, booms, and chains. The enemy 
 with their own hands destroyed from eight to ten millions 
 
ORDER OF FARRAGUT. 375 
 
 of cotton and shipping. Our loss is thirty-six-killed and one 
 hundred and twenty-three wounded. The enemy lost from 
 one thousand to fifteen hundred besides several hundred pris 
 oners. The way is clear, and the rebel defenses destroyed 
 from the Gulf to Baton Rouge, and probably to Memphis. 
 Our flag waves triumphantly over them all. I am bearer of 
 dispatches. 
 
 THEODORUS BAILEY." 
 
 General Butler soon after arrived with his army, and took 
 possession of the city, establishing his head-quarters at the 
 St. Charles Hotel. A part of the garrison at fort Jackson 
 having mutinied, it surrendered with all the other forts. 
 The gun boats then began to ascend the Mississippi, clearing 
 their way towards Memphis, seven hundred and ninety miles 
 distant by water. 
 
 As a finale to their daring exploit, nothing could be more 
 appropriate or beautiful than the following order of Farra- 
 gut, issued three days after the passage of the forts. 
 
 UNITED STATES FLAG SHIP HARTFORD, ) 
 
 Off the City of New Orleans, April 26^, 1862. j 
 
 GENERAL ORDER. Eleven o clock this morning is the hour 
 appointed for all the officers and crews of the fleet to return 
 thanks to Almighty God for his great goodness and mercy 
 in permitting us to pass the events of the last two days with 
 so little loss of life and blood. 
 
 At that hour the churcn pennant will-be hoisted on every 
 vessel of the fleet, and their crews assembled, will, in humil 
 iation and prayer make their acknowledgments therefor, to 
 the Great Dispenser of all human events. 
 
 D. G. FARR/VGUT, 
 Flag Officer Western Gulf Blockading Squadron. 
 
 Thus both our naval captains who had won such im 
 mortal renown on the western waters, delighted to lay their 
 laurels at the feet of their Maker, and humbly give Him all 
 the glory. Such conduct on the part of our commanders, 
 
376 LETTER FROM PORTER. 
 
 inspired the people with as much confidence as did their 
 victories. That dependence on God, which the Puritans ac 
 knowledged in their great struggle for liberty, has never 
 been forgotten by their descendants. 
 
 The character of the bombardment, and the magnitude of 
 the naval preparations at New Orleans for our defeat are 
 graphically given in a private letter of Captain Porter, in 
 which among other things he says, "The topographical corps 
 triangulated every position occupied by the mortar vessels, 
 and it is safe to say that we knew to a yard the exact dis 
 tance of the mouth of the mortars from the center of the fort. 
 The enemy never saw us except for one day, when one of the 
 divisions of six vessels was placed in sight, getting pretty 
 roughly handled. I moved them under a point of woods, 
 where, with their masts covered with green bushes, and their 
 rigging with vines, they were invisible to the best glasses. 
 Our firing was a matter of calculation, and you may judge 
 how accurate it was when I tell you that one thousand three 
 hundred and thirteen bombs struck in the center and solid 
 parts of the works ; two thousand three hundred and thirty in 
 the moat near the foundations, shaking the whole fort to its 
 base; nearly one thousand exploded in and over the works, 
 and one thousand three hundred and fifty-seven struck about 
 the levees, in the marsh close around, and in the paths, and 
 near the water s edge, where the ste mers attempted to come. 
 I never saw so perfect a scene of desolation and ruin, nor do 
 I believe there ever was such perfect mortar practice. We 
 could clear the batteries whenever the soldiers, appeared on 
 the ramparts. In fact no guns could be worked there." Of 
 the rams, etc. he says, "Four rams and floating batteries, 
 such as the world never before saw, have been destroyed in 
 the late attack. The Louisiana, an invincible steam battery, 
 was set on fire and sent down on the vessels while I was en 
 gaged in drawing up a capitulation of the forts a flag of 
 
A FEARFUL FLOATING BATTERY. 377 
 
 truce flying at the time. She exploded within three hundred 
 yards of us, and sunk in one minute, her splendid battery of 
 rifled guns being lost to us. That vessel was four thousand 
 tons, two hundred and seventy feet long, and had sixteen 
 heavy rifled guns. She intended to take position that night, 
 when she would have driven off all our fleet. As a proof of 
 her invulnerability, one of our heaviest ships lay within ten 
 feet of her, and delivered her whole broadside, making no 
 more impression on her than if she was firing peas. The 
 iron ram Manassas hit three vessels before her commander 
 ran her ashore and abandoned her. In New Orleans our 
 officers found the most splendid specimen of a floating 
 battery the world has ever seen, (sea going,) and had she 
 been finished, and succeeded in getting to sea, the whole 
 American navy would have been destroyed. She was six 
 thousand tons, two hundred and seventy feet long, sixty 
 feet beam; had four engines, three propellers, four inches 
 (and in some places more) of iron, and would steam 
 eleven knots an hour. She cost Mallory and Co. two 
 millions of dollars: The best one I saw floating by me, 
 a dry dock turned into a floating battery, mounting six- 
 guns, and the entire engine, which was to propel it, 
 hermetically sealed by a thick iron turret. Besides these 
 monsters, the naval part of the enemy s defenses at the fort 
 consisted of six or seven iron -clad gun boats, almost imper 
 vious to shot, and certainly so against vessels coming bow 
 on." Past forts mounting over two hundred heavy guns v 
 many of them rifled, past three iron plated batteries mount 
 ing thirty-one guns, straight on to these floating monsters, 
 and iron-clad gun boats, thirteen sloops of war and gun boats 
 together moved triumphantly. It was a marvellous exploit, 
 and no wonder Farragut felt like giving the credit of success 
 to the "Great Dispenser of all things." 
 
 This statement shows two things clearly; first, that we were 
 
378 A NARROW ESCAPE. 
 
 not a day nor an hour too soon in making the attack. A few 
 hours later, and the Louisiana would have taken position that 
 would have driven every vessel off. A few weeks later, and 
 an impregnable sea going vessel would have been afloat, be 
 fore which our entire navy must have disappeared like mere 
 toy ships in a gale. Secondly : that an overruling Providence 
 saved us,. and not the naval department or the government. 
 It had long been known that formidable engines of destruc 
 tion were constructing at New Orleans, just as it was known 
 that the Merrimac was being covered with iron at Norfolk, 
 yet little was done towards constructing any thing to 
 match them. It makes one shudder to think how near our 
 boasted naval superiority came being made a by-word, and 
 the blockade we were so fearful the European powers would 
 raise, destroyed by the confederates themselves. 
 
 But while such momentous events at the west and south 
 west distinguished the month of April, it being heralded in 
 by the capture of Island Number Ten and the battle of Shiloh, 
 and attended out by our victorious cannon before New Or 
 leans, others, though not so startling, yet equally important 
 characterized the month at the east. 
 
CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 , APRIL, 1862. 
 
 SUCCESS ALONG THE ATLANTIC COAST MC CLELLAN WITH HIS ARMY AT FOll- 
 
 TRESS MONROE HOW THE NEWS WAS RECEIVED BY THE PUBLIC GENERAL 
 
 PLAN OF THE WAR PLAN OF THE PENINSULA CAMPAIGN HOW BROKEN UP 
 
 THE ARMY ADVANCES TO YORKTOWN ESCAPE OF THE NASHVILLE THE 
 
 SUMTER BLOCKADED AT GIBRALTAR VESSELS RUNNING THE BLOCKADE AT 
 
 CHARLESTON PROGRESS OF THE SIEGE AT YORKTOWN FREMONT IN THE 
 
 MOUNTAIN DEPARTMENT AUGUR ADVANCES TO FREDERICKSBURGH THE 
 
 SIEGE AND CAPTURE OF FORT PULASKI BATTLE OF APACHE PASS RENO 
 
 SENT TO ELIZABETH CITY DEFEATS THE ENEMY. 
 
 WHILE the month of April was bringing us such a suc 
 cession of victories west, every thing was prosper 
 ous on the Atlantic slope. Dupont was successful in every 
 enterprise on the Florida coast, while the news from forts 
 Pulaski and Macon, made it certain that Sherman and Burn- 
 side would soon place those two strongholds in our possession. 
 The only drawback on these bright prospects east, was the 
 consciousness that we were frittering away our strength too 
 much on isolated points, and dividing our forces to seize 
 places that would fall of themselves, were the great armies 
 in the field defeated. We needed more concentration, as 
 events soon showed. 
 
 But the most exciting news was, that the army of the Po 
 tomac had suddenly arrested its onward movement, and a 
 mighty host of over a hundred thousand men were anchored 
 in transports off fortress Monroe. The country had learned^ 
 weeks previous, though the news was scrupulously kept out 
 of the press, that every thing in the vicinity of New York 
 which could carry troops, had been chartered by the gov 
 ernment, and knew that a large transfer of force was in con- 
 
380 AN INEXPLICABLE MOVEMENT. 
 
 templation in the neighborhood of the Chesapeake. The 
 address of McClellan to the army, when he took personal 
 command, had prepared the country for some sudden move. 
 But when it became apparent that his destination was York- 
 town, every one was taken by surprise. The fortifications 
 of this place extended entirely across the peninsula, from 
 York to James rivers, and at either extremity were protected 
 by batteries of immense strength. Special attention had 
 been given to them by the rebels from the outset of the war. 
 They knew it was the most direct route to Richmond, and 
 hence had made them, as they supposed, impregnable. 
 Mounted with heavy guns, fronted with rifle pits and easy of 
 access to the whole rebel force in Virginia, they presented a 
 most formidable appearance, and it seemed as though Mc 
 Clellan had chosen the very spot the rebels would have se 
 lected to try the issue, had they been consulted. For six 
 months, his enemies had been assailing him for not moving 
 forward upon the enemy at Manassas, and his friends had 
 defended him on the ground that it was unwise, and would 
 only end in fearful slaughter, to advance on works which 
 the rebels had so long been erecting there. But at last they 
 were evacuated, and the enemy must either retreat to Rich 
 mond, or give him a field fight. Yet, just as the whole coun 
 try was congratulating itself on this favorable turn of affairs, 
 he halted his magnificent army, and in sight of the deserted 
 fortifications, wheeled to the right about, and at an enor 
 mous expense to the government, planted that army before 
 works five times as strong as those in front of which he had 
 so long lay idle, and also incapable of being turned by any 
 flank movement on land. His enemies sneered, declaring 
 that we should have a summer campaign before Yorktown- 
 many military men denounced it as a huge blunder, while 
 those who still maintained their firm confidence in his skill, 
 found it difficult to explain satisfactorily this extraordinary 
 
POPULAR NOTIONS. OF WAR. 381 
 
 movement. That he could effect any thing before the rebels 
 could concentrate their whole army there, no one believed, and 
 instead of fighting it in the field, he must fight it behind the 
 strongest intrenchments on the continent. The transporta 
 tion of such an immense army, with all its munitions of war 
 and forage almost simultaneously, was a gigantic undertaking. 
 
 Such and similar remarks were made by the press and pub 
 lic, and many wise prophecies uttered respecting the future. 
 The difficulty with the people and men of limited military 
 knowledge was, that they thought war consisted in fighting 
 the enemy wherever you found him at once, forgetting that a 
 campaign to be successful must be based on a well laid plan, a 
 thorough knowledge of the country its great strategic points, 
 the resources of the enemy and our own, while all the move 
 ments should tend to a common grand result. Men talked 
 of Bonaparte s victories, as though he rushed blindly with 
 his strong legions from point to point, wherever the enemy 
 could be found. But probably no man that ever lived, cer 
 tainly no warrior of modern times, equalled him in extensive 
 combinations. Not a column was ever started till his whole 
 campaign was thought out, and every movement had relation 
 to all others. His great success grew out of his not only 
 thinking quicker, but better than his enemy. 
 
 If ever there was a country in the world in which to carry 
 on a war successfully, great forethought and preparation 
 are necessary, it is the United States. 
 
 The tidings of the movements of armies so remote, reach 
 ing the common center simultaneously, from Missouri, Tenn 
 essee, the mouth of the Mississippi, Mobile, Savannah, and 
 North Carolina, gave a vivid conception of the vast field 
 covered by our military operations, and showed what a com 
 prehensive mind was needed to embrace it all in a single 
 harmonious plan. The same paper would tell the readers 
 of the capture of Island Number Ten, describe the battle of 
 
 OF THE 
 
 WITW 
 
382 PLAN OF THE CAMPAIGN. 
 
 the giants at Pittsburg landing, give a dispatch from Fre 
 mont in the mountain department stating that the energetic 
 Milroy was driving the enemy from his fastnesses ; another 
 from McDowell, that Fredericksburg was probably evacu 
 ated; state the progress of our army before Yorktown, and 
 cheer the heart with the news of triumphs along the Atlan 
 tic coast. 
 
 The original plan, both of Scott and McClellan was to at 
 tack the enemy with two great armies as early in the spring 
 of 1 862, as circumstances would permit. Before that time, the 
 necessary arrangements could not be completed. Gun boats 
 were to act in concert with both, while smaller columns were 
 to advance on the flanks in easy supporting distance. Each 
 was to have as near three hundred thousand men as the force 
 in the field would permit. One thousand guns were to com 
 pose the artillery force, and when this mighty array, with the 
 gun boats, should take up its march, it was believed that 
 nothing the rebels had in the field would be able to resist it. 
 
 The army of the west was to move down through Kentucky 
 and Tennesse, precisely as it did. The only interference with 
 its movements by the executive authority there, was to order 
 it forward before the army of the east was ready. That this 
 was a mistake, though not a fatal one, does not admit of a 
 doubt, and in the future will be no more discussed than the 
 simplest axiom in mathematics. 
 
 This movement west, as it was intended it should, caused 
 the evacuation of Manassas. Though the people demanded 
 a battle there and jumped to the conclusion that it would be 
 a decisive victory, McClellan and every military man knew, 
 that with such a country in his rear, intersected by rivers 
 the bridges over which could be destroyed as soon as passed 
 and with railroads leading to Richmond, the enemy could 
 retreat at any time and at leisure, and that no decisive battle 
 could be fought there, and hence had better not be fought 
 
PENINSULA CAMPAIGN. 383 
 
 at all. Why the army did not move en masse on to Rich 
 mond, the government has not yet made public. At all 
 events when McClellan had reached Fairfax, he was ordered 
 to march to Alexandria, preparatory to embarking for the 
 peninsula. 
 
 The following was the plan adopted by McClellan in con 
 junction with his corps commanders for the peninsula cam 
 paign. Three corps, under the former, were to land at fort 
 ress Monroe. Banks was to move to the Rappahannock, and 
 down the river to Fredericksburg, thence southward to Han 
 over junction, north of Richmond. McDowell with his splen 
 did corps was to land on Severn river in Mobjack bay, and 
 marching to a position nearly opposite West Point, cross on 
 pontoons and cut off the rebel army of the peninsula the 
 movement from fortress Monroe not to begin till McDowell 
 was ready to embark. 
 
 If this plan had been carried out, one of two things would 
 have happened either McDowell s march would have been 
 a surprise, and the rebel army been cooped up between him 
 and McClellan, or advised of its danger, fallen back on Rich 
 mond. In the latter case, there would have been no battle, 
 and consequently no delay at York town, nor indeed any bat 
 tle, till the army reached the rebel Capital. Thus no time 
 would have been allowed the enemy to fortify or concen 
 trate his forces, and the sudden- appearance of an hundred 
 and fifty thousand men before the place would have par 
 alyzed them. At least, the best military meB to whom the 
 plan had been submitted, pronounced it almost certain of 
 success. 
 
 McClellan reached Monroe Banks bad nearly all his 
 troops concentrated at Warrenton, and McDowell s division 
 was partially embarked, when McClellan was informed, to 
 his utter amazement, that these corps were to remain where 
 they were, under the direction of the government at Wash- 
 
 23 
 
384 THE GREAT PLAN BROKEN UP, 
 
 ington thus depriving him of the expected co-operation of 
 eighty thousand men. It was after receiving this astound 
 ing news, that McClellan solicited and obtained Franklin s 
 division, swelling his army to one hundred and fifteen thou 
 sand men. 
 
 Thus was the carefully matured plan of McClellan and his 
 corps commanders broken up, and the whole movement 
 threatened to prove a failure when the Secretary of War 
 promised, that when McClellan advanced on Richmond, 
 McDowell should close up his right wing by way of Hano 
 ver Court House. With this promise MeClellan was com 
 pelled to be satisfied, and began his preparations to move on 
 Yorktown. But without the demonstration of McDowell on 
 West Point, he knew that the rebels would concentrate an 
 immense force here, and make a regular siege inevitable : 
 the last thing he ever contemplated. 
 
 Whether .the course of the government, in thus breaking up 
 the entire plan of the campaign was in consequence of new 
 developments and recent information, and on the whole pru 
 dent, or whether it committed a blunder, it is impossible now 
 to say. The result was the same a defeated army and tens 
 of thousands of our brave soldiers fallen in vain. The time 
 for apportioning the tremendous amount of guilt that belongs 
 somewhere, has not yet come. The outline of the plan 
 sketched above, is not given to settle this, but to show that 
 the stupendous failure that followed was inevitable and 
 that the mad attempt of marching .unsupported on Rich 
 mond, with only a little over a hundred thousand men, was 
 never contemplated by McClellan or his fellow commanders. 
 
 While the troops were landing, previous to taking uputheir 
 march for Yorktown, a heavy rain storm set in, saturating 
 the -clayey soil, which soon became a vast bed of mortar 
 under the artillery trains. The distance from the point of 
 debarkation to Yorktown, is about twenty-three miles, toward 
 
REBEL PRIVATEERS. 385 
 
 which the army advanced in three divisions. No opposition 
 was encountered in the march, and on the seventh, a tele 
 graph announced to the Secretary of War, that McClellan 
 was before the place. It was sent over the wires the same 
 day with the important dispatch from the west, that Pope had 
 crossed with his army to the Tennessee shore, thus complete 
 ly cutting off Island Number Ten from succor, and rendering 
 its capture inevitable. 
 
 As remarked in a former chapter, the country was much 
 chagrined at the escape of the Nashville from Beaufort. 
 Her escape from our port was the more mortifying from the 
 fact that we had indulged in such bitter denunciations of the 
 British government for letting her leave theirs without mo 
 lestation. The rebel government had only a few privateers 
 at sea, but they were wonderfully lucky in escaping our 
 cruisers. The Sumter had been chased from port to port in 
 vain, and when at last she was caged in the port of Mar 
 tinique, by a bold and skillful movement, escaped without 
 ever being fired at. Semmes, her commander, seemed too 
 adroit for our cruisers, but he at length made a fatal mistake. 
 A proclamation issued by the English government, that when 
 belligerent vessels entered any of her ports, they must not 
 leave within twenty-four hours of each other, made him bold 
 to sail into Gibraltar. He did not care though the Iroquois 
 followed him, for the start he would have, when he wished to 
 leave, would give him ample opportunity to escape. But 
 the American commander proved too shrewd for him, and 
 instead of entering the uncivil port of England, quietly 
 steamed into -one on the Spanish coast, within full sight of the 
 bay of Gibraltar, and from which no British proclamation 
 could force him. The privateer was nonplussed at this ex 
 traordinary turn of affairs, but finding himself caught in a 
 trap, prudently determined to remain under the protection 
 of the English guns, The Iroquois, on the other hand, re- 
 
386 PROGRESS AT YORKTOWN. 
 
 solved to act as jailor, and thus the two vessels had lain for 
 a long time. 
 
 But though our marine gradually recovered from its fright 
 respecting privateers, our government was much annoyed by 
 the continual report of vessels running our blockade, not only 
 carrying cotton to foreign markets, but bringing in supplies 
 and arms to the rebels. Between Charleston and the West 
 Indies, a constant communication was kept up, which no 
 vigilance of our commanders off the former port seemed able 
 to stop. Many valuable prizes were taken, but this, instead 
 of discouraging, seemed to stimulate adventurers. 
 
 In the meanwhile, our splendid army lay comparatively 
 quiet before Yorktown. An occasional skirmish, or a feeble 
 sortie served only to break up the monotony of the dreary 
 weeks. Berdan s sharp-shooters, a picked regiment of marks 
 men, annoyed the enemy exceedingly. Armed with rifles 
 of a long range, they lay ensconced in their hiding places, 
 and the moment a head appeared above the ramparts it be 
 came the target for a dozen bullets. One man from New 
 England, it is said, actually silenced a heavy gun the enemy 
 not daring to show themselves long enough to load it. 
 
 But amid all this apparent quiet, the most vigorous work 
 was going on. Trees, indeed whole forests, were felled, and 
 logs cut and laid across the impassable highways, thus making 
 miles on miles of corduroy road, over which the heavy siege 
 guns and the forage for this immense army had to be carried. 
 All this had been unprovided for, because in the plan of 
 McClellan no delay could have happened here, and no siege 
 guns would have been wanted. At the same time, the reg 
 ular approaches- were set on foot, and McClellan worked his 
 slow, difficult, yet certain way to the heari of the enemy s 
 position. Every day brought him nearer to the goal, and it 
 was well known that when the final bombardment should 
 commence, it would be the most terrific ever witnessed in 
 
FORT PULASKI. 387 
 
 the new world. The enemy were reported to be over one 
 hundred thousand strong, and it was a matter of wonder that 
 he made no more serious efforts to check McClellan s advance, 
 for if he were left alone the fall of the place was inevitable. 
 
 While events were thus slowly drawing to a head at York- 
 town, Fremont was giving a good account of himself in 
 the mountain department. His first encounter with the 
 enemy was at Monterey, where after a sharp engagement the 
 latter were defeated by a column under Milroy. There were 
 some little signs of life, too, in the army in front of Wash 
 ington. General Augur, in McDowell s division, by a rapid, 
 unexpected march, took possession of Falmouth, on the oppo 
 site side of the river from Fredericksburg, and commanding 
 the place, which compelled its surrender. 
 
 At length came the long expected news of the fall of fort 
 Pulaski. Although cutting it off from Savannah, rendered 
 the reduction of the fort a mere question of time, still the 
 starving process was a slow and somewhat uncertain one, 
 and Sherman determined to reduce it by bombardment, from 
 guns placed on Tybee island. Carrying out this determina 
 tion, lie had caused, during the winter, a thorough explora 
 tion of the island to be made. The result proving satisfac 
 tory, he ordered heavy guns to be transferred thither. 
 There being no wharf, these had to be landed at high tide, 
 and swung ashore by hand, and then dragged to their des 
 tined places. The deep sand and mire, however, would, in 
 many places, let the ponderous pieces down to their axles, 
 and a road a mile long had to be made of fascines composed 
 of poles withed together, and laid beside each other, the 
 whole way. The first battery was established two miles 
 from the fort. The guns were sunk in the sand, and pro 
 tected by the earth thrown up around them, so as to present 
 the least possible mark to the garrison. When others were 
 established nearer the fort, the work was done during the 
 
388 SURRENDER OF THE GARRISON. 
 
 night, to avoid the fire of the enemy. It was a long and 
 laborious task ; and the guns were not all in position till the 
 fore part of April. There were eleven batteries in all, number 
 ing thirty-six guns ; Parrott rifled pieces, Columbiads, mor 
 tars, etc., some of them weighing over one thousand seven 
 hundred pounds, and throwing nine and a half inch shells. 
 The whole was under the direction of General Gilmore, who 
 by the assistance of able engineers, accomplished his difficult 
 task, most satisfactorily. But just as everything was ready, 
 and Sherman was about to reap the fruit of his toil, he was 
 superseded in his command by General Hunter. 
 
 On the ninth, Gilmore sent a summons to the garrison to 
 surrender. Colonel Olmstead, commanding, replied that he 
 was placed there to defend, not to surrender it, and so the 
 next morning early, the first heavy gun sent its loud echoes 
 far over the sea, and the bombardment commenced. The 
 shot at first flew wild, but as the range became more accu 
 rate, the batteries settled down to their work in earnest, and 
 soon small clouds of brown dust told where the heavy shot 
 were smiting the brick walls of the fortification. With the 
 aid of the glass, huge, ragged rents could be seen, showing 
 that they were not knocking in vain for admittance. 
 
 The garrison replied, and all day long the heavy explo 
 sions shook the desert island. Night brought a cessation of 
 the conflict. The next morning, however, it was resumed, 
 and continued all the forenoon, during which one man, a 
 member of the Rhode Island third artillery was killed ; the 
 only loss on our side from first to last. About two o clock 
 the rebel flag was pulled down. General Gilmore was at 
 dinner at the time, from which he was aroused by the shouts 
 of volunteer couriers, witnesses of the fight, who came to 
 announce the glad tidings. 
 
 Three hundred and eighty-five prisoners, with all the 
 stores and armament of the fort, fell into our hands. This 
 
BATTLE AT APACHE PASS. 389 
 
 was the first fortification of any importance, retaken by our 
 troops, and was hailed as the beginning of the righteous 
 work of repossessing the national strongholds which the 
 rebels had seized at the outset. Macon, around which Burn- 
 side had closed his lines, was regarded as the next in the 
 series. 
 
 In the mean time, cheering news was received from the 
 department of New Mexico. Rumors, coming through rebel 
 channels, had long been in circulation, that Colonel Canby, 
 after his successful defense of fort Craig, had finally been 
 compelled to surrender it with his entire force. But now 
 the war department received a dispatch, stating that a por 
 tion of his command under Colonel Hough, had defeated the 
 rebels at Apache pass, killing several hundred and taking 
 ninety-three prisoners, besides destroying fifty-four wagons, 
 laden with provisions and ammunition. The Texans fought 
 with their accustomed desperation, charging our batteries 
 four times, but were repulsed with terrible slaughter. In 
 an ordinary war, this battle would have been a great event, 
 but in the more important movements near at hand, created 
 but little excitement. Colonel Canby, in that remote region, 
 cut off from reinforcements, true to the national flag, was 
 exhibiting the qualities of a great commander, and showing 
 that he was worthy to stand beside the heroes of the west. 
 The loss of one hundred and fifty in this engagement, out 
 of his small command, shows that he had fought a desperate 
 battle. The enemy under Colonel Sibley, inventor of the 
 famous Sibley tent, and formerly a United States officer, was 
 utterly discomfited by this reverse, and he was unable to 
 rally again his scattered, suffering troops. 
 
 While Burnside was making his preparations before fort 
 Macon, he sent General Reno with a few hundred men and 
 three boat howitzers, to Elizabeth city, to destroy some locks 
 in the canal leading to Norfolk. Landing below the town, 
 
390 EXPEDITION OF RENO. 
 
 on the nineteenth, he marched forward to the accomplish 
 ment of his object. About noon he was attacked by the 
 rebels, composed of a Georgia regiment and a portion of 
 Wise s Legion. After a sharp engagement, the enemy was 
 totally routed with heavy loss. Ours was one hundred and 
 ten killed and wounded. 
 
 In the evening, General Reno, hearing that the rebels had 
 been heavily reinforced and were advancing to attack him, 
 ordered a retreat. The jaded soldiers were roused from 
 their bivouacs, and commenced their toilsome march back to 
 their boats making a forced march of forty miles in twenty- 
 four hours. It was a night of great toil and suffering, and 
 the force was in such a condition, that if it had been attacked 
 it could scarcely have escaped total destruction. Fourteen 
 of his wounded were left in the hands of the enemy who 
 consequently claimed a victory. 
 
CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 APRIL, 1862. 
 
 SIEGE OF FORT MACON DIFFICULTIES ATTENDING IT THE BOMBARDMENT. 
 ITS SURRENDER FIGHTING AT YORKTOWN ATTACK ON LEfi s MILLS- 
 BAYONET CHARGE OF THE ELEVENTH MASSACHUSETTS HALLECK BEFORE 
 
 CORINTH MITCHELL IN ALABAMA CONGRESS THE EMANCIPATIONISTS 
 
 HUNTER S PROCLAMATION DIGNIFIED COURSE OF THE PRESIDENT THE 
 
 QUESTION OF SLAVERY IN CONGRESS THE SECRETARY OF THE NAVY EM 
 POWERED TO BUILD IRON CLAD VESSELS REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON TREAT 
 MENT OF OUR DEAD AT BULL RUN VIEWS OF FOREIGN COUNTRIES RESPECT 
 ING US NATIONAL DEBT AT THE END OF THE YEAR OF WAR. 
 
 IN the mean time, Burnside, with his accustomed energy, 
 was pushing the siege of fort Macon, in order to shake 
 himself clear of all embarrassments, and be able to perform 
 the mission assigned him in the general campaign, the mo 
 ment events at Richmond should reach the anticipated crisis. 
 The difficulties attending his operations against it, may be 
 gathered from the following description of the manner in 
 which his heavy siege guns had to be transported from New- 
 bern to near Beaufort and Morehead, cities in the vicinity of 
 the fort. "There being no locomotives on the road between 
 the two places, all the siege materials must be carried by 
 steamer, fifteen miles, to the head of Slocum s Creek, and 
 then hauled one mile to Havelock station. At the latter 
 place they were placed on platform and baggage cars, and 
 by the aid of mules, slowly hauled to Carolina city, which was 
 the head-quarters of General Parke. Here there was a turn 
 out and short track leading to a wharf on the edge of Bogue 
 Sound, where the guns, mortars and ammunition were re 
 ceived on board flat boats and conveyed across the sound to 
 
392 ATTACK ON FORT MACON. 
 
 Bogue s beach, a distance of a mile and a half. When these 
 heavy guns .and other ponderous materiel were on board the 
 flats, the labor of transporting them to the desired place of 
 operations had just commenced. The sound is so shallow, 
 for more than half the distance across, that it can easily be 
 sounded by wading knee deep a narrow channel, containing 
 only some live or six feet at high water, intervening. Having 
 reached the opposite shore at a point four miles due west 
 from fort Macon, a wide marsh was to be crossed, in which 
 the wheels of artillery carriages sunk to the hubs, and when 
 this obstacle was crossed, a continuous line of sandy knolls 
 was reached, extending to the fort. These sand hills were 
 covered by a stunted growth of brush and briar, in which 
 the wheels sunk to the axle, requiring a great force to move 
 the massive loads." 
 
 But these difficulties were at length all overcome, and the 
 guns one by one were placed in position. Our skirmishers 
 in the mean time, crept under the sand hills near the fort and 
 annoyed exceedingly the garrison, which in vain endeavored 
 to ascertain what Burnside was about. A man slung in hal 
 yards was kept swinging in mid air to detect our movements, 
 but the work steadily progressed to its completion. 
 
 On Wednesday, the twenty-third, Burnside arrived with 
 two powerful floating batteries, and the fort was summoned 
 to surrender. Colonel White was in command, and as if to 
 give another, among the illustrations of the horrors of civil 
 war, Quarter Master Biggs, a former class mate of his, was 
 sent with the demand. The most honorable terms were 
 offered, and the commander, a noble, high-minded man, had 
 he consulted his own feelings, would doubtless, in the hope 
 lessness of his position, have pulled down his flag. But 
 thinking it looked unsoldierlike to do so without a struggle, 
 he declined. As soon as the flag returned, Burnside signalled 
 the batteries to open fire. This was prevented, however, by 
 
THE BOMBARDMENT. 393 
 
 the appearance of a white flag from the fort, with a bag of 
 letters, which the commander wished to be forwarded to 
 their destination, evidently the messages- which they thought 
 might be the last they should send on earth. 
 
 Friday morning, the day that the victorious Farragut, with 
 the stars and stripes flying in the breeze, was standing boldly 
 on towards New Orleans, the first gun from Captain Morris 
 battery, echoed along the beach. As the sullen reverbera 
 tions died away, the inhabitants of Beaufort and Morehead 
 flocked to the windows and balconies of their houses, to wit 
 ness the fearful drama, whose closing scenes might leave 
 many of their homes houses of mourning for friends and 
 relatives and sons and brothers were in the low structure far 
 away, which was to be the target of our destructive batteries. 
 Shot followed shot in quick succession, making the city shake 
 on its sandy foundations, and soon after Flagler swelled the 
 thunder from his battery of ten inch mortars, and in quick 
 succession, followed Lieutenant Prouty s eight inch mortars, 
 to the right and in advance, completing the horrible din. 
 
 The man swinging from the flag-staff of the fort, quickly 
 descended from his perilous watch, and soon the hitherto silent 
 fort began to belch forth flame. The roar of the ocean as it 
 rolled its waves steadily to the shore, furnished the refrain to 
 this mighty music. The Parrott shells made destructive 
 work, and whenever one smote the solid masonry, a cloud 
 of black dust showed that it shivered whatever it struck. 
 For over three hours shot and shell were rained from the 
 batteries, when at length the floating batteries got into posi 
 tion, and began to pour in an enfilading fire. The garrison, 
 appalled at this concentric fire, fled to their casemates for 
 shelter. 
 
 For two hours the floating batteries kept up their bom 
 bardment, rendering the fort too hot for flesh and blood to 
 stand, and the rebels finally turned their guns upon them. 
 
394 THE FORT SURRENDERS. 
 
 A thirty-two-pound shot soon crashed through the Daylight 
 gun boat, and others received similar damage, but without 
 any loss of life. Only one man was wounded. 
 
 But at length the sea had so risen under the stiff gale that 
 was blowing, that the gunners could not keep their range, 
 and the boats were hauled off. During this time, the three 
 land batteries had taken a breathing spell, but now they 
 commenced again. By two o clock, every gun but two in 
 the fort was deserted. At three, one of these was abandoned 
 in terror, and a ten inch columbiad alone kept up its melan 
 choly fire. But it grew weaker and weaker, and a little after 
 four, ceased altogether, when a white flag was run up. 
 
 The fort was ours, with the loss of only one killed and two 
 wounded that of the enemy, seven killed and eighteen 
 wounded. Five hundred men were surrendered prisoners 
 of war, together with all the armament and stores of the fort. 
 
 The next morning,. Colonel White repaired to the steamer 
 Alice Price, on which was General Burnside, to surrender 
 the fort in person. He found the general at breakfast, who 
 received him very cordially, and invited him to take a seat 
 at the table. He did so, and the two discussed their break 
 fast together as amicably, as though there had been no hard 
 feelings or hard knocks between them. The garrison was 
 allowed the same terms that had at first been offered, for 
 though White was a rebel, he was a gallant and gentlemanly 
 one*, to whom, notwithstanding his misguided course, a gen 
 erous and courteous treatment seemed due. 
 
 The bombardment of these two forts proved conclusively 
 that brick and stone can not stand before rifled artillery. 
 The instruments of destruction have got in advance of the 
 means of defense, and to restore their former relations, for 
 tifications will have to be incased in iron. 
 
 On the eleventh, Pulaski fell ; on the twenty-third, Macon ; 
 and on the twenty-sixth New Orleans. Thus, within a sin- 
 
FIGHT AT LEE S MILLS. 395 
 
 gle fortnight, the rebellion received on every side, blows 
 that sent it staggering to its death. 
 
 Burnside was now left free to co-operate with McClellan, 
 in carrying out his plans for the overthrow of the great army 
 in Virginia, and the capture of the rebel Capital. 
 
 In the mean while, the siege of Yorktown, notwithstanding 
 almost incessant rains made the progress of the work slow, 
 steadily .advanced. The attacks on outworks, and the re 
 pelling of sorties, which characterize all sieges, occasionally 
 broke tip the monotony of this, though there was less hard 
 fighting than is usual. 
 
 The fight at Lee s Mills, as it was called, was the most im 
 portant one, and gave a foretaste of what our men would 
 do when the final struggle should come. The rebels had 
 built a fort, and mounted several guns so as to command a 
 road leading, to this place, which it was important, in execu 
 ting the general plan, should be carried. In front of it was 
 a bog two hundred and fifty feet wide, and above this a 
 large dam. Artillery was brought to bear on the fort all 
 day, which silenced the rebel guns, and dispersed their in 
 fantry. Two companies of Vermont troops were then or 
 dered to charge the works with the bayonet. Leaving the 
 woods in which they had been sheltered, they dashed for 
 ward toward the bog, and plunging in, some to their waists, 
 struggled through and rushed on the rifle-pits in front. 
 They found the fort empty, but a ditch a little to the left, 
 they saw to be full of men. A single volley scattered them, 
 when the companies advanced to a second empty rifle-pit, and 
 stopped to load. But on looking across the bog, and seeing 
 no reinforcements arriving l they began to fall back, carrying 
 their dead and wounded with them. Reaching the bog, 
 they found two feet more of water over it than when they 
 crossed only a few minutes before. The rebels had cut the 
 dam. above it and let in the water. Here many of the 
 
396 AFFAIRS AT THE WEST. 
 
 Wounded fell exhausted, and were afterwards killed or taken 
 prisoners. Those who could, plunged in and endeavored to 
 make their way back to solid ground. In the mean time, 
 the enemy returned, and commenced a fearful fire upon them, 
 shooting them through the head and shoulders, when our 
 artillery again opened, and scattered them. 
 
 The brave men had accomplished the work assigned them, 
 behaving throughout with the coolness of veterans, though 
 they lost thirty-five killed, and one hundred and twenty 
 wounded. The enemy acknowledged a loss of over a hund 
 red killed. 
 
 The eleventh Massachusets carried another outwork at the 
 point of the bayonet, without firing a gun. They received 
 the enemy s fire at fifty yards, and without halting, dashed 
 over ditch and parapet with a wild hurrah, scattering the 
 enemy like sheep. Destroying the work, they returned with 
 the loss of four killed and twelve wounded. 
 
 While events were thus drawing to a crisis at Yorktown, 
 Halleck was slowly closing around Corinth. Pope, who had 
 accompanied Foote s flotilla down the Mississippi, and taken 
 position on the Arkansas shore, to co-operate with him as he 
 did at Island Number Ten, had, in obedience to orders from 
 Halleck, joined him ; while the indomitable Mitchell, to whom 
 nothing seemed done while there was more to do, had 
 pushed his victorious column into different parts of Ala 
 bama. A detailed account of the marches and brilliant suc 
 cesses of this restless, determined man, would read like a 
 romance. Apparently fond of the hardest kind of work, he 
 had inspired his men with the same love ; and the daring and 
 endurance of his brigade, won the admiration of the whole 
 nation. No officer in the army better deserved the stars of 
 a major-general, which Congress conferred on him, than did 
 this fighting astronomer. 
 
 Thus passed the eventful month of April, in the field. 
 
CONGRESS OK SLAVERY. 397 
 
 In Congress, the chief objects of discussion were the tax 
 bill, which dragged its slow length along the confiscation 
 bill, in perfecting which, one great difficulty lay in the ques 
 tion, what should be done with the slaves of rebels, and the 
 subject of slavery itself. A portion of it insisted that a 
 decree of universal emancipation was the only way to put 
 down the rebellion. 
 
 One of the most important measures of this Congress was 
 the passage of the act prohibiting slavery in all the present 
 and future territories of the Union. 
 
 Another question that awakened a good deal of feeling 
 and brought out the opposition of the border state members, 
 was the emancipation of the slaves in the District of Colum 
 bia. Formerly this question had agitated the halls of Con 
 gress, and much learned and much angry discussion had been 
 bestowed on it, in and out of Washington. Until the rebellion 
 broke out, it was claimed by some that the case was a very 
 plain one. Virginia and Maryland, they said, had ceded the 
 district to the United States, without affixing any condition 
 as to the future stains of the slave ; that it was evident that 
 in so doing they had not anticipated so radical an interfer 
 ence on the part of Congress with their social institutions, as 
 the abolition of slavery in a district contiguous to their own 
 territory; that if Congress, at its first meeting after the cession 
 of the District of Columbia, had emancipated the slaves there 
 in, the whole country would have declared it a shameful viola 
 tion of an implied and perfectly understood contract; and 
 that what it could not justly do then, it certainly could not 
 do fifty years after. On the other hand, all felt at the north, 
 that slavery in the Capital was a disgrace to the nation, and 
 a libel on our Declaration of Independence; and that at the 
 time of the cession of this territory, there was an expectation 
 north and south, that slavery would gradually disappear, and 
 that it was an evil which it was understood was to be only 
 
398 HUNTER S PROCLAMATION. 
 
 temporary. Near the middle of April, the act of emancipation 
 was passed, and being signed by the President, became a law. 
 
 In this condition of things General Hunter issued an 
 order, proclaiming all the slaves in his department, free. 
 This movement might have brought on a collision between 
 the President and a portion of the loyal North ; but the 
 President, with that quiet firmness, which amid all the trying 
 circumstances of his position he had shown, and which had 
 fixed him deeply in the confidence of the people, issued a 
 counter proclamation in which he said, that both the time 
 and manner of an edict of general emancipation, were ques 
 tions he reserved to himself, and did not leave to command 
 ers in the field. It did not come within their province, and 
 therefore General Hunter had transcended his powers, and 
 his action was null and void. In this discreet way of dispo 
 sing of the matter all acquiesced. 
 
 Still, slavery in some form, engrossed much of the debates, 
 as it did the attention of the country. An attempt was made 
 to employ thousands of the slaves left by the rebels at Port 
 Royal, and a school opened for them at Newbern. Efforts 
 wera^also made to get permission to form regiments of col 
 ored men either to fight the south, or to garrison southern 
 fortresses during the unhealthy months. A resolution to 
 give half of the value of the steamer Planter to three ne 
 groes, who boldly took her out of Charleston harbor, and 
 delivered her to the blockading fleet, also caused a great 
 deal of bitter feeling among the border State members ; but 
 it passed, as it ought to have done. The recognition of Hayti 
 as an independent State, and sending ministers to its court, 
 also was regarded by some as another step towards putting 
 the blacks on an equality with the whites ; but the country 
 could see no good reason why America, from the mere preju 
 dice of color, should refuse to do what the nations of Europe 
 had long since done. 
 
BARBARITY OF SOUTHERN SOLDIERS. 399 
 
 Questionable as the action of Congress was in many things, 
 it adopted one measure of indisputable wisdom. It gave the 
 Secretary of the Navy authority to construct, under contract, 
 a formidable fleet of iron-clad vessels, rams and gun boats. 
 Half of the failures for which he had been held accountable, 
 grew out of his inability to do any thing. The previous 
 Congress had so fettered him that he could not act as the ex 
 igencies of the time demanded ; but now power was given 
 him which he was not slow to use ; and all along our sea 
 board, the keels of an iron fleet began to be laid, which gave 
 ground for much wholsome reflection to England. 
 
 During this month also, a committee which had been ap 
 pointed by Congress to ascertain the truth of various rumors 
 that our dead had received brutal treatment from the enemy 
 at Manassas, made its report, fully confirming them. Some 
 of our unfortunate men had been buried in an inhuman man 
 ner,, while from others, skulls and bones had been taken and 
 fashioned into cups and ornaments. Indeed, from the com 
 mencement of the war, the southern troops had disgraced 
 themselves by numberless acts of cruelty, though a great 
 number of the stories set afloat in the newspapers were false. 
 In war, exaggerated statements and false accusations are to be 
 expected on both sides. At the same, time deeds of violence 
 and cruelty will be committed by some soldiers in every army. 
 Brutish men are found there as elsewhere, while circumstan 
 ces favor the gratification of their base and ferocious passions. 
 The southern troops, being more vindictive, and looking up* 
 on the Union soldiers as invaders of their homes, would nat 
 urally be less scrupulous in the means they used to repel their 
 advance, than we to secure it. Besides, the poor whites that 
 composed the bulk of their army, were but a grade above 
 semi-barbarians ferocious, malignant and destitute alike of 
 conscience or honor; while ours was made up of the respect 
 able middle class. Again, the officers, most of them being 
 24 
 
400 VIEWS OF EUROPE. 
 
 slave holders, and regarding the ignorant whites as but little 
 above slaves, naturally looked with indifference on the treat 
 ment which our private soldiers received. Hence, cruelty 
 from the one and neglect from the other, were to be ex 
 pected, and could safely be assumed without an investiga 
 ting committee. 
 
 During the winter, General Stone, commander at Ball s Bluff, 
 had been suddenly arrested and confined in fort Warren. 
 The senate at the close of this month passed a resolution, 
 asking the President why he was not brought to trial. He 
 replied that the necessary absence of important witnesses 
 prevented it, and thus the mysterious affair rested. 
 
 A year ago this month, the war commenced by the attack 
 on fort Sumter. Twenty-eight more or less important bat 
 tles, besides an almost endless number of skirmishe s had oc- 
 ccured during its progress, and in twenty of the former, 
 the Union arms were victorious. Never before had the world 
 seen war carried on upon so vast a scale. The immobility 
 of the north during almost the entire year, had excited the 
 derision of Europe. Our quiet attitude was regarded as a 
 confession of weakness, and a sure forerunner of defeat. 
 They did not comprehend as we did, the gigantic task we had 
 undertaken, and the amount of preparation necessary before 
 we commenced. But when this was completed, and tha 
 forces we had been so long gathering began to move, that 
 derision gave place to amazement. The vastness of our 
 complicated plan bewildered them, while they stood amazed 
 at the power we showed ourselves able to put forth. En 
 gland especially, thought that we were distressed, and hard 
 ly knew what to do ourselves. She now saw that we not 
 only knew what to do, but how to do it. The vast dimen 
 sions of the war entailed enormous expenses, and the money 
 needed to defray them, she declared could be no where ob 
 tained. The people would not give it, and foreign capital- 
 
COST OF THE WAR. 401 
 
 ists would not lend it. But great as the expenditures were, 
 the necessary money was obtained within our own limits. 
 It is true we had run up a frightful debt, and sound states 
 men feared the final effect of the issue of so much paper 
 money as we were compelled to send forth, but the people 
 said " Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." At the 
 end of this year of war our national debt amounted to 
 $491,448,384. A protracted war at this rate, would of 
 course ruin the nation, but no one believed it would be of 
 long continuance. 
 
CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 MAY, 1862. 
 
 IN APPROACHING CRISIS PUBLIC FEELING - THE TWO GREAT ARMIES - 
 MC CLELLAN READY TO COMMENCE THE BOMBARDMENT AT YORKTOWN - THE 
 ENEMY EVACUATE IT - SCENE AT THE EVACUATION - THE PURSUIT - THE 
 BATTLE OF WILLIAM8BURQ BRAVERY OF COLONEL D WIGHT BERRY COMES 
 TO THE RESCUE _ KEARNEY FOLLOWS - HEROISM OF THE ELEVENTH MASSA 
 
 CHUSETTS _ HANCOCK S GALLANT BAYONET CHARGE INSPIRING EFFECT OP 
 
 MARTIAL MUSIC _ HEINTZELMAN AMID THE RAINING BULLETS HOOKER S 
 UNCONQUERABLE BRIGADE THE NIGHT AFTER THE BATTLE FRANKLIN 
 ARRIVES AT WEST POINT, AND ENGAGES THE ENEMY. 
 
 month of May, the first of the new year of war, was 
 believed to be pregnant with the fate of the republic ; 
 for events seemed to be approaching a decisive termination. 
 Halleck was drawing his lines closer and closer around Beau- 
 regard, at Corinth, and a battle was daily expected there 
 that should settle the war in the west. McClellan s prepara 
 tions were about complete before Yorktown, and any mo 
 ment it might flash over the wires that the bombardment 
 had commenced. 
 
 The mighty armies that confronted each other at these 
 points, constituted the main strength of the two sections in 
 the field, and numbered in all nearly a million of men. A 
 decided victory at both points would virtually end the war 
 a victory at but one would insure at least another year s 
 war,. while our overthrow at both would be irreparable. No 
 wonder the nation held its breath in suspense ; and fervent 
 prayers went up that God would assist the right. 
 
 The standing of these two armed hosts face to face, gath; 
 ering their energies like two giants for the final struggle, 
 
PREPARATIONS FOR THE BOMBARDMENT. 403 
 
 was a sublime yet fearful spectacle. The imagination started 
 back appalled at the vision of slaughtered heaps, and " gar 
 ments rolled in blood," that rose in the future. 
 
 There was one great difference, however, in their compo 
 sition, that encouraged the hopes of the north. The south, 
 to present numerically an equal force, had to resort to con 
 scription. The north, on the other hand, had been com 
 pelled to shut up its recruiting stations, to prevent the over 
 whelming increase of the army, and hence had men ready 
 and eager to fight. 
 
 This dead logk of the opposing forces produced fitful com 
 plaints, and loud clamors from a few excitable individuals in 
 and out of Congress ; but the great intelligence of the mass 
 of the people enabled them to understand and appreciate 
 the true motives of delay, and the vital importance of run 
 ning no needless hazard. 
 
 The censorship of the press shut out from the public all 
 knowledge of what was going on at Yorktown, but the great 
 confidence in McClellan s sagacity and military ability, made 
 it patient. 
 
 Quietly, but unceasingly, he was bending all his energies 
 to hasten forward the approaches, and on the third, he had 
 fourteen powerful batteries constructed all mounted but 
 three ninety- six heavy guns, some two hundred and one 
 hundred-pounders, and thirteen-inch mortars, being in posi 
 tion within breaching distance of the walls, and all connected 
 with parallels. Three redoubts were also finished. In a few 
 more hours every thing would be in readiness, and then the 
 earthquake shock would come. McClellan, who had had 
 ample opportunity to see what effect such batteries would 
 have on earthworks and fortifications in the siege of Sebas- 
 topol, knew that when he once opened his fire, the works 
 before him would melt like wax. 
 
 But an engineer equally skillful* had, unknown to him, 
 
404 SCENE AT THE EVACUATION. 
 
 surveyed his operations. Lee had been summoned to York- 
 town, and his practiced eye saw that McClellan had been 
 allowed to proceed with his work till the place was unten 
 able. An evacuation, much to the surprise of the ignorant 
 troops, and indignation of Huger, who was in command at 
 Norfolk, was at once determined upon, and immediately com 
 menced. 
 
 EVACUATION OF YORKTOWN. 
 
 On the third, the rebels kept up a continuous fire along 
 their lines, shaking the peninsula with their incessant cannon 
 ade, while the heavy shot and shell filled the air with their 
 steady rush and shriek. Nor did it cease at night, and when 
 darkness settled over the encampment, from the ramparts 
 that stretched away from Yorktown there were constant 
 gushes of flame, while the heavy thunder rolled far away in 
 the gloom. A little after midnight it suddenly ceased, and 
 an ominous silence rested over the works. Toward morn 
 ing, flames were seen to rise from behind them. Heintzel- 
 man went up in a balloon with professor Lowe, to ascertain 
 its cause, and found that the enemy had fired one of their 
 storehouses. Gradually the day broke over the landscape 
 below him, when he saw that the intrenchments were empty. 
 The last of the rebel army had fled during the night. 
 
 The news spread like lightning from division to division, and 
 through the long line of encampments, when the regimental 
 bands struck up one after another a joyous air till the vast 
 plain echoed with the jubilant strains, and then the regiments 
 themselves, in quick succession, sent up a shout that shook 
 the field. 
 
 In the midst of the general jubilee, officers were seen gal 
 loping to the heads of brigades and divisions, bearing the 
 following order: u Commandants of regiments will prepare 
 to march with two days ? rations, with the utmost dispatch 
 
THE PURSUIT. 405 
 
 Leave not to return" The vast encampment was quickly all 
 astir, and by eight o clock the cavalry and artillery, supported 
 by infantry, were streaming forward on the road over which 
 the last of the fleeing enemy had passed a few hours before. 
 
 Ninety-one guns of different kinds and calibers were left in 
 the works, beside a great number of tents, and a quantity of 
 ammunition. The enemy had buried torpedoes in the road 
 and various places, to blow up our troops, and a few were 
 killed in this barbarous way. 
 
 Gloucester Point, opposite Yorktown, across the river, was 
 evacuated at the same time, in which were found many more 
 cannon. This left York river open to our gun boats and 
 transports, and secured the destruction or capture of all the 
 rebel vessels in it. McClellan, though his plan had been 
 broken up, prepared as well as he could for the sudden 
 evacuation of Yorktown, .and had Franklin s division already 
 on board transports, ready to start for West Point, the main 
 head of navigation on the York river, so as to intercept, if 
 possible, the enemy on their retreat to Richmond. How far 
 or how fast they had fallen back, it was impossible to say ; for 
 they had conducted their operations so cautiously, that the 
 advance of the retreating army had been gone two days be 
 fore any indications of their movements were received at 
 McClellan s head-quarters. 
 
 He pushed the pursuit, however, with vigor, and ^the 
 troops, released from their long confinement, were only too 
 eager to march forward. Towards evening, that day, (Mon 
 day,) the cavalry under General Stoneham, came up with the 
 rear guard of the enemy, about two miles from Williamsburg, 
 and a sharp skirmish followed. They were found to be in 
 trenched, but the cavalry drove them from one of their 
 works, though for the want of infantry they were compelled 
 to abandon it, and withdrawing a short distance, they bi- 
 vouaced for the night. 
 
406 FACE OF THE COUNTRY. 
 
 The first and sixth regular cavalry behaved admirably, 
 closing in a hand to hand fight with that of the enemy, and 
 losing nearly fifty killed and wounded. One gun, by getting 
 fast in the mud, was abandoned. 
 
 It was evident that the rebels purposed making a deter 
 mined stand with a large force at this place, in order to gain 
 time for the remainder of the army and baggage trains to 
 escape. The town is twelve miles north of Yorktown, and 
 fifty-eight from Richmond, and is situated on a plain nearly 
 midway in the peninsula, which at that point is eight or ten 
 miles wide from river to river. Two roads lead from York- 
 town to it, one near the York, and the other near the James 
 river, with a vast forest between them. They gradually ap 
 proach each other as they stretch towards Richmond, and at 
 the point where they meet, at the northern extremity of the 
 woods, the enemy had taken their stand, and erected earth 
 works which commanded the entire space over which our 
 troops must advance. At the right, immense farms spread 
 away, dotted with five separate earth works, but on the left, 
 the woods came up near the intrenchments, and were filled 
 with rifle pits that could not be seen till our troops were 
 directly upon them outside of them were three earth works. 
 
 BATTLE OF WILLIAMSBURG. 
 
 Hooker, of Heintzelman s, and Smith, of Keyes division, 
 had come up the evening before, and in the morning ad 
 vanced on the enemy s works, the former moving through 
 the woods on his right, and the latter on his left. A heavy 
 rain storm was raging at the time, giving a sombre, dreary 
 aspect to every thing, and drenching the jaded soldiers to 
 their skins. The bivouac on the damp earth the night be 
 fore was not favorable to elasticity of spirits, and this pelting 
 rain storm was not calculated to improve them, but the sol 
 diers pushed resolutely, though slowly on. 
 
THE ATTACK. 407" 
 
 Hooker had not proceeded far before a heavy fire of grape 
 and canister from the enemy s batteries opened upon him. 
 It was impossible to move directly upon and storm them, for 
 the rebels had cut down the trees in front piling them with 
 their bushy tops pointing directly towards our advancing 
 troops, and presenting an obstruction that would hold them 
 so long under fire if they attempted to force their way 
 through, that but few could expect to survive it. Notwith 
 standing this, the men were deployed in the woods, and 
 bravely endeavored to make their way over the fallen 
 timber. They dropped fast on every side, for the woods 
 were filled with the incessant crack of musketry, from a foe 
 that was only half visible. By desperate fighting, however, 
 they won the ground before them inch by inch, when the 
 rebels, despairing of arresting their determined advance, 
 sent off for reinforcements, that soon came pouring in by 
 thousands. Hooker now undertook to advance one of his 
 guns, but it stuck fast in the mud, and he had to shoot the 
 horses to prevent the enemy, who came rushing upon it in 
 overwhelming force, from carrying it off. He soon saw that 
 he could not long hold his ground against the tremendous 
 odds that were being brought to bear upon him, and sent off 
 again and again for reinforcements, and charged desperately 
 on the enemy to keep him back till they could arrive, but 
 hour after hour passed, yet they did not make their appear 
 ance. Now his wearied troops by a gallant effort would 
 force the enemy to retire for a space, and then they would 
 swing heavily back before the onset of double their number. 
 Heintzelman sat on his horse amid the raining balls, a prey 
 to the most intense anxiety. His bravest troops were being 
 mowed down like grass, and unless help came soon they 
 would have to give way. It was true the roads were horri 
 ble, and the rain fell in torrents, yet it was plain there was 
 negligence or lack of energy somewhere. Four guns had 
 
408 BERRY S TIMELY ARRIVAL. 
 
 already fallen into the hands of the enemy, around which 
 horses, riders, and gunners lay mangled, and half buried in 
 the mud. At length, part of the Jersey brigade, with their 
 ammunition exhausted or wet, had to fall back ; and the Ex 
 celsior brigade marched into their places, when the firing 
 became more terrible than ever. It was like the roar of a 
 cataract, and the whole stormy woods seemed an element of 
 fire in the dull and murky atmosphere. Colonel D wight, 
 with the first Excelsior, though fearfully outnumbered, reso 
 lutely held his ground: Report came that the enemy were 
 outflanking him. " I can t help it," was his calm reply, " I 
 must hold this spot while a man is left to stand by me." 
 Bleeding from his wounds, he stood resolved to die at his 
 post. A braver man never led troops into fire, and bravei 
 troops never closed with heroic devotion round a gal 
 lant leader. Rooted, rock fast on the bloody field, they held 
 their ground till help came, though every third man had fallen. 
 Veterans of a hundred battle fields could do no more than this. 
 In the mean time, Kearney s division was coming to the 
 rescue. Officer after officer kept dashing up to him with or 
 ders to hurry on. The roads were miry and the marching 
 heavy, and the soldiers threw aside their haversacks to light 
 en their load, and pressed on in the direction of the firing 
 that rose in one long thunder peal over the woods. The 
 minutes seemed hours to the brave Heintzleman, for every 
 moment threatened to be the last that Hooker s brigade could 
 maintain its ground. But a great load was suddenly lifted 
 from his heart, as he saw General Berry at the head of a part 
 of his brigade, approaching with giant strides. Through the 
 storm and mud, with his two regiments of Michigan men and 
 the thirty-seventh New York, he had pushed fiercely on, 
 passing troops, trains and artillery, and as he now drew near, 
 Heintzelman gave a shout of delight, and waved his cap in 
 Vhe air. A thundering cheer responded, as the brave fel- 
 
THE ELEVENTH MASSACHUSETTS. 409 
 
 lows bounded through the driving rain. It was now three 
 o clock in the afternoon, and for nearly eight hours Hooker s 
 single unconquerable brigade had withstood the whole shock 
 of battle. Help came not a moment too soon. Berry hurled 
 his regiments like a thunderbolt on the foe. The fifth 
 Michigan, receiving the fire that smote them, and too impa 
 tient to return it, charged bayonet clearing a rifle pit with 
 a thrilling shout, and leaving a hundred and forty-three bod 
 ies in their fiery path. Kearney immediately after came 
 up, and riding into the thickest of the fire, led his troops 
 forward with irresistible impetuosity. As they advanced, 
 however, they met the long line of ambulances conveying 
 the wounded of Hooker s brigade to the rear, whose groans 
 and cries of distress, joined with the mud and rain, and the ex 
 haustion of the long and terrrible march, were not calculated 
 to produce a favorable impression on them as they were going 
 into action. General Heintzelman saw it and immediately 
 ordered several of the bands to strike up national and mar 
 tial airs. The effect was electrical, and as the strains of the 
 familiar tunes reached the ears of the wounded as they were 
 carried from the field, their cheers mingled with those of 
 the stout hearted men who were marching past them into 
 battle. Under the sudden inspiration, mud and rain and 
 weariness were forgotten, and with renewed energy they push 
 ed forward to where the deafening explosions told them their 
 companions in arms were facing death. Berry charged furi 
 ously on the astonished rebels, and Birney followed, reversing 
 the tide of battle and rolling it on the foe. Hooker s brigade, 
 a portion of which after their ammunition was exhausted, held 
 its position with the .bayonet alone, was at last relieved , for 
 Kearney now cleared the crimsoned woods and swept the field. 
 Of the brave regiments which bled so freely this day, none 
 was handled with more skill, or hurled again and again with * 
 more irresistible impetuosity on the foe, than the eleventh 
 
410 A BAYONET CHARGE. 
 
 Massachusetts of Grover s brigade, commanded by Colonel 
 Blaisdell. Like " Le Terrible" of Napoleon s army in Italy, 
 it broke regiment after regiment of the enemy in pieces. 
 Its march was like that of fate, and its charging cheer was 
 the shout of victory. 
 
 While Hooker was thus breasting the storm on the left, 
 Peck advancing up the road, near York river, came upon 
 the enemy s center in the open space, in which stood fort 
 Magruder. Though exposed to a murderous fire of shot 
 and shell from the fort and the long lines of rifle pits that 
 commanded all the open ground, by keeping the cover of 
 a pine grove, he held his ground the entire day. 
 
 In the mean time, Hancock had advanced on the extreme 
 right, and crossing a dam, took possession of some deserted 
 earthworks. Late in the afternoon, the enemy anticipating 
 an attack on his extreme wing, by him, moved against him 
 with a heavy force. Fearing that his retreat might be cut 
 off, should his "force prove too weak to hold the advanced 
 position, the latter began to fall back slowly and steadily in 
 line of battle, ever presenting a dauntless front to the foe. 
 The rebels, taking this movement for a retreat, and thinking 
 the victory already won, dashed forward, cheering and firing 
 as they came. When Hancock had got all his artillery safe, 
 he halted his brave band, only twenty-five hundred strong. 
 On came the enemy till they were nearly on the top of the 
 sloping ground, and within forty yards of his line. " Fire," 
 rang along the unfaltering ranks, and a swift, deadly volley 
 swept the rebel line. "Charge," followed in quick succes 
 sion, and with levelled bayonets and leaning forms, the whole 
 mass threw itself forward down the slope. As the gleaming 
 line of steel drove swiftly on, the elated rebels halted, ap 
 palled at the sight. One glance at the determined counte 
 nances, and that even line of bayonets, moving steady and 
 swift as the inrolling wave, and they broke and fled in dismay. 
 
THE FIELD AFTER THE FIGHT. 411 
 
 The rebel position was turned by this success, and night 
 having come on, the enemy retreated under cover of dark 
 ness. The next morning, our victorious columns marched 
 into Williainsburg with drums beating and colors flying. 
 Enthusiastic shouts rent the air, but they fell all unheeded on 
 the ears of the brave sleepers in the woods and open spaces 
 where the battle had raged the day before. Soaked with 
 rain, and covered with mud, the dead lay in heaps where 
 Hooker had so long and grimly held his ground. Amid the 
 shattered trees, and shivered branches, and mangled horses, 
 and wrecks of the fierce fight the blood standing in pools 
 around them they slept the quiet sleep of death. All the 
 dreary night, the soldiers, with torches, had threaded the woods 
 in search of the wounded ; still notwithstanding their untir 
 ing labors, many the next morning lay where they fell, list 
 ening with dull senses to the shouts and triumphant strains 
 of their advancing comrades. It was a dreary sight to see 
 the ambulances slowly moving amid the dripping trees, the 
 drivers carefully picking their way to keep the wheels from 
 passing over the lifeless forms. 
 
 Our loss in killed, wounded, and missing, was about two 
 thousand, the greater part of which fell on Hooker s brigade. 
 Hancock did not lose over twenty in his brilliant charge, 
 which called forth a warm eulogy from McClellan to the two 
 regiments which made it. 
 
 While this battle was raging, Franklin was approaching 
 West Point with his troops, to intercept the retreat of the 
 rebel army. It effected a landing, and on Wednesday was 
 attacked by the enemy. A battle followed, in which we 
 lost some two hundred killed and wounded, and a large 
 number of prisoners. Nothing of consequence seemed to 
 have been accomplished by this movement, save the rapid 
 transportation of a large force far in advance, where it could 
 co-operate with McClellan s army. Franklin s division was 
 too weak to attack the whole retreating force of the enemy. 
 
CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 MAY, 1862. 
 
 OUR GUN BOATS ASCEND THE JAMES RIVER SURRENDER OF NORFOLK- 
 DESTRUCTION OF THE MERRIMAC GRATIFICATION OF THE PEOPLE ATTACK 
 
 ON FORT DARLING MC CLELLAN s ADVANCE ON RICHMOND BATTLE OF 
 
 HANOVER COURT HOUSE THE ROAD OPENED FOR MC DOWELL TO ADVANCE 
 
 RICHMOND NOT TO BE TAKEN UNLESS HE DOES DISSATISFACTION AND 
 
 UNREASONABLENESS OF THE PUBLIC A DEAR EXPERIMENT OF THE SECRE 
 TARY OF WAR. 
 
 WHILE our army was chasing the flying enemy towards 
 Richmond, important events were passing in the re 
 gion of its long encampment before Yorktown. The day 
 after the battle at West Point, the Galena, and two other gun 
 boats, passed the batteries on the James river, and began to 
 feel their way towards Richmond. Two days after, General 
 Wool, with five thousand men, effected a landing at Wil- 
 loughby point, and advanced on Norfolk. The rebel General, 
 Huger, had evacuated it when it was decided to abandon 
 Yorktown, and it was left defenseless. On the approach of 
 our forces, a delegation from the city came out to meet them, 
 and the place, which had been the great depot for the sup 
 ply of heavy ordnance for the rebels, fell into our hands 
 without firing a shot. It actually fell with Yorktown, for 
 after that event it was entirely cut off from help. The tak 
 ing it with an armed force, therefore, was a mere matter 
 of form, though a part of the public made a laughable at 
 tempt to convert it into a brilliant military exploit of the 
 President himself, who happened to be at fortress Monroe 
 at the time. 
 
 The fate of the Merrimac was also sealed with the fate of 
 Yorktown ; for she was totally unfit for the sea, while her 
 
THE MERRIMAC BLOWN UP. 413 
 
 draft of water was too great to allow her to go up to Rich 
 mond. It therefore occasioned no surprise, to hear that she 
 had been blown up by her crew. 
 
 Wool entered Norfolk on Saturday. The same night, this 
 rebel craft, which had caused us so much damage, was set on 
 fire. She presented a grand spectacle in her ignominious 
 death. When she was fairly aflame, she lighted up the tran 
 quil waters of the bay for miles around and wrapped in her 
 fiery shroud, burned on for hours, till the flames reached 
 the magazine, when her iron ribbed sides burst with the sound 
 of thunder, shaking the shores with the explosion ; then she 
 suddenly sunk in the deep, a companion at last to the Cum 
 berland and Congress. The news of her destruction was re 
 ceived with intense satisfaction, not merely because she had 
 sent to the bottom two national vessels with a part of their 
 gallant crews, but her menacing attitude in the waters of 
 the Chesapeake, keeping a whole fleet occupied in watching 
 her motions, irritated the national pride. Her presence there 
 was regarded as a perpetual insult and taunt. Our self re 
 spect demanded that she should be disposed of; hence there 
 was a sort of personal gratification in having her commit 
 suicide. To this, there was added a sense of relief, for no 
 one could exactly measure her power to do mischief, and as 
 long as she was in existence there was a feeling of insecurity. 
 Besides, she being disposed of, left the Galena, Naugatuck, 
 and other vessels, at liberty to go up the James river, and 
 operate against the batteries that lined its banks, and perhaps 
 reach Richmond itself. 
 
 The rebels, before evacuating Norfolk, destroyed the navy 
 yard, inflicted what injury they could on the granite dry 
 dock, and left as complete a wreck as their time and abil 
 ity would permit. Sewall s Point, and all the other neigh 
 boring batteries fell, of course, and a large quantity of heavy 
 ordnance came into our possession. General Viele was ap- 
 
414 ATTACK ON FORT DARLING. 
 
 pointed military Governor, and gave universal satisfaction, 
 by the quiet, yet stern, manner in which he maintained order. 
 It had been supposed that a great deal of Union feeling pre 
 vailed in the city, as its entire prosperity had grown out of 
 the national patronage, but whatever had existed seemed to 
 have been extinguished by the war, and though there was 
 much suffering among the inhabitants, they manifested a sul 
 len spirit under their transfer back to the old confederacy. 
 
 The Galena proceeded at once, up the James river, silenc 
 ing or passing the batteries on the way, until she arrived 
 nearly opposite Williamsburg. Joined by the Monitor, Ar- 
 ostook, Naugatuck, and Port Royal, she proceeded on towards 
 Richmond, constantly assailed from rifle pits on shore, till 
 she came to a sharp bend, about seven miles from the city. 
 Here, on a bluff a hundred and fifty feet high, they found a 
 strong fortification called fort Darling, mounted with guns 
 of large caliber, and loiig range, which completely com 
 manded the river. Here too, piles were driven across the 
 channel, and vessels sunk to arrest the farther progress of the 
 boats, and hold them under the terrible fire of the battery. 
 
 BOMBARDMENT OF FORT DARLING. 
 
 The Galena boldly ran to within six hundred yards of the 
 battery, and was swung across the channel, which, at that 
 point, was only about twice as wide as the vessel was long, and 
 in this stationary position, a little before eight in the morn 
 ing of the fifteenth, opened fire. The Monitor, at first an 
 chored near her, then passed above, but finding the elevation 
 too great for her guns, dropped down the stream again, and 
 taking up her position, wheeled her turret on the bluff, and 
 began to hurl her ponderous shots up the hights. The other 
 vessels took the positions assigned them, and the bombard 
 ment commenced. The battery replied, sending her heavy 
 metal down with terrible effect. For more than two hours 
 
REPULSE OF THE FLEET. 415 
 
 the firing was constant, the heavy reports echoing above the 
 houses of Richmond like heavy thunder, and filling the in 
 habitants with terror. But the fight was too unequal the 
 boats were never designed to act against works placed on 
 such an elevation, and a vast majority of their shots were 
 thrown away ; while the plunging balls of the battery went 
 through and through the sides and deck of the Galena. She 
 however gallantly maintained the fighf, till twenty-four of her 
 crew were killed and wounded, her ammunition exhausted, 
 and her sides pierced with eighteen shots, when she dropped 
 out of fire. Her heavy loss and damage were owing to the 
 fact, that she was compelled, from the narrowness of the 
 stream, to remain stationary. Hence, when the rebel gun 
 ners once got the range, they had but to load and fire. The 
 Monitor was hit three times once square on the turret by 
 a solid eight inch shot, but she maintained her reputation 
 for invincibility not one piercing her armor, and produc 
 ing no effect save to bend the plates. Not a man was hurt 
 aboard her. The Naugatuck had fired her one-hundred- 
 pound Parrot gun but a few times, when it burst into frag 
 ments, and she became powerless. The other vesels suffered 
 only slightly. For the first time since the attack on fort 
 Donelson, our gun boats had met with a reverse, and the peo 
 ple of Richmond were highly elated. 
 
 In the mean time, McClellan was pushing his immense 
 army steadily towards Richmond, until at length he drew it 
 up on the banks of the Chickahominy river, a small stream 
 within ten miles of the rebel Capital. Here the building of 
 bridges, and the presence of the enemy, arrested his progress, 
 and he was compelled to take each step with great caution. 
 General Stoneham, with the cavalry, kept constantly in ad 
 vance, and with a vigilance, and energy, and patient endurance 
 of toil that won the admiration of the country, carried out 
 every plan of his commander successfully. 
 25 
 
 MJt 
 
416 A BOLD EXPEDITION. 
 
 Skirmishing ,with pickets, and bold reconnoissances, occur 
 red almost every day, and it became more and more evident 
 that the rebels were determined to make a desperate stand 
 for their capital. The public had looked for its speedy over 
 throw, but it was now clear, that the march to it, if performed 
 at all, must be over heaps of slain. 
 
 M.cClellan kept drawing his lines closer and closer round 
 the city pushing his columns across the Chickahominy, pre 
 paratory to a final advance. By a bold dash on Mechanics- 
 ville, he had been able to cut the Fredericksburg and Rich 
 mond rail road, thus preventing a sudden concentration of 
 forces on McDowell. 
 
 The month wore away in this manner without any deci 
 sive results, but in the last week, public expectation was 
 raised by a telegraphic dispatch, stating that our forces after 
 a sharp contest had captured Hanover Court House. This 
 town lies nearly twenty miles north of Richmond, and is in 
 tersected by the Richmond and Potomac and Central rail 
 roads. Being so far north of Richmond, and away from the 
 main army, its capture pointed, unmistakably it was thought, 
 to a sudden advance of McDowell from Fredericksburg with 
 his division, estimated to be forty thousand strong. McClel- 
 lan was reaching out his hand nearly a third of the way to 
 him, asking him in mute but pleading accents, to fulfill the 
 promise of the government, without which he knew his long 
 and terrible march would end in failure. 
 
 This important expedition was entrusted to General Por 
 ter. At daylight on the morning of the twenty-seventh, the 
 reveille was beat in the camps, and in an hour after, the 
 columns were in motion Major Williams, with a squadron 
 of cavalry, moving in advance. A regiment of infantry, 
 acting as skirmishers, followed, plunging into every thicket, 
 and exploring every doubtful locality. Then came the bat 
 teries, and the division. It was a gloomy morning in which 
 
A GLOOMY MARCH. 417 
 
 to march, for the soldiers had not finished their breakfasts 
 when the black and heavy clouds that curtained the sky 
 opened, and the rain came down in torrents. For three 
 hours it poured like a heavy thunder shower, making it dif 
 ficult to keep the ammunition dry, and drenching the sol 
 diers so thoroughly that the water ran in rivulets from them, 
 while the road became a pool of mud. The march, how 
 ever, was pushed steadily forward for six miles, when some 
 mounted pickets were encountered. These being quickly 
 dispersed, the column kept on till noon, when it halted with 
 in three miles of the Court House. 
 
 The troops had now marched about twelve miles, and 
 had three more to go before they reached Hanover. The 
 storm had broke, and for the last three hours the march 
 had been under a broiling sun, and the men were much 
 fatigued. The halt was, however, a short one, and the col 
 umn moved on. 
 
 BATTLE OF HANOVER COURT HOUSE. 
 
 The advance soon came upon a body of the enemy con 
 cealed in the woods, when a sharp contest began. The regi 
 ments held their ground bravely, biit could make no head 
 way against the force before them. Soon, however, the ar 
 tillery came up on a gallop, and unlimbering, sent canister 
 and shell through the woods. The Berdan sharp shooters 
 also hurried forward, and taking such concealed positions as 
 they could, or lying flat on their stomachs, picked off the 
 enemy rapidly. Reinforcements in the mean time continued 
 to arrive from Martindale s and Butterfield s brigades, and 
 the engagement became general. The artillery kept the 
 woods alive with shells bursting in every direction amid the 
 concealed foe, while the roll of musketry was fierce and con 
 stant. Sheltered by the trees, the rebels made a stubborn 
 
418 KAIL ROAD DESTROYED. 
 
 resistance, and for two hours the contest was close and se 
 vere, but at last they gave way. 
 
 As they reluctantly broke cover, and became exposed to 
 view, our volleys smote them with such deadly effect that 
 their retreat changed into a wild run. With a cheer, our 
 troops now pressed forward in pursuit, but were brought to 
 a halt by General Porter, who had arrived on the ground. 
 Martindale s brigade was then detached from the main body, 
 and directed to push on to the Central rail road, and destroy 
 the bridges over the Pamunkey river. Preceded by a de 
 tachment of cavalry, it pressed rapidly forward, and accom 
 plished its object without resistance. As they were ap 
 proaching the road, they saw a train of cars moving up from 
 Richmond, filled apparently with troops, but as the conductor 
 caught sight of our flag, and the .line of glistening steel, he 
 reversed his engine, and rapidly backed the train. 
 
 In the mean time, Butterfield s and McQuade s brigades 
 pushed on after the fugitives who had fled to the left, to 
 wards where the rail road crossed the turnpike. Along the 
 road, through the meadows, grain fields, and woods, they 
 swept on till they came upon the enemy, who had probably 
 been reinforced by the troops on the train, and were drawn 
 up in the woods near Mrs. Harris house. The contest here 
 was sharp but not long. Martindale s regiments, after the 
 destruction of the rail road, had stacked their arms, and 
 were sitting and lying on the ground, taking a short rest, 
 when the heavy boom of cannon brought them to their feet, 
 and swiftly closing up their ranks, they moved off in the 
 direction of the fire. The enemy, though protected by a 
 dense forest, a second time gave way and the firing for a while 
 ceased. The rebels retreated to another piece of woods, 
 nearer the Court House, and made a third and last stand. 
 Our tired regiments, determined to make a clean sweep of 
 the field, moved forward again, apparently as fresh as in the 
 
THE VICTORY. 419 
 
 morning. They knew not the number of the enemy op 
 posed to them, they only knew the woods were full of them, 
 for it was ablaze with their volleys. The artillery was hur 
 ried forward, a part taking position in the road, and the rest 
 in an adjoining field, the two batteries placed so as to pour 
 a concentric fire into the timber. Griffin s terrible guns were 
 there, and soon the green arcades were alive with the hurt 
 ling storm. The infantry, coming up on the double-quick 
 with cheers, filled the space between the batteries, and blended 
 their steady volleys with the roar of the guns. It was five 
 o clock when the action began, and it was kept up without 
 cessation till darkness began to gather over the landscape, 
 when the rebels abandoned the contest, and the field was 
 won. 
 
 The sun went down behind the green trees without a cloud, 
 and the tranquil stars came out one after another upon the 
 sky, shedding their gentle light upon field and wood, all un 
 conscious of the dead and dying who had looked their last 
 on the blue heavens. 
 
 The loss of the enemy, as usual, could only be guessed at, 
 while ours amounted, in killed, wounded, and missing, to 
 three hundred and forty-five, chiefly from Butterfield s and 
 Martindale s brigades, on which the heaviest of the fighting 
 fell. We took one gun, several trophies, and seven hundred 
 and seventy-one prisoners. 
 
 Porter had conducted this hazardous expedition with great 
 skill, in which he was nobly sustained by Butterfield, Mar 
 tin dale and McQuade. 
 
 Now, if ever, seemed the time for government to send 
 forward McDowell to close up McClellan s right wing, and 
 add that force without which it would be madness to move 
 on Richmond, and attempt to take it by assault. It was 
 only a little- over fifty miles from Fredericksburg to Hanover 
 Court House, and the whole army expected him to advance at 
 
420 MCDOWELL EXPECTED TO ADVANCE. 
 
 once. It was because the enemy expected this movement, 
 that Richmond was in such consternation, and the inhabit 
 ants preparing to leave. In fact, they supposed at first, that 
 the attack on Hanover Court House was made by McDowell. 
 
 Apart from the troops left to keep open his communica 
 tion and protect his supplies, McClellan had not a hundred 
 thousand men with whom to advance on the rebel capital, 
 while it was known that Davis had on his lines of defense or 
 within call, at least a third more. With his inferior force, 
 and his right wing unprotected, to move on strong fortifi 
 cations, so heavily defended, would have been madness, 
 and sure to end in disaster. Neither he nor his corps 
 commanders ever proposed to do any such thing. Though 
 their united plan had been broken up, yet relying on the 
 promise of the government, that when they arrived before 
 Richmond, McDowell should join them from Fredericksburg, 
 they had carried forward the tedious siege of Yorktown, 
 and fought their way gallantly to the gates of the rebel cap 
 ital. Farther than this they never expected to go, without 
 the co-operation of the other portion of the army, unless some 
 blunder of the enemy gave an unexpected advantage. Neither 
 they nor McClellan ever proposed to do, with a little over half 
 the army, what the whole had been gathered, drilled and pre 
 pared to accomplish. The army had not been divided for the 
 purpose of leaving half of it idle, while the other half did all 
 the work. It would seem that the public might have seen this, 
 but did not. So possessed had it become with the idea that 
 Richmond must fall, that it would not listen to reason nor 
 take into account the relative strength of the forces in the 
 field. It made no difference whether McClellan had fifty or 
 a hundred and fifty thousand men, and the enemy two hun 
 dred thousand, he should take Richmond, or be disgraced. 
 The people expected it and that was enough. 
 
 Perhaps there never was another instance on record, in 
 
IMPATIENCE OF THE PEOPLE. 421 
 
 which popular impatience exhibited itself in such an unreason 
 able and unjust manner. To every man who was capable of 
 understanding the situation of things, it was just as plain now 
 that without the co-operation of McDowell s, or a similar corps, 
 Richmond would not be taken, as it was two months after. 
 McClellan and his brave corps commanders had fought their 
 way to this point on a promise, and if that promise was not 
 fulfilled, they knew they had fought in vain. The appeals 
 of their chief to the government for its fulfillment were most 
 moving, but to the public, not a word of complaint, not an 
 explanation was given. A cloud, dark as death, began to 
 settle around that devoted army. 
 
 The popular feeling soon after became clamorous and vin 
 dictive on the one hand denouncing McClellan and demand 
 ing his disgrace on the other upbraiding the government 
 and accusing it of wantonly perilling the country to effect the 
 ruin of McClellan. Sweeping, unjust, irrational accusations 
 filled the press and the streets on the one hand making 
 McClellan unfit to command a regiment, on the other the 
 President and Secretary of War little better than traitors. 
 
 The truth can be told in a few words, McClellan never 
 proposed, or promised, or expected to take Richmond loith the 
 forces given him. The government withheld the requisite 
 force for reasons which at the time unquestionably seemed 
 right and proper, and demanded by the public safety. 
 
 It does not follow that because McClellan s plans were 
 broken up, they would have been successful if they had been 
 carried out. In the execution of them, defects may have 
 been discovered which rendered their abandonment necessa 
 ry, or at least apparently so. Whatever blame is attached to 
 him, must be attributed to the theory of his plan, not to its 
 failure practically, for it never had a trial. 
 
 This much, however, may be said: the government tried 
 an experiment in this campaign, which we believe no other 
 
422 A SERIOUS MISTAKE. 
 
 government of modern times ever dared to make. Having 
 an army of over two hundred thousand men, designed to act 
 against a common center, Richmond and thus occupy in 
 fact one great battle field^ it divided it up into independent 
 corps, with no Commander-in-Chief to direct the movements 
 of the whole, except the Secretary of War, who knew less 
 of military science than any regular colonel in the field. It 
 is not necessary to condemn this or that commander to get 
 at the cause of failure. It will always come under such an 
 arrangement if not to day, then to morrow. It was one 
 of the most stupendous blunders ever committed by a great 
 nation. 
 
CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 MAY-JUNE, 1862. 
 
 A FLOOD IN THE CHICKAHOMINY MC CLELLAN s FORCES SEPARATED BY IT 
 
 THE ENEMY -RESOLVES TO ATTACK THE PORTION ACROSS THE KIVER AND 
 
 DESTROY IT BATTLE OF FAIR OAKS ROUT OF CASEY S DIVISION /IEINT- 
 
 ZELMAN COMES TO THE RESCUE KEARNEY^S DIVISION- 1 - BERRY S BRIGADE 
 
 SUMNER SUCCEEDS IN CROSSING THE SECOND DAY^S BATTLE BAYONET 
 
 CHARGE OF THE SECOND EXCELSIOR THE VICTORY APPEARANCE OF THE 
 
 FIELD MC CLELLAN S DISPATCH. 
 
 THE brilliant victory at Hanover Court House, proved the 
 prelude to the most desperate battle thus far of the war 
 that of Pittsburg Landing perhaps alone excepted. Three* 
 days after, a terrible storm, accompanied with fearful exhibi 
 tions of lightning and explosions of thunder, broke over the 
 Union camps. The water came down in floods all night, com 
 pletely inundating the valley through which the Chick ahom- 
 iny flowed, turning the narrow stream into a broad and mighty 
 river, converting the adjacent swamps into expansive lakes, 
 and carrying away one bridge and rendering another unsafe. 
 McGlellan, in pushing forward towards Richmond, had 
 crossed the river with part of his forces, when this sudden 
 and unprecedented flood came. Casey s division, numbering, 
 when it left Washington, thirteen thousand men, now re 
 duced to about half that number occupied the advance 
 within about six or seven miles of the rebel capital. The 
 Williamsburg stage road runs west, direct from Bottom s 
 bridge across the Chickahominy to Richmond; nearly par 
 allel to it, and varying in distance from a mile to two and a 
 half or three miles, is the West Poir_t rail road. On and be 
 tween these, beyond Fair Oaks, lay his division, forming the 
 advance of the left wing, his pickets extending nearly to the 
 
424 POSITION OF OUR FORCES. 
 
 Chickahominy north, which, flowing from the north-west, 
 formed a line that made rather an acute triangle with the 
 rail road. Thus, a line running directly north and south 
 would cut the river, rail road and stage road, making a gore 
 of land between the river and either of the roads. Couch s 
 division lay in rear of Casey s, on the stage road. A space 
 of country, about a mile square, enclosed the mass of these 
 two divisions, on the front and left of which was a belt of 
 forest, occupied by our pickets. Between this cleared space 
 and the rail road was a wooded swamp, beyond which spread 
 another wide extent of cultivated fields, in which was sta 
 tioned Naglee s brigade. Wassell s brigade held the center, 
 joined on the left by General Palmer s. Heintzelman s divis 
 ion was directly in rear of the whole, on the same side of the 
 river, though several miles distant. The rest of the forces 
 were on the other side, though Sumner was just ready to 
 cross, farther north, where Casey s line of pickets almost cut 
 the river. Casey had pushed his advance as far as he could, 
 and had commenced intrenching himself. 
 
 This was the position of affairs when that terrible storni 
 suspended operations. Whether the resolution of the rebels 
 was -suddenly taken or not on account of the unexpected 
 flood, its purpose was to break up, capture and destroy 
 Casey s, Couch s and Heintzelman s divisions, before rein 
 forcements could be thrown across the Chickahominy to their 
 relief. If the movement was decided upon before the storm, 
 its unexpected sudden advent and destructive power must 
 have seemed like a special interposition of Providence, for it 
 made it very doubtful whether reinforcements could be 
 thrown over at all, leaving them to finish those isolated 
 divisions at their leisure. 
 
 The storm having done its work, sending a turbulent flood 
 and spreading a wide lake between the two portions of the 
 army, the rebels believed that the overthrow of the divisions 
 
COMMENCEMENT OF THE BATTLE. 425 
 
 between them and the Chickahominy was certain. During 
 the whole night before, the dull sound of heavy trains coming 
 in from Richmond and halting only a short distance in front, 
 awakened suspicion that some hostile movement was on foot. 
 The next morning, an aid to the rebel general Johnson, 
 having on his person a complete description of our forces 
 and their various positions, and evidently seeking some more 
 definite information concerning some of the cross roads, was 
 captured by our pickets. The pickets also reported that the 
 enemy was showing himself in force in front. This, how 
 ever, being a common occurrence, occasioned very little 
 alarm still a regiment was sent out to their support. It 
 had not been gone long before a vidette came dashing in, 
 saying that the enemy in heavy columns and extended line 
 was moving down upon our line of pickets. 
 
 BATTLE OF FAIR OAKS. 
 
 
 
 Instantly the long roll was beat the working parties re 
 called, and the whole division ordered under arms. It was 
 now about noon, and when the alarm was given, preparations 
 for dinner were going on in the various camps. Instantly 
 every thing was in commotion, and four regiments and four 
 pieces of artillery were sent forward a quarter of a mile to 
 meet the advancing enemy. Casey soon discovered, how 
 ever, that it was putting up a straw to stop the hurricane; 
 for the tactics of the other Johnston at Pittsburg Landing 
 were here practised over again. Not cautiously feeling his 
 way by detached brigades, nor stopping to make sure work 
 with his artillery, did the enemy advance; but in massive 
 columns, and threefold lines, and wide enfolding wings, led 
 by Hill and Longstreet, he came boldly down like an on 
 sweeping wave, determined to crush all obstacles by the 
 suddenness and weight of the onset. Some of the regiments 
 
426 A STRANGE SPECTACLE. 
 
 and portions of regiments bore up gallantly, hour after hour, 
 against this overwhelming force ; and our artillery in front, 
 especially Regan s, with canister and grape, and in rear with 
 shells, sent devastation through the crowded ranks. Deficient 
 in artillery, the rebels seemed to rely chiefly on small arms, 
 and from the outset were-rletermined to come to a hand to hand 
 conflict, in which their overwhelming numbers would decide 
 the contest before help could arrive. Casey s line of battle was 
 soon broken, some of the regiments fleeing in the wildest panic, 
 and never stopping till they reached the Chickahominy, nor 
 even then. His second line was formed behind his redoubts, 
 but this too after a short, vain struggle, also yielded, and 
 many of our guns fell into their hands among them a bat 
 tery of brass pieces, in endeavoring to save which, Captain 
 Bailey was killed. Regan s battery, which did fearful exe- 
 cution, was saved by a charge of bayonet. The camp was 
 swept with such fury that nothing was saved. The panic 
 stricken soldiers thought only of themselve s, and lost alike 
 to patriotism and honor, came pouring down the muddy stage 
 road like a herd of frightened cattle. General Peck, with 
 his military family, was quietly seated in the open air, taking 
 his coffee and rice, when the regular and sustained volleys in 
 front suddenly brought all to their feet and to the saddle. 
 The long roll was beaten, hurried orders were dispatched to 
 put the brigade under arms, and in a few minutes from the 
 time his noonday lunch was interrupted, Peck was spurring 
 forward to the scene of action. He had not gone far, how 
 ever, before he met the great straggling flow of the fugitives, 
 filling up the entire road in their disorderly flight. The cow 
 ardly crew, when they saw the officers barricading the road, 
 began to limp, and hide their hands in their bosoms, to make 
 believe they were wounded their ridiculous contortions and 
 the shamed expression of their faces all the while exposing 
 the disgraceful deception they were attempting to practise. 
 
HEINTZELMAN COMES TO THE RESCUE. 427 
 
 The officers dashed among them, cursing them fiercely to 
 their faces as poltroons. But still the flow kept deepening 
 while great stalwart men, with muskets in their hands, simu 
 lated sickness, and gave lying excuses to each stern demand 
 what they meant by this shameful cowardice ; and limped by, 
 presenting at once a sickening and maddening spectacle. 
 Covered with mud, showing that they had thrown themselves 
 on the ground in terror, to escape the shot and shells that 
 screamed through the air, they presented a sad specimen of 
 freemen fighting for the national flag. A guard was finally 
 stretched across the road to arrest this steadily increasing 
 stream of cowards, and drive them back to their duty. But it 
 was. all in vain they heard the steady roar of the guns, sound 
 ing momentarily nearer, and impelled onward by fear, they 
 turned off into the fields and neighboring woods still fleeing 
 towards the Chickahominy. It was an amazing spectacle. 
 
 It was soon evident that Casey s division was gone ; shat 
 tered into irrecoverable fragments ; and Keys hurried off his 
 staff officers to Heintzelman for help. But the old hero was 
 already on the march his practiced ear had told him by 
 the tremendous volleys that shook the field, that an over 
 whelming force was moving down upon our positions. As 
 soon as he heard the astounding news of the utter rout of 
 Casey s division, he sent back for Kearney s and Birney s 
 brigades, and the chivalric Berry s, whose bayonets he had 
 greeted with a shout when so hard bestead at Williamsburg. 
 
 Brave troops were soon on the march ; but what would be 
 the effect on them of this wild panic-stricken horde, their 
 own iron-hearted leaders trembled to contemplate. The 
 fifty-fifth New York was ordered to march forward into the 
 fight; but instead of advancing with firm and confident 
 front, it moved spasmodically, its hitches and starts showing 
 beforehand where it would be when the hurricane, of fire 
 should smite them. 
 
428 HEROIC ACTION. 
 
 But there were other sights, cheering to the hearts of the 
 brave. Just then the sixty-second came up with an easy tread, 
 and gay and confident bearing, and as they saw the shirking, 
 timorous regiment ahead, instead of catching the fear, pour 
 ed a torrent of scorn upon them, and though the great coni 
 cal shot were shrieking overhead, and shells bursting on 
 every side, haughtily exclaimed, " fall in behind, the sixty- 
 second is good shelter," and moved steadily forward into the 
 rain of death. Officers, with their arms in a sling, arose from 
 their sick beds, to lead their troops to the charge ; soldiers 
 with mutilated fingers, left their ranks only long enough to 
 get their wounds dressed, and hurried back into the fight. 
 It was passing strange, that men of the same blood, and 
 fighting under the same flag, should differ so widely in bear 
 ing. But this shameful rout was to be stopped at the point 
 of the bayonet, by true men. 
 
 It was now nearly four o clock, and ever since half past 
 one, the rebels had had it all their own way. Couch and 
 Peck, finding the enemy moving down in heavy masses to 
 wards Fair Oaks, on our right, crossed the field at right an 
 gles to the road, and meeting them in the woods, held them 
 fiercely at bay, till overwhelmed by superior numbers, they 
 were compelled to fall back. Peck s horse, while clashing 
 through the fire, received a ball through the neck the next 
 instant another pierced his flank. Still unhurt, this gallant 
 commander was spurring on, when a cannon ball took off 
 both of the hind legs of his steed, and he sunk to the 
 ground. Mounting another, he cheered on the troops by 
 his dauntless bearing. 
 
 In the mean while, Kearney, of Heintzelman s division, 
 led his regiments forward, who, as they met the broken 
 battalions of , Casey s divisions, sent up a loud hurrah of de 
 fiance, and breasting fiercely the human torrent, divided it, 
 as the strong ship parts the waves. " This is not the way to 
 
KEARNEY S DIVISION. 429 
 
 Richmond" shouted the fearless Kearney to the frightened 
 fugitives, but he spoke in vain, and he saw that he must look 
 to his own brave men to save the day, not to them. Berry 
 led forward his glorious Michigan men to sure victory. A 
 ball, carrying away his cap, he rode at the head of his col 
 umn bareheaded. 
 
 The third Michigan of his brigade was the first up, and this 
 Kearney ordered into the felled timber, where it maintained a 
 most desperate contest till ten of its officers and a hundred and 
 fifty men were killed or wounded. A company of picked 
 marksmen, numbering fifty men, stood and loaded and fired, 
 till half of its entire number had fallen, together with its cap 
 tain and lieutenant. The enemy in front of them fell like 
 corn before the sickle. The fifth Michigan, that won such 
 laurels at Williamsburg, came up next, and dashing forward 
 with a shout, opened a most rapid and destructive fire. At 
 Williamsburg it lost a hundre d and fifty-four men here 
 under the overwhelming fire to which it was exposed, it lost 
 a hundred and fifty -three more. Soon Jamieson came up 
 with his brigade, from the rear, and pushing through the 
 abattis in front, met a large body of the enemy, moving 
 on swiftly and in fine order, and repelled them gallantly. 
 The one hundred and fifth Pennsylvania, of this brigade, 
 lost in this short, severe fight, eleven officers and two hund 
 red and forty men. Napoleon s veterans never stood firmer 
 tinder a devastating fire. The firing on both sides now be 
 came awful. There was no interval to it, as though the op 
 posing forces were advancing and retiring, but one continu 
 ous thunder peal, ribbed with the screaming conical shot, 
 and interspersed with bursting shells, that fell rapidly as hail 
 stones from heaven, amid the rock fast ranks. The din and 
 uproar were so terrific, that officers, though their saddles 
 touched, had to scream to each other to be heard. 
 
 Above the sulphurous canopy that curtained in the hosts, 
 
430 SUMNER CROSSES THE RIVER. 
 
 an immense balloon hung high in heaven, with telegraph 
 wires dropping from it to McClellan s head-quarters, report 
 ing every movement of the enemy, and reminding one of 
 the fabled gods of old, looking down on the conflict. The 
 boast of the enemy, that he would drive our weak divisions 
 into the Chickahominy, seemed at first about to be accom 
 plished ; but Heintzelman had suddenly built an iron wall 
 across his path, against which he dashed in vain. Though 
 assailed by vastly superior numbers, the brigades and regi 
 ments stood firm. Berry and Kearny and Jamieson, per 
 formed prodigies of valor, and exposing themselves like the 
 commonest soldier, made their troops invincible. Heintzel 
 man had his horse shot under him, and so did Jamieson, 
 whose brigade suffered terribly, while Peck was slightly 
 wounded. 
 
 At length, the long lines of the gleaming bayonets of Gor 
 man s brigade, the advance of Simmer s division, appeared on 
 the field, near Fair Oaks station. This General who occupied 
 the right, some three miles up the river, had received or 
 ders from McClellan, as soon as he heard of Casey s defeat 
 to cross at once with his division, and help Heintzelman. 
 Of the two bridges he had built, one had just been carried 
 away by the flood, and the other was swaying before the 
 rushing tide, threatening every moment to share the fate of 
 its companion. Engineers were at once set to work, strength 
 ening the trembling structure, while the massive columns 
 went pouring across it. Through the water to reach it, and 
 across the flooded fields after they were over, they hurried 
 on, and when firm footing was obtained dashed forward at 
 the double-quick. At first, it seemed impossible to get the 
 artillery over. The horses floundered in the mud and water, 
 and the heavy pieces stuck fast ; but by lifting and urging, 
 they were at length got upon the crazy structure, that threat 
 ened every moment to give way and engulph the whole. 
 
CLOSE OF FIRST DAY^S BATTLE. 431 
 
 Almost superhuman exertions were put forth, and they at 
 length reached solid ground. The rapidly rising river was 
 now flowing even with the timbers, and scarcely was the last 
 gun over, when they began to float away on the turbulent 
 stream. Before the division arrived on the field, the strug 
 gle in the center had become frightful, and Kearney no longer 
 able to hold his ground against the tremendous masses that 
 kept accumulating against him, had to abandon his position. 
 He held it, however, until he was completely outflanked, 
 and his line of retreat cut off. In this critical situation, 
 he ordered the thirty-seventh New York, a regiment dis 
 tinguished for its discipline and valor, to face about and 
 cover the rear, which they did most gallantly, holding back 
 the enemy flushed with victory and confident in his supe 
 rior numbers, until the advance regiments .could fall back, 
 when by taking an old saw mill road through the woods, 
 known to the scouts, they reached the strong position they 
 had left at noon. 
 
 In the mean time Sedgwick s brigade came up, and quickly 
 ranging twenty-four guns in an open field, poured in a horri 
 ble fire, strewing the earth with dead. Flesh and blood could 
 not stand the tempest of iron, and the enemy, after vainly 
 attempting to breast it, wheeled and left the field piled with 
 his dead. 
 
 Night now put an end to the combat, and the two armies, 
 face to face, bivouaced on the bloody field where they had 
 fought, within half musket shot the pickets being within 
 talking distance of each other. Amid the dead and dying 
 they lay, waiting for the morning light to decide the issue. 
 The uproar of the day had ceased the heated cannon still 
 darkly frowning on each other, slumbered in their places, and 
 silence rested on the torn and trampled plain, broken only 
 by the dull rumble of ambulances, carrying off the wounded, 
 or the low moans of the sufferers as they were lifted from 
 
 26 
 
432 A FEARFUL SABBATH. 
 
 their gory bed. Darkness covered the ghastly spectacle of 
 the slain, who lay in heaps on every side. 
 
 The Sabbath day of the first of June dawned mild and 
 tranquil day of hallowed rest and promise of a peaceful life 
 to come of rest indeed to the thousands that lay on that 
 bloody field, who had gone from the smoke and carnage of 
 battle to that still land where the tread of armies is never 
 heard day of rest to the millions, who rose to their morning 
 devotions, ere the bell summoned them to the place of prayer 
 and praise, but not one of rest to the tired and decimated 
 armies that the roll of the drum called from their wet beds 
 of earth to the shock of battle. 
 
 The rebels, after solacing themselves with the stores and 
 accommodations found in Casey s and Couch s camps, pre 
 pared to renew the attack; but their able leader Johnson was 
 not with them to lead them to victory, for he had been car 
 ried wounded to Richmond. 
 
 At daylight, Hooker s division rested on the railroad on 
 the farther side, in a semi-circle, were the divisions of Rich 
 ardson and Sedgwick, their left joining his right. To the 
 extreme left, were the remnants of Casey s and Couch s di 
 vision. About six o clock, Heintzelman and Hooker sat 
 down behind our breast works, and soon arranged the order 
 of battle. A reconnoissance was made, when the enemy was 
 found to be in great force on both our flanks. The brigade 
 under Sickles, composed of the five Excelsior regiments, and 
 the fifth and sixth New Jersey, moved forward at a quarter 
 past seven, and drew up in line of battle in a wheat field, di 
 rectly in front of a large piece of woods in which the rebels 
 were concealed. The latter immediately opened fire, and the 
 battle commenced. Of those seven regiments, not a man 
 flinched. The fifth and sixth New Jersey, though thinned 
 at every discharge, loaded and fired as coolly as though en 
 gaged only in target practice. The Excelsior regiments 
 
GALLANT BAYONET CHARGE. 433 
 
 steadily advanced as they fired, but Sickles saw that with the 
 enemy covered by the woods, the fight was too unequal to be 
 maintained long and resolved to clear them at the point of 
 the bayonet. To the second Excelsior was assigned the des 
 perate undertaking. With firm set ranks, and leveled pieces 
 this gallant regiment moved rapidly over the intervening 
 space and approached the woods. The rebels gazed on the 
 glittering line without dismay, and closing their ranks sternly 
 awaited the onset. It was a fearful sight the flashing eyes 
 and leveled pieces of the enemy on the one side, and that 
 noiseless unwavering line of steel on the other. The rebels 
 reserved their fire till the bayonet points were within six 
 ty yards of them, when a sheet of flame ran along their ranks 
 and a murderous volley swept the advancing regiment. Tak 
 ing it full in their faces without flinching or faltering, with 
 one wild thrilling shout they bounded on the foe. As the 
 smoke of the volley lifted, the rebels saw that line of steel 
 still unbroken, close upon them. Appalled at the desperate 
 daring, they broke in utter panic. Their Colonel, overthrown 
 in the shock, suddenly recovered, and cried out, u Rally once 
 more my boys, n but the next moment he saw that the bayo 
 nets that environed him were not those of his friends, and 
 the loud hurrahs that rent the air came from his conquerors. 
 The battle now raged furiously along the whole center and 
 right, and when the gallant regiments could not clear their way 
 with their deadly volleys, they advanced with the bayonet, 
 enacting over a"*ain the heroic deeds of the second Excelsior. 
 
 O o 
 
 Meanwhile, Richardson and Sedgwick were steadily clos 
 ing their semicircle on the enemy. Where the left wing 
 of the division rested on the rail road, the ground was cov 
 ered with woods, with here and there an opening ; but on 
 the right a cleared field a mile in extent, spread away. 
 Here Richardson posted a battery of ten-pound Parrott guns, 
 which, with the brigade of French, and one regiment of 
 
434 THE ENEMY REPULSED. 
 
 Howard s, formed the first line. The remaining three regi 
 ments of Howard s brigade formed the second, and Meagher s 
 with eighteen pieces of artillery, the third. Early in the 
 morning the enemy s skirmishers formed in line and ad 
 vanced over this field, while a large body of cavalry, their 
 sabers gleaming in the light, were preparing to charge. The 
 Parrott guns were immediately directed on these, which dis 
 persed them, when the enemy swung round towards the left, 
 and came down in tremendous force along the rail road track, 
 till they arrived at two common wood roads that crossed it, 
 up which they rapidly pushed heavy columns, and deployed 
 in line of battle. When within half musket shot, French 
 and Howard opened a terrible fire upon them, which for an 
 hour and a half without intermission, swept their ranks with 
 deadly effect. Howard exposed himself like the commonest 
 soldier, until at last he was struck by a ball which shattered 
 his arm. Instantly waving the mutilated member aloft as a 
 pennon, he cheered on his men to the charge, and was then 
 borne from the field. 
 
 The enemy now fell back and the battle here seemed 
 ended; but suddenly receiving reinforcements, he gave a 
 tremendous shout, and moved forward again to the attack. 
 Meagher s gallant brigade was then brought up to relieve 
 the hard pressed regiments. Advancing with their well 
 known war shout, they closed with fearful ferocity on the 
 foe, and for an hour mowed them down, almost by compa- 
 panics. Unable to gain one inch of ground, the enemy 
 again retreated, their flight hastened by a storm of shells 
 from the Parrott guns. 
 
 Thus, along the whole line of battle, from left to right, 
 they were driven back in confusion. 
 
 About noon McClellan rode on the field with his staff, and 
 as he swept along the lines, the enthusiasm of the troops 
 was raised to the highest pitch, and the deafening cheers 
 
THE BATTLE FIELD. 435 
 
 rolled like thunder over the field. Spurring on in search of 
 Heintzelman, he found the tired hero dismounted, and sit 
 ting on the ground under a tree. Handing his horse to his 
 orderly, he seated himself beside him, and questioned him 
 rapidly of the state of things. Other generals soon joined 
 them, forming a brilliant group there on the edge of battle. 
 The reports were all alike, the enemy were falling back in 
 every part of the field. 
 
 All our lost ground was at length won, and it WJLS deter 
 mined not to advance farther, as only a portion of the army 
 was over the river, or could be got over till the flood 
 subsided. Had McClellan been able to move the whole 
 army, he would have followed the enemy to the streets of 
 Richmond, and then and there settled the fate of the rebel 
 capital. 
 
 After the battle was over, McClellan rode with his 
 body guard through the victorious ranks. The shouts that 
 greeted him, told how deeply he had fixed himself in the 
 affections of the army. Even the wounded raised their 
 heads, and added their feeble cheers to the thundering hur 
 rahs that rolled over the plain. 
 
 It was a great victory, though won at a fearful cost. 
 Mangled heaps of friends and foes spotted the fields and 
 woods in every direction, and lay in long and mournful lines 
 along the roads. Men of the same faith and blood, members 
 of the same church, who should have been worshiping in 
 God s blessed temple on this Sabbath day, lay side by side, 
 their spirits having passed together to that land where no 
 confusion of right and wrong makes enemies of those who 
 should be friends. It was a sight over which angels might 
 weep. More than ten thousand had fallen there amid the 
 springing grass and grain, and under the shadow of the 
 green woods. The ghastly bayonet wounds on every side, 
 were a new spectacle to American soldiers. Four separate 
 
436 RESULT OF THE BATTLE. 
 
 charges had been made during the day, and each time with 
 complete success. 
 
 Our total loss in killed, wounded, and missing, was five 
 thousand seven hundred and thirty-nine. The enemy took, 
 beside many prisoners, nineteen cannon from Casey s division, 
 which they hurried off on Saturday night to Richmond, as 
 trophies, and a large quantity of stores of all kinds. Their 
 loss was variously estimated at from ten to twelve thousand ; 
 but their own reports afterward made it only a few hundred, 
 more than ours. 
 
 Several distinguished officers fell into our hands, among 
 whom was General Pettigrew. But the heaviest loss of the 
 enemy was that of the Commander -in- Chief, Johnson, whose 
 wound removed him from active service. Twenty thousand 
 men could have been better spared than he. 
 
 For days after the battle, the field covered with the wrecks 
 of the fight, presented a frightful spectacle. Between three and 
 four hundred horses lay strewed along where the battle had 
 raged fiercest. These were collected in huge pyramids 
 and burned. 
 
 As in the battle of Pittsburg Landing, both sides claimed 
 the victory, and as in that, the first day the enemy was vic 
 torious. His tactics were the same in both ; his object being 
 to drive a part of the army into a river, before the other 
 part could come up, and he nearly succeeded in both. But 
 in each case he failed to carry out his plan, and was driven 
 from the field, leaving his dead behind him. 
 
 So far as immediate results were concerned, it was a bar 
 ren victory to both sides, for it left the two armies in pre 
 cisely the same relative position that they were in before. The 
 battle, however, did not in any way interrupt the plans of 
 McClellan, but a disaster to our armies in the Shenandoah 
 valley, that occurred about this time, did most seriously 
 interfere with those of the government, and thus eventually 
 overwhelmed him with disaster. 
 
CASEY S DIVISION. 437 
 
 McClellan s dispatch to the government, announcing the 
 victory, awarded unbounded praise to his troops with the 
 exception of Casey s division, of which he spoke in severe 
 terms. More accurate information obtained afterwards, 
 caused him to modify his charges against it somewhat ; still 
 he evidently felt that its behavior was disgraceful and well 
 nigh caused his ruin. The gallant conduct of some of the 
 regiments and portions of regiments, by which the enemy 
 was held in check for a long time, could not shield the di 
 vision from condemnation. The efforts afterwards made to 
 defend its conduct were only partially successful. Even 
 Casey s and Naglee s dispatches saved the reputation only 
 of individual regiments. 
 
CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 MAY, 1862. 
 
 MC DOWELL ABOUT TO JOIN MC CLELLAN SHIELDS DIVISION DETACHED FROM 
 
 BANKS JACKSON RESOLVES TO ATTACK THE LATTER GALLANT DEFENSE 
 
 OF KENLY AT FRONT ROYAL BANKS RESOLVES TO FALL BACK TO THE 
 
 POTOMAC THE REAR GUARD CUT OFF BATTLE AT WINCHESTER THE ARMY 
 
 REACHES THE POTOMAC IN SAFETY AND CROSSES INTO MARYLAND BANKS 
 
 AS A GENERAL FRIGHT OF THE SECRETARY OF WAR THE MILITIA CALLED 
 
 OUT SUCCESS OF JACKSON ? S FLAN MCDOWELL AND FREMONT ORDERED 
 
 TO INTERCEPT JACKSON S RETREAT. 
 
 BEFORE the battle of Fair Oaks occurred, McDowell, at 
 Fredericksburg, was preparing at last to move down to 
 the assistance of McClellan. The news that his army had 
 crossed the Rappahannock, and turned its face towards Rich 
 mond, was received with intense satisfaction, and the bitter 
 complaints and angry discussions gave way to general con 
 gratulations that the government had finally moved -in the 
 right direction ; for it was confidently believed, that the junc 
 tion of his troops with those of McClellan, would be the sig 
 nal of an immediate advance on the rebel capital. To give 
 him greater strength, Shields, with fifteen thousand men, 
 had been detached from Banks division to join him. 
 
 After the victory at Winchester, over Stonewall Jackson, 
 as he was called, Banks had for a -while steadily pursued 
 him without being able to bring on a battle. At length 
 there seemed to be a suspension of his movements, and like 
 McDowell he was thought to be awaiting the progress of 
 affairs at Yorktown. The surrender of that place, however, 
 and the movement of the army on to Richmond caused no 
 change of attitude in either of these generals. 
 
ATTACK ON COLONEL KENLY. 439 
 
 Banks, at this time, was at Strasburg, with the remnant of 
 the army left to him, numbering about five thousand men, 
 with fifteen hundred cavalry. Of course he was not expected 
 to hold his position with that force, against Jackson, should he 
 advance upon him. In that event, retreat would be inevita 
 ble ; but why he did not fall back simultaneously with the de 
 parture of Shields, or at least so dispose his trains as to be 
 unincumbered by them, if called upon to retreat hastily, was 
 a little surprising. At all events, he remained quietly at 
 Strasburg with his little army, having taken the precaution 
 to station a Maryland regiment, under Colonel Kenly, at 
 Front Eoyal, twelve miles in advance. Jackson, through his 
 spies, had been informed of the departure of Shields, and of 
 the weakness of Banks, and resolved to make a sudden dash 
 on the latter and capture his entire force, threaten the Poto 
 mac, and thus alarm the government at Washington, and 
 make it withhold the troops from McClellan. 
 
 On the twenty- third, Jackson, in pursuance of his plan, 
 suddenly appeared on the banks of the Shenandoah, in front 
 of Kenly s regiment. The long roll at once sounded, and 
 Colonel Kenly drew up his regiment so as to command the 
 approach, and awaited the attack. In a short time the enemy 
 appeared in overwhelming numbers, and opened with artil 
 lery and musketry, on the Marylanders. They returned the 
 fire with such precision and coolness, that the advancing 
 columns were checked, though not driven back. A desper- . 
 ate fight followed, in which this single regiment, contending 
 against five times its number, won for itself a reputation 
 equal to that of the old Maryland Continentals of revolution 
 ary fame. 
 
 In the mean time, swift riders had started for Strasburg, 
 for help. Banks received the report of the large body of 
 troops opposed to Kenly with incredulity ; still "he sent off* a 
 regiment of infantry, and a body of cavalry to his assistance. 
 
440 A GALLANT REGIMENT. 
 
 Ke nly, mean while, bore up against the fearful odds pressing 
 on him with desperate resolution, and hour after hour held 
 his ground without yielding an inch. At three o clock, the 
 clatter of horses hoofs on the Shenandoah bridge announced 
 the arrival of help, and a hundred of the Ira Harris cavalry 
 dashed up. They were immediately ordered to charge, but 
 the force was too small to effect any thing. The numbers 
 of the enemy kept increasing, and Kenly seeing that it was 
 impossible to maintain his position longer, gave the order to 
 fall back over the river. This was done in good order, and 
 the bridge heaped with rails and fired. The ignition, how 
 ever, was slow, and before any damage could be done, the 
 enemy dashed upon it and extinguished the flames, and 
 then poured in one wild torrent across. It then became a 
 hand to hand fight. Kenly, seeing the rebels swarming like 
 locusts on both his flanks, threatening to cut off his retreat, 
 summoned his men to a desperate charge, and leading them 
 on, fell with such fury upon the enemy that they gave way, 
 and he fell back along the space he had cleared by his valor. 
 But it was plain that the doom of the regiment was sealed. 
 With four or five thousand men hanging on his rear and 
 flanks, and a force of cavalry greater than his entire regiment, 
 charging at every step, it was clear that he could never get 
 to Strasburg. Still he would not yield, and when a short 
 time after, though completely inclosed, he was ordered to 
 surrender, he shot the man w T ho summoned him. It was 
 pitiful to see that single regiment stand so helpless, and yet 
 so fearless, amid the crowding, overwhelming foe. At 
 length, their gallant leader, who had hitherto seemed to 
 bear a charmed life, fell, severely wounded, when the regi 
 ment broke and scattered. Not a fifth of them, however, 
 succeeded in making their escape, and almost the entire 
 o umber fell into the hands of the enemy. 
 
 Late in the evening, the sad tidings reached Banks : and 
 
RETREAT DETERMINED UPON. 441 
 
 instantly dispatching officers to recall the reinforcements he 
 had started for Kenly, he at midnight hurried off scouts in 
 every direction to ascertain the truth of the startling reports 
 of Jackson s strength. To their surprise, go which way they 
 would, they came upon the rebel pickets,- which were swarm 
 ing over the whole country. Galloping back to head-quar 
 ters, they made their report, which convinced Banks beyond 
 all doubt, that the enemy was on him in. tremendous force, 
 and that his entire command was in deadly peril of complete 
 destruction. Prompt, instant action was necessary, for it was 
 clear that this overwhelming demonstration in front, would 
 not be without a corresponding movement in flank. Three 
 courses were open to him to await the attack of the enemy, 
 and risk every thing on a battle to retreat across the moun 
 tains or to attempt to fall back rapidly on Winchester, and 
 thus restore his communications with the base of his operations 
 the Potomac. His slender force would not justify him in 
 hazarding the first the second involved the abandonment 
 of his trains and he therefore resolved on the last. No 
 sooner was the decision taken, than the retreat commenced. 
 At three o clock in the morning, seven hundred disabled 
 men were put on the march, and wilh the wagon train es 
 corted by a strong body of cavalry and infantry, started for 
 Winchester. It was dark and gloomy, for the moon had been 
 down an hour and a half, when this column of sick and 
 wounded limped out of Strasburg. The other columns fol 
 lowed after, General Hatch being left with nearly the whole 
 body of cavalry, and six pieces of artillery, to protect the 
 rear, and destroy such army stores as he had not the means 
 of bringing off. He was also to hold Strasburg as long as 
 he could. 
 
 The army had proceeded but three miles, when word was 
 brought from the trains in front, that the enemy held the 
 road ahead. On the heels of the tidings came the frightened 
 
442 PANIC IN THE TRAIN. 
 
 fugitives, and teamsters, some on horse back, having cut their 
 teams lose from their wagons in their panic others with 
 their wagons, lashing their animals to the top of their speed. 
 Tumbling forward in utter confusion, and charged with the 
 most exaggerated accounts of the enemy s force, they threat 
 ened for a moment to create a stampede among the troops. 
 But Banks immediately ordered the column forward, and it 
 soon shook itself clear of the immense train, which shifted its 
 place to the rear. It was now broad daylight, and the army 
 moved on with more confidence. Nothing occurred to ar 
 rest their march until they approached Middletown, thirteen 
 miles from Winchester. Here the enemy were drawn up to 
 dispute their passage. Colonel Donnelly halted his brigade, 
 and the forty-sixth Pennsylvania was ordered to drive the 
 enemy s skirmishers from a piece of woods on the right. A 
 force of rebel cavalry was drawn up in an open field in rear 
 f this piece of woods, ready at the first opportunity to 
 charge. The artillery was brought to bear upon them, the 
 fire of which they coolly faced for a while, but finding it too 
 hot, at length wheeled, and trotted off the field, pursued by 
 our skirmishers. The twenty-eighth New York was then or 
 dered up, and poured in a destructive fire on the enemy, caus 
 ing him to retire back. Our infantry and artillery followed, 
 plunging through the fields, and drove them back two miles 
 from the turnpike. The road was now clear to Winchester, 
 and the columns moved on. With the first stampede of the 
 trains, Banks, not knowing what force was before him, had 
 dispatched a courier to Strasburg, with orders for Hatch to 
 join him. The latter immediately put his brigade in motion 
 but had not proceeded far, before he came upon the enemy 
 which closed behind Banks. Unable to force a passage 
 through them, he took a parallel road to the left and pushed 
 on. Not long after, twelve companies of his cavalry came 
 dashing along the turnpike, but finding it to their surprise 
 
A CRITICAL SITUATION. 443 
 
 completely blocked with the enemy s infantry, artillery and 
 cavalry, fell back to Strasburg, where they found the Zou 
 aves d Afrique. The rebels had thrown their forces forward 
 so rapidly in every direction, that the various detachments 
 which had been ordered to join the main column, found it im 
 possible to do so, and were wandering in various cross roads 
 and by-ways, seeking some mode of escape to the main 
 body. 
 
 In the mean time, the hard pressed little army pushed 
 cautiously, but rapidly, forward towards Winchester. Soon 
 word was received, that the train in the rear was attacked, 
 Bank s position was every moment becoming more and 
 more critical, and was well calculated to bewilder a more ex 
 perienced commander than he. It was a serious question 
 with him whether he should not abandon his trains, and try 
 to save his army but with that tenacity of purpose which 
 characterizes him, he determined to do all that human effort 
 could to save both. The rear guard, now under Colonel Gor 
 don, immediately marched to the relief of the trains, and to 
 hold the enemy in check. As he was moving back, he found 
 the latter in force in Newtown. Three regiments were or 
 dered to clear the town, while the artillery opened a destruct^ 
 ive fire upon the enemy s batteries. Deploying into the fields, 
 they moved resolutely on the place and cleared it with loud 
 cheers. Following hard on the flying traces of the rebels, 
 they endeavored to reach Middletown, and open a passage 
 for Hatch s cavalry, of whose services Banks was in des 
 perate need, in order to cover his rear. But the increasing 
 swarms of rebels arrested their progress, and they were com 
 pelled to fall back. The enemy now brought forward his 
 cavalry, and made a furious charge, determined to break 
 through the barrier that opposed them, and scatter the train. 
 But these brave regiments threw themselves into solid squares 
 and poured in such murderous volleys, that they wheeled and 
 
444 BATTLE OF WINCHESTER. 
 
 galloped down the road. These regiments behaved nobly, 
 fighting like veterans hour after hour to save the train. 
 The teamsters, in the mean time, urged forward their animals, 
 with voice and whip, and soon the long line of white tops 
 disappeared over the farthest hill. Burning the wagons that 
 were disabled and could not be got off, this noble rearguard 
 turned and followed on after the retreating army. As the 
 latter approached Winchester, news from every quarter ar 
 rived, that the enemy were in the vicinity in overwhelming 
 force. Some rebel officers, not doubting that the place was 
 in their possession, and supposing Banks army to be their 
 own, galloped unsuspiciously into our lines. 
 
 BATTLE AT WINCHESTER. 
 
 Arriving in the town, Banks resolved to halt there for the 
 night. Donnelly s brigade was posted on the Front Royal 
 road, a mile and a half from the town, constituting the left 
 of the line, and Colonel Gordon on the right. Without 
 tents or covering, these exhausted troops bivouaeed on the 
 damp ground. Banks was completely in the dark as to the 
 enemy s numbers, but he was determined to test it here by 
 actual experiment. It was a bold and hazardous resolution, 
 for it was afterwards ascertained that the enemy was over 
 twenty thousand strong. 
 
 The night passed wearily, and long before daylight the 
 sharp rattle of musketry in front showed that the foe was 
 driving in our outposts. As soon as day dawned, the heavy 
 boom of artillery, echoing across the broken country, an 
 nounced that the enemy had commenced his attack. Con 
 sternation siezed the inhabitants of the town, and the cries 
 of women, the hurrying to and fro of teamsters, and shouts 
 of men, made a wild, disorderly scene; but amid it all, 
 Banks moved with the same quiet demeanor he was ever 
 
RETREAT CONTlNtED. 445 
 
 wont to wear when presiding over the stormy debates of 
 Congress. 
 
 The enemy moved first against Donnelly, on the left, but 
 the line though weak, held its own gallantly. They ad 
 vanced, firing as they came on, till within less than fifty yards, 
 and were still pressing forward, when our troops charged 
 and drove them back. For three-quarters of an hour, the 
 fight here was most desperate. Neither wholly yielded the 
 ground, and the opposing lines swayed backward and for 
 ward like two contending waves. The enemy suffered dread 
 fully from our superior fire, one regiment being almost anni 
 hilated, and at last, they gave way. As the dense cloud of 
 smoke which covered the fields drifted away before the wind, 
 it was discovered that they were moving in immense force 
 on our right, under Colonel Gordon. Met here with the 
 same deliberate volleys, they were unable to advance a step, 
 until at length, a portion of our troops mistaking an order, 
 began to fall back. In a moment the crest of the hill in 
 front was black with the swarming thousands, filling the air 
 with maddening shouts. This retrograde movement made 
 it necessary to order the whole line to fall back an order 
 most reluctantly obeyed by the brave fellows, who had 
 showed, though outnumbered three to one, that they could 
 hold the enemy at bay. Confusion followed, and a part of 
 the troops passed through the town in disorder, but they 
 were quickly re-formed beyond, and continued their march. 
 It is said that the inhabitants fired from their windows upon 
 them; even women shooting down with revolvers the re 
 treating soldiers. 
 
 Beaten back by overwhelming numbers, yet still unsub 
 dued, the army retreated for five miles in order of battle. 
 The rebel infantry did not pursue them beyond Winchester, 
 but the cavalry and a few pieces of artillery kept on. As 
 Banks saw the hovering clouds of horsemen, he longed for 
 
446 A SAD SUNDAY. 
 
 his own cavalry ; but it was either far back among the hills, 
 struggling desperately to reach him, or captured and in the 
 hands of the enemy. At Bunker Hill a halt was ordered, to 
 give the exhausted troops a little rest. In the mean time, 
 Captain Bowen of the rear guard, found himself suddenly 
 surrounded with three hundred cavalry. The men immedi 
 ately formed into line, and with fixed bayonets moved 
 straight upon and through them, joining the main column, 
 amid loud cheers. 
 
 From this point they were not seriously molested, and in 
 three parallel columns, each ^with a rear guard, kept on to 
 wards Martinsburg. As they approached the place they 
 heard a steam whistle, and Bank s eye kindled, for he hoped 
 that reinforcements had arrived, and he would be able to 
 turn back on his exulting foe. Soon after, two squadrons 
 of cavalry came dashing in a swift gallop along the road. 
 The soldiers caught the gleam of their sabers, and the flut 
 tering guidons, and sent up a wild hurrah, that was taken 
 up by each succeeding regiment, till down the whole line 
 rolled the deafening shout. Instead, however, of being the 
 advance of a reinforcing column, they proved to be only the 
 train guard that had been sent on in the morning. 
 
 For five hours Banks had held back the enemy at Win 
 chester, during which time the train of five hundred wagons 
 had streamed on towards the Potomac. This delay saved it, 
 and left the road clear for the retreating army. At Martins- 
 burg, Banks rested his weary troops for two hours and a- 
 half, and then recommenced his march to the Potomac. 
 
 It had been a sad Sunday for him, and sadder still for 
 many of his poor soldiers. Scores of young men had fallen 
 there in the mountain valleys, whose parents at the same 
 hour were sending up prayers in their places of worship 
 among the secluded hills of New England, for their safety. 
 To one, the harshest sound that had greeted the ear, was 
 
THE POTOMAC REACHED 447 
 
 that of the "church-going bell," while the other had heard 
 only the roar of cannon, the rattle of musketry, and the 
 pealing bugle, heralding the charge, until the fatal shot had 
 ended all sights and sounds at once. They lay amid the 
 budding flowers and springing grass, and bursting leaves of 
 the sweet spring, but not those of their fair New England 
 home. 
 
 The army resumed its march, and at length a loud cheer 
 went up, for the Potomac gleamed in the sunlight. Soon 
 on every hill slope, camp fires were burning, as the hungry 
 soldiers prepared their hard earned supper. 
 
 The rear guard arrived at sundown, making a march of 
 fifty-three miles in forty-eight hours thirty-five of it on that 
 Sabbath, a part of the time fighting their way. The poor 
 fellows had been pushed to the limits of their endurance, and 
 now, completely fagged out, with thinned regiments, looked 
 back on the day with bitter feelings, and angry denunciations 
 of the policy or power, that had doomed them to this igno 
 minious retreat from a foe they had so long chased before 
 them. 
 
 The scene on the banks of the river was of the most anima 
 ting kind. A thousand wagons and carriages were huddled 
 together and strung along the shore, while all along the hill 
 sides lay the army, looking anxiously across to the farther 
 side, where they at last might obtain rest, free from all dan 
 ger of attack. 
 
 There was but a single ferry at this point, which was ap 
 propriated by the ammunition wagons. A ford crossed near 
 by, but it was so deep that the wagons which held it, could 
 not cross in regular succession, and only the strongest teams 
 were permitted to try it that night. Fortunately, some boats 
 for the pontoon bridges had been brought back in the train 
 from Strasburg, which were launched, and the troops m 
 small detachments embarked. By noon the next day, the 
 
 27 . 
 
448 SICK LEFT BEHIND. 
 
 entire army was on the Maryland shore, safe at last, though 
 with the loss of fifty-five wagons, stores, etc. The killed, 
 wounded and missing amounted to nine hundred and five, 
 of which over seven hundred were either captured or strag 
 gled off in the retreat. 
 
 The escape of the detachments cut off at Strasburg and 
 Winchester one taking a by-way through the mountains 
 were almost miraculous, and reflected great credit on the 
 respective commanders. The Vermont cavalry suffered 
 severely, being almost annihilated in a single rash, desperate 
 charge. A jv. 
 
 Banks had conducted the retreat with "masterly skill, and 
 by his firm bearing and cool, confident orders, held his gal 
 lant army completely in hand. To do this, required greater 
 generalship than to win a battle. His friends were loud in 
 their complaints against the government for stripping him 
 of his troops, and thus leaving him at the mercy of the 
 enemy. 
 
 Banks was compelled to leave behind him sixty-four sick 
 at Strasburg, and one hundred and twenty-five at Winches 
 ter. Eight surgeons nobly volunteered to stay and take care 
 of these, and thus of their own accord surrendered themselves 
 prisoners of war. Jackson, with a generosity that might 
 well be imitated on both sides, refused to consider them as 
 such, and they were left free to return to our lines. 
 
 The rebel leader had executed a bold and daring ma 
 neuver, but failed to accomplish his first object the destruc 
 tion of Banks command, thanks to the energy and skill of 
 that officer, who in the management of the retreat had proved 
 what his friends had always asserted of him, that he had all 
 the qualities of a great general. The second object, how 
 ever, he most successfully accomplished, viz. frightening the 
 Secretary of War out of his propriety. He had achieved 
 no substantial victory over Banks, but he did over the War 
 
MOVEMENTS TO CUT OFF JACKSON. 449 
 
 Department. The Secretary immediately ordered Fremont 
 to move across the mountains, and cut off Jackson s retreat, 
 and McDowell from the east to detach a division for the same 
 purpose, while he telegraphed to the North for troops to be 
 sent forward in all haste, as the Capital was in danger. The 
 former was wise action the latter absurd, and created a 
 needless panic. The entire militia was at once called out 
 for three months, though only a part of them proceeded to 
 Washington. 
 
 That a general, with the capacity that Jackson had showed 
 himself to possess, would with twenty or twenty-five thousand 
 men, push a hundred miles from the base of his operations, 
 between two flanking armies, cross the Potomac, dash on 
 Washington, and expect ever to get back again, was too ab 
 surd an idea to be entertained for a moment. 
 
CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 MAY, 1862. 
 
 QUIET ALONG THE COAST PENSACOLA EVACUATED HALLECK AT CORINTH 
 
 THE ENEMY S COMMUNICATIONS CUT OFF NAVAL ACTION AT FORT WRIGHT 
 
 FIGHT AT FARMINGTON NEAR CORINTH GALLANT CAVALRY CHARGE 
 
 CORINTH EVACUATED ELLIOTS CAVALRY EXPEDITION BUTLER AT NEW 
 
 ORLEANS HIS VARIOUS ORDERS MITCHEL IN ALABAMA STATE OF AFFAIRS 
 
 AT THE CLOSE OF THE MONTH IMPORTANCE OF A VICTORY BEFORE RICH 
 MOND ANXIOUS STATE OF THE PUBLIC MIND. 
 
 WHILE such stirring events signalized the month of May 
 around Richmond and Washington, exciting news 
 was received from other portions of the country. Quiet how 
 ever, reigned along the Atlantic slope nothing of especial 
 interest occurring in Burnside s command or Hunter s depart 
 ment, except the appointment of Stanley as Governor of North 
 Carolina, who was formerly a member of Congress from that 
 state. South, Pensacola was evacuated on the twelfth,* (the 
 troops having gone to reinforce Beauregard) and the navy 
 yard destroyed. 
 
 Halleck at Corinth was slowly, yet surely, tightening his coils 
 around the enemy, and the two great armies of the east and 
 west were concentrated for a decisive blow. The fall of 
 New Orleans at the close of April had given, a new phase to 
 military affairs in the south west; for no sooner was it accom 
 plished than Farragut began to move up the Mississippi, cap 
 turing cities as he went. It was a long way, it was true, 
 to Memphis, and fortifications lined the banks, which were 
 especially strong at Yicksburg. Still, the control of the Mis 
 sissippi was considered an accomplished fact, and Beauregard 
 must regard it as such, and change his plans accordingly. 
 
 Meanwhile, however, Halleck steadily pushed forward his 
 
NAVAL ACTION. 451 
 
 works, and every week found him nearer the enemy s fortifi 
 cations. Various skirmishes took place, in which we usually 
 gained more or less important advantages. One expedition 
 cut the Mobile and Ohio rail road at Purdy, destroying Beau- 
 regard s communication with the north. On the third, Gen 
 eral Pope, commanding the left wing, sent a force under 
 General Paine to Farmington, where it encountered the ene 
 my between three and four thousand strong, and defeated 
 them with a loss of only fourteen killed and wounded. At 
 the same time, an artillery reconnoissance was made to Ellen- 
 dale, and destroyed a part of the track of the Memphis and 
 Charleston rail road, thus circumscribing sadly Beauregard s 
 means of obtaining supplies. In the meantime, the rebel 
 commander received the news of the capture of Baton Rouge. 
 Thus, turn which way he would, he saw only disaster. The 
 sky was black with the gathering tempest, and it thundered 
 all around him. 
 
 At fort Wright, but little progress was made, and it began 
 to look as though nothing would be done there until Farra- 
 gut should come up from below. The rebels, however, seeing 
 the straightened condition into which they were being forc 
 ed, resolved to destroy Foote s fleet before the former should 
 arrive, and on Saturday, the tenth, boldly came up from un 
 der the guns of the fort and attacked it. 
 
 NAVAL ACTION AT FORT WRIGHT. 
 
 Eight iron-clad gun boats, four of them fitted up as rams, 
 advanced early in the morning aTid offered battle. The rebel 
 ram, Louisiana, appeared first around the point, accompanied 
 by four gun boats. The Cincinnati was lying in shore at the 
 time and allowed her to pass in silence. She then swung out 
 into the stream, when the ram turned with the intention of 
 running her down. Captain Stemmel of the Cincinnati im 
 mediately opened "his broadsides, sending his shot crashing 
 
452 REBEL STEAMER SUNK. 
 
 against the monster, but without checking her progress. 
 Bow on, under a full head of steam she came, shaking the pon 
 derous shot from her mailed sides like hail stones. Stemmel, 
 seeing he could not stop her progress, turned the head of his 
 vessel so that the ram instead of striking him, shot alongside, 
 coming within close pistol range. Coolly leveling his revol 
 ver, he shot the rebel pilot at the wheel, at the same time 
 receiving a ball in his own shoulder. The boarding crews 
 of both now opened with a close and deadly fire of small arms. 
 The ram endeavored to get her head around again so as to 
 drive her iron prow into the Cincinnati and sink her. Failing 
 in this, the rebel captain determined to board his antagonist. 
 The vessels were now so near each other, that the gunners 
 could not swab out their guns, and the rebel craft swarmed 
 with boarders, armed to the teeth. Stemmel immediately 
 ordered his steam batteries to open, and the hose was turn 
 ed on the deck of the ram. A cloud of steam obscured 
 the combatants for a moment, and then shrieks and cries 
 arose from the scalded wretches, many of whom jumped over 
 board to escape their agony. Astounded at this new mode 
 of warfare, the ram withdrew in all haste. In the meantime 
 other rebel gun boats arrived, among them the Mallory, 
 which attempted to repeat the experiment of the Louisiana. 
 As she came rapidly on, the Federal gun boat St. Louis, 
 rushed upon her with a full head of steam, and striking her 
 amid-ships with a terrible crash, nearly cut her in two. .The 
 water poured into the ugly rent that was made, and in a few 
 minutes she went to the bottgm, with nearly all on board. A 
 few clung to the sides of the St. Louis, and a few were picked 
 up by the Cincinnati the rest found their graves in the mud 
 dy waters of the Mississippi. The other gun boats of our 
 fleet now entered the contest, and a close and fierce cannon 
 ade followed. A dense cloud of smoke covered the river, 
 Wrapping the combatants in its folds now settling down 
 
THE VICTORY. 453 
 
 over the boats and now shooting in swift contortions upward 
 as the heavy broadsides rent it asunder. Soon, a heavy ex 
 plosion, louder than the roar of artillery, made the banks 
 tremble. A rebel gun boat had been blown up, leaving only 
 fragments of shattered timber where she had floated. Captain 
 Davis, on the flag-ship Benton, coolly directed all the move 
 ments of his flotilla, and the answering signals showed that 
 the captains were fighting their ships as composedly as they 
 would execute a maneuver. 
 
 At length, the shattered, disabled rebel fleet gave up the con 
 test, and retired under the guns of the fort. Davis had showed 
 that he was worthy to stand in the place of the gallant Foote. 
 Our loss was slight, though it was afterwards discovered that 
 the Cincinnati had received serious injury. 
 
 Only the day before, Beauregard had made an equally un 
 successful attempt on the land forces that environed him. 
 Farmington, which Pope had captured on the third, and 
 which the enemy retook two or three days after, was Again 
 occupied by him on the eighth, while the cavalry pushed on 
 to within three miles of Corinth. The next day the enemy 
 advanced against him in force under General Bragg. 
 
 FIGHT AT FARMINGTON. 
 
 The action commenced at ten, with artillery, and continued 
 till noon, when it ceased. General Paine, who was in com 
 mand of our forces, discovering that the rebels were ma 
 neuvering to get in rear of him, and cut him off from the 
 main army, determined to withdraw. A swamp was in his 
 rear, across which only a single road led, over which he 
 must carry his entire command. In the mean time, the 
 rebels had moved their artillery so as to deliver a cross fire 
 on this, while their extended wings were sweeping down on 
 either flank. To leave nothing behind, and gain time to get 
 
454 A CAVALRY CHARGE. 
 
 his columns across this single, narrow causeway, Paine or 
 dered the second Iowa cavalry to charge the enemy s guns. 
 . It was a desperate order, but Colonel Hatch, to whom, it was 
 delivered, cared little for that. Five hundred were to 
 charge in the face of ten thousand ; but his only anxiety 
 was lest his men should refuse to follow him. But the brave 
 lowans were ready to a man. Filing up a ravine as far as 
 they could, to avoid the shot and shell that swept the field, 
 they boldly ascended the slope, face to face with the battery. 
 Quickly forming, they responded to the pealing bugle with 
 loud shouts, and with sabers flashing above their heads, 
 dashed full on the guns. The skirmishers in front went 
 clown like bending grain, before their fierce gallop ; but the 
 moment the field was cleared of these, the artillery opened 
 on them with canister and shrapnel. Before the destructive 
 fire, that line of horsemen would have disappeared like mist 
 in the hurricane, had not the guns, in the astonishment 
 caused by this sudden apparition, been too much depressed. 
 The fiery loads tore up the ground in front of them, cutting 
 down a hundred horses, but did not stop the remainder. 
 Seeing the clattering tempest full upon them, the affrighted 
 gunners quickly limbered up their pieces. The object of the 
 charge being thus accomplished, which was to silence the bat 
 tery while the columns could swiftly pass where its cross fire 
 swept, Hatch ordered the bugle to sound a recall. But the 
 excited troopers never heard it, or if they did, heeded it 
 not, and dashing on the gunners, sabred them at their 
 pieces. They then fell back to the swamp, and the column 
 safely effected its retreat to the farther side. 
 
 Pope was not reinforced so as to enable him to hold his 
 ground, because Halleck did not wish to bring on a general 
 engagement at that time, nor on that ground. Refusing to 
 take any great risk, where a cautious advance made success 
 Certain, he pushed his army forward, step by step, forcing 
 
CORINTH EVACUATED. 455 
 
 Beauregard to remain idle behind his intrenchments, or give 
 battle with all the odds against him. But if a position was 
 needed he took it. Thus Russell House," being occu 
 pied by the enemy, he ordered Sherman to take it, which he 
 did, though suffering considerable loss. 
 
 At length, having completed all his preparations, he, on 
 the twenty-eighth, advanced three reconnoitering columns 
 along his whole line, to feel the enemy and unmask his bat 
 teries, which were concealed by the woods. A sharp con 
 test followed, in which the rebels were driven back at every 
 point. The next day, Sherman established a powerful bat 
 tery within a thousand yards of the works, and the day fol 
 lowing it was expected that the mighty army would move 
 forward to the attack. Instead of this, however, Pope, 
 about ten o clock, opened on the enemy with his artillery, 
 and a heavy cannonading was kept up all day. That night, 
 our advanced lines heard the incessant rumbling of rail road 
 cars, and the shriek of the steam whistles, showing that some 
 important movement was going on in the rebel army. At day 
 light, several loud explosions were heard. Immediately skir 
 mishers were thrown out, and a general advance ordered. 
 But no opposition was offered, and Pope entered a deserted 
 place. Troops, stores, guns, ammunition, all were gone, and 
 none knew whither. As the news spread from regiment to 
 regiment, and brigade to brigade, shouts rent the air, the 
 bands struck up triumphant strains, till from limit to limit 
 of the extended lines, from wood, and field, and slope, the 
 atmosphere was alive with jubilant echoes. The stars and 
 stripes were planted on the works where so long had floated 
 defiantly the rebel flag, and the stern front of battle changed 
 into a scene of the wildest excitement. The mayor came 
 out to surrender the town, and the place, which it was be 
 lieved would be entered only over heaps of the slain, was 
 ours without a struggle. The position was a strong one, 
 
456 A CAVALRY EXPLOIT. 
 
 and it could not be conjectured why it was so tamely aban 
 doned, unless the rebel army was so demoralized that Beau- 
 regard could not trust it in a pitched battle. The evacuation 
 had been going on for days, and so secretly was it done, that 
 not a hint of it reached our lines, or if it did, came in so 
 unreliable a shape, that it was not credited. 
 
 The place presented a desolate appearance, for most of 
 the inhabitants had left with the rebel army, and all the stores 
 were closed as on the Sabbath day. 
 
 The next day, the battle of Fair Oaks took place. Thus, 
 while the vast army on the Mississippi was revelling in the 
 abandonment of victory, that on the Chickahominy was 
 struggling for its life. 
 
 One of the most brilliant exploits of this long siege was 
 performed by Colonel Elliot, who, on the Wednesday previ 
 ous to the capture, started with a large body of cavalry to 
 destroy a bridge on the Mobile and Ohio rail road. Taking 
 a circuitous route along cross roads, and through an un 
 known country, he pushed rapidly forward among the aston 
 ished inhabitants, and reaching his point of destination, ac 
 complished the work assigned him. 
 
 Cutting himself off from the main army relying alone on 
 his own sagacity, and the bravery of his followers, Elliot 
 swept through the enemy s country with a celerity that made 
 his coming and going appear like a vision, rather than a ter 
 rible reality. The history of the expedition from first to 
 last, reads like a romance. It took the enemy by surprise, 
 and seriously damaged his plan of retreat. 
 
 Pope, with his usual energy, pushed on in the direction 
 the main army was reported to have taken, and soon came 
 upon straggling regiments and took several prisoners. 
 
 While these events were passing, up the Mississippi, But 
 ler was endeavoring to bring order out of confusion in New 
 Orleans. The people were threatened with famine, and he 
 
BUTLER AT NEW ORLEANS. 457 
 
 distributed the confederate stores he found there, for the 
 relief of the poor. He appointed a Provost Marshal, and 
 while offering every inducement to the citizens to return to 
 their loyalty, ruled the disaffected with an iron hand. Sup 
 pressing some of the newspapers, he appropriated the Delta to 
 his own use, and appointed an editor from the army. Order 
 followed order in quick succession, and the proud and sul 
 len inhabitants soon found that open hostility would bring 
 swift vengeance. While he would use his whole military 
 power to preserve order and procure food, he would also 
 use it to punish treason. The circulation of confederate 
 scrip was forbidden the stores were ordered to be opened, 
 and banks made to resume their business. Ladies, relying 
 on the impunity of their sex, daily insulted soldiers and offi 
 cers in the streets, and he issued an order declaring that 
 those, who did it in future, should be treated as women of 
 the town, plying their vocation; and though it was met 
 with howls of rage and threats of assassination, he would 
 not retract it. A reward was offered for his head, and when 
 the order reached Europe, the most bitter denunciations 
 were hurled against him and the government, for retaining 
 him in command. Butler, however, was not to be swerved 
 from his course, and a man who had torn down and trampled 
 on the national flag, was hung, and all soon found that he 
 was determined they should feel that the "way of trans 
 gressors is hard." Under his rule, things quickly began to as 
 sume a better aspect ; and the President, in the middle of the 
 month, havingl>y proclamation opened the ports of Beaufort, 
 Port Royal, and New Orleans, it was expected that peaceful 
 commerce would soon effect what the bayonet had begun. 
 
 In the mean time, the fleet was not idle, but cleared the 
 banks of the Mississippi up to Yicksburg, and it was ex 
 pected that the river would soon be opened its entire 
 length. 
 
458 GENERAL ASPECT OF AFFAIRS. 
 
 Our situation at the close of this month was full of prom 
 ise. Butler was at New Orleans Curtis was once more on 
 the march, pushing his way to Little Rock, the capital of 
 Arkansas Halleck was at Corinth Davis, though still at 
 Fort Wright, evidently saw his way to Memphis while 
 Mitchell, in Alabama, advanced from victory to victory, hold 
 ing a vast territory in subjection, and with but little loss of 
 life taking possession of important points. Pensacola was 
 ours, Mobile was threatened, while Hunter was feeling his way 
 towards Charleston. The government had adopted vigorous 
 measures to redeem the ground lost by Banks, and but little 
 solicitude was felt for the national cause in any direction ex 
 cept before Richmond. Great confidence was reposed in 
 McClellan, but it was universally believed that the original 
 plan of the peninsula campaign had been abandoned, and the 
 country feared that the government had left him to perform 
 a task for which he had not sufficient means. It was felt that 
 the annihilation of the rebel army there would practically 
 end the rebellion, while a defeat to our army would prolong 
 the war indefinitely, and possibly bring about complications 
 that might entirely change the character of the struggle. 
 The French minister at Washington had visited Richmond 
 on an unknown mission, causing many anxious surmises, 
 which the advance of the French army towards Mexico, with 
 the evident intention of conquering that country,* did not 
 tend to allay. The reports from England showed an uneasy 
 state of things there, and it seemed of the most vital import 
 ance that our career of unbroken success, sirfce the spring 
 opened, should not be arrested by a disaster in front of the 
 rebel capital. A mystery hung round the government at 
 Washington in respect to the army of McClellan, that greatly 
 disturbed the public feeling, which a thousand vague rumors 
 increased. Congress, which seemed destitute of statesmen 
 of large expansive views concerning the subject of slavery, 
 
REDUCING THE ARMY. 459 
 
 occupied itself in harangues about individual and isolated 
 cases, instead of treating it as a national question. 
 
 There was scarcely a commander in the field that was not 
 in turn denounced by members either for sending back fugi 
 tives, or forbidding them to enter the lines. If a general 
 took proper precautions to prevent pillage, it was stigmatized 
 as a protection of rebel property. Even McClellan was ac 
 cused of protecting the "White House" as it was called, 
 while our sick and wounded suffered for shelter and water, 
 and the Secretary of War was called upon to put a stop to it. 
 In reply to a letter of inquiry from the latter respecting the 
 charge, he denied it emphatically, and for once, provoked 
 from his studied silence, denounced those who circulated and 
 gave credence to such reports, as enemies of their country. 
 
 But nothing showed so strikingly the incapacity of Con 
 gress, and its inability to comprehend the true position and 
 wants of the country as the proposal of its leading members 
 to reduce the army. But more astounding than all, the Sec 
 retary of War had actually issued an order stopping enlist 
 ments of volunteers, and this month witnessed the anomalous, 
 extraordinary spectacle of disbanded regiments and closed 
 recruiting stations. The two great rebel armies were still in 
 the field, while the confederate government had completed 
 its conscription, which embraced all able bodied men be 
 tween eighteen and thirty-five, and thus more than doubled 
 its military force. We, in the mean time, were losing by 
 sickness, wounds and death, more than ten thousand men a 
 month, and the great decisive battles were yet to be fought. 
 It would seem that our victories west had deluded the govern 
 ment into the belief that the war was actually over, or that 
 some strange hallucination had seized it. The Secretary of 
 War saw the rebel army doublingours rapidly diminishing, 
 while the great struggle was yet to take place, and despite all 
 bade the people who were rushing to the field, lay down their 
 
460 UNION ACTION. 
 
 arms and go home. There is no occasion to go any farther, 
 to account for the disasters that followed the two acts, 
 one taking away a military head from the army, and substi 
 tuting in its place the department at Washington the other, 
 reducing the army in presence of the enemy, while he was 
 doubling his own are quite sufficient without seeking other 
 causes for it. They cost and will cost us millions of treasure 
 and tens of thousands of lives. 
 
 From these and many other reasons, it was felt that a 
 defeat before Richmond would be most calamitous, while a 
 decisive victory there would dispose of all difficulties, and 
 give us a clear field for the future. The public, therefore, 
 made up its mind that McClellan should give us one. It 
 would not entertain the idea of probable defeat, listen to no 
 excuses, not even contemplate facts. It was of vital impor 
 tance to the country that Richmond should fall, and there 
 fore fall it must. 
 
 The people, however, soon learned, that the immutable 
 laws of Providence can not be arrested by clamor, but march 
 on, apparently heedless of consequences to men or nations, 
 to their legitimate results. 
 
CHAPTER XXXVI. 
 
 JUNE, 1862. 
 
 MOVEMENTS AT THE WEST EVACUATION OF MEMPHIS NAVAL ACTION BEFORE 
 
 IT EXPEDITION UP THE WHITE RIVER EXPLOSION ON BOARD THE MOUND 
 
 CIT y FORT AT SAINT CHARLES CAPTURED BY COLONEL FITCH BUTLER AT 
 
 NEW ORLEANS PIERRE SOULE SENT NORTH UNDER ARREST CHATTANOOGA 
 
 TAKEN BUELL SUPPOSED TO BE ADVANCING TO THE RELIEF OF EAST TEN 
 NESSEE GRATIFICATION OF THE PEOPLE SUFFERINGS OF THE UNIONISTS 
 
 THERE PARSON BROWNLOW KEEPS THE OLD FLAG FLYING HEROISM 
 
 OF HIS DAUGHTER RELIEVED AND COMES NORTH HIS STORY OF THE BAR 
 BARITIES OF THE REBELS HIS RECEPTION IN THE NORTHERN CITIES MOR 
 GAN SEIZES CUMBERLAND GAP. 
 
 AFTER the evacuation of Corinth the rebels fell back to 
 different positions, at none of which were they attacked 
 by our army, and a long period of inaction in the field fol 
 lowed, broken only by the dashes of Mitchell in Alabama. 
 
 Our flotilla on the Mississippi, however, continued to ad 
 vance down the river, and there seemed every prospect of 
 its soon forming a junction with that of Farragut. Forts 
 Wright and Pillow were successively evacyated, and it slowly 
 proceeded towards Memphis, and on the sixth came in sight 
 of the city, with its spires and cupolas glittering in the morn 
 ing sun. All was quiet and tranquil, and the occupation of 
 the place promised to be as bloodless as that of the forts 
 above. But as the fleet proceeded towards the lower end 
 of the town, the rebel flotilla was discovered lying close to 
 the Arkansas shore. 
 
 NAVAL ACTION BEFORE MEMPHIS. 
 
 Our boats had drifted down stern foremost, and now 
 Davis signalled to have the engines reversed, and to proceed 
 
462 FIERCE NAVAL FIGHT. 
 
 up stream, designing to give his crews breakfast before the 
 fight. The rebels construed this into a retreat, and immedi 
 ately came on in high spirits, sending shot after shot at the 
 Benton. There were eight rebel gun boats, while Davis had 
 but five. Attached to the latter, however, were four rams, 
 commanded by Captain Ellet, under whose personal super 
 vision they had been got up, though in great haste, being 
 made from ferry boats, or such vessels as could be most easily 
 transformed into them. From the outset of the war, he had 
 urged upon the government the efficiency of such vessels, and 
 experience having proved his views to be correct, he had 
 been assigned to duty on the Mississippi. 
 
 The rebels had the advantage both in the number of gun 
 boats, and in being able to fight up stream, by which they 
 had more perfect control of their vessels in the swift current. 
 They were evidently aware of this, and came on with full 
 confidence that they could destroy our fleet. The inhabit 
 ants of Memphis shared in this feeling, and issuing from their 
 houses as the first shots awoke the morning echoes, crowded 
 the banks of the river to witness the fight. 
 
 The Lancaster, one of our rams, having met with an acci 
 dent, could not share in the engagement, and was taken in 
 tow by her consort the Switzerland. The other two, Queen 
 of the West, and Monarch, as soon as the firing commenced, 
 clapped on steam, and came bowling along at a tremendous 
 rate sweeping past the gun boats, and steering straight for 
 the rebel vessels. Throwing up an angry swell from her 
 bow in her headlong speed, the little Queen of the West 
 made boldly for the Beauregard. It was an exciting mo 
 ment, the firing ceased, and all eyes were turned, both from 
 the decks of the vessels and the shore, on these two vessels. 
 The captain of the Beauregard, seeing that the ram was 
 making for him, by a skillful movement avoided the blow, 
 and as the former rushed past, opened with cannon, firing 
 
REBEL FLEET DESTROYED. 463 
 
 ten shots at her, one of which passed clean through her. 
 The riflemen from the ram, however, picked off the gunners 
 as they undertook to reload, and dashing on, made for the 
 next boat below, the General Price. The latter attempted 
 to elude the blow but failed, and the ram came into her hull 
 with a tremendous crash. The chimneys of both boats bent 
 over till they almost touched the water, while the sound of 
 the breaking, rending timbers told how fearful was the shock. 
 
 The Beauregard, as the Queen swept past her, wheeled in 
 pursuit, and now coming up, dashed against her, carrying 
 away her wheel house, and disabling her engine, but she 
 lipped away so quickly that the full force of the blow came 
 upon the Price, ripping her wheel completely off and making 
 a wreck of her. The Monarch, in the mean time, was crowd 
 ing all steam, making for the whole three as they lay grind- 
 ing and pounding together. She struck the Beauregard full 
 in the bow, which placed her in a sinking condition, and she 
 ran up the white flag, as the Price had just done. The Ben- 
 ton now attacked the Lovell, raking her terribly. In a 
 short time the boilers of the latter exploded, enveloping her 
 in steam, out of which arose piercing cries of agony, and 
 shrieks for help. In five minutes more she went down in a 
 hundred feet of water with all on board, save a few that suc 
 ceeded in swimming ashore, and a handful rescued by the 
 Benton. The rest of the rebel fleet now attempted to escape, 
 but the Jeff. Thompson was soon run ashore and fired. The 
 Sumter next went ashore, followed by the General Bragg, 
 the crew of which, fled up the banks. The Van Dorn, alone 
 of the whole fleet, escaped. 
 
 The rebel leader, Thompson, sat on his horse, a spectator 
 of the fight, and seeing the total wreck of the flotilla, ex 
 claimed, " It s all up with us," and galloped off. 
 
 The fight began twenty minutes before six and ended at 
 seven thus lasting an hour and twenty minutes. Our gal- 
 
 28 
 
464 CAPTURE OF REBEL BATTERIES. 
 
 lant sailors had done a heavy piece of work before break 
 fast, and with scarcely any loss. The only one hurt on board 
 the rams, was Ellet himself, who received a wound from 
 which he afterwards died. 
 
 This once flourishing city presented a desolate appearance. 
 Many of the inhabitants had fled, the stores were closed, 
 and the whole place showed the ruin which every where 
 marked the track of the rebellion. 
 
 In the mean time, Farragut had been arrested in his pass 
 age up the river, at Vicksburg. The fortifications at this 
 place from their elevated position, proved more formidable 
 even than those above Memphis, and presented an effectual 
 barrier to the opening of the Mississippi, much to the disap 
 pointment of the country. 
 
 Not many days after this, an expedition consisting of four 
 gun boats, and accompanied by the forty-sixth Indiana regi 
 ment under Colonel Fitch, proceeded up the White river, 
 from Memphis, for the purpose of removing any obstruc 
 tions to navigation that might exist. On the seventeenth it 
 reached St. Charles city, eighty -five miles above the mouth 
 of the river, where two rebel batteries were found, mount 
 ing seven guns, supported by a body of infantry. The gun 
 boats engaged the batteries, while Colonel Fitch landed his 
 force two and a half miles below, to make an attack in flank 
 and rear. Soon after the action commenced, a rifled shot 
 struck the Mound City and entered her steam drum, causing 
 a sudden escape of steam, which, rushing into every part 
 of the boat, killed and disabled nearly all her officers and 
 crew. Many of the latter jumped overboard in their agony, 
 and attempted to swim ashore, but were coolly shot through 
 the head by the rebel marksmen furnishing a striking con 
 trast to the conduct of our men at the recent action before 
 Memphis, where every exertion was made to save the scalded 
 rebels who leaped overboard for safety. 
 
UNIONISTS OF TENNESSEE. 465 
 
 In the mean time, Colonel Fitch signaled the gun boats 
 to cease firing, and advancing on the rebel works, carried 
 them with a shout, without the loss of a man. The rebel 
 commander was wounded and taken prisoner, and the place 
 with all its ordnance and ammunition fell into our hands. 
 
 In the mean time, Curtis was making his slow, perilous 
 way across the state of Arkansas. Cut off from his base of 
 operations, and compelled to live on the country through 
 which he passed, considerable solicitude was felt for his 
 safety. 
 
 At New Orleans, Butler still maintained his vigorous rule. 
 He had come in collision with the French and English con 
 suls, boldly seizing large amounts of money found in. their 
 possession, which he declared had been put there for safe 
 keeping by the rebels. Men and women were hurried with 
 out ceremony, to fort Jackson ; Pierre Soule and the sheriff 
 of the city sent under arrest, north ; and the traitors given 
 to understand that the only alternative was submission or 
 punishment 
 
 The army under Halleck was divided up into different 
 corps, in order to hold the vast territory that had fallen into 
 our hands. Naglee advanced against Chattanooga and took 
 it ; but it unfortunately was again abandoned to the enemy. 
 
 A heavy force under Buell advanced into the heart of the 
 country, and it was supposed its destination was East Tennes 
 see. This was hailed with delight by the people ; for that 
 portion of the state, though still under rebel sway, was loyal 
 to the Union, for which she was enduring all the pains of 
 martyrdom. From the outset of the rebellion, the people, 
 though isolated and alone, had never acknowledged the 
 southern confederacy. This had brought upon them the 
 concentrated wrath of the treacherous government, and 
 guerilla bands had been sent among them to hunt down and 
 destroy every man. who dared to avow his love for the old 
 
466 REBEL BARBARITES. 
 
 flag. Their cry for help moved the deepest sympathy of 
 the nation, but the government could do nothing for them 
 without interfering seriously with the general plan of the 
 campaign. Though apparently deserted, and shut in by hos 
 tile armies, they still suffered on in hope. Those who could, 
 men, women and children, abandoned their homes, and made 
 their dangerous way to the northern armies the men, many 
 of them, to enlist under the Union flag, and the women and 
 children to seek the protection denied them at home. 
 
 Others formed themselves into patriotic bands, and took to 
 the mountains to defend themselves till the longed for help 
 could arrive, and secretly destroyed the rail road bridges that 
 facilitated the transportation of troops and supplies to the 
 different rebel armies. These latter when caught were hung 
 without mercy. Unsubdued to the last, they proclaimed their 
 loyalty at the foot of the gallows, and dying, hurled defiance 
 in the face of their murderers. The harrowing details of 
 the sufferings of this noble people, during the winter and 
 spring, would fill a volume. Chief among them was Parson 
 Brownlow, as he was called. For many years editor of the 
 Knoxville Whig, he early took ground in his paper against 
 the rebellion, and wielding a trenchant pen, dealt the leaders 
 of it telling blows. ^ For a long time he kept the stars and 
 stripes flying over his office, and when the rebels threatened 
 to tear it down, he declared he would shoot the first man 
 who dared to touch it. Once, being away, a rebel officer came 
 to his house to take it down, but was met by the Parson s 
 daughter with a pistol in her hand, who declared she would 
 shoot him on the spot if he made the attempt. The parson s 
 profession (for he was widely known as a methodist clergy 
 man) protected him a long time from personal violence, but 
 his influence was too potent to be- disregarded, and his office 
 was finally shut up, and himself thrust into prison. Threats 
 "having proved unavailing, bribes were tried on the old pa- 
 
JOHNSON AT NASHVILLE. 467 
 
 triot, but in vain. He was then given permission to leave for 
 the north, but, instead of being allowed to go, was kept lock 
 ed up till a dangerous fever prostrated him, and he lay for 
 weeks at the gate of death. Too feeble to turn in his bed, 
 he was constantly insulted by his enemies, and scarcely a day 
 passed that he was not threatened with the gallows. In this 
 condition, though physically prostrated, his spirit remained 
 unshaken, and he employed his little remaining strength in 
 exhorting his fellow prisoners to remain firm in their loyalty. 
 One by one they were taken from him, to be tried or execu 
 ted ; and in daily expectation of sharing their fate, he pre 
 pared his dying speech to be delivered just before he should 
 swing off. But after months of suffering, he was finally re 
 leased, and during the spring came north, to electrify the 
 people with the recital of his own wrongs, and those of his 
 fellow Unionists. The north had boasted of its loyalty, but 
 till now did not know the full meaning of the word. Those, 
 who had never ceased to abuse the border states, and sneer 
 at the loyalty of their people, were abashed at the story that 
 the fearless Parson told. To be faithful to the Union, had cost 
 them something more than money and words it had de 
 manded imprisonment, poverty, the loss of all things and the 
 felon s doom. 
 
 Though the people could not reach these noble Tennessee- 
 ans, they opened their purses and hearts to their fearless rep 
 resentative, and cheers and blessings and material aid follow 
 ed him wherever he moved. 
 
 At Nashville, Johnson the governor, labored unweariedly 
 to restore tranquillity to the distracted state. He called Un 
 ion meetings, and appealed in stirring language to the people 
 to come heartily back to the old Union. Trade was opened 
 with the city, and cotton and tobacco that had escaped the 
 torch of the rebels began to flow north. 
 
 But the work he had undertaken was an arduous one 
 
468 CUMBERLAND GAP TAKEN. 
 
 secessionists plotted around him, and spies lurked on every 
 side. Even the mayor and common council of the city re 
 fused to take the oath of allegiance, while most of the clergy 
 openly defied him. His sway though quiet, was firm, and 
 his gloved hand closed like iron on traitors, no matter what 
 their rank, or how sacred their profession. The clergy who 
 refused to take the oath of allegiance were thrown into prison 
 to await a convenient opportunity to be sent south to the 
 government they upheld. 
 
 In the mean time General Morgan took possession of Cum 
 berland Gap, which was considered the key to East Tennessee. 
 The position was too strong to be taken by a direct attack, 
 and after taking his division across a difficult country, he as 
 cended the precipitous sides of the Pine and Cumberland 
 mountains, dragging his artillery up after him by the aid of 
 block and tackle two hundred men being required to bring 
 up each piece. He thus succeeded in flanking the position, 
 which, as soon as the astonished rebels discovered, they, on the 
 eighteenth abandoned it without risking a battle. It was now 
 hoped that East Tennessee would be released from its thral 
 dom, and the day of deliverance come to the thousands of 
 Unionists in whom for a longtime "hope deferred had made 
 the heart sick." 
 
CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 
 JUNE, 1862. 
 
 FREMONT STARTS IN PURSUIT OF JACKSON HIS ENERGY HIS CAVALRY AM 
 BUSHED BATTLE OF CROSS KEYS RETREAT OF JACKSON AND ATTACK ON 
 
 SHIELDS ADVANCE, AT PORT REPUBLIC ABANDONMENT OF THE PURSUIT 
 PUBLIC DISAPPOINTMENT AT JACKSON s ESCAPE OBJECT OF HIS RAID PER 
 PLEXITY OF GOVERNMENT THE PRESIDENT REORGANIZES THE VIRGINIA DE 
 PARTMENT GENERAL POPE PLACED IN COMMAND HIS ADDRESS TO THE 
 
 ARMY MOVEMENT AGAINST CHARLESTON BATTLE OF JAMES ISLAND HE 
 ROISM OF THE EIGHTH MICHIGAN AND SEVENTY-NINTH HIGHLANDERS OUR 
 
 DEFEAT CAUSE OF DISGRACE OF BENHAM. 
 
 WHILE these events were occurring in the west, move 
 ments of still greater magnitude were taking place on 
 the Atlantic slope. Fremont no sooner received the orders 
 from Washington to intercept Jackson in his retreat from 
 Winchester, than he put his army in motion. He left Frank 
 lin on Sunday, the twenty-fifth of May, and striking across 
 the Shenandoah mountains, carried his enthusiastic columns 
 with all his artillery trains and wagons over roads that would 
 have seemed impassable to a less energetic man. Accom 
 plishing a march of a hundred miles during the week, he ar 
 rived on the first of June, within five miles of Strasburg, 
 where he overtook Jackson in full retreat. Colonel Cluseret 
 commanding the advance brigade came upon the enemy strong 
 ly posted with artillery, which immediately opened on him. 
 Fremont in the rear, rapidly brought forward his main col 
 umn, and formed in line of battle. The rebel leader however, 
 declined the fight. He could not afford to stop here and risk 
 a battle, while a strong force was marching from Fredericks- 
 burg up the Shenandoah to intercept his passage, and Banks 
 was hurrying back from the Potomac to avenge his late dis- 
 
470 FREMONT PURSUES JACKSON. 
 
 asters. A storm was gathering around him which, daring and 
 skillful as he was, would tax all his resources to avoid. Fre 
 mont was unable to follow up the pursuit that night, on ac 
 count of the fatigue of his men, and a heavy thunder storm, 
 which made the night as dark as Erebus. The next morning, 
 however, he commenced the pursuit, and the advance of Me- 
 Dowell s force under General Bayard arriving, it was hurried 
 forward, and cavalry and artillery thundered after the re~ 
 treating enemy. The latter made successive stands with his 
 artillery, and skirmishing was kept , up all day. Fremont 
 however, with that sleuth-hound tenacity which character 
 ized him, pressed on his flying traces with a vigor bordering 
 on ferocity, and which gave the rebels not a moment s rest. 
 Day after day his cannon thundered on his rear, until Jackson 
 reached the north fork of the Shenandoah, which he rapidly 
 crossed, burning the bridge behind him. Fremont immedi 
 ately hurried up his pontoon train, but a tremendous rain storm 
 was raging, which so swelled the stream with the torrents it 
 sent tumbling from the mountains, that a day elapsed before 
 he could crpss. It was a lucky storm for Jackson, for it gave 
 him an opportunity to rest his wearied troops. The next 
 day, however, Fremont was upon him again, and Jackson 
 found that he had to deal with an enemy as tireless, and rapid 
 in his movements as himself. Continuing to fall back to 
 wards Harrisonburg, his rear guard harrassed at every step 
 by our cavalry and artillery, he on the fifth passed rapidly 
 through it. The latter entered the town on the evening of 
 the sixth. When the cavalry force had come up, eight 
 hundred in all under Colonel Wyndham, the latter was directed 
 to advance a short distance beyond the town to reconnoitre. 
 Sweeping through the main street of the place at a rapid trot, 
 and turning to the left at the farther end, he passed through 
 some fields to a hill overlooking an open valley beyond. 
 Skirmishers were sent out to ascertain the whereabouts of the 
 
AMBUSH OF CAVALRY. 471 
 
 enemy, but failing "to get any satisfactory information he de 
 cided to advance still further. Proceeding on a brisk trot for 
 about two miles, he came upon the rebel cavalry drawn up 
 in line across the road, and stretching through the fields to the 
 woods on either side. Without waiting to send out skirmish 
 ers to feel their flanks and ascertain whether there was a sup 
 porting body of infantry, he ordered a charge. The bugles 
 rang out, and along the road, up the slope, the clattering 
 squadron dashed on a gallop. A large wheat field, well 
 grown, spread aWay on the right of the road before the rebel 
 line was reached, and in this lay concealed several hundred 
 rebel infantry. The moment the close packed squadrons 
 came opposite this field the ambushed enemy opened a close 
 and deadly volley which threw into irrecoverable confusion 
 the leading battalion. Colonel Wyndham s horse was shot 
 under him, and he taken prisoner, and Captain Shellman who 
 bravely endeavored to rally the men was killed. The officers 
 dashed hither and thither to restore order, horses reared and 
 plunged, and the fierce riders jostled each other in the nar 
 row way, but the broken squadron could not be re-formed and 
 fell back pell-mell down the hill. . The second squadron see 
 ing the disaster, endeavored to pass into the woods on the 
 left, to escape the fire of the infantry and attack the rebel 
 cavalry in flank, but the movement came too late and the 
 whole force fell back in confusion. 
 
 A large body of infantry under General Bayard was imme 
 diately ordered forward to retrieve the disaster, and among 
 them a portion of the "Bucktail" regiment of Pennsylvania. 
 The latter had scarcely taken position when they were at 
 tacked by a whole brigade of the enemy. Yet they main* 
 tained their ground with daring resolution, doing fearful ex 
 ecution with their deadly rifles, till, with their commander, 
 Colonel Kane, wounded and a prisoner, and nearly half of 
 their number killed and wounded, they were compelled to 
 
472 BATTLE OF CROSS KEYS. 
 
 yield the field. The enemy lost a large number in killed and 
 wounded, and among the former was the famous rebel cavalry 
 leader Ashby. From the commencement of the war, he had 
 been distinguished for his daring and successful movements, 
 and his loss was a severe blow to the enemy. Jackson now 
 took up a strong position eight miles from Harrisonburg, de 
 termined to give Fremont battle. 
 
 BATTLE OF CKOSS KEYS. 
 
 On Sunday the eighth, Fremont having determined to fight 
 him whenever and wherever found, advanced to the attack. 
 Jackson had planted himself in an amphitheatre of hills, a posi 
 tion so admirably fitted for defense that he was confident 
 double his own force could not dislodge him. He had been 
 over this ground before, and knew the range of every hill, so 
 that from the outset he could fling his shot and shell with 
 terrible precision on an advancing enemy. 
 
 Milroy commanded the center, Schenck the right, and Stahl 
 the left the advance being the little brigade of Cluseret, 
 consisting of the eighth Virginia, sixtieth Ohio, and the 
 Garibaldi Guard. The line advanced slowly and cautiously, 
 driving the rebel skirmishers before it. Descending into an 
 open valley, the cluster of hills, covered with woods on their 
 summits in which the enemy were concealed, lay before them. 
 Fremont took his position on a commanding eminence, and 
 anxiously watched the movements of his columns as they ad 
 vanced to the attack. Wishing to ascertain the position of 
 the enemy s batteries, Schenck threw some shells into the 
 woods in front, but not a shot replied. In the mean time 
 Cluseret 1 s brave little brigade moved steadily over the roll 
 ing ground, their bayonets gleaming in the summer sun, till 
 the woods on the right swallowed them from sight. In a 
 few minutes, the sharp rattle of musketry was heard, and by 
 
JACKSON RETREATS. 473 
 
 the advancing line of smoke that rose above the green tree 
 tops, Fremont saw that Cluseret was pushing the enemy 
 before him. 
 
 The batteries were now ordered up, and quickly from every 
 commanding eminence, white puffs of smoke arose, and a 
 fierce artillery fight along the whole line followed. The ene 
 my s guns were worked with the precision of rifle practice, 
 and scarcely a shot missed its intended mark. 
 
 While this tremendous fire of the batteries was going on, 
 Milroy with his brigade, moved straight on the center, while 
 Stahl, supported by Bolen took the woods on the left, and 
 soon from out its dark bosom came incessant crashes of artil 
 lery and volleys of musketry. The fight here for a time was 
 desperate, but Jackson moving forward a heavy body of in 
 fantry to outflank Stahl, the latter was compelled to fall back 
 to a more open position. This was about three o clock in 
 the afternoon, and soon after Milroy was compelled to retire 
 also. Cluseret, however, still held his position in the woods 
 on the right until he was ordered to fall back. All this time 
 Fremont, surrounded by a conspicuous group, occupied a hill 
 top, a fair target for the enemy, until a shell at length burst 
 right in their midst, when they moved away. 
 
 The fight was over before dark, and Fremont finding the 
 position too strong to be carried, did not renew the attack. 
 The rebel loss must have amounted to a thousand men in this 
 determined onset, while ours could have been little less than 
 seven or eight hundred. Jackson leaving his dead behind 
 him and two cannon in our possession, retreated at midnight 
 towards the south branch of the Shenandoah. 
 
 This was construed by Fremont into a confession of defeat, 
 but it was a mistake. Jackson had heard that Shields was 
 advancing on Port Republic, directly in his rear, and he left 
 the battle field at Cross Keys to give the latter battle next 
 day before our forces could form a junction. 
 
474 SHIELDS MOVEMENTS. 
 
 When McDowell received orders to send aid to Fremont, 
 lie dispatched Shields up the Luray valley, along the south 
 branch of the Shenandoah, to intercept Jackson, while an 
 other column moved direct on Strasburg. 
 
 Carroll led the advance, and pushing on by heavy 
 marches, reached a place called Conrad s store, on the fourth, 
 where he received orders to push on to Port Republic, some 
 thirty -five miles distant. But heavy rains had so swollen 
 the creeks on his route, that he was totally unable to move 
 till the seventh, when with less than a thousand infantry, and 
 six pieces of artillery, and only a hundred and fifty cavalry, 
 he set out. With this small force, he pressed forward with des 
 perate energy, hoping to be able to reach Port Republic and 
 destroy the bridge across the Shenandoah there, before 
 Jackson reached it. The next day, Sunday, while Fremont 
 was fighting the battle of Cross Keys, he reached the place, 
 with his advance, driving the small force of the enemy there, 
 out. He immediately planted two guns which he had 
 brought forward so as to protect himself from an attack of 
 the train guard, until his command could arrive. His orders 
 were, after destroying the bridge here, to proceed nearly 
 thirty miles farther up stream to Waynesboro, and thus hem 
 in Jackson, so that he could be finished by th$ combined 
 forces of Fremont and McDowell. But before he had been 
 in the place twenty minutes, he was suddenly attacked .by 
 three regiments of infantry, with eighteen pieces of artillery, 
 and a large body of cavalry. Compelled to retire before 
 this overwhelming force before he could destroy the bridge, 
 he slowly retreated about two miles and a half, and took 
 the first defensible position he could find, where he was soon 
 after joined by General Tyler, with two thousand men. The 
 next day, Jackson having eluded Fremont, and crossed the 
 river in safety, burning the bridge behind him, advanced 
 with his whole army against him. It was a skillful move on 
 
BATTLE OF PORT REPUBLIC. 475 
 
 the part of the rebel leader, and Fremont, while moving 
 forward next morning in pursuit, as he supposed, of a flying 
 foe, was saluted with the roar of cannon in the distance, that 
 told him his adroit, daring enemy, was breaking in pieces 
 the force sent to cut off his retreat. The fates seemed to 
 favor his escape, for had it not been for the heavy rains that 
 fell, while he was beating back Fremont at Cross Keys Car 
 roll would have been destroying the bridge over which the 
 former the next night marched in safety. But every farmer 
 in the region was a spy, and undoubtedly Jackson was kept 
 perfectly informed of all our movements; and had not 
 Shields column been delayed, he would not have fought the 
 battle of Cross Keys at all, but continued his retreat until he 
 had put the river between him and his pursuer. 
 
 The fight at Port Republic was a very desperate one, for 
 Jackson could lose no time in making cautious movements. 
 He knew when he first entered the valley of the Shenandoah, 
 to attack Banks, that he would be compelled to move rapidly ; 
 and pushing the latter as far as he dared, he depended for 
 safety in his retreat on swift, long marches, and sudden on 
 sets. So when he turned from Fremont on Shields, he threw 
 himself in overwhelming force on that portion of the army 
 at Port Republic, before the remainder could arrive. Tyler 
 and Carroll, however, held their position firmly for nearly 
 five hours. Most of their troops were western men, and 
 fought with their accustomed gallantry. The seventh In* 
 diana almost annihilated the seventh Louisiana regiment in 
 its desperate charges. 
 
 Carroll behaved with great gallantry, leading three regi 
 ments successfully to the charge. The fight was almost a 
 hand-jto-hand one, our artillery using nothing but grape and 
 canister, which cut frightful lanes through the close ranks of 
 the enemy. But, at length, being outflanked, this gallant 
 band was compelled to retire. 
 
476 OBJECT OF JACKSON S RAID. 
 
 Though various movements were now planned and set on 
 foot, this virtually ended the pursuit, for Jackson was where 
 he could easily be reinforced to any extent, and Fremont 
 finally retired to Strasburg. 
 
 It had been confidently believed that Jackson s escape was 
 impossible, and when it was found that he had slipped 
 through our fingers, carrying all his immense spoils with 
 him, and dealing us full as heavy blows as we had given 
 him, the public disappointment was great, and McDowell, 
 Shields, Carroll, and Fremont, were by turns the objects of 
 popular clamor. Even at this late day, it is not easy to form 
 a clear idea of the combined movements set on foot to in 
 tercept Jackson, or determine where the blame of his escape, 
 if any, should be laid. This much, however, may be said : 
 Jackson, when he started on his raid down the valley, was 
 perfectly aware of the position of the forces he would leave 
 on his flanks, and had all his arrangements complete for re 
 ceiving early information of every movement. He also 
 knew every foot of the country, and hence could lay his 
 plans with almost mathematical certainty. He had not, as 
 the public fondly supposed, run his head into a noose, leav 
 ing us nothing to do except to tighten the rope. On the 
 contrary, he knew so well what he was about, that his escape 
 might be relied on as a certainty, unless some unexpected 
 accident should interpose to disarrange his plans. The sud 
 den movement of our forces on his flanks was certainly not 
 that unexpected interposition. Our error was in giving him 
 credit for a daring and skillful movement, and then expect 
 it to turn out the hugest blunder imaginable. 
 
 Among the captures we made was a letter from the rebel 
 leader, Johnson, which stated that the sole object of the 
 movement was to prevent reinforcements leing sent to Me- 
 Clellan. According to their own confession, therefore, the 
 great object of the raid could be accomplished only by the 
 
THE PRESIDENT VISITS SCOTT. 477 
 
 consent of our government. The rumors, however, that 
 from time to time were received, that Jackson had been 
 heavily reinforced, and with an immense army was about to 
 move back towards Washington, more than offset the proof 
 of this letter, and government was perplexed as to the course 
 it ought to adopt. 
 
 Our position at the close of this movement against Jack 
 son, was humiliating in the extreme. This daring leader, 
 with probably less than twenty thousand men, had driven 
 Banks to the Potomac forced Fremont and McDowell into 
 a long, wasting, and yet fruitless march, inflicting on them 
 quite as much damage as he received beaten back Shields 
 column with heavy loss, and escaped with all his spoils and 
 trophies. All this had been done while at least eighty thou 
 sand troops were within striking distance of him. 
 
 The President now saw clearly the terrible blunder that 
 had been made in the creation of these several independent 
 corps, that could act in unison only as they received orders 
 from Washington, and he resolved to remedy it at once. 
 Feeling that he had listened to counsel that was not safe, he 
 privately left Washington, and made a hurried visit to West 
 Point, to consult with the old veteran Scott. He saw that 
 in time of adversity and peril, the rash and the ignorant 
 must be put aside, and those whose counsels experience had 
 shown to be wise, be consulted. This visit, so out of the 
 ordinary course of action by the Chief Executive, gave rise 
 to much conjecture, and some alarm. But the simple truth 
 was, the condition of things along the Potomac causing a 
 still more perilous condition of the army of McClellan re 
 quired an entire reorganization of military affairs, and the 
 President in doing it did not want to fall into a mistake 
 worse than the first. 
 
 The first step in the new order of things, that was about 
 to take place,, was the consolidation of the departments of 
 
478 POPE PLACED OVER THE ARMY. 
 
 Virginia into one command under Pope, who had been called 
 from the West for that purpose. This officer had distin 
 guished himself in several campaigns, as a daring, energetic, 
 and brave officer, and his appointment to this post of great 
 responsibility, was received with general satisfaction ; for it 
 was certain that the unaccountable apathy that had reigned 
 so long beyond the Potomac would be broken up. There 
 were serious doubts, however, whether his administrative 
 was equal to his executive capacity ; but the President 
 thought, on the whole, he was the best man that under the 
 circumstances could be selected. In giving him this posi 
 tion, however, he had to perform the ungracious task of 
 placing an officer above those who ranked him, and it was 
 feared that it might cause great dissatisfaction in the army. 
 Fremont, who had been his superior officer in Missouri, and 
 in that capacity had some difficulty with him, immediately 
 resigned his position and left the army. This conduct, while 
 in presence of the enemy, was loudly condemned by his 
 enemies, and scarcely apologized for by his friends. Per 
 haps, under the circumstances, it was an unfortunate step, 
 but; unless Fremont saw, that by taking it he should greatly 
 imperil his country, it is difficult to see how he could do 
 otherwise. So on the other hand, unless the President felt 
 that the welfare of the Republic imperiously demanded it, it 
 was both unjust and dangerous, thus to jump a subordinate 
 over the heads of his superiors in rank. 
 
 The address which Pope afterwards issued to the army on 
 taking personal command, though full of promise in words, 
 was ominous of defeat. In it he said, "I hear constantly of 
 taking strong positions and holding them of lines of retreat, 
 and of bases of supplies let us discard such ideas." And 
 again, u Let us study the probable line of retreat of our op- 
 ponents and leave our own to take care of themselves" Aside 
 from the bad taste of such language, casting as it did, an 
 
MOVEMENT AGAINST CHARLESTON 479 
 
 implied reproach on those generals who had preceded him, 
 it showed a contempt of established rules that boded no 
 good. It was most marvellous that the press and public 
 received it with a shout of approval. To military men, it 
 predicted more than any oracle could, a terrible defeat. 
 
 While affairs before Washington were thus getting into 
 irretrievable confusion, our army met with a severe disaster 
 in front of Charleston. As early as the fore part of May, 
 Benham, in command of the northern department of the 
 south, obtained information that led him to believe that 
 Charleston could be approached by the way of the Stono. 
 He thought that our forces could be suddenly concentrated 
 on James Island, which commanded the approach to it, 
 fort Johnson be taken, and the city reached by our bat 
 teries. The project received Hunter s approval, and on the 
 second of this month, the two generals left Hilton Head 
 with a part of the troops under General Stevens, and reach 
 ing Stono river the same afternoon, landed at u Old Battery." 
 Owing to the want of means of transportation, a large por 
 tion of the troops were sent to the Edisto, to be marched 
 across John s island, and were expected to be at the Stono 
 the next day. But from lack of ferry boats, and through 
 other delays, they did not arrive till the fifth, and did not 
 get across to James island till the ninth. But for this mis 
 hap, fort Johnson which was feebly garrisoned, and wholly 
 unprepared for any attack, would probably have fallen. 
 
 In the mean while, Stevens had had some skirmishing 
 with the enemy, in which he captured a battery of iron car- 
 ronades, and lost twenty prisoners. On the tenth it was as 
 certained that the rebels were erecting a fort at a place 
 called Secessionville, from which they could command Gen 
 eral Wright s and a part of Stevens camps, and reach evera 
 our gun boats in the Stono. It was immediately determined 
 to attempt a reconnoissance in force next morning, and if 
 
 29 
 
480 BATTLE OF JAMES ISLAND. 
 
 possible make a rush and capture the fort. That afternoon, 
 however, the enemy attacked our lines near Wright s camp, 
 but were repulsed with heavy loss. The reconnoissance was 
 now given up, and a project set on foot to reduce the fort 
 with artillery. 
 
 In this crisis of affairs, Hunter left, with orders not to ad 
 vance on Charleston, or attack fort Johnson u until reinforced 
 or ordered from head-quarters, but that the camps should be 
 made sure and intrenched." Yet the camps could not be 
 made "secure" so long as the guns of the fort commanded 
 them it must be taken or they abandoned. Why Hunter 
 left while the army was in this critical position, leaving an 
 order so indefinite and contradictory, requires a more satis 
 factory explanation than has yet been given. 
 
 The bombardment producing no effect, and deserters stat 
 ing that the garrison consisted of only eight hundred men, 
 defended by six guns, and that the whole force on the island 
 amounted to but twelve thousand, Benham resolved to storm 
 the fort. 
 
 BATTLE OF JAMES ISLAND. 
 
 Four o clock on the morning of the sixteenth, was the 
 hour selected for the assault. General Stevens, with four 
 thousand men, was to move suddenly in one overwhelming 
 mass on the enemy s works on the right, while General Wil 
 liams, with three thousand more approached on the left to 
 his support. The Michigan eighth, only four hundred strong, 
 advancing at the double-quick in dead silence, first ap 
 proached the enemy s works, but being discovered before 
 they reached them, were met by a murderous volley of grape 
 and canister, which mowed them down like grass. They 
 kept on, however, in the face of the horrible tempest, until 
 nearly half their entire number were killed or wounded, 
 when reduced to a mere handful, and unsupported, they 
 
A GALLANT REGIMENT. 481 
 
 were compelled to fall back, a band of heroes every one. 
 On the heels of this repulse came the indomitable seventy- 
 ninth Highlanders, on the double-quick, and formed in line 
 of battle in a large cotton field, directly in front of the guns 
 of the fort. As they passed General Stevens they cheered 
 him. He lifted his cap and smiled as he watched the solid 
 ranks with fixed bayonets, sweeping like a dark shadow over 
 the field in the early dawn. 
 
 The rain was falling gently, and through the misty air 
 stretched the dark earth works silent as death. Not a shot 
 was fired till they came within a thousand yards of the batte 
 ries, when all at once the guns opened with grape and canis 
 ter, sweeping the open ground like driving haiL Without 
 returning a shot, the regiment, still at the double-quick, closed 
 up its rent ranks, and moved swiftly forward through the 
 desolating fire till they reached the fort. Waving his sword 
 above his head, and shouting to his men to follow him, Lieu 
 tenant Colonel Morrison leaped on the ramparts. Several 
 of his brave men followed him, but as fast as they reached 
 the top, they were dropped by marksmen concealed in rifle 
 pits in the rear, and finally Morrison was borne back wound 
 ed in the head. 
 
 A part of the regiment now filed to the right of the fort 
 a part maintained its position in front, while the right wing 
 got behind an embankment and by its deadly fire, nearly 
 silenced the guns and prevented any sally. Though rapidly 
 picked off by the hidden foe, they stubbornly maintained 
 their ground, and looked anxiously back for the regiments 
 that were to support them. Had they come up, the fort 
 would have been ours, but instead of help, there arrived an 
 order to fall back. Maddened and mortified, these heroic 
 men then retreated, leaving half of their killed and wounded 
 behind them. 
 
 The seventh Connecticut which should have been up long 
 
482 THE DEFEAT. 
 
 before, now advanced through the same terrible fire, but were 
 driven back as the two regiments that preceded them had 
 been. It was said that a hedge crossed the field with only a 
 single opening, through which each regiment had to pass in 
 a narrow line, and thus made the premeditated simultaneous 
 attack impossible. It was also asserted that our batteries 
 did not fire until after the repulse, and then threw shot and 
 shell into our own ranks, completing the discomfiture. 
 Williams division moved into the fire and fought gallantly, 
 but never reached the works. Our loss in killed and woun 
 ded was about five hundred, three fifths of which fell on the 
 eighth Michigan and seventy -ninth Highlanders. 
 
 This disaster was the more mortifying from its having oc 
 curred before Charleston. This city which first lighted the 
 torch of civil war, had suffered less than most of the other 
 portions of the rebellious states, and to be defeated here, 
 caused the deepest chagrin and indignation. Benham was 
 placed under arrest and sent home and finally deprived of 
 his rank. A victim was demanded, and he was chosen, with 
 how much justice it is difficult to determine. Stevens blam 
 ed him, and he in turn censured Stevens for not bringing up 
 the supports as he was ordered to do, thus losing the battle. 
 
 From all that can be gathered, however, it does not seem 
 to have been a more desperate undertaking than the storming 
 of Stony Point by Wayne in the revolution, and had it suc 
 ceeded would have been pronounced one of the most brilliant 
 actions of the war, the glory of which neither Hunter nor Ste 
 vens would have refused to share. At all events, it was just 
 one of those desperate, daring adventures which the people 
 had long been clamoring for ; and for not attempting which, 
 Halleck and McClellan had been blamed and ridiculed. The 
 people will judge a General by his success, and yet demand 
 that he shall take terrible risks. Perhaps this is right, but 
 it places commanders in an unenviable position. 
 
CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
 
 JUNE, 1862. 
 
 MC CLELLAN BEFORE RICHMOND LABOR OF THE SOLDIERS MC CLELLANS AD 
 
 DRESS TO THE ARMY - MC DOWELL EXPECTED - REBEL KNOWLEDGE OF HIS 
 PLANS MC CALL S DIVISION SENT TO HIS SUPPORT THE FORCE LEFT WITH 
 
 WHICH TO ATTACK RICHMOND - ANXIETY OF MC CLELLAN - INSUFFICIENCY 
 OF HIS FORCE TO PROTECT HIS RIGHT FLANK - STUART S CAVALRY RAID - 
 ENCIRCLES OUR ENTIRE ARMY - ATTACKS A RAIL ROAD TRAIN - ATTEMPTS 
 TO CROSS THE CHICKAHOMINY - THE COLUMN SAVED BY A LUCKY ACCIDENT 
 - ITS SAFE RETURN TO RICHMOND ITS EFFECT ON THE REBEL ARMY - BAL 
 LOON ASCENSION IN VIEW OF THE REBEL CAPITAL MOVEMENTS AND RU- 
 MORS - REBEL PLAN TO DESTROY MC CLELLAN s ARMY. 
 
 Battle of Fair Oaks which commenced on the last 
 JL day of May and ended on the first day of this month, 
 though it retarded McClellan s advance towards Richmond, 
 did not in the least manner change his plans. The unexpec 
 ted disastrous flood caused more delay than the battle. 
 Not only were the bridges, constructed with so much labor 
 by the troops, to be rebuilt, but the timbers had to be drag 
 ged through deep mud and water, while the ground, swampy 
 before, now became a bed of mortar. The men suffered 
 dreadfully from the deluge, not only on account of the terrible 
 state to which it reduced their camps, but because being fol 
 lowed by hot weather, the air was filled with malaria. The 
 fatigues and annoyances, they were called upon to endure for 
 the next two weeks, were harder to bear than the dangers 
 and carnage of the battle field. McClellan, however, was not 
 discouraged, for if the help promised him should come at 
 the last hour, he felt certain that his gallant army would car 
 ry the flag triumphantly into the rebel Capital. To keep up 
 
484 MO CLELLAN S ADDRESS. 
 
 their spirits amid the disheartening circumstances that sur 
 rounded them, he issued the following address : 
 
 HEAD-QUARTERS ARMY OF THE POTOMAC, ) 
 Camp near New Bridge, Va., June 2, 1862. } 
 
 SOLDIERS OF THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC : I have fulfilled 
 at least a part of my promise to you. You are now face to 
 face with the rebels, who are held at bay in front of the Cap 
 ital. The final and decisive battle is at hand. Unless you 
 belie your past history, the result cannot be for a moment 
 doubtful. If the troops who labored so faithfully, and fought 
 so gallantly at Yorktown, and who so bravely won the hard 
 fights at Williamsburgh, West Point, Hanover Court House 
 and Fair Oaks, now prove worthy of their antecedents, the 
 victory is surely ours. 
 
 The events of every day prove your superiority. Where- 
 ever you have met the enemy you have beaten him. Where- 
 ever you have used the bayonet, he has given way in panic 
 and disorder. 
 
 I ask of you now one last crowning effort. The enemy 
 has staked his all on the issue of the coming battle. Let 
 us meet him and crush him here, in the very center of the 
 rebellion. 
 
 Soldiers, I will be with you in this battle, and share its 
 dangers with you. Our confidence in each other is now 
 founded upon the past. Le,t us strike the blow which is to 
 restore peace and union to this distracted land. Upon your 
 valor, discipline and mutual confidence the result depends. 
 (Signed,) GEO. B. MCCLELLAN, 
 
 Major- General Commanding. 
 
 In holding out this bright future he intended no deception, 
 for he still believed that he was to have the co-operation of 
 the other portion of the army, and nothing had yet occurred 
 to weaken his confidence in ultimate success. Burnside, be 
 low, was anxiously waiting for the great decisive battle, when 
 he would move upon the shattered forces in rear, and help to 
 give the death blow to the rebellion. No one in the army 
 before Richmond yet believed that the great scheme, of which 
 their march from Yorktown was only a part, was to be aban- 
 
REBEL VIEW OF OUR PLAN. 485 
 
 doned, and the war all begun over again. This belief was 
 strengthened by a rumor that passed through the camps, that 
 McDowell had started, and .his strong columns were pushing 
 their way towards Hanover Court House. 
 
 The rebel leaders, from the outset of the war, had obtained 
 early information of every important plan of our govern 
 ment, and thus been able often to defeat it. From some 
 source or other they acquired a knowledge of the plan of this 
 great campaign, though too late to break it up, had the gov 
 ernment acted with promptness and daring. What our people 
 only guessed at, and afterwards in their indignation that Rich 
 mond was not captured entirely forgot, the rebels well under 
 stood, and were candid enough to say ought to have proved 
 successful. Thus the Richmond Whig of June fourteenth, 
 after speaking of the defeat of Banks, and failure of Fremont to 
 cut off Jackson, says: "These several corps were to have 
 been consolidated and brought across the Blue Ridge en route 
 for Richmond. When they reached the Rappahannock, 
 McDowell, with his Fredericksburg army, was to fall into line 
 and the united columns were to be precipitated on the devo 
 ted city from the north. At the same time, Burnside was 
 expected to be on hand from the south, advancing up the 
 south side of the James, from the direction of Suffolk, in con 
 junction with the Monitor and its consorts in the river. The 
 Capital, being thus assailed from the north and south, Mc- 
 Clellan was to make the grand attack from the east, in front. 
 The plan was a gigantic one, and in all probability would 
 have succeeded, but for the masterly movements of Jackson, 
 completely paralyzing the valley force and compelling Mc 
 Dowell to detach a* large portion of his army to save Banks 
 and Company from demolition, and their Capital from cap 
 ture. Thus left without co-operation and succor, McClellan 
 is afraid to strike. Within sound almost of the church bells 
 of Richmond, within sight almost of the long coveted treas- 
 
486 A REBEL CONFESSION. 
 
 ure, a sudden disappointment strikes him, a cold tremor 
 seizes him, and he skulks and hides himself like a craven in 
 the dismal marshes of the Chickahominy one day sending 
 to Washington a braggart and mendacious bulletin of what 
 his invincible army had done and is about to do, and the next 
 bawling with all his might for reinforcements. For the pres 
 ent, at least, he is cornered by the bold dash of Jackson 
 the next move should be a checkmate." 
 
 Here is an important confession, one that concedes that the 
 plan, which after mature reflection had received the sanction 
 of our government, would have been successful except for the 
 sudden dash of Jackson. But it is easy to see that this raid 
 would never have been attempted, had McDowell moved at 
 the time and in the way originally contemplated. As far as 
 human foresight can see, Richmond would have fallen long 
 before this, for the concentration of forces, which the rebels 
 acknowledged ought to have given us success, would have 
 been accomplished. Who is to blame for this ? 
 
 The correspondence, that passed between McClellan and 
 the government at this critical period, when it is allowed to 
 see the light, will form an interesting chapter in our history. 
 The latter, alarmed for the safety of Washington, began to 
 vacillate and could no longer reiterate with the same emphasis 
 its promise of co-operation ; and the former, without it, could 
 see, not only no way to victory, but scarcely one of escape. 
 The grand imposing structure, on which such vast expense and 
 time had been lavished, and which both believed to be firm 
 and complete, they now saw suddenly to assume the appear 
 ance of a cloudy fabric to vanish at the next breath into thin 
 air. How the government at Washington felt we know not, 
 but we are told by eye witnesses that the countenance of 
 McClellan grew inexpressibly sad, when alone. His heart 
 might well be overwhelmed, for the vision of a mighty wreck 
 began to loom up in the distance. 
 
WAITING FOR MCDOWELL. 487 
 
 Still, to his army lie seemed confident as ever, and steadily 
 pressed his works on towards the gates of the rebel capital. 
 Skirmishes were of almost daily occurrence, and the eager, 
 expectant army awaited, without misgivings, the order to 
 advance. The hot weather of summer was telling fearfully 
 on the troops in those pestiferous swamps, thinning the 
 ranks as fast as though swept by the enemy s batteries Yet 
 their spirits remained unbroken, for ever and anon came the 
 rumor that McDowell had started. Four times was the army 
 raised to the highest pitch of excitement by this news, only 
 to sink back into disappointment and angry mutterings. 
 
 Meanwhile, the government, pressed by McClellan for re 
 inforcements, sent down to him McCall s division of eleven 
 thousand men. His army previous to this, had from sickness, 
 loss on the battle field, and furloughs most of which were 
 obtained through political or personal influence at Wash 
 ington, dwindled down to less than one hundred thousand 
 men. McCall s additional force made it a little over a hund 
 red thousand, twenty thousand of which were necessary to 
 guard his communications with the White House, leaving 
 him only seventy or eighty thousand with which to advance 
 on Richmond, defended, as McClellan knew, by over a hund 
 red and fifty thousand men, protected by works of the most 
 formidable character. 
 
 In ten days after the battle at Fair Oaks, he had all his 
 bridges completed, and was ready soon after with his left 
 wing to move on Richmond, the moment the corps of Mc 
 Dowell closed up his right wing. 
 
 Affairs were resting in this condition, when on Thursday, 
 the twelfth, a cavalry expedition was started from Rich 
 mond, with the design of dashing on our rear, to capture and 
 destroy what it could, and ascertain the number and position 
 of our troops between the main army and the White House, 
 on the Pamunkey river. 
 
488 THE POSITION. 
 
 The Pamunkey and Chickahominy rivers, in the rear of where 
 McClellan was encamped, run nearly parallel to each othei 
 in a south-easterly direction, and the main army being across 
 the Chickahominy, the path of the raid lay between the two, 
 cutting, of course, as it swept from the north to the south, 
 the rail road that connected the White House, the base of 
 supplies, and the army itself. McClellan, having possession 
 of all the bridges below him, the expedition could not 
 sweep round him south north, his pickets extended nearly 
 to Hanover Court House, twenty miles from Richmond; 
 but with only a hundred thousand men, he could not stretch 
 his army that distance. The danger of raids in that quarter 
 he was perfectly aware of, but without a larger force he 
 could not effectually guard against them. 
 
 His army occupied a semicircle, of which Richmond was 
 the center hence the enemy could concentrate their entire 
 force on any given point twice as rapidly as he could. He 
 had to rely solely on such information of their movements 
 as spies and scouts could furnish him, while the farmers of 
 the entire country, through their knowledge of all the wood 
 paths, and by-ways, kept the rebels perfectly informed of 
 the forces and position of the Union troops. 
 
 STUART S CAVALRY RAID. 
 
 This was the state of things when jStuart, with some fif 
 teen hundred or two thousand chosen cavalry, started on his 
 daring mission. With the knowledge he possessed of the 
 country, and the strength and position of our forces along 
 the route he had marked out for himself, he knew he could 
 easily reach our rear and cause a large amount of mischief 
 the trouble was, to get back again, for he could not tell how 
 quickly we might close behind him, preventing his return. 
 
 Starting at daylight on Thursday, he marched all day along 
 
STUARTS CAVALRY RAID. 489 
 
 the Charlottsville turnpike, meeting nothing but a large com 
 pany of fugitive slaves making their way towards our lines. 
 These he sent back, and kept on to Ashland, where he stop 
 ped for the night. A little before daylight, he sent up signal 
 rockets to tell the rebel leaders of his whereabouts, and as 
 soon as he saw the blazing curves of answering rockets far in 
 the rear, he put his column in motion, and proceeding cau 
 tiously, soon came upon our horse pickets, showing that he 
 was piercing our lines. These retired upon the main body, 
 composed of some squadrons of the United States cavalry, 
 near Hanover Court House. The latter, as the enemy ap 
 proached, also retired still farther towards Hanover, where 
 they made a stand. As the ninth Virginia cavalry of the reb 
 els came trotting down the road with clattering sabres, they 
 could hear the Union commander calling on his men to stand 
 firm. Seeing the enemy approach, the latter ordered the 
 bugles to sound the charge, and wheeling, shouted to his 
 men to follow him, but they shamefully turned and galloped 
 off. Finding himself deserted, he too turned his horse to fol 
 low after, when a bullet struck him, and he reeled from his 
 saddle. Sweeping the deserted camps, the rebels now moved 
 rapidly forward, when their scouts brought word that a still 
 larger force was awaiting them a little in advance. Our 
 troops this time came on in admirable order, but swept by a 
 destructive volley by a large body of dismounted men, act 
 ing as infantry, they fell back. But re-forming again at the 
 foot of a gentle slope, and the bugle pealing forth the charge, 
 they came up in gallant style. The rebel officer Latane, shout 
 ed, " On to them boys," and dashed forward of his men. The 
 Union leader, calling to his men to follow, spurred forward to 
 meet him. The two forces met in full career, and so fierce 
 and sudden was the shock that the front of both columns was 
 unhorsed. The two commanders singled out each other and 
 came furiously together. As they passed, Latane cleft the 
 
490 ATTACK ON A RAIL ROAD TRAIN. 
 
 cap of the Union leader, while the pistol of the latter explo 
 ded almost against the side of the rebel, hurling him a life 
 less corse under the feet of the plunging horses. Overpow 
 ered by numbers, our troops at length gave way, leaving 
 their gallant commander behind them, who was cut down 
 while spurring after a rebel adjutant. Shouting in triumph, 
 the rebels now dashed on through abandoned camps, scatter 
 ing teams, setting fire to quartermaster s stores, and captur 
 ing horses and prisoners. Reaching Putney s landing on the 
 Pamunkey, where three schooners were lying, they succeeded 
 in burning two, besides a large quantity of sutlers stores, wagon 
 trains, &c. Still pushing on, they approached the York riv 
 er rail road,- near Tunstall s station, when they heard the 
 scream of a steam whistle from a descending train. Dismount 
 ing, they rolled logs on the track, and ranged themselves 
 along side of it to fire into the cars. Nearly three hundred 
 passengers were aboard of the train, some of them officers of 
 high rank, and there seemed every prospect of the rebels 
 making a splendid prize. As the head of the train came 
 dashing around a bend of the road, a volley was fired at the 
 engineer, while a deadly fire was poured into some platform 
 cars, loaded with officers and men. Luckily the engineer es 
 caped, though the bullets rattled like hail around him, and 
 with admirable presence of mind clapped on steam, and 
 dashing over the obstacles placed on the track, thunderedf^ on 
 towards the White House. Some of the frightened passen 
 gers jumped from the train, and made for the woods four 
 teen were killed and wounded, but the rich prey escaped. 
 The alarm was given to the ninety-third New York regiment, 
 stationed on the rail road just above the White House, and 
 all the forces in the vicinity were hurriedly concentrated to 
 protect the place, the sutlers and occupants of which were 
 seized with the utmost consternation. 
 
 News of the raid, in the mean time, had traveled in vari- 
 
CROSSING THE CHICK AHOMINY. 491 
 
 ous directions, to our main army, and the rebel leader soon 
 saw that a storm was gathering around him from which noth-^ 
 ing but the most consummate daring and good fortune would 
 enable him to escape. His mission of destruction was now 
 clearly over, and the question was how he should get back 
 to his lines. He saw, at a glance, that the way along which 
 he had come would be closed against him, and in sheer des 
 peration he determined to push on below and around our 
 entire army, and trust to fortune to help him back across the 
 Chickahominy. Scattering every thing from his path, he 
 proceeded boldly to New Kent, thus completing safely one- 
 half the semicircle. 
 
 The victorious squadrons were now below all the bridges, 
 and within two miles of McClellan s head-quarters, while a deep 
 river lay between them and Richmond. Striking for the c - Blind 
 Ford," as it was called, they found to their dismay that the 
 water was fifteen feet deep. It was now dark, and as they 
 gazed on the silent, rapidly flowing stream, and knew from 
 their scouts that the whole country was alive with troops in 
 pursuit of them, they scarcely knew which way to turn. 
 Luckily for them, they were in the last place where they 
 would be looked for, and taking every precaution to prevent 
 surprise, they threatened the prisoners with instant death if 
 they made any noise, and then plunged one after another 
 into 1 the stream, hoping in single squads to be able to get 
 over by swimming the horses. Struggling forward through 
 the gloom, they were borne down by the rapid current, and 
 scattered so, that after a long time of desperate efforts, only 
 fifty succeeded in reaching the farther shore. At this criti 
 cal juncture, one of the residents of the neighborhood came 
 forward, and told Stuart that a little farther up stream, was 
 an old bridge that had been only partially destroyed, and 
 could be easily mended. Some officers were immediately 
 sent forward, who found the joyful news to be true, and im- 
 
492 SUCCESS OF THE RAID. 
 
 mediately men were set to work felling trees and hauling 
 logs to the shore. The sharp, quick blows of the axe rang 
 out in the darkness trees came one after another with a 
 crash to the ground, which were as quickly cut up and drag 
 ged to the timbers that were left standing. Limbs and 
 brush were piled on, making a rough but safe footing, and 
 over it in long, silent procession, guns and prisoners were 
 hurried in desperate haste. But on the farther side was a 
 marsh into which the artillery sunk to its axles. Un discour 
 aged by this new obstacle, they hitched ten horses to each 
 piece, and whipping up the jaded animals, succeeded in getting 
 them all through. It had been a long, anxious, and toilsome 
 night, and when the morning dawned, they were still within 
 our lines. Keeping in the woods to escape observation, they 
 moved cautiously forward, till suddenly the advance came 
 upon a squad of Federal horsemen, acting as pickets. u Who 
 goes there ? " shouted the officer on duty. The rebels with 
 out replying, dashed into the open ground, followed by a 
 volley, when they wheeled and made for the woods where 
 their main body was concealed. The mounted pickets spur 
 red forward in pursuit, and the next moment found them 
 selves surrounded and prisoners. 
 
 Having thus stopped all knowledge of their movements 
 from teaching our lines, they made their way unmolested 
 along the Charles City road, and weary and dirty, in the 
 early dawn reached their pickets, from which they moved 
 leisurely to the rebel capital. The news of their safe arri 
 val, and their daring adventure soon spread through the 
 city, and crowds gathered around them with shouts of ex 
 ultation. 
 
 It was a bold, successful exploit, reflecting great credit on 
 leader and men, and causing scarcely greater admiration in 
 the rebel army than in our own. They had been in the sad 
 dle most of the time from Thursday morning to Saturday 
 
ACTIVE PREPARATIONS. 493 
 
 noon, .scarcely halting to eat, except as they rioted on our 
 suttlers stores, which furnished them luxuries to which they 
 had long been strangers destroyed a great deal of prop 
 erty, captured a large number of horses and mules, and over 
 a hundred prisoners, with the loss of hardly a man. Still, 
 they overestimated the damage they had inflicted, while 
 many of their prisoners were teamsters and noncombatants. 
 As far as material benefit to them was concerned, the grand 
 result footed up small. Its chief advantage consisted in the 
 moral effect upon the army. Such a daring and singular 
 adventure becomes the theme of conversation around every 
 camp fire, and exerts a wonderful influence in enlivening the 
 spirits, and strengthening the confidence and courage of the 
 men. 
 
 After the excitement created by this event had subsided, 
 affairs settled down into their old monotonous round of un 
 important skirmishes, bold reconnoissances, and cautious, 
 steady preparation for the coming struggle. Balloon ascen 
 sions were made so near the rebel capital, that the streets 
 could be distinctly marked out, and the word "UNION," 
 painted in flaming capitals on the aerial monster, could be 
 plainly read with the aid of glasses by the astonished inhab 
 itants. 
 
 Greater activity, however, seemed to pervade the enemy s 
 camps, and the nightly running of cars, the shriek of steam 
 whistles, and the beating of drums, seemed to indicate that 
 some great movement was at hand ; while the sound of heavy 
 cannonading, booming over the Chickahominy swamp, from 
 James river, gave rise to the hope in our army that our gun 
 boats were pushing their way up to Richmond. The rumor 
 that Burnside was marching on fort Darling, also filled the 
 army with exultation, and all believed that the final strug 
 gle was close at hand. But these indications of an onward 
 movement passed away as others had done, and the army 
 
494 LEE S PLAN. 
 
 patiently lay down again in the pestiferous swamps of the 
 Chickahominy. 
 
 In the mean time, there seemed to be some change in the 
 programme, for heavy siege guns began to arrive from York- 
 town. Their appearance at this late day looked like in 
 creased delays which the feverish state of the public mind 
 would scarcely bear. 
 
 During all these weary weeks, both armies had been busy 
 fortifying, till a double row of earth works now stood front 
 ing each other. The rebels chafed under their imprison 
 ment, and began to despair, if McClellan were allowed to 
 advance against them by the slow process of a regular 
 siege. 
 
 But Lee, who was now their commander-in-chief, finding 
 that Jackson s raid had succeeded in its object, and no 
 troops were moving from the Shenandoah to reinforce 
 McClellan, resolved to call in the forces scattered through 
 Virginia, and suddenly concentrate them in an overwhelm 
 ing mass on him, and. finish the long siege in a clap of 
 thunder. 
 
CHAPTER XXXIX. 
 
 JUNE, 1862. 
 
 PROXIMITY OF OUR EARTH-WORKS TO THOSE OF THE ENEMY CHARACTER OF 
 
 THE GROUND BETWEEN THEM MC CLELLAN RESOLVES TO SIEZE IT AR 
 RANGEMENTS FOR THE BATTLE HEINTZELMAN s AND KEARNEY S DIVISIONS 
 
 HOOKER S BRIGADE THE BATTLE MC CLELLAN S ARRIVAL ON THE FIELD 
 HIS ENTHUSIASTIC RECEPTION TAKES PERSONAL COMMAND GALLANT EF 
 FORT OF CAPTAIN DUSENBURY THE ENEMY BEATEN AT ALL POINTS MC- 
 
 CLELLAN S DISPATCH TO WASHINGTON PUBLIC EXPECTATION PREPARA 
 TIONS TO CELEBRATE THE FALL OF RICHMOND PERPLEXITY OF OUR GOV 
 ERNMENT GREAT PLAN OF THE REBEL LEADER, LEE MC CLELLAN INFORM 
 ED THAT MC DOWELL WOULD NOT BE SENT TO HIS AID EFFECT OF THE 
 
 NEWS TRYING SITUATION GLOOMY PROSPECTS FINAL DETERMINATION 
 
 ITS DISCOVERY BY THE ENEMY. 
 
 fTlHE earth- works which had been thrown up on both sides 
 JL were so near to each other, that no farther advance 
 could be made without bringing on a battle. A belt of 
 woods stretched between the hostile fortifications, conceal 
 ing them from each other s view. This piece of woods was 
 debatable ground, and it was necessary that McClellan 
 should have it before he made his final advance. On Tues 
 day night, therefore, of the twenty-fourth, he made his ar 
 rangements for getting possession of it in the morning, 
 which might bring on a general battle. 
 
 The ground which he wished to occupy lay along the line 
 of the Williamsburg road, and was a portion of that occu 
 pied by Casey s division nearly a month before. Between 
 this road and the rail road, on the right, was stationed Heint- 
 zelman s division, with Simmer s still farther to the right, and 
 back, to act as emergencies might demand. Corresponding 
 
 with Heintzelman s division, Sickles Excelsior brigade 
 30 
 
496 HOOKER S BRIGADE. 
 
 stretched away to the left of the road, joined on its extreme 
 limit by Kearney s division. At seven o clock in the morn 
 ing, the brigades were drawn up in line of battle, and the 
 first Massachusetts sent forward as skirmishers, supported by 
 the second New Hampshire, and twenty-sixth Pennsylvania, 
 with the eleventh Massachusetts acting as their reserve. 
 Beyond the woods that hid Heintzelman s position from the 
 enemy, was a swamp, from the farther edge of which ex 
 tended a peach orchard, situated nearly opposite the spot 
 occupied by Hooker s brigade. Still farther on, beyond the 
 peach orchard, was a cleared space, on the farther side of 
 which were rebel rifle pits. There were rifle pits also in 
 front of Kearney, on the other side of the road, and the 
 main object of the movement was to get possession of these. 
 Kearney met with very little stubborn resistance, and mov 
 ing steadily forward, brushing the skirmishers from his path 
 as he advanced, soon had possession of the rifle pits. But 
 on the other side of the road the contest was very severe, 
 the weight of it falling on Hooker s brigade. His advance 
 regiment soon cleared the woods of the enemy s pickets, 
 and forcing them back into the swamp, followed them 
 fiercely up, though sinking to their knees at every step, in 
 mud and water. Artillery could not be handled here and it 
 had to be an affair of infantry altogether, except as the Par- 
 rott guns in the rear pitched shells at hazard over the heads 
 of our men into the woods and fields beyond them. 
 
 The swamp was finally cleared, and the supporting regi 
 ments having come up, the united force pushed on through 
 the peach orchard, driving the rebels before them till they 
 emerged on the open field swept by the rifle pits. Here the 
 contest became fierce and bloody, for our troops, wholly un 
 sheltered, had to advance against a steady, long line of fire 
 from the rifle pits, above the tops of which only the enemy s 
 heads could be seen as they rose to deliver their volleys at 
 
MC CLELLAN DIRECTS THE BATTLE. 497 
 
 rest. Our loss here was three to one of the rebels, yet 
 the dauntless regiments stood their ground, and rained 
 a perfect hail storm on the crest of the rifle pits. The 
 enemy, at first, seemed determined not to yield the po 
 sition ; but at length, seeing a column from Kearney s divis 
 ion, moving from the rifle pits on the other side of the road 
 to take them in flank, they broke and fled, when our troops 
 dashed forward with a cheer, and occupied the position, and 
 held it until an order came for them to fall back. The reb 
 els made no attempt to follow them, and there came a lull 
 to the contest, which lasted till eleven o clock. At this time 
 McClellan rode on to the field, his approach heralded by the 
 thundering cheers of the regiments in reserve. With cap 
 in hand, he swept with his escort along the shouting lines, 
 and taking his position by an old well, near where Casey s 
 head-quarters were before the battle of Fair Oaks, listened 
 to the reports of the different generals, and their aids, and 
 then assumed command in person, and directed the remain 
 ing operations till the close of the action. Soon after, a 
 battery, stationed on the rail road, began to throw shells over 
 the heads of our men into the woods and swamp beyond. 
 The exact locality of the enemy being concealed by the for 
 est, an officer ascended a lofty tree that overlooked the sur 
 rounding country, and signalled the battery where to direct 
 its shells. After a sharp fire had been kept up for some 
 time, a second advance was ordered, to retake the rifle pits 
 which we had abandoned. 
 
 In the mean time, Couch s division under General Palmer, 
 which had been ordered forward to the support of Hooker, 
 came up in splendid order, while two Napoleon guns of De- 
 Russey s battery under Captain Dusenbury, went tearing 
 in a fierce gallop along the Williamsburg road, towards 
 the front. It was deemed hardly possible to drag them 
 through the swamp, where they were needed, in order to do 
 
498 THE YICTOKY. 
 
 any service, but by dint of lifting and pulling, and the most 
 desperate efforts, they were got across and placed in position. 
 As the rebels saw these brass pieces glittering in the sun 
 light, they knew they must be captured or the ground could 
 not be held, and moved forward in solid ranks upon them. 
 But suddenly a strong force, as if rising ,out of the earth, 
 emerged from the swamp to their support. The guns were 
 now advanced, and the whole force moved forward over the 
 open field. In fifteen minutes the contest was over, and our 
 men cheering once more in the enemy s rifle pits. 
 
 It was now about five o clock in the afternoon, and the bat 
 tle seemed over, when the enemy suddenly burst with tremen 
 dous force on the rifle pits held by Kearney. Overwhelmed 
 by the unexpected onset, our troops gave way, retiring over 
 the open field, till they reached the edge of a piece of woods 
 where they made a determined stand, and resisted every at 
 tempt of the rebels to advance farther. The latter moved 
 forward into the desolating fire with high courage, but each 
 time they approached the edge of the woods they recoiled 
 before the fearful volleys that met them, and at length gave 
 over the effort to carry them, and abandoned the field, strewn 
 thick with their dead. Birney s brigade, on the left of 
 Kearney s division, suffered severely in this last contest. 
 
 When night had put an end to the conflict, we had driven 
 the enemy as far as he drove us a few weeks before at the 
 battle of Fair Oaks, and held the ground we had won. Hook 
 er s pickets, that night, were posted within less than five 
 miles of the rebel capital. 
 
 All night long, working parties were - busy throwing up 
 intrenchments so as to be able to hold the position we had 
 gained. But the rebels, first in one direction then in another, 
 kept advancing, driving in our pickets and compelling the 
 soldiers to fling down the spade and pick, and seize their 
 muskets. 
 
PUBLIC EXPECTATION. 499 
 
 About one o clock, heavy and sustained firing broke sud 
 denly through the gloom, bringing officers to their saddles, 
 and for a time there was swift hurrying to and fro in the star 
 light, but the tumult soon subsided, and our forces maintain 
 ed their ground. But for the terrific battle that a few weeks 
 before had raged on this very spot, and the tremendous 
 struggle which was believed to be close at hand, this would 
 have been considered a severe engagement. Our loss was 
 two hundred in killed and wounded. An importance how 
 ever, far greater than its immediate results, was attached to 
 the movement. The ground which was gained it being 
 immediately in advance of our earth- works, was conclusive 
 evidence in the minds of the people that the crisis had final 
 ly come, and every quiver of the telegraph wires was watch 
 ed with the most intense solicitude. The dispatches of Mc- 
 Clellan strengthened this belief. To one written amid the 
 roar of guns, in which he says, u our men are behaving splen 
 didly the enemy are fighting well also," he makes this 
 significant addition, " If we succeed in what we have under 
 taken it ^v^U be an important advantage gamed." 1 When 
 therefore the second dispatch came, saying, " The affair is 
 over and we have gained our point fully y" there was no doubt 
 that he meant to be understood as having gained the foot 
 hold he wanted, before he launched his army on the rebel 
 Capital. So fully possessed was the public with this belief, 
 that preparations were made in many parts of the country to 
 celebrate the triumphant entry of our flag into Richmond. 
 Leading presses in New York city had fire works arranged 
 around their buildings, ready to be let off the moment the 
 electric wires should flash the news from Washington. The 
 near approach of the fourth of July gave increased strength to 
 this belief. The celebration of the anniversary of our Declara 
 tion of Independence was to mark a new triumph the down 
 fall of the rebel Capital and the death blow to the rebellion. 
 
500 PERPLEXITY OF THE GOVERNMENT. 
 
 The sudden arrest of all telegraphic news from the seat of 
 war, and the profound silence that all at once fell on the 
 army, instead of depressing public feeling, seemed rather to 
 elevate it. u The government," said the enthusiastic, " is pre 
 paring a surprise for the people for the fourth of July." 
 But the few, who from closely watching the course of 
 events, had obtained a correct idea of the general plan of 
 the campaign, were filled with alarm. They knew that if Mc 
 Dowell did not form a junction with McClellan, that plan was 
 broken up and this grand outlay of labor and life was in vain. 
 The two governments presented a painful contrast in this 
 terrible crisis. Letters were flowing into Washington, beg 
 ging that reinforcements be sent on with all haste to Mc 
 Clellan. Louder than all, went up the cry from the army 
 for help, while from the interior of Virginia came rumors that 
 a fearful storm was about to burst on the National Capital. 
 Should it abandon the great plan that had been so long matur 
 ing, and give up all the hopes of taking the rebel capital, or 
 push on to the end, and leave Washington to take its chances, 
 were the painful questions our government kept balancing. 
 Confronted with sudden and unexpected dangers, it did not 
 know what to do. The magnificent scheme, every part of 
 which, a short time ago, seemed moving harmoniously to the 
 grand desired result, had been thrown into utter chaos. Its 
 councils were divided as to the best course to be adopted in 
 this dire emergency. While hesitation and delay were mark 
 ing its action, at Richmond every thing was moving with pro 
 digious energy and order to one great result. Many had 
 supposed that the comparatively feeble resistance which the 
 rebels had made to McClellan s last attack, proved them to 
 be weak and discouraged ; but the truth was, they could not 
 afford to waste men or time to prevent an advance they knew 
 never would be made. For days, the rail road leading to the 
 Shenandoah valley, had been groaning under the weight of 
 
MCDOWELL NOT TO COME. 501 
 
 soldiers and munitions of war, moving towards Richmond, 
 while from North and South Carolina, and even from Geor 
 gia, the regiments had been hurrying forward with desperate 
 speed. McClellan was aware of this sudden concentration of 
 the enemy s force in his front, -and the anxious expression of 
 his countenance grew daily more intense as he turned his ear 
 northward to catch the tread of McDowell s columns. The 
 rumor had reached the camps that they were within a day s 
 march of them, and should it prove true all was well. Burn- 
 side too had been ordered up from Newbern, and soon per 
 haps the bayonets of his strong battalions would be seen mov 
 ing across the Chickahominy. 
 
 While events were thus crowding to a fearful crisis, and 
 even one day s delay might precipitate a common ruin, Mc 
 Clellan was informed by the Secretary of War that McDowell 
 would not be sent to him at all. The thunderbolt had at last 
 fallen, and an abyss, whose depths he shuddered to contem 
 plate, opened at his feet. What now was to be done? was 
 the anxious question, as he called his gallant corps commanders 
 around him. To move en masse with his inferior force upon 
 the strong fortifications in front would be courting destruction. 
 Should he attempt to hold his position until troops could ar 
 rive at Washington, relieving those there which he needed 
 in order to take Richmond? But June was drawing to a 
 close, and the hot month of July in these pestilential swamps 
 would diminish his army almost as fast as it could be rein 
 forced. Beside, would the enemy wait if he did? The line 
 of defense had been stretched northward already too far to 
 allow it sufficient strength at the center, and at any timo 
 in that direction, the enemy could sweep round him if he had 
 sufficient force behind the fortifications to protect Richmond 
 in front, and the rapidity with which he was concentrating 
 troops showed that he would very speedily be able to do 
 this. There was but one course left open to retveat. But 
 
502 A CRITICAL SITUATION, 
 
 would the enemy let him retreat? With the first backward 
 movement he would launch his overwhelming force upon him. 
 It was painful enough for McClellan to see the grand edifice 
 he had reared with so much care, and which had been ce 
 mented with some of the best blood of the land, tumble into 
 irrecoverable fragments at his feet. But this was not the 
 worst of it ; that gallant army, which had followed him with 
 such unwavering fidelity, and trusted him so implicitly, must 
 be waked from its dream of victory to find that it had been 
 beguiled into a trap, a snare, from which there might be no. 
 escape, or if one, to be traversed only over the bodies of 
 thousands of their brave comrades. And how would the 
 country look upon this? Whom would it hold to a strict and 
 terrible account? The position in which he found himself 
 was one to try the stoutest heart, and crush the very life out 
 of a man of keen sensibilities. His fondest hopes lay crushed 
 at his feet, and now must come the struggle for life, and if he 
 survived, over the roar of battle and the groans of the dying, 
 would come the bitter outcry of an angry and disappointed 
 nation. But to retreat was his only chance of escaping utter 
 annihilation. If he could get off all his trains and army mate- 
 rial before the enemy discovered his intentions, so that he 
 would have his gallant army free of incumbrance, he might 
 hold his enemy at bay as he retired to a safe position. Quietly, 
 and without display he commenced to do this, and though the 
 enemy were very quickly informed by their spies of what was 
 going on, they could not at first decide what it meant. At last 
 however their suspicions were aroused, and they resolved to 
 fall in overwhelming force on his flank, and, cutting him off 
 from his supplies, make an utter end of the entire army. 
 
NOfE. 
 
 EXCHANGE OF PRISONERS. 
 
 , % i 
 
 The exchange of prisoners is a matte* very easily adjusted between tw6 
 belligerent nations, but in a civil war, between thd established government 
 and that portion of it In revolt, it becomes very complicated, In the former 
 case it is only necessary to follow an established law of nations which gives 
 equal rights and privileges to both. In the latter, by the aame law, the f<3* 
 bellious government is supposed to have no rights at all except those of a com 
 mon humanity. Theoretically, the moment they arc treated as equals on this 
 point, independent national rights are conceded. But in this as in many other 
 cases, theories have to bend to the stern logic of events. Thus for a long 
 time the English commissioners refused to address Washington by any other 
 title than "George Washington, Esq.," and when pushed hard, only as "George 
 Washington, Esq., <kc. &c. &c.," but finding they oould have no intercourse 
 with him at all except by giving him the full rank accorded him by the Con 
 tinental Congress, yielded the point. So we at the outset of the war could 
 not consent to put ourselves on an equality with the rebels by entering into 
 any negotiations on the subject of exchange of prisoners. They had no 
 right to take or hold prisoners but to treat with them admitted that they 
 had. It was worse than to acknowledge them as belligerents. If we could 
 have had suppressed the rebellion at once, this would All have been very 
 well, but when the war became protracted it would not do to let our brave 
 men languish in southern prisons. On the other hand, we dare not treat 
 prisoners that we took as rebels, and hang them as they deserved, for it would 
 bring swift retaliation and the war thus become a mere butchery. The 
 first privateers captured were condemned as pirates, as they were, but the 
 moment they were placed in close confinement as felons, Colonel Corcoran 
 and other of our brave officers taken at Bull Run, were confined in the same 
 manner reserved for the same fate to which they should be doomed. Be 
 sides, the prisoners on both sides soon numbered by tens of thousands, and 
 something must be done with them. Petitions from all parts of the country 
 poured into Washington, asking for some action on this subject, and even 
 State Legislatures took it up. At first the government undertook to avoid 
 the necessity of negotiations with the rebel government by appointing com 
 missioners to proceed south and attend to the wants of our soldiers in pris 
 on, but they of course were not permitted to go. Generals in the field were 
 also allowed to make exchanges on their own responsibility, and individuals 
 to procure their own exchange. Various devices and proposals were sought 
 and made but all would not do humiliating as it was, we had to come to 
 direct negotiations on the subject. 
 
504 EXCHANGE OF PRISONERS. 
 
 It was designed at first to follow in this work the progress and changes 
 that marked this delicate question, but it became so complicated and per 
 plexing that it was abandoned. It is curious and interesting as a matter 
 of history, but instead of treating of it in detail, we give the final result 
 arrived at after more than a year s trifling. It is a pity that it could to 
 have been reached sooner on account of our brave soldiers, to whom a year s 
 confinement in southern prisons seemed a high price to pay for a theory that 
 after all could not oe carried out. The principle on which our government 
 acted was unquestionably right, but as before remarked, the logic of events 
 was too strong for it. Commissioners were therefore appointed on both sides 
 to settle the vexed question, and the following is the result of their protracted 
 labors : 
 
 TUB CARTEL AGREED UPON 
 
 BY GEN. DIX FOR THE UNITED STATES, AND GEN. HILL FOR THE REBELS. 
 
 HAXALL S LANDING, ON JAMES RIVER, Va., ) 
 July 22, 1862. j 
 
 The undersigned having been commissioned by the authorities they re 
 spectively represent, to make arrrangcments for a general exchange of prison 
 ers of war, have agreed to the following articles : 
 
 ARTICLE ] . It is hereby agreed and stipulated that all prisoners of war 
 held by cither party, including those taken on private armed vessels, shall be 
 discharged upon the conditions and terms following : Prisoners to be ex 
 changed man for man, and officer for officer ; privateers to be placed upon 
 the footing of officers and men of the navy ; men and officers of lower grades 
 may be exchanged for officers of a higher grade. And men and officers of 
 the different services may be exchanged according to the following scale of- 
 equivalents : a General Commanding-in-Chief or an Admiral shall be exchang 
 ed for officers of equal rank, or for sixty privates or common seamen ; a Flag- 
 Officer or Major-General shall be exchanged for officers of equal rank, or for 
 forty privates or common seamen ; a Commodore, carrying a broad pennant 
 or a Brigadier-General shall be exchanged for officers of equal rank, or twenty 
 privates or common seamen ; a Captain in the nav^, or a Colonel shall be ex 
 changed for officers of equal rank, or for fifteen privates or common seamen ; 
 a Lieutenant-Colonel, or a Commander in the navy, shall be exchanged for 
 officers of equal rank, or for ten privates or common seamen ; a Lieutenant- 
 Commander or a Major shall be exchanged for officers of equal rank, or eight 
 privates or common seamen. A Lieutenant or a Master in the Navy, or a 
 Captain in the Army or Marines, shall be exchanged for officers of equal rank, 
 or six privates or common seamen. Masters Mates in the navy, or Lieuten 
 ants and Ensigns in the Army, shall be exchanged for officers of equal rank, 
 
CARTEL AGREED UPON. 505 
 
 or four privates or common seamen. Midshipmen and Warrant officers in 
 the Navy, Masters of merchant vessels and Commanders of privateers, shall 
 be exchanged for officers of equal rank, or three privates or common sea 
 men. Second Captains, Lieutenants, or Mates of merchant vessels or priva 
 teers, and all petty officers in the Navy, and all non-commissioned officers in 
 the Army or Marines, shall be severally exchanged for persons of equal rank, 
 or for two private soldiers or common seamen ; and private soldiers or com 
 mon seamen shall be exchanged for each other, man for man. 
 
 ART. 2. Local, State, civil and militia rank held by persons not in actual 
 military services will not be recognized, the basis of exchange being the 
 grade actually held in the naval and military service of the respective parties. 
 
 ART. 3. If citizens held by either party on charges of disloyalty or any 
 alleged civil offense are exchanged, it shall only be for citizens, captured sut 
 lers, and teamsters, and all civilians in the actual service of either party are 
 to be exchanged for persons in similar position. 
 
 ART. 4 All prisoners of war are to be discharged on parole in ten clays 
 after their capture, and the prisoners now held, and those hereafter taken, to 
 be transported to the points mutually agreed upon, at the expense of the 
 capturing party. The surplus prisoners not exchanged shall not be permitted 
 to take up arms again, nor to serve as a military police or constabulary force 
 in any fort, garrison or field work held by either of the respective parties, nor 
 as guards of prisons, depots or stores, nor to discharge any duty usually per 
 formed by soldiers, until exchanged under the provisions of this cartel. The 
 exchange is not to be considered complete until the officer or soldier ex 
 changed for has" been actually restored to the lines to which he belongs. 
 
 ART. 5. Each party upon the discharge of prisoners of the other party is 
 authorized to discharge an equal number of their own officers or men, from 
 parole, furnishing at the same time to the other party a list of their prisoners 
 discharged, and of their men relieved from parole, thus enabling each party 
 to relieve from parole such of their own officers and men as the party may 
 choose. The lists thus mutually furnished will keep both parties advised of 
 the true condition of the exchange of prisoners. 
 
 ART. 6. The stipulations and provisions above mentioned to be of 
 binding obligation during the continuance of the Avar, it matters not which 
 party may have the surplus of prisoners, the great principle involved being: 
 first An equitable exchange of prisoners, man for man, officer for officer, 
 or officers of higher grade exchanged for officers of lower grade, or for pri 
 vates, according to the scale of equivalents. Second That privates and of 
 ficers, and men of th,e different services may be exchanged, according to the 
 same scale of equivalents. Third That all prisoners, of whatever arms, of 
 
506 CARTEL CONTINUED. 
 
 the service are to be exchanged or paroled in ten days from the time of their 
 capture, if it be practicable to transfer them to their own lines in that time, 
 if not, as soon thereafter as practicable. Fourth That no officer, soldier or 
 employee in the service of either party is to be considered as exchanged and 
 absolved from his parole until his equivalent has actually reached the lines of 
 his friends. Fifth That the parole forbids the performance of field, garrison, 
 police or guard or constabulary duty. 
 
 (Signed,) JOHN A. Dix, Major- General 
 
 > D. H. HILL, Major-General, C. S. A. 
 
 / 
 
 SUPLEMENTARY ARTICLES. 
 
 ART. 7 All prisoners of war now held on cither side, and all prisoners 
 hereafter taken shall be sent with all reasonable dispatch to A. M. Aiken s 
 below Dutch Gap, on the James River, or to Vicksburg, on the Mississippi 
 river, in the State of Mississippi, and there exchanged, or paroled until such 
 exchange can be effected, notice being previously given by each party of the 
 number of prisoners it will send, and the number of prisoners it will send, 
 and the time when they will be delivered at those points, respectively ; and 
 in case the vicissitudes of war shall change the military relation of the places 
 designated in this article, to the contending parties, so as to render the 
 same inconvenient for the delivery and exchange of prisoners, other places 
 bearing as nearly as may be, the present local relations of said places to 
 the lines of said parties, shall, by mutual agreement, be substituted. But 
 nothing in this article contained, shall prevent the commanders of two op 
 posing armies from exchanging prisoners, or releasing them on parole, afc 
 other points mutually agreed on by said commanders. 
 
 ART. 8. For the purpose of carrying into effect the foregoing articles of 
 agreement, each party will appoint two agents to be called " Agents for the 
 exchange of prisoners of war," whose duty it shall be to communicate with 
 each other by correspondence and otherwise, to prepare the lists of prisoners, 
 to attend to the delivery of the prisoners, at the places agreed on, and to 
 carry out promptly, effectually, and in good faith all the detailed provisions 
 of the said articles of agreement. 
 
 ART. 9. And in case any mistindertanding shall arise in regard to any 
 clause or stipulation in the foregoing articles, it is mutually agreed that such 
 misunderstanding shall not interrupt the release of prisoners on parole as 
 herein provided, but shall be made the subject of friendly explanation, in or 
 der that the object of this agreement may neither be defeated nor postponed. 
 
 (Signed,) JOHN A. Dix, Major- General. 
 
 1 D. H. HILL, Major-General, C. S. A- 
 
HEADLEY S 
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. .; 
 
 THE magnitude of the subject of the present work the Great Eebellion in the United 
 States being not only the Great Event in American History, but the most fearful tragedy 
 of modern times, is of itself calculated to render this book one of the most exciting and 
 interesting ever ottered to the public. The publishers, fortunately, have been enabled to 
 enlist the eminent and splendid talents of the Hon. J. T. Ilcadley, who is well known to 
 the public as the most brilliant and popular writer of Military History of modern times. 
 In depicting the numerous battles and warlike scenes of the present contest, his power of 
 vigorous and stirring description finds full scope. His great and remarkable talent for con 
 densation by which ho is enabled to render his narratives vivid, comprehensive, and full, 
 in fewer words than almost any other writer, is invaluable in disposing of the immense 
 mass of materials relating to the present subject. To more fully qualify himself for tho 
 work, he passed several months with our armies and obtained valuable information through 
 his acquaintance with many of the most distinguished officers of the Army and Navy. 
 
 The following testimonials to Mr. Headley s ability as an author, are a few of the many 
 which have appeared in the leading journals of the country : 
 
 " Mr. Headley is especially graphic and powerful in narratives of exciting events. He brings his reader 
 into the immediate presence of the act he describes ; hir words have a burning, rushing power. In buttle 
 
 scenes he lias succeeded better than any writer of the day." New York Courier iS,- Enquirer. 
 
 " His descriptions are graphic, his history correct, and his summing up character 
 parison with similar pages in Tacitus." New York Evening Post. 
 
 iptions are graphic, his history correct, and his summing up character scarcely suffers by a corn- 
 similar pages in Tacitus." JfetO York Evening Post. 
 
 " Mr. Headley is truly eloquent in his description of character. He presents to you the strong points of the 
 man, with a clearness that seems to place him before you as an old acquaintance." Cleveland Herald. 
 
 " Each one of his Biographies is a grand historical picture, conveying in a most impressive way a true 
 idea of the events of the time," Cincinnati Herald. 
 
 " Whatever critics may choose to say, Mr. H. will never lack readers. The stir and fire of his descriptions 
 will touch a popular chord. In describing the battle field and the tumultuous Stirring life of the camp, Mr. 
 H. is what Cooper was upon the Sea." New York Evangelist. 
 
 " He speaks heartily, earnestly, truthfully ; and the warm heart answers to his voice." N. Y. Observer. 
 
 From Rev. C. B. CRANE, Ilariford Correspondent of the Rochester Union & Advertiser. 
 
 "I want to call your attention to Headley s history of the present war, publishing in this city. About two 
 hundred pages have been submitted to me. In many respects it will be the best of his works. All his peculiar 
 excellencies of description and style appear ; many of his former faults are corrected. He is fearless and out 
 spoken. I cannot always agree with his opinions, but value his book the more because of my dissent from 
 them. He has found his way into the interior history of these times, as few others have done. More than once 
 I have been startled by his assertions, and by his knowledge of subjects which implies either an access to un 
 published official documents, or an intimacy with those distinguished men .who are a part of our history. I 
 like the grim humor with which he always speaks of the bogus President of the bogus Confederacy, as "Davis." 
 He gives him no title. He slnps the administration, the congress, the incompetent generals, the radicals, the 
 conservatives, with the utmost impartiality and nonchalance. He seems to respect things rather than persons 
 as he ought to do. His first chapter is an admirable syllabus of the causes of the present conflict. Like a 
 horse of good bottom, he is just as vigorous and nervous in the last pages as in the first. I am sure that you 
 will do your readers a favor to encourage them to purchase this history so soon as it appears." 
 
 The work will embrace a comprehensive account of the whole contest, neatly printed 
 from a beautiful, clear, new type, on good paper, and will be illustrated with numerous 
 fine Steel Engravings, representing the most important and exciting scenes in the war, 
 from original Designs by Barley and other eminent artists, together with life-like Por 
 traits of leading actors on both sides ; engraved expressly for this worlc, at great expense, 
 It will contain over one thousand pages, royal octavo, handsomely bound in two volumes, 
 and be furnished to order, only through our authorized traveling Agents. 
 
 To meet the wants of a portion of the public the publishers have prepared an edition of 
 the work in the Gei-man language, which will be issued in the same style as the English. 
 
 In view of the above facts, tho undersigned offer the present work, believing that they 
 are thus rendering an important and valuable service to a discerning public. Confident 
 that it will secure a patronage in some degree commensurate with its merits, they offer to 
 intelligent, energetic agents, who will engage in its sale, a very profitable and useful em 
 ployment. IIURLBUT, WILLIAMS & CO., PUBLISHERS, Hartford, Conn. 
 E, B, & R. C, TREAT, Chicago, Illinois. 
 
NOTICES OF THE WORK. 
 From Rev. Dr. ANDERSOX, President of Rochester University. 
 
 "I have examined the prospectus and specimen pages of the History of the Greut Rebellion, in the process 
 of preparation by J. T. Headley. From the specimen shown, arid tile well known ability of the author as a 
 military historian, I have no hesitation in recommending it to the patronage of the public. 
 
 Rochester, Oct. ]3th, 18G2. M. B. ANDERSON." 
 
 From the Hartford Daily Courant. 
 
 "The importance of preserving a correct Narrative of the events now transpirin?, can not be over-estima 
 ted. Every body will want a book that will tell concisely but graphically the incidents, statistics, and eene- 
 ral history of this war And we are happy to announce that we have seen specimens of a work on the sub 
 ject from the Publishing House of Hurlbut, Williams & Co., Hartford, Conn., (from the pen of J. T. Headley,) 
 which is worthy of a place in every family and library of the land. The publishers have spared no expense 
 to make this the most valuable and attractive history of the war. It is beautifully illustrated with engrav 
 ings on steel, from original designs, by Darley, Parsons, arid other eminent artists embracing military and 
 naval scenes, and portraits of officers prominent in the war, both North and South. The work is written 
 from the stand-point of thorough loyalty and patriotism, by one who is universally acknowledged to be the 
 most vigorous and spirit-stirring historian of the age, and who as a writer of military history, especially in the 
 description of battles and warlike scenes, has no superior, as the thousands of readers of Head ley s Nnpo- 
 leon and his Marshals," and " Washington and his Generals," will testify. The style of the writing, the 
 beautiful type, large page, and accurate portraits of men of the time prominent in the war, with the beauti 
 ful " get up" of the work, make it really a " Memorial Volume" and one to be possessed by every family, 
 especially those who are connected by ties of relationship or affection with the men who have periled their 
 lives to sustain the honor of the flag nnd the integrity of the Nation." 
 
 " Mr. Headley is a popular and striking writer, and his Book will be readable and valuable." H fd Times. 
 It is a very valuable and destined to be, a very popular work ; and the letter press could be intrusted to no 
 one who will more vividly paint the war in words than J. T Ileadley." Hartford Press. 
 
 From the Syracuse, N. Y. Courier and Union. 
 
 "That.!. T. Ileadley has the ability to make his history the popular one of the times, every person who has 
 read his charming writings, will at once concede. As the talented author of " Washington and his Generals," 
 Napoleon and his Marshals," "Sacred Mountains," Travels in Italy," etc., lie is well known to the reading 
 community, with whom he is very popular. The introductory chapters of his history of the Rebellion speak 
 of his exceed i ugly clear and brilliant style, with occasional diamond flashes from his brilliant powers of rheto 
 ric. The work, so far as we have examined it, is in every respect worthy the confidence of every American, 
 nnd we feel at liberty to heartily commend it to public favor. It is written in that easy, graceful, dignified 
 nnd flowing style for which Hendley is so noted through all his writings. There is no "floodwood " about it, 
 to lumber up the reader s faculties at becoming acquainted with the history of the rebellion in the shortest, 
 possible titne, while there is ^hat charming fascination about it that will lead the reader on from page to page, 
 to the end of each volume." 
 
 "Those familiar with the writings of Headley will not doubt that a history of thi* Rebellion from his pen 
 will be an intensely interesting volume." Mbany ./Idas and rfrgus. 
 
 From the Whitehall N. Y. Times. 
 
 "The distinguished author, Hon. J. T. Ileadley, is now engaged in writing a history of this mighty rebel 
 lion, which will truthfully reflect the great events through which we are rapidly passing. His superior de 
 scriptive ability, his keen analysis of character, and capacity for beautiful illustration, will render the work of 
 peculiar and immense value to those who would look into the mirror of the American War, and behold a 
 vivid reflex of the wonderful scenes that are crowding upon the experience of the American people. The 
 sad fatalities of buttle by field and flood will glow with a living truth upon every page. The History is to be 
 bound in elegant style. It will be the finest and most valuable work of the age, and the name of Mr. 
 Ueadley is a sufficient guarantee of its popular reception by the people.. It will be sold only by subscription, 
 not in the expensive form of serial numbers, but already bound for the table or library." 
 
 " A faithful, truthful history of the most important event of the age, by an author whose chaste style and 
 descriptive talent stands second to no historian in America." Providence R. I. Evening Press. 
 
 "Such a work can not fail to supply a want felt by the American public ever since the rebellion was fairly 
 under headway. Written by the greatest describer of warlike scenes this country has yet produced, it will 
 glow with life in every line. That the work will be superior to any of its kind ever issued from the Ameri 
 can press, will not be doubted." Buffalo Commercial Advertiser. 
 
 "Asa descriptive writer Mr. Ileadley has no equal, and as he has spent much time with the army, hi 
 forthcoming work will be one of the best issued from the American Press." Northampton J\Iass. Press. 
 
 From the Syr anise N. Y. Journal. 
 
 "HEADLEY S HISTORY or THE REBELLION. We arc glad to see that this truly splendid work is meeting 
 with success, commensurate with its merits, among our literary and business men. W T e notice among the list 
 of subscribers many of our most prominent citizens. Mr. Ueadley, believing that there would be secured a 
 more general circulation of the work in every section of the country has put it into the hands of an exclusively 
 Subscription Publishing House. We have taken pains to ascertain the fact, through our book stores and 
 otherwise, that the work will not be obtained except through the publisher s canvassing agents. W 7 e speak of 
 this particularly, that all who may desire Mr. Headley s work, may embrace the present opportunity to secure 
 it. All who have examined the introductory chapters of the work, agree that Mr. Headley is outdoing himself, 
 nnd that this will be the chr.f d ouvre of his productions. The mechanical execution of the work \vill he su 
 perior to any work produced in America. The canvass for the work is proceeding a fast us possible, and we 
 advise all to wait, rather than patronize other and inferior works. 
 
 From the Elmira N. Y. Gazette. 
 
 "Many of our citizens know Mr. Ileadley personally, and all are acquainted with hi* writings, nnd desire 
 his work on the great event of the world s history. This is without doubt the best history that will be written 
 \vhile the wnr is going on, and until the more critical reviews of future years, will be invaluable for reference, 
 lo say nothing of its power to interest those especially the young---who would never read dry details." 
 
U1H7ER3IT7 
 
THE 
 
 GREAT REBELLION; 
 
 A HISTORY OF THE 
 
 Civil War in the United States. 
 
 BY J. T. HEADLEY, 
 
 AUTHOR OP "NAPOLEON AND HIS MARSHALS," "WASHINGTON AND HIS GENERALS," 
 "SACRED MOUNTAINS," ETC., ETC. 
 
 WITH NUMEROUS FINE STEEL ENGRAVINGS. 
 
 3 n j o 1) o I u m e a : & * 
 Volume II. 
 
 AMERICAN PUBLISHING COMPANY, 
 
 BRANCH OFFICE, COLUMBUS, OHIO. 
 R. C. TREAT, CHICAGO, ILL. 
 
 SOLD BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY. 
 
 1866. 
 
ENTERED ACCORDING TO ACT OF CONGRESS, IN THE YEAR 1866, BY 
 
 AMERICAN PUBLISHING COMPANY, 
 IN THE CLERK S OFFICE OF THE DISTRICT COURT OF CONNECTICUT. 
 
 ; ii 3 r,i i! 1 o fj o *n 5 ff t 
 
PUBLISHERS NOTICE. 
 
 IT is with no ordinary satisfaction and confidence that we issue 
 this Second Volume of the History of the Great Eebellion. No 
 other History of this mighty and memorable conflict, has won so 
 large a favor from the American people. Mr. Headley s genius 
 has here found a subject worthy of, and demanding its amplest 
 resources ; and he has successfully risen to the height of the great 
 occasion. He here completes a historic record, that will be read 
 with amazement and the deepest interest by present and future 
 generations the record of the sacrifices and successes of a people, 
 sacredly cherishing the traditions and legacies of the Fathers and 
 Founders of their Eepublic, and shrinking from no cost of treas 
 ure and blood necessary to subdue the most causeless and crimi 
 nal insurrection against human rights and human freedom, that 
 ever challenged a nation to the bitter and bloody arbitration of 
 the battle field. 
 
 Ours is no dry and dreary compilation, which, even if read, 
 can be of little profit, save to a few minds. It is not the 
 speculations of the political theorist or philosopher, upon the 
 causes and obscure agencies culminating in this atrocious con 
 spiracy against the best human Government. But, it is the 
 vivid and faithful portraiture by an author of surpassing genius 
 for historic delineation of all the important events in our Civil 
 "War. From it may be got the clearest and most adequate idea 
 of the spirit of the nation, and of the sweep and shock of its 
 armies during these four eventful years of heroism and glory. 
 It is a splendid and faithful panorama of a great people in arms, 
 inspired with a sublime enthusiasm for Law and Liberty. It 
 shows the prominent actors in the Tragedy which has held the 
 gaze of the civilized world some of them incompetent or un- 
 
I 
 
 8 PUBLISHERS NOTICE. 
 
 faithful and disappearing in defeat or dishonor others grand, 
 heroic, moving to victory or honorable death, blessed with the 
 prayers and love of all true patriots, and crowned with their 
 gratitude and homage. 
 
 The delay in the completion of the work, though a pecuniary 
 detriment to us, will however be compensated by important 
 advantages to our subscribers. If it had been issued at the close 
 of the conflict, it must have been written, as were some other 
 Histories, without the aid of the official reports of Generals Grant 
 and Sherman the only reliable sources of information respecting 
 the last, great and decisive campaigns of the War. 
 
 No History can possess perfect accuracy. Authorities of 
 apparently equal claims for credence often differ, and time not 
 infrequently makes disclosures that modify statements and judg 
 ments once regarded correct. Special effort has been made to 
 authenticate the statements of this work by a comparison with- 
 every accessible authority, and we are confident that it has no 
 superior, and, we think, no equal in fidelity of historical narration. 
 
 The official reports of Generals Grant and Sherman are docu 
 ments of such national and enduring interest and value, that 
 every reader of this History will desire to have them in a per 
 manent form. We have thought that such would be grateful to 
 us for furnishing them, and fitly associating them with the con 
 cluding part of the History of a War, which these able Chieftains 
 by their strategy and leadership brought to a glorious end. 
 
 We have employed the very best Artists in the production of 
 the fine steel engravings which embellish this volume, and though 
 these have been executed during the period of high prices, no 
 expense has been spared to secure in them the highest degree of 
 excellence. The engravings of the two volumes taken together 
 constitute a series of elegant and varied illustrations unequaled 
 in any other History of the War. 
 
 In view of its size, its valuable portraits and other illustrations, 
 its elegant typography, and the general excellence of its mechan 
 ical execution, we are conscious of having more than fulfilled the 
 pledges made to our subscribers, and in anticipation of their 
 entire satisfaction, send forth this work. 
 
 AMERICAN PUBLISHING COMPANY. 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 VOLUME II. 
 
 1. PORTRAIT OF PRESIDENT JOHNSON, Frontispiece. 
 
 PAGI 
 
 2. " WM. H. SEWARD, Secretary of State, 29 
 
 3. " EDWIN M. ST ANTON, " War, 29 
 
 4. " GIDEON WELLES, " the Navy, 29 
 
 5. " SALMON P. CHASE, " Treasury, 29 
 
 6. BATTLE OF ANTIETAM, 70 
 
 7. EVACUATION OF CUMBERLAND GAP, 110 
 
 8. PORTRAIT of Major-General J. C. FREMONT, 134 
 
 9. " " W. S. ROSECRANS, 134 
 
 10. " " JOHN POPE, 134 
 
 11. " " N. P. BANKS, 134 
 
 12. " " O.M.MITCHELL, 134 
 
 13. " " JOSEPH HOOKER, 134 
 
 14. " " GEO. G. MEAETE, 134 
 
 15. SIEGE OF VICKSBURG, 166 
 
 16. BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG, 206 
 
 17. PORTRAIT of General J. E. B. STEWART, 254 
 
 18. " " STERLING PRICE, 254 
 
 19. " " LEOXIDAS POLK, 254 
 
 20. " " J. C. PEMBERTOX, 254 
 
10 THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 21. PORTRAIT of General T. J. (" STONEWALL ") JACKSON, 254 
 
 22. " " J. B. MAGRUDER, 254 
 
 23. " " R. S. EWELL, . . 254 
 
 24. " " JAMES LONGSTREET, 254 
 
 25. " " A. P. HILL, 254 
 
 26. " Lieutenant-General U. S. GRANT, 286 
 
 27. " Major-General W. T. SHERMAN, 342 
 
 28. " " " Q. A. GILLMORE, 486 
 
 29. " " " W. B. FRANKLIN, 486 
 
 30. " " " W. S. HANCOCK, 486 
 
 31. " " " G.H.THOMAS, 486 
 
 32. " " " A. II. TERRY, 486 
 
 33. " " P. H. SHERIDAN, 486 
 
 34. " " " JOHN A. LOGAN, 486 
 
 35. " " " GEORGE STONEMAN, 486 
 
 36. " " " II. W. SLOCUM, 486 
 
 37. " " " JUDSON KILPATRICK, 486 
 
 38. THE FIFTY-FIFTH MASS. (COLORED) REG. ENTERING CHARLESTON,. . .574 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 VOLUME II. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 JUNE-JULY, 1862. 
 
 PAGE, 
 
 The Seven Days Contest Remarkable Foresight Position of our Ar 
 my Lee s Plan The Movement Commenced Battle of Games 
 Mill Severe Letter to the Secretary of War Destruction of Prop 
 ertyA Train Cut Adrift The Retreat Army Train Battle of 
 Savage Station Battle of Nelson s Farm and Glendale Battle of 
 Malvern Hill Retreat to Harrison s Landing Feelings of the Peo 
 ple Letter of Thanks from the President McClellan s Letter to the 
 President on the Policy that should be Adopted in Prosecuting the 
 War Effect of it on Himself. 31 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 JULY-AUGUST, 1862. 
 
 Pope s Campaign Pope Called to the Army of Virginia His Orders 
 Concentration of his Army Halleck made General-in-Chief His 
 Plan of Operations McClellan Recalled from the Peninsula His Let 
 ter of Remonstrance Lee takes Advantage of the Blunder of Hal 
 leck Battle of Cedar Mountain Lee s Great Movement Begun 
 Account of Subsequent Operations Battle of Bull Run Battle of 
 Groveton The Last Day s Battle The Army Falls Back to the 
 Forts Lee Moves toward the Potomac McClellan s Telegram to 
 Halleck Asking Permission to Join the Army Placed Once More at 
 the Head of the Army Pope s Failure Review of the Campaign. . . 54 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 SEPTEMBER, 1862. 
 
 Alarm at Washington Antictam McClellan Takes the Field Battle 
 of South Mountain Surrender of Harper s Ferry Battle of Antic- 
 
12 THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 tarn Hooker s Struggle Fatal Delay of Burnside Lee s Retreat 
 Public Disappointment The Army Rests Emancipation Proclama 
 tion Suspension of Habeas Corpus Its Effects Its Dangers 66 
 
 CHAPTER IV, 
 
 JULY- AUGUST-SEPTEMBER, 1862. 
 
 Operations West Vicksburg Ram Arkansas Mitchell s Gallant Ex 
 ploit Curtis Crosses the State of Arkansas Buell s Campaign 
 Bragg Invades Tennessee and Kentucky Retreat of Buell to Louis 
 ville Is Superseded by Thomas Kirby Smith Advances against Cin 
 cinnati Lane in Kansas New Orleans Battle of Baton Rouge 
 Death of General Williams Porter, with the Essex, Destroys the 
 Rebel Ram Arkansas Rosecrans at Corinth 87 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER, 1862. 
 
 Battle of luka Gallantry of General Hamilton Failure of Grant 
 Attempt of the Enemy to Cut Grant s Line of Supplies Battle of 
 Corinth A Gallant Texan Terrific Slaughter of the Enemy The 
 Victory Arrival of McPhcrson The Pursuit The Battle-field 
 Rosecrans Placed at the Head of the Department of the Cumber 
 land 93 
 
 CHAPTER YI. 
 
 OCTOBER, 1862. 
 
 Buell Restored to Command Moves Out of Louisville Battle of Perry- 
 ville Retreat of Bragg Pursuit Removed from Command Mor 
 gan at Cumberland Gap Gallant Defense of Call for Reinforce 
 ments Is Surrounded by a Hundred Thousand Men His Extreme 
 Peril Gallant Resolve to Make a Forced March of Two Hundred 
 Miles to the Ohio Blows Up the Mountain Destroys His Siege 
 Guns Burns up Everything Fearful Conflagration and Explosion 
 Terrific Scene Midnight March The Race for Life Sufferings of 
 the Army Its Delight at the Sight of the Ohio Halleck s Treat 
 ment of Morgan Extraordinary Statements 104 
 
\ 
 
 CONTENTS OF VOLUME II. 13 
 
 | CHAPTER VII. 
 
 OCTOBER-DECEMBER, 1862. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 State of Affairs in the West East Tennessee Arkansas Battle of Prai 
 rie Grove Forrest s Raid in Kentucky Surrender of Hartsville, Ten 
 nessee Butler s Department Expedition Against Vicksburg Sur 
 render of Holly Springs Assault upon Vicksburg Gallantry of Gen 
 eral Blair Sherman Superseded by McClernand Army of the Poto 
 mac McClellan Delays to Move Correspondence Between Him and 
 Halleck Raid of Stuart McClellan Ordered by the President to 
 Move His Advance Superseded by Burnside Parting With the- 
 Army Review of McClellan s Campaign Against Richmond.. . . ... .115 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 OCTOBER-DECEMBER, 1862. 
 
 Burnside Advances on Fredericksburg His Design Is Disappointed Re 
 solves to Carry the Heights by Assault Terrific Bombardment of 
 the Place A Striking Scene Gallantry of the Seventh Michigan 
 The Sharp-shooters Crossing of the River The Battle The De 
 feat The Army Recrosses the River Feeling of the People Burn- 
 side Takes the Responsibility Review of the Campaign Second 
 Attempt Made and Abandoned The Southern Department Death 
 of Mitchell Foster s Expedition into North Carolina Close of the 
 Year 121 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 DECEMBER, 1862-JANUARY, 1863, 
 
 Battle of Murfreesboro , or Stone River Rosecrans at Nashville His 
 Delay to Move The Council of War Rosecrans Parting Words 
 The March Commenced The Enemy s Line of Battle at Murfrees- 1 
 boro Rosecrans Plan of Battle Scenes and Incidents Bragg*5 
 Plan of Attack Morning of the Battle Attack of the Enemy De 
 struction of our Right Wing Rosecrans Incredulous His Gallant 
 Conduct when Informed of his Disaster Heroic Defense by Sheri 
 dan Forming a New Line of Battle Stubbornness of the Left 
 Wing Splendid Behavior of Hazen The Close Appearance of the 
 
14 THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Field Our Heavy Loss Operations of the Following Days Last 
 Battle Murfreesboro Evacuated Rosecrans Celebrates High Mass 
 The Army Rests 129 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 JANUARY, 1863. 
 
 Capture of Arkansas Post Grant Commences his Movement Against 
 Yicksburg The Canal A Year of Disaster Missouri Attack on 
 Springfield Expeditions up White and Red Rivers Loss of the 
 Queen of the West Loss of the Ariel Sinking of the Hatteras by 
 the Alabama Disaster at Sabine Pass Banks in New Orleans 
 Expeditions Capture and Loss of Galveston The Harriet Lane 
 Westfield Lost Death of Buchanan Grand Expedition through the 
 State of Louisiana Capture of Alexandria on the Red River 147 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 APRIL-MAY, 1863. 
 
 Yicksburg Campaign The Attempts to Get in Rear of Haincs Bluff 
 Lake Providence Route Moon Lake Route Steele s Bayou Route 
 Bold Resolve to Run the Batteries The March Inland The Batter 
 ies Run Difficulties of the March New Carthage Grand Gulf 
 Port Gibson Grand Resolve of Grant The March Inland Battles 
 of Raymond, Jackson, Champion s Hill, Blackwater Yicksburg In 
 vested First Assault Second Assault Action of the Gun-boats.. .155 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 MAY-JULY, 1863. 
 
 Assault on Port Hudson The Siege Siege of Yicksburg Its Surren 
 der Results of the Yictory Surrender of Port Hudson The Mis 
 sissippi Opened Minor Operations West Arrest of Yallandigham 
 His Banishment Exasperated State of Public Feeling 169 
 
CONTENTS OF VOLUME 1 1. 15 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 JANUARY-APRIL, 1863. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Affairs East at the Opening of the Year The President s Affirmative 
 Proclamation of Emancipation Hooker placed Over the Army of the 
 Potomac Fight at Suffolk Attack on Fort McAllister Destruction 
 of the Nashville The First Colored Regiment Fights at Blackwa- 
 ter and Kelly s Ford, Virginia Washington, N. Carolina, Attacked 
 by the Rebels Attack by the Iron-clad Fleet on Fort Sumter Dis 
 appointment at its Failure Injustice to Du Pont. . 177 
 
 CHAPTER XIV, 
 
 APRIL-JUNE, 1863. 
 
 Chaucellorsville Excitement of the Country at Hooker s Advance His 
 Confident Address to his Troops Plan of the Battle The Cavalry 
 Sent Off to Sever Lee s Communications Attack by "Stonewall" 
 Jackson on Howard s Corps Its Defeat Death of Jackson Subse 
 quent Battle Fredericksburg Heights Carried by Sedgwick At 
 tacked by Lee, and compelled to Re-cross the River Hooker With 
 draws his Army Disappointment of the Country Feint on the 
 Rebel Capital from West Point Kilpatrick s Ride to the Suburbs of 
 Richmond Siege of Suffolk Gallant Defense of Peck Lee s Inva 
 sion of Maryland Surrender of Winchester Hooker Superseded by 
 Meade Feeling of the People 184 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 JULY, 1863. 
 
 Campaign of Gettysburg Pursuit of Lee First Fight at Gettysburg 
 Death of Reynolds Howard Establishes Himself on Cemetery Hill 
 Hancock Sent Forward to Select a Battle-field The Selection of 
 Cemetery Hill Rapid Concentration of the Army The Preparation 
 First Day s Battle Gloomy Prospect for the Union Army Second 
 Day s Battle The Great, Decisive Charge Gallantry of Farnsworth 
 Retreat of Lee Both Armies March for the Potomac Success 
 of Kilpatrick Service of the Cavalry The Potomac Swelled by the 
 Rains Lee held a Week on the Northern Bank Strange Inaction 
 The Rebel Army Escapes The Pursuit Close of the Campaign 197 
 
16 THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 JULY, 1863. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Operations in Charleston Harbor Gillmore Effects a Lodgment on Mor 
 ris Island Attempt to Take Fort Wagner by Surprise Grand As 
 sault on the Fort Death of Colonel Shaw Cruelty to the Officers of 
 Colored Regiments Mobs in New York City Hostility to the Draft 
 Order of the President, Respecting the Treatment of Colored Sol 
 diers Held as Prisoners by the Rebels The Practical Superiority of 
 the President Causes of Public Agitation Congress , ,210 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. I 
 
 AUGUST, 1863. 
 
 Cavalry Action of Gregg Foster s Expedition up the James River 
 Fight Between Buford and Stuart Averill s Operations in Virginia 
 Gillmore s Siege of Wagner and Sumter Herculean Labor " The 
 Swamp Angel " Bombardment of Sumter Over the Top of Wag 
 ner Greek Fire thrown into Charleston Remonstrance of Beaure- 
 gard Action of the Fleet Death of Rodgers French Opinion of 
 the Siege Steady Approaches Toward Wagner Its Evacuation 
 Evacuation of Fort Gregg Morris Island Ours Bombardment of 
 Sumter Refusal of Dahlgren to Attempt to Pass it Vindication of 
 Du Pont Desolation of Charleston Retribution 219 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 JULY-AUGUST, 1863. 
 
 Events at the West During the Summer Grant at Vicksburg Raid 
 of Phillips Rosecrans at Murfreeeboro Advance on Chattanooga 
 Morgan s Raid Through Ohio The Pursuit Attempts to Cross 
 into Virginia Battle of Buffington s Island Rout of the Band 
 Curious Aspect of the Battle-field Quantrell in Missouri Raid 
 into Kansas Massacre at Lawrence The Pursuit The Flight His 
 Escape 226 
 
CONTENTS OF VOLUME II. 17 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 SEPTEMBER, 1863. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Rosecrans Before Chattanooga Resolves to Flank It Hazen Left to 
 Guard the River Bragg Evacuates Chattanooga Rosecrans Resolves 
 to cut off his Retreat Scattering of his Corps Bragg Marches back 
 on Chattanooga Peril of Rosecrans Rapid Concentration of his 
 Army First Day s Battle Second Day s Battle Rout of our Ar 
 my Steadfastness of the Left Wing Desperate Fighting of Thomas 
 The Crisis Unexpected Deliverance The Gallant Steedman A 
 Desperate Charge The Battle Saved The Army falls back to Chat 
 tanooga Causes of Defeat 239 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 SEPTEMBER-NOVEMBER, 1863. 
 
 The Army at Chattanooga Grant Placed in Command of the Missis 
 sippi Division Knoxville Captured by Burnside Joy of the People 
 Besieged by Long-street Grant takes Command at Chattanooga 
 Sherman Ordered to Join Him Hooker Effects a Lodgment in Look 
 out Valley Hazen s Exploit Battle of Wauhatchie Sherman s 
 Arrival The Army takes up its Assigned Position Grant s Plan 
 Capture of Lookout Mountain Battle Above the Clouds The Battle 
 of Missionary Ridge The Victory Pursuit of the Enemy Sher 
 man Sent to Relieve Burnside Longstreet Abandons the Siege 
 Banks at New Orleans Expedition to Sabine City Expedition to 
 Texas Its Failure The Department 255 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 OCTOBER-DECEMBER, 1863. 
 
 Army of the Potomac Meade s Advance to the Rapidan Compelled to 
 Retreat Gallantry of Kilpatrick and the Cavalry Battle of Bristow 
 Station Successes at Kelley s Ford and Rappahannock Station 
 Meade s Second Advance to the Rapidan The Retreat Winter 
 Quarters Averill s Raid in Western Virginia National Cemetery at 
 
18 THE GREAT REBELLION.- 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Gettysburg The President s Proclamation of Amnesty Proposi 
 tion to Admit Rebel States into the Union Political Excitement 
 Change of Plan in Carrying On the War Grant made Lieutenant- 
 General Sherman s Great March through Mississippi 274 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 JANUARY-APRIL, 1861. 
 
 Grant at the Head of All our Armies Sherman Appointed over Grant s 
 Department West A Survey of the Whole Field Farragut at Mo 
 bile Call for Five Hundred Thousand Men Butler s Failure Before 
 Richmond The Expedition into Florida under General Seymour 
 Battle of Olustee Kilpatrick s Bold Attempt to Liberate our Pris 
 oners in Richmond Death of Colonel Dahlgren Forrest s Raid in 
 Kentucky Surrender of Union City Attack on Paducah Das 
 tardly Conduct of the Rebels Attack on Fort Pillow The Massa 
 cre The Rebels Attack Plymouth, North Carolina A Rebel Iron 
 clad Attacks the Miami and Southfield, Sinking the Latter Evacua 
 tion of Plymouth Popular Indignation 287 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 MARCH-APRIL, 1861 
 
 Sanitary Fairs Banks in New Orleans Inauguration of the Free State 
 Government The Red River Cotton Expedition Porter s Ascent of 
 the Red River Capture of Batteries by General Smith March of 
 Banks across the Country to Alexandria Advance into the Interior 
 Defeat of Banks Retreat of Steele Return of the Gunboats to 
 Alexandria Unable to get Below the Falls Grand Engineering Suc- 
 cess of Colonel Bailey Passage of the Falls by the Fleet An Exci 
 ting Spectacle Promotion of Bailey Destruction of the Gunboats 
 Signal, Covington, and Transport Warner Return of the Expedition 
 Canby Supersedes Banks in the Field The Latter Returns to New 
 Orleans View of the Expedition 305 
 
CONTENTS OF VOLUME II. 19 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 MAY-JULY, 1864. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Grant s Delay in Front of Washington The President s Determination 
 not to Interfere any more with the Army of the Potomac The two 
 Armies Move The Atlanta Campaign Its Difficulties Composi 
 tion and Strength of Sherman s Army Dalton Flanked Battle of 
 Resaca A Fierce Struggle Fight at Dallas Allatoona Flanked 
 Battle of Kenesaw Mountain Death of Major-General Polk Sher 
 man Directs the Shot that Kills Him Sherman s First Defeat Ken 
 esaw Flanked The Chattahoehee Reached and Crossed Atlanta in 
 Sight 315 
 
 CHAPTER XXY. 
 
 JULY-SEPTEMBER, 1864. 
 
 Atlanta Reached Hood s First Attack His Assault on McPherson 
 Death of the Latter Howard Placed over the Army of the Tennes 
 see Stoneman and McCook s Raid Hooker Resigns Fierce Attack 
 on Howard Shelling of Atlanta An Unsuccessful Assault Whee 
 ler Sent to Cut Sherman s Communications Kilpatrick Dispatched 
 to Cut Hood s Sherman Resolved to Plant his Army on the Macon 
 Road Battle of Jonesboro Atlanta Cut Off Hood Evacuates it 
 Slocum takes Possession The Rebel Army Pursued to Lovejoy s Sta 
 tion Rest to the Army Summing Up of the Campaign Sherman 
 Orders all the Inhabitants to Leave His Correspondence with Hood 
 and the Mayor on the Subject 331 
 
 CHAPTER XXYI. 
 
 APRIL-JULY, 1864, 
 
 Necessity of Unity of Action Sigel in the Shenandoah Valley Grant s 
 Instructions to Butler Folly of Placing the Latter in the Important 
 Position he Held Number of the Troops Co-operating directly 
 with Grant Our Entire Military. Force Grant s Plan of Campaign 
 Advance of the Army of the Potomac Crossing the Rapidan 
 Commencement of the "Battles of the Wilderness" First Day 
 
20 THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Second Day Third Day Retreat of the Enemy Advance of Our 
 Army Fight of Warren s Corps Death of Sedgwick Grand As 
 sault on the Enemy s Works Hancock s Brilliant Night Attack 
 Fearful Appearance of the Battle-field A Week s Comparative Rest 
 Change of Base, and Bringing Up of Reinforcements The Dead 
 of the Wilderness. . , . . 345 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 MAY, 1864. 
 
 Butler s Advance to City Point Butler s Campaign Bermuda Hun 
 dredPosition of the Army Kautz s Cavalry Expedition Torpe 
 does Richmond and Petersburg Railroad Severed Butler s Dis 
 patch Operations against Drury s Bluff Dilatoriness of Butler 
 Refuses to Intrench Himself on the Railroad Morning Attack of the 
 Enemy Capture of Heckman and his Brigade Gillmore and Butler 
 on the Situation of the Army Retreat to Bermuda Hundred Total 
 Failure of the Peninsula Movement Grant s Opinion of Butler s Con 
 duct Butler s Treatment of War Correspondents Brutal Treatment 
 of a Chaplain Naval Operations along the Coast In Florida Loss 
 of the Columbine Investment of Newborn Rebel Iron-clads Gal 
 lant Fight of Smith with the Albemarle in Albemarle Sound Con 
 duct of the Sassacus Steele in Arkansas 365 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII 
 
 MAY-JUNE, 1864 
 
 Survey of Grant s Position Sigel s Failure in the Shenandoah Valley 
 Spottsylvania Flanked The Race for the North Anna River Han 
 cock s and Warren s Corps Fight of the Latter at Jericho Ford 
 Gallantry of Griffin Assault of a Redan by Hancock Gallant 
 Charge The Enemy Falls Back to the South Anna Strength of his 
 Position Transfer of Base to Port Royal Grant again Flanks the 
 Enemy and Crosses the Pamunkey at Hanovertown Movement to 
 Cold Harbor Battle of Cold Harbor Grant Resolves to Transfer the 
 Army to the James River A Delicate Operation Gillmore s Failure 
 to take Petersburg Lee Deceived The James Safely Crossed At- 
 
CONTENTS OF VOLUME II. 21 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 tack on Petersburg by Smith Outer Works Carried Various As 
 saults Butler again Cuts the Richmond and Petersburg Railroad, 
 and again Driven Back Last Grand Assault The Position of Af 
 fairs Review of the Campaign Grant s Sagacity and Judgment 
 Vindicated. . , . . 380 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. *- M 
 
 JUNE, 1864. 
 
 Difficulties of Grant s Position His Plan to Sever the Communica 
 tions of Richmond Sheridan s Expedition Hunter s Averill s and 
 . Crook s The Enemy Defeated at Staunton Hunter at Lynchburg 
 His disastrous Retreat The Enemy in Possession of the Shenandoah 
 Valley Wilson s Expedition Defeat of the Second and Sixth Corps 
 near the Weldon Railroad A Gloomy Prospect Operations along 
 the Atlantic Coast Capture of the Water Witch Federal Officers 
 placed under Fire at Charleston Mr. Lincoln Renominated for Pres 
 ident Opening of the Political Campaign 403 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 JUNE, 1864. 
 
 Building and Fitting out of the Alabama in an English Port Complaint 
 by our Government The two years Cruise Returns to Cherbourg, 
 France Blockaded by Winslow Semmes Challenges W T inslow 
 Morning of the Combat Spectators coming down from Paris to wit 
 ness it The Alabama Steams out of the Harbor The Combat Lu 
 dicrous By-play on the Kearsarge Superior Firing of the Federal 
 Ship Surrender of the Alabama in a Sinking State Picking up of 
 the Crew and Captain by the English Yacht Deerhound The Deer- 
 hound Sails off with the Prisoners to Southampton Semmes Report 
 of the Fight His Slanders and Falsehoods The two Vessels Com 
 pared Defense of the Commander of the English Yacht Excite 
 ment in Europe over the Engagement Winslow and the Secretary 
 of the Navy 419 
 
 32 
 
22 THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 JULY, 1864. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Mr. Chase s Resignation Want of a Financial System Low state of Pub 
 lic Credit when he Entered on the Duties of his Office Estimate 
 of Expenditures for 1862 Issues of Five-twenty Bonds and Treasu 
 ry Notes First Loan made in New York Loan taken by the Banks 
 of Philadelphia, New York and Boston Sale of Bonds, &c. Cus 
 toms to be paid in Gold Suspension of the Banks Statement of 
 Revenue and Expenditures Public Debt at the close of the Year 
 Opening of the Year 1863 An Excise Law resolved upon Raising 
 of Money in the Meantime Issue of Paper Money National Bank- 
 inn- Law Its Effect in New York Gold Bill Statement of Revenue 
 
 o 
 
 and Expenditure for the Year Public Debt Mr. Fessenden succeeds 
 Mr. Chase Condition of the Treasury and Means at its Disposal 
 Public Debt when he Resigned in March, 1865 433 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 JULY -AUGUST, 1864. 
 
 Alarm produced by Early s Invasion Sigel s Retreat Weber Abandons 
 Harper s Ferry The Pirate Florida on our Coast The Rebels cross 
 the Potomac and occupy Ilagerstown Ilegira of the People Militia 
 Called out General Wallace gives Battle at Monocacy Retreats 
 Alarm in Baltimore Railroad cut between Baltimore and Philadel 
 phia General Franklin taken Prisoner Governor Bradford s House 
 Burned The Main Army moves on Washington Skirmishing in 
 Front of Fort Stevens Arrival of the Nineteenth and Sixth Corps 
 The Rebels Retreat Pursuit by Wright Escape of the Invaders 
 Averill and Crook and Duffie engage a Portion of the Enemy Com 
 pelled to Retreat across the Potomac The Rebel McCausland ad 
 vances to Chambersburg and Burns it Attacked in his Retreat and 
 his Forces scattered among the Mountains Early prepares to remain 
 in the Shenandoah Valley Grant Visits Hunter His Letter of In 
 structions Sheridan put in his Place Political Events Five Hun 
 dred Thousand Troops called for Peace Negotiations Jacques and 
 Kirk Grecley, Jewett, Sanders and Others " To whom it may Con 
 cern" Absurdity of the Peace Negotiations 450 
 
CONTENTS OF VOLUME II. 23 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 AUGUST, 1861. 
 
 PAGB. 
 
 Forts Morgan and Gaines Defenses of Mobile Bay A Land Force 
 under General Granger sent to Co-operate with Farragut Arrival of 
 the Tecumseh Farragut ready to Run the Rebel Batteries Morning 
 of the Battle The Ships lashed two Together The Brooklyn to 
 lead the Fleet against Farragut s wishes The first Gun The Brook 
 lyn fearing Torpedoes Backs and Awaits the Fleet Farragut lashed 
 in the Main-top, seeing the Delay, takes the Lead just as the Tecum 
 seh Goes Down He sends a Boat to Save the Survivors Steams 
 Ahead Enters the Bay Attacked by Rebel Gunboats The Selma 
 Captured by the Metacomet The Rebel Ram Tennessee Attacks 
 the Fleet The Combat Surrender of the Ram The Tecumseh A 
 Brave Ensign Gallant Deeds and Gallant Men Surrender. of Forts 
 Powell and Gaines Siege and Bombardment of Fort Morgan Its 
 Surrender Disgraceful Conduct of its Commander and Officers 
 Mobile not Taken Capture of the Privateer Georgia 467 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI Y. 
 
 AUGUST- SEPTEMBER, 1864. 
 
 Grant s Ceaseless Activity Blowing Up of an Ordnance Boat Dutch 
 Gap Canal Warren s Fight for the Weldon Railroad Battle at 
 Ream s Station Defeat of Hancock s Corps Meade s Dispatches 
 Sheridan s Operations in the Shenandoah Valley Pursuit of Early 
 Capture of our Trains by Mosby Retreat of Sheridan His Position 
 at Bolivar Heights A Second Advance Takes Position at Berrys- 
 ville Unsatisfactory Campaign Disappointment of the Country 
 Grant s Explanation of the Whole Matter The Permission to " Go 
 In " Sheridan Moves in Earnest Battles of Opequan Creek and 
 Fisher s Hill Total rout of the Enemy Early takes a new Position 
 ,at Brown s Gap Sheridan falls Back 481 
 
24 THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 <i 
 
 SEPTEMBER, 1864. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Ravaging of the Shenandoah Valley Sheridan s Dispatch His New 
 Position Leaves the Army for Washington Early Resolves to make 
 a Night Attack Secrecy of his March Rout of the Army of West 
 ern Virginia and of the Nineteenth Corps Retreat of the Whole 
 Army Sheridan at Winchester His Approach to the Field His 
 Sudden Arrival and Stirring Appeals Forms a new Line of Battle 
 Repulse of the Enemy Advance of his Line The Enemy s Position 
 Carried Complete Overthrow of the Rebel Army The Pursuit A 
 Supperless Army Enthusiasm of Officers and Men The General 
 ship and Personal Power of Sheridan The Rebels abandon the Val 
 leyHatcher s Run Grant fails to Turn the Rebel Right Butler s 
 Demonstration North of the James Destruction of the Ram Albe- 
 marle by Lieutenant Gushing The Rebels in Canada Raid on St. 
 Albans, Vermont 493 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVI. |-, , 
 
 SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER, 1864. 
 
 Operations West during the Autumn In Arkansas, Kansas, and Mis 
 souri Price, Steele, and Rosecrans Capture of Athens by Forrest 
 His farther Operations General Burbridge sent to Destroy the 
 Salt-works at Saltville, Virginia Sherman at Atlanta Davis in Geor 
 gia Hood again takes the Field Falls on Sherman s Communica 
 tions Gallant Defense, by Corse, of Allatoona Pursuit of Hood 
 Thomas at Nashville Sherman prepares for his Georgia Campaign 
 Rome Burned Destruction of Property Burning of Atlanta 509 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 
 NOVEMBER-DECEMBER, 1864. 
 
 Sherman prepares to March Orders respecting Foraging Parties Di 
 vision of the Army Slocum s Wing Howard s Wing Kilpatrick s 
 Cavalry March of the Former Pillage of Madison Slocum enters 
 
CONTENTS OF VOLUME II. 25 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Milledgevillc March of the Right Wing The Enemy at Lovejoy s 
 Kil patrick s Cavalry Macon left in the Rear Sherman enters Mil 
 ledgevillc and Occupies the Governor s House The Soldiers Or 
 ganize a Legislature Rebels Repulsed at Griswoldville Kilpatrick 
 drives Wheeler before him and Threatens Augusta The Army at 
 Milieu March to Savannah Capture of Fort McAllister by Hazen 
 Savannah Invested Hardee summoned to Surrender Sherman starts 
 for Port Royal The City Evacuated Sherman s Dispatch to the 
 President Review of the Campaign 522 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
 
 NOVEMBER-DECEMBER, 1864. 
 
 Expedition from Vicksburg Grierson s Expedition Breckenridge in 
 East Tennessee Stoneman sent against Him Rout of the Enemy 
 Destruction of Wytheville and the Salt-works at Saltville Hood Ad 
 vances against Nashville Schofield Falls Back before Him Battle 
 of Franklin Siege of Nashville Impatience of Grant Battle of 
 Nashville Retreat of Hood Operations around Murfreesboro 
 Close of the Campaign Events East Plot to Burn the City of New 
 York Arrest and Execution of Rebel Officers Warren s Expedition 
 First Attempt to Capture Fort Fisher Co-operative Movement 
 from Plymouth Loss of the Otsego 535 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIX. 
 
 JANUARY, 1865. 
 
 Guerrillas Peace Rumors Relief for the Destitute in Savannah Grant 
 plans a Second Expedition Against Fort Fisher Terry Commands 
 it The Bombardment The Assault and Victory Evacuation of 
 other Forts in the Vicinity Thomas Army Broken Up Smith s 
 Command sent to Join Canby Schofield s Corps ordered East 
 North Carolina made a separate Military Department Narrow Es 
 cape of the Army of the Potomac Peace Commissioners appointed 
 by Davis Their Interview with the President and Secretary of State 
 Exchange of Prisoners Southern Prison Life Inhumanity of the 
 South Andersonville Prison Captain Wirz, the Commandant, tried 
 at Washington and Hung 552 
 
26 THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 CHAPTER XL. 
 
 JANUARY-FEBRUARY, 1865. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 The Right Wing of Sherman s Array Threatens Charleston The Left, 
 Augusta The Army delayed by Heavy Floods Kilpatrick s Caval 
 ry Forcing of the Salkehatchie The Enemy deceived, and their 
 Forces Hopelessly Separated Destruction of the Charleston and 
 Augusta Railroad Capture of Orangeburg Crossing the Edisto 
 Capture of Columbia Burning of the City Distress of the Inhabit 
 ants Burning of Winnsboro Charlotte, N. C., Threatened Sher 
 man suddenly strikes East for Fayetteville Capture of Cheraw Fall 
 of Charleston Junction of the two Wings Capture of Fayetteville 
 Communications Opened with Schofield and Terry Battle of Ave- 
 rysboro ; Battle of Bentonville Occupation of Goldsboro End of 
 the Campaign Sherman Visits Grant at City Point Speedy Refit 
 ting of the Army 564 
 
 CHAPTER XLI. 
 
 FEBRUARY APRIL, 1865. 
 
 Interview between Grant and Sherman Review of the Military Field 
 Canby s Preparations Against Mobile Stoneman s Advance from 
 East Tennessee Cavalry Raid from Vicksburg Another from East- 
 port, Mississippi Sheridan s Raid up the Shenandoah Valley and 
 round Richmond to the White House He Reaches the Army of the 
 Potomac the same Day as Sherman Grant s Plan to Move around 
 the Rebel Right Flank Rebel Attack on Fort Stcadman Sherman 
 Returns to his Army Grant Begins his Movement Unexpected Suc 
 cess Battle of Five Forks Grand Assault of the Enemy s Lines 
 Evacuation of Petersburg and Richmond Lee Retreats toward Dan 
 ville The Pursuit Lincoln and Davis on the Day of the Battle 
 W^eitzel Enters Richmond The City Fired by the Rebels Lee hard 
 Pressed His Retreat Cut Off Grant Demands his Surrender The 
 CorrcsfK>ndence The Capitulation Surrender of the Troops of 
 Northern Virginia Joy of the North over the Victory 582 
 
CONTENTS OF VOLUME II. 27 
 
 CHAPTER XLII. 
 
 APRIL-MAY, 1865. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Sherman Rejoins his Army Receives the News of the Fall of Peters 
 burg and Richmond He Moves on Raleigh The Army Receives 
 the News of Lee s Surrender Interview with Johnson The Armis 
 tice Injustice of the Secretary of War and Halleck Stoneman s 
 Raid Assassination of the President His Last Order His Charac 
 ter Funeral Obsequies The Conspiracy Arrest, Trial, and Execu 
 tion of the Prisoners Rewards Offered for the Capture of Davis and 
 Others The Movement against Mobile Its Capture Wilson s Cav 
 alry Expedition Raising the Flag at Fort Sumter Grand Review of 
 the Armies of Grant and Sherman at Washington Closing Scenes 
 National Debt. . ..599 
 
 Official Report of Lieutenant-General ULYSSES S. GRANT, Containing a 
 History of the Operations of the Armies of the United States during 
 1864-65... ..617 
 
 Official Reports of Major-General W. T. SHERMAN, 
 
 I. The Georgia Campaign, 667 
 
 II. Campaign of the Carolinas, 678 
 
 III. Operations in N. Carolina and Surrender of Johnston s Army. . 691 
 
 The Army of the United States during the Rebellion 702 
 

TJHIVEESIT7 
 
THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 JUNE-JULY, 1863. 
 
 THE SEVEN DAYS* CONTEST REMARKABLE FORESIGHT POSITION OF OUR 
 
 ARMY LEE S PLAN THE MOVEMENT COMMENCED BATTLE OF GAINES* 
 
 MILL SEVERE LETTER TO THE SECRETARY OF WAR DESTRUC 
 TION OF PROPERTY A TRAIN CUT ADRIFT THE RETREAT ARMY 
 
 TRAIN BATTLE OF SAVAGE STATION BATTLE OF NELSON S FARM AND 
 
 GLENDALE BATTLE OF MALVERN HILL RETREAT TO HARRISON S LANDING 
 
 FEELINGS OF THE PEOPLE LETTER OF THANKS FROM THE PRESIDENT 
 
 MC CLELLAN S LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT ON THE POLICY THAT SHOULD 
 BE ADOPTED IN PROSECUTING THE WAR EFFECT OF IT ON HIMSELF. 
 
 BEFORE McClellan had fully determined that retreat 
 would be necessary, he had decided in what direc 
 tion it should be, when it became inevitable, viz., to James 
 River, and not back to the base of his supplies at the White 
 House. 
 
 With a foresight that seems almost like a divine premo 
 nition, he sent to Fortress Monroe to have transports carry up 
 supplies to Harrison s Landing on James River, to be ready 
 for his exhausted troops when they should arrive there, and 
 with them gunboats, to co-operate with his land forces as 
 circumstances might direct. These precautions saved him 
 from annihilation. Having thus done all that human sagac 
 ity or foresight could accomplish, he anxiously waited the 
 decisive movements of the enemy, which should settle at 
 once his course of action. 
 
32 POSITION OF THE ARMY. 
 
 To understand the exact position of our army at this time, 
 it is necessary only to remember that the Richmond and 
 York River railroad, running east to the White House, (the 
 base of supplies,) and the Chickahoininy River, form the two 
 sides of a letter V Bottom s bridge being at the point. 
 The right arm of the V looking north is the river, which 
 our forces occupied up to Mechanicsville north of Rich 
 mond, and the left arm is the railroad, running directly 
 towards Richmond. The Williamsburg stage road ran 
 alongside of the railroad, and not far from it. On the rail 
 road, directly in front of the rebel capital, stood our in- 
 trenchments. 
 
 Here, and between the river and rebel fortifications, ex 
 tending northward from the city, lay eight divisions of our 
 army. On the opposite side of the river was General Porter, 
 with two divisions, and the regular reserves, to guard against 
 a flank movement from the north, which should ha ve^ been 
 taken care of by McDowell. The other flank, south of the 
 railroad and turnpike, was protected by the White Oak 
 Swamp. 
 
 This was McClellan s position ; and in case of retreat, two 
 courses lay open to him either to fall back along the route 
 by which he had advanced, to the White House "on York 
 River, or cross the White Oak Swamp southward, and reach 
 the James River, where he still would be in striking distance 
 of the rebel capital. 
 
 The various roads by which the enemy, from his central 
 position at Richmond, could advance on the Union army, 
 stretching from White Oak Swamp nearly to Mechanics 
 ville, may be understood, by standing with the face toward 
 it in Richmond and placing the right hand spread out, on the 
 map. The thumb would represent the space between the 
 Central railroad and Mechanicsville turnpike the forefinger, 
 the road to the New Bridge the middle finger, the York 
 
LEE S PLAN. 33 
 
 River railroad and Williamsburg turnpike running near each 
 other the space between this and the third finger, the 
 White Oak Swamp the finger itself, the Charles City turn 
 pike south of it, and the little finger the Derbytown road, 
 still nearer the James River. By these two latter roads, the 
 rebels could swarm from Richmond, and fall on the heads of 
 columns as they emerged from White Oak Swamp, should 
 McClellan attempt to retreat towards the James River. 
 
 As soon as Lee ascertained that McDowell was not to 
 advance to the aid of McClellan, and the country was clear 
 around the right flank of the latter, he called in all his 
 troops from the northern part of Virginia, including Stone 
 wall Jackson, till he had a force in hand nearly double that 
 of the Union army. With this, he resolved at once to fall 
 on McClellan, and utterly destroy his whole army. The 
 plan he adopted was a very simple one, and almost certain 
 of success. It was to send an entire army beyond the 
 Chickahominy, and with a single blow, crush the compara 
 tively small force there, and keeping down its banks, get 
 between McClellan and the White House, and thus cut off 
 supplies and starve him into a surrender, or crush him be 
 tween the two armies in front and rear each equal to his 
 entire force. 
 
 If in this dilemma, he should attempt to move off towards 
 James River, through White Oak Swamp, he was to be re 
 ceived beyond it, by heavy columns from Richmond, which 
 occupying all the roads, should hem him in in that direction, 
 so that no supplies could reach him from any quarter. It 
 was a gigantic scheme, and complete in every part, while 
 the means were at hand to carry it into successful execution. 
 Nothing but the most consummate generalship, and the steadi 
 est troops, could extricate the American commander from 
 the terrible position in which it would inevitably place him. 
 
 The main Union army, it will be remembered, was be- 
 
34 FLANK MOVEMENT OF THE ENEMY. 
 
 tween the Chick ahominy and Richmond. Fitz John Porter, 
 however, with the fifth corps, was on the north side his 
 communication with it preserved by numerous bridges. The 
 first object of the enemy was to sweep this force away, and 
 then keep down the river in our rear. At the same time he 
 was to attack in front, to prevent reinforcements from being 
 sent to Porter. 
 
 The storm which had been slowly gathering, at length, on 
 the 26th of June, burst in all its fury on the devoted army. 
 The day was clear and warm, and at about three o clock 
 in the afternoon, Jackson moved from Ashland down the 
 Chickahominy. Driving our advanced pickets before him, 
 he uncovered the bridge at Brook turnpike, and General 
 Branch, who was on the opposite side, crossed over, and 
 wheeling to the right, kept down the north bank a little in 
 the rear of Jackson, who gradually worked off towards the 
 Pamunkey. The two divisions kept on till they reached 
 Meadow Bridge, from which they also swept all obstacles, 
 and A. P. Hill, on the other side, crossed over and joined 
 Branch. The three columns now moved down towards 
 Mechanicsville Jackson in advance, stretching off towards 
 the Pamunkey to get in flank and rear, Branch next, and 
 Hill last, resting his right on the Chickahominy. Thus 
 moving en echelon, they advanced on the Union batteries and 
 a fierce artillery action commenced, which shook the shores 
 of the stream, and rolled in heavy thunder peals over the 
 city of Richmond. But our troops were in a strong posi 
 tion along the left bank of Beaver Dam Creek, the left rest 
 ing on the Chickahominy, and the right on a thick piece of 
 woods. Seymour s brigade held the left, reaching from the 
 river to a little beyond Ellison s Mills woods and open 
 ground alternating and Reynolds the right, mostly in the 
 woods. Felled timbers and rifle pits strengthened the 
 position, and the creek could be crossed by artillery, only 
 
THE OPENING FIGHT. 35 
 
 i 
 
 on two roads, along which the fight chiefly raged. Our 
 batteries swept the ground beyond the creek, yet in face of 
 their murderous fire, the enemy advanced intrepidly towards 
 the stream, making his most desperate effort along the 
 upper road, where Reynolds was posted. The struggle was 
 fierce but short, and the rebel host surged back. Deter 
 mined, however, to carry the position at whatever cost, the 
 rebel leaders, under a fierce artillery fire along their whole 
 line, massed their troops for another attack. With shouts 
 and yells that rose over the roar of cannon, they again 
 advanced, only to be mowed down with terrible slaughter 
 from the steady murderous fire poured in from Seymour s 
 brigade. The battle raged for six hours, or until nine 
 o clock at night, when the enemy retired. 
 
 McClellan now ascertained that Jackson was moving 
 rapidly down on his communications, far to the right of 
 Porter, and directed him to fall back, while the heavy guns 
 and wagons were sent across the river. 
 
 BATTLE OF GAINES* MILL. 
 
 At Games Mill a second position was taken, so as to cover 
 the bridges, while Stoneman, who had been in command of : 
 a flying column to protect Porter s flank, was sent off to 
 wards the White House, to prevent its being cut off by- 
 Jackson. 
 
 The new position was the arc of a circle, and opposite the 
 army of McClellan, on the other side of the stream. Morell s 
 division held the left of this line, which extended about a 
 mile and a half, its extremity resting on the slope that de 
 scended to the stream, and commanded by Butterfield. 
 Martindale came next, and then Griffin, who touched 1 the 
 left of Sykes division, which extended to the rear of Gold 
 Harbor. Each brigade had two regiments in 
 
36 BATTLE OF GAINES MILL. , 
 
 McCalTs division, which had been heavily engaged the day 
 before, formed a second line in rear, with Meade s brigade 
 on the left, near the Chickahominy, and Reynold s on the 
 right. Seymour was held in reserve in the rear. The 
 artillery was posted on the elevations around, and in the 
 spaces between the divisions and brigades. 
 
 This was the position of that portion of the army which 
 was on the north side of the stream at noon, on the 27th of 
 June. The enemy, relying on his superior numbers, ad 
 vanced with such determination upon our line of battle, that 
 by two o clock. Porter sent to McClellan for reinforcements 
 and more axes, to complete his defences. General Barnard, 
 by whom the order was sent, never delivered it, an act of 
 disobedience or neglect, meriting the severest condemnation, 
 and by three o clock, Porter was so fiercely pushed, that 
 the entire second line and the reserves had to be ordered 
 forward to support the first An half hour later, Slocum T s 
 division reached him, having been hurried across the bridges 
 by McClellan as soon as he heard of Porter s sore need. 
 When it came into action, Porter s whole force numbered 
 about thirty-five thousand men, while that of the enemy was 
 full sixty thousand, if not more. With his overwhelming 
 numbers, he dashed now on one portion of the line, and now 
 on another, each time repulsed with terrible slaughter. But 
 our troops, most of which had been severely tasked by the 
 previous day s fighting, were rapidly becoming exhausted, 
 and at five o clock an officer dashed into McClellan s head 
 quarters, with an urgent demand for more reinforcements, 
 as the day was going against them. McClellan had already 
 sent all that Hie felt he could spare, for an overwhelming 
 force was on his side of the river also, ready to swoop down 
 on him, the moment his exhausted numbers gave them the 
 opportunity. And yet so pressing was the danger, that he 
 sent over French s and Meagher s brigades. 
 
THE POSITION AT EVENING. 37 
 
 The scene which the battle field presented at this moment 
 was one of imposing grandeur. Thirty-five thousand ex 
 hausted, beleagured men, enveloped in the smoke of their 
 own guns, stood bravely battling against twice their num 
 ber, that darkened all the surrounding country with their 
 moving masses. The last of our reserves are in, and have 
 been for some time, and now the enemy is moving up his 
 own for a final assault. The thunder of artillery, which has 
 been breaking along the whole line for four long hours, is 
 redoubled, while the crash of musketry, fierce, rapid and 
 incessant, tells the Commander-in-chief, that the final hour 
 has come. Oh for but ten thousand of those forty thous 
 and of McDowell s, fatally held back in this hour of ter 
 rible need, and the victory would be sure. But alas, they 
 are lounging idly in their camps on the banks of the Rappa- 
 hannock, while their brave comrades here, are falling thick 
 as autumn leaves, in a vain effort to uphold the honor of the 
 flag. 
 
 The summer sun was sinking in the western sky^ which, 
 without a cloud, looked like a sea of blood through the 
 smoke of battle that filled all the air. In the valley, the 
 long lines of lancers might be seen, their pennons fluttering 
 in the breeze, waiting the pealing bugle note that shall send 
 them headlong on the heavy battalions, their sabre-points 
 sending long lines of light over the green fields, dotted with 
 groves on every side, while the gentle stream, reflecting the 
 crimson light, murmurs gently along as though its sweet 
 music was not drowned in the wild uproar that shakes its 
 banks. It is a placid summer evening, and a beautiful land 
 scape spreads away on every side, but the eye of the com 
 mander sees naught of this. His swelling heart is ready to 
 burst, as he sees the ever-increasing flood of the enemy, and 
 no troops with which to stem it. Oh for night to come! 
 was his mental exclamation. But it is all in vain. The 
 
38 A CAVALRY CHARGE. 
 
 heavy reserves are steadily pressing back Porter s left, and 
 it begins to crumble, until the disorder reaches the very cen 
 tre of the Federal lines. " There is no panic, the men do 
 not fly in the wild excitement of fear ; but deaf to every 
 appeal, they march oif deliberately, as if success were im 
 possible." In vain the officers fling themselves in front of 
 the troops, and shout to them to stand by their flag in vain 
 they offer to lead them back on the foe. On foot, his horse 
 having been shot under him, Butterfield, surrounded by his 
 falling staff, plants a flag and calls on his men to rally 
 around it, but in vain. With sword in hand, aids dash 
 amid the broken ranks with stirring appeals, in vain. Amid 
 the storm of shot and shell, the gallant leaders move and 
 fall, in vain. The battle is lost, and nothing now remains 
 but to save it from becoming a rout. Then came the order 
 for the cavalry to charge. The bugles rang out over the 
 horrible din and uproar, and with sabres shaking over their 
 heads, the Fifth cavalry, shouting as they rode, dashed 
 fiercely on the dense battalions. But they might as well 
 have dashed on a rock. Broken into fragments by the 
 shock, they galloped wildly back through the artillery and 
 flying infantry, sending up a cloud of dust in their headlong 
 passage, and increasing tenfold the hopeless disorder. Borne 
 back for a mile, the shattered army came upon the fresh 
 brigades of Meagher and French, standing like a wall of 
 iron, on the field. Undismayed by the frightful wreck that 
 came heaving wildly down upon them, they maintained 
 their firm formation, and hurled it scornfully back, and sent 
 up a loud hurrah that rose over the tumult and told the 
 enemy that fresh troops were on the field. Advancing 
 boldly to the front, they arrested the confident and on rush 
 ing enemy, and gave time for our troops to rally. Twilight 
 had now settled over the landscape, and the enemy, having 
 exhausted all his reserves, and weary with his long and des- 
 
LETTER TO THE SECRETARY OF WAR. 39 
 
 perate conflict, paused in his victorious career, and fell back, 
 and the bloody day was ended. The slaughter had been fear 
 ful on both sides, and the trampled green sward and dusty 
 roads were crimson with the blood of brave men, and 
 sprinkled thickly with the dead and wounded. Twenty- 
 three guns were left in the enemy s hands as trophies, and 
 many prisoners, among them the gallant General Reynolds. 
 It was while smarting under this defeat and slaughter of 
 his brave troops, that McClellan used the following strong 
 and stinging language to the Secretary of War: 
 
 "I know that a few thousand more men would have 
 changed this battle from a defeat to a victory. As it is, 
 the government must not, and cannot, hold me responsible 
 for the result. 
 
 "I feel too earnestly to-night. I have s\3en too many 
 dead and wounded comrades to feel otherwise than that the 
 government has not sustained this army. If you do not do 
 so now, the game is lost. 
 
 " If I save this army now, I tell you plainly, that I owe 
 no thanks to you, or to any other persons in Washington. 
 
 " You have done your best to sacrifice this army." 
 
 This was a terrible accusation to come from a General-in- 
 chief on the field of battle, but it is one from which the 
 Secretary of War has never yet successfully vindicated him 
 self. That night the entire army was transferred to the other 
 side of the river, preparatory to the movement of the whole 
 force to the James River. All the wagons, heavy guns, etc., 
 were also gathered there, and General Keycs, with his corps, 
 sent across the White Oak Swamp to seize strong positions 
 on the opposite side, so as to cover the passage x>f the trains 
 and the army. Orders were also sent to embark all the 
 troops and stores at the White House, and destroy what could 
 not be removed. This was done, and a whole loaded train 
 that could not be saved, was afterwards sent adrift, with a full 
 head of steam on, which, rushing unguided along the track, 
 
40 IMMENSE TRAIN. 
 
 plunged headlong into the stream, the bridge over it having 
 been destroyed. Huge fires, caused by the burning ma 
 terial collected on the route to the White House, lightened 
 the midnight heavens, leaving no fragment of the rich spoils 
 which the enemy had fondly hoped to seize. The bridges 
 over which our troops had passed were also destroyed, so 
 that when morning dawned, the Army of the Potomac was 
 all on the Richmond side of the Chickahominy, while more 
 than half of the Confederate forces were on the opposite 
 side, and the bridges broken down between. This was a 
 complete surprise to the enemy, and compelled him for 
 awhile to rest powerless to do mischief. This result had 
 been planned by McClellan, for he needed the time it gave 
 him, to get his immense trains across the swamp; before his 
 army began to move. Tangled up between his corps, it 
 would throw every thing into comfusion. Only a single 
 road crossed the swamp, along which five thousand wagons, 
 twenty-five hundred cattle,his immense siege train, and various 
 war material had to be transported. It required nice calcula 
 tion and prompt, rapid movements to accomplish all this 
 before the overwhelming force of the enemy would be on 
 his rear, and rushing down, at right angles, on his line of 
 march along the roads leading from Richmond beyond the 
 swamp. 
 
 The 28th was a quiet day to both armies, so far as hostili 
 ties were concerned ; but the Army of the Potomac was 
 stripping itself for the race and the struggle before~it. The 
 distance to the James River was only seventeen miles, so 
 that along that single line of road, scarcely half of the immense 
 train would have entered the swamp when its head would 
 be on James River. All day long it was winding, like a 
 mighty serpent, its tedious length through the forest, whose 
 gloomy recesses resounded with the rumbling of wheels, the 
 lowing of cattle, and the shouts and curses of men, as they 
 
RETREAT COMMENCED. 41 
 
 urged on their teams. Time pressed, and the huge caravan 
 was crowded along the hot and narrow way to its utmost 
 speed. Wounded men lay bleeding in the wagons, or 
 limped along beside them, while every ear was turned to 
 catch the thunder of cannon from the pursuing foe. It was 
 oppressively hot, yet all day and night the vast throng of 
 wagons kept hurrying forward to give room for the army, 
 for the peril to which it was exposed increased with every 
 hour s delay. The moon rose over the dark forest about 
 nine o clock, and revealed a strange, confused, wild spect 
 acle; but its light was dimmed by a thunder cloud, that 
 pushing up the heavens, sent peal after peal like the roar 
 of artillery over the alarmed multitude. 
 
 The next day was the Sabbath, but not a day of rest to 
 that imperilled army. Early in the morning McClellan 
 broke up his head-quarters at Savage Station, and moved 
 across the swamp, to examine the ground beyond, for the 
 disposition of the corps, and make sure his communication 
 with the gunboats, without which all would be lost. He 
 sent Slocum also across, to relieve Keyes, so that the latter 
 could move on to James River. Porter was to follow, to 
 make the communication sure. The whole army now began 
 to move. Sumner, who was at Fair Oaks, started at day 
 light towards Savage Station, but before he reached it was 
 attacked at Allen s field. With Richardson and Sedg- 
 wick s divisions he succeeded however in holding the rebels 
 at bay for three hours. In the meantime, the enemy, having 
 repaired the bridges, began to cross the Chickahominy and 
 were now advancing towards Savage Station. 
 
 Franklin hearing of it, sent word to Sumner, who pushed 
 on to that point and assumed chief command. It was plain 
 that a battle must be fought here to cover the retreat. 
 
42 BATTLE OF SAVAGE STATION. 
 
 BATTLE OF SAVAGE STATION. 
 
 Sumner, Franklin and Heintzleman were here on whom 
 the Commander-in-chief could rely, and he told them to 
 hold that position till dark, and right gallantly was the 
 order obeyed. The public property which had accumulated 
 here was first destroyed, so as not to fall into tbe hands of 
 the enemy, and then they prepared for a stubborn resist 
 ance. 
 
 In vain did the enemy move upon this noble rear guard, 
 determined to break through to the trains beyond. It knew 
 the mighty trust which had been reposed in it, and that it 
 held the destiny of the army in its hands. Sumner and 
 Franklin s commands were drawn up in line of battle, in an 
 open field, the right stretching down the road, and the left 
 resting on a piece of woods held by Brooks brigade. About 
 four o clock the rebels, in overpowering masses, came mov 
 ing down the Williamsburg road, and fell with savage fury 
 on Burns brigade. They could not have selected a worse 
 point of attack, for a more gallant and stubborn commander 
 never led troops to battle than he. Rooted to the ground 
 his hat pierced with balls, and bleeding from a wound in 
 his face, he beat back the hostile battalions with a stern 
 courage that elicited the highest praise from even the cau 
 tious Sedgwick. Hazzard and Pettit s batteries covered 
 themselves with glory. The battle raged for five hours, or 
 until nearly nine o clock the thunder of the guns breaking 
 in successive crashes over the forest, and sending consterna 
 tion through the struggling trains far ahead, and urging 
 them on to still greater speed. 
 
 As soon as the battle was over, Sumner received orders 
 to fall back across the swamp. He obeyed reluctantly, for 
 his blood was up, and he wished to punish still further the 
 
PURSUIT OF THE ENEMY. 43 
 
 presumptuous foe. But the columns were quickly put in 
 motion, and by midnight were all on the road to White Oak 
 Swamp, General French bringing up the rear. All night 
 long the brave but weary columns toiled on through the 
 forest, and just as the rays of the sun were tipping the tree 
 tops, the last regiment crossed White Oak Swamp bridge, 
 and then the bridge itself was destroyed. 
 
 One of the most difficult steps of the perilous feat which 
 McClellan had attempted to perform was now accomplished. 
 His trains were well on towards James River; the enemy in 
 the rear were arrested in their pursuit, and he had now 
 chiefly the forces sent down from Richmond to contend 
 with, which were designed to fall on him in flank and cut 
 his army in two. The enemy on the Chickahominy had two 
 sides of a triangle to traverse to reach him by this route, 
 while he had but one, so that though he had to delay his 
 march till his immense trains got away, he was able to have 
 heavy forces guarding the roads leading from Richmond on 
 the farther side of the swamp. 
 
 In the meantime, as soon as daylight revealed to the 
 enemy that Simmer had abandoned Savage Station, and 
 fallen back through the swamp, he started in pursuit, but 
 on finding the bridge destroyed was compelled to halt on 
 the banks of the stream. Here, planting his batteries, he 
 opened a furious artillery fire on Franklin, who with his 
 division had been left to defend the crossing. But Keyes 
 handled his artillery with a skill that baffled all his efforts. 
 
 BATTLE OF NELSONS FARM AND GLENDALE. 
 
 But while Franklin was thus keeping back the enemy that 
 had followed through the swamp from Savage Station, a 
 fierce battle was raging farther on towards the James River, 
 with a rebel army under A. P. Hill which had moved down 
 
44 BATTLE OF GLENDALE. 
 
 from Richmond, between the swamp and iwer. The 
 first road that intersected our line of inarch after crossing 
 the White Oak Swamp was the Charles City road,, and this 
 Slocum was left to guard. Farther on towards the James, 
 was the Newmarket road, McCall was posted on this, with 
 Meade s brigade on his right, and Seymour s on his left ; 
 the batteries of Randall, Kern, Cooper, Diedrich and Kana- 
 han all posted in front of the infantry line. The country 
 was open in front, leaving a clean sweep for the artillery. 
 
 About three o clock the enemy was seen moving in heavy 
 force upon this position, and at the same time coming down 
 the Charles City road on Slocum. Checked here by the 
 artillery, they, a little later, fell with desperate fury on 
 McCall s division. Right in the face of the death-dealing, 
 batteries they advanced with grand heroic courage T and 
 though swept by the storm of grape and canister, closed up 
 their rent columns and still faced the fiery sleet without 
 flinching. The slaughter was frightful, but making good the 
 losses with fresh troops, the rebel leaders pressed this de 
 voted division with such fury that at length it was com 
 pelled to fall back. The gallant fiery leaders. Hooker and 
 Kearney, were hurried to the rescue, and falling with their 
 weary, heroic columns on the shouting, victorious enemy, 
 hurled him back stunned and astonished. The battle lasted 
 till after dark, and again the Union troops had showed their 
 indomitable valor. Here Burns again distinguished himself, 
 and here the sixty-third Pennsylvania,under Colonel Hays, and 
 the thirty-seventh New York Volunteers covered themselves 
 with glory, for by their rapid volleys and desperate charge, 
 they repelled the third attack, though made by overwhelming 
 numbers. There was fighting everywhere to-day. The rebel 
 artillery was thundering on our rear guard at White Oak 
 Swamp bridge ; where the roads crossed at right angles our 
 line of march, a fierce battle was raging; while, at the same 
 
JAMES RIVER REACHED. 45 
 
 time the enemy came down on Porter, already on the 
 James to help whom, the gunboats opened with their pond 
 erous guns, sending their awful missiles of death through 
 the astonished hostile lines. The latter, maddened that 
 the foe was about to escape them, resolved at whatever 
 sacrifice of life to break through our long line at some point, 
 and thundered on it from the middle of the swamp to the 
 James River with frightful energy. The whole country was 
 dark with his moving masses, and the summer sun went 
 down in an ocean of rolling smoke, that heaved and rifted 
 before the deafening explosions which made the earth trem 
 ble. Our wearied, hungry troops moved amid this carnival 
 of, death with a heroism that mocked at numbers, and made 
 that last day of June one long to be remembered. The bur 
 dened earth turned red with the blood of the slain, but still 
 our flag floated triumphantly over the field. McCall fell into 
 the hands of the enemy, and Heintzleman, who was in chief 
 command of the troops, began at midnight to fall back 
 towards the James, on the banks of which our trains were 
 now rapidly gathering. Franklin also retired, and McClellan 
 ordered the whole army to fall back to Malvern Hill. He 
 had selected this as the key to his position. Although he 
 had given General Barnard, Engineer-in-chief, special orders 
 as to the location of the troops as fast as they arrived, he on 
 the morning of the first of July, made the entire circuit of 
 the position himself with some of his general officers, to see 
 that no mistake should occur. 
 
 BATTLE OF MALVERN HILL. 
 
 McClellan had been for the last three days fighting at fear 
 ful disadvantages, for his army lay scattered all the way 
 from White Oak Swamp to the James River, a line too 
 long to be held throughout by his enfeebled army, and yet 
 
46 DESCRIPTION OF MALVEBN HILL. 
 
 which could not be shortened without peril. The commu 
 nication with the river must be kept up on account of his 
 transports, the trains be protected, the enemy in the rear 
 held back, and all the roads coming down from Richmond 
 strongly guarded ; hence, when the enemy appeared in over 
 whelming numbers at any given point, the wearied troops 
 guarding it were compelled to hx>ld it till reinforcements 
 could be hurried up from some other point. But now all 
 this was changed. He had his noble army once more 
 well in hand, and concentrated where it could strike its 
 powerful blows like a single engine. But the rebels had 
 also concentrated their forces, outnumbering his own, two to 
 one, and was preparing to make one last great effort to 
 wring victory from the hand, of adverse fate. 
 
 Malvern Hill, on which McClellan had drawn up his 
 wearied but unconquerable host, is a plateau about a mile 
 and a half long, and three-quarters of a mile wide, with 
 several roads, converging to a single point, running over it. 
 On the side towards the river, the slope ended in a deep 
 ravine, which stretched to the shore. Here Porter was 
 posted, with one brigade in the plain, to check any flanking 
 movement; and here, too, in the stream, were stationed the 
 gunboats, under Commodore Rodgers, for the purpose of 
 hurling their ponderous shells into the advancing columns of 
 the enemy. In front were several ravines, furnishing natural 
 obstacles to an approaching enemy, while the ground sloped 
 away, giving a clean sweep for the artillery. On this plat 
 eau McClellan massed his splendid artillery, at least three 
 hundred guns, frowning, like a brov/ of wrath, on the plain 
 below, while on the highest point, dominating all, Col. Tyler 
 had planted ten of his heavy siege guns. This officer had 
 made almost superhuman efforts to save his unwieldy siege 
 train amid the struggling mass that crowded the road 
 through White Oak Swamp, and had succeeded with the 
 
POSITION OF THE ARMY. 47 
 
 loss of only three guns, which had broken- down, and so 
 could not be brought off. Justly proud of his achievement, 
 he now determined they should no longer remain useless 
 burdens, and dragged these ten pieces to the top of the hill, 
 that their voices should first speak in the coming conflict. 
 
 McClellan had not enough men to make his whole line of 
 battle strong as it ought to be, and so he massed his main 
 force to the north and east, conjecturing the weight of attack 
 would come from that quarter against his left wing. The 
 pursuing force coming from White Oak Swamp, and that 
 rushing down from Richmond, he thought, would make the 
 attack in that direction, instead of losing time by swinging 
 round down stream to the right wing, which would endanger 
 their own communication with the capital. 
 
 In front of Porter s division, the artillery was so posted 
 that the tremendous fire of sixty cannon could be concen 
 trated on any single point, and made that grim chieftain feel 
 that the troops which could reach him must be something 
 more than flesh and blood. Sykes commanded his left, and 
 Morell, his right divisions ; Couch came next, and after him, 
 Kearney and Hooker, then Sedgwick and Richardson, 
 Smith and Slocum, strong leaders every one, on whom their 
 chieftain could in that last trying hour rely with unbounded 
 trust. A portion of Keyes corps finished the line, that 
 curved back nearly to the river again below, in a huge 
 semicircle. The shattered, mutilated Pennsylvania reserve 
 corps was stationed behind Porter and Couch as a reserve. 
 
 Thus stood the immortal army of the Potomac on the 
 first of July. When all was completed, McClellan, with his 
 brilliant staff, galloped along the mighty line, followed by 
 the deafening cheers of his devoted battalions, who felt that 
 they were to fight once more under his immediate eye. See 
 ing, at a glance, that the fury of the storm, as he had con 
 jectured, was to burst on his left, he took his station there. 
 
48 ADVANCE OF THE ENEMY. 
 
 The infantry was posted down the hill, so that the. artillery 
 had a clean sweep over their heads. The scene was one of 
 imposing grandeur, and as the bright sun looked down 
 upon it, his rays flashed along the triple lines of steel that 
 girdled the hill with light, while the steady ranks belted it 
 with long dark lines soon to be lines of fire. As far as the 
 eye could see, banners drooped in the still air, while groups of 
 horsemen here and there told where the respective com 
 manders awaited the coming shock. It seemed downright 
 madness for any troops to advance on such an infernal fire 
 as, it was plain, could at any moment open from that plateau. 
 But Magruder, commanding the rebel forces, relying on his 
 overwhelming numbers, determined to L carry it. Skirmish 
 ing in the plain below commenced between nine and ten 
 in the morning, but the- enemy seemed in no haste to enter 
 on the desperate undertaking before him. At length, how 
 ever, about two o clock, a dark mass emerged on the plain 
 and moved steadily forward on Couch s division. - The artil 
 lery opened on both sides, and though ugly rents were made 
 at every step in the enemy s ranks, they closed firmly up T 
 and kept unfalteringly on. An ominous silence rested on 
 Couch s division, which lay motionless on? the ground. Still, 
 on swept the hostile column, till within close musket range, 
 when at the word of command, the division sprung to its feet 
 and poured in one deadly volley. Before it, that compact 
 mass was rent like a cloud, torn with an explosion in its 
 own bosom, and was driven in shattered fragments over the 
 field. About four o clock the firing ceased all along the 
 line, and the hill that for two hours had groaned on its firm 
 foundations, under the heavy crack of artillery, lapsed 
 into silence again. Two hours more passed by, but, about 
 six o clock, the plain below suddenly opened like a volcano 
 with the fierce fire of all the rebel artillery, and, under its 
 cover, were seen advancing the heavy columns of the 
 
THE BATTLK. 49 
 
 enemy. In a moment the hill was in a blaze of light, and 
 from three hundred cannon rained a horrible tempest of 
 shot and shell. Seeing that nothing could long stand before 
 it, the rebel leaders ordered the troops on the double quick, 
 to carry the hill in one impetuous rush. Brigade after 
 brigade, emerging from the distant \voods, dashed on a 
 run across the intervening space, and swept up, in one black 
 overwhelming tide, towards the batteries. But when they 
 came within reach of the musketry, the vollies. were too 
 murderous for flesh and blood to withstand. The reeling 
 lines shrivelled up before it and disappeared from sight. 
 Still, bent on victory, the rebel leaders reformed their broken 
 battalions; and, bringing forward fresh troops, sent them 
 forward with drums beating and banners flying, in the same 
 all-en gulphing fire. More desperate courage was never dis 
 played by any troops on any field than they evinced in 
 these successive charges. Again and again, they crossed 
 the whole line of fire of our batteries, breasting the storm of 
 grape and canister without flinching, till close upon our line of 
 battle, when their shouts of victory arose within short pistol 
 shot of the coolly awaiting ranks. Then the hill side would 
 seem to gap and shoot forth flame. One volley, and in 
 stantly the shouting troops were on them with the bayonet, 
 sending them like scattered sheep to their cover, leaving 
 the slope carpeted with their dead. It seemed that each 
 repulse must be the last, and that no troops on earth could 
 be made to advance again, on such certain destruction. But 
 in a few moments the reformed columns would be seen 
 emerging from the sulphurous cloud that canopied the field, 
 and moving swiftly upon the batteries. They advanced, 
 however, only to vanish again when they came within reach 
 of the vollies of the infantry. In the midst of^the horrible 
 din and uproar, and this terrible slaughter, ever and 
 anon came the deep boom of the one hundred pounders on 
 
50 APPEARANCE OF THE FIELD. 
 
 board the gunboats, followed by a shrieking mass rushing 
 through the clouds of smoke the next second to explode, 
 like a clap of thunder, amid the ranks of the astonished foe. 
 
 The fiery sun went down on this strange scene, rhis 
 beams struggling dimly through the murky atmosphere, but 
 still the work of death went on. As twilight deepened over 
 the field, the puffs of smoke that shot out over the plain 
 were illuminated with flame, while blazing shells crossed 
 and re-crossed each other in every direction, weaving a fiery 
 net-work over the struggling armies. Into the midst of this 
 pandemonium, every few minutes, fell one of the ponderous 
 shells from the gunboats, bursting with a sound that shook 
 the earth, and sent terror into the rebel ranks. Darkness 
 at length closed the scene, and the shattered, bleeding host 
 of the enemy withdrew in despair. The last blow had been 
 struck and failed, and a loud shout rolled along the Union 
 lines. But what a field it was ! The ploughed and trampled 
 earth, the shattered trees and buildings, and the fields strewn 
 with dead horses, broken artillery wagons, muskets and men, 
 looked as if all the forces of heaven and earth had been 
 striving to see what a fearful wreck could be made. 
 
 Commodore Rodgers, of the gunboats, in a consultation 
 with McClellan, had said that the southern shore of the 
 river was so near at this point that should the enemy occupy 
 it, it would be impossible to get up the supplies for the army, 
 and as Harrison s Landing was the nearest point of safety, it 
 had been resolved, two days previous, to fall back there. 
 Hence, all clay long, while the earth was shaking to the 
 uproar of battle on Malvern Hill, the immense trains were 
 hurrying forward towards Harrison s Landing. To the same 
 point McClellan now directed the army to be moved. This 
 was a delicate operation in the presence of the enemy, 
 especially as the rear of the trains still blocked the road. 
 General Keyes, with his corps, was appointed to cover the 
 
HARRISON S LANDING. 51 
 
 manoeuvre, and nobly did he fulfill the trust reposed in him. 
 Colonel Averill, with his cavalry, who had done good service 
 in the advance beyond White Oak Swamp, covered the^vith- 
 drawal of the left wing under Porter, and so skillfully did he 
 manage, that, with only his regiment and Lieut. Colonel 
 Buchanan s brigade of regular infantry, and one battery, he 
 so deceived the enemy, that they allowed him to hold the 
 battle-field unmolested all the next day. General Keyes, by 
 the way in which he took advantage of every formation of 
 ground, and kept the trains closed up, and the army disen 
 cumbered of the countless wagons and vehicles of every 
 description that thronged the single road over which he 
 was compelled to move, showed executive ability equal to 
 the management of a great battle, and won the highest 
 praise of his commander. 
 
 The army was at last safe, and the terrible struggle that 
 had been kept up since the 26th of June, was over. Pressed 
 by overwhelming numbers, allowed no rest, scarcely time to 
 snatch a morsel of food, bleeding at every step, and leaving 
 its dead and wounded on almost every foot of ground 
 it had traversed, this gallant army had fought its way 
 triumphantly out of the very jaws of destruction, and now 
 drew up along the banks of the James River, proud and 
 defiant as ever. The mighty effort put forth by the rebel 
 government had failed of success. At an immense sacrifice 
 of life, it had succeded only in compelling McClellan to 
 adopt a better base, from which he could advance surely on 
 Richmond. It is true he had lost 15,000 men in the terri 
 ble struggles of the last seven days, but the enemy had 
 suffered still more heavily, and the rebel capital was crowded 
 with the wounded and dying. 
 
 The whole movement had taken the country .by surprise. 
 Though every newspaper correspondent had said that un 
 less the army was reinforced, its overthrow or defeat was 
 
52 FEELINGS OF THE PEOPLE. 
 
 certain, and although the people wondered and clamored 
 because McDowell, with nearly 40,000 men, was kept idle 
 at Fredericksburg, and cursed the Secretary of War for 
 keeping a part of the army from McClellan, it still would 
 not admit defeat to be possible. It had resolved that Rich 
 mond should fall, and that the fourth of July should cele 
 brate its overthrow. Hence, when the first news of the 
 retreat of the army was received, it was confidently believed 
 that it was an advance on Richmond. When the whole 
 truth burst upon the country, it was stunned at the danger 
 it had escaped, and filled with admiration at the valor of the 
 army and skill of its leader, which had not merely kept at 
 bay, but rolled back the overwhelming numbers of the 
 enemy, even in defeat its last blow, the greatest and most 
 fearful of all. Murmurs and complaints were in every body s 
 mouth, and rage and disappointment filled the land, while 
 Richmond was ablaze with illuminations. 
 
 McClellan issued a spirited address to his soldiers, promis 
 ing soon to lead them into Richmond. The President 
 thanked him in a letter, saying, " I am satisfied that your 
 self, officers and men, have done the best you could. * * 
 * ten thousand thanks for it." Two days after, when the 
 full accounts had been received, he wrote again: "Be 
 assured the heroism and skill of yourself, officers and men is, 
 and forever will be, appreciated." McClellan now asked 
 for reinforcements, which the government at Washington 
 declared itself unable to furnish. 
 
 In this crisis of affairs he wrote a letter to the President, 
 dated the 4th of July, in which he sketched out the policy 
 which he thought should be adopted. This letter had an 
 important influence on his destiny, for although it was 
 not made public for more than a year, it was the cause of 
 his removal from the command of the army. The main 
 
MC CLELLAN S LETTER. 53 
 
 features of the policy he recommended, were, no confisca 
 tion no emancipation act by the government hoping thus 
 to bring about a reaction on the part of the South. These 
 views made him "the leader of the opposition, who im 
 mediately named him as the future candidate for the presi 
 dency. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 JULY- AUGUST, 1863. 
 
 POPE S CAMPAIGN POPE CALLED TO THE ARMY OF VIRGINIA HIS ORDERS 
 
 CONCENTRATION OF HIS ARMY IIALLECK MADE GENERAL-IN-CHIEF HIS 
 
 PLAN OF OPERATIONS MC CLELLAN RECALLED FROM THE PENINSULA HIS 
 
 LETTER. OF REMONSTRANCE LEE TAKES ADVANTAGE OF THE BLUNDER OF 
 
 IIALLECK BATTLE OF CEDAR MOUNTAIN LEE S GREAT MOVEMENT BEGUN 
 
 ACCOUNT OF SUBSEQUENT OPERATIONS BATTLE OF BULL RUN BATTLE OF 
 
 GROVETON THE LAST DAY*S BATTLE THE ARMY FALLS BACK TO THE FORTS 
 
 LEE MOVES TOWARDS THE POTOMAC MC CLELLAN s TELEGRAM TO HALLECK 
 
 ASKING PERMISSION TO JOIN THE ARMY PLACED ONCE MORE AT THE HEAD 
 
 OF THE ARMY POPfi s FAILURE REVIEW OF THE CAMPAIGN. 
 
 WHILE these momentous events were passing in front 
 of Richmond, great changes were being introduced 
 into the army around Washington. The President and the 
 country, had had enough of the military strategy of the 
 Secretary of War, and it became imperatively necessary to 
 have some other head, to direct the corps of McDowell, 
 Banks and Fremont, which had been taken away from the 
 General-in-Chief General Pope was, therefore, called from 
 the West, to take command of these, to be called the Army 
 of Virginia, and also of all the troops, in garrison, around 
 Washington. He entered on his duties the 26th of June, 
 the very day on which commenced the seven days struggle 
 before Richmond. He began his career by issuing two 
 orders, in which he ridiculed the idea of bases of operations 
 and of u securing lines of retreat," declaring that he should 
 leave that for the enemy to do. This was regarded as an 
 indirect stab at the General-in-chief, and hence excited a 
 great deal -of ill will against him throughout the country. 
 
POPE S PLAN OF CAMPAIGN. 55 
 
 Thoughtful men looked upon it as a bad omen, that he 
 should, at the outset of the campaign, avow that he meant 
 to disregard the soundest military maxims, and, like the 
 First Napoleon, revolutionize the science of war. 
 
 The u Army of Virginia" numbered, at this time, about fifty 
 thousand men fit for the field, with which Pope was to protect 
 Washington, and co-operate, in some way, with the Army of 
 the Potomac. This force was scattered all along, from Fred- 
 ericksburg to Winchester, and his first object was to get it 
 together. Adopting the theory, that if the enemy should 
 attempt to advance on Washington by way of the Shenan- 
 doah Valley, it would be better, instead of meeting him 
 there, to be more in front of Washington, so as to cut 
 his force in two while on the march, he therefore, be 
 gan to concentrate his army, in and about Sperryville. By 
 occupying this position, he hoped to be able also, to operate 
 on the enemy s line of communication, in the direction of 
 Gordonsville and Charlottesville, so as to draw off a part of 
 the army arrayed against McClellan. It has been seen, 
 however, that the movement was too late to effect the latter 
 object. In the meantime the President began to see that 
 to have two distinct armies operating against the same point, 
 and yet entirely independent of each other, with no com 
 mon head but the Secretary of War whose incapacity to 
 direct movements in the field, had been tested to his satisfac 
 tion, would only complicate the difficulties of the situa 
 tion instead of removing them, sent for General Hal- 
 leek to assume the chief command. This officer, who had 
 never fought a battle, and never conducted a campaign 
 in person, except the extraordinary one against Corinth, 
 was, on the 12th day of July, placed at the head of the 
 American armies, to control all the campaigns, and push the 
 war to a speedy issue. He at once adopted a plan of cam 
 paign in accordance with the President s original policy, which 
 
 34 
 
56 -HALLECK S PLAN. 
 
 , i 
 
 was to move on Richmond overland from Washington. Of 
 course, it became necessary to recall the Army of the Potomac, 
 and abandon the peninsula route altogether ; and, on the 3d 
 of August, Halleck sent an order to McClellan to withdraw 
 his army at once, and come up to Acquia Creek, covering 
 his movements the best way he could. McClellan was 
 astonished at this unexpected order, saying in reply, that "it 
 had caused him the greatest pain he ever experienced." He 
 sent in a strong remonstrance against it, demonstrating, in 
 the clearest manner, that it was a suicidal policy, and clos 
 ing with these remarkable words: "clear in my convictions 
 of right, strong in the consciousness that I ever have been, 
 and still am, actuated solely by the love of my country, 
 knowing that no ambitious or selfish motives have influenced 
 me from the commencement of this war, I do now what I 
 never did in my life before, I entreat that this order may be 
 rescinded." The appeal was in vain. Halleck would not 
 rescind the order, and McClellan, at once, began to obey it, 
 and withdraw his army, in such a way as to save it from being 
 cut up in its retreat. But he was not molested. Such a huge 
 blunder, as the General-in-chief had now committed, was 
 sure not to escape the keen watchfulness of a man of Lee s 
 sagacity. Richmond being so unexpectedly relieved from 
 all danger, he determined to throw his army rapidly across 
 the country, overwhelm Pope, before the Army of the Poto 
 mac could reach him, and move boldly upon Washington. 
 
 BATTLE OF CEDAR MOUNTAIN. 
 
 General Pope, being informed that Jackson was rapidly 
 approaching the Rapidan, ordered Banks, commanding the 
 Second Corps, nominally thirteen, but really only about eight 
 thousand strong, to move to Culpepper Court House, where 
 the whole army was being rapidly concentrated. On the 
 
BATTLE OF CEDAR MOUNTAIN. 57 
 
 9th of August, he directed him to move forward towards 
 Cedar Mountain, and take up a strong position, where he 
 could resist the advance of Jackson, until the other corps 
 could be brought up. Jackson, in the mean time, had 
 already crossed the Rapidan, and occupied the sides of 
 Cedar Mountain, in force. Banks, as he approached the 
 mountain, about four o clock in the afternoon, heard de 
 sultory firing from Bayard s cavalry, which was disput 
 ing the progress of the enemy, and from Crawford, who 
 was engaged with his artillery. It was a warm August 
 day, and the green trees that covered the mountain 
 sides, effectually concealed the force of the enemy. From 
 his masked batteries, Jackson immediately poured in 
 a destructive fire on our advancing columns. Banks did 
 not believe the enemy was in any considerable force, so, 
 after suffering severely for a while, from the rebel batteries, 
 he determined to charge those nearest him. General 
 Williams held the right, and Augur the left, of the line of 
 battle. General Prince, of the latter division, advanced his 
 brigade from this part of the field, supported by General 
 Geary, who moved nearly in a line with him. They swept 
 past our artillery, entered a corn field in beautiful order, and 
 moved steadily forward towards the hostile batteries, that 
 all the while played fast and furiously into their exposed 
 ranks. The brave men took the desolating fire with aston 
 ishing firmness, and, with their eyes bent on the deadly 
 guns, kept grandly, devotedly on. But suddenly a heavy 
 mass of infantry, till then concealed behind a low swell, rose 
 before them and poured a fearful volley into their very faces. 
 This unexpected fire, combined with that of the batteries, 
 was too much for them, and they were compelled to fall 
 back, though not till they had left nearly two-thirds of their 
 entire number on the field. Prince, while gallantly holding 
 his men to their murderous work, was surrounded and taken 
 
58 JACKSON RETREATS. 
 
 prisoner, and Geary was borne back severely wounded. 
 Crawford and Gordon, in a piece of woods on the extreme 
 right, contended with equal gallantry against the same hope 
 less odds ; but were also compelled to fall back. The bat 
 tle proper, lasted scarcely more than thirty minutes, and 
 yet, in that short space of time, General Gordon lost one- 
 fourth of his entire brigade, and the One Hundred and Ninth 
 Pennsylvania and One Hundred and Second New York 
 regiments, left half their number behind them. Pope, 
 hearing the cannonade at Culpepper, hurried forward with 
 McDowell s Corps, to the rescue. Sigel was also ordered to 
 close up with all possible despatch, and every preparation 
 was made for a great battle. Darkness settled over the sum 
 mer landscape ; yet, all along that mountain side, occasional 
 spots of flame would flash out, as a battery, now and then, 
 sent its heavy shot and shell into the .valley below but 
 before Pope could get his forces up, Jackson had retired 
 across the Rapidan. He had accomplished his purpose de 
 coyed Banks into a trap, and shattered his corps into frag 
 ments, that could unite no more, till that campaign was 
 ended ; for nearly one-fourth of his entire force was killed, 
 wounded, and missing, at the close of that short desperate 
 struggle. 
 
 Pope blamed Banks for bringing on this disastrous battle, 
 saying that his orders were to stand on the defensive, until 
 he could move up his main body, and that his neglecting to 
 do so, not only caused a useless slaughter, but saved Jack 
 son from total annihilation. What the ultimate result of the 
 campaign would have been, had Banks obeyed orders, it is 
 impossible to say. We only know it was a sad beginning 
 of a sad campaign. Pope, finding that it was impossible to 
 hold his advanced position, on which the enemy was mov 
 ing in overwhelming force, resolved to abandon it, and on 
 the 18th and 19th, safely moving his entire army across 
 
A SWIFT MARCH. 59 
 
 the Rappahannock, for several days succeeded in holding 
 the fords against the repeated attempts of the enemy to 
 cross. These demonstrations of Lee, however, in front, were 
 not very determined, and evidently made to mask his 
 grand movement, which was to turn the right wing of 
 Pope s army. The situation was fast becoming one, that 
 might well fill the latter with anxiety. It would not do to 
 uncover Fredericksburg, yet to extend his lines so as to keep 
 pace with the rebel movement to the right, rendered it so 
 thin as to be easily forced at almost any point. A sudden 
 freshet raising the river, so that there were but few points 
 where it could be crossed, relieved him for a while. On the 
 25th only seven thousand men, the Pennsylvania reserves un 
 der Reynolds and Kearney s division, had reached him from 
 the Army of the Potomac. But receiving word that thirty 
 thousand more were on their way to join him, he determined 
 to let go his hold on the lower fords of the Rappahannock, 
 and concentrate his forces between Warrenton and Gainesville, 
 and give the enemy battle. On the 26th he ascertained 
 that Jackson, having passed around his right, was moving 
 swiftly through Thorough Fare Gap, to cut off his communi 
 cation with Washington. Pope had directed the approach 
 ing reinforcements to take certain positions as they arrived, 
 which, he felt confident, would enable him to checkmate any 
 such attempt. But he was disappointed. In fact, the whole 
 movement of Jackson was a surprise to him. So rapid and 
 secret had his march of nearly fifty miles, in forty-eight 
 hours been, that his sudden appearance at Bristow Station, 
 on the Orange and Alexandria railroad, was like an appa 
 rition. Without wagons or provisions, feeding his army on 
 the standing corn, which the soldiers picked and roasted on 
 the way, he had moved with the celerity of cavalry, and was 
 now thundering in the rear of the puzzled American Com 
 mander, breaking up his head-quarters, and capturing his 
 
60 PURSUIT OF JACKSON. 
 
 papers. Burning railway trains at Bristow, the enemy moved 
 up to Manassas Junction, Swell s division bringing up the 
 rear. Destroying here, Quarter-Masters and Commissary 
 stores, and sutlers depots, the ragged, famished soldiers, 
 rioted, for a while, in luxury and drinking, and satiated 
 themselves with the finest wines. But Jackson was now in 
 a perilous position, being between Alexandria and Warren- 
 ton, and between Pope s army and that of McClellan. Turn 
 ing night into day, by the immense conflagrations he kindled 
 here, the enemy moved off to Centreville, and crossed the 
 famous Bull Run, pursued by Pope. Jackson would hardly 
 have dared to make this audacious movement, had he not 
 entertained a thorough contempt for his adversary. Pope 
 thought he had him in a trap, and telegraphed to Washing 
 ton that he could not escape. In fact, he had him secure 
 two or three times, yet the latter always managed to get 
 off, but in every case, through somebody s criminal neg 
 lect, or almost equally criminal blunders. The misfortune at 
 Bristow, was owing to the refusal, on the part of Porter, to 
 obey orders, and the dilatoriness of Sigel, who commanded 
 McDowell s advance. So too, if McDowell had u moved for 
 ward as directed, and at the time specified, they would have 
 intercepted Jackson s retreat towards Centreville," and cut 
 him up badly. But, after all these mishaps, Jackson was still 
 in his toils, as he believed. Surrounded by an overwhelming 
 force, his only way of escape was through Thorough Fare 
 Gap, or north to Leesburgh. But McDowell, with twenty- 
 five thousand men, was between him and the Gap, while 
 Kearney was pressing him so closely, that the latter alter 
 native would be impracticable. This was the state of things 
 on the night of the 28th. From Pope s point of view, it did 
 seem a desperate case for Jackson. Between him and the 
 Gap, lay twenty-five thousand men behind him, ready to 
 fall on him in the morning, were twenty -five thousand 
 
A BAYONET CHARGE. 61 
 
 more, while the rebel leader could not have had more than 
 twenty thousand men all told. But here again, "some 
 one blundered." Ricketts, according to Pope, made a false 
 movement, causing King to withdraw his troops, leaving 
 Thorough Fare Gap open, towards which Jackson was 
 steadily falling back, and through which Longstreet was 
 about to pour his division to succor him Of course, 
 a new disposition of the forces became necessary. Sigel was 
 directed to attack the enemy at daylight, and bring him to 
 bay. He did so and the battle of Groveton followed. It 
 was a bloody action, and at first, seemed doubtful, but the 
 arrival of Hooker and Kearney soon changed the aspect of 
 affairs. The battle raged all day, and the fields and woods 
 were thickly strewn with the dead; but, at five o clock, 
 Hemtzelman and Ileno made a furious charge on the enemy s 
 left, which doubled it up, and forced it back, so that, when 
 darkness put an end to the strife, we were masters of the 
 field, but nothing more. In the attack on the enemy s left, 
 Grover s brigade, of Hooker s division, greatly distinguished 
 itself by a bayonet charge, which shivered the first and 
 second lines of the enemy, and was checked only by the 
 third. 
 
 But while Jackson was compelled to fall back, Longstreet s 
 troops were seen pouring through Thorough Fare Gap to his 
 relief. 
 
 Our loss in this engagement was estimated at nearly eight 
 thousand. Again, Pope saw his enemy elude his grasp, but 
 this time, Porter was to blame ; for, if he had come up in 
 season, Pope u would have crushed or captured" (he said) 
 "the larger portion of Jackson s force." 
 
 The next morning, Pope again gave battle, in the last 
 desperate hope of breaking the enemy s left. The conflict 
 was long and sanguinary, extending on into the night. As 
 in the battle of the day before, no decisive advantage seemed 
 
62 MARCH OF LEE. 
 
 to have been gained by the enemy, yet, at its close, Pope 
 ordered the whole army to fall back to the fortifications 
 around Washington, for protection. He had ridiculed the 
 idea of securing lines of retreat, and the country had scoffed 
 at the veteran Scott, and afterwards at McClellan, for build 
 ing those elaborate works before venturing an advance 
 movement ; but now, the former was glad to take advantage 
 of the refuge he had affected to despise, and the latter 
 heaved a sigh of relief, that military science had not yielded 
 to popular ignorance and conceit. Halleck, at last, dis 
 covered the bold plan of Lee, which, the constant fighting, 
 and even the last two days battles, had not for a moment 
 arrested. Steadily sweeping on towards the Shenandoah 
 Valley, all the battles he had fought, were for the purpose of 
 clearing his line of communications, and forcing our army back 
 into its fortifications, exhausted, bleeding, humbled, so that 
 he could cross the Potomac into Maryland, and threaten the 
 national Capital from the rear. 
 
 All this time, McClellan, stripped of his command, was in 
 camp near Alexandria, a prey to the keenest anxiety. The 
 army that he had created, and which had become endeared 
 to him by common perils and a common destiny, was strug 
 gling in mortal combat near him the sound of cannon con 
 stantly borne to his ears, and the earth trembling under the 
 heavy explosions, and yet, he was not allowed to be with it 
 His brave troops were being mowed down, as he believed, 
 a sacrifice to incompetency, yet he could do nothing, but 
 send on fresh men as fast as they arrived, till he had nothing 
 left, but the guard around his camp, and this, at last, was 
 ordered forward also. Never was a Commander placed in a 
 more painful position. Stripped of all command, he walked 
 his solitary carnp, borne down with grief. At last he could 
 bear it no longer, and just before midnight, on the last day 
 of the battle, he telegraphed to Gen. Halleck, at Washing- 
 
MCCLELLAN RESTORED. 63 
 
 i 
 
 ton: "I cannot express to you the pain and mortification I 
 have experienced to-day, in listening to the distant sound of 
 the firing of my men. As I can be of no further use here, I 
 respectfully ask, that if there is a probability of the conflict 
 -being renewed to-morrow, I may be permitted to go to the 
 scene of battle with my Staff, merely to be with my own 
 men, if nothing more. They will fight none the worse for 
 my being with them. If it is not deemed best to intrust 
 me with the command of my own army, I simply ask to be 
 permitted to share their fate on the field of battle. Please 
 reply to this to-night." To this he received no answer. 
 
 Such an appeal was enough to move a heart of stone. 
 Though disgraced from his high command, he did not yield 
 to resentment, and stand aloof in scornful anger, but, from 
 a heart wrung with anguish for his brave troops, he prayed 
 simply that he might fly to the battle-field and share their 
 fate. If, however, he had wished for revenge, he would 
 have been satisfied the next day, when the terrified General- 
 in-Chief, whose treatment of him had been so extraordinary, 
 sent to him the following telegram: u I beg of you to assist 
 me in this crisis, ivith your ability and experience. I am en 
 tirely tired out." Csesar was, at length, compelled to cry, 
 u Help me, Cassius, or I sink." The President, too, who 
 had hoped to the last for success, at length yielded to 
 alarm, for he was suddenly aroused at the sight of the Capi 
 tal in imminent peril, and sending for McClellan, placed him 
 once more at the head of the army. The country, at last, 
 awoke to the humiliating fact, that Pope s campaign had 
 been a lamentable failure. A few friends, however, endeav 
 ored to break- his fall, by asserting that he failed through 
 the willful neglect of some of the commanders, to aid him 
 chief among whom was Porter. Certainly, if Pope s state 
 ments are to be received as true, he was the most injured and 
 abused Commander of his time. In the first place, at the 
 
64 CAUSES OF FAILURE. 
 
 outset, General Hatch failed to obey orders and take Gor- 
 donsville. Afterwards, he neglected to march to Charlottes- 
 ville and destroy the railroad between that place and Lynch- 
 burg, for which he was removed from the command of the 
 cavalry of General Banks Corps. On the top of this misfor 
 tune, came the calamitous battle of Cedar Mountain, which 
 Pope declares was fought contrary to his orders. In the 
 third place, when Jackson was retreating from Manassas 
 Junction towards Centreville, Pope says, " if the whole force 
 under General McDowell, had moved forward as directed, 
 and at the time specified, they would have intercepted 
 Jackson s retreat ;" and he adds, "I do not believe it 
 would have been possible for him to cross Bull Run with 
 out heavy loss." Again, directly after, when he "felt 
 sure there was no escape for Jackson, to his great disappoint 
 ment the plan all fell through," because u King s division 
 had fallen back, leaving open the road to Thorough Fare 
 Gap." Again, on the 29th, he would have achieved a signal 
 victory over Jackson, but for the "strange failure" of Gen. 
 Porter to move as he was directed. And finally, on the 
 30th, he says "he began to feel discouraged and nearly 
 hopeless of any successful issue " to his operations, on account 
 of a letter he received from General McClellan, informing 
 him that "rations and forage were at Alexandria, waiting a 
 cavalry escort." Beginning with a commander of cavalry, 
 and being kept up by three corps commanders, two "of whom 
 were in the regular army, this constant disobedience to 
 orders worked the disastrous issues over which the country 
 mourned. If all this was true, he certainly was an injured 
 man, and the wrongs done him received their climax, when 
 the Administration virtually withdrew him from the field, 
 and sent him to the Northwest, to conduct a campaign 
 against the Sioux Indians, who had risen, and massacred 
 several hundred of the inhabitants of Minnesota. The cam- 
 
REVIEW OF THE CAMPAIGN. 65 
 
 paign, however, needs no elaborate criticism. Recalling the 
 army from the James River was a great blunder. The re 
 moval of McClellan did not necessitate the removal of the 
 army, for there were Generals in it besides him, who, 
 from that point, with proper reinforcements, could have 
 carried it into Richmond. Pope, also, was no match for 
 Lee, least of all in a country so thoroughly known by the 
 latter, and of which he was almost wholly ignorant. Pope 
 comprehended neither the campaign nor the country, and 
 the General-in-chief, at Washington, was no wiser. The 
 former, by looking at his map, could see points, where a 
 proper force might thwart the movements of his adversary, 
 and hence ordered them there, without taking into considera 
 tion the probabilities, and sometimes the possibilities, of their 
 getting up in time to carry out his plans. If the army had 
 been endowed with wings, his campaign might have been a 
 very successful one, but, as it was, it turned out a miserable 
 failure, the blame of which fell wholly on him, while it should 
 be divided between him and General Halleck. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 SEPTEMBER-1862. 
 
 ALARM AT WASHINGTON ANTIETAM MC CLELLAN TAKES THE FIELD BATTLE 
 
 OF SOUTH MOUNTAIN SURRENDER OF HARPER S FERRY BATTLE OF ANTIE 
 TAM HOOKER S STRUGGLE FATAL DELAY OF BURNSIDE LEE S RETREAT 
 
 PUBLIC DISAPPOINTMENT THE ARMY RESTS EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION 
 
 SUSPENSION OF HABEAS CORPUS ITS EFFECTS ITS DANGERS. 
 
 THE terror inspired at Washington, by the unfortunate 
 turn of events, was not generally known to the country. 
 Lee was throwing his mighty columns across the Potomac, 
 in the vicinity of Hagerstown, but whether for the purpose 
 of moving down upon Washington on the Maryland side, 
 or of invading Pennsylvania, or with the design to draw our 
 troops in that direction, and then suddenly recross the river, 
 and come down on the Capital on the Virginia side, no one 
 knew. 
 
 Reorganizing the army, as by magic, McClellan at once 
 took the field, moving cautiously up the Potomac, on the 
 Maryland side. His gallant army, though foot sore and 
 worn, were, however, full of spirit and courage, because 
 their beloved Commander rode at their head, and were 
 eager to meet the exultant foe, before whom they had been 
 so reluctantly compelled to retire. 
 
 With his left wing resting on the Potomac, and his right 
 extending far out into the country, he moved by five dif 
 ferent parallel roads, slowly and cautiously up the river, 
 anxiously watching the development of the rebel plans. 
 On the thirteenth, he had reached Fredericksburg, still in 
 ignorance of the exact whereabouts of the rebel army. But, 
 
HARPER S FERRY. 67 
 
 during the day, an order of General Lee, fell into McClellan s 
 hands, which fully disclosed the plans of the former. This 
 was all the latter had been waiting for. He was now no 
 longer compelled to feel his way, and immediately gave 
 orders for the entire army to move rapidly forward. Har 
 per s Ferry, on the Virginia side of the river, was, at this 
 time, held by Colonel Miles, with a large garrison, which, 
 for some unexplained reason, was not allowed, at the first, 
 to be under McClellan s charge, though being directly in the 
 field of his operations. Before he left Washington, he had 
 requested that the garrison Joe withdrawn, either to the 
 Maryland Heights, which could be easily held, or sent to 
 aid in covering the Cumberland Valley. This advice was 
 unheeded, and the place kept from his control, until Jackson, 
 with a heavy force, was already advancing against it. Two 
 days after McClellan was informed that the place was under 
 his command, he received a verbal report from Colonel 
 Miles, that he had abandoned Maryland Heights, the key to 
 the position, but that he could hold out two days longer. 
 McClellan sent couriers back, by three different routes, to 
 inform him that he was forcing the pass on the Hagerstown 
 road, over the Blue Ridge, and that he would certainly 
 soon relieve him. u Hold to the last extremity," was his 
 urgent command. In the mean time the 
 
 BATTLE OF SOUTH MOUNTAIN. 
 
 was raging. The rebels occupied the sides and tops of the 
 mountain, on both sides of the road, at a point called 
 Frog s Gap. The lofty slopes were steep, broken, and 
 wooded, furnishing a strong position for defense, and which 
 commanded every approach to the base of the ridge. The 
 battle commenced at seven o clock in the morning, by the 
 advance of Cox s division of Reno s Corps. A heavy artil- 
 
68 BATTLE OF SOUTH MOUNTAIN. 
 
 lery duel followed, the enemy pouring their shot and shell 
 down from the sides of the mountains, and our batteries re 
 plying from the plain below. About noon, a short, severe 
 conflict occurred between the infantry, over some pieces 
 abandoned by our troops in a panic, in which the rebels 
 were beaten. About two o clock, the head of Hooker s col 
 umn, coming to reinforce Reno, was seen moving along the 
 turnpike. Sweeping off in a road that turned to the right, it 
 steadily approached the foot of the mountain, amid the pro 
 longed cheers of Reno s troops. An hour later, the line of 
 battle was formed at the base of the ridge Rickett s 
 brigade on the extreme right, and Reno s on the left and 
 the order to advance given. The enemy opened on it with 
 artillery, but it steadily advanced, and, at length, began to 
 ascend the rugged slope. In a short time the whole rebel 
 force was encountered, and then the wooded steep became 
 wrapped in flame and smoke. For three hours, it thundered 
 and flamed without a moment s interval, along the breast of 
 the mountain, but nothing could stay the steady upward 
 sweep of that magnificent line, and as the last rays of the 
 sun were gilding the summit, our victorious flag was planted 
 upon it, and the shout of triumph rolled down the farther 
 side, after the fleeing enemy. Our total loss, in killed and 
 wounded, was two thousand three hundred and twenty-five 
 that of the enemy was unknown. Among our dead was 
 the gallant Reno. 
 
 The next day, the garrison at Harper s Ferry surrendered, 
 numbering eleven thousand five hundred and eighty-three 
 men, with nearly fifty pieces of artillery. The cavalry, 
 about two thousand in number, under Colonel Davis, escaped 
 previously, capturing Longstreet s train, and a hundred 
 prisoners on its way. The unnecessary fall of this place, 
 awakened the deepest indignation, and the blame was laid, 
 now on Halleck, and now on Miles, and again on McClellan. 
 
ADVANCE OF THE ARMY. 69 
 
 Colonel Ford, who commanded the Heights, also came in 
 for his share of the blame. The disgraceful affair, however, 
 is surrounded with no difficulties. Colonel Miles was not a 
 fit man to command the place, as had been fully shown in 
 his conduct at the first battle of Bull Run, and should not 
 have been put there. His death, after he had hoisted the 
 white flag, saved him from further disgrace. 
 
 The second blunder was in not putting it under McClel- 
 lan s command at the first, as it was inclosed in the field of 
 his military operations. His advice, at least, should have 
 been taken. General Franklin was within a few miles of 
 Harper s Ferry, to relieve it, when it surrendered. A proper 
 officer could have held the place, though in itself it was of no 
 consequence, in the campaign; for, if McClellanwas beaten, we 
 could not hold it, and if he drove the enemy out of Mary 
 land, it was necessarily ours, for the latter would not attempt 
 to retain it, as the sequel proved. The misfortune consisted 
 in losing, at this critical period, so many men whom McClellan 
 could have put to a useful purpose. The latter was blamed 
 for not relieving it, at the last moment. But it fell within 
 three days after it was placed under his command, and while 
 his relieving columns were almost within cannon shot of it. 
 
 Although, as before stated, Harper s Ferry, as a military 
 post, had no important bearing on McClcllan s plan of the 
 campaign, the loss of so many troops at this juncture, was a 
 serious matter, and, in case of disaster, might increase it in 
 definitely. Still, no change was made in the Commander s 
 purpose, and no delay permitted in the movement of the 
 army. He had ascertained definitely, Lee s whereabouts and 
 designs, and he was resolved at once to give him battle. 
 Pushing his army rapidly forward, he, on the 15th, came 
 upon the rebel host, drawn up in line of battle, on a row 
 of heights that stretched along the west side of Antietarn 
 Creek. 
 
70 AN T IE T AM. 
 
 BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. 
 
 Antietam is a sluggish stream, emptying into the Potomac, 
 with but a few fords, and those difficult ones ; near these 
 the enemy had taken his position. Four stone bridges crossed 
 within the distance of about seven miles the last one being 
 near its mouth. The creek entering the Potomac at a sharp 
 angle, brought the two streams so near together at Sharps- 
 burg, that Lee s position actually stretched from one to the 
 other thus protecting both his flanks and his rear. The 
 rebel leader had chosen his position admirably, for a stronger 
 one could not well be found. Not only was he protected 
 by these two streams, but the heights on which he was 
 planted, were not composed of a single line of hills, which, 
 if once carried, the battle was won, but of a succession of 
 hills those .in rear commanding those in front. The hol 
 lows between, successfully concealed the number and move 
 ments of the hostile troops. A direct advance in front was 
 plainly out of the question, and McClellan, having thoroughly 
 reconnoitered the ground, resolved to attack by both flanks. 
 Hooker and Mansfield, supported by Sumner, were to at 
 tempt to turn the enemy s left, while Burnside, at the proper 
 moment, was to carry the lower bridge, near the mouth of 
 the creek, and crush the enemy s right, and then sweep along 
 the heights towards the centre, which was then to advance 
 and complete the victory. In accordance with this plan, 
 Hooker, with his corps, composed of Pdckett s, Meade s, and 
 Doubleday s divisions, was ordered, on the afternoon of the 
 16th, to cross Antietam Creek by the upper bridge and 
 a ford near it, attack the enemy s left, and fix himself 
 firmly there, while Mansfield was to cross during the night, 
 and Sumner early next morning. The passage of the stream 
 was effected without difficulty, and the. corps moved can- 
 
A GALL A NT CHARGE. 71 
 
 tiously down on the enemy s flank, on the further side. More 
 or less skirmishing followed, but the firing* ceased at dark, 
 when Hooker found himself, breast to breast, with the hos 
 tile lines. The autumn night fell peacefully along the 
 heights, but it was evident that the morning s dawn would 
 witness the most fearful battle, thus far, of the war, and, in 
 all human probability, settle the fate of Washington. It was 
 clear, too, that the heaviest fighting was to be where Hooker 
 commanded. Porter, holding the centre with Sykes, massed 
 his troops, in a hollow, so as to be used as the exigencies 
 of the battle might require, while his batteries above, played 
 on the enemy. 
 
 The morning of the 17th broke somber and slow, over 
 the heights, behind which slumbered the two great armies ; 
 for dull, heavy clouds wrapped the sky, giving a deeper 
 gloom to the still forests around. But, in the early light, 
 Hooker with his accustomed energy moved boldly on the 
 foe. The men had scarcely swallowed their hasty breakfast, 
 when the rapid shots of the Pennsylvania skirmishers an 
 nounced that the fight had begun. The whole corps was 
 soon engaged, and for half an hour it stormed and thundered 
 miles away to the right, as though the main battle was being 
 fought there at the outset. The contest was in an open space, 
 made, by a- plowed field and a cornfield, and both armies 
 stood up resolutely to their work. But at length, the enemy 
 began to give way, when, u Forward !" ran along the line, and 
 it sprang forward with a ringing cheer. Though at first 
 retiring slowly, the rebels at this wild rush, fled precipitately, 
 and were borne furiously back over the field, across the 
 road beyond, and still back, till a piece of thick woods re 
 ceived them. Meade and his Pennsylvanians, whose blood 
 was now up, followed fiercely after, and with a wild hurrah, 
 dashed full on the cover. The next moment, those dark 
 woods became a sheet of flame, bursting on those brave men. 
 
 35 
 
72 HOOKER WOUNDED. 
 
 Rent, shattered and torn before it, they.reeled and staggered 
 back. The next moment, like successive waves of the sea, 
 the hostile lines swept out into view, cheering as they 
 came, and carried the field like a storm. Hooker, seeing 
 the danger, threw a brigade in the path of the foe, but it 
 went down like frostwork, before the on-sweeping mass. 
 u Give me," said he to Doubleday, "your best brigade. 7 
 Down, on the run, came the best brigade, and reckless of 
 shot and shell, moved straight up to the crest of the hill that 
 crowned the cornfield, and forming in full view of the enemy, 
 began to pour in their rapid, deadly volleys. Hartsuff, 
 commanding, fell severely wounded ; but that noble brigade 
 held its own for half an hour, and then, finding no support 
 coming up, dashed alone into the cornfield, and swept it 
 with one gallant rush. Ricketts, holding the left of the line, 
 was hard pressed, and Mansfield was ordered to his relief, 
 but the gallant white-haired General fell in the onset. For 
 a mile and a half, the battle raged furiously, all along Hook 
 er s front ; but at length, getting his two flanks safe, which 
 the rebels had made almost superhuman efforts to turn, he 
 determined to advance and end the struggle. To the right 
 of the cornfield, was a piece of woods running out to a point 
 which commanded the field, and he determined to take and 
 hold it. Advancing to an eminence to reconnoiter the 
 ground, he was struck in the foot with a bullet, and com 
 pelled to leave the field. Sumner immediately took command, 
 and the advance commenced, the gallant Sedgwick leading ; 
 Crawford and Gordon stoutly battling in the woods ; but the 
 former, however, was compelled to give way, and his dis 
 ordered troops poured like a torrent through Sedgwick s 
 brigade, hurling it back broken and confused. The enemy, 
 seeing his advantage, pressed fiercely on, with shouts that 
 rose over the crash of artillery. Sedgwick, vainly striving 
 to rally his troops under the rebel fire, was three times 
 
B U R N S I D E S ATTACK. 73 
 
 wounded, but refused to leave the field, till lie saw the at 
 tempt was hopeless. His Adjutant-General, Major Sedgwick, 
 threw himself among the broken ranks in vain, and fell 
 mortally wounded. Howard now assumed command, but 
 his efforts were equally fruitless. Sumner undertook to re 
 form the line, but to no purpose, and the division fell back, 
 leaving the cornfield to the enemy. It was now noon, and 
 at this crisis, Franklin came up and was sent to the right. 
 He at once ordered Slocum and Smith, commanding the two 
 divisions, to sweep the field. The latter, moving with the 
 rapidity and resistlessness of a whirlwind, in ten minutes, 
 cleared it of all but the rebel dead. The enemy now gave it 
 up, and a lull in the conflict followed. 
 
 Hooker s attack had not been as successful as McClellan 
 had anticipated. The bulk of our army had been massed 
 on that flank, and yet the most it had been able to do, 
 was to fix itself on the left of the enemy, while the heavy 
 loss in officers and men, and the protracted, exhausting 
 fighting, had left it unable to make any further forward 
 movement. 
 
 The advance of Burnside on the left, over the bridge, 
 which was designed to be simultaneous with that on the 
 right, had been weak and undecided thus allowing the en 
 emy, with his shorter lines, to throw the weight of his force 
 against Hooker. This delay was fatal to the success of Mc- 
 Clellan s plan. At eight o clock he sent an order to Burn- 
 side to carry the bridge, gain the heights beyond, and move 
 along their crest to the enemy s rear. He himself occupied 
 an eminence about midway between the two wings, and 
 anxiously swept the field with his glass. Although the 
 earthquake crash of artillery on the extreme right, showed 
 that "the heroic Hooker was throwing himself with terrible 
 force on the enemy there, the firing on the left indicated 
 that Burnside had not closed resolutely with the foe, and 
 
74 FATAL DELAY. 
 
 McClellan, becoming filled with anxiety, hurried off an 
 other aid to Burnside, who dashed up to him, with the 
 order to carry the bridge in his front, at all hazards. The 
 aid returning with the report that the enemy still held the 
 bridge, McClellan, now thoroughly aroused to the danger 
 that threatened him, sent his Inspector- General, Col. Sackett, 
 with the peremptory order to Burnside, to push forward 
 without a moment s delay, and carry, the bridge at the point 
 of the bayonet. If he hesitated, Sackett himself was directed 
 to stay and see it done. At last, at one o clock, the Fifty- 
 first regiments of the New- York and Pennsylvania volun 
 teers, in a gallant burst, carried it with triumphant shouts. 
 Burnside then moved across, other troops, and the enemy 
 fell back to the heights. Hours, golden hours, big with the 
 fate of the army and the nation, had been allowed to slip 
 by ; yet, even now, a vigorous and daring advance might 
 save the day. Instead of this, however, Burnside, acting on 
 his judgment, ordered a halt, and began to plant his artillery. 
 Hearing of this, McClellan dispatched Col. Key, with orders 
 to him to push on and carry the heights that success was 
 impossible unless he did that he must not stop to calculate 
 losses. Three o clock came, and still the heights were not 
 carried. Again McClellan hurried off Key, with orders to 
 storm the heights at all hazards. At last the order was 
 obeyed the enemy were driven from their guns by our 
 gallant troops, that now pushed forward with loud hurrahs, 
 some of them even reaching the outskirts of Sharpsburg. 
 But the advantage came too late, for heavy rebel rein 
 forcements, that had been hurrying forward all day from 
 Harper s Ferry, arriving at this critical moment on the 
 field, turned the scale against Burnside, and compelled 
 him to fall back. Seeing himself suddenly threatened 
 with overthrow, he sent to McClellan for help. "McClel- 
 lan s glass, for the last half-hour, has seldom been turned 
 
CLOSE OF THE CONFLICT. 75 
 
 away from the left. He sees clearly enough that Burn- 
 side is pressed needs no messenger to tell him that. His 
 face grows dark with anxious thought. Looking down 
 into the valley, where fifteen thousand men are lying, he 
 turns a half-questioning look on Fitz John Porter, who stands 
 by his side, gravely scanning the field. They are Porter s 
 troops below ; are fresh, and only impatient to share in the 
 fight. But Porter slowly shakes his head, and one may be 
 lieve that the same thought is passing through the minds of 
 both generals. McClellan remounts his horse, and, with 
 Porter and a dozen of his Staff, rides away to the left, in 
 Burnside s direction. Sykes meets them on the road a 
 good soldier, whose opinion is worth taking. The three 
 soldiers talk briefly together. It is easy to see that the mo 
 ment has come, when everything may turn on an order given 
 or withheld when the history of the battle is only to be writ 
 ten in thoughts, and purposes, and words, of the General." 
 
 " Burnside s messenger rides up. His message is, 1 1 want 
 troops and guns. If you do not send them, I cannot hold 
 my position a half an hour. McClellan s only answer is a 
 glance at the western sky. Then he turns and speaks, very 
 slowly : Tell General Burnside, this is the battle of the 
 war. He must hold his ground till dark, at any cost. I 
 will send him Miller s battery. I can do nothing more. I 
 have no infantry. Then, as the messenger was riding 
 away, he called him back : c Tell him if he cannot hold his 
 ground, then the bridge, to the last man ahvays the bridge. 
 If the bridge is lost, all is lost. "* The bridge was held 
 darkness soon covered the field, and the great battle was 
 over. If Burnside had commenced his movement two hours 
 sooner, there is scarcely a doubt, that night would have 
 seen the rebel army fleeing across the Potomac, As it was, 
 the two tired hosts lay down, front to front, along the slug- 
 
 * George N. Smalley, correspondent of the Tribune. 
 
76 RETREAT OF LEE. 
 
 gish Antietam, waiting for the morning, to renew the con 
 flict. Twelve thousand had fallen on our side, and a much 
 larger number of the enemy a ghastly throng covering 
 those wooded heights, and choking the hollows. We had 
 taken six thousand prisoners, and thirteen guns. 
 
 The next morning, McClellan determined to renew the 
 fight, but he found his heavy batteries were nearly out of 
 ammunition ten thousand stragglers were scattered among 
 the hills supplies were to be brought up, while fourteen 
 thousand fresh troops were on the march to join him. He, 
 therefore, deemed it prudent to delay the attack till the next 
 day, and spent the 18th in caring for the wounded, burying 
 the dead, and gathering up his energies for the last decisive 
 blow. Everything being completed, the orders were issued 
 to commence the attack at daylight, but the enemy during 
 the night had retreated, placing the Potomac between him 
 self and our victorious army. 
 
 The nation was exultant over the victory. The feeling 
 of triumph was dashed, however, because Lee s army had 
 escaped. From the commencement of the war, certain cries, 
 taken up by a portion of the press, had become, for a time, 
 popular, and, like all clamors, furious and unreasonable. The 
 first, was derision of fortifications, as though it were impos 
 sible to suppose we should ever need them. Then, there 
 came an unthinking demand, that a retreating army r no 
 matter whether it was ten, or a hundred thousand strong, 
 should always be " bagged " by an equal number, though op 
 erating in a country covered with forests, crossed by rugged 
 heights, and seamed with rivers. Next, came the outcry 
 against siege operations, and the adoption of the motto, u to 
 move at once upon the enemy s works." One after another, 
 they were abandoned, as they always must be, and the 
 operations in the field, left to those who understood their 
 business. Thus, the next year, the public saw, without one 
 
THE ARMY RESTS. 77 
 
 word of complaint, Meade s victorious army, with all its 
 reinforcements up, sit down idly for a week on tins very 
 spot, and let Lee construct scows, and ferry his army, guns 
 and supplies and all, over the Potomac, that seemed swollen 
 with rains on purpose to secure the overthrow of the enemy. 
 So, too, the clamor against the comparatively short siege of 
 Yorktown, was changed to plaudits over the tedious sieges of 
 Port Hudson and Vicksburg. 
 
 McClellan did not undertake to move his army at once, 
 across the Potomac, for, he knew, if the enemy chose to re 
 treat, he could do so without serious molestation ; and if he 
 risked another battle, it would have to be accepted under 
 great disadvantages, and with the river, which was liable 
 to be swollen at any time so as to be unfordable, between 
 him and his base of supplies. On the night of the 19th, 
 however, General Griffin, with a part of two brigades, crossed 
 the river and carried the enemy s batteries, capturing several 
 prisoners, and driving the rebel supports back a half a mile. 
 He reported, on his return, that appearances indicated the 
 retreat of Lee towards Winchester. To ascertain whether 
 this was actually so, Porter, in the morning, sent over a 
 detachment which advanced about a mile, when it fell into 
 an ambush, and was driven back with great slaughter. 
 
 The balance of the month was spent in resting the over 
 tasked troops, bringing up supplies and ammunition, and in 
 vain attempts to get the soldiers properly clothed, so that 
 an onward movement could be resumed with some prospect 
 of success. While the first month of Autumn was thus 
 drawing to a close, the two armies still confronting each 
 other on the upper Potomac, two proclamations were issued 
 by the President, which had an important bearing on the 
 future prospects of the war. One appeared on the 22d, 
 abolishing slavery in all the States that should be in rebel 
 lion on the 1st day of January. 1863. The President had 
 
78 EMANCIPATION. 
 
 long been urged to do this, both by politicians and 
 ecclesiastical bodies, but he had stubbornly refused, not only 
 on the ground of its doubtful constitutionality, but its 
 uselessness, saying, facetiously, that it would be like the 
 "Pope s bull against the comet." The armies freed the 
 slaves, only as far as they advanced, and it seemed to him 
 idle to suppose that a proclamation could achieve more than 
 the bayonets of the soldiers. It would be time, he thought, 
 to settle this vexed question when the rebel armies had been 
 conquered. With these views, he had struggled hard to se 
 cure an Emancipation Act, which would allow compensation to 
 the owners of slaves. In his preceding message, therefore, he 
 had recommended the adoption of the following resolutions : 
 
 "Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States 
 of America in Congress assembled, (two thirds of both Houses concurring.) 
 That the following articles be proposed to the Legislatures (or Conventions) 
 of the several States, as amendments to the Constitution of the United States, 
 all or any of which articles, when ratified by three-fourths of the said Legis 
 latures (or Conventions,) to be valid as part or parts of the said Constitution, 
 namely : 
 
 ARTICLE . Every State, wherein slavery now exists, which shall abolish 
 the same therein, at any time, or times, before the first day of January, in 
 the year of our Lord one thousand nine humdred, shall receive compensa 
 tion from the United States, as follows, to wit : 
 
 The President of the United States shall deliver to every such State, 
 
 bonds of the United States, bearing interest at the rate of per cent. 
 
 per annum, to an amount equal to the aggregate sum of for each 
 
 slave shown to have been therein, by the eighth census of the United States, 
 said bonds to be delivered to such States by instalments, or in one parcel, at 
 the completion of the abolishment, accordingly as the same shall have been 
 gradual, or at one time, within such State ; and interest shall begin to run 
 upon any such bond only from the proper time of its delivery as aforesaid. 
 Any State having received bonds as aforesaid, and afterwards reintroducing 
 or tolerating slavery therein, shall refund to the United States, the bonds so 
 received, or the value thereof, and all interest paid thereon. 
 
 ARTICLE . All slaves who shall have enjoyed actual freedom by the 
 chances of the war, at any time before the end of the rebellion, shall be for 
 ever free ; but all owners of such, who shall not have been disloyal, shall be 
 compensated for them, at the same rates as is provided for States adopting 
 abolishment of slavery, but in such way that no slave shall be twice account 
 ed for. 
 
 ARTICLE . Congress may appropriate money, and otherwise provide for 
 colonizing free colored persons, with their own consent, at any place or 
 places without the United States." 
 
AN ELOQUENT APPEAL. 79 
 
 He argued these resolutions at length, closing the mes 
 sage with the following eloquent, earnest language : 
 
 " This plan is recommended as a means, not in exclusion of, but addi 
 tional to all others, for restoring and preserving the national authority through 
 out the Union. The subject is presented exclusively in its economical 
 aspect. The plan would, I am confident, secure peace more speedily, and 
 maintain it more permanently, than can be done by force alone ; while all 
 it would cost, considering amounts, and manner of payment, arid times of 
 payment, would be easier paid, than will be the additional cost of the war, 
 if we rely solely upon force. It is much, very much, that it would cost no 
 blood at all. 
 
 The plan is proposed as permanent constitutional law. It cannot become 
 such, without the concurrence of, first, two-thirds of Congress, and afterwards, 
 three-fourths of the States. The requisite three-fourths of the States will 
 necessarily include seven of the slave States. Their concurrence, if obtained, 
 will give assurance of their severally adopting emancipation at no very dis 
 tant day, upon the new constitutional terms. This assurance would end the 
 struggle now, and save the Union forever. 
 
 I do not forget the gravity which should characterize a paper addressed 
 to the Congress of the nation, by the Chief Magistrate of the nation. Nor 
 do I forget that some of you are my seniors, nor that many of you have 
 more experience than I, in the conduct of public affairs. Yet I trust, that 
 in view of the great responsibility resting upon me, you will perceive no 
 want of respect to yourselves, in any undue earnestness I may seem to display. 
 
 Is it doubted, then, that the plan I propose, if adopted, would shorten the 
 war, and thus lessen its expenditure of money and of blood ? Is it doubted 
 that it would restore the national authority and national prosperity, and 
 perpetuate both indefinitely ? Is it doubted that we here Congress and 
 Executive can secure its adoption ? Will not the good people respond to 
 a united and earnest appeal from us? Can we, can they, by any other 
 means, so certainly or so speedily assure these vital objects? We can suc 
 ceed only by concert. It is not * can any of us imagine better ? but, can 
 we all do better ? Object whatsoever is possible, still the question recurs, 
 can we do better ? 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 disenthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country. 
 
 Fellow-citizens, 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 we pass, will light us down, in honor or dishonor, to the 
 latest generation. We say we are for the Union. The world will not for 
 get that we say this. We know how to save the Union. The world knows 
 we do know how to save it. We even we here hold the power and bear 
 the responsibility. In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the 
 free honorable alike in what we give, and what we preserve. We shall 
 nobly save, or meanly lose, the last, best hope of earth. Other means may 
 succeed ; this could not fail. The way is plain, peaceful, generous, just a 
 way which, if followed, the world will forever applaud, and God must forever 
 bless. 
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN." 
 
80 PROCLAMATION OF FREEDOM. 
 
 This plan not having been tried, we can only conjecture 
 how it would have worked, and what the final result would 
 have been. But whatever differences of opinion may be 
 entertained of these views, no one can doubt the sincerity, or 
 the lofty patriotism from which they sprung. Their straight 
 forward honesty must command the respect of all, while the 
 feeling with which they are urged, cannot fail to awaken the 
 deepest sympathy for their unselfish author. They were not 
 coincided in by Congress and the President seeing no alter 
 native, issued the following proclamation : 
 
 " I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States of America, and 
 Commander-in-Chief of the army and navy thereof, do hereby proclaim and 
 declare that hereafter, as heretofore, the war will be prosecuted for the object of| 
 practically restoring the constitutional relation between the United States and 
 the people thereof in those States in which that relation is, or may be, suspended 
 or disturbed ; that it is my purpose, upon the next meeting of Congress^ to 
 again recommend the adoption of a practical measure tendering pecuniary 
 aid to the free acceptance or rejection of all the Slave States, so-called, the 
 people Avhereof may not then be in rebellion against the United States, and 
 which States may then have voluntarily adopted, or thereafter may volun 
 tarily adopt, the immediate or gradual abolishment of slavery within their 
 respective limits; and that the efforts to colonize persons of African descent, 
 with their consent, upon the continent or elsewhere, with the previously ob 
 tained consent of the governments existing there, will be continued ; that 
 on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight 
 hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State or any 
 designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against 
 the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free ; and the Ex 
 ecutive Government of the United States, including the military and naval 
 authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, 
 and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any 
 efforts they may make for their actual freedom. 
 
 That the Executive will, on the first day of January aforesaid, by pro 
 clamation, designate the States and parts of States, if any, in which the peo 
 ple thereof, respectively, shall then be in rebellion against the United States ; 
 and the fact that any State, or people thereof, shall on that day be, in good 
 faith, represented in the Congress of the United States, by members chosen 
 thereto at elections, wherein a majority of the qualified voters of such State 
 shall have participated, shall, in the absence of strong countervailing testi 
 mony, be deemed conclusive evidence that such State, and the people there 
 of^ are not in rebellion against the United States. 
 
 That attention is hereby called to an Act of Congress entitled An Act to 
 make an additional article of war/ approved March 13, 1862, and which Act 
 k in the words and figures following : 
 
PROCLAMATION. 81 
 
 4 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
 States of America in Congress assembled, That hereafter, the following shall 
 be promulgated as an additional article of war, for the government of the 
 army of the United States, and shall be observed and obeyed as such : 
 
 1 ARTICLE . All officers or persons in the military or naval service of the 
 United States arc prohibited from employing any of the forces under their 
 respective commands, for the purpose of returning fugitives from service or 
 labor, who may have escaped from any person to whom such service or 
 labor is claimed to be due, and any officer who shall be found guilty by a 
 court-martial of violating this article, shall be dismissed from the service. 
 
 SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That this act shall take effect from and 
 after its passage. 
 
 Also to the ninth and tenth sections of an Act entitled * An Act to sup 
 press insurrection, to punish treason and rebellion, to seize and confiscate 
 property of rebels, and for other purposes, approved July 17, 1862, and 
 which sections are in the words and figures following : 
 
 SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That all slaves, of persons who shall 
 hereafter be engaged in rebellion against the Government of the United 
 States, or who shall in any way give aid or comfort thereto, escaping from 
 such persons and taking refuge within the lines of the army ; and all slaves 
 captured from such persons or deserted by them, and coming under the con 
 trol of the Government of the United States ; and all slaves of such persons, 
 found on [or being within] any place occupied by rebel forces, and after 
 wards occupied by the forces of the United States, shall be deemed captives 
 of war, and shall be forever free of their servitude, and not again held as 
 slaves. 
 
 SEC. 10. And be it further enacted, That no slave escaping into any 
 State, Territory, or the District of Columbia, from any other State, shall be 
 delivered up, or in any way impeded or hindered of his liberty, except for 
 crime, or some offense against the laws, unless the person claiming said 
 fugitive, shall first make oath that the person to whom the labor or service 
 of such fugitive is alleged to be due is his lawful owner, and has not been in 
 arms against the United States in the present rebellion, nor in any way given 
 aid and comfort thereto ; and no person engaged in the military or naval 
 service of the United States shall, under any pretence whatever, assume to 
 decide on the validity of the claim of any person, to the service or labor of 
 any other person, or surrender up any such person to the claimant, on pain 
 of being dismissed from the service. 
 
 And I do hereby enjoin upon and order all persons engaged in the mili 
 tary and naval service of the United States to observe, obey, and enforce, 
 within their respective spheres of service, the act and sections above recited. 
 
 And the Executive will in due time recommend that all citizens of the 
 United States, who shall have remained loyal thereto throughout the rebel 
 lion, shall, (upon the restoration of the constitutional relation between the 
 United States and their respective States and people, if the relation shall 
 have been suspended or disturbed,) be compensated for all losses by acts 
 of the United States, including the loss of slaves. 
 
 In witness 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 twenty-second day of September in 
 
82 EMANCIPATION. 
 
 tlic year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, and of the 
 Independence of the United States the eighty-seventh. 
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 By the President : 
 
 WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State" 
 
 It is not to be supposed that the President ever regarded 
 the question with indifference, or one to be disposed of by a 
 joke ; but with his eminently practical niind, he saw that the 
 motives which influenced many, were based altogether on 
 erroneous views, and the effect which they predicted 
 would follow such a Proclamation, wholly chimerical. Not 
 withstanding all that has been said on this subject, we doubt 
 very much whether the President, to the last, ever expected, 
 such an edict would have any favorable effect on the war, 
 so far as the South was concerned on the contrary, we think 
 he foresaw what actually occurred, that it would unite its popu 
 lation more firmly than ever, and give Davis more complete 
 and absolute power. He doubtless anticipated some effect 
 on foreign governments, which was realized ; but the great 
 object with him seemed to be, to get rid of the monstrous 
 evil of Slavery. The madness of the South had brought it 
 within the reach of the General Government, and if he could 
 make its fate and that of the Rebellion one, he would, he 
 believed, achieve the greatest and most beneficent triumph 
 of this century. Still, with these views and wishes, consti 
 tutional and other objections interposed in his mind, which 
 made him long hesitate. It was a very self-complacent con 
 clusion that many ardent immediate-emancipationists came 
 to, that Mr. Lincoln was a man of excellent motives, but had 
 not yet grown to their stature and completeness and that 
 when these were attained^ he then issued his Proclamation. To 
 him, it was a momentous step to take, and one he determined 
 not to be forced into hastily ; nor, with all his philanthropic 
 desire to see Slavery extinguished, would he have assailed it, 
 so long as he thought the attempt would imperil the Union. 
 
EMANCIPATION. 83 
 
 There is no evidence that he ever departed from the purpose 
 he expressed in his letter to Horace Greeley the Union first 
 and foremost Slavery afterward. When, at length, he saw 
 that to withhold action longer would not help the Union, and 
 when, as Commander of the armies, and not as a civil magis 
 trate, he could, as a war measure, strike Slavery, he did, 
 and, on the 1st of January, 1863, issued the following 
 final Proclamation : 
 
 " Whereas, on the twenty-second day of September, in the year of our Lord 
 one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, a proclamation was issued by the 
 President of the United States, containing among other things, the follow 
 ing, to wit : 
 
 1 That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand 
 eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State or 
 designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion 
 against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever, free ; 
 and the Executive Government of the United States, including the military 
 and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such 
 persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, 
 in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom. 
 
 * That the Executive will, on the first day of January aforesaid, by pro 
 clamation, designate the States and parts of States, if any, in which the peo 
 ple thereof, respectively, shall then be in rebellion against the United States ; 
 and the fact that any State, or the people thereof, shall on that day be, in 
 good faith, represented in the Congress of the United States, by members 
 chosen thereto at elections, wherein a majority of the qualified voters of such 
 States shall have participated, shall, in the absence of strong countervailing 
 testimony, be deemed conclusive evidence that such State, and the people 
 thereof, are not then in rebellion against the United States. 
 
 Now, therefore, I, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, President of the United States, by 
 virtue of the power in me vested as Commander-in-Chief of the Army and 
 Navy of the United States, in time of actual armed rebellion against the 
 authority and Government of the United States, and as a fit and necessary 
 war measure for suppressing said rebellion, do, on this first day of January, 
 in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and in 
 accordance with my purpose so to do, publicly proclaimed for the full period 
 of one hundred days, from the day first above-mentioned, order and desig 
 nate as the States and parts of States wherein the people thereof, respec 
 tively, are this day in rebellion against the United States, the following, to 
 wit: 
 
 Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, (except the parishes of St. Bernard, Plaque- 
 mines, Jefferson, St. John, St. Charles, St. James, Ascension, Assumption, 
 Terre Bonne, Lafourche, St. Mary, St. Martin, and Orleans, including the 
 city of New Orleans,) Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Caro 
 lina North Carolina, and Virginia, (except the forty-eight counties designated 
 
84 HABEAS CORPUS. 
 
 as West Virginia, and also the counties of Berkeley, Accomac, North 
 ampton, Elizabeth City, York, Princess Aiyi, and Norfolk, including the 
 cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth,) and which excepted parts are for the 
 present, left precisely as if this proclamation were not issued. 
 
 And by virtue of the power and for the purpose aforesaid, I do order and 
 declare, that all persons held as slaves within said designated States and parts 
 of States are, and henceforward shall be, free ; and that the Executive Gov 
 ernment of the United States, including the military and naval authorities 
 thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons. 
 
 And I hereby enjoin upon the people so declared to be free, to abstain 
 from all violence, unless in necessary self-defense ; and I recommend to them 
 that in all cases, when allowed, they labor faithfully for reasonable wages. 
 
 And I further declare and make known, that such persons, of suitable 
 condition, will be received into the armed service of the United States to 
 garrison forts, positions, stations, and other places, and to man vessels of all 
 sorts in said service. 
 
 And upon this act. sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted 
 by the Constitution upon military necessity, I invoke the considerate judg 
 ment of mankind and the gracious favor of Almighty God. 
 
 In witness 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 first day of January, in the year of 
 our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Indepen 
 dence of the United States of America the eighty-seventh. 
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 By the President : 
 
 WILLIAM II. SEW ARD, Secretary of State." 
 
 Thus was consummated the greatest event of the Nine 
 teenth Century the one that will forever be the distinguish 
 ing feature of this memorable war. What the final effect 
 on the African race or the country may be, is yet an un 
 solved problem. But one thing is settled, Slavery is forever 
 abolished in this free country, and the great blot on our 
 national escutcheon removed. 
 
 The other proclamation, issued two days after, suspended 
 the writ of habeas corpus throughout the land, and re 
 quired all persons accused of disloyal practices, to be tried 
 by court-martial. This last was received with a storm of 
 indignation, and the courts of some of the States denounced 
 it as unconstitutional. The right of trial by jury is the most 
 sacred of all political rights, and when that is finally stricken 
 
ARBITRARY ARRESTS. 85 
 
 down, liberty is dead. The opposition declared that to 
 override thus the civil courts of a land, is the highest act of 
 tyranny known to despotism. That civil courts raust be dis 
 regarded in States in rebellion, and martial law be supreme 
 there, was conceded by all, for it would be a farce to try a rebel 
 in rebel courts. Having repudiated the authority of the Gov 
 ernment, they could not act under it ; and until that authority 
 was re-established, none but military courts could exist. But 
 to assert that the courts of New England, New York, Ohio, 
 and the other States, in which not a band of organized rebels 
 existed, or could exist openly for an hour, were not qualified to 
 try every citizen accused of crime, it was argued was an insult 
 to them. Good men, on the other hand, denied the allegation, 
 on the ground that anything was allowable, which had for its 
 object the overthrow of the rebellion that extraordinary cri 
 ses demanded extraordinary measures that in the disturbed 
 and distracted state of public feeling, it was absurd to expect 
 that men of treasonable speech and action would receive 
 justice in the ordinary courts. But that which excited the 
 deepest indignation, and brought out the angry remonstrance 
 of the Governors of New Jersey and New York, was the 
 adoption of the system of arbitrary arrests, and imprisonment 
 without accusation or trial, either by court-martial or other 
 wise. Provost-marshals, vested with almost unlimited power, 
 acted as spies on the people, and on suspicion hurried men 
 to prison, there to lie till the Secretary of State or Secretary 
 of War saw fit to release them. That the abuse of this authority 
 by the Secretaries was very great, is evident from the fact that 
 scarcely one of these victims, after weeks or months of con 
 finement, was ever tried for any crime whatever. The exercise 
 of such a power was a most hazardous course on the part of 
 the Government, and but for the President s interference 
 with the free use of it, and the universal faith in the purity 
 of his motives, it might, and probably would have worked 
 
86 A DANGEROUS PRINCIPLE. 
 
 incalculable evil. He was denounced as a tyrant and despot, 
 on every hand, by his enemies, and crimination and recrimi 
 nation took the place of calm discussion and argument. The 
 ablest papers friendly to the Administration, and the soundest 
 thinkers, deprecated these arbitrary arrests, and feared for the 
 result, but still repudiated the charge of tyranny and despot 
 ism, as all felt that there was not a man in the land who loved 
 liberty more, or who would make greater sacrifices for consti 
 tutional freedom, than the President. Such papers as. Tlie 
 Evening Post and New York Tribune condemned them, not 
 so much on the ground of personal injustice or hardship, but 
 because no more dangerous principle can be introduced into 
 a republican government, than that its citizens can be deprived 
 of liberty at the mere dictum of those in power, and for no 
 other reason than that in their judgment the public safety 
 requires it. It is the fundamental law of the Constitution 
 of the United States, and of the Constitution of every State, 
 that " no person shall be deprived of life and liberty without 
 due process of law ; " and all history proves that no danger 
 to a republic is so great, as the violation of this law. To 
 override it on the plea of public necessity, is to adopt the 
 policy of all despotic governments. It ought never to have 
 been discussed or treated as a party measure, for every 
 citizen, of whatever political faith, is equally interested iu 
 the principle involved. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 JULY -AUGUST-SEPTEMBER. 
 
 BRAGG INVADES TENNESSEE AND KENTUCKY RETREAT OF BUELL TO LOUIS 
 VILLE IS SUPERSEDED BY THOMAS KIRBY SMITH ADVANCES AGAINST CIN 
 CINNATI LANE IN KANSAS NEW-ORLEANS BATTLE OF BATON ROUGE 
 
 DEATH OF GENERAL WILLIAMS PORTER, WITH THE ESSEX, DESTROYS THE 
 
 REBEL RAM ARKANSAS ROSECRANS AT CORINTH. 
 
 WHILE such momentous events were passing on the At 
 lantic seaboard, the military movements at the West 
 were not crowned with that success, which our previous vic 
 tories had led the public to expect. The capture of Memphis 
 brought our .victorious fleet to Vicksburg, the fall of which 
 would open the Mississippi to New Orleans. But this place, 
 situated on a high bluff, bid defiance to our gunboats ; so 
 that, while it was hoped that we had reached the end of our 
 labors, it was found that they had only begun. 
 
 In the middle of July, the rebel ram Arkansas, an iron- 
 plated vessel, came down the Yazoo, and, passing triumphantly 
 through our surprised fleet, safely anchored under the guns 
 of Vicksburg. Flag-officers Farragut and Davis, with Por 
 ter, now held a consultation as to the best mode of destroy 
 ing this powerful antagonist at its moorings. It was deter 
 mined to make the attempt at four o clock on the 22nd, by 
 Farragut attacking the lower batteries and Davis the upper, 
 while W. D. Porter, in the Essex, should move boldly and 
 swiftly down on the steamer and crush it with one deadly blow. 
 Reckless of the fire of the batteries, Porter dashed full on the 
 
88 A DARING ATTEMPT. 
 
 astonished rebel. The blow glanced from the mailed sides, 
 and the Essex was carried by her momentum, high up on the 
 river bank, where she lay for two hours or more, under the 
 fire of seventy heavy guns in battery and twenty field pieces, 
 besides the guns of the ram. Yet, strange to say, she event 
 ually got off, and, passing down stream, anchored under the 
 protection of the lower fleet of Farragut. A few days after, 
 Col. Ellet went up the Yazoo and destroyed the rebel gun 
 boats Yan Dorn, Polk and Livingston. 
 
 On land, but little was accomplished. In Arkansas, Mis- 
 souri and Louisiana, fights occurred between small forces, 
 but having no important bearing on the main movements 
 of the armies. The army of Curtis, which, after the battle 
 of Pea Ridge the Spring before, attempted to cross the 
 State of Arkansas to the Mississippi, arrived at Helena safe 
 on the 12th of July, to the great relief of the country. It 
 had been a long, most difficult and painful march ; the cav 
 alry, twenty -five hundred strong, on one occasion, "marching 
 sixty-five miles in twenty-four hours. 
 
 The great movement, however, at the West, during this 
 month, was that of the army under Major-Gen, Buell, the object 
 of which was to seize Chattanooga. His force consisted of about 
 twenty-five thousand men, with some sixteen thousand more, 
 scattered through Middle Tennessee and Northern Alabama, 
 mostly under the command of the gallant Mitchell His first 
 great object was to repair the railroad running north to Nash 
 ville, which he foresaw, contrary to Halleck s opinion, must be 
 his base of supplies. While this herculean task was being 
 accomplished by the force under Mitchell, he with his army 
 marched rapidly towards Chattanooga. All this time, Mor 
 gan was on a grand raid in Kentucky, Forrest, also, with 
 a formidable force, suddenly appeared before Murfreesboro 7 
 on the 13th, surprised and captured the garrison, consist 
 ing of fourteen hundred men, and broke up the railroad 
 
INVASION OF TENNESSEE. 89 
 
 to Nashville, which had only been completed the day before. 
 This was a serious drawback, and Buell was blamed at the 
 time, for the catastrophe. But the truth was, a sufficient 
 force had not been given him to protect his front, three 
 hundred miles long, reaching from Corinth to Cumberland 
 Gap ; he was also lamentably deficient in cavalry, though 
 he had urged upon the Government the great necessity of his 
 being supplied. It was plain to him, and ought to have 
 been plain to Halleck, that the force was too small to hold 
 the country, even if he should conquer it, to say nothing of 
 the long line of communication to Nashville, which must be 
 kept open. Morgan interrupted this so constantly, threat- 
 lening even Nashville, that Buell sent Major- General Nelson 
 there to take charge of affairs. In the meantime, Bragg 
 was concentrating an army of sixty thousand men at and 
 near Chattanooga, preparatory to an invasion of Middle Ten 
 nessee. Buell was aware of the approaching storm, and 
 divided his inadequate force, so as to protect the most im 
 portant points the best way he could. On the 20th of Au 
 gust, hearing that Bragg had commenced his march, and 
 was crossing the Tennessee at Chattanooga and other points, 
 he began to concentrate his forces at Altamont. But 
 his supplies were getting short, when the startling news was 
 received, that Kirby Smith, with a large army, had poured 
 through the gaps of the Cumberland Mountains, and was 
 invading Kentucky having beaten Nelson and routed his 
 army at Richmond. Even this stern and self-reliant Com 
 mander, who had never turned his back on the foe, began 
 to be filled with anxiety at the perils that surrounded him, 
 and to see clearly, that instead of conquering East Tennessee, 
 it would tax his utmost skill and energy to save Middle Ten 
 nessee and Kentucky. He immediately concentrated his 
 troops at Murfreesboro . It was now September, and he at 
 once marched out; in search of the enemy, who retired as 
 
90 BUELI/S RETREAT. 
 
 he advanced, first from Glasgow, and then from Munfords- 
 ville from which he withdrew on the 20th. Buell now deter 
 mined to fall back to Louisville, which was seriously threatened 
 by Kirby Smith. He accomplished the long, tedious march 
 without the loss of a wagon. The citizens of the place were 
 in great trepidation, and when the tread of his advance col 
 umns sounded through the street, at midnight, the shout of 
 " Buell has come! Buell has come! " went up, as it did on 
 the banks of the Tennessee, at Pittsburg Landing, from our 
 shattered, beaten forces, when they saw his trained legions 
 sweeping to their relief. He immediately reorganized his 
 army, and prepared to march forth against the enemy, but 
 an order was received from Washington suspending him 
 from chief command, and appointing Thomas in his place. 
 
 All this time, General George Morgan was grimly holding 
 Cumberland Gap, against overwhelming odds. 
 
 While military affairs were assuming an alarming aspect 
 in Tennessee and Kentucky the bold advance of Smith 
 threatening even Cincinnati, causing consternation among 
 its inhabitants and sending them forth to the defense of the 
 city along the Mississippi, but little was accomplished, for 
 Vicksburg still held out against the Federal fleet. Farther 
 west, General Lane, having been appointed by the Govern 
 ment to raise an army in Kansas, issued his proclamation in 
 August, calling on the inhabitants of Nebraska, Colorado 
 and Dacotah to rally to his standard. Affairs remained un 
 changed at New Orleans under Butler s rigorous sway. He 
 issued an order this month, assessing the inhabitants who 
 had subscribed to the rebel defense fund, three hundred and 
 forty-two thousand dollars. Colonel McNeil and General 
 Blunt were dealing the guerrillas and organized bands 
 some severe blows in Missouri; but the only battle that 
 occurred in the West during the month was at Baton 
 Rouge, which was attacked on the 5th by a heavy force 
 
BATTLE OF BATON ROUGE. 91 
 
 under Breckenridge. General Williams, commanding our 
 troops there, formed his line of battle the night before, 
 some distance outside of the town. But, though he was 
 prepared to receive the expected attack, the enemy, 
 taking advantage of a dense fog, came down at early day 
 light so suddenly upon him that a portion of his line gave 
 way, and some guns were captured. He, however, rallied 
 his troops, and gallantly led them in person against the ad 
 vancing, shouting battalions, hurling them back with resist 
 less fury. But he fell in the charge, and was borne back, 
 mortally wounded, to the rear. The battle raged, with 
 varied fortunes, for five hours, when the enemy fell back. 
 The gunboats Essex and Sumter shelled the woods during 
 the action ; and after our lines were drawn in, as ordered 
 by General Williams before he fell, two other gunboats added 
 their fire, deterring the enemy from making another advance. 
 The ram Arkansas, and the gunboats Webb and Music, had 
 designed to take part in the combat, but the former, becom 
 ing disabled, was compelled to lie by. So, the next morn 
 ing, Porter, in the Essex, went in search of the monster, and 
 met it coming down to attack him. The former at once 
 opened his guns on the formidable foe. The engine of the 
 ram becoming disabled, it was compelled to run ashore, 
 where it continued the combat. Porter, choosing his posi 
 tion, now poured a terrible fire into his adversary. The boat 
 was soon in flames, and, deserted by her crew, drifted down 
 stream till her magazine caught fire, when she blew up with 
 a tremendous explosion. Thus ignobly perished this, much- 
 dreaded vessel. 
 
 Sherman at this time commanded at Memphis under 
 Grant, who was over the Department of West Tennessee. 
 His army lay comparatively idle during the month ; but the 
 next month, September, it seemed to rouse from its inexpli 
 cable inaction. Grant s head-quarters were at Corinth, where 
 
 ^^S^S. 
 
 OF THfl^J^ 
 
92 AFFAIRS ABOUND CORINTH. 
 
 he was confronted by Van Dorn and Price, who the Winter 
 before had been beaten at Pea Ridge by Curtis. 
 
 Rosecrans, who in the middle of the preceding May had 
 been ordered to join Halleck before Corinth, was, after the 
 latter s elevation to the chief command, and Pope s transfer 
 to Virginia, placed at the head of the Army of the Missis 
 sippi, as it was termed, under Grant. During the Summer 
 he was active in the field, but accomplished nothing of 
 importance. At this time he was established in Corinth. 
 Suddenly he was informed that Price had advanced and 
 taken possession of luka. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER. 
 
 BATTLE OF IUKA GALLANTRY OF GENERAL HAMILTON FAILURE OF GRANT 
 
 ATTEMPT OF THE ENEMY TO CUT GRANTS LINE OF SUPPLIES BATTLE OF 
 
 CORINTH A GALLANT TEXAN TERRIFIC SLAUGHTER OF THE ENEMY THE 
 
 VICTORY ARRIVAL OF MC PHERSON THE PURSUIT THE BATTLE-FIELD 
 
 ROSECRANS PLACED AT THE HEAD OF THE DEPARTMENT OF THE CUM 
 BERLAND. 
 
 ROSECRANS knew that this movement was merely pre 
 paratory to an attack on Corinth itself, and, with his 
 usual promptitude, determined at once to retake the 
 place, and proposed to Grant to advance by one/road, 
 while he, marching by way of Jacinto, should get in rear, 
 and prevent the force there from retreating southward. 
 This was agreed to, and Rosecrans, having concentrated 
 the troops of his two divisions, started on the morning of 
 the 19th, and marching eighteen miles and a half, came 
 within a little over a mile of luka. Price did not wait for 
 his attack, but immediately marched forth to meet him. 
 One division, Hamilton s, numbering less than three thousand 
 men, and with but one battery, was in advance, and on this, 
 Price with eleven thousand men suddenly moved. Hamilton 
 had reached the brow of a hill, which fell off abruptly on 
 both sides, when the enemy, hid in a ravine below, broke 
 cover with a shout, and poured in a sudden volley of mus 
 ketry. The woods were so dense that Hamilton could not 
 deploy his men, and, marching them by either flank, from 
 the only road that ran through the woods, and planting 
 his single battery so as to command this road, received the 
 
94 BATTLE OF IUKA. 
 
 shock. It was fortunate for him that his position was so 
 cramped, for it lessened the numerical advantage of the 
 enemy, and left the contest to be decided, very much by the 
 comparative strength of the heads of columns. The move 
 ments of the regiments into their assigned places were made 
 with great steadiness, though under a withering fire the 
 whole time. Each colonel had his orders to hold his ground 
 at all hazards. It was a square, stand-up fight. The rebel 
 onslaught was terrific. In dense masses, regiment closing 
 in on regiment, like successive waves of the sea, they 
 bore down on our thin line, with a desperation that threat 
 ened to sweep it to quick destruction. At this juncture, 
 Sullivan arrived with his division, and, though no more 
 troops could be used in front, his timely arrival pre 
 vented Hamilton from being outflanked by the overwhelm 
 ing numbers of the enemy. He believed he could stand 
 pounding longest, and his brave division stood like a wall 
 of adamant across the road. The woods on either side of it, 
 were alive with the rolling volleys, and echoed to the shouts 
 and yells of the combatants. The rebels, determined to 
 force our line, moved into the desolating fire that met them, 
 with unfaltering resolution. As they came within close 
 range, that single battery, the Eleventh Ohio, opened on 
 them with grape and canister. The guns were worked 
 with great rapidity, and at each discharge, gaps opened in 
 the dense ranks, but they closed up again, and the hostile 
 line swept steadily forward over all obstructions. At 
 length, the Forty-eighth Indiana, pressed by three times 
 its number its gallant Commander cut down fell back 
 in disorder. This left the death-dealing battery exposed, 
 and with an exultant shout the enemy sprang upon it. 
 Receiving without flinching the load of canister and grape 
 that met them, they swept over it and captured it; 
 but not till every officer, and nearly every gunner was 
 
THE VICTORY. 95 
 
 killed or wounded, and scarcely a horse left standing. 
 At this juncture, Sullivan, by a great effort, rallied 
 a part of the right wing, and flung it like a loosened 
 cliff on the shouting, triumphant captors, and sent them 
 astounded back to cover. Maddened to fury by their 
 loss, the rebels rallied, and with yells precipitated them 
 selves upon Sullivan s diminished band, and recovered the 
 battery. Around its guns, the battle raged with awful 
 fury. Every flank movement of the enemy being prompt 
 ly stopped, he was compelled to fight it out in front, 
 and from five o clock till dark, the Fifth Iowa, and 
 Eleventh and Twenty-sixth Missouri, held that single road, 
 with a stubbornness that scoffed at numbers. Rooted to 
 their places a line of fire running incessantly along 
 their front, they stood unconquerable as fate. Three times 
 did the Fifth Iowa, when about to be swallowed up 
 by the ever-increasing masses, leap forward with the 
 bayonet, and send them broken and discomfited back. 
 When their ammunition was at last exhausted, they slowly 
 retired, but with their faces to the foe. All this time Rose- 
 crans listened, with intense anxiety, to hear the sound of 
 Grant s guns on the other road, but it came not, and dark 
 ness at length closed the bloody contest. Those two brave, 
 shattered divisions, lay down on their arms, on the ground 
 they had crimsoned with their blood, to wait for the morning 
 light to renew the unequal struggle. But the enemy, under 
 cover of the darkness, stole away ; and when the morning 
 dawned, luka was found deserted. Rosecrans immediately 
 started in pursuit with his cavalry, but being only three 
 companies strong it could do little more than harass the 
 rebel rear, and after going twenty-five miles, gave up the 
 chase. About eleven o clock, Grant marched into luka, 
 where he should have been long before. Some "unfortunate 
 mistake had caused the delay, and thus saved the enemy 
 
96 PREPARATIONS FOR BATTLE. 
 
 from total destruction. Rosecrans, in alluding to it, said, 
 " The unexpected accident which alone prevented cutting 
 off the retreat of Price, and capturing him and his army, 
 only shows how much, success depends upon Him in whose 
 hands are the accidents, as well as the laws of life. 7 The 
 total loss in this battle, was six hundred and eighty, or nearly 
 a quarter of the whole force engaged. 
 
 Rosecrans immediately fell back on Corinth, where he 
 again took up his head-quarters. He soon discovered that 
 the enemy was concentrating on that place, or some other 
 point, which would cut off his communications and compel 
 him to evacuate it. Price, Van Dorn, and Lovell, had in fact 
 united their entire forces, for the purpose of crushing his 
 comparatively small army, before he could receive reinforce 
 ments. The latter, calling in all his troops from the adjacent 
 posts, watched with the deepest solicitude the development 
 of the hostile plan. At length, discovering that the rebels 
 had marched around him to the eastward, and were moving 
 down on Corinth from the north and north-east, he formed 
 his plan, and disposing his troops to the best possible advan 
 tage, calmly awaited the attack. He knew he was outnum 
 bered by two to one, but he relied on the strength of his posi 
 tion, and the indomitable character of his troops. McKean 
 commanded the left, Davies the centre, and the gallant 
 Hamilton the right, where Rosecrans supposed the weight 
 of the struggle would fall. The old fortifications, thrown up 
 by Beauregard, were too extensive for his little army to 
 hold, and so he erected works within them. 
 
 This was on the third of October. Rosecrans plan was to 
 advance on the enemy, as he approached, in order to compel 
 him to develop his lines, and then retire behind his own works, 
 so that his batteries could sweep the rebels, as they emerged 
 into the open ground in front. In carrying it out, more or 
 less fighting occurred, and night found our army back in the 
 
THE ADVANCE. 97 
 
 town, and the rebel lines drawn closely around it. Much 
 uneasiness was felt among the soldiers, because they had been 
 so easily driven back into the place, where the enemy s 
 shells could reach them, but they were not aware of the 
 motives which governed their Commander. 
 
 This was not lessened by the sound of the enemy at work 
 all night, planting batteries within close range. At length, 
 the long wished for, yet dreaded dawn, streaked the eastern 
 sky, and the roll of the drum and the pealing bugle, awoke 
 the morning echoes, and were answered by those of the 
 enemy in the dark forests beyond. 
 
 The rebel force was massed in the angle, formed by the 
 Memphis and Columbus railroads. The left of our army 
 rested on the batteries extending west from Fort Robinette 
 the centre on a slight ridge north of the houses, and the 
 right on the high ground which covered the Pittsburg 
 and Purdy roads, that led away towards the old battle 
 ground of Pittsburg Landing. The rebel plan was to move 
 at once, with overwhelming numbers, on our batteries, and 
 sweep them with the rush of a torrent. The sacrifice, they 
 knew, would be great, but they were ready to make it. 
 Four redoubts covered all the approaches, while batteries 
 were in every place where guns could be advantageously 
 posted, so that the whole open space in front of our lines, 
 could be swept with a hail-storm of fire. 
 
 With daylight, skirmishing commenced, and the heavy 
 boom of cannon, here and there, shook the field ; but, as yet, 
 the enemy s lines were invisible. They were forming in the 
 roads running through the forest, a half a mile or more in front, 
 and every eye was strained to catch the heads of the columns 
 as they moved out for the final advance. The very mys 
 tery that shrouded the rebel host, hidden in those stiiiess 
 woods, added impressiveness to the scene. At length, a 
 little after nine o clock, the fearful suspense ended, for the 
 
98 THE ATTACK. 
 
 heads of the dense columns began to issue from their leafy 
 covering. In columns of division, the whole host moved 
 in splendid order up the Bolivar road, straight towards 
 the murderous batteries. Long lines of glittering steel, 
 crested the gray formations below, as, with steady step 
 and closed ranks, they swept forward. Like a great wedge, 
 the mighty mass at first advanced, and then slowly unfolded 
 like two expanding wings, and swooped down on Corinth, 
 that lay glittering in the mellow sun-light. Price on the left, 
 and Van Dorn on the right, moved on together, but the 
 latter, meeting with unexpected obstacles, lost a little time, 
 and Price first caught the full fury of the storm. Right up 
 a turfy slope, the steady columns pressed, swept by our 
 whole line of batteries, the shot and shell tearing through 
 them every moment with awful desolation. Like clouds, 
 rent before the incessant flashes of lightning, those gray for 
 mations everywhere parted, showing great ragged openings 
 that closed as quickly as made. The dead and dying dark 
 ened all the ground, but the living never faltered. With 
 heads bent, and leaning forms, like those who breast a driv 
 ing sleet, they pressed sternly forward, making straight for 
 Rosecrans centre. When they came within musket range, 
 death traversed their ranks with still more frightful rapidity ; 
 yet they never faltered. The earth groaned and shook 
 under them, and the air seemed to flow with fire around 
 them, yet they heeded it not. Still onward and upward 
 they came, like the march of fate. At last they reached the 
 crest of the hill, and Davies division gave way in disorder. 
 Rosecrans, whose eye has never for a moment left this on- 
 rolling mass, starts at this sudden great disaster, and dashing 
 amid the broken ranks, heedless of the raining shot and shell, 
 rallies them in person. But the rebels, seeing their advan 
 tage, spring forward with a shout, and Rosecrans head 
 quarters are inundated with the hostile troops, and the next 
 
THE BATTLE. 99 
 
 moment their fire is pouring into the public square of the 
 town itself. Under this sudden change of fortune, Hamil 
 ton s division of veterans is compelled to fall back, and 
 instantly, with a shout of victory, the rebels rush on 
 Fort Richardson, the key of the position. A single sheet 
 of flame bursts from its sides, and when the smoke rises, the 
 space where they stood is clear of living men ; only the 
 dead and bleeding are left. But those brave men have not 
 trodden Death s highway so far, to yield now, when their hands 
 are grasping victory; and once more rallying, they precipi 
 tate themselves forward with the fury and clamor of demons. 
 Richardson, from whom the battery was named, sinks amid 
 his guns, and the next moment, the rebels are leaping over 
 them. Suddenly, as if rising out of the, earth, the Fifty-sixth 
 Illinois, hid in a ravine near it, spring to their feet, and pour 
 ing in one close deliberate volley, dash across the plateau, and 
 into the fort, and almost lift the rebels bodily out of it. so 
 sudden and desperate and wild is their charge. Hamilton 
 sees the charge, and "Forward" runs along his glorious line. 
 Sweeping forward with terrible front, he completes the 
 overthrow. The rebel host is at last broken. Human endur 
 ance had finally reached its limit despair at once took 
 the place of courage, and, flinging away their useless arms, 
 they broke wildly for the woods. And then such a shout 
 of victory went up, as those who heard it, will never forget 
 to their latest day. It rolled down the line, and Van Dorn, 
 on the left, heard it with a sinking heart. Struggling 
 through a ravine and thickets and abattis, he was a moment 
 too late,, to have his blow fall simultaneously with that of 
 Price, else the issue might have been different. He was 
 now in front of Fort Robinette, within a hundred and fifty 
 yards of which, stood Fort Williams. These had poured a 
 deadly enfilading fire through his ranks, as he advanced, 
 and now the former, with its ten pound Parrotts, stood right 
 
100 A BRAVE TEXAN. 
 
 in his path. Over this he must go, or turn back over the 
 field, gained at such horrible sacrifice. The shout of victory 
 borne to him from the left, sounded like the knell of doom. 
 Price had failed at Fort Richardson, and now alone and 
 unaided, he must carry the works before him, or all be 
 lost. It was a mighty task, and he might well pause, before 
 he undertook it. But instead of shrinking from it, he sum 
 moned all his energies for one desperate effort. Two brig 
 ades, one supporting the other, at close distance, and led 
 by Colonel Rogers, of Texas, swiftly advanced straight on 
 the fort. Instantly its guns, and those of Fort Williams, 
 opened their fire, and shot and shell went tearing through 
 the dense columns. But they had braced themselves up to 
 the fearful work, they knew to be before them, and breasted 
 the iron storm with sublime devotion. As they came within 
 close range, and the infantry opened fire, the havoc was 
 awful. The solid formations caved before it, as the sand 
 bank before the torrent, but closing up compact as iron, the 
 diminished numbers, with their eyes bent sternly on the 
 prize before them, kept on their terrible way. Rogers, 
 striding at their head, seemed to bear a charmed life, and 
 " Forward FORWARD," rang clear and strong from his lips, 
 rising even above the roar of cannon. Struggling through 
 the fallen timber, they fell and were caught amid the branches, 
 presenting a ghastly spectacle. Still the living never fal 
 tered with their eyes fixed on their heroic leader, they let 
 the volleys crash, and the devastating fire burn along their 
 ranks, with a heroic indifference. At last they reached the 
 ditch, and for one fearful moment paused. Rogers, still 
 towering in front unhurt, waved the rebel flag with his 
 left hand, holding a revolver in his right, and, still shouting 
 11 Forward" with one bound cleared the ditch. Springing 
 up the slope, he planted his standard on the ramparts. The 
 next moment he fell, banner and all, into the ditch, a corpse. 
 
i 
 THE VICTORY. 101 
 
 Five brave Texans, that never left their leader s side, at the 
 same instant pitched heavily forward into the fort, sharing 
 his fate. The Ohio brigade, commanded by Colonel Fuller, 
 had lain flat on their faces just over the ridge, and now in 
 close range, rose and delivered six swift volleys, and the 
 front was clear of rebels. The supporting rebel brigade 
 now advanced into the same volcano, bent on the same 
 hopeless errand. Taking the close and swift volleys into 
 their bosoms without shrinking, they kept on, till mad 
 dened into desperation, they made one wild rush on the 
 Sixty-third Ohio, that crossed their path. But the brave 
 fellows stood like a rock in their places, and in a moment, 
 friend and foe were locked in a hand to hand death-strug 
 gle. Bayonets, clubbed muskets, and, when these failed T 
 clenched fists were used. The fight was brief but awful T and 
 the shouts and yells, and oaths and curses that rose, seemed 
 wrenched from the throats of demons. At length the rebels 
 gave way, when the Eleventh Missouri and Twenty-seventh 
 Ohio sprang forward and chased them swiftly to cover. 
 
 The battle was over. No second charge could be made, 
 for the victory was won, but at a fearful cost. Of the two 
 hundred and fifty of the Sixty-third Ohio, one-half lay dead 
 or bleeding, on the spot where they had fought. The shout- 
 that rocked the field, when Price recoiled, shattered and 
 broken, from Fort Richardson, now went up from around 
 Fort Robinette, and rolling like the waves of the sea, along 
 the whole line of battle, swelled back into Corinth, where 
 it was again caught up and prolonged, till the heavens 
 shook with the loud and joyous acclaim. There had been 
 no long battle. The whole struggle lasted scarcely more 
 than an hour and a half. It was a whirlwind a hurricane 
 then a great wild thunder crash and all was over. And 
 yet, in the brief struggle, what awful destruction had been 
 wrought. Over two thousand of our own soldiers had fallen, 
 
102 THE PURSUIT. 
 
 while over six thousand rebels had been piled on that bloody 
 field. Death had moved through the thick-set ranks of the 
 foe with a rapid footstep. 
 
 Forty thousand, it was estimated, composed the rebel 
 force, while Rosecrans had but little over twenty thousand 
 behind his works. 
 
 In front of Fort Robinette, the rebel dead lay in heaps. 
 Fifty-six were buried in one ditch, but the brave Rogers 
 was given a grave by himself those stern Western men 
 smoothing over and marking his last resting-place, with the 
 tender care they would give the grave of a companion-in 
 arms. It was but a little to do ; yet it was such a testimonial 
 as the brave love to give to the brave, on whatever field they 
 fall. 
 
 Two thousand two hundred and forty-eight prisoners fell 
 into our hands, together with two pieces of artillery, four 
 teen stand of colors, and over three thousand small arms. 
 
 Rosecrans immediately rode along the whole line of battle, 
 greeted with thundering cheers as he passed. He told his 
 brave troops, that although they had been two days marching 
 and preparing for battle, and had passed two sleepless nights, 
 and endured two days fighting, he wanted them to fill their 
 cartridge-boxes, haversacks and stomachs, take an early 
 sleep, and at daylight press after the flying foe. 
 
 McPherson, having arrived in the meantime at Corinth, 
 with a fresh brigade, was immediately started in pursuit, 
 and the roll of cannon died away in the distance, as he 
 pressed fiercely after the retiring columns. The roads and 
 fields were strewed with the wrecks of the fight. The 
 rebels narrowly escaped destruction in the forks of the 
 Hatchie, but finally got off. 
 
 The fields around Corinth presented a frightful spectacle, 
 and for weeks after the battle, the place of slaughter could 
 be scented miles away, by the traveler. It was a great vie- 
 
DEPARTMENT OF THE CUMBERLAND. 103 
 
 tory, and people began to regard Rosecrans as invincible. 
 Victory followed his standard wherever he moved, and the 
 soldiers, with that fondness for nicknames which always 
 characterizes them, christened him "Old Rosy." 
 
 Rosecrans believed that if Grant had supported him, as 
 he requested him to do, he could easily have entered Yicks- 
 burg and saved the after sacrifice of men and money. 
 
 Having returned from the pursuit, he established his head 
 quarters at Corinth, where he remained till the 25th of Oc 
 tober. In the meantime, the Government having created 
 the Department of the .Cumberland, and the Fourteenth 
 Army Corps, he was placed at the head of it, and departed 
 for Louisville, where he arrived on the 30th. 
 
 With Buell s splendid army under his command, it was 
 thought that he would immediately move on Bragg, and in 
 flict that punishment on him, which he failed to receive at 
 the hand of the former. 
 
 Repairing to Nashville, he took a survey of his position, 
 and began to lay his plans for the future. Bragg, in the 
 meantime, had assembled his army at Murfreesboro , and was 
 strongly fortifying himself, preparatory to winter quarters. 
 37 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 OCTOBER. 
 
 BUELL RESTORED TO COMMAND MOVES OUT OF LOUISVILLE BATTLE OF PER- 
 
 RYVILLE RETREAT OF BRAGG PURSUIT REMOVED FROM COMMAND 
 
 MORGAN AT CUMBERLAND GAP GALLANT DEFENSE OF CALL FOR REIN 
 FORCEMENTS IS SURROUNDED BY A HUNDRED THOUSAND MEN HIS EX 
 TREME PERIL GALLANT RESOLVE TO MAKE A FORCED MARCH OF TWO 
 
 HUNDRED MILES TO THE OHIO BLOWS UP THE MOUNTAIN DESTROYS HIS 
 
 SIEGE GUNS BURNS UP EVERYTHING FEARFUL CONFLAGRATION AND EX 
 PLOSION TERRIFIC SCENE MIDNIGHT MARCH THE RACE FOR LIFE 
 
 , SUFFERINGS OF THE ARMY ITS DELIGHT AT SIGHT OF THE OHIO HAL- 
 
 LECK s TREATMENT OF MORGAN EXTRAORDINARY STATEMENTS. 
 
 WHILE Rosecrans was thus crowning the Federal arms 
 with success, in the neighborhood of the Mississippi, 
 and Butler was trying to bring order out of chaos in New 
 Orleans, and Galveston in Texas was surrendered (October 
 9th) to Renshaw, Commander of our fleet there, important 
 events were occurring in Kentucky and East Tennessee. 
 Buell s sudden removal from the head of the army at Louis 
 ville, arrested his march against Bragg, which he designed 
 to commence the next day. Thomas, however, telegraphed 
 to Washington, entreating the authorities there to reconsider 
 their action, and retain Buell in the command, as the proper 
 person to be at the head of the army. They acceded to his 
 request, and Buell at once addressed himself to the task of 
 driving Bragg out of Kentucky ; and on the 1st of October 
 moved out of Louisville, in five columns. Bragg, though con 
 stantly skirmishing, began to retire, with the evident intention 
 of forming a junction with Kirby Smith, who had fallen back 
 from his threatened attack on Cincinnati, though he had 
 
BATTLE OF PERRYVILLE. 105 
 
 carried the rebel flag within seven miles of the city. Buell 
 overtook the enemy at Perryville on the 7th. A partial en 
 gagement followed, which was renewed with great severity 
 the next morning, by the enemy suddenly falling on Mc- 
 Cook s brigade. Repulsed at first, he repeated the attack 
 at noon, in which the whole left corps became engaged, and 
 was terribly pressed till night fell, when the battle ended. 
 Ten-ill s brigade was driven back in a rout, and he was killed, 
 as well as Jackson, who commanded the division. The brave, 
 heroic Rousseau, commanding the third division, bore the 
 chief weight of the battle, and saved the left corps from 
 total defeat. A. charge by Sheridan, at night-fall, closed 
 the fight. This partial disaster was attributed by Buell to 
 the neglect of McCook to send him word that he was pressed 
 with an overwhelming force, until it was too late to reach 
 him before night with the other wing of the army, which 
 was separated by a distance of five miles. 
 
 Our loss in this engagement was about four thousand, 
 leaving Buell but fifty-four thousand men with which to 
 pursue Bragg, whose army numbered over sixty thousand. 
 But the nature of the country was such that he could not 
 force him to a battle, though he pressed him with unrelent 
 ing severity. At Crab Orchard, where the country suddenly 
 changed, being barren and cut up into defiles, so that a 
 small force could protect the retreating army, he stopped his 
 pursuit, having captured in all, four or five thousand pris 
 oners. 
 
 But though he had driven Bragg out of Kentucky, and 
 thus relieved the State, the Administration pretended to be 
 dissatisfied at his not having destroyed the rebel army, and 
 therefore removed him from his command. Whether Hal- 
 leek, and the Secretary of War, really believed that Buell 
 had not done all that could reasonably have been expected 
 of him, or whether it was necessary, as usual, to have some 
 
106 CUMBERLAND GAP. 
 
 scape goat for their own military blunders, is left to con 
 jecture. 
 
 Cumberland Gap, which General Morgan, as before stated, 
 had captured in the Spring, by a flank movement through 
 Rogers 7 Gap, and immediately fortified, preparatory to a 
 movement on Knoxville, was evacuated this September. The 
 advance of Bragg into Kentucky, which compelled Buell to 
 fall back rapidly to Nashville, left the enemy at liberty to 
 push across the Cumberland Mountains, by various routes, 
 and effectually cut Morgan off from his base of supplies, thus 
 leaving him alone, to save himself as best he might. Strong in 
 his position, he felt able to hold it against all odds, if he 
 could be kept from starvation. He contested every foot of 
 the advance of the enemy, and foraged the country in every 
 direction that his forces could penetrate. In the meantime, 
 he sent to Halleck, and General Wright of Ohio, for sup. 
 plies, saying that if his communications could be kept open, 
 he would hold the Gap against the whole rebel army. At 
 different times he sent out five expeditions, in which he 
 killed and captured seven hundred of the enemy, with a loss 
 to himself of only forty men. For more than two months, he 
 saw the storm gathering thicker and darker around him, for 
 as Buell fell back towards Nashville, the rebel flood poured 
 like a deluge into Kentucky, so that by the 21st of August, 
 Morgan found Kirby Smith on the north side, and Stevenson 
 on the south side of the Gap. Still, he kept buoyant and 
 cheerful. Not a desponding word escaped him he always 
 wrote in a confident tone, but said that his supplies were 
 getting shorter and shorter, and that even his animals were 
 failing for want of forage. He would not stir from his posi 
 tion, he declared, though he had to kill his mules for food, 
 if he could see any movement set on foot to open his com 
 munications. The country became alarmed for his safety. 
 The very stubbornness with which he held the grim fortress, 
 
A DESPERATE POSITION. 107 
 
 only ensured his destruction, if no relief should reach him. 
 He at length put his army on half-rations, and still clung to 
 his position, though he knew a hundred thousand men en 
 vironed him, and held the entire country from the Gap to 
 the Ohio. 
 
 * Thus, for thirty days, his brave soldiers were kept on half- 
 rations ; a great part of the time without bread, rice, flour 
 or potatoes. The overwhelming enemy continued to draw 
 closer and closer around him, every day narrowing his field 
 for forage, until at length, starvation began to stare him in 
 the face. What now was to be done ? He could hear of no 
 movement for his relief, and he staid, waiting for it, until 
 every known avenue of escape was closed against him. The 
 rebel General telegraphed to Richmond, that Morgan s army 
 might be considered prisoners of war, for its fate was sealed. 
 True, one route w? " still left open the wild, desolate region 
 stretching for two hundred miles directly to the north but 
 this was reported by the engineers impossible for any army 
 with artillery, if indeed it were possible for an army of ten 
 thousand men, to be supported there at all, in the length of 
 time it would take to traverse such a country. Yet the rebels 
 seemed to think, that a man who had dragged siege guns up 
 and over the cliffs of Cumberland Mountains, might attempt 
 to escape by this route ; and so Humphrey Marshall was sent 
 to block it up, and, early in September, was making his diffi 
 cult way through the sterile region to the north-east, In 
 this painful dilemma, Morgan called a council of war, in 
 which it was decided that the only alternative was an im 
 mediate evacuation or an unconditional surrender. This 
 being decided upon, Morgan determined to make a desperate 
 effort to save both his army and artillery, all but the siege 
 guns, which he resolved to destroy. It was a dreary pros 
 pect at best that frightful march of two hundred miles, 
 with ten times ten thousand men before, behind and on 
 
108 DECEIVING THE ENEMY. ^ 
 
 every side of him. But he had tried his officers and men, 
 and knew they would do anything short of a miracle, while 
 he himself resolved to be annihilated, before he would sur 
 render. Sending out officers to buy provisions along another 
 route by way of .Mount Sterling, who were purposely taken 
 prisoners, he completely deceived the enemy as to his inten- 
 Jions. In the meantime, preparations were rapidly made to 
 leave. The mountain was mined so as to tumble the cliffs upon 
 the road in his rear, the heavy siege guns were destroyed, and, 
 on the 16th, a large train started for Manchester. All that 
 night, and the next day, the work went on. At evening, 
 the pickets were quietly withdrawn, and Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Gallup, with two hundred chosen men, was directed to hold 
 the enemy in check, and, if he attempted to follow, to give 
 the alarm by blowing up the magazine. Before he should 
 finally leave the Gap, he was ordered to fire the military 
 storehouse, commissary s and quartermasters buildings, and 
 tents, and then spring the mine that would unseat the cliffs, 
 and hurl them into the road behind the retreating army. 
 Five picked men were stationed at each magazine, to which 
 the trains were already laid, and five more at a pit in which 
 were piled several thousand stand of arms, mostly loaded, 
 who at a given signal were to apply the torch, and set the 
 volcano in motion. Gallup, having stationed his pickets, 
 went forward with a flag of truce, and by adroit management 
 effectually deceived the enemy respecting Morgan s designs. 
 When he knew, by certain signs, that the army was well in 
 motion, he took his leave, saying that he would call in the 
 morning and get the answer to his flag of truce. He then 
 visited his pickets, telling them to dispute every inch of 
 ground, and repaired to Baird s head-quarters, where he 
 found Morgan sitting on his horse, and with a serious, anx 
 ious face, watching his retiring columns. It was now ten 
 o clock at night, and the crisis of the fate of the army was 
 
A GRAND SPECTACLE. 109 
 
 fast approaching. Turning to Gallup, Morgan said: "You 
 have a highly important duty to perform ; this ammunition 
 and these arms and military stores must not fall into the hands 
 of the enemy. I hope you will not be captured." "Fare 
 well," he added, and bowing, rode off into the gloom. The 
 night wore on, and Gallup, sending off his small force to a 
 place of safety, directed three men Markham, O Brien and 
 Thad. Reynolds as he was called the boldest scout and spy 
 in the army to kindle the conflagration. As the flames 
 rolled heavenward, he gave the signal to fire the trains. To 
 his astonishment, no answering explosion followed, and wait 
 ing a sufficient time, he put spurs to his horse and galloped 
 to the spot. Not a soul was to be found all had gone for 
 ward to the main column. Seizing some burning fagots, 
 he fired the trains with his own hands, and mounting his 
 horse, dashed down, the Gap. He had barely reached a safe 
 distance, when the first explosion followed, sending the huge 
 rocks in every direction. The conflagration in the valley 
 below was now in full headway, and the scene became in 
 describably grand. The savage precipices reddened like fire 
 in the sudden illumination, and the whole midnight gorge 
 shone brighter than at noon-day. Gallup, sitting on his 
 horse, that glowed like a fiery steed in the intense glare 
 of the flames, gazed with silent awe on the wild work his 
 hands had wrought. Said he : u Every fissure and opening 
 in the cliffs around me, was visible. The trees and rocks 
 upon their sides, at any time picturesque and interesting, 
 were now grand in their beauty. It was a scene more like 
 enchantment than reality. I gazed, lost in admiration. But 
 suddenly the scene changed. The large magazine, with its 
 rich stores of powder and fixed ammunition, exploded. 
 The explosion shook the mountains like a toy in the hands 
 of a monster. The air was filled with dense smoke, so that 
 I could scarcely breathe. Huge masses of rock, cartridge- 
 
110 A COMPLETE RUIN. 
 
 boxes, barrels of powder, and other materials, were blown 
 to an indescribable height, and went whirling through the 
 air in wild confusion, falling, in some instances, more than a 
 mile from the exploding magazine. A moment after, the 
 burning roof of a building a hundred and eighty feet long, 
 used as a store-house on the mountain, fell in, and set fire to 
 the shells stored there." Before the blazing embers that shot 
 in a fiery shower heavenward had descended to the earth 
 again, the explosion took place, sounding like a thousand 
 cannon let off there at once, in the trembling gorge. 
 Lighted on its way by such a sea of flame, and keeping step 
 to such stern and awful music, did that gallant army move 
 off into the night, and turn its face towards the distant Ohio. 
 
 But the terrific fusilade made by the discharging guns and 
 bursting shells, was kept up there among the solitary crags 
 until noon. The rebels beyond the ridge were filled with con 
 sternation, as they gazed on the lurid sky, and felt the earth 
 quake shock, and knew not what the strange uproar meant. 
 When, at last, they were informed, by an inhabitant of the 
 region, that Morgan had evacuated the Gap, they dared not 
 approach it till three o clock the next day, for fear of explod 
 ing shells and mines. When they did venture near, they 
 gazed around in blank astonishment. Silence and desolation 
 reigned throughout the gorge, while the rocks lay piled along 
 it, in one wild wreck, heaved there by the exploding mines. 
 
 Morgan had done his work thoroughly and well, but the 
 mighty task before him was only just commenced. Two hund 
 red miles of such a country as lay before him, were never 
 before marched over, by ten thousand men, with artillery and 
 no supplies, while a vast army was closing in upon them on 
 -every side. As if to cloud the beginning of his great en 
 deavor with increasing gloom, towards morning a pelting 
 rain set in, accompanied with fierce gusts of wind that swept 
 mournfully over the swiftly advancing columns. Ten ladies, 
 
THE RETREAT. Ill 
 
 the wives and daughters of officers, were with .the" army, . to 
 share its perils and its fortunes. 
 
 Morgan marched by two parallel roads, and so rapidly, 
 that by morning his advance brigade was at Flat Lick, 
 twenty miles from the Gap, which he had left the night before. 
 By evening, the army was at Manchester. Here Morgan 
 halted a day, to complete the organization of his forces, and 
 gird himself for the long and doubtful race before him. Before 
 he was ready to start, the enemy s bugles were sounding in his 
 rear, while the scouts brought in the tidings that a brigade of 
 cavalry, under the notorious Morgan, was hovering around his 
 line of march. He learned also that Humphrey Marshall was 
 moving to cut his line of march to the north. In fact, so peril 
 ous was his condition, that Gen. Jones, afterwards taken pris 
 oner by us, confessed, that had Morgan delayed his retreat but 
 a single day, his last avenue of escape would have been closed. 
 
 The storm was rapidly gathering, on every side of him, 
 and nothing but swift marching could save him. A single 
 inefficient or negligent officer might work his ruin ; but a 
 truer set of subordinates, or a more devoted body of soldiers, 
 never closed around a brave Commander. Generals Spears, 
 Carter and Baird, and Colonel De Coucy, led their respective 
 commands, with a skill that won the admiration and praise 
 of all. It was fortunate that he had, as topographical engi 
 neer with him, Captain Sidney Lyons, who, as State Geolo 
 gist of Kentucky, had surveyed this whole region. He knew 
 it so well, that he told Morgan that he doubted, even if he 
 could succeed in getting his artillery trains over the terrible 
 roads he must travel, whether he could subsist the army in such 
 a country, during the short time it would take to traverse it. 
 
 It is impossible to give a detailed account of this extraor 
 dinary retreat. The army moved in a lengthened line, wind 
 ing over the rocky, broken, sterile region like a huge serpent ; 
 the heavy rumbling of the trains and guns, the only music 
 
112 SUFFERING OF THE ARMY. 
 
 of- the march. When it came to a cross-road, it would rap 
 idly concentrate, to prevent flank attacks of the enemy s 
 cavalry, and as soon as the dangerous point was passed, un 
 wind again, and press forward. The streams were all dry, 
 mocking with their stony beds the thirst of the weary sol 
 diers. Sometimes, water could be got only by pulling it up 
 from crevices in the cliffs, eighty or a hundred feet deep ; 
 and one day, the army was compelled to march thirty-four 
 miles in order to reach water. So constantly and dreadfully 
 did the soldiers suffer for want of it, that they began to talk 
 of the distant Ohio, as the eitd of all human desires. They 
 suffered, too, from want of food, as the enemy destroyed 
 everything before them on which they could lay their hands. 
 Even the officers and women grew faint as they marched 
 along, gnawed by the pangs of hunger. One day, all that 
 Morgan had to sustain life was a single ear of parched corn, 
 and on another day, all that he and his staff together had, 
 was a dozen potatoes. Occasionally, a field of standing 
 corn was passed, which sufficed to keep them from starva 
 tion. On one occasion, as Morgan was riding along the col 
 umn, he passed the wife of one of his colonels, sitting on a 
 log, looking faint and pale. Stopping a moment, he said : 
 " I hope you are not ill." u Oh, no," she replied, u I am well, 
 General." u But," she added, with a wan smile, U I have 
 eaten but once in forty-eight hours." Famine was staring 
 him and his gallant army in the face, but there was no mur 
 muring, no complaint. The roads were blockaded with 
 fallen trees and rocks, which had to be removed, or a new 
 road cut around them ; and the crack of rifles from the 
 thickets along their line of march, and from barricades in 
 front, and the report of forces gathering in advance, kept 
 them ever on the alert, and hard at work, and constantly 
 moving. The usual September storm, even a little delay, 
 would probably have sealed the fate of the army ; but the 
 
A THRILLING SHOUT. 113 
 
 bright autumnal weather enabled them to. march steadily, 
 and thus keep the advantage they had gained at the start, 
 to the last. The rebel Morgan and Marshall were both in 
 his front, and an overwhelming force in his rear, but the 
 latter could not overtake him, while he moved so rapidly 
 that the former had no time to concentrate a sufficient force 
 to arrest his progress. Occasional conflicts with small bodies 
 occurred, in which a few of his men fell, and were hastily 
 buried in the sterile fields past which they marched. 
 
 Thus, day after day, for nearly a fortnight, this wonderful 
 retreat was kept up, until at length, on the 3d of October, the 
 advance brigade, as it reached a lofty swell, caught a glimpse 
 of the lordly Ohio, rolling its glittering flood through the 
 distant landscape. At the glad sight, a thrilling shout went 
 up, and " The Ohio ! The Ohio ! " rolled like thunder down the 
 excited line. Each regiment and brigade took it up in turn, till 
 u The Ohio ! The Ohio ! " rose and fell in prolonged and jubilant 
 acclamation for miles away, along the weary column. It re 
 called the time when the German army sent up in a wild shout, 
 " The Rhine ! The Rhine ! " as they once more came in sight 
 of their native stream, and joy and gladness filled every heart. 
 
 Morgan was at last safe. Right nobly had he won the 
 race. By his foresight, energy and indomitable persever 
 ance, he had escaped from the trap in which an inefficient 
 General-in-Chief had allowed him to be caught. He had 
 saved his entire train, and lost but eighty men since he 
 moved out of the Gap. Instead, however, of congratulating 
 him on his skill and success, in his report sent into Congress 
 the following Winter, Halleck had the injustice to censure 
 him for evacuating the Gap, saying that "an investigation 
 had been ordered." No one, however, was deceived by it. 
 The public had long known the situation of Morgan, and, 
 that unless his communications were opened, and supplies 
 sent him, he and his army were lost ; and hence, instead 
 
114 GROSS INJUSTICE. 
 
 o condemning him, felt unbounded gratitude, that he had 
 outwitted the enemy, and saved his army and guns. But 
 the General-in-Chief was guilty of deception, as well as in 
 justice. When he said that " an investigation had been 
 ordered," it had not only been ordered but finished, and the 
 report laid on his table six weeks previous. He himself had 
 directed Major-General Wright to make this investigation ; 
 and, in his report, the latter said he u did not see how, with 
 starvation staring him (Morgan) in the face, and with no 
 certainty of relief being afforded, he could have come to any 
 other conclusion than the one he arrived at," &c. He stated 
 also that it was unanimously decided, in a council of war, to be 
 the only course left, if he would avoid a surrender of his army. 
 When Morgan, who was at Memphis, saw Halleck s report, 
 stung by its gross injustice, he immediately wrote to him, 
 demanding a court of inquiry or court-martial, at once, be 
 fore which he could be heard. Halleck, in reply, said " that 
 General Wright was directed some time since to investigate 
 and report the facts concerning that affair, and if that report 
 shall be satisfactory, no further proceedings will be required, 
 and you will be relieved from all blame." Morgan imme 
 diately wrote to General Wright, and found to his astonish 
 ment, that he had sent in his report the October previous, 
 exonerating him from all blame, and that this report was in 
 Halleck s hands when he made out his own report. That the 
 latter should be guilty of the gross injustice of casting censure 
 on a brave officer, in order to cover up his own short-comings, 
 is perhaps not surprising ; but that he should put on record 
 statements, which, placed side by side, present him in 
 such a painful aspect to the public, is certainly very remark 
 able. The whole campaign as planned, was a palpable 
 blunder, and it was natural that he should put the blame 
 of failure upon some one else ; but this mode of doing it 
 admits of no excuse. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 STATE OF AFFAIRS IN THE WEST EAST TENNESSEE ARKANSAS BATTLE OF 
 
 PRAIRIE GROVE FORREST S RAID IN KENTUCKY SURRENDER OF HARTS- 
 
 VILLE, TENNESSEE BUTLER ? S DEPARTMENT EXPEDITION AGAINST VICKS- 
 
 BURG SURRENDER OF HOLLY SPRINGS ASSAULT UPON VICKSBURG GAL 
 LANTRY OF GENERAL BLAIR SHERMAN SUPERSEDED BY MC CLERNAND 
 
 ARMY OF THE POTOMAC MC CLELLAN DELAYS TO MOVE CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 . BETWEEN HIM AND HALLECK RAID OF STUART MC CLELLAN ORDERED BY 
 
 THE PRESIDENT TO MOVE HIS ADVANCE SUPERSEDED BY BURNSIDE 
 
 PARTING WITH THE ARMY REVIEW OF MC CLELLAN s CAMPAIGN AGAINST 
 
 RICHMOND. 
 
 DURING this month, October, while East Tennessee had 
 again fallen into the hands of the enemy, General Blunt, 
 by a vigorous attack on the rebel Hindman, at Fort Wayne, 
 Arkansas, had routed him, capturing his artillery, and thus 
 relieved South-western Missouri from rebel depredations. 
 In the latter part of the month, General Herron dispersed a 
 large band of guerrillas, near Fayetteville, in Missouri. 
 November passed without any battles of moment, though 
 throughout the West, constant fighting was going on between 
 detached forces. But in the last of this month, Gen. Blunt, 
 who was fast rising into distinction, was pressing hard against 
 the rebel forces under Hindman and Marmaduke in Arkansas. 
 At Cane Hill, after a sharp contest, he forced the enemy to 
 retreat. A few days after, however, learning that Hindman 
 ,and Marmaduke, in conjunction, were moving from different 
 points in heavy force to attack him, he immediately began 
 to concentrate his troops, and on Friday, the 7th of Decem 
 ber, gave him battle at Prairie Grove, 
 
116 AFFAIRS WEST. 
 
 BATTLE OF PRAIRIE GROVE. 
 
 General Herron, who, in obedience to orders from General 
 Blunt, endeavored to join him, was attacked by an over 
 whelming force, but, by the most gallant fighting, held his 
 own until Blunt formed a junction with him. It was a beau 
 tiful day, and, the battle occurring in a comparatively open 
 country, the scene it presented was picturesque and thrilling. 
 It lasted till night-fall, apparently without any decisive re 
 sults. But the next morning it was found that the enemy 
 had retreated. Herron and Blunt had out-generaled the 
 enemy and defeated him, though superior in numbers, in 
 a fair field fight. Our loss was a little over a thousand, 
 while that of the rebels must have been nearly three 
 times as great. Soon after, hearing that Hindman was at 
 Van Buren, Blunt pushed on and captured it. 
 
 In Kentucky, Forrest s great- raid was the important event 
 of the month of December. He seemed to go where he 
 liked with his half-wild followers, sending consternation 
 through the country. Elizabethtown was captured by Mor 
 gan on the 27th, and a large amount of property destroyed. 
 
 The shameful surrender of Hartsville, Tennessee, with 
 some fifteen hundred men, this month, awakened the deepest 
 indignation, and disgraced the troops left to hold it. 
 
 On the last day of the month, Forrest was defeated at 
 Parker s Cross Roads by Sullivan, with a loss of a thousand 
 men ; but, on the whole, affairs in Kentucky and Tennessee 
 at the close of the year, were in a very unsatisfactory con 
 dition. 
 
 The Department of New Orleans furnished nothing more 
 important than the retirement of Butler, on^the 15th of De 
 cember, and the appointment of Banks in his place. The 
 month previous, at Bayou Teche, fourteen miles from Bra- 
 
VICKSBURG. 117 
 
 shear City, a fight occurred between five Union gunboats and 
 a large rebel force, supported by the gunboat Cotton, which 
 resulted in the retreat of the enemy and the escape of the 
 gunboat. 
 
 Up the Mississippi, however, more important events were 
 transpiring. Grant, in command, planned an expedition to 
 take Vicksburg, which, though it proved a sad failure, was- 
 the beginning of the great measures to open that river to 
 our fleet. The plan was, for Sherman with his army to move 
 straight on the place, and attempt to carry it by assault, 
 while Grant himself was to advance against Jackson City, and 
 attack the enemy there, to keep him from sending troops 
 to Vicksburg. , ^,. 
 
 Sherman left Memphis on the 20th day of December, and 
 the day after Christmas, entered the Yazoo, and ascended it 
 nearly to Haines Bluff. Here the army was disembarked, 
 and moved down towards Vicksburg. 
 
 The gunboats had previously, on the 26th, assaulted the 
 eight-gun battery on the bluff, but were unable to silence it. 
 
 In the meantime, disaster had overtaken Grant, so that 
 his co-operation became impossible. Holly Springs, on which 
 he partly relied for supplies, was attacked and disgrace 
 fully surrendered. This brought him to a halt, and the 
 rebel forces, that he expected to keep back from Vicksburg 
 were left free to reinforce the place. 
 
 Sherman, however, ignorant of all this, proceeded to carry 
 out his part of the plan, and, on the 27th day of December, 
 advanced with his accustomed rapidity against the city, and 
 before night drove the enemy from his outer lines. For the 
 next two days he continued to press the assault, and on the 
 29th, a series of charges was made with a fury amounting 
 almost to desperation. "Blair s brigade, in the advance, 
 emerging from the cover of a cypress forest, came upon an 
 intricate abattis of young trees, felled about three feet from 
 
118 A GALLANT ATTACK. 
 
 the ground, with the tops left interlacing each other in con 
 fusion. Beyond the abattis was a deep ditch, with quick 
 sand at the bottom, and several feet of water over it. Be 
 yond the ditch was a more impenetrable abattis of heavy 
 timber. All this was swept by a murderous fire from the 
 enemy s artillery. Yet, through and over it all, the brigade 
 gallantly charged, and drove the enemy from his rifle pits 
 at the base of the center hill, on which the city lay. Other 
 brigades now came up in support, and the second line was 
 carried ; and still up the hill pressed the heroic advance." 
 
 But it was all in vain. The city was impregnable to so 
 small a force, and reluctantly, the storming party yielded up 
 their hardly earned conquests, Blair s brigade losing one- 
 third of his men in the daring assault.* 
 
 Sherman now saw it was a hopeless task, and, under a flag 
 of truce burying his men, re-embarked his army and pro 
 ceeded to Young s Point. Here McClernand assumed com 
 mand, and the army was divided into two corps, which were 
 placed under Sherman and Morgan. In announcing the 
 change of command, Sherman complimented his troops, add 
 ing : " Ours was but part of a combined movement in which 
 others were to assist. We were in time ; unforeseen con 
 tingencies must have delayed the others. We have destroyed 
 the Shreveport road ; we have attacked Yicksburg, t and 
 pushed the attack as far as prudence would justify, and, 
 having found it too strong for our single column, we have 
 drawn off in good order and good spirits, ready for any 
 
 new move." 
 
 In the East, the year had closed disastrously to our arms. 
 McClellan, after the Battle of Antietam, rested so long a time 
 on the north side of the Potomac, that the President and his 
 advisers became impatient, and urged an immediate advance 
 
 Col. Bowman. 
 
STUART S II A ID. 119 
 
 of the army. McClellan, in reply, stated that the troops 
 were not in a fit condition to move, that they lacked clothing, 
 supplies, horses, in short, could not march against the enemy, 
 with any prospect of success. The correspondence between 
 McClellan and Halleck at this time, is one of the most ex 
 traordinary developments of the war the former repeating 
 his needs, and urging that they be immediately supplied, 
 and the latter, flatly contradicting him, affirming that he had 
 clothing, horses, everything necessary. That the Commander 
 of the army in the field, who had just saved Washington 
 and won a great victory, should not know what his troops 
 stood in want of in fact, should be told, over and over 
 again, that they had shoes, and clothing, and horses, right 
 against the testimony of his own eyes, and the reports of his 
 own officers is a singular exhibition of want of harmony 
 of action. The President seemed to think that Halleck was 
 right, and, acting in accordance with the views of the latter, 
 on the 6th of October, directed that the army move at once, 
 while the roads were good. Four days. after, the rebel Stu 
 art crossed the Potomac with eighteen hundred men, on a raid 
 into Pennsylvania, and so utterly was McClellan deficient in 
 horses, that he could mount but eight hundred men to fol 
 low him a sad comment on Halleck s assertions. It was 
 on this account, that the rebel force, after penetrating to- 
 Chambersburg, some twenty miles in rear of the army, was 
 able to make its way safely back to Virginia having com 
 pleted the entire circuit of the Federal forces. The success 
 ful return of this daring expedition was a cause of deep 
 mortification, and kindled into greater strength the general 
 desire that McClellan should move at once against the enemy. 
 At length, he put the army in motion, and on the 26th of 
 October, began to cross the Potomac at Berlin, designing to 
 move parallel with the Blue Ridge, holding each Gap as he: 
 advanced Warrenton being the point of general direction. 
 
 38 
 
120 MCCLELLAN REMOVED. 
 
 By the 5th of November, he had planted his head-quarters 
 at Warrenton his army well in hand, and ready to close in 
 a great struggle with the enemy when he received a tele 
 gram from Washington, relieving him from the command of 
 the army, and ordering him to turn it over to Burnside. 
 
 The announcement of this sudden change of leaders at 
 this critical juncture, fell like a thunderbolt on the army and 
 the nation, and awakened for a time the gravest fears as to 
 its result. The reason given by HalLeck that it was done 
 because McClellan disobeyed orders -if the true one, should 
 have caused his removal a month before, when, directed 
 to move at once across the Potomac, he had delayed until 
 he thought he could do so with any prospect of success. 
 
 His parting with the army was a sad one to him and the 
 troops, for it was the child of his creation, and common 
 sufferings and dangers had endeared them to each other. 
 None saw him leave, with keener regret, than Burnside him 
 self, who did not wish to accept the position forced on him 
 openly declaring that McClellan was the only man fit to 
 occupy it. 
 
 This terminated McClellan s connection with the army, 
 and ended the first great chapter of the war. Public opinion 
 will always be more or less divided as to his merits as a 
 ^Commander, and the partisan character which the whole 
 question at once assumed, rendered a just discussion of it 
 impossible ; and not, till the generation to which he belongs 
 shall have passed away, will his conduct, during the two years 
 and upwards that he was at the head of the Army of the 
 Potomac, be judged simply by the rules of military criticism. 
 But there are two great facts which do not admit of dis 
 cussion. The first is, that the failure of the Peninsular cam 
 paign rendered a long and tedious war inevitable. The 
 second is, that a great campaign cannot be successfully carried 
 on, by a divided power and conflicting counsels. 
 
CHAPTER YIII, 
 
 BURNSIDE ADVANCES ON FREDERTCKSBURG HIS DESIGN IS DISAPPOINTED 
 
 RESOLVES TO CARRY THE HEIGHTS BY ASSAULT TERRIFIC BOMBARDMENT 
 
 OF THE PLACE A STRIKING SCENE GALLANTRY OF THE SEVENTH MICHI 
 GAN THE SHARPSHOOTERS CROSSING OF THE RIVER THE BATTLE THE 
 
 DEFEAT THE ARMY RECROSSES THE RIVER FEELING OF THE PEOPLE 
 
 BURNSIDE TAKES THE RESPONSIBILITY REVIEW OF THE CAMPAIGN SECOND 
 
 ATTEMPT MADE AND ABANDONED THE SOUTHERN DEPARTMENT DEATH 
 
 OF MITCHELL FOSTER S EXPEDITION INTO NORTH CAROLINA CLOSE OF 
 
 THE YEAR, 
 
 BATTLE OF FREDERICKSBURG. 
 
 TEN days after the removal of McClellan, Burnside broke 
 up his head-quarters, and commenced a rapid march to 
 Fredericksburg, with the design of capturing the place be 
 fore Lee s main army could reach it, and thus to cut off his 
 retreat towards Richmond, and compel him to a decisive battle 
 in the field. But the pontoon trains, without which the 
 army could not cross the river, did not arrive from Wash 
 ington at the expected time. Consequently, it lay idly on 
 the banks of the Rappahannock till nearly the middle of 
 the next month. Ample time was therefore given to Lee 
 to counteract the intended movement, and make that which 
 at first seemed feasible, an impossibility. Still, Burnside 
 did not abandon the project of taking the place, and, think 
 ing that the most desperate movement would be never 
 anticipated by the enemy viz., a direct assault up an open 
 slope, upon his intrenched positions, held by an ample force, 
 with interior lines equally formidable determined to hazard 
 it The country back of Fredericksburg rises in successive 
 terraces, to the heights on which Lee s army lay intrenched. 
 
122 THE BOMBARDMENT. 
 
 This line of heights curves in towards the river, some three 
 miles below the city, where it is wooded. Here the right 
 of Lee s army rested. At this point also, Franklin, com 
 manding our left wing, was directed to cross with his corps, 
 and, if possible, turn the enemy s flank, while the main army 
 was to cross directly at the city, and move in one grand as 
 sault up the heights. For two days before the battle, the 
 banks of the Rappahannock presented a stirring spectacle. 
 The moving of masses of troops, the far-echoing notes of 
 the bugle, the heavy tramp of the marching columns, pre 
 paratory to the great " day of decision," the sullen thunder 
 peals that rolled along the heights on either side of the river, 
 dark with long rows of cannon combined to make a scene 
 at once grand and fearful. On Thursday, the place was 
 bombarded, in order to drive out the sharpshooters who 
 prevented the laying of the pontoons, and a hundred and 
 seventy-nine guns opened at once on the town. At the 
 commencement of this terrific cannonade, that shook the 
 shores of the river like an earthquake, the city was en 
 veloped in a dense fog a spire here and there, pierc 
 ing above the sleeping mass, alone revealing its locality. 
 As the awful bombardment went on, dark columns of 
 smoke, shooting fiercely through the white sea of mist, 
 told where building after building was fired by the shells. 
 About noon the, fog lifted, and, drifting gently away, 
 revealed the city in flames. All day long, the deep rever 
 berations shook the shore, and rolled heavily away over the 
 trembling earth, and when the blood-red sun went down in 
 the hazy sky, it shed a lurid light on field and river, and 
 frowning heights, and miles of quiet tents. " As the air dark 
 ened, the red flashes of the guns gave a new effect to the 
 scene the roar of each report being preceded by a fierce 
 dart of flame, while the explosion of each shell was an- 
 iiounced by a gush of fire on the clouds. Towering between 
 
A GALLANT DASH. 123 
 
 us and the western sky, which was still showing its faded 
 scarlet lining, was the huge, somber pillar of grimy smoke 
 that marked the burning of Fredericksburg. Ascending to 
 a vast height, it bore away northward, shaped like a plume 
 bowed in the wind." 
 
 The guns, however, could not be depressed enough to 
 reach the houses on the bank of the river, in which the 
 sharpshooters lay concealed. If these could be dislodged, the 
 pontoons might be laid, for the river ran so deep between 
 its banks, that Lee could not command it with his batteries. 
 
 To do this, the Seventh Michigan volunteered to cross 
 over in boats, under the fire of the sharpshooters, and expel 
 them with the bayonet In ten boats, holding twenty-five or 
 thirty men each, the regiment pushed off with a ringing 
 cheer, and, pulling straight into and through the pattering 
 balls, reached the opposite shore. The Nineteenth and 
 Twentieth Massachusetts followed, and the rebels, popping up 
 like rats from behind walls, rifle pits and heaps of rubbish, 
 scampered off through the streets of the city, when three 
 pontoon bridges were quickly laid, and soon shook to the 
 tread of the mighty host. 
 
 By Saturday morning, the 13th, the army was across, in 
 cluding Franklin s Corps down the river. The fog lay heavy 
 and still along the river and plain, and shrouded the batteries 
 in gloom ; yet heavy explosions incessantly shook its myste 
 rious bosom, sounding the notes of preparation to the mighty 
 columns, that, wrapped in its gray mantle, stood in battle 
 array on the further side of the river. The battle, however, 
 did not really commence till nearly noon, when the order to 
 advance was given, and Couch s Corps moved forward into 
 the fire. It is impossible to describe the din and carnage that 
 followed. In three massive columns, our brave troops 
 mounted the ascent, but, when they reached the second ter 
 race, the rebel batteries, with a rapid and concentrated fire, 
 
124 THE BATTLE. 
 
 rained shot and shell in a ceaseless, overwhelming storm 
 on their uncovered ranks. Horses galloping furiously across 
 the plain brigades streaming on the double-quick through 
 the fiery sleet, that made great gaps in them as they passed 
 swaying columns bravely endeavoring to breast the storm 
 the ragged front of battle wildly undulating along the 
 slope the ceaseless crash of cannon all combined to make 
 a scene of tumult and carnage inconceivable, indescribable. 
 Said Col. Stevens, in his report to the Governor of New 
 Hampshire : " For three-fourths of an hour, I stood in front 
 of my regiment on the brow of the hill, and watched the 
 fire of the rebel batteries, as they poured shot and shell from 
 sixteen different points upon our devoted men on the plains 
 below. It was a sight magnificently terrible. Every dis 
 charge of the enemy s artillery, and every explosion of his 
 shells, was distinctly visible in the dusky twilight of that 
 smoke-crowned hill. His direct and enfilading batteries, 
 with the vividness, intensity, and almost the rapidity of light 
 ning, hurled the messengers of death into the midst of our 
 brave ranks, vainly struggling through the murderous fire 
 to gain the hills and guns of the enemy." The dead and 
 wounded were borne back in an incessant stream to the city ; 
 not a step in advance was gained ; and still the troops were 
 pressed to the devastating fire, and Death held high carnival in 
 front of the rebel works. " Forward, men steady close 
 up ! " fell from firm-set lips that the next moment were sealed in 
 death ; and deeds of personal daring, and heroic sacrifices were 
 made by regiments and brigades, that will ever render them 
 immortal. But it was vain valor and vain sacrifice. Meagh- 
 er s Irish brigade, of heroic renown, was almost annihilated. 
 Below, down the river, the thunder of Franklin s guns could 
 be heard, rolling up the banks, but, after his first advance, 
 the heavy explosions came from the same spot, showing that 
 he was making no progress towards accomplishing the task 
 
A LOST BATTLE. 125 
 
 assigned him. Said the correspondent of the Cincinnati 
 Commercial: " It was with a deep sense of relief, that I saw 
 the sun go down, and felt that in a little while, darkness 
 would put an end to the unequal combat. But, for a time, 
 the fury of the fire on both sides redoubled, as the discovery 
 was made by the combatants that their day s work was about 
 done. For a half an hour the din was awful, and the smoke 
 drifted through the streets as sometimes in a city, when there 
 is a high wind and a great dust. * * * Franklin s and 
 Jackson s guns throbbed heavily a few times on the left ; 
 and all was still on the north side of the river, save the rum 
 bling of army wagons." 
 
 At length, silence rested along the crimson heights, and 
 the battle was over. Not a battery had been taken ; not a 
 breastwork carried ; not even the threshold of the enemy s 
 works reached. Like men led out to execution, the brave 
 battalions had been marched forth, only to be shot down. 
 It was literally a "field of slaughter." 
 
 Burnside, instead of carrying the heights of Fredericks- 
 burg, by a splendid coup -de-main, had walked boldly, un 
 suspectingly, into a frightful trap, which closed on him with 
 a swift, fatal spring. Though no impression whatever had 
 been made on the enemy s works showing that our fright 
 ful loss was a dead loss that every life had been thrown 
 away yet Burnside wished, the next morning, to renew 
 the attack, but was prevented by the remonstrance of some 
 of his Generals. 
 
 He reported his loss at less than ten thousand, but it after 
 wards turned out to be double that number. Lee reported 
 his entire loss to be only eighteen hundred. 
 
 The Sanitary Commission was promptly on the field, and 
 again proved to the country what an admirable institution 
 it was. 
 
 Sunday dawned warm and balmy as October, and the 
 
126 THE RIVER RECROSSED. 
 
 birds sang along the banks of the Rappahannock, as merrily 
 as though no scenes of death and carnage had made them 
 as memorable as the shores of Trasymenus. 
 
 Some skirmishing and cannonading followed, but on Mon 
 day night, the wearied and bleeding army was secretly, 
 silently transported across the river, the pontoons taken up 
 and the great campaign was ended. 
 
 The country was fearfully excited by this catastrophe, 
 coming so quickly on the heels of McClellan s removal, and 
 abuse was poured on the Government from every quarter, 
 until Burnside publicly took the responsibility of the whole 
 movement on himself. 
 
 Great complaint was made that the pontoons were not 
 sent forward from Washington, in time to meet Burnside 
 when he moved from Warrenton, so that he could have 
 crossed at once, and taken possession of the heights, before 
 the enemy had time to occupy them. Hooker, too, thought, 
 if he could have had his own way, he might have seized and 
 held them in advance. There are always supposed events 
 after a defeat, which, had they occurred, would have made 
 it a victory. But Lee was too good a General to allow his 
 retreat to Richmond to be cut off by a sudden dash. He 
 showed afterwards, when attacked by Hooker, and still later, 
 when pressed by Grant with double his own force, that nei 
 ther dash, great ability, nor overwhelming numbers, could 
 accomplish this desired object. Still, deeply as the country 
 was mortified at the defeat, but little condemnation of Burn- 
 side openly was heard. His unwillingness to take chief 
 command, his modest appreciation of his own abilities, his 
 known moral worth and true patriotism, warded off the 
 blows, that afterwards fell fierce and fast on. Hooker, who 
 suffered a similar defeat near the same place. 
 
 Burnside soon after planned another advance movement, 
 designed to retrieve his disasters, and had actually commenced 
 
GENERAL MITCHELL. 127 
 
 it, but heavy rains set in, which turned the whole country 
 into a sea of niud, and it was abandoned. 
 
 This practically closed the campaign in Virginia for the 
 year. The rebels, some three thousand strong, crossed the 
 Rappahannock above Burnside, and attacked Dumfries, but 
 were repulsed. 
 
 Further south, but little was accomplished. General 
 Mitchell, the celebrated astronomer, who had abandoned his 
 quiet pursuits at the call of his country, and, under Buell, 
 acquired the reputation of a skillful, energetic General, but 
 was afterwards relieved from his command, under the insane 
 charge of speculating in cotton, was sent, early in the Au 
 tumn, to the Southern Department to take the place of Hun 
 ter. He immediately infused energy and life into affairs, 
 and great results were expected from his known force of 
 character. But he was stricken down in the midst of his 
 usefulness, by the yellow fever, and died at Beaufort on the 
 30th of October. A pure and noble man, he was at the 
 outset, so ungenerously treated by the War Department, that, 
 during Cameron s administration, he sent in his resignation, 
 but it was not accepted. Afterwards, though he had filled 
 the land with his deeds, he suffered under the charge of 
 speculating, and at last was sent to Beaufort to die. 
 
 In North Carolina, only partial, isolated blows were 
 struck, having no direct bearing on any of the great cam 
 paigns. The principal event which marked the closing year 
 in this Department, was an expedition against Kinston, set 
 on foot by Foster, with four brigades under General Wessels 
 and commanded by Colonels Amory, Stevenson and Lee. He 
 left Newbern on the 8th of December, and on the 14th, met 
 the enemy in force, under General Evans, about a mile from 
 Kinston, and gave him battle. The rebels were beaten, and 
 retreated, abandoning the town, which Foster took posses 
 sion of. He rendered useless two heavy guns which he 
 
128 A DARING DEED. 
 
 could not bring off, and captured four field pieces. After 
 destroying the quartermasters stores, and burning the bridge, 
 lie proceeded to Whitehall. From thence, he continued his 
 course, fighting as he advanced, till he came within eight 
 miles of Goldsboro , which was only fifty miles from Raleigh, 
 the Capital of the State. After burning trestle-work and 
 cars, and tearing up railroad tracks, and, last of all v firing 
 the bridge over the Neuse, under the shots of the enemy, 
 he retraced his steps to Newbern having advanced seventy 
 or eighty miles into the heart of the State, and spread 
 consternation wherever he went. Lieutenant George W. 
 Graham applied the torch to the bridge, under the fire of the 
 enemy s artillery and infantry, and then saved himself by 
 jumping from it. 
 
 The total loss in the expedition, was five hundred and 
 seventy-seven. Among the killed was Colonel Gray, of the 
 Ninety-sixth New York regiment 
 
 The sum total of the military operations for the year, was 
 not satisfactory, and belied the promise of the Government, 
 and the hopes of the people, that the war would be a short 
 one. 
 
 But while in the East, the New Year came in gloomily, 
 in the West, it was signaled by a battle that inaugurated a 
 series of movements, which, in the end, were to have an 
 important bearing on the war. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 BATTLE OF MURFREESBORo , OR STONE RIVER ROSECRANS AT NASHVILLE 
 
 HIS DELAY TO MOVE THE COUNCIL OF WAR ROSECRANS PARTING 
 
 WORDS THE MARCH COMMENCED THE ENEMY S LINE OF BATTLE AT 
 
 BRAGG S PLAN OF ATTACK MORNING OF THE BATTLE ATTACK OF THE 
 
 ENEMY DESTRUCTION OF OUR RIGHT WING ROSECRANS INCREDULOUS 
 
 HIS GALLANT CONDUCT WHEN INFORMED OF HIS DISASTER HEROIC DE 
 FENSE BY SHERIDAN FORMING A NEW LINE OF BATTLE STUBBORNNESS 
 
 OF THE LEFT WING 3PLEXDID BEHAVIOR OF IIAZEN THE CLOSE AP 
 PEARANCE OF THE FIELD OUR HEAVY LOSS OPERATIONS OF THE FOL 
 LOWING DAYS LAST BATTLE MURFREESBORO* EVACUATED ROSECRANS 
 
 CELEBRATES HIGH MASS THE ARMY RESTS. 
 
 ROSECRANS, who had succeeded Buell in command of 
 the Army of the Cumberland, had a high reputation 
 for energy and skill, having never yet been beaten in a sin 
 gle battle. He took up his head-quarters at Nashville, and 
 commenced the reorganization of the army. 
 
 Here he remained, apparently idle, for two months, and 
 the country, ignorant of the circumstances that surrounded 
 him, grew impatient. The usual pressure, which at the first 
 had urged on McDowell, and which, like an evil genius, had 
 followed every General since the war began, was brought to 
 bear on him. But no power on earth could make him move 
 till he was ready. They might supersede him, but could not 
 force him to do that which his judgment condemned, if he 
 was to be held responsible for the result. 
 
 At length, having settled matters somewhat to his satisfac 
 tion in Nashville secured his communications, and accumu 
 lated thirty days 7 provisions, he determined to move. A 
 consultation was held at head-quarters, on Christmas night, 
 
130 THE ADVANCE. 
 
 which broke up at midnight. The army was to march in the 
 morning ; and as Rosecrans, in parting, took each commander 
 by the hand, he said : u Spread out your skirmishers far and 
 wide ! Expose their nests ! Keep fighting ! Good night." 
 The morning, so big with fate, dawned gloomily on the 
 army the clouds hung like a pall over the wintry landscape 
 great drifts of slowly moving mist lay along the valleys 
 while the rain came down in torrents, that gathered in pools 
 in the road, or ran in yellow streams along the gullies. The 
 reveille, as it rolled from camp to camp, had a muffled sound 
 in the murky atmosphere, and everything conspired to shed 
 a gloom over the army. But the soldiers seemed to forget 
 the storm in the excitement of marching on the enemy, and 
 soon the mighty host, nearly fifty thousand strong, was 
 sweeping along the muddy roads and across the drenched 
 fields. Thomas led the center, McCook the right, and Crit- 
 tenden the left. About noon, the clouds broke away before 
 a stiff north-west breeze, and the sun came out to lighten up 
 the somber landscape. But already the dropping fire of 
 musketry, and now and then the boom of a cannon, told 
 that the rebel u nests " were being u stirred up." All day 
 long, the steady columns toiled on over the broken country, 
 and at night bivouacked in the wet fields. But with dark 
 ness came again the heavy rain-clouds, and the cold storm 
 beat on the tired army. Through the darkness and storm, 
 Rosecrans with his escort went dashing over the country, in 
 search of McCook s head-quarters. Their horses hoofs struck 
 fire among the rocks, and they swung along at such a slashing 
 pace that one of his escort finally exclaimed : u General, this 
 way of going like h 1 over the rocks will knock up the 
 horses." " That s true," he replied; "walk." Moving on 
 more slowly through the impenetrable blackness, he called 
 an orderly and said, " Go back and tell that young man he 
 must not be profane." Reaching McCook s head-quarters 
 
A LOST ESCORT. 131 
 
 in the woods, the two entered a wagon, and sitting down 
 on the bottom, with a candle between them, stuck in the 
 socket of a bayonet, the point of which was driven into the 
 floor, they consulted together of the movements for the 
 morrow. u Push them hard /" were his last words as he 
 arose to his feet. Emerging from the wagon between ten 
 and eleven o clock, he exclaimed, "We mount now, gentle 
 men." The blast of a bugle suddenly rung through the 
 forest, rousing up the staff, some of whom, tired with being 
 ten hours in the saddle, were dozing in their blankets, upon 
 the rocks around. To the u Good night " of McCook, Rose- 
 crans added, " God bless you !" and striking the spurs into 
 his horse, dashed down the road, splashing the mud over 
 himself, and those who pressed hard after him. Losing his 
 way on his return, he " charged impatiently " through the 
 woods, in the vain effort to find the right road. Amid bugle 
 calls, and shouts, the escort got separated and confused, and 
 lost their leader, who, with a part of his staff, wandered off 
 alone, and at length, at one o clock in the morning, reached 
 his camp having been in the saddle eighteen hours. The 
 others did not arrive there till two hours later. * 
 
 The next day, Saturday, dawned in gloom, like the one 
 before ; the heavy clouds hung low, and a pall of mist wrapped 
 the landscape. Slowly and uncertainly the columns felt their 
 way on, but at one o clock the fog lifted, and they moved 
 off over the soft fields and along the muddy highways, driv 
 ing the enemy s skirmishers before them. It was uncertain 
 whether Bragg would make a decided stand before he reached 
 Murfreesboro , or not, and the whole army was kept well in 
 hand. The next day, Sunday, was a day of rest to the 
 main army, for Rosecrans was averse to military operations 
 on that day, unless they were absolutely necessary. 
 
 * W. D. B. s " Rosecrans Campaign with the Fourteenth Army Corps." 
 
132 HEAD-QUARTERS UNDER FIRE. 
 
 Monday morning, before sunrise, the army was again in 
 motion, sweeping across the country in splendid order. 
 About three o clock in the afternoon, a signal message came 
 from General Palmer, in front, stating that he was in sight 
 of Murfreesboro , and that the enemy was in full flight. 
 Rosecrans immediately sent an order to Crittenden to move 
 a division into the town. But the report proved incorrect, 
 and the order was revoked, yet not till Harker, with his 
 brigade, had made a gallant dash forward, by which he was 
 placed in a perilous position. He, however, succeeded in 
 extricating himself from it without loss. 
 
 That night, it rained heavily drenching the soldiers to 
 their skins, and making the ground so soft that artillery 
 carriages would sink, while crossing the fields, almost to 
 their axles. The following day was dark, gloomy and de 
 pressing, and the soldiers stood shivering in their lines. 
 Rosecrans was up at three o clock in the morning, and the 
 columns were pushed carefully over the broken ground, and 
 through the cedar thickets, towards where the enemy was 
 drawn up in line of battle. Crittenden moved forward about 
 seven o clock, when the enemy opened a sharp fire upon 
 him. Rosecrans was standing, at the time, in front of his 
 head-quarters, an orderly holding his horse near him, when a 
 cannon ball struck in the road a short distance off, and 
 bounded away a second struck still nearer, and a third 
 with a swift, rushing sound, swept past him almost in a. line, 
 taking off the head of an orderly in its flight. His head 
 quarters were evidently a target for some of the rebel gun 
 ners, and mounting, he rode up a slope a little way off, and 
 halting under some trees near the road, remained there 
 during the rest of the day. A shed was made by leaning 
 some rails on a pole that rested in a couple of crotched sticks, 
 and covering them with india rubber blankets. Here the staff, 
 sheltered from the rain, wrote the orders as they were die- 
 
THE POSITION. 133 
 
 tated by their Chief. The dark columns standing noiseless 
 in the rain the swift marching of others into position 
 bodies of horse galloping over the heavy fields the dashing 
 away of orderlies in different directions the scattering fire 
 of musketry now swelling into full volleys the heavy boom 
 of cannon in front the bearing back of wounded officers 
 on stretchers, and the certainty of a great battle at hand, 
 combined to make those who clustered around the fire in 
 front of that rude shelter, serious and thoughtful. Some, at 
 least, were so, and among them the accomplished Garesche, 
 Chief of the Staff, who sat apart, under a tree, reading u De 
 Imitatione Christi," and pondering on his coming fate. As 
 if instinctively to break the growing sadness of the scene, 
 the Fourth Cavalry band struck up " The Star Spangled 
 Banner," and as the soul-stirring strains arose, and swelled 
 over the field, each eye grew blighter, and each heart kin 
 dled with the fire that ever warms the patriot s breast. 
 
 By evening, the different divisions were in their respective 
 positions, though the right wing, under McCook, had suf 
 fered considerably from the determined resistance of the 
 enemy. 
 
 The army now stood with its left resting on the Stone 
 River, and its right stretching off into the country as far as 
 the Franklin turnpike, making a line three miles long. The 
 farthest brigade on the extreme right was Willich s, and was 
 thrown back nearly at right angles to the main line, to be 
 ready for any flank movement of the enemy. The main 
 part of this right wing occupied a slight ridge, covered with 
 woods, with open ground in front. At the foot of the ridge, 
 between it and the enemy, stretched a valley, varying from 
 forty to sixty rods in width, and covered with close cedar 
 thickets and oak forests. The center, posted on a rolling 
 slope, was a little in advance of the main line ; while the left 
 wing, starting in a piece of woods, crossed a broad cotton 
 
134 PLAN OF BATTLE. 
 
 field, and ended in another piece of woods. The army, as 
 it thus stood in line of battle, numbered forty- three thousand 
 and four hundred men. Behind it were half-burned clear 
 ings, cedar thickets, cultivated fields, and patches of forest. 
 
 Parallel to our line, and distant about half a mile, lay the 
 rebel army its right resting on the river, which took a bend 
 northward just below the point of junction, so as to keep 
 nearly parallel with it. Being fordable at all points, the 
 enemy, if forced to retreat, could fall back across it, and 
 then make it a strong line of defense. Perhaps it would be 
 more accurate to say," its actual right lay across the river, 
 divided from the main army by the stream, for here, on an 
 eminence, was posted Breckenridge s division, directly in 
 front of Murfreesboro . Rosecrans design was to have Mc- 
 Cook keep the enemy in front occupied, either by attack or 
 defense, as circumstances might decide, so as to prevent 
 reinforcements being sent to Breckenridge across the river, 
 while he was to swing two divisions, under Van Cleve, over 
 from his left, and crush Breckenridge by a sudden assault 
 of superior numbers. Van Cleve was directed to plant his bat 
 teries, as soon as the heights were carried, so that they would 
 sweep the enemy s whole line of battle, and take his works 
 in reverse, compelling him to retreat to the south of Murfrees- 
 boro\ which movement would probably prove fatal to him. 
 
 The plan was a skillful one, if the enemy would only give him 
 time to execute it. But, unfortunately, Bragg had a similar 
 one of his own, by which he hoped to double up his adver 
 sary s right by a secret concentration of a heavy force against 
 it. All the later part of the day, he was moving his troops 
 in this direction, and McCook, ascertaining this from one of 
 the inhabitants whom he had captured, sent him at evening 
 to Rosecrans with the information. On being interrogated, 
 he mentioned the different . rebel divisions that had moved, 
 and their leaders. Rosecrans, however, instead of altering 
 
OPENING OF THE BATTLE. 135 
 
 his plan, to checkmate this movement, resolved to anticipate 
 it, and instead of strengthening his right wing, directed Mc- 
 Cook simply to build large camp fires beyond its extremity, 
 in order to give the impression to the enemy that a fresh 
 division had been sent there. Whether this ruse was under 
 stood or not, it produced no change in the rebel plan. 
 
 This was the position of the two armies on the night of 
 the 30th of December. It had rained all day, and the shiv 
 ering soldiers lay on the cold ground, to snatch such rest as 
 they could get, before commencing the terrible work of the 
 morning. 
 
 The right wing was composed of three divisions, of which 
 Johnson held the extreme right, Davis the center one, and 
 Sheridan the last, which joined the center of the army. 
 With the first streak of dawn, the roll of the drum and 
 bugle blast swelled and echoed from hill to hill along the 
 mighty line, bright with standards and glittering bayonets 
 that swayed and shook for three miles in the morning light, 
 and soon, General Van Cleve s division, which was to cross 
 over on our left, and overwhelm Breckenridge, was in motion. 
 Wood was to follow by another ford, and lapping ^on to his 
 right, and closing with him as he advanced, storm the heights 
 held by the rebel Commander. 
 
 In the meantime, Rosecrans had High Mass celebrated in 
 his tent, and thus having committed himself and his army to 
 the God of battles, he stepped forth into the open air. It 
 was a cold, wintry morning, and the officers, with their over 
 coats on, gathered around the fires that had been kindled in 
 the field. It was just before sunrise, and Rosecrans was listen 
 ing anxiously to hear the artillery along the heights held by 
 Breckenridge, when there suddenly came a strange, confused 
 sound from the extreme right, like the fearful sweep of a dis 
 tant hurricane rapidly approaching. At intervals, arose the 
 dull, heavy roar of cannon. Nearer and nearer the noise came. 
 
 39 
 
136 THE CATASTROPHE. 
 
 until distinct and plain the rattle of musketry was heard, 
 sounding in the distance like the crackling of flames amid 
 dry branches. The officers of the staff grew serious and 
 alarmed, but Rosecrans only looked up, and went on talking. 
 It was all going on as he expected. McCook was evidently 
 stubbornly contesting the field, according to his instructions. 
 Alas, McCook was not fighting, but retreating.* 
 
 Bragg s order was, that at daybreak the whole line, begin 
 ning at the extreme left, with Hardee s corps, and followed 
 by Folk s, should swing forward on our extreme right, and 
 bear it back, crumbling it in the retreat, till our army should 
 stand with its rear to the river. Its communications with 
 Nashville would thus be cut off, and its destruction sure. In 
 double lines they came on, swift and terrible as in-rolling 
 billows. The rebel General McCown first struck Johnson, 
 on our extreme right, who was wholly unprepared for the 
 sudden onset, and crushed him with a single blow sweeping 
 over his batteries with wild hurrahs. Cleburne followed him, 
 and striking Davis division, hurled it also back over the 
 field. Like a swift succeeding wave, Withers came next, 
 and fell T\wth the same desperation on the last division of the 
 right wing, which was Sheridan s. If this had given way, 
 like the other two, no power on earth could have saved 
 Rosecrans. His splendid army was trembling in the balance, 
 but Sheridan, though left solitary and alone of all that right 
 wing, stood fast. The wave that burst along that astonished 
 line, dissolving it like frost work, here met a rock, and fell 
 back in broken surges. There was no surprise here, as in 
 Davis division every man was in his place, and every 
 gunner at his piece, long before the shock came. Right in 
 the face of one battery, vomiting forth death, and through a 
 cross-fire of two more, the hostile column closed in mass, 
 and, several regiments deep, came steadily on. Through 
 
 * W. B. R 
 
A GALLANT FIGHT. 137 
 
 and through it, shot and shell tore with awful havoc, but 
 the great ragged gaps closed swiftly up, and still this mass 
 of living valor kept rolling on, until within pistol shot of 
 Sill s brigade, when a sheet of fire burst in their very faces. 
 Nol^y did they attempt to bear up against it, but the head 
 of each formation crumbled away ere it was completed, and 
 at length the whole broke and fled. Sill then shouted the 
 charge ; and away went the brigade, with a thundering cheer, 
 chasing the enemy to cover, but its gallant leader fell, mor 
 tally wounded. 
 
 But unless Sheridan could be dislodged, the overthrow 
 of Johnson and Davis would be of no avail, and so the enemy, 
 rallying again with fresh forces, came on more determined 
 than ever. At the same time, the victorious columns that 
 had crushed two of our divisions to fragments, now bore down 
 on Sheridan s flank, and his overthrow by the double onslaught 
 seemed certain. But instead of retreating, he moved up to 
 Negley, and locking on to the center, faced his troops both 
 south and west, thus presenting two slender fronts to the enemy. 
 At the angle he placed most of his guns, and in this position 
 awaited the onset of the overwhelming numbers. As they 
 came on, those batteries ploughed long lanes through the 
 dense masses, but they still advanced pushing their artillery 
 forward, until the guns played on each other, within close 
 rifle shot. The slaughter now was horrible. Three times 
 did the determined enemy advance, and as often was com 
 pelled to fall back. Said Polk, afterwards, of these awful 
 charges, and their deadly effect on his troops: "The horse 
 of every officer on the field and staff of Vaughn s brigade, 
 except one, and the horses of all the field and staff of every 
 regiment, except two, were killed. The brigade lost one- 
 third of its force. 7 
 
 But Sheridan s ammunition now gave out, and no more 
 could be got, for the train had been captured in the wild 
 
138 A GLOOMY PROSPECT. 
 
 rout of the rest of the wing. Besides, the enemy was now 
 all around him, in front, flank and rear, so that at last he 
 also was compelled to retire, leaving nine guns, which he 
 could not get through the dense cedar thickets, in the hands 
 of the rebels. Still, not in panic or disorder did his brave, 
 shattered division abandon the field but, with even ranks, 
 and colors flying, sullenly, savagely, fall back till it found 
 ammunition. 
 
 The right wing was at last all gone, and the onset that had 
 borne it backward now fell with unbroken fury on the 
 center. But the heroic resistance of Sheridan had gained 
 what was of vital importance time. As he was retreating, 
 thus uncovering the center, Rosecrans arrived on the field. 
 He had staid at head-quarters after the first crowd of fugi 
 tives arrived from the battle-field with their story of defeat 
 not believing that any real disaster had occurred. But as 
 the throng kept increasing, and the din swelled louder and 
 louder, he strode backward and forward before his tent, 
 with a disturbed, anxious look. At length, a staff officer 
 from McCook dashed up to him, asking for help. " Tell 
 General McCook," he shouted back, "to contest every inch 
 of ground, 7 and still continued his walk. Then came the 
 tidings that Sill was killed, Willich killed or captured, and 
 Kirk wounded. "Never mind; we must win the battle" 
 was the stern reply. Another aid now dashed up on a gal 
 lop, asking that Rousseau be held in readiness. Rousseau 
 commanded the reserves. This startled Rosecrans. What ! 
 reserves before the battle was fairly begun ? At last, the 
 frightful truth must be squarely met, crushing as it was, that 
 the right wing was gone, and the center fighting a hopeless 
 battle. " Tell General McCook I will help him ! " he ex 
 claimed, and almost the next instant, Rousseau s brave bat 
 talions were moving on the double-quick across the field. 
 Another order flew to Van Cleve. to double-quick a brigade 
 
ROSECRANS FLIES TO THE RESCUE. 139 
 
 to the right. All now was hot haste artillery went bound 
 ing across the field ; swift riders galloped hither and thither 
 with orders, and Rosecrans, exclaiming "Mount, gentlemen" 
 vaulted into the saddle, and striking the spurs into his steed, 
 launched away like a thunderbolt His face was like ashes, 
 his lips closed like a vice, and a dangerous light burned in 
 his flashing blue eye. His entire staff and escort pressed 
 after him as he dashed forward into the fire. Horses and 
 riders go down almost within reach of his sword but, 
 though his life at this fearful moment is worth twenty thousand 
 men, he flings it without a moment s hesitation into the scale. 
 The fugitives darken the fields, and the panic-stricken trains 
 block the roads, but nothing can stay his course. Orders 
 seem struck like fire from his lips. Down Barker s front of 
 battle, shot and shell shrieking through his escort, he gallops, 
 and mounting the only eminence near, draws rein on the 
 top. Here, a sight appalling enough to daunt the stoutest 
 heart, meets his eye. The smoke of battle rests in clouds 
 over the valley below, rent ever and anon with terrific ex 
 plosions the dark cedar thickets are ablaze with volleys 
 the fields are black with his broken battalions, among which 
 artillery wagons are plunging and the chaos and wreck of a 
 lost battle-field are all around him. Seeing a hostile battery 
 playing with deadly effect on Barker s brigade, he shouted 
 to the Chief of Artillery, " Silence that battery ! " and 
 planting the guns himself, again galloped off through a 
 whirlwind of shot. He was skirting the edge of a thicket, 
 when Jie met Sheridan leading back his diminished, but 
 compact and heroic column. The gallant leader, as he met 
 him, pointed back to it, saying, " Here is all that is left, 
 General; we have no cartridges, and our guns are empty." 
 Rosecrans himself directed him where to find ammunition, 
 and in a few minutes the brave fellows were again facing the 
 enemy. 
 
140 A GALLANT STAND. 
 
 By this time, the right wing of the center, under Negley, 
 left exposed by Sheridan s retreat, was outflanked. An aid 
 dashed up to Thomas with the startling intelligence that the 
 enemy was in his rear. There was no alternative, and Thomas, 
 in a bitter tone, replied, " Cut your way out." " Men, we must 
 cut our way out," shouts Negley. The proud Stanley closes 
 up his strong battalions the other commanders catch the 
 inspiration the Eleventh Michigan and Nineteenth Illinois 
 move forward with the bayonet, the Twenty-first Ohio does 
 the same, and the victorious, exultant foe is rolled back in 
 confusion. The rear is clear, and the division falls steadily 
 back with its guns. What was left of the army was now 
 swung round, and stood nearly at right angles to its former 
 position. The left still clung to its position on the river, 
 for when that should be yielded, all would be gone. Not 
 like Sheridan must Palmer now fight, till his ammunition 
 is exhausted, and then fall back, but fight and die where he 
 stands. But with the falling back of Negley, the right 
 brigade of this division also retired for a space, and Hazen, 
 commanding the left extremity, alone held his ground. 
 Rosecrans but little knew, at this moment, on what an 
 apparently slender thread the fate of his army turned. But, 
 luckily, Hazen embraced the whole danger of the condition 
 of things. He knew, if it came to the worst, he must die there. 
 It was not left to him to seek a new spot on which to fight. 
 The enemy also knew that he held the key of the whole 
 position, and fell upon him with tenfold fury, but he stood 
 rooted rock-fast to the ground, and swept the deep on-coming 
 columns with a wasting fire. But, at length, his ammunition 
 gave out, and he sent off every staff officer for more. In 
 the meantime, whether it came or not, he determined that 
 his brigade should stand there and die, rather than yield. 
 He ordered one regiment to fix bayonets, and another that 
 had none, to club their muskets, and so meet the foe. At 
 
THE CRISIS. 141 
 
 length, he received his ammunition, and what was needed 
 just as much, reinforcements. 
 
 All this time, Rousseau and Sheridan had maintained a 
 firm front. Opening their lines to let the fugitives pass 
 through, they closed firmly again, and presented a solid wall 
 on that broken, tumultuous field. In the meantime, Rose- 
 crans, galloping from point to .point, and followed furiously by 
 his staff and escort, brought order out of confusion, and, in 
 fusing his own daring spirit into the troops, rapidly formed 
 a new line of battle. He massed six batteries on the only 
 commanding eminence near, which swept all the space over 
 which the enemy must advance. The sun was shining 
 brightly, and his beams revealed a waving forest of steel, as 
 the long and glittering lines of the enemy, rank upon rank, 
 came with awful splendor over the broken fields. The 
 movement of the columns was swift but steady, and many a 
 heart stood still, or trembled at what might be the issue in 
 the coming shock. Rosecrans knew his army was at stake, 
 but, wound up to that pitch of lofty daring which, defies fate 
 itself, he awaited it without change of countenance. As the 
 enemy came on, in magnificent .order, those six batteries 
 opened like the very jaws of Hell, and out of them poured 
 a wild torrent of fire and death on the astonished enemy. 
 Rent and distorted, still the columns reeled forward, bent 
 on victory. Rosecrans sat on his horse a moment, to watch 
 the effect of this horrible fire, and then dashed down to 
 Beatty s brigade, which lay on the ground in the plain below. 
 Spurring up to the very edge of the line over which the 
 shot were sweeping like a hail storm, he cried, u Now, let 
 the whole line charge! Charge home! 1 Springing to 
 their feet with a shout that rose over the wild din, they 
 hurled themselves on the enemy. The staff officers, catching 
 the enthusiasm of their Chief, flung themselves along the 
 line, with loud cheers, and caps waving in the air. Before 
 
142 THE VICTORY. 
 
 that fierce onset, the rebel line, as it struggles to bear up 
 against it, halts, and shakes like a huge curtain over the field 
 then crumbles to pieces and disappears. " There they go," 
 shouted Rosecrans ; " now drive them home ! " They did 
 drive them home, leaving the earth piled with dead. This 
 was the turning point of the battle, and the whole line at 
 once advanced 
 
 But, though repulsed, the enemy did not abandon the 
 contest. Re-forming his lines, with every reserve brought 
 up, he again advanced in imposing array; but Rosecrans 
 had now completed his line of battle, and neither numbers 
 nor reckless daring could force it. About four o clock, Bragg 
 made his last attempt, and this time it was chiefly directed 
 against Palmer s division, on the river. But Hazen, with his 
 immortal thirteen hundred, still held the ground to which they 
 had clung with such marvelous tenacity during the day ; 
 and there, too, were the heroic Grose, Schaeffer, Hascall 
 and Wagner, equally determined to hold that vital position 
 to the last. Says Hazen, in his report : " About four o clock, 
 the enemy again advanced upon my front, in two lines. The 
 battle had hushed, and the dreadful splendor of this advance 
 can only be conceived, as all description must fall vastly 
 short. His right was even with my left, and his left was lost 
 in the distance." But this proud array had lost its strength ; 
 the confidence of victory was wanting, and at the first 
 volley it wheeled and disappeared. 
 
 For a time, the heavy boom of cannon rolled over the 
 field, and, here and there, volleys of musketry showed that 
 detachments were still fighting; yet, at sunset, the battle 
 was over. As the blazing orb sank to rest, his last look fell 
 on a ghastly spectacle. The earth, torn, trampled and red, 
 lay piled with thousands upon thousands some, still and 
 calm, as if in sleep, others mangled and blown into frag 
 ments, while bleeding arms and legs, without owners, lay 
 
NIGHT AFTER THE BATTLE. 143 
 
 scattered on every side. Dead horses and shattered gun- 
 carriages helped to swell the frightful wreck, over which 
 darkness, in mercy, soon drew its pall. Among the dead, 
 was the young, accomplished, modest, yet lion-hearted Chief 
 of the Staff, Garesche. He had never left the side of his 
 Chief all day, wearing not merely a calm, but a gay and 
 smiling air, through the wildest storm of battle. In the last 
 attack, as Rosecrans dashed down the line, to throw the 
 weight of his presence into the fight, a shell shrieking by 
 him, in its flight struck Garesche in the head, carrying away 
 all but the under jaw and the spouting trunk, inclining 
 gently from the saddle, fell headlong to the earth. 
 
 That night, there was a meeting of the Generals at head 
 quarters. All acknowledged that the prospect looked gloomy 
 enough. The enemy was only arrested, not beaten. He still 
 held two-thirds of the battle-field, and had in his hands 
 one-fifth of all our artillery. Seven brigadier-generals, and 
 twenty colonels and lieutenant-colonels, were killed or miss 
 ing. The rebel cavalry had gained the rear, and it was 
 uncertain if another pound of supplies or ammunition could 
 reach the army ; while seven thousand men, or one-sixth of 
 the whole army, had disappeared from the field. The enemy, 
 every one thought, would renew the attack in the morning. 
 But Rosecrans, finding that he had ammunition enough on 
 hand for another battle, made up his mind to fight it on 
 that very spot. Mounting his horse, he rode to the rear 
 to examine the country, and on returning, said, u Gentlemen, 
 we conquer or die right here I " It was a clear, cold Decem 
 ber night, but, about midnight, the heavens became overcast, 
 and the bitter rain came pitilessly down on the weary ranks, 
 and on the dead and wounded that burdened the field. 
 
 Making some slight changes in his line of battle, and falling 
 back a short distance to a better position, Rosecrans waited 
 the developments of the coming morning. 
 
144 THE FINAL STRUGGLE. 
 
 But the enemy had been too severely punished to risk 
 another determined attack, though, during the latter part 
 of the day, there was some heavy artillery firing. In the 
 morning, Beatty had been sent across the river with two 
 brigades of Van Cleve s division, and occupied a hill com 
 manding the upper ford. 
 
 Bragg, seeing that delay only increased the difficulties 
 before him, determined, on the next day to make another 
 bold attempt to secure a complete victory. This time, his 
 attack was directed against the left. About three o clock 
 in the afternoon, a double line of skirmishers was seen to 
 advance from the woods in front of Breckenridge s position, 
 and move across the fields. Behind them, came heavy 
 columns of infantry, and it was evident the rebel right wing 
 was bearing down on the small body of troops that had 
 crossed the river the day before. It passed the open cotton 
 fields in three heavy lines of battle the first column, in 
 three ranks, six men deep the second supporting the first 
 and the reserve column last. Three batteries accompanied 
 this imposing mass, as it came down in splendid order. 
 White puffs of smoke soon shot out from the hill-side ; our 
 single battery responded, and the roar of guns shook the 
 shores of the stream. At first, they came on with steady 
 step and even front, and then, like a swollen torrent, flung 
 themselves forward on that portion of Van Cleve s division 
 which was across the river, and bore it back and over the stream 
 to the main body. But Rosecrans was prepared for this move 
 ment in fact, when it occurred, was about to execute his orig 
 inal plan, and swing his left against Breckenridge. He hastily 
 massed fifty-eight cannon on an eminence, where they could 
 completely enfilade the successive columns as they advanced. 
 Their opening roar was terrific, and the crash of the iron 
 Btorm, through the thick-set ranks, was overwhelming. It 
 was madness to face it, yet the rebel columns closed up and 
 
RET B EAT OF THE ENEMY. 145 
 
 pressed on ; but, as they came within close range of our mus 
 ketry, the line suddenly seemed to shrivel up like a piece of 
 parchment, in the fire that met it. Yet, pushed on and cheered 
 by the rear lines, the ranks endeavored to bear -up against it 
 and advance, but again halted ; while officers, with waving caps 
 and flashing swords, galloped along the lines, and still urged 
 them on. They had now got so near that the men could be 
 seen to topple over separately, before the volleys. A third and 
 last time, they staggered forward, the foremost ranks reaching 
 even to the water s edge. But here they stopped it was 
 like charging down the red mouth of a volcano. Balancing 
 a moment on the edge of battle, they broke and fled. With 
 a wild and thrilling shout, our troops sprung to their feet, 
 and charged forward with the bayonet dashing like mad 
 men through the stream. They chased the flying foe for a half 
 a mile, cheering as they charged, their cheers caught up by 
 those on the other side of the river, and sent back with 
 increased volume and power. Darkness ended the fight, 
 and Crittenden s entire corps passed over, and, with Davis, 
 occupied the ground so gallantly won. 
 
 That night, the rain again set in, and at daylight next 
 morning, it was coming down in torrents, so that the camps 
 and roads were soon one vast field of mud, rendering the 
 movement of artillery impossible. Some sharp-shooting 
 during the day, and a dash at night by two regiments from 
 Rousseau s division, clearing the woods in front, comprised 
 the fighting of Saturday. 
 
 That night, Bragg evacuated Murfreesboro, and next 
 morning, Rosecrans spent an hour at " High Mass," giving 
 glory to God for the victory. It was, however, dearly 
 bought. He had lost, in killed and wounded, nearly nine 
 thousand men, or a fifth of his entire army. He had lost, 
 besides, fifty pieces of artillery, for which he had only a few 
 
 OF THE ^ 
 
 UNIVBESITYJ 
 
146 THE RESULT. 
 
 captured pieces to- show in return. He had gained the 
 position, and that was all. 
 
 The army now settled down into camp life, and no attempt 
 to follow up the enemy was made for nearly six months, or 
 till the latter part of June. He then moved forward, 
 Bragg retreating as he advanced, and abandoning the strong 
 position of Tullahoma, rather than risk a battle. Detached 
 portions of the army occasionally came in collision, in which 
 the rebels were invariably worsted, losing many prisoners. 
 Bragg finally took refuge in Chattanooga, a place immensely 
 strong by nature, and made still more so by art. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 JANUARY. 
 
 CAPTURE OF ARKANSAS POST GRANT COMMENCES HIS MOVEMENT AGAINST 
 
 VICKSBURG THE CANAL A YEAR OF DISASTER MISSOURI ATTACK ON 
 
 SPRINGFIELD EXPEDITIONS UP WHITE AND RED RIVERS LOSS OF THE 
 
 QUEEN OF THE WEST LOSS OF THE ARIEL SINKING OF THE HATTERAS BY 
 
 THE ALABAMA DISASTER AT SABINE PASS BANKS IN NEW ORLEANS 
 
 EXPEDITIONS CAPTURE AND LOSS OF GALVESTON THE HARRIET LANE 
 
 WESTFIELD LOST DEATH OF BUCHANAN GRAND EXPEDITION THROUGH THE 
 
 STATE OF LOUISIANA CAPTURE OF ALEXANDRIA, ON THE RED RIVER. 
 
 IMMEDIATELY after the failure of Sherman s attack on 
 Vicksburg, McClernand, who, we. have seen, assumed 
 command of the army, on the 4th of January, at Milliken s 
 Bend, set sail for Fort Hindman, or Arkansas Post, on the 
 Arkansas River, which was considered the key to Little 
 Rock, the Capital of the State, and to the extensive country 
 from which hostile detachments were constantly sent to 
 operate along the Mississippi River. Admiral Porter, with 
 three iron-clads and a fleet of light-draft gunboats, accompa 
 nied the expedition, to co-operate with the land forces in 
 the attack on the fort, which was known to be a strong one, 
 and well garrisoned. The fleet reached the mouth of the 
 White River on the 8th. Ascending this mere ribbon of 
 water, enclosed by a dense, silent forest, from which the 
 gray moss hung in huge festoons, it came at length to the 
 "cut off," and passed into the Arkansas River. Slowly 
 moving up this stream, with only here and there a wretched 
 habitation, or a sunken scow, to break the solitude, the fleet 
 cautiously approached the rebel position, which was hid from 
 view by a bend in the river. Here it lay all night, flooded 
 by the mild moonlight, while, inland, the air resounded with 
 
148 ARKANSAS POST. 
 
 the ceaseless strokes of the axe, showing that the enemy 
 were busy in obstructing all the roads that led to the place. 
 At daylight, the troops began to disembark, and form on 
 the high banks. The first line of rebel works was only a 
 half a mile distant, and soon, the fire of the skirmishers 
 echoed along the stream. The country was entirely unknown 
 to McClernand, and all day, Saturday, was spent in marching 
 and countermarching, to avoid impassable swamps and 
 bayous ; and so night found the army still struggling to get 
 into position before the place. Part of the army passed most 
 of the cold January night in moving forward, while the remain 
 der dragged it out without fire or tents. Sunday morning, 
 however, dawned bright and cheerful, and, by ten o clock, 
 both corps of the army were in position, having completely 
 invested the place. At noon, McClernand sent word to 
 Porter that he was ready to attack, and, an hour later, the 
 gunboats gallantly moved up to within four hundred yards 
 of the rebel works, and opened fire. The garrison replied, 
 but the tremendous concentric fire from the river and land 
 batteries gradually overwhelmed that of the fort, and, one 
 by one, its guns grew silent, until, at length, they ceased to 
 respond altogether. McClernand, who had fought his way 
 steadily forward, now ordered a general assault along the 
 whole line, but, before it could be effected, a white flag was 
 raised, and the place was ours. Seven stand of colors, five 
 thousand prisoners, seventeen pieces of cannon, besides small 
 arms and munitions of war, were the fruits of this victory. Our 
 total loss was a little under a thousand. Morgan was assigned 
 to the command of the place, but immediately turned it over 
 to General A. J. Smith, as an honor due to him, for the gallant 
 manner in which his division had borne the brunt of the conflict. 
 The brigade of Burbridge especially distinguished itself. 
 General Grant now assumed immediate command of all 
 the forces in his Department, and began to work seriously 
 
VICKSBURG. 149 
 
 for the reduction of Yicksburg. Being convinced, from 
 the result of Sherman s operations, that it could not be 
 taken from* the north side, he determined to get below it, 
 and advance from the south. For this purpose, he concen 
 trated his entire army, on the last of the month, at Milliken s 
 Bend, on the west shore, just above the place, and at Young s 
 Point, a little further down, and opposite the city. 
 
 Vicksburg lies on the eastern shore of the Mississippi, on 
 a high bluff, and near the point of a great bend in the river. 
 General Williams had endeavored, the year before, to cut a 
 canal across this bend, through which the boats could pass, and 
 get below without coming under the fire of the batteries. A 
 fleet could not come up from New Orleans, on account of 
 Port Hudson, where the rebels had been allowed to erect 
 strong fortifications, the previous year, though Porter had 
 advised the Government of what was going on, and had 
 urged the vital importance of putting a stop to it. He even 
 offered, with a thousand men, to occupy the place himself, 
 and hold it, with the aid of his gunboats. But the year 
 1862 was a year of blunders on the part of the War De 
 partment, and of great disasters in the field. The Army 
 of the Potomac had been driven from Richmond, on the one 
 hand, and from the Rapidan, on the other, and shattered 
 into fragments on the heights of Fredericksburg ; Buell 
 had been forced back from Chattanooga to Nashville, and 
 Morgan compelled to evacuate Cumberland Gap ; and, to 
 close up the sad record, Port Hudson had been allowed to 
 become well-nigh impregnable. 
 
 Grant now sat down to the tedious work of completing 
 this canal, and turning the Mississippi into it-, and the spade 
 and pick took the place of the musket and sword. For six 
 weeks, his splendid army lay idle here, as if on purpose to 
 bring the people to the stool of repentance, for, having, in 
 their pride, attempted to ast ridicule on the spade, as an 
 
150 ATTACK ON SPRINGFIELD. 
 
 instrument unworthy of the soldier. Week after week, the 
 only report that greeted the country was, Digging still." 
 
 While these events had been passing on the "Mississippi, 
 the rebels had made another advance into Missouri. On the 
 8th of January, Marmaduke, with a heavy force, attacked 
 Springfield, occupied by General Brown, who commanded 
 the South-west Department of Missouri. The forces of the 
 latter were very much scattered, so that not over fifteen 
 hundred men, at this time, held the place. The attack com 
 menced at one o clock, and was pressed with fierce deter 
 mination for five hours, when the enemy fell back. General 
 Brown, while gallantly charging at the head of his body 
 guard, to encourage a regiment that had given way, was 
 severely wounded, and the command devolved on Colonel 
 Crabbe, of the Nineteenth Iowa. Our total loss was one 
 hundred and sixty- two that of the enemy much larger. 
 
 General Brown, when he found himself menaced by a 
 superior force, telegraphed to Major-General Curtis for help, 
 and, on the 9th, a part of Warren s brigade, under Colonel 
 Merrill, started from Houston on a forced march for Spring 
 field. By eight o clock that evening, they had reached 
 Beaver Creek, twenty-two miles distant. Resting here for 
 four hours, the gallant eight hundred again started, at mid 
 night, reaching the vicinity of Hartsville just as the wintry 
 morning was breaking. Starting again, in the afternoon, 
 they pushed on as far as Wood s Creek, when, learning that 
 the enemy was trying to get in their rear, the little force 
 fell back to Hartsville. Here, the enemy, who had been 
 foiled in their assault on Springfield, fell suddenly upon it, 
 to overwhelm it before succor could arrive. But, though 
 fearfully outnumbered, the little band gallantly held its 
 ground, and at length forced the enemy to abandon his 
 design. Very heavy marching was done by the men the 
 Twenty-first Iowa, under Lieutenant-Colonel Dunlap, having 
 
NAVAL DISASTERS. 151 
 
 marched one hundred miles, through mud and rain, between 
 Friday afternoon and Monday morning, and, in the meantime, 
 fought two battles. 
 
 There were other engagements between small detachments 
 in this State and Arkansas, during this and the following 
 months, but no action of any importance occurred. 
 
 An expedition up the White River, under John G. 
 Walker, captured some guns; and another, under Colonel 
 Ellet, up the Red River, with the ram, Queen of the West, 
 took three rebel transport steamers. But, on February 14th, 
 the ram run aground, at Gordon s Landing, in full range of 
 a rebel battery, which poured in so destructive a fire that 
 it had to be abandoned. This was not the only naval 
 disaster we met with in the South-west, in the latter part 
 of this year, and the commencement of 1863. A Confed 
 erate steamer, fitted out in England, and called the Alabama, 
 which had been destroying our commerce for some time, 
 on the 7th of December, seized the California steamer Ariel, 
 on her way to Aspinwall. 
 
 A sadder disaster still, befell the fleet under Commodore 
 Bell, which was blockading the port of Galveston. On the 
 llth of January, in the afternoon, a strange sail was reported 
 in the offing, and the steamer Hatteras, Lieutenant Blake 
 commanding, was signaled, from the flag-ship Brooklyn, to 
 give chase. After dark, he came up with the stranger, and 
 hailed him, asking the name of the steamer. u Her Brittanic 
 Majesty s ship Vixen," was the reply. Blake then said he 
 would send a boat aboard. The next minute, however, even 
 while the boatswain s whistle was ringing, came the shout, 
 u We are the Confederate steamer Alabama," accompanied 
 with a stunning broadside. Blake, who from the first had been 
 suspicious that the stranger was the Alabama, was prepared 
 for an attack, and immediately returned it. But he could 
 throw but ninety-four pounds, to the rebel s three hundred 
 
 40 
 
152 SINKING OF THE HATTERAS. 
 
 and twenty-four. Knowing his vessel could not stand this 
 unequal fire many minutes, he determined to close with his 
 antagonist, and steamed straight towards her. But the rebel 
 commander knew his advantage, and, avoiding the blow, 
 poured in his terrific broadsides at the distance of thirty 
 yards. Thus, within pistol shot, Blake was compelled to 
 fight the unequal battle. Nothing daunted, however, he 
 cried, u Give it to them, my boys, give it to them ; the Stars 
 and Stripes must never come down!" to which, three 
 hearty cheers responded. But what was such a frail thing 
 as the Hatteras, before the one-hundred-pound shot and 
 eight-inch shells of the privateer, delivered within thirty 
 yards ? In a few minutes, her engines were a wreck, and 
 she was on fire in two different places. u Drown the maga 
 zine," was the quick order, but the enemy was doing that 
 for her, for she had then seven feet of water in her hold. 
 It was a short fight, and, in a few minutes, the Hatteras lay, 
 a helpless wreck, on the water. Still, her gallant Commander 
 fought on, hoping against hope, for he could not bear to 
 strike his flag. But it was all in vain. The report came that 
 the vessel was sinking, and he reluctantly gave the order to 
 fire a lee gun, in token of surrender. In ten minutes after 
 the crew were got aboard of the Alabama, the Hatteras, 
 with one heavy lurch, went to the bottom. Blake lost his 
 vessel, but not his honor, for a more gallant fight, against 
 hopeless odds, was never waged on the water. 
 
 In the latter part of the month, the ship-of-war Morning 
 Light, and the schooner Velocity, blockading the Sabine 
 Pass, Texas, were surprised by two rebel steamers, and cap 
 tured. These naval successes of the enemy, caused much 
 chagrin and complaint. 
 
 The activity which characterized the opening year, along 
 the valley of the Mississippi, extended also to the Department 
 of the Gulf. 
 
MOVEMENTS OF BANKS. 153 
 
 Banks, as before stated, was appointed to supersede But 
 ler, in the command of the Department of the Gulf, in 
 December. The duties devolving upon him were of a deli 
 cate nature, for both the people of Louisiana and the North 
 were divided in their views respecting the course that should 
 be adopted. The enemies of Butler expected a more con 
 ciliatory course than the one he had pursued, while his friends 
 stood prepared to denounce the first act of leniency, as certain 
 to produce disastrous results. Hence, Banks conduct was 
 closely watched, and, as the result, misrepresented on both 
 sides. His old friends at the North began to denounce him, 
 but he kept on in the even tenor of his way. The wisdom 
 of his course, however, soon became apparent, for, while he 
 allayed vindictive passions, he at the same time showed that 
 he would hold the reins of government with a firm hand. 
 
 The troops under his command constituted the Nineteenth 
 Army Corps, arid much was expected of him from his known 
 enterprise and energy. His first movement was to send 
 Colonel Burrill, with a detachment of troops, into Texas, 
 who, on the 24th of the month, took possession of Galveston. 
 But, in a week, it was recaptured by the enemy, and Colonel 
 Burrill and his two hundred and sixty men killed or taken 
 prisoners. At the same time, the rebels sent three powerful 
 rams against our vessels in the bay, and, after a short, fierce 
 fight, captured the Harriet Lane, and compelled the Com 
 mander of the flag-ship, Westfield, to blow her up, in order 
 to prevent her falling into their hands. 
 
 On the llth of January, he sent General Weitzel, with a 
 land force, across Berwick Bay to Bayou Teche, accompanied 
 by gunboats commanded by Lieutenant Buchanan. The 
 enemy stationed here was attacked, on the 14th, and the 
 rebel gunboat Cotton so disabled that her Commander blew 
 her up. The .loss of the land force was about thirty, while 
 several were killed on the gunboats, and among them the 
 
154 BANKS EXPEDITION. 
 
 gallant Commander, Buchanan, who steamed to the front 
 with his vessel, and fought with the greatest intrepidity. 
 
 In the Spring, while Grant was endeavoring to get below 
 Yicksburg, Banks planned an extensive expedition into " The 
 Attakapas Country," the garden of Louisiana, and which the 
 rebels held in force. Berwick City, at the mouth of the 
 Atchafalaya River, was selected as the starting point of the 
 army, which was to move up the Teche River, strongly 
 fortified, and protected by rebel gunboats. On the llth of 
 April, the main column, commanded by Banks in person, 
 took up its line of march from Berwick City, while Grover, 
 with his division, moved up the Atchafalaya in transports, for 
 the purpose of passing into Grand Lake which approached 
 the Teche above the fortifications of the enemy and thus 
 cutting off his retreat. On Sunday, Banks came upon the rebel 
 works, stretching along the shores on both sides of the river, 
 and guarded by the gunboat Diana. A heavy artillery fight 
 followed, which lasted till dark. It was renewed the next day, 
 and soon the gunboat was compelled to retire up-stream. 
 In the meantime, Grover was steadily moving around the 
 rebels, to the east, who, finding themselves threatened in 
 the rear, hastily retreated, leaving two thousand prisoners 
 in our hands. Banks then resumed his march, and, on the 
 20th, reached Opelousas, a hundred and eighty miles from 
 New Orleans, and only seventy-five from the Red River, the 
 point at which he was aiming. Alexandria, an important 
 and strongly fortified place upon it, was at length reached, 
 on the 8th of May, but not until it had surrendered to 
 Admiral Porter, who, acting in conjunction with Banks, had 
 advanced against it with his gunboats. The latter imme 
 diately assumed command. Having marched two hundred 
 miles, through the enemy s country, without meeting with a 
 single repulse, after giving his army a short rest he moved 
 down on Port Hudson from the north. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 LAKE PROVIDENCE ROUTE MOOX LAKE ROUTE STEELfi s BAYOU ROUTE 
 
 COLD RESOLVE TO RUN THE BATTERIES THE MARCH INLAND THE BATTERIES 
 
 RUN DIFFICULTIES OF THE MARCH NEW CARTHAGE GRAND GULF PORT 
 
 GIBSON GRAND RESOLVE OF GRANT THE MARCH INLAND BATTLES OF 
 
 RAYMOND, JACKSON, CHAMPION S HILL, BLACKWATER VICKSBURG INVESTED 
 
 FIRST ASSAULT SECOND ASSAULT ACTION OF THE GUNBOATS. 
 
 WE left Grant, early in the Spring, attempting to get 
 below Vicksburg, by means of the canal dug the 
 year before, by General Williams. This scheme proving 
 abortive, as sufficient water could not be got into the ditch, 
 he started another project. About seventy miles above 
 Vicksburg, and some five miles west of the Mississippi River, 
 lies Lake Providence, which empties itself through a bayou, 
 filled with snags, into Swan Lake ; this in turn sends its 
 waters southward; through a long, winding stream called the 
 Tensas River, into the Black River, the last flowing on into 
 the Red River, which effects a junction with the Mississippi 
 below Natchez. The whole route was about a hundred and 
 fifty miles in length. A canal five miles long had to be cut 
 through a morass, the shallows to be dug out, the snags 
 removed, and stumps cleared away, before the boats could be 
 got out of the Mississippi, and sent through this long, crooked, 
 inland course. As the work went on, predictions were 
 uttered that a new channel for the Mississippi would be 
 made, extending, perhaps, even to the Gulf. 
 
 The canal was at length opened, and a steamer and a few 
 barges were got across into Lake Providence. But the 
 Mississippi kept its old course, and, as the spring floods fell, 
 
156 STRANGE NAVIGATION. 
 
 the new channel became a shallow creek, so that the whole 
 project had to be abandoned. 
 
 Grant, however, with his accustomed tenacity of purpose, 
 determined not to abandon his design to get in the rear of 
 Yicksburg, for it could be taken in no other way. He now 
 made a third trial on the east side of the Mississippi. About 
 a hundred and fifty miles, in a straight line, north from 
 Vicksburg, there is a little lake, called Moon Lake, separated 
 from the river only by a thin strip of land. From this lake, 
 a narrow stream, called the Yazoo Pass, leads into the Cold- 
 water River, which flows south into the Tallahatchie, that 
 in turn unites with the Yazoo. If he could get into the 
 latter river, he would be able to move down in the rear of 
 Haines Bluff, and thus effectually turn the fortifications 
 there, which Sherman had failed to capture. The canal to 
 the lake was quickly cut; the waters of the Mississippi 
 poured through it, and the steamers floated into Moon Lake. 
 Passing out of this, into the Coldwater and Tallahatchie 
 Rivers, they slowly felt their tortuous way towards the 
 navigable Yazoo. It was a strange spectacle, to see these 
 armed vessels threading their way under overarching cypress 
 trees, and plunging into apparently interminable swamps, 
 where never before even a canoe had floated. It was like 
 sailing through a flooded forest, made still more dangerous 
 by the rapid flow of the swollen waters, which the Mississippi 
 sent with headlong fury through this new channel. The 
 paddle-wheels, instead of being used to propel the vessels, 
 incessantly backed water, to prevent their too rapid descent 
 among the gigantic trees, whose overhanging branches 
 sometimes swept the decks. The solitude and gloom of this 
 strange, winding route, oppressed the spirits, yet the men 
 toiled patiently on making, upon an average, less than a 
 quarter of a mile an hour till they reached the Yazoo. The 
 heaviest part of the task now seemed accomplished, and a 
 
THE BLACK BAYOU. 157 
 
 swift sail down to the rear of Vicksburg was anticipated. 
 But the rebels had received information of the expedition, 
 and, divining its object, erected, near the confluence of the 
 streams, a fort which commanded the channel, and yet was 
 so surrounded by bogs that the land force could not approach 
 it. The frail wooden steamboats, of course, could not silence 
 these batteries, and so this project, costing so much labor 
 and time, also had to be abandoned. 
 
 Baffled, but not -disheartened, Grant now made another 
 attempt to get in the rear of the batteries on Haines Bluff. 
 About seven miles above where the Yazoo enters the Missis 
 sippi, Steele s Bayou is connected with the latter river. This, 
 in turn, connects inland, north, with the Black Bayou, Rolling 
 Fork and Sunflower Rivers, which, in their course, wind en 
 tirely around Haines Bluff. On the 14th of March, Admiral 
 Porter entered this bayou with a gunboat fleet, accompanied 
 by a force of infantry under General Sherman. A portion 
 of this, like each of the other routes which had been tried, 
 was full of difficulties. One who accompanied the expedi 
 tion, thus describes the Black Bayou : " Black Bayou, a 
 narrow stream, heretofore navigable only by dug-outs, was 
 made of the width of our steamers, with great labor, by 
 felling trees and sawing stumps below the surface. Every 
 foot of our way was cut and torn through a dense forest, 
 never before traversed by steamers. I never witnessed a 
 more exciting and picturesque scene than the transportation, 
 on the last day, of the third brigade, by General Stuart. 
 Crowded with men, the steamers, at the highest possible 
 speed, pushed through overhanging trees and around short 
 curves. Sometimes they were wedged fast between trees, then 
 sailing along smoothly, a huge cypress would reach out an arm. 
 and sweep the whole length of the boats, tearing guards and 
 chimneys from the decks. The last trip through the Black 
 Bayou, was in a night, pitchy dark and rainy." Added to 
 
158 A DESPERATE RESOLUTION. 
 
 all this, the enemy, having been apprised of our design, 
 filled the thickets along the banks with sharp-shooters, who 
 swept the decks with their fire, at close range, and scattered 
 the working parties. Large trees were felled across the 
 stream, by negroes, in advance, to retard the boats and keep 
 them under fire, and behind them, to prevent their return. 
 Before the expedition reached Sunflower River, the peril 
 of being caught there in the forest, permanently, with his 
 boats, was so great, that Porter determined to return. This 
 resolution was not taken a moment too soon, for, if he had 
 pushed on a few hours longer, he would have been hemmed 
 in beyond release. 
 
 When the expedition again reached the Mississippi, Grant 
 saw that the last hope of getting in the rear of Vicksburg, 
 inland, from the north, was gone. Still, he would not aban 
 don the great object for which he had struggled so long and 
 worked so patiently. Difficulties, instead of discouraging, 
 roused him to greater efforts. Having exhausted all the 
 plans that ingenuity could suggest, to avoid the direct fire 
 of the rebel batteries, which lined the river for eight miles, 
 he at last took the bold and apparently rash resolution of 
 running them with his gunboats and transports. Preparatory 
 to this, the army was marched inland, towards New Carthage, 
 below Vicksburg, on the west side of the river. In this 
 march, General McClernand led the advance, with the 
 Eleventh Army Corps. The swampy country, however, 
 soon became a vast mortar bed, in which the hubs of the 
 artillery wheels would often entirely disappear from sight, 
 and through which the army floundered, till further progress 
 became impossible without constructing for itself a regular 
 military road. Bridges had to be built over the sluggish 
 streams, and corduroy causeways made across treacherous 
 swamps, and, in the meantime, the levee carefully guarded, 
 lest the enemy should cut it, and turn the swampy lowland 
 
PASSAGE OF THE BATTERIES. 159 
 
 into an impassable sea. The army thus worked its toilsome 
 way, till at last it came in sight of New Carthage, the goal of 
 its labors, but, alas I it was like an island in the sea, for the 
 enemy had succeeded in cutting the levee near it, and flooding 
 all the intervening country. Cut off from this point, Mc- 
 Clernand resumed his march, striking the riv.er twelve miles 
 further down stream, making the whole distance from Milli- 
 ken s Bend thirty-five miles. All the supplies and ordnance 
 stores for the projected campaign on the other side of the 
 river, had to be hauled over this miserable road. 
 
 This being accomplished, the next thing was to get the 
 gunboats and transports past the Yicksburg batteries. The 
 night of the 16th of April was fixed upon to make the 
 attempt. Whether the frail transports could safely run the 
 terrible gauntlet, was problematical, and it was resolved to 
 try the experiment with only three the Silver Wave, 
 Forest Queen and Henry Clay. The plan was, for Porter 
 to move down in single file, with his eight gunboats, and, 
 planting them square abreast of the rebel batteries, engage 
 them ; while the transports, hugging the western shore, in 
 their rear, covered by the smoke and darkness, were, with 
 all steam on, to push swiftly below. A little before midnight, 
 the gunboats, one after another, drifted out of the bend "in 
 which they lay concealed, and, showing no light from their 
 chimneys, moved like great shadows down the noiseless 
 current. Nearly an hour passed by, and not a sound broke 
 the ominous stillness ; and the listeners on the shore above 
 began to think the boats had passed the batteries unseen, when 
 suddenly there came a flash, followed by a crash that- shook 
 the shores. Lights danced along the heights of Vieksburg - 
 soon, thunder answered thunder, and the flash of batteries, 
 from land and water, rent the gloom, till the black midnight 
 seemed turned into an element of fire. Still, the transports 
 hoped to escape in the confusion, when, suddenly, a huge 
 
160 A THRILLING SPECTACLE. 
 
 bonfire blazed forth on one of the hills near Vicksburg. 
 The rebels were prepared for just such an attempt as this, 
 and had collected a vast amount of combustibles, which, 
 when lighted, would make the bosom of the Mississippi, in 
 front of the batteries, bright as day. The poor transports 
 were instantly flooded in light, and, as they swept along the 
 ruddy stream, presented a fair target to the gunners. The 
 enemy penetrated at a glance the design of Grant, and shot 
 and shell fell and burst, in a horrible tempest, around the 
 frail things. The commanders saw that the chances were 
 against them, but they crowded on all steam, till the gleam 
 ing waters rolled away from their prows in a torrent of 
 foam. Soon, a heavy shot tore through the timbers of the 
 Forest Queen, and then another, and she drifted unmanage 
 ably on the current. A gunboat, seeing her distress, wheeled 
 and took her in tow, and passed down the river, greeted, at 
 every turn of its wheels, with shots from the batteries. The 
 Henry Clay was struck by a shell which set her barricade of 
 cotton bales on fire, and she soon flamed back to the beacon 
 light on the shore. Blazing like a mighty torch, she sent her 
 jets of flame, capped with angry wreaths of black, curling 
 smoke, far up into the midnight heavens. The crew leaped 
 from the glowing furnace into their boats, and took refuge on 
 the western bank. The Silver Wave alone was untouched, and, 
 bearing seemingly a charmed life, glided serenely through 
 the horrible tempest, till the last battery was passed, and, 
 with her fragile form unmarred, she floated gracefully on 
 the water. The gunboats came through safely, with only 
 one man killed and two wounded. For over an hour, they 
 gallantly faced the heavy batteries, and though often struck, 
 sustained no damage that was not speedily repaired. Still, 
 but one transport was through, and this alone could 
 be of no service to the army. More must be brought down, 
 and Grant resolved, though but one out of three had escaped, 
 
A GALLANT BOY. 161 
 
 to run the same fearful gauntlet with six more, slowly towing 
 twelve barges. This was so hazardous an enterprise that 
 the officers felt reluctant to order men to .accompany the 
 boats, and volunteers were called for. Immediately, enough 
 stepped forward to man a fleet, and it had to be decided by 
 lot, who the lucky ones should be. So eager were they to 
 join in the desperate undertaking, that a boy, having drawn 
 a successful number, was offered by a soldier a hundred 
 dollars for his chance, which the spirited little fellow refused. 
 He lived to tell of his share in the daring feat. With strange 
 good fortune, the whole fleet, with the exception of the 
 Tigress, and half the barges, passed in safety. She was 
 struck below the water line, and being run ashore, sunk. 
 
 The army was now below Vicksburg, with transports to 
 carry it across the river, and gunboats to protect it. And 
 here, on the 29th of April, the Thirteenth Corps was 
 embarked, and moved to the front of Grand Gulf, a fortified 
 place, which Grant designed to capture and make his base. 
 The gunboats at once engaged the batteries, and for live 
 hours maintained a fierce fire, sometimes moving almost to 
 within pistol shot of the enemy s guns. Grant witnessed 
 the action from a tug, and saw with regret that the post 
 could not be reduced from the water side, and that, from 
 the position of things, no landing could be made near by, 
 to take it from the shore. He therefore ordered the trans 
 ports back to Hard Times, and, disembarking his troops, 
 resumed his march down the river. At night, the gunboats 
 again engaged the batteries, and, under cover of the fire, 
 the transports ran past them, suffering, but little damage. 
 Grant s march through the forest had been unseen by the 
 enemy, and, the next day, the army was ferried across the 
 river to the eastern shore. With a patience and tenacity 
 unparalleled, Grant had finally got his army south of Vicks 
 burg, and over the river, and yet the mighty work he had 
 
162 BATTLE OF PORT GIBSON. 
 
 assigned himself had only just begun he had reached only 
 the threshold of the perils it embraced. 
 
 He landed at Bruinsburgh, and immediately pushed for 
 ward McClernand s corps to Port Gibson. About eight 
 miles out, the latter met the enemy, and forced him back till 
 dark. The next morning, he found him posted on two roads, 
 about four miles from Port Gibson. The rebel position was 
 admirably chosen, for the road ran mostly along high ridges, 
 with impenetrable ravines on each side, to prevent any 
 flank movements. McClernand, however, succeeded in 
 pushing forward the divisions of Hovey, Carr and Smith, 
 on the right, while Osterhaus advanced against the left. 
 The latter was hard pressed by the enemy, but at length, 
 being reinforced by Logan s division, he ordered a charge, 
 and, leading it in person, fell in such fury on the rebel line, 
 that it was shattered into fragments, and fell disorderly back. 
 Three cannon were captured in this brilliant charge. The 
 three divisions on the other flank, steadily forced the enemy 
 back all day towards Port Gibson, until darkness closed the 
 conflict. The fighting had been close and sharp, resulting 
 in a loss on our side of some eight hundred and fifty, while 
 we took a thousand prisoners, and five cannon. That night, 
 the wearied troops slept on their arms. In the morning, it 
 was found that the enemy had retreated across Bayou Pierre. 
 A floating bridge was at once thrown across it, while McPher- 
 son pushed on eight miles to the northern fork of the bayou, 
 which was also bridged, and the next morning, just as the 
 sun was climbing the eastern hills, he marched with streaming 
 banners across it. 
 
 On the 3rd, (May,) the enemy was closely pressed all 
 day, and many prisoners taken. Grant was now in the rear 
 of Grand Gulf, and, hearing that it was evacuated, he took 
 an escort of cavalry, and galloped thither, fifteen miles dis 
 tant, across the country, in order to make the necessary 
 
A DESPERATE RESOLUTION. 163 
 
 arrangements for changing his base of supplies from Bruins- 
 burgh to that place. 
 
 When he started down the river, he left Sherman, with 
 the Fifteenth Corps, to make a feint on Haines Bluff, in 
 order to keep the enemy from sending a heavy force to the 
 assistance of Grand Gulf, before he arrived there. On the 
 day that the Thirteenth Corps landed at Bruinsburgh, Admiral 
 Porter opened a heavy fire against the rebel works at 
 Haines 7 Bluff, and Sherman landed his troops as if about to 
 carry them by storm. Pemberton, commanding at Yicks- 
 burg, was thus prevented from sending off troops south, 
 and Sherman, having accomplished his object, re-embarked 
 his corps, and pressed on after Grant from Milliken s Bend. 
 
 The latter did not design, when he crossed the Mississippi, 
 to push on as he did, but expected to stop and concentrate his 
 army at Grand Gulf, and effect a junction with Banks, which 
 would give him an army strong enough to resist any force 
 the enemy might bring against him. But he received a letter 
 from the latter, informing him that he had projects of his 
 own on foot, and could not join him. At the same time, he 
 heard that Beauregard was about moving from the Southern 
 cities, west to co-operate with Pemberton. To wait till the 
 enemy, by the various railroads, could concentrate an im 
 mense force against him, would render his defeat almost 
 certain. To advance with only a part of his army in hand, 
 and his base of supplies not yet established, seemed equally 
 perilous. With characteristic boldness, he determined, how 
 ever, on the latter course, trusting to the country to furnish 
 forage for his troops. The rebel hosts, he knew, were 
 gathering on all sides, and his only chance of success lay in 
 attacking and beating the several armies before they could 
 effect a junction. His blows must fall, rapid and terfible as 
 bolts from heaven, or he was ruined. With the daring of 
 Napoleon, he determined to enact over again that great 
 
164 THE ARMY LEAVES ITS BASE. 
 
 chieftain s famous Italian campaign, when, with fifty thousand 
 men, he attacked in detail and beat an army of a hundred 
 and fifty thousand, and killed and wounded, and took as pris 
 oners, a number equal to his whole force. He knew that 
 rapid marching and constant victories were indispensable to 
 success in this daring movement, and the army was stripped 
 like an athlete for the race before it. Delay was defeat ; a 
 single severe repulse, and the campaign was ended ; but he 
 did not falter a moment in his sublime determination. He 
 set the example of self-sacrifice himself, by taking neither 
 an orderly, camp chest, overcoat or blanket with him. 
 
 Thus cleared of every encumbrance, he ordered the ad 
 vance, and his banners moved boldly inland. McPherson 
 struck off to the north-east, while Sherman (who had arrived) 
 and McClernand kept along the Black River the three corps 
 in supporting distance of each other. Grant, all the while, 
 made demonstrations as if about to cross the Black Eiver, 
 and move directly to the rear of Vicksburg, which so con 
 fused Pemberton that he dared not march out to join the 
 forces at Jackson. 
 
 McPherson, moving straight on the latter place, came, on 
 the 12th, upon the enemy, strongly posted, near Raymond. 
 No time could be spared, and the troops were pushed steadily 
 forward, sweeping everything before them. Our loss here 
 was four hundred and forty-two. The enemy fell back towards 
 Jackson, losing heavily in prisoners. Grant now ordered 
 Sherman and McClernand to bear off to the right, towards 
 McPherson. On the night of the 13th, the rain fell in tor 
 rents, and continued the next day till noon, rendering the 
 roads muddy and slippery ; yet the troops, in close order, 
 and with cheerful spirits, moved off through the deluge, 
 making a wearisome march of fourteen miles, and at noon 
 came upon the enemy, about two miles from the city. 
 
RAPID MARCHING CHAMPIONS HILL. 165 
 
 Pressed in by McPherson, and threatened on the flank, the 
 latter gave way, and left the Capital to its fate. 
 . That evening, Grant learned that Johnston, who had been 
 sent by Davis to take chief command of the rebel forces in 
 this Department, had ordered Pemberton to march out from 
 Vicksburg and attack his rear. He immediately faced 
 about, and, leaving Sherman to destroy railroads, bridges, 
 workshops, &c., in Jackson, moved the rest of his troops, by 
 converging routes, west, towards Edwards Station. The 
 next morning at daylight, two men, who had been in the 
 employ of the rebels, were brought to Grant, charged with 
 important information. They had just passed through 
 Pemberton s army, and gave the Union Commander the 
 position of the rebel forces, and stated that they were 
 twenty-five thousand strong. Grant immediately sent back 
 a courier to Sherman, to leave Jackson at once, and hasten 
 forward. Within an hour, after this prompt chieftain received 
 the message, his troops were swiftly moving forward towards 
 the point of rendezvous. Grant concentrated his army with 
 wonderful rapidity. Trains, quarter-masters stores, and 
 everything, had to tumble out of the roads in hot haste, to 
 give room for the marching columns. Soon, the enemy was 
 encountered, strongly posted on a precipitous, narrow, 
 wooded ridge, his left resting on a height, while below were 
 open fields, in crossing which our troops would be exposed 
 to the destructive fire of ten batteries of artillery. Hovey s 
 division, and McPherson s corps all but Ransom s division, 
 which did not arrive till the battle was over were at once 
 disposed in and to the right of the road leading to Vicks 
 burg. But Grant delayed the order to attack, till he could 
 hear from McClernand, with his four divisions, which, when 
 they arrived, would complete his line of battle. But the 
 skirmishing in front of Hovey s division, by eleven o clock, 
 swelled into a battle. In the meantime, Logan had worked 
 
166 A GALLANT CHARGE. 
 
 around upon the left and rear of the rebels, and pressed 
 them so vigorously that their superior numbers could no 
 longer force Hovey back, and the latter, seeing his ad van. 
 tage, ordered a charge. The rebel line gave way before it, 
 and disappeared in disorder over the ridge. A thousand 
 prisoners, and two batteries, fell into our hands in this bril 
 liant engagement, but the victory cost us nearly twenty-five 
 hundred men. Grant was losing fast, and no reinforcements 
 could be had. At daylight the next morning, the 17th, the 
 pursuit was renewed McClernand in the advance, who soon 
 came upon the enemy strongly posted on both sides of the 
 Black River. On the west, or further side, the shore rises 
 abruptly into high bluffs, which were lined with heavy bat 
 teries. On the east side, a bayou, twenty feet wide and 
 three feet deep, leaves the river, and sweeping in a semi 
 circle, a mile in length, again enters the stream, enclosing a 
 level space, on which the rebels had also planted heavy bat 
 teries, protected by a strong force of infantry. This bayou, 
 or ditch, served as a natural rifle pit, behind which the 
 enemy felt safe, while their guns swept the plains beyond, 
 over which our troops would be compelled to pass. A 
 railroad and turnpike bridge crossed both the bayou and 
 river at this point, side by side, commanded by the hostile bat 
 teries beyond. McClernand opened a heavy artillery fire upon 
 the position, to which the enemy vigorously responded. At 
 almost the first fire, Osterhaus was wounded, and General 
 A. H. Lee took his place. While the cannonade was going 
 on, Lawler, of Carr 1 s division, which held the right, under 
 the protection of the river bank, succeeded in approaching 
 near the rebel works in that direction, when the order to 
 charge was given. Casting their blankets and knapsacks on 
 the ground, the gallant fellows sprung forward, and, dashing 
 across the open field on the double-quick, plunged into the 
 muddy bayou, and, though shot and shell struck arid burst 
 
FIRST ASSAULT ON VICKSBURG. 167 
 
 incessantly in their midst, struggled through, and with bayo 
 nets at charge, swept in headlong fury upon the rebel works. 
 Taken by surprise at this sudden movement, the enemy at once 
 raised the white flag, and the whole garrison, with seventeen 
 pieces of artillery, was ours. The rebel army across the river, 
 seeing the disaster, immediately set fire to the bridge thus 
 cutting off all chance of escape for any portion of their troops 
 on the east bank and retreated rapidly towards Vicksburg. 
 
 Sherman, in the meantime, had reached Bridgeport above, 
 with the only pontoon train in the army, by which he effected 
 a crossing of the river the next morning. McClernand and 
 McPherson built floating bridges during the night, and on 
 the 18th, the army was moving en masse on Vicksburg. 
 Sherman, still holding the right, marched rapidly towards 
 the Yazoo River, while McClernand, inclining to the south, 
 closed in on the doomed garrison in that direction. The 
 next day, Sherman s right rested on the Mississippi, within 
 plain view of our gunboats, and Haines Bluff was at once 
 hastily evacuated by the enemy. 
 
 Vicksburg was now closely besieged, and Grant, finding 
 his army eager for an assault, and believing the enemy to be 
 demoralized by the staggering blows that had been dealt 
 him, determined, desperate as the undertaking was, to 
 attempt to carry the place by storm. The army moved 
 gallantly to the assault, under a desolating fire, but the 
 works were too strong to be carried. Only a portion of the 
 army, the Fifteenth Corps, gained even a temporary advan 
 tage, and at night the troops were recalled. 
 
 The two following days were spent in bringing up sup 
 plies, and perfecting the communications, and giving a little 
 rest to the troops, which had for twenty days been constantly 
 marching and fighting, on short rations. 
 
 Everything being arranged, Grant determined to make 
 another effort to carry this modern Gibraltar by assault. 
 
 41 
 
168 SECOND ASSAULT. 
 
 Ten o clock, on the morning of the 22nd, was the time 
 appointed. The several corps commanders set their watches 
 by Grant s, so that there should be perfect unity of move 
 ment, and at the appointed signal, the army, in splendid 
 array and magnificent order, swept, awful as the ocean surge, 
 full on the rebel works. Then commenced one of the wild 
 est scenes of war. All along the frowning fortifications, 
 there streamed an incessant sheet of fire, bursting through 
 the thick smoke, on the brave, uncovered ranks below, 
 that still pressed dauntlessly forward, heedless of the 
 destruction that wasted them. They could see no enemy 
 in front only solid earthworks, clouds of rolling smoke, 
 and waves of fire, confronted them. For two fearful hours, 
 they struggled desperately to reach this blazing vortex, and 
 quench its deadly fires, but struggled in vain. Just then, Grant 
 received a dispatch from McClernand, stating that he had 
 gained the intrenchments in front.of him, at several points, and 
 needed more troops. They were given, and the assault was 
 pressed more vigorously than ever. McClernand, however, 
 overestimated the amount of success gained, and the fresh 
 attempt only helped to swell the slaughter, and the bleeding 
 army was at length compelled to fall back, and abandon 
 the struggle. * 
 
 Grant now gave up all attempts to take the place by 
 storm, and sat down before it in regular siege. Porter, with 
 his gunboats, kept watch and ward on the Mississippi, co 
 operating with the former by every means in his power. The 
 gunboat Cincinnati was sunk by the rebel batteries, and 
 fifteen men drowned, and twenty-five killed and wounded. 
 The masts had all been shot away before she went down, yet 
 she sunk with her flag flying nailed to one of the stumps. 
 
 * Grant blamed McClernand for giving this false information, which pro 
 voked the latter to issue a general order, recapitulating the services of his 
 corps, and also to defend himself in a letter to Governor Yates, which caused 
 Grant to remove him from command, and put Ord in his place. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 ASSAULT ON PORT HUDSON THE SIEGE SIEGE OF VICKSBURG ITS SUR 
 RENDER RESULTS OF THE VICTORY SURRENDER OF PORT HUDSON THE 
 
 MISSISSIPPI OPENED MINOR OPERATIONS WEST ARREST OF VALLANDIG- 
 
 HAM HIS BANISHMENT EXASPERATED STATE OF PUBLIC FEELING. 
 
 THE very next day after this unsuccessful assault of 
 Vicksburg, Banks arrived with his army, from Alex 
 andria, before Port Hudson. Coming down the Red River, 
 he had crossed the Mississippi above the place, hoping to 
 find its defenses on that side much weaker than on the 
 south. 
 
 Forming a junction with Augur s force, that came down 
 from Baton Rouge, he immediately began to invest the 
 place, but, unwilling to await the slow progress of a siege, 
 made two unsuccessful assaults on its impregnable fortifica 
 tions. The troops fought bravely, and Weitzel, Sherman 
 and Augur maintained their old renown, and the colored 
 regiments behaved with great gallantry ; but it was a useless 
 waste of life. 
 
 Banks now sat down before it in regular siege, and day 
 by day, pushed his batteries nearer and nearer to the rebel 
 works, until some of them were within three hundred yards. 
 At length, after having dismounted several pieces of the 
 rebel artillery, and silenced others with his sharpshooters, 
 he determined to make another attempt to carry the place 
 by assault. Sunday, the 14th of June, was the day fixed 
 upon, and long before daylight the artillery opened all along 
 the line, and the Sabbath morning was ushered in by a can 
 nonading that shook the shores of the Mississippi. 
 
170 THE ASSAULT, 
 
 Farragut, with his gunboats, was co-operating with Banks, 
 and his heavy guns soon opened, and helped to swell the 
 uproar that filled all the air. 
 
 The extreme north-east angle of the breastworks was 
 selected as presenting the least formidable obstacles to snccess r 
 for much of the artillery at this point had been, during the 
 last week, dismounted or silenced. Still, almost insurmount 
 able difficulties presented themselves, even here. At one 
 point, a clear field, five or six hundred yards in width, 
 swept up to the ramparts, crossed and recrossed with nar 
 row, deep gullies, too small to afford protection and yet too 
 broad to be easily passed, and covered also with fallen trees 
 and vines, thus forming a trap for the advancing troops, who 
 all the while would be exposed to a desolating fire. 
 
 In the dull, gray light of the early morning, the 
 Seventy-fifth New York moved rapidly forward as skir 
 mishers, followed by the Ninety-first New York, each 
 soldier carrying a five-pound hand grenade r which was 
 to be thrown over the breastworks to scatter the enemy. 
 Next came the Twenty-fourth Connecticut, loaded with 
 sand-bags filled with cotton, to fill up the ditch for the 
 advancing stormers. The balance of Weitzel s brigade was 
 to press close after, to be supported by other brigades under 
 Colonel Birge. As soon as Weitzel should make a lodgment 
 within the enemy s works, Paine was to follow, and then the 
 two columns were to be quickly deployed in line of battle, 
 and move swiftly on the town and the grand citadel itself, 
 Grover commanded these two divisions, which were to do 
 the chief work, while Augur and D wight made feints on 
 the rebel left. 
 
 The assaulting columns advanced with great intrepidity 
 brigade after brigade dashing forward under a heavy fire 
 but were compelled each time to fall back, A dense fog 
 had lain along the river, giving a more somber hue to the 
 
A REPULSE. 171 
 
 gray twilight, but in the midst of the carnage, it suddenly 
 lifted and rolled upward like a mighty curtain, and the 
 bright sun lighted up the wild scene with noontide splendor. 
 The assault was pressed with great valor and resolution, and 
 the commanders held their troops to the deadly struggle till 
 eleven o clock, when such as could retire fell back ; and the 
 rest crouched in the gullies or hid behind trees and what 
 ever could afford shelter, and waited for the darkness to 
 cover the field, so that they could get out of the deadly 
 range of the enemy s muskets. Col. Paine, being wounded, 
 lay all day between two rows of earth, in an old cotton 
 field, exposed to the blazing sun, and when at dark he was 
 removed, his wounds were full of maggots. Many of the 
 wounded soldiers lay exposed in the same way. 
 
 The loss in this assault was estimated at seven hundred 
 and fifty. The Secretary of War s maxim, " to move at once 
 upon the enemy s works," had now been tried quite enough, 
 and the despised " spade" was resorted to again. Mathe 
 matical science and engineering skill, will always be found 
 more worthy of trust than popular declamation or misguided 
 bravery. 
 
 Banks now pressed the siege with great vigor, and being 
 determined that Grant, around Yicksburg, should not get 
 all the glory, planned another assault. But before it was 
 attempted, the surrender of the latter place made further 
 attempts to hold Port Hudson useless. 
 
 When Grant had completed his lines around Yicksburg, 
 opening communication with the North by way of the 
 Mississippi, so that supplies and reinforcements could be 
 forwarded to him to any amount, the fall of the stronghold 
 was evidently a mere question of time. Rumors, from time 
 to time, were received, that Johnston was assembling a 
 heavy army in his rear, to raise the siege ; but the arrival 
 of reinforcements allowed Grant to detach Sherman, with a 
 
172 THE SURRENDER. 
 
 large force, to watch the rebel leader. In the meantime, 
 he pressed the siege with all the energy which distinguished 
 him. Day by day, he dug his way towards the place, and 
 at length reached positions where his shells could be dropped 
 into the center of the city. These, crashing through the 
 buildings, and bursting along the streets, forced the inhabit 
 ants to seek shelter in caves, dug in the earth. For six 
 weeks, while the army was digging slowly onward, the 
 batteries kept playing on the devoted citadel. Provisions 
 became scarce, and the inhabitants grew wan and thin 
 in their narrow dens. At length, the ammunition gave 
 out, and Pemberton, whose only hope of deliverance 
 lay in Johnston s ability to raise the siege, began to 
 despair, and, seeing Grant about to carry the place by 
 assault, he, on the 3rd of July, sent two officers with 
 a flag of truce to the Federal lines, to arrange the terms of 
 capitulation. Grant would listen to none but unconditional 
 surrender. A personal interview then took place between 
 the two Generals, who met midway between the lines, under 
 a gigantic oak, while the two armies left their places of con 
 cealment and swarmed upon the ramparts, to witness this 
 extraordinary scene. Pemberton was the first to speak, and 
 asked Grant what terms he proposed. u Unconditional sur 
 render," was the prompt reply. "Never," rejoined the 
 haughty rebel, u so long as I have a man left me." " Then," 
 said Grant, u you can continue the defense; my army was 
 never in a better condition to continue the siege." After 
 some further conversation, the interview terminated without 
 coming to a definite result, Grant saying that he would con 
 fer with his officers. He did so, and sent a note saying that 
 the entire surrender of the place and garrison would be 
 required, but that the troops would be paroled, and allowed 
 to march out of the lines the officers taking with them 
 their regimental clothing, and the staff and field and cavalry 
 
SURRENDER OF PORT HUDSON. 173 
 
 officers a horse each. The proposal was accepted, and on 
 the morning of the 4th of July our National Jubilee-day 
 the hostile flag came down, and the Stars and Stripes went 
 up, over the rebel works, amid the enthusiastic shouts of the 
 whole army. 
 
 When Johnston heard of the fall of the place, he imme 
 diately retraced his steps across the Big Black River, and 
 Jackson once more fell into our hands. 
 
 "The result of the campaign," said Grant, u has been the 
 defeat of the enemy in five battles outside of Vicksburg; 
 the occupation of Jackson the Capital of Mississippi, and 
 the capture of Vicksburg and its garrison and munitions of 
 war a loss to the enemy of thirty-seven thousand prisoners, 
 among whom were fifteen general officers ; at least ten thou 
 sand killed and wounded, and among the killed, Generals 
 Tracy, Tilghman and Green, and hundreds and perhaps thou 
 sands of stragglers who can never be collected and reorgan 
 ized. Arms and munitions of war for an army of sixty 
 thousand men have fallen into our hands, besides a large 
 amount of other public property, consisting of railroads, loco 
 motives, cars, steamboats, cotton, etc., and much was destroyed 
 to prevent our capturing it." His own total loss, in killed, 
 wounded and missing, from the time he crossed the Mississippi, 
 he estimated at eight thousand, five hundred and seventy-five. 
 
 Four days after the surrender of Vicksburg, Gardner, the 
 Commander of Port Hudson, sent a flag of truce to Banks, 
 asking a cessation of hostilities, for the purpose of settling the 
 terms of capitulation. The latter would allow of no cessa 
 tion, and commissioners were at once appointed, whose con 
 sultations ended in the surrender of the garrison as prisoners 
 of war. To the stirring strains of " The Star-Spangled 
 Banner," and "Yankee Doodle," the army entered the place 
 in triumph, and marched proudly along the sullen, silent 
 rebel line. The Union flag was run up on one of the highest 
 
174 THE MISSISSIPPI OPENED. 
 
 bluffs, and, as its starry folds swung lazily out to the breeze, 
 the artillery thundered forth a salute. About six thousand 
 prisoners, fifty-one pieces of artillery, two steamers, besides 
 a large quantity of small arms, ammunition, &c., fell into 
 our hands. 
 
 It was a great victory, but the pleasure it was calculated 
 to impart was marred by the reflection that but for the 
 negligence of the Government such a fortified work would 
 never, in the first place, have been in possession of the 
 rebels ; and, in the second place, the loss of life in securing 
 it was wholly unnecessary, for the fall of Yicksburg, which 
 was only a matter of time, involved the fall of this place 
 also* without firing a gun. 
 
 But the number of guns, prisoners and materials of war 
 captured were not the chief results obtained by these two 
 campaigns. They opened the Mississippi in its entire length 
 an object which had been of paramount importance to the 
 great North-west. It also bisected the Southern Confederacy, 
 and cut off its large supplies of men and animals, which it 
 had constantly received from the country west of the Mis 
 sissippi. The nation was jubilant over it, for the people 
 thought they now saw the end of the rebellion near. Grant 
 advanced at once to the first place in general estimation, as 
 a military leader, and deservedly so. He had, throughout 
 this arduous, long campaign, exhibited a tenacity of purpose 
 and a fertility of resource that few men possess, while the 
 daring resolution to cut himself loose from supplies and 
 reinforcements, and march boldly into the interior, depending 
 solely on his celerity of movement to prevent a concentration 
 of the enemy s forces, was the inspiration of true genius. 
 The rapidity and power with which he dealt his blows, 
 reminds one of Napoleon the Great. 
 
 As a part of this great campaign, Colonel B. H. Grierson s 
 cavalry raid through Mississippi should be mentioned. It 
 
GRIERSON S RAID. 175 
 
 was planned to create a diversion in favor of the army 
 operating against Vicksburg, as well as to destroy railroads 
 and other public property. It was dispatched from La 
 Grange, Tennessee, by General Hurlburt, on the 17th of 
 April, and on the 2nd of May arrived at Baton Rouge, 
 having traversed the whole State of Mississippi. Nothing 
 like this raid, in boldness and extent, had as yet been 
 attempted, and its success covered the young Commander 
 with laurels. These great cavalry raids became for a time 
 quite the rage with the people, but their effect on the war 
 was greatly overestimated, and it is questionable whether 
 the wear and tear, on horses and men, did not damage us 
 quite as much as the destruction of property hurt the enemy. 
 
 The other operations in the West, during the Spring and 
 early Summer, were of a minor character. Attacks were 
 made by the rebels on Fort Donelson and Ship Island, and 
 quite a heavy one by Van Dorn on Franklin, Tennessee 
 all of which were repulsed. In the latter part of March, 
 Morgan and Wheeler were defeated by Colonel Hall, near 
 Milton, Tennessee, and Pegram by General Gillmore, near 
 Somerset, Kentucky ; and in various parts of Missouri, Mis 
 sissippi, Tennessee and Kentucky, conflicts were of frequent 
 occurrence, between detached bodies of the Union and rebel 
 troops, in most of which the former were successful. Cav 
 alry raids, scouting expeditions, and guerrilla fights, kept 
 these States in constant commotion, for independent parties 
 and regiments, and bands of irregular forces, were constantly 
 operating, outside of the main armies. These had but little 
 bearing, however, on the great struggle, except to lay waste 
 the country, exasperate the inhabitants, and cause great 
 personal suffering among the people. 
 
 But no event caused greater excitement than the arrest 
 of Clement L. Yallandigham, of Ohio, by order of Burnside, 
 on the charge of contempt of his orders, and resistance to 
 
176 VALLANDIGHAM. 
 
 the Government in its measures to put down the rebellion. 
 Seized at midnight in his own house, and dragged away to 
 be tried by court-martial, his treatment was boldly denounced 
 by the Democratic press. Indignant at these denunciations, 
 Burnside caused the chief offender, in his Department, The 
 Chicago Times, to be suppressed. This increased the excite 
 ment, and there was great danger, for a while, of an open 
 outbreak in the West. The excitement was somewhat 
 allayed by the President annulling the order of Burnside 
 suppressing the Times. Still, the violent arrest of Vallan- 
 digham, and the refusal to grant him a trial by the civil 
 courts, was denounced as an act of tyranny, by the opposi 
 tion press East and West, and but little more was needed, 
 at this time, to bring on a collision between the citizens and 
 soldiers. His final trial, and sentence of banishment to the 
 rebel lines, deepened the indignation. Congress had passed 
 an Act the Winter before, covering just such cases as this, 
 under which he could have been tried and punished in a 
 manner becoming our republican notions, and without an 
 apparent attempt to override the civil courts by the strong 
 arm of military power. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 PROCLAMATION OF EMANCIPATION HOOKER PLACED OVER THE ARMY OF 
 
 THE POTOMAC FIGHT AT SUFFOLK ATTACK ON FORT MCALLISTER 
 
 DESTRUCTION OF THE NASHVILLE THE FIRST COLORED REGIMENT FIGHTS 
 
 AT BLACKWATER AND KELLY S FORD, VIRGINIA WASHINGTON, NORTH CARO 
 LINA, ATTACKED BY THE REBELS ATTACK BY THE IRON-CLAD FLEET ON 
 
 FORT SUMTER DISAPPOINTMENT AT ITS FAILURE INJUSTICE TO DU PONT. 
 
 EAST, the opening year was distinguished by the Presi 
 dent s confirmatory Emancipation Proclamation, (pre 
 viously noticed,) declaring the slaves, in certain States and 
 parts of States, forever free. It was celebrated as a great 
 event in many portions of the Northern States, and by the 
 freedmen in Norfolk, Ya., and Beaufort, South Carolina. The 
 Richmond papers denounced it as the most "startling 
 political crime, the most stupid political blunder, yet known 
 in American history," and declared that servile insurrection 
 was the sole object aimed at. It was also bitterly denounced 
 by the opposition, who asserted that it would have no effect 
 on the emancipation of the slaves ; but, on the contrary, that 
 it would effectually close the door against the long-cherished 
 hope of a reaction at the South against the leaders of the rebel 
 lion. They said that if the army did not overthrow Slavery, 
 no proclamation would ; that it was to disappear under the 
 tramp of our victorious battalions, or not at all. 
 
 On the 26th of January, Burnside was superseded by 
 Hooker in command of the Army of the Potomac. By 
 those unacquainted with military men and affairs, this was 
 hailed with delight ; and the most extravagant anticipations 
 
178 ATTACK ON FORT MCALLISTER. 
 
 were entertained of the great results that the latter, with his 
 brilliant fighting qualities, would accomplish. 
 
 The month closed, however, without any military opera 
 tions of importance. A sharp fight took place near Suffolk, 
 between a Union force under General Corcoran, and the rebels 
 under General Roger A. Pryor, in which the latter, after a 
 three-hours struggle, were compelled to retreat. An attack 
 was also made on Fort McAllister, commanding the Savannah 
 River, by Commander Worden, in the iron-clad Montauk, 
 but it failed to produce any effect on the rebel works. On 
 the 27th of February, however, he had the satisfaction 
 of destroying, while aground, under the very guns of the 
 fort, the troublesome rebel steamer Nashville. A few days 
 after, March 3rd, Commander Drayton, with a fleet of 
 monitors and mortar schooners, again attempted to reduce 
 the fort, but, though a terrific bombardment, of eight hours 
 duration, was kept up, no material damage was done to the 
 works. 
 
 The organization of the first colored regiment, at Beau 
 fort, South Carolina, in the fore part of this year, caused 
 a good deal of excitement. Under Colonel Higginson, 
 a Unitarian clergyman, it made an expedition into the 
 interior, and, though the blacks behaved with commendable 
 gallantry, they afterward, under Colonel Montgomery, in an 
 expedition to Darien, were a disgrace to the flag and to the 
 nation. 
 
 Newbern was attacked on the 14th of March, by a rebel 
 force under General Pettigrew, without any successful result ; 
 and Colonel Spear, on the 17th, assailed the rebel breast 
 works on the Blackwater, near Franklin, Virginia, but was 
 repulsed. On the same day, a spirited cavalry fight occurred 
 at Kelly s Ford, on the Rappahannock, between a force 
 mnder General Averill, and Fitz-Hugh Lee, of the rebel ser- 
 
IRON-CLADS AT CHARLESTON. 179 
 
 vice, which lasted for several hours, and finally resulted in 
 the rout of the latter. 
 
 The month closed with a serious demonstration against 
 Washington, North Carolina, garrisoned by two thousand 
 National troops, under General Foster. The rebels, under 
 Hill and Pettigrew, sat down before it, with strong force, 
 and commenced throwing up fortifications. 
 
 In these minor combats, the months of January, February 
 and March passed away, and the people waited anxiously 
 for the settled weather of Spring to inaugurate those great 
 movements which, it was believed, would break the power 
 of the rebellion. In the West, as we have seen, things were 
 at this time evidently drawing to a crisis, and corresponding 
 movements were weekly looked for along the Atlantic slope 
 and seaboard. 
 
 The first heavy blow of the war was struck at Fort Sum- 
 ter, on the 7th of April, by Admiral Du Pont T who, with a 
 fleet of monitors and iron-clads, endeavored to break down 
 this barrier, which had so long kept the avenging hand from 
 Charleston, the hot-bed of rebellion. An invention for the 
 explosion of torpedoes, to be placed in front of the vessels, 
 had been towed down from New York, with which, it was 
 supposed, the iron-clads would be able to push through the 
 obstructions opposite the fort ; and the highest expectations 
 were cherished, of a speedy downfall of the stronghold. 
 Nine iron-clads and monitors were to make the attack, while 
 a wooden squadron of five vessels was to lie in reserve, 
 outside of the bar. Du Pont was not so sanguine of success 
 as the Secretary of the Navy was known to be. As> through 
 his glass, he surveyed the work before him, he saw that his 
 little fleet was to be put to a test to which vessels had never 
 before been subjected. 
 
 When it was announced that the fleet was under way, 
 the steeples and roofs in and around Charleston became lined 
 
180 A GLOOMY PROSPECT. 
 
 with spectators assembled to witness the approaching con 
 flict. 
 
 As the eye swept around the harbor, it was cannon here, 
 and there, and everywhere. In front, Sullivan s Island lay 
 on the right, and Morris Island on the left the two extreme 
 points curving in towards each other, till they were separated 
 by a channel only a mile wide. Midway in this channel, 
 built on an artificial island, stood Fort Sumter. Opposite it, 
 on Sullivan s Island, stood Fort Moultrie, while above and 
 below it the shore was lined with formidable batteries. On 
 the other side of the channel, flanking it, frowned Battery 
 Bee, on Cummings Point, while further up towards Charles 
 ton should the fleet succeed in passing all these obstacles 
 battery succeeded battery, all the way to the city. Stretch 
 ing down towards the fleet, batteries lined Morris Island, and 
 among them Fort Wagner. The sight was enough to daunt 
 the stoutest heart, for full three hundred cannon lay shotted 
 and trained on the channel, ready to open their concentrated 
 fire on the little fleet the moment it came within range. 
 
 Du Pout s plan was to push rapidly past the batteries, and 
 get to the west and north-west side of Sumter, which was 
 known to be less impregnable than the front face. This, he 
 was aware, would be a desperate task, for piles, torpedoes, nets, 
 and all sorts of obstructions, had been sunk in the channel 
 between Sumter and the shores, to hold any vessels that 
 might attempt to pass, under the horrible fire that com 
 manded the spot. But it was hoped that the invention of 
 Ericsson, previously mentioned, would be able to remove 
 these. 
 
 At noon, the signal from the flag-ship to move to the 
 attack, was seen, and the little fleet of low, black-looking 
 objects steamed slowly forward. It was four miles to Sum 
 ter, and the batteries on Morris Island commanded the whole 
 distance. It had hardly got under way, when the Wee- 
 
THE ADVANCE. 181 
 
 hawken, in the advance, with the torpedo machine attached 
 to her bows, became tangled with the unwieldy thing, and 
 lost an hour in clearing herself, when the fleet again moved 
 forward. The spectators lining the shore looked on in 
 breathless expectation the rapid roll of the drum in Fort 
 Sumter was heard beating to quarters, and all knew that 
 the decisive moment had come. 
 
 The fleet moved steadily up, till opposite Fort Wagner, 
 where, it was expected, the wild hurricane that awaited it 
 would commence, but not a gun broke the calm of the 
 slumbering bay. It kept on till opposite Battery Bee, 
 and still not a cannon spoke ; an ominous silence reigned 
 over everything. This mysterious, death-like stillness fore 
 boded mischief still, the fleet kept undauntedly on, till it 
 was under the guns of Sumter. As the Weehawken was 
 rounding, to pass beyond into Charleston harbor, the crater 
 of fire opened, and from Sumter and Moultrie, shot and shell 
 fell thick as hail-stones from heaven. The Weehawken 
 never stopped, but steamed steadily on, till she was suddenly 
 brought up by an enormous hawser stretching from Sumter to 
 Moultrie supported by casks, and strung with nets, cables 
 and torpedoes. The propeller got entangled in these, 
 became unmanageable, and drifted about in the fiery 
 tempest her iron sides echoing under the blows of the heavy 
 metal, that fell incessantly upon her. The other vessels, as 
 they come up, see the danger, and sheer off to avoid it. 
 Wheeling in the fire, they steer to the other side of the fort, 
 to try the channel there. But here a row of piles, rising 
 ten feet out of the water, meets their gaze, beyond which 
 stretch other obstructions as far as the eye can reach and 
 beyond them still, rebel iron-clads lie ready for action. To 
 make matters still worse, the Ironsides suddenly refuses to 
 obey her rudder, and drifts on the heavy tide towards Fort 
 Moultrie, getting foul of the Catskill and Nantucket. 
 
182 THE ATTACK. 
 
 Du Pont now clearly sees that his plan of action cannot be 
 carried out, and he signals to the rest of the fleet to disre 
 gard his movements, which is a permission for each vessel 
 to act as it deems best. To get beyond Sumter is now 
 clearly impossible, and nothing remains but to see whether 
 the fleet can stay long enough in the vortex of that horrible 
 fire, to knock the fort to pieces. Tons of metal are falling, 
 with the weight of descending rocks, upon those iron-clads; 
 yet each gallant commander is determined to lay his vessel 
 alongside the dark structure, and make a broadside engage 
 ment with it. The Keokuk is in advance, followed by the 
 Catskill, Montauk and, further back, by the other vessels, 
 till she is within rifle shot of the nearest batteries, when 
 the conflict becomes awful The gunners, stripped to their 
 waists, work their ponderous guns with cool determination ; 
 and shot weighing four hundred and twenty pounds, strike, 
 like heaven s own thunderbolts, the massive walls, sending 
 the stones in fragments through the air. The din and 
 uproar are so deafening that orders have to be shouted into 
 the ear, while the thick smoke involves the shuddering sea 
 and trembling land in impenetrable folds. 
 
 But scarcely thirty minutes had passed, when the Keokuk 
 came limping out of the fire, and fast settling in the water. 
 The Ironsides is pierced with red-hot shot the Nahant 
 gapes with thirty wounds the turret of the Passaic is 
 knocked to pieces so that it cannot revolve the Nantucket 
 can use but one gun a rifled shot has pierced the Catskill, 
 and five of the nine monitors must be reckoned out of the 
 fight. All that thirty-two guns the total number carried 
 by the fleet could do against three hundred, had now been 
 done, and to keep up the contest with but fifteen or sixteen, 
 would be downright madness. Besides, no land force was 
 near to take possession of the fort, if silenced, and night 
 was coming on. Du Pont therefore signaled the fleet to 
 
INJUSTICE TO DU PONT. 183 
 
 retire, and the strange conflict ended. The Keokuk had 
 hardly got out of the fire, when she went to the bottom. 
 A council of war was called the next morning, and it was 
 decided that it would be unwise to renew the attack. 
 
 The result awakened deep mortification, and many were 
 determined not to acknowledge that the failure was inevita 
 ble. Though Du Pont did all that man could do, and though 
 every subordinate officer bore himself like a hero, and 
 fought his ship with unequaled gallantry, the public and the 
 Navy Department were dissatisfied, and this noble Com 
 mander had to suifer for not doing impossibilities, was 
 removed from his command, and Admiral Foote put in his 
 place. The sickness, and finally, the death of the latter, pre 
 vented him from entering on his duties, and Du Pont, in the 
 meanwhile, retained his position. Difficulties, however, arose 
 between him and the Navy Department, and one of the 
 best and most popular commanders in the navy was laid 
 aside, and Dahlgren ultimately put in command of the iron 
 clad fleet. History, however* will grant the former that 
 justice which at the time he was denied, and place the 
 blame where it belongs. 
 
 In the meantime, a good deal of interest was felt in the 
 fate of General Foster, who, during this month, was for 
 some time surrounded, at Washington, North Carolina, and 
 cut off from supplies. General Peck, also, stationed at Suf 
 folk, had some engagements with the enemy, who were 
 evidently manoeuvering to get possession of the place. 
 
 42 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 HIS CONFIDENT ADDRESS TO HIS TROOPS PLAN OF THE BATTLE THE 
 
 CAVALRY SENT OFF TO SEVER LEfi s COMMUNICATIONS ATTACK BY " STONE 
 WALL" JACKSON ON HOWARD S CORPS ITS DEFEAT DEATH OF JACKSON 
 
 SUBSEQUENT BATTLE FREDERICKSBURG HEIGHTS CARRIED BY SEDGWICK 
 
 ATTACKED BY LEE, AND COMPELLED TO RE-CROSS THE RIVER HOOKER 
 
 WITHDRAWS HIS ARMY DISAPPOINTMENT OF THE COUNTRY FEINT ON THE 
 
 REBEL CAPITAL FROM WEST POINT KILPATRICK s RIDE TO THE SUBURBS 
 
 OF RICHMOND SIEGE OF SUFFOLK GALLANT DEFENSE OF PECK LEE s 
 
 INVASION OF MARYLAND SURRENDER OF WINCHESTER HOOKER SUPER 
 SEDED BY MEADE -FEELING OF THE PEOPLE. 
 
 BUT the great interest centered in the Army of the 
 Potomac, which, it was expected, would move the 
 moment the roads would permit. Still smarting with the 
 sense of disgrace, in the slaughter and defeat at Fredericks- 
 burg, the country was impatient of delay ; and when, at the 
 latter end of the month, the news flew over the wires, that 
 Hooker was crossing the Rappahannock, the most intense 
 excitement prevailed. Those who had faith in his general 
 ship felt that the remembrance of Fredericksburg was to be 
 wiped out, and that McClellan s, Pope s and Burnside s fail 
 ures to annihilate Lee s army and capture Richmond, were 
 to be effaced by a victory -that would astonish the world, 
 and deal a death-blow to the rebellion. Those, on the other 
 hand, who had no faith in him as a match for Lee, were 
 almost equally excited, believing that a catastrophe would 
 happen. This confidence on the one hand, and fear on the 
 other, were deepened by the following address which General 
 Hooker made to his army after he had safely crossed the 
 Rappahannock: "It is with heartfelt satisfaction that the 
 
ARMY OF THE POTOMAC. 185 
 
 operations of the last three days have determined that our 
 enemy must ingloriously fly, or come out from behind their 
 defenses, and give us battle on our own ground, where cer 
 tain destruction awaits him." To one class, this was the 
 inspiration and confidence of genius to the other, who 
 remembered that to the question put to him by the War 
 Investigating Committee, as to what the ill success of the 
 Army of the Potomac was owing when in front of Richmond, 
 he replied, u To the incompetency of its leader," his words 
 seemed a rash boast, prophetic only of defeat. 
 
 The two great armies of the Union, West and East, were 
 at the same time entering on movements of vital importance 
 to the Union cause. Grant, as it has been seen, having 
 thrown his army across the Mississippi, on the 1st of May 
 attacked the enemy at Port Gibson, and commented that 
 series of extraordinary victories which brought him in the 
 rear of Vicksburg, and insured its downfall. Hooker s army 
 having crossed the Rappahannock, on the 2nd the next day 
 >after the battle of Port Gibson he fought the battle of Chan- 
 cellorsville, which he had believed would force the enemy into 
 -a disastrous retreat to Richmond, and secure the conquest of 
 that place. But the results of the two movements were widely 
 different. The thunder of Grant s cannon, rolling up the 
 Mississippi, proclaimed victory the echoes of Hooker s, 
 breaking across the Rappahannock, announced defeat and 
 disgrace. 
 
 BATTLE OF CHANCELLORSVILLE. 
 
 The main plan of Hooker seems intelligible enough. He 
 endeavored to confuse the enemy as to the intended point 
 of crossing, and then suddenly throw his army over the 
 river several miles above Fredericksburg, and fix himself in 
 a position to compel Lee to attack him, or hastily retreat 
 
186 POSITION OF THE ARMY. 
 
 towards Richmond in order to save his communications with 
 the rebel Capital. To threaten the latter still more, he 
 stripped his army of its cavalry, and sent it, under Stone- 
 man, to cut the railroads in rear of Lee. In the meantime, 
 Sedgwick, with some twenty thousand men, was, at the 
 proper time, to cross in front of Fredericksburg and carry 
 the intrenched heights, and then co-operate with Hooker, 
 as he drove the enemy before him. A part of the pro 
 gramme was successfully carried out. Stoneman got in the 
 rear of Lee, and swept triumphantly on towards Richmond, 
 tearing up the railroad as he advanced. Hooker succeeded, 
 also, in throwing his army safely over the Rappahannock, 
 and took up the position he desired, and began to intrench 
 himself. He now felt that the most difficult part of his work 
 was accomplished, and said, exultingly, that Lee s army was 
 the u legitimate property of the Army of the Potomac." 
 
 On Saturday, May 2nd, his head-quarters were at Chan- 
 cellorsville, which consisted of a single house, standing at 
 the intersection of the Gordonsville plank-road and Orange 
 County turnpike. This was a central point to his magnificent 
 army of more than a hundred thousand men, and was five 
 miles from the ford which he had successfully crossed. A 
 small field lies in^front of the house, but beyond and on 
 every side, stretches away a tangled wilderness. Two miles 
 out, on the plank-road, lay Howard s corps the Eleventh, 
 composed in part of German troops holding the extreme 
 right. To prevent a flank movement, it was made to front 
 three ways. Sickles was next to him. Slocum was stationed 
 near the house, and Meade beyond him, with the Fifth Corps. 
 Beyond these, completing the line on the left, Couch, with 
 the Second Corps, lay, to prevent a movement in this direc 
 tion OH the United States Ford. 
 
 Thus matters stood, on Saturday afternoon. Lee, perfectly 
 aware of our position, sent u Stonewall" Jackson to execute 
 
THE RIGHT WIXG BROKEN. 187 
 
 a grand flank movement on Hooker s extreme right, where 
 Howard was stationed. This indomitable chieftain worked 
 and cut his way through the tangled forest, till he overlapped 
 Howard, and then, just at evening, fell on him like a bolt 
 from heaven, shivering his corps, with one fierce blow, into 
 a thousand fragments. His fierce battalions, shouting as 
 they came, drove the panic-stricken fugitives, like a herd 
 of frightened buffaloes, back towards the center of the army, 
 - and seemed about to get in Hooker s rear, and make an end 
 of him, without the dignity, even, of a great battle. The 
 latter saw his danger, and at once showed his true qualities 
 as a Commander. A more terrible man, at the head of his 
 own division, never trod a battle-field, and as such he must 
 now save himself. Sickles had gallantly tried, but in vain, 
 to make a successful stand. Howard, than whom a braver 
 man never drew sword, galloped furiously among his broken 
 columns, waving his empty sleeve as a banner to his men, 
 in vain his noble heart breaking at the disaster he was 
 powerless to avert. A wilder wreck never strewed the 
 ocean than that tumultuous field exhibited in the gloom of 
 that night. In this perilous crisis, Hooker called on his old 
 division, now Berry s, to stop this refluent tide of battle. 
 Moving firmly into the breach, it presented a solid front, 
 behind which Sickles, and Howard a little later, rallied a 
 part of their troops, and arrested the further progress of the 
 enemy. Thirty pieces of artillery were massed in front of 
 .Berry s position, and sent their terrific loads of canister 
 without a moment s cessation, into the crowded ranks of the 
 enemy, that pressed on, reckless of death. The moon shone 
 brightly down on field and wood, over which rolled the 
 white and sulphurous war clouds, like drifts of ocean mist 
 along the trembling shore. Out of the deep shadows of the 
 woods, and up from the open spaces flooded with moonlight, 
 arose the shouts of men, the swift crash of musketry, and 
 
188 DEATH OF "STONEWALL" JACKSON. 
 
 the confused noise of foes struggling in mortal combat. 
 But, at midnight, Jackson s victorious charge was stopped, 
 and a lull fell on the trampled field. Hooker had placed 
 himself where, he said, the enemy must come out and attack 
 him. The latter had done so, and, with one tremendous 
 blow, doubled his army up. 
 
 Hooker now changed his position, so as to make his lines 
 more compact and solid, and better able to resist the head 
 long charges of the rebels. What the object of the latter 
 was, in not pressing the battle further that night, is not 
 plain, for an event occurred after it was over, which doubtless 
 had an important bearing on the operations of the next 
 morning. Jackson, whose brilliant and overwhelming charge 
 had so paralyzed Hooker, after the conflict rode with his 
 staff over the ground in front of the skirmishers, to make 
 observations, and decide where he should plant his next 
 blow, and in returning, was fired on by his own men, through 
 mistake, and mortally wounded. This disaster was almost 
 equivalent to a victory for us. This indomitable chieftain, 
 at the head of his veterans, pressing up the advantage he 
 had gained the night before, could hardly have failed to 
 affect the fortunes of the day. He himself is reported to 
 have said, that had he not been struck down, he would have 
 cut off Hooker s retreat to his pontoons. 
 
 The next morning, Sunday, at five o clock, the enemy 
 again moved to the attack, determined to finish what they 
 had successfully commenced. They came along the turnpike 
 from the west, and were met by Berry s and Birney s divi 
 sions, moving forward from both sides of the road, supported 
 by Whipple and Williams. The artillery of the latter was 
 posted so as to command all the approaches by the turnpike. 
 Forty pieces, under Best, swept the ground in front, and when 
 the rebels, in solid mass, came through the woods, opened 
 their fire with appalling fierceness. " The advancing column 
 
VICTORY OF SEDGWICK. 189 
 
 was cut up and gashed, as if pierced, seamed and ploughed 
 by invincible lightning. Companies and regiments melted 
 away, yet still they came on. Berry and Birney advanced 
 to meet them. They were terrible shocks. The living 
 waves rolled against each other, as you have seen the billows 
 on a stormy sea." Nothing, however, could resist the 
 tremendous charges of the rebels, and Sickles corps was 
 gradually forced back. They could not break our steadfast 
 lines, but still, compelled them to yield the ground. For 
 nearly six hours, the battle raged with fearful ferocity, and 
 then the rebels withdrew. In the afternoon, they again ad 
 vanced to the attack, but pressed it less vigorously, as if 
 weakened by their own tremendous exertions. 
 
 On this same Sabbath day, Sedgwick had carried the 
 heights of Fredericksburg the "light brigade" winning 
 immortal honor in the last brilliant assault and prepared 
 at once to co-operate with Hooker. Had the latter been 
 able to carry out his part of the plan and advance, after 
 the enemy had exhausted himself in a fruitless attack on his 
 own defenses, doubtless a great victory would have been 
 gained. But he had been beaten, though not routed, in his 
 own chosen position behind his defenses and driven back. 
 Under these circumstances, an advance was out of the ques 
 tion, and he began to look about anxiously, to see, not how 
 he might beat the enemy, but save his army. Heavy rains 
 had set in, and the river in his rear began to rise, and though 
 Stoneman, with his fearless troopers, was in Lee s rear, and 
 Sedg wick s gallant battalions were shouting on the heights 
 of Fredericksburg, it all availed nothing. Humbled and 
 mortified, he must swallow his boastings, and march back 
 over the river, a defeated man. With an army variously 
 estimated at one hundred and twenty and one hundred and 
 fifty thousand men, he had been beaten by sixty thousand. 
 
 Seeing Hooker so badly punished, Lee sent an over- 
 
190 REVIEW OF THE CAMPAIGN. 
 
 whelming force against Sedgwick, wht>, leaving a part of his 
 force to hold the works of Fredericksburg, was with the 
 main army advancing along the plank-road towards Chan- 
 cellorsville, to co-operate- with Hooker. After a severe fight, 
 he compelled him to retreat across the river under the fire 
 of his artillery, which threatened momentarily to break in 
 pieces the frail bridge, that swayed and trembled under the 
 weight of his swiftly marching columns. It was almost a 
 miracle that this brave officer succeeded in saving his entire 
 corps from utter destruction. The force left on the heights 
 were also driven out of the works and over the Rappahannock, 
 and the position, captured so gallantly, recovered by the rebels. 
 
 On Tuesday night, Hooker also recrossed the Rappahan 
 nock, without loss. Had Lee known of his movements, it 
 could not have been done without serious disaster. 
 
 No battle of the war caused such fierce and angry discussion 
 as this. Some asserted that Hooker retreated only because 
 the sudden rise in the river threatened to carry away his 
 pontoons, and cut off his communications. But if General 
 Hooker made, the important move he did, in the Spring of 
 the year, without taking into account the probable rise 
 of the Rappahannocky he committed a great blunder in 
 fact, an unpardonable one. No event was more likely to 
 occur than this, at that season, and a movement made with 
 out anticipating it was a most un military one. 
 
 Much was said of the skill and secrecy with which Hooker 
 had thrown his army across the river at the point chosen 
 thus outwitting Lee ; but it afterwards leaked out, through 
 some private papers captured, that during the Winter pre 
 vious, this very spot had been selected by the rebel Generals 
 as the one where he would cross; and Chancellorsville, 
 or its neighborhood, designated as the field where the next 
 great battle would be fought. The truth is, Hooker escaped 
 with less loss than he had a right to expect. If Jackson 
 
KILPATRICK S RAID. 191 
 
 had not fallen, it is scarcely possible that the former would 
 have been able to recross the river without discovery 
 and attack. On the other hand, Sedgwick saved his corps 
 by extraordinary skill. After their brilliant success, the 
 rebels seemed to show a great lack of generalship or enter 
 prise. 
 
 In conjunction with Hooker s endeavor to crush Lee s 
 army, on the Rappahannock, a feint movement was made 
 against Richmond, by way of West Point, under General 
 Keyes, which many thought should have been a real one, as 
 Richmond was so stripped of defenders, that its capture was 
 considered an easy matter. 
 
 Colonel Kilpatrick, under Stoneman s command, had 
 dashed down in rear of Lee s army, destroying depots, rail 
 roads and telegraph wires in his way scattered the detach 
 ments that obstructed his path galloped to the very suburbs 
 of the rebel Capital, spreading terror and confusion wherever 
 he went, and at length, on the 7th of May, he rode into our 
 lines at Gloucester Point. He had been five days in the saddle, 
 and, through rain and mud, marched two hundred miles 
 losing, in all, but one officer and thirty-seven men. In this 
 bold march into the interior, Stonernan had destroyed bridges, 
 culverts, ferries, wagons and trains, and captured horses 
 and mules, with but little loss to himself; and the most that 
 could be, was made of it, to compensate for the mortification 
 of Hooker s defeat ; but, aside from the boldness, and skill, 
 and energy, with which it was conducted, there was little to 
 console the people. It was a whirlwind sweeping through 
 the country, terrible in appearance, yet producing no lasting 
 or very serious results, for the defeat at Chancellorsville 
 rendered the temporary destruction of Lee s communications 
 of no value. 
 
 Another event occurred at this time, which excited but 
 little attention, on account of the more stirring scenes passing 
 
192 SIEGE OF SUFFOLK. 
 
 on the Rappahannock. This was the raising the siege of 
 Suffolk, by Longstreet. General Peck had been sent to 
 command at this place, the September before, with an army 
 of about thirteen thousand men, and for six months labored 
 unweariedly to put it in a state of defense. It lies at * 
 the head of the Nansemond River, thirty miles above 
 where it empties into the James River. A railroad, twenty 
 -miles long, connected it with Norfolk, from which Peck 
 received his supplies. In April, Longstreet, with a force 
 estimated at thirty or forty thousand men, advanced against 
 Suffolk, designing to cut the railroad in rear of it, cap 
 ture the army there, and march on Norfolk. In order 
 to weaken the garrison, he sent a force to operate against 
 Little Washington, which caused, as he anticipated, an order 
 to be sent to Peck for reinforcements. He then crossed the 
 Blackwater, and, in three heavy columns, moved confidently 
 forward on Suffolk. Peck, advised of this movement, tele 
 graphed to Admiral Lee, who sent up gunboats to operate 
 in the Nansemond, and assist him in preventing this over 
 whelming force from crossing the stream. Longstreet, find 
 ing Peck prepared, at every point, to receive him, abandoned 
 the attempt to take the place by surprise, and sat down 
 before it in regular seige. Planting batteries along the 
 stream, he first endeavored to drive the gunboats away or 
 sink them. A fierce artillery fight followed, in which the 
 gunboats were riddled with shot. Lieutenants Gushing and 
 Lamson, who commanded the river fleet, clung to the enemy s 
 batteries with a tenacity which nothing could shake loose. 
 General Getty, commanding the third division of the Ninth 
 Army Corps, held the line of the Nansemond, nine miles in 
 length, and by his sleepless vigilance and skill, kept Long- 
 street s army from effecting a crossing. But, on the 18th 
 of April, the enemy succeeded in establishing a battery at 
 Hill s Point, six miles from Suffolk, which threatened to 
 
SIEGE OF SUFFOLK RAISED. 193 
 
 drive the gunboats off. But this strong earth-work was 
 surprised and captured by a brilliant night attack, made by 
 two hundred and eighty men of the Eighty-ninth New York 
 and Eighth Connecticut volunteers. The garrison of one 
 hundred and thirty-seven men, and five guns, were captured 
 in this gallant assault. Longstreet now began to strengthen 
 his defenses. Peck, with his small force, was compelled to 
 overtask his men, yet he held his powerful foe grimly at 
 bay, till the 3rd of May, when the events at Chancellorsville 
 caused Longstreet to raise his siege of twenty-four days. 
 The skill and courage of General Peck, in thus defeating 
 the plans of Longstreet, called forth the highest encomiums 
 of General Dix, who afterwards asked the Government to 
 make a separate department of this section, and place Peck 
 over it. 
 
 Longstreet was summoned, with his defeated army, to 
 Fredericksburg, for Lee, now he had measured strength 
 with Hooker, and tested satisfactorily his capacity, treated 
 him with the same contempt he showed to Pope, and resolved 
 to march some hundred and fifty miles around him, by the 
 Shenandoah Valley, to the Potomac, and, crossing over into 
 Maryland, complete the invasion which the year before had 
 been brought to such a disastrous termination by the battle 
 of Antietam. It was a bold move, but he seemed to think 
 that he could give his antagonist thirty thousand men more 
 than his own army, and yet beat him on any fair field. 
 
 The country was made to believe, that though Hooker 
 was defeated, he had inflicted such a heavy blow on the 
 enemy as to cripple him severely, and render him incapable 
 of any serious movement for a long time to come. But the 
 rumors that he was swinging his superb army around Wash 
 ington, towards Harper s Ferry, effectually dispelled this 
 illusion. His movements seemed wrapped in mystery, and 
 the country was amazed that no blow was struck against his 
 
194 ATTACK ON WINCHESTER. 
 
 extended line. Lee actually moved clear around our arnrj, 
 as coolly and leisurely as though no enemy confronted him. 
 By the last of the month, the people of Maryland were 
 alarmed at the tidings that his advance troops were in the 
 neighborhood of the Upper Potomac. On the 16th of June, 
 Governor Bradford issued a proclamation, calling on the 
 citizens to rally for their defense. 
 
 The first blow fell on General Milroy, at Winchester. He 
 had been in command at this place since the last of Decem 
 ber, the previous year, and had under him about seven 
 thousand men, which was considered an ample force to hold 
 the position against all the rebels known to be in the Valley. 
 But, on the llth of June, he received a telegram from 
 Colonel Don Piatt, Chief of Staff, at Harper s Ferry, ordering 
 him to fall back at once on the latter place. Milroy, instead 
 of obeying, telegraphed to General Schenck, at Baltimore, 
 his immediate Commander, expressing his regret at the 
 order, and declaring that he could hold the post against all 
 the force the "rebels could afford to bring against it." He 
 received permission, in reply, to remain till further orders. 
 But he soon ascertained, from his scouts, that Ewell and 
 Longstreet, with an overwhelming force, were advancing 
 swiftly against him, and he immediately called in all his out 
 posts. Instead, however, of retreating, he still waited for 
 further developments. On Sunday morning, four batteries 
 suddenly opened on him, and ten thousand men precipitated 
 themselves on the outwork commanding the approaches 
 from the west, and swept it like a storm. But by the guns 
 from the fort proper and the Baltimore battery, commanding 
 this work, the enemy were soon driven out. An artillery 
 fight then commenced, which lasted till eight o clock in the 
 evening. Milroy now called a council of war, in which it 
 was decided to abandon the artillery and wagons, and fall 
 back on Harper s Ferry. The troops marched out at one 
 
A DISASTROUS RETREAT. 195 
 
 o clock in the morning, and, proceeding by a ravine around 
 the town, struck the Martinsburg road, and pressed swiftly 
 forward. The column, however, soon found its way blocked 
 by the enemy, who had got in front. In attempting to cut 
 its way through, the army became divided, and hurried for 
 ward by different routes towards the Potomac. Milroy, with 
 one column, took the road to Harper s Ferry, and arrived 
 there safely the same afternoon. The other column, com 
 pletely disorganized, crossed at Hancock, and finally assembled 
 at Bloody Run, Pennsylvania, twenty-seven hundred strong. 
 At first, it was supposed that Milroy had lost a third of his 
 army, but, in the end, only a few hundred were found to be 
 missing. The loss in artillery and trains, however, was felt 
 to be a great disgrace, and Milroy was put under arrest, by 
 order of Halleck. That he committed a great error, in not 
 obeying at once the first order he received, is very clear. 
 But Schenck, who gave him permission to remain till further 
 orders, was still more culpable. His excuse was, that the 
 original order, which he received from Halleck, contained 
 no such peremptory command as Don Piatt had disp&tched. 
 This is true, and the guilt of this disgraceful surrender 
 must be divided between the General-in-Chief, Milroy and 
 Schenck. The only clear, prompt military mind engaged 
 in the whole transaction, was Don Piatt. 
 
 Lee at once crossed the Potomac, occupied Hagerstown, 
 and pushed on to Pennsylvania, causing the most intense 
 excitement at Harrisburg, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Wash 
 ington, and throughout the country. The President called 
 on the several States for their militia, and New York had 
 the honor of sending forward the first troops. Hooker fol 
 lowed Lee on his right flank, and, on the 27th of June, 
 occupied Frederick City/ Cavalry fights had occurred* all 
 along, at Beverly s Ford, Brandy Station, Berryville and 
 Aldie, some of them very severe ones, but they had no effect 
 
196 GENERAL MEADE. 
 
 on Lee s movements. He had occupied all the gaps of the 
 Blue Ridge, through which he watched the movements of 
 Hooker, ready at any moment to give him battle. 
 
 At Frederick, on the 28th, Hooker, by order of the War 
 Department, relinquished the command of the army, and 
 Major-General George G. Meade was put in his place. The 
 announcement of this change, on the eye of a great and 
 decisive battle, took the country by surprise, and awakened 
 the deepest anxiety in every breast. Meade was but little 
 known; besides, the time chosen to make this important 
 change, was deemed ill-judged. More than this, it was 
 currently reported that it was caused by a quarrel between 
 Hooker, and Halleck the General-in-Chief. This disquieted 
 the public mind, also, for everything seemed to go wrong 
 with the noble army of the Potomac, whoever commanded 
 it. Hence, when, soon after Meade had commenced his 
 march, it was reported that he had cut telegraphic commu 
 nication between himself and Washington, that he might 
 not be interfered with, the whole country applauded the act. 
 This fact is a bitter commentary on the management at 
 Washington at that time, and shows how low in the estima 
 tion of the people, the military capacity of the Secretary 
 of War and the General-in-Chief was held. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 JULY. 
 
 CAMPAIGN OF GETTYSBURG PURSUIT OF LEE FIRST FIGHT AT GETTYSBURG 
 
 DEATH OF REYNOLDS HOWARD ESTABLISHES HIMSELF ON CEMETERY HILL 
 
 HANCOCK SENT FORWARD TO SELECT A BATTLE-FIELD THE SELECTION OF 
 
 CEMETERY HILL RAPID CONCENTRATION OF THE ARMY THE PREPARATION 
 
 FIRST DAY S BATTLE GLOOMY PROSPECT FOR THE UNION ARMY SECOND 
 
 DAY S BATTLE THE GREAT, DECISIVE CHARGE GALLANTRY OF FARNSWORTH 
 
 RETREAT OF LEE BOTH ARMIES MARCH FOR THE POTOMAC SUCCESS OF 
 
 KILPATRICK SERVICE OF THE CAVALRY THE POTOMAC SWELLED BY THE 
 
 RAINS LEE HELD A WEEK ON THE NORTHERN BANK STRANGE INACTION 
 
 THE REBEL ARMY ESCAPES THE PURSUIT CLOSE OF THE CAMPAIGN. 
 
 WHEN Meade took command of the army, Lee was 
 well advanced into the interior, and he immediately 
 followed after him. The latter was very anxious respecting 
 his communications, and sent Ewell eastward from Chambers- 
 burg, to cross the South Mountain. Early s division moved 
 east as far as York, on the inhabitants of which he levied a 
 large sum of money, while the rest of the corps kept on to 
 Carlisle. Lee now determined to move upon Harrisburg, 
 but on the night of the 29th, hearing that Meade was well 
 across the Potomac, and had advanced as far as the South 
 Mountain, threatening his communications, he determined 
 to concentrate his army east of the mountains, and Long- 
 street and Hill were directed to march from Chambersburg 
 to Gettysburg, to which point, also, Ewell was ordered to 
 hasten from Carlisle. The reports of these movements 
 having reached Meade, he ordered Reynolds, with the First, 
 Eleventh and Third Corps, to move forward and occupy the 
 place. On the arrival of the latter, he found Buford s cav- 
 
198 DEATH OF REYNOLDS. 
 
 airy fighting fiercely with Hill, who was pouring his columns 
 through the mountains, on the Cash town road. Moving 
 promptly around the town, he deployed his advance division, 
 and marched steadily and sternly on the enemy, and at the 
 same time sent back a courier to Howard, with the Eleventh 
 Corps, to hurry forward. The conflict had hardly commenced, 
 when Reynolds fell, mortally wounded, and the command 
 of the First Corps devolved, on Doubleday. In the mean 
 time, at half-past eleven, Howard arrived on the field, and 
 took chief command. The enemy were now pushed vigor 
 ously, and Doubleday handsomely entrapped and took pris 
 oners an entire rebel brigade. The Eleventh Corps gallantly 
 redeemed its fair fame lost at Chancellorsville, and Hill was 
 getting severely punished, when, at two o clock, the banners 
 of Swell s Corps were seen advancing to the field, along the 
 York road, outflanking Howard s line of battle. The latter 
 had, as he advanced to the attack, left Steinwehr s division, 
 with its artillery, on Cemetery Ridge, in rear of the town, 
 and when he found it necessary to fall back, with great fore 
 thought he sent to the same commanding position some more 
 guns, and thus, almost by chance, and to protect himself 
 from defeat, fixed the grand central point of the mighty 
 battle that was to decide the campaign. 
 
 When the tidings of Reynolds fall reached Meade, he 
 immediately dispatched Hancock to represent him on the 
 field, saying, as he departed, " If you find a good place to 
 fight there, let me know." The latter arrived on the ground 
 only to find the army in confused retreat, and Howard rally 
 ing his forces behind Cemetery Hill. The enemy poured 
 tumultuously through Gettysburg in fierce pursuit, and cap 
 tured some twenty -five hundred of our troops. But as they 
 approached the ridge, they were met by a fierce artillery 
 fire, and, after struggling a while to make head against it, 
 fell back, and, night coming on, the conflict ended. Stuart, 
 
CEMETERY HILL. 199 
 
 with his cavalry, which had been following Hooker in Virginia, 
 when the latter crossed the Potomac, crossed further down, 
 so that he was at this time between Meade, and Washington 
 and Baltimore. His presence in this region created the 
 wildest consternation, and the streets of the former place 
 were barricaded, and the citizens summoned to defend the 
 place. This isolated position of his, however, was of incal 
 culable advantage to us, for had he been present with E well s 
 corps on this day, the battle of Gettysburg, in all human 
 probability, would never have been fought. 
 
 When Hancock reported the state of affairs to "Meade, and 
 the position which Howard had selected, he immediately 
 resolved to give battle at that point, and, having dispatched 
 swift riders to the different corps, with orders for them to 
 march with the utmost speed to Gettysburg, he himself set 
 out, and reached the place a little after midnight. Lee, all 
 this eventful night, was also concentrating his army, but, being 
 ignorant of Meade s movements, he advanced cautiously, 
 and all too slowly for himself. One west, and the other east 
 of the Cumberland Mountains which separated them, the 
 mighty columns of the two armies pressed forward, all that 
 warm July night, towards the great battle-field of the morrow. 
 But how unequal were the prospects ! Lee was hurrying on 
 to find a place on which to fight ; while Meade, not by his own 
 foresight, but by the foresight of Providence, had selected 
 his, which seemed by that same Providence made on purpose 
 for the rebel host to break itself to pieces against. The 
 defeat and retreat of the day had forced this position on us, 
 which, if held by the rebels instead of us, would in all 
 probability have reversed the fortunes of that great and 
 vital campaign. 
 
 43 
 
200 THE PREPARATION. 
 
 THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG. 
 
 The morning of the 2nd of July, lit up a strange and 
 thrilling scene around that hitherto quiet inland town, the 
 inhabitants of which, a few hours before, little thought that 
 one of the mightiest battles of the war, and of the age, would 
 be fought there. No teams of the farmer were moving that 
 day. The swath in the harvest-field lay where it had fallen 
 the evening before. The streets and the door-vards were 
 filled with pale and anxious men and women, and all was 
 expectation save that the unconscious herds grazed quietly 
 in the fields, and the summer birds sang merrily as ever 
 among the green tree-tops. But these things were unheeded 
 amid the mighty preparations on either side. The steady 
 tramp, tramp, of the arriving columns, with streaming ban 
 ners, and loud, defiant music the heavy rumbling of artillery 
 carriages, as they swept in long and ominous rows on the 
 field the pealing of bugles, the galloping of horsemen 
 hither and thither, and all the fearful preparations necessary 
 when two hundred thousand men are about to close in fierce 
 and mortal combat, absorbed all minor interests, and made 
 that July morning appear to those inhabitants solemn as the 
 closing day of time. 
 
 As soon as daylight had revealed the landscape distinctly, 
 Meade was in the saddle, and rode all over his position, to 
 take in its capabilities, and arrange the location of his troops. 
 His eye rested on the rebel army, marshaling in the distance, 
 and ever aid anon turned anxiously along the roads over 
 which his own brave troops were coming. They were 
 pressing forward at the top of their speed, brigade on 
 brigade and division on division, till, by seven o clock, the 
 Second and Fifth Corps, and the balance of the Third, had 
 reached the field, and at once marched to their appointed 
 
POSITION OF THE ARMY. 201 
 
 places. Far back, many a weary mile, panting over the 
 dusty roads, was the gallant Sixth, with the noble Sedgwick 
 at its head, straining every nerve to reach the point of dan 
 ger. It had started at nine o clock in the evening, and all 
 night long swept forward as though on a race for life. 
 Thirty-two miles lay between it and Gettysburg, to which 
 the urgent order of Meade was hurrying it. It accomplished 
 the Avhole distance by two o clock in the afternoon. 
 
 Our line of battle, when completed, extended for nearly 
 five miles along a row of heights which receded to the right 
 and left from Cemetery Hill, that stood boldly out in front, 
 overlooking Gettysburg, and field and woodland beyond. 
 The line was in shape something like a horse-shoe. The 
 right was strongly protected by Wolf s and Gulp s hills, very 
 steep and difficult of ascent, while Howard, with the Eleventh 
 Corps, held the center. At his right, across the road, on 
 another hill, was the First Corps. Next to him, completing 
 the right r was the Twelfth Corps, under Slocum. On the 
 left of Cemetery Hill, wa s Hancock s Second Corps ; next to 
 him, the Third Corps, under Sickles forming the left, until 
 the arrival, in the midst of the battle, of the Fifth Corps, under 
 Sykes. Thus stood the Union army on Thursday afternoon. 
 
 In Lee s army, Ewell occupied the left, Hill the center, 
 and Longstreet the right. He had not designed to give 
 battle unless attacked,, when he could choose his own posi 
 tion, but finding himself suddenly confronted by Meade, 
 and doubtless encouraged by the previous day s success, he 
 determined to try the issue in a bold assault on our strong 
 position. His army was concentrated first, and had he 
 moved earlier to the assault, before the arrival -of the Fifth 
 and Sixth Corps, he might, perhaps, have carried our posi 
 tion. But the "stars fought against him." 
 
 Thinking that if he could drive back our left, he could 
 more easily assail the higher position of Cemetery Hill, he 
 
202 OPENING OF THE BATTLE. 
 
 directed Longstreet, towards evening, to advance against it, 
 while Hill threatened the center. Sickles, ignoran t of the 
 intention of the enemy, advanced his line a half a mile or 
 more, when Meade rode up to post the Fifth Corps, which 
 was rapidly approaching the field. Not liking the move 
 ment of Sickles, he began to explain to him the reasons, 
 when the thunderbolt fell. The onset of Longstreet was 
 tremendous. First came the crash of artillery, swelling and 
 rolling along the whole line ; and then, with firm and confi 
 dent bearing, and deafening shouts, moved up the trained 
 and steady battalions. Sickles, fighting bravely, was soon 
 struck, and carried off the field ; and the whole left wing 
 was terribly shaken, and gradually fell back before the des 
 perate charges of the enemy. Its fate was trembling in the 
 balance, when the heads of Sykes tired columns were seen 
 approaching the field. At the welcome sight, a thrilling 
 cheer went up. They came not a moment too soon, and 
 the fight raged fiercer than ever. But heedless of the mur 
 derous discharges of artillery that swept their ranks, the 
 enemy still pressed the left so desperately that it was pushed 
 steadily back, and Meade had to order up the wearied Corps 
 of Sedgwick, and part of the First Corps, to save himself 
 from defeat. Met with these fresh forces, the rebels were 
 arrested, and though refusing to abandon the struggle, could 
 not break our line of battle. Hour after hour, the contest 
 raged with fearful slaughter on both sides, till darkness closed 
 over the field. The battle, however, was not over; for, 
 later in the evening, a sudden, unexpected assault was made 
 on our extreme right, and several rifle-pits were carried, 
 which the enemy succeeded in holding. 
 
 That night, the prospect was gloomy enough. We had 
 been pushed back on both wings, though all our reserves 
 had been brought into action. The dead were piled every 
 where the army was weary, and had not been able to hold 
 
FRIDAY S BATTLE. 203 
 
 its own. What would the next day bring forth ? was the 
 anxious question of many a brave heart. Meade, however, 
 resolved not to retreat, but to .fight it out right there, at all 
 hazards. No better position than that could be found, and 
 if it should be yielded, a swift and disastrous retreat would 
 be inevitable. True, he had been fearfully weakened ; so 
 had the enemy his army was worn out with its long 
 marches ; so was the enemy s and here he would stand, 
 and let God help the right. 
 
 THE BATTLE OF FRIDAY. 
 
 Early i*ext morning, the troops stood to their arms, while 
 crashing volleys, all along the line, foretold another day of 
 struggle and of slaughter. On our right, the battle raged 
 furiously from early dawn. Ewell was determined to ad 
 vance from the rifle-pits he had taken the night before, and 
 Slocum was equally resolute to recover them. Geary and 
 Birney here met the first assaults firmly. For six hours, the 
 struggle was desperate on both sides. The rebels seemed 
 to laugh at death, and again and again charged through the 
 smoke of artillery, with shouts that swelled above the uproar. 
 Wheaton s brigade, of the Sixth, was hurried up to the 
 rescue; and our line, which had been forced back for a 
 moment, again advanced. More troops were pushed for 
 ward artillery brought up on a gallop, and posted so as to 
 enfilade the hostile ranks; and though braver men never 
 stood upon a battle-field to die, than did EwelFs veterans 
 here, our right had become a wall of adamant, against which 
 the heaviest surges broke in vain. At eleven o clock, the 
 enemy gave it up, and his shattered, bleeding battalions fell 
 back in despair. Silence now rested on the field, and Lee, 
 baffled in his first design, pondered what next to attempt. 
 He had tried both wings, and failed to break them, and on 
 
204 AN AWFUL CANNONADE. 
 
 the right had lost all he had gained the night before ; while 
 a line of earth-works had sprung up, as if by magic, all along 
 our front. The weakest point still seemed to be the left, 
 and he determined on a last desperate effort to crush it. 
 For this purpose, he brought forward a hundred and twenty- 
 seven cannon, and concentrated their terrific fire on our 
 center and left. At two o clock, they opened simultaneously, 
 and there commenced one of the most awful cannonades 
 ever witnessed on this continent. On Cemetery Hill, the 
 storm fell with such fury that the earth was scattered in 
 showers over the graves, and the tomb-stones shivered to 
 atoms. Shot and shell fell and burst without a moment s 
 cessation, and with a power that seemed able to start the 
 very hills from their firm foundations. Our batteries re 
 sponded, and, for three hours, more than three hundred 
 cannon exploded on each other, with reverberations that 
 shook the field, and wrapped it in white, rolling clouds, 
 which tossed, and drifted, and settled between the contend 
 ing lines, till they were hid from view, and the heavens 
 were darkened as in an eclipse. 
 
 About four o clock, Lee ordered a grand charge. In 
 splendid order, and " with banners high advanced," and a 
 courage that seemed to foretell success, the columns came 
 steadily on. The chief attack was on the point occupied by 
 the Second Corps. Moving forward with grand, imposing 
 front and confident bearing, they entered the desolating 
 fire, without flinching. It was a magnificent charge. A 
 tempest of shot and shell, howling above their heads 
 from the artillery in rear, swept thejieights; and Han 
 cock was soon borne wounded from the fight. Gibson 
 succeeded to the command, and, walking along the lines, 
 told the men to reserve their fire. On came the rebels, 
 three lines deep, in perfect order, till within point-blank 
 range, when the order to fire was heard. A sudden sheet 
 
THE LAST EFFORT. 205 
 
 of flame, a crash, and the first line disappeared like a wreath 
 of mist. Undismayed, the second line swept on with a 
 cheer. Up to the rifle-pits, and over them, and up to the 
 guns, bayoneting the gunners beside tlieir pieces, they 
 pressed, waving their flags and shouting the victory. But 
 the moment of their triumph was also the moment of their 
 destruction. They had not seen that the guns on the west 
 ern slope of Cemetery Hill enfiladed this spot. These now 
 opened with grape and canister, on the uncovered ranks. 
 The effect was awful. Nothing human could stand -such a 
 murderous fire, and the line swayed back in terror, and then 
 crumbled into fragments. In an instant, our men were upon 
 them, driving them like a herd of sheep. Whole regiments 
 laid down their arms and surrendered. They seemed ap-- 
 palled overwhelmed, by the frightful butchery, from which 
 even flight could not save them. Other charges had been 
 made, along the line, and gallantly repulsed ; and our cav 
 alry, though not performing any grand movement, came in 
 for its share of the glory. Kilpatrick, having beaten Stuart 
 at Hanover, and repulsed the rebel cavalry at Hunterstown, 
 pressed forward to Gettysburg which he reached Friday 
 forenoon and made a sudden dash on Lee s right. The 
 enemy, finding his skirmishers driven in, took a strong posi 
 tion between two stone walls, surmounted by a rail fence. 
 Kilpatrick was anxious to carry this position, for if he could, 
 he would be able to reach Lee s ammunition train. General 
 Farnsworth, with two regiments and a portion of a third, 
 charged it with desperate fury. Leaping his horse over the 
 first fence, sword in hand, he was followed by his gallant 
 band. The space between the fences was covered by a fire 
 from both flanks and the front, yet they dashed through it 
 with a shout, and reached the second fence, where Farns- 
 worth fell, pierced with five balls. Still on, over the second 
 fence, the maddened riders went, u in a whirlpool of shot 
 
206 THE VICTORY. 
 
 and shell," and pressed on through a horrible fire. They 
 could not return, and so dashed on what was left of 
 them for two miles, to the rebel rear, when they dispersed, 
 and got back as they could. 
 
 But, the grand effort of the day having failed, the enemy 
 slowly retired. No pursuit was attempted. Meade had no 
 reserves, with which to follow up his advantage, and scarcely 
 any ammunition. We were near defeat. Could Lee have 
 commanded a few thousand fresh troops, even then, he might 
 have won the day. But we had stood the pounding longest, 
 and now a fresh corps on our part, could have driven him in 
 disorder and rout from the field. As it was, both armies 
 had done all they could. Lee had attacked, and failed ; and 
 now, with one-third of his forces killed, wounded or taken 
 prisoners, his campaign was over, and nothing remained for 
 him but to get back to Virginia with his shattered army. 
 
 On this very afternoon, what a different scene was taking 
 place on the banks of the Mississippi ! At the same hour 
 in which the heights around Gettysburg were rocking to 
 the thunder of cannon, and their slopes were reddening 
 with the blood of brave men, Grant and Pemberton were 
 quietly seated under a spreading oak, settling the terms of 
 the capitulation of Yicksburg. While one army was being 
 surrendered into our hands, another was retiring, beaten and 
 humbled, from before our brave troops. 
 
 It had been a battle of the Giants Antietam over again ; 
 and our loss amounted, in all, to twenty-three thousand and 
 one hundred and eighty-six men. The field presented a 
 sad wreck, and the slopes around Gettysburg were thickly 
 covered with the dead men of the same country and creed, 
 and who should never have been foes. 
 
 The news of this great victory flew over the wires on the 
 4th, our National Jubilee-day, spreading joy and exultation, 
 and swelling to a higher note the shouts of the people. To 
 
THE RETREAT. 207 
 
 the army, however, it did not bring equal exultation, for it 
 was not known whether another battle was yet to be fought. 
 Lee still confronted our lines, but no general movements 
 took place. But he had resolved on retreat, and by next 
 morning his columns were retracing their steps, over the 
 Cumberland Mountains, on their way back to the Potomac, 
 leaving thirteen thousand^ six hundred and twenty-one pris 
 oners in our hands so that if his loss in killed and wounded 
 was no greater than ours, his total loss would have been over 
 thirty thousand. But as the attacking party, unless successful, 
 always suffers the most, a large number must be added to this, 
 showing that Lee had good cause for retreating, without 
 assigning, as he did, the lack of ammunition, and the strength 
 of our position, as the reasons. 
 
 He saved his artillery, with the exception of two or three 
 guns, though he left twenty-five thousand small arms strewn 
 through the fields and woods. With his splendid army 
 thus shivered into fragments, he recrossed the Cumberland 
 Mountains, and pressed rapidly towards the Potomac. Sedg- 
 wick, with the Sixth Corps, was sent in pursuit, but on 
 reaching Fairfield Pass, he found it so strongly held that he 
 was compelled to abandon it, and then pressed towards 
 the Potomac on the east side of the Cumberland Mountains, 
 to intercept Lee s march. The cavalry, moving by different 
 routes, harassed him continually, capturing trains and pris 
 oners, and keeping the tired troops continually on the alert. 
 A portion of the force, under General French, destroyed 
 the enemy s pontoon train, at Falling Waters. Kilpatrick 
 clung to the rebel army with a tenacity that did not allow 
 it a moment s rest. At midnight, in a furious thunder 
 storm, he charged down the mountain, through the darkness, 
 with unparalleled boldness, and captured the entire train of 
 E well s division, eight miles long. At Emmettsburg, Hagers- 
 town, and other places, he smote the enemy with blow after 
 
208 A DANGEROUS POSITION. 
 
 blow. Buford, Gregg, Custis, and others, performed deeds 
 which, but for the greater movements that occupied public 
 attention, would have filled the land with shouts of admira 
 tion. In fact, the incessant, protracted labors of the cavalry, 
 during this campaign, rendered it useless for some time. 
 That it was so effective, was due to Hooker, who took great 
 pains in its organization, when he .assumed command of the 
 Army of the Potomac. 
 
 Before Lee reached the Potomac, a heavy rain storm set 
 in swelling the river so that all the fords were impassable. 
 This seemed a special interposition of Providence, and the 
 country looked to see Lee s army utterly destroyed or cap 
 tured, before he could get across. 
 
 Meade, having spent the 5th and 6th in burying his dead 
 and caring for the wounded, followed the enemy, by a flank 
 movement, to Middletown, Md., and thence passed through 
 South Mountain, and, on the 12th, was in front of Lee, 
 drawn up on the heights of Marsh Run, near Williamsport. 
 A whole week had thus been allowed to pass away, while Lee 
 looked with anxious gaze on the turbulent waters of the 
 Potomac, whose loud, monotonous roar seemed to scoff at 
 his helpless condition. No sooner did the floo d begin to 
 subside, than another storrn would set in, sending the water 
 in torrents down the slopes of the Blue Ridge and the Allegha- 
 nies, and keeping the stream full to the top of its banks. 
 It was a tantalizing condition for Lee, and seemed ominous 
 of evil, for such a sustained freshet in July was a thing 
 unheard of. It seemed sent on purpose to destroy him 
 just as the early and severe Winter, in Russia, came to over 
 throw the grand army of Napoleon. The whole country 
 was kept in a state of the highest excitement, for a majority 
 of the people believed that the escape of Lee, the year 
 before, near the same place, after the battle of Antietam, 
 was owing to the negligence or incapacity of McClellan. 
 
THE SANITARY COMMISSION. 209 
 
 Though Lee then got off, the first night after the battle, and 
 under cover of the darkness, his escape seemed unpardonable. 
 Hence, it was believed that if Meade should do his duty 
 swelled as his army was by reinforcements, and with ample 
 time before him Lee could not escape. But the latter was 
 unmolested, and, gathering timber from the neighboring 
 country, he constructed a bridge, and, the water at length 
 falling, he transferred his entire army, trains, and munitions 
 of war, safely into Virginia. The cavalry took some pris 
 oners at Falling Waters, and Gregg s cavalry attacked and 
 harassed the enemy at Chaiiestown and Shepherdstown ; yet 
 the latter escaped comparatively scathless to the chagrin, 
 disappointment, and ill-suppressed murmurings of the people. 
 
 Meade crossed the Potomac, and moved down the Loudon 
 Valley on Lee s flank, hoping to cross his line of march 
 somewhere ; but the latter leisurely pursued his way to the 
 Rapidan ; and the Army of the Potomac, at the close of 
 July, took up its position on the banks of the Rappahannock, 
 and the campaign was over. It had been a grand success 
 by our arms, marred only by the strange delays and inaction 
 that allowed Lee to rest a week on the northern bank of the 
 Potomac, and then get off .without a blow being dealt him. 
 
 It would not be just to pass by this great battle without 
 alluding to the efforts of the Sanitary Commission to relieve 
 and care for the wounded. Never before was such a prodi 
 gality of expenditure in the way of charity, witnessed on a 
 battle-field. Its agents, trains and supplies were everywhere. 
 Clothing, medicine^, food and luxuries were in profusion. 
 Hospitals sprung up like magic on all sides, till it had 
 nearly fifteen thousand wounded under its kind and generous 
 protection. Its blessed charities, distributed alike to friend 
 and foe, shed a benign radiance over the scene of slaughter, 
 and rescued it from half its horrors. 
 
CHAPTER XYI. 
 
 OPERATIONS IN CHARLESTON HARBOR GILLMORE EFFECTS A LODGMENT ON 
 
 MORRIS ISLAND ATTEMPT TO TAKE FORT WAGNER BY SURPRISE GRAND 
 
 ASSAULT ON THE FORT DEATH OF COLONEL SHAW CRUELTY TO THE 
 
 OFFICERS OF COLORED REGIMENTS MOBS IN NEW YORK CITY HOSTILITY 
 
 TO THE DRAFT ORBER OF THE PRESIDENT, RESPECTING THE TREATMENT 
 
 OF COLORED SOLDIERS HELD AS PRISONERS BY THE REBELS THE PRAC 
 TICAL SUPERIORITY OF THE PRESIDENT CAUSES OF PUBLIC AGITATION 
 
 CONGRESS, 
 
 WHILE events of such magnitude were occurring on 
 the banks of the Potomac, General Gillmore, who 
 had superseded Hunter in command at Charleston, surprised, 
 on the 10th of July, the rebels in the fortifications on the 
 south end of Morris Island, in Charleston Harbor, and cap 
 tured two hundred prisoners, eight single-gun batteries, and 
 three mortars. General Strong, the next day, in command of 
 the attacking party, advanced on Fort Wagner, and attempted 
 to carry it by assault, but failed. It was a spirited affair, and is 
 thus described by Captain Gray, the only one, of four captains, 
 that was saved: "General Strong, with two thousand men, 
 went up Folly River, in the Light-house Inlet, while over 
 forty guns and mortars, in battery, which had been put in 
 position on Folly Island, concealed by trees from the enemy s 
 knowledge, were ready to open their unexpected fire at the 
 right moment. The gunboats were to engage the rebel 
 batteries on the opposite side of the island. The boats 
 containing the troops arrived in good time, preceded by 
 eight boat-howitzers from the gunboats. The first boat 
 contained General Strong and Staff, and then came the bat 
 talion of the Seventh Connecticut volunteers. 
 
A GALLANT ATTEMPT. 211 
 
 " General Gillmore told Colonel Rodman that the General 
 concluded that our battalion was the most reliable, and could 
 be trusted, and was selected for that reason. The batteries 
 opened at daylight, and in a short time the enemy discovered 
 the boats, and threw shell and solid shot, trying to sink them. 
 The shot and shell struck and burst all around us, but only 
 one boat was struck, containing some of the Sixth Connecticut 
 volunteers, killing one and wounding two or three." But 
 the batteries of Gillmore are unmasked, and pour such a 
 terrible fire on the astonished garrison, that they fly from 
 their guns. u The General s boat had got two discharges of 
 grape. Just at this moment, Lieutenant-Colonel Rodman 
 said to the General, Let me land my command, and take 
 that battery. The General hesitated at first, and then said, 
 Go. Colonel Rodman stood up in the stern of his boat, 
 and gave the command, Seventh Connecticut, man your 
 oars and follow me ! At the order, we all headed for the 
 shore, and as the boats struck, every man sprang, as if by 
 instinct, and in an instant the men were in line. We ad 
 vanced rapidly to the first line of rifle-works ; our skirmishers 
 cleared it with a bound, and advanced to the second line. 
 Our main forces moved to the first line the foe retired, 
 firing." * * * "We bivouacked for the night under 
 easy range of Fort Wagner. At about half-past two in the 
 morning, General Strong came and called the Lieutenant- 
 Colonel out. He soon returned, and said, l Turn out ; we 
 have got a job on hand. The men were soon out, and into 
 line, but rather slow to time, as they were tired with the 
 work of the day before. 
 
 " The programme was, to try to take Fort Wagner by 
 assault. We were to take the lead, and to be supported by 
 the Seventy-sixth Pennsylvania and Ninth Maine. Silently 
 we moved up to the advance line of our pickets, our guns 
 loaded and aimed, and bayonets fixed. We were then de- 
 
212 A PAINFUL POSITION. 
 
 ployed into line of battle, (we had one hundred and ninety 
 officers and men, all told,) reached -and crossed the neck of 
 land that approached the fort our right resting on the beach. 
 Our orders were, to move steadily forward until the pickets 
 fired ; then follow them close, and rush for the works ; and 
 we were promised ready support. General Strong gave the 
 order, Aim low, and put your trust in God. Forward, the 
 Seventh ! And forward we went being not over five 
 hundred yards from the fort when we started. We had not 
 gone far, before the picket fired ; and then we took the double- 
 quick, and with a cheer rushed for the works. Before we 
 reached the outer works, we got a murderous fire from the 
 riflemen behind the works. A few fell a check in the line. 
 An encouraging word from the officers, and right gallantly 
 we reached the outer works; over them, with a will, we 
 went, down the opposite side across the moat there being 
 about one foot of water in it right up to the crest of the 
 parapet ; and there we lay, anxiously waiting for our support 
 to come up so far as to make it a sure thing for us to rise up 
 and go over with a bound our men, in the meantime, busying 
 themselves by picking off the sharp-shooters and gunners. 
 " As near as I can ascertain, we were in this position from 
 ten to twenty minutes, when both of the regiments that 
 were to support us broke and fled, leaving us to take care 
 of ourselves as best we might. 7 Of course, a retreat had 
 to be ordered, the line of which, for a thousand yards, was 
 swept by a murderous fire. Of the one hundred and ninety- 
 one men, only eighty-eight less than half ever got back 
 again. Of the mess of eleven officers of this gallant little 
 band, only four were present at the next meeting. Fort 
 Wagner was not taken, but a landing had been effected on 
 Morris Island, and now it was generally believed that the 
 fall of Charleston was a mere question of time. The rebels 
 were greatly alarmed. 
 
THE ASSAULT. 213 
 
 Seven days after, another more formidable assault was 
 made, with similar results. Previous to making it, Gillmore 
 had surrounded the fort with a semi-circle of batteries, about 
 eighteen hundred yards distant. The land attack was to be 
 assisted by the iron-clads, under Admiral Dahlgren. About 
 half-past twelve, everything being ready, the signal was 
 given, and, from land and water, a terrific bombardment 
 was opened on the fort, and kept up all the afternoon. An 
 incessant storm of shot and shell fell upon it, driving the 
 gunners to cover. By night no sound coming from the 
 fort, except as our own shells exploded in arid over it it 
 was supposed that the guns had been effectually silenced. 
 For eight hours, this tremendous fire had been kept up ; and 
 as the sun went down, sinking in a mass of black and angry 
 clouds, the artillery of heaven opened all along the western 
 horizon, and the sheeted lightning cast a ghastly, fitful light 
 over the barren waste of sand and the torn and ragged fort, 
 that to all human appearance was garrisoned only by dead 
 men. It was now resolved to carry it by assault, and Strong s 
 brigade moved off to the perilous undertaking. This was com 
 posed of the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts (colored) regiment 
 under Colonel Shaw, the Sixth Connecticut, Forty-eighth 
 New York, Third New Hampshire, Seventy-sixth Penn 
 sylvania and Ninth Maine. As soon as its dusky outline 
 could be seen moving over the sand, the guns from distant 
 Sumter and from Cummings Point, and last of all from the 
 hitherto silent Wagner, opened on it with terrible fury. 
 Nothing daunted, the brigade sprung forward on the double- 
 quick, and dashing swiftly through th<3 iron storm, made 
 straight for the fort, now lit up in the gloom by its own 
 incessant fire. A part reached the ditch, crossed it, and 
 mounted the parapet led by Colonel Shaw, who fell 
 there, waving on his men. But every foot of space was 
 swept by the fire of the garrison, and in an incredibly 
 
214 THE REPULSE. 
 
 short interval of time, Strong was wounded, and every 
 commanding officer wounded or killed. The brigade, shat 
 tered, and torn into fragments, rushed wildly back into the 
 darkness. The Second brigade, under Colonel Putnam, 
 now advanced, and charging through the same desolating 
 fire, mounted the ramparts, and, fighting hand to hand, 
 actually got into a portion of the fort. But here it halted, 
 shattered, exhausted, and powerless to advance another step. 
 Putnam had fallen ; and through the pitchy darkness, which 
 was incessantly seamed with fire from bursting shells and 
 exploding cannon, the broken, confused ranks melting away 
 as they fled staggered, bleeding, back to their intrench- 
 ments; and the deep, silent, black midnight closed over 
 the scene. The beach was strewed with the dead, whose 
 dirge the waves sung as they rolled gently on the shore, 
 while the wounded crawled away along the sand, sheltered 
 by the darkness. 
 
 The presence of the colored troops in this assault, exas 
 perated the garrison, and many acts of violence and cruelty 
 were committed against their wounded officers. Colonel 
 Shaw s body was pitched, with his negro soldiers, into the 
 sand ; and an exasperated feeling took possession of both 
 armies. General Strong was wounded, and died soon after 
 in New York. This repulse produced intense excitement 
 all over the North, and charges against this or that person 
 were made without much regard to justice. The colored 
 regiment led the assault, and some laid the blame of defeat 
 to this cause. It is very doubtful whether any other regi 
 ment would have succeeded better ; still, placing it in this 
 position was unwise, and cannot be justified on any military 
 principle. To employ comparatively raw regiments no 
 matter whether colored or white to do that which is re 
 garded the hardest, most trying work the oldest veteran regi 
 ments are ever put to, is to tempt fortune and deserve defeat. 
 
MOB VIOLENCE. 215 
 
 There was still another and sadder misfortune that marred 
 the record of this month, made glorious by the capture of 
 Vicksburg, the opening of the Mississippi, and the victory 
 at Gettysburg. Collisions between the citizens and soldiery 
 occurred in various parts of the North ; and in New York 
 city, they threatened, for a time, to bring back the bloody 
 scenes of Paris in the time of the Bourbons. The offices 
 of the Provost-Marshals were burned, telegraph wires cut, 
 railroad tracks torn up, the Mayor s house sacked, the 
 Colored Orphan Asylum burned, and many persons killed. 
 The cause of these outrages was still more alarming viz., the 
 enforcement of the draft. A revolution at the North was far 
 more to be dreaded than rebellion a,t the South, though 
 backed by foreign intervention. Luckily, the mob lacked 
 organization ; and though, for two days, New York city 
 seemed resting on the bosom of a volcano, whose earthquake 
 throes extended to Albany and Boston, and even to the far 
 West, the incipient outbreak was quelled, and the frightful 
 chasm, that seemed opening beneath our feet, was closed. 
 The ostensible ground of resistance, in New York, was the 
 inequality of the draft, growing out of an erroneous enroll 
 ment. But various causes produced it. In the first place, 
 such efforts had been made to get volunteers, that many people 
 had come to believe that drafting was wrong. In the second 
 place, the Government, ever since its organization, had 
 always obtained troops by fixing the proper quota to each 
 State, and then calling on its Governor to see that it 
 was furnished. This policy had been accepted as the only 
 constitutional way to raise an army. But the election of the 
 previous Fall had given New York a Democratic Governor, 
 and should the same state of political feeling exist in the 
 coming Autumn, many other States might have Democratic 
 Executives. The Administration feared that it might thus be 
 balked in its demand for troops, just as Madison was, in the 
 
 44 
 
216 DRAFTING PROPER. 
 
 war of 1812, by Governor Strong of Massachusetts ; and so, 
 by one bold stroke, this power was taken out of the hands 
 of the State Executives, and put in those of Provost-Marshals, 
 who were scattered over the various Congressional Districts. 
 This was a perilous innovation on a long-established rule. 
 That it did not work untold mischief, was not owing to the 
 wisdom of Congress, but to the patriotism of the people, 
 of all parties. God, in his good providence, saved us from 
 the evil effects of false impressions and bad legislation. 
 That there is anything wrong, unjust or improper in a draft, 
 is a miserable delusion. A Government that has no right to 
 enforce one, does not deserve to exist. If the Government 
 owes its subjects protection, the subjects owe it service, in 
 return, and to that extent necessary for its self-preservation. 
 
 To prevent further troubles, Major-General Dix was called 
 from the Department of Virginia to assume command of the 
 Department of the East. This was a wise appointment, for 
 men of all parties had the utmost confidence in his integrity, 
 capacity and patriotism. 
 
 At the close of the month, the President issued the follow 
 ing order, which is memorable as the commencement of a 
 series of measures which resulted in untold misery to our 
 brave soldiers held as prisoners by the South: 
 
 " EXECUTIVE MANSION, ) 
 WASHINGTON, July 30, 1863. \ 
 
 It is the duty of every Government to give protection to its citizens, 
 of whatever class, color, or condition, especially those who are duly 
 organized as soldiers in the public service. The law of nations, and the 
 usages and customs of war as carried on by civilized powers, permit no 
 distinction as to color in the treatment of prisoners of war as public ene 
 mies. To sell or enslave any captured person, on account of his color, and 
 for no offense against the laws of war, is a relapse into barbarism, and a 
 crime against the civilization of the age. 
 
 The Government of the United States will give the same protection to all 
 its soldiers ; and if the enemy shall sell or enslave any one because of his 
 color, the offense shall be punished by retaliation upon the enemy s prisoners 
 in our possession. 
 
 It is therefore ordered that for every soldier of the United States killed 
 in violation of the laws of war, a rebel soldier shall be executed ; and for 
 
EXCHANGE OF PRISONERS. 217 
 
 every one enslaved by the enemy or sold into slavery, a rebel soldier shall be 
 placed at hard labor on the public works, and continued at such labor until 
 the other shall be released and receive the treatment due to a prisoner of 
 war. 
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN." 
 
 The employment of blacks as soldiers, many of whom 
 were escaped slaves, exasperated the South, and the Con 
 federate Government refused to regard them as prisoners 
 of war. This, of course, necessitated action on the part of 
 our Government ; for there can be no plainer duty than 
 that of every Government to protect its soldiers. This clear, 
 explicit, just order, placed the matter on a right foundation ; 
 and had the Secretary* of War been content to adopt it as 
 the rule of his action, the colored soldiers would have been 
 protected, and tens of thousands of brave men spared a 
 horrible death. But, wishing to improve on it by a theory 
 of his own, he broke up the cartel agreed on which was 
 working humanely and filled Southern prisons with inno 
 cent victims. After a year of horrors, he was compelled to 
 come back to the principle of this simple order, but all too late 
 for an army of sufferers. This is but one of numerous instances 
 which show how vastly superior the President with his up 
 right nature, freedom from passion, strong common sense, and 
 clear appreciation of right was, to the acutest lawyers and 
 most accomplished diplomatists of the land. His practical 
 mind seemed to seize by intuition the right course ; and had 
 he from the- outset been followed, instead of pushed, we 
 should have been saved many blunders and misfortunes. 
 
 Although this order disappeared from sight, in the long, 
 learned discussion that followed, on the question of exchange, 
 it reappeared at last, to vindicate the sagacity of its author. 
 
 The discussion of the Confiscation Act, and other legis 
 lative enactments having reference to the status of the slave 
 and freedman, and the mode of carrying on the war, kept 
 the North, during the Summer, in a state of turmoil, and 
 
218 STATE OF PUBLIC FEELING. 
 
 furnished the Democratic party with the materials with which 
 to organize an opposition, that they hoped might, in the 
 coming year, overthrow the Administration, and institute a 
 new order of things. McClellan whose removal from the 
 army was believed to be owing to his hostility to this kind 
 of legislation, and to the President s Proclamation of Eman 
 cipation was regarded as the man on whom these opposi 
 tion elements would rally in the approaching struggle. 
 
 The heavy tax on incomes, necessary to meet the frightful 
 expenses of the Government swelled by the direct tax on 
 property, to raise the enormous local bounties for volun 
 teers also caused great excitement. The public debt, in 
 June, amounted, in round numbers, to ten hundred and 
 ninety-eight millions of dollars which practically, so far as 
 the burden on the people was concerned, was swelled to an 
 indefinite amount by local and State taxation. What the 
 pressure of this mighty indebtedness would be, before the 
 war could close, at the present rate of progress, men trem 
 bled to contemplate. The inability of Congress to grapple 
 with this subject the madness with which it persisted in 
 spending the time, so pregnant with the fate of the country, 
 in empty harangues or fierce partisan warfare disgusted 
 and discouraged all thoughtful men of both parties. It 
 resolved that the war should go on, and yet seemed equally 
 resolved that politics should keep pace with it in fact, con 
 trol it. All things considered, it was the darkest Summer 
 of the war, notwithstanding the victories of Yicksburg and 
 Gettysburg. 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 CAVALRY ACTION OF GREGG FOSTER S EXPEDITION UP THE JAMES RIVER 
 
 FIGHT BETWEEN BUFORD AND STUART AVERILL ? S OPERATIONS IN VIRGINIA 
 
 GILLMORE S SIEGE OF WAGNER AND SUMTER HERCULEAN LABOR "THE 
 SWAMP ANGEL" BOMBARDMENT OF SUMTER OVER THE TOP OF WAGNER 
 
 GREEK FIRE THROWN INTO CHARLESTON REMONSTRANCE OF BEAUREGARD 
 
 ACTION OF THE FLEET DEATH OF RODGERS FRENCH OPINION OF THE 
 
 SIEGE STEADY APPROACHES TOWARDS WAGNER ITS EVACUATION EVACU 
 ATION OF FORT GREGG MORRIS ISLAND OURS BOMBARDMENT OF SUMTER 
 
 REFUSAL OF DAHLGREN TO ATTEMPT TO PASS IT VINDICATION OF DU PONT 
 
 DESOLATION OF CHARLESTON RETRIBUTION. 
 
 rpHOUGH the Summer campaign of the Army of the 
 JL Potomac was ended, minor engagements, in Virginia, 
 occasionally took place, and the guerrilla General Mosby 
 caused a great deal of trouble. His conduct called forth a 
 stringent order from Halleck. 
 
 In August, General Foster made an expedition up the 
 James River, with four gunboats, and when about seven 
 miles from Fort Darling, encountered a rebel battery, and 
 at the same time, the Commodore Barney ran upon a torpedo, 
 which exploded under her bows, lifting them ten feet out 
 of water, and washing overboard fifteen of her crew. Foster 
 was aboard at the time, but escaped injury. 
 
 On the Rappahannock, Buford had a sharp fight with 
 Stuart s cavalry, reinforced by infantry, and, after an obsti 
 nate fight, drove him back, though with a loss to himself 
 of a hundred and forty men, sixteen of whom were killed. 
 
 In the latter part of the month, General Averill returned 
 from an expedition through several counties in the interior 
 of Virginia, in which he burned some saltpetre works, and 
 
220 FORT SUMTER. 
 
 destroyed a quantity of arms and stores. He fought a 
 superior force of the enemy, at White Sulphur Springs, and 
 
 then retreated, with a loss of about a hundred men. 
 
 
 
 In the meantime, General Gillmore had pressed steadily 
 towards Fort Sumter. After the failure of the assault on Fort 
 Wagner, he sat down before it, in regular siege ; but, while 
 making his slow approaches towards it, he carried out the 
 extraordinary plan of bombarding Fort Sumter over its top. 
 There was between Morris and James Islands a marsh, cov 
 ered with sea- weed, flags and rushes, which Beauregard 
 had regarded as wholly untenable as it was a mere bed of 
 soft mud, in which a man would go down over his head 
 and so left it out, in completing the fortifications for the 
 defense of Charleston. Yet Gillmore resolved to drive 
 piles into this mortar-bed,- and mount on them six two- 
 hundred-pound Parrott guns, and one monster three-hundred- 
 pounder. The timber for these piles had to be brought 
 from Folly Island, a distance of ten miles, in rafts. To 
 accomplish all this, without the enemy s knowledge, the 
 work had all to be done in the night-time. The rafts were 
 floated to their places, through the darkness, and before 
 daylight covered with grass and sea-weed, that entirely dis- 
 guised them, so that the enemy was kept in total ignorance 
 of the* work being done right under their eyes. In the 
 night-time, also, the piles were driven into the mud. For 
 two weeks, this strange work went on, without arousing the 
 suspicion of the enemy. Ten thousand bags filled with 
 sand, were carried two miles by the soldiers, to .protect 
 the guns. The monster gun broke down several trucks, 
 before it was got into position, but by incredible labor it 
 was finally mounted, and the u Swamp Angel," as it was 
 called, was ready to open its fire. By the 16th of August, 
 thirty-seven guns were in position on the artificial foundation 
 laid in this mud-hole, within two miles and a half of Suniter, 
 
A FIERCE BOMBARDMENT. 221 
 
 and but little over four from the city of Charleston. One 
 can imagine the consternation of the enemy when these 
 tremendous batteries were unmasked. It was a new crea 
 tion a volcanic island risen out of the sea. 
 
 On the 17th, they opened their fire on Sumter. In the 
 meantime, Dahlgren, with the Ironsides and Monitor fleet, 
 moved up opposite Fort Wagner, and engaged it, to .keep 
 it from concentrating its fire on this new position and dis 
 tracting the gunners in their bombardment of Sumter. The 
 fleet behaved gallantly ; but almost at the outset, Captain 
 George W. Rodgers, of the Catskill, who had boldly carried 
 his vessel to within three hundred yards of Wagner, was 
 killed, and the vessel, with a flag of distress flying, retired 
 out of the fight. All day long, the terrific bombardment 
 of Sumter was maintained. An immense wall of sand-bags 
 had been built up on the outside and inside of the fort, 
 
 ..fifteen feet thick making the whole mass thirty-five feet 
 thick. The sand-bags had first to be beaten down, before 
 the wall itself could be reached ; yet, so fierce was the fire, 
 and so heavy tfre metal thrown, that on the secpnd day the 
 naked walls were exposed, and the work of demolition went 
 on with greater rapidity. The barbette guns were soon 
 dismounted, some of them toppling over into the sea. Day 
 after day, the bombardment was kept up, till, at the end 
 of the seventh day, Sumter was a heap of ruins. The 
 rubbish, however, falling over some of the casemates, made 
 them more invulnerable than ever, and a small garrison 
 there still kept the rebel flag flying. 
 
 Gillmore now sent a flag of truce to Beauregard, demand 
 ing the surrender of Charleston, and threatening, in case 
 of refusal, to shell the city. The demand and threat both 
 
 seemed so preposterous, that Beauregard dismissed the officer 
 without a reply. Gillmore then turned the u Swamp Angel" 
 on the city, and shells were thrown into its very heart. The 
 
222 A FRENCH VIEW. 
 
 old "Greek fire" had been reproduced, and shells loaded 
 with it were expected to burn the town. It, however, proved 
 a failure. Still, the dropping of shells into the place aroused 
 the indignation of Beauregard, who remonstrated against it 
 as barbarous saying that it was absurd to suppose that 
 Charleston could be taken until the forts commanding the 
 entrance to the harbor were in our possession. 
 
 The engineering skill displayed by Gillmore, and the 
 tremendous range of his guns, astonished the civilized world. 
 The idea of bombarding a city almost as far as it could be 
 seen, was a novel one in carrying out siege operations. The 
 French Journal des Sciences Militaire had a long article on 
 it, which the United States Service Magazine published. It 
 commences thus: u Prodigies of talent, audacity, intrepidity 
 and perseverance are exhibited in the attack, as in the defense 
 of this city, which will assign to the siege of Charleston an 
 exceptional place in military annals. It is a duel to the 
 death, 7 in which science calls to its aid, and puts in operation, 
 all the modern discoveries to develop upon a gigantic scale 
 the means of destruction and extermination^ One is struck 
 with amazement in reading, in the journals and letters from 
 America, the details of this contest, in which the two adver 
 saries ought to feel a mutual astonishment, as they rightfully 
 astonish the entire world, by their daily proofs of super 
 human heroism." * * * " Such a position," the writer adds, 
 after describing Charleston Harbor, " defended by an engi 
 neer of transcendent merit by soldiers who fear neither 
 fatigue, suffering nor death would seem to have been 
 impregnable ; and yet the besiegers, conducting their 
 enterprise with incredible energy, make, day by day, slow 
 progress, but with almost certain chances of ultimate success. 
 It is the land artillery which plays the grand part in these - 
 brilliant and terrible operations. But what artillery, and 
 what projectiles! solid shot and shells, of two and three 
 
SIEGE OF WAGNER. 223 
 
 hundred pounds, describing trpjectories of six and eight thou 
 sand metres, striking the mark with such precision and efficacy 
 that they penetrate the earth-work to the distance of ten 
 metres, and break in fragments works of brick and stone 
 six and,, ten metres in thickness. It is a General, unknown 
 one year ago, who directs this combat of artillery, which 
 has no precedent hitherto in the history of sieges. Mahomet 
 II, it is true, employed cannon of a monstrous caliber, which 
 terrified the defenders of Byzantium, and finished the 
 destruction of the Greek Empire ; but the Balistique of 
 the Mohammedans produced only a soothing effect, in com 
 parison with that of the Americans." He then goes on to 
 describe the bombardment and assault of Fort Wagner. 
 
 The Journal containing this chapter, which thus places 
 the siege of Charleston above all other siege operations in 
 the history of the world, is the highest military authority 
 throughout Europe. 
 
 By thus occupying a distant stand-point, and viewing 
 Gillmore s engineering skill through the military mind of the 
 Old World, we get some correct idea of the stupendous 
 nature of the work done before Charleston. The want of 
 success depreciated it in the popular mind, but it stands 
 alone and without a parallel in military annals. 
 
 On the 1st of September, another engagement took place 
 between our iron-clads and the forts, but, like the former, 
 was barren of results. In it, Fleet Captain Oscar C. Badger 
 the successor of Rodgers was wounded by a shell. 
 
 In the meantime, Gillmore pressed steadily towards Fort 
 Wagner. If that could be taken, Fort Gregg, on the point 
 opposite Sumter, must also fall, and then he could plant his 
 batteries in point-blank range of the hated structure. He, 
 however, had no intention of trying another assault. The 
 spade and shovel, that had risen from their formerly 
 despised position, were to do the work. " Day after day, 
 
224 MORRIS ISLAND OURS. 
 
 our patient boys creep up, on hands and knees, to their 
 dangerous toil, with shovel and gun rolling slowly in 
 advance for protection, the sap roller, a round wicker- 
 work filled with sticks. Gradually approaching parallels 
 are thrown up, and each succeeding day brings our engineers 
 nearer to the fort. They are digging their way, in spite of 
 shot and shell, into Wagner. Although the distance from 
 the first parallel to Fort Wagner is but six hundred yards, 
 yet if the whole number dug were laid out in a straight 
 line, they would reach ten miles." Through the long, hot 
 Summer months, the troops worked, under the broiling 
 sun, with unflagging courage, until the parallels were at last 
 pushed so near to the fort, that, with a single bound, the 
 assailants could be inside the ramparts. The preparations 
 were all made for a final assault, when the enemy suddenly 
 evacuated it, and streamed forward towards Fort Gregg. Our 
 exultant troops followed after, and this also was evacuated, 
 and we had Morris Island, for which we had struggled so 
 long. Twenty-one guns were left in our possession. We 
 were now in fair range of Fort Sumter, and its speedy fall 
 was eagerly looked for. Fort Moultrie was also bombarded, 
 and though Sumter soon became a still greater heap of ruins, 
 and Gillmore pushed his operations with a skill and energy 
 that deserved success, it soon became apparent that we were 
 no nearer Charleston than ever. 
 
 Here, it is worthy of notice, that though both Forts 
 Wagner and Gregg were reduced, and Sumter so demolished 
 as to be able to mount but a few guns, Dahlgren never 
 attempted to carry the iron-clads past it up to Charleston. 
 The brave Du Pont was removed because, with all these 
 forts in the enemy s possession, and thoroughly mounted 
 with the most formidable cannon, he failed to make a second 
 attempt to pass or destroy it ; and yet Dahlgren, with but 
 half the fire to encounter, did not even risk a trial. This 
 
CHARLESTON DESOLATE. 225 
 
 single fact is all the testimony any just mind needs, to prove 
 whose views were correct. Dahlgren saw plainly that Du 
 Pont was right, and was too good an officer to risk his 
 vessels where certain defeat awaited him. 
 
 Though Charleston was not taken, it was almost as deso 
 late as Edoni. A Southern. paper thus described its condi 
 tion : " Here and there, a pedestrian moves hurriedly along, 
 and the rattle of a cart or a dray is alone heard for a whole 
 square. The blinds are closed ; vases of rare exotics droop 
 and wither on the lonely window-sill, because there is no 
 tender hand to twine or nourish them. The walk glistens 
 with fragments of glass, rattled thither by the concussion 
 of exploding shells ; here, a cornice is knocked oft 1 ; there, 
 is a small round hole through the side of a building ; beyond, 
 a house in ruins, and, at remote intervals, the earth is torn 
 where a shell exploded, and looks like the work of a giant 
 in search of some hidden treasure ; and little tufts of bright 
 green grass are springing up along the pave, once vocal 
 with the myriad tongues of busy trade." 
 
 What a picture this is, of the proud " cradle of secession !" 
 Its destruction was never very important, in a military 
 view; but, as the hot-bed of treason the spot where the 
 national flag was first fired upon, and compelled to come 
 down at the bidding of traitors its overthrow was an object 
 of intense desire to the North ; and yet, what fate could be 
 worse than the one she actually suffered ! Behold Charles 
 ton, rocking to the shouts of the excited multitude, and 
 echoing to the joyful peal of bells, because the brave 
 Anderson is compelled to haul down his flag ! And behold 
 that same city now, as drawn by the pen of one of her own 
 people desolate, dreary and mournful ! and who will say 
 that she has not drank to the dregs the fearful cup she so 
 madly mixed for herself? 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 JULY AND AUGUST. 
 
 EVENTS AT THE WEST DURING THE SUMMER GRANT AT VICKSBURG RAID 
 
 OF PHILLIPS ROSECRANS AT MURFREESBORO ADVANCE ON CHATTA 
 NOOGA MORGAN S RAID THROUGH OHIO THE PURSUIT ATTEMPTS TO 
 
 CROSS INTO VIRGINIA BATTLE OF BUFFINGTON s ISLAND ROUT OF THE 
 
 BAND CURIOUS ASPECT OF THE BATTLE-FIELD QUANTRELL IN MISSOURI 
 
 RAID INTO KANSAS MASSACRE AT LAWRENCE THE PURSUIT THE FLIGHT 
 
 HIS ESCAPE. 
 
 B 
 
 UT while comparative quiet reigned around the Army 
 of the Potomac, after the battle of Gettysburg, and 
 but minor expeditions broke the monotony along the sea 
 board, and the tedious bombardment of Fort Sumter went 
 on, events of great interest were transpiring in the West, 
 some of which were to give direction to all future operations 
 there, and eventually pierce the very heart of the Con 
 federacy. After Grant had captureci Yicksburg, and then 
 turned and driven Johnston out of Jackson, he took up 
 his head-quarters at the former place, and devoted himself 
 to the business of his Department, while the army lay quiet 
 in order to recover its strength for future operations. A 
 successful raid was made into Central Mississippi, under the 
 command of Lieutenant-Colonel Phillips, in which sixty-five 
 locomotives and five hundred cars were destroyed, and the 
 communications of the rebels sadly broken up. Besides 
 this, little was done by Grant s army. 
 
 But, up at Murfreesboro , the Army of the Cumberland 
 was in motion. Much complaint had been made against 
 Rosecrans, its Commander, because he lay inactive while 
 such important events were taking place around Vicksburg ; 
 
MORGAN S RAID. 227 
 
 but he determined, when he advanced, to take no backward 
 step. Bragg was in his front, with a powerful army, and 
 Chattanooga was a strongly fortified place, and he knew that 
 no easy task was before him. 
 
 When his preparations were complete, he put his army in 
 motion, and, crossing the Cumberland Mountains by four 
 different routes, pressed forward towards Chattanooga. But 
 while he was thus pushing his victorious columns south, two 
 events occurred, far back of him, which, though having no 
 real effect on his campaign, or the war, produced the most 
 intense excitement throughout the North. These were, 
 Morgan s raid through Ohio, and the massacre at Lawrence. 
 
 In the latter part of June, Morgan, with a brigade, lay 
 along the banks of the Cumberland River, evidently medi 
 tating some serious movement. A Union force was dis 
 patched to the locality to watch him, and had several 
 skirmishes with portions of his troops. But, on the 3d of July, 
 it was found that he had crossed the river, the day before, at 
 Burkesville. Captain Carter had a brush with his advance, in 
 which he was severely wounded, and his command com 
 pelled to fall back. Reinforcements were immediately sent 
 him, which arrived just before midnight in the vicinity of 
 Columbia, then in possession of the enemy. An attack was 
 at once ordered, but Morgan s force being much stronger 
 than it had been reported, the Union troops were compelled 
 to retreat to Jamestown, from which point Colonel Wolford 
 dispatched a courier to Somerset, to General Carter com 
 manding the United States troops there, stating that Morgan 
 had crossed the Cumberland, and advanced north to Colum 
 bia. A proper force was immediately sent in pursuit, and 
 all through the moon-lit night of the 4th of July, the excited 
 pursuers pressed gaily forward, and reached the north bank 
 of Green River about daylight Sunday morning. Taking a 
 hurried breakfast, they pushed on all day, and that evening, 
 
228 MORGAN CROSSES THE OHIO. 
 
 just before dusk, were joined by the Secotid Tennessee 
 mounted infantry. 
 
 Morgan, in the meantime, in his bold march, had captured 
 Lebanon, though not until after a sharp fight, in which his 
 brother Tom was killed. In revenge for his death, some 
 twenty houses were burned, and the post office robbed. 
 The Union troops captured here numbering in all about 
 three hundred Morgan compelled to run on foot, in front of 
 his mounted men, for twelve miles, to Springfield. A ser 
 geant giving out, he was knocked on the head with the 
 butt end of a musket, and his brains trampled out by the 
 passing horsemen. At Springfield, the prisoners were 
 robbed, and then paroled. 
 
 On the night of the 6th, the pursuing force was joined, 
 at Bargetown, by General Hobson, with Shackleford s 
 brigade, composed of the Third, Eighth, Ninth and Twelfth 
 Kentucky cavalry, with two pieces of artillery. Hobson at 
 once assumed command, and, pushing on to Shepherdsville, 
 found that Morgan at that point had captured the mail train 
 on the Louisville and Nashville railroad, and about twenty 
 soldiers who were passengers in the cars. The horses here 
 giving out, Hobson halted for a day, but at daylight, on the 
 morning of the 8th, was again in motion, and followed the 
 track of the rebel chieftain for thirty miles, by the letters 
 which his band had taken from the mail-bags, and, after 
 reading, had torn and scattered along the road. Mor 
 gan, in the meantime, had entered Elizabethtown, and, 
 helping himself to what he wanted, struck for Branden 
 burg, and, by a sudden, skillful movement, captured the 
 steamboats Alice Dean and J. T. McCoombs, by which he 
 took his whole force across the Ohio River. Among 
 all the bold and extraordinary movements of the war, 
 none had been bolder or half so desperate as this. 
 Right through the thickly settled State of Ohio, this fearless 
 
PROGRESS OF THE RAID. 229 
 
 rider proposed to take his lawless band, and, after working 
 incalculable evil, recross the Ohio, and rejoin the rebel army 
 in Virginia or south of the Tennessee River. 
 
 As Hobson approached the Ohio, he saw the Alice Dean, 
 wrapped in flame and smoke, burning on the opposite shore, 
 and the rear guard of Morgan s force rapidly disappearing 
 in the distance. 
 
 At Brandenburg, the Leavenworth home-guards showed 
 fight, but were overpowered, and forty-five taken prisoners. 
 The stores and houses were plundered and the raiders cum 
 bered themselves with useless goods, which they soon had 
 to throw away. 
 
 Morgan was now in the Free States, and his march hence 
 forward assumed an importance which at once attracted the 
 attention of the whole country. 
 
 Hobson was across the river on the morning of the 10th, 
 and at once commenced a sharp pursuit. Morgan s path 
 now began to be beset with ever-increasing difficulties; for 
 a powerful force was pressing on his rear, while in front the 
 country was rushing to arms. 
 
 At Corydon, the home-guards made a short stand, losing 
 some fifteen in killed and wounded, and two hundred pris 
 oners, which Morgan paroled. 
 
 Stealing all the horses he could find, and levying taxes 
 where he did not destroy, he pushed on to Blue River, and, 
 burning the bridge behind him, swept through Paris. 
 Reaching Yernon, where a force of twelve hundred militia 
 was assembled, he demanded the surrender of the place. 
 " Come and take it," was Colonel Lowe s response. Morgan 
 surrounded the town, but, contenting himself with burning 
 some bridges, he moved around it to Versailles, where he 
 robbed the County Treasurer of all his money, about five 
 thousand dollars saying, in grim jocoseness, that he was 
 sorry the County was so very poor. Sacking the town, he 
 
230 WHOLESALE PLUNDER. 
 
 sent out a detachment, which burned a bridge and captured 
 a telegraph operator, while with the main column he kept 
 on to Pierceville, burning all the bridges on the road. Near 
 Wiseburgh, he had a skirmish with the home-guards, and at 
 New-UIsas, a German settlement, his soldiers captured a 
 wagon-load of lager beer, which they carried along to drink 
 by the way. The same night in which the pursuing force 
 encamped at Harrison, with their horses thoroughly jaded 
 out, Morgan s bugles were sounding north of Cincinnati. 
 On his way, he at Miamiville turned over a railroad train, 
 and burned fifty Government wagons. On the afternoon 
 of the 15th, he entered Winchester, and robbed the mail 
 and stole thirty-five thousand dollars worth of property and 
 fifty horses, while the soldiers tore up all the flags they could 
 find, and tied the fragments to the tails of mules, which they 
 drove, with shouts and laughter, through the streets. 
 
 Morgan now struck south-east, for the purpose of reaching 
 the Ohio, and crossing into Virginia. The country was 
 thoroughly aroused, and troops were concentrating from 
 various quarters to head him off and intercept his retreat. 
 Burning the bridge at Jacktown, he kept on to Wheat Ridge, 
 where his force separated a part going through Mount 
 Olive. Six miles from Jackson, the citizens blockaded the 
 road, which detained him two hours. Here and there 
 shooting down a man who showed hostile intentions, and 
 pillaging and destroying like a band of savages, the force 
 pressed forward towards the Ohio. Arriving at Jackson, 
 Morgan sent part of his forces up to Berlin, where three 
 thousand militia were posted, who were quickly scattered 
 by a single shell thrown into their midst. At the little town 
 of Linesville, the home-guards tore up a bridge and block 
 aded the road, by which Morgan was detained another two 
 hours a great gain to the pursuers, who were straining 
 every nerve to overtake him. 
 
MORGAN AT BAY. 231 
 
 In the meantime, General Judah, with a strong force, was 
 moving up the Ohio from Portsmouth, a town a hundred 
 and fifteen miles above Cincinnati, while gunboats patrolled 
 the stream. It was evident that Morgan would strike for 
 the first fordable place on the river, and try to cross into 
 Virginia, as he was becoming sorely pressed for, although 
 he could supply fresh horses on the way, his men were 
 getting worn out by their long and rapid march. 
 
 Buffington Island lies about twenty miles below Blenner- 
 hassett Island ; between them are a great many shoals, that 
 make crossing comparatively easy. For this point, Morgan 
 now struck, hoping to get across before his pursuers were 
 up, or he was headed off by the force pressing up the river. 
 On Friday night, the 17th, he was at Pomeroy, thirty-five 
 miles below the island, and the next night encamped in 
 some corn-fields nearly opposite it. At this point, a road, 
 coming over a range of hills two miles distant, strikes the 
 river road nearly at right angles. Three hundred yards 
 above the former road, was a private one, leading into the 
 corn-fields where Morgan lay. Judah came down the pike, 
 and, there being a dense fog, almost run upon the rebels 
 before he was aware of their position. Morgan immediately 
 fired on the advance column, throwing it into confusion, and 
 was about to follow up his success with a charge, when the 
 gunboat Moose, in the river, opened on him, and at the 
 same time Hobson s force came up in the rear. Our artillery 
 was soon got in position, and the battle commenced. Find 
 ing himself between three fires, Morgan moved up-stream, 
 to escape the shells of the gunboat ; but she advanced, also 
 clinging to him with a tenacity that soon convinced him that 
 in reaching the river, instead of finding safety he had actually 
 run into the lion s mouth. Seeing that it was hopeless to 
 make a stand here, he divided his force into two columns, 
 and a rush was made by one for the river, at a point about 
 
 45 
 
232 A CURIOUS BATTLE-FIELD. 
 
 a mile and a half above the island. But the gunboat, 
 coming up, sent shot and shell into the mass floundering in 
 the water killing some, and turning others back, so that 
 only about twenty succeeded in getting over. 
 
 In the meantime, Basil Duke, back from the shore, was 
 so hard pressed that the men broke in despair some sur 
 rendering themselves prisoners among them Duke him 
 self and others taking refuge in flight. A running fight 
 now ensued; the main body of the enemy, aiming for a 
 point up the river, opposite Belleville, Virginia, on reaching 
 it, plunged into the water, and began to push for the 
 other shore. But the Moose soon came looming through 
 the fog, and, pouring her shrapnel into the advance 
 party, killed some, and stopped the remainder from 
 attempting to cross. About twenty more, however, got 
 over here. The remaining rebels now pushed on up the 
 river fourteen miles further, to Hawkinsport, and again 
 made an effort to cross; but the omnipresent gunboat was 
 there, and they had to keep on in their headlong flight. 
 
 Scattering in detached bodies, the rebels now wandered 
 hither and thither, striving in vain to break through the 
 toils with which they were surrounded. Some two hundred 
 succeeded in crossing at Readsville, while Morgan, with one 
 portion, struck into Columbiana County, where his force 
 surrendered to Colonel Shackleford. 
 
 Over two thousand were captured or killed, and all their 
 guns, accouterments and plunder seized. 
 
 The battle-field, and line of retreat, presented one of the 
 most curious spectacles ever seen in war. The ground was 
 strewed, not only with guns, cartridge-boxes, &c., but with 
 all sorts of hardware and dry-goods, and household articles, 
 such as forks, spoons, calicoes, ribbons, and women s apparel, 
 together with buggies, carriages, market-wagons, circus- 
 wagons, and even quite a quantity of stationery. Such 
 
QUANTRELL. 233 
 
 extraordinary spoils never before fell into the hands of war 
 riors. It seemed as if a den of thieves, where their plunder 
 Was stored, had been broken up, and not that a reputed band 
 of heroes were retreating, under the leadership of a noted cap 
 tain. Altogether, this was one of the most remarkable raids of 
 the war, though distinguished for nothing but foolhardiness. 
 Morgan crossed the Ohio a hundred and seventy miles 
 below Cincinnati, and, passing clear around that city, 
 attempted to recross the river about a hundred and seventy 
 miles above it. For ten days, he marched through the heart 
 of Ohio, plundering and destroying, with apparently no 
 other object in view than simple retaliation. He must have 
 moved, during this time, at the rate of at least fifty miles a day, 
 and yet did not destroy property to the amount of more 
 than fifty thousand dollars. 
 
 THE MASSACRE AT LAWRENCE. 
 
 War, from its very nature, is cruel, but in later days, 
 among civilized nations, it has seldom been disgraced by 
 such atrocities as the massacres at Lawrence and Fort Pillow. 
 Men, fitted by nature to be leaders of banditti, took advan 
 tage of the war to follow the vocation for which they seemed 
 designed, and, gathering around them a band of men, law 
 less and desperate as themselves, plundered and murdered, 
 under the pretext of carrying on a war for independence. 
 There were degrees of crime among even this abandoned 
 class some leaders having more control over their followers, 
 and being more humane than others. Over all, however, Quan- 
 trell stands pre-eminent for his barbarities and depravity. His 
 whole career during the war, was marked by crime and vio 
 lence ; but in the massacre at Lawrence, Kansas, he acquired a 
 reputation that will make his name infamous to the end of time. 
 
 During the Summer, reports of intended raids on various 
 
234 THE ATTACK. 
 
 towns, constantly agitated the frontiers of Missouri and 
 Kansas ; but General Ewing, who commanded there, garri 
 soned the threatened places, and Quantrell s force, numbering 
 some three hundred, was kept at bay. If disappointed 
 in their intended attack on a particular place, they would 
 break up into small predatory bands, and wreak their ven 
 geance on isolated families or parties. Ewing scattered his 
 force, which, in separate detachments, dogged these maraud 
 ers from one haunt and locality to another. Missouri finally 
 getting too hot for him, Quantrell determined, in August, to 
 make a dash into Kansas. Selecting Blackwater, some fifty 
 miles from the Kansas line, as the place of rendezvous, 
 he, on the 19th, moved off with his mounted force, and 
 passing through Chapel Hill, where he was joined by fifty 
 more outlaws, pressed straight for Kansas. 
 
 Captain Pike, commanding two companies at Aubrey, 
 forty-five miles from Lawrence, heard, on the evening of the 
 20th, that Quantrell had just passed five miles to the south 
 of him ; but instead of pushing on after him, he forwarded 
 the information up and down the line, and to Ewing s head 
 quarters. The latter at once sent forward a hundred men 
 to Aubrey, thirty-five miles distant, with orders for the com 
 bined force to start at once in pursuit. At midnight, they 
 mounted, and pressed rapidly forward. But Quantrell had 
 struck across the open prairie, making it difficult to keep 
 his track, so that they gained but little on him all night. 
 With the start of several hours, he, by riding rapidly, reached 
 Lawrence a little after daylight, and the tramp of his horses 
 through the streets, and shouts of his men, aroused the terri 
 fied inhabitants to the sudden disaster tliat had overtaken 
 them. The news, spread like lightning through the town, 
 and a few seized their guns and rushed forth to fight, but 
 were shot down by the desperadoes, who had complete 
 control of the place. Then commenced a scene of* pillage 
 
THE MASSACRE. 235 
 
 and violence which in our history finds its parallel only in 
 Indian atrocities. Houses and banks were broken into 
 women were stripped of their jewelry, and everything valu 
 able that could be transported on horseback, was dragged 
 forth and packed for removal on fresh horses gathered in 
 the place.. As fast as houses were pillaged, they were set 
 on fire, and soon the crackling of flames mingled with the 
 shouts and cries of the infuriated demons. " During all this 
 time, citizens were being murdered everywhere. Germans 
 and negroes, when caught, were shot immediately. Many 
 persons were shot down after they had been taken prisoners 
 and had been assured that they would not be hurt if they 
 would surrender. Messrs. Trask and Baker, and two other 
 citizens, were so taken, and while being marched towards 
 the river as prisoners, were fired upon, and all four killed 
 on the spot except Mr. Baker, who was not expected to live. 
 Mr. Dix had been taken prisoner, and his house set on fire, 
 when one of the fiends told him if he would give them his 
 money he would not be killed ; otherwise he would. Mr. 
 Dix went into the burning house, and got a thousand dollars 
 and handed it over. He was told to march towards the 
 river, and had not proceeded twenty steps when he was 
 $hot dead from behind. Mr. Hampson, clerk of the Provost- 
 Marshal had a revolver, and tried to defend the few things 
 he had saved from the Johnson House. His wife interfered, 
 and they told him if he would surrender he should be treated 
 as a prisoner, and be safe from harm. He surrendered, and 
 was immediately shot from behind the ball entering near 
 the spine, and coming out below the kidneys in front. In 
 one instance, the wife and daughter of a man threw them 
 selves over his body, begging for his life ; but one of the 
 murderers deliberately thrust his revolver down between 
 the two women, and killed the man. 
 
 " Before ten o clock, the main body of the guerrillas 
 
23G HORRIBLE ATROCITIES. 
 
 departed with their plunder, leaving a guard over the pris 
 oners in town, and a few stragglers. The few persons 
 wounded, were wounded at this time by the passing fiends. 
 In the earlier part of the day, most of the persons were 
 fired at from very near, and killed instantly. 
 
 u One of the first persons out was Colonel Deitzler. Mr. 
 Williamson and myself helped him carry off the dead. The 
 sight that met us when coming out, I cannot describe. I 
 have read of outrages committed in the so-called dark ages, 
 and, horrible as they appeared to me, they sink into insig 
 nificance in comparison with what I was then compelled to 
 witness. Well-known citizens were lying, completely roasted, 
 in front of the spot where their stores and residences had 
 been. The bodies were crisp, and nearly black. We 
 thought, at first, they were all negroes, till we recognized 
 some of them. In handling the dead bodies, pieces of 
 roasted flesh- would remain in our hands. Soon, our strength 
 failed us, in this horrible and sickening work. Many could 
 not help crying like children. Women and little children 
 were all over town, hunting for their husbands and fathers, 
 and sad indeed was the scene when they did finally find 
 them among the corpses laid out for recognition. I cannot 
 describe the horrors ; language fails me, and the recollection 
 of the scenes I witnessed, makes me sick when I am com 
 pelled to repeat them." * 
 
 These, however, are but few of the details. Twenty col 
 ored soldiers were shot in cold blood, and in circumstances 
 of fiendish atrocity. A hundred and forty unarmed men, in 
 all, were murdered, and twenty-four wounded. The dead 
 lined the streets everywhere, through which roamed weeping 
 women and children, while the air was filled with the smoke 
 and flames of a hundred and eighty-five burning buildings. 
 Altogether, it was a scene one would never expect to see 
 
 * William Kcmpf, belonging to the Provost-Marshal s Office, 
 
THE FLIGHT. 237 
 
 in the Nineteenth Century, in a civilized and Christian land. 
 It rivaled in atrocity the massacre of the whites in Minne 
 sota by the Sioux Indians, and shows what desperate bands 
 of men infested our frontiers. General Lane was in the 
 place at the time, and narrowly escaped capture by the des 
 peradoes. Enraged at being unable to find him, they burned 
 his house. Many heroic deeds were performed by the women 
 in protecting the lives of the men, and it must be said to 
 the honor of the wretches, that they refrained from commit 
 ting violence on them. 
 
 After quietly taking a lunch amid the smouldering ruins 
 of the town, Quantrell ordered his men to mount, and lifting 
 his hat mockingly to the ladies, bowed politely, and said, 
 " Ladies, I now bid you good morning ; I hope when we 
 meet again, it will be under more favorable circumstances." 
 He then put spurs to his horse, and rode away, followed by 
 his murderous gang. He took. the precaution to collect all 
 the fresh horses he could lay his hands on, so as to be able 
 to elude pursuit. 
 
 The troops, under Major Plumb, reached the place only 
 to find it in ruins, and the enemy gone. Although they had 
 pressed rapidly forward, having made more than sixty-five 
 miles, without rest or food, since the morning before filled 
 with rage at the sight which met their gaze, they immediately 
 wheeled and started in pursuit. Lane, assembling a hundred 
 anci fifty of the citizens, joined them, and all day long they 
 pressed on the flying track of the foe. Quantrell kept a 
 hundred of his best-mounted men as a rear-guard, who the 
 moment our men, scattered over the prairies, came in sight, 
 would form in line of battle. This would compel a halt of 
 the most advanced pursuers, and by the time the main body 
 could get up, Quantreli s gang, with the booty, would be 
 far ahead. The rear-guard, the moment Plumb was ready 
 to commence an attack, would pour in one volley, then 
 break into column and gallop off at a rate that defied pur- 
 
238 THE PURSUIT. 
 
 suit. Thus the chase was kept up till eight o clock at night, 
 when the rear-guard made a stand, and a skirmish followed. 
 The guerrillas, however, finding another force, under Lieut. - 
 Colonel Clark, crossing their line of retreat, broke and scat 
 tered in the darkness, so that the trail could not be followed. 
 
 Quantrell, seeing that he had baffled his pursuers, halted 
 to rest; but at midnight, a body of militia broke up his 
 camp. Aided, however, by the darkness and the uneven 
 surface of the prairie, he got safely off, and, continuing his 
 flight, crossed the Kansas border, and at noon the next day 
 reached the timber near the middle fork of the Grand River, 
 Missouri, an hour in advance of his pursuers. Here, his 
 forces scattered. About a hundred, with Quantrell at their 
 head, moved down the river. Lieutenant-Colonel Lazear, 
 with two hundred men, continued to press him so closely that 
 he was compelled to abandon most of his horses and much 
 of the plunder he had taken from the Lawrence stores. 
 
 There had been, in the pursuit, frequent engagements 
 with detached parties, and Ewing reported about a hundred 
 of the miscreants killed. Though the pursuers traveled a 
 hundred miles in the first twenty-four hours killing many 
 of their horses by exhaustion, and some of the men them 
 selves died from the effect of the sun, and want of rest 
 yet Quantrell, by desperate riding, succeeded in "escaping. 
 Never did bloodhounds hang more unflinchingly on the 
 track of a poor fugitive, than did these gallant soldiers and 
 enraged citizens on the flying footsteps of this desperado, 
 until their horses gave out. No prisoners were captured 
 every man being shot .remorselessly down when overtaken. 
 The perfect knowledge of the fate that awaited him, 
 imparted a desperation to Quantrell s efforts to elude his 
 pursuers; and, mounted on the best horse the country could 
 furnish, he pushed him to the limit of his endurance, and 
 thus escaped a short shrift and a quick passage to the next 
 world to drag out a miserable life in this. 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 SEPTEMBER. 
 
 ROSECRANS BEFORE CHATTANOOGA RESOLVES TO FLANK IT HAZEN LEFT TO 
 
 GUARD THE RIVER BRAGG EVACUATES CHATTANOOGA ROSECRANS RE 
 SOLVES TO CUT OFF HIS RETREAT SCATTERING OF HIS CORPS BRAGG 
 
 MARCHES BACK ON CHATTANOOGA PERIL OF ROSECRANS RAPID CONCEN 
 TRATION OF HIS ARMY FIRST DAY^S BATTLE SECOND DAY S BATTLE 
 
 ROUT OF OUR ARMY STEADFASTNESS OF THE LEFT WING DESPERATE 
 
 FIGHTING OF THOMAS THE CRISIS UNEXPECTED DELIVERANCE THE 
 
 GALLANT STEEDMAN A DESPERATE CHARGE THE BATTLE SAVED THE 
 
 ARMY FALLS BACK TO CHATTANOOGA CAUSES OF DEFEAT. 
 
 WHILE these stirring events were occurring in Ohio 
 and Kansas, Rosecrans, with his magnificent army 
 well in hand, was pressing victoriously forward towards 
 Chattanooga, and, the last week in August, drew up his 
 columns on the banks of the Tennessee, in front of the place. 
 It being a strong position by nature, and made more so by 
 art, it was well-nigh impregnable against any direct attack. 
 Rosecrans therefore determined to flank it by the west and 
 south, and, if possible, get in Bragg s rear and cut him off 
 from his base of supplies, so that if he did not retreat he 
 would be forced to a decisive battle in the open field. In 
 carrying out this plan, he took his main army over the 
 Tennessee, a few miles below Chattanooga, and marched up 
 the Lookout Valley, lying west of the Lookout Mountain. 
 On the 3rd of September, he put the troops left behind 
 about seven thousand in number under Brigadier-General 
 Hazen, with orders to watch the movements of the enemy 
 at all the crossings, and make Bragg believe that a large 
 army was still on the north shore of the river. This force 
 
240 SITUATION OP THE ARMY. 
 
 was scattered from Kingston to Williams Island, a distance 
 of seventy miles, and yet, so adroitly did Hazen manage it 
 causing the heads of strong columns to appear simultaneously 
 at different fords building camp-fires at prominent points, 
 and beating calls all along the river that Bragg was thor 
 oughly deceived, until the main army was far to the south 
 of him. When he discovered it, he saw at once that he 
 must retreat, or be cut off from his base of supplies ; and, 
 hastily breaking up his camp, he evacuated Chattanooga. 
 The news reached Rosecrans on the 8th, and he immediately 
 started in pursuit. 
 
 To understand the positions of the armies at this time, it 
 is necessary to remember that the Tennessee at this point 
 runs nearly east and west in its general direction, and the 
 Chickamauga Creek and the Lookout Mountain hang 
 south from it, like two great pendants the former above 
 and the latter below Chattanooga. Bragg retreated along 
 the valley formed by the Creek and Mountain. Over the 
 Lookout Mountain, on the west side, lay the Lookout 
 Valley, up which Rosecrans was marching. The Lookout 
 Mountain, therefore, divided the two armies. But Rose 
 crans 1 army was very much scattered at the time he heard 
 of Bragg s retreat. McCook s. Corps was far up the Valley, 
 forty-five miles south of Chattanooga ; Thomas, commanding 
 the center, was thirteen miles back of him, down the Valley ; 
 while Crittenden was on the river, and only some eight miles 
 from Chattanooga two of his divisions not yet being across. 
 Rosecrans now immediately ordered Crittenden to move 
 around the head of Lookout Mountain, and follow up Bragg s 
 retiring columns as rapidly as possible, by crossing the 
 Valley of Chickamauga in a south-easterly direction to Dalton. 
 Had Crittenden done so, he would have been cut off; for 
 Bragg, instead of striking the railroad, as Rosecrans supposed 
 he would, had moved directly sou!h, and now lay about 
 
A NARROW ESCAPE. 241 
 
 half-way between Dalton and Lookout Mountain. Fortu 
 nately, Crittenden s movement was delayed, until Rosecrans 
 ascertained where the enemy really was. The former was 
 therefore ordered to follow up the Chickamauga Creek, and 
 take position at Gordon s Mill, where the road from Lafayette 
 to Chattanooga crossed. Rosecrans had supposed that Bragg 
 was in full retreat, and that the chief effort should be to 
 intercept him ; but now, to his astonishment, he learned that 
 the rebel General was not only not fleeing, but had faced 
 about, and was preparing to march back on Chattanooga, 
 His first, great object therefore was, to get his scattered 
 army together, before Bragg should fall on Crittenden and 
 cut him to pieces. 
 
 The Corps of the latter lay stretched along the Chicka 
 mauga,. and extended up the Valley towards Crawfish Springs, 
 in order to be near as possible to Thomas, who was directed 
 to march with all haste over the mountain to his support. 
 The latter must cross by way of Stevens Gap, and Bragg, 
 aware of it, ordered General Hindman to occupy and hold 
 the Gap, while Polk should fall on Critteridei;, isolated and 
 away from all support. Had Hindman done as he was 
 directed, Bragg would doubtless have won Chattanooga 
 again, and hopelessly cut Rosecrans line of communication. 
 Why he neglected to do so, or why Polk did not attack 
 Crittenden during the entire week he was alone in the 
 Valley, does not appear. The double failure doubtless 
 saved Rosecrans and the Army of the Cumberland. 
 
 Thomas, having sent forward Negley to hold the Gap, on 
 the 8th and 9th hurried his columns across it, and, pushing 
 down into the Valley, moved up to Crittenden s right. 
 
 McCook was over the Lookout Mountain, far to the south, 
 when he received the order of Rosecrans to join Thomas, 
 and at midnight put his columns in motion. Bragg was 
 aware of his isolated position, and took measures to intercept 
 
242 POSITION OF THE ARMIES.* 
 
 him on the road which it was supposed he must take. McCook, 
 however, instead of marching directly down to Thomas, 
 recrossed Lookout Mountain, and, hurrying down Lookout 
 Valley, crossed again at Stevens Gap. He lost two or 
 three days march by this route, but saved his army. 
 
 Bat, while he was urging his columns down Lookout 
 Valley, and over its rugged heights by Stevens Gap, events 
 were assuming an alarming aspect along the Chickamauga 
 Creek. A race had already commenced between the two 
 armies, that were moving in parallel lines back towards 
 Chattanooga. Bragg, having received the reinforcements 
 he had been waiting for, determined to get between our 
 army and Chattanooga, and thus cut Rosecrans* line of com 
 munications, and force him into a dangerous retreat, or 
 give him battle on ground of his own choosing. 
 
 Whether Rosecraris would have retreated to Chattanooga 
 without risking a battle, had McCook arrived in time, would 
 probably have depended on circumstances ; but when the 
 latter did at length form on Thomas right, the line had 
 been so prolonged that it was twelve miles in length, and 
 still ten miles from Chattanooga. 
 
 On the 18th, two fords, on our extreme left, were fiercely 
 assailed, and our forces there driven back showing that 
 the enemy, though maneuvering in front, designed to out 
 flank Rosecrans, and thus force him to a decisive battle. On 
 that night, therefore, Thomas was ordered to break off from 
 the center and take position on the left, leaving McCook to 
 close up and fill his place. Thus, on the morning of the 
 19th, he held the left, Crittenden the center, and McCook 
 the right the whole stretching along the Chickamauga Creek 
 from Gordon s Mill towards Chattanooga. The army was 
 still in motion on the morning of the 19th, closing up its 
 line, for no portion of it was perfectly settled in position 
 
THE ATTACK. 243 
 
 but the Corps of Thomas. Granger was at Rossville, four 
 miles from the left, with a division in reserve. 
 
 Early in the morning, Wood, who was stationed at Gor 
 don s Mill, saw low clouds of dust hovering along the roads 
 that, beyond the Creek, run towards Chattanooga showing 
 that heavy columns were marching in that direction and 
 reported the fact to Rosecrans. 
 
 Braiman held the extreme left, Baird came next, and 
 Reynolds next to him. Negley s division, belonging to 
 Thomas, was holding Owen s Ford, two miles beyond Gor 
 don s Mill. Palmer and Van Cleve, of Crittenden s Corps, 
 held the center. Sheridan and Davis, of McCook s Corps, 
 were marching swiftly up to close the right, when, about 
 ten o clock, the sudden explosion of artillery on the extreme 
 left, told that the enemy had commenced the attack. Crox- 
 ton s brigade, having been sent towards, the river to recon- 
 noiter, was furiously assailed, and the remainder of Bran- 
 nan s division came to his succor. Thomas, hearing the 
 rapid firing, rode forward to ascertain the nature of the 
 attack, and finding the whole division hard pressed and 
 slowly giving way, ordered Baird s division to move at once 
 to its support. The enemy, to his surprise, was over the 
 river, and all the advantage it was supposed to give as a 
 line of defense was lost, and it might as well have never been 
 chosen. No strong position was left to fall back upon, and 
 ranks of living men and batteries, stretching for nearly four 
 miles, through the fields and woods, stood face to face to each 
 other. The storm that struck Brannan and Baird with such 
 terrible fury, and rolled rapidly down the line from left to 
 right, showed that Bragg, beginning with his extreme right, 
 was swinging the rebel army against our whole line, with the 
 intention, at some point, of breaking through it. Before the 
 attack had reached the center, and while Reynolds and John 
 son were struggling desperately to hold their ground, Thomas 
 
244 A GRAND CHARGE. 
 
 succeeded in rallying the broken divisions of Brannan and 
 Baird, and hurled them once more on the enemy. The sud 
 denness and energy of the assault, that had well-nigh driven 
 his whole Corps from the field, thoroughly aroused him. His 
 sturdy regulars had been rolled back in confusion, and Scrib- 
 ner s brigade saved from annihilation only by cutting its way 
 through a horde of rebels ; and, stung by the disaster, the 
 moment his columns were once more in position, and pre 
 sented a solid front, he ordered the whole line to advance. 
 The troops now caught the high courage and resolution of 
 their Commander, and the deep murmur that rolled along 
 their terrible front, foretold a fearful onset. Not sudden 
 and headlong, but grand and awful, like the mighty march of 
 the ocean-tide, the firm-set battalions moved sternly, steadily 
 forward. Longstreet s veterans, flushed with success, threw 
 themselves in their way, but could not stay that determined 
 march for a moment. The rebel batteries, forced back, 
 wheeled into new positions, and hurled shot and shell into 
 the close formations in vain. The leaders flung themselves 
 along their yielding lines, with waving swords and fiery 
 appeals, to no purpose. The head of each opposing column 
 that advanced to stem the awful torrent, melted away ; and 
 on, on swept the unbroken line over abandoned guns, 
 caissons, everything until the field was won, and the enemy 
 borne back nearly a mile. 
 
 But while this victory was being gained on our left, Polk 
 and Hill had thrown themselves with such resistless impetu 
 osity on the center, that, though fighting manfully to hold 
 its ground, it was forced back, and the rout was fast becom 
 ing complete, when Davis came up from the right, and stopped 
 the progress of the enemy. It was but for a moment, how 
 ever. Rapidly accumulating fresh troops on the weakened 
 point, the rebel Generals threw them forward with resistless 
 intrepidity. Hurling Davis to the right, and Van Cleve to 
 
FIRST DAY S BATTLE. 245 
 
 the left, in their fierce onset, they boldly penetrated the gap 
 they thus made, and for a moment the battle seemed lost 
 But Thomas, compelled, by the danger here, to pause and 
 fall back, now came up ; while Hazen, with twenty pieces of 
 artillery massed at the threatened point, held the shouting 
 enemy in check. At this juncture, too, Wilder s brigade 
 of mounted infantry dashed up, and fell furiously on the 
 advancing columns, forcing them back. But the rebel leaders, 
 rallying their troops, and strengthened with reinforcements, 
 again came on, each time swinging off and outflanking us 
 to the right, so that Wilder was compelled to fall back. 
 Sheridan then came up, and sending forward Bradley s 
 brigade, restored the fight. But the attack, that had begun 
 at our extreme left, kept drifting down our line so rapidly 
 that Bradley in turn was nearly outflanked, and began to 
 give way, when Negley and Wood came down the stream on 
 the double-quick, and charging home, at once arrested the 
 dangerous movement. Though at times on the point of 
 complete success, the enemy had been stopped everywhere 
 along the whole line, and the two armies now stood front 
 to front, on ground that gave no advantage to either. Our 
 troops had rallied everywhere with heroic determination, 
 and the army stood in its place, immovable as a rock. 
 ^Baffled in every attempt to break our line, Bragg at length, 
 at night-fall, withdrew, and darkness closed over the trampled 
 field, shrouding its multitude of mangled, bleeding victims 
 from sight. 
 
 It had been a strange battle, arid neither could claim a 
 victory. The numbers engaged on either side were proba 
 bly about equal. Bragg had not waited for the whole of 
 Longstreet s Corps to arrive, nor for several thousand Georgia 
 militia, on the way to reinforce him. The rapid concentra 
 tion of our troops, made it necessary for him to attack at 
 once, while the army was in motion. But the regular inter- 
 
246 NIGHT AFTER THE BATTLE. 
 
 vals between our columns, which threatened at first to be 
 our ruin and if they had been greater, would have been 
 saved us; for each time the enemy struck our flank, our 
 columns, coming up, took his flank in turn and so on, in 
 succession, till Negley and Wood met and stopped the last 
 attack, and closed the battle. On our part, it was a battle 
 without a plan. The object with Rosecrans was, to concen 
 trate his army, and secure his communications with Chatta 
 nooga. Attacked while doing this, he had to hold the 
 enemy at bay as best he could, and nothing but the indom 
 itable bravery of the troops saved him from total defeat. 
 That Saturday night was one of much suffering to the army, 
 for it was cold and chilly, and no fires were allowed to be 
 kindled. The soldiers sunk down on the ground, to brood 
 over the losses of the day, and ponder on the terrible struggle 
 that they knew must take place in the morning. Their 
 ranks had been dreadfully thinned ; no impression had been 
 made on the enemy, and no reinforcements were near. They 
 had taken a few prisoners, and captured three more guns 
 than the enemy, but had been driven from Chickamauga 
 Creek, and were where no water could be obtained, except 
 as it was brought a great distance, from springs. Weary 
 and thirsty, they were compelled to lie down on the trampled 
 earth, and weary and thirsty they must fight this battle over 
 again in the morning. 
 
 During the night, Rosecrans made some changes in his 
 line of battle. The strong position at Gordon s Mill being 
 no longer of any use to him as the enemy was over the 
 creek he withdrew his right, resting it on Missionary 
 Ridge. This shortened his lines by nearly a mile, and made 
 his army face more to the south. 
 
 That night, a consultation was held at head-quarters, and 
 the following general dispositions made for the next day : 
 Thomas, strengthened by Johnson s and Palmer s divisions, 
 
SECOND DAY S BATTLE. 247 
 
 was to hold the position he occupied. McCook, after his 
 pickets were driven in, was to close with his main line on 
 Thomas right ; while Crittenden was to hold two divisions in 
 reserve behind "the point of junction, to be used as circum 
 stances might require. Thus the army stood, on the early 
 Sabbath morning, awaiting Bragg s attack, that all knew 
 would not be long delayed. Suddenly, the thunder of 
 cannon on the extreme left, announced the opening of the con 
 flict, and the next moment, the storm broke with appalling 
 fury c^ Thomas. With their usual tactics, the rebels did 
 not feel their way into our position, but -fell in one over 
 whelming charge upon it. The battle had hardly commenced, 
 when its uproar became so awful, that the boldest all along 
 the line held his breath. Along a part of his line, Thomas 
 had thrown up a breastwork of logs and rails, in front of 
 which ran an incessant stream of fire. Up against it the 
 rebels moved with desperate valor. Line upon line, they 
 came steadily on each, as it entered that withering fire, 
 crumbling to fragments ; yet still, fresh ranks sternly advanced 
 over the spot where the last had gone clown. But all in 
 vain did that devouring fire consume the devoted columns 
 in vain did it shrivel up and destroy the head of each forma 
 tion. The rebel leaders kept pouring in fresh troops, deter 
 mined to quench that volcano with -human blood, and choke 
 it with living victims. Rosecrans, seeing how fearfully 
 Thomas was pressed, ordered Negley over to his help, and 
 Wood, of Crittenden s division, to supply Negley s place ; but 
 even this did not arrest the ever-increasing flood of rebels. 
 For awhile, Wood, in the center,. was heavily pressed; but 
 still, the weight of the attack fell on Thomas. Maddened 
 by their repeated repulse, the rebel leaders rallied their 
 troops for one last, decisive assault. Covered by a terrific 
 fire of artillery, the massive columns moved steadily forward, 
 and entering, without shrinking, the fiery sleet that swept 
 
 46 
 
248 A FATAL ORDER. 
 
 the field, pressed straight for that glowing breastwork. 
 Thomas, seeing the danger, poured in his volleys with 
 increased rapidity, and the artillerists double-shotted their 
 guns with canister ; but still, that dark gray mass, wrapped 
 in its sulphurous shroud, never faltered, and, though bleed 
 ing and lessening at every step,- crept nearer and nearer, 
 till at last our troops began to waver. The officers strove 
 nobly to steady them, while Thomas rode fearlessly along 
 the undulating lines to inspire them. But it was a vain 
 effort. Division after division crumbled away, and a^ength 
 the whole wing swung back in disorder. Thomas, however, 
 aided by his gallant lieutenants, again rallied it in a new 
 position ; and, with his right resting on Missionary Ridge, 
 and his left on an eminence by the Lafayette road, and his 
 center a little advanced, he sent urgent request for more 
 troops. 
 
 It was now about noon, and Rosecrans, seeing how hard 
 Reynolds was pressed, ordered Wood to leave his position 
 in the center and support him. Brannan was between him 
 and Reynolds, and to do this he had to fall back and march 
 to the rear of the former. This left a wide gap in the lines, 
 which, the enemy perceiving, dashed into as quick as thought. 
 We had broken our own center lost our own battle. 
 Davis, from the right, moved quickly up to close the fatal 
 opening ; but he came too late. The rebel flood, breaking 
 with resistless fury through it, smote him with one terrible 
 blow, swinging him back with such violence that he fell to 
 pieces with the shock. Palmer and Van Cleve, on the other 
 side, shared the same fate. Sheridan, left alone on the right, 
 of course went with Davis ; yet, scorning to fly, he rallied 
 his men, and for awhile made a stand, against fearful odds. 
 Gallant, fearless and terrible, even in a lost fight, it was 
 pitiful to see him strive with such hopeless desperation to 
 maintain his old renown, in that wild tumult. Rosecrans 
 
A GALLANT STAND. 249 
 
 himself, whose head-quarters were directly in rear, and had 
 been carried away in the rush, could not rally the troops ; 
 and though, with drawn sword, followed by his staff, he 
 galloped amid the broken ranks, he, McCook and Crittenden 
 were all borne backward in the refluent tide, and a scene 
 of confusion and terror followed that beggars all description. 
 Artillery and caissons, and wagons and horses, and a vast, 
 excited multitude, with here and there only a fragmentary 
 formation, heaved and struggled on towards the gap in the 
 mountains, through which the road leads to Rossville. Here 
 they became choked up, and the shouts and yells and curses, 
 that rose in the troubled air, were more appalling than the 
 roar of battle. For a moment, the conflict seemed over. 
 The Commander-in-Chief was gone the centre and right 
 gone, and nought remained but the wearied, exhausted left 
 wing, that had also been forced backward. Yet it alone 
 must save the army, if it is to.be saved. It was a mighty 
 task that now devolved on Thomas, but with such division 
 and brigade leaders as Baird, Brannan, Reynolds, Negley, 
 Wood, Harker, Hazen, Scribner, T urchin, and others like 
 them, he would do it, or make it the bloodiest field ever 
 won by mortal foe. The enemy, having it all his own way 
 in every other part of the field, and confident of complete 
 success, now bore down with redoubled fury on this com 
 paratively feeble band full seventy thousand men against 
 a few divisions. So stood the battle at noon. Thomas 
 might well survey his desperate position with a dismayed 
 heart Still, he had no thought of retreating. Right there 
 he would stand, and stand victorious or perish with the 
 army. Gathering up his thinned and bleeding ranks, he 
 lined the semicircular ridge, on which he stood, with a wall 
 of fire, and set it blazing with artillery from one extremity 
 to another. The rebels came on in overwhelming masses, 
 but could not break through it. Battalion after battalion 
 
250 A FEARFUL CRISIS. 
 
 moved up in splendid order, only to scatter and melt away 
 like mist. There was no shrinking now. A high, heroic 
 purpose had taken possession of every man, and he stood 
 there, a willing victim, in the great sacrifice that was de 
 manded of him. Unable to force Thomas front, the enemy then 
 began to swing around his flanks. On the right of Thomas, 
 a low ridge ran at right angles to the extremity of his 
 line, with a gorge directly in his rear; and now the 
 rebels were seen pouring in dark masses through it. The 
 heart of Thomas stood still at the sight. He had no troops 
 to oppose this force, for his moving calls for help had found 
 no response from his Commander. His army, to all human 
 appearance, was lost. A few minutes more, and the shouting 
 foe would be in his rear, and then a swift butchery or sur 
 render would close the scene. Turning his eye away to the 
 left, he saw a vast cloud of dust rising over the tree-tops, 
 and soon after, dark columns of men moving swiftly across 
 the fields towards him. But were they friends or foes? 
 Captain Johnson, of Negley s Staff, having in the fight 
 become separated from his division, just then galloped up 
 and reported himself for duty. u Find out," exclaimed his 
 distressed Commander, u what troops those are, moving upon 
 me." Away dashed Johnson to fulfill his perilous mission. 
 Thomas, to whom the moments were now fraught with life 
 and death, watched with painful, anxiety the approaching 
 force, with his glass. Nearer and nearer they came, with 
 the long, swinging tread of trained battalions. It is yes, 
 it is the battle-flag of Granger that waves and flutters in the 
 breeze ! Oh, who can tell the load that rolled from his heart 
 as he caught the welcome sight ? The firm-set lip relaxed 
 for an instant, and a sudden gleam flashed from his blue eye. 
 u All is not yet lost." The old flag shall yet fly over the 
 field, and the battle-shout still roll along his shattered lines ! 
 Granger had heard, at half-past ten, the roar of the fearful 
 
THE KESCUE. 251 
 
 storm that was bursting on Thomas, and, as it swelled and 
 deepened, he moved uneasily about, and turned his eye 
 along the road to catch the form of some Staff-officer with 
 orders to march. But none came, and being three miles 
 distant, he was afraid when one should come it might be 
 too late. Seized by a sudden inspiration, he called to horse, 
 and started his columns for the scene of .conflict. Leaving 
 Colonel McCook to cover the Ringgold road, he took 
 Mitchell s and Whittaker s brigades, under the command of 
 Steedman, and moved swiftly forward. After going about 
 two miles, he came upon the enemy, and halted. But 
 quickly perceiving that it was a small force, he ordered 
 Colonel McCook to take care of it, and pushed on to where 
 the incessant crash and roar of artillery and musketry told 
 him the decisive struggle was going on. He had not come 
 a moment too soon. As his eye took in the perilous condi 
 tion of Thomas, it needed no consultation to decide what 
 was to be done. He saw the fearful danger at a glance, and 
 moved at once to meet it. The gallant Steedman dashed 
 forward, and seizing the regimental colors, spurred to the 
 head of the two brigades, and waving them above him, 
 shouted the charge. His troops were mostly new recruits, 
 but, fired at the danger that menaced Thomas, they sent up 
 a shout that rose over the din of battle. Where that flag 
 went, they would go, even into the gates of death ; and, 
 sweeping swiftly forward, they met, breast to breast, the 
 veterans of Hindman, pouring through the gorge and 
 already shouting the victory. There was no halting, no 
 wavering, no rallying. Right on into the desolating fire, 
 they pressed, reckless of numbers and of death, with a loud 
 and thrilling shout. Over the batteries, over the astounded 
 battalions of Hindman, they went, in one wild wave. It 
 was marvelous the charge of those two immortal brigades. 
 For one moment, they were lost in the smoke of battle the 
 
 . 
 
252 A LAST EFFORT. 
 
 next 7 their standards were waving along the ridge. Like a 
 thunderbolt they had fallen on the columns pouring through 
 the gorge, and shivered them to fragments like a whirlwind 
 they had swept the ridge, clearing it of the foe. Only 
 twenty minutes had passed and yet, in that brief time, the 
 battle had been saved; and in the same short interval, a 
 thousand men on our side, or nearly a third of those two 
 heroic brigades, had fallen. A smile, such as heroes wear, 
 lighted up the face of Thomas, when he saw our victorious 
 banners waving where but a moment before the standards 
 of the enemy were advancing to his certain destruction. 
 Hindman, enraged to see the victory so suddenly snatched 
 from his hands, rallied to retake the position, and Long- 
 street s veterans were sent against it. Though Steedman, by 
 the fall of his horse in the charge, had been bruised severely, 
 yet he still kept the field, and with scarce a dozen pieces of 
 artillery in all, swept the enemy with such a terrific fire that 
 he was forced to retire. But though driven back, he returned 
 again and again to the attack ; yet those two immortal 
 brigades stood like a blazing citadel on the heights. Baffled 
 here, the enemy advanced on the left. Thomas saw the 
 heavy column approaching, and, pointing to it, told Rey 
 nolds to u go in there." This gallant Commander obeyed, 
 and, facing his troops by the rear rank, to save time, ordered 
 them to u charge bayonets." Springing forward at the 
 double-quick, the weary, brave fellows walked straight over 
 the column, capturing several hundred prisoners in their 
 fierce passage. Night was now coming on, and Steedman s 
 brigades, which all that Sabbath afternoon, though bleeding 
 and lessening, had stood rock-fast, had exhausted all their 
 own ammunition, and all they could gather from the dead 
 and dying around them. In this fearful dilemma, Thomas 
 saw the rebels rallying for a last assault. Casting his eye 
 along his shattered line, standing stern and dark in the 
 
CLOSE OF THE BATTLE. 253 
 
 gathering gloom, he ordered it to "stand fast." Waiting 
 till the shadowy mass came within striking distance, he 
 shouted, "Give them the cold steel!" With bayonets at 
 charge, they leaped forward at the double-quick, rending 
 the gloom with their shout. As the rebels saw them 
 advancing, and caught the faint sheen of their bayonets in 
 the twilight, they turned and fled. The last blow had been 
 struck, and a thrilling shout went up from the darkened field. 
 
 The struggle was over, and the enemy, exhausted and dis 
 couraged, sullenly withdrew. Never was a great battle 
 more nearly lost, and then saved not even that of Marengo. 
 Thomas, and his brave commanders and troops, had covered 
 themselves with glory ; and Rosecrans sent him word to use 
 his own judgment about attempting to hold his position. 
 The former, seeing that his troops had been fearfully over 
 tasked, and that ammunition, food and water were sadly 
 wanting, concluded to fall back on Rossville, which place he 
 reached in good order the enemy hovering near, but afraid 
 to risk another blow. A new line of battle was here formed, 
 with the aid of McCook s and Crittenden s divisions, and the 
 advance of the enemy awaited. But he had been too 
 severely punished, however, to renew the attack, and the 
 next night the whole army fell back to Chattanooga. 
 
 A bloodier Sabbath than that of the 20th of September, 
 never closed over this land. Sixteen thousand, three hundred 
 and fifty-one, or about a third of Rosecrans splendid army, 
 had disappeared, of which only five thousand were taken 
 prisoners. Thirty-six guns, twenty caissons, and eight thou 
 sand, four hundred and fifty small arms, and other spoils, 
 fell into the hands of the enemy ; while we could show but 
 two thousand prisoners to offset all these losses. The loss 
 of the enemy in killed and wounded r however, was greater 
 than ours ; for, in their headlong advance on our batteries 
 and positions, they had been mowed down with terrible 
 
254 REVIEW OF THE CAMPAIGN. 
 
 slaughter. But, though they got the victory, it was to them 
 a barren one, for they failed to recover Chattanooga. The 
 possession of that was the chief object of the campaign, and 
 we still held it, while the enemy, after two days of desperate 
 fighting, had gained only a few miles of useless fields and roads. 
 
 Much criticism was passed on this battle, and on the 
 movements that preceded it, and difference of opinion will 
 probably exist forever. It is much easier to tell the causes 
 of a failure, than to prevent it ; still, there were some grave 
 mistakes, that ought to have been better guarded against. 
 If it was designed or supposed that Rosecrans, after he had 
 taken Chattanooga, would advance further into the interior, 
 the Government at Washington should have had supporting 
 columns much nearer that place than it did have. A portion 
 of Grant s army should have marched long before; for it 
 was not to be expected that that stronghold would fall 
 without a fierce struggle, and it might be at a sacrifice of a 
 third of the army. Such a contingency ought to have been pro 
 vided for, but was not ; and when that loss actually occurred, 
 it was by the narrowest chance that Chattanooga was saved. 
 
 Again, when the enemy evacuated Chattanooga, he did 
 not destroy the supplies or bridges along the route, thus 
 showing pne of two things either that he had fled in such 
 haste that he could not do it, or that he expected to 
 return and need them himself again very soon. Rosecrans 
 adopted the former view, and therefore strained every 
 nerve to cut off the retreat of a demoralized enemy. In 
 doing this, he made so wide a separation of his corps that 
 it was sure to provoke an attack if any fight whatever was left 
 in the enemy. But the idea that Bragg had failed to destroy 
 supplies and bridges through want of time, was preposterous 
 at all events, the circumstances were sufficiently suspicious 
 to demand the greatest caution. The result showed it ; for 
 if the rebels had not committed a great blunder, the proba 
 bilities are, we should have lost Chattanooga. 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 THE ARMY AT CHATTANOOGA GRANT PLACED IN COMMAND OF THE MISSIS 
 SIPPI DIVISION KNOXVILLE CAPTURED BY BURNSIDE JOY OF THE PEOPLE 
 
 BESIEGED BY LONGSTREET GRANT TAKES COMMAND AT CHATTANOOGA 
 
 SHERMAN ORDERED TO JOIN HIM HOOKER EFFECTS A LODGMENT IN LOOK 
 OUT VALLEY MAZEN. s EXPLOIT BATTLE OF WAUHATCHIE SHERMAN^ 
 
 ARRIVAL THE ARMY TAKES UP ITS ASSIGNED POSITION GRANTS PLAN 
 
 CAPTURE OF LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN BATTLE ABOVE THE CLOUDS THE BAT 
 TLE OF MISSIONARY RIDGE THE VICTORY PURSUIT OF THE ENEMY 
 
 SHERMAN SENT TO RELIEVE BURNSIDE LONGSTREET ABANDONS THE SIEGE 
 
 BANKS AT NEW ORLEANS EXPEDITION TO SABINE CITY EXPEDITION TO 
 
 TEXAS ITS FAILURE THE DEPARTMENT. 
 
 ROSECRANS position in Chattanooga soon became 
 exceedingly precarious, though it was very strong 
 the flanks of the army resting on the Tennessee above and 
 below the place. The enemy advanced against it, and 
 occupied Missionary Ridge and Lookout Mountain, his line 
 stretching across Chattanooga Valley. Our communications 
 by way of Bridgeport, on the south bank of the river, were 
 cut off, while the sharpshooters there effectually commanded 
 the road on the opposite side. Supplies therefore had to be 
 hauled for sixty miles by land, over mountain roads that soon, 
 from the Fall rains, became almost impassable. A rebel raid, 
 in the meantime, destroyed several hundred wagon-loads of 
 provisions, and damaged the railroad between Stevenson and 
 Nashville, rendering the subsistence of our army uncertain ; 
 and indeed, for a time, it was doubtful whether our commu 
 nications would not be entirely destroyed, and thus a 
 retreat become inevitable. This would be extremely peril 
 ous, for the artillery and war material would have to be 
 abandoned. Chattanooga was the key to East Tennessee, 
 
256 CAPTURE OP "KNOXVILLE, 
 
 and the army there at the same time threatened Atlanta, 
 the grand focus of the net-work of railroads connecting the 
 southern States of the Confederacy. If we were driven back 
 from this place, the struggle in the Valley of the Mississippi 
 would have to be gone over again. Hence, Grant sent a 
 dispatch to Thomas, to hold on to the last extremity. The 
 latter, in reply, assured him that he would keep the position 
 at all hazards. 
 
 While affairs were in this precarious state, Rosecrans was 
 relieved by Thomas ; and in a few days, Grant, who had been 
 placed in command of the Departments of the Ohio, of the 
 Cumberland, and of the Tennessee constituting the Military 
 Division of the Mississippi arrived in Chattanooga, and 
 took charge in person. Hooker, with two corps from the 
 East, had previously reached the vicinity of Bridgeport, thus 
 increasing the difficulty of feeding the army. 
 
 In the meantime, however, a movement had been made 
 which had an important bearing on Chattanooga. Burnside 
 had, during the Summer, planned a campaign against Knox- 
 ville the capture of which had been a great desideratum 
 with the Government since the beginning of the war. His 
 preparations being completed, he set his columns in motion 
 in August. Buckner held the place with but a small force, 
 and so secret had the movements of Burnside been kept, 
 and so rapid was his march, that he encountered no opposi 
 tion ; and Colonel Foster, with the advance, entered the 
 place on the 1st of September. Burnside himself proceeded 
 to Kingston, where his scouts encountered the cavalry pickets 
 of Rosecrans. The panic at Knoxville, at his sudden arrival, 
 was great, and the rebel troops left behind them, in their 
 flight, a considerable quantity of quartermaster-stores. The 
 reception of our troops by the loyal East Tennesseans, who 
 had almost begun to despair of ever seeing the old flag 
 among them again, was most enthusiastic and touching. 
 
SH MAN S MARCH. 257 
 
 They cooked everything they had for the soldiers, without 
 ever dreaming of pay. Women stood by the roadside with 
 pails of water, waving Union flags, and shouting, u Hurrah 
 for the Union!" and "Welcome, welcome, General Burn- 
 side, welcome to East Tennesse ! " greeted the General, as 
 he moved along with his Staif. 
 
 The rebel garrison at Cumberland Gap, two thousand 
 strong, was cut off, and, on the 9th, surrendered to our 
 forces. Burnside now occupied the East Tennessee railroad 
 as far as Morristown r and a strong force proceeded down 
 the road towards Chattanooga ; and it was generally believed 
 that the whole army would soon join that of Rosecrans. 
 But the battle of Chickamauga, a few days after, and the 
 shutting up of Rosecrans in Chattanooga, entirely changed 
 the aspect of affairs, and it soon became evident that Burn- 
 side would have enough to do, to take care of himself for 
 Bragg, feeling that he was more than a match for the army 
 at Chattanooga, sent Longstreet, with his division, to retake 
 Knoxville. Being confident that we should be compelled 
 to evacuate both places, the enemy expected to drive our 
 armies back to the Ohio. 
 
 But, at this time, there was another important character 
 moving to the scene of action. Before Grant was put over the 
 army at Chattanooga, he, as soon as he heard of Rosecrans 7 
 disaster at Chickamauga, ordered Sherman then on the.Big 
 Black River, twenty miles east of Yicksburg to send a divi 
 sion to his aid. Sherman received this dispatch on the 22nd 
 of September, and at four o clock that day, Osterhaus, with his 
 division, was on his way to Yicksburg, and the next day 
 steaming towards Memphis. On the 23rd, Sherman received 
 another order, to follow with his whole army. In four days, he 
 was slowly steaming up towards Memphis. Fuel was scarce, 
 and he was compelled to land troops to gather fence-rails 
 and haul wood from the interior in wagons, to keep up 
 
258 BROWNE S FERRY. 
 
 steam. At Memphis, he got orders from Halleck to proceed 
 to Athens, Alabama repairing the railroad as he went, and 
 depending on himself for supplies. The work was at once 
 begun, and gangs were kept employed day and night ; but 
 Sherman soon saw as Buell did, the year before, when 
 marching to the same destination that this would be too 
 slow work, and he determined to take to the highways till 
 he could clear his front. Having scattered the enemy, he 
 again went to work repairing the railroad, in accordance 
 with his first orders. Bat a dispatch from Grant, urging 
 him forward, made him abandon again the unwelcome task, 
 and push on in the manner which his judgment approved. 
 
 In the meantime, Grant was getting everything ready for 
 his arrival, when he designed to make a general assault on 
 the enemy s strong position. 
 
 All this time, the troops and animals were suffering for 
 the want of provisions, which the obstruction of transporta 
 tion rendered extremely scarce. As was stated previously, 
 Missionary Ridge drops like a pendant, in a south-westerly 
 direction, from the Tennessee River, above Chattanooga, and 
 Lookout Mountain, in the same direction from the river, 
 below the place. Chattanooga, lying in a bend of the river 
 between the two mountains, was overlooked and commanded 
 by both heights, and hence, both must be taken. Hooker 
 was.selected to operate against the latter mountain ; but, in 
 order to make a lodgment on the south side of the river, it 
 was necessary to occupy Brown s Ferry, which was three 
 miles below Lookout Mountain, by the river, arid six from 
 Chattanooga, yet, owing to the sharp bend of the stream 
 that here runs back almost parallel to its course, was only a 
 mile and a half from the latter place by land. The possession 
 of this ferry would also lessen the distance of transportation 
 to Bridgeport. The Chief-Engineer, General W. F. Smith, 
 proposed a plan for seizing it, which, after a reconnoissance 
 
A BOLD MOVEMENT. 259 
 
 by Grant and Thomas, was adopted. Four thousand men 
 being at once placed under his command, fifty pontoons, 
 capable of holding twenty-five men apiece besides the oars 
 men, and also two flatboats for carrying about a hundred 
 more, were built, in which fifteen hundred picked men, under 
 the gallant Hazen, were placed. It was, we have seen, six 
 miles, by the tortuous river, to the Ferry three miles of 
 which were picketed by the enemy. On the night of the 
 27th of October, these pontoons mere boxes were quietly 
 pushed off, and floated noiselessly down the current. It 
 was very dark, and the drift of the current rendering the 
 use of oars unnecessary, they passed unheeded by the pickets 
 on shore. Down, around Moccasin Point, in front of Look 
 out Mountain, they rapidly floated, without being discovered. 
 The landing was to be made at two different points, and 
 here the alarm was given, and the flash of musketry lit up 
 the darkness. This roused the neighboring camps of the 
 enemy, but the Union troops jumped ashore, and quickly 
 formed to repel an attack. The empty boats were then 
 rowed swiftly across the river, to a point where stood the 
 balance of the four thousand, who had secretly marched 
 thither by land. These having been taken in, they were 
 rowed back to the spot where the others had disembarked. 
 A strong position was immediately secured, and intrench- 
 ments throwa up, The enemy, taken .wholly by surprise, 
 after a feeble resistance retreated up- the Valley. The 
 materials for a pontoon bridge, which had also been brought 
 down by land, and concealed, were now brought out, and 
 by noon a bridge, nine hundred feet long, spanned the, river, 
 by which supplies and reinforcements could be forwarded 
 to our troops. The next day, the- whole of the Eleventh 
 Corps was across, and encamped in Lookout Valley. The 
 enemy, alarmed at this demonstration, made an attempt to 
 drive back our forces by a night attack. 
 
260 A NIGHT BATTLE. 
 
 BATTLE OF WAUHATCHIE. 
 
 Howard s Corps, at the time, was only a mile or so from 
 Brown s Ferry. Geary, with his division, went into camp 
 near Wanhatchie, three miles distant. Hooker, who was 
 with Howard s Corps, was aroused about one o clock in the 
 morning, by the " muttering of heavy musketry" in the 
 direction of Geary. The latter had been suddenly attacked 
 by overwhelming numbers, and Hooker, anxious for his 
 safety, ordered Howard to double-quick his nearest division, 
 Shurz s, to his aid. " Forward to their relief, boys ! " he 
 shouted, as they streamed off on a run, through the gloom. 
 They had not gone far, however, when suddenly there came 
 a blaze of musketry from the hills near by, where no enemy 
 was supposed to be. Tyndale s brigade was immediately 
 detached, to charge the heights, while the other brigade 
 kept on towards Geary. Steiriwehr s division now came up, 
 and the hill to the rear of Schurz, and along which the road 
 ran, was also found to be occupied by the enemy. This, 
 Orlan Smith s brigade was ordered to carry with the bayonet. 
 It was bright moonlight ; yet but little of the difficulties of 
 the ascent could be seen. It was very steep, and covered 
 with underbrush and seamed with gullies and ravines, and 
 " almost inaccessible by daylight." Yet, right up this, two 
 hundred feet high, -in the face of a heavy fire, this skeleton 
 brigade was ordered to charge bayonet. Flooded in the 
 mellow light, silent as death, the Seventy-third Ohio and 
 Thirty-third Massachusetts pressed up the slope, and at 
 length reached the top, where they came upon rifle-pits, out 
 of which suddenly burst a volley from nearly two thousand 
 muskets. Overwhelmed by this awful fire, the brave fellows 
 fell baek in disorder to the foot of the hill. Though now 
 fully aware of the difficulties before them, and that three 
 
A GALLANT CHARGE. 261 
 
 times their number crowned the heights, these noble regi 
 ments re-formed their lines, and again sternly breasted the 
 hill. Shouts, and yells, and taunts, were hurled down on them, 
 and the crashing volleys tore through them ; yet, without 
 firing a shot with set teeth and flashing eyes they climbed 
 steadily up to those bla&ing rifle-pits, and then with one bound 
 cleared them. The bayonet did the whole work, and not a 
 shot was fired till the enemy was in full retreat. One volley 
 was poured after them, and then the shout of victory arose, 
 wild and clear, in the night air. It was an astonishing charge. 
 No wonder Hooker said, u No troops ever rendered more 
 brilliant service," and that the reserved Thomas declared, 
 ." The bayonet charge of Howard s troops, made up the side 
 of a steep and difficult hill over two hundred feet high, 
 completely routing -the enemy from his barricades on the 
 top, * * * will rank among the most distinguished feats 
 of arms of this war." 
 
 All this time, heavy and incessant volleys of musketry 
 arose from the spot where Geary was struggling against 
 overwhelming numbers. The fighting here was desperate, 
 and several times he was nearly overborne ; but, with that 
 tenacity which has always distinguished him, he still clung 
 to his position, and at length hurled the enemy back, com 
 pelling him to take refuge on Lookout Mountain. The 
 Valley was now ours. Geary gained new honors in this 
 hard-fought battle ; but they were dearly won, for his son, a 
 captain, was killed. 
 
 This fight by moonlight, after midnight, amid those wild 
 hills that blazed the while with musketry and exploding 
 shells presented- a strange spectacle. Hooker himself was 
 in the thickest of it, shouting on the men. 
 
 Our forces being firmly established here, steamboats could 
 run up to Brown s Ferry, from which it was but a mile and 
 a half to the upper bridge, opposite Chattanooga, The 
 
262 ARRIVAL OF SHERMAN. 
 
 army was now relieved from the. fear of starvation, unless 
 the bridges should be carried away by rafts sent down by 
 the enemy from above. 
 
 This was a great improvement in the condition of affairs ; 
 still, Grant felt too weak to assume the offensive against the 
 strong works which confronted him,, until Sherman should 
 arrive. 
 
 The latter crossed the Tennessee in person, on the 1st of 
 November, but there was no way by which to get his army 
 over, and it had to take the long march by Fayetteville to 
 Bridgeport. Sherman, in the meantime, pressing on, rode 
 into Chattanooga on the 15th. Never was a man more 
 welcome. Grant had received a summons from Bragg, to 
 remove the non-combatants from Chattanooga, as he was 
 about to bombard it, to which the former had returned no 
 reply, but he now felt that he soon would be ready to send 
 one, in the shape of his strong columns. Sherman s troops, 
 after their long and wearisome march, needed rest sadly, 
 and expected it, before entering on one of the most hazard 
 ous undertakings of the war. "But," said the gallant 
 leader, " I saw enough of the condition of men and animals 
 in Chattanooga, to inspire me with renewed energy." With 
 a part of his command, he was directed to make a demon 
 stration on Lookout Mountain, while, with the main army, he 
 crossed the river and marched up above Chattanooga, opposite 
 Missionary ridge. Returning to Bridgeport, he took a row- 
 boat, and passed down the river, to hurry forward his weary, 
 foot-sore divisions. Swing s division was the force left to 
 make the proposed demonstration on Lookout Mountain. 
 The rest were hurried forward, but the roads were almost 
 impassable making the increased effort demanded at the 
 end of such a long march, a terrible task to the soldiers. 
 But they toiled cheerfully forward, in obedience to the 
 orders of their beloved Commander, and, by the 23rd, were 
 
SHERMAN S SUCCESS. 263 
 
 well up, and lay concealed behind the hills opposite the 
 Chickamauga Creek, which, skirting the extremity of Mis 
 sionary Ridge, here empties into the Tennessee. One divi 
 sion, however, was left behind a delay caused by the 
 breaking of the pontoon bridge at Brown s Ferry and it 
 was compelled to join Hooker s Corps, and operate with him 
 in the battle that followed. 
 
 By a skillful manoeuver, he, the same night, moved a 
 small force silently along the river, capturing every guard 
 of the enemy s pickets but one. The next thing was, to get 
 his army across the Tennessee here nearly thirteen hundred 
 feet wide. About three miles above him, and on the same 
 side, he found a stream emptying into the river. Thither, 
 a hundred and sixteen boats were carried, by a concealed 
 road, and launched, while three thousand men lay ready to 
 embark in them. An hour after midnight, on the 24th, 
 these boats silently floated down into the Tennessee, and, 
 passing for three miles the enemy s pickets, landed the 
 troops on both sides of the Chickamauga Creek, which 
 emptied into the river opposite Sherman s army. Two 
 divisions, with artillery, were soon ferried over, and a tete- 
 du-pont established. In a few hours, a bridge fourteen 
 hundred feet long was completed, and shaking to the 
 tread of Sherman s mighty columns. Another bridge, two 
 hundred feet long, was flung across the Chickamauga* Creek. 
 The extreme north point of Missionary Ridge was not occu 
 pied by the enemy his right being farther back, near the 
 tunnel through which the railroad passed. This extremity, 
 Sherman at once seized, thereby threatening Bragg s com 
 munications. A cavalry force, in the meantime, was sent 
 off eastward towards Cleveland. 
 
 Grant now had Sherman s army above, and Hooker s 
 below him, and both on the same side of the river ; while 
 Thomas lay in front of Chattanooga. Missionary Ridge, 
 
264 FIGHT ABOVE THE CLOUDS. 
 
 tending south-west from Sherman, passed in front of Chatta 
 nooga, where, the center lay. 
 
 Bragg was amazed at this sudden apparition of a powerful 
 army on his extreme right, and immediately made prepara 
 tions to dislodge Sherman. In the meantime, Hooker, from 
 below, moved against Lookout Mountain, and, by dark, 
 carried the nose of it, and at once opened direct communi 
 cations with Chattanooga. His advance up the steep sides 
 of the mountain had been made with great celerity and 
 skill. A thick fog for awhile concealed him, but, as it 
 lifted before the sun, the cliffs above were seen crowded 
 with the enemy, while cannon sent a plunging fire from the 
 heights. Grant, far down in the mist -shrouded valley 
 below, could hear the thunder of guns and crash of mus 
 ketry high up in the clouds above, as though the gods were 
 warring there. Says an eye-witness: u At this juncture, 
 the scene became one of most exciting interest. The thick 
 fog, which had heretofore rested in dense folds upon the 
 sides of the mountain, concealing the combatants from view, 
 suddenly lifted to the summit of the lofty ridge, revealing 
 to the anxious gaze of thousands in the valleys and on the 
 plains below, a scene such as is witnessed but once in a 
 century. General Geary s columns, flushed with victory, 
 grappled with the foe upon the rocky ledges, and drove 
 him back with slaughter from his works. While the result 
 was uncertain, the attention was breathless and painful ; but 
 when victory perched upon our standards, shout upon shout 
 rent the air. The whole army, with one accord, broke out 
 into joyous acclamations. The enthusiasm of the scene 
 beggars description. Men were frantic with joy, and even 
 General Thomas himself, who seldom exhibits his emotions, 
 said involuntarily, I did not think it possible for men to 
 accomplish so much. " The day before, Thomas had made 
 a strong reconnoissance in force, in his front, and, with but 
 
OPENING OF THE BATTLE. 265 
 
 slight loss, had occupied Orchard Knob, and developed the 
 lines of the enemy. Everything was therefore now ready 
 for the grand assault upon the rebel position. Bragg had 
 thought that Chattanooga was his beyond a doubt; but 
 suddenly, to the right, in front, and left of him, he saw him 
 self confronted by three armies. Still, he believed Missionary 
 Ridge to be impregnable, and that no force could climb 
 its steep and rugged sides in the face of his powerful 
 batteries. 
 
 Sherman, from his position, could glance across to Tunnell 
 Hill, on which the rebel batteries were placed ; and he looked 
 grave, but determined, at the fearful task that had been 
 assigned his brave troops. Before the great, decisive day 
 (the 25th) had fairly dawned, he was in the saddle, and by 
 the dim light that streaked the cloudy east betokening a 
 stormy day, rode along his entire line. A deep valley lay be 
 tween him and the steep hill beyond, which was partly covered 
 with trees to the narrow, wooded top, across which was abreast- 
 work of logs and earth, dark with men. Two guns enfiladed 
 the narrow way that led to it. Further back, arose a still 
 higher hill, lined with guns that could pour a plunging fire 
 on the first hill if it should be taken. The depth and char 
 acter of the gorge between, could not be ascertained. Just 
 as the rising sun was tinging with red the murky rain-clouds, 
 the bugles sounded u Forward!" and Corse, leading the adr 
 vance, briskly descended the hill, crossed the valley under a 
 heavy fire, began to ascend the opposite heights, and soon 
 gained a foothold ; but the spot where he stood was swept 
 by the enemy s artillery. 
 
 BATTLE OF CHATTANOOGA. 
 
 The great battle had now fairly opened, and for more 
 than an hour it swayed backward and forward in front of 
 
266 THE BATTLE. 
 
 Sherman. Bringing up brigade after brigade, this gallant 
 Commander strove nobly, but in vain, to carry the lofty 
 heights above him. By ten o clock, it was one peal of 
 thunder from top to base, while the smoke, in swift puffs 
 and floating masses, draped it like a waving mantle. Corse, 
 severely wounded, was borne to the rear; yet still the 
 columns stubbornly held the ground. All the fornoon, the 
 battle raged furiously at this point. This most northern and 
 vital position .must be held by the rebels at all hazards, for if 
 once taken, their rear would be threatened, with all the stores 
 at Chickamauga. Hence, Bragg massed his forces here, and 
 at three o clock, says Sherman, il column after column of the 
 enemy was streaming toward me ; gun after gun poured 
 its concentric shot on us from every hill and spur that gave 
 a view of any part of the ground." Once, he was partially 
 forced back, but by a skillful move, he recovered his ground 
 and drove the pursuing, shouting enemy to his cover. His 
 men were sternly held to their terrible work ; but Sherman 
 was getting impatient for Grant to move on the center, as 
 he told him the night before he would. From his elevated 
 position, he could see the flags of Thomas Corps waving in 
 the murky atmosphere ; but hour after hour passed away, 
 and still they did not advance. The enemy was steadily 
 accumulating his forces against him, and his troops, that had 
 fought from early dawn, were getting weary. Grant had 
 sat on his horse, listening to the thunder of artillery on his 
 right, as Hooker came down like an avalanche from the 
 heights of Lookout Mountain, and to the deafening uproar 
 on his left, where his favorite lieutenant, Sherman, was 
 hurling his brave columns on the batteries of the enemy; 
 but still he did not move. Thinking, at one time, that 
 Sherman was too hard pressed, he sent over a brigade to 
 his help ; but the latter, who had become thoroughly aroused 
 at the resistance he met with, sent it back, saying he did not 
 
ADVANCE OF THE CENTER. 267 
 
 need it. And so, hour after hour, for six miles, it flamed 
 and thundered along those rocky crests, until at last the 
 decisive moment, looked for by Grant, had arrived. In 
 front of him, the steep acclivity went sheer up four hundred 
 feet. The base was encircled with a line of rifle-pits, while 
 the summit was black with batteries. Between him and the 
 foot of the mountain, was an open space a mile and a half 
 wide, which the advancing columns would be compelled to 
 cross. He saw that it would require no common effort, and 
 no common bravery on the part of troops, to reach and 
 climb that steep, in the face of such difficulties, and he 
 therefore wished Sherman to push the rebel left till Bragg, 
 in order to save the key of his position, would be compelled to 
 weaken his center ; and also till Hooker could come up, who 
 was detained in building a bridge. The rebel Commander, 
 not dreaming that Grant would attempt to advance up the 
 steep face of the mountain in front, and evidently thinking 
 that he meant at all hazards to crush his right, and thus 
 threaten his rear, drew away his troops from the center, till 
 the line here became comparatively weak. This was what 
 Grant had been waiting for, though fearful that the day 
 would be passed before it came. But it had come at last, and 
 Hooker being well advanced, he, from his position on Indian 
 Hill, ordered the signal for the "Forward!" to be given. 
 These were, six cannon shots, to be fired at intervals of two 
 seconds. Strong and steady the order rang out: "Number 
 one, fire ! Number two, fire ! Number three, fire ! " "It 
 seemed to me," says an eye-witness, "like the tolling of the 
 clock of destiny. And when, at Number six, fire! the 
 roar throbbed out with the flash, you should have seen the 
 dead line, that had been lying behind the works all day, 
 come to resurrection in the twinkling of an eye, and leap 
 like a blade from its scabbard." Three divisions, under the 
 command of Granger, composed the storming force, and as 
 
268 MOUNTING THE HEIGHTS. 
 
 they moved off towards the frowning heights, the enemy 
 seemed to regard it as a mere review. But, with a swift, 
 steady motion, the glittering line swept on, and it was soon 
 evident that desperate work was afoot. Suddenly, all along 
 the crest of the ridge, the artillery opened, and the gallant 
 line began to melt away. Still, it never faltered the ban 
 ners kept advancing, and at last that terrible mile and a half 
 were past, and the columns stood face to face with the long 
 line of rifle-pits at the base of the mountain. A sheet of 
 fire ran along the summit, cutting with fearful mortality our 
 exposed battalions. There was no time to stop here, for, 
 great as was the obstacle that confronted them, it was only 
 a barrier of mist, compared to the awful work that lay 
 beyond; and so, with one wild cheer and a bound, they 
 cleared it, and stood panting in the deserted ditch. And 
 now for the ridge. " Take it if you can ! " passed along 
 the bleeding line, but it was already advancing. The brave 
 fellows, casting one look up the steep, rocky sides, to the 
 thirteen batteries naming at the top, clutched their weapons 
 with a firmer grasp, and began to mount the slope. Here 
 can be no rush no sudden charge. Step by step, like 
 mountain goats, they must win their way upward. As the 
 smoke lifted here and there, Grant saw, with inexpressible 
 anxiety, the regimental flags, like mere crimson specks, 
 fluttering slowly upward. Regardless of shot and shell, 
 each vied with the other in the advance. Over their heads, 
 from Forts Wood and Negley, and other batteries, our shot and 
 shell flew with fearful precision, and fell crashing in the rebel 
 works. Rocks and stones, and shells with lighted fuses, were 
 rolled down on the torn line, and it now and then halted, 
 under some projecting rocks, for breath. But " Forward ! " 
 again rung above the uproar, and each flag seemed to have a 
 voice crying u EXCELSIOR." Oh! it was a thrilling sight. 
 Shot and shell were doing their murderous work; but 
 
THE VICTORY. 269 
 
 nothing short of annihilation could stop those noble bat 
 talions. Higher, and still higher, they crept, until at last, just 
 as the "sun was sinking in the west, they reached the summit, 
 and then, as the gathered billow thunders and foams along 
 and over the sunken ledges of the sea, they, with one wild 
 shout and burst, swept over the deadly batteries. The next 
 moment, cheer after cheer went up all along the smoking 
 crest, and rolled down the crimson steep, till, to the right 
 and left, and far below, the air trembled with glad echoes. 
 Dismayed, and filled with consternation at the frightful 
 calamity, Bragg, mounted on his gray horse, sped away to 
 the rear, followed by his discomfited host. The army was 
 now thrown forward in swift pursuit, which was kept up till 
 late at night, and renewed next morning before daylight. 
 As the columns swept on, wagons, guns, caissons, forage, 
 stores, and all the wreck of a routed army, met them at 
 every step. By night, the rear-guard of the enemy was 
 reached, and a fight ensued, which lasted till darkness closed 
 in. The next day, Hooker and Thomas joined in the pur 
 suit, and the beaten enemy was smitten with blow upon 
 blow, until further advance became impossible. In the 
 meantime, Sherman detached Howard to move against the 
 railroad between Dalton and Cleveland, to destroy it. This 
 was done, and communication between Bragg and Long- 
 street cut off. 
 
 Our total loss in this battle, was about four thousand. 
 We took six thousand prisoners, forty pieces of artillery, 
 and five or six thousand small arms. The rebel killed and 
 wounded was not known. 
 
 Sherman was now ordered to return to Chattanooga ; but, 
 receiving permission to make a circuit by the north, as far 
 as Hiawassee, he did so, destroying railroads and capturing 
 stores. "This," says Sherman, "was to have been the limit 
 of our journey. Officers and men had brought no luggage 
 
270 A HARD DUTY. 
 
 or provisions, and the weather was bitter cold." But at 
 this moment, Grant received a dispatch from Burnside, at 
 Knoxville, saying that his supplies would not last a week 
 longer, and asking for help. To reach him, nearly ninety 
 miles distant, in that time, would require heavy marching ; 
 but Burnside and Knoxville must be saved, if human effort 
 could do it. Grant at once ordered Granger to march; but 
 finding that he would not have the necessary force, and, 
 moreover, that he u moved with reluctance and complaint," 
 he determined; "notwithstanding the fact that the two 
 divisions of Sherman s forces had marched from Memphis, 
 and had gone into battle immediately on their arrival at 
 Chattanooga, to send him with his command," including 
 Granger s. This was assigning him a fearful task, and the 
 iron Commander, though shrinking from no effort where 
 duty called, felt that it was asking a hard thing of his brave, 
 exhausted men. The language he uses in regard to it, 
 shows this, and also reveals the grand character of the man. 
 " Seven days before," says he, u we had left our camps on 
 the other side of the Tennessee, with two days rations, 
 without a change of clothing, stripped for the fight, with but 
 a single blanket or coat per man from myself to the private 
 included. Of course, we then had no provisions save what 
 we gathered by the road, and were ill supplied for such a 
 march. But we learned that twelve thousand of our fellow- 
 soldiers were beleaguered in the mountain town of Knox 
 ville, eighty-four miles distant ; that they needed relief, and 
 must have it in three days. Tliis ivas enough, and it liad to 
 le done." Noble words, from a noble man! His tired 
 troops, though feeling that others could better make this 
 long march, cheerfully consented to go, and that very night 
 started forward. By daylight, they had made fifteen miles, 
 and, on the 2nd of December, marched twenty-six, pushing 
 the enemy, that attempted to delay their advance, before them. 
 
RELIEF OF BURNSIDE. 271 
 
 In the meantime, Burnside was severely pressed. Having 
 only some twelve thousand men, he had been obliged to 
 fall back before Longstreet with his overwhelming force. 
 Recrossing the Tennessee, which he had passed in his advance, 
 and fighting as he retired, he was finally compelled to take 
 refuge in Knoxville. Longstreet, confident of success, then sat 
 down in regular siege before the place, knowing its reduction 
 a certainty unless it should be relieved. Fearing its reinforce 
 ment, he made a desperate assault upon its strong works, but 
 was repulsed with heavy loss. The near approach of Sherman 
 now caused him to abandon his siege of twenty days. It 
 was hoped that, being cut off from Bragg, his Corps would 
 be captured or dispersed; but, passing around the strong 
 hold that he could not capture, he retreated towards Vir 
 ginia. Burnside pursued him, and an engagement took 
 place at Beams 1 Station, but Longstreet succeeded in falling 
 back without serious loss, and eventually opened up his 
 communications with Richmond. 
 
 Sherman had pushed forward with great celerity. But 
 the rebels burning the bridges in their retreat, he feared 
 he might be delayed till Burnside would despair of succor, 
 and he therefore ordered Colonel Long, commanding his 
 cavalry brigade, to take his fleetest, strongest animals, and 
 hurry forward, and be in Knoxville in twenty-four hours " at 
 whatever cost of life or horse-flesh." The distance was forty 
 miles, and the roads horrible. But this gallant Commander 
 accomplished the task assigned him, and the clatter of his 
 horses hoofs in the streets of Knoxville, on the night of the 
 3rd, sent joy to the hearts of the beleaguered little army. 
 Sherman continued to advance till the night of the 5th, 
 when a messenger arrived from Burnside, saying* that Long- 
 street had raised the siege. Sending on Granger s two 
 divisions to Knoxville, he then halted his army, for his work 
 was done. He himself rode on to Knoxville, to see Burn side. 
 He then leisurely returned, with his wearied army, to Chatta- 
 
272 HARD WORK. 
 
 nooga. The work it had done was chiefly of a character 
 not to attract public attention, but it deserved higher enco 
 miums than though it had won a victory. With short rations, 
 poorly protected from the weather, sometimes barefooted, it 
 had marched four hundred miles through the enemy s country, 
 without sleep for three successive nights crossed the Ten 
 nessee, borne the brunt of the fight at Chattanooga, pursued the 
 flying enemy into Georgia, then wheeled about and, by forced 
 marches for nearly a hundred miles, compelled Longstreet 
 to raise the siege of Knoxville, and then had marched back 
 again. 
 
 East Tennessee was saved in fact, a great part of the 
 Valley of the Mississippi ; for, had Knoxville and Chatta 
 nooga fallen, Grant could hardly have made a stand short 
 of Nashville. And yet, the probabilities all were that these 
 two places would fall. Grant knew that he could not long 
 remain at Chattanooga with the rebel batteries crowning the 
 heights that overlooked it; while, without help from him, 
 Burnside must surrender. His only hope lay in the suc 
 cessful assault of the enemy s works. But this was a des 
 perate measure, in which he knew the chances were against 
 him. Still, it must be taken, or all be lost. Thanks to his 
 brilliant strategy, and the bravery of his troops, he succeeded, 
 and the turning point of the rebellion was gained. 
 
 While these momentous events were transpiring in East 
 Tennessee, Banks, at New Orleans, was busy in his Department, 
 and great results were expected from the army under his 
 command, though no formidable rebel force confronted him. 
 
 In September, having been reinforced from Grant s army, 
 he sent General Franklin to seize Sabine City, situated on 
 the Sabine River. Commodore Bell, commanding the Gulf 
 Squadron, detached four gunboats, under Lieutenant-Com 
 manding Crocker, to co-operate with him, assisted by a 
 hundred and eighty sharp-shooters from the army. The 
 batteries, however, proved too powerful for the gunboats. 
 
TEXAS EXPEDITION. 273 
 
 The Clifton and Sachem were disabled, and captured with 
 all on board, and the expedition returned to Brashear City. 
 The army afterward advanced, and, on the 21st of October, 
 occupied Opelousas, and quite a severe fight occurred, Nov. 
 3d, near Bayou Bourbeaux General Washburn commanding. 
 
 In September, Little Rock, Arkansas, was captured by 
 General Steele. 
 
 In November, an important expedition was made into 
 Texas. The garrison at Esperanza fled at our approach, 
 after blowing up the magazine, and ten guns were cap 
 tured. Brazos Island, Point Isabel and Brownsville were 
 in Banks hands on the 9th of November. From this point, 
 the army marched north-east a hundred miles, to Aranzas, 
 capturing three guns and a hundred prisoners. General 
 A. J. Hamilton, of Texas, having been appointed Military 
 Governor of the State, by the President, accompanied the 
 army, and every one looked to the expulsion of Magruder 
 Commander of the rebel forces and the speedy establishment 
 of Federal authority. But not long after, the expedition 
 was abandoned, and General Banks returned to New Orleans, 
 followed by Hamilton. Washburn soon after left the army, 
 and Major-General Dana was placed in chief command. 
 
 News of a projected movement against Mobile took the 
 place of news from the army in Texas, and its failure there 
 seemed to die out of mind. Festivities, balls and masquer 
 ades occupied the winter months in New Orleans, arfd 
 military matters were kept in abeyance. Preparations were 
 also made for an election to come off in February, and Banks 
 devoted himself to the civil duties of his Department not the 
 least of which was the question of compensated labor. The 
 large number of slaves made. suddenly free must work, and 
 to a great extent under their old masters, and therefore it 
 was important that some just and equitable system be adopt 
 ed, and power given to enforce it. 
 
CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 ARMY OF THE POTOMAC MEADE S ADVANCE TO THE RAPIDAN COMPELLED 
 
 TO RETREAT GALLANTRY OF KILPATRICK AND THE CAVALRY BATTLE OF 
 
 BRISTOW STATION SUCCESSES AT KELLY s FORD AND RAPPAHANNOCK 
 
 STATION MEADE S SECOND ADVANCE TO THE RAPIDAN THE RETREAT 
 
 WINTER QUARTERS AVERILL^S RAID IN WESTERN VIRGINIA NATIONAL 
 
 CEMETERY AT GETTYSBURG THE PRESIDENT S PROCLAMATION OF AMNESTY- 
 PROPOSITION TO ADMIT REBEL STATES INTO THE UNION POLITICAL EXCITE 
 MENT CHANGE OF PLAN IN CARRYING ON THE WAR GRANT MADE 
 
 IN the East, the Army of the Potomac had remained 
 comparatively quiet, but, on the approach of Autumn, 
 it again assumed offensive operations, for it was necessary to 
 occupy the attention of Lee, as he was sending reinforce 
 ments to Bragg. A general advance of the army was 
 therefore determined upon, about the middle of September. 
 Pleasanton was directed first to cross the Rappahannock, and 
 attack the rebel cavalry picketing the river in the neighbor 
 hood of Culpepper. Gregg crossed at Sulphur Springs, 
 Buford at Rappahannock Bridge, and Kilpatrick at Kelly s 
 Ford. These, moving on Culpepper, attacked Stuart, who 
 held the town, and, after an obstinate fight, drove him out, 
 capturing three guns. Meade now advanced, and crossing 
 the river with his entire army, made the place his head 
 quarters, with the cavalry guarding his flanks and rear. 
 Lee, in the meantime, lay encamped near Orange Court 
 House, and, though much inferior in numbers, boldly crossed 
 the Rapidan on the 9th of October, and, by a skillful move 
 ment, completely outflanked Meade, which compelled the 
 latter to break up his camp and retreat losing some of his 
 
A GALLANT CHARGE. 275 
 
 stores in his hasty retrogade movement. Pleasanton, with 
 the cavalry, remained behind to watch the enemy, and then 
 slowly retired toward the retreating army. Buford had 
 been forced back more rapidly than Kilpatrick, whose com 
 mand with Davis over the right brigade, and Ouster over 
 the left fell back more slowly. When the latter reached 
 Brandy Station, he found that the former, ignorant of his 
 movements, was far in advance, leaving his right entirely 
 exposed. To make matters worse, Stuart had passed around 
 his left, so that Kilpatrick, with whom was Pleasanton him 
 self, was suddenly cut off. This gallant leader saw at a 
 glance the peril of his position, and, riding to a slight emi 
 nence, took a hasty survey of the ground before him. He 
 then gave his orders, and three thousand swords leaped 
 from their scabbards, and a long, loud shout rolled over the 
 field. With a heavy line of skirmishers thrown out, to pro 
 tect his flanks and rear, he moved in three columns straight 
 on the rebel host, that watched his coming. At first, the 
 w^ell-closed columns advanced on a walk, while the batteries 
 of Remington and Elder played with fearful precision upon 
 the hostile ranks. He thus kept on, till within a few hundred 
 yards of the rebel lines, when the band struck up "Yankee 
 Doodle." The next instant, a hundred bugles pealed the 
 charge, and away, with gleaming sabres and a wild hurrah, 
 went the clattering squadrons. As they came thundering 
 on, the hostile lines parted and let them pass proudly 
 through. Buford was soon overtaken, and a line of battle 
 formed ; for the rebels, enraged to think they had let Kil 
 patrick off so easily, reorganized, and now advanced to the 
 attack. A fierce cavalry battle followed, lasting till after 
 dark. Pleasanton, Buford, Kilpatrick, Ouster and Davis again 
 and again led charges in person. It seemed as if the leaders 
 on both sides were determined to test, on the plains of Brandy 
 Station, the question of superiority between the cavalry ; for 
 
276 BRISTOW STATION. 
 
 the charges, on both sides, were of the most gallant and des 
 perate character. The dark masses would drive on each 
 other, through the deepening gloom, with defiant yells, 
 while the flashing sabres struck fire as they clashed and rung 
 in the fierce conflict. At length, the rebels gave it up, and 
 our cavalry, gathering up its dead and wounded, crossed 
 the Rappahannock. The army fell back along the railroad, 
 from Saturday night till Wednesday, without bringing on a 
 general engagement. To the Second Corps, commanded by 
 Warren, was assigned the difficult task of guarding its rear. 
 At daylight on Wednesday, this Corps took up its march 
 along the south side of the Orange and Alexandria railroad, 
 and moved to Bristow Station, about three miles from 
 Manassas Junction. As the advance, under General Webb, 
 was crossing Broad Run, about noon, there suddenly came 
 out of the woods north of the railroad, not more than a 
 hundred yards distant, explosion after explosion of cannon, 
 and the next moment, the heads of the rebel columns 
 appeared in view. The attack was totally unexpected, and 
 was designed to throw the Corps into confusion. But War 
 ren, whose clear head no surprise could unsettle, at once, with 
 that tactical skill for which he is so remarkable, threw his 
 army into position along the railroad, and awaited the onset. 
 Hurrying up his artillery, and planting it with consummate 
 judgment, he soon rained a terrible fire on the rebel ranks. 
 Scarce ten minutes had elapsed after the first sudden explo 
 sion of artillery, before our batteries were throwing their 
 shells with fatal precision into those of the enemy. So 
 horrible was the fire, that the rebels soon left their pieces 
 in dismay, and fled to the woods. As the smoke lifted, and 
 disclosed six of them standing deserted in the field, Warren 
 detailed ten men from each regiment to bring them off. 
 They bounded forward with a shout, and seizing them and 
 wheeling them on the retreating foe, fired a parting salute, 
 
DARING OF LEE. 277 
 
 then dragged five of them back within their lines, amid the 
 wildest cheering of their comrades. The rebel infantry now 
 charged Warren s position, but were met with such a wither 
 ing fire that they broke for the woods, to form again. After 
 five hours of fighting, the rebel leaders gave it up, and 
 retired to the woods, from which they kept up an irregular 
 artillery fire till dark, when they fell back with a loss of 
 some thirteen hundred in killed, wounded and prisoners, six 
 pieces of artillery, and two battle-flags. 
 
 This was Warren s first battle as sole Commander, and the 
 way he fought it showed the highest skill and capacity as a 
 General. Meade, in his congratulatory order, said: "The 
 skill and promptitude of Major-General Warren, and the 
 gallantry and bearing of the officers and soldiers of the 
 Second Corps, are entitled to high commendation." 
 
 Lee, having forced Meade to fall back to the line of Bull 
 Run, destroyed, the Orange and Alexandria railroad from 
 the Rapidan to Manassas. He deserved a good deal of 
 credit for this skillful movement, for, with an army much 
 inferior to Meade s at the outset, he had sent off a large 
 body to reinforce Bragg ; then with his comparatively small 
 force, had boldly assumed the offensive, and forced our army 
 into a retreat. 
 
 On the 7th of the next month, Generals French and 
 Sedgwick attacked a portion of the rebel army at Kelly s 
 Ford, taking about five hundred prisoners. The Rappahan- 
 nock Station was protected by several strong forts. On the 
 north side was a fort and two redoubts, held by a force two 
 thousand strong. Against these, French and Sedgwick 
 next moved, with great rapidity, and, having cut off the 
 enemy s retreat, stormed them the Sixth Maine, Fifth 
 Wisconsin and Fourteenth New York forming the assaulting 
 force. As they dashed into the rifle-pits and forts, a short 
 and bloody hand-to-hand fight followed men actually 
 
278 ADVANCE OF MEADE. 
 
 grasping each other s bayonets, in the close death" struggle. 
 But in twenty minutes it was over, and then a loud and 
 thrilling cheer went up. Over sixteen hundred men, four 
 guns, and eight battle-flags, fell into our hands. 
 
 Lee now retired to his old position behind the Rapidan, 
 not so jubilant as when he advanced across it to drive 
 Meade back to the Rappahannock. The latter, stung at the 
 audacious manner in which he had been driven, by an infe 
 rior force, from the Rapidan, now made preparations to 
 advance again, and on the 26th of November, the day after 
 the battle of Missionary Ridge, {he Second Corps, under 
 General Warren, marched to the Germania Ford, and crossed 
 the river in the afternoon many of the troops wading up 
 to their nocks in the icy water. Warren then moved forward, 
 and next day, confronted the rebel army. But General 
 French, on the right, and Sykes on the left, marching by 
 different routes, had not been heard from in fact, the for 
 mer had lost his way and hence, Warren could not make 
 the attack he contemplated. But, at sundown, he advanced 
 his skirmishers, and, by his brilliant maneuvering, made the 
 enemy believe that he was about to attack him, and thus 
 gained time for the other Corps to arrive. Just before dark, 
 the First Corps, under Newton, came up, and at daylight 
 next morning, the Sixth, under Sedgwick. The line of 
 battle was at once formed, and advanced, but the enemy 
 was gone, having decamped the night before. A pursuit 
 was immediately started, and the rear-guard overtaken. 
 But a heavy rain setting in, accompanied by a dense fog, 
 it was impossible to obtain accurate knowledge of the 
 rebel position, which was a very strong one, on the west 
 bank of Mine Run. Warren, however, determined if possible 
 to bring on a battle, and, with an escort, advanced and made 
 a close personal reconnoissance of the enemy s fortifications. 
 So perilous was this bold tour along the hostile lines, that 
 
WINTER QUARTERS. 279 
 
 twenty men were killed and wounded before it was com 
 pleted. Warren having laid his plans, resolved to attack, 
 and the next morning at daylight, his Corps was in motion. 
 But the whole day was spent in maneuvering his forces, in 
 the wooded, unknown country, to thwart the rebel attempt to 
 get in his rear, and to obtain the required position. He report 
 ed to Meade that night, when it was resolved that a general 
 assault on the enemy s fortifications should take place at 
 eight o clock the next morning. But Warren ascertained, 
 at daylight, that the rebel lines had been entirely changed 
 during the night, and that his force and position w r ere such 
 that it would be foolhardiness to make the attempt, when as 
 yet the whole army was not up. Another plan was formed, 
 but abandoned, and, on the night of the 1st of December, 
 the army recrossed the Rapidan, and eventually retired to 
 winter quarters. 
 
 Thus ended the third year of the history of the Army of 
 the Potomac. Its last operations had not been successful, 
 though Warren, the young and recently-made Major- General, 
 had shown a generalship and capacity for command, which 
 made him one of the most prominent leaders in it, and 
 marked him out as one of the main pillars on which Grant 
 was to rest in his great campaign. 
 
 During this month (December), a brilliant exploit was 
 performed by General Averill, who was directed to destroy 
 the East Tennessee and Virginia railroad. It cannot be 
 described in fewer words than in his own language : 
 
 " I cut the Virginia and Tennessee railroad, at Salem, on 
 the 16th instant, and arrived safely at this point (Edray, 
 Pocahontas County, W. Va.,) with my command consisting 
 of the Second, Third and Eighth Virginia mounted infantry, 
 Fourteenth Pennsylvania, Dobson s battalion of cavalry, and 
 Ewing s battery at Salem. 
 
 " Three depots were destroyed, containing two thousand 
 
 48 
 
280 AVERILL S RAID. 
 
 barrels of flour, ten thousand bushels of wheat, one hundred 
 thousand bushels of shelled corn, fifty thousand bushels of 
 oats; two thousand barrels of meat, several cords of leather, 
 one thousand sacks of salt, thirty-one boxes of clothing, 
 twenty bales of cotton, a large amount of harness, shoes and 
 saddles, equipments, tools, oil, tar, and various other stores, 
 and one hundred wagons. 
 
 " The telegraph wire was cut, coiled and burned, for half 
 a mile. 
 
 " The water-station, turn-table and three cars were burned, 
 and the track torn up and rails heated and destroyed as 
 much as possible in six^ hours. Five bridges, and several 
 culverts, were destroyed, over an extent of fifteen miles. 
 
 " A large quantity of bridge-timber and repairing mate 
 rials were also destroyed. 
 
 " My march was retarded occasionally by the tempest in 
 the mountains, and the icy roads. I was obliged to swim 
 my command, and drag my artillery with ropes, across 
 Craig s Creek, seven times in twenty-four hours. 
 
 " On my return, I found six separate commands under 
 Generals Early, Jones, Fitz-Hugh Lee, Imboden, Jackson, 
 Echols, and McCouslin arranged in a line extending from 
 Staunton to Newport, upon all the available roads, to pre 
 vent my return. I captured a dispatch from General Jones 
 to General Early, giving me the position and that of Jack 
 son at Clifton Forge, and Covington was selected to carry. 
 
 " I marched from the front of Jones to that of Jackson, 
 at night. His outposts were pressed in, at a gallop, by the 
 Eighth Virginia mounted infantry, and the two bridges 
 across Jackson s River were saved, although fagots had 
 been piled ready to ignite. 
 
 "My column, about four miles long, hastened across, 
 regardless of the enemy, until all but my ambulances, a few 
 wagons, and one regiment, had passed, when a strong effort 
 
AVER ILL S RAID. 281 
 
 was made to retake the first bridge, in which they did not 
 succeed. 
 
 "The ambulances and some sick men were lost, and, by 
 the darkness and difficulties, the last regiment was detained 
 upon the opposite side until morning. "When it was ascer 
 tained that the enemy seemed determined to maintain his 
 position up the cliffs which overlooked the bridges, I 
 caused the bridges, which were long and high, to be de 
 stroyed, and the enemy immediately changed his position 
 to the flank and rear of the detachment which was cut off. 
 I sent orders to the remnants to destroy our wagons, and 
 come to me across the river, or over the mountains. 
 
 u They swam the river, with the loss of only four men 
 who were drowned, and joined me. In the meantime, 
 forces of the enemy were concentrating upon me, at Calla- 
 ghanX over every available road but one, which was deemed 
 impracticable, but by which I crossed over the top of the 
 Alleghanies with my command, with the exception of four 
 caissons, which were destroyed in order to increase the 
 teams of the pieces. My loss is six men drowned, one officer 
 and four men wounded, .and four officers and ninety men 
 
 missing. 
 
 :t We captured about two hundred prisoners, but have 
 retained but forty officers and eighty men, on account of 
 their inability to walk. We took also about one hundred 
 and fifty horses. 
 
 "My horses have subsisted entirely upon a very poor 
 country, and the officers and men have suffered cold, hunger 
 and fatigue with remarkable fortitude. My command has 
 marched, climbed, slid and swum three hundred and fifty-five 
 miles, since the 8th instant." 
 
 The public mind, East, had been kept in a state of 
 excitement by other than military events. During Novem 
 ber, the National Cemetery at Gettysburg, for the burial of 
 
282 AMNESTY PROCLAMATION. 
 
 the soldiers who fell there, was consecrated, with great cere 
 mony Edward Everett delivering the Address. 
 
 The most important event of December, however, was a 
 proclamation of amnesty, by the President, and a proposition 
 for the admission of. rebel States back into the Union. A 
 full pardon was granted to all who would take the following 
 oath, except the class afterwards mentioned . 
 
 " I, , do solemnly swear, in presence of Almighty God, that I 
 
 will henceforth faithfully support, protect and defend the Constitution of the 
 United States, and the "Union of the States thereunder ; and that I will, in 
 like manner, abide by and faithfully support all Acts of Congress passed 
 during the existing rebellion with reference to slaves, so long and so far as 
 not repealed, modified or held void by Congress, or by decision of the 
 Supreme Court ; and that I will, in like manner, abide by and faithfully sup 
 port all proclamations of the President, made during the existing rebellion, 
 having reference to slaves, so long and so far as not modified or declared 
 void by decision of the Supreme Court. So help me, God." 
 
 The persons exceptecl from the benefits of the foregoing provisions, are r 
 All who are, or shall have been, civil or diplomatic officers or agents of the 
 so-called Confederate Government ; all who have left judicial stations under 
 the United States, to aid the rebellion ; all who are, or shall have been, 
 military or naval officers of said so-called Confederate Government, above 
 the rank of Colonel in the Army, or of Lieutenant in the Navy ; all who 
 left seats in the United States Congress, to aid the rebellion ; all who 
 resigned commissions in the Army or Navy of the United States, and after 
 ward aided the rebellion ; and all who have engaged in any way in treating 
 colored persons, or white persons in charge of such, otherwise than lawfully 
 as prisoners of war, and which persons may have been found in the United 
 States service as soldiers, seamen, or in any other capacity. 
 
 The following portion, relating to the re-establishment of 
 the States in the Union, was met with a storm of denuncia 
 tion by the opposition, as a high-handed attempt to secure 
 electoral votes at the Presidential Election to take place the 
 next Autumn : 
 
 " And I do further proclaim, declare, and make known, that whenever in 
 any of the States of Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, 
 Alabama, Georgia, Virginia, Florida, South Carolina and North Carolina, a 
 number of persons, not less than one tenth- in number of the votes cast in 
 guch State at the Presidential Election of the year of our Lord one thousand 
 eight hundred and sixty, each having taken the oath aforesaid and not having 
 since violated it, and being a qualified voter by the election law of the State 
 existing immediately before the so-called Act of Secession, and excluding 
 
POLITICAL AGITATION. 283 
 
 all others, shall re-establish a State Government which shall be republican, 
 and in nowise contravening said oath, such shall be recognized as the true 
 Government of the State, and the State shall receive thereunder the benefits 
 of the Constitutional provision which declares that the United States shall 
 guarantee to every State in this Union a republican form of government, 
 and shall protect each of them against invasion, and, on application of the 
 Legislature, or the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened), 
 against domestic violence. 
 
 And I do further proclaim, declare, and make known that any provision 
 which may be adopted by such State Government in relation to the freed 
 people of such State, which shall recognize and declare their permanent 
 freedom, provide for their education, and which may yet be consistent, as a 
 temporary arrangement, with their present condition as a laboring, landless 
 and homeless class, will not be objected to by the National Executive. And 
 it is suggested as not improper, that, in constructing a loyal State Govern 
 ment in any State, the name of the State, the boundary, the subdivisions, 
 the Constitution, and the general code of laws, as before the rebellion, be 
 maintained, subject only to the modifications made necessary by the condi 
 tions heretofore stated, and such others, if any, not contravening said 
 conditions, and which may be deemed expedient by those framing the new 
 State Government. 
 
 To avoid misunderstanding, it may be proper to say that this proclama 
 tion, so far as it relates to State Governments, has no reference to States 
 wherein loyal State Governments have all the while been maintained. And, 
 for the same reason, it may be proper to-further say, that whether members 
 sent to Congress from any State shall be admitted to seats, constitutionally 
 rests exclusively with the respective Houses, and not to any extent with the 
 Executive. And still further, that this proclamation is intended to present 
 the people of the States wherein the National authority lias been suspended, 
 and loyal State Governments have been subverted, a mode in and by which 
 the National and loyal State Governments may be re-established within said 
 States, or in any of them ; and, while the mode presented is the best the 
 Executive can suggest, with his present impressions, it must not be under 
 stood that no other possible mode would be acceptable. 
 
 Given tinder my hand, at the City of Washington, the eighth day of De 
 cember, A. D. one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Inde 
 pendence of the United States of America the eighty-eighth. 
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN." 
 
 All during the Autumn, political matters agitated the 
 public mind almost as much as events in the field. 
 Schenck s military orders with regard to elections in Mary 
 land and Delaware, were denounced as an attempt to control 
 the polls with the bayonet ; and all felt that the fierce party 
 strife that was to be waged the coming year, would test the 
 stability of our Government more than anything that had 
 yet transpired and trembled to contemplate it. 
 
284 , A LIEUTENANT-GENERAL. 
 
 The Army of the Potomac, as we have noticed, went into 
 winter quarters near Washington, confronted by the rebel army 
 under Lee ; and Grant s army did the same at Chattanooga, in 
 front of Bragg. The calls, from time to time, for volunteers, 
 had amounted to a prodigious number, and still the war 
 seemed as far from being over as ever, and it became very 
 evident that a radical change must be made in the mode of 
 carrying it on. Scott s original plan was, to have two great 
 armies move simultaneously one down the Valley of the 
 Mississippi, and another along the Eastern coast and driving 
 the enemy before them, finally crush him somewhere in the 
 Southern States. McClellan s plan was the same ; and the 
 movements West commenced almost simultaneously with his. 
 The recall of the army from before Richmond, broke up this 
 plan, and ever since, in the East, the Government had been oc 
 cupied in defending its own Capital. This course, it was plain, 
 must be brought to a close, or the war never would be ended. 
 Halleck was evidently unequal to the task 6f grasping and 
 carrying out a great plan ; and the Secretary of War was 
 no better. Congress, had only made matters worse r by 
 its interference, and resolved, at last, to abandon it, and 
 compel the Cabinet to do the same, and so passed an Act 
 creating the office of Lieutenant-General evidently for the 
 purpose of giving General Grant that rank. The President 
 at once nominated him, and his confirmation took a heavy 
 load from the public heart. A military man, with the power 
 to grasp and the energy to carry out a great plan, and 
 embrace the vast field of operations, was at last at the head 
 of the national forces, and it was plain that the day of u quid 
 nuncs " at Washington was over. The mighty power of the 
 North, which had been hurled hither and thither with such 
 blind energy, was to be held calmly in hand, and made to 
 move like the steady, resistless tide of the ocean, on the 
 rebel forces. 
 
SHERMAN S RAID. 285 
 
 Previous, however, to the commencement of this new 
 order of things, and as if designed by Providence as a 
 preparation, a movement was made by Sherman into Central 
 Mississippi. Placing a cavalry force of nearly eight thou 
 sand under General W. F. Smith, with orders to start on the 
 1st of February from Memphis, and to move toward 
 Meridian, he himself, on the 3rd of February, with a force 
 of about twenty thousand infantry and twelve hundred 
 cavalry, and provisions for twenty days, took his departure 
 from Vicksburg. His march was easterly, across the Big 
 Black River, by way of Champion Hills, Clinton and Jack 
 son. Moving rapidly eastward scattering the astonished 
 enemy as he advanced by the middle of the month, he was 
 at Meridian, the center of a network of railroads. Here he 
 halted, and waited for Smith s cavalry, but it did not come. 
 This officer did not start till the llth, and had advanced 
 only a little beyond Okalona, when he was met by the 
 enemy. Ordering a retreat, he was attacked and defeated 
 badly, and finally succeeded in reaching Memphis with his 
 command completely disorganized. Sherman intended to 
 cut off Mobile from Johnston, who had succeeded Bragg in 
 the command of the Confederate army ; confuse and cut up, 
 as much as possible, Polk s army, that was confronting him ; 
 destroy military depots, supplies, &c. ; and, if everything 
 should work favorably, swoop down on Mobile, on which Far- 
 ragut was pounding. But Smith s defeat put a stop to his 
 movements. He did not dare to advance further without 
 that cavalry force, and so he leisurely retraced his steps to 
 Yicksburg, followed at a respectful distance by. his cautious 
 adversary. 
 
 This expedition was designed to be an important one, and 
 the public expected great results from it ; but the failure 
 of the cavalry force to co-operate with it, converted it into 
 a raid. Yet, in moving across the whole State of Missis- 
 
286 USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 sippi, for a hundred and thirty miles, he had not merely 
 caused great destruction, and terror among the inhabitants, 
 but had tested practically the capacity of the country to 
 feed an army, and doubtless obtained that knowledge which 
 afterward made him attempt the bold and daring march 
 across the State of Georgia. 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 GRANT AT THE HEAD OF ALL OUR ARMIES SHERMAN APPOINTED OVER GRANTS 
 
 DEPARTMENT WEST A SURVEY OF THE WHOLE FIELD FARRAGUT AT MO- 
 
 BILE CALL FOR FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND MEN BUTLER ? S FAILURE BEFORE 
 
 RICHMOND THE EXPEDITION INTO FLORIDA UNDER GENERAL SEYMOUR 
 
 BATTLE OF OLUSTEE KILPATRICK s BOLD ATTEMPT TO LIBERATE OUR 
 
 PRISONERS IN RICHMOND DEATH OF COLONEL DAHLGREN FORREST S RAID 
 
 IN KENTUCKY SURRENDER OF UNION CITY ATTACK ON PADUCAH DAS 
 TARDLY CONDUCT OF THE REBELS ATTACK ON FORT PILLOW THE MAS 
 SACRE THE REBELS ATTACK PLYMOUTH, NORTH CAROLINA A REBEL IRON 
 CLAD ATTACKS THE MIAMI AND SOUTHFIELD, SINKING THE LATTER EVACUA 
 TION OF PLYMOUTH POPULAR INDIGNATION. 
 
 TjlVERYTHING now seemed ready for the great change 
 Tj that took place the next month, when Lieutenant- 
 General Grant was put at the head of all the armies of the 
 Union. The same order of the 12th of March, that gave 
 him this high position, assigned to Sherman the command 
 of the Department of the Mississippi composed of the 
 minor Departments of the Ohio, the Cumberland, the Ten 
 nessee, and Arkansas in short, the command vacated by 
 Grant. Under him, was a group of lieutenants rarely 
 equaled, never surpassed, in any army McPherson, Hooker, 
 Thomas, Howard, Hurlbut, Logan and Schofield. It was a 
 grand army, and grandly officered. 
 
 Grant, in Washington, at once went back to the original 
 military plan of moving two armies simultaneously south 
 one east, and the other west of the Alleghanies. Richmond 
 and Atlanta were the objective points, which, when once 
 reached the former the head, and the latter the heart of 
 the Confederacy the two mighty armies could steadily 
 
288 SURVEi" OF THE FIELD. 
 
 approach each other, crushing and grinding whatever lay 
 between them. As Grant, from his high position, took a 
 glance at the work before him, what a spectacle met his 
 gaze ! Never before had one Commander surveyed such a 
 vast field of operations, and looked over such a mighty 
 array, subject to his single control. From the Potomac to 
 the Rio Grande, for five thousand miles, arose the smoke of 
 camp-fires, and stood embattled hosts awaiting his bidding. 
 To aid him in the gigantic task before him, six hundred 
 vessels of war lined the rivers and darkened the coast for 
 twenty-five hundred miles, while four thousand guns lay 
 ready to send their stern summons into rebel defenses. 
 
 Soon, the effect of Grant s grand designs began to be 
 felt, though scarcely seen by the public eye. Railways 
 groaned under the weight of soldiers returning to their 
 regiments; the rivers were black with transports bearing 
 ordnance and supplies, and the entire North trembled under 
 the tremendous preparations going forward. It was no single 
 isolated battle that Grant contemplated, but mighty, unceas 
 ing blows to be dealt by the colossal force under his com 
 mand. It was to be a final struggle between the North and 
 South the last fatal interlocking of the two giants in a 
 death grapple. 
 
 We needed a practical head like his, over the Navy 
 Department. If the naval power of the South had borne 
 any proportion to its land forces, this want would have been 
 felt in a deplorable manner. But our naval strength was so 
 overwhelmingly preponderant, that great disasters were 
 almost impossible. But the feelings of our naval Commanders 
 may be gathered from Farragut s dispatches from before 
 Mobile, on the outer forts of whose Bay he was fiercely 
 pounding, while Sherman was traversing the State of Mis 
 sissippi with the hope of lending him a helping hand. In 
 the latter part of January, he had made a bold reconnoissance 
 
FARRAGUT AT MOBILE. 289 
 
 of Forts Morgan and Gaines, and, as a result of his observa 
 tions, wrote to the Secretary of the Navy that he was satis 
 fied that if he had had but a single iron-clad, he could have 
 u destroyed the whole force in the Bay, and reduced the 
 forts at his leisure." In the latter part of February, he 
 shelled Fort Powell Two or three months later, he wrote : 
 " I deeply regret that the Department has not been able to 
 give us one of the many iron-clads that are off Charleston 
 and on the Mississippi. I have always looked for the latter, 
 but it appears that it takes its twice, as long to build an iron 
 clad as any one else. It looks as if the contractors and the 
 fates were against us. While the rebels are bending their 
 whole energies to the war, our people are expecting the 
 war to close by default, and if they do not awake to a sense 
 of their clanger soon, it will be so." This was very plain 
 talk, by one who stood at the head of the navy, to the 
 Secretary, and shows how differently things would have 
 been managed if he had been allowed to control matters. 
 
 Between the victory of Chattanooga and the next May, 
 when Grant would be ready to begin his great simultaneous 
 movement of the two grand armies of the republic, there 
 was considerable activity in military affairs in various parts 
 of the country. In- January, quite a fight occurred at 
 Strawberry Plains, Tennessee, and the rebels obtained some 
 successes in Western Virginia. The President s proclama 
 tion, on the 1st of February, ordering a draft for five 
 hundred thousand men to be made on the 10th day of 
 March, showed what mighty preparations were in prospect. 
 
 Butler, having heard that Richmond was weakly garri 
 soned, started an expedition to liberate the prisoners there, 
 but it turned out a miserable failure. 
 
 One of the most important expeditions or, at least, most 
 talked about was one under General Seymour, that left 
 Port Royal, the fore part "of the month, for Jacksonville, 
 
290 FLORIDA EXPEDITION. 
 
 Florida. It was composed of twenty steamers, eight 
 schooners, and about five thousand troops. It left Hilton 
 Head on the morning of the 6th, and occupied Jacksonville 
 the next day. Gillmore, the Commander of the Department, 
 said the object of the expedition was: First, to procure an 
 outlet for cotton, lumber, timber, &c. * Second, to cut off 
 one of the enemy s sources of supplies. Third, to obtain 
 recruits for any colored regiments. And last, "to inaugu 
 rate measures for the speedy restoration of Florida to her 
 allegiance, in accordance with instructions received from the 
 President, by tlie hands of Major John Hay, Assistant Adjutant- 
 General" The three first reasons might as well have been 
 omitted, as the last was the true one. Seymour, in accord 
 ance with his instructions, pushed a force on to Baldwin, 
 twenty miles from Jacksonville, while another portion was 
 sent forward to Sanderson. These preliminary steps being 
 taken, Gillmore returned to Jacksonville, leaving Seymour 
 in command in the field. The latter, on his own responsi 
 bility, now determined to advance inland a hundred miles, 
 without supplies, in order to destroy the railroad, near the 
 Savannah River. On the 18th, the army left its camp at 
 Jacksonville, in light marching order, with ten days rations, 
 and made sixteen miles, over bad roads, that day. The 
 next day, it marched seventeen miles, and encamped at a 
 place called Barber s. In the morning, the march was 
 resumed, the objective point being Lake City, nearly forty 
 miles distant ; but the columns had proceeded only sixteen 
 or eighteen miles, when the enemy s skirmishers were met. 
 Pushing these back four miles, the army came upon the 
 rebels in force. The columns were at once deployed, and 
 Hamilton s battery ordered forward to within a hundred and 
 fifty yards of the hostile line. This close proximity, of 
 course, brought the gunners completely under the fire of the 
 sharpshooters. It went in with four pieces, fifty horses, 
 
BATTLE OF OLUSTEE. 291 
 
 eighty-two men and four officers. In twenty minutes, half 
 of the guns, half of the officers, more than half of the men, 
 and all but ten of the horses, were lost. The different regi 
 ments, as they came into position, were met by a murderous 
 fire. One broke, another got out of place, and yet the 
 conflict raged with terrible ferocity. Seymour was every 
 where present, apparently reckless of death, striving to win 
 the battle thus suddenly, unexpectedly thrown upon him; 
 but his efforts were all in vain. He succeeded only in 
 holding the men to a useless slaughter. From two o clock 
 till dark, the contest was close and deadly, when, as if by 
 mutual consent, it ceased, and Seymour, leaving most of his 
 wounded in the hands of the enemy, withdrew, and the 
 troops, foot-sore and weary, marched all night to Barber s 
 having marched over thirty miles, and fought for four hours, 
 since the previous morning. The next morning (Sunday), 
 the shattered, dispirited army continued its retreat, and did 
 not rest till it reached its old camps at Jacksonville. Over 
 one-fifth of the army of five thousand men, and five pieces 
 of artillery, were lost in this disastrous fight called the 
 battle of Olustee, because it occurred a few miles from this 
 railroad station. The whole affair caused a great deal of 
 indignation, and, as in the case of all foolish, unsuccessful 
 expeditions, every one engaged in it was blamed by turns. 
 Now the President and Hay whom he had made Major on 
 purpose to accompany the expedition were blamed ; now 
 Seymour, for being ambuscaded, and now Gillmore, for 
 allowing it to be so miserably conducted. So, too, the 
 Seventh New Hampshire, and a colored regiment, were 
 accused of losing the battle by their poltroonry. Of course, 
 an investigation was called for, while the newspapers dis 
 cussed it freely, without waiting for its developments. Gill- 
 more asserted that Seymour moved inland in direct violation 
 of his orders, and, after he started, required him, his superior, 
 
292 KILPATRICK S RAID. 
 
 to make a naval demonstration in his behalf. Seymour has 
 not seen fit to tell how much the presence of Major Hay had 
 to do with this departure from the course marked out for him 
 by Gillmore. We suspect it would be hard to fix the blame 
 on any one man. It was one of those shrewd little plans 
 got up between those at Washington and some civilians and 
 officers the success of which was intended to astonish the 
 country, and show that all the wisdom did not rest in military 
 quarters. All that need be said of it is, it was a foolish 
 expedition from the start badly carried out, and a total, 
 disgraceful failure. 
 
 The rebel General, Patton Anderson, soon after the battle, 
 did an act which should be mentioned to his honor. He 
 made out and sent in a complete list of all our prisoners in 
 his hands, both white and colored, together with a descrip 
 tion of the character of the injuries of each of the wounded. 
 This conduct was the more noticeable, being in such striking 
 contrast with the brutality shown to the blacks at Fort 
 Wagner and other places. 
 
 In the latter part of the month, Kilpatrick started on his 
 great raid for the relief of our prisoners in Richmond, which 
 were reported to be in a most suffering condition. Know 
 ing that the rebel Capital was weakly garrisoned, he thought 
 that he might, by a sudden dash, enter it and release them 
 before a sufficient force could be brought up to arrest his 
 progress. His plan was submitted to the President and 
 Secretary of War, and after due deliberation accepted, and, 
 on the last day of February, this daring leader, with four 
 thousand chosen men, left his camp at Steven sburg, and 
 marched for Ely s Ford, on the Rapidan. By the aid of a 
 daring scout named Hogan, he succeeded in capturing the 
 entire picket stationed there, without giving the alarm. Pie 
 then pushed rapidly forward, and at daylight reached 
 Spottsylvania Court House. Elated with his successful start, 
 
RICHMOND ALARMED. 293 
 
 he now moved rapidly towards the Beaver Dam Station, on 
 the Virginia Central railroad, which he reached at four 
 o clock, and where he went into camp for a few hours. 
 Colonels Dahlgren and Cook, with five hundred men, had 
 been sent across the James River, to move down its south 
 bank and release the prisoners at Belle Isle, and then with 
 them join Kilpatrick in the city, who was to enter it by the 
 Brook turnpike. The latter carried the first line of rebel 
 works, within two miles of the Capital, and opened on it 
 with his artillery, the sound of which was to be the signal 
 for Dahlgren to advance. The latter, however, misled by a 
 negro guide, did not appear, and Kilpatrick, disappointed 
 in not having his co-operation, and finding the rebel defenses 
 stronger than he had anticipated, now spent some hours in 
 reconnoitering to see if he could not find a weak place 
 where he could dash in. In the meantime, the city was 
 thrown into the wildest consternation. The bells were rung, 
 and couriers sent off to hurry up the troops on the Chicka- 
 hominy. Finding the obstacles in front of him too great to 
 be surmounted, and the hostile forces concentrating fast, he 
 was compelled reluctantly to abandon his bold design, and see 
 to the safety of his command. Falling back, he swept around 
 Richmond to the Chickahominy, which he crossed, at Meadow 
 Bridge, and went into camp in the midst of a driving storm of 
 sleet, and hail, and snow. Here he was attacked by a heavy 
 force, but succeeded, after a sharp fight, in repulsing it, and 
 moving off to Old Church, again went into camp, to wait 
 the arrival of his scattered detachments. During the day, 
 they all came in except Dahlgren s command. At length, 
 hearing that the latter was over the Pamunkey, and making 
 his way towards Gloucester Point, he moved leisurely down 
 the Peninsula, ad arrived safely at Yorktown. Dahlgren, 
 becoming separated in the darkness from his main body, 
 fought his way, with a hundred men, to within three miles 
 
294 DEATH OF DAHLGREN. 
 
 of King and Queen Court-House, where he fell into an 
 ambuscade and was shot down, and all but seventeen of his 
 party killed or taken prisoners. The body of this gallant 
 young officer was shamefully maltreated, and buried in the 
 middle of the road by the rebels, to show their savage hate. 
 They asserted, in extenuation of their conduct, that a paper 
 was found in his pocket, directing that Richmond when 
 captured should be laid in ashes and given overdo plunder. 
 This raid had a special, noble object in view, which would 
 sanction the taking of heavy risks. 
 
 The sudden appearance of the rebels, the latter part of 
 this same month, in the western part of Kentucky, took the 
 country by surprise. 
 
 On the 24th of March, Forrest,, in command of the rebel 
 forces, attacked Union City, which was surrendered by 
 Colonel Hawkins, the Commander, in a manner that called 
 forth the bitterest condemnation. The next day, the com 
 bined rebel force, numbering in all six thousand men, 
 attacked Paducah, which post was held by Colonel S. GL 
 Hicks, with six hundred and fifty-five men. On the approach 
 of the enemy, Colonel Hicks retired into Fort Anderson 
 with his little band, resolved to hold it to the last extremity, 
 while some gunboats in the river, commanded by Captain 
 Shirk, moved up to his assistance. Forrest advanced to 
 the attack, but failed to make any impression on the fort. 
 He then sent a flag of truce to Colonel Hicks, demanding 
 the surrender of the place, saying in conclusion, " If you 
 surrender, you shall be treated as prisoners of war, but if I 
 have to storm your works, you may expect no quarter." 
 Hicks very quietly replied, that he had been placed there 
 by his Government to defend the post, and should do it. 
 Forrest, however, made a base use of the flag of truce, and 
 advanced his troops, while the negotiations were going on, 
 to advantageous positions. His sharpshooters also mingled 
 
A COWARDLY ACT. 295 
 
 with the women and children that had been sent out of town 
 to avoid danger, and picked off the officers of the gunboats, 
 knowing that they could not be lired on without killing the 
 women and children. They also placed women in front of 
 their lines as they moved towards the fort a piece of 
 dastardly cowardice that can hardly be believed of any 
 American. 
 
 Forrest made three desperate assaults on the place during 
 the day, but each time was met with such a destructive fire 
 that he was repulsed with a loss of three hundred killed 
 and about a thousand wounded, while on our side only 
 sixty were killed or wounded. Finding that Colonel Hicks 
 could be neither frightened nor forced into a surrender, he 
 withdrew, and on the 12th of next month the anniversary 
 of the attack on Fort Sumter drove in the pickets of the 
 garrison of Fort Pillow. This fort was situated on a high 
 bluff on the banks of the Mississippi, and was garrisoned 
 with five hundred and fifty-seven men two hundred and 
 sixty-two of whom were colored troops. 
 
 MASSACRE AT FORT PILLOW. 
 
 The attack was made at sunrise. Major Booth, of the 
 colored troops, the senior in command, was killed about nine 
 o clock, and Major Bradford succeeded him. Forrest pressed 
 his attack vigorously, up to .three o clock, but without any 
 success. The gunboat New Era, Captain Marshall, threw 
 its shells with great effect into the rebel ranks, causing them 
 to flee from one ravine into another, as she shifted from one 
 position to another in answer to the signals from the fort. 
 Forrest, finding that he could not carry the place by assault, 
 resorted to a flag of truce, under cover of which, with true 
 Mexican duplicity, he determined to gain a position that 
 would enable him, with a single dash, to get into the fort. He 
 
 49 
 
29G MASSACRE AT FORT PILLOW. 
 
 now demanded a surrender of the place, and Major Bradford 
 asked an hour in which to consult with his officers. Forrest 
 replied that he would give him but twenty minutes, and in 
 the meantime moved his men along a ravine to the position 
 he desired. Bradford rejecting the summons to surrender, 
 the rebels made a sudden rush, and, with the cry, u No 
 quarter ! " cleared the ramparts with a bound. There was 
 no fighting overwhelmed by superior numbers, the troops, 
 black and white, threw down their arms, and precipitated 
 themselves down the steep bluff near the fort some hiding 
 themselves under the brush that lined the river shore 
 some taking refuge in the w^ater itself, and lying with 
 their heads just far enough out to allow them to breathe. 
 Then commenced a scene of cruelty and murder that 
 finds its parallel in our land only in Forts Minims and 
 Raisin. All of the savage was there the thirst for blood, 
 remorseless hate and barbarity, and fiendish yells all but 
 tke scalping-knife. Neither sex, nor age, nor color, was 
 spared everything went down before that bloody onslaught. 
 Even children were hacked to death or coolly shot down, 
 while their tearful, despairing faces were turned pleadingly 
 on their murderers. The sick were not spared by these 
 fiends, who seemed determined to enact a scene that 
 should shock the civilized world. The matter was one that 
 demanded some official action, and the Joint Committee on 
 the Conduct and Expenditures of the War appointed Messrs. 
 Wade and Gooch a sub-committee to proceed to the spot, 
 and investigate it. That we may not seem to exaggerate 
 the conduct of the rebels, we quote a portion of the report 
 of this Committee: 
 
 Immediately after the second flag of truce retired, the 
 rebels made a rush from the positions they had so treacher 
 ously gained, and obtained possession of the fort, raising 
 the cry of 4 No quarter! But little opportunity was 
 
THE MASSACRE. 297 
 
 allowed for resistance. Our troops, black and white, threw 
 down their arms, and sought to escape by running down 
 the steep bluff near the fort, and secreting themselves behind 
 trees and logs, in the bushes, and under the brush some 
 even jumping into the river, leaving only their heads above 
 the water, as they crouched down under the bank. 
 
 u Then followed a scene of cruelty and murder without a 
 parallel in civilized warfare, which needed but the tomahawk 
 and scalpiug-knife to exceed the worst atrocities ever com 
 mitted by savages. The rebels commenced an indiscriminate 
 slaughter, sparing neither age nor sex, white nor black, 
 soldier or civilian. The officers and men seemed to vie 
 with each other in the devilish 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 rebels 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 our 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 rebels stood on the top of the hill, 
 or a short distance down its side, and called to our 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 ! 
 4 No quarter ! 4 Kill the damned niggers ; shoot them 
 down ! All who asked for mercy, were answered by the 
 
298 THE MASSACKE. 
 
 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 unable to stand, were held up and again 
 shot. One negro, who had been ordered by a rebel officer 
 to hold his horse, was killed by him when he remounted ; 
 another, a mere child, whom an officer had taken up behind 
 him on his horse, was seen by Chalmers, who at once ordered 
 the officer to put him down and shoot him, which was done. 
 The huts and tents in which many of the wounded had 
 sought shelter, were set on fire, both that night and . the 
 next morning, while the wounded were still in them those 
 only escaping who were able to get themselves out, or who 
 could prevail on others less injured 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 delib 
 erately fastened down to the floor of a tent, face upward, 
 by means of nails driven through his clothing 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 of 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 much disfigured and 
 consumed by the flames that they could not be identified, 
 and the identification of that one is not absolutely certain, 
 although there can hardly be a doubt that it was the body 
 of Lieutenant Akerstrom, Quartermaster of the Thirteenth 
 Tennessee cavalry, and a native Tennesseean ; several wit 
 nesses who saw the remains, and who were personally 
 
THE MASSACRE. 299 
 
 acquainted with him while living, have testified that it is 
 their firm belief that it was his body that was thus treated. 
 " These deeds of murder and cruelty ceased when night 
 came on, only to be renewed the next morning, when the 
 demons carefully sought, 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 our gunboats, who were permitted to 
 go on shore and collect the wounded and bury the dead. 
 The rebels themselves had made a pretense 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 faces, hands and feet, were 
 found protruding through the earth in every direction. The 
 testimony 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 (Jug out by 
 others one of whom your Committee found in Mound City 
 hospital, and there examined. And even when your Com 
 mittee visited the spot, two weeks afterward, although par 
 ties of men had been sent on shore, from time to time, to 
 bury the bodies unburied, and rebury the others, and were 
 even then engaged in the same work, we found the evidences 
 of this murder and cruelty still most painfully apparent ; we 
 saw bodies still unburied (at some distance from the fort) 
 of some sick men who had been met fleeing from the hospital, 
 and beaten down and brutally murdered, and their bodies 
 left where they had fallen. We could still see the faces, 
 hands and feet of men, white and black, protruding out of 
 the ground, whose graves had not been reached by those 
 engaged in reinterring the victims of the massacre ; and, 
 
300 THE MASSACRE. 
 
 although a great deal of rain had fallen within the preceding 
 two weeks, the ground, more especially on the side and at 
 the foot of the bluff where the most of the murders had 
 been committed, was still discolored by the blood of our 
 brave but unfortunate men, and the logs and trees showed 
 but too plainly the evidences of the atrocities perpetrated 
 there. 
 
 " Many other instances of equally atrocious cruelty might 
 be enumerated, but your Committee feel compelled to refrain 
 from giving here more of the heart-sickening details, and 
 refer to the statements contained in the voluminous testimony 
 herewith submitted. Those statements were obtained by 
 them from eye-witnesses and sufferers; many of them, as 
 they were examined by your Committee, were lying upon 
 beds of pain and suffering, some so feeble that their lips 
 could with difficulty frame the words by which they endeav 
 ored to convey some idea of the cruelties which had been 
 inflicted on them, and which they had seen inflicted on 
 others. 
 
 u How many of our troops thus fell victims to the malig 
 nity and barbarity of Forrest and his followers, cannot yet 
 be definitely ascertained. Two officers belonging to the 
 garrison, were absent at the time of the capture and massacre. 
 Of the remaining officers, but two are known to be living, 
 and they are wounded, and now in the hospital at Mound 
 City. One of them, Captain Potter, may even now be dead, 
 as the surgeons, when your Committee were there, expressed 
 no hope of his recovery. Of the men, from three hundred 
 to four hundred are known to have been killed at Fort 
 Pillow of whom at least three hundred were murdered in 
 cold blood, after the post was in possession of the rebels, 
 and our men had thrown down their arms and ceased to 
 offer resistance. Of the survivors, except the wounded in 
 the hospital at Mound City, and the few who succeeded in 
 
FATE OF BRADFORD. 301 
 
 making their escape unhurt, nothing definite is known ; and 
 it is to be feared that many have been murdered after being 
 taken away from the fort. 
 
 " In reference to the fate of Major Bradford, who was in. 
 command of the fort when it was captured, and who had up 
 to that time received no injury, there seems to be no doubt. 
 The general understanding everywhere seemed to be, that 
 he had been brutally murdered the day after he was taken 
 prisoner. 
 
 " There is some discrepancy in the testimony, but your 
 Committee do not see how the one who professed to have 
 been an eye-witness of his death could have been mistaken. 
 There may be some uncertainty in regard to his fate. 
 
 " When your Committee arrived at Memphis, Tennessee 
 they found and examined a man (Mr. McLagan) who had 
 been conscripted by some of Forrest s forces, but who, with 
 other conscripts, had succeeded in making his escape. He 
 testifies that while two companies of rebel troops, with Major 
 Bradford and many other prisoners, were on their march 
 from Brownsville to Jackson, Tennessee, Major Bradford 
 was taken by five rebels one an officer led about fifty 
 yards from the line of march, and deliberately murdered, in 
 view of all there assembled. He fell killed instantly by 
 three musket-balls, even while asking that his life might be 
 spared, as he had fought them manfully, and was deserving 
 of a better fate. The motive for the murder of Major Brad 
 ford, seems to have been the simple fact that, although a 
 native of the South, he remained loyal to his Government. 
 The testimony herewith submitted, contains many statements 
 made by the rebels, that they did not intend to treat home 
 made Yankees, as they termed loyal Southerners, any better 
 than negro troops." 
 
 The testimony taken was very voluminous covering the 
 whole ground; and, that there might be no charge of 
 
302 TESTIMONY OF A PRIVATE. 
 
 unfairness, the name and rank of each witness were given, 
 together with all the questions put to him. A severe cross- 
 examination would doubtless have caused many of the state 
 ments to be modified, and have impeached the credibility of 
 some of the witnesses. As an example of the kind of testi 
 mony bearing hardest against the perpetrators of this enor 
 mous crime, we give a single statement made by a private : 
 " In about five minutes after the disappearance of the flag 
 of truce, a general assault was made upon our works from 
 every direction. They were kept at bay for some time, 
 when the negroes gave way upon the left, and ran down the 
 bluff, leaving an opening through which the rebels entered, 
 and immediately commenced an indiscriminate slaughter of 
 both white and black. We all threw down our arms, and 
 gave tokens of surrender, asking for quarter. (I was 
 wounded in the right shoulder and muscle of the back, and 
 knocked down, before I threw down my gun.) But no 
 quarter was given. Voices were heard upon all sides, 
 crying : l Give them no quarter ; kill them ; kill them ; it is 
 General Forrest s orders. I saw four white men and at least 
 twenty-five negroes shot while begging for mercy ; and I 
 saw one negro dragged from a hollow log within ten feet of 
 where I lay, and as one rebel held him by the foot another 
 shot him. These were all soldiers. There were also two 
 negro women and three little children standing within 
 twenty-five steps from me, when a rebel stepped up to them 
 and said : Yes, God damn you, you thought you were free, 
 did you? and shot them all. They all fell but one child, 
 when he knocked it in the head with the breach of his gun. 
 They then disappeared in the direction of the landing, 
 following up the fugitives, firing at them wherever seen. 
 They came back in about three-quarters of an hour, shooting, 
 and robbing the dead of their money and clothes. I saw a 
 man with a canteen upon him, and a pistol in his hand. I 
 
ATTACK ON PLYMOUTH. 303 
 
 ventured to ask him for a drink of water. He turned 
 around, saying : Yes, God damn you, I will give you a 
 drink of water, and shot at my head three different times, 
 covering my face up with dust, and then turned from me, 
 no doubt thinking he had killed me, remarking : God damn 
 you, it s too late to pray now ; then went on with his 
 pilfering. I lay there until dark, feigning death, when a 
 rebel officer came along, drawing his sabre, and ordered me 
 to get up, threatening to run his sabre into me if I did not, 
 saying I had to inarch ten miles that night. I succeeded in 
 getting up, and got among a small squad he had already 
 gathered up, but stole away from them during the night, 
 and got among the dead, feigning death, for fear of being 
 murdered. The next morning, the gunboat came up and 
 commenced shelling them out, when I crawled out from 
 among the dead, and with a piece of paper motioned to the 
 boat ; she came up, and I crawled on board. 
 
 WILLIAM F. f MAYS." 
 
 murk. 
 
 It is hard to believe that native-born American citizens 
 men brought up in the light of the civilization of the 
 Nineteenth Century, and educated under Christian influences, 
 could be guilty of such deeds. * Acts of violence have 
 been committed on both sides, during this sanguinary strug 
 gle, which are undreamed of by the public. It always has 
 been, and always will be so, in war ; but such deeds as these, 
 are not to be classed amid its ordinary cruelties, and should 
 never find a place among the records of civilization. Their 
 proper place is in the war song of the Indian, as he dances 
 around the fire in which his bleeding. captives are writhing. 
 
 Another event of considerable importance, occurred on 
 the Eastern coast, at Plymouth, North Carolina, during the 
 month. A land force of rebels made a furious attack, on 
 the 18th, upon the garrison commanded by General Wessels, 
 
304 A REBEL RAM. 
 
 but were repulsed. The next day, the iron-clad rebel ram 
 Albermarle came down the Roanoke River, and attacked 
 the Southfield and Miami. These two boats were fastened 
 together at the time, and were driven straight on the hostile 
 steamer, as she came heavily down. The latter, reckless 
 of the heavy rifled shot, that bounded like peas from her 
 mailed sides, moved fearlessly on the two boats, striking the 
 Southfield sinking her immediately, and seriously damaging 
 the Miami. Captain Flusser was killed in the engagement. 
 It was feared that the ram would soon have possession of 
 the whole Sound, and that Roanoke Island would be attacked. 
 Plymouth had to be evacuated, and the public was loud in 
 its denunciations of the Secretary of the Navy. A resolution 
 of inquiry was passed by Congress, requesting him to give 
 an explanation of the matter. 
 
CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 SANITARY FAIRS BANKS IN NEW ORLEANS INAUGURATION OF THE FREE 
 
 STATE GOVERNMENT THE RED RIVER COTTON EXPEDITION PORTER S 
 
 ASCENT OF THE RED RIVER CAPTURE OF BATTERIES BY GENERAL SMITH 
 
 MARCH OF BANKS ACROSS THE COUNTRY TO ALEXANDRIA ADVANCE INTO 
 
 THE INTERIOR DEFEAT OF BANKS RETREAT OF STEELE RETURN OF THE 
 
 GUNBOATS TO ALEXANDRIA UNABLE TO GET BELOW THE FALLS GRAND 
 
 ENGINEERING SUCCESS OF COLONEL BAILEY PASSAGE OF THE FALLS BY 
 
 THE FLEET AN EXCITING SPECTACLE PROMOTION OF BAILEY DESTRUC 
 TION OF THE GUNBOATS SIGNAL, COVINGTON, AND TRANSPORT WARNER 
 
 RETURN OF THE EXPEDITION CANBY SUPERSEDES BANKS IN THE FIELD 
 
 THE LATTER RETURNS TO NEW ORLEANS VIEW OF THE EXPEDITION. 
 
 FT1HOUGH having no direct bearing on the war, the great 
 JL Fairs throughout the country the first few months of 
 this year, deserve a special mention. The raising of funds 
 on such a gigantic scale for the relief of our wounded and 
 sick soldiers, had never before been witnessed. Independ 
 ent of the amount of good done, and the vast number of 
 soldiers thus saved to the army, it created a bond between 
 the people and the soldiers that rendered it impossible for 
 them ever to feel that their interests were separate. 
 
 Before the great decisive movements of the Spring com 
 menced, the country was destined to suffer one more morti 
 fication from the failure of an ill-starred expedition. 
 
 General Banks in New Orleans after adjusting the labor 
 system and seeing to the elections, on the 4th of March inau 
 gurated the Free State government with the most imposing 
 ceremonies. A multitude, estimated at fifty thousand in 
 number, assembled in Lafayette Square, where a platform 
 had been erected, and the newly elected Governor Hahn was 
 
306 RED RIVER EXPEDITION. 
 
 installed into office amid the firing of cannon, the playing 
 of patriotic airs, and the huzzas of the multitude. 
 
 The political machinery having been put in working order, 
 Banks could turn his attention to affairs in the field, ancl in 
 this month a combined naval and land expedition was fitted 
 out destined to become famous as the u Red River Cotton 
 Expedition." 
 
 Porter, with a large fleet of gunboats and transports car 
 rying a portion of Sherman s army under A. J. Smith, left 
 Vicksburg early in March, and proceeded towards Alexan 
 dria, where the main army, under Banks, was to meet him, 
 after having marched across the country. The objective 
 point in the expedition was Shreveport, in Caddo Parish, on 
 the Red River, some six hundred and seventy miles by water 
 from New Orleans, and a great depot for commissary stores 
 of the rebel army. On the passage up the river, Fort De- 
 Russey, a formidable work, was captured by a rapid land 
 march of Smith, together with ten guns and three hundred 
 prisoners. Alexandria surrendered to Porter without a bat 
 tle, and here, on the 17th, the land force joined him, having 
 marched a hundred and seventy miles in five days. The 
 army by land, and the gunboats by water, now moved for 
 ward toward Shreveport, some three hundred miles distant. 
 It was a long and weary march for the troops, and almost, 
 equally arduous work for the gunboats to make their way 
 up the shallow, tortuous stream. Steele, commanding in 
 Arkansas, was to co-operate with this force, moving on 
 Shreveport from Little Rock having these two objects in 
 view to keep Price, in Arkansas from joining the rebel 
 force under Kirby Smith in Louisiana, and to take Shreve 
 port in rear while Banks advanced against it in front. At 
 Mansfield, forty-five miles Jrom it, the rebels made a stand, 
 where our cavalry came up with them on the 8th of April. 
 The army was scattered over the country far back in the 
 
DEFEAT OF BANKS. 307 
 
 rear, which Kirby Smith seemed fully aware of. At first, 
 on the 7th, the cavalry, commanded by Colonel Robinson, 
 drove the enemy before it, and pursued him some fourteen 
 miles, when the column Came upon a body of infantry 
 which, after a sharp contest, was also forced back. Colonel 
 Landrum s brigade of infantry, and Colonel Lucas of cav 
 alry, coming up that night, the whole advanced in the morn 
 ing, but on arriving near Sabine Cross-Roads, they found 
 themselves suddenly confronted by fifteen or twenty thou 
 sand men. In the * meantime General Ransom with his 
 troops arrived, accompanied by General Banks. The latter 
 immediately dispatched a courier to Franklin, in the rear, to 
 hasten up with his Corps, but Kirby Smith saw his advantage, 
 and pressed it vigorously. The cavalry in front were turned 
 back in terrible rout, and the troops though struggling 
 bravely to bear up against the disorder, were also at length 
 overborne and their artillery captured their ranks being 
 broken by the fleeing wagon train which somehow had got in 
 advance. But at this critical moment, when every thing 
 seemed lost, Franklin arrived with his Corps, and waving his 
 hat above his head fell furiously upon the exulting, shouting 
 rebels. Two horses were successively shot under him, but 
 leaping to the saddle of a third, he still led on his men. 
 By his gallantry he succeeded in checking the victorious 
 progress of the rebels for a time, but he also was at last 
 borne back in the refluent tide. Fortunately, the Nineteenth 
 Army Corps under General Emory, had been advised of the 
 rout, and stood drawn up in line of battle as the fleeing 
 army came in sight. Allowing the shattered, broken col 
 umns to pass to the rear, it closed sternly up and bravely 
 breasted the storm till darkness put an end to the conflict. 
 
 In the meantime Smith, with the Sixteenth and Seven 
 teenth Army Corps, had reached Pleasant Hill, and drawn 
 up his forces behind a low ridge. The next day the rebels 
 
308 THE RETREAT. 
 
 advanced, confident of success, and Emory, whose line of 
 battle had been formed in front of Smith, and masked him, 
 after dealing the enemy a heavy blow, fell back, according 
 to pre-arrangement, when the co nfident, shouting foe dashed 
 forward in pursuit. Smith s troops lay flat on the ground 
 until the first rebel line was well up the slope, when seven 
 thousand muskets suddenly blazed in its front, and the 
 artillery swept the crowding columns with terrible slaugh 
 ter. The rebels, stunned at the suddenness and awfulness 
 of the blow, stopped and staggered back, and before they 
 could recover their senses, Smith gave the order to charge, 
 when his brave troops swept the field with a shout. 
 
 But nothing now could change the defeat into a victory, 
 and next morning the retreat was continued. Banks sent 
 word to Porter, acquainting him with his disaster, and di 
 rected him to fall back to Grand Ecore, whither he was 
 retreating. From this point the retreat was continued to 
 Alexandria without serious molestation, except at Monet s 
 Bluff, where the rebels made an attach on him, but were re 
 pulsed with heavy loss. Here he halted to save the gun 
 boats, which could not get over the falls above the place, on 
 account of low water. 
 
 In the meantime Steele had advanced from Little Rock, 
 but when near Cam den his wagon train was cut off and 
 destroyed. Marmaduke with a heavy force now confronted 
 him, and Banks having retreated, the whole rebel force was 
 free to operate against him, and he was compelled to fall back. 
 At Saline Falls, however, Price pressed him so hard that he 
 was forced to turn and give battle, and fell with such fury 
 on his pursuers, that they let him alone during the rest of 
 his retreat, and he reached Little Rock again in safety. 
 
 In the meantime the rebels were swarming along the 
 shores of the Red River, both above and below Alexandria. 
 Above, Porter was dreadfully harassed from the shores, and 
 
A GREAT ENGINEER. 309 
 
 things began to wear a gloomy aspect. There was no ap 
 pearance of a rise in the river, and without one, Porter s 
 entire fleet must be destroyed, to prevent its falling into the 
 hands of the enemy for forage was getting short, and the 
 protecting army would soon have to move. With its departure 
 all attempts to save the boats would be abandoned. In this 
 painful dilemma Lieutenant-Colonel Bailey, acting engineer 
 of the Nineteenth Army Corps, proposed to build a series 
 of dams across the rocks at the lower falls, and raise the 
 water sufficiently to let the boats pass over the upper ones. 
 His plan was ridiculed by the best engineers, but Bailey had 
 tried it before, in floating logs down the western rivers, and 
 was so sanguine of success, promising to complete the work 
 in ten days, that Banks was requested to let him attempt it. 
 Three thousand men, and two or three hundred wagons 
 were put at his disposal, and the work commenced. Those 
 quiet shores at once became a human hive, and the sound 
 of the axe, the crash of falling trees and shouts of men, 
 made the forests echo. The army and fleet looked on in 
 astonishment at this new system of engineering adopted by 
 this bold western man. On the left bank of the river, a 
 dam, made of fallen trees, was run out some three hundred feet, 
 and then four coal barges filled with brick were sunk at the 
 end. From the other shore, cribs filled with stone to meet 
 the barges, were built. The work was successfully accom 
 plished, and the water rapidly rose. In one day more it 
 would have been high enough to let the boats above the 
 upper falls pass over; when, unfortunately, on the 9th of 
 May, the pressure became so great that two of the coal 
 barges were forced downward from their position, and swung 
 round at right angles to the dam. The water immediately 
 began to pour through like a cataract. Porter saw with a 
 sinking heart the catastrophe, for he feared the men would 
 have no heart to rebuild the dam. Determined if possible 
 
310 PASSAGE OF THE BOATS. 
 
 to save some of his vessels, he jumped upon a horse and gal 
 loping up stream, ordered the Lexington to try to pass the 
 falls. She succeeded, and then headed straight for the fear 
 ful shute in the dam. Tens of thousands lined the shores, 
 watching with breathless interest the perilous movement. 
 Not a sound but the low steady rush of the torrent broke 
 the stillness as she neared the boiling maelstrom. Crowding 
 on all steam, her gallant Commander stood and calmly 
 watched the approaching crisis. The vessel, impelled by a 
 full head of steam, and the swiftly descending, sloping hill 
 of water, rushed like a inad thing toward what seemed cer 
 tain destruction. Leaping into the boiling cauldron, she 
 settled heavily in the surge, and, for a moment, seemed 
 going to the bottom. Rolling heavily from side to side, she 
 at length caught on a. rock, and hung for an instant sus 
 pended in the torrent, then, rising slowly, swept off into 
 deep water, and rounded quietly to. The watching, excited 
 multitude that had not uttered a word while the fate of the 
 vessel was held in a fearful crisis, now rent the heavens 
 with deafening shouts. From shore to shore the wild cheers 
 echoed, and again and again were taken up and sent in 
 thunder toward the sky. The Neosho now tried it, but the 
 pilot becoming frightened as the vessel approached the 
 abyss, stopped her engine. Porter , saw the fatal mistake, 
 and watched to see her disappear iff the tumultuous waters. 
 Her hull went out of sight, and jshe seemed lost, but slowly 
 lifting herself again, she heave^forward and passed through, 
 though with a hole in her bottom. The partial success of 
 the experiment encouraged the men to rebuild the clam; 
 though they had been working for eight days and nights up to 
 their necks in water, they cheerfully entered on the herculean 
 task. Bailey now left a gap of fifty feet in the darn, to 
 avoid the tremendous pressure of the water, and built wing 
 dams on the falls above, so as to make a deep channel for the 
 
THE FLEET SAVED. 311 
 
 current. In three days the work was accomplished, and on 
 the llth and 12th six gunboats and two tugs were got 
 over the upper falls. They then one after another, with 
 their hatches battened down, took the shute of the dam, 
 cheered loudly by the whole army as they successively passed 
 safely through. It was a great engineering success the 
 entire fleet being saved thanks to the skill of an engineer 
 who dared to attempt an undertaking that all had ridiculed. 
 Porter could hardly moderate his delight at this Unexpected 
 deliverance of his fleet, and heaped encomiums tfn Bailey, 
 whom the Government very properly rewarded with the 
 star of a Brigadier-General. 
 
 Porter in his report said : " Words are inadequate to ex 
 press the admiration I feel for the abilities of Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Bailey. This is, without doubt, the best engineer 
 ing feat ever performed. Under the best circumstances a 
 private company would not have completed this work under 
 one year, and, to an ordinary mind, the whole thing would 
 have appeared an impossibility. Leaving out his abilities as 
 an engineer, and the credit he has conferred upon the country, 
 he has saved to the Union a valuable fleet worth nearly two 
 millions of dollars. More, he has deprived the enemy of a 
 triumph which would have emboldened them to carry on 
 this war a year or two longer ; for the intended departure 
 of the army was a fixed fact, and there was nothing left for 
 me to do, in case that event occurred, but to destroy every 
 part of the vessels, so that the rebels could make nothing 
 of them. The highest honors the Government can bestow 
 on Colonel Bailey can never repay him for the service he 
 has rendered the country." 
 
 The fleet, however, did not get off entirely scatheless. 
 The gunboats Signal and Covington, having been sent down 
 the river from Alexandria to convoy the Warner, a boat 
 loaded with cotton, unexpectedly came upon a series of 
 
 50 
 
312 A DISASTER. 
 
 rebel batteries about thirty miles from the place. These 
 batteries were so concealed, that their existence was not 
 dreamed of until they opened on the boat loaded with 
 cotton piercing her boilers almost instantly, and sending 
 her, a helpless wreck, against the opposite bank. The rebel 
 troops fired at the same time with musketry, .killing and 
 wounding nearly two hundred soldiers that were aboard of 
 her. Others were killed in trying to escape to the shore. 
 The Signal and Covington at once rounded to and pushed 
 back to help the transport, but soon found that they had 
 enough to do to take care of themselves. Their steam pipes 
 were soon cut, and their boilers perforated with shot, yet 
 they gallantly maintained the unequal contest for five hours. 
 Lieutenant George P. Lord, commanding the Covington, 
 fired his last charge of ammunition then spiked his guns, 
 set fire to his vessel, and with what was left of his crew, 
 escaped to the shore. Soon the flaming boat blew up with 
 a loud explosion. Lieutenant Edward Morgan, of the Sig 
 nal, maintained the contest for half an hour longer, but find 
 ing that he was only exposing his men to useless slaughter, 
 abandoned it. His decks being strewn with the wounded 
 who had gallantly stood by him to the last, he could not 
 consent to set fire to his vessel, and so he gave permission 
 for all to escape as they best could. But few, however, got 
 off, for in attempting to climb the opposite bank they became 
 a fair mark for the sharp-shooters, and were dropped, one 
 after another, into the river. 
 
 When Banks heard of this disaster, he seat out a body of 
 cavalry and dispersed the rebels. 
 
 Both fleet and army now came back to the Mississippi, 
 and Canby was sent to take the place of Banks in the field, 
 while the latter returned to New Orleans to confine himself 
 to the civil duties of his department. This ended his mili 
 tary career of which his friends had expected so much. 
 
BAD ECONOMY. 313 
 
 The expedition, whoever planned it, was a foolish one, while 
 Banks, in carrying it out, showed a great lack of military 
 sagacity. With the enemy in his immediate front, he was 
 caught with his army widely scattered apart, and his trains 
 anywhere but where they should have been. Beaten in detail, 
 he w^as driven back in disgrace, and the whole expedition 
 turned out a mortifying failure, and came very near being a 
 great catastrophe. Its chief object seemed to have been to 
 gather cotton, of which large quantities were known to be 
 in this section. It was a bad speculation, however, on the 
 part of the Government, and most disastrous to the military 
 reputation of the Commander. If Franklin, whom the Sec 
 retary of War had sent to Banks in a fit of spleen, had been 
 at the head of it, a different result would have been reached. 
 It is proper to state that though this expedition was start 
 ed almost simultaneously with the movement of the two 
 great armies under Sherman and Grant, it had no connection 
 whatever with it. It w^as organized previous to the assump 
 tion of supreme command by Grant, or it never would have 
 been organized at all. It had been sanctioned by those un 
 fortunate strategists, Halleck and Stanton, and hence had to 
 proceed. Nothing was left for Grant to do but to hurry it 
 forward as fast as possible, and have it out of his way before 
 his great movements commenced. Hence, as far back as the 
 15th of March, he notified Banks of the importance of cap 
 turing Shreveport at the earliest possible day, and that if he 
 should " find that the taking of it would occupy from ten to 
 fifteen days more time than General Sherman had given to 
 his troops to be absent from their command he would send 
 them back at the time specified by General Sherman, even 
 if it led to the abandonment of the main object of the Red 
 River expedition,- for this force was necessary to movements 
 east of the Mississippi ; that should his expedition prove 
 successful, he would hold Shreveport and the Red River 
 
314 GRANT S INSTRUCTIONS. 
 
 with such force as he might deem necessary, and return the 
 balance of his troops to the neighborhood of New Orleans, 
 commencing no move for the further acquisition of territory 
 unless it was to make that then held by him more easily 
 held ; that it might be a part of the spring campaign to 
 move against Mobile ; that it certainly would be if troops 
 enough could be obtained to make it without embarrassing 
 other movements ; that New Orleans would be the point of 
 departure for such an expedition ; also that he had directed 
 General Steele to make a real move from Arkansas as sug 
 gested by him, (General Banks,) instead of a demonstration, 
 as Steele thought advisable." 
 
 Grant told him, moreover, to move as quickly as possible 
 abandon Texas altogether, and, leaving only a portion of 
 his army to guard the Mississippi, to prepare to co-operate 
 with Farragut against Mobile. This would keep a part of the 
 Southern army away from Richmond, while the farther he 
 went toward Shreveport, the less use he was to Grant. Hence, 
 as we have said, the only interest the General-in Chief took 
 in the expedition, was to have it over with as speedily as 
 possible. 
 
 But all these battles and expeditions in the East and West, 
 were isolated affairs, having no bearing on the mighty move 
 ment about to be made. They caused some noise and much 
 angry feeling and vituperation, but the burdened trains and 
 crowded boats, steadily moving without noise and observation, 
 southward, were the really great events of those four months. 
 These separate successes or disasters were the mere by-play 
 to the great drama about to open the dim and far-off 
 flashes along the edge of the storm-cloud, which was soon 
 to darken all the heavens, and shake the earth with its 
 thunder. 
 
CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 GRANT S DELAY IN FRONT OF WASHINGTON THE PRESIDENT S DETERMINATION 
 
 NOT TO INTERFERE ANY, MORE WITH THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC THE TWO 
 
 ARMIES MOVE THE ATLANTA CAMPAIGN ITS DIFFICULTIES COMPOSITION 
 
 AND STRENGTH OF*SHERMAN s ARMY D ALTON FLANKED BATTLE OF RE- 
 
 SACA A FIERCE STRUGGLE FIGHT AT DALLAS ALLATOONA FLANKED BAT 
 TLE OF KENESAW MOUNTAIN DEATH OF MAJOR-GENERAL POLK SHERMAN 
 
 DIRECTS THE SHOT THAT KILLS HIM SHERMAN S FIRST DEFEAT KENESAW 
 
 FLANKED THE CHATTAHOCHEE REACHED AND CROSSED ATLANTA IN SIGHT. 
 
 THE long delay of Grant in front of Washington awak 
 ened much surprise, but he had resolved not to move 
 till he was ready. No order to move at a certain day, like 
 that of President Lincoln formerly to the Army of the Poto 
 mac, without consulting the General-in-Chief, was given. 
 The public might grumble and grow impatient, but he had 
 learned from experience the folly of such a course, and deter 
 mined to let Grant take his own time, if he did not move till 
 mid-summer. The lesson he had learned, had been a costly 
 one to the country, and to our brave soldiers, but it was 
 learned at last that the General-in-Chief should be left to 
 carry out his own plans without interference from politicians 
 or the Secretary of War. This settled determination of his, 
 neither to meddle with military movements himself, nor let 
 others do it, filled every one with hope, and was a good 
 augury of the future. The public settled down patiently 
 into the conviction that Grant was to be left untrammeled, 
 and the Secretary of War to be confined to his legitimate du 
 ties, for which he was eminently qualified. 
 
 At length the first of May, the appointed time, came, and 
 
316 THE TWO GREAT CAMPAIGNS. 
 
 the two mighty armies arose from their long apparent torpor, 
 and the knell of the Confederacy from that hour began to 
 toll. Their movement was simultaneous, and the campaigns 
 practically parallel ; yet their starting points were a thou 
 sand miles apart, with the lofty Alleghanies between. In 
 some respects they were widely different. Grant had but 
 little over half as far to go as Sherman, with no flank to guard 
 but his right, and that easily made secure by an army 
 of occupation in the defiles of the Shenandoah Valley. 
 Neither was he confined to a single base like Sherman, but 
 could change it at his pleasure, as he afterward did. The 
 latter could reach his objective point only by a single line 
 of railway, stretching for nearly two hundred miles through 
 a comparative wilderness, with Forrest s daring cavalry 
 threatening both flanks and his long line of communications, 
 which, if once permanently cut, would secure the destruction 
 of his army. They were different in another respect ; Grant 
 could at any time fling his army, by water, in front of Rich 
 mond, w r hen the difficulties of his task would be only just 
 commenced, while Sherman, if he should once get in front of 
 Atlanta, would have achieved the most difficult part of his 
 campaign. 
 
 The eyes of the whole country were fixed on the two 
 armies, but Grant held more fully the attention of the East, 
 and Sherman that of the West. The South saw the coming 
 storm and braced itself to meet it. 
 
 Sherman, at the outset, had asked for one hundred thou 
 sand men, and two hundred and fifty pieces of artillery. The 
 disgraceful failure of the Red River expedition, interfered 
 somewhat with this arrangement, but the War Department, by 
 great effort, succeeded in giving him all but twelve hundred 
 of the required number of men. His force was divided as fol 
 lows : the Army of the Cumberland, Major-General Thomas, 
 sixty thousand, seven hundred and seventy-three men, and one 
 
SHERMAN S TASK. 317 
 
 hundred and thirty guns ; Army of the Tennessee, McPherson, 
 twenty-four thousand, four hundred and sixty-five men, and 
 ninety-six guns ; Army of the Ohio, Schofield, thirteen thou 
 sand five hundred and fifty-nine men, and twenty-eight guns. 
 Kilpatrick commanded the cavalry of the Army of the Cum 
 berland. The Confederate Army opposed to him was sixty 
 thousand strong, including ten thousand cavalry ; the latter 
 superior to that of Sherman. Hardee, Hood and Polk com 
 manded the three Corps, composing this army. 
 
 Sherman had a most difficult task before him. If he suc 
 ceeded, he would solve a new problem in war or rather 
 introduce a new principle into military science, viz. : that 
 an army of a hundred thousand men could be marched three 
 hundred miles from its actual base, (which was Nashville,) and 
 yet this long line of communication be kept open. Such a 
 thing had been considered an impossibility ; and when the 
 news of his advance reached Europe, there was no discussion 
 among military men respecting his probable success ; it was 
 settled that he was going to certain defeat. The South also 
 had no doubt on the subject. 
 
 The public will never appreciate the skill which Sherman 
 showed in arranging his forces, securing his transportation, 
 and guarding his communications a skill that astonished 
 and baffled his foes, and yet retained his army almost intact. 
 By all ordinary rules, in order to guard his transportation 
 and secure his communications as he advanced, he would 
 have had to deplete his army and string it along his rear, till 
 but a handful would be left by the time he reached Atlanta, 
 if he got there at all. One of his devices to protect his line 
 was an admirable and successful one. By a glance at the 
 map, it will be seen that the railroad in its course to Atlanta 
 frequently crosses streams. The bridges over these had to be 
 protected at all hazards. The destruction of the railroad 
 between them was comparatively of small account as it could 
 
318 FIRST MOVEMENT. 
 
 be repaired in a few hours. To protect the bridges, and at 
 the same time, not materially lessen his force, he had small 
 bomb-proof block houses, or fortifications, built near them, 
 as he advanced, large enough to hold a few hundred men, 
 and provisioned for a long time. These the enemy could 
 not beat down with their cannon, nor carry by assault, nor 
 could they starve out the garrisons. In the meantime, a few 
 pieces of artillery completely commanded the approaches to 
 the bridges, so that no force could advance to destroy them. 
 He also accumulated at different points, as he advanced, vast 
 stores of imperishable provisions, so that in case of accident, 
 he could subsist his army until communications could be 
 restored. Although it was necessary to the success of his 
 campaign that the railroads should be kept exclusively for 
 military purposes, the fact that they were, caused incalcula 
 ble suffering to the people of East Tennessee. 
 
 Having thus anticipated almost every contingency that 
 could arise, he, early in May, put his magnificent columns 
 in motion. Johnston lay in and about Dalton, which was so 
 strongly fortified that an attack in front would have been 
 madness, and Sherman here began that series of movements 
 which won for him the sobriquet of the " great flanker." 
 Resaca lay eighteen miles south of Dalton, directly on the 
 railroad, and he determined, if possible, to reach this by a 
 circuitous route, and seize it, thus compelling Johnston to 
 retreat or accept a battle, unprotected by his fortifications. 
 McPherson s army was at once started westward on a circuit 
 of some thirty or forty miles, through Snake Creek Gap to 
 this point, while Thomas moved directly up in front of Dal 
 ton, as if about to force a passage there. But Dalton was 
 covered by Rocky-Face Ridge, cleft in two by Buzzard- 
 Roost Gap, through which ran the railroad. This nar 
 row defile was filled with abattis, artificially flooded by a 
 neighboring creek, and swept from end to end by artillery 
 
DALTON FLANKED. 319 
 
 posted on every commanding spur, and on a height at the 
 farther extremity. Against this Thomas made first a feint, 
 and then a vigorous attack, in which Veatch s division of 
 Howard s Corps actually carried the rocky ridge, but could 
 not, from the obstacles opposed to it, reach the gorge while 
 Geary s division of Hooker s Corps made a gallant, desperate 
 push for the summit. Added to the natural obstacles and fire 
 of the enemy, huge rocks were sent down, crashing through 
 the trees and advancing lines with resistless fury. No decisive 
 advantage was gained by our forces, but the enemy was kept 
 so well occupied that McPherson was left to make his diffi 
 cult march undisturbed, till he got within a mile of Resaca 
 If, by a sudden bold push, he could have taken this place, 
 Johnston s army would, doubtless, have been annihilated. 
 But, on reconnoitering, he found it too strong to be carried 
 by assault, for the wily Johnston had provided against this 
 possible contingency, by hurrying off troops thither. Mc 
 Pherson therefore fell back on Snake Creek Gap, ready to 
 strike the rebel flank when the army should retreat. Hook 
 er s Corps was immediately sent over to McPherson s aid, fol 
 lowed by all of Schofield s army, until Howard s Corps alone 
 remained in front of Dalton. Johnston, seeing the trap that 
 was set for him, immediately evacuated his stronghold and 
 fell back rapidly to Resaca, when Howard entered Dalton 
 and kept on directly in the enemy s track. 
 
 Thus was the first eighteen miles won. Sherman lost about 
 a thousand men in these first movements. 
 
 BATTLE OF RESACA. 
 
 Reaching Resaca, Sherman found his adversary strongly 
 posted, and he at once initiated another flank movement. 
 The Oostenaula stream, which is here crossed by a railroad 
 bridge, he pontooned, and then hurried off Sweeney ,s division, 
 
320 BATTTLE OF RESACA. 
 
 with orders to move around, and threaten Calhoun, still far 
 ther down on the railroad, while Garrard s division of cavalry 
 was sent to destroy the railroad beyond. There was some 
 heavy fighting here during the first day. Judah s division 
 of Schofield s Corps charged bravely on the enemy, but was 
 repulsed. Cox, getting out of ammunition, ordered a charge 
 of the enemy s breastworks in his immediate front, and car 
 ried them with a cheer. Palmer s Corps also pressed the 
 enemy vigorously, who, after vainly endeavoring to break 
 our centre, massed his forces against our left, and came down 
 in one of those impetuous overwhelming assaults, for which 
 the rebels were distinguished. Stanley caught the blow on 
 his flank, and, for awhile, bore up firmly against it. At last, 
 however, he gave way, and the broken confused ranks began 
 to retire in disorder, when there suddenly arose a cheer, 
 heard above the roar of artillery. Robinson s brigade was 
 coming to the rescue on a run. With one terrible blow, it 
 stopped the shouting, exultant enemy, and sent him bleed 
 ing, discomfited back to his breastworks. Darkness, at 
 length, closed the combat, and night came down on the val 
 ley and ridges, strewed with the dead and wounded. Though 
 no material advantage was gained, the enemy had failed to 
 break our extended, incomplete line at any point. 
 
 Quiet reigned over the two armies that night, except that 
 the incessant blows of the axe, and the falling of trees show 
 ed that Johnston was busy in piling obstructions in his front. 
 Sunday morning, the 15th, dawned mild and peaceful, but 
 by the time the sun was an hour high, the scattering 
 fire of the skirmishers told that the day was to be one 
 of blood, not of rest. By noon Sherman had his army well 
 up, extending for miles in a sort of semi-circle McPherson 
 on the right, Thomas in the centre, and Schofield on the left, 
 with Howard extending beyond. The rebel army Hood 
 on the right, Hardee in the centre, and Polk on the left, was 
 
GALLANTRY OF BUTTERFIELD. 321 
 
 drawn up behind breastworks, calmly awaiting the coming 
 shock. At a given signal, the whole army moved forward, 
 and the battle began. Into our uncovered ranks the enemy 
 hurled jshot and shell with desolating effect, until the dead 
 lay everywhere, but not a brigade wavered. Inch by inch 
 the gallant regiments worked their way on, pressing heavier 
 and heavier, every moment, the astonished enemy deter 
 mined, at whatever sacrifice, to carry the strong position that 
 confronted them. 
 
 Hooker threw forward Butterfield s division against the en 
 emy s strongest position, supported by Williams and Geary s 
 divisions, and the battle opened vigorously on both sides. 
 Hooker fought for three or four hours and made steady head 
 way, carrying line after line of rifle-pits, until Butterfield s di 
 vision encountered a lunette of formidable size. Several 
 attempts were made to carry this and capture its guns, which 
 were pouring a destructive fire into our lines, but they did not 
 succeed. The troops fought with great desperation, but as 
 often as they advanced upon the lunette, the terrific volleys 
 of musketry from the enemy in the fortifications hurled them 
 back in confusion. At last Butterfield charged forward and 
 took a position under the protecting works of the fort, and 
 so close to the guns within, that they could be touched by the 
 men s "hands. " In the effort to gain this exposed position, 
 the contest was a bloody one, Geary s division supporting 
 Butterfield. Ward s brigade, which were participating in 
 their first battle, fought with marked determination, and con 
 tributed much to secure the position." 
 
 "After vain efforts to capture the lunette, from which the 
 enemy poured into our ranks grape, canister and shrapnel, 
 Hooker s forces gave up the unequal contest, and during the 
 balance of the day lay under the breastworks protected 
 from the enemy s fire, and picking off every rebel who 
 showed himself above the ramparts. Night found him in 
 
322 CAPTURE OF RESACA. 
 
 this position, and he at once matured plans for capturing the 
 works by strategy, under cover of darkness. The pioneers 
 were brought up ; the ends were dug out of the works, and 
 the guns drawn out by the aid of ropes, under a destructive 
 fire from the occupants of the lunette, who were driven out 
 or captured, as our troops swarmed in through the opening 
 in overwhelming numbers." 
 
 This Corps lost very heavily. At ten o clock at night. 
 Hooker began to throw up breast-works to protect himself, 
 and in the meantime advanced his skirmish line. This in the 
 darkness moved upon the enemy, and a night battle com 
 menced, lighting up the gloom with flame, and sending its 
 heavy thunder all along our expectant line. At two o clock 
 in the morning, the rebels gave way, and the low moans of 
 the dying, and cries for water succeeded to the uproar that 
 made the night hideous. In this battle the gallant Kilpat- 
 rick was wounded, and had to leave the army till his recovery. 
 
 Monday morning dawned bright and clear, but as the sun 
 climbed the heavens it revealed the whole valley filled with 
 smoke and fog, that lay like a great pall over the spring 
 brightness and beauty. It was soon discovered that the 
 rebels, not wanting to risk another battle, had evacuated their 
 works, and were in full retreat. Our line immediately ad 
 vanced, and the cavalry pressed fiercely on the eneniy. s rear. 
 The latter succeeded in getting off his artillery, but was 
 compelled to burn his -wagon trains to prevent them from 
 falling into our hands. 
 
 An officer visited the spot where the desperate hand-to- 
 hand fight had occurred, for the lunette, and says, "this 
 was thickly strewed with the dead and wounded. Inside 
 and around the work, rebel and Union officers and men lay 
 piled together ; some transfixed with bayonet wounds, their 
 faces wearing that fierce contorted look which marks those 
 who have suffered agony. Others, who were shot dead, lay 
 
A GHASTLY SPECTACLE. 323 
 
 with their calm faces and glassy eyes turned to heaven. 
 One might think they were but sleeping. Others had their 
 skulls crushed in by the end of a musket, while the owner 
 of the musket lay stiff beside them with the death-grip 
 tightened on the piece. Clinging to one of the guns with 
 his hand on the spoke and his body bent as if drawing it, 
 lay a youth with the top of his head shot off. Another with 
 his body cut in two still clung to the ropes." * 
 
 Crossing the Oostenaula, Johnston partially destroyed the 
 bridge, so that the pursuit was delayed. McPherson en 
 deavored to throw over pontoons, and get in his rear, but 
 was unable to do so under the heavy fire to which he was 
 exposed, and the former got off with his army. Our loss in 
 these two days had been heavy about five thousand in all. 
 That of the enemy was not probably so great, for he fought 
 behind breastworks but we took nearly a thousand prison 
 ers, and eight guns, and a large quantity of stores. 
 
 The whole army at once pressed rapidly in pursuit a por 
 tion going by circuitous roads struggling through the rough 
 country as it best could fording the shallow streams pon- 
 tooning the deep ones, and hovering like a storm-cloud on 
 the fleeing enemy. The movements were complicated and 
 often wide apart, yet Sherman s grasping mind embraced 
 them all, so that the entire army moved like a single piece 
 of mechanism. 
 
 On the 17th, Newton s division had a snarp artillery fight 
 at Adairville, near Calhoun, but Johnston never halted 
 in his flight; and on the 18th, after some heavy skirmishing, 
 Clinton fell into our hands. Here Sherman gave his gallant 
 weary troops a few days rest, while he hurried forward his 
 supplies and re-established telegraphic and railroad commu 
 nication with Chattanooga. 
 
 * Captain Conyngliam. 
 
I 
 324 MARCH ON DALLAS. 
 
 It was beautiful spring weather, and the country around 
 being fine, a perfect carnival reigned in the camps that were 
 scattered for miles in every direction. Racing and hunting 
 parties were got up, and mirth and gaiety took the place of 
 battles and marches. But the vast extent of country occu 
 pied by the army, and its wooded character, gave opportu 
 nity to the base and villainous soldiers that belong to every 
 army to carry out a system of pillage and house burning 
 that filled the inhabitants with . terror, and spread suffering 
 on every side, Cold-blooded murders were not wanting to 
 complete the dark list of crimes committed by them. 
 
 Leaving a garrison here, and also one at Rome, which had 
 been captured with all its warehouses, foundries, workshops, 
 and fifteen hundred bales of cotton, without a fight, Sherman 
 on the 23rd, again put his army in motion toward Dallas that 
 lay west of the railroad, south of Allatoona a place strong 
 by nature, and covered with fortifications. If this point could 
 be reached before Johnston abandoned Allatoona, he would 
 be cut off from Atlanta. This he must prevent at all hazards, 
 and the rugged character of the country gave him every 
 facility for making obstinate defense all along our line of 
 march. Day after day more or less fighting occurred,, but 
 still swinging steadily off to the right, Sherman continued 
 to push his victorious columns forward till he approached 
 Dallas. The junction of the Acworth, Marietta and Dallas 
 railroad, he was very anxious to secure, and Hooker was 
 ordered to hasten forward and seize it. Near New Hope 
 Church, the latter came upon the enemy in strong force, and 
 attacked him fiercely. The Corps fought with its accus 
 tomed gallantry, and Geary s division especially distinguished 
 itself. The rebels also fought- desperately, disputing bravely 
 every inch of ground, yet Hooker drove them steadily 
 toward the junction. But night came on before he reached 
 it, and a drenching, pelting rain storm set in, which arrested 
 
BATTLE OF DALLAS. 325 
 
 the fight ; and the tired Corps sunk to rest on the flooded 
 field. 
 
 For three days now, there was constant .skirmishing, and 
 some heavy fighting between portions of the army, while 
 Sherman was developing his line, preparatory to a general 
 onward movement. On the 28th, Johnston, taking advan 
 tage of the somewhat disintegrated state of our army, fell furi 
 ously on McPherson, while closing in on the army of Thomas. 
 Hardee s and Folk s Corps made the assault, which was sud 
 den and terrible. Our men were behind rifle pits extending 
 for two miles, waiting, as the skirmishers fell back, to receive 
 the shock. Logan, hat in hand, rode along his division, en 
 couraging the men, who replied with shouts. Soon after, 
 McPherson with his staff, rode along the whole line, received 
 with deafening cheers as he passed. The assaulting columns 
 came down with shouts and yells, that rose over the crash of 
 their volleys ; but our troops reserved their fire until the enemy 
 were within a few yards, when a volley from the first rank 
 leaped forth like a sheet of lightning, cutting with its fiery 
 blade the rebel line of battle. A second one from the rear 
 rank instantaneously followed, and the rash, brave foe fell 
 like grass before the swinging scythe. Rolled back before this 
 withering fire, they rallied again and again, and came on 
 with the same defiant shouts, charging up almost to the muz 
 zles of the guns. But it was like the waves beating the 
 rocks. The Army of the Tennessee never wavered, but 
 steady and stern, stood and reaped that harvest of death, till 
 night fell, when the baffled foe gave it up, and retired, leav 
 ing the ground covered with dead. His loss in this despe 
 rate assault was fully three thousand, while McPherson s was 
 not over a third as great. 
 
 Sherman now paused a few days to mislead the enemy, 
 and on the 1st of June sent McPherson around to the left 
 on another flank movement. Johnston was confounded at 
 
326 BATTLE OF KENESAW. 
 
 these continual flank movements now around his right, and 
 then around his left, ever threatening his communications 
 with Atlanta. As before, so now he was compelled to aban 
 don his stronghold which he had fortified with so much care, 
 and fell back to Kenesaw Mountain, if possible a still stronger 
 position than any he had thus far abandoned. Making Alla- 
 toona Pass a secondary base, and leaving a garrison there to 
 hold it, and repairing the railroad behind him, Sherman pre-. 
 pared to advance again. 
 
 On the 9th of June "Forward" sounded from our bugles, 
 and the conquering army took up its march for Kenesaw 
 Mountain. 
 
 BATTLE OF KENESAW MOUNTAIN. 
 
 It drew up in front of this formidable height, whose crest, 
 four hundred feet high, was seen to be lined with artillery. 
 On the right arose other mountains, and, farther back, Lost 
 Mountain all dark with batteries, while every spur was alive 
 with men, "felling trees, digging pits, and preparing for- the 
 grand struggle impending." Says Sherman, "the scene was 
 enchanting, too beautiful to be disturbed by the rude clamors 
 of war, but the Chattahoochee lay beyond, and I had to reach 
 it." " By the llth of June our lines were well up, and we made 
 dispositions to break the line between Kenesaw and Pine 
 Mountains. General Hooker was on its right and front, Gen 
 eral Howard on its left and front, and General Palmer be 
 tween it and the railroad." On the 14th, during a sharp 
 cannonade, General Polk was killed, and the next morning 
 Pine Mountain was discovered to be abandoned. 
 
 The death of Polk, as related by Captain Conyngham, re 
 minds one of the death of Moreau, at Leipsic. Bonaparte, 
 seeing a group of officers on a distant elevation, ordered a 
 captain of artillery to throw a shot into it, saying, perhaps 
 
DEATH OF POLK. 327 
 
 some little Generals are there. The latter did so, and the 
 cannon ball smote Moreau. 
 
 Sherman, riding up to a battery, took a careful survey of 
 Pine Mountain with his glass. Then turning to Captain Si- 
 monson, he said, " Can you send a shell right on the top of that 
 knob ? I notice a battery there, and several general officers 
 near it." " HI. try, General," was the reply. He fired. " A 
 little too high, try again, with a shorter fuse," said Sher 
 man. The second shell flew through the air, and entering 
 the distant group, crashed through the side of Polk, tearing 
 his body into fragments. 
 
 Thomas and Schofield now advanced, and. found the ene 
 my again strongly intrenched along the line of rugged hills 
 that connect Kenesaw and Lost Mountains. . On the 17th, 
 the enemy abandoned Lost Mountain, and took position on 
 Kenesaw ; his right wing thrown back, so as to cover Mari 
 etta, and his left covering the railroad in the rear, thus con 
 tracting his lines, and leaving no weak spot open to an at 
 tack. From his high position he could look, down on every 
 movement of our troops, while his cannon thundered away 
 upon our long line. To make matters worse, a heavy rain 
 storm had set in, and day and night, week after week, it 
 poured down on the exposed army, turning the narrow coun 
 try roads into gulleys, and every open space into a marsh, and 
 thus preventing any general movement. The troops suffered 
 greatly, yet kept steadily at work. " General McPherson 
 watching the enemy on Kenesaw, and working his left for 
 ward ; General Thomas, swinging, as it were on a grand left 
 wheel, his left on Kenesaw, connected with General McPher 
 son, while General Schofield was all the while working to 
 the south and east along the old Sandtown road." 
 
 Thus matters went on, amid the pelting rain, when on the 
 22nd, Hood made a sudden attack on Hooker s Corps. 
 Driving in the advanced detachments, he fell furiously on 
 
 51 
 
328 A REPULSE. 
 
 Williams division. The onset was fierce, but failed the 
 enemy losing seven or eight hundred men. Sherman now 
 determined to assault in turn ; and, on the 27th, the army 
 advanced against the stronghold. The long rain storm had 
 cleared away, the roads were good and a warm summer 
 sun was shining, as the columns moved off on the desperate 
 undertaking. The grand assault was made by the two armies 
 of Thomas and McPherson, at two different points. Gulleys, 
 rocks, trees, and underbrush, lay on the line of march, before 
 the mountain, swarming now with men like bees, could be 
 reached. Heralded by the crash of artillery, the columns 
 moved steadily forward, and the battle soon raged furiously. 
 Kenesaw seemed a volcano there in the summer air, while a 
 surge of fire kept rolling steadily up its base. Troops never 
 behaved more gallantly, and the officers held them to their 
 deadly work with unparalleled devotion. Generals McCook 
 and Barker fell at the head of their brigades, cheering on 
 the men, and many otlrer officers went down before the awful 
 fire that swept, without cessation, the rugged slopes of the 
 mountain. Bat it was vain valor, for the position was too 
 strong to be carried by direct assault. Some brave regi 
 ments mounted half way up the slope, but only to be hurled 
 back broken and bleeding ; and at length the bugles rung 
 out the order to cease firing, and the battle was over. Sher 
 man had met his first defeat. His loss was severe, reaching 
 full three thousand, among whom were many valuable 
 officers. 
 
 If Sherman made any mistake in this remarkable cam 
 paign, it was in ordering this assault. His own reasons for 
 making it are not satisfactory. He says, "all looked to out 
 flank. An army to be efficient must not settle down to one 
 single mode of offense," &c. An army must "settle down" 
 just to that " mode of offense " which will bring victory with 
 the least loss of life. He thought also that the "moral 
 
THE CHATTAHOOCIIEE REACHED. 329 
 
 effect" of a successful assault would be good. But it is 
 equally true that the "moral effect" of an unsuccessful one 
 is bad, and the chances here were nine to one against him. 
 Besides, he after all, had to fall back again to his old flank 
 ing system, the only wise course when it can be taken against 
 such a strong position as Kenesaw mountain was. 
 
 Gathering up his bleeding army, and, burying his dead, 
 under a flag of truce, he sent McPherson forward to the 
 Chattahoochee, far in the rear of Kenesaw Mountain. As 
 soon as Johnston was aware of this movement, he evacuated 
 his strong position, and Sherman rode into Marietta. The 
 result showed that this would have been the proper course 
 at first, and that he could have had the strong position with 
 out the loss of a man. 
 
 Sherman now pressed forward, in hope of catching John 
 ston in the confusion of crossing the Chattahoochee. But 
 the latter had provided against such a contingency, and cov 
 ered his movements so well that no considerable advantage 
 could be gained over him, though more or less fighting oc 
 curred all the way to its banks. On the 4th and 5th of July, 
 the rebel army crossed the river in safety. On the 7th, 
 Schofield effected a lodgment on the farther bank, and laid 
 a good pontoon and trestle bridge. Sherman handled his 
 troops with such skill, that by the ninth, he had secured 
 three good points for crossing over his army above the ene 
 my s tete-du-pont, when the latter reluctantly abandoned his 
 last line of defense, and fell back to Atlanta. 
 
 In the meantime Rousseau, with two thousand cav 
 alry, was sent around Atlanta, to destroy the railroad at 
 Opelika, Ala., south, and cut off Johnston s supplies. This 
 force was gone twelve days, and succeeded in accomplishing 
 its object, and returned, with the loss of only thirty men. 
 
 The control of the Chattahoochee, Sherman said, " was one 
 if not the chief object of the campaign," but Atlanta lay 
 
 
330 ATLANTA IN SIGHT. 
 
 only eight miles distant, and he determined to capture it. 
 But after the heavy marching and fighting of the past few 
 weeks, the army needed rest before entering on such a des 
 perate undertaking, and it pitched its camps along the stream, 
 and gave itself up to several days repose. From a neigh 
 boring hill the steeples of Atlanta, and the smoke of its 
 foundries could be seen. Around it stretched a beautiful 
 country, dotted with plantations, while in every direction, 
 the smoke of locomotives, as they sped along the plains, re 
 vealed the various lines of railroad that centered in the 
 place. 
 
CHAPTER XXY. 
 
 ATLANTA REACHED HOOo s FIRST ATTACK HIS ASSAULT ON MC PHERSON 
 
 DEATH OF THE LATTER HOWARD PLACED OVER THE ARMY OF THE TENNES 
 SEE STONEMAN AND MC COOK s RAID HOOKER RESIGNS FIERCE ATTACK 
 
 ON HOWARD SHELLING OF ATLANTA AN UNSUCCESSFUL ASSAULT WHEE 
 LER SENT TO CUT SHERMANS COMMUNICATIONS-^-KILPATRICK DISPATCHED 
 
 TO CUT HOOD S SHERMAN RESOLVED TO PLANT HIS ARMY ON THE MACON 
 
 ROAD BATTLE OF JONESBORO* ATLANTA CUT OFF HOOD EVACUATES IT 
 
 SLOCUM TAKES POSSESSION THE REBEL ARMY PURSUED TO LOVEJOY^S STA 
 TION REST TO THE ARMY SUMMING UP OF THE CAMPAIGN SHERMAN OR 
 DERS ALL THE INHABITANTS TO LEAVE HIS CORRESPONDENCE WITH HOOD 
 
 AND THE MAYOR, ON THE SUBJECT. 
 
 ON the 17th of July, the whole army moved forward, 
 fighting as it advanced, and, at length, Atlanta greeted 
 the eyes of the weary, suffering, yet enthusiastic troops. 
 
 Johnston, at this time, was removed from command, and 
 Hood put in his place. A new mode of conducting the cam 
 paign was now to be inaugurated. The Fabian policy was 
 dropped at once, and the impetuous Hood, the moment he 
 obtained the control of the army, broke into a furious offen 
 sive. On the 20th, Sherman was in the act o forming his 
 new lines, about five miles from Atlanta, with no enemy in 
 force apparently near, when suddenly, nearly the whole of 
 Hood s army came pouring forward with shouts and yells, 
 that tolled like thunder over the field. Newton s division 
 of Howard s Corps, and Johnson s of Palmer s, received tlie 
 first shock. They had just before thrown up a breastwork 
 of rails, behind which they poured in a galling fire. Hook 
 er s Corps, however, was entirely uncovered, yet stood like 
 a flaming citadel in the open fields. Where this onset was 
 
332 HOOD S FIRST ATTACK. 
 
 made, a gap in the lines existed, which Hood hoped to pene 
 trate. Had he succeeded, disastrous consequences would, 
 doubtless, have followed. But though the assault was sud 
 den as a thunder-clap, and found our troops partially unpre 
 pared, it failed to break through our lines. The rebels threw 
 themselves forward on our batteries with a recklessness that 
 was frightful to behold. Their ranks melted away before 
 the fire like the sand bank when caved by the torrent, yet 
 the living never faltered. Over their own piled-up dead, they 
 still crowded the gates of death with a self-devotion never 
 surpassed. The sacrifice was great, but it did not avail, and 
 the bleeding, shattered host fell back to its intrenchments, 
 having lost in this short, fierce engagement, according to the 
 estimate of Thomas, five thousand men. Our loss was about 
 half that number. 
 
 Two days after, Hood abandoned his" extensive line of de 
 fenses, falling back to his interior position of redoubts, in 
 front of which were almost impenetrable clievaux-de-frise, 
 with water between them. 
 
 While Thomas was thus pushing forward in front, Mc- 
 Pherson, from Decatur to the eastward, was moving down 
 the railroad toward the city. 
 
 Hood, two days after this terrible repulse, made another 
 desperate attempt to break through the net that was steadily 
 closing round him. Leaving just enough troops in the in- 
 trenchmente to hold them, he massed his entire army against 
 McPherson on the left, who had not yet got into position. 
 The onset, if possible, was more terrific than that of two 
 days before, and, at one time, came very near overwhelming 
 the Army of the Tennessee. Blair caught the first blow, 
 and then the shouting, yelling, frantic mass poured down on 
 the whole line with, a fury that, at first, seemed irresistible. 
 In the meantime, a heavy force got in the rear and captured 
 some twelve guns. The enraged gunners rushed back for 
 
A BLOODY CONTEST. 333 
 
 tlieir pieces, and a bloody, hand to hand fight took place 
 over them. In front, the rebels, with their usual daring, 
 clashed unflinchingly through the fire that wasted them, up 
 to the very breastworks, and planted their colors alongside 
 of our own, and fought like tigers around them. "For a 
 Italfan hour, the two armies foucjltt face to face each side of the 
 same line of ititrenchments, tvith the battle colors of the re 
 spective parties flying from the same works" The struggle 
 was so close and deadly that orders were of little avail it 
 was a contest of the old Greeks and Romans, when every 
 thing, for a time, rested solely on the valor of the soldiers. 
 Sherman, with Schofield and Howard, stood on an elevation 
 that commanded a view of the battle field. Planting two bat 
 teries on two hills one on each side of him which poured a 
 converging fire into the enemy, he sent word to Logan, in the 
 centre, to mass his troops and charge. " You must retake 
 those guns," was the stern order. No sooner did the gallant 
 Logan receive it, than he swiftly massed his troops, and 
 riding alternately at the heads of the columns, shouted them 
 on. Wood s division led the charge, and a loud cheer rolled 
 down the line, as it advanced. The enemy supposing we 
 were thoroughly beaten, were astonished at the sight, but 
 moved boldly out to meet the onset the artillery, on both 
 sides, playing over the heads of the troops. Soon, however, 
 it ceased as the approaching lines came close together. A 
 crushing fire, a cheer, and then we were upon and over them, 
 scattering them in flight, and retaking part of the guns. 
 
 The struggle was a short one, but while it lasted, death 
 reaped the field with rapid strokes. Six tremendous assaults 
 were made on the Fifteenth, Sixteenth and Seventeenth 
 Corps, but when darkness closed over the field, victory was 
 ours. The dead lay everywhere sometimes in ranks, as 
 though whole companies had been swept away by a single 
 volley. Logan -reported the enemy s dead at over three 
 
334 DEATH OF MCPHERSON. 
 
 thousand, and the whole rebel loss was estimated at twelve 
 thousand, including seventeen hundred prisoners. We cap 
 tured, also, eighteen stand of colors, and five thousand small 
 arms. Our loss was only a little over seventeen hundred. 
 The enemy, however, succeeded in carrying off eight pieces 
 of artillery. Our greatest loss, however, was the death of 
 General McPherson, who fell while crossing a piece of woods, 
 attended only by an orderly. He came unexpectedly upon 
 a detachment of rebels, who fired upon him as he attempt 
 ed to escape. 
 
 A comparatively young man, he was one of the ablest 
 officers in the army. Long before he was known to the 
 public, Grant leaned on him, and the enemy, who knew his 
 worth, feared him. Noble and pure-minded, he was beloved 
 by all. Able in .council, his opinions carried great weight, 
 while in "the high places of the field," he moved, a tower 
 of strength. As Napoleon, when it was told him that the 
 noble, true-hearted Duroc had fallen, so the iron-hearted 
 Sherman, when. the tidings reached him that McPherson was 
 dead, burst into tears. 
 
 The next day, Garrard returned from a cavalry raid to 
 Covington, forty- two miles east of Atlanta, in which railroads, 
 bridges, cotton, stores, &c., were destroyed, he having lost 
 but two men in the expedition. 
 
 Sherman was now able to move his lines so as to lay regu 
 lar siege to Atlanta, but to cut off its supplies, it was necces- 
 sary that the Macon road should be broken up. To accom 
 plish this, Stoneman was dispatched with a cavalry force of 
 five thousand, while McCook, with four thousand infantry was 
 to meet him on the railroad near Lovejoy s, and co-operate 
 with his movement. The former got in front of Macon 7 but 
 on his return, he was, surrounded by Iverson, and captured, 
 with a thousand of his men. McCook performed his part 
 of the task assigned him, but getting hemnlcd in by a large 
 
ATTACK ON HOWARD, 335 
 
 force of infantry and cavalry, had to cut his way out, which 
 he did in the most gallant style. On the whole, the expe 
 dition was a sad -failure. Sherman, in the meantime, kept 
 extending his lines and tightening his coils around the 
 doomed place. Like a scorpion girt with fire, Hood turned 
 and turned to find some way of escape, and on the 28th, at 
 noon, again flung his army in a desperate assault on our 
 lines. Again the Army of the Tennessee received the rebel 
 assault, but, this time, under the leadership of Howard. 
 Sherman had put him in McPherson s place, which so offend 
 ed Hooker, who felt his claims were overlooked, that he re 
 signed his position and came home. Howard had assumed 
 direct command only the day before the battle. 
 
 Says Sherman, u The enemy had come out of Atlanta by 
 the Bell s Ferry road, and formed his masses in the open 
 fields, behind a swell of ground, and after the artillery firing, 
 advanced in parallel lines, directly against the Fifteenth 
 Corps, expecting to catch that flank in air. His advance was 
 magnificent, but founded on an error that cost him sadly ; 
 for our men coolly and deliberately cut down his men, and, 
 in spite of the efforts of the rebel officers, his ranks broke and 
 fled. But they were rallied again and again, as often as six 
 times, at" some points, and a few of the rebel officers and 
 men reached our lines of rail-piles, but only to be killed or 
 hauled over as prisoners." These assaults continued from 
 noon until four in the afternoon, when the enemy disappear 
 ed, leaving his dead and wounded in our hands. The splen 
 did and daring manner in which the rebel troops, right on 
 the top of repeated defeats, were brought to the assault, 
 speaks volumes for their bravery. After being driven for 
 nearly two hundred miles, and then, when turning and 
 breaking into a furious offensive, remorselessly slaughtered, it 
 showed the highest order of bravery, and marvellous endu 
 rance, to move with confident bearing, as they did, against 
 
336 WHEELER S CAVALRY. 
 
 overwhelming numbers, protected by breastworks. The en 
 emy s loss, in this last attack, was estimated at six thousand, 
 while our own was under six hundred a great disparity, 
 if true. Five stand of colors were taken, and two thousand 
 muskets. 
 
 Hood now let Sherman advance his lines without inter 
 ruption. He was dashing his army to pieces against the ad 
 amantine wall closing around him ; and he saw that some 
 other course must be adopted, or his fate was sealed. 
 
 Sherman now began to shell the place, and, at one point, 
 made an assault, in which he lost some four hundred men. 
 But, on a careful examination of the enemy s works, he saw 
 that the place could not be carried by storm without a loss 
 that would leave him without an army, and he cast about 
 for other means of reducing it. If he could once plant his 
 army on the Macon road, he knew that Hood would have to 
 leave, for this, now, was his only line of supplies. He at 
 once resolved to do this, and the 18th day of August being- 
 chosen for the movement, the wagons were loaded with fif 
 teen days provisions. 
 
 But Hood, in the meantime, had formed a similar plot 
 against Sherman. Finding himself unable to break through 
 his lines and defeat his army, he determined to cut his com 
 munications, and starve him into a retreat. Wheeler, with 
 all his cavalry, was sent off toward Chattanooga, to operate 
 on the single line of railroad by which Sherman s army was 
 fed. When this was told the latter, instead of being alarm 
 ed, he said, "I could not have asked anything better, for I 
 have provided well for such a contingency." He knew that 
 Wheeler would fail, while it relieved him from the annoy 
 ances of cavalry. He, therefore, resolved to cut the West 
 Point railroad at Fairburn, and the Macon road at Jones- 
 boro , by cavalry alone, and Kilpatrick, who had returned to 
 duty, was dispatched with four thousand men and eight pie- 
 
HOOD S LAST BATTLE. 337 
 
 ces of artillery to carry out his plan. Although this bold rider 
 made a complete circuit of Atlanta, yet the expedition was 
 only partially successful. ( Breaking the roads was compara 
 tively a small matter ; they must be -held permanently, and 
 so Sherman returned to his original plan. The surplus wag 
 ons were sent back to his intrenched bridge on the Chatta- 
 hoochee river, whither the Twentieth Corps was also dis 
 patched, and the various movements at once commenced for 
 carrying it out. The separate columns moved like clock 
 work, and reaching without delay the points aimed at, show 
 ed the highest stragetic skill on the part of Sherman. 
 
 To a common observer, only a vast army could be seen 
 marching by various roads over the country ; but, in Sher 
 man s plan, they were like the several wheels of a mighty 
 machine, whose steady revolutions lift the ponderous ham 
 mer, which by its descending blows grinds every-thing 
 beneath it to powder. 
 
 The West Point railroad was reached and torn up, and 
 then the army moved eastward to Jonesboro . On the 31st, 
 Howard, who was on the right, arrived, while Thomas, in the 
 centre, was at Couch s, and Schofield commanding the left, at 
 Rough and Ready. A glance at the map, will show in what 
 a desperate position Hood was now placed. He was com 
 pletely cut off south and east, by railroad, and he must de 
 molish this living wall, closing around him, or leave Atlanta 
 at once. He attempted to effect the former, and S. D. Lee and 
 Hardee, with their Corps, fell on Thomas with desperate reso 
 lution, and a fierce battle followed. The rebels fought with 
 their accustomed gallantry, and, for a while, pressed Thomas 
 veterans sorely, but they were finally repulsed with a loss of 
 some four thousand men. Davis Corps now came up, and, 
 at four o clock on the 1st of September, moved majestically 
 on the rebel position, sweeping it like an inundation, and 
 capturing an entire brigade, with its General and eight guns. 
 
338 . ATLANTA EVACUATED. 
 
 Five thousand more were here put hors-du-combat, while our 
 loss, in both engagements, was but little over two thousand. 
 Hood s army was fast melting away, and the shattered rem 
 nant must now flee or be -captured. He saw plainly that all 
 was lost, and that night, hastily evacuated Atlanta, blow 
 ing up magazines and stores, and destroying seven locomo 
 tives and eighty-one cars. 
 
 The torch was applied, also, to a thousand bales of cotton, 
 which made the midnight heavens lurid with flame. Light 
 ed on his gloomy march by this sea of fire, Hood moved 
 swiftly forward over the country toward Macon. The in 
 habitants of Atlanta, filled with consternation, streamed 
 after him in every vehicle they could lay their hands on, 
 making a scene of terror and confusion that baffles descrip 
 tion. Slocum, of the Twentieth Corps, seven miles north, on the 
 Chatahoochee, heard the explosions, caused by the blowing 
 up of the cars, and saw the ruddy heavens, and suspecting 
 the cause, sent out, at day -break, a strong column to recon 
 noitre. Atlanta was found deserted, and he marched in and 
 took possession of it. 
 
 At daylight, next morning, the army started in pursuit of 
 Hood, and kept up the chase, for thirty miles, to Lovejoy s, 
 where he was found strongly fortified. Here it was arrested 
 and moved back to Atlanta, for the campaign was over, and 
 the tentless, almost shoeless, ragged soldiers needed rest. 
 Sherman wrote, " Atlanta is ours, and fairly won," and so it 
 was won by genius, skill, and downright hard fighting. He 
 had given the lie to all prognostications, and stamped him 
 self the foremost General of the age. 
 
 This extraordinary campaign cannot be summed up better 
 than in these words of Colonel Bowman. " When we reflect 
 upon the enormous distance traversed upon its rugged and 
 defensible character ; it b eing nothing less than a penetra 
 tion of the entire series of parallel Alleghariy ranges upon 
 
REVIEW OF THE CAMPAIGN.- 339 
 
 the strong army and able General of the enemy, contesting 
 our advance, inch by inch, over ground entirely known to 
 them and unkown to us, after years of preparation in roads 
 and fortified places upon the fact that Sherman was obli 
 ged to rebuild bridges and railroads, as he advanced, and 
 protect his line of supplies, all the way from Nashville to 
 Atlanta, three hundred miles long upon the dazzling series 
 of victories unbroken, save at Kenesaw, which crowned our 
 banners upon the miraculous handling of troops, as if by 
 mechanism, over the most wretched of roads, in the most 
 impracticable of countries upon the skillful and extraordi 
 nary system of supplies, of food, forage and ammunition 
 upon the tremendous disparity of loss inflicted on the ene 
 my, although he fought a defensive campaign upon the- 
 wonderful, tactical genius of the great Commander, whether 
 on the march or in battle this campaign must stand unsur 
 passed in the annals of history." Even the momentous events 
 transpiring East, could not overshadow this great campaign, 
 not only great in its actual character, but also in its results. 
 The centre of Southern railroads was reached, the Confed 
 eracy again bisected, and Sherman s hand was feeling its 
 great arteries. 
 
 He now placed his cam^ in. order and showed that he had 
 come to stay. He commenced putting Atlanta in a state of 
 defense, and ordered aAfton-combatants to be removed to 
 Hood s lines, with their servants and effects. He asked the 
 latter for his co-operatioli in effecting this. Hood acceded to 
 his proposition, but bitterly denounced the measure as "un 
 precedented, studied and ungenerous cruelty" 
 
 This was a charge so wholly contrary to Sherman s char 
 acter, and so repugnant to his feelings, that he replied to it. 
 He had before shown that he wielded a trenchant pen, as 
 well as sword. , His letter to the Massachusetts agent, who 
 asked to enter his lines to get blacks to fill up the quota of 
 
340 A PLAIX LETTER. 
 
 the State, under the President s call for troops, struck a hard 
 blow at that miserable, pseudo patriotism, that wished to 
 keep the able-bodied whites from the war, and place its tre 
 mendous responsibilities on mercenary foreigners, or the 
 poor, liberated blacks. His answer to Hood showed the 
 same capacity to strike hard blows. He says : 
 
 " GENERAL, I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter, 
 of this date, at the hands of Messrs. Ball and Crew, consenting to the ar 
 rangements I had proposed to facilitate the removal south, of the people of 
 Atlanta, who prefer to go in that direction. I enclose you a copy of my 
 orders, which will, I am satisfied, accomplish my purpose perfectly. You 
 style the measures proposed unprecedented, and appeal to the dark his 
 tory of war for a parallel, as an act of studied and ungenerous cruelty. 
 It is not unprecedented, for General Johnston himself very wisely and prop 
 erly removed the families all the way from Dalton down, and I see no reason 
 why Atlanta should be excepted. Nor is it necessary to appeal to the dark 
 history of war, when recent and modern examples arc so handy. You, your 
 self, burned dwelling-houses along your parapet, and I have seen to-day fifty 
 houses that you have rendered uninhabitable because they stood in the way 
 of your forts and men. You defended Atlanta on a line so close to the 
 town that every cannon-shot, and many musket-shots, from our line of in 
 vestments, that overshot their mark, went into the habitations of women and 
 children. General Ilardee did the same at Joncsboro , and General John 
 ston did the same last Summer at Jackson, Mississippi. I have not accused 
 you of heartless cruelty, but merely instance these cases, of very recent oc 
 currence, and could go on and enumerate hundreds of others, and challenge 
 any fair man to judge which of us has tire heart of pity for the families of a 
 * brave people. I say it is a kindness to these families of Atlanta, to re 
 move them now at once from scenes that women and children should not be 
 exposed to ; and the brave people should scorn to commit their wives and 
 children to the rude barbarians who thus, as you say, violate the laws of war, 
 as illustrated in the pages of its dark history. In the name of common 
 sense, I ask you not to appeal to a just God in such a sacrilegious manner 
 you, who, in the midst of peace and prosperity, have plunged a nation into 
 civil war, dark and cruel war; who dared and badgered us to battle; in 
 sulted our flag; seized our arsenals and forts, that were left in the honorable 
 custody of a peaceful ordinance sergeant ; seized and made prisoners of war 
 the very garrisons sent to protect your people against negroes and Indians, 
 long before any overt act was committed by the (to you) hateful Lincoln- 
 Government; tried to force Kentucky and Missouri into the rebellion in spite 
 of themselves ; falsified the vote of Louisiana; turned loose your privateers to 
 plunder unarmed ships ; expelled Union families by the thousand ; burned 
 their houses, and declared, by Act of your Congress, the confiscation of all 
 debts due Northern men for goods had and received. Talk thus to the ma 
 rines, but not to me, who have seen these things, and who will this day make 
 as much sacrifice for the peace and honor of the South, as the best-born 
 Southerner among you. If we must be enemies, let us be men, and fight it 
 
A SAD CONDITION. 341 
 
 out as we propose to-day, and not deal in sncli hypocritical appeals to God 
 and humanity. God will judge us in due time ; and He will pronounce 
 whether it be more humane to tight with a town full of women and the fam 
 ilies of a " brave people" at our back, or to remove them, in time, to places 
 of safety among their own friends and people. 
 
 I am, very respectfully, your obedient Servant, 
 (Signed,) W. T. SHERMAN, Major-General Commanding." 
 
 This policy, at the first blush, did seem cruel, and the fact 
 that the enemy committed acts of barbarity, was no justifica 
 tion for Sherman s committing similar acts. It is, therefore, 
 but right that he should be heard in his own defense. So heav 
 ily did this order fall on the innocent women and children, 
 that the Mayor begged him, in the name of mercy, to revoke 
 it. Among other things, he says : 
 
 u Many poor women are in an advanced state of pregnan 
 cy ; others, having young children, whose husbands, for the 
 greater part, are either in the army, prisoners, or dead. 
 Some say, I have such a one sick at my house ; who will 
 wait on them when I am gone? Others say : What are we 
 to do ? we have no houses to go to, and no means to buy, 
 build, or rent any ; no parents, relatives, or friends to go to. 
 Another says : I will try and take this or that article of 
 property ; but such and such things I must leave behind, 
 though I need them much. We reply to them : General 
 Sherman will carry your property to Rough and Ready, and 
 then General Hood will take it thence on ; T and they will re 
 ply to that : But I want to leave the railroad at such a 
 place, and cannot get conveyance from thence on. 
 
 " We only refer to a few facts to illustrate, in part, how 
 this measure will operate in practice. As you advanced, the 
 people north of us fell back, and before your arrival here a 
 large portion of the people here had retired South ; so that 
 the country south of this is already crowded, and without 
 sufficient houses to accommodate the people, and we are in 
 formed that many are now staying in churches and other out- 
 
342 SHERMAN S REPLY TO THE MAYOR. 
 
 buildings. This being so, how is it possible for the people 
 still here (mostly women and children) to find shelter, and 
 how can they live through the Winter in the woods no shel 
 ter or subsistence in the midst of strangers who know them 
 not, and without the power to assist them much if they were 
 willing to do so. 
 
 " This is but a feeble picture of the consequences of this 
 measure. You know, the woe, the horror and the suffering 
 cannot be described by words. Imagination can only con 
 ceive of it, and we ask you to take these things into consid 
 eration. We know your mind and time are continually oc 
 cupied with the duties of your command, which almost de 
 ters us from asking your attention to the matter, but thought 
 it might be that you had not considered the subject in all of 
 its awful consequences, and that, on reflection, you, we hope, 
 would not make this people an exception to all mankind ; for 
 we know of no such instance ever having occurred surely 
 not in the United States. And what has this helpless peo 
 ple done, that they should be driven from their homes, to 
 wander as strangers, outcasts and exiles, and to subsist on 
 charity ? " 
 
 Sherman felt the truth of all this, and saw that his course 
 might be deemed harsh in the sight of the world, so, to clear 
 himself from an unjust charge, and place the reason of his 
 conduct on record for the future historian, he wrote the fol 
 lowing letter : 
 
 "ATLANTA, Ga., Sept. 12, 1864. 
 
 JAMES M. CALHOUN, Mayor, E. E. RAWSON, and S. C. WELLS, representing 
 the City Council of Atlanta : 
 
 GENTLEMEN : I have your letter of the llth, in the nature of a petition, 
 to revoke my orders removing all the inhabitants from Atlanta. I have read 
 it carefully, and give full credit to your statements of the distress that will 
 be occasioned by it, and yet shall not revoke my order, simply because my 
 orders are not designed to meet the humanities of the case, but to prepare 
 for the future struggles, in which millions, yea hundreds of millions, of good 
 people outside of Atlanta have a deep interest. We must have Peace, not 
 only at Atlanta, but in all America. To secure this, we must stop the war 
 
A NOBLE DEFENSE. 343 
 
 that now desolates our once happy and favored country. To stop war, we 
 must defeat the rebel armies that are arrayed against the laws and Constitu 
 tion, which all must respect and obey. To defeat these armies we must pre 
 pare the way. to reach them in their recesses, provided with the arms and 
 instruments which enable us to accomplish our purpose. 
 
 Now, I know the vindictive nature of our enemy, and that we may have 
 many years of military operations from this quarter, and, therefore, deem it 
 wise and prudent t# prepare in time. The use of Atlanta for warlike purpos 
 es is inconsistent with its character as a home for families. There will be no 
 manufactures, commerce, or agriculture here for the" maintenance of families, 
 and, sooner or later, want will compel the inhabitants to go. Why not go 
 now, when all the arrangements are completed for the transfer, instead of 
 waiting till the plunging shot of contending armies will renew the scene of 
 the past month ? Of course, I do not apprehend any such thing at this mo 
 ment, but you do not suppose that this army will be here till the war is over. 
 I cannot discuss this subject with .you fairly, because I cannot impart to you 
 what I propose to do ; but I assert that my military plans make it necessary 
 for the inhabitants to go away, and I can only renew my offer of services to 
 make their exodus in any direction as easy and comfortable as possible. You 
 cannot qualify war in harsher terms than I will. 
 
 War is cruelty, and you cannot refine it ; and those who brought war on 
 our country, deserve all the curses and maledictions a people can pour out. 
 I know I had no hand in making this war, and I know I will make more sac 
 rifices to-day than any of you, to secure peace. But you cannot have peace 
 and a division of our country. If the United States submits to a division 
 now, it will not stop, but will go on till we reap the fate of Mexico, which is 
 eternal war. The United States does and must assert its authority wherever 
 it has power ; if it relaxes one bit to pressure, it is gone, and I know that 
 such is not the national feeling. This feeling assumes various shapes, .but 
 always comes back to that of Union. Ouce admit -the Union, once more 
 acknowledge the authority of the National Government, and instead of devo 
 ting your houses and streets and roads to the dread uses of war, I and this 
 army, become at once your protectors and supporters, shielding you from 
 danger, let it come from what quarter it may. 1 know that a few individuals 
 cannot resist a torrent of error and passion, such as has swept the South into 
 rebellion ; but you can point out, so that we may know those who desire a 
 Government, and those who insist on war and its desolation. 
 
 You might as well appeal against the thunder-storm, as against these ter 
 rible hardships of war. They are inevitable ; and the only way the people of 
 Atlanta can hope once more to live in peace and quiet at home, is to stop 
 this war, which can alone be done by admitting that it began in error, and is 
 perpetuated in pride. We don t want your negroes or your horses, or your 
 houses or your land, or anything you have ; but we do want, and will have a 
 just obedience to the Laws of the United States. That we will have, and if 
 it involves the destruction of your improvements, we cannot help it. You 
 have heretofore read public sentiment in your newspapers, that live by false 
 hood and excitement, and the quicker you seek for truth in other quarters, 
 the better for you. 
 
 I repeat, then, that, by the orginal compact of government, the United 
 States had certain rights in Georgia, which have never been relinquished, and 
 never will be ; that the South began war by seizing forts, arsenals, mints, 
 
 52 
 
344 MOMENTOUS EVENTS. 
 
 custom-houses, &c., &c., long before Mr. LINCOLN was installed, and before 
 the South had one jot or tittle of provocation. I, myself, have seen in Mis 
 souri, Kentucky, Tennessee and Mississippi, hundreds and thousands of wo 
 men and children fleeing from your armies and desperadoes, hungry and with 
 bleeding feet. In Memphis, Yicksburg and Mississippi, we fed thousands 
 upon thousands of the families of rebel soldiers left on our hands, and whom 
 we could not see starve. Now that war comes home to you, you feel very 
 different ; you deprecate its horrors, but did not feel themavhen you sent car 
 loads of soldiers and ammunition, and moulded shell and shot, to carry war 
 into Kentucky and Tennessee, and desolate the homes of hundreds and thou 
 sands of good people, who only asked to live in peace, at their old homes, 
 and under the Government of their inheritance. But these comparisons are 
 idle. I want peace, and believe it can only be reached through Union and 
 war, and I will ever conduct war purely with a view to perfect and early 
 success. 
 
 But, my dear Sirs, when that peace does come, you may call on me for 
 anything. Then will I share with you the last cr^ker, and watch with you 
 to shield your homes and familes against danger from every quarter. Now, 
 you must go, and take with you the old and feeble ; feed and nurse them, 
 and build for them, in more quiet places, proper habitations to shield them 
 against the weather, until the mad passions of men cool down, and allow the 
 Union and peace once more to settle on your old homes at Atlanta. 
 
 Yours, in haste, 
 
 W. T. SHERMAN, Major-General." 
 
 It is a noble defense. 
 
 But, while these momentous events were passing in the 
 West, others, calculated to move the nation to the centre, 
 and which arrested and held the attention of the civilized 
 world, were transpiring in the East. Amid the mighty move 
 ments, gigantic battles, and fearful slaughter, that shook and 
 crimsoned the earth between Washington and Richmond, 
 the news of the fall of Atlanta came like a faint and far-off 
 echo. 
 
CHAPTER XXYI. 
 
 NECESSITY OF UNITY OF ACTION SIGEL IN THE SHENANDOAH VALLEY 
 
 GRANT S INSTRUCTIONS TO BUTLER FOLLY OF PLACING THE LATTER IN THE 
 
 IMPORTANT POSITION HE HELD NUMBER OF THE TROOPS CO-OPERATING 
 
 DIRECTLY WITH GRANT OUR ENTIRE MILITARY FORCE GRANTS PLAN OF 
 
 CAMPAIGN ADVANCE OF THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC CROSSING THE 
 
 RAPIDAN COMMENCEMENT OF THE "BATTLES OF THE WILDERNESS" FIRST 
 
 DAY SECOND DAY THIRD DAY RETREAT OF THE ENEMY ADVANCE OF 
 
 OUR ARMY FIGHT OF WARREN s CORPS DEATH OF SEDGWICK GRAND 
 
 ASSAULT ON THE ENEMY S WORKS HANCOCK S BRILLIANT NIGHT ATTACK 
 
 FEARFUL APPEARANCE OF THE BATTLE-FIELD A WEEK S COMPARATIVE 
 
 REST CHANGE OF BASE, AND BRINGING UP OF REINFORCEMENTS THE 
 
 DEAD OF THE WILDERNESS. 
 
 THE simultaneous movement of the combined forces of 
 the Republic, East and West, was a sublime spectacle. 
 The tread of more than a half a million of men, suddenly 
 shook the earth, as, with faces turned southward, they mo 
 ved on the tottering Confederacy. All of Grant s energies, 
 for months, had been directed to secure this unity of action, 
 this consolidation of Northern strength. With forces far 
 outnumbering those of the South, backed by an overwhelm 
 ing navy, we yet had made but little progress toward put 
 ting down the rebellion. First a blow would be struck East, 
 and then one West, with sufficient intervals between them, 
 to allow the rebel leaders, with their shorter interior lines, to 
 transfer troops from one section to another, so as always 
 to present a force at the menaced point, nearly, if not quite 
 equal to the one we had there. 
 
 The armies, under Halleck s and Stanton s administration, 
 had, to use Grant s homely but expressive phrase, worked 
 
346 SIGEL S DUTY. 
 
 41 like a balky team" His great object, therefore, was to re 
 verse all this, and when he had attained his object, he was 
 ready to move ; and the roll of the drum, and the pealing 
 bugle awoke the Army of the Potomac from its long slum 
 bers, and, for the fourth time, it turned its face toward 
 Eichmond. 
 
 As before stated, Grant had only his right flank to pro 
 tect, and thus keep Lee from threatening Maryland and 
 Washington, by way of the Shenandoah Valley. To secure 
 this, he says : 
 
 " General Sigel was, therefore, directed to organize all 
 his available force into two expeditions, to move from Bev 
 erly and Charlestown, under command of Generals Ord and 
 Crook, against the East Tennessee and Virginia railroad. 
 Subsequently, General Ord having been relieved at his own 
 request, General Sigel was instructed, at his own sugges 
 tion, to give up the expedition by Beverly, and to form two 
 columns, one under General Crook, on the Kanawha, num 
 bering about ten thousand men, and one on the Shenandoah, 
 numbering about seven thousand men. The one on the Shen 
 andoah to assemble between Cumberland and the Shenan 
 doah, and the infantry and artillery advanced to Cedar 
 Creek with such cavalry as could be made available at the 
 moment, to threaten the enemy in the Shenandoah Valley, 
 and advance as far as possible ; while General Crook would 
 take possession of Lewisburg with part of his force, and 
 move down the Tennessee railroad, doing as much damage 
 as he could, destroying the New River bridge, and the salt 
 works at Saltville, Virginia." 
 
 A still more important co-operating force was under But 
 ler, who commanded at Fortress Monroe. In this depart 
 ment, including North Carolina, were a little over fifty-nine 
 thousand troops. On Butler s proper co-operation, Grant 
 mainly depended for success ; and it was one of those stu- 
 
INSTRUCTIONS TO BUTLER. 347 
 
 pendous follies the Administration seemed determined to 
 commit to the last, to let this man. without military educa 
 tion, or experience in the field, hold so vital a command. 
 The following were Grant s instructions to him : 
 
 "FORTRESS MONROE, Ya., April 2, 1864. 
 
 GENERAL : In the spring campaign, which it is desirable shall commence 
 at as early a day as practicable, it is proposed to have a co-operative action 
 of all the armies in the field, as far as this object can be accomplished. 
 
 It will not be possible to nnite our armies into two or three large ones, to 
 act as so many units, owing to the absolute necessity of holding on to the 
 territory already taken from the enemy. But, generally speaking, concen 
 tration can be practically effected by armies moving to the interior of the en 
 emy s country, from the territory they have to guard. By such movement, 
 they interpose themselves between the enemy and the country to be guarded, 
 thereby reducing the number necessary to guard important points, or, at 
 least, occupy the attention of a part of the enemy s force if no greater object 
 is gained. Leya s army and Richmond being the greater objects toward 
 which our attention must be directed, in the next campaign, it is desirable to 
 unite all the force we can against them. The necessity of covering Wash 
 ington with the Army of the Potomac, and of covering your department 
 with your army, makes it impossible to unite these forces at the beginning 
 of any move. I propose, therefore, that what comes nearest us of anything 
 that seems practicable: The Army of the Potomac will act from its present 
 base, Lee s army being the objective point. You will collect all the forces 
 from your command, that can be spared from garrison duty I should say 
 not less than twenty thousand effective men to operate on the south side 
 of James River, Richmond being your objective point. To the force you 
 already have, will be added about ten thousand men from South Carolina, 
 under Major-General Gillmore. who will command them in person. Major- 
 General W. F. Smith is ordered to report to you, to command the troops 
 sent into the field from your own department. 
 
 General Gillmore will be ordered to report to you at Fortress Monroe, with 
 all the troops on transports, by the 18th instant, or as soon thereafter as prac 
 ticable. Should you not receive notice by that time to move, you will make 
 such disposition of them and your other forces, as you may deem best calcu 
 lated to deceive the enemy as to the real move to be made. 
 
 When you are notified to move, take City Point with as much force as 
 possible. Fortify, or rather intrench, at once, and concentrate all your troops 
 for the field there as rapidly as you can. From City Point directions cannot 
 be given, at this time, for your further movements. 
 
 The fact that has already been stated that is, that Richmond is to be your 
 objective point, and that there is to be co-operation between your force and 
 the Army of Potomac must be your guide. This indicates the necessity 
 of your holding close to the south bank of the James River, as you advance. 
 Then, should the enemy be forced into his intrenchments, in Richmond, the 
 Army of the Potomac would follow, and by means of transports the two armies 
 would become a unit. 
 
348 STRENGTH OF THE ARMY. 
 
 All the minor details of your advance are left entirely to your direction. 
 If, however, you think it practicable to use your cavalry south of yon, as to 
 cut the railroad about Hick s Ford, about the time of the general advance, it 
 would be of immense advantage. 
 
 You will please forward for my information, at the earliest practicable day, 
 all orders, details, and instructions, you may give for the execution of this 
 order. 
 
 U. S. GRANT, Lieutenant-General. 
 
 Major-General B. F. BUTLER." 
 
 These instructions lie subsequently reiterated, and inform 
 ed him farther, that he expected him to move from Fortress 
 Monroe the same day that Meade advanced from Culpep- 
 per, and also stated the plan which he proposed to follow. 
 
 The Army of the Potomac proper, numbered, at this time, 
 a little over one hundred and twenty thousand men. The 
 Ninth Corps, under Burnside, held in reserve, % and number 
 ing a little over twenty thousand men, was stationed on the 
 road near Bull Run. His orders were, not to move until 
 he heard that the Army of the Potomac had crossed the 
 Rapidan, and then to move promptly. 
 
 Thus, it will be seen, that Grant had directly co-operating 
 with him, in various directions, over two hundred thousand 
 troops. Although our military force, at this time, was nine 
 hundred and seventy thousand and seven hundred men, only 
 a little over six hundred and sixty-two thousand were avail 
 able for duty ; hence, a third of our actual force was opera 
 ting against Richmond. More or less remotely and directly, 
 more than two hundred thousand bayonets were pointing 
 toward the rebel Capital. 
 
 The general plan of operations, adopted by Grant, in the 
 important campaign on which he was entering, he states to 
 be as follows : 
 
 "My first object, being to break the military power of the 
 rebellion, and capture the enemy s important strongholds, 
 made me desirous that General Butler should succeed in his 
 movement against Richmond, as that would tend more than 
 
GRANT S PLAN. 349 
 
 anything else, unless it were the capture of Lee s army, to 
 accomplish this desired result in the East. If he failed, it 
 was my determination, by hard fighting, either to compel 
 Lee to retreat, or to so cripple him that he could not detach 
 a large force to go North, and still retain enough for the 
 defense of Richmond. It was well understood, by both 
 Generals Butler and Meade, before starting on the cam 
 paign, that it was my intention to put both their armies 
 south of James River, in case of failure to destroy Lee with 
 out it." 
 
 This shows how important was the position held by But 
 ler, and how absurd it was to place him in it. The General 
 in the Army of the Potomac, second only to Grant, should 
 have commanded there one who would not have been 
 "corked up" at the very outset. 
 
 The quotation above, however, does not give a clear view 
 of Grant s entire plan. The success of Butler s operations 
 against Richmond were, at the best, problematical, and his 
 own plans had to be formed on their possible failure. 
 
 It appears, in other parts of Grant s report, that his first 
 object was to turn Lee s left flank at Mine Run where the 
 latter held a strong position and compel him to a decisive, 
 pitched battle. If he accomplished this, he believed that, 
 with his superior force, he could destroy him, or so utterly 
 shatter him, that he could present but feeble resistance any 
 where between that point and the rebel Capital. If Butler 
 could capture Petersburg, destroy the South Side railroad, 
 and work around Richmond till his left rested on the James 
 above the city, Grant could form a junction with him there, 
 which would leave the Capital completely invested. The 
 course he was actually compelled to pursue, was the last 
 one he desired. Butler not only failed in performing what 
 was expected of him, but he, himself, also failed to" get a de- 
 
350 MOVEMENT OF THE ARMY 
 
 cisive battle out of Lee, and was beaten back in every attack, 
 from the Wilderness to the James. 
 
 On the night of the 3rd of May, all was in commotion in 
 the Army of the Potomac, and the next morning, it moved 
 in splendid array across the Rapidan. It was divided into 
 three Corps the Second, commanded by Hancock, the Fifth, 
 by Warren, and the Sixth, by Sedgwick. Two Corps crossed 
 at Germania Ford, and the other at the United States Ford. 
 Sheridan, commanding the cavalry, led the advance, and 
 protected the immense trains, composed of over four thou 
 sand wagons, which were to be carried through that broken, 
 wooded country. 
 
 This day, the army marched about twelve miles. Grant 
 expected that his passage of the Rapidan would be stub 
 bornly contested ; but Lee seemed to think that his chances 
 of success, with his inferior force, would be better, to attack 
 the army while on the march, and separated in the forest for 
 the course, it was compelled to take, led across a wild and 
 desolate tract of country, overgrown with stunted pines, and 
 as unfit for a battle-field as could be imagined. This u Wil 
 derness," as it was called, extended from Chancellorsville up 
 to Mine Run,, where Lee lay intrenched. Besides, by the 
 road that Grant was compelled to take. Lee could come 
 down on him on the Orange and Chancellorsville turnpike 
 and the Orange and Chancellorsville plank road, and strike 
 him at right angles, while on the march. This, as soon as 
 Grant s plan was fully developed, he did, compelling the 
 latter to halt, and form line of battle in the woods, so as to 
 cover the fords over which the trains were passing. This 
 was the last thing Grant desired. He knew the country im 
 perfectly, and could in no way overlook it, while every high 
 way and byway was familiar to Lee and his corps-com 
 manders. 
 
 On Thursday morning, Warren reached the Old Wilder- 
 
POSITION OF" OUR ARMY. 351 
 
 ness Tavern, ten miles south of the ford, and situated on the 
 Germania and Chancellorsville plank road Sedgwick being 
 on his right with his line extending back to the river. Han 
 cock, who had crossed five or six miles farther down the 
 river, was directed to move forward to Shady Grove Church 
 from Chancellorsville, but Grant, finding that a battle was 
 to be thrown upon him on this unfortunate spot, counter 
 manded the order, and Hancock was directed to swing 
 round and hasten forward, by a* cross-road, with all possible 
 dispatch and close up with Warren, and form the left wing. 
 Lee, aware of the gap here, made a desperate effort to get 
 into it, and thus divide the armies. Previous to this, how 
 ever, a part of Griffin s division had been pushed forward to 
 ascertain the designs of the enemy, in doing which a severe 
 fight occurred, and the force was compelled to fall back with 
 a loss of several hundred men. 
 
 About three o clock, Lee attempted to get between Han 
 cock and Warren; Grant penetrating his design and Mott s 
 division, the advance of Hancock s Corps, just then coming 
 up he ordered this, with Getty s, on Warren s left, to charge 
 the enemy, so as to hold him back until the rest of Han 
 cock s Corps could arrive. They, at once, plunged into the 
 woods, vdiich were so dense that artillery was almost entirely 
 useless, and the real 
 
 BATTLE OF THE WILDERNESS 
 
 commenced. The woods were soon ablaze with the fire of 
 the musketry, but every effort of the enemy to advance at 
 this point, was baffled, and he was held sternly back until Han 
 cock s Corps arrived and closed up the line on the left. The 
 battle was a singular one. Says an eye-witness : 
 
 "The fighting who shall describe it? Not a thousand 
 men can be seen at once, yet for miles, in the front, thou- 
 
352 FIRST DAY S BATTLE. 
 
 sands are engaged. The volleyed thunders of the combat 
 roll among the glens and ravines, hoarser and higher than 
 the voices of an Eastern jungle. The woods are alive with 
 cries and explosions, and the shrill, anvil clatter of musketry. 
 One cannon, pitched afar, times the wild tumult like a tolling 
 bell. The smoke is a shroud about our heroes ; there is not 
 wind enough to lift it into a canopy. 
 
 41 And now, out of the concealed and awful scenery, where 
 the fight goes on, there come the ruins it has wrought, in 
 shapes, borne in blankets and on litters maimed, tortured, 
 writhing ; with eyes dull with the stupor of coming death ; 
 or bright with delirious fire. Listen to the hell, raging be 
 yond and below ; behold this silent, piteous procession, that 
 emerges ceaselessly, and passes on. Into and out of the 
 ordeal of fire ; from the pride of the ranks to the suffering of 
 the hospital, these forms have been, and come, and are of no 
 more avail." V L . 
 
 Darkness, at length, put an end to the contest. Grant 
 saw, at a glance, the peril he was in, and that Lee needed 
 but slight success at this point to compel him to re-cross the 
 river, as Burnside and Hooker had done before him, and he, 
 therefore, brought over a part of Sedgwick s Corps, to which 
 he added some of Warren s force to strengthen Hancock. 
 Burnside s Corps, too, which had strained forward all night, 
 was up in the morning. Grant had notified him at four 
 o clock, the afternoon before, that he was over the Rapidan, 
 and directed him to hasten forward. So swiftly did he march 
 that, says Grant: 
 
 u By six o clock of the morning of the 6th, he was leading 
 his Corps into action near the Wilderness Tavern, some of 
 his troops having marched a distance of thirty miles, cross 
 ing both the Rappahannock and Rapidan Rivers. Consider 
 ing that a large proportion, probably two-thirds of his com 
 mand, was composed of new troops, unaccustomed to march- 
 
DEATH OF WASDWORTH. 353 
 
 es, and carrying the accoutrements of a soldier, this was a 
 remarkable march." 
 
 SECOND DAY S BATTLE. 
 
 Grant, however, did not wait his arrival. He had given 
 his orders the night before, for a general advance of the 
 whole line, at five o clock in the morning. The army, at 
 this time, stretched for about seven miles through the Wil 
 derness, and as no general survey of it could be had, much 
 had to be left to the separate Commanders. At five o clock, 
 Sedgwick attacked on the right, moving with his accustomed 
 gallantry on Evvell on the left, Hancock burst like a tor 
 rent on the enemy, and drove him back in confusion, and, 
 for hours, the battle roared like a tornado for seven miles 
 through the pine forest. Grant stood under a tree and lis 
 tened to the crashing volleys that receded away in the dis 
 tance, while aids were constantly coming and going with 
 reports and orders. 
 
 Still, the line of that terrific fire seemed to advance no 
 where, except on the left. Hancock steadily pushed the 
 enemy before him for a mile and a half, taking a rebel rifle- 
 pit and five stand of colors. Wadsworth, connecting with 
 his right, put forth desperate efforts. Apparently forgetful 
 that he had a life to lose, he again and again led the charge 
 in person. Two horses were shot under him, and, at length, 
 a shot pierced his own head and he fell. His body was seized 
 by the enemy, and he died in their hands. 
 
 But, at length, Hancock s victorious career was stopped. 
 The rebels rallying fiercely, fell on his exhausted battalions, 
 whose ammunition was now getting low, and bore them 
 steadily back, until, at eleven o clock, he occupied the ground 
 which he held in the morning. His extreme left, for the 
 moment, was turned, but the mischief was quickly repaired, 
 
354 LAST EFFORT OF THE ENEMY. 
 
 and a lull at this point came in the contest. But, at four 
 o clock, Longstreet coming up, having made a forced march 
 of twenty five miles, Lee resolved to make one more 
 desperate effort to turn our left and double it up on the 
 army. 
 
 The enemy came on in four lines, and fell with such des 
 peration on Hancock that he succeeded in breaking his firm 
 formation, and, for a moment, the battle seemed lost. When 
 the startling news was borne to Grant, he replied, " I don t 
 believe it. 1 But Gibbon s division was promptly formed in 
 rear of the break, and the headlong torrent that was pouring 
 through was stopped. For three-quarters of an hour, the 
 battle raged here with terrible ferocity. Longstreet was 
 determined to complete what he had so auspiciously begun, 
 and hurled his columns forward with a desperation and gal 
 lantry, that could not be surpassed. Hancock, however, 
 knowing that the battle lost here was lost everywhere, dispu 
 ted every inch of ground with a .stubbornness that neither 
 valor nor numbers could overcome. 
 
 The use of so little artillery, made this one of the most 
 remarkable battles on record over two hundred thousand 
 men fought in a vast jungle. 
 
 " There in the depths of those ravines, under the shadows 
 of those trees, entangled in that brush- wood, is no pomp of 
 war, no fluttering of banners in an unhindered breeze, no 
 solid tramp of marching battalions, no splendid strategy of 
 the fields Napoleon loved to fight on. There a Saturnalia, 
 gloomy, hideous, desperate, rages confined. That metallic, 
 hollow rack of musketry, is like the clanking of great chains 
 about the damned ; that sullen yell of the enemy, a fiend 
 ish protest and defiance. How the hours lag ; how each 
 minute is freighted with a burden that the days would have 
 groaned to bear in other times ! Still, the sad, shuddering 
 procession, emerging out of the smoke and tumult and pass- 
 
A VIVID DESCRIPTION. 355 
 
 ing on. Still the appealing eyes, and clenched hands, and 
 quivering limbs of human creatures, worse than helpless, 
 whose fighting is over. The paths are full of them, the roads 
 are thick with them, the forest seems to take up the slow 
 movement, and move with them like giants hovering over 
 the funeral of Lilliputians. Piled in ambulances, they move 
 on further yet, while the torturer of battle plies on below, 
 making more victims. Here and there, beside some path, 
 you shall see a heaped blanket, labeled by some thoughtful 
 bearer with the name of the corpse beneath it bore in life ; 
 here and there, you shall come across a group of men bend 
 ing over one wounded, past help, and dying an agonized 
 death. And often too often the shameful spectacle of 
 one bearing a weapon, unhurt, pallid and fear-stricken, flits 
 through an opening toward the rear, and is gone. You 
 shall meet with soldiers, in groups of one, or two, or three, 
 hidden in some thicket, or coolly making coffee by the 
 road-side. And hearing the roar of the battle below, and 
 seeing the bloody trail of the battle behind, it shall be a 
 .glad thing to see these men hunted by officers ba,ck, with 
 curses, to the ranks, to share the dangers of their nobler 
 comrades. 
 
 u About this battle there is a horrible fascination. It is 
 like a maelstrom. You feel it sucking you in, and you go 
 nearer to see men fall like those you have seen fallen. Down 
 through the break, underneath the edges of the smoke, 
 where the bullets are thick, and the trunks of trees, like the 
 ranks of men, sway and fall with the smiting of shells, you 
 have a little view of the courage and the carnage of this 
 fight. There are the enemy, retreated to the breastworks 
 a ragged pile of fallen trees and heaped up earth hiding 
 their heads, spitting lead and flame. Here is the Sixth 
 Corps what you can see of it plunging on, firing contin 
 ually, tumbling over branches and limbs, sinking waist-deep 
 
356 CLOSE OF THE CONTEST. 
 
 in swamps, fighting with its might, and bleeding at every 
 pore." 
 
 The covering of the trees, and the absence of cannon, 
 made it a very close contest the lines often almost meeting 
 in the fierce encounter. For seven miles, the forest was alive 
 with the confused sounds of this awful struggle, out of which 
 arose fierce jets of smoke, that settled in a vast and sulphur 
 ous cloud above the green tree-tops. The dead and wounded 
 lay thick as autumn leaves along the low ridges and slopes, 
 and in front of the hastily thrown up intrenchments, and 
 when night put an end to the contest, the "Wilderness" 
 was dreary and desolate indeed. After dark, the enemy 
 made an attack on our left, in which Seymour and Shaler 
 were taken prisoners, with a large number of troops. 
 
 The battle, on this day, was the decisive one, and at its 
 close, it was evident that Lee had put forth his greatest 
 effort, and just at the moment too when Grant was in a posi 
 tion to be beaten, if ever he could be. Still the latter was 
 not certain that the attack would not be renewed in the 
 morning, and he, therefore, during the evening, selected a 
 new and stronger position, and contracted his lines. But 
 Saturday brought no renewal of the attack, and the day was 
 spent in reconnoissances and skirmishes along the whole line. 
 The result of the day s operations, was a conviction, on the 
 part of Grant, that the enemy was preparing to retreat, and 
 he, therefore, determined, weary as his army was, to throw 
 it forward by a rapid, night march towards Spottsylvania. 
 If he reached this place first, Lee would be cut off from Rich 
 mond, and compelled to give him battle in the open field. 
 Accordingly, at ten o clock, our advance started off through 
 the gloom. 
 
 The moon had been down for an hour, and the army 
 passed like a mighty shadow over the sterile country. u The 
 fires burned brightly, and at a distance, upon the wooded 
 
THE RACE. 357 
 
 hillsides, looked like the lights of a city. Standing upon an 
 eminence, at the junction of the GermSnia, Chancellorsville, 
 and Orange Court-House roads, along which the tramp of 
 soldiers, and the rumble of wagon trains, made a smothered 
 din, one could almost imagine himself peering clown through 
 the darkness on the streets of a metropolis, in peace. Back 
 in the forest, from the hospitals, from the trees, from the 
 roadside, the wounded were being gathered in ambulances 
 for the long, night journey. That part of the army, not 
 on the move, was slumbering by its fires, waiting for the 
 signal." 
 
 Lee, however, was soon made aware of the movement, 
 and dispatched Longstreet, an hour later, to the same point. 
 The two exhausted columns marched by parallel roads, but 
 Longstreet had the shortest distance to go in the race, and 
 reached Spottsylvania first. 
 
 BATTLE OF SUNDAY, MAY 8TH. 
 
 Warren s Corps was in the advance, in the march for this 
 vital point, and Bartlett s brigade, of Griffin s division, was 
 ordered to attack the place at once, on the supposition that 
 only cavalry held it. But, to his astonishment, this Com 
 mander run into Longstreet s whole Corps, and was shivered 
 to fragments one regiment, the First Michigan, losing three- 
 fourths of its number in fifteen minutes. Robinson s divis 
 ion, on the left, finding itself confronted by an overwhelming 
 force, also gave way in disorder. 
 
 At that critical moment, Warren, with his Staff, arrived 
 on the field, and fired at the sight of the disordered ranks, 
 spurred forward and -seizing a division flag, rallied the troops 
 by his gallant bearing, and held them firmly to the shock, 
 until the other portions of his Corps could arrive. From 
 eight till twelve for four hours he maintained the unequal 
 
358 DEATH OF SEDGWICK. 
 
 struggle, and, at length, gained an open space which led up 
 to the rebel line of "battle, that stretched through a piece 
 of woods. 
 
 Two fresh divisions coming up Crawford s and Getty s 
 an attack was made on the enemy s position just at evening, 
 and after an hour and a half of severe fighting, the first line 
 of breastworks was carried, though with heavy loss to us. 
 The next morning Grant saw his line advanced to within less 
 than three miles of Spottsylvania Court-House, and well 
 intrenched. 
 
 MONDAY. 
 
 >. 
 
 This was a sad day, for it took from the army one of its 
 ablest Commanders. Sedgwick having gone out in advance 
 to superintend the placing of some batteries, noticed that 
 one of the gunners dodged, as the sharp whistle of a bullet 
 sounded near. Amused at the man s nervousness, he said, 
 pleasantly, u Pooh, man, you can t hit an elephant at that 
 distance " referring to the nearest enemy in sight when the 
 bullet, of a sharpshooter ensconced in one of the neighbor 
 ing trees, entered his eye, and passed directly into his brain. 
 The blood gushed from his nostrils, and with a serene smile 
 on his face, he fell into the arms of his Assistant Adjutant- 
 General. A noble man, a strong leader, a great General, 
 and one of the firmest props of Grant, he fell where he 
 always preferred to fall, on the field of battle, with his face 
 to the foe. 
 
 Monday was a day of comparative quietude, though there 
 was constant skirmishing. Hancock had crossed the Po 
 and thrown up intrenchments, working all night by the light 
 of lanterns, hung in the blossoming cherry trees. Heavy 
 cannonading occured at intervals, along the line, and an 
 attack of the enemy was expected, but was not made in any 
 force or determination. 
 
SHERIDAN S RAID. 359 
 
 Both armies were fearfully exhausted. For the last three 
 days, the line of battle had been constantly formed, and, for 
 forty-eight hours, many of the troops had been without rest 
 or regular rations. 
 
 Soldiers had never shown greater endurance on any battle 
 field, and the "three days battle in the Wilderness" will 
 remain to all time, as an evidence of the superiority of 
 American troops when once inured by long service to any 
 others in the world. 
 
 On this day, Sheridan, with the cavalry force, started on a 
 raid to sever Lee s communications with Richmond. The 
 very next day he sent a dispatch to the Secretary of War, 
 stating that he had "turned the enemy s right, and got into 
 their rear ; had destroyed from eight to ten miles of railroad, 
 two locomotives, and three trains, and a very large quantity 
 of supplies ; and that since he had got into their rear, there 
 was great excitement among the inhabitants and with the 
 army. The enemy s cavalry had tried to annoy his rear and 
 flank, but had been run off, and he had recaptured five hun 
 dred of our men two of them colonels." 
 
 From this point he moved on, spreading destruction in 
 his path, until he reached the suburbs of Richmond, and 
 actually entered the first line of works. But finding it im 
 possible to proceed farther, he wheeled about and crossed 
 the Chickahominy at Meadow Bridge, having suffered but 
 slight loss in his daring ride. But, like every movement of 
 the kind, since the war commenced, it was of no practical 
 importance, for it had no effect whatever on Lee s move 
 ments. 
 
 On Tuesday, the 10th, Grant having finished his recon- 
 noissances, and got his army into position, determined to 
 assault the enemy s works. It was ordered to take place at 
 five o clock in the afternoon, and all day long the artillery 
 beat in a steady, awful storm on the rebel position in some 
 
 53 
 
360 GRAND ASSAULT. 
 
 places setting fire to the forest, that smoked and flamed 
 above the dead and wounded. More or less fighting oc 
 curred all along the lines, and at about four o clock, the 
 enemy came out and attacked Barlow s division, which 
 occupied a flanking and somewhat isolated position over 
 the stream, and compelled it to re-cross and join the Second 
 Corps. This delayed the proposed attack for an hour and 
 a half, so that it was sundown before the columns began to 
 advance. 
 
 During this interval, however, the cannonading was ter 
 rific, and shot and shell fell in a ceaseless shower on the 
 rebel works. At half past six, Grant and Meade, with their 
 staffs, took positions on an eminence that overlooked, to 
 some extent, the field of operations, and the signal twelve 
 cannon shots sounded the advance. With cheers that rose 
 over the crash of cannon, the assaulting columns at once 
 leaped forward and pressed over the broken field. Through 
 patches of wood over ridges, across swampy holes and 
 ravines swept at every step by a destructive fire the 
 dark lines steadily advanced, although the brave battalions 
 crumbled away like frost-work before the enfilading fire that 
 ploughed through the ranks. It was a vain effort, however, 
 and it was soon evident that the troops were held to a use 
 less slaughter those strong works could not be carried. 
 The only success, of importance, was achieved by the Sixth 
 Corps, that, since the death of Sedgwick, had been com 
 manded by General Wright. 
 
 " About three hundred yards in front, the enemy occupied 
 a work very strongly constructed, as high as a man s head, 
 and loop-holed at the top. The party organized to attack 
 this work, was disposed by General Russell and led by Colo 
 nel Upton. It consisted of a portion of the First division, 
 the Vermont brigade of the Second division, and some 
 picked troops of General Neill s command, who were massed, 
 
A GALLANT CHARGE. 361 
 
 on the eve of the attack, to the left and front of three bat 
 teries Cowan s, McCartney s and Rhodes . Some compa 
 nies of the Forty-ninth New York regiment had occupied, 
 during the afternoon, a work in advance of the general line, 
 and just to the left of the line of march of the column of 
 attack. As the column pressed forward, these companies 
 moved by the left flank, engaging a battery of the enemy on 
 the right of his work. 
 
 "The batteries of McCartney, Cowan arid Rhodes opened 
 on the work, over the heads of the attacking column, which 
 moved steadily on in the face of a terrific blaze of musketry, 
 with arms a-port, and without firing a shot, up to the very 
 face of the enemy s position. It poured a flood of savage 
 faces and plunging bayonets over the crest of the work 
 and into the midst of the enemy, capturing, in an instant, 
 nine hundred and fifty of the very men who had stampeded 
 the brigades of Shaler and Seymour, on Friday night, in 
 the Wilderness, and sending a scattering volley after a host 
 of flying rebels. Twelve guns, also, came into our pos 
 
 session." 
 
 Shouts of laughter greeted these prisoners, as they were 
 run back into our lines at full speed, before the bayonets of 
 their captors. Darkness, at length, closed the conflict, and 
 our bleeding lines retired from the hopeless struggle. Our 
 losses this day were fearful, and the moon that night, looked 
 down on hetacombs of brave men, piled everywhere around 
 the rebel works and over the fields. 
 
 The next day was spent in skirmishing and manoeuvering. 
 In the afternoon, a heavy storm set in, followed by a dark 
 and foggy night. Hancock took advantage of the darkness 
 and rain to change his position, and, unobserved by the 
 enemy, planted himself on his right flank. Between four 
 and five o clock in the morning, in the midst of a pouring 
 rain, the troops moved silently forward against a salient or 
 
362 CHARGE OF HANCOCK. 
 
 angle of the enemy s works, held by Johnson, which here 
 were exceedingly strong, with a wide ditch in front. Bar 
 low s division had the advance, Miles brigade leading. The 
 assaulting columns moved swiftly, and in dead silence, for 
 ward, and without a cheer or a shot, swept in one dark flood 
 over the ramparts, capturing almost the entire division of 
 Johnson. 
 
 Hancock now turned the captured artillery on the enemy, 
 and drove them back for nearly a mile. But here they 
 rallied, and a long and bloody fight followed. The other 
 Corps were brought up, and a desperate effort was made to 
 turn this brilliant success into a complete victory ; and all 
 through the forenoon, in the midst of the pelting rain, the 
 fearful conflict continued to rage. At noon the storm broke, 
 and the sun came out, but, alas ! not to light us to victory. 
 The first advantage was the last, of any importance, that was 
 gained, and after hours of heavy fighting, it was evident that 
 the enemy s position could not be carried. The rebels, fight 
 ing with a desperation never surpassed, made five successive 
 charges to re-take the works that had been carried by Han 
 cock. The two armies were rapidly concentrated around 
 this single spot the one to retake, and the other to hold the 
 captured works hence, the struggle and the slaughter here 
 were awful. 
 
 " Column after column of the enemy penetrated to the 
 very face of the breastwork, to be hewn down and sent back 
 like a broken wave. Column after column still came on, 
 dealing death and meeting it, and making way for other 
 columns and others still ; and all the day long, against this 
 rush of a foe, that seemed disdainful of life, the angle was 
 held by our troops, fighting, falling, but unyielding, to the 
 close. Our artillery made havoc on that day ; from dawn to 
 dusk, the roar of the guns was ceaseless ; a tempest of shell 
 shrieked through the forest, and plowed the field. 
 
A FRIGHTFUL SPECTACLE. 363 
 
 11 When the night came, the angle of those works, where the 
 battle had been hottest and from which the enemy had been 
 finally driven, had a spectacle for whoever cared to look, 
 that would never have enticed his gaze again. Men in hun 
 dreds, killed and wounded together, were piled, in hideous 
 heaps some bodies that had lain for hours under the con 
 centric fire of the battle, being perforated with wounds. 
 The writhing of the wounded beneath the dead, moved these 
 masses at times ; at times, a lifted arm or a quivering limb, 
 told of an agony not yet quenched by the Lethe of death 
 around." 
 
 Says another correspondent : u The angle of the works 
 at which Hancock entered, and for the possession of which 
 the savage fight of the day was made, is a perfect Golgotha. 
 In this angle of death the dead and wounded rebels lie, this 
 morning, literally in piles men in the agonies of death 
 groaning beneath the dead bodies of their comrades. On an 
 area of a few acres, in the rear of their position, lie not less 
 than a thousand rebel corpses, many literally torn to shreds 
 by hundreds of balls, and several with bayonet thrusts 
 through and through their bodies, pierced on the very mar 
 gins of the parapet, which they were determined to retake or 
 perish in the attempt. The one exclamation of every man 
 who looks on the spectacle is, God forbid that I should ever 
 gaze upon such a sight again." 
 
 Hancock s achievement was a brilliant one, and, for a 
 time, promised success, but as it turned out, it was a useless 
 -waste of life. 
 
 Grant s losses, since he crossed the Rapidan, had been 
 fearful a whole army had disappeared and it was neces 
 sary that these should be repaired, and now for six days the 
 army had comparative rest, while reinforcements were hur 
 ried up from Washington. The manner in which the troops 
 came pouring in showed the forecast of Grant. He had 
 
364 UNBURIED DEAD. 
 
 anticipated no easy victory he knew Lee and his gallant 
 veterans, and hence prepared for the frightful loss of life 
 which had now taken place. These gathering hosts showed 
 too the almost exhaustless resources of the North, and that 
 they were at last being employed by a man who knew how 
 to use them. 
 
 Grant a few days before, had telegraphed to the Secretary 
 of War, " I propose to fight it out on this line, if it takes all 
 Summer," and it was evident that he meant to. This was said 
 in no spirit of obstinacy, as it was generally supposed it was 
 a mere re-affirmation of judgment on the plan he had adopted, 
 notwithstanding the frightful sacrifices of life the carrying it 
 out had demanded. 
 
 The base of supplies, in the meantime, had been changed 
 to Fredericksburg. Maneuvering of the forces, skirmishing 
 and heavy artillery firing, kept the troops on the alert, but 
 Grant had resolved not to dash his army to pieces again on 
 the strong works before him. 
 
 The ceaseless energy with which he had pushed the ene 
 my, had not left him sufficient time to bury his dead prop 
 erly, and the u Wilderness " presented a shocking spectacle, 
 with its uncovered, or but partially interred bodies, scattered 
 amid the shattered trees of the forest and wreck of the fight. 
 
 During these seventeen fearful days, Sherman s army had 
 been sending up its victorious shouts amid the mountains of 
 Georgia, as it hewed its way toward Atlanta, and Butler 
 causing consternation among the inhabitants of Richmond, 
 as the sound of his cannon broke over the rebel Capital. 
 
CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 BUTLER S ADVANCE TO CITY POINT BUTLER S CAMPAIGN BERMUDA HUN 
 DRED POSITION OF THE ARMY KAUTz s CAVALRY EXPEDITION TORPE 
 DOES RICHMOND AND PETERSBURG RAILROAD SEVERED SUTLER S DIS 
 PATCH OPERATIONS AGAINST DRURY s BLUFF DILATORINESS OF BUTLER 
 
 REFUSES TO INTRENCH HIMSELF ON THE RAILROAD MORNING ATTACK OF 
 
 THE ENEMY CAPTURE OF HECKMAN AND HIS BRIGADE GILLMORE AND BUT 
 LER ON THE SITUATION OF THE ARMY RETREAT TO BERMUDA HUNDRED 
 
 TREATMENT OF A CHAPLAIN NAVAL OPERATIONS ALONG THE COAST IN 
 
 FLORIDA LOSS OF THE COLUMBINE INVESTMENT OF NEWBERN REBEL IRON 
 CLADS GALLANT FIGHT OF SMITH WITH THE ALBEMARLE IN ALBEMARLE 
 
 SOUND CONDUCT OF THE SASSACUS STEELE IN ARKANSAS. 
 
 IN accordance with Grant s orders, General Butler, on the 
 4th of May, moved his army from Fortress Monroe, to 
 co-operate, by an advance on Richmond, with the former, 
 and keep reinforcements back from Lee. .While Grant was 
 entering on the terrific " Battles of the Wilderness," and its 
 dreary solitudes were echoing to the roar of his guns, Butler 
 with his army on transports, guarded by iron-clads, was 
 steaming up the James River, toward City Point, that lay 
 about fifteen miles below the rebel Capital. A landing was 
 made at this place without opposition, and soon the army 
 was planted securely on the narrow strip of land, known as 
 Bermuda Hundred. 
 
 The river here takes a sharp bend, so that the army 
 rested both its right and left flank on it, though, by the 
 stream, they were many miles*apart. A line of intrench- 
 
366 KAUTZ S RAID. 
 
 ments was also stretched across the neck, while either ex 
 tremity was protected by gun-boats. A more secure position 
 could not have been selected. The difficulty was that while 
 an army here could repel a large force, a small one, on the 
 other hand, could coop it up so as to render it inoperative. 
 It was like a cavern, the mouth of which could be defended 
 by a few men within, against great odds without; and, 
 on the other hand, a few men could prevent any egress 
 from it. 
 
 Simultaneous with the advance of the army, a cavalry ex 
 pedition, under General Kautz, was sent off to strike the 
 Richmond and Weldon railroad, at a point some eighty miles 
 distant, and destroy a bridge three thousand feet long, and 
 then act as circumstances might dictate. 
 
 A strong fleet of gun-boats and iron-clads, under Admiral 
 Lee, co-operated with the army. It was known that torpe 
 does had been sunk in the river, and hence they were drag 
 ged for in advance. . But, notwithstanding the utmost pre 
 caution was taken, about noon, on the 6th, one that had 
 escaped discovery, exploded under the Commodore Jones, 
 near Four Mile Creek, utterly destroying the vessel, and 
 killing and wounding half of the crew. A party of marines 
 and sailors immediately landed at the point and discovered 
 three galvanic batteries sunk in the ground. Two men also 
 were captured in a battery near. 
 
 One of these being interrogated respecting the locality of 
 the torpedoes, at first professed entire ignorance, but being 
 placed in the advance boat of those dragging for them, and 
 told that he would be blown up with the rest, he became 
 more communicative, and stated where those he knew of 
 were placed. He said, moreover, that the one which exploded 
 under the Commodore Jones contained two thousand pounds 
 of powder that the large ones were exploded by galvanic 
 batteries, but the smaller ones, either by contact or a line 
 
TORPEDOES. 367 
 
 from shore. Those that were sunk, were put down by 
 Hfhiter Davidson, formerly of the United States Navy, who 
 commanded a boat named the Torpedo, which was built for 
 this especial service. 
 
 * The next day, the 7th, the tug gun-boat Shawsheen, while 
 looking for one of these submarine terrors, near Turkey 
 Bend, came under the fire of a rebel battery, and was de 
 stroyed, and most of the officers and crew captured. 
 
 First Assistant-Engineer Young sent to the department a 
 sketch of these galvanic batteries, by which the torpedoes 
 were exploded, which is curious, as a part of our naval his 
 tory during a war, that brought into service so many new 
 missiles of destruction. 
 
 He says: "The galvanic batteries were formed of nine 
 zinc cups, each one battery, or a set of cups being placed on. 
 shelves directly over the other. In each zinc cup was placed 
 a porous clay cup. In the zinc cup, and outside the porous 
 cup, was placed the sulphuric acid and water, and inside the 
 porous cup was placed the nitric acid. The zinc of one cup 
 was connected to the cast-iron of the other, by a clamp and 
 thumb screw. The negative wires led directly to the tor 
 pedoes, (one to each.) The positive wires ran along near a 
 foot-path, parallel with the river, for about two hundred 
 feet, and terminated at a sub-battery. In this sub-battery, 
 were two large wooden plugs, with a hole about one-half 
 inch in diameter in each ; these holes being filled with mer 
 cury ; the positive wires connecting from the torpedoes to 
 the bottom of these plugs; the positive wires, from the 
 charged batteries, being inserted in the mercury at the top 
 of its respective plug, to form the connections and explode 
 the torpedoes. The wires from the river bank to the torpe 
 does were supported by a three inch rope, being stopped 
 to rope about every four feet. At a distance of every fifteen 
 feet of the rope, were some five or six feet of three-quarter 
 
368 RICHMOND AND PETERSBURG R. R. SEVERED. 
 
 link chain to assist in keeping it on the bottom. The wires 
 were covered with gutta percha, about one-quarter iAch 
 thick. The battery used is generally known as the Bunsen 
 battery." 
 
 With such infernal mechanism lining the banks of a nar 
 row river, and connecting with vast masses of gun-powder, 
 lying concealed on the bottom, and all under the control of 
 hidden operators on shore, the navigation of the stream was 
 made most perilous. We had not a Commander afloat who 
 would not rather at any time engage a hostile fleet, of vastly 
 superior force, than carry his vessels, without an enemy in 
 sight, up such a river. There is something infinitely more 
 appalling in sailing over such hidden engines of destruction, 
 than there is meeting any danger face to face. 
 
 About the time the rebel batteries opened on our fleet 
 destroying the Shawsheen a fight commenced on land. But 
 ler moving out his army toward the Richmond and Peters 
 burg railroad, the rebels attacked him. The day was ex 
 cessively warm, but, about eleven o clock, the enemy opened 
 with artillery, and a sharp cannonade was kept up along the 
 lines. 
 
 While the left and centre were thus engaged, a brigade, 
 on the right, under Colonel Barton, pressed forward, and 
 striking the railroad, succeeded in tearing up the track for 
 some distance, and setting a bridge on fire. But being 
 heavily pressed in turn, it was compelled to retire. 
 
 The action continued with more or less severity till four 
 o clock in the afternoon, when the order was given for the 
 army to fall back to the lines held in the morning. 
 
 On the 9th, Butler again moved forward to break up 
 more effectually this important railroad. With General 
 Smith s Corps, on the left, and Gillmore, with the Tenth 
 Corps, on the right, the columns began their march at day 
 light, and passed cautiously through the thick woods in front, 
 
BUTLEB S DISPATCH. 369 
 
 without meeting the enemy. About nine o clock, Smith 
 struck the railroad at Port Walthall Junction, and Gillmore 
 at Chester Station, and the work of destruction commenced. 
 But little resistance was made by the enemy, and it was evi 
 dent that he had been taken wholly by surprise. \ 
 
 Butler now determined to advance on Petersburg, and the 
 army, the same afternoon, moved forward. The place was 
 held by Beauregard with a large force, who had been 
 ordered up from the south to take charge of affairs around 
 Richmond. 
 
 Butler, elated with his easy success, and fully believing 
 that he could hold possession of the railroad communication 
 between Richmond and Petersburg, sent the following tele 
 gram to Washington, summing up his achievements, and 
 announcing the separation of Beauregard s forces from those 
 of Lee : 
 v * "MAY 9, 1864. 
 
 Our operations may be summed up in a few words. With one thousand 
 and seven hundred cavalry we have advanced up the Peninsula, forced the 
 Chickahominy, and have safely brought them to our present position. These 
 were colored cavalry, and are now holding our advanced pickets toward 
 Richmond. 
 
 General Kautz, with three thousand cavalry, from Suffolk, on the same 
 day with our movement up James River, forced the Blackwater, burned the 
 railroad bridge at Stony Creek, below Petersburg, cutting in two Beaure 
 gard s force at that point. 
 
 We have landed here, intrenched ourselves, destroyed many miles of 
 railroad, and got a position which, with proper supplies, we can hold out 
 against the whole of Lee s army. I have ordered up the supplies. 
 
 Beauregard, with a large portion of his force, was left south by the cut 
 ting of the railroads by Kautz. That portion which reached Petersburg 
 under Hill, I have whipped to-day, killing and wounding many, and taking 
 many prisoners, after a severe and well-contested fight. 
 
 General Grant will not be troubled with any further reinforcements to 
 Lee from Beauregard s force. 
 
 BENJAMIN F. BUTLER, Major-General." 
 
 More or less fighting occurred between the hostile forces, 
 without bringing on a decisive battle, and Butler, at length, 
 determined to advance against Fort Darling, located on 
 
370 ADVANCE OP BUTLER. 
 
 Briny s Bluff. The batteries here were the main obstacle 
 that prevented our gun-boats from moving as near to Rich 
 mond as the depth of water would allow, and if they were 
 once silenced, it was believed that the advance of the fleet 
 would compel the evacuation of the rebel Capital. 
 
 Butler having reached Kingsland Creek, formed line of 
 battle on the south-east side, in view of James River. The 
 fleet, in the meantime,, moved to the vicinity of the fort to 
 co-operate with the land forces. 
 
 The news of Hancock s brilliant success at Spottsylvania, 
 reached the army on this day, causing immense cheering all 
 along the front. 
 
 For five days there had been more or less fighting, and 
 much of the time in a pouring rain, but no decisive advan 
 tage had been gained by either side. Butler succeeded in 
 taking some of the outer works of Fort Darling ; and from 
 the daily bulletins, published by war correspondents, the 
 public expected the speedy capture of this stronghold. 
 Foiled here, Butler attempted to get toward Petersburg 
 the fall of which had been prematurely announced but 
 meeting with strong opposition, he, on Monday, changed 
 front, and moved toward Richmond. His line, at this time, 
 was three miles long, extending from the James River to the 
 Richmond and Petersburg railroad. He had been molested 
 so little in the occupancy of this road, that he seemed to 
 think the enemy had abandoned all hope of re-occupying it, 
 and hence neglected to take those precautions which a skillful 
 Commander would have adopted. 
 
 Gillmore, one of the ablest engineers of the age, and 
 of much experience in the field, advised him to throw up 
 intrenchments so as to be able to hold this important posi 
 tion against any attack of the enemy. But Butler, in a 
 pompous manner, replied, that he was acting on the offen 
 sive, and not defensive, and refused to follow his advice. 
 
CAPTURE OF HECKMAN. 371 
 
 Gillniore, clearly, .did. not believe that the rebels had aban 
 doned all hope of re-taking this important railroad, and the 
 event proved the correctness of his opinion. The move 
 ment to City Point had evidently been a surprise, and had 
 Butler advanced at once, before the enemy recovered from 
 it, Petersburg, if not Richmond, could have been easily 
 captured. 
 
 But the five days, or more, that he had been campaigning 
 in the open country, had been improved by Beauregard in 
 hurrying up troops, which, the moment they were well in 
 hand, he meant to hurl with resistless fury on our army. 
 Monday morning, the 16th, was selected for the assault, and 
 a better time could not have been chosen. The night had 
 been exceedingly dark, and toward morning a dense fog 
 wrapped everything in impenetrable gloom. Shrouded in 
 this, the enemy came noiselessly down on our unsuspecting 
 line, striking it first on the right flank. Heckman s brigade 
 was posted here, on which the onset came with the sudden 
 ness of a thunder-clap. 
 
 The fog Jay .so thick over the fields, that a person, a few 
 rods distant, was invisible ; hence the proximity of the ene 
 my was unknown till his unearthly yells rose out of the mist, 
 right in the face of the brigade. Heckman, than whom a 
 braver man never lived, dashed through the gloom, shouting 
 to his men to stand firm, and succeeded, by great effort, in 
 rallying a portion of his brigade, whose loud cheers soon 
 answered the defiant yells of their assailants. So dense was 
 the fog, that the troops were brought breast to breast, be 
 fore they could see each other, and the fight became a hand- 
 to-hand contest. Wholly unable to see the ground occupied 
 by the enemy, Heckman could not tell what disposition to 
 make of his regiments in fact, was totally ignorant of the 
 strength of the force opposed to him. 
 
 Under such circumstances, the contest could not be other- 
 
372 A NOVEL DEFENSE. 
 
 wise than a short one. The rebels knew the exac! position 
 of the brigade, and swiftly overlapping it, took it in rear, 
 and captured nearly the whole, and with it its leader, the 
 gallant Heckman. Two regiments of Gillmore s Corps had 
 been detached from it, and, under Weitzel, lay in rear of 
 the brigade as a reserve. These, aroused by the firing 
 and yells, that rent the fog in advance, sprung to their 
 arms, and were led, by Colonel Drake, swiftly forward 
 toward the spot where the conflict was raging. Charging 
 fiercely on the exultant foe, they bore him back, and rescued 
 some three or four hundred of our prisoners. The rebels 
 rallying, charged back, but could not move those noble regi 
 ments from their places. 
 
 The battle raged furiously here, for a long time, for 
 both sides brought up reinforcements to this vital point. 
 The contest, however, was not confined to the right flank, 
 but drifted steadily down the line for two miles and a 
 half. 
 
 " The rebel plan of massing brigade after brigade, in line 
 of battle, and hurling them in rotation against us, was here 
 tried with very bad results. General Smith, with that fore 
 thought which is characteristic of him, anticipating some 
 such move on the part of the enemy, had ordered a large 
 quantity of telegraph wire to be intertwisted among the trees 
 and undergrowth which lay in front of our position. Wister 
 and Burnham received the order and obeyed it. Heckman 
 failed, unfortunately, to get it. When, therefore, the rebels 
 charged upon our intrenchments, in the dull light, hundreds 
 of them were tripped down, and unable to tell the cause. 
 As they lay upon the ground, our musketry-fire kept many 
 of them from ever rising more. As with the first line, so 
 with the second. They met the same fate. The third line 
 fared no better, and this simple agency of a telegraphic wire, 
 interlaced among the trees, played more havoc in the rebel 
 
, RETREAT OF BUTLER. 373 
 
 ranks than anything else. The dead lay like autumn leaves 
 before the front of Wister and Burnham." 
 
 About eight o clock, there was a lull, and Butler, now 
 thoroughly alarmed, ordered a retreat. For the first time 
 in his life, he had experienced a real rebel charge, and his 
 confidence in his own powers seemed suddenly to vanish. 
 Notwithstanding the disaster that had overtaken the army, 
 Gillmore was not disposed to abandon so readily this position 
 on the railroad, the holding of which was so necessary to 
 ultimate success; and when he received the order to fall 
 back, sent an urgent remonstrance to Butler to withdraw it, 
 saying that he believed he could hold his position. Receiv 
 ing, in reply, a peremptory order to retreat, he reluctantly 
 obeyed, and the army fell back to its intrenched position at 
 Bermuda Hundred. 
 
 Thus, in a single morning, the whole value of the Penin 
 sula movement was lost, and might as well have not been 
 undertaken at all, for the rebels not only had possession of 
 the railroad again, by which they could forward troops and 
 supplies to Lee, but had cooped up Butler in his strong posi 
 tion, so that he was as powerless to make any aggressive 
 movement, as though locked up in an iron cage. There 
 never was a movement begun with such a promise of success, 
 that ended so disgracefully. 
 
 Grant saw a most important part of his great plan thus 
 suddenly broken up, thereby increasing four-fold the magni 
 tude of the work before him. The chagrin and feeling with 
 which he received the news, may be gathered from the man 
 ner in which he alludes to the subject in his official report. 
 He says : 
 
 " On the 16th, the enemy attacked General Butler in his 
 position in front of Drury s Bluff. He was forced back, or 
 drew back, into his intrenchments between the forks of the 
 James and Appomattox Rivers the enemy intrenching 
 
374 ABUSE OF A CHAPLAIN. 
 
 strongly in his front, thus covering his railroads, the city, 
 and all that was valuable to him. His army, therefore, 
 though in a position of great security, was as completely 
 shut off from further operations, directly against Richmond, 
 as if it had been in a bottle strongly corked. It required 
 but a comparatively small force of the enemy to hold it 
 there." 
 
 A little farther on, referring to the same lamentable affair, 
 he says : 
 
 " The army sent to operate against Richmond, having her 
 metically sealed itself up at Bermuda Hundred, the enemy 
 was enabled to bring the most, if not all, the reinforcements 
 brought from the south by Beauregard, against the Army 
 of the Potomac. In addition to this reinforcement, a very con 
 siderable one probably not less than fifteen thousand men 
 was obtained by calling in the scattered troops, under Breck- 
 enridge, from the western parts of Virginia." 
 
 The public was not aware, at first, of the extent of the 
 misfortune, and rested comparatively satisfied with the an 
 nouncement that Butler s " position was impregnable." It 
 was as much as the position of a war correspondent was 
 worth, in the Army of the James, to breathe one word in 
 disparagement of Butler s skill, or express a doubt of the 
 wisdom of Ms movements. 
 
 This had a striking illustration in the case of a chaplain in 
 Gillmore s Corps. In a private letter to the editor of The 
 Evening Post, he stated some very unwholesome truths, res 
 pecting this unfortunate battle. This was published anony 
 mously, but Butler having discovered its author, under a 
 trumped-up charge of his being absent without leave, got the 
 unsuspecting clergyman within his department, and, unable 
 to make him consent to unsay the truth, and state a false 
 hood, threw him into confinement among rebels and negroes, 
 where he kept him for more than a month, subjected to 
 
KAUTZ 1 ^ RAID. 375 
 
 exposures that well nigh destroyed his life. Refusing to 
 grant him a trial, in direct violation of his duty ; refusing, 
 also, to allow him to hold religious service with his fellow- 
 prisoners, he continued his unmanly persecutions until pow 
 erful friends of his victim, from without, took up the case, 
 when he was compelled to release his despotic grasp, and let 
 the injured man go free to paint his persecutor in his true 
 colors. 
 
 Kautz s cavalry raid, which started two or three days 
 before this disastrous battle, accomplished its work success 
 fully. The damages inflicted upon the enemy have been 
 described as follows : 
 
 u Going direct to Walthall Junction, the depot of the 
 Richmond and Petersburg railroad was destroyed, together 
 with its contents. Moving on to Chester Station, a similar 
 scene was enacted. 
 
 " Marching on to the Richmond and Danville road, the 
 depot at the coal mines, with a large number of cars, was 
 demolished. The same occurred at Tomahawk Station. At 
 Powhatan, a locomotive and train were destroyed, together 
 with the railroad buildings. When the Third New- York 
 and Eleventh. Pennsylvania cavalry approached Chola, on 
 the line of the Lone road, their further progress was con 
 tested by a rebel infantry regiment stationed there. After a 
 brisk fight, our men drove the rebels. In the short engage 
 ment, but few were killed or wounded, on our side. 
 
 "The rebels having retired, the command pushed on, after 
 destroying considerable of the property, a train of cars, and 
 a locomotive included. The expedition then struck for the 
 South-side road. Here, at Black s and White s, another 
 train was destroyed, with a large amount of commissary 
 stores. At Wellsville and Wilson s Station, railroad property 
 was demolished. 
 
 54 
 
376 BUTLEK HERMETICALLY SEALED. 
 
 "At Lawrence ville, the Court-House of Brunswick County, 
 a large amount of corn, tobacco and flour, belonging to the 
 Confederate Government, and which had been taken from 
 farmers, for taxes, was burned. 
 
 u On the Nottaway River, near Jarrett s Station 7 a pontoon 
 bridge was destroyed. The part of the Petersburg and 
 Weldoii railroad, which was tapped by the former raid, had 
 Jbeen repaired, but this time the raiders broke it more effect 
 ually. At all the stations, where the expedition halted to 
 destroy depots, the railroad track was torn up for several 
 miles on each side. Bridges were leveled, not only on the 
 railroads, but on several turnpikes. 
 
 u There were large quantities of commissary stores all 
 along the line of the road, which were rendered thoroughly 
 useless for the Confederates. The work done by this expe 
 dition was most effectual ; four railroads being rendered 
 useless to the rebels, to say nothing of what else was done, 
 which will cripple them very materially. 
 
 " Our men penetrated within four miles of Richmond, and 
 three of Petersburg. Encounters with the enemy occurred 
 on several occasions, but they always were compelled to 
 retire." 
 
 With small loss, the force again reached City Point, on 
 the evening of the 18th. 
 
 Butler now being u corked up, 77 but little interest was felt 
 by Grant, in his action, for he knew that nothing more could 
 be done in that direction until he should arrive with the 
 Army of the Potomac. There was plainly, now, but one 
 way to form a junction with Butler, and that was to march 
 to the spot where he lay helpless. The Army of the James 
 being u hermetically sealed," it must remain useless to him 
 until, by his presence, he could unseal it. 
 
 The rebels, emboldened by their success, endeavored to 
 get possession of the James River, below Butler, and cut 
 
ACTION OF THE NAVY. 377 
 
 off his supplies ; they accordingly attacked both Fort Pow- 
 hatan and Wilson s Wharf, but were repelled by the moni 
 tors under Admiral Lee. 
 
 But, while the month of May will be forever marked in 
 our calendar for the mighty military movements it witnessed, 
 East and West, its record would not be complete without 
 giving the naval operations along our coast. 
 
 When Grant set in motion our great armies, it was under 
 stood that the navy should, at the same time, threaten the 
 rebel ports, not yet in our possession, and thus keep from 
 Lee reinforcements that otherwise would reach him. With 
 all our borders at peace, the entire military force of the 
 North was available, and could be sent in any desired direc 
 tion. At the South, this state of things was reversed, and 
 with fewer men to bring into the field, she had to keep 
 back many, even of these, to protect the few ports that still 
 remained to her. 
 
 At Mobile, Farragut lay waiting for one or two iron-clads 
 to boldly force his way into the bay, while expeditions up 
 the rivers of Florida kept detachments of troops there, which 
 Lee would soon be in sore need of. In one of these up the 
 St. John s, we lost the steam tug, Columbine, which fell into 
 the hands of the enemy. Our batteries and iron-clads were 
 also pounding away on the defenses of Charleston harbor 
 holding strong garrisons there to defend the place. 
 
 Thinking that we had drawn away our forces from New- 
 bern, to fill up our armies, the rebels organized an expedi 
 tion against it, and in the fore part of the month, news was 
 received that it was closely besieged by the enemy, and 
 fears were entertained that it might fall into his hands, but 
 he was driven back in disgrace. 
 
 Although nothing but disaster had overtaken the Southern 
 navy from the outset, two formidable rams, on the eastern 
 fcoast, this Spring, caused a good deal of alarm to our ship- 
 
378 FIGHT WITH THE ALBEMARLE. 
 
 ping. One, at Wilmington, was reported to be a powerful 
 vessel, and a strong force was kept watching her. The Al- 
 bemarle, that had wrought such mischief to the Miami and 
 Southfield, in Albemarle Sound, was decoyed out of the 
 Roanoke River, by Melancthon Smith, senior officer in the 
 Sound, and attacked by eight steamers. The gun-boat Bomb 
 shell, which accompanied it, was captured, and the ram was 
 compelled to retire from the conflict, apparently, somewhat 
 damaged. The Sassacus behaved nobly in the combat. Lay 
 ing herself alongside her formidable antagonist, she poured 
 in her heavy shot at close quarters. After the capture of 
 the Bombshell she being some distance off, and the ram 
 lying broadside too Roe, the Commander, "ordered full 
 steam on and open throttle, and laid the ship fair for the 
 broadside of the ram, to run her down. The Sassacus struck 
 her fairly just abaft her starboard beam, in the position, in 
 the rear of the house or casemate, with a speed of nine or 
 ten knots, making twenty-two revolutions with thirty pounds 
 of steam. As I struck, (he says,) she sent a one hundred- 
 pounder rifle-shot, through and through, from starboard bow 
 to port-side, at the berth-deck. The collision was pretty 
 heavy, and the ram careened a good deal, so much so that 
 the water washed over her deck, forward and aft the case 
 mate. At one time, I thought she was going down ; I kept 
 the engine pushing, as I hoped, deeper and deeper into her, 
 and also hoping it might be possible for some one of the 
 boats to get up on the opposite side of me, and, perhaps, 
 enable us to sink her, or, at least, to get well on to her on 
 all sides. I retained this position full ten minutes, throwing 
 grenades down her deck hatch, and trying in vain to get 
 powder into her smoke-stack, and receiving volleys of mus 
 ketry, when the stern of the ram began to go round, and her 
 broadside port bearing on our starboard bow, when the ram 
 fired, and sent a one hundred-pounder, Brook s rifle-shot, 
 
CLOSE OF THE CONFLICT. 379 
 
 through the starboard side, on the berth-deck, passing 
 through the empty bunkers into the starboard boiler, clear 
 through it, fore and aft, and finally lodging in the ward 
 room. In a moment, the steam filled every portion of the 
 ship, from the hurricane-deck to the fire-rooms, killing and 
 stifling some, and rendering all movements, for a time, impos 
 sible.^ 
 
 Just before receiving this shot, he sent a one hundred- 
 pounder, solid shot, against the monster, which broke into 
 fragments against his mailed sides, one of the pieces actually 
 bounding back upon his own deck. The flag-ship, Matta- 
 besett, and the Wyalusing, engaged the ram with equal 
 gallantry, laying their vessels alongside of it, with a boldness 
 never surpassed in any naval combat. They rained their 
 heaviest shot and shell on the huge structure, at close quar 
 ters, cutting away the flag, but failing to reach any vital part. 
 
 In Arkansas, Steele pushed Price at every point and forced 
 him into disastrous retreat. 
 
CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 SURVEY OF GRANT S POSITION SIGEL S FAILURE IN THE SHENANDOAH VAL 
 LEY SPOTTSYLVANIA FLANKED THE RACE FOR THE NORTH ANNA RIVER 
 
 HANCOCK S AND WARREN S CORPS FIGHT OF THE LATTER AT JERICHO FORD 
 
 GALLANTRY OF GRIFFIN ASSAULT OF A REDAN BY HANCOCK GALLANT 
 
 CHARGE THE ENEMY FALLS BACK TO THE SOUTH ANNA STRENGTH OF HIS 
 
 POSITION TRANSFER OF BASE TO PORT ROYAL GRANT AGAIN FLANKS THE 
 
 ENEMY AND CROSSES THE PAMUNKEY AT HANOVERTOWN MOVEMENT TO 
 
 COLD HARBOR BATTLE OF COLD HARBOR GRANT RESOLVES TO TRANSFER 
 
 THE ARMY TO THE JAMES RIVER A DELICATE OPERATION GILLMORE ? S 
 
 FAILURE TO TAKE PETERSBURG LEE DECEIVED THE JAMES SAFELY CROSS 
 ED ATTACK ON PETERSBURG BY SMITH OUTER WORKS CARRIED VARIOUS 
 
 ASSAULTS BUTLER AGAIN CUTS THE RICHMOND AND PETERSBURG RAILROAD, 
 
 AND AGAIN DRIVEN BACK LAST GRAND ASSAULT THE POSITION OF AF 
 FAIRS REVIEW OF THE CAMPAIGN GRANTS SAGACITY AND JUDGMENT 
 
 VINDICATED. 
 
 DURING the time that Grant lay before Spottsylvania, 
 waiting for reinforcements to come up, and recruiting 
 his overtasked army, he had ample time to survey his posi 
 tion. As, he said, " during three long years the Armies of 
 the Potomac and Northern Virginia had been confronting 
 each other," and " in that time they had fought more des 
 perate battles than it probably ever before fell to the lot of 
 two armies to fight, without materially changing the vantage- 
 ground of either." It was not a pleasant reflection to think 
 of these terrible struggles and fearful losses all made with 
 out giving him any "vantage ground." 
 
 To make matters worse, Butler had totally failed in his 
 co-operative movement, so that, practically, he must be left 
 out of any plan Grant might adopt to reach Richmond. Sigel 
 also had miserably failed in the Shenandoah Valley, and the 
 
SIGEL S FAILURE. 381 
 
 prospect was that he must look to himself, and his gallant 
 army alone, for success. The part this officer performed in 
 the grand campaign cannot be better given than in the fol 
 lowing few sentences of Grant: 
 
 " The movement of the Kanawha and Shenandoah Valleys 
 under General Sigel, commenced on the first of May. Gen 
 eral Crook, who had the immediate command of the Kan 
 awha expedition, divided his forces into two columns, giving 
 one, composed of cavalry, to General Averill. They crossed 
 the mountains by separate routes. Averill struck the Ten 
 nessee and Virginia railroad, near Wytheville, on the 10th, 
 and proceeding to New River and Christiansburg, destroyed 
 the road, several important bridges and depots, including 
 New River bridge, forming a junction with Crook at Union, 
 on the 15th. General Sigel moved up the Shenandoah Val 
 ley, met the enemy at New Market, on the 15th, and after a 
 severe engagement, was defeated with heavy loss, and re 
 tired behind Cedar Creek. Not regarding the operations 
 of General Sigel as satisfactory, I asked his removal from 
 command, and Major-General Hunter was appointed to su 
 persede him." 
 
 Grant having, at length, established his base of supplies, 
 and received his reinforcements, gave orders for the army to 
 move on the 18th. Still determined, if possible, to get a 
 field-fight out of Lee, he planned a flank movement around 
 the right of the rebel army to the North Anna River. If he 
 succeeded in reaching this point first, it would place him in 
 Lee s rear, cut off his communications, and compel him to 
 evacuate the strong works at Spottsylvania, 
 
 The movement was postponed, however, on account of an 
 unexpected attack of Ewell, who came out of his intrench- 
 ments and assailed our right, so that it did not commence 
 till the night of the 21st 
 
 To mask it more effectually, Hancock and Wright were 
 
382 SPOTTSYLVANIA FLANKED. 
 
 previously ordered to attack the rebel left, as though it were 
 Grant s intention to turn that flank. After losing several 
 hundred men in this feint, the former was shifted over, by 
 night, to our extreme right, and at once commenced his 
 march for the North Anna. Torbert s cavalry, in the mean 
 time, moved off ten miles east of Spottsylvania, on the Fred- 
 ericksburg railroad, to clear the country for the march. 
 Hancock at first struck off with his Corps east to Massaponax 
 Church, then wheeled south, and moving rapidly forward 
 all night, and all next day, reached Bowling Green at even 
 ing the head of his column being seventeen miles from 
 Spottsylvania. 
 
 Lee, however, having in some way obtained information 
 of this movement, and penetrating Grant s design, at once 
 proceeded to checkmate it. At midnight, the reveille was 
 beat in the rebel camp, and, by one o clock, Longstreet s 
 Corps was pushing on through the darkness toward the 
 North Anna. In the presence of such an enemy as Lee, 
 Hancock s movement was a perilous one, for it exposed him 
 to a flank attack while on the march. 
 
 To guard against this, he took a somewhat circuitous 
 route, which, of course, gave Longstreet all the advantage in 
 the race, as he, moving directly to the rear, had a much 
 shorter line to traverse. 
 
 Warren broke off from the main army a few hours after 
 Hancock started taking, for a while, the same road. With 
 a promptness, that could hardly have been surpassed had 
 there been a mutual understanding, Swell s Corps at once 
 moved off in the same direction. Saturday afternoon, Bum- 
 side followed the other two Corps, leaving Wright in com 
 mand of Sedgwick s old Corps alone in front of Spottsyl 
 vania. 
 
 Hill, with his Corps still remaining behind in the intrench- 
 ments, at once came out and attacked him, evidently for the 
 
THE NORTH ANNA. 383 
 
 purpose of ascertaining the actual force left behind. Break 
 ing through our skirmish line he was received with such a 
 terrible artillery fire that he dared not push his attack, and 
 fell back to the cover of the works. 
 
 That night Wright followed the rest of the army, when 
 Hill also moved off, and Spottsylvania, in front of which such 
 rivers of blood had flowed, was left silent and deserted. 
 
 The country, over which these two mighty armies now 
 marched, seeking a new battle-field, had thus far escaped the 
 ravages of war, and sprouting wheat and clover fields, and 
 quiet farm-houses, greeted the eyes of the weary soldiers as 
 they toiled forward toward the North Anna. From the 
 outset, it was plain that, unless the movement could be kept 
 secret for several hours at least, we could not reach the de 
 sired point, before the enemy. As he started almost simul 
 taneously with us, there could be but one result to the race, 
 and when, on Monday, the heads of our columns approached 
 the North Anna, the enemy was found to be there in po 
 sition. 
 
 This river was sixty-five miles from the Rapidan, and but 
 twenty-five from Richmond, but though distance had been 
 overcome, the obstacles that intervened between Grant and 
 the rebel Capital, remained great as ever. Hancock struck 
 the stream near where the Fredericksburg and Richmond 
 railroad crosses it Warren, who had the right, four miles 
 farther up, at Jericho. Griffin s division of the latter Corps, 
 in advance, at once plunged into the stream, and waist-deep, 
 floundered over the rocky bed to the farther bank. The 
 enemy apparently not expecting that any part of our force 
 would cross so high up, had no troops to oppose the passage 
 here. The rest of the Corps rapidly followed, and Griffin 
 moving swiftly over an open space, a third of a mile wide, 
 took position in a piece of woods, and soon encountered a 
 heavy skirmish line of the enemy. 
 
384 GRIFFIN S FIGHT. 
 
 The rebel leaders, made aware of Warren s movement, 
 hurried up reinforcements to this point, and, at five o clock, 
 fell furiously on Griffin coming on in two lines of battle, 
 and suddenly opening with three batteries on his uncovered 
 ranks. But Griffin, with his accustomed gallantry and firm 
 ness, held his position, and gave the on-sweeping battalions 
 such a murderous fire, that the attack in front was soon 
 abandoned, and the rebel Commander detached a brigade to 
 make a detour and fall on his right flank. Cuyler, who com 
 manded here, had not yet got into position, and his brigade 
 gave way before the sudden onset. 
 
 This was a critical moment for Griffin, but with that 
 promptness which has always distinguished him, he quickly 
 ordered up three regiments of Bartlett s brigade, and restored 
 the line. The Eighty-third Pennsylvania regiment, command 
 ed by Lieutenant- Colonel McCoy, ran into the rebel brig 
 ade while on the march. With great presence of mind, he 
 quickly moved his forward companies into line, and poured in 
 a sudden volley, while one of his men seized the rebel leader 
 by the collar, and pulled him into our lines a prisoner. 
 Caught in flank and rear, by the fire of the regiment, the 
 rebel brigade broke and fled. 
 
 The brilliancy and success of this engagement called forth 
 a congratulatory order from Meade. A failure here, at the 
 outset, would have complicated matters much, and for a few 
 moments, it seemed inevitable. 
 
 While, on the right, this conflict was passing on the south 
 bank of the stream, Hancock, on the left, was engaged in a 
 desperate fight on the north side. Here, on either bank, the 
 rebels had, long before, erected strong works, which now 
 swept the shores with a destructive fire. Hancock saw, at 
 once, that there must be no delay ; that the redan on the side 
 nearest him, must be taken at all hazards, by assault. This 
 perilous task was assigned to Birney s gallant division. 
 
A GALLANT ASSAULT. 385 
 
 " On the left, was the brigade of Colonel Egan ; on his 
 right, Pierce s brigade, and General Mott s brigade on the 
 right of Pierce. The Fourth brigade (the Excelsior, com 
 manded by Colonel Blaisdell, of the Eleventh Massachusetts) 
 came up partly in the rear, its left to the right of the redan. 
 To cover the assault, three sections of artillery were put in 
 position, and replied to the artillery fire of the enemy. On 
 the left of Birney s division, was Barlow s division, the left 
 of which connected with the right of Gibbon s division, while 
 Tyler s heavy artillery division was held in reserve. 
 
 " An hour before sundown, on Monday, the assault was 
 begun and most brilliantly executed, by Birney s command, 
 which swept across the open space at double quick, under a 
 storm of artillery and volleys of musketry. Two regiments 
 of the Excelsior brigade, (the Seventy-first and Seventy- 
 second New- York,) first reached the redan, the garrison of 
 which ran precipitately, as the menacing line of fixed bay 
 onets came sweeping along. Making a foothold in the 
 parapet with their muskets, the brave fellows clambered up 
 and simultaneously planted their colors on the rebel strong 
 hold. 
 
 u Thirty rebels, unable to get away in time, were captured 
 in the ditch. The total loss in this brilliant exploit, the 
 very rapidity and daring of which astonished and paralyzed 
 the rebels, did not exceed a hundred men, and secured us 
 the possession of the bridge, across which a portion of Han 
 cock s Corps immediately crossed, and held the bridge-head 
 during the night." 
 
 Wright s Corps, crossing at Jericho s Ford, took position 
 in rear of Warren. The enemy being swept from the line 
 of the stream, Burnside s Corps, on the 25th, crossed over 
 between Hancock and Warren. The Army of the Potomac 
 now lay south of the North Anna, with the exception of 
 Hancock s Corps, which was unable to cross, as the rebels 
 
386 LEE AGAIN FLANKED. 
 
 had burnt the bridge, when they found they could no longer 
 hold it. 
 
 Grant now changed his base to Port Royal, on the Rap- 
 pahannock, and a long, sad train, containing our wounded, 
 was soon winding its way to that point. In the meantime, 
 he pushed on his advance columns three miles toward the 
 South Anna, which was found to be the real rebel line of 
 defense having evidently been selected, long ago, and 
 strongly fortified. 
 
 For the last few days, the heat had been overpowering, 
 and the troops were much exhausted ; still there seemed no 
 end to their labors. Wherever they moved, strong defenses 
 sprung up in their faces, behind which the enemy mocked at 
 their efforts to force him into a decisive engagement. 
 
 Lee lay here with his centre advanced, and his flanks 
 thrown back, and strongly protected, hoping that Grant would 
 dash his army against the intrenchments, as he did at Spott- 
 sylvania. But the latter, after a thorough reconnoissance of 
 the position, was satisfied, he said, that it was stronger than 
 any the enemy had hitherto taken up, and so, on the night 
 of the 26th, he withdrew his army to the north bank of the 
 North Anna, and again moved around Lee s right flank, 
 crossing the Pamunkey at Hanovertown. Sheridan, with 
 Merritt s and Torbert s divisions of cavalry, cleared the ad 
 vance for the Sixth Corps, which this time took the lead 
 Hancock bringing up the rear. 
 
 Some sharp fighting occurred before the Corps effected a 
 lodgment on the opposite bank ; and on the 28th, Sheridan 
 had a severe cavalry engagement with Fitz-hugh Lee 
 driving him from the field. The whole army now rapidly 
 crossed and advanced toward the Chickahominy. Grant, 
 therefore, transferred his base from the Rappahannock to 
 the White House, which had become a historic place to the 
 Army of the Potomac. 
 
COLD HARBOR OCCUPIED. 387 
 
 In the meantime finding, as he said, Butler "hermetically 
 sealed," at Bermuda Hundred, and that the position could 
 be held with a less force than the one under him, he ordered 
 W. F. Smith to join him with the Eighteenth Corps, by way 
 of the White House. The troops were placed on transports, 
 which, passing down the James, advanced up the York 
 River to the White House, from which point, it was scarcely 
 fifteen miles to the Army of the Potomac. 
 
 On Monday, the 30th, Grant pushed energetic reconnois- 
 sances, which showed the enemy to be in full force, in front ; 
 when Warren, on the left, made an effort to get possession 
 of the Mechanicsville pike, but failed. Grant now determ 
 ined to seize Cold Harbor, for the purpose of forcing the 
 Chickahominy at that point, by carrying, if possible, the ene- 
 my 1 s works between him and it. 
 
 On Tuesday night, Warren s Corps, holding the extreme 
 right, was transferred to the left, where, the next day, it was 
 joined by the Eighteenth Corps from the White House. The 
 rest of the army came up this day, and a sharp conflict 
 ensued for the position of Cold Harbor. We finally carried 
 it, though with a loss of two thousand men. It was an 
 important point to hold, for nearly all the roads leading out 
 of Richmond converge here, as well as those coining from 
 the White House. Hence, Lee made a great mistake in not 
 securing it in advance, and holding it all hazards. 
 
 Grant now determined to give battle the next day ; and 
 Hancock s Corps which, after the withdrawal of Warren s, 
 held the extreme right, was brought over to the extreme 
 left, during the night. He had to fight his way into posi 
 tion, so that he was not ready to advance until afternoon. 
 The attack was ordered to commence at five o clock, but 
 just before the hour arrived, the heavens grew black as night, 
 and a heavy thunder cloud rapidly pushed its way across 
 the sky. Its dark bosom was incessantly riven by lightning, 
 
388 A THUNDER STORM. 
 
 and the thunder boomed louder than artillery, above the 
 waiting armies. The wind swept by in fierce gusts, bending 
 the trees like wands, in its path, and everything betokened 
 a wild and stormy evening. Soon the burdened clouds 
 opened, and the rain came down in a perfect deluge, turning 
 the fields into standing pools, and swelling the Cbickahom- 
 iny into a turbid flood. 
 
 The order for the attack had, therefore, to be counter 
 manded, and the drenched army went into bivouac for the 
 night. A new order was issued, fixing the attack at half-past 
 four in the morning. 
 
 BATTLE OF COLD HARBOR. 
 
 Hancock s Corps was on the extreme left, Wright s next, 
 the Eighteenth, under Smith, next, then came Warren, and 
 last, Burnside, holding the extreme right. The rebel army 
 was drawn up in front of the Chickahominy, two lines deep, 
 with a heavy skirmish line well advanced. It was irregular, 
 in order to conform to the ridges, woods and swamps, over 
 or across which it extended. Between the two armies, lay 
 a low, swampy region, made "worse by the thunder storm 
 of the night before and this was to be the battle-field. 
 
 The morning was dark and gloomy, and a gentle rain was 
 falling, as the firm-set lines moved out from behind their 
 breastworks, and began to advance over the field. The 
 skirmish line pushing rapidly forward, soon encountered that 
 of the enemy, and their sharp, irregular volleys awoke the 
 morning echoes. The next minute the artillery opened, and 
 from right to left, for miles along the Chickahominy, the 
 deep reverberations rolled like heaven s own thunder of the 
 night before. 
 
 The advance of that mighty host, as the long lines of glit 
 tering steel rose and fell along the uneven ground, was a 
 
.BARLOW S ADVANCE. 389 
 
 magnificent spectacle. Hancock, on the left, first came up to 
 the enemy s works. Barlow, with four brigades, formed his 
 extreme left ; and this gallant Commander carried his troops 
 for half a mile, through woods and over open spaces, under 
 a heavy fire, square up to the rebel works. 
 
 These were the immortal brigades that made the gallant 
 dash into the works at Spottsylvania, and here, enacting 
 over again their heroic deeds, they sprung with a shout over 
 the enemy s parapets, capturing the guns, colors, and sev 
 eral hundred prisoners. This was the key to the rebel posi 
 tion, and could this gallant charge have been properly sup 
 ported, Lee s army, in all probability, would have been 
 driven over the Chickahominy. The latter was aware of 
 this, and had guarded well against such a catastrophe, for 
 Barlow had not yet turned the captured guns upon him, 
 when a heavy force, under Hill, was seen advancing to 
 retrieve the disaster. 
 
 These bold brigades saw the approach of these overwhelm 
 ing numbers without fear, but the position they had gained 
 was so far in advance, that it was exposed to a deadly, enfila 
 ding fire from the rebel artillery, that now ploughed through 
 them with awful havoc. Two of their leaders, Brooks and 
 Byrnes, fell mortally wounded ; other officers were fast disap 
 pearing ; and shattered, rent, and bleeding, they, at length, 
 fell back, bringing with them a part of their prisoners, but 
 not the captured guns. 
 
 The whole of Hancock s Corps advanced simultaneously 
 with Barlow s division, and came like it, upon the rebel 
 works, and made desperate efforts to carry them. Deafen 
 ing yells, rising from behind the hostile intrenchments, an 
 swered with shouts all along our lines incessant explosions 
 of artillery, and crashing volleys of musketry the long, low 
 sulphurous cloud hanging in the damp air above the com 
 batants the never-ceasing stream of the wounded, borne 
 
390 GRANT AND MEADE. 
 
 back to the rear, made that summer morning one of gloom 
 and terror to the beholder. 
 
 The Sixth Corps, under a desolating fire, swept the first 
 line of rifle-pits, in its front, and with five batteries played 
 furiously on the rebel position, but could make no serious 
 impression on the main works. Warren and Burnside, on 
 the right, suffered less than the rest of the army, especially 
 the latter, who did little more than keep up a heavy artillery 
 fire. The brunt of the battle was borne by Hancock s 
 Corps, which, also, gained most of the advantage that was 
 even temporarily secured. 
 
 The Army of the Potomac had again flung itself against 
 the rebel works in vain, and rent and bleeding, fell back, 
 though not to its original position. A lull came in the bat 
 tle, and the anxious question asked by all was, " Will the 
 assault be renewed ? " Grant and Meade stood on a naked 
 eminence in consultation ; the latter, nervous and emphatic 
 in his manner ; the former, cool and imperturbable as ever, 
 looking gravely, sternly on the embattled hosts and the en 
 sanguined field. 
 
 Intervening woods hid much of the country, and, appa 
 rently, wishing to ascertain for himself the true condition of 
 things, he called for his horse, and, mounting it, rode down 
 to Hancock s head-quarters, and after consulting with him, 
 went over to Wright* s. All this time, occasional firing was 
 heard along the lines, for they were still in close prox 
 imity, especially on the left Barlow being on ene side of a 
 ridge, and the enemy on the other, not more than fifty yards 
 apart. 
 
 The war correspondent of the Times, in speaking of the 
 position of the lines, and their nearness to each other, at 
 some points, relates the following singular incident, which 
 we give in his own words. 
 
 " One portion of our line retained all day a position within 
 
A GALLANT BRIGADE. 391 
 
 fifteen yards of the rebel works. This heroic band was the 
 brigade of Colonel McKean, a brigade of Gibbon s division 
 of Hancock s Corps, and numbering about eight hundred men. 
 The conduct of these eight hundred, is as splendid a stroke of 
 heroism as ever lit up the story of 4 the glory we call Greece 
 and the grandeur we call Rome. Through the live-long day, 
 these men held their line, within fifteen yards of the enemy, 
 and all his forces could not dislodge them. Repeatedly, 
 during the day, the rebels formed double columns of attack 
 to come over the work and assail them, and the officers 
 could be heard encouraging their troops, saying to them 
 4 There are only four or five hundred of them come on/ 
 But the moment the rebels showed themselves above their 
 parapet, a line of fire flashed out from behind the earthern 
 mound, where those eight hundred heroes stood in a new 
 Thermopylae, and many a rebel threw up his arms and fell 
 prone, under their swift avenging bullets. 
 
 " The sequel of this bit of history is as curious as the deed 
 itself for while the rebels dared not venture out to assail 
 McKean s men, neither could he, nor his command, recede 
 from the perilous position. He could not get back to us 
 we could not go forward to him. In this dilemma, the 
 ingenious device was hit upon of running a sap/ or zig-zag 
 trench, up from our line to his. In this way, a working 
 party were able tc dig up to where they lay, begrimed 
 with powder and worn down with fatigue, and a few 
 hours ago they were brought safely away all t?hat was 
 left of them, left of six hundred ! But McKean, their 
 gallant leader, he came not away alive. Since eleven in the 
 morning, he had lain behind the bulwark his valbr defend 
 ed a corpse. While preparing to resist a rebel assault, 
 he fell, pierced by the bullet of a sharp-shooter, and, after 
 living for an hour or two, in an agonifcingr death-in-life, 
 begging his staff -officers to put an end to^ his misery, his 
 
 55 
 
392 REBEL ASSAULT. 
 
 heroic soul forsook the turmoil of this weary, warring 
 world." 
 
 The two armies remained in this relative position, all day, 
 neither making any decided demonstration. But, just after 
 dark, the rebels came down on Hancock s Corps in one of 
 their tremendous charges. Our brave troops, however, had 
 moved too often on formidable works, without flinching, to be 
 driven from behind their own intrenchments, by any force ; 
 and as the dark mass became well defined in the grey gloom, 
 they poured in volley after volley of musketry, with a cool 
 ness and precision, that made the hostile lines melt away as 
 though swallowed up by the night, while the deadly batteries 
 tore huge gaps through the dim formations. 
 
 The assault, however, was a most gallant one, and the 
 great openings made in the ranks were closed up with 
 steadiness and a noble devotion ; and they pressed forward 
 until they reached the breastworks, and poured their fire 
 over the very parapets some even getting upon them, but 
 only to fall dead before the terrible fire that met them. Their 
 shouts of defiance rung over the din of battle, and the order 
 "Forward, FORWARD," rose steady and strong through the 
 darkness, but all their efforts to carry the intrenchments 
 were vain. Our troops had been compelled again and again 
 to attack the enemy behind their breastworks, and been 
 repulsed, and now they had their revenge, and hurled the 
 assailants back with terrible slaughter. 
 
 This ended the battle of Cold Harbor, or, as it has been 
 sometimes called, of Chickahominy. Grant had failed here 
 as at Spottsylvania, and it was plain that he could not force 
 the Chickahominy. It then became a serious question what 
 the next move on this mighty chess-board would be. 
 
 The aspect of affairs here had materially changed since 
 McClellan, two years before, attempted to move on Rich 
 mond from the same point. lie found no trouble in crossing 
 
GKANT^S PLAN. 393 
 
 the Chickahominy ; indeed, had but little difficulty in advan 
 cing two miles beyond it. But that campaign taught the 
 rebels wisdom ; and now "strong works dotted the country 
 in every direction, and for five miles out of Richmond, every 
 available point was fortified. 
 
 It was very plain, therefore, that Richmond could not be 
 taken in this direction, and but one of two courses remained 
 for Grant to pursue either to retrace his steps far enough 
 to turn Lee s left flank, and so come down on Richmond 
 from the north, or continue on as far as the James River, and 
 join Butler. 
 
 The former course would cover Washington and save the 
 Government from its former fears for its safety ; but, in this 
 case, the Fredericksburg railroad would be the line of com 
 munication, over which his supplies must pass, while the 
 length of it would require an army to protect it. 
 
 Grant, therefore, resolved to keep on to the James. He, 
 however, remained for more than a week in front of the rebel 
 position, gradually working his way, with the spade, toward 
 it, as though he intended another assault ; but in the follow 
 ing paragraph he gives the true reason of his delay : 
 
 " I therefore determined to continue to hold substantially 
 the ground we then occupied, taking advantage of any 
 favorable circumstances that might present themselves, until 
 the cavalry could be sent to Charlottesville and Gordonsville, 
 to effectually break up the railroad connection between 
 Richmond and the Shenandoah Valley and Lynchburg ; and 
 when the cavalry got well off, to move the army to the south 
 side of the James River, by the enemy s right flank, where 
 I felt I could cut off all his sources of supply, except by the 
 canal." 
 
 To withdraw such a vast army from the immediate front 
 of the enemy, was a dangerous undertaking ; for it was 
 hardly to be expected that it could be done unobserved 
 
394 THE RETREAT. 
 
 by him, and he would not fail in case of discovery to attack 
 both in flank and rear. 
 
 Hitherto all of Grant s movements had been by his left 
 flank, and made in the same way ; at night, the Corps hold 
 ing the extreme right would throw out a strong picket line 
 in front, to cover its movements, and then fall back, and 
 marching in rear of the army, take position on the extreme 
 left. The next Corps would follow in the same manner, 
 until, by this simple process, the army was advanced the en 
 tire length of its line, some eight or ten miles. But Grant 
 was now not to advance his lines so as to lap the enemy s 
 flank and threaten his rear, but, if possible, to swing loose 
 entirely from him, and make a rapid march of fifty miles, 
 with all his trains and artillery. To secure himself in case 
 of attack, while doing this, he gradually concentrated his 
 lines until, in front, they were scarcely more than four miles 
 long. This, consequently, forced the several Corps back, 
 until the army assumed the form of a square, in its main 
 outline ; all along the sides of which, and beyond, strong 
 earth-works were thrown up to protect the flanks. 
 
 Having completed all his preparations, and Sheridan, with 
 his cavalry, being off, he, on the night of the 12th, silently 
 withdrew from the enemy s front. Wilson s cavalry and the 
 Fifth Corps crossed the Chickahominy, at Long Bridge, and 
 proceeded to the White Oak Swamp, to cover the crossing 
 of the rest of the troops. The Eighteenth Corps, in the 
 meantime, marched back to the White House and again em 
 barked in the transports for Bermuda Hundred. 
 
 With such secrecy and dispatch did the Army of the Poto 
 mac move away, that its departure was not known by Lee 
 till next morning, when it was miles away. It marched 
 below the White Oak Swamp instead of through it as it did 
 under McClellan and by different roads stretched forward 
 toward the James River. Meade, to whom was intrusted 
 
FIRST ATTEMPT ON PETERSBURG. 395 
 
 the management of the army, in. this delicate movement, 
 evinced the highest skill, and everything went on with 
 the precision and regularity of machinery. There was some 
 skirmishing on the way, but none serious enough to check the 
 onward movement ; and the grand army swept steadily and 
 swiftly forward and crossed the James River without mo 
 lestation. This probably would hardly have happened, if 
 Lee had been aware of Grant s plan; but supposing his 
 design was to advance on Richmond by the way of Malvern 
 Hill, he disposed his forces to meet this imaginary move 
 ment. 
 
 Two days before Grant broke up his camps at Cold Har 
 bor, a demonstration was made against Petersburg by 
 Kautz s cavalry, and an infantry force under Gillmore. The 
 cavalry penetrated beyond the outer works, but not being 
 supported by the infantry, was compelled to retire. Gill- 
 more thought the works too strong to be carried by assault, 
 and, hence, did not make the attempt, for which he was 
 much blamed. 
 
 Grant having deceived Lee, as to his intentions, deter 
 mined to capture Petersburg before the latter could throw 
 reinforcements into it ; and hence, before the army was over 
 the river, planned an assault upon it. As the failure of this 
 well-laid plan, on the success of which everything, for the 
 time, depended, has been the cause of much dispute, we let 
 General Grant give his own account of it. He says : 
 
 " After the crossing had commenced, I proceeded by a 
 steamer to Bermuda Hundred, to give the necessary orders 
 for the immediate capture of Petersburg. 
 
 u The instructions to General Butler were verbal, and 
 were for him to send General Smith immediately, that night, 
 with all the troops he could give him without sacrificing the 
 position he then held. I told him that I would return at 
 once to the Army of the Potomac, hasten its crossing, and 
 
396 GRANT S STATEMENT. 
 
 throw it forward to Petersburg, by divisons, as rapidly as it 
 could be done ; that we could reinforce our armies more 
 rapidly there than the enemy could bring troops against us. 
 General Smith got off as directed, and confronted the ene 
 my s pickets near Petersburg, before daylight next morning, 
 but, for some reason, that I have never been able to satis 
 factorily understand, did not get ready to assault his main 
 lines until near sundown. Then, with a part of his com 
 mand only, he made the assault, and carried the lines north 
 east of Petersburg, from the Appomattox River, for a dis 
 tance of two and a half miles, capturing fifteen pieces of 
 artillery, and three hundred prisoners. This was about seven 
 o clock, p. m. Between the lines thus captured and Peters 
 burg, there were no other works, and there was no evidence 
 that the enemy had reinforced Petersburg with a single 
 brigade from any source. The night was clear the moon 
 shining brightly and favorable to further operations. Gen 
 eral Hancock, with two divisions of the Second Corps, 
 reached General Smith just after dark, and offered the ser 
 vice of these troops as he (Smith) might wish, waiving rank 
 to the named Commander, who he naturally supposed knew 
 best the position of affairs, and what to do with the troops. 
 But, instead of taking these troops, and pushing at once 
 into Petersburg, he requested General Hancock to relieve a 
 part of his line in the captured works, which was done before 
 midnight. 
 
 " By the time I arrived the next morning, the enemy was 
 in force. An attack was ordered to be made at six o clock 
 that evening, by the troops under Smith, and the Second 
 and Ninth Corps. It required until that time for the Ninth 
 Corps to get up and into position. The attack was made 
 as ordered, and the fighting continued, with but little inter 
 mission, until six o clock the next morning, and resulted in 
 our carrying the advance and some of the main works of the 
 
BUTLER S FAILURE. 397 
 
 enemy to the right (our left) of those previously captured 
 by General Smith, several pieces of artillery, and over four 
 hundred prisoners." 
 
 It seems that this sudden victory was gained by the skir 
 mish line alone, which, at a single bound, captured thirteen 
 redoubts, sixteen guns and several colors, with three or four 
 hundred prisoners. The colored troops took three of the 
 redoubts, and six of the guns. 
 
 As soon as Lee was made aware of the danger threatening 
 Petersburg, he had the garrison reinforced with the troops 
 nearest it ; in doing which, he weakened the force on the 
 railroad in front of Butler. The latter informed of this, im 
 mediately sent out a few thousand men, under Terry, who 
 succeeded in reaching the road, and tore up the track for 
 three or four miles, but was in turn driven back by Long- 
 street s Corps. 
 
 For not holding this important road, gained thus a second 
 time, Butler again receives the lash of the Lieutenant-Gen- 
 eral. He says: 
 
 " As soon as I was apprised of the advantage thus gained, 
 to retain it I ordered two divisions of the Sixth Corps, 
 General Wright commanding, that were embarking at Wil- 
 cox s Landing, under orders for City Point, to report to Gen 
 eral Butler, at Bermuda Hundred, of which General Butler 
 was notified, and the importance of holding a position in 
 advance of his present line, urged upon him. 
 
 " About two o clock in the afternoon, General Butler was 
 forced back to the line the enemy had withdrawn from in 
 the morning. General Wright, with his two divisions, joined 
 General Butler on the forenoon of the 17th; the latter still 
 holding, with a strong picket line, the enemy s works. But 
 instead of putting these divisions into the enemy s works to 
 hold them, he permitted them to halt and rest some distance 
 in the rear of his own line. Between four and five o clock in 
 
398 LAST ASSAULT. 
 
 the afternoon, the enemy attacked and drove in his pickets, 
 and re-occupied his old line. 
 
 " On the night of the 20th, and morning of the 21st, a 
 lodgment was effected by General Butler, with one brigade 
 of infantry, on the north bank of the James, at Deep Bot 
 tom, and connected the pontoon bridge with Bermuda Hun 
 dred." 
 
 On Thursday, the assault was made on the rebel lines, and 
 no permanent success gained. The next morning, Friday, 
 at daylight, Burnside, with Miles division of the Second 
 Corps, made an attack on the right of the enemy s line, cap 
 turing three redoubts, and five hundred and fifty prisoners. 
 The Second Corps was then thrown forward, and struggled 
 nobly to gain the works, but failed. 
 
 On the right, NenTs division of the Sixth Corps, and Mar- 
 tindale s of the Eighteenth, pushed the enemy handsomely, 
 for some distance, but gained no material advantage. We 
 had lost, probably, six thousand men during these two days, 
 which showed that the fighting had been very severe. 
 
 This was the condition of things when Grant arrived at 
 the scene of action. The result thus far, of his grand coup- 
 de-main, was most deplorable. Two lines, however, of the 
 enemy s works had been captured, and so, on Saturday, he 
 resolved to carry the third and last, by general assault 
 Three times during the day did the gallant battalions move 
 steadily up in the face of a deadly fire, and were swept 
 down by thousands, but each time failed to gain the coveted 
 position. 
 
 Grant succeeded in occupying and holding a ridge that 
 completely commanded Petersburg, into which he could 
 hurl his shells, but the " Cockade City," as it was called, was 
 of no consequence whatever, so long as the rebels held the 
 heights beyond. The city lay in a hollow, with two ridges 
 on either side, frowning with hostile batteries, and dark with 
 
A SAD CAMPAIGN. 399 
 
 earth works. Hence, the place was commanded by both 
 parties, and, therefore, could be occupied by neither till the 
 strong works on one or the other side were carried. 
 
 It was now very plain that the campaign had ended for 
 the present, and a second one, of siege operations chiefly, 
 was to commence. 
 
 It must be confessed that the sum total of this frightful 
 campaign, of a month and a half, was anything but satis 
 factory. As Grant said, no material advantage had been 
 gained. Nearly a hundred thousand men had disappeared in 
 its progress, and now, at the end of the long marches and 
 bloody battles, he found himself twice as far from Richmond 
 as he was when on the Chickahominy. The distance, how 
 ever, was a small matter the obstacles that intervened be 
 tween him and the coveted prize were well-nigh insurmount 
 able. Assault after assault, the determined character of which 
 was attested by the ghastly piles of dead, had been made in 
 vain, and that, too, while the works were incomplete and, 
 comparatively, weakly garrisoned. But Lee s army was now 
 well up, and, as at Spottsylvania and Cold Harbor, lay be 
 hind the strong works. 
 
 The prospect, at this time, was enough to discourage any 
 heart less resolute than Grant s. He had failed, at the out 
 set, in the effort to get a decisive battle out of Lee. That 
 of the Wilderness was only a drawn one. He had been 
 repulsed at Spottsylvania with terrible loss. The same ca 
 lamity had overtaken him at Cold Harbor. Sigel had failed 
 in the Shenandoah Valley. Butler had twice lamentably 
 failed in front of Bermuda Hundred. Smith and Gillmore 
 had both failed ; and to crown the climax, his last grand 
 assault had failed, and the anxious inquiry arose, " What is 
 next to be done ? " Besides all this, those who had, at the 
 outset, condemned the campaign across the country, now 
 pointed to the result as the fulfillment of their prophecies 
 
400 WISDOM OF GRANT. 
 
 Some of the English papers called him the great butcher, 
 and the rebel press tauntingly asked why he did not take 
 his army by transports to the James, instead of dragging it 
 through rivers of blood across the country. It was said, 
 and truly, that he could have put his army where it now was, 
 without the loss of a man, had he adopted McClellan s course. 
 It was said, moreover, and with equal truth, that he had 
 lost two to one of the enemy in this long and bloody march, 
 and, sadder than all and incapable of contradiction, he had 
 not won a single decisive battle, but on the contrary, from 
 the Wilderness to Petersburg, had been repulsed in every 
 attack. 
 
 This seemed a gloomy summing up of the campaign, and, 
 at first sight, conclusive that it was wrong throughout. 
 There could be, apparently, no dispute that he erred egre- 
 giously in not following McClellan s plan of operations 
 against the rebel Capital. Yet, after events showed that 
 such a conclusion was entirely false, and fully vindicated the 
 wonderful sagacity and sound judgment of the Lieutenant- 
 General. He was not responsible for the condition in which 
 two years of mismanagement had placed things. When Mc- 
 Clellan undertook the Peninsula campaign, Richmond, from 
 Hanover to Petersburg, was poorly fortified, so~ that when 
 threatened on this long line, the Confederate Government 
 was compelled to call in all its troops for the defense of its 
 Capital. Hence, McClellan s declaration that Washington 
 was best defended at Richmond, was true. 
 
 But matters were now reversed the rebels, admonished 
 of their danger in this direction, had, for the last two years, 
 been erecting elaborate defenses, and guarding every point, 
 so that there could be no strategy that did not involve hard 
 fighting and terrible losses. Besides, the strength of the 
 works around Richmond enabled a comparatively small 
 force to hold the place, so that a portion of the army could 
 
GRANT S COURSE VINDICATED. 401 
 
 operate against Washington, or threaten Maryland and Penn 
 sylvania by way of the Shenandoah Valley. This was actu 
 ally done, and, as we said, after events abundantly vindicated 
 the wisdom of Grant s course. 
 
 Granting that we lost nearly one hundred thousand men, 
 from May to July, and Lee but fifty thousand, yet Grant 
 received reinforcements to the full amount of his losses, and 
 sat down before Petersburg with an army as large, in fact 
 larger than the one with which he crossed the Rapidan, so 
 that he was as strong as though, at the outset, he had trans 
 ferred his army by water to Petersburg. Notwithstanding 
 this, Lee was able to hold his works and yet dispatch twenty 
 thousand men, under Early, to ravage the Shenandoah Val 
 ley, thunder at the very gates of the Capital, and sever its 
 great line of communication with the North in short, spread 
 such ruin and consternation that, though the Nineteenth 
 Corps opportunely arrived from New Orleans, Grant was 
 compelled to detach one of his own veteran Corps to the 
 defense of Washington. 
 
 Now, if the fifty thousand men strewing 1 the fields and 
 crowding the hospitals, along the track of Lee s army, from 
 the Wilderness to Petersburg, had been alive, to have swel 
 led that twenty thousand, under Early, to seventy thousand 
 men, what force would Grant have been compelled to send 
 back to the National Capital ? In other words, if twenty 
 thousand rebels required the presence there of two Corps, 
 how many Corps would seventy thousand men have required ? 
 The answer is very obvious. The whole army would have 
 been recalled the siege of Richmond raised, and the cam 
 paign have proved a failure. 
 
 Hence the course which Grant took was the only one that 
 could bring success. True, it required frightful slaughter, 
 but it was a saving of life in the end. Lee could not re 
 plenish his army as fast as we could ours. 
 
402 HIS SOUND JUDGMENT. 
 
 Grant s perseverance in the course he marked out, was 
 not, as many supposed, the result of obstinacy, but of sound 
 judgment, which subsequent events fully confirmed. He 
 had reduced Lee so that he could not dispatch sufficient 
 troops up the Shenandoah Valley to make him loose his 
 death-grip on Richmond, and had effected it in the only way 
 possible. 
 
CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 DIFFICULTIES OF GRANT S POSITION HIS PLAN TO SEVER THE COMMUNICA 
 TIONS OF RICHMOND SHERIDAN S EXPEDITION HUNTER S AVERILL s AND 
 
 CROOK S THE ENEMY DEFEATED AT STAUNTON HUNTER AT LYNCHBURG 
 
 HIS DISASTROUS RETREAT THE ENEMY IN POSSESSION OF THE SHENANDOAH 
 
 VALLEY WILSON S EXPEDITION DEFEAT OF THE SECOND AND SIXTH CORPS 
 
 NEAR THE WELDON RAILROAD A GLOOMY PROSPECT OPERATIONS ALONG 
 
 THE ATLANTIC COAST CAPTURE OF THE WATER WITCH FEDERAL OFFICERS 
 
 PLACED UNDER FIRE AT CHARLESTON MR. LINCOLN RENOMINATED FOR 
 
 PRESIDENT OPENING OF THE POLITICAL CAMPAIGN. 
 
 THE problem now left for Grant to solve, was one of the 
 most difficult ever presented to a Commander. As 
 before remarked, every part of his great plan had failed, 
 except the killing of a certain number of the enemy. Get 
 ting his army on the James was not accomplishing anything 
 of moment, because it could have been placed there at any 
 time by transports. Richmond was neither invested, nor 
 even approached at least, it was no nearer than Butler s 
 Army of the James, as it was called, had been to it for a 
 long time. To dig his way from five to twelve miles to the 
 rebel Capital, was a process too long to be attempted until 
 every other measure had failed. 
 
 In carrying out his siege operations, therefore, it was 
 plain that the first step to be taken was to sever the commu 
 nications which united Richmond with the other parts of the 
 Confederacy. 
 
 The Peninsula was in our possession, but this only shut 
 the rebel Capital off from the sea. There were four channels 
 of communication, with the interior, which Grant did not 
 
404 THE WORK BEFORE GRANT. 
 
 control. First, the railroad to Fredericksburg, connected with 
 which was the railroad to Gordonsville, running south to the 
 James River. Second, the James River canal, running along 
 the James River, which, though but little spoken of by the 
 Northern press, was the great channel for the transportation 
 of provisions of all kinds to Richmond. Third, the railroad 
 running south-west to Danville. Fourth, the Weldon rail 
 road running directly south. 
 
 So long as any one of these channels of communication 
 was left open, Richmond could not be regarded as invested ; 
 hence it was necessary that they all should be severed. This 
 was the herculean task which Grant had assigned himself. 
 To have captured Petersburg, and thus hold the Weldon 
 road, and be in striking distance of the South-side road con 
 necting with the Danville road, would have simplified it 
 much. But the failure to do this, complicated matters 
 greatly, and increased the magnitude of the work before him. 
 
 If he had succeeded, as he anticipated, in getting posses 
 sion of the communications south of Richmond, and holding 
 them by his army, the failure to destroy the other lines 
 would not have been so disastrous but he failed in every 
 direction. Sheridan, whom he had sent off, before he left Cold 
 Harbor, failed to accomplish the object of his expedition ; 
 while Hunter, in the moment of victory, and just as he seemed 
 about to seize Lynchburg, had to flee over the mountains. 
 Hence, new expeditions had to be started, and other efforts 
 made to carry out the great plan. 
 
 As before remarked, Sheridan started off a few days pre 
 vious to the evacution of Cold Harbor, to break up the Vir 
 ginia Central railroad the first of the channels of communi 
 cation above mentioned and, if possible, co-operate with 
 Hunter, in the neighborhood of Lynchburg. He crossed the 
 Pamunkey on the 7th and meeting with no resistance, moved 
 rapidly forward, and on the 10th crossed the North Anna, 
 
SHERIDAN S RAID. 405 
 
 and encamped at Buck Child s, about three miles from the 
 Trevillian Station. 
 
 His intention was, he says, u To break the railroad at this 
 station, march through Mechanicsville, cut the Gordonsville 
 and Charlottesville railroad, near Lyndsay s House, and 
 then to march on Charlottesville ; but, on our arrival at 
 Buck Child s, I found the enemy s cavalry in my immediate 
 front. 
 
 " On the morning of the llth, General Torbert, with his 
 division, and Colonel Gregg, of General Gregg s division, 
 attacked the enemy. After an obstinate contest they drove 
 him from successive lines of breastworks, through an almost 
 impassable forest, back on Trevillian Station. 
 
 u In the meantime, General Curtis was ordered, with his 
 brigade, to proceed by a country road so as to reach the 
 station in the rear of the enemy s cavalry. On his arrival 
 at this point, the enemy broke into a complete rout, leav 
 ing his dead, and nearly all his wounded, in our hands ; 
 also, twenty officers, five hundred men, and three hundred 
 horses." 
 
 That night he encamped at Trevillian Station, and on the 
 morning of the 12th, commenced destroying the railroad up 
 to Louisa Court-House. He was occupied in this work until 
 three o clock in the afternoon. But the enemy, in the mean 
 time, had not been idle, and Sheridan suddenly found him 
 self confronted by a large force, protected by rifle-pits. He 
 at once advanced to give battle, but a careful reconnoissance 
 showed that the enemy s works were too strong to be car 
 ried by assault. On the right, however, the bugles sounded 
 the charge, and a portion of his troops entered the works 
 but were quickly driven out 
 
 Night, at length, closed the contest. The next day trains 
 of cars, bearing rebel reinforcements, came down to prevent 
 the capture of Gordonsville, and Sheridan was compelled, 
 
406 REPEATED FAILURES. 
 
 reluctantly, to wheel about and fall back toward the White 
 House. Wade Hampton followed him, though at a respectful 
 distance. 
 
 At the Pamunkey, the rebel leader made a detour and 
 attacked Sheridan s trains at the White House, but Aber- 
 crombie, commanding there, maintained his ground until 
 Sheridan came up, when the enemy was driven off. Resting 
 his command here a short time, he started with all his trains 
 and guns, for the James River, to join Grant. 
 
 Hampton followed, and attacked him on the Chickahom- 
 iny, but without obtaining any advantage. On the 24th, 
 near Charles City Court-House, he again attacked him, and 
 made a desperate effort to capture his trains. A sharp con 
 test followed, and the rear-guard was badly cut up ; but 
 Grant sending a brigade of infantry to Sheridan s relief, he 
 was able to get off with all his guns and trains, though he 
 lost some five hundred men. The next day he crossed the 
 James, under cover of the gun-boats, and joined the main 
 army. 
 
 The success of the expedition was very much magnified 
 at the time, for, notwithstanding Sheridan beat the enemy 
 in every encounter, it was a total failure as a part of Grant s 
 great plan. Gordonsville was not reached, and the few 
 miles of railroad destroyed were easily repaired, so that this 
 line of communication remained to Lee. Butler s movement 
 against the Richmond and Petersburg road, as we have seen, 
 had failed, and Kautz s raid, on the Danville road, inflicted 
 no permanent injury. Transient success, but ultimate fail 
 ure, characterized, also, Hunter s expedition. When he was 
 ordere d to supersede Sigel, he hastened to Cedar Creek, 
 where the demoralized army lay, and found two thousand of 
 the troops without shoes, and one thousand without arms, 
 they having thrown them away in their flight. 
 
 Re-organizing the command and receiving reinforcements^. 
 
AVERILL S RAID. 407 
 
 he moved forward upon Staunton, and the day before Sher 
 idan started on his raid with the intention of co-operating 
 with him, had a severe battle with the rebels, under General 
 Jones, and defeated him utterly, capturing fifteen hundred 
 prisoners, and several guns. The next day, he was joined 
 by Averill, who had been raiding in South-western Virginia, 
 on the line of the Lynchburg and East Tennessee railroad. 
 This Commander started simultaneously with Sheridan ; one 
 object of his expedition being to make a diversion in favor 
 of General Crook, who was operating on the Virginia and 
 East Tennessee road, and who succeeded in breaking it up 
 and destroying a vast amount of stores. 
 
 Averill moving rapidly, from point to point, destroyed 
 stores and trains, and spread terror and consternation on 
 every side. He, at length, met Morgan with a force esti 
 mated at five thousand men, at Cave Mountain Gap, five miles 
 from Wytheville. 
 
 The rebels were strongly intrenched, and it was evident 
 that their position could not be forced. 
 
 u Scarcely had the rebels, thus impregnably ensconced, 
 been revealed in front, ere two heavy lines of skirmishers, 
 strongly supported, were discovered rapidly advancing, and 
 in splendid style, over a clearing, and upon our right flank. 
 The two discoveries were almost simultaneous. General 
 Averill at once took in the perilous situation ; to retreat was 
 ruin, to advance certain destruction, to surrender was never 
 thought of. Nothing was to be done but to hold his ground, 
 make desperate, stubborn resistance, and during it to await 
 the cover of the night. 
 
 u The gallant Colonel Schoonmaker, commanding the Sec 
 ond brigade, was, with the Fourteenth Pennsylvania and 
 First Virginia, (mounted,) hurriedly thrown out across to 
 the right of the road on a rise, there to meet the apDroach- 
 ing columns, which they nobly did, receiving the fire of the 
 
 56 
 
408 A GALLANT DEFENSE. 
 
 enemy presenting a front of twice their own at close 
 range, and returning it so rapidly, and with such deadly 
 effect, that repeated attempts to charge upon them failed. 
 Colonel Schoonmaker made no attempt to advance, but held 
 his position under a constant fire for one hour, when, upon 
 a threatened flank movement on his right, by the rebel cav 
 alry, General Averill ordered him to fall back across the 
 road, and on the right of the second column, which had 
 been formed there, consisting of the Thirty-fourth Ohio and 
 Second and Third Virginia, all dismounted, under the com 
 mand of Brigadier-General Duffie. He had suffered consid 
 erably, and was compelled to leave his dead and badly 
 wounded on the line where they had fallen. The movement 
 was made leisurely, and in excellent order. It was greeted 
 with exultant shouts by the rebels, who pressed rapidly for 
 ward as far as the abandoned line, but the now united col 
 umns, presenting a solid and unflinching front, delivered 
 with rapidity and withering precision a fire which prevented 
 further advance, and temporarily staggered into confusion 
 the opposing ranks. 
 
 " From the outset of the fight, both columns, while hold 
 ing in check the vastly superior force in front, were sub 
 jected, at easy musketry range, to the cross-fire of the infantry 
 and artillery at the Gap. The terrible position of General 
 Averill s command, no description can convey the correct 
 idea of. They were on a cleared section with a force double 
 their own to the left, and another double their own to the 
 front, with no cover of hills or woods to fall back to, and 
 with but the one filing to do to maintain their position 
 under the heavy and continuous fire of shot and shell. The 
 gallantry of General Averill and his Staff shone conspicu 
 ously during the terrific ordeal, as did that of every officer 
 and man in his command. Not one was seen to falter. The 
 Second Virginia, on the Mt of the second column, and in 
 
AVERILL WOUNDED. 409 
 
 close range of the Gap, constantly under murderous fire, 
 extorted the admiration of the enemy, and won that of its 
 own command by its splendid conduct It was firm as a 
 rock; every movement was executed with the ease and pre 
 cision of a dress-parade, and the moral effect of its splendid 
 bearing infused the strength of another regiment. On the 
 field, as in general orders, it received from General Averill 
 the warmest praise, 
 
 " General Averill was constantly at the front of the first 
 column, and on its falling back, at the front of the com 
 mand, encouraging and stimulating it to the noble heroism 
 displayed by his own fearless exposure and dauntless cour 
 age. About midway of the fight, he was struck in the mid 
 dle of the forehead by a musket ball, which, glancing, passed 
 off over the left eye, inflicting a deep wound ; with the 
 blood flowing profusely, his face undistinguishable from gore, 
 he continued in his saddle until, by weakness, he was com 
 pelled to retire to the rear. Here the blood was staunched, 
 the wound dressed, and, after a few moments 1 rest, he was 
 again in the saddle and at the front, there remaining until 
 the close of the fight." 
 
 When night closed the contest, Averill withdrew, leaving 
 his dead and wounded in the hands of the enemy. 
 
 " When Walker Mountain was reached, it was found that 
 there was but a bridle-path over it, and the wearied men 
 dismounting, dragged themselves and their jaded horses up 
 the steep ascent. The advance reached the top at midnight, 
 and here the guide irrecoverably lost his way. To continue 
 in the pitchy darkness was impossible. The order was given 
 to halt, and the worn-out men and horses, stretched in single 
 file from base to summit, on the precipitous, rocky moun 
 tain s side, lay down to rest. 
 
 "Singularly enough, yet confirmatory of the terrible pun 
 ishment the enemy had received, they were not disturbed, 
 
410 THE RETREAT. 
 
 and at daylight were on the march again. The mountain was 
 passed, and a forced march made, during the day, of thirty- 
 two miles, to Dublin. Here was a sad disappointment, for, 
 though the good work of destruction which General Crook 
 had done, was seen, yet he was not met. Remaining over 
 night, an early march was made of seven miles to New River ; 
 it was greatly swollen, but was crossed with the loss of two 
 men, four horses, and destruction of all the ammunition, and 
 ten miles further on, the Virginia and Tennessee railroad 
 was struck at Christiansburg. Some scattering rebel forces 
 were found here, but were charged on and driven through 
 and beyond the town, giving no after trouble. 
 
 u The depot here, stored with large amounts of flour, 
 bacon and forage, was burned, the telegraph office instru 
 ment and wires destroyed, the railroad torn up and the rails 
 rendered useless, and the bridge, two miles below, burned. 
 Two field-pieces were captured in the village. The com 
 mand occupied the town over night, moving nineteen miles 
 to Gap Mountain the next morning, where fifteen hundred 
 rebels, under Colonel (or General) W. E. Jackson, were 
 found strongly posted in a gap, and strengthened by two 
 pieces of artillery. 
 
 u General Averill s command was now entirely without 
 ammunition. What little was left, after the battle at Cave 
 Mountain, had been destroyed while crossing New River. A 
 fight, therefore, was hopeless. So, by a strategic and hasty 
 movement, he turned the enemy s left flank, seeking a bridle 
 path over the mountain, and thence to Sinking Creek Valley, 
 twelve miles distant ; Jackson making no pursuit. On the 
 next day, the 14th, he pushed on twenty-nine miles toward 
 Union, and, within five miles thereof, fell in with the rear 
 guard of General Crook s command. It was a gladdening 
 sight and hailed vociferously." 
 
 The two commands now joined Hunter. The latter, after 
 
HUNTER S DEFEAT. 411 
 
 the battle near Staunton, occupied the town. Destroy 
 ing here a vast amount of property, he advanced with his 
 force, now about seventeen thousand strong, to Lexington, 
 which was held by McCausland. The latter finding himself 
 threatened in flank and rear, evacuated the place, and Hun 
 ter marched in and sat down, to wait the arrival of Sheridan 
 from Gordonsville, which point, we have seen, he was unable 
 to reach. 
 
 Receiving no tidings from him, he moved forward toward 
 Lynchburg, the grand end of his expedition. If he could 
 reach and hold this place, one very important part of Grant s 
 plan would be carried out, and the supplies for Richmond 
 sadly interfered with. 
 
 On his arrival before the town, he found it too strong to 
 be carried by assault; but on the 18th, the very day the 
 Army of the Potomac was moving against Petersburg, he 
 made an attempt to capture it, but was repulsed. Sheridan 
 having failed to destroy the Virginia Central road, Lee was 
 able to transport troops rapidly from Richmond and its 
 vicinity to the point of danger, and hurried oif E well s 
 Corps, with a part of Hill s and Breckenridge s command. 
 
 Hunter, at this time, was fifteen days march from his base 
 of supplies, and hence depended, for subsistence, on the 
 country. Advised of the approach of this formidable force, 
 he, on the 19th, commenced to retreat down the Valley. He 
 had not proceeded far, however, when he found himself so 
 closely pressed by the enemy that escape, in this direction, 
 was hopeless. He, therefore, hastily abandoned a great part 
 of his trains and guns, and struck across the mountains to 
 Kanawha Valley, from whence he designed to return by the 
 way of the Ohio River. 
 
 Thus, of course, Grant lost the use of these troops for sev 
 eral weeks. Hunter not only failed to accomplish the object 
 of his expedition, but being compelled to flee over the 
 
412 WILSON S AND KAUTZ S RAID. 
 
 mountains, tie left the Shenandoah Valley as defenseless as 
 though his entire army had been captured. 
 
 The enemy, now between twenty and thirty thousand 
 strong, marched down it, unopposed, sending consternation 
 into Washington. The failure of Hunter was another sad 
 blow to Grant, whom fate seemed determined to try to the 
 uttermost. Though disappointed, he did not blame him as 
 he did Butler, yet says : 
 
 " Had General Hunter moved by way of Charlottesville, 
 instead of Lexington, as his instructions contemplated, he 
 would have been in a position to have covered the Shenan 
 doah Valley against the enemy, should the force he met have 
 seemed to endanger it. If it did not, he would have been 
 within easy distance of the James River canal, on the main 
 line of communication between Lynchburg and the force 
 sent for its defense. I have never taken exception to the 
 operations of General Hunter, and I am not now disposed to 
 find fault with him, for I have no doubt he acted within what 
 he conceived to be the spirit of his instructions and the inter 
 ests of the service. The prompitude of his movements and 
 his gallantry should entitle him to the commendation of his 
 country." 
 
 The effort, by Sheridan and Hunter, to destroy, perma 
 nently, the enemy s communications, north and west, having 
 failed, it was hoped that success would crown Grant s meas 
 ures to sever those farther south. While the latter was flee 
 ing over the mountains to the Kanawha Valley, a strong 
 cavalry expedition was sent out against the Weldon and 
 Danville railroad the success and result of which, Grant 
 sums up in a few words. He says : 
 
 " On the 22nd, General Wilson, with his own division of 
 cavalry of the Army of the Potomac, and General Kautz s 
 division of cavalry of the Army of the James, moved against 
 the enemy s railroads south of Richmond. Striking the 
 
WILSON S AND KAUTZ S RAID. 413 
 
 Weldon railroad, at Ream s Station, destroying the depot 
 and several miles of the road and the South-side road about 
 fifteen miles from Petersburg, to near Nottoway Station, 
 where he met and defeated a force of the enemy s cavalry ; 
 he reached Burks ville Station, on the afternoon of the 23d, 
 and from there destroyed the Danville railroad to Roanoke 
 bridge, a distance of twenty-five miles, where he found the 
 enemy in force, and in a position from which he could not dis 
 lodge him. He then commenced his return march, and on 
 the 28th met the enemy s cavalry in force at the Weldon rail 
 road crossing of Stony Creek, where he had a severe but not 
 decisive engagement. Thence he made a detour from his 
 left, with a view of reaching Ream s Station, (supposing it 
 to be in our possession.) At this place he was met by the 
 enemy s cavalry supported by infantry, and forced to retire 
 with the loss of his artillery and trains. In this last encoun 
 ter, General Kautz, with a part of his command, became 
 separated, and made his way into our lines. General Wil 
 son, with the remainder of his force, succeeded in crossing 
 the Nottoway River, and coming in safely on our left and 
 rear. The damage to the enemy, in this expedition, more 
 than compensated for the losses sustained by us. It sev 
 ered all connection by railroad, with Richmond, for several 
 weeks." 
 
 It is possible that the damage sustained by the enemy 
 would "compensate" for our loss, though we apprehend that, 
 on a careful estimate, the balance remaining in our favor 
 would be hardly worth mentioning. The evil done was soon 
 remedied, and Grant learned what Sherman found out at 
 Atlanta, that the breaking up of railroads, by cavalry, in 
 flicted only temporary inconvenience. They must be held to 
 be of permanent service. 
 
 A more serious movement was made at this time against 
 the Weldon railroad, by the Second Corps and Griffin s divis- 
 
414 A REPULSE. 
 
 ion of the Fifth, with this latter Corps itself in reserve. The 
 Second Corps moved to the left, on Monday night, and the 
 next day, the 22nd, marched rapidly southward until it came 
 upon the enemy at the Jerusalem plank road. An engage 
 ment followed, when the Corps fell back into position for 
 the night. The Sixth Corps now came up and formed on its 
 left, when a consultation was held between the Commanders, 
 and it was resolved to attack the enemy at day-break next 
 morning. There being some misunderstanding with regard 
 to orders, the two Corps did not move forward in unison, but 
 independent of each other. 
 
 Barlow, with his immortal brigades, dashed into the 
 woods, in his front, and pressing on, soon opened a gap be 
 tween his left and the right of the Sixth Corps. Having 
 advanced far enough, he was about to intrench himself when 
 he was startled by a heavy firing on his flank and rear. Hill 
 moving up his Corps to check our advance perceived the fatal 
 gap in our lines, and quick as thought, clashed into it 
 a whole division driving like a storm through it. Struck in 
 flank, Barlow s division was rolled up like a piece of paper, 
 and several hundred men taken prisoners. Mott s flank being 
 now uncovered, he, also, was compelled to fall back with 
 heavy loss. Gibbon s turn came next, and his whole line of 
 intrenchments was carried, and the army seemed about to 
 break in utter rout. 
 
 But Miles reserve division coming up opportunely, Gibbon 
 rallied his division on it, and the enemy being apparently 
 exhausted by his own efforts, the two Corps were enabled to 
 form a new line of battle. The order for the whole line to 
 advance was then given, when the enemy slowly retreated. 
 The army proceeded, however, but a short distance, when 
 it halted and passed the night in intrenching, while the reb 
 els intrenched on the other side of the railroad. 
 
 Our loss in this engagement was probably two thousand. 
 
FAILURE ALL AROUND. 415 
 
 while four guns and several stand of colors were left in the 
 enemy s hands. 
 
 On Thursday, Wright, having ascertained that the enemy 
 was weak on the extreme left, sent three Vermont regiments 
 to occupy the railroad there. Before they reached their 
 destination, however, they were furiously attacked and driven 
 in confusion back to the main body, losing many prisoners. 
 Flushed with success, the rebels now came down with loud 
 yells on our whole line, and compelled it to withdraw to the 
 cover of breastworks. 
 
 For the balance of the month, nothing more was done at 
 this point, and the two armies seemed once more at a dead 
 lock. 
 
 Grant had now felt his way all around Richmond, but 
 could find no entrance to the rebel Capital. Every expedi 
 tion to sever its communications had succeeded in inflicting 
 only temporary damage, and, to an ordinary observer, noth 
 ing more could be done. Not a gleam of success lightened 
 the dismal prospect ; and added to all, came the news that 
 the enemy was thundering down the Shenandoah Valley. 
 Nothing, however, could shake the iron resolution of Grant, 
 and he cast about for some new mode of reaching the en 
 emy, while his artillery kept pounding away on the rebel 
 intrenchments. 
 
 While the month of June was thus closing without wit 
 nessing any material success to the Army of the Potomac, 
 Sherman had met his first repulse at Kenesaw and was bury 
 ing his dead in the mountains of Georgia. In other parts 
 of the West, the enemy was active, and the country was 
 infested with guerilla parties. Marmaduke was operating 
 along the Mississippi, and Shelby on the Arkansas. 
 
 The defeat of Sturgis in Mississippi, with the loss of 
 twelve guns the surrender of Hobson at Cynthiana, with 
 fifteen hundred men, and the raid of Morgan through Ken- 
 
416 CAPTURE OF THE WATEK WITCH. 
 
 tucky, had no effect on Sherman s grand movement. The 
 defeat of the latter at Mount Sterling, by Burbridge, reflected 
 great credit on the latter. 
 
 Nothing, of especial interest, occurred along the Atlantic 
 coast, during the month, except the capture of the Water 
 Witch, by the rebels, and the placing of Federal officers un 
 der our own fire at Charleston. 
 
 The Water Witch, attached to the Fernandina, in Ossabaw 
 Sound, was captured early on the morning of the 3rd of 
 June. The night had been dark and squally, so that an 
 object could not be seen twice the ship s length, except by 
 the flashes of lightning. A bout two o clock in the morning, 
 the officer of the deck saw, by the uncertain light, a boat 
 ahead, filled with men, and hailed it. The reply was, u Who 
 the h-11 are you hailing ? " followed by a volley of mus 
 ketry. He immediately sprung his rattle, when from six 
 other launches, which now swept out of the gloom, arose 
 loud yells of defiance. The next moment, wrathful visages 
 were seen, by the vivid flashes of lightning, peering over 
 the railing, as the enemy climbed swiftly on board. Pende- 
 grast, the Commander, was by this time on deck, and to his 
 inquiry, u What is the matter," received the reply, " Rebels, 
 rebels," from the rebels themselves. Instantly shouting, 
 " Call all hands to repel boarders," " slip the chain and start 
 the engine," he sprang to his state-room for his arms. When 
 he reached the deck again, a motley crowd was struggling 
 upon it, cursing and firing the flashes of fire-arms and 
 flashes of lightning mixing strangely in the turbulent scene. 
 
 Making his way to the hurricane-deck, he was struck by a 
 cutlass and fell, for a moment, insensible. Recovering him 
 self, he leaped upon the hurricane-deck, and rang the bell for 
 the engineer to go ahead, hoping to swamp the boats along 
 side ; but the engine made only a single revolution, and then 
 stopped. 
 
A BARBAROUS ACT. 417 
 
 t 
 
 In the darkness and suddenness of the attack, no time was 
 given to organize any resistance, and it was a short hand-to- 
 hand fight. Most of the crew seemed paralyzed with fear, 
 and made but feeble defense, and the rebels soon had entire 
 possession of the vessel. 
 
 That a vessel, occupying the position she did, should be 
 taken by surprise, argued, in the eyes of the Department, 
 great criminality on the part of the Commander, and he had 
 to bear the weight of its indignation. 
 
 The rebel Commander, in Charleston, indignant at our 
 bombardment of the place, thought he would put a stop to 
 it by placing fifty of our officers, some of them Major-Gen 
 erals, in confinement, at a point reached by our fire. The 
 following correspondence explains this diabolical act : 
 
 :i 
 
 " HEAD-QUARTERS, DEPARTMENT OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 
 GEORGIA AND FLORIDA. 
 
 CHARLESTON, June 13, 1864. 
 
 GENERAL: Five Generals and forty-five Field Officers, of the United 
 States Army, all of them prisoners of war, have been sent to the city for safe 
 keeping. They have been turned over to Brigadier-General Ripley, com 
 manding the First Military District of this department, who will see that they 
 are provided with commodious quarters in a part of the city occupied by non- 
 combatants, the majority of whom are women and children. 
 
 It is proper, however, that I should inform you that it is a part of the 
 city which has been for many months exposed, day and night, to the fire of 
 your guns. 
 
 Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 (Signed,) SAMUEL JONES, Major-General Commanding* 
 
 Major-General J. G. FOSTER, Commanding United States Forces on coast 
 of S. C., C. S." 
 
 " HEAD-QUARTERS, DEPARTMENT OF THE SOUTH. ) 
 HILTON HEAD, S. C., June 16, 1864. J 
 
 Major-General SAMUEL JONES, Commanding Confederate Forces, Department 
 of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida : 
 
 GENERAL : *I have to acknowledge the receipt, this day, of your commu 
 nication, of the 13th instant, informing me that five Generals and forty-five 
 Field Officers, of the United States Army, prisoners of war, have been sent 
 to Charleston for safe keeping ; that they have been turned over to Brigadier- 
 
418 RETALIATION. 
 
 Genera] Ripley, with instructions to see that they are provided with quarters 
 in a part of the city occupied by non-combatants, the majority of which lat 
 ter, you state, are women and children. You add that you deem it proper 
 to inform me that it is a part of the city which has been, for many months, 
 exposed to the tire of our guns. 
 
 Many months since, Major-General Q. A. Gillmore, United States Army, 
 notified General Beauregard, then commanding at Charleston, that the city 
 would be bombarded. This notice was given that non-combatants might be 
 removed, and thus women and children spared from harm. General Beau- 
 regard, in a communication to General Gillmore, dated August 22, 1863, 
 informed him that the non-combatant population of Charleston would be 
 removed with all possible celerity. That women and children have been since 
 retained by you, in a part of the city which has been for many months expo* 
 sed to fire, is a matter decided by your own sense of humanity. 
 
 I must, however, protest against your action, in thus placing defenseless 
 prisoners of war in a position exposed to constant bombardment. It is an 
 indefensible act of cruelty, and can be designed only to prevent a continu 
 ance of our fire upon Charleston. That city is a depot for military supplies. 
 It contains not merely arsenals, but also foundries and factories for the man 
 ufacture of munitions of war. In its ship-yards, several armed iron-clads 
 have already been completed, while others are still upon the stocks in course 
 of construction. Its wharves and the banks of the rivers, on both sides of 
 the city, are lined with batteries. To destroy these means of continuing the 
 war is, therefore, our object and duty. You seek to defeat this effort, not by 
 means known to honorable warfare, but by placing unarmed and defenseless 
 prisoners under fire. 
 
 I have forwarded your communication to the President, with the request 
 that he will place in my custody an equal number of prisoners, of the like 
 grades, to be kept by me in positions exposed to the fire of your guns, so long 
 as you continue the course stated in your communication. 
 
 Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 (Signed,) J. G. FOSTER, Major-General Commanding." 
 
 % Foster s request was complied with, and the rebels were 
 soon glad to abandon this barbarous mode of carrying on 
 war, and to propose an exchange of prisoners. 
 
 Outside of military operations, nothing caused so much 
 excitement, this month, as the re-nomination of Mr. Lincoln 
 by the Republican party, as the candidate for the Presidency, 
 in the election to come off in the ensuing Fall. 
 
 The two great political parties were organizing for a polit 
 ical campaign which was to be almost as bitter and deadly 
 as that which was carried on in the field. 
 
CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 BUILDING AND FITTING OUT OF THE ALABAMA IN AN ENGLISH PORT COM 
 PLAINT BY OUR GOVERNMENT THE, TWO YEARS CRUISE RETURNS TO CHER 
 BOURG, FRANCE BLOCKADED BY WINSLOW SEMMES CHALLENGES WINS- 
 LOW MORNING OF THE COMBAT SPECTATORS COMING DOWN FROM PARIS 
 
 TO WITNESS IT THE ALABAMA STEAMS OUT OF THE HARBOR THE COMBAT 
 
 LUDICROUS BY-PLAY ON THE KEARSARGE SUPERIOR FIRING OF THE FED 
 ERAL SHIP SURRENDER OF THE ALABAMA IN A SINKING STATE PICKING 
 
 UP OF THE CREW AND CAPTAIN BY THE ENGLISH YACHT DEERHOUND THE 
 
 DEERHOUND SAILS OFF WITH THE PRISONERS TO SOUTHAMPTON SEMMES* 
 
 REPORT OF THE FIGHT HIS SLANDERS AND FALSEHOODS THE TWO VES 
 SELS COMPARED DEFENSE OF THE COMMANDER OF THE ENGLISH YACHT 
 
 EXCITEMENT IN EUROPE OVER THE ENGAGEMENT WINSLOW AND THE SEC 
 RETARY OF THE NAVY. 
 
 THE KEARSARGE AND ALABAMA. 
 
 BUT while the month of June was pregnant with such 
 great events in our own borders, there occurred a sea- 
 fight on the other side of the Atlantic, that will ever occupy 
 a prominent place in our naval history. On Sunday, the 
 19th of June,, the same Sabbath that followed the last grand 
 assault on Petersburg, and while we were gathering up our 
 wounded, and burying our dead,, that fell in front of the 
 rebel works, and while Sherman was lying at the base of 
 Kenesaw Mountain, preparing to storm its impregnable de 
 fenses, the Kearsarge and Alabama were engaged in mortal 
 combat, off the quiet port of Cherbourg, in France. The 
 Alabama, with other vessels, had been built by private en 
 terprise,, in England, ostensibly for neutral powers, or com 
 mercial purposes^. but r after clearing the English coast, took 
 
420 THE ALABAMA, 
 
 in their armaments and crews, and hoisting the Confederate 
 flag, preyed upon our commerce. 
 
 The Alabama was a powerful steamer, a swift sailer, and 
 carrying guns of the heaviest kind. She had been a bold, 
 successful cruiser for two years, though she had carefully 
 avoided a contest with our war vessels, except in the single 
 instance, when she attacked and sunk the Hatteras, which was 
 no match for her, off Galveston harbor. Standing fearlessly 
 along the track of our commerce, on the Atlantic, she had 
 made the ocean lurid with the flames of burning merchant 
 men. Our fastest vessels had been sent in search of her, and 
 the Vanderbilt had steamed half-way round the globe in the 
 vain effort to capture her. 
 
 Down the coast of the Eastern Continent, around the Cape 
 of Good Hope, into the Indian Ocean, she had proudly 
 flaunted her hated flag, and destroyed our merchantmen. 
 She with others, had well-nigh driven our ships from the 
 ocean, so that our commerce was carried on almost entirely 
 in foreign bottoms. 
 
 Her launch from an English dock-yard, had caused the 
 most serious complaints to be made, by our Government, 
 against Great Britain ; such conduct being denounced as a 
 breach of neutrality. The discussion of the question is not 
 ended yet, and though the steamer lies at the bottom of the 
 sea, she may, in the end, be the cause of the gravest difficul 
 ties between the two nations. 
 
 Unable to carry her prizes into any port, she plundered 
 them of what she needed, sparing some, on the captains giv 
 ing bonds to pay a certain sum of money after the estab 
 lishment of Southern independence, and burning the rest on 
 the high seas. She had been the terror of our commerce, as 
 far as the Indian Ocean, from which she had just returned and 
 entered the port of Cherbourg for repairs. Captain Winslow, 
 commanding the Kearsarge, had long been in search of her, 
 
CHALLENGE OF SEMMES. 421 
 
 and the moment he heard of her arrival, set sail, and lay off 
 the mouth of the harbor, for the purpose of following her to 
 sea when she again left port, and forcing her to a combat. 
 
 On the 14th, Semmes sent Captain Winslow the following 
 challenge: 
 
 " CONFEDERATE STATES STEAMER ALABAMA, ) 
 CHERBOURG, June 14, 1864. j 
 
 g IR I tear that you were informed by the United States Consul that the 
 Kearsarge was to come to this port solely for the prisoners landed by me, 
 and that she was to depart in twenty-four hours. I desire you to say to the 
 United States Consul that my intention is to fight the Kearsarge as soon as 
 I can make the necessary arrangements. I hope these will not detain me 
 more than till to-morrow evening, or after to-morrow morning, at the far 
 thest. I beg she will not depart before I am ready to go. out. 
 
 I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient Servant, 
 
 B. SEMMES, Captain. 
 
 He very much mistook the Commander of the Kearsarge, 
 if he supposed it was necessary to send a challenge to get a 
 fight out of him. He had come to Cherbourg for no other 
 purpose, and intended, by no means, to leave till he could 
 follow the bold corsair out on the deep, and there sink him, 
 or be sunk himself. 
 
 The Sabbath morning, of the 19th of June, broke in all the 
 loveliness of early Summer over the rippling sea. A gentle 
 breeze drifted lazily in from the ocean, and the sun, half 
 shorn of his brightness, looked down through a hazy atmo 
 sphere, on the town and port, and revealed the Kearsarge 
 gently swaying to the easy swell, as she lay three miles off the 
 entrance, watching the movements of her antagonist News 
 of the expected fight had spread to Paris, and, in the morn 
 ing, an excursion train came down from the French Cap 
 ital loaded with passengers, eager to witness the combat. 
 The boatmen of the port swarmed like hackmen around 
 the terminus of the railway, offering the services of their 
 boats to those who wished "to see a genuine naval battle, 
 
422 BEFORE THE COMBAT. 
 
 that was to come off during the day." A photographer, 
 with all his apparatus and materials, perched himself on a 
 church tower, to take an impression of the contest. Specta 
 tors swarmed upon every spot, commanding a view of the 
 harbor and sea beyond, while boats flew about in every di 
 rection as on a great holiday. 
 
 The bells of the churches of Cherbourg had not yet done 
 pealing, when the rebel steamer cast off her fastenings and 
 began to steam slowly out of port. Semmes had taken the 
 precaution to send ashore sixty chronometers that he had 
 taken from his prizes, his money, and bills of ransomed ves 
 sels ; thus showing that he was fully aware of the desperate 
 character of the conflict that awaited him. As the steamer 
 slowly drifted past the end of the mole, crowded with human 
 beings, a great shout rent the air, and " God speed you," 
 rolled over the waters. The next moment the drums were 
 heard beating to quarters. 
 
 The iron-plated frigate, Couronne r accompanied her to 
 the limit of the French waters, while the English yacht, 
 Deerhound, followed in her wake out to sea. This was about 
 half-past ten, and Winslow, as soon as he descried his adver 
 sary approaching, turned his ship s head seaward, to avoid 
 the question of jurisdiction, and to draw the Alabama so far 
 off that, in case of being disabled, she could not get back 
 into port, and thus escape capture. The Alabama followed 
 after, till the former was about seven miles from shore > when 
 Winslow turned short about r and steered straight for the 
 privateer, intending to run her down. The latter immedi 
 ately sheered off and slowed her engines, presenting her 
 starboard battery to her enemy. While the Kearsarge was 
 still a mile off, there suddenly came sharp puffs of smoke 
 from the side of the Alabama, followed by the heavy, dull 
 reports of the guns that rolled heavily away over the shud 
 dering water? 
 
THE COMBAT. 423 
 
 The ponderous shell and shot flew over the Kearsarge 
 and cut up her rigging, but did no serious damage. Wins- 
 low made no reply, but ordered the engineer to put on more 
 speed, and the gallant steamer rolled the foam away from 
 her bows as she dashed silently forward to a close death- 
 grapple with her antagonist. In two minutes came another 
 broadside and then another ; yet not a gun of the Kear 
 sarge replied. Coming head on to the rebel steamer as she 
 lay with her broadside to, she was in great danger of being 
 raked, and so when about a half a mile distant, Winslow 
 sheered in order to bring his own broadside to bear and 
 the battle commenced. 
 
 The firing now was rapid and incessant, and the two 
 guns of the Kearsarge, carrying eleven-inch shell, sent their 
 ponderous missiles with terrible accuracy into the hull of 
 the Alabama. Winslow, fearing that his antagonist might 
 after a while make again for the shore, ordered a full head 
 of steam on, with directions to run under the stern of the 
 Alabama and rake her. Semmes, however, discovered his 
 design and sheered off so as to keep his broadside bearing 
 on his antagonist. Hence the two vessels kept moving in 
 independent circles round a common, yet ever changing 
 centre. Sailing at the rate of nearly eight miles an hour, 
 they thus swung steadily around each other, wrapped in 
 the smoke of their own guns the Alabama getting deadly 
 blows from the calm and accurate firing of the Kearsarge, 
 while the latter received no material injury for nearly 
 twenty minutes. At length a sixty-eight pound Blakely 
 shell passed through the starboard bulwarks, below the 
 main rigging, and exploded on the quarter-deck, wounding 
 three of the crew of the pivot gun, and among them a sear 
 man named William Go win, who, though suffering acutely,, 
 wore a smile on his face as he was brought to the surgeon.. 
 tl lt is all right," said he; "I am satisfied, for we are whip- 
 67 
 
424 A NOBLE SAILOR. 
 
 ping the Alabama;" adding "I willingly will lose my leg 
 or life, if necessary." 
 
 In the meantime the fight went on, and as the heavy 
 broadsides shook the deck, he would comfort his two 
 wounded comrades by telling them that " victory was cer 
 tain ;" and as ever and anon the cheers of the guns crews 
 on deck were borne to his ears, as they saw a shot planted 
 in a vital part of the Alabama, he would wave his hand 
 over his head, and with a smile lighting his pallid fea 
 tures, give a faint, answering cheer. His heroic spirit kept 
 in this buoyant state till long after the victory, and he 
 passed away, reiterating again and again as the sands of life 
 ran low, " I am willing to die, for we have won a glorious 
 victory." 
 
 Winslow fought his ship as coolly as though engaged in a 
 simple manoeuvre, telling the officers not to let the men fire 
 too rapidly, but take deliberate aim. "Point," said he, 
 u the heavy guns below rather than above the water line, 
 and sweep the decks with the lighter ones." 
 
 In addition to her regular and effective armament, the 
 Kearsarge had a twelve-pounder boat-howitzer, which was 
 totally useless in the fight. This was put in charge of two old 
 quartermasters, u the two Dromios" of the ship, with orders 
 not to fire until directed to do so. But those rollicking old 
 salts had no idea of remaining idle while their messmates 
 were stripped to such deadly work, and having, as they said, 
 all the fun. So without waiting for orders, when the heavy 
 guns began to thunder over the sea, they loaded and fired 
 their solitary howitzer as though the fate of the combat 
 depended on their activity. Though perfectly aware of the 
 harmlessness of their shots, they peppered away with all 
 the gravity of men in dead-earnest, pausing between each 
 discharge to curse and swear at each other in the most 
 approved man-of-war style. Standing thus apart and firing 
 
A SERIOUS FARCE. 425 
 
 their pop-gun in any direction with the most perfect gravity, 
 and then pausing to abuse each other roundly, while the 
 enemy s heavy shells were screaming and bursting above 
 and around them, they made such an exceedingly ludicrous 
 by-play, that the crew burst into peals of laughter. The 
 officers, seeing in what excellent humor for cool fighting 
 this farce kept the men, and amused at the mock earnest 
 ness and droll abusive language of these old weather-beaten 
 favorites of the ship, did not interfere with them, and they 
 kept on firing till they had exhausted the entire box of 
 ammunition. 
 
 In the meantime the vessels, moving steadily in their re 
 spective circles, kept pouring in their heavy broadsides ; the 
 Alabama firing twice to the Kearsarge once; yet, so bad 
 was her gunnery that out of over three hundred shots only 
 twenty hit her antagonist, and only some fourteen of these 
 pierced her hull not killing a single man, and wounding 
 but three. On the other hand, the slow and accurate firing 
 of the Kearsarge told with terrible effect on the enemy. 
 One shot alone killed and wounded eighteen men. Her two 
 hundred pound shells, pierced the rebel ship at the water 
 line, and bursting within, opened huge gaps, through which 
 the water poured in torrents. The rudder of the latter was 
 soon rendered useless, and by the time the vessels had made 
 seven complete circles, report was made to Captain Semmes 
 that his ship was sinking. He immediately hoisted sail, and 
 ordered all stearn on, hoping to be able to reach the French 
 coast ; but, finding the steamer fast settling in the water, he 
 hauled down his colors and dispatched a boat to the Kear 
 sarge to state that he had surrendered. In the meantime, 
 he lowered the boats that had not been shot away, to receive 
 the sick and wounded ; but before all could be got off, the 
 stern of the steamer sunk deep in the sea, lifting her bow 
 into the air as though making a last effort to escape destruc- 
 
426 SINKING OF THE ALABAMA. 
 
 tion, ner mainmast breaking short off in the struggle and 
 then with one heavy lurch she went to the bottom. The 
 parted waves closed with a loud splash above her form, as 
 with all her guns, and some of her brave defenders she disap 
 peared from sight forever. Thus perished this terror of the 
 seas, after a fight of only an hour and two minutes. Amid the 
 foam that tossed above the spot where she went down, ap 
 peared a mass of human heads struggling for life, and among 
 the strong swimmers was Captain Semmes himself. The 
 Yacht Deerhound having now approached within hailing 
 distance of the Kearsarge, Winslow begged the Commander 
 to go to the assistance of the drowning men, as he had but 
 two boats. The latter did so, picking up Semmes and many 
 of the crew, and carried them, together with the officer who 
 had surrendered the ship, to Southampton. 
 
 Semmes in his report, by implication, charges Capt. 
 Winslow with inhumanity. He not only declares that he 
 fired on him after he struck his flag, but says : " There was 
 no appearance of any boat coming to me from the enemy 
 after my ship went down. Ultimately, the steam yacht 
 Deerhound, owned by a gentleman of Lancashire, England, 
 Mr. John Lancaster, who was himself on board, steamed up 
 in the midst of my drowning men and rescued a number of 
 both officers and men from the water. About this time the 
 Kearsarge sent one, and then tardily another." 
 
 Now Mr. Lancaster, who was evidently hand and glove 
 with the rebel Commander, contradicts this statement. His 
 log book says, " At half past twelve, we observed the 
 Alabama to be disabled, and in a sinking state. We imme 
 diately made toward her, and in passing the Kearsarge 
 were requested to assist in saving the Alabama s crew." And 
 again, in a published letter, he says, u when we passed the 
 Kearsarge, the captain cried out, l For God s sake do what 
 you can to save them. It was unquestionably very morti- 
 
ALABAMA AND KEARSARGE. 427 
 
 fying to Semmes to lose his ship ; but that is no reason 
 why he should endeavor to slander a gallant opponent. 
 Again he says, " the enemy was heavier than myself, both 
 in ship, and battery, and crew ; but I did not know till the 
 action was over that she was also iron-clad." This assertion 
 is not borne out by the following figures : 
 
 Alabama. Kearsarge. 
 
 Length over all, 220 feet, 214 1-4 
 
 Length on water line, 210 " 198 1-2 
 
 Beam, 32 " 33 
 
 Depth, 17 " 16 
 
 Horse power two engines, 300 each, 400 h. p. 
 
 Tonnage, 1,150 1,031 
 
 Thus much as to the size and tonnage of the two ships. 
 
 The armament of the Alabama was one seven-inch rifle- 
 gun ; one eight-inch smooth bore sixty-eight pounder ; six 
 thirty-two pounders. 
 
 That of the Kearsarge was two eleven-inch smooth bores; 
 one thirty pounder rifle ; four thirty-two pounders. 
 
 It will be seen by these figures, that the Alabama was the 
 larger ship, and had one more gun than the Kearsarge, 
 although the weight of the latter s broadside Was the great 
 er. The simple truth is, two more equally matched ships 
 could not well be found. The "iron plating," which Captain 
 Semmes makes so much of was simply some spare chain 
 cable hung over the sides of the vessel midships, and boxed 
 over with planking. This had been done a year before, 
 and was well known in every port where she had since 
 touched. Semmes was also aware of it, for he spoke about 
 it some days previous to the fight, saying, " that the chains 
 were only attached together with rope-yarn, and would 
 drop into the water when struck with the first shot." If 
 
428 YACHT DEERHOUND. 
 
 Capt. Semmes wishes his character as a fighter to be judged 
 by his reputation as a man of veracity, we fear his capture 
 and firing of helpless merchantmen will furnish his greatest 
 laurels. 
 
 In speaking of the conduct of the Deerhound, Captain 
 Winslow says : " I could not believe that the commander of 
 that vessel could be guilty of so disgraceful an act as taking 
 our prisoners off, and, therefore, took no means to prevent 
 it." The act of Mr. Lancaster was so generally condemned 
 on both sides of the water, that this gentleman deemed it 
 incumbent on him to make a public defense. 
 
 He says, " I had the earnest request of Captain Winslow 
 to rescue as many of the men as were in the water, as I 
 could lay hold of, but that request was not coupled with any 
 stipulation to the effect that I should deliver up the rescued 
 men to him as his prisoners. If it had been, I should have 
 declined the task, because I should have deemed it dishon 
 orable that is, inconsistent with my notions of honor to 
 lend my yacht and crew for the purpose of rescuing those 
 brave men from drowning, only to hand them over to their 
 enemies for imprisonment, ill-treatment, and, perhaps, exe 
 cution." 
 
 Now, there are several things to be noticed in this curious 
 portion of his defense. First, a falsehood in the expression 
 of fear that they might be delivered over " to execution." 
 The war had been going on for over two years, and our Gov 
 ernment had, at the very outset, in the first capture of a 
 privateer, decided that the crews of such vessels should be 
 treated as prisoners of war. In the second place, we are called 
 upon to admire this gentleman s peculiar " notions of honor," 
 which would have prevented him from "rescuing those 
 brave men " from death, to hand them over as u prisoners," 
 to a nation, distinguished for its humane treatment of the 
 captured. 
 
LANCASTER S ENGLISH LOGIC. 429 
 
 One would think that a proper sense of u honor" would 
 prompt a man to give the poor fellows, at least, the choice 
 of being rescued, or of drowning. We are quite sure the 
 spent swimmers did not take his view of the case, as they 
 cried for help, and struck out toward the boats. His logic, 
 however, is more peculiar than his " notions of honor," or his 
 veracity. He says that Captain Winslow accompanied his 
 request to help save the sinking crew, "with no stipulation to 
 the effect that I should deliver up the rescued men to him as 
 prisoners." That is to say, because Captain Winslow did not 
 wait to draw up a contract that he should deliver into his 
 hands men that had already given themselves up as prisoners 
 of war, there was no obligation resting on him to do so. To 
 see the full beauty of this logic, let us suppose it had been 
 property, not prisoners of war, floating on the sea; and Cap 
 tain Winslow had requested the Commander of the yacht to 
 assist him in saving it. By Mr. Lancaster s code of morals, 
 after he had loaded his vessel down with a choice assort 
 ment, he would have steered away for Southampton with 
 his spoils, and when called to account for them, have replied 
 that Captain Winslow made " no stipulation with me to deliver 
 up his goods." His high notions of honor would have com 
 pelled him to keep them in other words, turn thief because 
 u no stipulation" was made that he should not be one. 
 
 After clearing himself, as he supposes, from all blame, bj 
 this extraordinary defense, he says, that " the hero s (Cap 
 tain Winslow s) forbearance," for not bringing him to, with 
 a shot, when making off with the prisoners, may be "imagi 
 ned in the reflection that such a performance as that of Cap 
 tain Wilkes, who dragged two 4 enemies/ or 4 rebels, from 
 an English ship, would not bear repetition." Our fear, on 
 the contrary, is, that such conduct, on the part of a mem 
 ber of "The Royal Yacht Squadron," will not u bear repe 
 tition." 
 
430 EXCITEMENT IN EUROPE. 
 
 This novel engagement, in which such heavy metal was 
 thrown, caused much excitement in Europe. That the Kear 
 sarge, without ever coming nearer than a quarter of a mile 
 of her antagonist a vessel of war heavier, even, than her 
 self should sink her in one hour, was a warning to the 
 English Admiralty which, it was urged, they had better not 
 disregard. There was not an eleven-inch gun in the English 
 navy, yet the Kearsarge had two of these, throwing metal 
 of two hundred pounds weight. Said one writer in the 
 English press: 
 
 u When the Kearsarge was recently at Cork, the Com 
 mander of her Majesty s ship, Hawke, was instructed by the 
 Admiralty to report as to the construction and fitting up of 
 the American cruiser, and more particularly as to her arma 
 ment. He replied that the Kearsarge had no more effective 
 guns than the ordinary sixty-eight pounder of the British 
 navy. The Kearsarge is fitted up with a special contri 
 vance for raising and lowering her great guns, so that they 
 may be mounted on deck, or kept snugly below, as occasion 
 requires. 
 
 u It is a curious speculation whether, when the Comman 
 der of the Hawke visited the vessel, a smart Yankee trick 
 was played upon him by this contrivance, or whether he 
 made an actual blunder as to the armament." 
 
 Captain Winslow paroled his prisoners, which brought on 
 him the condemnation of the Navy Department. In one 
 letter to him, Mr. Welles says that it is reported, in the Eng 
 lish papers, that he "has paroled the foreign pirates cap 
 tured in the Alabama," and adds, U I trust you have not 
 committed this error of judgment." In another, he says, 
 11 in paroling the prisoners, however, you have committed a 
 grave error." 
 
 This is a fair specimen of the wise blunders constantly 
 committed by our Navy Department ; the head of which 
 
LETTER OF CAPTAIN WINSLOW. 431 
 
 changes with every Administration, and who receives his 
 appointment without reference to his knowledge of naval 
 matters, but solely on political grounds. A serious war with 
 one of the great maritime nations of Europe, will work a 
 change, we apprehend, in this respect, and give us, at least, 
 something in the Navy to correspond with Lieutenant-Gen- 
 eral in the Army. 
 
 The following reply of Captain Winslow, exhibits the vast 
 difference between theoretical and practical knowledge : 
 
 " I beg the Department will consider the circumstances in 
 which this vessel was placed at the termination of the action 
 with the Alabama. The berth-deck, contracted as it is, with 
 insufficient storage for our own men, was covered with bed 
 ding of the wounded, the quarter-deck was similarly crowded, 
 and the forward part of the ship, on the spar-deck, was filled 
 with prisoners under guard. 
 
 " The ship was damaged both in rigging and hull. A 
 shot had entered the stern-post, raising the transom-frame, 
 and binding the rudder so hard as to require four men at 
 the helm. It was, therefore, important that an examination 
 should be made of the damages sustained. On our arrival 
 at Cherbourg, I received information from our Consul at 
 London, that the Florida was in the Channel, on the French 
 coast, and, at the same time, information came that the 
 Yeddo was out, and the Rappahannock was expected to fol 
 low ; and, in addition to this, that the St. Louis had sailed 
 for Madeira. 
 
 "The Kearsarge had been acting alone and independ 
 ently for the last nine months, and I was not aware that any 
 of our cruisers had been ordered in the Channel. It became, 
 therefore, in my mind, of the utmost importance that the 
 Kearsarge should at once be put in a state to meet these 
 vessels, and protect our commerce. This could not be done 
 with prisoners on board equaling the half of our crew, and 
 
432 A GOOD REASON. 
 
 the room occupied by the wounded taken to the exclusion 
 of our own men ; to have kept them would have required a 
 quarter-watch as guards, and the ship would have been 
 wholly ineffective, as a man-of-war, to meet this emergency 
 which threatened. 
 
 u Under these circumstances, and without an American 
 vessel in port by which any arrangement could be made for 
 transhipping the prisoners outside, I felt it my duty to 
 parole them." 
 
CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 MB. CHASE S RESIGNATION WANT OF A FINANCIAL SYSTEM LOW STATE OF 
 PUBLIC CREDIT WHEN HE ENTERED ON THE DUTIES OF HIS OFFICE ESTI 
 MATE OF EXPENDITURES FOR 1862 ISSUES OF FIVE-TWENTY BONDS AND 
 
 TREASURY NOTES FIRST LOAN MADE IN NEW YORK LOAN TAKEN BY THB 
 
 BANKS OF PHILADELPHIA, NEW YORK AND BOSTON SALE OF BONDS, <tC. 
 
 CUSTOMS TO BE PAID IN GOLD SUSPENSION OF THE BANKS STATEMENT OF 
 
 REVENUE AND EXPENDITURES PUBLIC DEBT AT THE CLOSE OF THE YEAR 
 
 OPBNING OF THE YEAR 1863 AN EXCISE LAW RESOLVED UPON RAISING 
 
 OF MONEY IN THE MEANTIME ISSUE OF PAPER MONEY NATIONAL BANKING 
 
 LAW ITS EFFECT IN NEW YORK GOLD BILL STATEMENT OF REVENUE AND 
 
 EXPENDITURE FOR THE YEAR PUBLIC DEBT MR. FESSENDEN SUCCEEDS MR. 
 
 CHASE CONDITION OF THE TREASURY AND MEANS AT ITS DISPOSAL PUBLIC 
 
 DBBT WHEN HE RESIGNED IN MARCH, 1865. 
 
 OUTLINE OF OUR FINANCIAL HISTORY DURING THE WAR. 
 
 THE first day of the month of July, 1864, was signalized 
 by an event in the political field, that caused almost as 
 much sensation as the news of the proposed invasion of the 
 rebels. This was the announcement of the resignation of Mr. 
 Chase, as Secretary of the Treasury 
 
 In a war of the magnitude of the one in which we were 
 engaged, the question of finance was really the vital one ; 
 for all knew that money would give out before men would. 
 Mr. Chase had never perfected and carried out any financial 
 system whatever ; his system had been one of expedients, 
 based on the assumption that the war was always just on the 
 eve of closing, and that it was only necessary to raise money 
 on the public credit to meet a present emergency. In short, 
 the Government appeared, in the eyes of the world, very 
 
434 RESIGNATION OF MR. CHASE. 
 
 much like a shaky railroad company, willing to mortgage 
 its present property and future prospects, to get over pres 
 ent difficulties ; or that of a heavy operator, who is willing 
 to make any sacrifices, if he can only be tided over a dan 
 gerous crisis. 
 
 Still, in the new and unexpected condition of things, in 
 which the Secretary of the Treasury found himself the sud 
 den and frightful call on the Government for money, and in 
 our want of credit in the foreign market, it was hard to see 
 what other course could be pursued. Fabulous sums were 
 needed to carry on the gigantic war into which we had 
 been forced, and there seemed no way to raise them except 
 by the system of expedients which was adopted. The resig 
 nation of the Secretary of the Treasury, therefore, in the 
 very crisis of our affairs, created a profound sensation, and 
 various causes were assigned for it some asserting that des 
 pair of meeting the enormous demands of the Government, 
 was the motive others, that personal disagreement with 
 the President, in the matter of appointments ; others, still, 
 that he was a candidate for the Presidency, and could not 
 support his successful rival; and still, others, that it was 
 in consequence of the repeal of the " Gold Bill," as it was 
 called. 
 
 Although the present work was designed to be only a his 
 tory of the more important military events of the war, yet 
 a brief account of the financial measures, by which it was 
 carried on, seems necessary to its completeness. 
 
 As the financial policy was not changed, on the resig 
 nation of Mr. Chase, and Mr. Fessenden, who succeeded 
 him, simply completed what was already begun, a history of 
 our finances, under the former, is the history of them during 
 the war. 
 
 Some faint idea of the difficulties that beset Mr. Chase s 
 path, at the outset, may be gathered from the fact, that in 
 
PUBLIC LOANS. 435 
 
 the December previous to his inauguration into office, How- 
 ell Cobb, Mr. Buchanan s Secretary of the Treasury, put into 
 the market five million dollars of treasury notes, payable 
 in one year, and received bids for only a half a million, at 
 twelve per cent. 
 
 If such was the credit of the Government, and such the 
 difficulty in raising a small sum of money when war was 
 threatened, one can imagine the prospect before the new 
 Secretary, when war, the end of which no one could see, had 
 actually commenced, and when, according to his own esti 
 mate, not five millions of dollars, but three hundred and nine 
 teen millions, would be needed the first yeai to meet the 
 wants of the Government. 
 
 Congress, which adjourned the first week in August, 1861, 
 passed an act authorizing him to borrow two hundred and 
 fifty million dollars by the issue of bonds not to be redeemed 
 for twenty years, and bearing a no greater interest than 
 seven per cent. ; also to issue fifty million dollars in seven 
 and three-tenths per cent, treasury notes, payable in three 
 years, and of United States notes without interest, and paya 
 ble on demand. A direct tax of twenty million dollars was 
 also ordered to be levied while the customs were increaed 
 Of this, one hundred and eighty million dollars were appro 
 priated to the Army, thirty millions to the Navy, and three 
 millions to purchase and hire vessels. 
 
 It was an easy matter to authorize the Secretary to bor 
 row money by the issue of interest-bearing bonds, and 
 treasury demand notes, but it was another thing to find 
 lenders. If it had been a foreign war in which we were 
 engaged, we could have borrowed an unlimited amount of 
 money abroad ; but, in a war, which, in the eyes of other 
 nations would end in the total disruption of the Govern 
 ment, not a dollar could be obtained. It must be raised at 
 home or not at all, and obviously, to obtain the enormous 
 
436 FIRST LOAN TAKEN. 
 
 sums that would be needed, the only course to be pursued 
 was the one adopted by the Emperor of France, viz.: 
 make it a people s loan, by distributing it in small sums over 
 the entire country. This could be done only through agen 
 cies established at every important point, to receive subscrip 
 tions. But it would take some time to get the machinery 
 in complete working order and prepare the Seven and three- 
 tenths treasury notes. In the meantime money was needed, 
 and the Secretary therefore resorted to a temporary loan of 
 five million dollars for sixty days, giving the Twenty-years 
 bonds as collateral security. This was taken up in a few 
 hours in New York. He then visited the three great com 
 mercial cities on our Northern sea-board Philadelphia, New 
 York and Boston and after a frank interview with the 
 heavy capitalists, succeeded in getting the Banks to take fifty 
 million dollars of the Seven-thirties at par ; of which New 
 York alone took more than two-thirds. It was left optional 
 with the Banks to take two more issues to the same amount. 
 
 The various agencies established were very successful, so 
 that thirty- eight millions of the fifty millions of dollars were 
 taken up. The Banks then took the second issue of fifty 
 million dollars, bearing date October 1st, 1861. In the 
 meantime the demand notes, as they were called, were put 
 in circulation, and a vast amount of State loans thrown upon 
 the market, which so diverted the investment by the people 
 in the treasury notes that the Banks refused to take the 
 third issue of fifty million dollars, preferring the Twenty- 
 years six per cent, stock at a discount, that made it equiva 
 lent to a seven per cent, stock at par. 
 
 On the 1st of January, 1862, only a little over fifty mil 
 lion dollars of the treasury notes had been subscribed for, 
 outside of the Banks, while twenty-four million dollars of 
 demand notes had been issued, and fifty millions of Twenty- 
 years stock though this sum had not been realized. Two 
 
SUSPENSION OF THE BANKS. 437 
 
 years six per cent, notes to the amount of fourteen million, 
 nineteen thousand, three hundred and forty dollars and sixty- 
 six cents had also been issued, and nearly thirteen million 
 dollars had been borrowed on sixty days six per cent, notes 
 making ia all one hundred and ninety-seven million, two 
 hundred and forty-two thousand, five hundred and eighty- 
 eight dollars and fourteen cents. 
 
 The tax of twenty million dollars gave us no revenue. 
 It was apportioned to the several States, but of course was 
 collectable only in the loyal ones ; and in most cases as the 
 amount they had already furnished in equipping the national 
 troops equaled the amount of the tax, they were given credit 
 for it, so that the only effect of the tax was to pay a debt 
 which might have been deferred. In the firm belief that 
 the war would be a short one, the Government had ex 
 pended its wealth with an extravagance never before wit 
 nessed in any nation, and which, if persisted in for any 
 length of time, whatever other national resources we might 
 possess, threatened to end the war by national bankruptcy. 
 
 In the beginning of the year 1862, fifty million dollars 
 of paper money had been set afloat, redeemable in coin, 
 and receivable for customs. Government stocks were at 
 a discount, and in the general panic and upheaving, the 
 Banks, utterly indifferent to the laws under which they had 
 been organized, suspended specie payment, and yet went on 
 doing business as before. The increase of the army, and the 
 lavish expenditures had raised the expenses of the Govern 
 ment to about two million dollars per day ; and yet the first 
 step had not yet been struck toward putting down the re 
 bellion. The Army of the Potomac lay in front of Washing 
 ton the Mississippi was closed nearly up to the Ohio, and the 
 lines of the enemy, with scarcely a break, extended along the 
 southern border of the Northern States from Missouri to the 
 Atlantic. 
 
438 INTERNAL TAXATION. 
 
 The financial prospect under these circumstances was 
 appalling, and the question, u Where is all the money needed, 
 to come from ? " was one which might well stagger any Sec 
 retary of the Treasury. Congress might authorize loans, but 
 who would take them, unless they could see some certain 
 method adopted by which the interest would be paid. Direct 
 taxation to the amount needed was not to be thought of, for 
 the Constitution required that a direct tax should be laid 
 according to population, which, as between the Eastern and 
 Western States would be grossly unjust. It was very plain 
 to men familiar with the financial history of Governments, 
 that we must fall back on some system of internal taxation. 
 But the excise laws of England were odious to our people, 
 and regarded as fit only for an oppressive Government, and 
 hence the party in power feared to enact them, lest it should 
 be overthrown in the next election. Besides, the perfec 
 tion of a system of internal revenue required time, while 
 the Government was in pressing need of money, for it was 
 heavily in arrears, both to the army and to contractors. 
 
 Still hugging the miserable delusion that the war would 
 be over in a few months, Congress cast about for some way 
 to raise enough for immediate wants, thinking that if these 
 were once met, the danger would be over, and then the Gov 
 ernment could gather up the raveled ends of its financial 
 schemes, and once more bring order out of chaos. 
 
 The only method of immediate relief, therefore, seemed 
 to be the issue of paper money the last desperate resort of 
 Governments on the verge of bankruptcy. So in the last of 
 February the Secretary was authorized to issue one hundred 
 and fifty millions of dollars in notes, in such denominations 
 as he chose, down to five dollars, But knowing that paper 
 money depreciated just in proportion to the amount issued, 
 Congress saw that the public loan would not be taken if the 
 interest was payable in paper, for a seven per cent, stock 
 
DUTIES PAID IN COIN. 439 
 
 might actually turn out by this depreciation to be worth no 
 more than an ordinary two or three per cent, stock, and it 
 therefore enacted that the interest on the public debt should 
 be paid in coin. This, of course furnished a strong inducement 
 to invest in public securities, for the more paper depreciated 
 the higher coin would go, and hence the higher the rate of 
 interest would be. But the next question was, u Where shall 
 the Government get this coin ? " To go into the market and 
 buy it, would stimulate speculation so that it could be ob 
 tained only at ruinous rates. It was therefore decreed that all 
 customs should be paid in coin. This was in effect enacting 
 over again the old protective tariff; for importers being 
 compelled to go into market and buy their gold, its rise 
 would be inevitable. Practically, therefore, the duties 
 would be increased indefinitely, causing a corresponding 
 rise in the price of goods. This of course would stimulate 
 home manufacture. As from the embargo of 1812, and the 
 protective tariff afterward, New England was made a manu 
 facturing country, so now, by this practically high tariff all 
 her machinery was set in full motion. 
 
 Another ingenious device was adopted for obtaining 
 money for present use. The war had locked up a vast 
 amount of wealth ordinarily invested in trade. But the 
 holders, like every body else, believed the war was to be a 
 short one, and therefore preferred that their capital should 
 lie idle for a while, so that with peace it could be employed 
 again in the more remunerative way of trade and commerce, 
 than by being invested in Government securities at a fixed 
 rate of interest. To get hold of this, the Secretary of the 
 Treasury was authorized to receive twenty-five million dollars 
 on deposit to be paid on ten days notice, and to bear interest 
 at the rate of five per cent, per annum, payable in. gold. 
 The bait took, and the whole amount was so quickly taken, 
 that Congress authorized the reception of one hundred mil- 
 
 58 
 
440 PUBLIC DEBT. 
 
 lion dollars, interest payable in paper. Fruitful in all kinds 
 of shifts, it also authorized the Secretary to issue certificates 
 of indebtedness to the public creditors, bearing interest of 
 six per cent. at first payable in gold, but afterward in 
 paper. 
 
 The Department had had for use during the year, two hun 
 dred and thirty-five million dollars all but ten millions 
 granted by the tariff law being in seven and three-tenths 
 three years bonds, legal tender, and certificates of deposit. 
 It had besides, one year six per cent, certificates to issue to 
 any amount it chose. 
 
 The debt at the close of the fiscal year, as ascertained, 
 was five hundred and fourteen million, two hundred and 
 eleven thousand, three hundred and seventy-one dollars, 
 while gold was at ten per cent, premium. There should be 
 added to this, however, probably over a million dollars of 
 arrears not yet audited. On this debt, twenty-two million dol 
 lars of interest in gold was to be paid. It had now become 
 very evident that the war was not to be terminated speed 
 ily, and hence that these various expedients to raise money 
 for present emergencies would not answer. No matter how 
 unpopular a system of internal taxation might be for the 
 party in power, it must be resorted to or the war be aban 
 doned for want of means to carry it on. Congress therefore 
 resolved to pass an excise law that should tax the entire 
 industry of the country, and levy a tax on all incomes over 
 six hundred dollars. We had taunted England with her 
 oppressive taxation, saying that the poor man was taxed 
 even for the light of heaven, and after his eyes had closed 
 on that light forever, the very nails in his coffin were taxed, 
 little dreaming that our boasted Republic would so soon fol 
 low her example. 
 
 But there was no help for it. Under this law stamp-da- 
 
EXCISE LAW. 441 
 
 ties were to be paid on all transactions and legal demands. 
 and a three per cent, tax on all manufactures. 
 
 Snch a law was something entirely new to our legislators, 
 and it required time to perfect it besides, the income tax 
 was not to be collected till June of 1863. In the meantime, 
 money must be had, for the Secretary had estimated that 
 the expenditures, for the fiscal year of 1863, would be six 
 hundred and ninety-three million, three hundred and for 
 ty-six thousand, three hundred and twenty-one dollars, 
 independent of the public debt of ninety-five million, two 
 hundred and twelve thousand, four hundred and fifty-six 
 dollars. 
 
 This, however, was an under-estimate, for the military 
 necessity, which soon after required the calling out of six 
 hundred thousand men, swelled these expenditures so that 
 Congress, instead of making an appropriation to meet the 
 Secretary s estimate of nearly seven hundred million dollars, 
 made one of eight hundred and eighty : two million, two 
 hundred and thirty-eight thousand, and eight hundred dol 
 lars. To raise this amount, it authorized the issue of five 
 hundred million dollars of six per cent, stock, redeemable in 
 five to twenty years, and also an issue of notes for one hun 
 dred million dollars, which could be exchanged at par for 
 the stock, making in all seven hundred million dollars. To 
 make up the balance, the Secretary was empowered to issue 
 fractional notes, under a dollar, to any amount. 
 
 This, apparently, reckless issue of Government paper, cre 
 ated general distrust, and gold, which only reached, the year 
 before at any one time, one hundred and thirty-six and one- 
 half per cent, touched, this year, one hundred and seventy- 
 two and one-half per cent. To keep up the public credit, it 
 was ordered that the Five-twenty bonds should not be sold 
 at less than market value, while the holders of Government 
 notes were allowed to exchange them for the bonds at par. 
 
442 NEW ISSUES. 
 
 When Congress again met, the debt was stated to amount 
 to fourteen hundred million dollars, without computing the 
 enormous arrears that could only be guessed at, and which 
 somehow must be met. In the beginning of the actual 
 year the Secretary was authorized to issue one hundred mil 
 lion dollars of paper money, in order to meet the present 
 obligations of the Government. He now asked Congress to 
 amend the law respecting the sale of the Five-twenty bonds, 
 fixing July as the limit, beyond which Government notes 
 could not be converted into them at par. A law was also 
 passed authorizing five hundred million dollars six per cent, 
 stock to be issued, redeemable within forty years, but not 
 till after ten also, the issue of four hundred million dollars 
 of notes, as low as ten dollars, to be legal tenders, bearing 
 six per cent, interest in paper, and redeemable in three years. 
 To these were added one hundred and fifty million dollars 
 more, into which the smaller interest-bearing notes could be 
 converted. 
 
 The unbounded license given to the Secretary to issue 
 fractional paper currency was now taken away, and the 
 amount fixed at fifty million dollars. 
 
 This enormous issue of paper bewildered the public, and 
 it seemed as though nothing short of a miracle could save 
 the nation from hopeless bankruptcy. Abroad, there was- 
 not the slightest doubt that we were rushing headlong inta 
 financial ruin. 
 
 Another law was passed which caused great excitement, 
 completely revolutionizing the whole banking system of the 
 country. This was the NATIONAL BANKING LAW, authorizing 
 Banks, in all the States, secured in Government stocks, to 
 circulate notes redeemable in Government paper. This cir 
 culation was limited to three hundred millions of dollars, 
 based on the same amount of Government securities. But 
 there were already more Banks in the country than the wants- 
 
NATIONAL BANKS. 443 
 
 of the community required, and it was plain that these must 
 be converted into National Banks, or be killed, or the sys 
 tem would fail of success. The change could be easily made, 
 for it was only necessary to change the securities which they 
 held into Government securities. 
 
 But many of the States preferred their own banking sys 
 tem, especially the great State of New York, which compel 
 led its Banks, in the main, to be secured by the State stocks. 
 It had so perfected its banking system, that should every 
 Bank in the State fail, its notes would be redeemed dollar 
 for dollar. Besides, by making its own stock the basis of 
 banking, it enhanced the value of it, so that whenever it 
 wished to make a loan, the Banks not only took all the stock 
 with avidity, but the competition was so great to secure it, 
 that it was always at a large premium its six per cent, 
 stock, having a long time to run, going, in some instances, 
 as high as seventeen per cent, above par. Thus its bank 
 ing system not only made loans easy, but caused them to 
 be taken at a premium that materially lessened the inter 
 est. To change it, therefore, was to depreciate at once 
 the value of its own securities. This depreciation would, 
 also, cause a great loss to the Banks, for the stocks held by 
 them could not bring, in the market, the prices they had 
 paid for them. Hence, in every way the law was distasteful 
 to the State. 
 
 To force the State Banks to change into National Banks, 
 Congress passed a law taxing their notes ten per cent. As 
 it had long ago been decided that Government securities 
 were not taxable, the States could not retaliate by tax 
 ing the National Banks at least, it was very questionable 
 whether any State legislation could offset this discrimination 
 against the State Banks, and so (lie latter gradually con 
 verted themselves into National Banks. This, of course, 
 
444 EIGHTEEN HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FOUR. 
 
 required the absorption of a large amount of Government 
 securities. 
 
 But, independent of its being a present benefit, this sys 
 tem, if let alone by new administrations, will be a lasting 
 one, by giving us a uniform currency throughout the coun 
 try ; a desideratum acknowledged by every business man. 
 
 Under the agencies and commissions authorized by the 
 Treasury Department, the sale of the Five-twenties went 
 briskly on, and the Secretary extended the limit in order to 
 dispose of the whole. The deposits on five per cent, cer 
 tificates filled up the limit of one hundred millions of dollars, 
 so that for the last three months of the fiscal year, ending 
 with June, the Treasury was well supplied. 
 
 Gold fell nearly a half, goods went down, and in the very 
 midst of our troubles, everything seemed about to revive. 
 At its close the debt was one thousand and ninety-eight 
 million, seven hundred and ninety-three thousand, one 
 hundred and eighty-one dollars, without reckoning in the 
 arrears, amounting probably to two hundred millions more. 
 The interest on the funded debt was forty-two million, two 
 hundred and seventy-eight thousand and two dollars, and 
 seventy-three cents. Unfunded, .one hundred and eighty 
 millions of dollars. 
 
 At the beginning of the fiscal year of 1864, there were 
 over four hundred and eleven million dollars of outstanding 
 legal tender money. The constant forcing of paper issues on 
 the market depreciated necessarily its value, and again raised 
 the price of gold. Still the financial resources of the country 
 had been developed in a manner that astonished the most 
 hopeful, showing an amount of available wealth never 
 dreamed of before. Our unparalleled prosperity for so 
 many years had induced an extravagant, expensive mode of 
 living, so that the extraction of these vast sums from the 
 
EXPENDITURES. 445 
 
 people produced comparatively little suffering it demanded 
 only the practice of a wholesome economy. 
 
 The total revenue from all sources this fiscal year was 
 one hundred and eleven million, three hundred and ninety- 
 nine thousand, seven hundred and sixty-six dollars. Added 
 to this, we borrowed seven hundred and seventy-six million, 
 six hundred and eighty-two thousand, three hundred and 
 sixty-one dollars ; making in all eight hundred and eighty- 
 eight million, eighty-two thousand, one hundred and 
 twenty-eight dollars with which to meet an expenditure of 
 eight hundred and ninety-five million, seven hundred and 
 ninety-six thousand, six hundred and thirty dollars. It 
 was impossible to estimate very closely the expenditures of 
 the year 1864, for the constant depreciation of paper brought 
 up the price of every thing the Government would have to 
 buy. It was plain that the taxes would not meet it, and 
 therefore the Government must go on borrowing. The Sec 
 retary stopped in January the sale of the Five-twenty bonds. 
 Having previously issued fifteen million dollars more of legal 
 tender notes, he now, with the stoppage of the sale of these 
 bonds issued one hundred and fifty million dollars more of 
 these notes, bearing interest. 
 
 In the meantime, the amount of customs largely exceeded 
 the estimate, so that after paying the interest on the public 
 debt a surplus of gold was left, which by law was to be ap 
 plied to the purchase of one per cent, of the public debt as 
 a sinking fund. 
 
 This whole surplus was eventually sold in the market, and 
 the premium obtained credited to the Government. It seem 
 ed a very discreditable thing for the Government to go into 
 the market to speculate on its own depreciated paper, but 
 the object was to bring down the price of gold, which spec 
 ulators were forcing up to a ruinous rate. But the most 
 remarkable effort to bring down the price of gold this year, 
 
446 THE GOLD BILL. 
 
 remarkable from the enormous advance it produced, was 
 what was called the " Gold Bill." Congress having passed a 
 resolution increasing the duties on imported goods fifty per 
 cent., for sixty days, to take effect on the 28th of April, 
 large entries of goods were made, which increased the 
 demand for gold, and hence caused it to advance in price. 
 To stop its farther advance, the " Gold Bill " was concocted, 
 which forbade any one to sell exchange for specie at more 
 than ten days time, and no where except over the counter 
 of the individual banker. This law was odious not only as 
 infringing on personal rights, but it crippled bankers, by 
 making them afraid to act as their business relations re 
 quired. It besides, exposed them to informers, who were 
 ready to make complaints on any pretense, as half the fine 
 would go to them. Moreover, the short term fixed by the 
 law for which a contract for exchange might run, interfered 
 sadly with the ordinary shipping business done in New York 
 for the West. Fifteen or sixteen days were required to 
 complete arrangements between even Chicago and New 
 York, hence foreign exchanges were at a dead stand-still. 
 If, for instance, certified checks could not be used, it was 
 difficult to see how ordinary business could be carried on. 
 It is true that the Solicitor of the Treasury finally gave it as 
 his opinion that the Act did not require the "formal deliv 
 ery of the notes in currency by the buyer to the seller," for 
 the amount of gold or bullion purchased on the day in which 
 the contract was made, but that a bona-fide check for the 
 amount in United States notes or currency was valid pay 
 ment, and also, that although the law " prohibits contracts for 
 the purchase or sale and delivery of foreign exchange, 
 except on conditions of immediate payment in full of the 
 agreed price thereof on the day of delivery in United States 
 notes, or national currency," yet, "that a payment for ex 
 change in gold coin of the United States was a legal and 
 
MR. FESSENDEN. 447 
 
 valid payment;" thus relieving bankers from their greatest 
 fears. Still gold went steadily up, till at the close of the 
 fiscal year it stood at tivo hundred and ninety. On the last 
 day of the fiscal year this absurd bill was repealed, and the 
 same day Mr. Chase resigned and Mr. Fessenden took his 
 place. 
 
 The total receipts of this year, from receipts of customs, 
 loans, taxes and every source, were two hundred and sixty 
 million, six hundred and thirty-two thousand, seven hundred 
 and fifty-seven dollars, while the expenses, and interest on 
 this debt, amounted to eight hundred and sixty-five million, 
 two hundred and thirty-four thousand and eighty-seven dol 
 lars. The revenue, therefore, fell short six hundred and 
 four million, six hundred and one thousand, three hundred 
 and seventy dollars of meeting the expenditures. This 
 enormous balance was borrowed as we have seen, on bonds of 
 various kinds, notes, certificates of indebtedness, fractional 
 currency, &a, the whole amount so borrowed being seven hun 
 dred and thirty million, six hundred and forty two thousand, 
 four hundred and ten dollars and ninety-seven cents; of 
 which, one hundred and twelve million, five hundred and 
 twenty-seven thousand, five hundred and twenty-six dollars 
 and five cents were expended in repayment of the public 
 debt, leaving over six hundred and eighteen millions to be 
 applied to the expenditures. The receipts from customs 
 this year, reached the large sum of one hundred and two 
 million, three hundred and sixteen thousand, one hundred 
 and fifty-three dollars, while the interest to be paid in coin 
 was only fifty-three million, six hundred and eighty-five 
 thousand, four hundred and twenty-one dollars, leaving over 
 forty-eight and a half millions in gold in the public treasury, 
 which, as we previously stated, was sold, and a premium of 
 over nineteen million dollars obtained, and put down as 
 miscellaneous receipts. 
 
448 PUBLIC DEBT. 
 
 When, in 1864 Mr. Fessenden came into office, he found 
 as we have seen, the Government paper worth only thirty- 
 five cents on the dollar, with customs falling off. But the tax 
 law had been revised and now promised to furnish a larger 
 amount of money than before, while a five per cent, extra 
 income tax was levied on the incomes of the year before, 
 which of course would increase the amount of revenues. 
 There were nearly nineteen million dollars in the Treasury, 
 when he accepted the office of Secretary, while under laws 
 previously passed, he had a right to borrow, first, thirty-two 
 million, four hundred and fifty-nine thousand, seven hundred 
 dollars that portion of the seventy-five million dollars 
 advertised before the close of the former fiscal year, and 
 which had not been awarded to bidders and also one hun 
 dred and twenty-seven million, six hundred and three 
 thousand, five hundred and twenty dollars, the amount 
 which had not been subscribed for, and paid under the Act 
 of March 3d, 1864, besides four hundred million dollars 
 under an Act passed the last day of the fiscal year. A little 
 over sixty-two million dollars of treasury notes had been re 
 deemed and canceled, which he had authority to replace, 
 so that altogether the available resources in the hands of 
 the new Secretary amounted to six hundred and forty-one 
 million, one hundred and twenty-seven thousand, two hun 
 dred and thirteen dollars and seventy-one cents. Of course 
 he could not do otherwise than follow on in the track of his 
 predecessor. 
 
 Our bonds now began to sell abroad, which obviated very 
 much the issue of legal tender notes. 
 
 Mr. Fessenden continued in office until March, 1865, when 
 the war was drawing to a close, at which time the public 
 debt was twenty-four hundred and twenty-three million, 
 four hundred and thirty-seven thousand and one dollars. 
 
THE PUBLIC DEBT. 449 
 
 It had increased at the rate of two and a half million dollars 
 a day since he took charge of the Treasury Department. 
 
 From what revenues we are to establish a sinking fund to 
 payoff this enormous debt, it does not yet appear. Of course 
 when the tax for paying the interest, now levied on the 
 North, shall be distributed in proper proportion over the 
 South, the burden will be lightened ; but this generation, 
 we fear, will look in vain for any material diminution of the 
 debt. Still, returning prosperity may develop resources of 
 which we are now ignorant. 
 
CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 ALARM PRODUCED BY EARLY s INVASION SIGEL s RETREAT WEBER ABAN 
 DONS HARPER S FERRY THE PIRATE FLORIDA ox OUR COAST THE REBELS 
 
 CROSS THE POTOMAC AND OCCUPY HAGERSTOWN HEGIRA OF THE PEOPLE 
 
 MILITIA CALLED OUT GENERAL WALLACE GIVES BATTLE AT MONOCACY 
 
 RETREATS ALARM IN BALTIMORE RAILROAD CUT BETWEEN BALTIMORE AND 
 
 PHILADELPHIA GENERAL FRANKLIN TAKEN PRISONER GOVERNOR BRAD 
 FORD^ HOUSE BURNED THE MAIN ARMY MOVES ON WASHINGTON SKIR 
 MISHING IN FRONT OF FORT STEVENS ARRIVAL OF THE NINETEENTH AND 
 
 SIXTH CORPS THE REBELS RETREAT PURSUIT BY WRIGHT ESCAPE OF THE 
 
 INVADERS AVER1LL AND CROOK AND DUFFIE ENGAGE A PORTION OF THE 
 
 ENEMY COMPELLED TO RETREAT ACROSS THE POTOMAC THE REBEL MC- 
 
 CAUSLAND ADVANCES TO CHAMBERSBURG AND BURNS IT ATTACKED IN HIS 
 
 RETREAT AND HIS FORCES SCATTERED AMONG THE MOUNTAINS EARLY PRE 
 PARES TO REMAIN IN THE SHENANDOAH VALLEY GRANT VISITS HUNTER 
 
 HIS LETTER OF INSTRUCTIONS SHERIDAN PUT IN HIS PLACE POLITICAL 
 
 EVENTS FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND TROOPS CALLED FOR PEACE NEGOTIA 
 TIONS JACQUES AND KIRK GREELY, JEWETT, SANDERS AND OTHERS " TO 
 
 WHOM IT MAY CONCERN " ABSURDITY OF THE PEACE NEGOTIATIONS. 
 
 A LTHOUGH the months of May and June, both West 
 _LJL and East, had been crowded with events of a magni 
 tude and national interest, hitherto unknown in our history, 
 yet the month of July saw Washington in a state of excite 
 ment scarcely equaled since the disastrous battle of Bull 
 Run in July, 1861 ; while in Maryland and Pennsylvania, 
 the alarm and consternation of the year before, on the inva 
 sion of Lee, were repeated over again. 
 
 The disappearance of Hunter from the Valley of the Shen- 
 andoah, as before remarked, was the signal for a new inva 
 sion of Maryland. On the 2nd, it was announced that the 
 
E A ELY S INVASION. 451 
 
 enemy was approaching Martinsburg, on his way to the Po 
 tomac. On the 3rd, Sigel, in command there, retreated 
 across the river, at Shepardstown, with his immense trains, 
 and Weber, in command of Harper s Ferry, also crossed over 
 and occupied Maryland Heights. Frederick City was thrown 
 into consternation, the public stores were removed, and the 
 streets thronged with people bearing their goods with them, 
 fleeing to a place of safety. On the 6th, Hagerstown was 
 occupied by the enemy, who was found not to be on a mere 
 raid, for his force was altogether too large for such a pur 
 pose. The roads were now thronged with refugees, some 
 with vehicles of every kind pressed into service, to carry 
 their little possessions toward Baltimore; others, on foot T 
 driving their cattle before them all filled with terror, and 
 circulating the most extravagant reports of the number and 
 blood-thirstiness of the enemy. The region around Hagers 
 town became depopulated, and a universal hegira of the 
 inhabitants seemed about to take place. 
 
 There were no troops, or scarcely none, to oppose this sud 
 den invasion. The enormous losses of Grant had caused him 
 to call forward the troops in the neighborhood of Washing 
 ton and Baltimore, even in the garrisons over the Potomac ; 
 and Early, for the time being, had a clear field. On the 6th,, 
 he moved a strong column toward Frederick City. General 
 Wallace, with Rickett s division, and such troops as he could 
 gather, most of them new and undisciplined, moved out 
 from Baltimore to arrest his progress, and met him in force, 
 on the Monocacy, near where the railroad bridge crosses it, 
 and gave him battle. After a severe loss, Wallace was com 
 pelled to retreat. 
 
 In the meantime, the President had called on New York, 
 Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania, for their quotas of militia, 
 and the scenes of the Summer previous were enacted over 
 again. Railroads and steamboats groaned under the weight 
 
452 WASHINGTON THREATENED. 
 
 of troops hurrying on toward Washington, and it was feared 
 by many that the consternation there would compel the Presi 
 dent to demand the presence of Grant s army around the 
 National Capital, and the war once more be transferred to 
 the neighborhood of the Potomac. 
 
 The Mayor of Baltimore called on the citizens to man the 
 fortifications, as the enemy was marching on the city. " Come 
 as leagues, or come in military companies, only come in 
 crowds, and come quickly," he said, and the drum and fife 
 rang through the streets, to call out volunteers to meet the 
 pressing danger. Fortunately, immediately after the failure 
 of the Red River expedition, Grant had ordered home the 
 Nineteenth Army Corps, which now began to arrive at 
 Hampton Roads, and was immediately hurried on to Wash 
 ington, Hunter, the Commander of the Shenaadoah Depart 
 ment, with his army, being unavailable at present, Grant also 
 dispatched the Sixth Army Corps, under Wright, to assist in 
 repelling the invasion, and two divisions followed fast on the 
 heels of the Nineteenth Corps. 
 
 Early having swept Wallace from his path, moved rapidly 
 down on Washington, by the Washington and Frederick 
 turnpike. In the meantime, a body of rebel cavalry, under 
 Gillmore, pushed on toward Baltimore, and striking the rail 
 road between that city and Philadelphia, captured a train, and 
 setting it on fire, run it upon Gunpowder bridge, destroying 
 for a time, direct communication between Washington and 
 the North, Major-General Franklin, just from New Orleans, 
 was on board, and being pointed out by a rebel sympathizer, 
 was taken prisoner. He, however, afterward managed to 
 escape while his guard were asleep. A rebel squad boldly 
 pushed to the suburbs of Baltimore, and burned the house of 
 Governor Bradford, in retaliation, they said, for the burning, 
 by our forces, of the dwelling of Governor Letcher. of Vir 
 ginia. Other detachments wandered hither and thither unmo- 
 
RETREAT OF THE REBELS. 453 
 
 lested, collecting forage and supplies for the army, and levy 
 ing contributions on the inhabitants. The main army, how 
 ever, which had grown, by popular rumor, from four or five 
 thousand to forty thousand, pressed rapidly toward Wash 
 ington, hoping to take it by surprise before the weakened 
 garrisons could be reinforced. Five miles from the city and 
 two miles from the fortifications, it drove in, on Sunday 
 night, our pickets, and, next morning, the skirmishers were 
 in rifle-shot of Fort Stevens, three miles from Georgetown. 
 Firing continued here all the forenoon, and, by two o clock, 
 the sharp-shooters, under cover of the houses, had advanced 
 to within thirty or forty rods of the fort. During the after 
 noon, the main column arrived and showed a strong line in 
 front of it. From appearances, it was conjectured that a 
 general assault would take place next morning. The skir 
 mishing had been heavy the latter part of the day, our 
 loss reaching nearly three hundred. The Sixth happily 
 arrived just in time to save the fort. The rebels, doubtless, 
 learned of the sudden reinforcement of the garrison, by this 
 veteran Corps, and that night retreated their chief conquest 
 being some papers taken from the residence of Francis P. 
 Blair in the vicinity. 
 
 Grant understanding the exact condition of things, tele 
 graphed to Washington to have General Wright placed in 
 command of all the troops in the field, operating against the 
 enemy, and directed him to move at once outside of his 
 trenches, and u push Early to the last moment." 
 
 With the retreat of the rebel army, the cavalry that had 
 threatened Baltimore, and carried consternation even to An 
 napolis, began to fall back to the main body. 
 
 Although Wright pushed on after Early, the latter was 
 able to cross the Potomac, near Poolesville, with his immense 
 plunder vast herds of cattle being not the least conspicu 
 ous figure in the moving caravan. 
 
454 CAVALRY ATTACK. 
 
 In the midst of these exciting events, came the startling 
 news that the rebel privateer Florida was on our coast, and 
 had captured five vessels. War vessels were immediately 
 sent in pursuit of this daring cruiser, which seemed to vie 
 in the boldness of his movements with the presumptuous 
 invaders that were pressing up to the very gates of the 
 Capital. 
 
 General Wright, in pursuing Early, whose force it was 
 pretty well understood was about twenty thousand men, 
 crossed the Potomac at Edward s Ferry and advanced 
 toward Leesburg, where Rickett s division, which had 
 parted from the corps, to aid Wallace, joined it. Four days 
 after, a portion of Crook s cavalry, under Duffie, captured a 
 part of the rebel trains near Snicker s Gap, Crook, with the 
 main body, coming up, was repulsed, and the following day 
 Duffie was- roughly handled by Breckenridge, at Island 
 Ford, on the Shenandoah, losing three hundred men. As 
 the enemy moved on toward Winchester, Averill near this 
 place had an engagement with a rebel division,, defeating it 
 with heavy loss and capturing four guns. Crook and Averill 
 now joined their forces, and Early, finding himself closely 
 pressed by this large body of cavalry, rapidly concentrated 
 a large force, which on the 24th fell with such fury on the 
 Union cavalry, that it was compelled with severe loss to 
 retreat, and recrossed the Potomac, leaving the southern 
 shore in possession of the rebels, from Williamsport to 
 Shepardstown_ The latter occupied Martinsburg, and again 
 commenced to tear up the Baltimore and Ol^io railroad track, 
 which had suffered so severely in every advance of the reb 
 els to the Potomac. 
 
 Hunter had now got back with his shattered army, and 
 once more confronted his old enemy that chased him over 
 the mountains from Lynchburg. On the 30th McCausland 
 with a body of cavalry recrossed the Potomac, and, moving 
 
GRANT S INSTRUCTIONS TO HUNTER. 455 
 
 rapidly upon Chambersburg, demanded a ransom of half a 
 million of dollars from the inhabitants, which they refusing 
 to pay, he fired the town, destroying a vast amount of 
 property. Retreating toward Cumberland, the force was 
 met and defeated by General Kelley, and scattered among 
 the mountains of Western Virginia. The rebels now held 
 the Shenandoah Valley, and evidently meant to hold it till 
 the crops were harvested, for Early had made a requisition 
 on the inhabitants for a large amount of grain. 
 
 Communications between Hunter, whose forces were con 
 centrated on the Monocacy, and Grant at City Point, were 
 very uncertain, and movements would often take place in 
 the interim materially changing the aspect of affairs, so that 
 orders given to day, might by the time they reached Hunter 
 be such as Grant would not give. He, therefore, left City 
 Point on the 4th to visit him, and see for himself what was 
 best to be done. On reaching Hunter s head-quarters, and 
 consulting with him, he gave him the following instruc 
 tions : 
 
 " MONOCACY BRIDGE, Md., August 5, 1864 8 p. M. 
 
 GENERAL : Concentrate all your available force without delay in the vi 
 cinity of Harper s Ferry, leaving only such railroad guards and garrisons 
 for public property as may be necessary. Use, in this concentrating, the 
 railroads, if by doing so time can be saved. From Harper s Ferry, if it is 
 found that the enemy has moved north of the Potomac in large force, push 
 north, following him and attacking him wherever found; follow him if 
 driven south of the Potomac, as long as it is safe to do so. If it is ascer 
 tained that the enemy has but a small force north of the Potomac, then push 
 south with the main force, detaching under a competent commander a suffi 
 cient force to look after the raiders, and drive them to their homes. In de 
 taching such a force, the brigade of cavalry now en route from Washington 
 via Rockvllle may be taken into account. 
 
 There are now on their way to join you three other brigades of the best 
 cavalry, numbering at least five thousand men and horses. "These will be in 
 structed, in the absence of further orders, to join you on the south side of the 
 Potomac. One brigade will probably start to-morrow. In pushing up the 
 Shenandoah Valley, where it is expected you will have to go first or last, it is 
 desirable that nothing should be left to invite the enemy to return. Take all; 
 provisions, forage, and stock wanted for the use of your command : such as 
 cannot be consumed destroy. It is not desirable that the buildings should 
 be destroyed they should rather be protected but the people should be 
 59 
 
456 SHERIDAN RELIEVES HUNTER. 
 
 informed that so long as an army can subsist among them, recurrences of 
 these raids must be expected, and we are determined to stop them at all haz 
 ards. 
 
 Bear in mind the object is to drive the enemy south, and to do this you 
 want to keep him always in sight. Be guided in your course by the course 
 he takes. 
 
 Make your own arrangements for supplies of all kinds, giving regular 
 vouchers for such as may be taken from loyal citizens in the country through 
 which you march. 
 
 U. S. GRANT, Lieutenant-General. 
 
 Major General D. HUNTER." 
 
 The troops were immediately put in motion, and the 
 advance reached Halltown that night. Grant, however, had 
 no intention of leaving Hunter in command of the Depart 
 ment. He felt that he needed a different kind of a man 
 one who would require no instructions, and no watching ; 
 and, though he speaks in as delicate a manner as possible of 
 Hunter s removal, saying, that in "his conversation with him 
 the latter expressed his willingness to be relieved from com 
 mand," yet that conversation was evidently of a character 
 to leave no room for choice, for two days before Grant left 
 City Point, he sent on Sheridan to report to Halleck, for the 
 sole purpose of taking Hunter s place. Carrying out this 
 purpose, he immediately telegraphed to Washington to have 
 Sheridan come on by the morning train, to assume command 
 of all the forces designed to operate against Early. He 
 arrived on the morning of the 8th, and had a consultation 
 with the Lieutenant-General in relation to military matters 
 in that section, after which the latter returned to City Point. 
 
 On the llth, the Middle Department, the Departments of 
 West Virginia, Washington, and Susquehanna were consti 
 tuted into the "Middle Military Division," and Major Gen 
 eral Sheridan was assigned to temporary command of the 
 same, and the Shenandoah Valley, the scene of so many dis 
 asters was to enter on a new history. 
 
 The army around Petersburg this month, parched with heat, 
 and suffering for want of water, lay comparatively quiet. 
 
THE MINE. 457 
 
 The month closed, however, with another desperate at 
 tempt to carry Petersburg by assault. A part of Butler s 
 army had been thrown across the James River, on the north 
 side, so that Grant s lines extended at this time over twenty 
 miles. A strong fort crowned an eminence in front of Burn- 
 side s Corps, (the Ninth,) which it was thought, if once car 
 ried, would let the assaulting columns into the very heart of 
 the enemy s works. It was, therefore, determined to under 
 mine this and blow it up, and in the terror and confusion 
 of the explosion, to charge through, and take the rebel 
 works in flank and rear. 
 
 The mine that was to lift it, like an earthquake, from its 
 firm foundations, was commenced at the distance of five 
 hundred feet, in the sides of a ravine. It was said that the 
 plan originated with Lieutenant-Colonel Pleasants, of the 
 Forty-eighth Pennsylvania regiment, which was composed 
 chiefly of miners. 
 
 A gallery like one leading to a coal mine, was constructed 
 about four and a half feet high, and four feet wide, ending 
 at a point directly under the fort, and twenty feet below it. 
 When, as ascertained by actna i scientific measurement, this 
 subterranean arch-way got directly beneath the fort, two 
 wings were sent out, to the right and left, extending under 
 the entire structure. It was a work of great labor, but, in 
 the latter part of the month, was finished, and eight tons of 
 powder placed in the subterranean gallery to which was 
 attached a fuse that led outside. 
 
 The plan was to have assaulting columns, which in the con 
 fusion of the explosion and under cover of a horrible fire of 
 nearly a hundred pieces of artillery ? would open simultane 
 ous with the explosion, rush in and occupy a crest beyond, 
 that completely commanded the enemy s defenses. 
 
 The 30th was fixed for the explosion of the mine. To 
 give however a greater chance of success, Grant determined 
 
458 A FEINT. 
 
 to make a strong demonstration against the enemy, on the 
 north side of the James, as though he contemplated an 
 advance on Richmond in that direction, and thus draw off 
 the rebel force from the real point of attack. In carrying out 
 this plan, Grant says, "that on the night of the 26th of July, 
 the Second Corps, and two divisions of the Cavalry Corps, and 
 Kautz s cavalry, were crossed to the north bank of the James 
 River, and joined the force General Butler had there. On 
 the 27th, the enemy was driven from his intrenched posi 
 tion, with the loss of four pieces of artillery. On the 28th, 
 our lines were extended from Deep Bottom to New Market 
 road, but in getting this position were attacked by the 
 enemy in heavy force. The fighting lasted for several 
 hours, resulting in considerable loss to both sides. The first 
 object of this move having failed, by reason of the very 
 large force thrown there by the enemy, I determined to 
 take advantage of the diversion made, by assaulting Peters 
 burg before he could get his force back there. One divis 
 ion of the Second Corps was withdrawn on the night of the 
 28th, and moved during the night to the rear of the Eight- 
 teenth Corps, to relieve that Corps in the line, that it might 
 be foot-loose in the assault to be made. The other two 
 divisions of the Second Corps and Sheridan s cavalry were 
 crossed over on the night of the 29th, and moved in front 
 of Petersburg." 
 
 The 30th being, as before stated, fixed upon for the ex 
 plosion of the mine, a little after midnight, on the 29th, the 
 Ninth Corps, which was to make the assault, was drawn up 
 and closely massed in front of it, to rush in the moment it 
 took place. Half-past three o clock in the morning was the 
 hour fixed upon for lighting the train, and as it approached, 
 the troops were greatly excited. But three o clock passed, 
 and all remained quiet as before. The waiting troops looked 
 on each other in mute inquiry, and the gunners standing 
 
THE EXPLOSION. 459 
 
 beside their loaded pieces, wondered at the delay. The 
 fuse had gone out in the gallery, and for an hour the mighty 
 host watched and waited in vain. Daylight in the meantime 
 had broadened in the East, revealing every object distinctly, 
 and the rebel flag was seen waving listlessly above the unsus 
 pecting garrison. 
 
 The fuse was now again lighted, and just as the sun burst 
 in blazing splendor above the horizon, the explosion took 
 place ; but it being so deep underground, the heaving and 
 trembling of the earth was felt before any sound was heard. 
 The next moment, the fort rose into the air in fragments, 
 and mingled with great clods of earth, guns, caissons and 
 limbers, was seen a cloud of human forms tossing in the air. 
 The mighty mass rose like the jet from some huge fountain, 
 and when it reached its highest elevation, balanced a mo 
 ment in space, and then fell back with a dull, heavy, thun 
 der sound, in wreck to the earth. 
 
 A crater, a hundred feet long, and fifty feet wide, and 
 twenty feet deep, appeared where the six-gun fort had been, 
 over which hung a cloud of mingled dust and smoke like a 
 great pall. The next moment, came the roar of a gun, and 
 then another and another, till a hundred cannon along our line 
 were playing upon the rebel batteries. The bugles rang out, 
 the drums beat, and in dashed Ledlie s division Marshall s 
 brigade leading the advance. Though taken wholly by sur 
 prise, the rebels rallied with wonderful quickness, and in a 
 short time, from right and left, their artillery was in full 
 play on the storming party, that, with loud cheers, charged 
 on a run over the intervening space. The Fourteenth New 
 York heavy artillery first entered the gap, followed by Mar 
 shall s second brigade, which went pellmell into the smok 
 ing crater, from the bottom of which protruded half buried 
 limbs and mangled bodies of men. 
 
 To the right and left, Hartranft s and Griffin s brigades 
 
460 THE REPULSE. 
 
 spread out, enveloping the flanking rifle-pits, and, for a mo 
 ment, success seemed certain. But instead of pushing on, the 
 troops began to dig out the wounded and the captured guns T 
 and throw up breastworks to protect themselves from the 
 enemy s shells. This gave the rebel gunners time to train 
 their guns with fearful accuracy on the spot, and by- the 
 time the troops were re-formed and ready to push on, a fire 
 awaited them, before which nothing human could stand. 
 Still undaunted, the Corps in three divisions Ledlie in the 
 centre, Potter on the right, and Wilcox on the left moved 
 swiftly forward ; Marshall again leading, followed close by 
 the gallant Bartlett. They breasted the horrible fire until 
 they reached the side of the coveted crest, when they halted. 
 From every redoubt, salient, and earthwork, shot and shell 
 and canister came in one ceaseless stream, and the shattered 
 Corps, after swaying a moment in the vain effort to breast 
 it, recoiled bleeding, to the crater they had just left. Fer- 
 rero s colored division was now sent in to do what white 
 troops had failed to accomplish, but though they charged 
 gallantly, it was madness to expect them to succeed where 
 veteran soldiers, under such leaders as Griffin, Marshall, 
 and Bartlett, failed. Recoiling, they only helped to swell 
 the confusion, as they plunged headlong amid the ruins for 
 shelter. 
 
 The enemy now concentrated his fire on this single spot, 
 and swept the space in rear of it, so frightfully, that an 
 orderly retreat over it was out of the question. Unable to 
 advance, cooped up in the crater, over which swept an inces 
 sant storm of shot and shell, the position of the troops was 
 most distressing. But little order could be maintained, and 
 the men in squads began to flee back to our lines. About 
 noon, a general retreat was ordered, but a portion preferred 
 to remain in the fort, and left alone were soon after charged 
 
BURNSIDE RELIEVED. 461 
 
 upon and captured. Among the prisoners was General Bart- 
 lett, with most of his Staff. 
 
 Our loss in this fruitless assault, was about four thousand, 
 while that of the enemy was not over fourteen hundred, 
 two hundred of whom were supposed to have perished in the 
 blowing up of the fort. The next day was a gloomy Sab 
 bath, and we sent in a flag of truce to obtain permission to 
 bury our dead, but, through some informality, it was not 
 granted until next day. 
 
 The Army of the Potomac seemed doomed to useless 
 butcheries, and this one, like others that preceded it, caused 
 intense excitement throughout the country. The blame fell 
 now on this Commander, and now on that, but Burnside had 
 to bear the brunt of it, and in the end was relieved from 
 his command to await an investigation. This ended his 
 military career. It is not so easy to fix the blame on one 
 person. 
 
 The great error, however, seems to have been the neglect 
 to have the storming force consist of picked regiments and 
 brigades from the whole army. 
 
 Along the coast but little was done. Farragut was get 
 ting ready for his grand attack on Mobile, while our bat 
 teries kept playing on Charleston. An attempt was made 
 by our land forces and iron-clads to get possession of James 
 Island, but failed. 
 
 In the political world, the chief events were the adjourn 
 ment of Congress, after perfecting the income-tax bill, and 
 the organization of the two great parties for the coming 
 political campaign. Perhaps the most important event out 
 side of operations in the field, was the proclamation of the 
 President, calling for five hundred thousand additional 
 troops. This requisition for half a million of men, right on 
 the top of Grant s campaign, looked as if the war had only 
 just begun, and filled the timid with alarm. 
 
462 PRESIDENT S PROCLAMATION. 
 
 This call for troops, which we give below, shows no 
 timidity on the part of the President, but if possible, a more 
 fixed determination than ever to put down, at all cost, the 
 wicked rebellion. 
 
 "WASHINGTON, July 18, 1864. 
 By the President of the United States of America : 
 A PROCLAMATION. 
 
 WHEREAS, by the Act, approved July 4, 1864, entitled An Act further 
 to regulate and provide for the enrolling and calling out the National forces, 
 and for other purposes, it is provided that the President of the United 
 States may, at his discretion, at any time hereafter, call for any number of 
 men as volunteers, for the respective terms of one, two, and three years, for 
 military service, and * that in case the quota, or any part thereof, of any 
 town, township, ward of a city, precinct, or election district, or of a county, 
 not so subdivided, shall not be filled within the space of fifty days after such 
 call, then the President shall immediately order a draft, for one year, to fill 
 such quota, or any part thereof, which may be unfilled. 
 
 AND WHEREAS, the new enrollment heretofore ordered is so far completed 
 as that the afore-mentioned Act of Congress may now be put in operation for 
 recruiting and keeping up the strength of the armies in the field, for garri 
 sons and such military operations as may be required for the purpose of sup 
 pressing the rebellion and restoring the authority of the United States Gov 
 ernment in the insurgent States ; 
 
 Now, therefore, I, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, President of the United States, do 
 issue this, my call for five hundred thousand volunteers for the military ser 
 vice, provided, nevertheless, that all credits which may be established under 
 section eight, of the aforesaid Act, on account of persons who have entered 
 the naval service during the present rebellion, and by credits for men fur 
 nished to the military service in excess of calls heretofore made for volun 
 teers, will be accepted under the call for one, two or three years, as they may 
 elect, and will be entitled to the bounty provided by law for the period of 
 service for which they enlist. 
 
 And I hereby proclaim, order and direct, that immediately after the fifth 
 day of September, 1864, being fifty days from the date of this call, a draft 
 for troops, to serve for one year, shall be held in every town, township, ward 
 of a city, precinct, election district, or a county, not so subdivided, to fill 
 the quota which shall be assigned to it under this scale, or any part thereof, 
 which may be unfilled by volunteers on the said fifth day of September, 
 1864. 
 
 Done at the City of Washington, this 18th day of July, in the year of 
 our Lord, 1864, and of the Independence of the United States, 
 the eighty-ninth. 
 
 [L. S.] In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused 
 the seal of the"United States to be affixed. 
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 By the President, 
 
 WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State." 
 
BOUNTIES FOR RECRUITS. 463 
 
 The promptness with which the country responded to the 
 call, would have reflected the highest credit on its patriot 
 ism, but for the manner in which that response was made. 
 Instead of the bone and sinew of the land stepping forward 
 to sustain the Government in its last great effort, every man 
 seemed desirous to shirk personal responsibility, and non 
 tax-payers, or men of small means, in the various towns, 
 voted away fabulous sums for bounties to get recruits from 
 any-where and every-where, and of all conditions, to fill up 
 their quotas often forcing on the Government the halt, the 
 lame, and the blind, and at the best, mere mercenaries, who 
 would enlist for the enormous bounties, but without any inten 
 tion of risking their lives in battle. 
 
 Getting such men away, after they had enlisted, became 
 a regular business, so that, of the five hundred thousand 
 called for, not more than half ever reached the field, and 
 probably not half of those, the front. At all events, one 
 hundred and fifty thousand strong-bodied, patriotic, willing 
 men, would have been worth more than the whole half-mil 
 lion proved to be. Nor was this the worst of it. The coun 
 try got saddled with a debt, in the shape of bounties, that 
 bore heavily on its industry. Had the war been prolonged 
 another year, the North would, unquestionably, have broken 
 down under this false and ruinous system. 
 
 The month, moreover, was distinguished for peace negotia 
 tions ludicrous, except from the importance of the per 
 sonages, on one side or the other, engaged in them. Colonel 
 Jacques, of Illinois, a Methodist clergyman who had en 
 listed in the army, and a Mr. Kirke, by some extraordinary 
 process, appointed themselves peace ambassadors to Rich 
 mond, and though clothed with no authority, were permit 
 ted to pass through our lines to the rebel Capital, where 
 they actually had an interview with the rebel President and 
 Members of his Cabinet, and talked over, with the gravity 
 
464 PEACE NEGOTIATIONS. 
 
 of two potentates, the momentous question of peace, and 
 the duties of the two Governments. 
 
 What motive Davis could have had for seriously entering 
 into such a discussion with these unauthorized, unknown and 
 uninfluential men, unless that he wished to give utterance to 
 views that might help the peace-party North, it is difficult 
 to conjecture. That a fighting parson, ranking no higher 
 than a colonel, and an obscure individual spoken lightly 
 of among business men at home, should by any management, 
 have got into this position, will remain one of the curious 
 things of the war. 
 
 The other attempt was equally absurd, though dignified 
 by the employment of a little more political machinery. 
 
 Early in July, Horace Greeley, of The Neiv York Tribune, 
 received a letter from W. Cornell Jewett a political adven 
 turer, who had acquired at home and abroad a certain 
 doubtful notoriety stating that some prominent rebels then 
 residing in Canada, desired to have an interview with him at 
 Niagara Falls, respecting terms of peace. It was flattering 
 to Mr. Greeley, to be thus selected out among all the dis 
 tinguished men of the country as the proper person to 
 influence the President, and stand in the great gap that 
 divided the North and South. Fully impressed with the 
 responsibility thus laid upon him, he addressed a letter to 
 the President, and vouchsafed to state conditions of peace, 
 which he thought the President might safely adopt. 
 
 A few days after, the notorious rebel agent, George 
 N. Saunders, informed Mr. Greeley that Clement C. Clay, 
 of Alabama, Professor Holcomb, of Virginia, and himself 
 were ready, the moment they could be assured of their 
 personal safety, to proceed at once to Washington and enter 
 on their momentous mission. 
 
 To this Mr. Greeley replied, that if they were " duly accred 
 ited from Richmond, as the bearer of propositions looking to 
 
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN. 465 
 
 the establishment of peace," &c., that he was "authorized 
 by the President of the United States to tender them his 
 safe-conduct on the journey proposed," and that he would 
 accompany them "at the earliest time convenient" to them. 
 
 That accredited ambassadors for .peace should fear to come 
 to the head of a Christian Nation, in this enlightened age, 
 without having a promise that their heads should not be cut 
 off, was certainly very extraordinary, and not very compli 
 mentary to Mr. Lincoln s civilization. 
 
 To this offer, these gentleman replied that there had been 
 some misapprehension, as they were not accredited from 
 Richmond as the bearers of dispatches, but, being in the 
 confidential employment of the Confederate Government, 
 familiar with its wishes, views, &c., they had no doubt if the 
 rebel President was aware of what they had done, that they 
 would be at once accredited, &c. On the reception of this 
 statement, Mr. Greeley telegraphed to Washington for fur 
 ther information, and received the following extraordinary 
 document : 
 
 "EXECUTIVE MANSION, July 18th, 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 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 Executive Government 
 of the United States, and will be met by liberal terms, on substantial and 
 collateral points, and the bearer or bearers thereof, shall have safe-conduct 
 both ways. 
 
 Signed, ABRAHAM LINCOLN." 
 
 This was certainly a very safe circular, but not one that 
 should have proceeded from the Executive Mansion, for it 
 cannot be regarded as a serious act it must have been 
 either a political move to disarm the peace-party, or a 
 somewhat grave joke, which would put an end to Mr. Gree- 
 ley s importunity, and, at the same time, throw a shell into 
 this self-constituted embassy. Viewed in this light, it was, 
 
466 FAILURE OF A POOR SCHEME. 
 
 perhaps, a good stroke of policy. Though correspondence 
 and lengthy statements followed this denouement, the whole 
 thing collapsed, and was heard of no more. - ; ; 
 
 It was very plain to the President, and to every man of 
 common sense, that if Jefferson Davis wanted peace on the 
 only terms the North would accept it, he would not have to 
 go around by way of Canada, to commence negotiations. 
 The two Capitals were close to each other, and no such farce 
 as this was needed to bring the conflicting powers face to 
 face, if both were desirous of peace. 
 
 Personal notoriety and political effect were, doubtless, the 
 motives that prompted these gentlemen to undertake this 
 self-imposed task. 
 
CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 FORTS MORGAN AND GAINES DEFENSES OF MOBILE BAY A LAND FORCE 
 
 UNDER GENERAL GRANGER SENT TO CO-OPERATE WITH FARRAGUT ARRI 
 VAL OF THE TECUMSEH FARRAGUT READY TO RUN THE REBEL BATTERIES 
 
 MORNING OF THE BATTLE THE SHIPS LASHED TWO TOGETHER THE BROOK 
 LYN TO LEAD THE FLEET AGAINST FARRAGUl s WISHES THE FIRST GUN 
 
 THE BROOKLYN FEARING TORPEDOES BACKS AND AWAITS THE FLEET 
 
 FARRAGUT LASHED IN THE MAIN-TOP, SEEING THE DELAY, TAKES THE LEAD 
 JUST AS THE TECUMSEH GOES DOWN HE SENDS A BOAT TO SAVE THE SUR 
 VIVORS STEAMS AHEAD ENTERS THE BAY ATTACKED BY REBEL GUN 
 BOATS THE SELMA CAPTURED BY THE METACOMET THE REBEL RAM TEN 
 NESSEE ATTACKS THE FLEET THE COMBAT SURRENDER OF THE RAM THE 
 
 TECUMSEH A BRAVE ENSIGN GALLANT DEEDS AND GALLANT MEN SUR 
 RENDER OF FORTS POWELL AND GAINES SIEGE AND BOMBARDMENT OF 
 FORT MORGAN ITS SURRENDER DISGRACEFUL CONDUCT OF ITS COM 
 MANDER AND OFFICERS MOBILE NOT TAKEN CAPTURE OF THE PRIVATEER 
 GEORGIA. 
 
 FARRAGUT ENTERS MOBILE BAY. 
 
 THE beginning of August was made memorable by one 
 of the most gallant naval achievements on record. 
 Farragut, who had been lying for a long time, outside of 
 Mobile harbor, the entrance to which was defended by two 
 forts Morgan and Gaines determined, the moment that 
 the iron-clads which he had asked for arrived, to force his 
 way inside, when he knew they must surrender. The for 
 mer fort, located on a long spur of land, commanded the 
 two channels to the east, while the latter commanded the 
 western one. Beyond these, toward the city, the channel 
 was obstructed by piles driven deep into the mud. Several 
 rebel steamers were also in the bay, and a formidable iron- 
 
468 MORNING OF THE BATTLE. 
 
 clad ram, named the Tennessee. In July, a land force, 
 under General Granger, was sent from New Orleans to assist 
 Farragut in taking the forts. On the first of August, Gen 
 eral Granger visited him on the Hartford, and after a consul 
 tation, it was decided that a combined movement of the 
 fleet and army should be made on the 4th. 
 
 The Tecumseh had arrived at Pensacola on the 1st, and 
 Captain Craven, the Commander, had informed the Admi 
 ral that he would be ready in four days for any service. He 
 was delayed, however, in getting aboard coal, so that Far 
 ragut, to his mortification, could not keep his engagement 
 with Granger. The latter, however, as he said, " was up to 
 time," and landed his troops (some four or five thousand in 
 number) on Dauphin Island, in rear of Fort Gaines. That 
 evening, the Tecumseh came steaming up from Pensacola, 
 and Farragut at once prepared to force the entrance to the 
 harbor. 
 
 The morning of the 5th dawned warm and hazy a light 
 south-west breeze came drifting across the Gulf, raising a 
 gentle swell, on which the fleet rocked lazily, and all was 
 peaceful as though no preparations were afoot to change the 
 quiet scene into one of tumult, terror and death. But just 
 as the half-veiled sun was sending his dim beams aslant the 
 sea, the drum on the flag-ship was heard beating to quarters, 
 and soon every ship was cleared for action. 
 
 At a quarter before six, the whole fleet was moving stead 
 ily forward toward the entrance to the bay, where, every Com 
 mander knew, slumbered a volcano whose earthquake throes 
 would make land and sea tremble. There were twelve wooden 
 vessels in all, and four iron-clads. The latter already inside 
 the bar, were ordered to take up a position between the 
 wooden vessels and Fort Morgan, to keep down the fire of 
 the water-battery and the parapet guns of the fort, as well 
 
ARRANGEMENT OF THE FLEET. 469 
 
 as to engage the rebel ram, Tennessee, waiting to pounce 
 down on the fleet. 
 
 The wooden vessels were lashed two abreast. The Brook 
 lyn, Captain James Alden, led the fleet, with the Octorara, 
 Lieutenant-Commander C. H. Greene, on the port side 
 next came the flag-ship Hartford, Captain Percival Drayton, 
 with the Metacomet, Lieutenant-Commander J. E. Jouett; 
 followed by the Richmond, Captain T. A. Jenkins, with the 
 Port Royal, Lieutenant-Commander, B. Gherardi ; Lacka- 
 wanna, Captain J. B. Marchand, with the Seminole, Comman 
 der E. Donaldson ; Monongahela, Commander J. H. Strong, 
 with the Kennebec, Lieutenant-Commander W. P. McCann ; 
 Ossipee, Commander W. E. LeRoy, with the Itasca, Lieu 
 tenant-Commander George Brown ; Oneida, Commander J. 
 R. M. Mullany, with the Galena, Lieutenant-Commander C. 
 H. Welles. 
 
 The Brooklyn, with her consort, took the lead, much 
 against Farragut s wishes. He yielded, however, to this 
 arrangement at the earnest request of the Commanders, who 
 represented that the Brooklyn had four chase guns to the 
 Hartford s one ; and also an ingenious machine for picking up 
 torpedoes with which they believed the channel to be lined. 
 They stated, moreover, that in their judgment, the flag-ship, 
 on whose movements and signals, everything depended, 
 ought not to be so much exposed as she would be at the 
 head of the fleet. 
 
 Although Farragut yielded to their united petitions, he 
 demurred, saying that " exposure was one of the penalties 
 of rank in the navy," and, moreover, that it made but little 
 difference where the flag-ship was, as it would always be the 
 main target of the enemy s fire. 
 
 The fleet steamed slowly on, and at a quarter to seven, 
 the Tecumseh fired the first gun. Twenty minutes later, the 
 fort opened her fire, to which the Brooklyn replied with her 
 
470 THE BATTLE. 
 
 two one hundred-pounder Parrott rifles, on the bow and 
 the battle commenced. The rebel ram and iron-clads lying 
 under the protection of the fort, added their fire to the guns 
 of the latter, all playing, almost exclusively, on the wooden 
 vessels. Farragut stood lashed in the main-top, so that he 
 could overlook the fleet, and have a clear view of the whole 
 field of action. 
 
 The Brooklyn, for a while, gallantly led the fleet, but as 
 she entered the narrow channel, some suspicious looking 
 buoys ahead, indicating torpedoes, caused her to stop, which 
 of course, at once brought to a halt, the vessels that were 
 crowding after. Farragut, from his high perch, saw with 
 alarm this unexpected arrest of the onward movement right 
 under the terrible fire that was raining on the advance ves 
 sels, and looking anxiously around, saw, with amazement, 
 the turrets of the Tecumseh disappearing under the water, 
 as she went down with her gallant crew. In an instant, his 
 determination was taken, and regretting that he had not 
 originally followed his own judgment and led the fleet, he 
 steamed rapidly ahead, and his glorious signal flew where 
 he wanted it, in advance. Ordering the Metacomet to send 
 a boat to save any of the survivors of the ill-fated Tecum 
 seh, who might be struggling in the water, he swept fear 
 lessly onward. 
 
 Wrapped in the smoke of his own guns, he pressed on 
 into the fire, followed by the ships, " their officers," he hero 
 ically says, " believing they were going to a noble death, 
 with their Commander-in-Chief." Shot and shell crashed 
 through the wooden sides of his vessel yet his flag still flew, 
 and those astern ever and anon caught glimpses of his sig 
 nal through the rifts of smoke, still beckoning them on. 
 He too saw the buoys that had caused the Brooklyn to hes 
 itate and back water, and knew that torpedoes were lining 
 
PASSAGE OF THE FORTS. 471 
 
 the bottom of the channel beneath him, but this was no time 
 to hesitate. 
 
 He "determined, 77 he says, u to take the chances of their 
 explosion, 77 and still kept on, his gallant crew expecting 
 every moment to feel the vessel lift beneath them, yet work 
 ing their guns as coolly as though standing on solid ground, 
 and, meanwhile, pouring in such terrific broadsides that the 
 rebel batteries fired wildly, or were silent. At ten minutes 
 before eight, he was past the fort, when suddenly the rebel 
 ram dashed out to run his vessel down, firing as it came on. 
 Taking no notice of the monster, except to return the fire, 
 he steamed ahead toward the rebel gun-boats, Morgan, 
 Gaines and Selma, which poured a raking fire into him. 
 The latter especially cut down his crew fearfully, and spread 
 ruin and destruction over his deck. 
 
 Not being able to return the fire, he cast off the Meta- 
 comet, with orders to go after these boats. Seeing the vessel 
 approaching, the latter retreated up the bay, firing as they 
 fled. The Gaines soon took refuge under the guns of the 
 fort, but was so injured that she had to be run ashore and 
 burned the Morgan hauled off and left the Selma to her 
 fate, which soon after struck her flag. 
 
 The other vessels gallantly following in the wake of their 
 noble Commander, one after another swept past the hostile 
 batteries and passed up the bay, their crews loudly cheer 
 ing, and were signaled by Farragut to come to anchor. But 
 the officers had hardly commenced clearing their decks, and 
 caring for the wounded, when the rebel ram was seen boldly 
 standing out from under the guns of the fort, and bearing 
 down, with the evident intention of engaging the whole 
 fleet. If she had waited till dark this would not have been 
 such an act of temerity, for with her perfect knowledge of 
 the bay, and in the confusion that would have prevailed in 
 the fleet in a nocturnal fight, she might have run down 
 
 60 
 
472 THE RAM TENNESSEE. 
 
 many vessels at least, made sad havoc before her progress 
 could have been arrested. 
 
 The moment it was reported to Farragut that the ram 
 was standing toward the fleet, he signaled the vessels to 
 run her down, and ordered up the anchor of his own 
 ship, and directed the pilot, with a full head of steam on, to 
 carry the Hartford straight against the iron-clad structure, 
 hoping, by the concussion, though his own bows should be 
 crushed in the shock, to stave in its mailed sides. The Mo- 
 nongahela, Commander Strong, first struck the ram, carry 
 ing away her iron prow and cut-water. The Lackawanna 
 came next and struck with such force that her stern was cut 
 and crushed for the distance of three feet above the water s 
 edge, to five feet below. The only effect on the ram, how 
 ever, of this tremendous blow, was to give her a heavy list. 
 As the Hartford came down, the ram sheered so that it was 
 a glancing blow. 
 
 Deadened in her headway, as she rasped along the iron- 
 plating, the flag-ship fell along side, and at once poured in, 
 at a distance of not more than eight or ten feet, her broad 
 side of nine-inch solid balls, sent with a charge of thirteen 
 pounds of powder. The heavy shot, hurled with this awful 
 force, and in such close proximity, fell on the mailed sides 
 of the ram with a power that seemed irresistible, and yet, 
 apparently, had no more eifect than if they had been mere 
 India-rubber balls. 
 
 On the other hand, the shot and shell from the Tennessee 
 pierced the Hartford as though her sides were mere paste 
 board one one-hundred-and-fifty pound shell, fired with the 
 muzzle of the monster gun almost touching the sides of the 
 ship, exploded inside, killing and wounding several men 
 the fragments going through the spar and berth-decks, " even 
 going through the launch and into the hold where were the 
 wounded." 
 
CAPTURE OF THE RAM. 473 
 
 The Hartford now stood off, and though her bow was 
 badly crushed, began to make a circuit, in order to come 
 down again on the ram, when the Lacka wanna, which was 
 driving, with a full head of steam, straight on the monster, 
 struck the flag-ship instead, a little forward of the mizzen- 
 mast, and cut her down to within two feet of the water. 
 
 The monitors, in the meantime, poured in their fire the 
 Chickasaw got under the monster s stern, while the Manhat 
 tan sent a fifteen-inch shell through the iron plating. 
 
 u At this time," says Farragut, u she was sore beset the 
 Chickasaw was pounding away at her stern, the Ossipee 
 was approaching her at full speed, and the Monongahela and 
 Lackawanna, and this ship, were bearing down on her, deter 
 mined on 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 LeRoy, was about to strike her, she hoisted the 
 white flag, and that vessel immediately stopped her engine, 
 though not in time to avoid a glancing blow," 
 
 This ended the fight, and at ten minutes past ten Farragut 
 again brought his shattered vessels to anchor, within four 
 miles of Fort Morgan. Admiral Buchanan, the Commander 
 of the ram, was wounded in the leg, which afterward had 
 to be amputated ; and some eight or ten of his crew were 
 killed or wounded. 
 
 The killed and wounded on board the fleet, amounted to 
 two hundred and twenty-two. Only fifty-two were killed, 
 of which number twenty-five, or nearly half, were killed on 
 board the flag-ship showing that the enemy s fire was con 
 centrated on this vessel, and that she bore the brunt of 
 the conflict. 
 
 The loss of the Tecumseh, with her gallant Commander 
 
474 A GALLANT ENSIGN. 
 
 and crew, nearly all of whom went to the bottom with her, 
 chastened somewhat the joy of this great victory. Craven 
 was in the turret when the torpedo exploded beneath his 
 ship. He saw the buoys that marked the line along which 
 the torpedoes lay, and endeavored to carry the vessel be 
 tween two, but just as it got in range, the explosion took 
 place, almost lifting the iron-clad from the water, and blow 
 ing a great opening in the bottom, through which the water 
 rushed in such a deluge that she went down before those 
 below had time to get on deck. 
 
 Acting-Ensign Henry C. Nields had charge of the boat, 
 sent by Farragut to rescue any survivors that might be 
 struggling in the water, and right gallantly did this noble, 
 young officer perform the perilous duty, with which he was 
 intrusted. Sitting in the stern of the open boat, he gave 
 his orders as coolly as liis great Commander could have 
 done, and the rowers bent steadily to their oars, while shot 
 were striking and shells bursting momentarily, on every side 
 of them. 
 
 A boat was never carried through a more terrible fire, 
 and it rained an iron tempest on the spot where the ill-fated 
 monitor had gone down ; but the fearless ensign rowed 
 calmly through it, picking up the few swimmers that were 
 struggling in the water, and succeeded in rescuing ten within 
 six hundred yards of the fort. Farragut, from the main-top, 
 saw with pride how steadily he entered the horrible fire, and 
 afterward asked that he might be promoted. 
 
 The only other vessel lost was the steamer Philippi, which 
 followed the fleet in against orders, and being struck by a 
 shot, was run ashore by her Commander and deserted, when 
 the rebels burnt her. 
 
 There were many cases of individual heroism indeed, all 
 were heroes there was no flinching any where, although 
 every captain knew that the probabilities were against his 
 
A NOBLE PILOT. 475 
 
 being able to save his ship. Of his Flag-Lieutenant, J. Grit- 
 tenden Watson, who stood on the poop during the entire 
 action, attending to the signals, Farragut says, "He is a 
 scion worthy the noble stock he sprung from." 
 
 "The last of my Staff," he says, u to whom I would call 
 the attention of the Department, is not the least in import 
 ance. I mean Pilot Martin Freeman. He has been my 
 great reliance in all difficulties, in his line of duty. During 
 the action, he was in the maintop, piloting the ships into 
 the bay. He was cool and brave throughout, never losing 
 his self-possession. This man was captured early in the war, 
 in a fine fishing smack, which he owned, and though he pro 
 tested that he had no interest in the war, and only asked 
 for the privilege of fishing for the fleet, yet his services 
 were too valuable to the captors, as a pilot, not to be secu 
 red. He was appointed a first-class pilot, and has served 
 us with zeal and fidelity, and has lost his vessel, which went 
 to pieces on Ship Island. I commend him to the Depart 
 ment." 
 
 Indeed, every man on the flag-ship was worthy of his 
 Commander. Drayton, the Flag-Captain, says : 
 
 " Of the crew, I can hardly say too much. They were, 
 most of them, persons who had never been in action, and 
 yet I cannot hear of a case where any one attempted to 
 leave his quarters, or showed anything but the sternest de 
 termination to fight it out. There might, perhaps, have 
 been a little excuse, had such a disposition been exhibited, 
 when it is considered that a great part of four guns crews 
 were, at different times, swept away almost entirely by as 
 many shells. In every case however the killed and wounded 
 were quietly removed ; the injury at the guns made good, 
 and in a few moments, except from the traces of blood, noth 
 ing could lead one to suppose that any thing out of the ordi 
 nary routine had happened," 
 
476 HEROIC SAILORS. 
 
 Kimberly, the executive officer of the ship, said, " noth 
 ing could be more noble than the spirit displayed by our 
 wounded and dying, who cheered and smiled, in their 
 agony, seemingly contented at the sacrifice of their lives for 
 the victory vouchsafed to their country. Such men are 
 heroes." 
 
 No higher commendation could be passed on a ship s crew, 
 and yet all the Commanders spoke in the same strain of their 
 own crews. 
 
 In one case, a rifle-shell burst between two guns on the 
 Hartford, killing and wounding fifteen men. They pre 
 sented a terrific sight, as they lay scattered, mangled and 
 bleeding on deck. One of them, Charles Melville, was taken 
 down to the surgeon, but almost immediately appeared on 
 deck again, and though scarcely able to stand, refused to 
 go below, and bravely worked at his gun till the close of 
 the action. 
 
 u Thomas Fitzpatrick, Captain of Number One gun, was 
 struck several times in the face by splinters, and had his gun 
 disabled by a shell. In a few minutes he had his gun in 
 working order again, with new truck breeching, side-tackle, 
 &c., his wounded below, the deck clear, and was fighting 
 his gun as before, setting a splendid example to the remain 
 der of the crew." 
 
 James R. Garrison, coal-heaver, had his great toe shot off, 
 but dressing the wound himself, returned to his station, and 
 remained there till struck in the breast, when he was carried 
 below. Thomas O Connel, though sick, and scarcely able to 
 stand, took his station and kept it till his right hand was 
 shot away. James E. Sterling, coal-heaver on board the 
 Brooklyn, continued to pass shell after he was wounded, and 
 until hit a second time and completely disabled. Alexan 
 der Mack, Captain of top, was wounded and sent below, but 
 immediately returned and took charge of his gun, working 
 
SURRENDER OF FORT GAINES. 477 
 
 it until he received two more wounds. Others left a sick 
 bed to fight, and each seemed to vie with the other to set an 
 example of gallant daring. 
 
 The Hartford was struck twenty times, and fired nearly 
 two hundred and fifty shot and shell. The Brooklyn picked 
 out eleven hundred pounds of iron from her wood-work 
 after the battle was over. 
 
 Farragut exhibited great foresight in the plan he adopted 
 in passing the fort. By lashing two ships together, he saw if 
 one got disabled, she would not drift about and disorder the 
 line, for her consort could take her along neither would 
 any vessel be left helpless under the fire of the batteries. 
 
 The night after the battle Fort Powell was evacuated, the 
 rebels blowing it up, but all the guns fell into our hands. 
 The next afternoon, the Chickasaw went down and shelled 
 Fort Gaines, and the following morning, Colonel Anderson, 
 the Commander, sent a note to Farragut, stating that he 
 knew he could not hold the fort, if the fleet opened upon it, 
 and offered to surrender it asking for terms. Farragut, 
 after communicating with General Granger, on Dauphin 
 Island, replied, 
 
 " First, The unconditional surrender of yourself and the 
 garrison of Fort Gaines, with all of the public property within 
 its limits. 
 
 " Second, The treatment which is in conformity with the 
 custom of the most civilized nations toward prisoners of war. 
 
 u Third, Private property, with the exception of arms, will 
 be respected." 
 
 These terms were accepted, and at a quarter to ten, the 
 rebel flag came down and the Stars and Stripes went up, 
 amid the prolonged and vociferous cheering of the fleet. 
 
 Fort Morgan, however, still held out, and Granger at once 
 commenced his siege operations against it landward, and on 
 Sunday evening, the 21st, announced to Farragut that he 
 
478 A FIERCE BOMBARDMENT. 
 
 was ready to open with his batteries upon it. The latter 
 immediately ordered the monitors and vessels to move up, 
 and be ready next morning at daylight, to commence the 
 bombardment, in conjunction with the land batteries, and 
 at the same time, landed four nine-inch guns, and placed 
 them in battery under the Commanding-Lieutenant, H. B. 
 Tyson. 
 
 Everything being ready at daylight the signal was given, 
 and from land and water, the bombardment commenced. 
 As the sun rose in the East, his beams fell on a scene as ter 
 rific as that which they lighted up on the morning of the 
 8th, when Farragut steamed boldly into Mobile Bay. Gun 
 answered gun, and shell crossed shell in their fiery tracks, 
 mingling their explosions with the roar of cannon, and com 
 bining to make that summer morning one long to be re 
 membered. 
 
 As Farragut said, "a more magnificent fire has rarely 
 been kept up." All day long it rained a steady, horrible 
 tempest of iron, on that solitary fort. As the beams of the 
 rising sun fell on a tossing, sulphurous cloud covering land 
 and water so now his departing rays cast a lurid light on 
 the heaving masses of vapor, that shut out half the terrors 
 of the scene. 
 
 Just as twilight began to creep over the deep, the citadel 
 of the fort took fire, and Granger seeing the flames burst 
 forth, ordered all the batteries to re-double their fire to pre 
 vent their extinguishment. The enemy finding that the fire 
 had got under uncontrollable headway, flooded the magazine, 
 and threw large quantities of powder into the wells to pre 
 vent an explosion. 
 
 A fierce bombardment was kept up all night, ribbing the 
 darkness with ghastly seams of light, as shell after shell, 
 with scarcely a moment s intermission, dropped inside the 
 rebel works. At six in the morning, a dull, heavy explo- 
 
DISGRACEFUL CONDUCT. 479 
 
 sion was heard in the fort, and half an hour afterward, a 
 white flag was seen to emerge from it. General Page, the 
 Commander, offered to surrender the fort, and asked the 
 terms of capitulation. Unconditional surrender at two 
 o clock that day, was the reply, which the rebel General was 
 forced to accept. 
 
 In his indignation and mortification, however, he deter 
 mined to lessen as much as possible the value of the victory, 
 for after the surrender, Farragut says, " It was discovered, 
 on an examination of the interior, that most of the guns were 
 spiked, and many of the gun-carriages wantonly injured, and 
 arms, ammunition, provisions, &c., destroyed; and that there 
 was every reason to believe that this had been done after 
 the white flag had been raised. It was also discovered that 
 General Page, and several of his officers, had no swords to 
 deliver up, and further, that some of those which were sur 
 rendered, had been broken." 
 
 He contrasts this conduct with that of Colonel Anderson, 
 of Fort Gaines, who " from the moment he raised the white 
 flag, scrupulously kept every thing intact, and in that condi 
 tion delivered it over ; whilst General Page and his officers, 
 with a childish spitefulness, destroyed the guns which they 
 said they would defend to the last, but which they never 
 defended at all, or threw away, or broke those weapons 
 which they had not the manliness to use against their ene 
 mies ; for Fort Morgan never fire d a gun after the com 
 mencement of the bombardment, and the advanced pickets 
 were repeatedly on the glacis." 
 
 There never was a more striking illustration of the ease 
 with which a mean and dishonorable Commander may increase 
 his disgrace, by the attempt to lessen it, than this. These few 
 sarcastic words of Farragut, who knew how to admire a brave 
 and honorable foe, will stick to General Page as long as the 
 history of the country endures. 
 
480 CAPTURE OF THE GEORGIA. 
 
 Though the outer defenses of Mobile were now all taken, 
 the city was as far as ever from falling into our hands. The 
 water was too shallow to allow the approach of our vessels 
 to within shelling distance, and though Farragut used every 
 device to reach the place, it soon became evident that it 
 could be taken only by a land force. 
 
 In the latter part of this month, the Niagara captured off 
 the coast of Europe, the Japan, or Georgia, a noted rebel 
 privateer, though at the time of her seizure, she was sailing 
 under English colors, and chartered to the Portuguese Gov 
 ernment. 
 
CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 GRANT S CEASELESS ACTIVITY BLOWING UP OF AN ORDNANCE BOAT DUTCH 
 GAP CANAL WARREN S FIGHT FOR THE WELDON RAILROAD BATTLE AT 
 REAM S STATION DEFEAT OF HANCOCK S CORPS MEADE S DISPATCHES 
 SHERIDAN S OPERATIONS IN THE SHENANDOAH VALLEY PURSUIT OF EARLY 
 
 CAPTURE OF OUR TRAINS BY MOSBY RETREAT OF SHERIDAN HIS POSITION 
 
 AT BOLIVAR HEIGHTS A SECOND ADVANCE TAKES POSITION AT BERRYS- 
 
 VILLE UNSATISFACTORY CAMPAIGN DISAPPOINTMENT OF THE COUNTRY 
 
 GRANT S EXPLANATION OF THE WHOLE MATTER THE PERMISSION TO " GO 
 
 IN" SHERIDAN MOVES IN EARNEST BATTLES OF OPEQUAN CREEK AND 
 
 FISHER S HILL TOTAL ROUT OF THE ENEMY EARLY TAKES A NEW POSI 
 TION AT BROWN S GAP SHERIDAN FALLS BACK. 
 
 THE month of August, which gave such laurels to the 
 navy under Farragut, at Mobile, and saw Sherman s 
 gallant army virtually in possession of Atlanta, witnessed no 
 triumphs of the Army of the Potomac. It brought instead 
 what seemed to be the heritage of this sadly tried, but noble 
 army terrible fighting, heavy losses, but no success. Grant, 
 though apparently at a dead-lock with the enemy in front 
 of Petersburg, did not sit down in idleness. He kept the 
 heavens, around Lee, constantly muttering thunder-notes of 
 alarm, and almost every day the bolt threatened to fall in 
 one direction or another. Indefatigable, untiring, and ex- 
 haustless in resources, no sooner did one thing or measure 
 fail, than he tried another. He was the most unsleeping, 
 merciless antagonist that an enemy ever had to deal with, 
 and Lee soon discovered that he never could calculate on a 
 moment s repose. At the very time when he thought his 
 enemy exhausted, and would naturally seek rest, the great 
 est energy would be put forth. 
 
482 BUTCH GAP CANAL. 
 
 The rebels, taught wisdom by the mine that destroyed 
 one of their forts, began to countermine, and on the 5th, 
 sprung a mine in front of the Eighteenth Corps, where they 
 supposed we were running one of our own, but it produced 
 no effect. One of our own ordnance boats, however, blew 
 up five days after, at City Point, killing and wounding two 
 hundred men. 
 
 Butler now commenced the famous Dutch Gap canal, 
 which, like the one he dug around Yicksburg, was expected 
 to work wonders. The James River, just below Fort Dar 
 ling, makes an immense bend, inclosing a peninsula, called 
 Farrar Island, the neck of whi ch, where it joins the main 
 land, is only a half a mile across, while it is six miles around 
 it by the stream. It was prosecuted under the constant fire 
 of the enemy, but, like the Yicksburg canal, was useless 
 labor. 
 
 At this time, Grant says, " reports from various sources 
 led me to believe that the enemy had detached three divis 
 ions from Petersburg to reinforce Early in the Shenandoah 
 Valley. I therefore sent the Second Corps, and Gregg s 
 division of cavalry, of the Army of the Potomac, and a force 
 of General Butler s army, on the night of the 13th of 
 August, to threaten Richmond from the north side of the 
 James, to prevent him from sending troops away, and, if 
 possible, to draw back those sent. In this move we captured 
 six pieces of artillery and several hundred prisoners, detained 
 troops that were under marching orders, and ascertained 
 that but one disvision, (Kershaw s,) of the three reputed 
 detached, had gone. 
 
 u The enemy having withdrawn heavily from Petersburg 
 to resist this movement, the Fifth Corps, General Warren 
 commanding, was moved out on the 18th, and took posses 
 sion of the Weldon railroad. 11 
 
 Here he was attacked furiously, the next day, by Hill, 
 
ATTACK ON HANCOCK. 483 
 
 with two divisions, and a portion of our army was over 
 whelmed ; and for a time, a second disaster at this point, 
 seemed inevitable. But the gallant Fifth Corps succeeded 
 in rallying, and, by a desperate charge, retrieved its ground, 
 driving the rebels in confusion, and capturing many prison 
 ers. Night, at length, closed the conflict. Our loss, this day, 
 was between three and four thousand that of the enemy r 
 in killed and wounded, probably about the same as ours, 
 though he took many more prisoners than we. 
 
 A few days after, the rebels again attacked Warren s posi 
 tion, but this time they were handsomely repulsed, with 
 heavy loss Generals Saunders and Lamar being among the 
 killed. Warren now pushed his lines toward Petersburg, 
 while the Second Corps, which had in the meantime arrived, 
 began to tear up the railroad in rear of him. 
 
 At Ream s Station, this gallant Corps of Hancock, on the 
 25th r suffered a severe repulse. The rebels, under Hill, at 
 about half-past three in the afternoon, suddenly emerged 
 from the woods, in front of Miles and Gibbon, and with 
 fixed bayonets and loud cheers, swept swiftly over the inter 
 vening space. Four batteries at once concentrated their 
 fire on the column, and shot and shell and canister tore 
 through it with awful destruction. Yet, through it, and 
 through the steady fire of musketry, that swept without ces 
 sation the close formations, they kept on till within twenty 
 paces of our line, when, unable to breast the fiery sleet any 
 longer, they recoiled. Undismayed, they not long after 
 repeated the desperate charge, but with similar results. 
 They then brought up their batteries, and played furiously 
 on our lines for nearly a half an hour, when the firing sud 
 denly ceased, and with loud yells, and without firing a shot, 
 they again sprang forward crossed the interval that sepa 
 rated them from our lines, reached the breastworks^ mounted 
 
484 HANCOCK S DEFEAT. 
 
 them with deafening shouts, and forced Miles back, captur* 
 ing several guns. 
 
 A part of Gibbon s men, a half a mile distant, were hur 
 ried over, to check the disaster, when his own line was 
 attacked in turn by the dismounted rebel cavalry, under 
 Wade Hampton, and his works carried. The enemy now 
 pressed his advantage on all sides. Our troops fought des 
 perately some regiments being almost annihilated but 
 could not arrest the onset ; and as night came on, Hancock 
 withdrew his Corps, and left Ream s Station in possession 
 of the enemy. In this disastrous conflict, we lost thirty -five 
 hundred men, seven colors, and five guns. 
 
 The loss, however, had not been all on one side, as is evi 
 dent from the two dispatches sent from Meade to Grant. 
 In the first he says that a safeguard left on the battle field 
 until after daylight next morning reported that " at that time 
 the enemy had all disappeared, leaving their dead on the 
 field unburied. This shows how severely they were pun 
 ished, and doubtless hearing of the arrival of reinforce 
 ments, they feared the results of to-day if they remained." 
 In the second he says, u since sending my last dispatch, I 
 have conversed with the safeguard referred to. He did 
 not leave the field until after sunrise. At that time nearly 
 all the enemy had left, moving toward Petersburg. He 
 says they abandoned not only their dead, but wounded also. 
 He conversed with an officer, who said that their losses 
 were greater than ever before during the war. The safe 
 guard says that he was over the field, and it was covered 
 with the enemy s dead and wounded. He has seen a great 
 many battle fields, but never such a sight. Nearly all the 
 enemy s and all our wounded were brought off, but our 
 dead were unburied. I have instructed General Gregg to 
 make an effort to send a party to the field to bury our dead." 
 There can be no doubt that the enemy in their desperate 
 
THE BATTLE FIELD. 485 
 
 charges through the concentrated fire of our batteries, and 
 into the very faces of such veterans as composed Hancock s 
 Corps, must have suffered terribly. Still General Meade s 
 dispatches bear the marks of an effort to put the best pos 
 sible face on a very bad business. When the results of a 
 desperate battle are made to depend on the statements of a 
 single individual, who has been over the field, they should 
 be received with many grains of allowance. One would in 
 fer from these dispatches that the battle field was so entirely 
 ours that a single safeguard could roam over it unmolested, 
 making such observations as he liked. But if this were the 
 fact, it seems rather strange that the Chief of cavalry should 
 be "instructed to make an effort to send a party to the field 
 and bury our dead." The fact is the battle put the rebels 
 in possession of the Weldon railroad at Ream s Station 
 which was only ten miles from Petersburg up to Yellow Tav 
 ern, while Warren held some four miles of it further north. 
 
 This ended all active operations on the part of Grant for 
 several weeks. In the meantime the country was expecting 
 great things from Sheridan in the Shenandoah Valley. He 
 had under him the Sixth, Eighth and part of the Nineteenth 
 Corps of infantry, and the troops that composed the old 
 Army of the Kanawha under Crook, and Torbett s and 
 AverilFs divisions of cavalry, with Kelley s command, and 
 Lowell s brigade, to which in a few days was added the 
 second cavalry division of Wilson, from the Army of the 
 Potomac. To meet this force Early had about twenty thous 
 and men, who, previous to Sheridan s assumption of com 
 mand, seemed to be principally engaged in thrashing out 
 grain. 
 
 On the 10th of August, Sheridan moved his forces up the 
 Valley, when the enemy retired toward Strasburg. Oc 
 casional skirmishing, and once a partial engagement took 
 place, but without any decisive result except to delay our 
 
486 SHERIDAN S OPERATIONS. 
 
 progress, and inflict on us more or less loss. At New- 
 town, Early made another stand in order to cover the pas 
 sage of his trains, and repulsed a charge of our cavalry. 
 Still falling back, he evacuated Winchester, and on the 13th 
 encamped at Cedar Creek, three miles north of Strasburg. 
 Two days after, he withdrew his skirmishers from the place 
 and took position on Fisher s Hill, which completely com 
 manded the town. Sheridan in pushing on, had passed 
 several gaps in the Blue Ridge, which he had not sufficient 
 force to guard. Through one of these, Snicker s Gap 
 Mosby suddenly rushed, pouncing on the supply train at 
 Berrysville, seized and burned seventy-five wagons, cap 
 tured two hundred prisoners, two hundred beef cattle, and 
 nearly six hundred horses and mules, besides a large quan 
 tity of stores. 
 
 This of course, compelled Sheridan to retreat in turn. In 
 doing this, he with his flanking cavalry destroyed every 
 thing that could feed the enemy, except the live stock 
 which he drove before him as he fell back toward the Poto 
 mac. Houses of suspected persons were burned, in retalia 
 tion of Mosby s murderous conduct, by some cavalry-men 
 who in turn were attacked by the rebels and deliberately 
 murdered. Again retaliation was resorted to by Sheridan, 
 and the heavens were darkened by the smoking, burning 
 buildings. 
 
 Falling back through Winchester, which had been so often 
 successively occupied by rebel and Union troops, Sheridan 
 took position near Chaiiestown where he was attacked by 
 Early, who inflicted severe punishment on Wilson s cavalry. 
 The Sixth Corps bore the brunt of the conflict, which lasted 
 from two hours before noon till dark. The Corps then fell back 
 to Bolivar Heights, where Sheridan posted his army, with 
 his right on the Potomac, and his left on the Shenandoah, 
 near Harper s Ferry, his head-quarters being at Halltown. 
 
is H 3 
 
UNSATISFACTORY CAMPAIGN. 487 
 
 The two armies lay confronting each other here for sev 
 eral days, when Early once more fell back up the Valley. 
 As .soon as Sheridan was informed of this he again started in 
 pursuit. On the morning of the 28th he advanced in line 
 of battle toward Charlestown, the cavalry leading the ad 
 vance. Passing through this place, the army moved for 
 ward to its old battle ground of the week before, and 
 halted. The next morning Merritt made a vigorous attack 
 on the rebel cavalry, driving it through the town of Smith- 
 field, and beyond Opequan Creek, where he was brought 
 to a halt by the rebel infantry. Some skirmishing followed, 
 when Sheridan fell back upon Charlestown. But on the 3d 
 of September he again put his army in motion, and near 
 Berrysville was attacked by the rebels, whom he repulsed. 
 He then commenced throwing up breastworks, and, having 
 secured his position, remained quietly in it for two weeks, 
 doing nothing except to make reconnoissances with his 
 cavalry. 
 
 After nearly a month s operations, to leave off where he 
 begun, was a sorry summing up of the campaign for Sheri 
 dan, and a sad disappointment to the country, which had 
 expected so much from the well-known enterprise and dar 
 ing of the man. It seemed very evident, either that Sheri 
 dan was incompetent to fill the place he occupied, or that 
 Grant refused to give him the men he needed to carry out 
 his orders. This indecision and apparent fear of risking a 
 battle were wholly unaccountable to the public, and much to 
 the chagrin of those who were tired of seeing Early roam 
 ing up and down the Shenandoah Valley at his leisure. It 
 turns out, however, that- Grant, not Sheridan was in fault 
 for this state of things, and the former in his report gives 
 the reasons that governed him. He says : 
 
 " His operations during the month of August and the 
 fore part of September were both of an offensive and de- 
 
 61 
 
488 A SHORT ORDER. 
 
 ^ 
 
 fensive character, resulting in many severe skirmishes, prin 
 cipally by the cavalry, in which we were generally success 
 ful ; but no general engagement took place. The two 
 armies lay in such a position the enemy on the west bank 
 of the Opequan Creek, covering Winchester, and our forces 
 in front of Berry sville that either could bring on a battle 
 at any time. Defeat to us would lay open to the enemy the 
 States of Maryland and Pennsylvania for long distances, be 
 fore another army could be interposed to check him. Un 
 der these circumstances, I hesitated about allowing the ini 
 tiative to be taken. Finally the use of the Baltimore and 
 Ohio railroad and the Chesapeake and Ohio canal, which 
 were both obstructed by the enemy, became so indispensa 
 bly necessary to us, and the importance of relieving Penn 
 sylvania and Maryland from continuously-threatened inva 
 sion so great, that I determined the risk should be taken. 
 But fearing to telegraph the order for an attack without 
 knowing more than I did of General Sheridan s feelings as 
 to what would be the probable result, I left City Point on 
 the 15th of September to visit him at his head-quarters, to 
 decide, after conference with him, what should be done. I 
 met him at Charlestown, and he pointed out so distinctly 
 how each army lay ; what he could do the moment he was 
 authorized, and expressed such confidence of success, that I 
 saw there were but two words of instructions necessary 
 Go in ! " 
 
 This permission was all that Sheridan wanted. The Fa 
 bian policy under which he had been compelled to act irri 
 tated him, and he constantly felt like a caged lion. Now he 
 was a free man once more, and it needed no spirit of proph 
 ecy in one who knew him, to foretell that bloody work was 
 at hand. 
 
 Grant after hearing Sheridan s plans and approving them, 
 asked if he could get ready to move by the following Tues- 
 
A GREAT VICTORY. 489 
 
 day. "Yes," replied the latter, u by Monday;" and before 
 daylight that morning the army was in motion. By three 
 o clock in the afternoon it was drawn up in line of battle in 
 front of the rebel position, at Opequan Creek, and as soon as 
 the cavalry, under Torbert, arrived at the desired point on 
 the extreme rebel right, Sheridan ordered a general ad 
 vance. The artillery opened along the whole line the col 
 umns moved steadily forward, and Early soon discovered 
 that Sheridan was at last in earnest. His position, however, 
 was a strong one, and he stubbornly held it until Averill s 
 and Merritt s bugles were heard on his right, as the firm-set 
 squadrons bore fiercely down. Rolled up before the impet 
 uous charge, the rebel line at length crumbled into frag 
 ments, and the whole army broke in utter confusion, and 
 streamed on toward Winchester and through it, halting only 
 when it reached Fisher s Hill thirty miles beyond. 
 
 Early left his wounded and dead in our hands, and nearly 
 three thousand prisoners, together with five pieces of artil 
 lery, and nine battle flags. Several rebel Generals were 
 killed, while on our side, we had to lament the death of 
 the gallant Russell, commanding a division of the Sixth 
 Corps. The dispatch announcing this glorious victory, closed 
 thus : " We have just sent them whirling through Winches 
 ter, and we are after them to-morrow. This army behaved 
 splendidly. I am sending forward all the medical supplies, 
 subsistence stores, and ambulances." 
 
 Following up Early vigorously, Sheridan, on the 21st, 
 found himself in front of his strong position, at Fisher s 
 Hill. Skillfully disposing his forces, he closed so suddenly, 
 and with such fury on the enemy, that they broke, and fled 
 in disorder toward Woodstock. Eleven hundred prisoners 
 and sixteen pieces of artillery fell into our hands here, while 
 the road, for miles, was strewed with abandoned Wagons,, 
 knapsacks, muskets, and everything that impeded the head- 
 
490 THE PURSUIT. 
 
 long flight. Sheridan pushed on to Woodstock, where he 
 halted to get his supplies up. 
 
 Averill, however, kept up the pursuit to Mount Jackson, 
 twenty-five miles south of Strasburg. Here Early rallied his 
 disordered battalions, and once more turned at bay. But, 
 on Sheridan s arrival, he again retreated, though stubbornly 
 contesting every inch of ground, and, at last, made a deter 
 mined stand in Brown s Gap, on the Blue Ridge, eight miles 
 south-east of Port Republic. Sheridan pursued as far as 
 this place and halted. In the meantime, Torbert, with his 
 cavalry, moved on Staunton and Waynesboro , destroying 
 bridges, Government property, and everything that could 
 be of benefit to the enemy. 
 
 Early s position, at Brown s Gap, was too strong to be 
 carried by assault, while it seriously threatened Sheridan s 
 flank, should he attempt to march on Lynchburg the goal 
 of all the expeditions up the Shenandoah Yalley. It was 
 hard to abandon this coveted prize ; but he saw that, unless 
 Early could be driven from Brown s Gap, it would be mad 
 ness to advance farther. Besides, his supplies in the rear 
 were in danger of being cut off by Mosby, and he, therefore, 
 resolved to fall back. 
 
 In killed, wounded, prisoners, and missing, Early must 
 have lost, in those two battles and the retreat, nearly half of 
 his army. 
 
 While Sheridan was thus sweeping the enemy from his 
 path in the Valley of the Shenandoah, Grant, who, under 
 the most adrerse circumstances, still always found some 
 means of assailing the enemy, made a sudden movement 
 north of the James the object and result of which he thus 
 sums up : 
 
 "By the 12th of September, a branch railroad was com 
 pleted from the City Point and Petersburg railroad to the 
 
A SUDDEN MOVEMENT. 491 
 
 Weldon railroad, enabling us to supply, without difficulty, 
 in all weather, the army in front of Petersburg. 
 
 " The extension of our lines across the Weldon railroad, 
 compelled the enemy to so extend his that it seemed he 
 could have but few troops north of the James for the de 
 fense of Richmond. On the night of the 28th, the Tenth 
 Corps, Major- General Birney, and the Eighteenth Corps, 
 Major-General Ord commanding, of General Butler s army, 
 were crossed to the north side of the James, and advanced 
 on the morning of the 29th, carrying the very strong forti 
 fications and intrenchments below Chapin s Farm, known as 
 Fort Harrison, capturing fifteen pieces of artillery, and the 
 New Market road and intrenchments. This success was fol 
 lowed up by a gallant assault upon Fort Gillmore, immedi 
 ately in front of the Chapin Farm fortifications, in which we 
 were repulsed with heavy loss. Kautz s cavalry was pushed 
 forward on the road to the right of this, supported by 
 infantry, and reached the enemy s inner line, but was unable 
 to get further. The position captured from the enemy, was 
 so threatening to Richmond that I determined to hold it. 
 The enemy made several desperate attempts to dislodge us, 
 all of which were unsuccessful, and for which he paid dearly. 
 On the morning of the 30th, General Meade sent out a 
 reconnoissance, with a view to attacking the enemy s line, 
 if it was found sufficiently weakened by withdrawal of troops 
 to the north side. In this reconnoissance we captured and 
 held the enemy s works, near Poplar Spring Church. In 
 the afternoon, troops moving to get to the left of the point 
 gained, were attacked by the enemy in heavy force, and 
 compelled to fall back until supported by the forces holding 
 the captured works. Our cavalry under Gregg was also 
 attacked, but repulsed the enemy with great loss." 
 
 The enemy made a raid during this month, (on the 19th,) 
 which, from its daring and success, caused some mortifica- 
 
492 A DARING RAID. 
 
 tion and excitement. Two thousand cattle, which had been 
 brought on for the use of the Army of the Potomac, were 
 feeding near Coggin s Point, on the James River, guarded 
 by two regiments of cavalry, on which Wade Hampton, with 
 W. F. H. Lee s cavalry division and two other brigades, 
 suddenly pounced and carried off the whole, together with 
 several prisoners. 
 
 Starting from Ream s Station, this force had passed around 
 our extreme left, and got in the rear of the army, and yet 
 with such secrecy and celerity did it move, that though hotly 
 pursued, it succeeded in reaching the rebel lines again with 
 all its booty. 
 
CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 RAVAGING OF THE SHENANDOAH VALLEY SHERIDAN S DISPATCH HIS NEW 
 
 POSITION LEAVES THE ARMY FOR WASHINGTON EARLY RESOLVES TO 
 
 MAKE A NIGHT ATTACK SECRECY OF HIS MARCH ROUT OF THE ARMY 
 
 OF WESTERN VIRGINIA AND OF THE NINETEENTH CORPS RETREAT OF THE 
 
 WHOLE ARMY SHERIDAN AT WINCHESTER HIS APPROACH TO THE FIELD 
 
 HIS SUDDEN ARRIVAL AND STIRRING APPEALS FORMS A NEW LINE OF 
 
 BATTLE REPULSE OF THE ENEMY ADVANCE OF HIS LINE THE ENMY*S 
 
 POSITION CARRIED COMPLETE OVERTHROW OF THE REBEL ARMY THE 
 
 PURSUIT A SUPPERLESS ARMY ENTHUSIASM OF OFFICERS AND MEN 
 
 THE GENERALSHIP AND PERSONAL POWER OF SHERIDAN THE REBELS 
 
 ABANDON THE VALLEY HATCHER S RUN GRANT FAILS TO TURN THE REBEL 
 
 RIGHT BUTLER S DEMONSTRATION NORTH OF THE JAMES DESTRUCTION OF 
 
 THE RAM ALBEMARLE BY LIEUTENANT GUSHING THE REBELS IN CANADA 
 
 RAID ON ST. ALBANS, VERMONT. 
 
 QHEEIDAN when he fell back from the pursuit of Early 
 O took position on the north side of Cedar Creek, near 
 Strasburg. But in his advance and retreat he had ravaged 
 the country with a ruthlessness that reminds one of the old, 
 barbaric wars. How much of this destruction of private 
 property is chargeable to the Secretary of War, from whom 
 he received his orders, and how much to himself, we are un 
 able to say, but it is a lasting disgrace to its authors who 
 ever they were. The following is his own account of what he 
 did, and the reasons which actuated him : 
 
 "WOODSTOCK, VIRGINIA, October 7, 1864 9 P. M. 
 Lieutenant-General U. S. GRANT : 
 
 I have the honor to report my command at this point to-night. I com- 
 menced moving back from Port Republic, Mount Crawford, Bridgewater, 
 and Harrisonburg yesterday morning. The grain and forage in advance of 
 these points had previously been destroyed. In moving back to this poinf 
 
494 WHOLESALE DESTRUCTION. 
 
 the whole country from the Blue Ridge to the North Mountain has been 
 made entirely untenable for a rebel army. I have destroyed over two thou 
 sand barns filled with wheat, and hay, and farming implements, over seventy 
 mills filled with flour and wheat; have driven in front of the army over four 
 thousand head of stock, and have killed and issued to the troops not less 
 than three thousand sheep. This destruction embraces the Luray Valley 
 and Little Fort Valley, as well as the main Valley. A large number of 
 horses have been obtained, a proper estimate of which I cannot now make. 
 Lieutenant John R. Meigs, my engineer officer, was murdered beyond Har- 
 risonburg, near Dayton. For this atrocious act all the houses within an 
 area of five miles were burned. Since I came into the Valley from Harper s 
 Ferry, every train, every small party, and every straggler has been bush 
 whacked by the people, many of whom have protection-passes from com 
 manders who. have been hitherto in that Valley. The people here are get 
 ting sick of the war. Heretofore they have had no reason to complain, be 
 cause they have been living in great abundance. I have not been followed 
 by the enemy to this point, with the exception of a small force of the rebel 
 cavalry that showed themselves some distance behind my rear-guard to-day. 
 A party of one hundred of the Eighth Ohio cavalry, which I had stationed 
 at the bridge over the North Shenandoah, near Mount Jackson, was attacked 
 by McNeil with seventeen men, while they were asleep, and the whole party 
 dispersed or captured. I think they will all turn up. I learn that fifty-six 
 of them had reached Winchester. McNeil was mortally wounded, and fell 
 into our hands. This was fortunate, as he was the most daring and danger 
 ous of all the bushwhackers in this section of the country. 
 
 (Signed) P. H. SHERIDAN, Major General." 
 
 This is a sad record for one to make of himself, in this 
 age of civilized warfare. The burning by wholesale, of 
 barns and mills, because the hay and grain in them might 
 be seized by the rebels, would by the same logic justify an 
 invading army at all times for "razing every house, and 
 burning every blade of grass" on the line of its march. 
 "War," Sherman said, "is necessarily cruel;" but to miti 
 gate its severity as much as possible, it has been established 
 as a rule of civilized warfare, that private property shall 
 be respected, except when it is needed for the sustenance 
 of the army, or where the owners are convicted of open 
 hostility. For a General to justify such wholesale destruc 
 tion of property, and thereby inflict suffering and want on 
 women and children, on the ground that the enemy would 
 rob them if he did not, is not only a violation of the rulea 
 of civilized warfare, but very miserable logic. 
 
BARBARIC LOGIC. 495 
 
 This mode of reasoning was far better carried out by the 
 ancient barbarians, who killed the children of their enemies, 
 lest they should grow up to be warriors, and the mothers, 
 lest they should give birth to heroes. The ravages of war 
 have their limit without reference to consequences, and civ 
 ilized nations have fixed that limit. " To make a solitude and 
 call it peace/ 1 was in the old dark, rude times the motto, but 
 it does not belong to this age. The massacre of all the 
 young men just entering the age that would render them 
 subject to military duty, would injure an enemy far more 
 than the burning of barns, and mills, and houses, but we 
 suspect that but few would justify it. Because some wretch 
 murdered a man, to burn all the houses many of them con 
 taining helpless widows, u within an area of five miles " is a 
 wilder sort of justice than any man of sound judgment, or 
 an educated conscience will approve. That punishment was 
 deserved and severity needed in many cases, no one will 
 doubt, but if they could not be meted out with some dis 
 crimination, they had better have been let alone. England 
 did nothing half SQ bad as this in our Revolution. 
 
 During his retreat, Sheridan was attacked on the 9th of 
 October, by the rebel General Rosser with a large body of 
 cavalry, but defeated him, taking three hundred and fifty 
 prisoners, and eleven pieces of artillery keeping him, as 
 the former said, "on the jump" for twenty-six miles. 
 
 Sheridan, now thinking that the enemy was too severely 
 punished to molest him for the present, left the army for a 
 short visit to Washington. 
 
 BATTLE OF CEDAR CREEK, OR MIDDLETOWN. 
 
 The army at this time was posted on three moderate hills, 
 extending for three miles across the country, each one a 
 little back of the other. 
 
 The first and foremost one, some four or five miles north 
 
496 A NIGHT MARCH. 
 
 of Fisher s Hill, was held by the army of West Virginia 
 under Crook ; the second, half a mile to the rear of this, by 
 the Nineteenth Corps, under Emory, the turnpike running 
 between them. The third and last, still farther back was 
 occupied by the Sixth Corps, with Torbert s superb cavalry 
 covering its right flank. Early, who had been reinforced 
 by twelve thousand men, heard that Sheridan was in Wash 
 ington, and at once resolved to attack the army before his 
 return. On the night of the 18th, he crossed the mountains 
 which separate the branches of the Shenandoah, and forded 
 the north fork, marching in five columns. There was a 
 dense fog at the time, wrapping everything in impenetrable 
 darkness ; but Early knew the ground thoroughly, and with 
 trusty guides was in no danger of being misled. He or 
 dered all the men to leave their canteens behind, lest their 
 clanking against the shanks of the bayonets should be heard 
 by our pickets and give the alarm. His march was to be 
 noiseless, and he directed that all the orders should be given 
 in a low tone, for although the movement was to be made 
 with an army of between twenty and thirty thousand men, 
 it must be with the utmost secrecy. Discovery would be 
 fatal. 
 
 The whole enterprise was hazardous beyond expression. 
 He, however, moved off toward our left, unperceived, 
 though about two o clock in the morning, some of the pick 
 ets on duty reported that they heard a heavy, muffled tramp 
 and rustling through the underbrush, as though a multitude 
 was marching along the front. This information caused 
 some precautions to be taken, but no reconnoissance was 
 sent out. The truth is, a serious attack by Early was not 
 dreamed of, and the main army slumbered on wholly unsus 
 picious of danger. 
 
 All this time, the steady columns were sweeping on 
 through the gloom, now pushing through the dripping trees, 
 
A SURPRISE. 497 
 
 and now fording a stream skirting our position for miles 
 till at length, an hour before day-break, the rebel troops, 
 shivering with cold, stood within six hundred yards of our 
 camps. 
 
 Crook had ordered a reconnoissance to be made on this 
 morning, and the force was preparing to march, when there 
 suddenly burst through the fog, a deafening yell from ten 
 thousand throats, and then came the blaze and crash of 
 musketry. The surprise was complete and the panic fright 
 ful. The roll of drums, bugle calls, and shouts of officers, 
 arose on every side, and the troops rushed frantically to 
 arms, but before any line of battle could be formed, the 
 shouting, clamorous rebels were upon them. Without a mo 
 ment s check or hindrance, they swept like a billow, up and 
 over the hill, and over the breastworks. A brief struggle 
 of five minutes at the latter, and then the Army of Western 
 Virginia became a herd of fugitives, fleeing in wild disorder 
 back toward the second hill, a half a mile in the rear, where 
 lay the Nineteenth Corps. 
 
 A few regiments wheeled and tried to make a stand, but 
 were borne swiftly back before the impetuous flood. The 
 Nineteenth Corps, having a little time to prepare for the 
 shock, attempted to arrest the progress of the enemy, but 
 the latter sweeping down the road, got in its rear, and it 
 soon broke and fled toward the hill, on which the Sixth 
 Corps lay. The batteries which had been captured, were 
 now turned upon us, and enfiladed our entire line. Wright 
 at once formed a new line of battle, and attempted to check 
 the frightful rush of the fugitives. 
 
 The force of the onset seemed now very much spent, for 
 the rebels began to advance with more caution, and bring 
 forward their artillery. Besides, the rich plunder of two 
 camps was too tempting a prize for the half-starved troops 
 
498 THE RETREAT. 
 
 of Early, and they left their ranks in crowds, and began to 
 pillage. 
 
 Had Wright known this, it is possible that he might have 
 made a successful stand where he was, but the rebels having 
 possession of the turnpike that led toward Winchester, he 
 feared that his communications would be severed, and there 
 fore fell back toward Middletowu. He had repulsed, in the 
 meantime, a tremendous charge of the enemy, which gave 
 him breathing space, and enabled him to cover the immense 
 crowd of fugitives that darkened all the fields and the high 
 way in the rear. Amid the roar of artillery, incessant vol 
 leys of musketry, and shouts and yells of the pursuers, were 
 heard the cries and screams of teamsters as they endeavored 
 to get off with the heavy trains. 
 
 The rebels still assailing our left flank, kept up a murder 
 ous fire, shaking it terribly, so that Merritt and Ouster, with 
 two divisions of cavalry, were sent over to check them, 
 when a severe contest followed in the wooded fields, near 
 Middletown. Strengthened by our captured artillery, they 
 brought their overwhelming batteries to bear on our ex 
 hausted columns, and so shattered the hard-pressed left, 
 that only a short stand could be made at Middletown, and 
 the army passed through it toward Newtown, five miles 
 in the rear. On the heights around the former place, Early 
 planted his batteries, which poured in a terrible fire on the 
 uncovered army, as it slowly fell back along the highway, 
 and across the fields. 
 
 Sheridan, on his way back to the army, had slept at Win 
 chester, twenty miles distant, the night before. In the morn 
 ing, little dreaming of the terror reigning in his camp in 
 front, he sat down to his breakfast, and after it was finished, 
 he mounted his horse and with his escort rode leisurely for 
 ward. His noble army had then been struggling on the brink 
 of destruction, for four long hours. As it fell back, and he. 
 
SHERIDAN AROUSED. 499 
 
 rode forward, and the enemy began to open with his nume 
 rous artillery, the deep vibrations that made the earth trem 
 ble, caused him to look up in surprise. Still, he felt no 
 uneasiness, for he was confident that if Early had attacked 
 his strong position at Cedar Creek, he would be terribly 
 beaten. 
 
 But as the thunder of the guns grew louder and more 
 continuous, and was evidently rolling back toward him, his 
 practised ear told him too well that a heavy battle was rag 
 ing in front, and that his army was retreating. Startled 
 from his composure, as the terrible truth flashed over him, 
 he dashed the spurs into his horse, and was soon far ahead 
 of his escort, tearing madly along the road. Soon he met 
 camp-followers and fugitives from the field, who declared 
 that all was lost. 
 
 What ! his noble army, that only a few weeks before he 
 had led twice to victory, broken, shattered, gone ! In a 
 moment, the lion in his nature was roused, and instead of 
 being overwhelmed at the disaster, he rose above it it 
 shall not be so, he mentally exclaimed. As the cloud of 
 fugitives deepened, he shouted as he drove on and swung 
 his cap over his head u Face the other way, boys, face the 
 other way ; we are going back to our camps ; we are going 
 to lick them out of their boots." 
 
 The frightened stragglers paused and shouted, as they saw 
 their gallant Chieftain fly past, and even the wounded, lying 
 along the road-side, cheered him. With his face blazing 
 with excitement, and his horse covered with foam, he sud 
 denly appeared in front of his astonished army, and at once 
 ordered the retreat to stop. The enemy had paused in his 
 pursuit, so that our army was, at this time, out of the range 
 of his guns, which enabled Sheridan to take measures to 
 arrest the fugitives and bring them back, and in a short time 
 he had a new line of battle formed. 
 
500 FIRST REPULSE OF THE ENEMY. 
 
 Then, for two hours, he rode backward and forward 
 along the front, now looking over the ground, and now en 
 couraging the men. "Boys," said he, "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." 
 
 Shouts and cheers followed him, and though they had 
 eaten nothing since the night before, and been fighting for 
 five hours, the excited soldiers felt a new strength infused 
 into them by the confident bearing and language of their 
 heroic Commander. 
 
 At length the rebel army was seen advancing across the 
 autumnal fields, moving straight on the position held by the 
 Nineteenth Corps. Sheridan sent word to Emory to stop 
 them at all hazards. He did so, after a severe but short 
 contest, in which General Bidwell was killed, and Grover 
 wounded. 
 
 Emory immediately dispatched an aid to Sheridan with 
 the news that the enemy was repulsed. " That s good, that s 
 good," laughed Sheridan. "Thank God for that. Now, 
 then, tell General Emory if they attack him again to go after 
 them, and follow them up, and to sock it into them, and to 
 give them the devil." And, with almost every word, bring 
 ing his right hand down into the palm of his left with a 
 sharp blow, he added, " We ll get the tightest twist on 
 them yet you ever saw we ll have all those camps and can 
 non back again." 
 
 Whether aware of Sheridan s arrival, or astounded at the 
 new and formidable line of battle that appeared before him, 
 while a large part of his own army was rioting amid the 
 the camps, at all events, Early at once abandoned the offen 
 sive and fell back, and began to throw up breastworks 
 evidently designing to hold the position till next day, which 
 
THE ADVANCE. 501 
 
 by all ordinary rules, should be the earliest moment that our 
 hungry, exhausted, and discomfited army could be ready to 
 make*any movement. But Sheridan had no intention of 
 waiting till his army was thoroughly re-organized and re 
 cruited. Right then and there, he was determined to wipe 
 out the stigma of this disgraceful defeat, and make the same 
 dispatch that carried the news of the overthrow of his army, 
 carry also the thrilling tidings of its glorious victory. 
 
 At half past three, the orders were given for a general 
 advance the drums rolled along the line, the bugles pealed 
 out, and, heralded by the deep-mouthed cannon, the steady 
 battalions moved forward. It was a magnificent sight the 
 solid advance of that, but just now, fugitive host. Emerg 
 ing from the woods that had concealed it, the army swung 
 boldly out into the open field, and moved swiftly forward 
 toward the enemy s position. In an instant, the rebel bat 
 teries opened, followed by a tremendous volley of mus 
 ketry. The steady lines were rent before it, and fell sud 
 denly back. 
 
 The sight roused Sheridan almost to frenzy, and galloping 
 amid the broken ranks, he, by his thrilling appeals, and 
 almost superhuman efforts, restored order, and although his 
 few remaining cannon could make but a feeble response to 
 the overwhelming batteries of the enemy, he ordered the 
 advance to be resumed. 
 
 "The next moment, came a prolonged roar of musketry, 
 mingled with the long-drawn yell of our charge then the 
 artillery ceased the musketry died into spattering bursts, 
 and over all the yell triumphant. Every thing on the first 
 line, the stone walls, the advanced crest, the tangled wood, 
 and the half-finished breastworks, had been carried." But 
 the rebels, from a new position, opened with their artillery, 
 and shot and shell crashed through our ranks. Sheridan, 
 heedless of the storm, dashed along the front giving all his 
 
502 THE VICTORY. 
 
 orders to division and corps commanders in person ; for in 
 this fearful crisis, he would trust no subordinates. His eyes 
 flashed fire, and his countenance wore a confident e^pres- 
 sion, while his short, emphatic appeals rung like a bugle- 
 call to his excited troops, who responded with a shout, as 
 through the thickets, over the stone-walls and ridges, they 
 went with a thrilling cheer. The astonished enemy turned 
 and fled in confusion over the fields. 
 
 As they streamed down into the Middletown meadows, 
 Sheridan saw that the time for the cavalry had come, and 
 ordered a charge. The bugles pealed forth their stirring 
 notes, and the dashing squadrons of Ouster and Merritt came 
 down like a clattering tempest on the right and left, dou 
 bling up the rebel flanks, and cleaving a terrible path 
 through the broken ranks. Back to, and through our 
 camps, which they had swept like a whirlwind in the morn 
 ing, the panic-stricken rebels went, pellmell, leaving all the 
 artillery they had captured, and much of their own, and 
 strewing the way with muskets, clothing, knapsacks, and 
 every thing that could impede their flight. The infantry 
 were too tired to continue the pursuit, but the cavalry kept 
 it up, driving them through Strasburg to Fisher s Hill, and 
 beyond, to Woodstock, sixteen miles distant 
 
 The wearied troops stacked their arms in their pillaged 
 camps, "and slept that night as they had fought that day, 
 without food; 11 yet ever and anon, as reports would come in 
 from the pursuing cavalry, announcing the capture of guns 
 and prisoners, loud cheers would be sent up. Notwithstand 
 ing the dead and wounded lay every where, and the field 
 presented a ghastly spectacle, nothing could check the wild 
 excitement and enthusiasm of officers and men at their great, 
 unexpected victory. 
 
 This, in some respects, was one of the most remarkable 
 battles in history. Other lost fields have been won, but 
 
SHERIDAN S POWER. 503 
 
 rarely by the presence of a single man. Marengo was lost 
 to Napoleon, but won again by the arrival of the gallant 
 Desaix, with his fresh column. Shiloh was lost to Grant, 
 but won again by the opportune arrival of Buell, with his 
 trained battalions ; but here a lost battle was won by the 
 arrival of Sheridan alone. By the power of his single 
 presence as he dashed along the shattered lines, and the 
 magic of his voice, as, now gay and confident, and now 
 stern and terrible, he strengthened the discouraged, or awed 
 the timid, and recalled the fugitives, he was able to reorgan 
 ize the broken ranks almost under the guns of the enemy. 
 He not only dissipated despair, and restored confidence, but 
 breathed into the army enthusiasm, and daring, and positive 
 strength, so that after hours of defeat and terrible losses in 
 men and artillery, it not merely made a successful stand, 
 but broke into a furious offensive, and charging the victo 
 rious enemy behind his intrenchments, drove him in utter 
 rout from the field. This single battle, if he had fought 
 no other, would stamp Sheridan as a great Commander. 
 
 It could be truly said of him as Carlyle said of Cromwell : 
 " He was a strong man in the high places of the field, and 
 hope shone in him like a pillar of fire, when it had gone out 
 in all other men." 
 
 Our loss in this battle amounted to over six thousand 
 men, while that of the enemy was not probably much over 
 a third as great thus showing under what immense disad 
 vantage Sheridan snatched victory from the very jaws of 
 defeat. After this there was some skirmishing and cavalry 
 
 O J 
 
 engagements in the Valley of the Shenandoah, but it was 
 finally abandoned by the enemy, and in six weeks the Sixth 
 Corps returned to the army before Richmond. 
 
 Soon after this great victory, Grant made another attempt 
 to get nearer Richmond, by operating heavily on the enemy s 
 right flank as he had done before. The movement was 
 
 62 
 
504 HATCHER S RUN. 
 
 kept a profound secret, and several days were spent in pre 
 paration for it. The sick, together with the baggage and 
 commissary stores, were sent to City Point, where the gun 
 boats could protect them, and three days rations and forage 
 were issued to the cavalry, and four days rations to the in 
 fantry. The long line of intrenchments were almost denuded 
 of men, and it looked as though the army did not intend to> 
 return. The point of attack was Hatcher s Run the ter 
 mination of the enemy s works on his right and to render it 
 more successful, Butler at the same time was to make a de 
 monstration on the north side of the James, in order to draw 
 off the rebel force in that direction. But, like all the other 
 movements hitherto made around Richmond and Peters 
 burg, this also proved a sad failure. We will not give a 
 detailed account of the causes that prevented success. The 
 whole movement, and its results are thus summed up by 
 General Grant. 
 
 u On the 27th the Army of the Potomac, leaving only suf 
 ficient to hold its fortified line, moved by the enemy s right 
 flank. The Second Corps, followed by two divisions of the 
 Fifth Corps, with the cavalry in advance and covering our 
 left flank, forced a passage of Hatcher s Run, and moved up 
 the south side of it toward the South-side railroad, until 
 the Second Corps and part of the cavalry reached the Boyd- 
 ton plank road, where it crosses Hatcher s Run. At this 
 point we were six miles distant from the South-side railroad, 
 which I had hoped by this movement to reach and hold. 
 But finding that we had not reached the end of the enemy s 
 fortifications, and no place presenting itself for a successful 
 assault by which he might be doubled up and shortened, I 
 determined to withdraw to within our fortified line. Orders 
 were given accordingly. Immediately upon receiving a re 
 port that General Warren had connected with General Han 
 cock, I returned to my head-quarters. Soon after I left, the 
 
ANOTHER FAILURE. 505 
 
 enemy moved out across Hatcher s Run, in the gap between 
 Generals Hancock and Warren, which was not closed as re 
 ported, and made a desperate attack on General Hancock s 
 right and rear. General Hancock immediately faced his 
 corps to meet it, and after a bloody combat, drove the ene 
 my within his works, and withdrew that night to his old po 
 sition. 
 
 u In support of this movement General Butler made a dem 
 onstration on the north side of the James, and attacked the 
 enemy on the Williamsburg road, and also on the York 
 River railroad. In the former he was unsuccessful ; in the 
 latter he succeeded in carrying a work which was after 
 ward abandoned, and his forces withdrawn to their former 
 positions. 
 
 "From this time forward the operations in front of Pe 
 tersburg and Richmond until the spring campaign of 1865, 
 were confined to the defense and extension of our lines, and 
 to offensive movements for crippling the enemy s lines of 
 communication, and to prevent his detaching any consider 
 able force to send south." 
 
 The night before this grand movement took place, a 
 most daring expedition was successfully carried out by a 
 young lieutenant in the navy, on the Roanoke River. The 
 Ram Albemarle, since its fight with our fleet, had lain at 
 Plymouth, carefully guarded and protected. The Navy De 
 partment, wishing to get rid of this monster, had sent, the 
 Summer previous, Lieutenant W. B. Gushing to New York 
 with full powers to make all necessary preparations for the 
 perilous undertaking of effecting her destruction. Having 
 at length constructed a torpedo boat, he returned with it to 
 the Sound, and on the night of the 27th of October pro 
 ceeded with it, in his steam launch up the river. Thirteen 
 officers and men composed the entire crew, all of whom felt 
 that the chance of their return was more than doubtfuL It 
 
506 LIEUTENANT GUSHING. 
 
 was eight miles from the mouth of the river to where 
 the ram lay, while the stream, which would not average 
 over two hundred yards in width, was lined the whole way 
 with pickets. About a mile below the ram, lay the wreck 
 of the Southfield, which the former had destroyed, sur 
 rounded by schooners. The night was dark, and so cau 
 tiously did Gushing move that he was undiscovered by the 
 pickets on shore, and passed within twenty yards of the 
 Southfield, unnoticed by those on guard there. Having 
 now got close to the ram, which by a light on shore 
 could be seen, made fast to the wharf, he ordered on a full 
 head of steam and pressed forward. As he steamed past 
 the vessel he saw she was surrounded by a pen of logs 
 thirty feet wide, placed there to prevent any such attack as 
 the one he was now making. Performing a complete circle 
 so as to come squarely down, he sent the launch s bows 
 full against the pen of logs. The rebels had however dis 
 covered his approach, and opened on him with a terrible 
 fire. Many were struck. "The bullets," says Gushing, 
 "struck my clothing three times, and the air seemed full of 
 them. Tn a moment we had struck the logs, just abreast of 
 the quarter port, breasting them in some feet, and our bows 
 resting on them. The torpedo boom was then lowered, and 
 by a vigorous pull I succeeded in driving the torpedo under 
 the overhang and exploded it, at the same time that the Al- 
 bemarle s gun was fired. A shot seemed to go crashing 
 through my boat and a dense mass of water rushed in from 
 the torpedo, filling the launch and completely disabling 
 her." He was now within fifteen feet of the ram, from the 
 deck of which an incessant stream of fire fell into his gallant 
 little band. Seeing his hopeless condition, the enemy hailed 
 him and ordered him to surrender. The young hero sent 
 back his stern refusal, and took unflinchingly the desola 
 ting fire. 
 
THE ALBEMARLE SUNK. 507 
 
 Seeing, by the light of their own fire, that he was fast 
 going to the bottom, they again hailed him, demanding his 
 surrender. Again he refused, and coolly taking off his coat 
 and shoes, he told the men to save themselves as they best 
 could, and sprang into the river, and struck out for the mid 
 dle of the stream. He then swam with the current, and 
 when a half a mile below the, ram, came upon Acting-Mas- 
 ter s-mate Woodman, very much exhausted, and nobly tried 
 to get him ashore but was unable to do so, and had to see 
 him sink by his side, when he again turned for the shore. 
 He had barely strength to reach it, but not enough to crawl 
 up the bank, and so lay until near daylight, when he crept 
 into a swamp close to the fort. 
 
 After he had rested awhile, he arose and traveled for 
 several hours through the swamp, until he came to its ter 
 mination, when he plunged into another, and, at length, 
 reached a creek, in which he found a skiff belonging to the 
 picket of the enemy. Capturing this, he pulled out into the 
 stream, and by eleven o clock, was once more safe among 
 his friends. A more daring, gallant deed is scarcely to be 
 found in the records of our glorious navy. 
 
 Secretary Welles sent him a complimentary letter, and 
 the country rung with his praises. He had done his work 
 well, for this much-dreaded ram, blown up by the torpedo, 
 sunk at her moorings. Only one, besides himself, escaped, 
 of all this gallant crew the rest being killed, captured, or 
 drowned. 
 
 During this month, also, an event occur ed on our North 
 ern frontier, which caused the most intense excitement 
 throughout the country. The Canadian Provinces from the 
 commencement of the war, had been the resort of rebel 
 refugees, who were constantly organizing plots against the 
 Federal Government. One was set on foot the year before, 
 to release twenty-five hundred rebel prisoners on Johnson s 
 
508 RAID INTO VERMONT. 
 
 I 
 
 Isfend, in Lake Erie, who, with rebels in Canada, were to 
 burn Buffalo and other Lake cities, but it was discovered in 
 time, and hence abandoned. So also in September, of this 
 year, John Y. Beall, a rebel officer, captured and destroyed 
 two steamboats on the lakes. 
 
 On the 19th of this month, forty armed men, headed by 
 one Young, suddenly rode into the village of St. Albans, 
 Vermont, fifteen miles from the Canadian frontier, and rob 
 bing the Bank of two hundred thousand dollars, escaped 
 in safety. They fired upon the panic-stricken inhabitants, . 
 mortally wounding one. 
 
 They were afterward seized and tried in Canada, but 
 were all finally discharged. The Bank recovered a part of its 
 money, but no concessions were made to our Government 
 for this violation of its territory, which caused it to adopt 
 measures that interrupted, for a time, the usual communica 
 tions between the Provinces and the States. 
 
CHAPTER XXXVI. 
 
 OPERATIONS WEST DURING THE AUTUMN IN ARKANSAS, KANSAS, AND MIS- 
 SOUR! PRICE, STEELE, AND ROSECRANS CAPTURE ,OF ATHENS BY FOR 
 REST HIS FARTHER OPERATIONS GENERAL BURBRIDGE SENT TO DESTROY 
 
 THE SALT-WORKS AT SALTVILLE, VIRGINIA SHERMAN AT ATLANTA DAVIS 
 IN GEORGIA HOOD AGAIN TAKES THE FIELD FALLS ON SHERMAN S COM 
 MUNICATIONS GALLANT DEFENSE BY CORSE, OF ALLATOONA PURSUIT OF 
 
 HOOD THOMAS AT NASHVILLE SHERMAN PREPARES FOR HIS GEORGIA 
 
 CAMPAIGN ROME BURNED DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY BURNING OF AT 
 LANTA. 
 
 A LTHOUGH during the Spring, Summer, and Autumn 
 jfJL of 1864, the two great campaigns of Sherman and 
 Grant occupied almost the undivided attention of the coun 
 try, still, as we have seen, in Missouri, Arkansas, Ken 
 tucky, Tennessee, and the Carolinas, hostilities were kept 
 up, though they apparently had no direct bearing on the 
 final result. 
 
 Those minor events of the East we have already traced 
 till nearly the close of Autumn. The military operations 
 outside of Sherman s army, during the months of September 
 and October, West, are thus summed up by Grant : 
 
 "About the last of August, it being reported that the 
 rebel General Price, with a force of about ten thousand 
 men, had reached Jacksonport, on his way to invade Mis 
 souri, General A. J. Smith s command, then en route from 
 Memphis to join Sherman, was ordered to Missouri. A cav 
 alry force was also, at the same time, sent from Memphis, 
 under command of Colonel Winslow. This made General 
 Rosecrans forces superior to those of Price, and no doubt 
 
510 . FORREST IN TENNESSEE. 
 
 was entertained he would be able to check Price and drive 
 him back, while the forces of General Steele, in Arkansas, 
 would cut off his retreat. On the 26th day of September, 
 Price attacked Pilot Knob and forced the garrison to re 
 treat, and thence moved north to the Missouri River, and 
 continued up that river toward Kansas. General Curtis, 
 commanding the Department of Kansas, immediately col 
 lected such forces as he could to repel the invasion of Kan 
 sas, while General Rosecrans cavalry was operating in 
 his rear. 
 
 "The enemy was brought to battle on the Big Blue and 
 defeated, with the loss of nearly all his artillery and trains, 
 and a large number of prisoners. He made a precipitate 
 retreat to Northern Arkansas. The impunity with which 
 Price was enabled to roam over the State of Missouri, for a 
 long time, and the incalculable mischief done by him, shows 
 to how little purpose a superior force may be used. There 
 is no reason why General Rosecrans should not have concen 
 trated his forces, and beaten and driven Price before the lat 
 ter reached Pilot Knob. 
 
 " September 20th, the enemy s cavalry, under Forrest, 
 crossed the Tennessee, near Waterloo, Alabama, and on the 
 23rd attacked the garrison at Athens, consisting of six hun 
 dred men, which capitulated on the 24th. Soon after the 
 surrender, two regiments of reinforcements arrived, and 
 after a severe fight were compelled to surrender. Forrest 
 destroyed the railroad westward, captured the garrison at 
 Sulphur Branch trestle, skirmished with the garrison at Pu- 
 laski on the 27th, and on the same day cut the Nashville and 
 Chattanooga railroad, near Tullahoma and Dechard. On 
 the morning of the 30th, one column of Forrest s command, 
 under Buford, appeared before Huntsville and summoned 
 the surrender of the garrison. Receiving an answer in the 
 negative, he remained in the vicinity of the place until 
 
DAVIS IN GEORGIA. 511 
 
 next morning, when he again- summoned its surrender and 
 received the same reply as on the night before. He with 
 drew in the direction of Athens, which place had been re- 
 garrisoned, and attacked it on the afternoon of the 1st of 
 October, but without success. On the morning of the 2nd, 
 he renewed his attack, but was handsomely repulsed. 
 
 " Another column under Forrest, appeared before Colum 
 bia, on the morning of the 1st, but did not make an attack. 
 On the morning of the 3rd, he moved toward Mount Pleas 
 ant. While these operations were going on, every exertion 
 was made by General Thomas to destroy the forces under 
 Forrest, before he could recross the Tennessee, but he was 
 unable to prevent his escape to Corinth, Mississippi. 
 
 "In September, an expedition, under General Burbridge, 
 was sent to destroy the salt-works at Saltville, Virginia. He 
 met the enemy on the 2nd of October, about three miles and 
 a half from Saltville, and drove him into his strongly in 
 trenched position around the salt-works, from which he was 
 unable to dislodge him. During the night he withdrew his 
 command and returned to Kentucky." ,f rj 
 
 The interest, however, in these various expeditions and 
 movements was more local than general. East, as has been 
 stated, with the failure at Hatcher s Run, in October, closed, 
 for the Autumn, all movements of importance with the Army 
 of the Potomac. It was evidently at a dead-lock with the 
 enemy. 
 
 It was not so, however, with the other great army en 
 camped at Atlanta. The fall of this place which threatened 
 to bisect again the Southern Confederacy, caused the most 
 intense feeling South, and Davis hastened from his Capital 
 to Georgia to still the clamors of the disaffected, and raise 
 the courage of the desponding. He made violent speeches, 
 in which he seemed to lose both his reason and temper, 
 using language that can hardly be accounted for, except on 
 
512 HOOD IN MOTION. 
 
 the ground of temporary insanity, arising from some cause 
 or other. Still with his aid, Hood was reinforced with forty 
 thousand militia, and by the last of September, declared 
 himself ready to move. Unable to cope with Sherman in 
 the open field, he resolved to throw himself on his long line 
 of communications, and compel him to fall back to Chat 
 tanooga. 
 
 Moving rapidly, he broke up the railroad in various 
 places. Beyond Allatoona, nearly to Dallas, he had it pretty 
 much all his own way, so that during the entire month of 
 October, Sherman was cut off from Chattanooga. The fore 
 sight of the latter, in making Allatoona a secondary base, 
 was now apparent. If it could be taken, his army would 
 be in a perilous position. This Hood%new, and dispatched a 
 whole rebel division, under French, to capture it. Sherman, 
 aware of his designs, sent a signal from the distant Kenesaw 
 Mountains to General Corse, who was in command of Rome, 
 to take his brigade, and move with the utmost speed to 
 Allatoona, and hold it against all opposition, until he him 
 self could arrive with help. 
 
 Pushing forward by railroad, this gallant officer reached 
 the place with about two thousand men before French did, 
 and at once made his dispositions to defend it to the last. 
 As soon as the rebel General, with his overwhelming force, 
 arrived, he sent the following message to Corse : 
 
 "AROUND ALLATOONA, October 5, 1864. 
 Commanding Officer U. S. Forces, Allatoona: 
 
 SIR, I have placed the forces under my command in such positions, 
 that you are surrounded, and to avoid a needless effusion of blood, I call on 
 you to surrender your forces at once, and unconditionally. Five minutes 
 will be allowed you to decide. Should you accede to this, you will be 
 treated in the most honorable manner as prisoners of war. 
 
 I have the honor to be, very respectfully yours, 
 
 S. G. FRENCH, 
 Major-General Commanding Forces C. S." 
 
A CURT MESSAGE. 513 
 
 To this peremptory order, backed by an entire division, 
 the gallant Corse replied in the following droll, yet curt 
 language : 
 
 " HEAD-QUARTERS FOURTH DIVISION, FIFTEENTH ARMY CORPS, ) 
 ALLATOONA, GA., 8.30 A. M., October 5, 1864. j" 
 
 Major- General S. G. French, C. S. Army, etc.: 
 
 Your communication demanding surrender of my command, I ac 
 knowledge the receipt of, and respectfully reply that we are prepared for the 
 " needless effusion of blood," whenever it is agreeable to you. 
 
 I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 JOHN M. CORSE, 
 Brigadier-General Commanding Forces U. S." 
 
 Corse had but little time to arrange his defense, as he 
 reached the place that very morning, a little after midnight. 
 Sherman, in his dispatch, says of Corse, in the desperate 
 engagement that followed " his description of the defense 
 is so graphic that it leaves nothing for me to add." We 
 agree with him, and therefore let him tell his own story. 
 
 " I had hardly issued the incipient orders, when the storm 
 broke in all its fury on the Thirty-ninth Iowa and Seventh 
 Illinois. Young s brigade of Texans, one thousand nine 
 hundred strong, had gained the west end of the ridge, and 
 moved with great impetuosity along its crest, till they 
 struck Rowett s command, where they received a severe 
 check; but undaunted, they came again and again. How- 
 eta, reinforced by the Ninety-third Illinois, and aided by 
 the *gallant Redfield, encouraged me to hope we were safe 
 here, when I observed a brigade of the enemy, under Gen 
 eral Sears, moving from the north, its left extending across 
 the railroad. I rushed to the two companies of the Ninety- 
 third Illinois, which were on the brink of the cut running 
 north from the redoubt and parallel with the railroad they 
 having been reinforced by the retreating pickets and urged 
 them to hold on to the spur ; but it was of no avail. The 
 
514 A DESPERATE BATTLE. 
 
 enemy s line of battle swept us like so much chaff, and 
 struck the Thirty-ninth Iowa in flank, threatening to engulf 
 our little band without further ado. Fortunately for us, 
 Colonel Tourtellotte s fire caught Sears in flank, and broke 
 him so badly as to enable me to get a staff-officer over the 
 cut, with orders to bring the Fiftieth Illinois over to rein 
 force Rowett, who had lost very heavily. However, before 
 the regiment sent for could arrive, Sears and Young both 
 rallied, and made their assaults in front and on the flank 
 with so much vigor and in such force, as to break Rowett s 
 line, and had not the Thirty-ninth Iowa fought with the des 
 peration it did, I never would have been able to get a man 
 back into the redoubt. As it was, their hand-to-hand con 
 flict and stubborn stand broke the enemy to that extent, he 
 must stop and re-form, before undertaking the assault on the 
 fort. Under cover of the blow they gave the enemy, the 
 Seventh and Ninety-third Illinois, and what remained of the 
 Thirty-ninth Iowa, fell back into the fort. 
 
 The fighting up to this time (about eleven A. M.) was of a 
 most extraordinary character. Attacked from the north, 
 from the west, and from the south, these three regiments, 
 Thirty-ninth Iowa, Seventh and Ninety-third Illinois, held 
 Young s and a portion of Sears s and Cockeral s brigades at 
 bay for nearly two hours and a half. The gallant Colonel 
 Redfield, of the Thirty -ninth Iowa, fell shot in four places, 
 and the extraordinary valor of the men and officers of this 
 regiment, and of the Seventh Illinois, saved to us Allatoona, 
 So completely disorganized was the enemy, that no regular 
 assault could be made on the fort, till I had the trenches all 
 filled, and the parapets lined with men. 
 
 The Twelfth Illinois, and Fiftieth Illinois arriving from 
 the east hill, enabled us to occupy every foot of trench and 
 keep up a line of fire that, as long as our ammunition lasted, 
 would render our little fort impregnable." 
 
THE VICTORY. 515 
 
 But the ammunition gave out, and a brave fellow, whose 
 name he forgot, crossed over to another fort under the 
 enemy s fire, and brought back an armful and the fight 
 went on. 
 
 Sherman, anxious about Allatoona, hastened forward, and 
 about ten o clock reached the top of the Kenesaw, eighteen 
 miles distant He says, " I could see the smoke of battle, 
 and hear the faint sound of artillery." He immediately 
 pushed forward a brigade, and flew his signal telling Corse 
 that help was coming. But this heroic Commander had too 
 much on his hands to be looking out for signals. He knew, 
 without them, that Sherman was hurrying forward troops to 
 his relief as fast as they could march. 
 
 The fight was kept up, and the smoke of battle wrapped 
 the combatants, while far away on the serene heights of 
 Kenesaw stood Sherman flying his signals and watching 
 through his glass to see if they were answered. For a long 
 time they waved unheeded, but at last an answer came, and 
 he knew then that while Corse lived, the rebel force would 
 never have Allatoona. At three o clock in the afternoon, 
 the rebel General gave it up for, repulsed in every attack, 
 he saw he was only increasing his piles of dead, and ordered 
 his bugles to sound retreat. 
 
 Sherman, hurrying forward his army, passed through Al 
 latoona to Kingston, which he reached on the 6th, and at 
 once reinforced Resaca before which Hood had appeared 
 and demanded its surrender and pushed forward toward 
 the same point with the main army. The succeeding move 
 ments, until the pursuit was abandoned, and Hood left to 
 move north, while he prepared his Georgia campaign, are 
 best described in his own language. He says : 
 
 " Arriving at Resaca on the evening of the fourteenth, I 
 determined to strike Hood in flank, or force him to battle, 
 and directed the Army of the Tennessee, General Howard, 
 
516 SHERMAN S MOVEMENTS. 
 
 to move to Snake Creek Gap, which was held by the enemy, 
 Whilst General Stanley, with the Fourth and Fourteenth 
 Corps, moved by Tilton across the mountains to the rear of 
 Snake Creek Gap, in the neighborhood of Villanow. 
 
 " The Army of the Tennessee found the enemy occupying 
 our old lines in the Snake Creek Gap, and on the 15th skir 
 mished for the purpose of holding him there until Stanley 
 could get to his rear. But the enemy gave way about 
 noon, and was followed through the Gap, escaping before 
 General Stanley had reached the further end of the Pass. 
 The next day, the sixteenth, the armies moved direetly to 
 ward Lafayette, with a view to cut off Hood s retreat. 
 We found him intrenched in Ship s Gap, but the leading 
 division (Wood s) of the Fifteenth Corps rapidly carried the 
 advanced posts held by two companies of a South Carolina 
 regiment, making them prisoners. The remaining eight 
 companies escaped to the main body near Lafayette. The 
 next morning we passed over into the Valley of the Chat- 
 tooga, the Army of the Tennessee moving in pursuit by La 
 fayette and Alpine, toward Blue Pond; the Army of the 
 Cumberland by Sumrnerville and Mellville Post-Office to 
 Gaylesville ; and the Army of the Ohio and Garrard s eav- 
 alry from Villanow, Dirttown Valley, and Goover s Gap to 
 Gaylesville. Hood T however, was little encumbered with 
 trains, and marched with great rapidity, and had succeeded 
 in getting into the narrow gorge formed by the Lookout 
 Range abutting against the Coosa River, in the neighbor 
 hood of Gadsden. He evidently wanted to avoid a fight. 
 
 u On the nineteenth r all the armies were grouped about 
 Gaylesville, in the rich Valley of the Chattooga, abounding 
 in corn and meat, and I determined t& pause in my pursuit 
 of the enemy, to watch his movements and live on the 
 country. I hoped that Hood would turn toward Gunters- 
 ville and Bridgeport. The Army of the Tennessee was 
 
A BOLD DETERMINATION. 517 
 
 posted near Little River, with instructions to feel forward 
 in support of the cavalry, which was ordered to watch Hood 
 in the neighborhood of Will s Valley, and to give me the 
 earliest notice possible of his turning northward. The Array 
 of the Ohio was posted at Cedar Bluff,, with orders to lay a 
 pontoon across the Coosa, and to feel forward to centre, and 
 down in the direction of Blue Mountain. The Army of the 
 Cumberland was held in reserve at Gaylesville ; and all the 
 troops were instructed to draw heavily for supplies from the 
 surrounding country. In the meantime communications 
 were opened to Rome, and a heavy force set to work in re 
 pairing the damages done to our railroads. Atlanta was 
 abundantly supplied with provisions, but forage was scarce; 
 and General Slocum was instructed to send strong foraging 
 parties out in the direction of South River, and collect all 
 the corn and fodder possible, and to p&t his own trains in 
 good condition for further service. 
 
 "Hood s movements and strategy had demonstrated that he 
 had an army capable of endangering at all times my com 
 munications, but unable to meet me in open fight. To fol 
 low him would simply amount to being decoyed away from 
 Georgia, with little prospect of overtaking and overwhelm 
 ing him. To remain on the defensive, would have been bad 
 policy for an army of so great value as the one I then com 
 manded ; and I wa& forced to adopt a course more fruitful 
 in results than the naked one of following him to the South 
 west. I had previously submitted to- the Commander-in- 
 Chief a general plan, which amounted substantially to the 
 destruction of Atlanta and the railroad back to Chattanooga, 
 and sallying forth from Atlanta through the heart of Geor 
 gia, to. capture one or more of the great Atlantic seaports. 
 This I renewed from Gaylesville, modified somewhat by the 
 change of events, 
 
 u On the twenty-sb:th of October, satisfied that Hood bad 
 
518 THOMAS AT NASHVILLE. 
 
 moved westward from Gadsden across Sand Mountain, I de 
 tached the Fourth Corps, Major-General Stanley, and or 
 dered him to proceed to Chattanooga and report to Major- 
 General Thomas at Nashville." 
 
 Thomas had been sent on from Atlanta to take charge of 
 all the troops in the State, and those en route to reinforce 
 the army, and Sherman says : 
 
 " Subsequently, on the 30th of October, I also detached 
 the Twenty-third Corps, Major-General Schofield, with the 
 same destination ; and delegated to Major-General Thomas 
 full power over all the- troops subject to my command, ex 
 cept the four Corps with which I designed to move into 
 Georgia. This gave him the two divisions under A. J. Smith, 
 then in Missouri, but en route for Tennessee,. the two Corps 
 named, and all the garrisons in Tennessee, as also all the cav 
 alry of my Military Division, except one division under Brig 
 adier-General Kilpatrick, which was ordered to rendezvous 
 at Marietta. 1 
 
 General Wilson had been sent from the Army of the Po 
 tomac to take charge of his cavalry, and he ordered him 
 also to report to Nashville with all the dismounted detach 
 ments, and collect, equip, and organize all the cavalry in 
 Tennessee and Kentucky and report to Thomas. 
 
 " These forces I judged would enable General Thomas to 
 defend the railroad from Chattanooga back, including Nash 
 ville and Decatur, and give him an army with which he could 
 successfully cope with Hood, should the latter cross the Ten 
 nessee northward. 
 
 ^ By the 1st of November, Hood s army had moved from 
 Gadsden, and made its appearance in the neighborhood of 
 Decatur, where a feint was made ; he then passed on to 
 Tuscumbia, arid laid a pontoon-bridge opposite Florence. I 
 then began my preparations for the march through Georgia, 
 having received the sanction of the Commander-inChief for 
 
BURNING OF ROME. 519 
 
 carrying into effect my plan, the details of which were ex 
 plained to all my corps commanders and heads of staff 
 departments, with strict injunctions of secrecy. I had also 
 communicated full details to General Thomas, and had in 
 formed him, I would not leave the neighborhood of Kings 
 ton until he felt perfectly confident that he was entirely pre 
 pared to cope with Hood, should he carry into effect his 
 threatened invasion of Tennessee and Kentucky. I estima 
 ted Hood s force at thirty-five thousand infantry, and ten 
 thousand cavalry. 1 
 
 Sherman then moved his army by easy marches back to 
 the neighborhood of Smyrna camping ground, sent all sur 
 plus artillery and baggage to Chattanooga, put Kilpat- 
 rick s cavalry force in the best possible condition, ordered 
 Corse, at Rome, to burn every thing there that could be of 
 service to the enemy, and, at the same time, destroyed all 
 the railroads in and around Atlanta, and finally ordered all 
 the garrisons north of Kingston to fall back to Chattanooga, 
 taking with them the public property and railroad stock, 
 and the rails from Resaca, saving the latter for future use. 
 He thus rapidly and effectually cut himself clear from the 
 outer world, and stripped himself for the race. 
 
 Rome was first burned ; and a thousand bales of cotton, 
 two flour mills, two tanneries, a foundery, machine shops, 
 store-houses, and bridges, were set on fire, making a fearful 
 conflagration. The soldiers seeing the work of destruction 
 commenced, applied the torch to the private dwellings, and 
 soon the flames leaped and roared through the murky atmo 
 sphere, lighting up the nightly heavens with a lurid glare, 
 and flooding field and mountain in flame. 
 
 A few days after, Atlanta shared the same fate. The 
 Michigan engineers were detailed to effect its destruction. 
 A foundery, worth a half a million of dollars, was first in a 
 blaze, then an oil refinery, followed by a freight ware-house, 
 
 63 
 
520 BURNING OF ATLANTA. 
 
 in which were stored several bales of cotton. The depot, 
 turning-tables, freight sheds, and stores around, were soon a 
 fiery mass. The heart was burning out of beautiful Atlanta, 
 
 "The few people that had remained in the city, fled, 
 scared by the conflagration and the dread of violence. 
 
 u The Atlanta Hotel, Washington Hall, and all the square 
 around the railroad depot, were soon in one sheet of flame. 
 Drug stores, dry goods stores, hotels, negro marts, theatres, 
 and grog-shops, were all now feeding the fiery element. 
 Worn-out wagons and camp equipage were piled up in the 
 depot, and added to the fury of the flames. 
 
 u A stone ware-house was blown up by a mine. Quarter 
 masters ran away, leaving large stores behind. The men 
 plunged into the houses, broke windows and doors with their 
 muskets, dragging out armfuls of clothes, tobacco, and whis 
 key which was more welcome than all the rest. The men 
 dressed themselves in new clothes, and then flung the rest 
 into the fire. 
 
 " The streets were now in one fierce sheet of flame; houses 
 were falling on all sides, and fiery flakes of cinders were 
 whirled about. Occasionally shells exploded, and excited 
 men rushed through the choking atmosphere, and hurried 
 away from the city of ruins. 
 
 u At a distance the city seemed overshadowed by a cloud 
 of black smoke, through which, now and then, darted a 
 gushing flame of fire, or projectiles hurled from the burn 
 
 ing rum. 
 
 " The sun looked, through the hazy cloud, like a blood-red 
 ball of fire ; and the air, for miles around, felt oppressive 
 and intolerable. The Tyre of the South was laid in ashes, 
 and the Gate City was a thing of the past."* 
 
 On the 12th of November, Sherman stood detached from 
 
 * Captain Conyngham. 
 
SHERMAN READY TO START. 521 
 
 all its communications ready to move. His army "was com 
 posed of four Corps : the Fifteenth and Seventeenth, con 
 stituting the right wing, under Major-General 0. 0. How 
 ard ; the Fourteenth and Twentieth Corps, constituting the 
 left wing, under Major-General H. W. Slocuni, making an 
 aggregate strength of sixty thousand infantry, with one 
 cavalry division of five thousand and five hundred men, 
 under Brigadier-General Judson Kilpatrick, and the artil 
 lery reduced to the minimum, one gun per one thousand 
 men. 
 
 " The whole force was moved rapidly, and grouped about 
 Atlanta on the 14th of November." 
 
CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 
 SHERMAN PREPARES TO MARCH ORDERS RESPECTING FORAGING PARTIES 
 
 DIVISION OF THE ARMY SLOCUM s WING HOWARD S WING KILPATRICK s 
 
 CAVALRY MARCH OF THE FORMER PILLAGE OF MADISON SLOCUM EN 
 TERS MILLEDGEVILLE MARCH OF THE RIGHT WING THE ENEMY AT LOVE- 
 
 JOY S KILPATRICK S CAVALRY MACON LEFT IN THE REAR SHERMAN EN 
 TERS MILLEDGEVILLE AND OCCUPIES THE GOVERNOR S HOUSE THE SOL 
 DIERS ORGANIZE A LEGISLATURE REBELS REPULSED AT GRISWOLDVILLE 
 
 KILPATRICK DRIVES WHEELER BEFORE HIM AND THREATENS AUGUSTA THE 
 
 ARMY AT MILLEN MARCH TO SAVANNAH CAPTURE OF FORT MC ALLISTER 
 
 BY HAZEN SAVANNAH INVESTED HARDEE SUMMONED TO SURRENDER 
 
 SHERMAN STARTS FOR PORT ROYAL THE CITY EVACUATED SHERMAN S DIS 
 PATCH TO THE PRESIDENT REVIEW OF THE CAMPAIGN. 
 
 IN preparing for his march across the State of Georgia, 
 Sherman gave stringent rules for the conduct of his 
 troops. Of necessity, they must live off the country. He. 
 therefore, issued the following order : 
 
 u The army will forage liberally on the country during 
 the march. To this end, each brigade Commander will 
 organize a good and efficient foraging party, under com 
 mand of one or more discreet officers. To regular foraging 
 parties must be intrusted the gathering of provisions and 
 forage at any distance from the roads traveled. 
 
 " As for horses, mules, wagons, &c., the cavalry and artil 
 lery may appropriate freely and without limit. Foraging 
 parties may also take mules or horses to replace the jaded 
 animals of their trains, or to serve as pack-mules for the regi 
 ments or brigades." 
 
 This order shows that Sherman possessed the right spirit, 
 and desired that his army should not behave like banditti. 
 

 FORAGING PARTIES. 523 
 
 Every brigade and regiment had its organized foraging 
 party, which was to forage under established rules, and be 
 under the command of one or more discreet officers. It was 
 also ordered, 
 
 " Soldiers shall not enter the dwellings of the inhabitants 
 or commit any trespass ; but, during the halt or camp, they 
 may be permitted to gather turnips, potatoes and other veg 
 etables, and drive in stock in front of their camps." 
 
 Officers were also directed " to leave with each family a 
 reasonable portion for their maintenance." 
 
 These were humane regulations, and shed as much lustre 
 on Sherman s character, as his great victories. But who, 
 familiar with the history of invading armies, does not know 
 what foraging in the enemy s country means. Foraging 
 parties are usually joined by every servant and idler about 
 the camps, who, in the various expeditions, scatter over the 
 country, enter houses and strip the inmates of jewelry, and 
 every thing valuable that they possess, and often commit 
 violence of the grossest kind. Sherman s army formed no 
 exception to this rule. 
 
 Says an officer, who commanded in the expedition, in 
 speaking of these lawless hangers-on : u In most instances, 
 they burned down houses to cover their depredations, and 
 in some cases, took the lives of their victims, as they would 
 not reveal concealed treasures. These gangs spread like 
 locusts over the country. In all cases where the foraging 
 parties were under the command of a respectable officer, 
 they acted with propriety, simply taking what provisions 
 and necessaries they needed. They might as well have 
 stripped the place, though, for soon came the bummers, and 
 commenced a scene of ruin and pillage. Boxes were burst 
 open ; clothes dragged about"; the finest silks, belonging to 
 the planters ladies, carried off to adorn some negro wenches 
 around camp ; pictures, books-, furniture, all tossed about 
 
524 SHERMAN S START FOR THE SEA. 
 
 and torn in pieces. Though these wretches were acting 
 against military orders, there was no one to complain. The 
 planter and his family were thankful if they escaped with 
 their lives," 
 
 When about to start, Sherman wrote to Admiral Porter, 
 on the Atlantic coast, that he might be "looking out for him 
 about Christmas, from Hilton Head to Savannah," and to 
 his wife, " this is my last letter from here; you will only hear 
 of me hereafter through rebel sources." 
 
 The four Corps, as before stated, were divided into two 
 wings the right, consisting of the Fifteenth and Seven 
 teenth, was commanded by Howard ; and the left, composed 
 of the Fourteenth and Twentieth, by Slocum. There was 
 no general train of supplies for the army, but each Corps 
 had its own, distributed among the brigades and regiments, 
 the whole amounting to about two thousand wagons. 
 
 The march, when practicable, was to be by four parallel 
 roads, to commence every morning at seven o clock, and to 
 average fifteen miles a day. Howard, with the right wing, 
 was to follow the Georgia Central railroad, running in a 
 south-westerly direction, through Macon and Milledgeville, 
 to Savannah ; while Slocum, with the left wing, would 
 march along the railroad running due east to Augusta both 
 roads to be destroyed as the armies advanced. Two divi 
 sions of cavalry, under Kilpatrick, covered the flanks of the 
 columns. It was a hundred and seventy miles to Augusta, 
 by the railroad along which Slocum marched, and two 
 hundred and ninety-one to Savannah, by that which How 
 ard took. 
 
 Slocum, moving out on different roads, and destroying the 
 rail track as he advanced, pushed on through Decatur, Stone 
 Mountain, Social Circle, Rutledge, and Madison filling the 
 inhabitants with consternation, especially at the latter place. 
 While the depot and railroad track were being destroyed 
 
MADISON PILLAGED. 525 
 
 here, together with two hundred bales of cotton, the strag 
 glers entered the place and pillaged unchecked. Stores 
 were burst open houses entered, and plates and valuables 
 carried off, while mirrors and pianos were ruthlessly smashed. 
 Wine-cellars were broken into, and the liquors drank till 
 soldiers were seen reeling along the streets. All the stores 
 were gutted and the contents scattered around ; even a mil 
 liner s shop was entered and sacked, and the ribbons and 
 flowers put in the caps of the soldiers. 
 
 This disgraceful scene continued until the head of Slo- 
 cum s column entered the place, when it was quickly brought 
 to a close, and a guard placed over what was left of the 
 town. 
 
 From Madison, the division of Geary marched on the Oco- 
 nee River, while a body of cavalry crossed it and advanced 
 to Greenboro , sixty-four miles from Augusta. From this 
 place, however, it turned directly south toward Milledge- 
 ville. The Fourteenth Corps wheeled in the same direction 
 before it reached the town, marching toward the same point, 
 and last, Geary, farther to the east, took the same direction, 
 moving down the west bank of the Oconee. 
 
 On the 21st, Slocum entered Milledgeville, the State Cap 
 ital, one day ahead of Howard. The latter moved directly 
 on Macon, covered by Kilpatrick s cavalry. Some three 
 thousand militia were found at Lovejoy s, but a single charge 
 of Kilpatrick served to scatter them. At Bear Creek, he 
 encountered Wheeler s cavalry and forced it back to Macon. 
 Howard followed leisurely, destroying the railroad behind 
 him, until he arrived within a few miles of the place. A 
 large army was concentrated here, defended by breast 
 works, well mounted with artillery, for the enemy never 
 doubted that Sherman intended to lay siege to this place. 
 He however had no such intention. He had apparently for 
 gotten the old, well-established military maxim, " never to 
 
526 THE ARMF AT M I LL E D G E VILLE . 
 
 leave a fortified place of the enemy in your rear," and de 
 signed to pass it without halting. 
 
 Wishing to get across the Ocmulgee without opposition, 
 and strike the railroad again beyond the town, he sent Kil- 
 patrick over the river with a large force of cavalry, who 
 came down on the place from the east driving in the rebel 
 pickets, and charging up to the very earthworks of the ene 
 my. His daring and vigorous movements kept the garrison 
 in a state of constant alarm, and while the rebel army was 
 listening to the sound of his bugles, Howard quietly slipped 
 across the river to Griswoldville, ten miles beyond. Leav 
 ing here a part of the Fifteenth Corps to protect his rear, 
 the latter pushed on to Milledgeville, which, as we have said, 
 he reached the next day after Howard entered it. Sherman 
 took up his head-quarters in the Governor s house, but found 
 it completely stripped of furniture. This, however, was of 
 little consequence to one who had often made the earth his 
 couch, and spreading a couple of blankets on the floor, 
 slept in State. 
 
 The Georgia Legislature was in session when the news 
 of the approach of our army was received, and at once 
 adjourned in great terror. The soldiers took possession 
 of the State House, and organized a Legislature of their 
 own winding up their hilarious proceedings by having a 
 soldier appear at the door, shouting u the Yankees are com 
 ing," when the uproarious, laughing crowd rushed at once 
 for the door. 
 
 In the meantime the rebel leaders at Macon, enraged at 
 finding themselves so .completely outwitted, made a furious 
 attack with three brigades of militia, on the force left at 
 Griswoldville, but were repulsed with a loss of a thou 
 sand men. 
 
 Having rested his now united army at Milledgeville, and 
 stored forty days rations in his wagons, Sherman once more 
 
SHERMAN AT MILLEN. 527 
 
 turned the head of his columns toward the sea. At San- 
 dersville, Wheeler made a stand, but after a brief action fell 
 back to Waynesboro, only thirty miles south of Augusta, 
 whither Kilpatrick followed him. Wheeler now attacked 
 in turn, but was repulsed with a loss of two hundred men. 
 The inhabitants of Augusta were alarmed at the near ap 
 proach of Kilpatrick to the city, and entertained no doubt, 
 that it was the point aimed at by Sherman. But while 
 the cavalry swarmed the country in its vicinity, conceal 
 ing the movements of the army, the latter was marching 
 rapidly on Millen, located on the railroad that connects Au 
 gusta and Savannah. Here Sherman again halted for several 
 days, while the cavalry scoured the country in every direc 
 tion. Whether he intended to march north on Augusta, or 
 south on Savannah, the rebel commanders could not tell, 
 and hence the forces at these places remained separate. 
 
 From this position Sherman looked back in his track, and 
 saw the Georgia railroad destroyed for a hundred miles, and 
 the Georgia road for more than sixty. 
 
 He had hitherto completely deceived the enemy as to the 
 point he was aiming at, but concealment was now no longer 
 possible. Sherman, however, felt no vacillation as to his 
 course, and when his columns were well closed up, and suffi 
 cient provisions stored in his wagons, he on the 2nd of Decem 
 ber, swung his noble army on Millen as on a pivot, and in six 
 grand columns by as many different roads, swept down on Sa 
 vannah, leaving Augusta as he had Macon, far in his rear. 
 
 The face of the country, through which his line of march 
 now lay, was totally different from the one he had hitherto 
 traversed. Through richly cultivated fields and plantations, 
 and past thriving towns, and peaceful country villages, 
 where every luxury abounded, the army had for weeks been 
 inarching, but now it entered on long stretches of pine for 
 ests, whose dark green branches swayed with a ceaseless 
 
528 SAVANNAH REACHED. 
 
 murmur over the soldiers heads. A river on either side 
 rolled its flood toward the Atlantic, whither the heads of 
 his columns were pressing, protecting both his flanks thus 
 performing the duty which had hitherto devolved on Kil- 
 patrick s cavalry. This force now marched in front and 
 rear, awakening the echoes of the pine forest with their 
 bugle calls, and lighting up its green arcades with the flashing 
 weapons of the bold riders. It was a strange, yet magnifi 
 cent spectacle, this mighty army moving unmolested through 
 a hostile country, its bands making the woods resonant with 
 their thrilling strains, and the gay battalions streaking them 
 with the long lines of light from their camp-fires by night. 
 
 Thus, day after day, the army swept on for more than 
 eighty miles to Savannah. About ten miles from the city, 
 the left wing struck the Charleston railroad, when it came 
 upon the skirmishers of Hardee, who was in command of 
 the troops that held the place. As the right wing ap 
 proached the outer line of the enemy s works, Sherman 
 heard the deep, heavy thunder of cannon booming over the 
 swamps and forests from Ossabaw Sound, where our fleet lay ; 
 and knew them to be signal guns for him, should he be ap 
 proaching the coast. On the 9th he answered them by 
 sending Colonel Duncan down the Ogeechee, who, three days 
 after, stepped on board one of Dahlgren s vessels, and thus 
 put the army once more in communication with the outer 
 world. 
 
 Sherman now began to close gradually but steadily in 
 upon the city. But he had no siege guns, for only field 
 artillery could be taken in the long and difficult march 
 across the State of Georgia. The former he must get up from 
 the fleet in Ossabaw Sound, or the city could not be taken. 
 But Fort McAllister, that had twice repulsed an attack by our 
 iron-clads, commanded the entrance of the Ogeechee River, 
 effectually preventing the ascent of our vessels. Its cap- 
 
FORT MCALLISTER. 529 
 
 ture, therefore was indispensable to success. It is singular 
 that the enemy did not see this and strengthen its garrison 
 and defenses landward. But thinking the great danger was 
 from the fleet, they left a garrison of less than three hun 
 dred men to hold it. 
 
 Sherman, aware of this, resolved by one bold stroke to 
 seize it, and the gallant Hazen was selected with his tried 
 division to carry it by assault. This division, the second, 
 was Sherman s old division of the Fifteenth Corps, which 
 was the corps he spoke so proudly of after the battle of 
 Missionary Ridge. When he sent word to this old favorite 
 division that he expected them to take Fort McAllister, 
 they were as delighted, says an officer, as though " he had 
 sent them a .wagon load of brandy." 
 
 On the 12th Sherman sent for Hazen, and told him what 
 he wanted him to do. In a half-hour this gallant officer 
 was off with his division, and by night reached King s bridge, 
 ten miles from the fort. The next morning he kept on till 
 within a mile of it, when he halted. Selecting nine regi 
 ments with which to make the assault, he moved them for 
 ward to within six hundred yards of the works. The fort 
 stood on the right bank of the Ogeechee, just where the 
 firm land and sea-marsh join. Between him and it, stretched 
 an open space more than a third of a mile wide, planted 
 thick with torpedoes, and swept by artillery, across which 
 in broad daylight, the storming force must march before 
 they could reach the ramparts. These were surrounded 
 by a heavy abattis, and beyond it was a deep ditch, along 
 which were driven high, strong palisades. Sherman was well 
 aware of the desperate nature of the undertaking, and designed 
 to have the fleet co-operate in the attack, so as to draw off a 
 part of the hostile force from Hazen. He had gone down the 
 river with Howard, and was at this time standing on the top of 
 a rice-mill, three miles off, on the opposite side of the stream, 
 
530 PREPARING FOR THE ASSAULT. 
 
 anxiously watching for the appearance of the expected gun 
 boat, for he had not heard from the fleet since Colonel Dun 
 can set off to communicate with it. At length he saw the 
 smoke of a steamer seaward and exclaimed, " See, Howard, 
 there is the gunboat." In a short time its signal waved, "Is 
 fort McAllister ours ?" u No," was the answering signal from 
 the rice-mill. "Can you assist?" "Yes," was the reply, 
 "what shall we do?" The thunder of guns from the fort 
 announcing that the struggle had commenced, rendered a 
 reply unnecessary. 
 
 Hazen had sent forward some sharp-shooters to within 
 two hundred yards of the fort to clear the parapets, while 
 he got his lines in position. This was attended with a good 
 deal of difficulty on the right, where the marsh was soft, 
 and crossed by a lagoon, and caused Hazen much solicitude. 
 He saw this signal flying from the top of the rice-mill, three 
 miles away, " The fort must be taken at all hazards, to-night ! " 
 and yet the sun was then almost touching the rim of the 
 western horizon. He knew that Sherman and Howard 
 were both watching him through their glasses, that Savan 
 nah was the stake at issue, and hence could not but feel the 
 fearful responsibility under which he was to fight the com 
 ing battle. His anxiety was depicted on his grave counte 
 nance, yet every lineament was fixed- and stern as fate itself. 
 At length he saw his line in position, when he called the 
 nearest bugler to him, and ordered him to sound the "At 
 tention." The prolonged warning notes swept along the 
 waiting line, and died in faint echoes over the sea. " Sound 
 it again," he exclaimed, and again the well known strain 
 stirred every heart, and called the foe to the ramparts. 
 " Sound it again," cried Hazen in sterner accents, and for 
 the third time the appealing notes swept in soft cadences 
 over the plain, making each soldier clutch his musket with 
 
THE ASSAULT. 531 
 
 a firmer grasp. Now, shouted Hazen, in tones that made 
 the bugler start, u Sound the forward." 
 
 The shrill, rapid notes shook the excited line as a sud 
 den wind-gust the tree-tops, and the next moment, with a 
 loud and ringing cheer, it bounded forward. In an instant, 
 the guns of the fort opened, sweeping all the level space the 
 brave fellows must traverse, with a horrible fire. Breasting 
 this without flinching, they came upon torpedoes, buried in 
 the sand, that exploded to their tread, sending men, man 
 gled and torn, into the air. Heedless of these, as of the fire 
 in front, they kept unhesitatingly on their terrible way, 
 moving on the double-quick, until, at length, they reached 
 the abattis. Pulling this apart by main strength, they 
 stormed through it and reached the ditch. Seizing the 
 strong palisades here, they wrenched them fiercely out, and 
 making a gap, poured through it with loud shouts, and 
 mounted the parapets. 
 
 Sherman stood on the rice-mill watching all this, through 
 his glass, with emotions that can but faintly be imagined. 
 As the blue line swept steadily onward, he exclaimed "How 
 grandly they advance ! not a waver ! " With his eye still 
 glued to that unwavering line, he, in a few seconds, again 
 exclaimed, "Look, Howard! see that flag in the advance; 
 how steadily it moves ! not a man falters. Grand, grand!" 
 After a short pause, he cried, " The flag still goes forward; 
 there is no flinching there." But in a few seconds, he said, 
 in an altered tone, " Look, it has halted ! They waver." 
 But as the smoke lifted a moment, he almost shouted, "No, 
 it s the parapet. There they go, again, right over it ! See, 
 there is a flag on the works ! another ! another ! It s ours ! 
 The fort is ours." 
 
 The firing ceased ; the rebel flag came down ; the Stars 
 and Stripes went up ; the glass dropped, and a smile lighted 
 up his features, for he well knew what a shout was going 
 
532 THE VICTORY. 
 
 up from those smoking, bloody ramparts and exclaiming, 
 " Savannah is ours," he seized a slip of paper, and wrote a 
 dispatch to the Government, closing with, " I regard Savan 
 nah as already gained." Calling one of his aids, he said, 
 " Captain, have a boat ready, I must go over there." Swift 
 rowers were soon pulling him across the river, and, just at 
 dark, he walked into the fort his face aglow with enthusi 
 asm and seizing Hazen by the hand, overwhelmed him 
 with praises, as well he might, for Hazen had captured 
 Savannah for him, and thus made his Georgia campaign the 
 decisive movement of the war. 
 
 Sherman now communicated with the fleet, and going on 
 board the Admiral s flag-ship the Harvest Moon arranged 
 with General Foster to send some siege ordnance from Hil 
 ton Head. After consulting with Dahlgren he returned to 
 his lines at Savannah. 
 
 The reports of the division Commanders on the condition 
 of things, made him determine, the moment the siege guns 
 arrived from Port Royal, to assault the enemy s works. A 
 number of thirty-pounder Parrott guns having reached 
 King s bridge, he, on the 17th, sent in a formal demand 
 for the surrender of the city, which Hardee rejected. He 
 now made further reconnoissances, and ordered Slocum to 
 get in position siege guns, and make every thing ready for 
 the final assault at the earliest moment. He also established 
 a division of troops, under Foster, on the neck between the 
 Coosawhatchie and Tullifinney Rivers, where his artillery 
 could reach the railroad, and then started for Port Royal, 
 in person, to get reinforcements for him, so that he could 
 assault and carry the railroad, and thus obtain possession 
 of the Union Causeway, from the direction of Port Royal. 
 This was the plank road on the South Carolina shore, which 
 once occupied, would complete the "investment of Sa 
 vannah." 
 
SURRENDER OF SAVANNAH. 533 
 
 He put to sea on the night of the 20th, but a gale of wind 
 arising, it was deemed impossible to get over the Ossabaw 
 Bar, and the vessel (the Harvest Moon) ran into the Tybee 
 to make the passage through the inland channel into Warsaw 
 Sound, and thence through Romney Marsh. But the ship, 
 caught in the ebb-tide, could not make the passage, and 
 Dahlgren took him in his tug toward Yernon River. To 
 his surprise, Sherman received, on the way, a message from 
 his Adjutant, Captain Dayton, stating that Savannah was 
 evacuated, and our troops already in possession of the 
 enemy s lines. He immediately hurried back, and on the 
 morning of the 22nd, rode into the City of Savannah. 
 
 The surrender of the place was made to Geary, who was 
 placed in command of the city. Sherman sent the following 
 terse dispatch to the President : U I beg to present you, as 
 a Christmas gift, the City of Savannah, with one hundred 
 and fifty guns, and plenty of ammunition, and about twenty- 
 five thousand bales of cotton." There proved to be thirty- 
 eight thousand bales. Three steamers were also cap 
 tured, besides locomotives, cars, &c., and eight hundred 
 prisoners. 
 
 Thus ended this wonderful campaign, the success of 
 which very few believed in. With an army of sixty or sev 
 enty thousand men, to swing entirely loose from his base, 
 and move, for weeks, through a hostile country, depending 
 solely on forage for supplies, was one of the boldest move 
 ments in military history. 
 
 The Southern press said, scornfully, that he was marching 
 to the u paradise of fools," and the European journals, almost 
 without exception, predicted a total failure. 
 
 At the North, his success was considered very doubtful. 
 Even Grant, in reply to Sherman s request to be allowed to 
 undertake the enterprise, said, u If you were to cut loose, I 
 do not believe you would meet Hood s army, but would be 
 
534 WEAKNESS OF THE SOUTH. 
 
 bushwhacked by all the old men, little boys, and such rail 
 road guards as are still left at home." 
 
 That march could not have been made through one of the 
 Northern States, but slavery, which the South boasted was 
 an element of strength in war, because it allowed all the 
 whites to enter the army and yet secured the cultivation of 
 the soil, was found, in an invasion, to be an element of fatal 
 weakness. The working population, in a free State, would 
 have hung around the flanks of such an invading army "like 
 lightning around the edge of a thunder-cloud," but in the 
 South, that population was all on the side of the invaders 
 in short, an element of strength to us. 
 
CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
 
 NOVEMBER-DECEMBER, 1864. 
 
 EXPEDITION FROM VICKSBURG GRIERSON^S EXPEDITION BRECKENRIDGE IN 
 
 EAST TENNESSEE STONEMAN SENT AGAINST HIM ROUT OF THE ENEMY 
 
 DESTRUCTION OF WYTIIEVILLE AND THE SALT WORKS AT SALTVILLE HOOD 
 
 ADVANCES AGAINST NASHVILLE SCHOFIELD FALLS BACK BEFORE HIM 
 
 BATTLE OF FRANKLIN SIEGE OF NASHVILLE IMPATIENCE OF GRANT 
 
 BATTLE OF NASHVILLE RETREAT OF HOOD OPERATIONS AROUND MUR- 
 
 FREESBORO CLOSE OF THE CAMPAIGN EVENTS EAST PLOT TO BURN THE 
 
 CITY OF NEW YORK ARREST AND EXECUTION OF REBEL OFFICERS WAR- 
 
 REN S EXPEDITION FIRST ATTEMPT TO CAPTURE FORT FISHER CO-OPERA 
 TIVE MOVEMENT FROM PLYMOUTH LOSS OF THE OTSEGO. 
 
 BUT while, during the months of November and Decem 
 ber, Sherman s army was leisurely making its way 
 toward Savannah, "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. General Fos 
 ter, commanding Department of the South, also sent an ex 
 pedition, via Broad River, to destroy the railroad between 
 Charleston and Savannah. The expedition from Yicksburg, 
 under command of Brevet Brigadier-General E. D. Osband, 
 (Colonel of Third United States colored cavalry,) captured, 
 on the 27th of November, and destroyed the Mississippi 
 Central railroad bridge and trestle-work over the Big Black 
 River, near Canton, thirty miles of the road, and two loco 
 motives, besides large amounts of stores. The expedition 
 from Baton Rouge was without favorable results. 
 
 "A cavalry expedition, under Brevet Major-General Gri- 
 
 erson, started from Memphis on the 21st of December. On 
 64 
 
536 EAST TENNESSEE. 
 
 the 25th, he surprised and captured Forrest s dismounted 
 camp at Verona, Mississippi, on the Mobile and Ohio rail 
 road ; destroyed the railroad, sixteen cars loaded with 
 wagons and pontoons for Hood s army, four thousand new 
 English carbines, and large amounts of public stores. On 
 the morning of the 28th, he attacked and captured a force 
 of the enemy at Egypt, and destroyed a train of fourteen 
 cars ; thence turning to the south-west, he struck the Missis 
 sippi Central railroad at Winona, destroyed the factories and 
 large amounts of stores at Bankston, and the machine-shops 
 and public property at Grenada, arriving at Yicksburg Jan 
 uary 5th. 
 
 " During these operations in Middle Tennessee, the enemy 
 with a force under General Breckenridge, entered East Ten 
 nessee. On the 13th of November, he attacked General 
 Gillem, near Morristown, capturing his artillery and several 
 hundred prisoners. Gillem, with what was left of his com 
 mand, retreated to Knoxville. Following up his success, 
 Breckenridge moved to near Knoxville, but withdrew on 
 the 18th, followed by General Ammen. Under the direc 
 tions of General Thomas, General Stoneman concentrated 
 the commands of Generals Burbridge and Gillem near Bean s 
 Station, to operate against Breckenridge and destroy or 
 drive him into Virginia, destroy the salt works at Saltville, 
 and the railroad into Virginia, as far as he could go without 
 endangering his command. 
 
 u On the 12th of December he commenced his movement, 
 capturing and dispersing the enemy s forces wherever he 
 met them. On the 16th he struck the enemy, under Vaughn, 
 at Marion, completely routing and pursuing him to Wythe- 
 ville, capturing all his artillery, trains, and one hundred and 
 ninety-eight prisoners ; and destroyed Wytheville, with its^ 
 stores and supplies, and the extensive lead works near there. 
 Returning to Marion, he met a force, under Breckenridge, 
 
SCHOFIELD AND HOOD. 537 
 
 consisting, among other troops, of the garrison of Saltville, 
 that had star-ted in pursuit. He at once made arrangements 
 to attack it the next morning ; but morning found Brecken- 
 ridge gone. He then moved directly to Saltville, and de 
 stroyed the extensive salt works at that place, a large amount 
 of stores, and captured eight pieces of artillery. Having 
 thus successfully executed his instructions, he returned Gen 
 eral Burbridge to Lexington, and General Gillern to Knox- 
 ville." 
 
 These, however, were minor movements the great inter 
 est centered around Hood s army, which Sherman had left 
 behind him. When the former found himself north of the 
 Tennessee, and his pursuer back to Atlanta, his surprise was 
 complete. He knew that it would be useless to turn about 
 and attempt to overtake him, and so he determined to advance 
 north and attack Nashville. 
 
 Schofield, with the Fourth and Twenty-third Corps, was 
 directed to keep the field and check, as much as possible, 
 his advance, so as to give Thomas time to concentrate his 
 troops. Steedman, at this time, held Chattanooga, Bridge 
 port, and that line of railroad. 
 
 After Hood crossed the Tennessee River, Schofield fell 
 back across Duck River, where he made a stand, but the 
 form er pressed him so severely that he had to retreat. Set 
 ting fire to his own. pontoon bridge, he marched swiftly for 
 Franklin, eighteen miles from Nashville, for he knew if he did 
 not cross Harpeth River first, his army would be hopelessly 
 cut off. Hood was aware of this, and strained every nerve 
 to reach the river before him. 
 
 Schofield s immense train crippled him sadly, and at one 
 time it was doubtful if he could save it. It was a life and 
 death race, but he won it nobly. Once over the river, 
 where, if defeated, he could fall back on Nashville, he 
 resolved to deal his powerful adversary one blow before 
 
538 BATTLE OF FRANKLIN. 
 
 retreating farther ; and hastily throwing up breastworks, he 
 calmly awaited his approach. Hood, confident of success, 
 boldly advanced to the attack, on the last day of Novem 
 ber, and the battle of Franklin commenced. Throwing 
 himself, with his accustomed impetuosity, on the centre 
 of Schofield s position, he carried it, and Wagner, who com 
 manded here, was forced back, losing two guns. He, how 
 ever, rallied his men, and charging back, re-took his guns, 
 and captured a whole brigade. 
 
 In spite of Cox, Wagner, Opdyke, and Stanley, Hood, at 
 last, got possession of the first line of works, though at a ter 
 rible sacrifice of life. But just at sunset, when Cox and 
 Stanley, with their re-formed lines, advanced to drive back 
 the enemy, the struggle became terrible, and assumed a sav 
 age ferocity. The rebels, though -the canister and grape of 
 the close batteries cut frightful lanes through their ranks, 
 refused to yield an inch of the ground they had so gallantly 
 won, and a gladiatorial contest followed, in which the com 
 batants stood face to face, thrusting their bayonets into each 
 other s bosoms and with clubbed muskets, and demoniacal 
 yells, fought in the deepening twilight, more like savages 
 than civilized men. 
 
 Darkness, at length, closed on this strange battle, and 
 Hood was at last compelled to give it up and retire from 
 the captured works to mourn over the loss of over six 
 thousand men, and six general officers killed, six wounded, 
 and one captured. Our loss Wits only twenty-three hundred, 
 yet Schofield having done all that he intended to do dealt 
 his adversary a blow that severely crippled him fell back 
 that night to Nashville, leaving him in possession of the bat 
 tle field. 
 
 On the same day that Schofield reached Nashville, A. J. 
 Smith, with his command, arrived in transports from St. 
 Louis, together with Steedman, with five thousand men and 
 
POSITIONS OF THE ARMIES. 539 
 
 a brigade of colored troops from Chattanooga. The latter 
 barely got through, for after the battle of Franklin, Hood at 
 once advanced his lines around the city, and effectually cut 
 off all communications south. 
 
 The rebel army occupied a series of hills, some four or 
 five miles out of Nashville, while Thomas lay behind defen 
 sive works, erected on a similar range of hills near the city. 
 Hood s only chance of success was in a sudden assault ; but 
 the moment he sat down before the place, in a regular siege, 
 his doom was sealed. 
 
 The people were at once set to work on the fortifications, 
 and two lines of works, exterior and interior, were con 
 structed at a distance from the city, varying from one to two 
 miles, with forts, redoubts, and rifle-pits, at every available 
 point, until the range of hills, occupied by our forces, was a 
 perfect net-work of fortifications. 
 
 Early in December, Thomas opened on the enemy with 
 artillery, but designed to act only on the defensive until his 
 preparations were complete. In the meantime, eight gun 
 boats, with the iron-clad Neosho, came up the Cumberland, 
 and were quite able to take care of the rebel batteries in 
 that direction. Hood evidently designed to isolate Nash 
 ville as Sherman did Atlanta, by cutting its communications, 
 yet it was not so clear how this was to be done with our gun 
 boats patrolling the river. 
 
 Thomas was at length ready to take the field, but expect 
 ing to defeat his adversary, he wanted a cavalry force with 
 which to follow up his victory, and make an utter end of 
 him, and so telegraphed to the Secretary of War. The lat 
 ter immediately directed Wilson, the chief of cavalry, to 
 seize and impress all serviceable horses that could be found 
 in Tennessee and Kentucky. 
 
 In the meantime, Grant became nervous over Thomas 
 delay, and telegraphed to him to move at once. The latter 
 
540 GRANT S IMPATIENCE. 
 
 replied that lie was not ready, and requested Grant, if lie 
 was dissatisfied with his course, to appoint a Commander in 
 his place, and he would cheerfully serve under him. Grant 
 sent back word that he had more confidence in him than in 
 any other man, and that he might take his own time still, 
 he wanted to know the reasons of his delay. 
 
 Thomas not thinking it prudent to give them, lest they 
 should leak out on the way, kept silent. This did not tend 
 to lessen Grant s solicitude, and he says, 
 
 U I grew very impatient over, as it appeared to me, the 
 unnecessary delay. This impatience was increased, upon 
 learning that the enemy had sent a force of cavalry across 
 the Cumberland into Kentucky. I feared Hood would cross 
 his whole army, and give us great trouble there. After 
 urging upon General Thomas the necessity of immediately 
 assuming the offensive, I started West to superintend mat 
 ters there in person. Reaching Washington City, I received 
 General Thomas dispatch, announcing his attack upon the 
 enemy, and the result, as far as the battle had progressed. 
 I was delighted. All fears and apprehensions were dis 
 pelled. 7 
 
 It was strange that Grant did riot feel that it was perfectly 
 safe to let Thomas have his own way, as Sherman did when 
 he placed his reputation in his keeping, and turned his back 
 on Atlanta. 
 
 Near the middle of December, Thomas finding that he 
 had all the cavalry that he could expect, though not all he 
 wanted, resolved to attack Hood behind his works. But 
 just then came a cold snap, glazing the hills with ice, so that 
 neither men nor animals could keep upon their feet, and the 
 advance was delayed until there should come a thaw. In a 
 day or two the weather changed, and on the night of the 
 14th, Thomas gave orders to be ready to attack at daylight 
 next morning. His plan was to make a feint on Hood s 
 
FIRST DAY S BATTLE. 541 
 
 right flank, and then fall with sudden, overwhelming power 
 on his left, and roll it back on the centre. A. J. Smith was 
 stationed on the right, with the Sixteenth Corps, and at 
 day-break moved forward Wilson s cavalry keeping on his 
 right along the river shore, while Wood, with the Fourth 
 Corps, closed in on his left. Schofield, with the Twenty- 
 third Corps, came in on Wood s left as a reserve. Three 
 Corps were thus concentrated on the rebel left. 
 
 Far away, on our left, Steedman, commanding a mixed 
 body of troops, was directed to push out a heavy force of 
 skirmishers before daylight, and threaten the rebel right. 
 He did so, and driving in the enemy s pickets, followed 
 close on their heels, until he came upon a battery, planted 
 behind a deep railroad cut, which the troops could not get 
 over, and hence were forced to retire. Hood, aroused 
 at early dawn by the heavy firing on his extreme right, 
 called to horse, but before he had time to ascertain the true 
 state of things there, down on his left came the two Corps 
 of Smith and Wood. 
 
 So sudden and awful was the onset, that only a feeble 
 resistance could be offered, and the rebel line crumbled 
 swiftly before it, and in a twinkling the left was hurled, in 
 confusion, back on the centre. "This let the cavalry loose, 
 and now Wilson swept round and past the right like a thun 
 derbolt, and hung like an avenging cloud on the flank 
 and rear of the rebels, as they fell suddenly back on their 
 
 centre." 
 
 Aroused to the imminent peril that threatened him r 
 Hood now ordered over troops from his right to stay the 
 reversed tide of battle and from all the heights around 
 Nashville, could be seen the hurrying lines of infantry and 
 artillery sweeping to the rescue. 
 
 But though his left was gone, the position he held in the 
 centre was a strong one ; high hills covered with breast- 
 
542 HOOD S NEW POSITION. 
 
 works, lined with rifle-pits, and fringed with abattis, beyond 
 which frowned heavy batteries commanded all the open 
 country below. Smith paused before this formidable bar 
 rier, and began to reconnoitre. Wood and Schofield now 
 came up, and all day long, Hood s intrenchments were swept 
 by a fierce artillery fire, while here and there the infantry 
 attempted to find a weak spot in his lines. But no impres 
 sion was made on the strong position which the enemy occu 
 pied, and no particular advantage gained, except the pos 
 session of a battery, which was carried by a gallant rush. 
 Still, the results of the whole day footed up well two thou 
 sand prisoners captured, with sixteen pieces of artillery. 
 
 As the day declined, and darkness began to creep over 
 the landscape, Thomas, who saw that no more could be 
 done that night, ordered the firing to cease, and turning his 
 horse s head, rode off to Nashville to telegraph his success to 
 Washington. 
 
 Just as he was leaving the field he remarked to an officer, 
 in his quiet way, " So far I think we have done pretty well. 
 Unless Hood decamps to-night, to-morrow Steedman will 
 double up his right, Wood will hold his centre, Smith and 
 Schofield again strike his left, while the cavalry work away 
 at his rear." 
 
 That night Hood took up a new and strong position, two 
 miles in rear of his, first, by which his lines were shortened 
 from six miles to three. Thomas, carrying out his original 
 plan, ordered Steedman to move at daylight against the 
 enemy s right as before, while Wood advanced over the 
 deserted works straight on the centre. Their orders, how 
 ever, were merely to feel the hostile line and wait till Smith 
 and Schofield broke with the thunder-crash of the day before 
 on the rebel left. But the latter, too, were directed simply to 
 hold their ground, until the cavalry which had been sent in a 
 wide circuit to the rear, could be heard from. 
 
SECOND DAY S BATTLE. 543 
 
 Hood had again committed the mistake that he did at 
 Atlanta, when he sent off all his cavalry to cut Sherman s 
 communications, leaving that Commander to place his army 
 where his own would be effectually destroyed. He posses 
 sed a fine body of cavalry, under Forrest, superior in num 
 ber to that of Thomas, but he had sent it down the Cum 
 berland after our transports, and back to Murfreesboro , to 
 waste its energies in dashing against our strong defenses. 
 Thomas was aware of this, and hence had no fear that it 
 would interfere with his movements. 
 
 It was a long time, however, before our cavalry was 
 heard from. It had made a wide detour to prevent the 
 movement from being detected, so that noon came without 
 any thing of importance being done. There had been heavy 
 artillery firing all the forenoon, and Hood was evidently 
 momentarily expecting an attack. Smith and Schofield 
 chafed under the inaction, and sent to Thomas for permis 
 sion to assault, but he firmly refused. The short winter s 
 day wore on, and night threatened to come before any thing 
 was accomplished. But Thomas remained imperturbable as 
 ever, amid all the impatience and excitement around him. 
 At length, about four o clock, a prolonged fire of rifles and 
 carbines, that swept around the rebel flank, and crept up 
 along Hood s rear, told him that the hour had come. His 
 blue eye flashed with sudden inspiration, and turning to his 
 aids, he said, "Now tell Generals Schofield and Smith to 
 advance." 
 
 The aids dashed off to deliver the order, but before they 
 reached these impatient Generals, the latter were already ad 
 vancing. With leveled bayonets and loud, defiant shouts, the 
 columns moved straight on and over the rebel works. Wood, 
 in the centre, at once advanced and came upon a strong 
 fort which commanded the Franklin pike, and aided by 
 Steedman on the left, with his colored troops, attempted to 
 
544 A GALLANT CHARGE. 
 
 cany it. At first, the assaulting columns were repulsed with, 
 fearful slaughter, but the troops rallied when they heard the 
 shouts of Wood s and Schofield s battalions, as, storming over 
 the hostile batteries, they scaled the bald hill in their front, 
 and again moved with loud cheers against the fort, and cap 
 tured it, with nine pieces of artillery. 
 
 A gentle rain was falling, and not a breeze stirred the 
 leafless branches of the dripping trees, while this whirlwind 
 of death was sweeping the heights. Borne back at every 
 point, the enemy abandoned their batteries, and throwing 
 away every thing that could impede their flight, sped in dis 
 may over the country. 
 
 Said a captured Brigadier-General, in speaking of the last 
 charge, u Why, Sir, it was the most wonderful thing I ever 
 witnessed. I saw your men coming and held my fire a full 
 brigade, too until they were in close range, could almost 
 see the whites of their eyes, and then poured my volley right 
 into their faces. I supposed, of course, that when the smoke 
 lifted, your line would be broken and your men gone. But 
 it is surprising, Sir, it never even staggered them. Why, 
 they did not even come forward on a run. But right along, 
 cool as fate, your line swung up the hill, and your men 
 walked right up to and over my works and around my brig 
 ade, before we knew that they were upon us. It was aston 
 ishing, Sir, such fighting." 
 
 Over five thousand prisoners, one Major-General, three 
 Brigadiers, and more than two hundred commissioned offi 
 cers were captured, not to mention the killed and wounded. 
 Forty pieces of artillery were taken, with any quantity of 
 small arms, battle-flags, &c. 
 
 Thus, in two days, Thomas had taken some eight thou 
 sand prisoners, and between fifty and sixty pieces of ar 
 tillery. 
 
 As on the day before, so now, night put an end to the 
 
THE PURSUIT. 545 
 
 conflict, and our army bivouacked on the field, while the 
 demoralized rebel army retreated through the darkness to 
 Harpeth River. At -daylight, the next morning, the Fourth 
 Corps, with the cavalry, commenced the pursuit. On the 
 night of the 19th, Hood crossed Duck River and took up 
 the bridge. 
 
 Thomas, in his report, says, "the pontoon train coming 
 up to Rutherford s Creek about noon, of the 21st, a bridge 
 was laid during the afternoon, and General Smith s troops 
 were able to cross. The weather had changed from dismal 
 rain to bitter cold, very materially retarding the work in 
 laying the bridge, as the regiment of colored trops, to whom 
 the duty was intrusted, seemed unmanned by the cold, and 
 totally unequal to the occasion." 
 
 This caused a serious delay, but a whole day was lost in 
 a manner not mentioned in any report. The pontoon train 
 took the wrong road, when it left Nashville, and had been 
 gone a part of a day before the mistake was discovered. At 
 Columbia, Forrest s cavalry, that had been operating against 
 Murfreesboro , joined the army, and formed a strong rear 
 guard for it. 
 
 Hood now saw the folly of dividing his forces, for Bates 
 division of Cheatham s Corps, with which Forrest had been 
 sent against Murfreesboro , was repulsed in its attack on the 
 first block house five miles north of the place, and after 
 ward with another division, and twenty-five hundred of 
 Forrest s cavalry, was driven from before Fort Rosecrans, 
 which was under the command of Rousseau. Attacked in 
 their position by Milroy with seven regiments, the rebels 
 were defeated, with a loss of over four hundred men. Al 
 though Buford, with his cavalry, entered the town the same 
 day, he was speedily driven out, so that Hood had weakened 
 his army to no purpose and now the whole, once more uni 
 ted, fled back toward Alabama. 
 
546 REBEL PLOTS AT THE NORTH. 
 
 Thomas kept up the pursuit, though the roads were ter 
 rible ; but he succeeded in inflicting only slight loss on the 
 enemy. 
 
 On the last of the month, Hood crossed the Tennessee, 
 when it was abandoned, and the campaign ended. 
 
 This virtually closed the war in the Valley of the Missis 
 sippi. Thomas had done his work well and thoroughly, and 
 vindicated the high opinion of Sherman, and nobly fulfilled 
 the trust that had been imposed on him. 
 
 But while the months of November and December brought 
 such glorious victories to our armies West and South, the 
 Army of the Potomac won only the laurels due to patient 
 endurance. 
 
 Among the minor events of November, was the attempt 
 to burn the City of New York. The diabolical plot origi 
 nated in Canada, among the rebel refugees there, and was 
 attempted to be put in execution on the night of the 25th 
 of the month. Intrusted to bungling hands, it failed of 
 success, though the fires were started in various buildings. 
 Captain Robert A. Kennedy, of the rebel service, was after 
 ward arrested, at the West, for complicity in it, and tried 
 and executed at Fort Lafayette the following Spring. 
 
 Beall, the rebel officer, who in September destroyed two 
 steamboats on the Lakes, was arrested in December, near 
 Suspension Bridge, for attempting to throw a train of cars 
 off the railroad track, and in February was also hung on 
 Governor s Island. 
 
 On the 20th of the month, the country was startled by a 
 Proclamation of the President, calling for three hundred 
 thousand more troops. Up to this time, two and a half mil 
 lions of men had been called for, either for permanent or 
 temporary service, though nothing like this number ever 
 entered the field. 
 
 Although the army around Petersburg was engaged in no 
 
EXPEDITION AGAINST FORT FISHER. 547 
 
 battles while such stirring events were transpiring West and 
 South, it was not idle. On the 7th of December, General 
 Warren, with twenty thousand men, moved south toward 
 Hatcher s Run, and in two days reached Bellefield Station, 
 on the Moherrin River, forty miles from Petersburg, where 
 he destroyed the rebel works, depot, &c. The next day he 
 commenced his return march, destroying every thing in his 
 line of march, and twenty miles of the Weldon railroad. 
 
 The most important event, however, of the month, con 
 nected with the Army of the Potomac, was the attempt to 
 capture Fort Fisher, which commanded the entrance to 
 Cape Fear River. 
 
 Wilmington, at this time, was the most important seaport 
 left to the South, for through it she got most of her supplies, 
 and from which she sent out blockade-runners, loaded with 
 cotton and other products. The blockade had been only 
 partially maintained here, and it was deemed very important 
 by the Navy Department that it should be taken. Besides, 
 it was a point of great strategic importance. 
 
 As there has been much dispute respecting the cause of 
 the failure of the first attempt to capture the fort, and a 
 direct issue made between the Commanders of the naval and 
 land forces, on questions of fact, we prefer to let General 
 Grant give the history of the affair himself. 
 
 u To secure the possession of this land required the co-opera 
 tion of^i land force, which I agreed to furnish. Immediately 
 commenced the assemblage in Hampton Roads, under Ad 
 miral D. D. Porter, of the most formidable armada ever col 
 lected for concentration upon one given point. This nec 
 essarily attracted the attention of the enemy, as well as that 
 of the loyal North ; and through the imprudence of the 
 public press, and very likely of officers of both branches of 
 service, the exact object of the expedition became a subject 
 of common discussion in the newspapers both North and 
 
548 BUTLER S ORDERS. 
 
 South. The enemy, thus warned prepared to meet it. This 
 caused a postponement of the expedition until the latter 
 part of November, when, being again called upon by Hon. 
 G. Y. Fox, Assistant Secretary of the Navy, I agreed to 
 furnish the men required at once f and went myself, in com 
 pany with Major : General Butler, to Hampton Roads, where 
 we had a conference with Admiral Porter as to the force re 
 quired and the time of starting. A force of six thousand, 
 five hundred men was regarded as sufficient. The time of 
 starting was not definitely arranged, but it was thought all 
 would be ready by the 6th of December, if not before. 
 Learning on the 30th of November that Bragg had gone to 
 Georgia, taking with him most of the forces about Wilming 
 ton, I deemed it of the utmost importance that the expedi 
 tion should reach its destination before the return of Bragg, 
 and directed General Butler to make all arrangements for 
 the departure of Major-General Weitzel, who had been des 
 ignated to command the land forces, so that the navy might 
 not be detained one moment. 
 
 " On the 6th of December the following instructions were 
 given : 
 
 "Guv POINT, Va., Dec. 6, 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, the 
 second will be to capture Wilmington itself. There are reasonable grounds 
 to hope 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 di 
 rections 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 whilst the enemy still holds Fort Fisher and the batteries 
 guarding the entrance to the river, then the troops should intrench them 
 selves, and, by co-operating with the navy, effect 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 
 
GRANT ON BUTLER. 549 
 
 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 immediately 
 in command of the troops. 
 
 " Should the troops under General Weitzel fail to effect a landing at or 
 near Fort Fisher they will be returned to the armies operating against Rich 
 mond without delay. 
 
 U. S. GRANT, Lieutenant General. 
 
 Major General B. F. Butler. 
 
 " General Butler commanding the army from which the 
 troops were taken for this enterprise, and the territory 
 within which they were to operate, military courtesy re 
 quired that all orders and instructions should go through 
 him. They were so sent ; but General Weitzel has since 
 officially informed me that he never received the foregoing 
 instructions, nor was he aware of their existence until he read 
 General Butler s published official report of the Fort Fisher 
 failure, with my endorsement and papers accompanying it. 
 I had no idea of General Butler s accompanying the expedi 
 tion until the evening before it got off from Bermuda Hun 
 dred, and then did not dream but that General Weitzel had 
 received all the instructions, and would be in command. I 
 rather formed the idea that General Butler was actuated by 
 a desire to witness the effect of the explosion of the pow 
 der-boat. The expedition was detained several days at 
 Hampton Roads, awaiting the loading of the powder-boat. 
 
 u The importance of getting the Wilmington expedition 
 off without any delay, with or without the powder-boat, had 
 been urged upon General Butler, and he advised to so notify 
 Admiral Porter. 
 
 "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 Beau 
 fort to get ammunition for the monitors. The sea becoming 
 rough, making it difficult to land troops, and the supply of 
 
550 SUTLER S POWDER-BOAT. 
 
 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 24th, before the return of General Butler from Beau 
 fort ; but it would seem from the notice taken of it in the 
 Southern newspapers, that the enemy were never enlight 
 ened as to the object of the explosion until they were in 
 formed by the Northern press. 
 
 u On the 25th a landing was effected without opposition, 
 and a reconnoissance, under Brevet Brigadier General Curtis, 
 pushed up toward the Fort. But before receiving a full 
 report of the result of this reconnoissance, General Butler, 
 in direct violation of the instructions given, ordered the re- 
 embarkation of the troops and the return of the expedition. 
 
 " The re-embarkation was accomplished by the morning 
 of the 27th." 
 
 The powder-boat was Butler s device, he- having read of 
 the effects of the explosion of a large amount of powder in 
 England. It was placed under the command of Commander 
 A. C. Rhind, who, with Lieutenant S. W. Preston, Engineer 
 A. T. E. Mullen, and Acting Master s Mate Paul Boyden, 
 and seven men undertook the perilous task of towing it in. 
 Having anchored it within four hundred yards of the fort, 
 he set fire to the fuse that was to explode it, and, hast 
 ening back to the Wilderness, steamed away twelve miles 
 to avoid the effects of the explosion. The whole fleet lay 
 off at this safe distance. The object was to explode the 
 magazine of the fort, and blow it and the garrison together 
 into the air. It proved however quite a harmless affair, 
 but the bombardment that followed w^as one of the most 
 terrific ever witnessed. 
 
 The fleet of Porter consisted of seventy-three vessels, 
 carrying in all six hundred and fifty-five guns, some of them 
 
A GUNBOAT SUNK. 551 
 
 of the largest calibre. For two days it was kept up, com 
 pletely silencing the fort, which Porter insists could easily 
 have been taken by a man of any enterprise. 
 
 There is one short sentence in Grant s report, which for 
 keen sarcasm, and quiet humor cannot be surpassed. In 
 speaking of his ignorance that Butler was to command the 
 expedition he says, " I had rather formed the idea that Gen 
 eral Butler was actuated by a desire to witness the effect of the 
 explosion of the powder-boat ." 
 
 This ended the extraordinary military career of General 
 Butler, for soon after he was superseded by Ord. 
 
 As a co-operative movement in this expedition, General 
 Palmer sent off a force from Plymouth^ which proceeded 
 up the Roanoke River beyond Jamestown, but not being 
 sustained by the gunboats that were kept back by the tor 
 pedoes in the river, it effected nothing of importance. In 
 the fore part of the month the gunboat Otsego was sunk in 
 the river by one of these torpedoes. 
 
 65 
 
CHAPTER XXXIX. 
 
 JANUARY, 1865. 
 
 GUERRILLAS PEACE RUMORS RELIEF FOR THE DESTITUTE IN SAVANNAH 
 
 GRANT PLANS A SECOND EXPEDITION AGAINST FORT FISHER TERRY COM 
 MANDS, IT THE . BOMBARDMENT THE ASSAULT AND VICTORY EVACUATION 
 
 OF OTHER FORTS IN THE VICINITY THOMAS ARMY BROKEN UP SMITH S 
 
 COMMAND SENT TO JOIN CANBY SCHOFIELD s CORPS ORDERED EAST 
 
 NORTH CAROLINA MADE A SEPARATE MILITARY DEPARTMENT NARROW ES- 
 
 . CAPE OF THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC PEACE COMMISSIONERS APPOINTED 
 
 BY DAVIS THEIR INTERVIEW WITH THE PRESIDENT AND SECRETARY OF 
 
 STATE EXCHANGE OF PRISONERS SOUTHERN PRISON LIFE INHUMANITY 
 
 OF THE SOUTH ANDERSONVILLE PRISON CAPTAIN W1RZ, THE COMMAN 
 DANT, TRIED AT WASHINGTON AND HUNG. 
 
 THE beginning of the year 1865 exhibited no active mil 
 itary movements in any part of the country. Guer 
 rillas still swarmed in Kentucky, and other border States 
 the steamer Yenango was burned by them, on the Missis 
 sippi, and the more desperate the cause of the Confederacy 
 became, the more vindictive and ferocious seemed their 
 conduct. 
 
 Peace rumors were afloat, which acquired importance 
 from the repeated visits of Francis P. Blair, Senior, to Rich 
 mond. 
 
 The destitution of the people of Savannah, called forth 
 the sympathies of the citizens of New York, and provi 
 sions and supplies, of various kinds, were furnished for their 
 relief. 
 
 But under all this apparent quietness, the most important 
 preparations were going on. Not only was Sherman getting 
 ready for his northern march, but Grant, indignant at the 
 failure of the expedition against Fort Fisher, was quietly 
 
A DOUBTFUL ENTERPRISE. 553 
 
 preparing for a second and more serious attempt to capture 
 it. His movements were all so secretly made, that the pub 
 lic journals got no hint of his intentions until his work was 
 accomplished. 
 
 Still, we must confess that we cannot see the wisdom of 
 this second expedition. When Sherman reached Savannah, 
 Grant directed him to place his army on transports and join 
 him at City Point, in order to aid him in his projected oper 
 ations against Richmond. But after the defeat of Hood by 
 Thomas, he changed his plans, and wrote to Sherman, ask 
 ing him what, under the circumstances, he ^ thought it best 
 to do. The latter replied, that he would, at once, come to 
 him by sea if he desired, but that he had expected to march 
 to Columbia, South Carolina, and thence to Raleigh, where 
 he would report to him. 
 
 Grant says: "The confidence he manifested in this letter 
 of being able to march up and join me, pleased me, and, 
 without waiting for a reply to my letter of the 18th, I direct 
 ed him, on the 28th of December, to make preparations to 
 start, as he proposed, without delay, to break up the rail 
 roads in North and South Carolina, and join the armies oper 
 ating against Richmond as soon as he could." 
 
 Now, this order was sent the day after the re-embarkation 
 of the troops that, under the first expedition, were to assault 
 Fort Fisher. Hence, Grant was perfectly aware of Sher 
 man s plan to march north to Raleigh, and was so confident 
 of its practicability that he approved of it. But he also 
 knew that if Sherman succeeded in carrying out that plan, 
 Fort Fisher and Wilmington would fall of themselves. No 
 one knew better than he, that the enemy could no more 
 hold Wilmington, with Sherman marching on Raleigh or 
 Goldsboro , than he could Charleston, with him marching on 
 Columbia. 
 
 Before he reached even Fayetteville, these places would 
 
554 TERRY S EXPEDITION. 
 
 be evacuated, or the garrisons hopelessly cut off; hence, to 
 our apprehension, it would have been just as wise to have 
 sacrificed the lives of our soldiers in an attack on Charles 
 ton, at this time, as on Wilmington. A glance at the map 
 will make this plain, and any one will see that nothing be 
 tween Sherman s line of march and the sea could be held by 
 the rebels. 
 
 The original plan of attempting to capture Fort Fisher 
 was not Grant s, but it having failed, he determined that it 
 should be carried out. Taking the same troops that Butler 
 had, with the addition of only a small brigade numbering 
 about fifteen hundred men, he placed them under General 
 Terry, also a civilian Commander, with orders similar to 
 those which he had given to the former, or rather to Weit- 
 zel. In neither case did he direct that an assault on the fort 
 should be made he left this entirely u to the discretion of 
 the commanding officer." 
 
 The expedition sailed from Fortress Monroe on the 6th 
 of January, u arriving on the rendezvous off 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 destination that evening." The next morning, 
 the disembarkation of the troops commenced, and by three 
 o clock was completed without loss. The next day a recon- 
 noissance was made to within five hundred yards of the fort, 
 " and a small advance work taken possession of, and turned 
 into a defensive line against any attempt that might be made 
 from the fort." 
 
 The third day, Sunday, was fixed upon for the assault, 
 but, in the meantime, the fleet had kept up a terrible fire 
 upon the fort. It attacked in three columns. The first, led 
 by the Brooklyn, numbered one hundred and sixteen guns ; 
 the second, by the Minnesota, one hundred and seventy-six 
 guns; while the third, composed of gunboats, numbered 
 
ASSAULT ON FORT FISHER. 555 
 
 one hundred and twenty-three in all, over four hundred 
 guns, that played with fearful precision on the hostile works. 
 When the firing was most rapid, shells fell at the rate of four 
 every second. 
 
 Under this horrible fire, guns were dismounted, embra 
 sures blown open, and traverses disappeared with amazing 
 rapidity. 
 
 A force of marines and sailors, numbering about two 
 thousand, was to assault from the sea-side, at the same time 
 that the columns of Terry advanced from the land-side. For 
 three hours previous to the assault, the four hundred guns 
 of the fleet were worked to their utmost capacity, till the 
 ponderous shells fell thick as hailstones from heaven, on the 
 doomed fort driving the garrison to the casemates. The 
 parapets were twenty-five feet thick, and twenty feet high, 
 and surrounded by a strong palisade. About two hundred 
 yards in advance of this, was strung a line of torpedoes, 
 eighty-five feet apart each one containing a hundred pounds 
 of powder, and all connected by wires. Fortunately, the 
 shells from the fleet had cut the wires leading to those that 
 lay in the path of the assaulting columns. The shells, also, 
 broke down a part of the palisade, so that they had almost 
 a clear sweep to the ramparts though in some places they 
 had to be cut away or beaten down. 
 
 At length, every thing being ready, at three o clock the 
 signal was given, and the three brigades the first led by 
 Curtis, the second by Pennypacker, and the third by Bell 
 dashed forward, following one another about three hundred 
 yards apart, making, in their final rush, for the west end on 
 the land-side. As they started, Porter ran up his signal 
 which set all the steam-whistles shrieking. This was the 
 signal to change the fire of the fleet from the fort, and con 
 centrate it on the batteries to the left and above, to avoid 
 hitting our own troops. The smoke hanging over the 
 
556 THE VICTORY. 
 
 mighty armada, out of which arose the shriek of countless 
 steam- whistles, and carne incessant explosions too quick to 
 count the volcano that opened from the fort, as with loud 
 cheers those gallant brigades drove on, combined to make 
 that Sabbath afternoon one of the most terrific the earth 
 ever witnessed. On the sea-side, the marines and sailors 
 dashed gallantly forward, but were swept like chaff before 
 the wind, from the ramparts. Terry s troops, however, 
 boldly mounted those in their front, when a fearful hand to 
 hand conflict followed. Soon the high parapets swallowed 
 up the combatants, but the work of death went on within. 
 Shouts and curses, mingled with volleys of musketry, made 
 the interior of that fort a pandemonium but our troops, bent 
 on victory, won their way steadily from traverse to traverse 
 in spite of the desperate opposition of the enemy. 
 
 The wintry sun went down on the strange scene, and 
 darkness closed around the combatants. Fighting in the 
 fitful light of the flashes of musketry, and of the flaming 
 shells streaking the sky above them, they drove the garrison 
 back step by step, until at last, at half past nine the fort was 
 cleared. A long, loud shout arose from the bosom of the 
 bloody and trampled works, and then Terry s signal torches 
 flamed from the summit, announcing to Porter that the place 
 was won. The firing ceased, and rockets were immediately 
 sent up from the flagship, signaling to the fleet the glorious 
 news, when cheer after cheer rung over the water, ship, 
 answering ship in the darkness the shouts being echoed 
 back from the fort, till land and sea shook with the wild 
 huzzas. About midnight, General Whitney, and Colonel 
 Lamb, the Commanders, with the garrison, eighteen hundred 
 in number, surrendered. Seventy-three guns fell into our 
 hands, besides the camp equipage and stores. 
 
 Our loss was six hundred and forty-six in killed and 
 wounded, while that of the enemy was only four hundred. 
 
A NARROW ESCAPE. 557 
 
 Unfortunately, in the morning the magazine blew up, killing 
 and wounding several hundred more. Among our officers 
 who fell in the assault were Colonels Bell and Moore, and 
 Lieutenant Colonel Lyman, killed, and Colonels Curtis, Pen : 
 nypacker and Lieutenant Colonel Coan, wounded. In the fleet 
 the loss of which in the assault was about two hundred, 
 Lieutenants Preston and Porter were killed, and Lamson and 
 Bache, wounded. The other forts in the vicinity, one after an 
 other, with eighty-three cannon now fell into our hands, the 
 garrisons retiring to Wilmington. 
 
 In the meantime Thomas army being no longer needed 
 in Tennessee, was broken up ; and A. J. Smith s command, 
 with a division of cavalry, ordered to report to General 
 Canby, while Schofield s Corps was brought east and sent to 
 Fort Fisher, and Newbern. North Carolina was created a 
 separate military department, and placed under the latter, 
 with orders to report to General Sherman. 
 
 But while we were rejoicing in our victories on the Cape 
 Fear River, a disaster came very near befalling the Army 
 of the Potomac, that would speedily have wiped out its 
 remembrance. Knowing that our war vessels were nearly 
 all away at the former place, the rebels on the night of the 
 24th sent four iron-clads down the James River, with the in 
 tention of severing the armies on the two sides of the stream, 
 and, reaching City Point to destroy the communications of 
 the army. A heavy rebel force in the meantime, was 
 massed north of the James, to fall on our army there the mo 
 ment success was announced. The signal of this was to be the 
 burning of a high tower at City Point, erected by us for the 
 purpose of overlooking the enemy s lines. The iron-clads 
 broke through the obstructions at Dutch Gap canal passed 
 Fort Brady drove back the only vessel we had stationed 
 in the river, and bid fair to reach City Point. The utmost 
 
558 PEACE NEGOTIATIONS. 
 
 consternation prevailed along our lines, and officers were 
 seen galloping off in every direction. Fortunately the 
 vessels grounded and one of them was blown up, and the other 
 destroyed so that the well-laid scheme totally failed. 
 
 In the Court of Inquiry summoned to investigate this 
 affair, every officer but General Grant that was examined 
 as a witness, testified, that had the rebel iron-clads reached 
 City Point, the siege of Petersburg and Richmond would 
 have been raised, as not another pound of provisions could 
 have been got to the army. Grant, on the contrary, said he 
 had provisions enough on hand, that with great economy 
 might last two weeks, and he thought in that time the Gov 
 ernment would have succeeded in re-opening his communi 
 cations. Thus it will be seen even on Grant s testimony, that 
 his salvation would have depended alone on outside help, and 
 not on any thing that he could do. The country never 
 dreamed how narrow was our escape, and how much de 
 pended on a few, more or less inches of water. 
 
 The close of the month was made memorable by the ar 
 rival at Fortress Monroe of Alexander H. Stevens, Vice 
 President of the Confederacy, R. M. T. Hunter, of Virginia 
 and J. A. Campbell, of Alabama, as Peace Commissioners 
 from Jefferson Davis. President Lincoln and Secretary 
 Seward met them two or three days after, on board a 
 steamer, and had an informal interview. The rebel com 
 missioners wished a postponement of the question of sepa- 
 tion, and proposed a cessation of hostilities and the resump 
 tion of intercourse between the two sections, to see what 
 time and the subsidence of passion might effect. But Mr. 
 Lincoln mildly yet firmly insisted on a complete restoration 
 of the national authority every where, as the first condition 
 to a cessation of hostilities, and hence the interview broke 
 up without any beneficial results. 
 
EXCHANGE OF PRISONERS. 559 
 
 Nothing awakened more indignation at the North in the 
 progress of the war than the treatment of our prisoners by 
 the South, which during this Winter reached its climax. As 
 stated in the previous volume, for more than a year after the 
 war commenced we would consent to no cartel with the 
 rebels, as it recognized them as belligerents but finally, in 
 the Summer of 1862 one was agreed upon, in which it was 
 stipulated that prisoners should be exchanged man for man, 
 and the excess, on either side, be paroled until regularly 
 exchanged. 
 
 At that time the balance was greatly against us, and 
 hence the cartel worked in our favor. But the introduction 
 of colored regiments into our army, the soldiers of which the 
 rebel authorities refused to place on the same footing as 
 white ones, brought on an acrimonious correspondence 
 between the Commissioners, Meredith and Ould ; the latter 
 insisting that the provisions of the original cartel should be 
 carried out, and exchanges resumed, and the other refusing 
 to consent to any exchange unless stipulations were made in 
 regard to the colored soldiers. Besides, the prisoners cap 
 tured at Vicksburg and Port Hudson, had turned the bal 
 ance in our favor by nearly thirty thousand, whom we were 
 afraid to release on parole, having no confidence in the good 
 faith of the Confederate Government. Hence, no regular 
 system of exchanges could be agreed upon. General But 
 ler endeavored, while commanding at Fortress Montroe, to 
 establish one, but failed. 
 
 At length, the whole subject assumed a character dis 
 graceful to both Governments. The rebel Government had 
 so treated Union prisoners that they were utterly worthless 
 for active service, if exchanged, while it was sadly in need 
 of soldiers for its rapidly diminishing army, and hence pro 
 posed to exchange officer for officer, and man for man, as 
 far as it could be done. To this proposition, our Commis- 
 
560 TREATMENT OF SOLDIERS. 
 
 sioner refused to accede, giving various reasons for his refu 
 sal, but they failed to satisfy the people who were becoming 
 clamorous on the subject. 
 
 The real fact was, the Secretary of War saw that while 
 we could raise an indefinite number of men, the South was 
 exhausted, and he had no idea of reinforcing its armies with 
 thirty or forty thousand able-bodied men, and getting in re 
 turn the same number of emaciated, half-starved, enfeebled 
 soldiers, that would not be fit for duty till the war was over, 
 if ever. His motives, unquestionably, were right, and he 
 thought that he was doing his country a service by keeping 
 the rebel army reduced in this way.. Doubtless, too, he 
 thought this course would be a saving of life in the end, but 
 it was cruel as the grave. 
 
 There are certain things to be done and to be left undone, 
 without regard to consequences. A ruler may think it the 
 quickest way to end a war, to massacre all the young men 
 fit to bear arms, that he can capture, but the end sought to 
 be obtained can never justify the use of such means. A 
 powerful nation, in war with a weaker one, might think that 
 the shortest way to end the struggle, would be to hoist the 
 black flag and give no quarter, and judge rightly, too ; but 
 the whole civilized world would cry out against the barbarous 
 act. And yet these measures have their excuses, but no 
 course can be justified, that, for a probable good, allows 
 brave soldiers, who have nobly struggled to sustain their 
 Government, to languish and die in prison. 
 
 There is no class of men, whose interests and welfare 
 should be so dear to the Government, as its soldiers cap 
 tured in battle. So the country felt, and the pressure be 
 came at length so great on the Administration, that it was 
 compelled to turn over the whole matter to General Grant. 
 With his strong, practical common sense, and his love of the 
 
SOUTHERN CRUELTY. 561 
 
 soldier, he did not long hesitate respecting the course he 
 ought to adopt. 
 
 Not the injustice and wickedness of the South, nor the 
 advantages that might accrue to it, could deter him from 
 acting humanely to our own soldiers, and exchanging man 
 for man as long as it could be done. 
 
 The exchange of prisoners, under his wise administration, 
 became very active, and as the emaciated, dying, half-idiotic 
 forms of humanity, that had once been brave American 
 soldiers, reached our lines, the barbaric, diabolical system 
 practised in Southern prisons became painfully apparent. 
 It was vain for the rebel authorities to say that their own 
 soldiers lacked food, and that the inhabitants were starving, 
 and that our prisoners only shared the common fate. Making 
 all due allowance for the scarcity of provisions in the South, 
 the treatment of our prisoners indicated a depth of moral 
 degradation and a savage hate, that will be a disgrace to 
 Southern civilization as long as time endures. If such inhu 
 manity and fiendish cruelty were the result of Slavery, it 
 would need no deeper damnation. 
 
 We cannot go over the sickening details of Southern 
 prison-life. Men left to perish with the scurvy slowly 
 eaten up with maggots shot without excuse, and tortured, 
 apparently, for mere love of cruelty, make up a picture from 
 which the heart of any but a Fejee would turn with loath 
 ing and abhorrence. 
 
 The principal prisons, South, were Andersonville ,and Mil- 
 len, Georgia ; Columbia, Florence, and Charleston, South 
 Carolina ; Tyler, Texas ; Salisbury, North Carolina ; Ca- 
 hawba, Alabama; Danville, Virginia; and Libby, Pember- 
 ton, Castle Thunder, and Belle Isle, Richmond. Of these, 
 Millen, Andersonville, and the Richmond prisons, were pre 
 eminent for infamous barbarity. 
 
 It is impossible to tell how many perished in these various 
 
562 ANDERSONVILLE PRISON. 
 
 prisons during the war, but some have put them as high as 
 seventy thousand. Over ten thousand perished in Ander- 
 sonville prison alone. In the latter, although the camp was 
 located in the immediate neighborhood of large forests, the 
 captives were allowed no shelter, and the sick groaned out 
 their lives on the bare ground. The treatment was not the 
 same at every period during the war, nor the same in all 
 the prisons, but at Andersonville, the record of every day 
 and month was one of horrors. Here some twenty acres 
 were inclosed by a stockade, with a swamp in the centre, 
 where, at times, thirty thousand Union prisoners were con 
 fined. This space was dotted with holes dug by the prison 
 ers to obtain a place of shelter. American soldiers and citi 
 zens were here compelled by their former fellow-citizens, to 
 burrow like wild animals in the earth. 
 
 The horrors and sufferings of this mundane hell were such 
 that some went mad and roamed about in helpless idiocy ; 
 others deliberately walked across the dead-line, as it was 
 called, to be shot, and so get rid of their misery. Those who 
 attempted to escape were hunted with blood-hounds or shot 
 down. Many of the efforts put forth by these men to keep 
 up their spirits, and brace them to endure their sufferings, 
 were most pitiful. 
 
 The rebel officers sought to take advantage of their suffer 
 ings and make them enlist in the Confederate army, but in 
 most cases without success. The brave fellows, though 
 utterly prostrated in strength and spirits, still refused to 
 betray the flag under which they had fought and so died, 
 unknown and unsung, yet noble martyrs for their country. 
 The rebel surgeons were, in most cases, humane, and re 
 monstrated with the authorities against the cruelties perpe 
 trated on Union prisoners. 
 
 Those who wish to read the heart-rending details of 
 Southern prison-life, will find them at length in the account 
 
A CRUEL POLICY. 563 
 
 of the trial of Captain Wirz, who was in immediate com 
 mand of Andersonville prison. This wretch, who, we are 
 glad to know, was not born in this country, was arraigned 
 soon after the close of the war, before a military commission 
 in Washington, tried, convicted and hung. 
 
 There is no language too strong to express the enormity 
 of the guilt of the Southern authorities. On the other hand, 
 there can be no justification of a policy, on our part, that 
 would permit tens of thousands of brave soldiers to perish 
 under untold sufferings, when they might have been saved. 
 If the principle, laid down by Mr. Lincoln, and given on a 
 former page, had been carried out, a greater part of this 
 misery might have been prevented. 
 
CHAPTER XL. 
 
 JANUARY-FEBRUARY, 1865. 
 
 THE RIGHT WING OF SHERMAN S ARMY THREATENS CHARLESTON THE LEFT 
 
 AUGUSTA THE ARMY DELAYED BY HEAVY FLOODS KILPATRICK s CAVAL 
 RY FORCING OF THE SALKEHATCHIE THE ENEMY DECEIVED, AND THEIR 
 
 FORCES HOPELESSLY SEPARATED DESTRUCTION OF THE CHARLESTON AND 
 
 AUGUSTA RAILROAD CAPTURE OF ORANGEBURG CROSSING THE EDISTO 
 
 CAPTURE OF COLUMBIA BURNING OF THE CITY DISTRESS OF THE INHAB 
 ITANTS BURNING OF WINNSBORO CHARLOTTE, N. C., THREATENED SHER 
 MAN SUDDENLY STRIKES EAST FOR FAYETTEVILLE CAPTURE OF CHERAW 
 
 FALL OF CHARLESTON JUNCTION OF THE TWO WINGS CAPTURE OF FAY 
 ETTEVILLE COMMUNICATIONS OPENED WITH SCHOFIELD AND TERRY BAT 
 TLE OF AVERYSBORO BATTLE OF BENTONVILLE OCCUPATION OF GOLDS- 
 
 BORO END OF THE CAMPAIGN SHERMAN VISITS GRANT AT CITY POINT 
 
 SPEEDY REFITTING OF THE ARMY. 
 
 CAMPAIGN OF THE CAROLINAS. 
 
 SHERMAN, having rested his army at Savannah and 
 completed his plans, began, in the middle of January, 
 to send off a part of his troops, in transports, to Beaufort, 
 preparatory to the commencement of his campaign through 
 the Carolinas. But his army was not in motion until the first 
 of February. It numbered about sixty-five thousand men, 
 and was divided into four Corps, with a train of four thou 
 sand five hundred vehicles, of all kinds, which, if stretched 
 in a single line, in marching order, would have extended 
 forty-five miles. Each Corps, however, had its own train, 
 which occupied a separate road so as to avoid crowding or 
 delay. 
 
 The news of his departure from Savannah filled the South 
 with alarm, and the North with solicitude The question 
 
SHERMAN S PLAN. 565 
 
 was in every one s mouth, " Where next will this extraordi 
 nary man go?" Some thought that he would first strike 
 Augusta, others, Charleston. But he had a grander object 
 in view than the immediate capture of either of these places. 
 Standing in Savannah, he cast his eyes north five hundred 
 miles to Goldsboro , and determined to carry his gallant 
 army thither, right through the heart of two hostile States. 
 One standing by his side and looking forward on the route 
 the brave Chieftain had marked out for his columns, must 
 have been amazed at the mighty enterprise on which he was 
 about to enter. 
 
 One rebel army lay at Charleston, on his right, another -at 
 Augusta, on his left North Carolina swarmed with troops, 
 while every step he advanced took him nearer to Lee s 
 gathered forces at Richmond. Large rivers were to be 
 crossed, swamps traversed, and battles fought, before he 
 could reach the goal of his wishes. 
 
 In organizing this campaign, Sherman resolved to make 
 Columbia his first objective point. To do this, without 
 being compelled to fight heavy battles, it was necessary to 
 keep the rebel armies at Charleston and Augusta divided. 
 United they could make the rivers successive lines of de 
 fense, which could not be carried without severe loss. He, 
 therefore, determined to threaten both places at the same 
 time, and thus keep the enemy at each in a state of suspense 
 and anxiety, and afraid to move in any direction. In car 
 rying out this plan, he directed Slocum, with the left wing 
 and Kilpatrick s cavalry, to move up the Savannah River 
 and threaten Augusta, while Howard advancing from the 
 sea-coast, was to threaten Charleston. 
 
 By this adroit management he prevented the enemy from 
 doing the only thing that promised success viz., the con 
 centration of his forces on the line of the swampy Salke- 
 hatchie. Had this been done, and both Charleston and Au- 
 
566 SLOCUM S WING. 
 
 gusta abandoned, Sherman would have had great trouble in 
 carrying out his plans for supposing that he could, with 
 his superior strength, have forced this line, still the rebels, 
 by the central position they would occupy, could have fallen 
 back toward Columbia and made another stand on the Edisto. 
 If, on the other hand, he had attempted to outflank, as he 
 did, on the way from Chattanooga to Atlanta, his flanks 
 and trains would have been greatly exposed while crossing 
 the rivers. By trying to save too much, the rebel Com 
 manders lost every thing, and that too without even the 
 honor of fighting for it. 
 
 The supplies for the right wing were completed at Poca- 
 taligo, and those for the left at Sister s Ferry. At the latter 
 place, Slocum and Kilpatrick were detained a long time by 
 a heavy flood in the river, which, overflowing its banks, cov 
 ered all the surrounding country with water, so that the 
 inundated lowlands made the stream, at this point, three 
 miles wide. 
 
 It was an extraordinary flood, and as Slocum looked at 
 the spreading sea, and thought of his urgent orders to 
 advance without delay, he was filled with great anxiety, and 
 impatiently waited for the waters to subside. As soon, how 
 ever, as the crossing could be commenced with any degree 
 of safety, he put his army in motion, and the columns, half- 
 waist deep in the water, moved rapidly over the inundated 
 fields. 
 
 When he reached solid ground, in order to make up for 
 lost time, he marched eighteen miles a day, though he was 
 constantly compelled to halt and re-bridge streams, and 
 remove trees that the enemy had felled across the road, 
 while the wintry rains made the march heavy, and the night 
 encampment cold and gloomy. 
 
 Kilpatrick in the meantime pushed on toward Augusta, 
 and by his daring advance caused all the rebel troops in the 
 
THE SALKEHATCHIE FORCED. 567 
 
 vicinity to be concentrated there for its defense, leaving no 
 enemy for Slocum to encounter. 
 
 Howard moved from Pocataligo on the last day of the 
 month, leaving Hatch s division behind, in order to keep up 
 the appearance of marching on Charleston by the railroad 
 bridge over the Salkehatchie at that point. He found in his 
 march the roads obstructed by trees felled across it, and the 
 bridges over the swollen streams burned, but the pioneer 
 battalion removed the one, and rebuilt the other so quickly, 
 that the columns were scarcely compelled to halt. 
 
 A railroad runs across the state from Charleston to Au 
 gusta, and half way between the two stands Midway Sta 
 tion, lying due south from Columbia. Toward this point 
 Howard directed his columns. But he had first to cross the 
 Salkehatchie, which the rebels held in force, " having in 
 fantry and artillery intrenched at River and Beaufort 
 bridges." The Seventeenth Corps was ordered to carry 
 River bridge, and the Fifteenth Corps Beaufort bridge. 
 
 Mower and Giles A. Smith, with their divisions promptly 
 carried the former on the 3d of February "by crossing the 
 swamp, nearly three miles wide, with water varying from 
 knee to shoulder deep." Although the weather was bitter 
 cold, those two gallant Commanders led their divisions on 
 foot, wading the deep, chilly water side by side with the 
 soldiers, and making a lodgment below the bridge, drove 
 the rebel brigade that guarded it in terror toward Branch- 
 ville. Our loss in this bold and brilliant movement was lit 
 tle less than ninety. 
 
 The line of the Salkehatchie being thus broken, the rebels 
 could make no stand until they reached the Edisto at Branch- 
 ville, a place lying some sixty miles out from Charleston. 
 The army then pushed rapidly for the railroad at Midway, 
 which it reached on the 7th, and at once began to tear it 
 up. The left wing under Slocum struck it farther up to- 
 
 66 
 
568 CROSSING THE EDISTO. 
 
 ward Augusta, and also commenced the work of destruc 
 tion. The rebel forces at Aiken and Augusta, on the one 
 hand, and those at Branchville and Charleston on the other, 
 were now hopelessly divided, and unable to act in concert. 
 
 Leaving the left wing still at work destroying the rail 
 road, Sherman with the right moved north on Orangeburg. 
 The Seventeenth Corps crossed the South Fork of the 
 Edisto, at Binnaker s bridge, and marched straight on the 
 place, while the Fifteenth Corps crossed at Holman s bridge 
 and moved to Poplar Springs in support. 
 
 The rebel Commander had so long thought of nothing, and 
 labored for nothing, but to save Charleston, that he could 
 not be persuaded that it was not the chief object of Sher 
 man s desires, and continued to lie behind his fortifications 
 at Branchville, to protect it. Still, he had. caused the 
 bridge over the Edisto to be burned, and stationed a force 
 at the spot to oppose the passage of our army. Ford, with 
 the advance division, as he approached the burned bridge, 
 was saluted with a heavy fire of artillery, which arrested his 
 progress. Lower down, however, by wading to the armpits, 
 and often swimming, the men succeeded in launching four 
 pontoon boats into the water, and just as the moon was 
 rising, the division was got across, which, pouncing upon 
 the astonished rebels in flank, scattered them in confusion 
 through the moonlit woods. For fifteeen miles along this 
 river the spread-out army made demonstrations at different 
 points, so that the scattered enemy could do very little in 
 opposing the passage, except by skirmishing. 
 
 The rebel force in Orangeburg now fled north to Colum 
 bia, and this place, with a population of three thousand, 
 fell into our hands. A conflagration, however, was raging 
 at the time, which the soldiers, under the orders of Howard 
 and Sherman, labored hard to extinguish. The place was 
 set on fire by a Jew, in revenge for fifty bales of cotton 
 
COLUMBIA REACHED. 569 
 
 belonging to him, and destroyed by the rebels. The negro 
 pioneers here ran riot among the ornamented grounds of the 
 wealthy citizens. Sherman says : u Blair was ordered to de 
 stroy the railroad effectually up to Lewisville, and to push the 
 enemy across the Congaree, and force him to burn the bridges, 
 which he did on the 14th, and, without wasting time or 
 labor on Branchville or Charleston, which I knew the enemy 
 could no longer hold, I turned all the columns straight on 
 Columbia." The left wing swept on in the same direction, 
 farther to the west, over the Edisto, and across swamps and 
 streams ; straight through the heart of the proud, rebellious 
 State, the mighty columns moved with resistless power, till 
 on the 16th, Howard drew up on the banks of the Saluda, 
 in front of Columbia. An hour later the head of the ad 
 vance column of the left wing appeared on the shore of the 
 same stream, farther to the west, and the Capital of South 
 Carolina lay under our guns. The Mayor surrendered the 
 city, and Sherman, in anticipation of it, says : "I had made 
 written orders to General Howard, touching the conduct of 
 the troops. These were to 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 first to cross the pon 
 toon bridge, and in company with General Howard, rode 
 into the city. The day was clear, but a perfect tempest of 
 wind was raging. The brigade of Colonel Stone was al 
 ready in the city, and properly posted. Citizens and sol 
 diers 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 every where, the rope 
 
570 BURNING OF THE CAPITAL. 
 
 and bagging cut, and tufts of cotton were blown about in 
 the wind, lodged in the trees and against 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 
 labor of our soldiers." If must be remembered that the 
 army did not enter Columbia. The Fifteenth Corps alone 
 marched through, and encamped beyond on the Camden 
 road. The Seventeenth did not enter the place at all, while 
 the entire left wing and cavalry did not come within two 
 miles of it. A single brigade was placed within it on duty. 
 Sherman says : u 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 build 
 ings around. About dark they began to spread, and got be 
 yond 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 unmanagable, and raged until about four A. M., 
 when, the wind subsiding, they were got under control. I 
 was up nearly all night, and saw Generals Howard, Logan 
 and Wood, and others, laboring to save houses and to pro 
 tect families, thus suddenly deprived of shelter, and of bed 
 ding, and wearing apparel. I disclaim on the part of my 
 army, any agency in this fire, but, on the contrary, claim 
 that we saved what of Columbia remains unconsumed." 
 He acknowledges, what any one acquainted with armies, 
 would know must be inevitable that, while the officers 
 and men worked hard to extinguish the flames, u others 
 not on duty, including the officers who had long been im 
 prisoned there, rescued by me, may have assisted in spread 
 ing the fire, after it had begun, and may have indulged in 
 unconcealed joy to see the ruin of the Capital of South 
 Carolina." 
 
PILLAGING PARTIES. 571 
 
 All know what soldiers and released prisoners will do in a 
 burning city, whether set on fire by friend or foe. The law 
 less and vindictive, and mercenary, will help to swell the 
 conflagration, and add plunder and cruelty to the destruc 
 tion caused by the flames. Hence those familiar with the 
 history of invading armies will be prepared for the follow 
 ing description of an officer who was an eye-witness : 
 
 " Pillaging gangs soon fired the heart of the town, then 
 entered the houses, in many instances carrying off articles 
 of value. The flame soon burst out in all parts of the city, 
 and the streets were quickly crowded with helpless women 
 and children, some in their night-clothes. Agonized moth 
 ers, seeking their children, all affrighted and terrified, were 
 rushing, on all sides, from the raging flames and falling 
 houses. Invalids had to be dragged from their beds, and 
 lay exposed to the flames and smoke that swept the streets, 
 or to the cold of the open air in back yards. 
 
 " The scene at the convent was a sad one indeed. The 
 flames were fast encompassing the convent, and the sisters 
 and about sixty terrified young ladies huddled together on 
 the streets. Some of these had come from the North, previ 
 ous to the war, for their education, and were not able to re 
 turn. The superioress of the convent had educated General 
 Sherman s daughter, Minnie. He had assigned them a spe 
 cial guard of six men ; so they felt secure, and were totally 
 unprepared for the dreadful scene that ensued. Some 
 Christian people formed a guard around this agonized group 
 of ladies, and conducted them to the Park. 
 
 " I trust I shall never witness such a scene again drunken 
 soldiers, rushing from house to house, emptying them of 
 their valuables, and then firing them ; negroes carrying off 
 piles of booty, and grinning at the good chance, and exult 
 ing, like so many demons ; officers and men reveling on the 
 
572 A SAD SPECTACLE. 
 
 wines and liquors, until the burning houses buried them in 
 their drunken orgies. 
 
 " I was fired at for trying to save an unfortunate man from 
 being murdered. 
 
 " The scene of desolation the city presented next morning 
 was fearful. That long street of rich stores, the fine hotels, 
 the court-houses, the extensive convent buildings, and last 
 the old Capitol, where the order of secession was passed, 
 with its fine library and State archives, were all in one heap 
 of unsightly ruins and rubbish. Splendid private residences, 
 lovely cottages, with their beautiful gardens, and the stately 
 rows of shade trees, were all withered into ashes. 
 
 " The ruins alone, without the evidences of human misery 
 that every-where met the view, were enough to inspire one 
 with feelings of deep melancholy. 
 
 u Here was desolation heightened by the agonized misery 
 of human sufferings. 
 
 u There lay the city wrapped in her own shroud the tall 
 chimneys and blackened trunks of trees looking like so 
 many sepulchral monuments, and the woe-stricken people, 
 that listlessly wandered about the street, her pallid mourners. 
 
 " Old and young moved about seemingly without a pur 
 pose. Some mournfully contemplated the piles of rubbish, 
 the oely remains of their late happy homesteads. 
 
 "Old men, women, and children were grouped together. 
 Some had piles of bedding and furniture which they saved 
 from the wreck ; others, who were wealthy the night previ 
 ous, had not now a loaf of bread to break their fast. 
 
 u Children were crying with fright and hunger; mothers 
 were weeping ; strong men, who could not help either them 
 or themselves, sat bowed down, with their heads buried be 
 tween their hands. 
 
 u The yards and offices of the Lunatic Asylum were 
 crowded with people who had fled there for protection the 
 
DEVASTATION. 573 
 
 night previous. Its wards, too, had received new subjects, 
 for several had gone crazy from terror, or from having lost 
 their children or friends in the flames." * 
 
 Having finished his work, and leaving behind enough pro 
 visions to sustain, for some time, the homeless population 
 of the place, Sherman marched north toward Charlotte, 
 followed by a horde of negroes and refugees. The army 
 being spread out as much as possible, to obtain forage, it 
 moved over the fertile country like the locusts of Egypt. 
 " A garden was before them, a desert behind them." The 
 steady, on-pouring columns, with their long trains, filled the 
 inhabitants with unbounded terror, and well they might, 
 for throughout the army, there reigned a feeling of intense 
 hatred against this traitorous, rebellious, little State and 
 though plundering and violence were forbidden, in an army 
 spread over such a vast extent of country they could not 
 be prevented, and no soldier felt inclined to inform against 
 even a reckless camp-follower, for firing a South Carolinian s 
 house. 
 
 Says an officer : "In Georgia few houses were burned ; 
 here, few escaped ; and the country was converted into one 
 vast bonfire. The pine forests were fired, the resin factories 
 were fired, the public builings and private dwellings were 
 fired. The middle of the finest day looked black and gloomy, 
 for a dense smoke arose on all sides, clouding the very 
 heavens. At night the tall, pine trees seemed so many huge 
 pillars of fire. The flames, hissed and screeched, as they fed 
 on the fat resin and dry branches, imparting to the forests a 
 most fearful appearance. 
 
 "Vandalism of this kind, though not encouraged, was sel 
 dom punished. True, where every one is guilty alike, there 
 will be no informers ; therefore the Generals knew little of 
 what was going on. 
 
 * Captain Conyngliam. 
 
574 MARCHING ON FAY ETTE VILLE. 
 
 " The ruined homesteads of the Palmetto State will long 
 be remembered. The army might safely march the darkest 
 night ; the crackling pine woods shooting up their columns 
 of flame and the burning houses along the way would light 
 it on, while the dark clouds and pillars of smoke would safely 
 cover its rear." 
 
 Slocum, with the left wing, and Kilpatrick s cavalry cov 
 ering his left flank, moved to Winnsboro 7 , lying north-west 
 of Columbia, which the foragers set on fire before he could 
 arrive with his columns to prevent it. 
 
 Beauregard had fallen back on Charlotte from Columbia, 
 thinking that it would be the next place on which Sherman 
 would move. Cheatham s Corps, of Hood s old army, was 
 striving to make a junction with him at this place having 
 marched all the way from Augusta almost parallel with Kil 
 patrick s cavalry. 
 
 A heavy rain storm now set in, making the roads almost 
 impassable, yet Sherman, for two days, pushed on toward 
 Charlotte but on the 23rd the army suddenly made a grand 
 right-wheel, and facing the rising sun, left this place, as it 
 had Augusta and Charleston, far in the rear. Breasting the 
 pitiless storm, this noble army pushed forward toward Fay- 
 etteville the line of march cutting the swollen rivers that a 
 hundred years before so obstructed Cornwallis in his pursuit 
 of Greene. 
 
 Kilpatrick, in the meantime, covered this movement as 
 long as he could, in order to enable the army to get across 
 these formidable rivers without opposition. But when it was 
 discovered that Sherman was actually crossing the country to 
 Fayetteville, Hampton and Wheeler, with the rebel cavalry, 
 attempted to reach the place first, on which Hardee, in his 
 retreat from Charleston, was marching. In endeavoring to 
 prevent this junction, Kilpatrick undertook to hold three 
 roads, over any one of which he thought the enemy might 
 
KILPATRICK SURPRISED. 575 
 
 pass. On one of them, with a small force, he lay one night, 
 when his camp was suddenly surprised by Hampton, and 
 swept like a whirlwind. 
 
 His head-quarters were carried in a twinkling, and all his 
 artillery captured, while he and his bold troopers were driven 
 into a swamp. His case now seemed hopeless, but looking 
 out from his hiding place, he saw that the rebels were wholly 
 taken up with plundering his camp, when rallying his re 
 maining men, he charged them so suddenly and fiercely that 
 they were driven back in confusion. Instantly turning the 
 artillery on them he completed their discomfiture, and seized 
 with panic they fled, leaving all the captured prisoners and 
 artillery in his possession. 
 
 Crossing the Catawba without loss, Sherman struck for the 
 Pedee, at Cheraw, where the rebels made a feeble stand, but 
 were swept away with a single blow, leaving twenty-five 
 pieces of artillery in our hands. 
 
 In the meantime the news reached the army that Charles 
 ton was evacuated, and the Union flag once more flying over 
 Fort Sumter. 
 
 The troops, under Hardee, commenced leaving the place 
 on the night of the 16th, and by next night were all gone. 
 At midnight, some soldiers fired the upper part of the city, 
 destroying the railroad depots, in which were two hun 
 dred kegs of powder, and a vast amount of cotton. The 
 half-starved poor of the city rushed into the burning build 
 ings to snatch from the flames some of the rice stored in 
 them, when the powder exploded killing a hundred or 
 more. 
 
 At daylight, the rebel rams in the harbor blew up .with a 
 terrific explosion. 
 
 The next morning, the 18th, the Mayor surrendered the 
 city to Gillmore, with all the surrounding forts, and the Na 
 tional flag floated once more over what had been the empo- 
 
576 FAYETTEVILLE REACHED. 
 
 Hum of the South now a heap of blackened ruins. Here 
 rebellion had been hatched for the purpose of degrading 
 that flag, and at the same time preventing all interference 
 with the servile condition of the black man and behold the 
 result ! A colored regiment, with well-set ranks, wearing the 
 National uniform and bearing above them that glorious flag, 
 marched into its streets as conquerors. Human history can 
 scarcely present another such a contrast, produced in the 
 short space of four years. 
 
 Gillmore reported four hundred and fifty pieces of cannon 
 captured in the various defenses of the place, before which 
 he had sat down in siege, five hundred and eighty-five days 
 before. For five hundred and forty days the city had been 
 under fire. 
 
 Only some ten thousand inhabitants, of the lower classes, 
 remained after its evacuation. Its overthrow was hailed 
 with unbounded delight at the North, and scarce a sigh was 
 heaved over its wide-spread desolation. 
 
 At Cheraw, the right and left wings of Sherman s army 
 met for the first time since leaving Savannah, and now, 
 together, marched on Fayetteville, which the advance col 
 umns reached on the 12th of March. 
 
 In anticipation of his arrival, he had sent trusty scouts to 
 Wilmington, nearly a hundred miles distant, to announce 
 his near approach. Our troops had entered this place about 
 a fortnight before. Schofield, in conjunction with Porter, 
 of the Navy, moved his forces up both sides of the Cape 
 Fear River, and advanced against Fort Anderson the ene 
 my s main defense on the west bank of the river which the 
 garrison at once evacuated. During the following two days, 
 some fighting occurred, but on the 22nd of February, our 
 troops had possession of the place. 
 
 On the arrival of the scouts, the United States steam-tug 
 Davidson was started up the river, and reached Fayetteville 
 
BATTLE OF AVERYSBORO. 577 
 
 on the same day that Sherman s columns approached it, and 
 was hailed by the latter with loud cheers. 
 
 A few hours later she returned with dispatches from Sher 
 man to Terry, in command at Wilmington, and to Schofield 
 who had transferred his Corps to Newbern, directing them to 
 move at once on Goldsboro, and join him there, where he 
 himself expected to be in five days. He knew that he would 
 soon need these columns, that had been planted on the sea 
 board, on purpose to aid him, for he cpuld no longer prevent 
 the concentration of the enemy s forces. He was aware that 
 Cheatham had effected a junction with Beauregard, and that 
 both were marching on Raleigh, and that Hardee, who had 
 evacuated Fayetteville at his approach, was falling back in 
 the same direction. These, joined by Johnston and Hoke, 
 with the forces from Wilmington and Newbern would make 
 a formidable army. 
 
 Schofield, however, had some difficulty in making his way 
 inland, for he was attacked on the 8th at Wise s Forks, and 
 driven back with severe loss. Two days after, the enemy 
 following up his success, attacked his intrenched position, 
 but was repulsed with such a heavy loss that he was com 
 pelled to retreat. On the 14th Schofield crossed the Neuse 
 and occupied Kinston. 
 
 The next day after this success, Sherman put his columns 
 in motion up the Cape Fear River, as though his objective 
 point was Raleigh instead of Goldsboro on the Neuse, up 
 which Schofield was to march. 
 
 Hardee in his retreat from Fayetteville, had halted on a 
 narrow, swampy neck of land between Cape Fear and South 
 Rivers, near Averysboro, and with twenty thousand men now 
 occupied an intrenched position. Here Kilpatrick found him 
 and sent back word to Slocum. The latter, after getting his 
 forces well up, began to feel the enemy s lines. The ground 
 was so swampy that horses mired at every step, and it was 
 
578 ATTACK ON SLOCUM. 
 
 difficult for the infantry to operate ; but it was necessary that 
 this position should be carried and amid torrents of rain, 
 and fearful gusts of wind he advanced to the attack and 
 drove the enemy in confusion from their works. Our loss 
 in the engagement was about six hundred. The rebels re 
 treated in the night during a frightful storm, leaving one 
 hundred and eight dead on the field. 
 
 The next day Slocum ceased his movement on Raleigh, and 
 wheeling to the right, crossed South River, swollen by the 
 rains, and took the road to Goldsboro, whither Howard farther 
 to the east was marching, " wallowing along the miry roads." 
 
 On the 18th both wings were within a few miles of the 
 place, and Sherman, thinking there would be no more oppo 
 sition to his advance, left Slocum and started across the 
 country to see Howard. But he had gone scarcely six miles 
 when he was startled by the sudden, angry roar of artil 
 lery behind him, evidently coming from the spot where 
 Slocum s army lay. While listening to the heavy explo 
 sions, wondering what they could mean, a staff-officer gal 
 loped up, and quieted his anxiety by saying that it was 
 merely an affair between Carlin s division and the rebel 
 cavalry, and that the latter were in full retreat. In a few 
 moments however, other officers arrived, who, to his sur 
 prise informed him that Slocum had suddenly found himself 
 confronted by the whole of Johnston s army near Benton- 
 ville. Comprehending at once the new and dangerous posi 
 tion of affairs, he sent back word to Slocum to stand solely 
 on the defensive until he could hurry up troops to his relief. 
 Officers immediately dashed off over the country, bearing 
 dispatches one to Blair, to make a night march with his 
 Corps, to Falling Creek Church, and with three divisions 
 of the Fifteenth Corps to come up in Johnston s rear from 
 the direction of Cox s bridge another to Howard, to move, 
 minus his wagon guard, at daylight on Bentonville. 
 
BATTLE OF BENTONV1LLE. 579 
 
 While thus engaged in dispatching his orders, other cou 
 riers arrived, from Schofield and Terry. Ordering the for 
 mer to march on Goldsboro, and the latter to move to Cox s 
 bridge ten miles above, and establish a crossing there, he 
 once more gave his undivided attention to Slocum, and the 
 unexpected battle thus suddenly thrown upon him. 
 
 The latter, however, seemed to feel no uneasiness, and 
 choosing an admirable position, placed his artillery so as to 
 sweep his entire front. He then sent on Morgan s division 
 to establish another line about a half a mile in advance. 
 Against this Johnston advanced in overwhelming numbers, 
 and hurled it in confusion back, capturing three guns and 
 caissons. Slocum, seeing the heavy force opposed to him, 
 at once deployed the two divisions of the Fourteenth Corps, 
 General Davis, and hurried forward at their utmost speed 
 the two divisions of the Twentieth Corps, General Williams. 
 A line of barricades was hastily prepared, and the whole 
 force put strictly on the defensive. In the meantime Kil- 
 patrick aroused by the thunder of artillery, came dashing 
 down the roads and massed his squadrons on the left. It 
 was now four o clock in the afternoon, and Slocum had 
 hardly got every thing ready when the enemy came on in 
 one of their dashing, impetuous charges. In three massive 
 columns, they swept up to his frail barricades, and threat 
 ened by mere weight of numbers to carry every thing be 
 fore them. Mowed down by our batteries, and the deliber 
 ate deadly volleys of the infantry, the first column recoiled, 
 when the second, undaunted by the repulse of the first, 
 charged with a cheer. But right in its path stood Davis 
 Corps that won such immortal honor on the bloody field of 
 Chickamauga and stopped it with one terrible blow. The 
 whole fury of the attack spent itself in less than an hour, 
 and yet in that time the enemy had made six successive as 
 saults, and in the last charge broke Slocum s line, but it 
 
580 RETREAT OF JOHNSTON. 
 
 quickly rallied, and charging in turn^ drove him back. So 
 close and desperate was the combat that many of the rebel 
 dead lay within our lines, and even around the head-quar 
 ters of the Generals. 
 
 
 
 That night Slocum got up his wagon train, with its guard 
 of two divisions, and the gallant Hazen s division, with 
 which reinforcements he felt able to hold his ground, al 
 though Johnston, with Hoke s, Cheatham s and Hardee s 
 Corps, greatly outnumbered him. The next day, Howard 
 came up and connected with his left. Sherman now had 
 his invincible army well in hand and presenting a strong 
 line of battle in front of the enemy s intrenched position. 
 Johnston had concentrated his forces rapidly, intending to 
 catch the army divided, and break it up in detail. Instead 
 of that, he suddenly found it all together, and boldly con 
 fronting him in his works. It was not, however, Sherman s 
 wish to bring on a battle here, unless every thing was in his 
 favor, and so he contented himself with pressing forward 
 the skirmishers, and playing with his batteries on the woods 
 in which the enemy lay, and threatening his strongly pro 
 tected flanks. 
 
 This was the state of things on the 21st of March; on 
 which day Schofield entered Goldsboro , and Terry got pos 
 session of the Neuse River at Cox s bridge, ten miles above, 
 with a pontoon bridge across, and one brigade over. It 
 was a stormy day, and the rain fell in torrents, yet during it 
 Mower managed to work well around the enemy s flank, to 
 the right, and nearly reached Mill Creek bridge the only 
 line of his retreat. "A noisy battle," as Sherman termed 
 it, followed, and in the night Johnston retreated. Our total 
 loss was sixteen hundred and forty-six. 
 
 Directing Howard, with the cavalry, to remain next day 
 on the field and bury the dead, he gave orders for the troops 
 to move to the various camps assigned them around Golds^ 
 
A GREAT MARCH. 581 
 
 boro . After visiting Terry, at Cox s bridge, he rode into 
 the town, where he found Schofield already arrived. 
 
 The campaign was now ended, for he had reached the 
 point for which he had started the Autumn before. But 
 what an astonishing march it had been ! A desolate tract of 
 country, forty miles wide, and between two and three hun 
 dred miles long, across the State of Georgia, and one 
 equally wide, and far more desolate, for nearly five hundred 
 miles, from Savannah to the heart of North Carolina, marked 
 its line of progress. 
 
 Sherman now turned over his army to Schofield, and has 
 tened to City Point to consult with Grant respecting the 
 next move to be made. Here he also met the President, 
 who welcomed him with great cordiality. 
 
 In the meantime, Quarter-master Meigs came down, and 
 in a fortnight supplied twenty thousand men with shoes, and 
 one hundred thousand with clothing, and every thing neces 
 sary for entering on another campaign. 
 
CHAPTER XLI. 
 
 FEBRUARY APfilL, 1865. 
 
 INTERVIEW BETWEEN GRANT AND SHERMAN REVIEW OF THE MILITARY FIELD 
 
 CANBY S PREPARATIONS AGAINST MOBILE STONEMAN S ADVANCE FROM 
 
 EAST TENNESSEE CAVALRY RAID FROM VICKSBURG ANOTHER FROM EAST- 
 PORT, MISSISSIPPI SHERIDAN S RAID UP THE SHENANDOAH VALLEY AND 
 
 ROUND RICHMOND TO THE WHITE HOUSE HE REACHES THE ARMY OF THE 
 
 POTOMAC THE SAME DAY AS SHERMAN GRANTS PLAN TO MOVE AROUND 
 
 THE REBEL RIGHT FLANK REBEL ATTACK ON FORT STEADMAN SHERMAN 
 
 RETURNS TO HIS ARMY GRANT BEGINS HIS MOVEMENT UNEXPECTED 
 
 SUCCESS BATTLE OF FIVE FORKS GRAND ASSAULT OF THE ENEMY S LINES 
 
 EVACUATION OF PETERSBURG AND RICHMOND LEE RETREATS TOWARD 
 
 DANVILLE THE PURSUIT LINCOLN AND DAVIS ON THE DAY OF THE BAT 
 TLE WEITZEL ENTERS RICHMOND THE CITY FIRED BY THE REBELS LEE 
 
 HARD PRESSED HIS RETREAT CUT OFF GRANT DEMANDS HIS SURRENDER 
 
 THE CORRESPONDENCE THE CAPITULATION SURRENDER OF THE TROOPS 
 
 OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA JOY OF THE NORTH OVER THE VICTORY. 
 
 THE interview between Grant and Sherman was one of 
 intense interest. The subject of the consultation was 
 no less than the manner in which the death blow should be 
 given to the rebellion, for the final, decisive hour both be 
 lieved to be near at hand. Still, a mistake on their part at 
 this juncture might prove fatal while a wise move in the 
 right direction would bring complete triumph. The stake 
 for which they were to throw, was this Great Republic, and 
 they might well ponder on the threshold of such a momen 
 tous event. 
 
 Sherman from the 1st of February had been locked up in 
 the heart of the enemy s country, and hence knew but im 
 perfectly, either what Grant had done, or intended to do ; 
 
STONEMAX AND CANBY. 583 
 
 but now the military map was spread out before him, and 
 the field of operations, both past and present, unfolded and 
 explained. 
 
 First, as he was starting from Savannah, Grant had di 
 rected Thomas to send General Stoneman from East Tennes 
 see, down into South Carolina, with a cavalry force to de 
 stroy the railroads, and military resources of the country. 
 But before he could get away, Sherman was well-nigh 
 across the State doing that work himself. Grant, therefore, 
 on the last of February, ordered Thomas to send him, in 
 stead, with four or five thousand cavalry east, to destroy the 
 railroad toward Lynchburg, in which work he was now en 
 gaged. At this time Canby was preparing a movement 
 from Mobile Bay against Mobile, and Thomas was directed, 
 in order to make a diversion in his favor, to send a cavalry 
 force, ten thousand strong, from Eastport, Mississippi, deep 
 into Alabama. In the meantime another body, seven or 
 eight thousand strong, was to move east from Yicksburg for 
 the same purpose. These movements, Grant thought, with 
 the work done in South Carolina, were " all that would be 
 wanted to leave nothing for the rebellion to stand on. 1 
 
 Sheridan, in the meantime had completed his raid from 
 the Shenandoah Valley. On the 20th of February, Grant 
 telegraphed to him to take a cavalry force as soon as the 
 roads could be traveled and advance on Lynchburg, and after 
 destroying the railroad and canal near it, to push on if prac 
 ticable, and join Sherman who was inferior to the enemy in, 
 cavalry, and might be in great need of reinforcements to 
 this arm. 
 
 On the 27th of the month, with two divisions of cavalry 
 in all ten. thousand men he left Winchester, and by a 
 rapid movement succeeded, two days after, in securing the 
 bridge across the middle fork of the Shenandoah at Mount 
 
 Crawford, and the next day entered Staunton. The rebel 
 67 
 
584 SHERIDAN S RAID. 
 
 troops in the Valley as before stated, had mostly been with 
 drawn to reinforce Lee at Richmond, yet Early was still 
 here with a moderate force, and on the approach of Sheri 
 dan fell back to Waynesboro and intrenched. The latter 
 pushed rapidly on after him, and arriving in front of his 
 works, without waiting even for a reconnoissance, ordered 
 the bugles to sound the charge. With a rush and a hurrah 
 the bold riders dashed over every obstacle and carried the 
 position like a whirlwind, capturing sixteen hundred prison 
 ers, eleven pieces of artillery, with horses and caissons com 
 plete, two hundred loaded wagons and teams, and seventeen 
 battle flags. 
 
 Sending the prisoners back under an escort to Winches 
 ter, he moved on to Charlottesville, destroying the railroad 
 and bridges as he advanced. Reaching this place on the 
 3d, he halted two days to break up the railroad and bridges 
 toward Lynchburg and Richmond, and to wait for the ar 
 rival of his trains. This delay gave the enemy at Lynch 
 burg time to prepare for his approach, and he abandoned the 
 design of capturing it. 
 
 On the 6th, he again put his force in motion, dividing it 
 into two columns ; one of which marched to Scottsville, from 
 whence it moved up the James River to New Market, de 
 stroying the locks, and in many places the banks of the canal. 
 From this point a force was sent out to secure a bridge 
 across the river at Duiguidsville, but the enemy, apprised 
 of the movement, burned it. 
 
 The other column moved down the railroad, toward 
 Lynchburg, and destroyed it to within sixteen miles of 
 the place. 
 
 Unfortunately the spring floods had so swelled the river 
 that the pontoons which Sheridan had brought along would 
 not reach across the river, and the enemy having burned the 
 bridges, he was unable to get over and move south as he 
 
GRANT S PLAN. 585 
 
 intended, and join Sherman. Of course, nothing was now 
 left him to do, but either to retrace his steps, or, advancing 
 down the river, sweep around Richmond to the north, and 
 put himself in communication with Grant s army by reach 
 ing a new base at the White House. He chose the latter 
 course, and keeping on toward the rebel Capital, destroying 
 the railroad as he advanced, at length on the 10th concen 
 trated his forces at Columbia. Here he rested one day, and 
 sent off trusty scouts to Grant, informing him of his plans, 
 and asking that supplies be sent to him at the White House. 
 Two days after, these scouts were brought into the Lieuten 
 ant General s presence, who immediately on receiving Sher 
 idan s message, dispatched an infantry force to hold the 
 White House. 
 
 Sheridan, in the meantime, marched forward toward Rich 
 mond, sending consternation into the rebel Capital. A 
 strong column was at once sent out to cut him off, but 
 wheeling to the left, he crossed the North and South Anna 
 Rivers burning the bridges behind him and moving down 
 the north bank of the Pamunkey, reached the White House 
 on the 19th. Halting here to rest and refit, he marched 
 across to James River, and on the 27th, the very day of 
 Sherman s arrival, joined the Army of the Potomac. 
 
 Grant no*w determined to send him around the rebel left, 
 and reach, if possible, the South-side and Danville railroads. 
 As this would be the line of Lee s retreat, should he evacu 
 ate Richmond and attempt to join Johnston, who was oper 
 ating against Sherman s army, it was of vital importance 
 that it should be destroyed. The movement was to com 
 mence on the 29th two Corps being directed to advance 
 in the same direction to support him, and, if possible, turn 
 the rebel position at Petersburg. But two days before it 
 was to take place, the rebels carried by sudden assault Fort 
 
586 FORT STEADMAN. 
 
 Steadman, in front of the Ninth Corps, and brought on an 
 unexpected battle. 
 
 Whether Lee designed this as a movement to cover his 
 own retreat, or hoped to break through our lines, and sud 
 denly wheeling to the left, take our batteries in reserve, 
 and keeping on, cut our communications, and thus raise the 
 siege of Richmond, we cannot tell. At all events, it was a 
 bold movement, and was made so suddenly that the fort was 
 carried with a single bound, and its guns turned on us. 
 Three mortar batteries adjoining it were also taken. But 
 the troops on either flank held their ground, while Hartranft s 
 division advanced to aid Wilcox in driving the enemy out 
 of the captured works. 
 
 In the meantime our surrounding artillery was brought 
 to bear upon Fort Steadman, the fire of which became so 
 hot that the victors had to abandon their prize ; and many 
 of them, afraid to recross the intervening space to their own 
 lines, surrendered. Our loss was nine hundred and nine 
 teen, while we took nineteen hundred prisoners. Meade at 
 once ordered the other Corps to advance and feel the ene 
 my s line in. their front. They did so, and captured and 
 held the rebel picket line in front of the Second and Sixth 
 Corps, taking eight hundred and thirty-four prisoners. Thus 
 the transient success of the enemy proved a sad reverse 
 to him. 
 
 Two days after this, as we have seen, Sherman reached 
 Grant, to hold the interview mentioned in the commence 
 ment of the chapter. 
 
 The events above narrated, covered the whole military 
 field, and Sherman when put in possession of them, compre 
 hended the exact state of things. 
 
 It was plain to both Commanders, as before remarked, 
 that the time for the last, great, decided movement had 
 come. Even Davis could see that the crisis of the Confed- 
 
THE COMING CRISIS. 587 
 
 eracy was fast approaching. The year before, the pros 
 pect looked gloomy enough, and in its terror, the rebel 
 Congress had prevailed on him to make Lee Commander-in- 
 Chief of all the rebel forces. But that did not increase the 
 army, and to do this, it was resolved to enroll the slaves. 
 But this measure, if ever practicable, was adopted too late. 
 The march of events was too rapid. Lee s new power 
 gave him no new confidence. The heavens were gathering 
 black as midnight above him, and the thunder was mutter 
 ing angrily around the entire horizon. Look which way he 
 would, the rebel Chieftain saw the lightning s flash. The 
 hand-writing was being traced on the wall. 
 
 After full deliberation on the state of affairs, and the prob 
 able movements of the enemy, it was agreed that Sherman 
 should return to his army, and making a feint, as if to move 
 up the Neuse to Raleigh, march rapidly north to the line 
 of the Roanoke. This would be closing the last door on 
 Lee, and Grant knew that the moment Sherman approached 
 this river, the former would evacuate Richmond. 
 
 It seems strange that Lee remained in the rebel Capital 
 so long as he did. But knowing how closely he was watched 
 by Grant, he may have feared to leave his fortifications 
 for desertions having become so fearfully great, the moment 
 he retreated, they might and probably would be so increased 
 as to leave him but the remnant of an army, and, therefore, 
 he thought it the wisest course to wait and see if Johnston 
 could not stop Sherman s northward march. Grant, how 
 ever, felt very uneasy, and spent many an anxious night, 
 fearing that the morning light would reveal Petersburg 
 and Richmond evacuated, and the rebel army well on the 
 road to Danville, to effect a junction with Johnston. He 
 knew if he succeeded in doing this, new combinations would 
 have to be formed, and a new campaign organized. He, 
 therefore, determined to carry out his original plan, adopted 
 
588 THE FINAL MOVEMENT. 
 
 before the attack on Fort Steadman, and before the arrival 
 of Sherman. 
 
 He did not expect this to be the decided movement it 
 turned out to be. But he said, u by moving out, I would 
 put the army in better condition for pursuit, and would, at 
 least, by the destruction of the Danville road, retard the 
 concentration of the two armies of Lee and Johnston, and 
 cause the enemy to abandon much material that he might 
 otherwise save." 
 
 He, therefore, on the night of the 27th the very day 
 Sherman reached him dispatched two divisions of Ord s 
 Corps, under General Gibbon, and one division of the 
 Twenty-fifth Corps, commanded by Birney, and McKenzie s 
 cavalry, to a position near Hatcher s Run, the scene of so 
 many bitter conflicts. 
 
 Thus it will be seen, that Grant was to repeat over again 
 the unsuccessful experiment so often tried, of getting around 
 the enemy s right flank. 
 
 The whole scope, and plan and object of this movement, 
 is given so much more clearly by Grant, in the following 
 letter of instructions to Sheridan, than any language of ours 
 can do, that we quote it :- 
 
 "CiTY POINT, Va., March 28, 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 Dinwiddie Court-House. 
 Move your cavalry at as early an hour as you can, and without being eon- 
 fined 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 
 Dinwiddie, 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 circumstan 
 ces will dictate. I shall be on the field, and will probably be able to com 
 municate 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 Dan- 
 
SHERIDAN S MOVEMENTS. 589 
 
 villc road. If you find it practicable, I would like you to cross the South- 
 side road, between Petersburg 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 South-side 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 informa 
 tion to me as early as possible, so that I may send orders to meet you at 
 Goldsboro . 
 
 U. S. GRANT, Lieutenant-General* 
 
 On the morning of the 29th, the movement commenced, 
 and Sheridan, sweeping around the extreme rebel right, 
 pushed on toward Dinwiddie Court-House, which he reached 
 that night, while the left of the infantry line had ex 
 tended nearly to the junction of the Quaker and Boydton 
 plank road. 
 
 Sheridan, as we have seen, was on our extreme left next 
 to him came Warren, then Humphreys, Ord, Wright, and 
 Parke. It looked now as if Grant would succeed in get 
 ting well on the rebel flank, and he, therefore, sent word to 
 Sheridan not to cut loose to operate against the railroads, 
 saying, "I now feel like ending the matter, if it is possible 
 to do so, before going back. We will all act together as 
 one army here, until it is seen what can be done with the 
 enemy." 
 
 The next day the rain fell in torrents, turning the roads 
 into such beds of mud that neither artillery, nor trains could 
 be moved. Sheridan, however, advanced toward the Five 
 Forks, while Warren pushed on toward the White Oak road, 
 where he found the enemy in force. 
 
 Finding the enemy confronting his line, no matter how 
 far he extended it, Grant determined to give Sheridan a 
 Corps of infantry, and let him cut loose from the army, and 
 swing independently around the rebel flank, arid when this 
 
590 SHERIDAN S GENERALSHIP. 
 
 was done, advance with the other Corps sternly to the 
 assault in front. 
 
 On the morning of the 31st, Sheridan moving forward, 
 got possession of the Five Forks, while Warren advanced to 
 seize the White Oak road. The enemy, at first, retired 
 before the latter, but suddenly rallying, fell with such fury 
 on Ayers division, which had the advance, that it was 
 driven back in confusion. Following up his success, he kept 
 on, and striking Crawford next, bore him back also on the 
 Third division, under Bell, where the onset was checked. 
 A division of the Second Corps being now sent to Warren s 
 support, he re-formed his broken lines, and charging in turn, 
 drove the enemy back with heavy loss, and gained posses 
 sion of the White Oak road. 
 
 The transient success, however, of the enemy enabled him 
 to send a heavy force against Sheridan, which drove him out 
 of the Five Forks back to Dinwiddie Court-House. 
 
 " Here," says Grant, " General Sheridan displayed great 
 generalship. Instead of retreating with his whole command 
 on the main army, to tell the story of superior forces en 
 countered, 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 made his progress slow. At 
 this juncture, he dispatched to me what had taken place, 
 and that he was dropping back slowly on Dinwiddie 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 Hum 
 phreys 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." 
 
 At midnight, the Fifth Corps joined him, and feeling 
 strong enough to resume the offensive, he, in the morning, 
 
BATTLE OF FIVE FORKS. 591 
 
 again advanced to the Five Forks so called because here 
 five roads meet three of them leading directly back to the 
 South-side railroad. 
 
 Driving the enemy into his intrefiehments, he ordered a 
 general attack, which he thus describes : 
 
 u The Fifth Corps, on reaching thelVhite Oak road, made 
 a left wheel, and burst on the enemy s left flank and rear 
 like a tornado, and pushed rapidly on ; orders having been 
 given that if the enemy was routed, there should be no halt 
 to re-form broken lines. As stated before, the firing of the 
 Fifth Corps was the signal to General Merritt to assault, 
 which was promptly responded to, and the works of the 
 enemy were soon carried at several points by our brave 
 cavalrymen. The enemy were driven from their strong line 
 of works, and completely routed ; the Fifth Corps doubling 
 up their left flank in confusion, and the cavalry of General 
 Merritt dashing on to the White Oak road, capturing their 
 artillery and turning it upon them, and riding into their 
 broken ranks, so demoralized them, that they made no seri 
 ous stand after their line was carried, but took to flight in 
 disorder. Between five and six thousand prisoners fell into 
 our hands, and the fugitives were driven westward, and were 
 pursued until long after dark by Merritt s and McKenzie s 
 cavalry, for a distance of six miles." 
 
 From some unexplained cause, right in the moment of 
 victory, while Warren was in the front with his shouting 
 troops, Sheridan removed him from the command of the 
 Corps, and put Griffin in his place. 
 
 The report of this brilliant victory reached Grant just 
 after dark, and knowing the importance of the position 
 gained by Sheridan, he feared that the enemy would con 
 centrate a heavy force against him and drive him out, in 
 order to. open the way of retreat, and he at once ordered 
 Miles division of Humphreys Corps to march rapidly to re- 
 
592 A GENERAL ASSAULT. 
 
 inforce him, and at the same time directed a heavy bombard 
 ment of the enemy s lines to be kept up all night. 
 
 At four o clock next morning, he ordered a general as 
 sault, and the mighty army swept forward like the in-rolling 
 tide of the sea. Wright forced the lines in his front, and 
 passing through with his whole Corps, carried every thing 
 before him, capturing a large number of guns and several 
 thousand prisoners. Keeping on, followed by two divisions 
 of Ord, he at length met the remaining divisions of the lat 
 ter that had forced the rebel lines at Hatcher s Run, when 
 the two corps swung together to the right, closing the en 
 emy on that side of them in Petersburg. Humphreys then 
 advanced with two divisions and joined Wright on the left ; 
 Parke carried the enemy s main line in his front, but could 
 not penetrate the second, while a portion of Gibbon s 
 Corps by a gallant charge, captured two strong works south 
 of Petersburg. These successes enabled Grant to shorten his 
 lines materially, and thus strengthen them. The battle now 
 raged from right to left, and the Sabbath of the 2d of April 
 was evidently to see the beginning of the end of the war. 
 
 The rebels fought behind their intrenchments with despe 
 rate determination especially Hill s Corps, in their efforts to 
 retain possession of Fort Mahone, mounting fourteen guns. 
 Here Hill was killed. But now Sheridan came sweeping in 
 from the west on the rebel flank apd rear, when the enemy 
 gave it up and fled in confusion, leaving in our hands his 
 guns and a great number of prisoners. That night both Pe 
 tersburg and Richmond were evacuated. 
 
 During the battle President Lincoln was at Grant s head 
 quarters before Petersburg, anxiously awaiting the issue of 
 the great contest. A few miles from him, in Richmond, Da 
 vis at the same time was attending church, and in the midst 
 of the services, an orderly splashed with mud, strode up the 
 aisle and handed him a paper. Glancing at its contents, he 
 
LEE S RETREAT. 593 
 
 saw that all was over, and a few hours after, he had left be 
 hind him his Capital forever, and was fleeing toward Danville. 
 
 As soon as it was known that Lee had retreated, Sheridan 
 wheeled about and pushed for the Danville road, followed 
 by Meade with the Second and Sixth Corps, while Ord, keep 
 ing near the Appomattox, moved rapidly toward Burkes- 
 ville, along the South-side railroad. Lee, north of the Ap 
 pomattox was moving toward the same point, and it became 
 a race of life and death to him. It was fifty-three miles from 
 Petersburg to Burkesville, where the South-side and Dan 
 ville railroads intersect. The condition of the roads, and of 
 the troops after two days fighting, made this one of the most 
 fatiguing marches of the war. In the meantime, on Mon 
 day morning, Weitzel, with that portion of the Army of the 
 James left under his command north of the James River, 
 composed in part of colored troops, marched into Richmond 
 with bands playing, and colors flying. The rebels had fired 
 the city and plundered many of the stores and shops while 
 evacuating. All the business part of Main Street was de 
 stroyed, together with all the bridges over the river. 
 Weitzel took a thousand prisoners, and found some five hun 
 dred pieces of artillery left behind. 
 
 The two armies continued to stretch forward toward 
 Burke s Station, but Grant this time had the inside track, 
 and reached it first. Sheridan, pushing forward with his ac 
 customed energy, struck the Danville road near Jettersville, 
 more than half way up from Burkesville to Amelia Court- 
 House, where Lee was with his shattered army. The next 
 night Ord reached Burkesville below him. A glance at the 
 map will show how desperate Lee s position had now become. 
 
 On the 6th, Sheridan ascertained that Lee, finding that he 
 could not advance by the railroad, was attempting to swing 
 around him to the west, and instantly moved out with his 
 cavalry to strike him in flank, followed by the Sixth Corps. 
 
594 A HEAVY CAPTURE. 
 
 The Second and Fifth Corps were in Lee s rear, pressing 
 him so close that he had to abandon wagons and artillery. 
 
 Ord pushed forward north-west, toward Farmville, where 
 Lee evidently expected to strike the railroad again. Two 
 regiments of infantry in the lightest marching order, and a 
 squadron of cavalry, were hurried on in advance to destroy 
 the bridges there, and detain the enemy. These were placed 
 under General Theodore Read, who, meeting near the place, 
 the head of Lee s columns, gallantly attacked it, and held it 
 in check until he was killed and his little force overpowered. 
 
 But in the meantime Ord with the rest of the Corps ar 
 rived, when the enemy began to intrench himself. 
 
 On the same afternoon Sheridan struck the enemy farther 
 back, capturing sixteen pieces of artillery, and four hundred 
 wagons, and detained him until the Second Corps came up, 
 when a general attack was ordered, resulting in the capture 
 of six or seven thousand prisoners, and among them Generals 
 Ewell and Custis. Lee now moving off to the west, the pur 
 suit was kept up till it became evident to all that his escape 
 was hopeless. Grant having arrived at Farmville addressed 
 a note to him which we give below, with the correspondence 
 that followed. 
 
 "April 7, 1865. 
 
 GENERAL : The result of the last week must convince you of the hopeless 
 ness 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 my 
 self 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. GRANT, Lieutenant-General. 
 
 General R. E. LEE. 
 
 " Early on the morning of the 8th, before leaving, I re 
 ceived at Farmville, the following : 
 
 GENERAL : I have received your note of this date. Though not enter 
 taining the opinion you express on the hopelessness of further resistance on 
 the part of the Army of Northern Virginia, I reciprocate your desire to 
 
LEE HARD PRESSED. 595 
 
 avoid useless effusion of blood, and therefore, before considering your prop 
 osition, ask the terms you will offer on condition of its surrender. 
 
 R. E. LEE, General. 
 Lieutenant-General U. S. GRANT. 
 
 u To this I immediately replied : 
 
 April 8, 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 should be disqualified for taking up arms again 
 against the Government of the United States until properly exchanged. I 
 will meet you or will designate officers to meet any officers you may name 
 for the same purpose, at any point agreeable to you for the purpose of ar 
 ranging definitely the terms upon which the surrender of the Army of 
 Northern Virginia will be received. 
 
 U. S. GRANT, Lieutenant-General. 
 General R. E. LEE. 
 
 "Early on the morning of the 8th, the pursuit was resumed. 
 General Meade followed north of the Appomattox, and Gen 
 eral Sheridan, with all the cavalry, pushed straight for Ap 
 pomattox 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 this day, 
 I accompanied General Meade s column, and about midnight 
 received the following communication from General Lee- 
 
 April 8, 1865. 
 
 GENERAL : I received Tat a late hour your note of to-day. In mine of 
 yesterday I did not intend to propose the surrender of the Army of North 
 ern 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, therefore, 
 meet you with a view to surrender the Army of Northern Virginia, but as 
 
596 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 far as your proposal may affect the Confederate States forces* under my 
 command, and tend to the restoration of peace I should be pleased to meet 
 you at ten A. M. to-morrow, on the old stage road to Richmond, between the 
 picket lines of the two armies. 
 
 R. E. LEE, General. 
 Lieutenant-General U. S. GRANT. 
 
 " Early on the morning of the 9th I returned him an an 
 swer as follows, and immediately started to join the column 
 south of the Appomattox: 
 
 April 9, 1865. 
 
 GENERAL : Your note of yesterday is received. I have no authority to 
 treat on the subject of peace; the meeting proposed for ten, A. M., to-day, 
 could lead to no good. I will state, however, General, that I am equally 
 anxious for peace with yourself, and the whole* North 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 that most desirable event, 
 save thousands of human lives, and hundreds of millions of property not yet 
 destroyed. Seriously hoping that all our difficulties may be settled without 
 the loss of another life, I subscribe myself, &c. 
 
 U. S. GRANT, Lieutenant-General. 
 General R. 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.r The infantry was at once thrown in. Soon after 
 a white flag was received, requesting a suspension of hostil 
 ities pending negotiations for a surrender. 
 
 " Before reaching General Sheridan s head-quarters, I re 
 ceived the following from General Lee: 
 
 April 9, 1865. 
 
 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 of 
 this army. I now ask an interview in accordance with the offer contained in 
 your letter of yesterday for that purpose. 
 
 R. E. LEE, General. 
 
 Lieutenant-General U. S. GRANT. 
 
 "The interview was held at Appomattox Court-House, 
 
SURRENDER OF LEE. 597 
 
 the result of which is set forth in the following correspon 
 dence : 
 
 APPOMATTOX CotiRT-IIousE, Va., April 9, 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 Vir 
 ginia on the following terms, to wit : Rolls of all the officers and men to be 
 made in duplicate, one copy to be given to an officer to be designated by 
 me, the other to be retained by such officer 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 exchanged ; and each com 
 pany or regimental Commander sign a like parole for the men of their com 
 mands. 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 bag 
 gage. This done, each officer and man will be allowed to return to his home, 
 not to be disturbed by United States authority 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. 
 
 HEAD-QUARTERS ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA, ) 
 
 April 9, 1865. J 
 
 GENERAL : I received your letter of this date, containing the terms of 
 the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia as proposed by you. As 
 they are substantially the same as those expressed in your letter of the 8th 
 instant, they are accepted. I will proceed to designate the proper officers to 
 carry the stipulations into effect. 
 
 R. E. LEE, General. 
 
 Lieutenant-General U. S. GRANT." 
 
 On the reception of the last letter, Grant hastened to the 
 front, where Lee was awaiting him. They met in the par 
 lor of a neighboring farm-house and saluted each other with 
 dignified courtesy. In former years they had fought side 
 by side, under the same flag, but for the last year, backed 
 by two as fine armies as ever trod a battle-field, they had 
 confronted each other as enemies. Well matched, neither 
 had been able to obtain any decided success over the other. 
 As they now stood face to face, what memories must have 
 crowded on them, and what a different future spread out 
 before them ! 
 
 Lee acknowledged that the terms dictated by Grant were 
 
598 JOY OF THE NORTH. 
 
 more lenient than he had a right to expect. In killed, 
 wounded, and prisoners, the rebel army had been reduced, 
 in the last few days, full thirty thousand men, besides the 
 vast number that had straggled off to their homes, so that 
 less than twenty thousand were left to surrender. 
 
 When the news of the capitulation reached the army, loud 
 cheers arose on every side, which lasted for hours. There 
 was some disappointment, however, among the soldiers that, 
 after their toils and hardships, they were not allowed to 
 pass through the enemy s lines and witness their surrender. 
 But Grant, magnanimous as he is great, wishing to abate as 
 much as possible all ill-feeling between men, hereafter to be 
 citizens of the same Government, allowed the rebel troops 
 to return to their homes without further humiliation, on giv 
 ing their parole not to take up arms against the Government, 
 until properly .exchanged. 
 
 By a singular coincidence, as the grand assault on the 
 enemy s works at Petersburg took place on Sunday, so now 
 on Sunday, and Palm Sunday too, the capitulation was 
 signed. 
 
 The surrender of Lee s army was followed by that of most 
 of the troops in the Shenandoah Valley. Mosby surren 
 dered his command on the 17th. Hancock, who had suc 
 ceeded Sheridan, when the latter started on his last great 
 raid for Lynchburg, commanded here at this time. 
 
 With Lee s immediate army, were captured one hundred 
 and seventy pieces of artillery, which number was of course 
 swelled by the surrender of the other forces in Northern 
 Virginia. 
 
 The joy of the North was unbounded over this great 
 victory. Bonfires, illuminations, and the firing of cannon, 
 attested the universal delight, while Grant became the idol 
 of the Nation. 
 
CHAPTER XLII. 
 
 APRIL-MAY, 1865. 
 
 SHERMAN REJOINS HIS ARMY RECEIVES THE NEWS OF THE FALL OF PETERS 
 BURG AND RICHMOND HE MOVES ON RALEIGH THE ARMY RECEIVES THE 
 
 NEWS OF LEE S SURRENDER INTERVIEW WITH JOHNSTON THE ARMISTICE 
 INJUSTICE OF THE SECRETARY OF WAR AND HALLECK STONEMAN ? S RAID 
 
 ASSASSINATION OF THE PRESIDENT HIS LAST ORDER HIS CHARACTER 
 
 FUNERAL OBSEQUIES THE CONSPIRACY ARREST, TRIAL, AND EXECUTION 
 
 OF THE PRISONERS REWARDS OFFERED FOR THE CAPTURE OF DAVIS AND 
 OTHERS THE MOVEMENT AGAINST MOBILE ITS CAPTURE WILSON S CAV 
 ALRY EXPEDITION RAISING THE FLAG AT FORT SUMTER GRAND REVIEW OF 
 
 THE ARMIES OF GRANT AND SHERMAN AT WASHINGTON CLOSING SCENES 
 
 NATIONAL DEBT. 
 
 SHERMAN, when he hastened back to Goldsboro , from 
 his interview with Grant, at once made preparations 
 to move. He had said that he could not get ready before 
 the 10th of April. This, it will be noticed, was one day 
 after Lee surrendered. 
 
 Wholly ignorant of this great event, he, on the 10th, was 
 about putting his columns in motion for the Roanoke, when/ 
 he received the news of the fall of Petersburg and Rich 
 mond. This, of course, caused a change in his pl ; ansj for 
 with the tidings came a dispatch from Grant, dated April 
 5th, in which he stated the hopeless condition of Lee s army, 
 and added, u 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 Johnston s armies." Sherman at once* wheeled his col 
 umns toward Raleigh, forcing the enemy back and destroy 
 ing the bridges on the way. 
 
 On the 3rd day of the march r the news of the surrender 
 
 68 
 
600 SHERMAN AND JOHNSTON. * 
 
 of Lee s entire force reached the army. It spread like wild 
 fire, from regiment to regiment, and division to division, till 
 one long, loud hurrah from the mighty host rent the heav 
 ens. -When tired with cheering, the soldiers began to yell, 
 till it seemed as if pandemonium had broke loose. Sherman 
 seemed as much excited as the rest, and exclaimed in exult 
 ing accents, " Glory to God and our glorious Country." 
 That night the elated army encamped within fourteen miles 
 of Raleigh. The next day, Sherman entered the place, 
 assuring the citizens that their property should be pro 
 tected. 
 
 The following day, the 15th, Johnston, who was also 
 informed of the overthrow of Lee, sent a letter to him, ask 
 ing if some arrangement could not be made to save further 
 effusion of blood. Sherman replied that he was ready to 
 listen to any terms that he wished to propose. Johnston then 
 requested a personal interview, and the next day, at noon, 
 the two met upon the road, and shaking hands with appa 
 rent cordiality, adjourned to a neighboring farm-house for 
 consultation. Johnston asked for four days armistice, which 
 Sherman refused to grant, and a meeting for arranging the 
 terms of surrender was agreed upon for the next day. 
 
 They met at the same hour, attended by their splendidly 
 mounted Staffs, and courteously lifting their hats to each 
 other, shook hands, and then dismounted and walked to 
 gether to the farm-house. Breckenridge, the rebel Secre 
 tary of War, was present at this interview, and though the 
 terms of surrender that were granted to Lee, Johnston 
 regarded as satisfactory, he thought that it would be for 
 the interest of all if some basis of peace was adopted. A 
 memorandum, looking to this, was signed by both parties, 
 and a suspension of hostilities was agreed upon, until it 
 could be submitted to the Government for its ratification or 
 rejection. 
 
THE ARMISTICE. 601 
 
 Both armies were to remain in statu quo until a reply 
 could be received. 
 
 The following is the memorandum : 
 
 " FIRST, The contending armies now in the field to maintain their statu 
 quo, until notice is given by the commanding General of either one to its 
 opponent, and reasonable time say forty-eight hours allowed, 
 
 SECOND. 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 arsenals, and each officer and man to execute 
 and file an agreement to cease from acts of war, and abide action of both 
 State and Federal authority. The number of arms and munitions of war 
 to be reported to the Chief of Ordnance at Washington City, subject to 
 future action of the Congress of the United States ; in the meantime, to be 
 used solely to maintain peace and order within the4)orders of the States re 
 spectively. 
 
 THIRD. The recognition by the Executive of the United States of several 
 State Governments, in their Officers and Legislatures, taking oath prescribed 
 by the Constitution of the United States, ,and where conflicting State Gov 
 ernments have resulted from the war, the legitimacy of all shall be submitted 
 to the Supreme Court of the United States. 
 
 FOURTH. The re-establishment of all Federal Courts in the several States, 
 with powers as defined by the Constitution and laws of Congress. 
 
 FIFTH. 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 States respectively. 
 
 SIXTH. 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, and abstain from acts of armed hostility, and obey 
 laws in existence at any place of their residence. 
 
 In general terms, war to cease ; a general amnesty, so far as the Executive 
 power of the United States can command, or on condition of disbandment 
 of the Confederate armies, and the distribution of arms, and resumption of 
 peaceful pursuits by officers and men as hitherto composing the said armies ; 
 not being fully empowered by our respective principals to fullfil these terms, 
 we individually and officially pledge ourselves to promptly obtain necessary 
 authority, and to carry out the above programme. 
 
 W. T. SHERMAN, 
 Major-General Commanding the Army of the United States in N. C. 
 
 J. E. JOHNSTON, 
 
 General Commanding Confederate States Army in North Carolina." 
 
 This memorandum was rejected by the President and Cab 
 inet, and Sherman was directed to resume hostilities at once, 
 
602 STANTON VERSUS SHERMAN. 
 
 unless Johnston should accept the term s which had been 
 granted to Lee. Grant, in the meantime, was sent down to 
 take charge of affairs. 
 
 Thus far every thing was quite natural and proper. An 
 armistice granted for a few hours, by a General in the field, 
 until proposed terms of surrender by an enemy could be 
 submitted to the Supreme Authority, was nothing strange ; 
 and in this case, when all the advantages of delay were with 
 us, perfectly right and reasonable. 
 
 The refusal of the Government to accede to the proffered 
 basis of agreement, on the other hand, was not only justifia 
 ble, but clearly its duty, if it thought such an agreement 
 prejudicial to the interests of the country. 
 
 There the matter should have ended. It was a very sim 
 ple, ordinary affair altogether, and would scarcely have ex 
 cited a remark, but for the absurd fuss made over it by the 
 Secretary of War. He should have been content with 
 sending a messenger down to Sherman with the decision of 
 the Government. But instead of pursuing this simple, digni 
 fied course, he came out in the public newspapers with nine 
 different reasons why the terms were inadmissible. The first 
 reason was, that Sherman, as well as Johnston, knew that he 
 had no right to make them. This was simply false. Every 
 Commander in the field has a right to submit proffered terms 
 of peace to his Government, unless he has special instruc 
 tions to the contrary. 
 
 After this extraordinary explosion of patriotism it seemed 
 to have dawned on the Secretary s mind, that his first grand 
 reason would not be accepted by any sensible man, and so 
 he gave to the public a telegram, which Mr. Lincoln had 
 formerly sent to Grant, for his guidance, in any negotiations 
 that he might make with Lee implying that Sherman had 
 seen this telegram, and had deliberately acted in direct vio 
 lation of it. 
 
HALLECK S INTERFERENCE. . 603 
 
 Sherman, in reply to this implication, says: " Now I was 
 not in possession of it, and I have reason to know that Mr. 
 Stanton knew I was not in possession of it" This is 
 a guarded way of making one of the severest accusations 
 that can be brought against a man. 
 
 Halleck caught the spirit of the Secretary, and, as Chief 
 of Staff, immediately sent dispatches to different Command 
 ers in Sherman s department, with directions to pay no at 
 tention to him, but to resume hostilities at once. When he 
 did this he knew perfectly well that the government dis 
 patches, ordering Sherman to resume hostilities, would 
 reach the latter before his own would those Commanders, 
 and hence were unnecessary, except on the supposition that 
 Sherman would turn traitor, and refuse to obey his Govern 
 ment Indeed, the conduct of both him and Stanton can be 
 accounted for only on the ground, that for some reason or 
 other they wished to take advantage of the mere circum 
 stances of this armistice of a few hours, to injure the charac 
 ter of Sherman. 
 
 In speaking of Halleck s impertinent interference with his 
 command, he says: " This is too much; and I turn from the 
 subject with feelings too strong for words." The pretext of 
 the Secretary of War, that the armistice would allow Davis 
 to get off with his fabulous amount of treasure, did well 
 enough while the country was lashed into the intensest ex 
 citement by the murder of the President ; but viewed from 
 this more quiet point of view, it only awakens a smile of 
 ridicule. Sherman says, "if the Secretary of War wanted 
 Davis caught, why not order it, instead of, by publishing 
 in the newspapers, putting him on his guard to hide 
 away and escape? No orders or instructions to catch Davis 
 or his stolen treasure ever came to me ; but, on the contrary, 
 I was led to believe that the Secretary of War rather pre- 
 
604 JOHNSTON S SURRENDER. 
 
 ferred he should effect an escape from the country, if made 
 1 unknown to him." 
 
 There never was an instance, when, without any provoca 
 tion, a man who for long years had been periling his life on 
 the battle field for his country, lifting it by his genius to the 
 highest pinnacle of military glory, and bearing it on to a 
 glorious peace, was so bitterly assailed by those who should 
 have been the first to protect him. The whole account of 
 this disgraceful transaction is given in Sherman s Report, and 
 in all future time it will furnish a chapter in our history, that 
 some of the characters who figure in it will wish could 
 be expunged. 
 
 Johnston, when informed of the decision of our Govern 
 ment, surrendered his immediate command on the same 
 terms as those granted to Lee, together with all the rebel 
 forces between him and the Chattahoochee. 
 
 A great many soldiers had gone off during the armistice, 
 so that when on the 26th of the month, the surrender took 
 place, only about twenty-seven thousand men laid down their 
 arms. One hundred and eight pieces of artillery were given 
 up. Johnston s army at the time of the surrender, though 
 nearly fifty miles from Sherman, was in a most perilous posi 
 tion. Stoneman, who, as we have noticed had been sent 
 east from Knoxville on the 20th of March, marched rapidly 
 by way of Boone, North Carolina, and struck the railroad at 
 Wytheville, Chambersburg and Big Lick. The portion of 
 the column striking it at the latter place, pushed on to within 
 a few miles of Lynchburg, destroying the bridges on the 
 way, while the main force, after breaking up the road be 
 tween New River, and Big Lick, turned off to Greensboro, 
 on the North Carolina railroad, burning the bridges between 
 that place and Danville, and between it and the Yadkin 
 River, together with depots of supplies, and capturing four 
 hundred prisoners. Crossing the river, Stoneman advanced 
 
ASSASSINATION OF THE PRESIDENT. 605 
 
 on Salisbury, near which he attacked and defeated General 
 Gardiner, capturing fourteen pieces of artillery, and one 
 thousand, three hundred and sixty four prisoners. He was 
 now but a little over a hundred miles west of Raleigh, and 
 on the line by which Johnston received his supplies, and by 
 which he must retreat.-- Burning rebel army stores here, he 
 destroyed fifteen miles of railroad toward Charlotte, and 
 then retired on Statesville. Thus it will be seen how com 
 prehensive and complete Grant s plan was, to make this cam 
 paign a conclusive one. 
 
 But while these great victories were being achieved, and 
 the mighty Confederacy that had attracted the gaze of the 
 world was dissolving like a tower of mist, and the Nation, 
 elate with hope was just lifting its head from out the bloody 
 waves of revolution, an event occurred that thrilled the 
 land with an excitement which, for a time made all other 
 things sink into insignificance. "The President of the Uni 
 ted States has been assassinated in the Capital," flew on 
 wings of lightning over the North, making every face turn 
 pale with horror. The man whose inauguration had been 
 the signal for revolt, and who for four years had watched 
 and waited, and labored, and prayed for a restored Union, 
 was ruthlessly shot down by an assassin, just as the mountain 
 was being lifted from his heart and the smile of joy was 
 chasing away the look of care that had so long darkened "his 
 countenance. Anxious to take the first step toward peace, 
 he on the 13th of April, caused the Secretary of War to issue 
 the following bulletin : 
 
 "WAR DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON, April 13, 1865 6 p. M. 
 
 This Department, after mature consideration, and consultation with the 
 Lieutenant-General upon the results of the recent campaigns, has come to 
 the following determinations, which will be carried into effect by appropriate 
 orders, to be immediately issued : 
 
 FIRST. To stop all drafting and recruiting in the loyal States. 
 
 SECOND. To curtail purchases for arms, ammunition, quartermaster and 
 
606 DEATH OF THE ASSASSIN. 
 
 commissary supplies, and reduce the expenses of the military establishment 
 in its several branches. 
 
 THIRD. To reduce the number of general and staff officers to the actual 
 necessities of the service. 
 
 FOURTH. To remove all military restrictions. upon trade and commerce, so 
 far as may be consistent with public safety. 
 
 As soon as these measures can be put in operation, it will be made known 
 by public orders. 
 
 EDWIN M. STANTON, Secretary of War." 
 
 The next night, while the President was at Ford s theatre 
 with his wife, seeking a little relaxation, a play actor by the 
 name of John Wilkes Booth shot him in the back of the 
 head, then leaping on the stage and brandishing a dagger, he 
 shouted " Sic semper tyrannis" and fled through a side door 
 into the street. His plans were well laid, as far as human 
 foresight could do it, to escape; but the mute flag of .his 
 country, hanging over the President s box, caught his spur 
 as he leaped, flinging him heavily on the stage, and crippling 
 him so that his flight was retarded, and he was eventually 
 overtaken and shot while refusing to surrender. 
 
 In consequence of the intense excitement the country was 
 in, just previous to the murder the victim being the Presi 
 dent of the United States, and a man possessing one of the 
 kindliest and most forgiving hearts that ever beat in a human 
 bosom this assassination produced the profoundest sensation 
 that ever shook a nation to its center. 
 
 It was altogether an extraordinary murder. There were 
 men South who had not only been ruined in property by 
 the war, but whose sons had been slain in battle or died in 
 prison, and whose wives and daughters had been outraged 
 by Federal soldiers, till they had gone mad with despair 
 and the desire of revenge, of whom such an act might be 
 expected. But the assassin had not been injured in a single 
 interest, and could give no shadow of excuse for the hell 
 ish deed. 
 
 Mr. Lincoln committed some grave errors of policy, for 
 
LINCOLN S CHARACTER. 607 
 
 he was not infallible he had faults, for he was not perfect, 
 but as a man who, to use his own words, "felt malice toward 
 none, and had charity for all," whose highest ambition was 
 to do right, whose strongest desire was the peace and pros 
 perity of his country, and u all whose faults leaned to vir 
 tue s side," he stands without a peer since Washington. His 
 simple, honest, kindly nature, notwithstanding the bitter 
 animosities that prevailed, had taken a deep hold of the Na 
 tional heart, and from enemies as well as friends, there arose 
 a cry of horror and of grief at the " deep damnation of his 
 taking off." 
 
 With but slender education, and no remarkable intellect 
 ual endowments, he had shown how wisely, in the stormiest 
 times, and amid the greatest embarrassments and difficulties, 
 an honest heart may cause a ruler to act. Indeed, a careful 
 analysis of his life will show that nearly all his mistakes arose 
 from not following his own judgment, but from yielding to 
 the crooked, selfish policy of others. 
 
 The funeral obsequies were celebrated in the Executive 
 Mansion on the 19th of April, when the body was taken to 
 the Capitol, where it lay in state until the 21st, and then 
 was borne back to its former home, in Springfield, Illinois. 
 The tolling of bells, and the draping of the land in mourn 
 ing, all along the line of the road over which the body 
 was transported, and the crowds that thronged around 
 the funeral car, attested how deep and universal was the 
 grief. 
 
 On the same night of his murder, Mr. Seward, Secretary 
 of State, was attacked in his sick bed, by an accomplice of 
 Booth, and dangerously wounded, before the assassin could 
 be driven off. 
 
 On May 10th, David E. Harrold, George A. Atzeroth, 
 Lewis Payne, Michael O Laughlin, Edward Spangler, Sam 
 uel Arnold, Mary E. Surratt, and Samuel A. Mudd, who had 
 
608 TRIAL OF THE ASSASSINS. 
 
 been arrested on suspicion, as accomplices of Booth, were 
 arraigned before a military tribunal, as principals or acces 
 sories to the murder. After a trial of nearly two months, 
 in the progress of which, the existence of a plot to murder 
 not only Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Seward, but Vice President 
 Johnson, General Grant, and others, was developed, Har- 
 rold, Payne, Mrs. Surratt, and Atzeroth, were found guilty 
 of murder, and hung in Washington on the 7th of July ; 
 Mudd, Arnold, and O Laughlin were sentenced to imprison 
 ment for life, and Spangler to six years imprisonment at 
 hard labor. 
 
 In a few hours after the death of Mr. Lincoln, Andrew 
 Johnson, Vice President, was installed into office and so far 
 as the affairs of the Government were concerned, every 
 thing went on as though nothing had happened. While 
 European powers looked for a new outbreak, or an attempt 
 ed assumption of military power, or at least a sudden arrest 
 of the wheels of Government, they saw, with amazement, 
 that a Republic could not only put forth the greatest efforts, 
 but stand, unmoved, the heaviest shocks, and the most sud 
 den changes, of any Government on earth. 
 
 Owing to the excited state of the public mind, every fact 
 bearing on the assassination of Mr. Lincoln, became magni 
 fied, and it was believed that Booth was only a tool in the 
 hands of Jefferson Davis, and other prominent men of the 
 South ; hence heavy rewards were offered by the new Presi 
 dent for their arrest one hundred thousand dollars for 
 Davis; twenty-five thousand dollars for Clement C. Clay, 
 Jacob Thompson, George N. Sanders, and Beverly Tucker ; 
 and ten thousand dollars for William C. Cleary, clerk of Clay. 
 In the meantime, Davis -had fled into Georgia. 
 
 But little more remains to be told of military movements. 
 With the surrender of Lee and Johnston, the rebellion was 
 ended. But while the closing scenes were being enacted on 
 
ADVANCE ON MOBILE. 609 
 
 the Atlantic Coast, events were transpiring on the Gulf of 
 Mexico which, under ordinary circumstances, would have 
 awakened the keenest interest. Grant designed that the 
 expedition against Mobile should keep a large, rebel force in 
 Alabama, which otherwise would reinforce Lee. Hence, as 
 we have seen, Canby commenced his movements against 
 it the 20th of March, or just as Sherman was reaching 
 Goldsboro. 
 
 In the meantime, vessels, drawing but little water, had 
 been gathered in Mobile Bay, so that the navy could co-op 
 erate with the army in the attack. A. J. Smith took his 
 command from Fort Gaines to Fish River, by water, where 
 he was joined by Granger, with the Thirteenth Corps, who 
 moved from Fort Morgan. In the meantime, General Steele, 
 with his command, struck across the country from Pensacola, 
 and cutting the railroad leading from Tensas to Montgom 
 ery, effected a juncture with the former. 
 
 Thus, it will be seen that the army moved up on the east 
 side of the bay. Two main forts prevented the passage of 
 the gunboats up to Mobile the Spanish Fort, as it was 
 called, and Fort Blakely. It was determined to take the 
 first of these by a combined attack of the army and navy 
 the latter to engage the water-batteries, while the land for 
 ces should assail the works in the rear. Siege guns were 
 brought up, and on the 4th of April a tremendous bombard 
 ment was opened on the fort. 
 
 On the 8th, another was ordered to be followed by a 
 general assault, at five o clock in the evening. The fire was 
 terrific and crushing, and for three hours it was kept up 
 with fearful effect, when two brigades of Carr s division 
 moved gallantly to the assault. Mounting the ramparts with 
 loud cheers, they carried some three hundred yards of the 
 works, when they made themselves secure, to wait for day 
 light to complete the conquest, but at one o clock in the 
 
610 ASSAULT OF FORT BLAgELY. 
 
 morning the same Sunday that Lee surrendered to Grant 
 the garrison capitulated. 
 
 On this day, also, so bright in our calendar, Steele as 
 saulted Fort Blakely, in his front. This was situated some 
 four miles north of the former, and twelve miles from Mo 
 bile. With the reading of the orders for the assault, to the 
 troops, was read also a dispatch announcing the fall of Rich 
 mond and Petersburg, and the flight of Lee. Loud shouts 
 rent the air at the glorious news, and gaily as though going 
 to a banquet, the brave fellows moved forward. Garrard s 
 division bore the brunt of the fight. For a whole hour the 
 soldiers worked away at the obstructions, while a desolating 
 fire swept them, and torpedoes were almost momentarily 
 bursting under their feet. 
 
 At last they were cleared, and with a yell they jumped 
 into the ditch and scaled the works. Colonel Rinneken s 
 and General Gilbert s brigade turned the right of the fort 
 and entered it at the same time. The colored troops on the 
 right, under General Hawkins, behaved with great gallantry, 
 charging like veterans through the fire. At seven o clock, 
 our flag was waving from the ramparts. Our loss in this 
 gallant assault, was about one thousand, while that of the 
 enemy was not over five hundred. Three thousand three 
 hundred prisoners, four thousand stand of arms, and thirty- 
 two pieces of artillery were captured. This secured the fall 
 of Mobile. 
 
 Monday and Tuesday were spent in pushing forward re- 
 connoissances, and in the removing of torpedoes from the 
 river, by the navy, so that it could approach the city. The 
 latter was hazardous work, for the bed of the stream was 
 sown thick with them, while the batteries on shore kept up 
 a steady fire on the vessels engaged in it. 
 
 On the 12th, our columns were already in motion to com- 
 
CAPTURE OF MOBILE. 611 
 
 plete the investment of the place, when the signal came that 
 the enemy had evacuated it. 
 
 Our total loss before the place was two thousand soldiers, 
 and fifty seamen. We lost, besides two heavy iron-clads, two 
 tin-clads, and one transport all destroyed by torpedoes. 
 
 Admiral Thatcher commanded the naval force, and reported 
 the amount of artillery captured at four hundred pieces. 
 
 We mentioned in connection with the movement of 
 Canby on Mobile, the raid of Wilson east from Yicksburg. 
 u The expedition, consisting of twelve thousand five hun 
 dred mounted men, was delayed by rains until March 22, 
 when it moved from Chickasaw, Alabama. On the 1st of 
 April, General Wilson encountered the enemy in force under 
 Forrest, near Ebenezer Church, drove him in confusion, cap 
 tured three hundred prisoners and three guns, and destroyed 
 the central bridge over the Cahawba River. On the 2d he 
 attacked and captured the fortified city of Selma, defended 
 by Forrest with seven thousand men and thirty-two guns, 
 destroyed the arsenal, armory, naval foundry, machine shops, 
 vast quantities of stores, and captured three thousand pris 
 oners. On the 4th he captured and destroyed Tuscaloosa. 
 On the 10th he crossed the Alabama River, and after sending 
 information of his operations to General Canby, marched on 
 Montgomery, which place he occupied on the 14th, the en 
 emy having abandoned it. At this place many stores and 
 five steamboats fell into our hands. Thence a force marched 
 direct on Columbus, and another on West Point, both of 
 which places were assaulted and captured on the 16th. At 
 the former place we got fifteen hundred prisoners and fifty- 
 two field guns, destroyed two gunboats, the navy -yard, foun 
 dries, arsenal, many factories, and much other public prop 
 erty. At the latter place we got three hundred prisoners, 
 four guns, and destroyed nineteen locomotives and three 
 hundred cars. On the 20th he took possession of Macon, 
 
612 CANBY S RAID. 
 
 Georgia, with sixty field-guns, twelve hundred militia, and 
 five Generals, surrendered by General Howell Cobb."* 
 
 This was one of the most remarkable raids of the war ; 
 but its success and results not being known until after the 
 surrender of Lee and Johnston, it excited but little interest. 
 Three days after the fall of Macon, Davis started in his 
 flight to Georgia, accompanied by his family. General Wil 
 son at the former place, hearing of it, immediately scattered 
 his cavalry over the country, and at length, on the morning of 
 the llth of May, succeeded in capturing him at Irwinsville. 
 Colonel Pritchard, of the Fourth Michigan cavalry came sud 
 denly upon his encampment, when the rebel President at 
 tempted to make his escape, disguised as a woman. Being 
 detected by the heavy boots under his female apparel, he was 
 seized, together with Reagan his Post Master General, and 
 conveyed seventy miles distant to Macon, from whence he was 
 transferred to Fortress Monroe to await his trial for treason. 
 
 Previous to this, the Government dispatched a steamer, 
 with General Anderson to Fort Sumter, to raise the same 
 flag which just four years before, he had been compelled to 
 haul down at the bidding of traitors. With his own hands 
 he sent it aloft, amid the cheers of the spectators. 
 
 In looking over the events of this Spring, one is struck 
 with the remarkable unity of action, and the unvaried suc 
 cess of our armies in different parts of the widely extended 
 military field. Indeed it is seldom that a single month is 
 crowded with such momentous events as that of April, 1865. 
 Selma, Montgomery, Macon, Mobile, and Columbus, Ga., all 
 fell during the month the two armies of Lee and Johnston 
 surrendered, and the President of the United States was as 
 sassinated. It saw the culmination and overthrow of the 
 Confederacy, and all that followed was but the mere pick 
 ing up of the fragments. 
 
 * General Grant s Report. 
 
THE GRAND REVIEW. 613 
 
 * 
 
 " On the 4th day of May, General Dick Taylor surren 
 dered to General Canby all the remaining rebel forces east 
 of the Mississippi. 
 
 " A force sufficient to insure an easy triumph over the en 
 emy under Kirby Smith, west of the Mississippi, was imme 
 diately put in motion for Texas, and Major-General Sheridan 
 designated for its immediate command; but on the 26th 
 day of May, and before they reached their destination, Gen 
 eral Kirby Smith surrendered his entire command to Major- 
 General Canby. This surrender did not take place, how 
 ever, until after the capture of the rebel President and Vice 
 President ; and the bad faith was exhibited of first disband 
 ing most of his army, and permitting an indiscriminate plun 
 der of public property."* 
 
 Thus on sea and land, all resistance disappeared, with the 
 exception of the pirate Shenandoah, which cruised all Sum 
 mer in the Pacific Ocean, capturing our vessels. Her 
 career did not close till November, when she surrendered to 
 an English man of war in the Mersey. 
 
 As a fitting close to this long and terrible struggle which 
 the country had passed through, a grand review of the two 
 armies of Grant and Sherman took place in the National Cap 
 ital on the 23d and 24th, of May in the presence of the 
 President and Cabinet, and foreign Ministers. As the 
 bronzed and proud veterans marched up Pennsylvania Av 
 enue, the heavens resounded with the acclamations of the 
 multitude, and the air was filled with bouquets of flowers that 
 were rained on the noble leaders. The Duke of Welling 
 ton said, when 50,000 troops were reviewed in the Champs 
 Elysees, after the occupation of Paris by the Allies, that it 
 was "a sight but once seen in a life time; " but here nearly 
 two hundred thousand marched in an apparently endless 
 stream past the Presidential mansion, not conscripts forced 
 * General Grant s Report. 
 
614 A SUBLIME SPECTACLE. 
 
 i 
 
 into the ranks, but citizens, who had voluntarily taken up 
 arms to defend not a monarch s rights, but their own. 
 
 Yet, sublime as was this spectacle, it sunk into insignifi 
 cance before the grandeur of the one presented a few days 
 after, when this army, strong enough to conquer a hemisphere, 
 melted suddenly away into the mass of the people and was 
 seen no more. Its deeds of renown had filled the civilized 
 world, and European statesmen looked on and wondered 
 what disposition could be made of it, and where it would 
 choose to go, or what it would do. It was one of the grand 
 est armies that ever bore on its bayonet points the destinies 
 of a king or a nation a consolidation and embodiment of 
 power seldom witnessed; and yet, while the gaze of the 
 world was fixed upon it, it disappeared like a vision, and 
 when one looked for it he saw only peaceful citizens engaged 
 in their usual occupations. The Major-Gen eral whose mar 
 tial achievements had been repeated in almost every lan 
 guage under the sun, was seen amid his papers in his old law 
 office, which he had left at the call of his country the 
 brave Colonel, who had led many a gallant charge, was in his 
 counting house, acting as though he had been absent only a 
 few days on business, while the veterans of the rank and file, 
 whose battle shout had rung over scores of bloody fields, 
 could only be found by name as one bent over his saw and 
 plane, and another swung his scythe in the harvest field T or 
 plied his humble toil along the streets. It was a marvelous 
 sight, the grandest the world ever saw. It had been the peo 
 ple s war the people had carried it on, and having finished 
 their own work, quietly laid aside the instruments with which 
 they had accomplished it, and again took up those of peaceful 
 industry. Never did a Government on earth exhibit such 
 stability, and assert its superiority over all other forms, as 
 did this republican government of ours, in the way its ar 
 mies disappeared when the struggle was over. 
 
V RECONSTRUCTION. 615 
 
 The war being ended, there now remain for the country 
 the great work of reconstruction and the management of 
 the National debt* After the disbanding of the armies, the 
 sale of governmental vessels and the vast amount of army 
 stores and supplies of every kind, and settling up the most 
 important claims against the National Treasury, our public 
 debt, on the 1st of February, 1866, was two thousand seven 
 hundred and sixteen millions, eight hundred and ninety-eight 
 thousand, one hundred and fifty- two dollars. The following 
 is a condensed summary of it at that time : 
 
 PUBLIC DEBT OF THE UNITED STATES, FEBRUARY 1, 1866. 
 
 Original 5-20 Bonds, 1862, $514,780,500 
 
 New 5-20 Bonds, 1864, ... 100,000,000 
 
 New 5-20 Bonds, 1865, 50,590,300 
 
 Six per cent. Bonds, 1881,. 282,648,250 
 
 Five per cent. 10-40 Bonds,. 172,769,100 
 
 Old six per cents., 19,339,592 
 
 Old five per cents., 27,022,000 
 
 Total gold-bearing Bonds, $1,167,149,742 
 
 Seven-thirty per cent. Treasury Notes, $830,000,000 
 
 Compound Legal Tenders, 180,012,141 
 
 Five per cent. Legal Tenders, 8,536,900 
 
 Six per cent. Certificates, 60,637,000 
 
 Deposits on Interest, . .* 114,755,840 
 
 Six per cent, to Pacific Railroad, 3,354,000 
 
 Total Currency Interest, $1,197,295,881 
 
 Greenbacks, $423,902,223 
 
 Gold Certificates, 8,391,080 
 
 Fractional Currency, 26,553,244 
 
 Total free of Interest, $458,846,547 
 
 Less Treasury balances, *1 07,493,348 
 
 Total, $351,353,199 
 
 Past due debt, 1,099,330 
 
 Grand total of all debt, $2,716,898,152 
 
 *0n hand in Coin, $51,443,162 
 
 *0n hand in Currency, 56,050,186 
 
 Total as above, $107,493,348 
 
 69 
 
616 PUBLIC DEBT. 
 
 The principal changes in the statement since January 1st, 
 are: 
 
 Increase of Currency Deposits from, $97,257,194 
 
 To 1st of February, 114,755,840 
 
 Increase, $17,498,646 
 
 Increase of Gold Certificates, 1,102,940 
 
 Total increase of Deposits, $18,601,586 
 
 Nearly balanced by increase of Cash on hand, ... 16,764,467 
 
 Difference, $1,837,119 
 
 Add increase Pacific railroad Bonds, $352,000 
 
 Increase of Fractional Currency, 552,824 904,824 
 
 Difference, $2,741,943 
 
 Deduct Greenbacks reduced, $2,329,107 
 
 Other Items reduced, 96,220 2,425,327 
 
 Net increase of Public Debt, $316,616 
 
 Total, January 1, 1866, $2,716,581,536 
 
 Total, February 1, 1866,. 2,716,898,152 
 
 Difference as above, $316,616 
 
 The Public Debt reached its maximum on the schedule of the 31st of Au 
 gust last, when the total stood, $2,757,781,190 
 
 Present total, 2,716,898,152 
 
 Net reduction in five months, 840,883,038 
 
 The Public Debt stood, on the 1st of October last, at the close of the first 
 
 Quarter of the current fiscal year, $2,745,061,844 
 
 As against February 1, 1866, 2,716,898,152 
 
 Decrease since October 1, 1865, $28,163,692 
 
OFFICIAL REPORT 
 
 OF 
 
 LIEUTENANT GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT, 
 
 CONTAINING A HISTORY OF THE OPERATIONS OF 
 
 THE ARMIES OF THE UNITED STATES 1864-65. 
 
 HEAD-QUARTERS ARMIES OF THE UNITED STATES, 
 
 WASHINGTON, D. C., July 22, 1865. 
 
 SIR : I have the honor to submit the following report of the operations of 
 the armies of the United States from the date of my appointment to com 
 mand the same : 
 
 From an early period in the rebellion I had been impressed with the idea 
 that active and continuous operations of all the troops that could be brought 
 into the field, regardless of season and weather, were necessary to a speedy 
 termination of the war. The resources of the enemy and his numerical 
 strength were far inferior to ours; but as an offset to this, we had a vast ter 
 ritory with a population hostile to the Government, to garrison, and long 
 lines of river and railroad communications to protect, to enable us to supply 
 the operating armies. 
 
 The armies in the East and West acted independently and Avithout concert, 
 like a balky team, no two ever pulling together, enabling the enemy to use 
 to great advantage his interior lines of communication for transporting 
 troops from cast to west, reinforcing the army most vigorously pressed, and 
 to furlough large numbers, during seasons of inactivity on our part, to go to 
 their homes and do the work of producing for the support of their armies. 
 It was a question whether our numerical strength and resources were not 
 more than balanced by these disadvantages and the enemy s superior 
 position. 
 
 From the first, I was firm in the conviction that no peace could be had 
 that would be stable and conducive to the happiness of the people, both 
 North and South, until the military power of the rebellion was entirely 
 broken. 
 
 I therefore determined, first, to use the greatest number of troops practi 
 cable against the armed force of the enemy , preventing him from using the 
 same force at different seasons against first one and then another of our ar 
 mies, and the possibility of repose for refitting and producing necessary sup 
 plies for carrying on resistance. Second, to hammer continuously against 
 the armed force of the enemy and his resources, until by mere attrition, if in 
 no other way, there should be nothing left to him but an equal submission 
 with the loyal section of our common country to the Constitution and laws 
 of the land. 
 
 These views have been kept constantly in mind, and orders given and 
 campaigns made to carry them out. Whether they might have been better 
 
618 THE MILITARY SITUATION. 
 
 in conception and execution is for the people, who mourn the loss of friends 
 fallen, and who have to pay the pecuniary cost, to say. All I can say is, 
 that what I have clone has been done conscientiously, to the best of my 
 ability, and in what I conceived to be for the best interests of the whole 
 country. 
 
 At the date when this report begins, the situation of the contending forces 
 was about as follows : The Mississippi River was strongly garrisoned by Fed 
 eral troops from St. Louis, Missouri, to its mouth. The line of the Arkan 
 sas was also held, thus giving us armed possession of all west of the Missis 
 sippi, north of that stream. A few points in Southern Louisiana, not remote 
 from the river, were held by us, together with a small garrison at and near 
 the mouth of the Rio Grande. All the balance of the vast territory of Ar 
 kansas, Louisiana, and Texas, was in the almost undisputed possession of the 
 enemy, with an army of probably not less than eighty thousand effective men 
 that could have been brought into the field had there been sufficient opposition 
 to have brought them out. The let-alone policy had demoralized this force 
 so that probably but little more than one-half of it was ever present in garri 
 son at any one time. But the one-half, or forty thousand men, with the bands 
 of guerrillas scattered through Missouri, Arkansas, and along the Mississippi 
 River, and the disloyal character of much of the population, compelled the 
 use of a large number of troops to keep navigation open on the river, and to 
 protect the loyal people to the west of it. To the east of the Mississippi we 
 held substantially with the line of the Tennessee and Holston Rivers, running 
 eastward to include nearly all of the State of Tennessee. South of Chatta 
 nooga a small foothold had been obtained in Georgia, sufficient to protect 
 East Tennessee from incursions from the enemy s force at Dalton, Georgia. 
 West Virginia was substantially within our lines. Virginia, with the excep 
 tion of the northern border, the Potomac River, a small area about the 
 mouth of James River covered by the troops at Norfolk and Fort Monroe, 
 and the territory covered by the Army of the Potomac lying along the Rap- 
 idan, was in the possession of the enemy. Along the sea-coast footholds had 
 been obtained at Plymouth, Washington, and Newbern, in (North Carolina; 
 Beaufort, Folly and Morris Islands, Hilton Head, Fort Pulaski, and Port 
 Royal, in South Carolina ; Fernandina and St. Augustine, in Florida. Key 
 West and Pensacola were also in our possession, while all the important 
 ports were blockaded by the navy. The accompanying map, a copy of 
 which was sent to General Sherman and other commanders in March, 1864, 
 shows by red lines the territory occupied by us at the beginning of the 
 rebellion a-nd at the opening of the campaign of 18G4, while those in blue 
 are the lines which it was proposed to occupy. 
 
 Behind the Union lines there were many bands of guerrillas and a large 
 population disloyal to the Government, making it necessary to guard every 
 foot of road or river used in supplying our armies. In the South a reign of 
 military despotism prevailed, which made every man and boy capable of 
 bearing arms a soldier, and those who could not bear amis in the field acted 
 as provosts for collecting deserters and returning them. This enabled the 
 enemy to bring almost his entire strength into the field. 
 
 The enemy had concentrated the bulk of his forces east of the Mississippi 
 into two armies, commanded by Generals R. E. Lee and J. E. Johnston, his 
 ablest and best Generals. The army commanded by Lee occupied the south 
 bank of the Rapidan, extending from Mine Run westward, strongly in- 
 
INSTRUCTIONS TO BANKS. 619 
 
 trenched, covering" and defending Richmond, the rebel Capital, against the 
 Army of the Potomac. The army under Johnston occupied a strongly in 
 trenched position at Dalton, Georgia, covering and defending Atlanta, Geor 
 gia, a place of great importance as a railroad center, against the armies un 
 der Major General W. T. Sherman. In addition to these armies, he had a 
 large cavalry force under Forrest, in north-east Mississippi ; a considerable 
 force, of all arms, in the Shenandoah Valley, and in the western part of Vir 
 ginia and extreme eastern part of Tennessee ; and also confronting our sea- 
 coast garrisons, and holding blockaded ports where we had no foothold upon 
 land. 
 
 These two armies, and the cities covered and defended by them, were the 
 main objective points of the campaign. 
 
 Major General W. T. Sherman, who was appointed to the command of 
 the military division of the Mississippi, embracing all the armies and terri 
 tory east of the Mississippi River to the Alleghanies, and the department of 
 Arkansas, west of the Mississippi, had the immediate command of the armies 
 operating against Johnston. 
 
 Major General George G. Meade had the immediate command of the 
 Army of the Potomac, from where I exercised general supervision of the 
 movements of all our armies. 
 
 General Sherman was instructed to move against Johnston s army, to 
 break it up, and to go into the interior of the enemy s country as far as he 
 could, inflicting all the damage he could upon their war resources. If the 
 enemy in his front showed signs of joining Lee, to follow him up to the full 
 extent of his ability, while I would prevent the concentration of Lee upon 
 him if it was in the power of the Army of the Potomac to do so. More 
 specific written instructions were not given, for the reason that I had talked 
 over with him the plans of the campaign, and was satisfied that he under 
 stood them and would execute them to the fullest extent possible. 
 
 Major General N. P. Banks, then on an expedition up Red River against 
 Shreveport, Louisiana, (which had been organized previous to my appoint 
 ment to command,) was notified by me. on the 15th of March of the import 
 ance it was that Shreveport should be taken at the earliest possible day, and 
 that if he found that the taking of it would occupy from ten to fifteen days 
 more time than General Sherman had given his troops to be absent from 
 their command, he would send them back at the time specified by General 
 Sherman, even if it led to the abandonment of the main object of the Red 
 River expedition, for this force was necessary to movements cast of the Mis 
 sissippi ; that should his expedition prove successful, he would hold Shreve 
 port arid the Red River with such force as he might deem necessary, and re 
 turn the balance of his troops to the neighborhood of New Orleans, com 
 mencing no move for the further acquisition of territory unless it was to 
 make that then held by him more easily held ; that it might be a part of the 
 spring campaign to move against Mobile ; that it certainly would be if troops 
 enough could be obtained to make it without embarrassing other move 
 ments; that Xew Orleans would be the point of departure for such an expe 
 dition ; also, that I had directed General Steele to make a real move from 
 Arkansas, as suggested by him, (General Banks,) instead of a demonstration, 
 as Steele thought advisable. 
 
 On the 21st of March, in addition to the foregoing notification and direc 
 tions, he was instructed as follows : 
 
620 INSTRUCTIONS TO MEADE. 
 
 "1st. If successful in your expedition against Shreveport, that you turn over the de 
 fense of the Red Eiver to General Steele arid the navy. 
 
 2d. That you abandon Texas entirely with the exception of your hold upon the Rio 
 Grande. This can be held with four thousand men, if they will turn their attention im 
 mediately to fortifying their positions. At least one-half of the force required for this 
 service might be taken from the colored troops. 
 
 3d. By properly fortifying on the Mississippi River, the force to guard it from Port Hud 
 son to New Orleans can be reduced to ten thousand men, if not to a less number. Six 
 thousand more would then hold all the rest of the territory, necessary to hold, until active 
 operations can be resumed west of the river. According to your last return this would 
 give you a force of over thirty thousand effective men with which to move against Mobile. 
 To this I expect to add five thousand men from Missouri. If, however, you think the 
 force here stated too small to hold the territory regarded as necessary to hold possession 
 of, I would say, concentrate at least twenty-live thousand men of your present command 
 for operations against Mobile. With these and such additions as I can give you from 
 elsewhere, lose no time in making a demonstration, to be followed by an attack upon Mo 
 bile. Two or more iron-clads will be ordered to report to Admiral Farragut. This gives 
 him a strong naval fleet with which to cooperate. You can make your own arrangements 
 with the Admiral for his cooperation, and select your OAVII line of approach. My own idea 
 of the matter is that Pascagoula should be your base, but, from your long service in the 
 Gulf department, you will know best about the matter. It is intended that your move 
 ments shall be cooperative with movements elsewhere, a nd you can not now start too 
 soon. All I would now add is, that you commence the concentration of your forces at 
 once. Preserve a profound, secrecy of what you intend doing, and start at the earliest 
 possible moment. 
 
 U. S. GRANT, Lieutenant General" 
 
 Major General N. P. BANKS. 
 
 Major General Meacle was instructed that Lee s army would be liis object 
 ive point; that wherever Lee went he would go also. For his movement 
 two plans presented themselves : One to cross the Rapidan below Lee, 
 moving by his right flank ; the other above, moving by his left. Each pre 
 sented advantages over the other, -with corresponding objections. By cross 
 ing above, Lee would be cut off from all chance of ignoring Richmond or 
 going north on a raid. 13nt if we took this route, all AVC did would have to 
 be done whilst the rations we started with held out ; besides, it separated us 
 from Butler, so that he could not be directed how to cooperate. If we took 
 the other route, Brandy Station could be used as a base of supplies until 
 another was secured on the York or James Rivers. Of these, however, it was 
 decided to take the lower route. 
 
 The following letter of instruction was .addressed to Major General B. F. 
 Butler : 
 
 FORT MONROE, VA., April 2, 1864. 
 
 " GENERAL: In the spring campaign, which it is desirable shall commence at as early a 
 day as practicable, it is proposed to have cooperative action of alPthe armies in the field, 
 as far as this object can be accomplished. 
 
 It will not be possible to unite our armies into two or three large ones to act as so 
 many units, owing to the absolute necessity of holding on to the territory already taken 
 from the enemy. But, generally speaking, concentration can be practically effected by 
 armies moving to the interior of the enemy s country from the territory they have to 
 guard. By such movement they interpose themselves between the enemy and the coun 
 try to be guarded, thereby reducing the number necessary to guard important points, or 
 at least occupy the attention of a part of the enemy s force, if no greater object is gained. 
 Lee s army and Richmond being the greater objects toward which our attention must be 
 directed in the next campaign, it is desirable to unite all the force we can against them. 
 The necessity of covering Washington with the Army of the Potomac, and of covering 
 your department with your army, makes it impossible to unite these forces at the begin 
 ning of any move. I propose, therefore, what comes nearest this of anything that seems 
 
INSTRUCTIONS TO BUTLER. 621 
 
 practicable : Tho Army of the Potomac will act from its present base, Lee s army being 
 the objective point. You will collect all the forces from your command that can be 
 spared from garrison duty I should say not less than twenty thousand effective men to 
 operate on the south side of James River, Richmond being your objective point. To tho 
 force you already have will be added about ten thousand men from South Carolina, under 
 Major General Gillmore, who will command them in person. Major General W. F. Smith 
 is ordered to report to you, to command the troops sent into the field from your own 
 department. 
 
 General Gillmore will be ordered to report to you at Fortress Monroe, with all tho 
 troops on transports, by the 18th instant, or as soon thereafter as practicable. Should 
 you not receive notice by that time to move, you will make such disposition of them and 
 your other forces as you may deem best calculated to deceive the enemy as to the real 
 move to be made. 
 
 When you are notified to move, take City Point with as much force as possible. For 
 tify or rather intrench, at once, and concentrate all your troops for the field there as rap 
 idly as you can. From City Point, directions can not be given at this time for your fur 
 ther movements. 
 
 The fact that has already been stated that is, that Richmond is to be your objective 
 point, and that there is to be cooperation between your force and the Army of the Poto 
 mac must be your guide. This indicates the necessity of your holding close to the south 
 bank of the James River as you advance. Then, should the enemy be forced into his in- 
 trenchments in Richmond, the Army of the Potomac would follow, and by means of trans 
 ports the two armies would become a unit. 
 
 All the minor details of your advance are left entirely to your direction. If, however, 
 you think it practicable to use your cavalry south of you so as to cut the railroad about 
 Hick s Ford about the time of the general advance, it would be of immense advantage. 
 
 You will please forward for my information, at the earliest practicable day, all orders, 
 details, and instructions you may give for the execution of this order. 
 
 . U. S. GRANT, Lieutenant General} 
 
 Major General B. F. BUTLER. 
 
 On the 16th, these instructions were substantially reiterated. On the 
 19th, in order to secure full cooperation between his army and that of Gen 
 eral Meade, he was informed that I expected him to mov.e from Fort Monroe 
 the same day that General Meade moved from Culpepper. The exact time I 
 was to telegraph him as soon as it was fixed, and that it would not be earlier 
 than the 27th of April ; that it was my intention to fight Lee between Cul 
 pepper and Richmond if he would stand. Should he, however, fall back into 
 Richmond, I would follow up and make a junction with his (General But 
 ler s) army on the James River; that, could I be certain he would be able to 
 invest Richmond on the south side so as to have his left resting on the 
 James, above the city, I would form the junction there ; that circumstances 
 might make this course advisable any how ; that he should use every exer 
 tion to secure footing as far up the south side of the river as he could, and 
 as soon as possible after the receipt of orders to move ; that if he could not 
 carry the city, he sliould at least detain as large a force as possible. 
 
 In cooperation with the main movements against Lee and Johnston, I was 
 desirous of using all other troops necessarily kept in departments remote 
 from the fields of immediate operations, and also those kept in .the back 
 ground for the protection of our extended lines between the loyal States and 
 the armies operating against them. 
 
 A very considerable force under command of Major General Sigel was so 
 held for the protection of West Virginia, and the frontiers of Maryland and 
 Pennsylvania. Whilst these troops could not be withdrawn to distant fields 
 without exposing the North to invasion by comparatively small bodies of the 
 enemy, they could act directly to their front and give better protection than 
 
622 SIGEL IN THE SHENANDOAH. 
 
 if lying idle in garrison. By such movement they would either compel the 
 enemy to detach largely for the protection of his supplies and lines of com 
 munication, or he would lose them. 
 
 General Sigel was therefore directed to organize all his available force into 
 two expeditions, to move from Beverly and Charleston, under command of 
 Generals Ord and Crook, against the East Tennessee and Virginia railroad. 
 Subsequently, General Ord having been relieved at his own request, General 
 Sigel was instructed, at his own suggestion, to give up the expedition by 
 Beverly and to form two columns, one under General Crook, on the Kanawha> 
 numbering about ten thousand men, and one on the Shenandoah, numbering 
 about seven thousand men. The one on the Shenandoah to assemble be 
 tween Cumberland and the Shenandoah, and the infantry and artillery ad 
 vanced to Cedar Creek with such cavalry as could be made available at the 
 moment, to threaten the enemy in the Shenandoah Valley, and advance as 
 far as possible ; while General Crook would take possession of Lewisburg 
 with part of his force and move down the Tennessee railroad, doing as much 
 damage as he could, destroying the New River bridge and the salt-works at 
 Saltville, Va. 
 
 Owing to the weather and bad condition of the roads, operations were de 
 layed until the 1st of May, when, every thing being in readiness and the 
 roads favorable, orders were given for a general movement of all the armies 
 not later than the 4th of May. 
 
 My first object being to break the military power of the rebellion and cap 
 ture the enemy s important strongholds, made me desirous that General But 
 ler should succeed in his movement against Richmond, as that would tend 
 more than any thing else, unless it were the capture of Lee s army, to ac 
 complish this desired result in the East. If he failed, it was my determina 
 tion, by hard fighting, either to compel Lee to retreat or to so cripple him 
 that he could not detach a large force to go north and still retain enough for 
 the defense of Richmond. It was well understood by both Generals Butler 
 and Meade, before starting on the campaign, that it was my intention to put 
 both their armies south of the James River, in case of failure to destroy Lee 
 without it. 
 
 Before giving General Butler his instructions, I visited him at Fort Mon 
 roe, and in conversation pointed out the apparent importance of getting pos 
 session of Petersburg and destroying railroad communication as far south as 
 possible. Believing, however, in the practicability of capturing Richmond, 
 unless it was reinforced, I made that the objective point of his operations. 
 As the Army of the Potomac was to move simultaneously with him, Lee 
 could not detach from his army with safety, and the neiny did not have 
 troops elsewhere to bring to the defense of the city in time to meet a rapid 
 movement from the north of James River. 
 
 I may here state that, commanding all the armies as I did, I tried, as far 
 as possible, to leave General Meade in independent command of the Army 
 of the Potomac. My instructions for that army were all through him, and 
 were general in their nature, leaving all the details and the execution to him. 
 The campaigns that followed proved him to be the right man in the right 
 place. His commanding always in the presence of an officer superior to him 
 in rank, has drawn from him much of that public attention that his zeal and 
 ability entitle him to, and which he would otherwise have received. 
 
 The movement of the Army of the Potomac commenced early on the 
 
BEGINNING OF THE CAMPAIGN. 623 
 
 morning of the 4th of May, under the immediate direction and orders of 
 Major General Meade, pursuant to instructions. Before night the whole 
 army was across the Rapidan, (the Fifth and Sixth Corps crossing at Germania 
 Ford, and the Second Corps at United States Ford, the cavalry, under Major 
 General Sheridan, moving in advance,) with the greater part of its trains, num 
 bering about four thousand wagons, meeting with but slight opposition. The 
 average distance traveled by the troops that day was about twelve miles. This 
 I regarded as a great success, and it removed from my mind the most serious 
 apprehensions I had entertained, that of crossing the river in the face of an 
 active, large, well-appointed, and ably-commanded army, and how so large a 
 train was to be carried through a hostile country and protected. Early on 
 the 5th, the advance corps (the Fifth, Major General G. K. Warren command 
 ing) met and engaged the enemy outside his intrenchments near Mine Run. 
 The battle raged furiously all day, the whole army being brought into the 
 fight as fast as the corps could be got upon the field, which, considering the 
 density of the forest and narrownesss of the roads, was done with commenda 
 ble promptness. 
 
 General Burnside, with the Ninth Corps, was, at the time the Army of the 
 Potomac moved, left with the bulk of his corps at the crossing of the Rap- 
 pahannock River and Alexandria railroad, holding the road back to Bull Run, 
 with instructions not to move until he received notice that a crossing of the 
 Rapidan was secured, but to move promptly as soon as such notice was re 
 ceived. This crossing he was apprised of on the afternoon of the 4th. By 
 six o clock of the morning of the 6th he was leading his corps into action 
 near the Wilderness Tavern, some of his troops having marched a distance 
 of over thirty miles, crossing both the Rappahannock and Rapidan Rivers. 
 Considering that a large proportion, probably two-thirds of his command, 
 was composed of new troops, unaccustomed to marches and carrying the ac 
 coutrements of a soldier, this was a remarkable march. 
 
 The battle of the Wilderness was renewed by us at five o clock on the 
 morning of the 6th, and continued with unabated fury until darkness set in, 
 each army holding substantially the same position that it had on- the 
 evening of the 5th. After dark the enemy made a feeble attempt to turn 
 our right flank, capturing several hundred prisoners and creating considera 
 ble confusion. But the promptness of General Sedgwick, who was person 
 ally present and commanded that part of our line, soon re-formed it and re 
 stored order. On the morning of the 7th reconnoissances showed that the 
 enemy had fallen behind his intrenched lines, with pickets to the front, cov 
 ering a part of the battle-field. From this it was evident to my mind that 
 the two days figlvting had satisfied him of his inability to further maintain 
 the contest in the open field, notwithstanding his advantage of position, and 
 that he would wait an attack behind his works. I therefore determined to 
 push on and put my whole force between him and Richmond ; and orders 
 were at once issued for a movement by his right flank. On the night of the 
 Vth the march was commenced toward Spottsylvania Court-House, the Fifth 
 Corps moving on the most direct road. But the enemy having become ap 
 prised of our movement, and having the shorter line, was enabled to reach 
 there first. On the 8th General Warren met a force of the enemy which 
 had been sent out to oppose and delay his advance, to gain time to fortify 
 the line taken up at Spottsylvania. This force was steadily driven back on 
 the main force, within the recently constructed works, after considerable 
 
624 BATTLE OF THE WILDERNESS. 
 
 fighting, resulting in severe loss to both sides. On the morning of the 9th 
 General Sheridan started on a raid against the enemy s lines of communica 
 tion with Richmond. The 9th, 10th, and llth were spent in manoeuvring 
 and fighting, without decisive results. Among the killed on the 9th was 
 that able and distinguished soldier, Major General John Sedgwick, com 
 manding the Sixth Army Corps. Major General H. G. Wright succeeded him 
 in command. Early on the morning of the 12th a general attack was made 
 on the enemy in position. The Second Corps, Major General Hancock com 
 manding, carried a salient of his line, capturing most of Johnston s division 
 of Swell s Corps and twenty pieces of artillery. But the resistance was so 
 obstinate that the advantage gained did not prove decisive. The 13th, 14th, 
 15th, 16th, 17th, and 18th, were consumed in manoeuvring and awaiting the 
 arrival of reinforcements from Washington. Deeming it impracticable to 
 make any further attack upon the enemy at Spottsylvania Court-House, or 
 ders were issued on the 18th with a view to a movement to the North Anna, 
 to commence at 12 o clock on the night of the 19th. Late in the afternoon 
 of the 19th, E well s Corps came out of its works on our extreme right flank; 
 but the attack was promptly repulsed, with heavy loss. This delayed the 
 movement to the North Anna until the night of the 21st, when it was com 
 menced. But the enemy again having the shorter line, and being in pos 
 session of the main roads, was enabled to reach the North Anna in advance 
 of us, and took position behind it. The Fifth Corps reached the North Anna 
 on the afternoon of the 23d, closely followed by the Sixth Corps. The Second 
 and Ninth Corps got up about the same time, the Second holding the railroad 
 bridge and the Ninth lying between that and Jericho Ford. General Warren 
 effected a crossing the same afternoon, and got a position without much opposi 
 tion. Soon after getting into position he was violently attacked, but repulsed 
 the enemy with great slaughter. On the 25th General Sheridan rejoined the 
 Army of the Potomac from the raid on which he started from Spottsylvania, 
 having destroyed the depots at Beaver Dam and Ashland Stations, four trains 
 of cars, large supplies of rations, and many miles of railroad track ; recap 
 tured about four hundred of our men, on their way to Richmond as prison 
 ers of war; met and defeated the enemy s cavalry at Yellow Tavern ; carried 
 the first line of works around Richmond, (but finding the second line too, 
 strong to be carried by assault,) recrossed "to the north bank of the Chicka- 
 hominy at Meadow s Bridge, under heavy fire, and moved by a detour to 
 Haxall s Landing, on the James River, where he communicated with General. 
 Butler. This raid had the effect of drawing off the whole of the enemy s 
 cavalry force, and making it comparatively easy to guard our trains. 
 
 General Butler moved his main force up the James River, in pursuance of 
 instructions, on the 4th of May, General Gillmore having joined him with 
 the Tenth Corps. At the same time he sent a force of one thousand eight 
 hundred cavalry, by way of West Point, to form a junction with him 
 wherever he might get a foothold, and a force of three thousand cavalry, un 
 der General Kautz, from Suffolk, to operate against the roads south of Pe 
 tersburg and Richmond. On the 5th he occupied, without opposition, both 
 City Point and Bermuda Hundred, his movement being a complete surprise. 
 On the 6th he was in position with his main army, and commenced in 
 trenching. On the 7th he made ,a reconnoissance against the Petersburg 
 and Richmond railroad, destroying a portion of it after some fighting. On 
 the 9th he telegraphed as follows : 
 
FIGHT AT DRURY S BLUFF. 625 
 
 HEAD-QUARTERS NEAR BERMUDA LANDING, May 9, 1864. 
 
 " Our operations may be summed up in a few words. "With one thousand seven hun 
 dred cavalry we have advanced up the Peninsula, forced the Chickahominy, and have 
 safely brought them to our present position. These were colored cavalry, and are now 
 holding our advance pickets toward Richmond. 
 
 General Kautz with three thousand cavalry from Suffolk, on the same day with our 
 movement up James River, forced the Black water, burned the railroad bridge at Stony 
 Creek, below Petersburg, cutting in two Beauregard s force at that point. 
 
 We have landed here, intrenched ourselves, destroyed many miles of railroad, and got 
 a position which, with proper supplies, we can hold out against the whole of Lee s army. 
 I have ordered up the supplies. 
 
 Beauregard, with a large portion of his force, was left south by the cutting of the rail 
 roads by Kautz. That portion which reached Petersburg under Hill I have whipped to 
 day, killing and wounding many and taking many prisoners, after a severe and well- 
 contested tight. 
 
 General Grant will not be troubled with any further reinforcements to Lee from Beau- 
 regard s force. 
 
 BENJAMIN F. BUTLER, Major General" 
 
 Hon. E. M. STANTON, Secretary of War. 
 
 On the evening of the 13th and morning of the 14th he carried a portion 
 of the enemy s first line of defenses at Drury s Bluff, or Fort Darling, with 
 small loss. The time thus consumed from the 6th lost to us the benefit of 
 the surprise and capture of Richmond and Petersburg, enabling, as it did, 
 Beauregard to collect his loose forces in North and South Carolina and bring 
 them to the defense of those- places. On the 16th the enemy attacked Gen 
 eral Butler in his position in front of Drury s Bluff. He was forced hack, or 
 drew back, into his intrenchments between the forks of the James and Ap- 
 pomattox Rivers, the enemy intrenching strongly in his front, thus covering 
 his railroads, the city, and all that was valuable to him. His army, there 
 fore, though in a position of great security, was as completely shut off from 
 further operations directly against Richmond as if it had been in a bottle 
 strongly corked. It required but a comparatively small force of the enemy 
 to hold it there. 
 
 On the 12th General Kautz with his cavalry was started on a raid against 
 the Danville railroad, which he struck at Coalfield, Powhatan, and Chola 
 Stations, destroying them, the railroad track, two freight trains, and one loco 
 motive, together with large quantities of commissary and other stores ; thence 
 crossing to the South-side road, struck it at Wilson s, Wellsville, and Black 
 and White Stations, destroying the road and station-houses; thence he pro 
 ceeded to City Point, which he reached on the 18th. 
 
 On the 19th of April, and prior to the movement of General Butler, the 
 enemy, with a land force under General Iloke and an iron-clad rain, attacked 
 Plymouth, N. C., commanded by General II. W. Wessels, and our gunboats 
 there, and after severe fighting the place was carried by assault and the en 
 tire garrison and armament captured. The gunboat Southfield was sunk 
 and the Miami disabled. 
 
 The army sent to operate against Richmond having hermetically sealed 
 itself up at Bermuda Hundred, the enemy was enabled to bring the most if 
 not all the reinforcements brought from the south by Beauregard against the 
 Army of the Potomac. In addition to this reinforcement, a very considera 
 ble one, probably not less than fifteen thousand men, was obtained by calling 
 in the scattered troops under Breckinridge from the western part of Virginia. 
 
 The position at Bermuda Hundred was as easy to defend as it was difficult 
 
626 OPERATIONS ABOVE RICHMOND. 
 
 to operate from against the enemy. I determined, therefore, to bring from it 
 all available forces, leaving enough only to secure what had been gained, 
 and accordingly, on the 22d, I directed that they be sent forward, under 
 command of Major General W. F. Smith, to join the Army of the Potomac. 
 
 On the 24th of May the Ninth Army Corps, commanded by Major General 
 A. E. Burnside, was assigned to the Army of the Potomac, and from this 
 time forward constituted a portion of Major General Meade s command. 
 
 Finding the enemy s position on the North Anna stronger than either of 
 his previous ones, I withdrew on the night of the 26th to the north bank of 
 the North Anna, and moved, via Ilanovertown, to turn the enemy s position 
 by his right. 
 
 Generals Torbert s and Merritt s divisions of cavalry, under Sheridan, and the 
 Sixth Corps led the advance ; crossed the Pamunkey River at Ilanovertown 
 after considerable lighting, and on the 28th the two divisions of cavalry had 
 a severe but successful engagement with the enemy at Haw s shop. On the 
 29th and 30th we advanced, with heavy skirmishing, to the Hanover Court- 
 House and Cold Harbor road, and developed the enemy s position north of 
 the Chickahominy. Late on the evening of the last day the enemy came- 
 out and attacked our left, but was repulsed with very considerable loss. An 
 attack was immediately ordered by General Meade along his whole line, 
 which resulted in driving the enemy from a part of his intrenched skirmish 
 line. 
 
 On the 31st General Wilson s division of cavalry destroyed the railroad 
 bridges over the South Anna River, after defeating the enemy s cavalry. 
 General Sheridan, on the same day, reached Cold Harbor, and held it until 
 relieved by the Sixth Corps and General Smith s command, which had just 
 arrived, via White House, from General Butler s army. 
 
 On the 1st day of June an attack was made at 5 P. M. by the Sixth Corps 
 and the troops under General Smith, the other corps being held in readiness 
 to advance on the receipt of orders. This resulted in our carrying and hold 
 ing the enemy s first line of works in front of the right of the Sixth Corps and 
 in front of General Smith. During the attack the enemy made repeated as 
 saults on each of the corps not engaged in the main attack, but were re 
 pulsed with heavy loss in every instance. That night he made several as 
 saults to regain what he had lost in the day, but failed. The 2d was spent 
 in getting troops into position for an attack on the 3d. On the 3d of June 
 we again assaulted the enemy works, in the hope of driving him from his 
 position. In this attempt our loss was heavy, while that of the enemy, I 
 have reason to believe, was comparatively light. It was the only general 
 attack made from the Rapidan to the James which did not inflict upon the 
 enemy losses to compensate for our own losses. I would not be understood 
 as saying that all previous attacks resulted in victories to our arms, or ac 
 complished as much as I had hoped from them ; but they inflicted upon the 
 enemy severe losses, which tended, in the end, to the complete overthrow of 
 the rebellion. 
 
 From the proximity of the enemy to his defenses around Richmond, it was 
 impossible by any flank movement to interpose between him and the city. 
 I was still in a condition to either move by his left flank and invest Rich 
 mond from the north side, or continue my move by his right flank to the 
 south side of the James. While the former might have been better as a 
 covering for Washington, yet a full survey of all the ground satisfied me 
 
FIRST ATTEMPTS ON PETERSBURG. 627 
 
 that it would be impracticable to hold a line north and east of Richmond 
 that would protect the Fredericksburg railroad a long, vulnerable line, 
 which would exhaust much of our strength to guard, and that would have to 
 be protected to supply the army, arid would leave open to the enemy all his 
 lines of communication on the south side of the James. My idea, from the 
 start, had been to beat Lee s army north of Richmond if possible. Then, 
 after destroying his lines of communication north of the James River, to 
 transfer the army to the south side and besiege Lee in Richmond, or follow 
 him south if he should retreat. After the battle of the Wilderness it was 
 evident that the enemy deemed it of the first importance to run no risks 
 with the army he then had. He acted purely on the defensive behind 
 breastworks, or feebly on the offensive immediately in front of them, and 
 where, in case of repulse, he could easily retire behind them. Without a 
 greater sacrifice of life than I was willing to make, all could not be accom 
 plished that I had designed north of Richmond. I therefore determined to 
 continue to hold substantially the ground we then occupied, taking advan 
 tage of any favorable circumstances that might present themselves, until the 
 cavalry could be sent to Charlottesville and G-ordonsville, to effectually break 
 up the railroad connection between Richmond and the Shenandoah Valley 
 and Lynchburg ; and, when the cavalry got well off, to move the army to 
 the south side of the James River, by the enemy s right flank, where I felt I 
 could cut off all his sources of supply except by the canal. 
 
 On the 7th two divisions of cavalry, under General Sheridan, got off on 
 the expedition against the Virginia Central railroad, with instructions to 
 Hunter, whom I hoped he would meet near Charlottesville, to join his forces 
 to Sheridan s, and after the work laid out for them was thoroughly done, to 
 join the Army of the Potomac by the route laid down in Sheridan s in 
 structions. 
 
 On the 10th of June General Butler sent a force of infantry under General 
 Gillmorc, and cavalry under General Kautz, to capture Petersburg if possi 
 ble, and destroy the railroad and common bridges across the Appomattox. 
 The cavalry carried the works on the south side, and penetrated well in to 
 ward the town, but were forced to retire. General Gillmore finding the 
 works which he approached very strong, and deeming an assault impractica 
 ble, returned to Bermuda Hundred without attempting one. 
 
 Attaching great importance to the possession of Petersburg, I sent back 
 to Bermuda Hundred and City Point General Smith s command by water, 
 via the White House, to reach there in advance of the Army of the Potomac. 
 This was for the express purpose of securing Petersburg before the enemy, 
 becoming aware of our intention, could reinforce the place. 
 
 The movement from Cold Harbor commenced after dark on the evening 
 of the 12th; one division of cavalry, under General Wilson, and the Fifth 
 Corps crossed the Chickahominy at Long Bridge, and moved out to White 
 Oak Swamp, to cover the crossings of the other corps. The advance corps 
 reached James river, at Wilcox s Landing and Charles City Court-House, on 
 the night of the 13th. 
 
 During three long years the armies of the Potomac and Northern Virginia 
 had been confronting each other. In that time they had fought more des 
 perate battles than it probably ever before fell to the lot of two armies to 
 fight, without materially changing the vantage-ground of either. The South 
 ern press and people, with more shrewdness than was displayed in the North, 
 
628 DIFFICULTIES OF THE CAMPAIGN. 
 
 finding that they had failed to capture "Washington and march on to New 
 York, as they had boasted they would do, assumed that they only defended 
 their Capital and Southern territory. Hence, Antietam, Gettysburg, and all 
 the other battles that had been fought, were by them set down as failures on 
 our part, and victories for them. Their army believed this. It produced a 
 morale which could only be overcome by desperate and continuous hard 
 fighting. The battles of the Wilderness, Spottsylvania, North Anna, and 
 Cold Harbor, bloody and terrible as they were on oflr side, were even more 
 damaging to the enemy, and so crippled him as to make him wary ever after 
 of taking the offensive. His losses in men were probably not so great, owing 
 to the fact that we were, save in the Wilderness, almost invariably the attack 
 ing party ; and when he did attack it was in the open field. The details of 
 these battles, which for endurance and bravery on the part of the soldiery 
 have rarely been surpassed, are given in the report of Major General Meade, 
 and the subordinate reports accompanying it. 
 
 During the campaign of forty-three days, from the Rapidan to James 
 River, the army had to be supplied from an ever-shifting base, by wagons, 
 over narrow roads, through a densely-wooded country, with a lack of 
 wharves at each new base from which to conveniently discharge vessels. Too 
 much credit can not, therefore, be awarded to the quartermaster and com~ 
 missary departments for the zeal and efficiency displayed bv them. Under 
 the general supervision of the chief quartermaster, Brigadier General R. In- 
 galls, the trains were made to occupy all the available roads between the 
 army and our water base, and but little difficulty was experienced in pro 
 tecting them. 
 
 The movement of the Kanawha and Shenancloah Valleys, under General 
 Sigel, commenced on the first of May. General Crook, who had the immediate 
 command of the Kanawha expedition, divided his forces into two columns, 
 giving one, composed of cavalry, to General Averill. They crossed the 
 mountains by separate routes. Averill struck the Tennessee and Virginia 
 railroad, near Wytheville, on the 10th, and proceeding to New River and 
 Christiansburg, destroyed the road, several important bridges and depots, in 
 cluding New River bridge, forming a junction with Crook at Union on the 
 loth. General Sigel moved up the Shenandoah Valley, met the enemy at 
 New Market on the 15th, and, after a severe engagement, was defeated with 
 heavy loss, and retired behind Cedar Creek. Not regarding the operations 
 of General Sigel as satisfactory, I asked his removal from command, and 
 Major General Hunter was appointed to supersede him. His instructions 
 were embraced in the following dispatches to Major General H. W. Halleck, 
 Chief of Staff of the army : 
 
 NEAR SPOTTSYLVANIA COURT-HOUSE, VA., May 20, 1864. 
 ************** 
 "The enemy are evidently relying for supplies greatly on such as are brought over the 
 branch road running through St aunton. On the whole, therefore, I think it would be 
 better for General Hunter to move in that direction; reach Staunton and Gordonsville or 
 Charlottesville, if he does not meet too much opposition. If he can hold at bay a force 
 equal to his own, he will be doing good service. * * * 
 
 U. S. GRANT, Lieutenant General" 
 Major General H. W. HALLECK. 
 
 JERICHO FORD, VA., May 25, 1864. 
 
 " If Hunter can possibly get to Charlottesville and Lynchburg, he should do so, living 
 
HUNTER S PUSH TOWARD LYNCHBURG. 629 
 
 on the country. The railroads and canal should be destroyed beyond possibility of re- 
 ipairs for weeks. Completing this, he could find his way back to his original base, or 
 from about Gordons ville join this army. 
 
 U. S. GRANT, Lieutenant General." 
 Major General H. W. HALLECK. 
 
 General Hunter immediately took up the offensive, and moving tip the Shen- 
 andoah Valley, met the enemy on the 5th of June at Piedmont, and after a bat 
 tle of ten hours routed and defeated him, capturing on the field of battle one 
 thousand five hundred men, three pieces of artillery, and three hundred stand 
 of small-arms. On the 8th of the same month he formed a junction with Crook 
 and Averill at Staunton, from which place he moved direct on Lynchburg, via 
 Lexington, which place he reached and invested on the 16th day of June. Up 
 to this time he was very successful, and but for the difficulty of taking with 
 him sufficient ordnance stores over so long a march, through a hostile coun 
 try, he would no doubt have captured that (to the enemy) important point. 
 The destruction of the enemy s supplies and manufactories was very great. 
 To meet this movement under General Hunter, General Lee sent a force, 
 perhaps equal to a corps, a part of which reached Lynchburg a short time 
 before Hunter. After some skirmishing on the 17th and 18th, General 
 Hunter, owing to a want of ammunition to give battle, retired from before 
 the place. Unfortunately, this want of ammunition left him no choice of 
 route for his return but by way of Kanawha. This lost to us the use of 
 his troops for several weeks from the defense of the North. 
 
 Had General Hunter moved by way of Charlottesville, instead of Lexing 
 ton, as his instructions contemplated, he would have been in a position to 
 have covered the Shenandoah Valley against the enemy, should the force he 
 met rftive seemed to endanger it. If it did not, he would have been within 
 easy distance of the James Rivet- canal, on the main line of communication 
 between Lynchburg and the force sent for its defense. I have never taken 
 exception to the operations of General Hunter, and I am not now disposed 
 to find fault with him, for I have no doubt he acted within what he con 
 ceived to be the spirit of his instructions and the interests of the service. 
 The promptitude of his movements and his gallantry should entitle him to 
 the commendation of his country. 
 
 To return to the Army of the Potomac : The Second Corps commenced 
 crossing the James River on the morning of the 14th by ferry-boats at Wil- 
 cox s Landing. The laying of the pontoon bridge was completed about mid 
 night of the 14th, and the crossing of the remainder of the army was rapidly 
 pushed forward by both bridge and ferry. 
 
 After the crossing had commenced, I proceeded by a steamer to Bermuda 
 Hundred to give the necessary orders for the immediate capture of Pe 
 tersburg. 
 
 The instructions to General Butler were verbal, and were for him to send 
 General Smith immediately, that night, with all the troops he could give 
 him without sacrificing the position he then held. I told him that I would 
 return at once to the Army of the Potomac, hasten its crossing, and throw it 
 forward to Petersburg by divisions as rapidly as it could be done ; that we 
 could reinforce our armies more rapidly there than the enemy could bring 
 troops against us. General Smith got oif as directed, and confronted the 
 enemy s pickets near Petersburg before daylight next morning, but for some 
 reason, that I have never been able to satisfactorily understand, did not get 
 
630 FIRST VICTORIES BEFORE PETERSBURG. 
 
 ready to assault his main lines until near sundown. Then, with a part of 
 his command only, he made the assault, and carried the lines northeast of 
 Petersburg from the Appomattox River, for a distance of over two and a half 
 miles, capturing fifteen pieces of artillery and three hundred prisoners. This 
 was about 7 P. M. Between the line thus captured and Petersburg there 
 were no other works, and there was no evidence that the enemy had re 
 inforced Petersburg with a single brigade from any source. The night was 
 clear the moon shining brightly and favorable to further operations. Gen 
 eral Hancock, with two divisions of the Second Corps, reached General Smith 
 just after dark, and offered the service of these troops as he (Smith) might 
 wish, waiving rank to the named commander, who he naturally supposed 
 knew best the position of affairs, and what to do with the troops. But in 
 stead of taking these troops, and pushing at once into Petersburg, he re 
 quested General Hancock to relieve a part of his line in the captured works, 
 which was done before midnight. 
 
 By the time I arrived the next morning the enemy was in force. An attack 
 was ordered to be made at 6 o clock that evening by the troops under Smith 
 and the Second and Ninth Corps. It required until that time for the Ninth 
 Corps to get up and into position. The attack was made as ordered, and 
 the fighting continued with but little intermission until six o clock the next 
 morning, and resulted in our carrying the advance and some of the main 
 works of the enemy to the ,right (our left) of those previously captured by 
 General Smith, several pieces of artillery, and over four hundred prisoners. 
 
 The Fifth Corps having got up, the attacks were renewed and persisted in 
 with great vigor on the 17th and 18th, but only resulted in forcing the en 
 emy to an interior line from which he could not be dislodged. The advan 
 tages in position gained by us were very great. The army then proceeded 
 to envelop Petersburg toward the South-side railroad, as far as possible, 
 without attacking fortifications. 
 
 On the 6th the enemy, to reinforce Petersburg, withdrew from a part of 
 his intrenchment in front of Bermuda Hundred, expecting no doubt to get 
 troops from north of the James to take the place of those withdrawn, before 
 we could discover it. General Butler, taking advantage of this, at once 
 moved a force on the railroad between Petersburg and Richmond. As soon 
 as I was apprised of the advantage thus gained, to retain it I ordered two di 
 visions of the Sixth Corps, General Wright-commanding, that were embarking 
 at Wilcox s Landing under orders for City Point, to report to General Butler 
 at Bermuda Hundred, of which General Butler was notified, and the import 
 ance of holding a position in advance of his present line urged upon him. 
 
 About 2 o clock in the afternoon General Butler was forced back to the 
 line the enemy had withdrawn from in the morning. General Wright, with 
 his two divisions, joined General Butler on the forenoon of the 17th, the lat 
 ter still holding with a strong picket line the enemy s works. But instead 
 of putting these divisions into the enemy s works to hold them, he permitted 
 them to halt arid rest some distance in the rear of his own line. Between 
 4 and 5 o clock in the afternoon the enemy attacked and drove in his pick 
 ets and reoccupied his old line. 
 
 On the night of the 20th and morning of the 21st a lodgment was effected 
 by General Butler, with one brigade of infantry, on the north bank of the 
 James, at Deep Bottom, and connected the pontoon bridge with Bermuda 
 Hundred. 
 
SHERIDAN S AND WILSON S RAIDS. 631 
 
 On the 19th General Sheridan, on his return from his expedition against 
 the Virginia Central railroad, arrived at the White House just as the ene 
 my s cavalry was about to attack it, and compelled it to retire. The result 
 of this expedition was, that General Sheridan met the enemy s cavalry near 
 Trevillian Station, on the morning of the llth of June, whom he attacked, 
 and after an obstinate contest drove from the field in complete rout. He 
 left his dead and nearly all his wounded in our hands, and about four hun 
 dred prisoners and several hundred horses. On the 12th he destroyed the 
 railroad from Trevillian Station to Louisa Court-House. This occupied un 
 til 3 o clock P. M., when he advanced in the direction of Gordonsville. He 
 found the enemy reinforced by infantry, behind well-constructed rifle-pits, 
 about five miles from the latter place, and too strong to successfully assault. 
 On the extreme right, however, his reserve brigade carried the enemy s works 
 twice, and was twice driven therefrom by infantry. Night closed the con 
 test. Not having sufficient ammunition to continue the engagement, and 
 his animals being without forage, (the country furnishing but inferior graz 
 ing,) and hearing nothing from General Hunter, he withdrew his command 
 to the north side of the North Anna, and commenced his return march 
 reaching White House at the time before stated. After breaking up the de 
 pot at that place he moved to the James River, which he reached safely after 
 heavy fighting. He commenced crossing on the 25th, near Fort Powhatan, 
 without further molestation, and rejoined the Army of the Potomac. 
 
 On the 22d General Wilson, with his own division of cavalry of the Army 
 of the Potomac, and General Kautz s division of cavalry of the Army of the 
 James, moved against the enemy s railroads south of Richmond. Striking 
 the Weldon railroad at Ream s Station, destroying the depot and several 
 miles of the road and the South-side road about fifteen miles from Peters 
 burg, to near Not to way Station, where he met and defeated a force of the 
 enemy s cavalry, he reached Burksville Station on the afternoon of the 23d, 
 and from there destroyed the Danville railroad to Roanoke bridge, a distance 
 of twenty-five miles, where he found the enemy in force, and in a position 
 from which he could not dislodge him. He then commenced his return 
 march, and on the 28th met the enemy s cavalry in force at the Weldon rail 
 road crossing of Stony Creek, where he had a severe but not decisive en 
 gagement. Thence he made a detour from his left, with a view of reaching 
 Ream s Station, (supposing it to be in our possession.) At this place he was 
 met by the enemy s cavalry, supported by infantry, and forced to retire, with 
 the loss of his artillery and trains. In this last encounter General Kautz, 
 with a part of his command, became separated, and made his way into our 
 lines. General Wilson, with the remainder of his force, succeeded in cross 
 ing the Nottoway River and coming in safely on our left and rear. The 
 damage to the enemy in this expedition more than compensated for the 
 losses we sustained. It severed all connection by railroad with Richmond 
 for several weeks. 
 
 With a view of cutting the enemy s railroad from near Richmond to the 
 Anna Rivers and making him wary of the situation of his army in the Shen- 
 andoah, atfd, in the event of failure in this, to take advantage of his necessary 
 withdrawal of troops from Petersburg, to explode a mine that had been pre 
 pared in front of the Ninth Corps and assault the enemy s lines at that place, 
 on the night of the 26th of July the Second Corps ami two divisions of the 
 cavalry corps and Kautz s cavalry were crossed to the north bank of tbe 
 70 
 
632 OPERATIONS IN SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 
 
 James River and joined the force General Butler had there. On the 27th 
 the enemy was driven from his intrenched position, with the loss of four 
 pieces of artillery. On the 28th our lines were extended from Deep Bottom 
 to New Market road, but in getting this position were attacked by the enemy 
 in heavy force. The fighting lasted for several hours, resulting in considera 
 ble loss to both sides. The first object of this move having failed, by reason 
 of the very large force thrown there by the enemy, I determined to take ad 
 vantage of the diversion made, by assaulting Petersburg before he could get 
 Ids force back there. One division of the Second Corps was withdrawn on 
 the night of the 28th, and moved during the night to the rear of the Eigh 
 teenth Corps, to relieve that corps in the line, that it might be foot-loose in 
 the assault to be made. The other two divisions of the Second Corps and 
 Sheridan s cavalry were crossed over on the night of the 29th and moved in 
 front of Petersburg. On the morning of the 30th, between four and five 
 o clock, the mine was sprung, blowing up a battery and most of a regiment, 
 and the advance of the assaulting column, formed of the Ninth Corps, imme 
 diately took possession of the crater made by the explosion, and the line for 
 some distance to the right and left of it, and a detached line in front of it, 
 but for some cause failed to advance promptly to the ridge beyond. Had 
 they done this, I have every reason to believe that Petersburg would have 
 fallen. Other troops were immediately pushed forward, but the time con 
 sumed in getting them up enabled the enemy to rally from his surprise 
 (which had been complete) and get forces to this point for its defense. The 
 captured line thus held being untenable, and of no advantage to us, the 
 troops were withdrawn, but not without heavy loss. Thus terminated in 
 disaster what promised to be the most successful assault of the campaign. 
 
 Immediately upon the enemy s ascertaining that General Hunter was re 
 treating from Lynchburg by way of the Kanawha River, thus laying the 
 Shenandoah Valley open for raids into Maryland and Pennsylvania, he re 
 turned northward, and moved down that valley. As soon as this movement 
 of the enemy was ascertained, General Hunter, who had reached the Kana 
 wha River, was directed to move his troops without delay, by river and rail 
 road, to Harper s Ferry; but owing to the difficulty of navigation by reason 
 of low water and breaks in the railroad, great delay was experienced in 
 getting there. It became necessary, therefore, to find other troops to check 
 this movement of the enemy. For this purpose the Sixth Corps was taken 
 from the armies operating against Richmond, to which was added the Nine 
 teenth Corps, then fortunately beginning to arrive in Hampton Roads from 
 the Gulf Department, under orders issued immediately after the ascertain 
 ment of the result of the Red River expedition. The garrisons of Baltimore 
 and Washington were at this time made up of heavy artillery regiments, 
 hundred-days men, and detachments from the invalid corps. One division, 
 under command of General Ricketts, of the Sixth Corps, was sent to Balti 
 more, and the remaining two divisions of the Sixth Corps, under General 
 Wright, were subsequently sent to Washington. On the 3d of July the 
 enemy approached Martinsburg ; General Sigel, who was in command of our 
 forces there, retreated across the Potomac at Shepardstown ; and General 
 Weber, commanding at Harper s Ferry, crossed the river and occupied Ma 
 ryland Heights. On the 6th the enemy occupied Hagerstown, moving a 
 strong column toward Frederick City. General Wallace, with Rickett s 
 division and his own command, the latter mostly new and undisciplined 
 
EARLY S RAID NORTH. 633 
 
 troops, pushed out from Baltimore with great promptness, and met the 
 enemy in force on the Monocacy, near the crossing of the railroad bridge. 
 His force was not sufficient to insure success, but he fought the enemy nev 
 ertheless, and although it resulted in a defeat to our arms, yet it detained 
 the enemy and thereby served to enable General Wright to reach Washing 
 ton with two divisions of the Sixth Corps, and the advance of the Nineteenth 
 Corps, before him. From Monacacy the enemy moved on Washington, his 
 cavalry advance reaching Rockville on the evening of the 10th. On the 12th 
 a reconnoissance was thrown out in front of Fort Stevens, to ascertain the 
 enemy s position and force. A severe skirmish ensued, in which we lost 
 about two hundred and eighty in killed and wounded. The enemy s loss 
 
 to the command of all the troops that could be made available to operate in 
 the field against the enemy, and directed that he should get outside of the 
 trenches with all the force he could, and push Early to the last moment. 
 General Wright commenced the pursuit on the 13th; on the 18th the en 
 emy was overtaken at Snicker s Ferry, on the Shenan<Joah, when a sharp 
 skirmish occurred ; and on the 20th General Averill encountered and de 
 feated a portion of the rebel army at Winchester, capturing four pieces of 
 artillery and several hundred prisoners. 
 
 Learning that Early was retreating south toward Lynchburg or Richmond, 
 I directed that the Sixth and Nineteenth Corps be got back to the armies 
 operating against Richmond, so that they might be used in a movement 
 against Lee "before the return of the troops sent by him into the valley; and 
 that Hunter should remain in, the Shcnandoah Valley, keeping between any 
 force of the enemy and Washington, acting on the defensive as much as 
 possible. I felt that if the enemy had any notion of returning, the fact 
 would be developed before the Sixth and Nineteenth Corps could leave 
 Washington. Subsequently, the Nineteenth Corps was excepted from the 
 order to return to the James. 
 
 About the 25th it became evident that the enemy was again advancing 
 upon Maryland and Pennsylvania, and the Sixth Corps, then at AVashington, 
 was ordered back to the vicinity of Harper s Ferry. The rebel force moved 
 down the valley, and sent a raiding party into Pennsylvania, which on the 
 30th burned Chambersburg and then retreated, pursued by our cavalry, to 
 ward Cumberland. They were met and defeated by General Kelly, and with 
 diminished numbers escaped into the mountains of West Virginia. From 
 the time of the first raid the telegraph wires were frequently down between 
 Washington and City Point, making it necessary to transmit messages a 
 part of the way by boat. It took from twenty-four to thirty-six hours to get 
 dispatches through and return answers back ; so that often orders would be 
 given, and then information would be received showing a different state of 
 facts from those on which they were based, causing a confusion and apparent 
 contradiction of orders that must have considerably embarrassed those who 
 had to execute them, and rendered operations against the enemy less effective 
 than they otherwise would have been. To remedy this evil, it was evident 
 to my mind that some person should have the supreme command of all the 
 forces in the Departments of West Virginia, Washington, Susquehanna, and 
 the Middle Department, and I so recommended. 
 
634 SHERIDAN SUPERSEDES HUNTER. 
 
 On the 2d of August I ordered General Sheridan to report in person to 
 Major General Halleck, Chief of Staff, at Washington, with a view to his* as 
 signment to the command of all the forces against Early. At this time the 
 enemy was concentrated in the neighborhood of "Winchester, whilst our 
 forces, under General Hunter, were concentrated on the Monocacy, at the 
 crossing of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, leaving open to the enemy 
 Western Maryland and Southern Pennsylvania. From where I was, I hesi 
 tated to give positive orders for the movement of our forces at Monocacy, 
 lest by so doing I should expose Washington. Therefore, on the 4th I left 
 City Point to visit Hunter s command, and determine for myself what wa 
 best to be done. On arrival there, and after consultation with General Hun 
 ter, I issued to him the following instructions : 
 
 MOXOCACY BRIDGE, MD, T August 5, 18G4 8 P. M, 
 
 "GENERAL: Concentrate all yonr available force without delay in the vicinity of Har 
 per s Ferry, leaving only such railroad guards and garrisons for public property as may be 
 necessary. Use, in this concentrating, the railroads, if by so doing time can be saved. 
 From Harper s Ferry, if it is found that the enemy has moved north of the Potomae in 
 large force, push north, following him and attacking him wherever found; follow him, if 
 driven south of the Potomac, as long as it is safe to do so. If it is ascertained that the enemy 
 Las but a small force north of the Potomae, then push south with the main force, detach 
 ing, under a competent Commander, a sufficient force to look after the raiders, and drire 
 them to their homes. In detaching such a force, the brigade of cavalry now en route from 
 Washington, vi-a Eockville, may be taken into account. 
 
 There are now on their way to join you three other brigades of the best cavalry, num 
 bering, at least, five thousand men and horses. These will be instructed, in the absence 
 of further orders, to join you by the south side of the Potomac. One brigade will proba 
 bly start to-morrow. In pushing up the Shenandoah Yalley, where it is expected you 
 will have to go first or last, it is desirable that nothing should be left to invite the enemy 
 to return. Take all provisions, forage, and stock wanted for the use of your command ; 
 such as can not be consumed, destroy. It is not desirable that the buildings should be- 
 destroyed they should rather be protected but the people should be informed that so 
 long as an army can subsist among them recurrences of these raids must be expected, and 
 we are determined to stop them at all haz irds. 
 
 Bear in mind the object is to drive the enemy south, and to do tins you want to keep 
 him always in sight. Be guided in your course -by the course he takes. 
 
 Make your own arrangements for supplies of all kinds, giving regular vouchers for such 
 as may be taken from loyal citizens in the country through which you march. 
 
 U. S, GRANT, Lieuknani General" 
 
 Major General D. HUNTER. 
 
 The troops were immediately put in motion, and the advance reached 
 Halltown that night. 
 
 General Hunter having, in our conversation, expressed a willingness to he- 
 relieved from command, I telegraphed to have General Sheridan, then at 
 Washington, sent to Harper s Ferry by the morning train, with orders to- 
 take general command of all the troops in the field, and to call on General 
 Hunter at Monocacy, who would turn over to him my letter of instructions. 
 I remained at Monocacy until General Sheridan arrived on the morning of 
 the 6th, and, after a conference with him in relation to military affairs in 
 that vicinity, I returned to City Point by way of Washington. 
 
 On the 7th of August the Middle Department and the Departments of 
 West Virginia, Washington, and Susquehanna were constituted into the 
 " Middle Military Division," and Major General Sheridan was assigned to 
 temporary command of the same. 
 
 Two divisions of cavalry, commanded by Generals Torbert and Wilson, 
 
SHERIDAN S GREAT VICTORY. 635 
 
 were sent to Sheridan from the Army of the Potomac. The first reached 
 him at Harper s Ferry about the llth of August. 
 
 His operations during the month of August and the fore-part of Septem 
 ber were both of an offensive and defensive character, resulting in many se 
 vere skirmishes, principally by the cavalry, in which we were generally suc 
 cessful, but no general engagement took place. The two armies lay in such 
 a position the enemy on the west bank of the Opequan Creek covering 
 Winchester, and our forces in front of Berrysville that either could bring 
 on a battle at any time. Defeat to us would lay open to the enemy the 
 States of Maryland and Pennsylvania for long distances before another army 
 could be interposed to check him. Under these circumstances, I hesitated 
 about allowing the initiative to be taken. Finally, the use of the Baltimore 
 and Ohio railroad and the Chesapeake and Ohio canal, which were both ob 
 structed by the enemy, became so indispensably necessary to us, and the im 
 portance of relieving Pennsylvania and Maryland from continuously threat 
 ened invasion so great, that I determined the risk should be taken. But 
 fearing to telegraph the order for an attack without knowing more than I 
 did of General Sheridan s feelings as to what would be the probable result, I 
 left City Point on the 15th of September to visit him at his head-quarters, 
 to decide, after conference with him, what should be done. I met him at 
 Charleston, and he pointed out so distinctly how each army lay, what he 
 could do the moment he was authorized, and expressed such confidence of 
 success, that I saw there were but two words of instructions necessary Go 
 in ! For the convenience of forage, the teams for supplying the army were 
 kept at Harper s Ferry. I asked him if he could get out his teams and sup 
 plies in time to make an attack on the ensuing Tuesday morning. His re 
 ply was, that he could before daylight on Monday. He was off promptly to 
 time, and I may here add that the result was such that I have never since 
 deemed it necessary to visit General Sheridan before giving him orders. 
 
 Early on the morning of the 19th General Sheridan attacked General 
 Early at the crossing on the Opequan Creek, and after a most sanguinary 
 and bloody battle, lasting until 5 o clock in the evening, defeated him with 
 heavy loss, carrying his entire position from Opequan Creek to Winchester, 
 capturing several thousand prisoners and five pieces of artillery. The enemy 
 rallied and made a stand in a strong position at Fisher s Hill, where he was 
 attacked and again defeated with heavy loss on the 20th. Sheridan pursued 
 him with great energy through Harrisonburg, Staunton, and the gaps of the 
 Blue Ridge. After stripping the upper valley of most of the supplies and 
 provisions for the rebel army, he returned to Strasburg, and took position ou 
 the north side of Cedar Creek. 
 
 Having received considerable reinforcements, General Early again returned 
 to the valley, and on the 9th of October his cavalry encountered ours near 
 Strasburg, where the rebels were defeated with the loss of eleven pieces of 
 artillery and three hundred and fifty prisoners. On the night of the 18th the 
 enemy crossed the mountains which separated the branches of the Shenan- 
 doah, forded the north fork, and early on the morning of the 19th, under 
 cover of the darkness and the fog, surprised and turned our left flank, and 
 captured the batteries which enfiladed our whole line. Our troops fell back 
 with heavy loss and in much confusion, but were finally rallied between 
 Middletown and Newtown. At this juncture General Sheridan, who was at 
 Winchester when the battle commenced, arrived on the field, arranged his 
 
636 AFFAIRS AROUND PETERSBURG. 
 
 lines just in time to repulse a heavy attack of the enemy, and immediately 
 assuming the offensive, he attacked in turn with great vigor. The enemy 
 was defeated with great slaughter and the loss of most of his artillery and 
 trains and the trophies he had captured in the morning. The wreck of his 
 army escaped during the night, and fled in the direction of Staunton and 
 Lynchburg. Pursuit was made to Mount Jackson. Thus ended this, the 
 enemy s last attempt, to invade the north, via the Shenandoah Valley. I 
 was now enabled to return the Sixth Corps to the Army of the Potomac, 
 and to send one division from Sheridan s army to the Army of the James, 
 and another to Savannah, Georgia, to hold Sherman s new acquisitions on 
 the sea-coast, and thus enable him to move without detaching from his force 
 for that purpose. 
 
 Reports from various sources led me to believe that the enemy had de 
 tached three divisions from Petersburg to reinforce Early in the Shenandoah 
 Valley. I therefore sent the Second Corps and Gregg s division of cavalry, 
 of the Army of the Potomac, and a force of General Butler s army, on the 
 night of the 13th of August, to threaten Richmond from the north side of 
 the James, to prevent him from sending troops away, and, if possible, to 
 draw back those sent. In this move we captured six pieces of artillery and 
 several hundred prisoners, detained troops that were under marching orders, 
 and ascertained that but one division, (Kershaw s,) of the three reputed de 
 tached, had gone. 
 
 The enemy having withdrawn heavily from Petersburg to resist this move 
 ment, the Fifth Corps, General Warren commanding, was moved out on the 
 1 8th and took possession of the Wcldon railroad. During the day he had 
 considerable righting. To regain possession of the road, the enemy made 
 repeated and desperate assaults, but was each time repulsed with great loss. 
 On the night of the 20th the troops on the north side of the James were 
 withdrawn, and Hancock and Gregg returned to the front of Petersburg. 
 On the 25th the Second Corps and Gregg s division of cavalry, while at 
 Ream s Station destroying the railroad, were attacked, and after desperate 
 fighting, a part of our line gave way, and five pieces of artillery fell into the 
 hands of the enemy. 
 
 By the 12th of September a branch railroad was completed from the City 
 Point and Petersburg railroad to the Weldon railroad, enabling us to sup 
 ply, without difficulty, in all weather, the army in front of Petersburg. 
 
 The extension of our lines across the Weldon railroad compelled the en 
 emy to so extend his that it seemed he could have but few troops north of 
 the James for the defense of Richmond. On the night of the 28th the Tenth 
 Corps, Major General Birney, and the Eighteenth Corps, Major General Ord 
 commanding, of General Butler s army, were crossed to the north side of the 
 James, and advanced on the morning of the 29th, carrying the very strong 
 fortifications and intrenchments below Chapin s Farm, known as Fort Harri 
 son, capturing fifteen pieces of artillery and the New Market road and in 
 trenchments. This success was followed up by a gallant assault upon Fort 
 Gillmore, immediately in front of the Cliapin Farm fortifications, in which we 
 were repulsed with heavy loss. Kantz s cavalry was pushed forward on the 
 road to the right of this, supported by infantry, and reached the enemy s in 
 ner line, but was unable to get further. The position captured from tho en 
 emy was so threatening to Richmond that I determined to hold it. The 
 enemy made several desperate attempts to dislodge us, all of which were 
 
OPERATIONS AROUND PETERSBURG. 637 
 
 unsuccessful, and for which he paid dearly. On the morning of the 30th 
 General Meadc sent out a reconnoissance, with a view to attacking the ene 
 my s line if it was found sufficiently weakened l>y withdrawal of troops to 
 the north side. In this reconnoissance we captured and held the enemy s 
 works near Poplar Spring Church. In the afternoon, troops moving to get 
 to the left of the point gained were attacked by the enemy in heavy force, 
 and compelled to fall back until supported by the forces holding the captured 
 works. Our cavalry under Gregg was also attacked, but repulsed the enemy 
 with great loss. 
 
 On the 7th of October the enemy attacked Kautz s cavalry north of the 
 James, and drove it back with heavy loss in killed, wounded, and prisoners, 
 and the loss of all the artillery eight or nine pieces. This he followed up 
 by an attack on our intrenched infantry line, but was repulsed with severe 
 slaughter. On the 13th a reconnoissance was sent out by General Butler, 
 with a view to drive the enemy from some new works he was constructing, 
 which resulted in very heavy loss to us. 
 
 On the 27th the Army of the Potomac, leaving only sufficient men to hold 
 its fortified line, moved by the enemy s right flank. The Second Corps, fol 
 lowed by two divisions of the Fifth Corps, with the cavalry in advance and 
 covering our left flank, forced a passage of Hatcher s Run, and moved up the 
 south side of it toward the South-side railroad, until the Second Corps and 
 part of the cavalry reached the Boydtown plank road, where it crosses 
 Hatcher s Run. At this point we were six miles distant from the South-side 
 railroad, which I had hoped by this movement to reach and hold. But 
 finding that we had not reached the end of the enemy s fortifications, and 
 no place presenting itself for a successful assault by which he might be 
 doubled up and shortened, I determined to withdraw to within our fortified 
 line. Orders were given accordingly. Immediately upon receiving a report 
 that General Warren had connected with General Hancock, I returned to my 
 head-quarters. Soon after I left, the enemy moved out across Hatcher s 
 Run, in the gap between Generals Hancock and Warren, which was not 
 closed as reported, and made a desperate attack on General Hancock s right 
 and rear. General Hancock immediately faced his corps to meet it, and 
 after a bloody combat drove the enemy, within his works, and withdrew that 
 night to his old position. 
 
 In support of this movement General Butler made a demonstration on the 
 north side of the James, and attacked the enemy on the Williamsburg road, 
 and also on the York River railroad. In the former he was unsuccessful ; in 
 the latter he succeeded in carrying a work which was afterward abandoned, 
 and his forces withdrawn to their former positions. 
 
 From this time forward the operations in front of Petersburg and Richmond, 
 until the spring campaign of 1865, were confined to the defense and exten 
 sion of our lines, and to offensive movements for crippling the enemy s lines 
 of communication, and to prevent his detaching any considerable force to 
 send south. By the 7th of February our lines were extended to Hatcher s 
 Run, and the Weldon railroad had been destroyed to Hicksford. 
 
 General Sherman moved from Chattanooga on the 6th of May, with the 
 armies of the Cumberland, Tennessee, and Ohio commanded, respectively, 
 by Generals Thomas, McPherson, and Schofield upon Johnston s army at 
 Dalton ; but finding the enemy s positions at Buzzard Roost, covering Dai- 
 ton, too strong to be assaulted. General McPherson was sent through Snake 
 
638 SHERMAN STARTS FOR ATLANTA. 
 
 Gap to turn it, whilst Generals Thomas and Schofield threatened it in front 
 and on the north. This movement was successful. Johnston, finding his 
 retreat likely to be cut oft , fell back to his fortified position at Resaca, where 
 he was attacked on the afternoon of May 15th. A heavy battle ensued. 
 During the night the enemy retreated south. Late on the 17th his rear 
 guard was overtaken near Adairsville, and heavy skirmishing followed. The 
 next morning, however, he had again disappeared. He was vigorously pur- 
 Bued and was overtaken at Cassville on the 19th, but, during the ensuing 
 night, retreated across the Etowah. Whilst these operations were going on, 
 General Jefferson C. Davis division of Thomas army was sent to Rome, 
 capturing it with its forts and artillery and its valuable mills and foundries. 
 General Sherman having given his army a few days rest at this point, again 
 put it in motion on the 23d for Dallas, with a view of turning the difficult 
 pass at Allatoona. On the afternoon of the 25th the advance, under General 
 Hooker, had a severe battle with the enemy, driving him back to New Hope 
 Church, near Dallas. Several sharp encounters occurred at this point. The 
 most important was on the 28th, when the enemy assaulted General Mc- 
 Pherson at Dallas, but received a terrible and bloody repulse. 
 
 On the 4th of June, Johnston abandoned his intrenched position at New 
 Hope Church and retreated to the strong positions of Ivenesaw, Pine, and 
 Lost Mountains. He was forced to yield the two last named places and con 
 centrate his army on Kenesaw, where, on the 27th, Generals Thomas and 
 McPherson made a determined but unsuccessful assault. On the night of 
 the 2d of July Sherman commenced moving his army by the right flank, 
 and on the morning of the 3d found that the enemy, in consequence of this 
 movement, had abandoned Kenesaw and retreated across the Chattahoochee. 
 
 General Sherman remained on the Chattahoochee to give his men rest and 
 get up stores until the 17th of July, when he resumed his operations, crossed 
 the Chattahoochee, destroyed a large portion of the railroad to Augusta, and 
 drove the enemy back to Atlanta. At this place General Hood succeeded 
 General Johnston in command of the rebel army, and assuming the otfensive- 
 defensive policy, made several severe attacks upon Sherman in the vicinity 
 of Atlanta, the most desperate and determined of which was on the 22d of 
 July. About 1 P. M. of this day the brave, accomplished, and noble -hearted 
 McPherson was killed. General Logan succeeded him, and commanded the 
 Army of the Tennessee through this desperate battle and until lie was su 
 perseded by Major General Howard on the 26th, with the same success and 
 ability that had characterized him in the command of a corps or division. 
 
 In all these attacks the enemy was repulsed with great loss. Finding it 
 impossible to entirely invest the place, General Sherman, after securing his 
 line of communications across the Chattahoochee, moved his main force round 
 by the enemy s left flank upon the Montgomery and Macon roads, to draw 
 the enemy from his fortifications. In this he succeeded, and, after defeating 
 the enemy near Rough and Ready, Jonesboro , and Lovejoy s, forcing him to 
 retreat to the south, on the 2d of September occupied Atlanta, the objective 
 point of his campaign. 
 
 About the time of this move the rebel cavalry, under Wheeler, attempted 
 to cut his communications in the rear, but was repulsed at Dalton and driven 
 into East Tennessee, whence it proceeded west to McMinnville, Murfreesboro , 
 and Franklin, and was finally driven south of the Tennessee. The damage 
 done by this raid was repaired in a few days. 
 
TRIBUTE TO SHERMAN. 639 
 
 During the partial investment of Atlanta, General Rousseau joined General 
 Sherman with a force of cavalry from Decatur, having made a successful raid 
 upon the Atlanta and Montgomery railroad, and its branches near Opelika. 
 Cavalry raids were also made by Generals McCook, Garrard, and Stoneman, 
 to cut the remaining railroad communication with Atlanta. The first two 
 were successful the latter disastrous. 
 
 General Sherman s movement from Chattanooga to Atlanta was prompt, 
 skillful, and brilliant. The history of his flank movements and battles during 
 that memorable campaign will ever be read with an interest unsurpassed by 
 any thing in history. 
 
 His own report, and those of his subordinate Commanders accompanying 
 it, give the details of that most successful campaign. 
 
 He was dependent for the supply of his armies upon a single-track railroad 
 from Nashville to the point where he was operating. This passed the entire 
 distance through a hostile country, and every foot of it had to be protected 
 by- troops. The cavalry force of the enemy under Forrest, in Northern Mis 
 sissippi, was evidently waiting for Sherman to advance far enough into the 
 mountains of Georgia to make a retreat disastrous, to get upon his line and 
 destroy it beyond the possibility of further use. To guard against this dan 
 ger Sherman left what he supposed to be a sufficient force to operate against 
 Forrest in West Tennessee. He directed General Washburn, who com 
 manded there, to send Brigadier General S. D. Sturgis in command of this 
 force to attack him. On the morning of the 10th of June General Sturgis 
 met the enemy near Guntown, Miss., was badly beaten, and driven back in 
 utter rout and confusion to Memphis a distance of about one hundred miles 
 hotly pursued by the enemy. By this, however, the enemy was defeated in 
 his designs upon Sherman s line of communications. The persistency with 
 which he followed up this success exhausted him, and made a season for rest 
 and repairs necessary. In the meantime Major General A. J. Smith, with 
 the troops of the Army of the Tennessee that had been sent by General 
 Sherman to General Banks, arrived at Memphis on their return from Red 
 River, where they had done most excellent service. He was directed by 
 General Sherman to immediately take the offensive against Forrest. This he 
 did with the promptness and effect which has characterized his whole mili 
 tary career. On the 14th of July he met the enemy at Tupelo, Miss., and 
 whipped him badly. The fighting continued through three days. Our loss 
 was small compared with that of the enemy. Having accomplished the ob 
 ject of his expedition, General Smith returned to Memphis. 
 
 During the months of March and April this same force tinder Forrest an 
 noyed us considerably. On the 24th of March it captured Union City, Ky., 
 and its garrison, and on the 24th attacked Paducah, commanded by Colonel 
 S. G. Hicks, Fortieth Illinois volunteers. Colonel II., having but a small 
 force, withdrew to the forts near the river, from where he repulsed the enemy 
 and drove him from the place. 
 
 On the 13th of April part of this force, under the rebel General Buford, 
 summoned the garrison of Columbus, Ky., to surrender, but received for re 
 ply from Colonel Lawrence, Thirty-fourth New Jersey volunteers, that, being 
 placed there by his Government with adequate force to hold his post and 
 repel all enemies from it, surrender was out of the question. 
 
 On the morning of the same day Forrest attacked Fort Pillow, Tenn., gar 
 risoned by a detachment of Tennessee cavalry, and the First Regiment 
 
640 REVERSES ON THE RED RIVER. 
 
 Alabama colored troops, commanded by Major Booth. The garrison fought 
 bravely until about 3 o clock in the afternoon, when the enemy carried the, 
 works by assault; and, after our men threw down their arms, proceeded to 
 an inhuman and merciless massacre of the garrison. 
 
 On the 14th General Buford, having failed at Columbus, appeared before 
 Paducah, but was again driven off. 
 
 Guerrillas and raiders, seemingly emboldened by Forrest s operations, were 
 also very active in Kentucky. The most noted of these was Morgan. With 
 a force of from two to three thousand cavalry he entered the State through 
 Pound Gap in the latter part of May. On the llth of June he attacked and 
 captured Cynthiana, with its entire garrison. On the 12th he was overtaken 
 by General Burbridge, and completely routed with heavy loss, and was 
 finally driven out of the State. This notorious guerrilla was afterward sur 
 prised and killed near Greenville, Tenn., and his command captured and dis 
 persed by General Gillem. 
 
 In the absence of official reports at the commencement of the Red River 
 expedition, except so far as relates to the movements of the troops sent by 
 General Sherman under A. J. Smith, I am unable to give the date of its 
 starting. The troops under General Smith, comprising two divisions of the 
 Sixteenth and a detachment of the Seventeenth Army Corps, left Vicksburg 
 on the 10th of March and reached the designated point on Red River one day 
 earlier than that appointed by General Banks. The rebel forces at Fort De 
 Russey, thinking to defeat him, left the fort on the 14th to give him battle in 
 the open field ; but, while occupying the enemy with skirmishing and demon 
 strations, Smith pushed forward to Fort De Russey, which had been left with 
 a weak garrison, and captured it with its garrison about three hundred and 
 fifty men, eleven pieces of artillery, and many small-arms. Our loss was but 
 slight. On the 15th he pushed forward to Alexandria, which place he 
 reached on the 18th. On the 21st he had an engagement with the enemy 
 at Henderson Hill, in which he defeated him, capturing two hundred and 
 ten prisoners and four pieces of artillery. 
 
 On the 28th he again attacked and defeated the enemy under the rebel 
 General Taylor at Cane River. By the 26th General Banks had assembled 
 his whole army at Alexandria and pushed forward to Grand Ecore. On the 
 morning of April 6th he moved from Grand Ecore. On the afternoon of the 
 7th his advance engaged the enemy near Pleasant Hill and drove him from 
 the field. On the same afternoon the enemy made a stand eight miles be 
 yond Pleasant Hill, but was again compelled to retreat. On the 8th, at Sa- 
 bine Cross-roads and Peach Hill, the enemy attacked and defeated his ad 
 vance, capturing nineteen pieces of artillery and an immense amount of trans 
 portation and stores. During the night General Banks fell back to Pleasant 
 Hill, where another battle was fought on the 9th, and the enemy repulsed 
 with great loss. During the night General Banks continued his retrograde 
 movement to Grand Ecore, and thence to Alexandria, which he reached on 
 the 27th of April. Here a serious difficulty arose in getting Admiral Por 
 ter s fleet, which accompanied the expedition, over the rapids, the water 
 having fallen so much since they passed up as to prevent their return. At 
 the suggestion of Colonel (now Brigadier General) Bailey, and under his su 
 perintendence, wing-dams were constructed, by which the channel was con 
 tracted so that the fleet passed down the rapids in safety. 
 
 The army evacuated Alexandria on the 14th of May, after considerable 
 
OPERATIONS IN ARKANSAS. 641 
 
 skirmishing with the enemy s advance, and reached Morganzia and Point 
 Coupee near the end of the month. The disastrous termination of this ex 
 pedition and the lateness of the season rendered impracticable the carrying 
 out of my plans of a movement in force sufficient to insure the capture of 
 Mobile. 
 
 On the 23d of March Major General Steele left Little Rock with the Sev 
 enth Army Corps to cooperate with General Bank s expedition on Red River, 
 and reached Arkadelphia on the 28th. On the 16th of April, after driving 
 the enemy before him, he was joined near Elkin s Ferry, in Washita County, 
 by General Thayer, who had marched from Fort Smith. After several se 
 vere skirmishes, in which the enemy was defeated, General Steele reached 
 Camden, which he occupied about the middle of April. 
 
 On learning the defeat and consequent retreat of General Banks on Red 
 River, and the loss of one of his own trains at Mark s Mill, in Dallas County, 
 General Steele determined to fall back to the Arkansas River. He left Cam- 
 deri on the 26th of April, and reached Little Rock on the 2d of May. On 
 the 30th of April the enemy attacked him while crossing Saline River at 
 Jenkins Ferry, but was repulsed with considerable loss. Our loss was about 
 six hundred in killed, wounded, and prisoners. 
 
 Major General Canby, who had been assigned to the command of the 
 " Military Division of West Mississippi," was therefore directed to send the 
 Nineteenth Army Corps to join the armies operating against Richmond, and 
 to limit the remainder of his command to such operations as might be nec 
 essary to hold the positions and lines of communications he then occupied. 
 
 Before starting General A. J. Smith s troops back to Sherman, General 
 Canby sent a part of it to disperse a force of the enemy that was collecting 
 near the Mississippi River. General Smith met and defeated this force near 
 Lake Chicot on the 5th of June. Our loss was about forty killed and 
 seventy wounded. 
 
 In the latter part of July General Canby sent Major General Gordon 
 Granger, with such forces as he could collect, to cooperate with Admiral 
 Farragut against the defenses of Mobile Bay. On the 8th of August Fort 
 Gaines .surrendered to the combined naval and land forces. Fort Powell 
 was blown up and abandoned. 
 
 On the 9th Fort Morgan was invested, and after a severe bombardment 
 surrendered on the 23d. The total captures amounted to one thousand four 
 hundred and sixty-four prisoners and one hundred and four pieces of artillery. 
 
 About the last of August, it being reported that the rebel General Price, 
 with a force of about ten thousand men, had reached Jacksonport, on his 
 way to invade Missouri, General A. J. Smith s command, then en route from 
 Memphis to join Sherman, was ordered to Missouri. A cavalry force was 
 also, at the same time, sent from Memphis, under command of Colonel 
 Winslow. This made General Rosecrans forces superior to those of Price, 
 and no doubt was entertained he would be able to check Price and drive 
 him back, while the forces under General Steele, in Arkansas, would cut off 
 his retreat. On the 26th day of September Price attacked Pilot Knob and 
 forced the garrison to retreat, and thence moved north to the Missouri River, 
 and continued up that river toward Kansas. General Curtis, commanding 
 Department of Kansas, immediately collected such forces as he could to repel 
 the invasion of Kansas, while General Rosecrans cavalry was operating in his 
 rear. 
 
642 FORREST S ATTACK UPON ATHENS. 
 
 The enemy was brought to battle on the Big Blue and defeated, with the 
 loss of nearly all his artillery and trains and a large number of prisoners. He 
 made a precipitate retreat to Northern Arkansas. The impunity with which 
 Price was enabled to roam over the State of Missouri for a long time, and 
 the incalculable mischief done by him, shows to how little purpose a superior 
 force may be used. There is no reason why General Rosecrans should not 
 have concentrated his forces and beaten and driven Price before the latter 
 reached Pilot Knob. 
 
 September 20th the enemy s cavalry, under Forrest, crossed the Tennessee 
 near Waterloo, Ala., and on the 23d attacked the garrison at Athens, con 
 sisting of six hundred men, which capitulated on the 24th. Soon after the 
 surrender two regiments of reinforcements arrived, and after a severe fight 
 were compelled to surrender. Forrest destroyed the railroad westward, cap 
 tured the garrison at Sulphur Branch trestle, skirmished with the garrison 
 at Pulaski on the 27th, and on the same day cut the Nashville and Chatta 
 nooga railroad near Tullahoma and Dechard. On the morning of the 30th 
 one column of Forrest s command, under Buford, appeared before Huntsville, 
 and summoned the surrender of the garrison. Receiving an answer in the 
 negative, he remained in the vicinity of the place until next morning, when 
 he again summoned its surrender, and received the same reply as. on the 
 night before. He withdrew in the direction of Athens, which place had 
 been re-garrisoned, and attacked it on the afternoon of the 1st of October, 
 but without success. On the morning of the 2d he renewed his attack, but 
 was handsomely repulsed. 
 
 Another column, under Forrest, appeared before Columbia on the morning 
 of the 1st, but did not make an attack. On the morning of the 3d he moved 
 toward Mount Pleasant. While these operations were going on every exer 
 tion was made by General Thomas to destroy the forces under Forrest be 
 fore he could re-cross the Tennessee, but was unable to prevent his escape to 
 Corinth, Miss. 
 
 In September an expedition under General Burbridge was sent to destroy 
 the salt-works at Saltville, Va. He met the enemy on the 2d of October, 
 about three miles and a half from Saltville, and drove him into his strongly 
 intrenched position around the salt-works, from which he was unable to dis 
 lodge him. During the night he withdrew his command and returned to 
 Kentucky. 
 
 General Sherman, immediately after the fall of Atlanta, put his armies in 
 camp in and about the place, and made all preparations for refitting and 
 supplying them for future service. The great length of road from Atlanta to 
 the Cumberland River, however, which had to be guarded, allowed the troops 
 but little rest. 
 
 During this time Jefferson Davis made a speech in Macon, Geo., which 
 was reported in the papers of the South, and soon became known to the 
 whole country, disclosing the plans of the enemy, thus enabling General 
 Sherman to fully meet them. He exhibited the weakness of supposing that 
 an army that had been beaten and fearfully decimated in a vain attempt at 
 the defensive could successfully undertake the offensive against the army that 
 had so often defeated it. 
 
 In execution of this plan Hood, with his army, was soon reported to the 
 south-west of Atlanta. Moving far to Sherman s right, he succeeded in 
 reaching the railroad about Big Shanty, and moved north on it. t 
 
SHERMAN PREPARES FOR HIS MARCH. 643 
 
 General Sherman, leaving a force to hold Atlanta, with the remainder of 
 his army fell upon him and drove him to Gadston, Ala. Seeing the con 
 stant annoyance he would have with the roads to his rear if we attempted 
 to hold Atlanta, General Sherman proposed the abandonment and destruc 
 tion of that place, with all the railroads leading to it, and telegraphed me as 
 follows : 
 
 CEXTREVILLE, GA. T October 10 Noon. 
 
 " Dispatch about Wilson just received. Hood is now crossing Coosa River, twelve miles 
 below Rome, bound west. If he passes over the Mobile and Ohio road, had I not better 
 execute the plan of my letter sent by Colonel Porter, and leave General Thomas, with tho 
 troops now in Tennessee, to defend the State? He will have an ample force wheti the re 
 inforcements ordered reach Nashville. 
 
 W. T. SHERMAN, Major General" 
 
 Lieut. Gen. GRANT. 
 
 For a full understanding of the plan referred to in this dispatch, I quote 
 from the letter sent by Colonel Porter : " I will therefore give my opinion, 
 that your army and Canby s should be reinforced to the maximum ; that, 
 after you get Wilmington, you strike for Savannah and the river ; that Canby 
 be instructed to hold the Mississippi River, and send a force to get Colum 
 bus, Geo., either by the way of the Alabama or the Appalachicola, and that 
 I keep Hood employed and put my army in final order for a march on Au- 
 gusta, Columbia, and Charleston, to be ready as soon as Wilmington is sealed 
 as to commerce, and the city of Savannah is in our possession." This was 
 in reply to a letter of mine of date September 12th, in answer to a dispatch 
 of his containing substantially the same proposition, and in which I informed 
 him of a proposed movement against Wilmington, and of the situation in 
 Virginia, &c. 
 
 CITY POINT, YA., October 11, 186411 A. M. 
 
 "Your dispatch of October 10th received. Does it not look as if Hood was going to at 
 tempt the invasion of Middle Tennessee, using the Mobile and Ohio and Memphis and 
 Charleston roads to supply his base on the Tennessee River, about Florence or Decatur? 
 If he does this he ought to be met and prevented from getting north of the Tennessee 
 River. If you were to cut loose, I do not believe you would meet Hood s army, but would 
 be bushwhacked by all the old men, little boys, and such railroad guards as are still left at 
 home. Hood would probably strike for Nashville, thinking that by going north he could 
 inflict greater damage upon us than we could upon the rebels by going south. If there is 
 any way of getting at Hood s army I would prefer that ; but I must trust to your own judg 
 ment. I find I shall not be able to send a force from here to act with you on Savannah. 
 Your movements;, therefore, will be independent of mine ; at least until the fall of Rich 
 mond takes place. I am afraid Thomas, with such lines of road as he has to protect, could 
 not prevent Hood from going north. With Wilson turned loose, with all your cavalry, you 
 will find the rebels put much more on the defensive than heretofore. 
 
 U. S. GRANT, Lieut, General," 
 
 Maj. Gen. W. T. SHERMAN. 
 
 KINGSTON, GA. T October 1111 A. M. 
 
 "Hood moved his army from Palmetto Station across by Dallas and Ceefartown, and is 
 now on the Coosa River, south of Rome. He threw one corps on my road at Acworth, 
 and I was forced to follow. I hold Atlanta with the Twentieth Corps, and have strong 
 detachments along my line. This reduces my active force to a comparatively small arm}-. 
 We can not remain here on the defensive. With the twenty-five thousand men. and the 
 bold cavalry he has, he can constantly break my roads. I would infinitely prefer to make 
 a wreck of the rosid and of the country from Chattanooga to Atlanta, including the latter 
 city send back all my wounded and worthless, and, with my effective army, move through 
 Georgia, smashing things, to the sea. Hood may turn into Tennessee and Kentucky, but 
 1 believe he will be forced to follow me. Instead of my being on the defensive, I would 
 
644 SHERMAN S ADVANCE. 
 
 be on the offensive; instead of guessing at what he means to do, he would have to guess 
 at my plans. The difference in war is full twenty-rive per cent. I can make Savannah, 
 Charleston, or the mouth of the Chattahoochee. 
 
 Answer quick, as I know we will not have the telegraph long. 
 
 W. T. SHERMAN, Major General" 
 Lieut. Gen. GRANT. 
 
 CITY POINT, YA., October 11, 186411:30 P. M. 
 
 "Your dispatch of to-day received. If you are satisfied the trip to the sea-coast can be 
 made, holding the line of the Tennessee River firmly, you may make it, destroying all the 
 railroad south of Dalton or Chattanooga, as you think best. 
 
 U. S. GRANT, Lieut General" 
 
 MajorGen. W. T. SHERMAN. 
 
 It was the original design to hold Atlanta, and by getting through to the 
 coast, with a garrison left on the southern railroads leading east and west 
 through Georgia, to effectually sever the east from the west. In other 
 words, cut the would-be Confederacy in two again, as it had been cut once 
 by owr gaining possession of the Mississippi River. General Sherman s plan 
 virtually effected this object. 
 
 General Sherman commenced at once his preparations for his proposed 
 movement, keeping his army in position in the meantime to watch Hood. 
 Becoming satisfied that Hood had moved westward from Gadsden across 
 Sand Mountain, General Sherman sent the Fourth Corps, Major General 
 Stanley commanding, and the Twenty-third Corps, Major General Schofield 
 commanding, back to Chattanooga to report to Major General Thomas, at 
 Nashville, whom he had placed in command of all the troops of his military 
 division, save the four army corps and cavalry division he designed to move 
 with through Georgia, With the troops thus left at his disposal, there was 
 little doubt that General Thomas could hold the line of the Tennessee, or in 
 the event Hood should force it, would be able to concentrate and beat him 
 in battle. It was therefore readily consented to, that Sherman should start 
 for the sea-coast. 
 
 Having concentrated his troops at Atlanta by the 14th of November, lie 
 commenced his march, threatening both Augusta and Macon. His coming- 
 out point could not be definitely fixed. Having to gather his subsistence as 
 h marched through the country, it was not impossible that a force inferior 
 to his own might compel him to head for such point as he could reach, in 
 stead of such as he might prefer. The blindness of the enemy, however, in 
 ignoring his movement, and sending Hood s army, the only considerable force 
 he had west of Richmond and east of the Mississippi River, northward on an 
 offensive campaign, left the whole country open, and Sherman s route to his 
 own choice. 
 
 How that campaign was conducted, how little opposition was met with, 
 the condition of the country through which the armies passed, the capture 
 of Fort McAllister, on the Savannah River, and the occupation of Savannah 
 on the 21t of December, .are all clearly set forth in General Sherman s ad 
 mirable report. 
 
 SOOR after General Sherman commenced his march from Atlanta, two ex 
 peditions, one from Baton Rouge, La., and one from Vicksbtirg, Miss., were 
 started by General Canby to cut the enemy s line of communication with 
 Mobile and detain troops in that field. General Foster, commanding De 
 partment of the South, also sent an expedition, via Broad River, to destroy 
 the railroad between Charleston and Savannah. The expedition from 
 
MOVEMENTS OF HOOD S ARMY. 645 
 
 Vicksburg, vmder command of Brevet Brigadier General E. D. Osband, 
 (Colonel Third United States colored cavalry,) captured, on the 27th of No 
 vember, and destroyed the Mississippi 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 expedition from Baton 
 Rouge was without favorable results. The expedition from the Department 
 of the South, under the immediate command of Brigadier General John P. 
 Hatch, consisting of about five thousand men of all arms, including a brigade 
 from the navy, proceeded up Broad River and debarked at Boyd s Neck on 
 the 29th of November, from where it moved to strike the railroad at Gra- 
 hamsville. At Honey Hill, about three miles from Grahamsville, the enemy 
 was found and attacked in a strongly fortified position, which resulted, after 
 severe fighting, in our repulse with a loss of seven hundred and forty-six in 
 killed, wounded, and missing. During the night General Hatch withdrew. 
 On the 6th of December General Foster obtained a position covering the 
 Charleston and Savannah railroad, between the Coosawhatchie and Tullifinney 
 Rivers. 
 
 Hood, instead of following Sherman, continued his move northward, which 
 seemed to me to be leading to his certain doom. At all events, had I had 
 the power to command both armies, I should not have changed the orders 
 under which he seemed to be acting. On the 26th of October the advance 
 of Hood s army attacked the garrison at Decatur, Ala., but failing to carry 
 the place, withdrew toward Courtland, and succeeded, in the face of our 
 cavalry, in effecting a lodgment on the north side of the Tennessee River, 
 near Florence. On the 28th Forrest reached the Tennessee, at Fort Ilieman, 
 and captured a gunboat and three transports. On the 2d of November he 
 planted batteries above and below Johnsonville, on the opposite side of the 
 river, isolating three gunboats and eight transports. On the 4th the enemy 
 opened his batteries upon the place, and was replied to from the gunboats 
 and the garrison. The gunboats becoming disabled were set on fire, as also 
 were the transports, to prevent their falling into the hands of the enemy. 
 About a million and a half dollars worth of stores and property on the levee 
 and in store-houses was consumed by fire. On the 5th the enemy disap 
 peared and crossed to the north side of the Tennessee River, above Johnson 
 ville, moving toward Clifton, and subsequently joined Hood. On the night 
 of the 5th General Schofield, with the advance of the Twenty-third Corps, 
 reached Johnsonviile, but finding the enemy gone, was ordered to Pulaski, 
 and put in command of all the troops there, with instructions to watch the 
 movements of Hood and retard his advance, but not to risk a general en 
 gagement until the arrival of General A. J. Smith s command from Missouri, 
 and until General Wilson could get his cavalry re-mounted. 
 
 On the 19th General Hood continued his advance. General Thomas, re 
 tarding him as much as possible, fell back toward Nashville for the purpose 
 of concentrating his command and gaining time for the arrival of reinforce 
 ments. The enemy coming up with our main force commanded by General 
 Schofield at Franklin, on the 30th, assaulted our works repeatedly during 
 the afternoon until late at night, but were in every instance repulsed. His 
 loss in this battle was one thousand seven hundred and fifty killed, seven hun 
 dred and two prisoners, and three thousand eight hundred wounded. Among 
 his losses were six general officers killed, six wounded, and one captured. 
 Our entire loss w.as two thousand three hundred. This was the first serious 
 
646 GRANT S ANXIETY ABOUT THOIVU.S. 
 
 opposition the enemy met with, and T am satisfied was the fatal blow to all 
 his expectations. During the night General Schofield fell back toward Nash 
 ville. This left the field to the enemy not lost by battle, but voluntarily 
 abandoned so that General Thomas whole force might be brought together. 
 The enemy followed up and commenced the establishment of his line in front 
 of Nashville on the 2d of December. 
 
 As soon as it was ascertained that Hood was crossing the Tennessee 
 River, and that Price was going out of Missouri, General Rosecrans was or 
 dered to send to General Thomas the troops of General A. J. Smith s com 
 mand and such other troops as he could spare. The advance of this rein 
 forcement reached Nashville on the 30th of November. 
 
 On the morning of the 15th of December General Thomas attacked Hood 
 in position, and, in a battle lasting two days, defeated and drove him from 
 the field in the utmost confusion, leaving in our hands most of his artillery 
 and many thousand prisoners, including four general officers. 
 
 Before the battle of Nashville I grew very impatient over, as it appeared 
 to me, the unnecessary delay. This impatience was increased upon learning 
 that the enemy had sent a force of cavalry across the Cumberland into Ken 
 tucky. I feared Hood would cross his whole army and give us great trouble 
 there. After urging upon General Thomas the necessity of immediately as 
 suming the offensive, I started west to superintend matters there in person. 
 Reaching AVashington City, I received General Thomas dispatch announcing 
 his attack upon the enemy, and the result as far as the battle had progressed. 
 I was delighted. All fears and apprehensions were dispelled. I am not yet 
 satisfied but that General Thomas, immediately upon the appearance of 
 Hood before Nashville, and before he had time to fortify, should have moved 
 out with his whole force and given him battle, instead of waiting to re-mount 
 his cavalay, which delayed him until the inclemency of the weather made it 
 impracticable to attack earlier than he did. But his final defeat of Hood 
 was so complete that it will be accepted as a vindication of that distinguished 
 officer s judgment. 
 
 After Hood s defeat at Nashville he retreated, closely pursued by cavalry 
 and infantry, to the Tennessee River, being forced to abandon many pieces 
 of artillery and most of his transportation. On the 28th of December OUT 
 advance forces ascertained that he had made good his escape to the south 
 side of the river. 
 
 About this time, the rains having set in heavily in Tennessee and North 
 Alabama, making it difficult to move army transportation and artillery, Gen 
 eral Thomas stopped the pursuit by his main force at the Tennessee River. 
 
 A small force of cavalry, under Colonel W. J. Palmer, Fifteenth Pennsyl 
 vania volunteers, continued to follow Hood for some distance, capturing con 
 siderable transportation and the enemy s pontoon bridge. The details of 
 these operations will be found clearly set forth in General Thomas report. 
 
 A cavalry expedition, under Brevet Major General Grierson, started from 
 Memphis on the 21st of December. On the 25th he surprised and captured 
 Forrest s dismounted camp at Verona, Miss,, on the Mobile and Ohio rail 
 road, destroyed the railroad, sixteen cars loaded with wagons and pontoons 
 for Hood s army, four thousand new English carbines, and large amounts of 
 public stores. On the morning of the 28th he attacked and captured a force 
 of the enemy at Egypt, and destroyed a train of fourteen cars; thence turn 
 ing to the south-west, he struck the Mississippi Central railroad at Wiiaona, 
 
OPERATIONS IN EAST TENNESSEE. 647 
 
 destroyed the factories and large amounts of stores at Bankston, and the 
 machine shops and public property at Grenada, arriving at Vicksburg Janu 
 ary 5th. 
 
 During these operations in Middle Tennessee the enemy, With a force un 
 der General Breckenridge, entered East Tennessee. On the 13th of Novem 
 ber he attacked General Gillem, near Morristown, capturing his artillery and 
 several hundred prisoners. Gillem, with what was left of his command, re 
 treated to Knoxville. Following up his success, Breckenridge moved to near 
 Knoxville, but withdrew on the 18th followed by General Aramcn. Under 
 the directions of General Thomas, General Storieinan concentrated the com 
 mands of Generals Burbridge and Gillem near Bean s Station, to operate 
 against Breckenridge, and destroy or drive him into Virginia destroy the 
 salt-works at Saltville, and the railroad into Virginia as far as he could go 
 without endangering his command. On the 12th of December he com 
 menced his movement, capturing and dispersing the enemy s forces wherever 
 he met them. On the 16th he struck the enemy, under Vaughn, at Marion, 
 completely routing and pursuing him to Wytheville, capturing all his artil 
 lery, trains, and one hundred and ninety-eight prisoners; and destroyed 
 Wytheville, with its stores and supplies, and the extensive lead-works near 
 there. Returning to Marion, he met a force under Breckenridge consisting, 
 among other troops, of the garrison of Saltville, that had started in pursuit. 
 He atTonce made arrangements to attack it the next morning ; but morning 
 found Breckenridge gone. He then moved directly to Saltville, and de 
 stroyed the extensive salt-works at that place, a large amount of stores,, and 
 captured eight pieces of artillery. Having thus successfully executed his in 
 structions, he returned General Burbridge to Lexington and General Gillem 
 to Knoxville. 
 
 Wilmington, N". C., was the most important sea-coast port left to the en 
 emy through which to get supplies from abroad, and send cotton and other 
 products out by blockade-runners, besides being a place of great strategic 
 value. The navy had been making strenuous exertions to seal the harbor of 
 Wilmington, but with only partial effect. The nature of the outlet of Cape 
 Fear River was such that it required watching for so great a distance, that 
 without possession of the land north of New Inlet, or Fort Fisher, it was im 
 possible for the navy to entirely close the harbor against the entrance of 
 blockade-runners. 
 
 To secure the possession of this land required the cooperation of a land 
 force, which I agreed to furnish. Immediately commenced the assemblage 
 in Hampton Roads, under Admiral D. D. Porter, of the most formidable ai*- 
 mada ever collected for concentration upon one given point. This necessa 
 rily attracted the attention of the enemy, as well as that of the loyal North ; 
 and through the imprudence of the public press, and very likely of officers 
 of both branches of service, the exact object of the expedition became a sub 
 ject of common discussion in the newspapers both North and South. The 
 enemy, thus warned, prepared to meet it. This caused a postponement of 
 the expedition until the latter part of November, when, being again called 
 upon by Hon. G. V. Fox, Assistant Secretary of the Navy, I agreed to fur 
 nish the men required at once, and went myself, in company with Major 
 General Butler, to Hampton Roads, where we had a conference with Admi 
 ral Porter as to the force required and the time of starting. A force of six 
 thousand five hundred men was regarded as sufficient. The time of starting 
 was not definitely arranged, but it was thought all would be ready by the 
 71 
 
64:8 BUTLER S FORT FISHER FAILURE. 
 
 6tL of December, if not before. Learning, on the 30th of November, that 
 Bragg had gone to Georgia, taking with him most of the forces about Wil 
 mington, I deemed it of the utmost importance that the expedition should 
 reach its destination before the return of Bragg, and directed General Butler 
 to make all arrangements for the departure of Major General Weitzel, who 
 had been designated to command the land forces, so that the navy might not 
 be detained one moment. 
 
 On the 6th of December the following instructions were given : 
 
 CITY POINT, VA,, December G, 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, the second will be to capture Wil 
 mington itself. There are reasonable grounds to hope for success, if advantage can be 
 taken of the absence of the greater part of the enemy s forces now looking alter Sherman 
 in Georgia, The directions you have given for the numbers and equipment of the expedi 
 tion 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 mainland between Cape Fear River and the Atlantic, north of the north 
 entrance to the river. Should such lauding be effected whilst the enemy stills holds Fort 
 Fisher and the batteries guarding the entrance to the river, then the troops should intrench 
 themselves, and, by cooperating with the navy, effect 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 cap 
 ture 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 immediately in command 
 of the troops. 
 
 Should the troops under General Weitzel 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 General B. F. BUTLER 
 
 General Butler commanding the army from which the troops were taken 
 for this enterprise, and the territory within which they were to operate, mil 
 itary courtesy required that all orders and instructions should go through 
 him. They were so sent; but General Weitzel has since officially informed 
 me that he never received the foregoing instructions, nor was he aware of 
 their existence until he read General Butler s published official report of the 
 Fort Fisher failure, with my indorsement and papers accompanying it. I 
 had no idea of General Butler s accompanying the expedition until the even 
 ing before it got off from Bermuda Hundred, and then did not dream but 
 that General Weitzel had received all the instructions, and would be in com 
 mand. I rather formed the idea that General Butler was actuated by a de 
 sire to witness the effect of the explosion of the powder-boat. The expedi 
 tion was detained several days at Hampton Roads awaiting the loading of 
 the powder-boat. 
 
 The importance of getting the Wilmington expedition off without any de 
 lay, with or without the powder-boat, had been urged upon General Butler, 
 and he advised to so notify Admiral Porter. 
 
 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 rough, 
 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, 
 
I SECOND WILMINGTON EXPEDITION. C49 
 
 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 24th, 
 before the return of General Butler from Beaufort; but it would seem, from 
 the notice taken of it in the Southern newspapers, that the enemy were never 
 enlightened as to the object of the explosion until they were informed by the 
 Northern press. 
 
 On the 25th a landing was effected without opposition, and a reconnois- 
 sance, under Brevet Brigadier General Curtis, pushed up toward the fort. 
 But before receiving a full report of the result of this reconnoissance General 
 Butler, in direct violation of the instructions given, ordered the reembarka- 
 tion of the troops and the return of the expedition. 
 
 The reernbarkation was accomplished by the morning of the 27th. 
 
 On the return of the expedition, officers and men among them Brevet 
 Major General (then Brevet Brigadier General) M. R. Curtis, First Lieuten 
 ant G. W. Ross, Regiment Vermont volunteers, First Lieutenant 
 
 George W. Walling and Second Lieutenant George Simpson, One Hundred 
 and Forty-second "New York volunteers voluntarily reported to me that 
 when recalled they were nearly into the fort, and, in their opinion, it could 
 have been taken without much loss. 
 
 Soon after the return of the expedition, I received a dispatch from the 
 Secretary of the Navy, and a letter from Admiral Porter, informing me that 
 the fleet was still off Fort Fisher, and expressing the conviction that, under 
 a proper leader, the place could be taken. The natural supposition with me 
 was that, when the troops abandoned the expedition, the navy would do so 
 also. Finding it had not, however, I answered on the 30th of December, 
 advising Admiral Porter to hold on, and that I would send a force and make 
 another attempt to take the place. This time I selected Brevet Major Gen 
 eral (now Major General) A. II. Terry to command the expedition. The 
 troops composing it consisted of the same that composed the former, with 
 the addition of a small brigade, numbering about one thousand five hundred, 
 and a small siege train. The latter it was never found necessary to land. I 
 communicated direct to the Commander of the expedition the following in 
 structions : 
 
 CITY POINT, YA., January 3, 1865. 
 
 " GENERAL: The expedition 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, com 
 manding North Atlantic blockading squadron. 
 
 It is exceedingly desirable that the most complete understanding should exist between 
 yourself and the naval Commander. I suggest, therefore, that you consult with Admiral 
 Porter freely arid 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, there 
 fore 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 spit of 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 any of the avenues left open to the enemy. If such a position can be obtained, the 
 siege of Fort Fisher will not be abandoned until its reduction is accomplished or another 
 plan of campaign is ordered from these head-quarters. 
 
 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 operates on the outside. Land forces 
 can not invest Fort Fisher, or cut it off from supplies or reinforcements, while the river is 
 in possession of the enemy. 
 
650 GENERAL TERRY S SUCCESS. 
 
 A siege train will be loaded on vessels and sent to Fort 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 back, or such of them as you can spare, to Fort Sionroe, to re 
 port for orders. 
 
 In case of failure to effect a land ng, bring your command back to Beaufort, and report 
 to these head-quarters for further instructions. You will not debark at Beaufort until so 
 tu rected. 
 
 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 Fort Monroe and kept there 
 on the vessels until you are heard from. Should you require them they will be gent to 
 you. 
 
 U. S. GRANT, Lieuttnani General" 
 
 Brevet Major General A. H. TERRY, 
 
 Lieutenant Colonel C. B. Comstock, Aide-de-camp, (now Brevet Brigadier 
 General,) who accompanied the former expedition, was assigned in orders as 
 chief engineer to this. 
 
 It will be seen that these instructions did not differ materially from those 
 given for the first expedition ; and that in neither instance was there an or 
 der to assault Fort Fisher. This was a matter left entirely to the discretion 
 of the commanding officer. 
 
 The expedition sailed from Fort Monroe on the morning of the 6th, arriv 
 ing on the rendezvous, off Beaufort, on the 8th, where, owing to the difficul 
 ties of the weather, it lay until the morning of the 12th, when it got under 
 way and reached its destination that evening. Under cover of the fleet the 
 disembarkation of the troops commenced on the morning of the 13th, and 
 by 3 o clock p. M. was completed without loss. On the 14th a reconnois- 
 sance was pushed to within five hundred yards of Fort Fisher, and a small 
 advance work taken possession of and turned into a defensive line against 
 any attempt that might be made from the fort. This reconnoissance dis 
 closed the fact that the front of the work had been seriously injured by the 
 navy fire. In the afternoon of the 15th the fort was assaulted, and after 
 most desperate fighting was captured with its entire garrison and armament. 
 Thus was secured, by the combined efforts of the navy and army, one of the 
 most important successes of the war. Our loss was killed, one hundred 
 and ten; wounded, five hundred and thirty-six. On the 16th and 17th the 
 enemy abandoned and blew up Fort Caswell and the works on Smith s Island, 
 which were immediately" occupied by us. This gave us entire control of the 
 month of the Cape Fear River. 
 
 At my request Major General B. F. Butler was relieved, and Major Gen 
 eral E. O. C. Orel assigned to the command of the Department of Virginia 
 and North Carolina. 
 
 The defense of the line of the Tennessee no longer requiring the force 
 which had beaten and nearly destroyed the only army threatening it, I de 
 termined to find other fields of operation for General Thomas surplus troops 
 fields from which they would cooperate with other movements. General 
 Thomas was therefore directed to collect all troops, not essential to hold his 
 communications, at Eastport, in readiness for orders. On the 7th of January 
 General Thomas was directed, if he was assured of the departure of Hood 
 south from Corinth, to send General Schofield with his corps east with as 
 little delay as possible. This direction was promptly complied with, and the 
 advance of the corps reached Washington on the 23d of the same month, 
 whence it was sent to Fort Fisher and Newbern. On the 26th he was di- 
 
SCIIOFIELD IN NORTH CAROLINA. 651 
 
 reeled to send General A. J. Smith s command and a division of cavalry to 
 report to General Canby. By the 7th of February the whole force was en 
 route for its destination. 
 
 The State of North Carolina was constituted into a military department, 
 and General Schofield assigned to command, and placed under the orders of 
 Major General Sherman. The following instructions were given him : 
 
 CITY POINT, YA., January 31, 1865. 
 
 "GENERAL: * * * Your movements are intended as cooperative with Sherman s 
 through the States of South and North Carolina. The first point to be attained is to se 
 cure Wilmington. Goldsboro will then be your objective point, moving either from Wil 
 mington or Newbern, or both, as you deem best. Should you not be able to reach Golds 
 boro , you 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 General Sherman 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 accumula 
 tion of twenty days rations and forage for sixty thousand men and twenty thousand ani 
 mals. You will get of these as many as you can house and protect to such point in the 
 interior as you may be able to occupy. I believe General Palmer has received some in 
 structions direct from General Sherman on the subject of securing supplies for his army. 
 You can learn what steps he has taken and be governed in your requisitions accordingly. 
 A supply of ordmmce 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 opportunity, 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 imperative 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, however, 
 what you purpose doing. The details for carrying out these instructions are necessarily 
 left to you. 1 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 v 
 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." 
 
 Major General J. M. SCHOFIELD. 
 
 Previous to giving these instructions had visited Fort Fisher, accom 
 panied by General Schofield, for the purpose of seeing for myself the condi 
 tion of things, and personally conferring with General Terry and Admiral 
 Porter as to what was best to be done. 
 
 Anticipating the arrival of General Sherman at Savannah his army en 
 tirely foot-loose, Hood being then before Nashville, Tenn., the Southern rail 
 roads destroyed, so that it would take several months to reestablish a through 
 line from west to east, and regarding the capture of Lee s army as the most 
 important operation toward closing the rebellion I sent orders to General 
 Sherman, on the 6th of December, that after establishing a base on the sea- 
 coast, with necessary garrison, to include all his artillery and cavalry, to 
 come by water to City Point with the balance of his command. 
 
 On the 18th of December, having received information of the defeat and 
 utter rout of Hood s army by General Thomas, and that, owing to the great 
 
652 CAPTURE OF WILMINGTON. 
 
 difficulty of procuring ocean transportation, it would take over two months 
 to transport Sherman s army, and doubting whether he might not contribute 
 as much toward the desired result by operating from where he was, I wrote 
 to him to that effect, and asked him for his views as. to what would be best 
 to do. A few days after this I received a communication from General 
 Sherman, of date 16th December, acknowledging the receipt of my order of 
 the 6th, and informing me of his preparations to carry it into effect as soon 
 as he could get transportation. Also, that he had expected, upon reducing 
 Savannah, instantly to march to Columbia, S. C., thence to Raleigh, and 
 thence to report to me ; but that this would consume about six weeks time 
 after the fall of Savannah, whereas by sea he could probably reach me by the 
 middle of January. The confidence he manifested in this letter of being able 
 to march up and join me pleased me, and, without waiting for a reply to my 
 letter of the 18th, I directed him, on the 28th of December, to make prepa 
 rations to start, as he proposed, without delay, to break up the railroads in 
 North and South Carolina and join the armies operating against Richmond 
 as soon as he could. 
 
 On the 21st of January I informed General Sherman that I had ordered 
 the Twenty-third Corps, Major General Schofield commanding, east; that it 
 numbered about twenty-one thousand men ; that we had at Fort Fisher about 
 eight thousand men; at Newbern about four thousand; that if Wilmington 
 was captured General Schofield would go there ; if not, he would be sent to 
 Newbern ; that, in either event, all the surplus force at both points would 
 move to the interior toward Goldsboro , in cooperation with his movement ; 
 that from either point railroad communication could be run out ; and that 
 all these troops would be subject to his orders as he came into communica 
 tion with them. 
 
 In obedience to his instructions General Schofield proceeded to reduce 
 Wilmington, N. C., in cooperation with the navy under Admiral Porter, 
 moving his forces up both sides of the Cape Fear River. Fort Anderson, 
 the enemy s main defense on the west bank of the river, was occupied on the 
 morning of the 19th, the enemy having evacuated it after our appearance 
 before it. 
 
 After fighting on the 20th and 21st, our troops entered "Wilmington on 
 the morning of the 22d, the enemy having retreated toward Goldsboro 
 during the night. Preparations were at once made for a movement on 
 Goldsboro in two columns one from Wilmington, and the other from 
 Newbern and to repair the railroads leading there from each place, as well 
 as to supply General Sherman by Cape Fear River, toward Fayetteville, if it 
 became necessary. The column from Newbern was attacked on the 8th of 
 March at Wise s Forks, and driven back with the loss of several hundred 
 prisoners. On the llth the enemy renewed his attack upon our intrenched 
 position, but was repulsed with severe loss, and fell back during the night. 
 On the 14th the Neuse River was crossed and Kinston occupied, and on the 
 21st Goldsboro was entered. The column from Wilmington reached Cox s 
 Bridge, on the Neuse River, ten miles above Goldsboro , on the 22d. 
 
 By the 1st of February General Sherman s whole army was in motion from 
 Savannah. He captured Columbia, S. C., on the 17th; thence moved on 
 Goldsboro , N. C., via Fayetteville, reaching the latter place on the 12th of 
 March, opening up communication with General Schofield by way of Cape 
 Fear River. On the 15th he resumed his march on Goldsboro . He met a 
 force of the enemy at Averysboro , and after a severe fight defeated and com- 
 
SHERMAN LEAVES SAVANNAH. 653 
 
 pelled it to retreat. Our loss in the engagement was about six hundred. 
 The enemy s loss was much greater. On the 18th the combined forces of 
 the enemy, under Joe Johnston, attacked his advance at Bentonville, captur 
 ing three guns and driving it back upon the main body. General Slocum, 
 who was in the advance, ascertaining that the whole of Johnston s army was 
 in the front, arranged his troops on the defensive, intrenched himself, and 
 awaited reinforcements, which were pushed forward. On the night of the 
 21st the enemy retreated to Smithfield, leaving his dead and wounded in our 
 hands. From there Sherman continued to Goldsboro , which place had been 
 occupied by General Schofield on the 21st, (crossing the Ncusc River ten 
 miles above there, at Oox s Bridge, where General Terry had got possession 
 and thrown a pontoon bridge, on the 22d,) thus forming a junction with the 
 columns from Newbern and Wilmington. 
 
 Among the important fruits of this campaign was the fall of Charleston, S. 
 C. It was evacuated by the enemy on the night of the 17th of February, 
 and occupied by our forces on the 18th. 
 
 On the morning of the 31st of January General Thomas was directed to 
 send a cavalry expedition under General Stoneman from East Tennessee, to 
 penetrate South Carolina well down toward Columbia, to destroy the rail 
 roads and military resources of the country, and return, if he was able, to 
 East Tennessee, by way of Salisbury, N. C., releasing our prisoners there, if 
 possible. Of the feasibility of this latter, however, General Stoneman was to 
 judge. Sherman s movements, I had no doubt, would attract the attention 
 of all the force the enemy could collect and facilitate the execution of this. 
 General Stoneman was so late in making his start on this expedition, (and 
 Sherman having passed out of the State of South Carolina,) on the 27th of 
 February I directed General Thomas to change his course, and ordered him 
 to repeat his raid of last Fall, destroying the railroad toward Lynchburg as 
 far as he could. This would keep him between our garrisons in East Ten- 
 nesse and the enemy. I regarded it not impossible that in the event of the 
 enemy being driven from Richmond he might fall back to Lynchburg and 
 attempt a raid north through *East Tennessee. On the 14th of February the 
 following communication was sent to General Thomas : 
 
 CITY POINT, VA., February 14, 1865. 
 
 " General Canby is preparing a movement from Mobile Bay against Mobile and the in 
 terior of Alabama. His force will consist of about twenty thousand men, besides A. J. 
 Smith s command. The cavalry you have sent to Canby will be debarked at Vicksburg. 
 It, with the available cavalry already in that section, will move from there eastward, in. 
 cooperation. Hood s army has been terribly reduced by the severe punishment you gave 
 it in Tennessee, by desertion consequent upon their defeat, arid now lay the withdrawal 
 of many of them to oppose Sherman. (I take it a large portion of the infantry has been so 
 withdrawn. It is so asserted in the Richmond papers, and a member of the rebel Con 
 gress said, a few days since, in a speech, that one-half of it had been brought to South 
 Carolina to oppose Sherman.) This being true, or even if it is not true, Qanby s move 
 ments will attract all the attention of the enemy, and leave the advance from your stand 
 point easy. I think it advisable, therefore, that you prepare as much of a cavalry force as 
 you can spare, and hold it in readiness to go south. The object would be three-fold: first, 
 to attract as much of the enemy s force as possible to insure success to Canby ; second, to 
 destroy the enemy s line of communications and military resources; third, to destroyer 
 capture their forces brought into the field, Tuscaloosa and Selma would probably be the 
 points to direct the expedition against. This, however, would not be so important as the 
 mere fact of penetrating deep into Alabama. Discretion should be left to the officer com 
 manding the expedition to go where, according to the information he may receive, he will 
 best secure the objects named above. 
 
 Now that your force has been so much depleted, I do not know what number of men 
 
654 SHERIDAN S RAID ON RAILROADS. 
 
 you can put into the field. If not more than five thousand men, however, a l cavalry, I 
 think it will be sufficient. It is not desirable that you should start this expedition until 
 the one leaving Vicksburg has been three or four days out, or even a week. I do not 
 know when it will start, but will inform you by telegraph as soon as I learn. If you 
 should hear through other sources before hearing from me, you can act on the information 
 received. 
 
 To insure success, your cavalry should go with as little wagon train as possible, relying 
 upon the country for supplies. I would also reduce the number of guns to a battery, or 
 the number of batteries, and put the extra teams to the guns taken. No guns or caissons 
 should be taken with less than eight horses. 
 
 Please inform me by. telegraph, on receipt of this, what force you think you will be able 
 to send under these directions. 
 
 U. S. GRANT, Lieutenant General" 
 
 Major General G. H. THOMAS. 
 
 On the 15th he was directed to start the expedition as soon after the 20th 
 as he could get it oft . 
 
 I deemed it of the utmost importance, before a general movement of the 
 armies operating against Richmond, that all communications with the city, 
 north of James River, should be cut off. The enemy having withdrawn the 
 bulk of his force from the Shenandoah Valley and sent it south, or replaced 
 troops sent from Richmond, and desiring to reinforce Sherman, if practicable, 
 whose cavalry was greatly inferior in numbers to that of the enemy, I de 
 termined to make a move from the Shenandoah, which, if successful, would 
 accomplish the first at least, and possibly the latter, of these objects. I 
 therefore telegraphed General Sheridan as follows : 
 
 CITY POINT, YA., February 20, 1 8G5 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 rebellion. Sufficient cav 
 alry 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 Vir 
 ginia to the westward of Danville, and push on and join General Sherman. This additional 
 raid, with one now about starting from East Tennessee tinder 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 Mont 
 gomery, and Sherman with a large army eating out the vitals of "South Carolina, is all that 
 will be wanted to leave nothing for the rebellion to stand upon. 1 would advise you to 
 overcome great obstacles to accomplish this. Charleston was evacuated on Tuesday 
 last. 
 
 U. S. GRANT, Lieutenant General 11 
 
 Major General P. H. SHERIDAN. 
 
 On the 25th I received a dispatch from General Sheridan inquiring where 
 Sherman was aiming for, and if I could give him definite information as to 
 the points he might be expected to move on this side of Charlotte, N. C. In 
 answer the following telegram was sent him : 
 
 CITY POINT, VA., February 25, 1865. 
 
 "GENERAL: Sherman s movements will depend on the amount of opposition he meets 
 with from the enemy. If strongly opposed, he may possibly have to fall back to George 
 town, S. C., and fit out for a new start. I think, however, all danger for the necessity of 
 going to that point has passed. I believe he has passed Charlotte. He may take Fay- 
 etteville on his way to Goldsboro . If you reach Lynchburg, you will have to be guided 
 in your after movements by the information you obtain. Before you could possibly reach 
 Sherman, I think you would find him moving from Goldsboro toward Raleigh, or engag- 
 
RESULTS OF SHERIDAN S RAID. 655 
 
 ing the enemy strongly posted at one or the other of these places, with railroad commu 
 nications opened from his army to Wilmington or Newbern. 
 
 U. S. GRANT, Lieutenant General" 
 Major General P. H. SHERIDAN. 
 
 General Sheridan moved from Winchester on the 27th of February, with 
 two divisions 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 entered 
 Staunton on the 2d, the enemy having retreated on Waynesboro . Thence 
 he pushed on to Waynesboro , where he found the enemy in force in an in 
 trenched position, under General Early. Without stopping to make a re- 
 corinoissance, 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 subsist 
 ence, and seventeen battle flags, were captured. The prisoners, under an es 
 cort of one thousand five hundred men, were sent back to Winchester. 
 Thence he marched on Charlottesville, destroying effectually the railroad 
 and bridges as he went, which place he reached on the 3d. Here he re 
 mained two days, destroying the railroad toward Richmond and Lynchburg, 
 including the large iron bridges over the north and south forks of the Ri- 
 vanna 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 Scotsville, 
 whence it marched up the James River canal to New Market, destroying 
 every lock, and in many places the bank of the canal. From here a force 
 was pushed out from this column to Duiguidsville, to obtain possession of 
 the bridge across the James River at that place, but failed. The enemy 
 burned it on our approach. The enemy also burned the bridge across the 
 river at Hard wicksvi lie. The other column moved down the railroad toward 
 Lynchburg, destroying it as far as Amherst Court-House, sixteen miles from 
 Lynchburg; thence across 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 Richmond, 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 re 
 quest for supplies to meet him at White House, which reached me on the 
 night of the 12th. An infantry force was immediately sent to get posses 
 sion 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. 
 
 Previous to this the following communication was sent to General 
 Thomas : 
 
 CITY POINT, YA., March 7, 18659:30 A. M. 
 
 GENERAL: I think it will be advisable now for you to repair the railroad in East 
 
656 THE SITUATION IN MARCH, 1865. 
 
 Tennessee, and throw a good force up to Bull s Gap and fortify there. Supplies at Knox- 
 ville could always be got forward as required. With Bull s Gap fortified, you can occupy 
 as outposts about all of East Tennessee, and be prepared, if it should be required of you in 
 the Spring, to make a campaign toward Lynchburg, or into North Carolina. I do not 
 think Stoneman should break the road until he gets into Virginia, unless it should be to 
 cut off rolling stock that may be caught west of that. 
 
 U. S. GRANT, Lieutenant General" 
 Major General G. II. THOMAS. 
 
 Tims it will be seen that in March, 1865, General Canby was moving an 
 adequate force against Mobile and the army defending it under General Dick 
 Taylor; Thomas was pushing out two large and well-appointed cavalry ex 
 peditions one from Middle Tennessee under Brevet Major General Wilson 
 against the enemy s vital points in Alabama, the other from East Tennessee 
 under Major General Stoneman toward Lynchburg and assembling the re 
 mainder of his available forces preparatory to offensive operations from East 
 Tennessee ; General Sheridan s cavalry was at White House ; the Armies of 
 the Potomac and James were confronting the enemy under Lee in his de 
 fenses of Richmond and Petersburg; General Sherman with his armies, re 
 inforced by that of General Schofield, was at Goldsboro ; General Pope was 
 making preparations for a spring campaign against the enemy under Kirby 
 Smith and Price, west of the Mississippi ; and General Hancock was concen 
 trating a force in the vicinity of Winchester, Va., to guard against invasion 
 or to operate offensively, ns might prove necessary. 
 
 After the long march by General Sheridan s cavalry over winter roads, it 
 was necessary to rest and refit at White House. At this time the greatest 
 source of uneasiness to me was the fear that the enemy would leave his strong 
 lines about Petersburg and Richmond for the purpose of uniting with John 
 ston, before he was driven from them by battle, or I was prepared to make 
 an effectual pursuit. On the 24th of March General Sheridan moved from 
 White House, crossed the James River at Jones Landing, and formed a 
 junction with the Army of the Potomac in front of Petersburg on the 27th. 
 During this move General Ord sent forces to cover the crossings of the 
 Chickahominy. 
 
 On the 24th of March the following instructions for a general movement 
 of the armies operating against Richmond were issued : 
 
 CITY POINT, VA., March 24, 18G5. 
 
 " GENERAL : On the 29th instant the armies operating against Richmond 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 South-side and Danville rail 
 roads. 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 Dinwiddie 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 crossing the Nottowa}*, and west with the whole column before 
 reaching Stony Creek. General Sheridan will then move independently, under other in 
 structions 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 belonging to their arm of service, will report to Brigadier General 
 Benham, to be added to the defenses of City Point. Major General Parko will be left in 
 command of all the army left for holding the lines about Petersburg and City Point, sub 
 ject, 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 
 
ORDERS BY GRANT. 
 
 657 
 
 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. 
 
 General Orel 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 tho 
 27th instant. 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 Suffolk, 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 Portsmouth, as far out as to where the cavalry crosses the 
 Blackwater. The crossing should probably be at Uniten. Should Colonel Sumner suc 
 ceed 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 may have collected south of the Roanoke. 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, General Ord will direct his commissary and 
 quarter- master to have sufficient supplies delivered at the terminus of the road to fill up in 
 passing. Sixty 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 impracticable, the amount taken with the army will be reduced to six or 
 eight guns to each division, at the option of the army Commanders. 
 
 All necessary preparations for carrying these directions into operation may be com 
 menced at once. The reserves of the Ninth Corps should be massed as much as possible. 
 Whilst T would not now order an unconditional 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 cooperate 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 Weitzel will keep vigilant watch upon 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 fol 
 lowed 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 en 
 emy are relying upon their local reserves, principally, for the defense of Richmond. Prep 
 arations may be made for abandoning all the line north of the James, except inclosed 
 works only to be abandoned, however, after a break is made in the lines of the enemv. 
 
 By these instructions a large part of the armies operating against Richmond is left be 
 hind. 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, whilst they hurl every thing 
 against the moving column, and return. It can not be impressed too strongly upon com 
 manders of troops left in the trenches not to allow this to occur without taking advantage 
 of it. Tho 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 particu 
 larly 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 commander 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. 
 
 Early on the morning of the 25th the enemy assaulted our lines in front 
 of the Ninth Corps (which held from the Appomattox River toward our left) 
 
658 BATTLE OF FORT STEAD MAN. 
 
 and carried Fort Steadman, and a part of the line to the right and left of it, 
 established themselves and turned the guns of the fort against us ; but our 
 troops on either flank held their ground until the reserves were brought up, 
 when the enemy was driven back with a heavy loss in killed and wounded, 
 and one thousand nine hundred prisoners. Our loss was sixty-eight killed, 
 three hundred and thirty-seven wounded, and five hundred and six missing. 
 General Meade at once ordered the other corps to advance and feel the en 
 emy 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 eight hundred and thirty-four prisoners. The enemy made des 
 perate attempts to retake this line, but without success. Our loss in front 
 of these was fifty-two killed, eight hundred and sixty-four wounded, and two 
 hundred and seven missing. The enemy s loss in killed and wounded was 
 far greater. 
 
 General Sherman having got his troops all quietly in camp about Golds- 
 boro, and his preparations for furnishing supplies to them perfected, visited 
 me at City Point on the 27th of March, and stated that he would be ready 
 to move, as he had previously written me, by the 10th of April, fully equip 
 ped and rationed for twenty days, if it should become necessary to bring his 
 command to bear against Lee s army, in cooperation with our forces in front 
 of Richmond and Petersburg. General Sherman proposed in this movement 
 to threaten Raleigh, and then, by turning suddenly to the right, reach the 
 Roanoke at Gaston or thereabouts, whence he could move on to the Rich 
 mond and Danville railroad, striking it in the vicinity of Burkesville, or join 
 the armies operating against Richmond, as might be deemed best. This plan 
 he was directed to carry into execution if he received no further directions in 
 the meantime. I explained to him the movement I had ordered to com 
 mence on the 29th of March. That if it should not prove as entirely success 
 ful as I hoped, I would cut the cavalry loose to destroy the Danville and 
 South-side railroads, and thus deprive the enemy of further supplies, and also 
 prevent the rapid concentration of Lee s and Johnston s armies. 
 
 I had spent days of anxiety lest each morning should bring the report that 
 the enemy had retreated the night before. I was firmly convinced that 
 Sherman s crossing the Roanoke would be the signal for Lee to leave. With 
 Johnston and him combined, a long, tedious, and expensive campaign, con 
 suming most of the Summer, might become necessary. By moving out I 
 would put the army in better condition for pursuit, and would at least, by 
 the destruction of the Danville road, retard the concentration of the two ar 
 mies of Lee and Johnston, and cause the enemy to abandon much material 
 that he might otherwise save. I therefore determined not to delay the 
 movement ordered. 
 
 On the night of the 27th Major General Ord, 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, VA., March 28, 1865. 
 
 "GENERAL: The Fifth Army Corps will move by the Vaughn road at 3 A. wr. to 
 morrow morning. The Second moves at about 9 A. M. f 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 
 
THE GRAND MOVEMENT. 659 
 
 latter reaching Dinwiddie Court-House. Move j r our 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 
 Dinwiddie, reach the right and rear of the enemy as soon as you can. It is not the inten 
 tion 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 South-side road, between Petersburg 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 Appo- 
 mattox as possible. Make your destruction on that road as complete as possible. You can 
 then pass on to the South-side 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 se 
 lect 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 General" 
 
 Major General P. H. SHERIDAN. 
 
 On the morning of the 29th the movement commenced. At night the 
 cavalry was at Dinwiddie Court-House, and the left of our infantry line ex 
 tended to the Quaker road, near its intersection with the Boydtown plank 
 road. The position of the troops, from left to right, was as follows : Sheri 
 dan, 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 ad 
 dressed the following communication to General Sheridan, having previously 
 informed him verbally not to cut loose for the raid contemplated in his ox 1 
 ders until he received notice from me to do so : 
 
 GRAVELLY CREEK, March 29, 1865. 
 
 "GENERAL: Our line is now unbroken from the Appomattox to Dinwiddie. We are 
 all ready, however, to give up all, from the Jerusalem plank road to Hatcher s Run, when 
 ever 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 Boydtown road, but repulsed it easily, capturing about one hun 
 dred 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 morn 
 ing 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, as 11:30 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 General 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 cor 
 duroy roads were laid in front of them. During the 30th Sheridan advanced 
 from Dinwiddie Court-House toward Five Forks, where he found the enemy 
 in force. General Warren advanced and extended his line across the Boyd 
 town 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 Hum- 
 
660 BEGINNING OF THE END. 
 
 phreys drove the enemy from his front into his main line on the Hatcher, 
 near Burgess Mills. Generals Ord, Wright, and Parke made examinations 
 in their fronts to determine the feasibility of an assault on the enemy s lines. 
 The two latter reported favorably. The enemy confronting us, as he did, at 
 every point from Richmond to our extreme left, I conceived his lines must be 
 weakly held, and could be penetrated if my estimate of his forces were cor 
 rect. I determined, 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 ene 
 my s lines. The result of the offensive effort of the enemy the week before, 
 when he assaulted Fort Stead man, particularly favored this. The enemy s 
 intrenched 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 mo 
 ment s run from one to the other. Preparations were at once made to re 
 lieve General Humphreys corps to report to General Sheridan ; but the con 
 dition of the roads prevented immediate movement. On the morning of the 
 31st General Warren reported favorably to getting possession of the White 
 Oak road, and was directed to do so. To accomplish this he moved with 
 one division, instead of his whole corps, which was attacked by the enemy 
 in superior force and driven back on the 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 the White 
 Oak road gained. Sheridan advanced, and with a portion of his cavalry got 
 possession of the Five Forks, but the enemy, after the affair with the Fifth 
 Corps, reinforced the rebel cavalry defending that point with infantry, and 
 forced him back toward Dinwiddie Court-House. Here General Sheridan 
 displayed great generalship. Instead of retreating with his whole command 
 on the main army, to tell the story of superior forces encountered, he de 
 ployed 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 made his progress slow. At this juncture 
 he dispatched to me what had taken place, and that he was dropping back 
 slowly on Dinwiddie Court-House. General McKcnzie 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 Boydtown road, and that the other two divisions of the Fifth 
 Corps could go to Sheridan, they were so ordered at once. Thus the opera 
 tions of the day necessitated the sending of Warren because of his accessi 
 bility, instead of Humphreys, as was intended, and precipitated 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 thousand and six thousand prisoners. About 
 the close of this battle Brevet Major General Charles Griffin relieved Major 
 General Warren in command of the Fifth Corps. The report of this reached 
 me after nightfall. Some apprehensions 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 him from his position and open the way for 
 retreat. To guard against this General Miles 1 division of Humphreys Corps 
 was sent to reinforce him, and a bombardment was commenced and kept up 
 until 4 o clock in the morning, (April 2,) when an assault was ordered on the 
 
THE FLIGHT OF LEE. 661 
 
 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, cap 
 turing 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 Hatch 
 er s Run. Generals Wright and Ord immediately swung to the right, and 
 closed all of the enemy on that side of them in Petersburg, while General 
 Humphreys pushed forward with two divisions and joined General 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. Gen 
 eral Sheridan being advised of the condition of affairs returned General Miles 
 to his proper comfnand. On reaching the enemy s lines immediately sur 
 rounding Petersburg, a portion of General Gibbon s Corps, by a most gallant 
 charge, captured two strong inclosed works the most salient and command 
 ing south of Petersburg thus materially shortening the line of investment 
 necessary for taking in the city. The enemy south of Hatcher s Run re 
 treated westward to Sutherland s Station, where they were overtaken by 
 Miles 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 Petersburg, 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 re 
 treated by the main road along the Appomattox River. During the night of 
 the 2d the enemy evacuated Petersburg and Richmond, and retreated toward 
 Danville. On the morning of the 3d pursuit was commenced. General 
 Sheridan pushed for the Danville road, keeping near the Appomattox, fol 
 lowed by General Meade with the Second and Sixth Corps, while General 
 Ord moved for Burkesville along the South-side road; the Ninth Corps 
 stretched along that road behind him. On the 4th General Sheridan struck 
 the Danville road near Jettersville, 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 fol 
 lowing communication : 
 
 WILSON S STATION, April 5, 1865. 
 
 "GENERAL: All indications now are that Lee will attempt to reach Danville with the 
 remnant of his force. Sheridan, who was up with him last night, 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 can not finish the job with Lee s and Johnston 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. Rebel armies now are the only strategic points to 
 strike at. 
 
 U. S. GRANT, Lieutenant General." 
 
 Major General W. T. SHERMAN. 
 
 On the morning of the 6th it was found that General Lee was moving 
 west of Jettersville, toward Danville. General Sheridan moved with his 
 cavalry (the Fifth Corps having been returned to General Meade on his 
 reaching Jettersville) to strike his flank, followed by the Sixth Corps, while 
 the Second and Fifth Corps pressed hard after, forcing him to abandon sev 
 eral hundred wagons and several pieces of artillery. General Ord advanced 
 
662 GRANT S NEGOTIATIONS WITH LEE. 
 
 from Bnrkesville toward Farmville, sending two regiments of infantry and a 
 squadron of cavalry, under Brevet Brigadier General Theodore Read, to 
 reach and destroy the bridges. This advance met the head of Lee s column 
 near Farmville, which it heroically attacked and detained until General Read 
 was killed and his small force overpowered. This caused a delay in the en 
 emy s movements, and enabled General Ord to get well up with the remain 
 der of his force, on meeting which the enemy immediately intrenched him 
 self. In the afternoon General Sheridan struck the enemy south of Sailor s 
 Creek, captured sixteen pieces of artillery, and about four hundred wagons, 
 and detained him until the Sixth Corps got up, when a general attack of in 
 fantry and cavalry was made, which resulted in the capture of six thousand 
 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 Appomattox ; 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 Farm 
 ville to its support. 
 
 Feeling now that General Lee s chance of escape was utterly hopeless, I 
 addressed him the following communication from Farmville : _ 
 
 April 7, 1865. 
 
 "GENERAL: The result of the last week must convince you of the hopelessness of fur 
 ther 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 effu 
 sion of blood by asking of you the surrender of that portion of the Confederate States array 
 known as the array of Northern Virginia. 
 
 U. S. GRANT, Lieutenant General 11 
 
 General R. E. LEE. 
 
 Early on the morning of the 8th, before leaving, I received, at Farmville, 
 the following : 
 
 April 7, 1865. 
 
 <; GENERAL : I have received your note of this date. Though not entertaining the opin 
 ion you express on the hopelessness of further resistance on the part of the army of North 
 ern 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. 
 
 R. E. LEE, General 
 
 Lieutenant General U. S. GRANT. 
 
 To this I immediately replied : 
 
 April 8, 1865. 
 
 "GENERAL: Your note of last evening, in reply to mine of same date, asking the con 
 dition on which I will accept the surrender of the army of Northern Virginia, is just re 
 ceived. In reply, I would say that peace being my great desire, there is but one condition 
 I would insist upon, namel3 r : that the men and officers surrendered shall be disqualified for 
 taking up arms again against the Government of the United States until properly exchanged. 
 I will meet you, or will designate officers to meet any officers you may name for the same 
 purpose, at any point agreeable to you, for the purpose of arranging definitely the terms 
 upon which the surrender of the array of Northern Virginia will be received. 
 
 S. GRANT, Lieutenant General." 
 
 General R. E. LEE. 
 
THE PEN AND SWORD UNITED. 
 
 663 
 
 Early on the morning of the 8th the pursuit was resumed. General Meade 
 followed north of the Appomattox, and General. Sheridan, with all the cav 
 alry, pushed straight for Appomattox Station, followed by General Ord s 
 command and the Fifth Corps. During the day General Meadc 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 cap 
 tured twenty-five pieces of artillery, a hospital train, and four trains of cars 
 loaded with supplies for Lee s army. During this day I accompanied Gen 
 eral Meade s column, and about midnight received the following communica 
 tion from General Lee : 
 
 April 8, 1865. 
 
 " GENERAL : I received at a late hour your note of to-day. In mine of yesterday I did 
 not intend to propose the surrender of the array 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 en^l. I can not, therefore, 
 meetyou with a view to surrender the army of Northern Virginia, but as far as your pro 
 posal may aS ect the Confederate States forces under my command, and tend to the restora 
 tion 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. 
 
 R. 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 9, 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. 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 that most desirable event, save 
 thousands of human lives, and hundreds of millions of property not yet destroyed. Seri 
 ously hoping that all our difficulties may be settled without the loss of another life, 1 sub 
 scribe myself, &c. 
 
 U. S. GRANT, Lieutenant General." 
 
 General R. 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 head-quarters I received the following 
 from General Lee : 
 
 April 9, 1865. 
 
 "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 of this array. I now ask an interview in ac 
 cordance with the oft er contained in your letter of yesterday for that purpose. 
 
 R. 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 : 
 72 
 
(54 LEE S SURRENDER. 
 
 APPOMATTOX COURT-HOUSE, VA., April 9, 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 officer to be designated by me, the other to be retained by such officer 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 exchanged ; and each 
 company or regimental commander sign a like parole for the men of their commands. They 
 arms, artillery, arid 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 al 
 lowed to return to his home, not to be disturbed by United States authority 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. 
 
 HEAD-QUARTERS ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA, April 9, 1865. 
 
 "GENERAL: I received your letter of this date containing the terms of the surrender 
 of the army of Northern Virginia as proposed by you. As they are substantially the 
 same as those expressed in your letter of the 8th instant, they are accepted. I will pro 
 ceed to designate the proper officers to carry the stipulations into effect. 
 
 R. 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 Appomattox 
 Court-House until the paroling of the surrendered army was completed, and 
 to take charge of the public property. The remainder of the army immedi 
 ately returned to the vicinity of Burkesville. 
 
 General Lee s great influence throughout the whole South caused his ex 
 ample to be followed, and to-day the result is that the armies lately under 
 his leadership are at their homes, desiring peace and quiet, and their arms 
 are in the hands of our ordnance officers. 
 
 On the receipt of my letter of the 5th General Sherman moved directly 
 against Joe Johnston, who retreated rapidly on and through Raleigh, which 
 place General Sherman occupied on the morning of the 13th. The day pre 
 ceding, news of the surrender of General Lee reached him at Smithfield. 
 
 On the 14th, a correspondence was opened between General Sherman and 
 General Johnston, which resulted, on the 18th, in an agreement for a sus 
 pension of hostilities, and a memorandum or basis for peace, subject to the 
 approval of the President. This agreement was disapproved by the President 
 on the 21st, which disapproval, together with your instructions, was commu 
 nicated to General Sherman by me in person on the morning of the 24th, at 
 Raleigh, N. C., in obedience to your orders. Notice was at once given by 
 him to General Johnston for the termination of the truce that had been en 
 tered into. On the 25th another meeting between them was agreed upon, to 
 take place on the 26th, which terminated in the surrender and disbandment 
 of Johnston s army upon substantially the same terms as were given to Gen 
 eral Lee. 
 
 The expedition under General Stoneman from East Tennessee got off on 
 the 20th of March, moving by way of Boone, N. C., and struck the railroad 
 at Wytheville, Chambersburg, and Big Lick. The force striking it at Big 
 Lick pushed on to within a few miles of Lynchburg, destroying the import 
 ant bridges, while with the main force he effectually destroyed it between 
 New River and Big Lick, and then turned for Greensboro 7 on the North Car 
 olina railroad ; struck that road and destroyed the bridges between Danville 
 
NEGOTIATIONS WITH JOHNSTON. 665 
 
 and Greensboro and between Greensboro and the Yadkin, together with the 
 depots of supplies along it, and captured four hundred prisoners. At Salis 
 bury 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 destroyed large amounts of army stores. At this 
 place he destroyed fifteen miles of railroad and the bridges toward Charlotte. 
 Thence he moved to Slatersville, 
 
 General Canby, who had been directed in January to make preparations 
 for a movement from Mobile Bay against Mobile and the interior of Alabama, 
 commenced his movement on the 20th of March. The Sixteenth Corps, 
 Major General A. J. Smith commanding, moved from Fort Gaines by water 
 to Fish River ; the Thirteenth Corps, under Major General 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 Montgomery, effected a junction with them, and partially in 
 vested Fort Blakely. After a severe bombardment of Spanish Fort, a part of 
 its line was carried on the^th of April, During the night the enemy evacu 
 ated the fort. Fort Blakely was carried by assault on the 9th, and many 
 prisoners captured ; our loss was considerable. These successes practically 
 opened to us the Alabama River, and enabled us to approach Mobile from 
 the north. On the night of the llth the city was evacuated, and was taken 
 possession of by our forces on the morning of the 12th, 
 
 The expedition under command of Brevet Major General Wilson, consist 
 ing of twelve thousand five hundred mounted men, was delayed by rains until 
 March 22d, when it moved from Chickasaw, Ala. On the 1st of April Gen 
 eral Wilson encountered the enemy in force under Forrest near Ebenezer 
 Church, drove him in confusion, captured three hundred prisoners and three 
 guns, and destroyed the central bridge over the Cahawba River. On the 2d 
 he attacked and captured the fortified city of Selma, defended by Forrest with 
 seven thousand men and thirty-two guns, destroyed the arsenal, armory, naval 
 foundery, machine shops, vast quantities of stores, and captured three thousand 
 prisoners. On the 4th he captured and destroyed Tuscaloosa. On the 10th. 
 he crossed the Alabama River, and after sending information of his operations 
 to General Canby marched on Mongomery, which place he occupied on the 
 14th, the enemy having abandoned it. At this place many stores and five 
 steamboats feil into our hands. Thence a force marched direct on Columbus, 
 and another on West Point, both of which places were assaulted and captured 
 on the 16th. At the former place we got fifteen hundred prisoners and fifty- 
 two field-guns, destroyed two gunboats, the navy-yard, founderies, arsenal, 
 many factories, and much other public property. At the latter place we got 
 three hundred prisoners, four guns, and destroyed nineteen locomotives and 
 three hundred cars. On the 20th he took possession of Macon, Ga., with 
 sixty field-guns, twelve hundred militia, and five Generals, surrendered by 
 General Howell Cobb. General Wilson hearing that Jeff. Davis was trying 
 to make his escape, sent forces in pursuit, and succeeded in capturing him on 
 the morning of May llth. 
 
 On the 4th day of May General Dick Taylor surrendered to General Canby 
 all the remaining rebel forces east of the Mississippi. 
 
 A force sufficient to insure an easy triumph over the enemy under Kirby 
 Smith, west of the Mississippi, was immediately put in motion for Texas, and 
 Major General Sheridan designated for its immediate command ; but on the 
 
666 VALOR OF OUR ARMIES. 
 
 26th day of May, and before they reached their destination, General Kirby 
 Smith surren flered his entire command to Major General Canby. This sur 
 render did not take place, however, until after the capture of the rebel Presi 
 dent and Vice-President; and the bad faith Avas exhibited of first disband 
 ing most of his army and permitting an indiscriminate plunder of public 
 property. 
 
 Owing to the report that many of those lately in arms against the Govern 
 ment had taken refuge upon the soil of Mexico, carrying with them arms 
 rightfully belonging to the United States, which had been surrendered to us 
 by agreement among them some of the leaders who had surrendered in per 
 son and the disturbed condition of affairs on the Rio Grande, the orders for 
 troops to proceed to Texas were not changed. 
 
 There have been severe combats, raids, expeditions, and movements to de 
 feat the designs and purposes of the enemy, most of them reflecting great 
 credit on our arms, and which contributed greatly to our final triumph, that 
 I have not mentioned. Many of these will be found clearly set forth in the 
 reports herewith submitted ; some in the telegrams and brief dispatches an 
 nouncing them, and others, I regret to say, have not as yet been officially 
 reported. 
 
 For information touching our Indian difficulties, I would respectfully refer 
 to the reports of the Commanders of- Departments in which they have 
 occurred. 
 
 It has been my fortune to see the armies of both the West and the East 
 fight battles, and from what I have seen I know there is no difference in 
 their fighting qualities. All that it was possible for men to do in battle they 
 have done. The Western armies commenced their battles in the Mississippi 
 Valley, and received the final surrender of the remnant of the principal army 
 opposed to them in North Carolina. The armies of the East commenced their 
 battles on the river from which the Army of the Potomac derived its name, 
 and received the final surrender of their old antagonist at Appomattox Court- 
 House, Va. The splendid achievements of each have nationalized our victo 
 ries, removed all sectional jealousies, (of which we have unfortunately expe 
 rienced too much,) and the cause of crimination and recrimination that might 
 have followed, had either section failed in its duty. All have a proud record, 
 and all sections can well congratulate themselves and each other for having 
 done their full share in restoring the supremacy of law over every foot of 
 territory belonging to the United States. Let them hope for perpetual peace 
 and harmony with that enemy, whose manhood, however mistaken the cause, 
 drew forth such herculean deeds of valor. 
 
 I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 U. S. GRANT, 
 
 Lieutenant General. 
 Hon. E. M. STANTON, 
 
 Secretary of War. 
 
 ADJUTANT GENERAL S OFFICE, 
 
 November 18, 1865. 
 [Official copy.] 
 
 E. D. TOWNSEND, 
 
 Assistant Adjutant General. 
 
OFFICIAL REPORTS 
 
 OF 
 
 MAJOR GENERAL W. T. SHERMAN. 
 
 I 
 
 THE GEORGIA CAMPAIGN. 
 
 HEAD-QUARTERS OP THE MILITARY DIVISION OP THE MISSISSIPPI, ) 
 IN THE FIELD, SAVANNAH, GEORGIA, January 1, 1865. ) 
 
 Major General H. W. Halleck, Chief of Staff, Washington, D. C.: 
 
 GENERAL : I have the honor to offer my report of the operations of the 
 armies under my command, since the occupation of Atlanta in the early part 
 of September last, up to the present date. 
 
 As heretofore reported, in the month of September the Array of the 
 Cumberland, Major General Thomas commanding, held the city of Atlanta; 
 the Army of the Tennessee, Major General Howard commanding, was grouped 
 about East Point; and the Army of the Ohio, Major General Schofield com 
 manding, held Decatur. Many changes occurred in the composition of these 
 armies, in consequence of the expiration of the time of service of many of 
 the regiments. The opportunity was given to us to consolidate the frag 
 ments, re-clothe and equip the men, and make preparations for the future 
 campaign. I also availed myself of the occasion to strengthen the garrisons 
 to our rear, to make our communications more secure, and sent Wagner s 
 division of the Fourth Corps, and Morgan s division of the Fourteenth 
 Corps back to Chattanooga, and Corse s division of the Fifteenth Corps to 
 Rome. Also a thorough reconnoissance was made of Atlanta, and a new 
 line of works begun, which required a smaller garrison to hold. 
 
 During this month, the enemy, whom we had left at Lovejoy s Station, 
 moved westward toward the Chattahoochce, taking position facing us, and 
 covering the West Point railroad about Palmetto Station. He also threw a 
 pontoon bridge across the Chattahoochee, and sent cavalry detachments to 
 the west, in the direction of Carrolton and Powder Springs. About the 
 same time President Davis visited Macon and his army at Palmetto, and 
 made harangues referring to an active campaign against us. Hood still 
 remained in command of the Confederate forces, with Cheatham, S. D. Lee, 
 and Stewart commanding his three corps, and Wheeler in command of his 
 cavalry, which had been largely reinforced. 
 
 My cavalry consisted of two divisions ; one was stationed at Decatur, under 
 command of Brigadier General Garrard; the other, commanded by Briga 
 dier General Kilpatrick, was posted near Sandtown, with a pontoon bridge 
 over the Chattahoochee, from which he could watch any movement of the 
 enemy toward the west. 
 
 As soon as I became convinced that the enemy intended to assume the 
 offensive, namely, September 28th, I sent Major General Thomas, second in 
 command, to Nashville, to organize the new troops expected to arrive, and to 
 make preliminary preparations to meet such an event. 
 
 About the 1st of October, some of the enemy s cavalry made their 
 
668 DEFENSE OF ALLATOONA. / 
 
 appearance on the west of the Chattahoochee ; and one of his infantry corps 
 was reported near Powder Springs; and I received authentic intelligence 
 that the rest of his infantry was crossing to the west of the Chattahoochee. 
 I at once made my orders that Atlanta and the Chattahoochee railroad 
 bridge should be held by the Twentieth Corps, Major General Slocum, and 
 on the 4th of October put in motion the Fifteenth and Seventeenth Corps, 
 and the Fourth, Fourteenth, and Twenty-third Corps, to Smyrna camp 
 ground ; and on the 5th moved to the strong position about Kenesaw. The 
 enemy s cavalry had, by a rapid movement, got upon our railroad at Big 
 Shanty, and broken the line of telegraph and railroad ; and with a division 
 of infantry (French s) had moved against Allatoona, where were stored about 
 a million of rations. Its redoubts were garrisoned by three small regiments 
 under Colonel Tourtellotte, Fourth Minnesota. 
 
 I had anticipated this movement, and had, by signal and telegraph, ordered 
 General Corse to reinforce that post from Rome. 
 
 General Corse had reached Allatoona with 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. In person I reached Kenesaw Mountain about ten A. M. of the 
 5th, and could see the smoke of battle and hear the faint sounds of artillery. 
 The distance, eighteen miles, was too great for me to make in time to share 
 in the battle, but I directed the Twenty-third Corps, Brigadier General Cox 
 commanding, to move rapidly from the base of Kenesaw due west, aiming 
 to reach the road from Allatoona to Dallas, threatening the rear of the forces 
 attacking Allatoona. I succeeded in getting a signal message to General 
 Corse during his fight, notifying him of my presence. The defense of Alla 
 toona by General Corse was admirably conducted, and the enemy repulsed 
 with heavy slaughter. His description of the defense is so graphic, that it 
 leaves nothing for me to add ; and the movement of General Cox had the 
 desired effect of causing the withdrawal of French s division rapidly in the 
 direction of Dallas. 
 
 On the 6th and 7th I pushed my cavalry well toward Burnt Hickory and 
 Dallas, and discovered that the enemy had moved westward, and inferred 
 that he would attempt to break our railroad again in the neighborhood of 
 Kingston. , Accordingly, on the morning of the 8th, I put the army in 
 motion through Allatoona Pass to Kingston, reaching that point on the 10th. 
 There I learned that the enemy had feigned on Rome, and was passing the 
 Coosa River on a pontoon bridge about eleven miles below Rome. I there 
 fore, on the llth, moved to Rome, and pushed Garrard s cavalry and the 
 Twenty-third Corps, under General Cox, across the Oostenaula, to threaten the 
 flanks of the enemy passing north. Garrard s cavalry drove a cavalry 
 brigade of the enemy to and beyond the Narrows, leading into the valley of 
 the Chattooga, capturing two field-pieces and taking some prisoners. The 
 enemy had moved with great rapidity, and made his appearance at Resaca, 
 and Hood had in person demanded its surrender. I had from Kingston rein 
 forced Resaca by two regiments of the Army of the Tennessee. I at first 
 intended to move the army into the Chattooga Valley, to interpose between 
 the enemy and his line of retreat down the Coosa, but feared that General 
 Hood would, in that event, turn eastward by Spring Place, and down the 
 Federal road, and therefore moved against him at Resaca. Colonel Weaver 
 at Resaca, afterward reinforced by General Raum s brigade, had repulsed the 
 enemy from Resaca, but he had succeeded in breaking the railroad from 
 Tilton to Dalton, and as far north as the Tunnel. 
 
SHERMAN ATTACKS HOOD. 669 
 
 Arriving at Resaca on the evening of the 14th, I determined to strike 
 Hood in flank, or force him to battle, and directed the Army of the Ten 
 nessee, General Howard, to move to Snake Creek Gap, which was held by 
 the enemy, while General Stanley, with the Fourth and Fourteenth Corps, 
 moved by Tilton across the mountains to the rear of Snake Creek Gap, in 
 the neighborhood of Villanow. 
 
 The Army of the Tennessee found the enemy occupying our old lines in 
 the Snake Creek Gap, and on the 15th skirmished for the purpose of holding 
 him there until Stanley could get to his rear. But the enemy gave way 
 about noon, and was followed through the Gap, escaping before General 
 Stanley had reached the farther end of the Pass. The next day, the 16th, 
 the armies moved directly toward La Fayette, with a view to cut off Hood s 
 retreat. We found him intrenched in Ship s Gap, but the leading division 
 (Wood s) of the Fifteenth Corps rapidly carried the advanced posts held by 
 two companies of a South Carolina regiment, making them prisoners. The 
 remaining eight companies escaped to the main body near La Fayette. The 
 next morning we passed over into the valley of the Chattooga, the Army of 
 the Tennessee moving in pursuit by La Fayette and Alpine toward Blue 
 Pond ; the Army of the Cumberland by Summerville and Melville Post-office 
 to Gaylesville ; and the Army of the Ohio and Garrard s cavalry from Villa 
 now, Dirttown Valley, and Goover s Gap to Gaylesville. Hood, however, 
 was little encumbered with trains, and marched with great rapidity, and had 
 succeeded in getting into the narrow gorge formed by the Lookout Range 
 abutting against the Coosa River in the neighborhood of Gadsden. He 
 evidently wanted to avoid a fight. 
 
 On the 19th all the armies were grouped about Gaylesville, in the rich 
 valley of the Chattooga, abounding in corn and meat, and I determined to 
 pause in my pursuit of the enemy, to watch his movements, and live on the 
 country. I hoped that Hood would turn toward Guntersville and Bridge 
 port. The Army of the Tennessee was posted near Little River, with instruc 
 tions to feel forward in support of the cavalry, which was ordered to watch 
 Hood in the neighborhood of Will s Valley, and to give me the earliest 
 notice possible of his turning northward. The Army of the Ohio was 
 posted at Cedar Bluff, with orders to lay a pontoon across the Coosa, and to 
 feel forward to center, and down in the direction of Blue Mountain. The 
 Army of the Cumberland was held in reserve at Gaylesville, and all the 
 troops were instructed to draw heavily for supplies from the surrounding 
 country. In the meantime communications were opened to Rome, and a 
 heavy force set to work in repairing the damages done to our railroads. 
 Atlanta was abundantly supplied with provisions, but forage was scarce ; 
 and General Slocum was instructed to send strong foraging parties out in the 
 direction of South River and collect all the corn and fodder possible, and to 
 put his own trains in good condition for farther service. 
 
 Hood s movements and strategy had demonstrated that he had an army 
 capable of endangering at all times my communications, but unable to meet 
 me in open fight. To follow him would simply amount to being decoyed 
 away from Georgia, with little prospect of overtaking and overwhelming him. 
 To remain on the defensive, would have been bad policy for an army of so 
 great value as the one I then commanded ; and I was forced to adopt a 
 course more fruitful in results than the naked one of following him to the 
 southwest. I had previously submitted to the Commander-in-Chief a gen- 
 
670 PREPARATIONS FOR THE GREAT MARCH. 
 
 eral plan, which amounted substantially to the destruction of Atlanta and 
 the railroad back to Chattanooga, - and sallying forth from Atlanta through 
 the heart of Georgia, to capture one or more of the great Atlantic sea-ports. 
 This I renewed from Gaylesville, modified somewhat by the change of events. 
 
 On the 26th of October, satisfied that Hood had moved westward from 
 Gadsden across Sand Mountain, I detached the Fourth Corps, Major General 
 Stanley, and ordered him to proceed to Chattanooga and report to Major 
 General Thomas at Nashville. 
 
 Subsequently, on the 30th of October, I also detached the Twenty-third 
 Corps, Major General Schofield, with the same destination, and delegated to 
 Major General Thomas full power over all the troops subject to my com 
 mand, except the four corps with which. I designed to move into Georgia. 
 This gave him the two divisions under A.SJ. Smith, then in Missouri, but en 
 route for Tennessee, the two corps named, and all the garrisons in Tennessee, 
 as also all the cavalry of my military division, except one division under 
 Brigadier General Kilpatrick, which was ordered to rendezvous at Marietta. 
 
 Brevet Major General Wilson had arrived from the Army of the Potomac, 
 to assume command of the cavalry of my army, and I dispatched him back 
 to Nashville with all dismounted detachments, and orders as rapidly as pos 
 sible to collect the cavalry serving in Kentucky and Tennessee, to mount, 
 organize and equip them, and report to Major General Thomas for duty. 
 These forces I judged would enable General Thomas to defend the railroad 
 from Chattanooga back, including Nashville and Decatur, and give him an 
 army with which lie could successfully cope with Hood, should the latter 
 cross the Tennessee northward. 
 
 By the 1st of November Hood s army had moved from Gadsden, and 
 made its appearance in the neighborhood of Decatur, where a feint was made ; 
 he then passed on to Tuscumbia, and laid a pontoon bridge opposite Flor 
 ence. I then began my preparations for the march through Georgia, having 
 received the sanction of theCommander-in-Chief for carrying into effect my 
 plan, the details of which were explained to all my corps commanders and 
 heads of staff departments, with strict injunctions of secrecy. I had also 
 communicated full details to General Thomas, and had informed him I would 
 not leave the neighborhood of Kingston until he felt perfectly confident that 
 he was entirely prepared to cope with Hood, should he carry into effect his 
 threatened invasion of Tennessee and Kentucky. I estimated Hood s force 
 at thirty-five thousand infantry and ten thousand cavalry. 
 
 I moved the Army of the Tennessee by slow and easy marches on the 
 south of the Coosa back to the neighborhood of the Smyrna camp-ground, 
 and the Fourteenth Corps, Gen. Jeff. C. Davis, to Kingston, whither I 
 repaired in person on the 2d of November. From that point I directed all 
 surplus artillery, all baggage not needed for my contemplated march, all the 
 sick and wounded, refugees, etc., to be sent back to Chattanooga; and the 
 Fourteenth Corps above mentioned, with Kilpatrick s cavalry, were put in 
 the most efficient condition possible for a long and difficult march. This 
 operation consumed the time until the llth of November, when, every thing 
 being ready, I ordered General Corse, who still remained at Rome, to destroy 
 the bridges there, all founderies, nulls, shops, warehouses, or other property 
 that could be useful to an enemy, and to move to Kingston. 
 
 At the same time the railroad in and about Atlanta, and between the 
 Etowah and the Chattahoochee, was ordered to be utterly destroyed. The 
 
STRENGTH OF SHERMAN S ARMY. 671 
 
 garrisons from Kingston northward were also ordered to draw back to Chat 
 tanooga, taking with them all public property and all railroad stock, and to 
 take up the rails from Resaca back, saving them, ready to be replaced when 
 ever future interests should demand. 
 
 The railroad between the Etowah and the Oostenaula was left untouched, 
 because I thought it more than probable that we would find it necessary to 
 reoccupy the country as far forward as the line of the Etowah. 
 
 Atlanta itself is only of strategic value as long as it is a railroad center; 
 and as all the railroads leading to it are destroyed, as well as all its founder- 
 ies, machine-shops, warehouses, depots, etc., etc., it is of no more value 
 than any other point in Northern Georgia ; whereas the line of the Etowah, 
 by reason of Its rivers and natural features, possesses an importance which 
 will always continue. From it all parts of Georgia and Alabama can be 
 reached by armies marching with trains down the Coosa or the Chattahoo- 
 chee Valleys. 
 
 On the 12th of November my army stood detached and cut off from all 
 communication from the rear. It was composed of four corps : the Fif 
 teenth and Seventeenth, constituting the right wing, under Major General O. 
 O. Howard; the Fourteenth and Twentieth Corps, constituting the left wing, 
 under Major General II. W. Slocum, of an aggregate strength of sixty thousand 
 infantry, one cavalry division, in aggregate strength five thousand five hun 
 dred, under Brigadier Judson Kilpatrick, and the artillery reduced to the 
 minimum, one gun per one thousand men. 
 
 The whole force was moved rapidly, and grouped about Atlanta on the 
 14th November. 
 
 In the meantime, Captain O. M. Poe had thoroughly destroyed Atlanta, 
 save its mere dwelling-houses and churches, and the right wing, with General 
 Kilpatrick s cavalry, was put in motion in the direction of Jonesboro and 
 McDonough, with orders to make a strong feint on Macon, to cross the Oc- 
 mulgee about Planters Mills, and rendezvous in the neighborhood of Gordon 
 in seven days, exclusive of the day of march. On, the same day General 
 Slocum moved with the Twentieth Corps by Decatur and Stone Mountain, 
 with orders to tear up the railroad from Social Circle to Madison, to burn 
 the large and important railroad bridge across the Oconee, east of Madison, 
 and turn south and reach Milledgeville, on the seventh day, exclusive of the 
 day of march. In person I left Atlanta on the 16th, in company with the 
 Fourteenth Corps, Brevet Major General Jeft. C. Davis, by Lithonia, Coving- 
 ton, and Shady Dale, directly on Milledgeville. All the troops were provided 
 with good wagon trains, loaded with ammunition and supplies, approxima 
 ting twenty days bread, forty days sugar and coffee, a double allowance of 
 salt for forty days, And beef cattle equal to forty days supplies. The wagons 
 were also supplied with about three days forage in grain. All were in 
 structed, by a judicious system of foraging, to maintain this order of things 
 as long as possible, living chiefly if not solely upon the country, which I 
 knew to abound in corn, sweet potatoes, and meats. 
 
 My first object was of course to place my army in the very heart of Geor 
 gia, interposing between Macon and Augusta, and obliging the enemy to 
 divide his forces to defend not only those points, but Millen, Savannah, and 
 Charleston. All my calculations were fully realized. During the 22d, Gen 
 eral Kilpatrick made a good feint on Macon, driving the enemy within his 
 intrenchments, and then drew back to Griswoldville, where Walcott s brig- 
 
672 INSTRUCTIONS TO GENERALS. 
 
 ade of infantry joined him to cover that flank, while Howard s trains were 
 closing up, and his men scattered, breaking up railroads. The enemy came 
 out of Macon and attacked Walcott in position, but was so roughly handled 
 that he never repeated the experiment. On the eighth day after leaving At 
 lanta, namely, on the 23d, General Slocum occupied Milledgeville and the 
 important bridge across the Oconee there, and Generals Howard and Kilpat- 
 rick.were in and about Gordon. 
 
 General Howard was then ordered to move eastward, destroying the rail 
 road thoroughly in his progress, as far as Tennille Station, opposite Sanders- 
 ville, and General Slocum to move to Sandersville by two roads. General 
 Kilpatrick was ordered to Milledgeville and thence move rapidly eastward, to 
 break the railroad which leads from Millen to Augusta, then to turn upon 
 Millen and rescue our prisoners of war supposed to be confined at that place. 
 
 I accompanied the Twentieth Corps from Milledgeville to Sandersville, 
 approaching which place on the 25th, we found the bridges across Buffalo 
 Creek burned, which delayed us three hours. The next day we entered 
 Sandersville, skirmishing with Wheeler s cavalry, which offered little opposi 
 tion to the advance of the Twentieth and Fourteenth Corps, entering the 
 place almost at the same moment. 
 
 General Slocum was then ordered to tear up and destroy the Georgia Cen 
 tral railroad from Station Thirteen (Tennille) to Station Ten, near the cross 
 ing of the Ogeechee, one of his corps substantially following the railroad, the 
 other by way of Louisville, in support of Kilpatrick s cavalry. In person I 
 shifted to the right wing, and accompanied the Seventeenth Corps, General 
 Blair, on the south of the railroad till abreast of Station IS T ine-and-a : half 
 (Barton) General Howard in person, with the Fifteenth Corps, keeping 
 farther to the right and about one day s march ahead, ready to turn against 
 the flank of any enemy who should oppose our progress. At Barton I 
 learned that Kilpatrick s cavalry had reached the Augusta railroad about 
 Waynesboro , where he ascertained that our prisoners had been removed 
 from Millen, and therefore the purpose of rescuing them, upon which we had 
 set our hearts, was an impossibility. But as Wheeler s cavalry had hung 
 around him, and as he had retired to Louisville to meet our infantry, in pur 
 suance of my instructions, not to risk battle unless at great advantage, I 
 ordered him to leave his wagons and all encumbrances with the left wing, and 
 moving in the direction of Augusta, if Wheeler gave him the opportunity, to 
 indulge him with all the fighting he wanted. General Kilpatrick, supported 
 by Baird s division of infantry of the Fourteenth Corps, again moved in the 
 direction of Waynesboro , and encountering Wheeler in the neighborhood 
 of Thomas Station, attacked him in position, driving him from three suc 
 cessive lines of barricades handsomely through Waynesboro and across 
 Briar Creek, the bridges over which he burned, and then, with Baird s divi 
 sion, rejoined the left wing, which in the meantime had been marching by 
 easy stages of ten miles a day in the direction of Lumpkiii s Station and 
 Jacksonboro . 
 
 The Seventeenth Corps took up the destruction of the railroad at the 
 Ogeechee near Station Ten, and continued it to Millen, the enemy offering 
 little or no opposition, although preparations had seemingly been made at 
 Millen. 
 
 On the 3d of December, the Seventeenth Corps, which I accompanied, 
 was at Millen ; the Fifteenth Corps, General Howard, was south of the Ogee- 
 
INVESTMENT OF SAVANNAH. * 673 
 
 dice, opposite Station Seven (Scarboro ;) the Twentieth Corps, General 
 Slocum, on the Augusta railroad, about four miles north of Millen, near 
 Buckhcad Church ; and the Fourteenth Corps, General Jeff. C. Davis, in the 
 neighborhood of Lumpkin s Station, on the Augusta railroad. 
 
 All were ordered to march in the direction of Savannah, the Fifteenth 
 Corps to continue south of the Ogeechee, the Seventeenth to destroy the 
 railroad as far as Ogeechee Church, and four days were allowed to reach the 
 line from Ogeechee Church to the neighborhood of Halley s Ferry on the 
 Savannah River. All the columns reached their destination on time, and 
 continued to march on their several roads General Davis following the Sa 
 vannah River road, General Slocum the middle road by way of Springfield, 
 General Blair the railroad, and General Howard still south and west of the 
 Ogeechee, with orders to cross to the east bank opposite " Eden Station," 
 or Station No, 2. 
 
 As we approached Savannah, the country became more marshy and diffi 
 cult, and more obstructions were met in the way of felled trees where the 
 roads crossed the creek-swamps on narrow causeways. 13nt our pioneer 
 companies were well organized, and removed these obstructions in an incred 
 ibly short time. No opposition from the enemy worth speaking of was en 
 countered until the heads of the columns were within fifteen miles of Savan 
 nah, where all the roads leading to the city were obstructed more or less by 
 felled timber, with earth-works and artillery. But these were easily turned 
 and the enemy driven away, so that by the 10th of December the enemy 
 was driven within his lines at Savannah. These followed substantially a 
 swampy creek which empties into the Savannah River about three miles 
 above the city, across to the head of a corresponding stream which empties 
 into the Little Ogeechee. These streams were singularly favorable to the 
 enemy as a cover, being very marshy, and bordered by rice-fields, which 
 were flooded either by the tide-water or by inland ponds, the gates to which 
 were controlled and covered by his heavy artillery. The only approaches to 
 the city were by five narrow causeways, namely, the two railroads, and the 
 Augusta, the Louisville, and the Ogeechee dirt roads, all of which were com 
 manded by heavy ordnance, too strong for us to fight with our light field- 
 guns. To assault an enemy of unknown strength at such a disadvantage 
 appeared to me unwise, especially as I had so successfully brought my army, 
 almost unscathed, so great a distance, and could surely attain the same 
 result by the operation of time. 
 
 I therefore instructed my army commanders to closely invest the city from 
 the north and west, and to reconnoiter well the ground in their fronts respect 
 ively, while I gave my personal attention to opening communication with 
 our fleet, which I knew was waiting for us in Tybee, Wassaw, and Ossabaw 
 Sounds. 
 
 In approaching Savannah, General Slocum struck the Charleston railroad 
 near the bridge, and occupied the river bank as his left flank, where he had 
 captured two of the enemy s river boats, and had prevented two others 
 (gunboats) from coming down the river to communicate with the city; 
 while General Howard, by his right flank, had broken the Gulf railroad at 
 Fleming s and Way Station, and occupied the railroad itself down to the 
 Little Ogeechee near Station One, so that no supplies could reach Savannah 
 by any of its accustomed channels. 
 
 We, on the contrary, possessed large herds of cattle, which we had brought 
 
674 CAPTURE OF FORT MCALLISTER. 
 
 along or gathered in the country, and our wagons still contained a reasonable 
 amount of breadstuff s and other necessaries, and the fine rice-crops of the Sa 
 vannah and Ogeechee Rivers furnished to our men and animals a large amount 
 of rice and rice-straw. 
 
 We also held the country to the south and west of the Ogeechee as for 
 aging ground. 
 
 Still, communication with the fleet was of vital importance, and I di 
 rected General Kilpatrick to cross the Ogeechee by a pontoon bridge, to 
 reconnoiter Fort McAllister, and to proceed to St. Catharine s Sound in the 
 direction of Sunbury or Kilkenny Bluff , and open communication with the 
 fleet. General Howard had previously, by my direction, sent one of his 
 best scouts down the Ogeechee in a canoe for a like purpose. But more 
 than this was necessary. We wanted the vessels and their contents, and the 
 Ogeechee River, a navigable stream close tp the rear of our camps, was the 
 proper avenue of supply. 
 
 The enemy had burned the road-bridge across the Ogeechee, just below 
 the mouth of the Camochee, known as * 4 King s Bridge." This was recon 
 structed in an incredibly short time in the most substantial manner by the 
 Fifty-eighth Indiana, Colonel Buel, under the direction of Captain Reese, of 
 the Engineer Corps, and on the morning of the 13th December, the second 
 division of the Fifteenth Corps, under command of Brigadier General Hazen, 
 crossed the bridge to the west bank of the Ogeechee, and marched down 
 with orders to carry by assault Fort McAllister, a strong inclosed redoubt, 
 manned by two companies of artillery and three of infantry ; in all, about 
 two hundred men, and mounting twenty-three guns en barbette, and one 
 mortar. 
 
 General Hazen reached the vicinity of Fort McAllister about one p. M., 
 deployed his division about the place, with both flanks resting upon the 
 river, posted his skirmishers judiciously behind the trunks of trees whose 
 branches had been used for abattis, and about five p. M. assaulted the place 
 with nine regiments at three points, all of them successfully. I witnessed 
 the assault from a rice-mill on the opposite bank of the river, and can bear 
 testimony lo the handsome manner in which it was accomplished. 
 
 Up to this time \ve had not communicated with our fleet. From the 
 signal-station at the rice-mill our officers had looked for two days over the 
 rice-fields and salt marsh in the direction of Ossabaw Sound, but could see 
 nothing of it. But while watching the preparations for the assault on Fort 
 McAllister, we discovered in the distance what seemed to be the smoke-stack 
 of a steamer, which became more and more distinct, until about the very 
 moment of the assault she was plainly visible below the fort, and our signal 
 was answered. As soon as I saw our colors fairly planted upon the walls of 
 McAllister, in company with General Howard, I went in a small bout down 
 to the fort, and met General Hazen, who had not yet communicated with the 
 gunboat below, as it was shut out to him by a point of timber. Determined 
 to communicate that night, I got another small boat and a crew, and pulled 
 down the river till I found the tug Dandelion, Captain Williamson, U. S. N., 
 who informed me that Captain Duncan, who had been sent by General How 
 ard, had succeeded in reaching Admiral Dahlgren and General Foster, and 
 that he was expecting them hourly in Ossabaw Sound. After making com 
 munications to those officers, and a short communication to the War Depart 
 ment, I returned to Fort McAllister that night, and before daylight was over- 
 
SURRENDER OF SAVANNAH DEMANDED. 675 
 
 taken by Major Strong, of General Foster s Staff, advising me that General 
 Foster had arrived in the Ogeechee, near Fort McAllister, and was very anx 
 ious to meet me on board his boat. I accordingly returned with him, and 
 met General Foster on board the steamer Nemaha, and, after consultation, 
 determined to proceed with him down the sound, in hopes to meet Admiral 
 Dahlgren. But we did not meet him until we reached Wassaw Sound, 
 about noon. I there went on board the Admiral s flagship, the Harvest 
 Moon, after having arranged with General Foster to send us from Hilton 
 Head some siege ordnance, and some boats suitable for navigating the Ogee 
 chee River. Admiral Dahlgren very kindly furnished me with all the data 
 concerning his fleet and the numerous forts that guarded the inland channels 
 between the sea and Savannah. I explained to him how completely Savan 
 nah was invested at all points save only the plank-road on the South Caro 
 lina shore, known as the "Union Causeway," which I thought I could 
 reach from my left flank across the Savannah River. I explained to him that 
 if he would simply engage the attention of the forts along Wilmington 
 Channel at Beaulieu and Rosedew, I thought I could carry the defenses of 
 Savannah by assault as soon as the heavy ordnance arrived from Hilton 
 Head. 
 
 On the 15th the Admiral carried me back to Fort McAllister, whence I 
 returned to our lines in the rear of Savannah. 
 
 Having received and carefully considered all the reports of division com 
 manders, I determined to assault the lines of the enemy as soon as my heavy 
 ordnance came from Port Royal, first making a formal demand for surrender. 
 On the 17th, a number of thirty-pounder Parrott guns having reached King s 
 Bridge, I proceeded in person to the head-quarters of Major General Slocum 
 on the Augusta Road, and dispatched thence into Savannah, by flag of truce, 
 a formal demand for the surrender of the place, and on the following day 
 received an answer from General Hardee, refusing to surrender. 
 
 In the meantime, farther reconnoissances from our left flank had demon 
 strated that it was impracticable or unwise to push any considerable force 
 across the Savannah River, for the enemy held the river opposite the city 
 with iron-clad gunboats, and could destroy any pontoons laid down by us 
 between Hutchinson s Island and the South Carolina shore, which would 
 isolate any force sent over from that flank. I therefore ordered General Slo 
 cum to get into position the siege guns and make all the preparations neces 
 sary to assault, and to report to me the earliest moment when he could be 
 ready, while I should proceed rapidly round by the right and make arrange 
 ments to occupy the Union Causeway from the direction of Port Royal. 
 General Foster had already established a division of troops on the peninsula 
 or neck between the Coosawhatchie and Tullifinney Rivers, at the head of 
 Broad River, from which position he could reach the railroad with his 
 artillery. 
 
 I went to Port Royal in person, and made arrangements to reinforce that 
 command by one or more divisions under a proper officer, to assault and 
 carry the railroad, and thence turn toward Savannah until it occupied the 
 causeway in question. I went on board the Admiral s flagship, the Harvest 
 Moon, which put to sea the night of the 20th. But the wind was high, and 
 increased during the night, so that the pilot judged Ossabaw Bar impassa 
 ble, and ran into Tybee, whence we proceeded through the inland channels 
 into Wassaw Sound, and thence through Romney Marsh. But the ebb tide 
 
676 POSSESSION OF SAVANNAH. 
 
 caught the Harvest Moon, and she was unable to make the passage. Admiral 
 Dahlgren took me in his barge, and pulling in the direction of Vernon River, 
 we met the army tug Red Legs, bearing a message from my adjutant, Cap 
 tain Dayton, of that morning, the 21st, to the effect that our troops were in 
 possession of the enemy s lines, and were advancing without opposition into 
 Savannah, the enemy having evacuated the place during the previous night. 
 
 Admiral Dahlgren proceeded up the Vernon River in his barge, while I 
 transferred to the tug, in which I proceeded to Fort McAllister, and thence 
 to the rice-mill ; and on the morning of the 22d rode into the city of Savan 
 nah, already occupied by our troops. 
 
 I was very much disappointed that Hardee had escaped with his garrison, 
 and had to content myself with the material fruits of victory without the 
 cost of life which would have attended a general assault. The substantial 
 results will be more clearly set forth in the tabular statements of heavy ord 
 nance and other public property acquired, and it will, suffice here to state, 
 that the important city of Savannah, with its valuable harbor and river, was 
 the chief object of the campaign. 
 
 With it we acquired all the forts and heavy ordnance in its vicinity, with 
 large stores of ammunition, shot and shells, cotton, rice, and other valuable 
 products of the country. We also gained locomotives and cars, which, 
 though of little use to us in the present condition of the railroads, are a seri 
 ous loss to the enemy, as well as four steamboats gained, and the loss to the 
 enemy of the iron-clad Savannah, one ram, and three transports blown up or 
 burned by them the night before. 
 
 Formal demand having been made for the surrender, and having been 
 refused, I contend that every thing within the line of intrenchments belongs 
 to the United States, and I shall not hesitate to use it, if necessary, for public 
 purposes. But, inasmuch as the inhabitants generally have manifested a 
 friendly disposition, I shall disturb them as little as possible consistently 
 with the military rights of present and future military Commanders, without 
 remitting in the least our just rights as captors. 
 
 After having made the necessary orders for the disposition of the troops 
 in and about Savannah, I ordered Captain O. M. Poe, chief engineer, to 
 make a thorough examination of the enemy s works in and about Savannah, 
 with a view to making it conform to our future uses. New lines of defenses 
 will be built, embracing the city proper, Forts Jackson, Thunderbolt, and 
 Pulaski retained, with slight modifications in their armament and rear de 
 fenses. All the rest of the enemy s forts will be dismantled and destroyed, 
 and their heavy ordnance transferred to Hilton Head, where it can be more 
 easily guarded. 
 
 Our base of supplies will be established in Savannah as soon as the very 
 difficult obstructions placed in the river can be partially removed. These 
 obstructions at present offer a very serious impediment to the commerce of 
 Savannah, consisting of crib-work of logs and timber heavily bolted together, 
 and filled with the cobble-stones which formerly paved the streets of Savan 
 nah. All the channels below the city were found more or less filled with 
 torpedoes, which have been removed by order of Admiral Dahlgren, so that 
 Savannah already fulfills the important part it was designed in our plans for 
 the future. 
 
 In thus sketching the course of events connected with this campaign, I 
 have purposely passed lightly over the march from Atlanta to the sea-shore, 
 
SUMMARY OF THE CAMPAIGN. 677 
 
 because it was made in four or more columns, sometimes at a distance of 
 fifteen or twenty miles from each other, and it was impossible for me to 
 attend but one. Therefore have I left it to the army and corps commanders 
 to describe in their own language the events which attended the march of 
 their respective columns. These reports are herewith submitted, and I beg 
 to refer to them for farther details. I would merely sum up the advantages 
 which I conceive have accrued to us by this march. 
 
 Our former labors in North Georgia had demonstrated the truth that no 
 large army, carrying with it the necessary stores and baggage, can overtake 
 and capture an inferior force of the enemy in his own country ; therefore no 
 alternative was left me but the one I adopted, namely, to divide my forces, 
 and with the one part act offensively against the enemy s resources, while 
 with the other I should act defensively, and invite the enemy to attack, risk 
 ing the chances of battle. 
 
 In this conclusion I have been singularly sustained by the results. General 
 Hood, who, as I have heretofore described, had moved to the westward, near 
 Tuscumbia, with a view to decoy me away from Georgia, finding himself 
 mistaken, was forced to choose either to pursue me, or to act offensively 
 against the other part, left in Tennessee. He adopted the latter course, and 
 General Thomas has wisely and well fulfilled his part of the grand scheme, 
 in drawing Hood well up into Tennessee until he could concentrate all his 
 own troops, and then turn upon Hood, as he has done, and destroy or fatally 
 cripple his army. That part of my army is so far removed from me, that I 
 leave, with perfect confidence, its management and history to General Thomas. 
 
 I was thereby left with a well-appointed army to sever the enemy s only 
 remaining railroad communication eastward and westward, for over one hun 
 dred miles, namely, the Georgia State railroad, which is broken up from 
 Fairburn Station to Madison and the Oconee, and the Central railroad from 
 Gordon clear to Savannah, with numerous breaks on the latter road from Gor 
 don to Eatonton, and from Millen to Augusta, and the Savannah and Gulf rail 
 road. We have also consumed the corn and fodder in the region of country 
 thirty miles on either side of a line from Atlanta to Savannah, as also the 
 sweet potatoes, cattle, hogs, sheep, and poultry, and have carried away more 
 than ten thousand horses and mules, as well as a countless number of their 
 slaves. I estimate the damage done to the State of Georgia and its military 
 resources at one hundred millions of dollars ; at least twenty millions of 
 which has inured to our advantage, and the remainder is simple waste and 
 destruction. This may seem a hard species of warfare, but it brings the sad 
 realities of war home to those who have been directly or indirectly instru 
 mental in involving us in its attendant calamities. 
 
 The campaign has also placed this branch of my army in a position from 
 which other great military results may be attempted, besides leaving in Ten 
 nessee and North Alabama a force which is amply sufficient to meet all the 
 chances of war in that region of our country. 
 
 Since the capture of Atlanta my Staff is unchanged, save that General 
 Barry, chief of artillery, has been absent, sick, since our leaving Kingston. 
 Surgeon Moore, United States Army, is chief medical director, in place of 
 Surgeon -Kittoe, relieved to resume his proper duties as a medical inspector. 
 
 Major Hitchcock, A.A.G., h& also been added to my Staff* and has been 
 of great assistance in the field and office. 
 
 Captain Dayton still remains as my Adjutant General. All have, as form 
 erly, fulfilled their parts to my entire satisfaction. 
 
678 TRIBUTES TO OFFICERS AND ARMY. 
 
 In the body of my army I feel a just pride. Generals Howard and Slo- 
 cum are gentlemen of singular capacity and intelligence, thorough soldiers 
 and patriots, working day and night not for themselves, but for their country 
 and their men. 
 
 General Kilpatrick, who commanded the cavalry of this army, has handled 
 it with spirit and dash to my entire satisfaction, and kept a superior force of 
 the enemy s cavalry from even approaching our infantry columns or wagon 
 trains. His report is full and graphic. All the division and brigade com 
 manders merit my personal and ofi cial thanks, and I shall spare no efforts to 
 secure them commissions equal to the rank they have exercised so well. 
 As to the rank and file, they seem so full of confidence in themselves, that I 
 doubt if th^y want a compliment 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 alacrity and a degree of cheerfulness unsur 
 passed. 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. The 
 same general and generous spirit of confidence and good feeling pervades the 
 army which it has ever afforded me especial pleasure to report on former 
 occasions. 
 
 I avail myself of this occasion to express my heartfelt thanks to Admiral 
 Dahlgren and the officers and men of his fleet, as also to General Foster and 
 his command, for the hearty welcome given us on our arrival at the coast, 
 and for their ready and prompt cooperation in all measures tending to the 
 result accomplished. 
 
 I send herewith a map of the country through which we have passed; 
 reports from General Howard, General Slocum, and General Kilpatrick, and 
 their subordinates respectively, with the usual lists of captured property, 
 killed, wounded, and missing, prisoners of war taken and rescued, as also 
 copies of all papers illustrating the campaign, all of which are respectfully 
 submitted by Your obedient servant, 
 
 W. T. SHERMAN, Major General. 
 
 II. 
 
 CAMPAIGN OF THE CAROLINAS. 
 
 HEAD-QUARTERS OF THE MILITARY DIVISION OP THE MISSISSIPPI, ) 
 GOLDSUORO , N. C., April 4, 1865. [ 
 
 GENERAL : I must now endeavor to group the events of the past three 
 months connected with the armies under my command, in order that you 
 may have as clear an understanding of the late campaign as the case admits 
 
SHERMAN S PLAN. 679 
 
 of. The reports of the subordinate commanders will enable you to fill up 
 the picture. 
 
 I have heretofore explained how, in the progress of our arms, I was enabled 
 to leave in the West an army under Major General George II. Thomas of 
 sufficient strength to meet emergencies in that quarter, while in person I 
 conducted another army, composed of the Fourteenth, Fifteenth, Seventeenth, 
 and Twentieth Corps, and Kilpatrick s division of cavalry, to the Atlantic 
 slope, aiming to approach the grand theater of war in Virginia by the time 
 the season would admit of military operations in that latitude. The first 
 lodgment on the coast was made at Savannah, strongly fortified and armed, 
 and valuable to us as a good sea-port, with its navigable stream inland. 
 Near a month was consumed there in refitting the army, and in making the 
 proper disposition of captured property, and other local matters; but by the 
 15th of January I was all ready to resume the march. Preliminary to this, 
 General Howard, commanding the right wing, was ordered to embark his 
 command at*Thundcrbolt, transport it to Beaufort, S. C., and thence by the 
 15th of January make a lodgment on the Charleston railroad at or near Po- 
 cotaligo. This was accomplished punctually, at little cost, by the Seven 
 teenth Corps, Major General Blair, and a depot for supplies was established 
 near the mouth of Pocotaligo Creek, with easy water communication back 
 to Hilton Head. 
 
 The left wing, Major General Slocum, and the cavalry, Major General Kil 
 patrick, were ordered to rendezvous about the same time near Robertsville 
 and Coosawhatchie, S. C., with a depot of supplies at Pureysburg or State s 
 Ferry, on the Savannah River. General Slocum had a good pontoon bridge 
 constructed opposite the city, and the " Union Causeway," leading through 
 the low rice-fields opposite Savannah, was repaired and " corduroyed ;" but 
 before the time appointed to start, the heavy rains of January had swelled 
 the river, broken the pontoon bridge, overflowed the whole " bottom," so 
 that the causeway was four feet under water, and General Slocum was com 
 pelled to look higher up for a passage over the Savannah River. lie moved 
 up to Sister s Ferry, but even there the river, with its overflowed bottoms, 
 was near three miles wide, and he did not succeed in getting his whole wing 
 across until during the first week of February. 
 
 In the meantime General Grant had sent me Grovcr s division of the 
 Nineteenth Corps to garrison Savannah, and drawn the Twenty-third Corps, 
 Major General Schofield, from Tennessee, and sent it to reinforce the com 
 mands of Major Generals Terry and Palmer, operating on the coast of North 
 Carolina, to prepare the way for my coming. 
 
 On the 18th of January I transferred the forts and city of Savannah to 
 Major General Foster, commanding the Department of the South, imparted 
 to him my plans of operation, and instructed him how to follow my move 
 ments inland by occupying in succession the city of Charleston and such 
 other points along the sea-coast as would be of any military value to us. 
 The combined naval and land forces under Admiral Porter and General Terry 
 had, on the 15th of January, captured Fort Fisher and the Rebel forts at the 
 jriouth of Cape Fear River, giving me an additional point of security on the 
 sea-coast. But I had already resolved in my own mind, and had so advised 
 General Grant, that I would undertake at one stride to make Goldsboro\ and 
 open communication with the sea by the Newborn railroad, and had ordered 
 Colonel W. W. Wright, superintendent of military railroads, to proceed, in 
 73 
 
GSD MYSTIFYING THE ENEMY. 
 
 advance to Newbern, and to be. prepared to extend the railroad out fram 
 Newbern to Goldsboro by the 15th of March. 
 
 On the 19th of January all preparations were complete, and the orders of 
 inarch were given. My chief quarter-master and Commissary General Easton 
 and Beekwith were ordered to complete the supplies at Sister s Ferry and 
 Pocotaligo, and then to follow our movements coastwise, looking for my 
 arrival at Goldsboro , N. C., about March 15th, and opening communication 
 with me from Morehead City. 
 
 On the 22dof January I embarked from Savannah for Hilton Head, where 
 I held a conference with Admiral Dahlgren, United States Navy, arid Major 
 General Foster, commanding the Department of the South, and next pro 
 ceeded to Beaufort, riding out thence on the 24th to Pocotaligo, where the 
 Seventeenth Corps, Major General Blair, was encamped. The Fifteenth 
 Corps was somewhat scattered Wood s and Hazen s divisions at Beaufort, 
 John E. Smith marching from Savannah by the coast road, and Corse still at 
 Savannah, cut off by the storms and freshet in the river. On th 25th a dem 
 onstration was made against the Combahee ferry and railroad bridge 
 across the Salkehatchie, merely to amuse the enemy, who had evidently 
 adopted that river as his defensive line against our supposed objective, the city 
 of Charleston. I reconnoitred the line in person, and saw that the heavy 
 rains had swollen the river, so that water stood in the swamps for a breadth 
 of more than a mile at a depth of from one to twenty feet. Not having the 
 remotest intention of approaching Charleston, a comparatively small force 
 was able, by seeming preparations to cross over, to keep in their front a con 
 siderable force of the enemy disposed to contest our advance on Charleston. 
 On the 2Yth I rode to the camp of General Hatch s division of Foster s com 
 mand, on the Tullifinney and Coosawhatchie Rivers, and directed those 
 places to be evacuted, as no longer of any use to us. That division was then 
 moved to Pocotaligo to keep up the feints already begun, until we should, 
 with the rio-ht wino*. move higher up and cross the Salkehatchie about Riv- 
 
 O O & JL 
 
 er s or Broxton s Bridge. 
 
 On the 29th I learned that the roads back of Savannah had at last be 
 come sufficiently free of the flood to admit of General Slocnm putting his 
 wing in motion, and that he was already approaching Sister s Ferry, whither 
 a gunboat, the Pontiac, Captain Luce, kindly furnished by Admiral Dahl 
 gren, had preceded him to cover the crossing. In the meantime three divis 
 ions of the Fifteenth Corps had closed up at Pocataligo, and the right wing 
 had loaded its wagons and was ready to start. I therefore directed General 
 Howard to move one corps, the Seventeenth, along the Salkehatchie, as high 
 up as River s Bridge, and the other, the Fifteenth, by Hickory Hill, Loper s 
 Cross-roads, Anglesey Post-office, and Beaufort s Bridge. Hatch s division 
 was ordered to "remain at Pocotaligo, feigning at the Salkehatchie railroad 
 bridge and ferry, until our movement turned the enemy s position and 
 forced him to fall behind the Edisto. 
 
 The Seventeenth and Fifteenth Corps drew out of camp on the 31 st of 
 January, but the real march began on the 1st of February. All the roads 
 northward had for weeks been held by Wheeler s cavalry, who had, by de 
 tails of negro laborers, felled trees, burned bridges, and made obstructions to 
 impede our march. But so well organized were our pioneer battalions, and 
 so strong and intelligent our men, that obstructions seemed only to quicken 
 their progress. Felled trees were removed and bridges rebuilt by the heads 
 
THE MARCH COMMENCED. 681 
 
 of columns before the rear could close up. On the 2d of February the Fif 
 teenth Corps reached Loper s Cross-roads, and the Seventeenth was at River s 
 Bridge. From Loper s Cross-roads I communicated with General Slociim, 
 still struggling with the floods of the Savannah River at Sister s Ferry. He 
 had two divisions of the Twentieth Corps, General Williams , on the east 
 bank, and was enabled to cross over on his pontoons the cavalry of Kilpat- 
 rick. General Williams was ordered to Beaufort s Bridge by way of Law- 
 tonville and Allandale, Kilpatrick to Blackville via Barn we 11, and General 
 Slocum to hurry the crossing at Sister s Ferry as much as possible, and over 
 take the right wing on the South Carolina railroad. General Howard, with 
 the right wino-, was directed to cross the Salkehatchie and push rapidly for 
 the South Carolina railroad at or near Midway. The enemy held the line of 
 the Salkehatchie in force, having infantry and artillery intrenched at River s 
 and Beaufort s Bridges. The Seventeenth Corps was ordered to carry River s 
 Bridge, and the Fifteenth Corps Beaufort s Bridge. The former position 
 was carried promptly and skillfully by Mower s and Giles A. Smith s divis 
 ions of the Seventeenth Corps, on the 3d of February, by crossing the 
 swamp, nearly three miles wide, with water varying from knee to shoulder 
 deep. The weather was bitter cold, and Generals Mower and Smith led their 
 divisions in person on foot, waded the swamp, made a lodgment below the 
 bridge, and turned on the rebel brigade which guarded it, driving it in con 
 fusion and disorder toward Branchville. Our casualties were one officer and 
 seventeen men killed, and seventy men wounded, who were sent to Poco- 
 taligo. The line of the Salkehatchie being thus broken, the enemy retreated 
 at once behind the Edisto at Branchville, and the whole army was pushed 
 rapidly to the South Carolina railroad at Midway, Bamberg (or Lowry s 
 Station,) and Graham s Station. The Seventeenth Corps, by threatening 
 Branchville, forced the enemy to burn the railroad bridge, and W T alker s 
 Bridge below, across the Edisto. All hands were at once set to work to de 
 stroy railroad track. From the 7th to the 10th of February this work was 
 thoroughly prosecuted by the Seventeenth Corps from the Edisto up to Bam 
 berg, and by the Fifteenth Corps from Bamberg up to Blackville. In the 
 meantime General Kilpatrick had brought his cavalry rapidly by Barnwell to 
 Blackville, and had turned toward Aiken, with orders to threaten Augusta, 
 but not to be drawn needlessly into a serious battle. This he skillfully ac 
 complished, skirmishing heavily with Wheeler s cavalry, first at Blackville 
 and afterward at Williston and Aiken. General Williams, with two divis 
 ions of the Twentieth Corps, marched to the South Carolina railroad at Gra 
 ham s Station on the 8th, and General Slocum reached Blackville on the 
 10th. The destruction of the railroad was continued by the left wing from 
 Blackville up to Windsor. By the 1 1th of February all the army was on the 
 railroad all the way from Midway to Johnson s Station, thereby dividing the 
 enemy s forces, which still remained at Branchville and Charleston on the one 
 hand, Aiken and Augusta on the other. 
 
 We then began the movement on Orangeburg. The Seventeenth Corps 
 crossed the South fork of Edisto River at Binnaker s Bridge and moved 
 straight for Orangeburg, while the Fifteenth Corps crossed at Holman s 
 Bridge and moved to Poplar Springs in support. The left wing and cavalry 
 were still at work on the railroad, with orders to cross the South Edisto at 
 New and Guignard s Bridges, move to the Orangeburg and Edgefield road, 
 and there await the result of the attack on Orangeburg. On the 12th the 
 
682 MARCH UPON COLUMBIA. 
 
 Seventeenth Corps found the enemy intrenched in front of the Orangeburg 
 Bridge, but swept him away by a dash, and followed him, forcing him 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 held one division (Giles A. Smith s) close up to the 
 Edisto, and moved the other two to a point about two miles below, where he 
 crossed Force s division by a pontoon bridge, holding Mower s in support. 
 As soon as Force emerged from the swamp the enemy gave ground, and 
 Giles Smith s division gained the bridge, crossed over, and occupied the 
 enemy s parapet. He soon repaired the bridge, and by four p. M. the whole 
 corps was in Orangeburg, and had begun the work of destruction on the rail 
 road. Blair was ordered to destroy this railroad effectually up to Lewisville, 
 and to push the enemy across the Congaree and force him to burn the bridges, 
 which he did on the 14th; and without wasting time or labor on Branchville 
 or Charleston, which I knew the enemy could no longer hold, I turned all 
 the columns straight on Columbia. 
 
 The Seventeenth Corps followed the State road, and the Fifteenth crossed 
 the North Edisto from Poplar Springs at Schilling s Bridge, above the mouth 
 of " Cawcaw Swamp" Creek, and took a country road which came into the 
 State road at Zeigler s. On the 15th, the Fifteenth Corps found the enemy 
 in a strong position at Little Congaree Bridge (across Congaree Creek,) with 
 a tete-de-pont on the south side, and a well constructed fort on the north side, 
 commanding the bridge with artillery. The ground in front was very bad, 
 level, and clear, with a fresh deposit of mud from a recent overflow. Gen 
 eral Charles R. Wood, who commanded the leading division, succeeded, 
 however, in turning the flank of the tete-de-pont by sending Stone s brigade 
 through a cypress swamp to the left ; and following up the retreating enemy 
 promptly, he got possession of the bridge and the fort beyond. The bridge 
 had been partially damaged by fire, and had to be repaired for the passage 
 of artillery, so that night closed in before the head of the column could reach 
 the bridge across Congaree River in front of Columbia. That night the 
 enemy shelled our camps from a battery on the east side of the Congaree 
 above Granby. Early next morning (February 16th) the head of column 
 reached the bank of the Congaree opposite Columbia, but too late to save the 
 fine bridge which spanned the river at that point. It was burned by the 
 enemy. While waiting for the pontoons to come to the front, we could see 
 people running about the streets of Columbia, and occasionally small bodies 
 of cavalry, but no masses. A single gun of Captain De Grass battery was 
 firing at their cavalry squads, but I checked his firing, limiting him to a few 
 shots at the unfinished State-house walls, and a few shells at the railroad 
 depot, to scatter the people who were seen carrying away sacks of corn and 
 meal that we needed. There was no white flag or manifestation of surrender. 
 I directed General Howard not to cross directly in front of Columbia, but to 
 cross the Saluda at the factory, three miles above, and afterward Broad 
 River, so as to approach Columbia from the north. Within an hour of the 
 arrival of General Howard s head of column at the river opposite Columbia, 
 the head of column of the left wing also appeared, and I directed General 
 Slocum to cross the Saluda at Zion Church, and thence to take roads direct 
 for Winnsboro , breaking up en route the railroads and bridges about Alston. 
 
 General Howard effected a crossing of the Saluda near the factory on the 
 16th, skirmishing with cavalry, and the same night made a flying bridge 
 
BURNING OF COLUMBIA. 683 
 
 across Broad River, about three miles above Columbia, by winch he crossed 
 over Stone s brigade of Wood s division, Fifteenth Corps. Under cover of 
 this brigade a pontoon bridge was laid on the morning of the 17th. I was 
 in person at this bridge, and at 11 A. M. learned that the Mayor of Columbia 
 had come out in a carriage and made formal surrender of the city to Colonel 
 Stone, Twenty-fifth 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 
 made written orders to General Howard touching the conduct of the troops. 
 These were to 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 harm 
 less private property. I was the first to cross the pontoon bridge, and in 
 company with General Howard 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 every where, the rope and bagging cut, and tufts of cotton were 
 blown about in the wind, lodged in the trees and against houses, so as to 
 resemble a snow-storm. Some of these piles of cotton were burning, espe 
 cially one in the very heart of the city near the Court-house, but the fire was 
 partially subdued by the labor of our soldiers. During the day, the Fif 
 teenth Corps passed through Columbia and out on the Camden Road. The 
 Seventeenth did not enter the town at all; and, as I have before stated, the 
 left wing and 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, arid got beyond 
 the control of the brigade on duty within the city. The whc le 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 four A. 
 M., when, the wind subsiding, they were got under control. I was up nearly 
 all night, and saw Generals Howard, Logan, Wood, and others laboring to 
 save houses, and to 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 contrary, claim that we saved what of Colum 
 bia 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 manifestation 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 officers 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 unconcealed joy to see the ruin of the Capital of South 
 Carolina. During the 18th and 19th, the arsenal, railroad depots, machine- 
 shops, founderies, and other buildings were properly destroyed by detailed 
 working parties, and the railroad track torn up and destroyed to Kingsville 
 and the Wateree Bridge, and up in the direction of Winnsboro . 
 
684 FEINT UPON CHARLOTTE. 
 
 At the same time, tlie left wing and cavalry had crossed the Saluda and 
 Broad Rivers, breaking up railroad about Alston, and as high up as the bridge 
 across Broad River on the Spartanburg Road, the main body moving straight 
 for Winnsboro , which General Slocum reached on the 21st of February. He 
 caused the railroad to be destroyed up to Blackstakes Depot, and then turned 
 to Rocky Mount, on the Catawba River. The Twentieth Corps reached 
 Rocky Mount on the 22d, laid a pontoon bridge, and crossed over during the 
 23d. Kilpatrick s cavalry followed, and crossed over in a heavy rain during 
 the night of the 23d, and moved up to Lancaster, with orders to keep up the 
 delusion of a general movement on Charlotte, N. C., to which General Beau- 
 regard and all the cavalry of the enemy had retreated from Columbia. I 
 was also aware that Cheatham s Corps, of Hood s old army was aiming to 
 make a junction with Beauregard at Charlotte, having been cut off by our 
 rapid movement on Columbia and Winnsboro . From the 23d to the 26th 
 we had heavy rains, swelling the rivers and making the roads almost impas 
 sable. The Twentieth Corps reached Hanging Rock on the 26th, and waited 
 there for the Fourteenth Corps to get across the Catawba. The heavy rains 
 had so swollen the river that the pontoon bridge broke, and General Davis 
 had very hard work to restore it and get his command across. At last he 
 succeeded, and the left wing was all put in motion for Cheraw. 
 
 In the meantime, the right wing had broken up the railroad to Winnsboro , 
 and thence turned for Pea s Ferry, where it was crossed over the Catawba 
 before the heavy rains set in, the Seventeenth Corps moving straight on 
 Cheraw via Young s Bridge, and the Fifteenth Corps by Tiller s and Kelly s 
 Bridges. From this latter corps detachments were sent into Camden to burn 
 the bridge over the Wateree, with the railroad depot, stores, etc. A small 
 force of mounted men under Captain Duncan was also dispatched to make a 
 dash and interrupt the railroad from Charleston to Florence, but it met But 
 ler s division of cavalry, and, after a sharp night skirmish on Mount Elon, 
 was compelled to return unsuccessful. Much bad road was encountered at 
 Lynch s Creek, which delayed the right wing about the same length of time 
 as the left wing had been at the Catawba. 
 
 On the 2d of March, the leading division of the Twentieth Corps entered 
 Chesterfield, skirmishing with Butler s division of cavalry, and the next day 
 about noon the Seventeenth Corps entered Cheraw, the enemy retreating 
 across the Pedee and burning the bridge at that point. At Cheraw we found 
 much ammunition and many guns, which had been brought from Charleston 
 on the evacuation of that city. These were destroyed, as also the railroad 
 trestles and bridges down as far as Darlington. An expedition of mounted 
 infantry was also sent down to Florence, but it encountered both cavalry and 
 infantry, and returned, having only broken up in part the branch road from 
 Florence to Cheraw. 
 
 Without unnecessary delay the columns were again put in motion, directed 
 on Fayetteville, N. C., the right wing crossing the Pedee at Cheraw and the 
 left wing and cavalry at Sneedsboro . General Kilpatrick was ordered to 
 keep well on the left flank, and the Fourteenth Corps, moving by Love s 
 Bridge, was given the right to enter and occupy Fayetteville first. The 
 weather continued unfavorable and the roads bad, but the Fourteenth and 
 Seventeenth Corps reached Fayetteville on the llth of March, skirmishing 
 with Wade Hampton s cavalry, that covered, the rear of Hardee s retreating 
 army, which, as usual, had crossed Cape Fear River, burning the bridge. 
 
SHERMAN S STRATEGY. G35 
 
 During the march from the Peclce, General Kilpatrick had kept his cavalry 
 well on the left and exposed flank. During the night of the 9th March his 
 three brigades were divided to picket the roads. General Hampton, detect 
 ing this, dashed in at daylight and gained possession of the camp of Colonel 
 Spencer s brigade, and the house in which General Kilpatrick and Colonel 
 Spencer had their quarters. The surprise was complete, but General Kilpat 
 rick quickly succeeded in rallying his men on foot in a swamp near by, and, 
 by a prompt attack, well followed up, regained his artillery, horses, camp, 
 and every thing, save some prisoners whom the enemy carried off, leaving 
 their dead on the ground. 
 
 The 12th, 13th, and 14th were passed at Fayetteville, destroying abso 
 lutely the United States Arsenal and the vast amount of machinery which 
 had formerly belonged to the old Harper s Ferry United States Arsenal. 
 Every building was knocked down and burned, and every piece of machinery 
 utterly broken up and ruined, by the First regiment Michigan engineers, 
 under the immediate supervision of Colonel O. M. Poc, chief engineer. 
 Much valuable property of great use to an enemy was here destroyed or cast 
 into the river. 
 
 Up to this period, I had perfectly succeeded in interposing my superior 
 army between the scattered parts of my enemy. But I was then aware that 
 the fragments that had left Columbia under Beauregard had been reinforced 
 by Cheatham s Corps from the West and the garrison of Augusta, and that 
 ample time had been given to move them to my front and flank about Ra 
 leigh. Hardee had also succeeded in getting across Cape Fear River ahead of 
 me, and could therefore complete the junction with the other armies of 
 Johnston and Hoke in North Carolina. And the whole, under the command 
 of the skillful and experienced Joe Johnston, made up an army superior to 
 me in cavalry, and formidable enough in artillery and infantry to justify me 
 in extreme caution in making the last step necessary to complete the march 
 I had undertaken. Previous to reaching Fayetteville, I had dispatched 
 to Wilmington from Laurel Hill Church two of our best scouts with intelli 
 gence of our position and my general plans. Both of these messengers 
 reached Wilmington, and on the morning of the 12th of March the army tug 
 Davidson, Captain Ainsworth, reached Fayetteville from Wilmington, bring 
 ing me full intelligence of events from the outer world. On the same day, 
 this tug carried back to General Terry, at Wilmington, and General Schofield, 
 at Newborn, my dispatches to the effect that on Wednesday, the 15th, we 
 would move for Goldsboro , feigning on Raleigh, and ordering them to march 
 straight for Goldsboro , which I expected to reach about the 20th. The 
 same day, the gunboat Eolus, Captain Young, United States Navy, also 
 reached Fayetteville, and through her I continued to have communication 
 with Wilmington until the day of our actual departure. While the work of 
 destruction was going on at Fayetteville, two pontoon bridges were laid 
 across Cape Fear River, one opposite the town, the other three miles below. 
 
 General Kilpatrick was ordered to move up the plank road to and beyond 
 Averysboro . He was to be followed by four divisions of the left wing, with 
 as few wagons as possible ; the rest of the train, under escort of the two 
 remaining divisions of that wing, to take a shorter and more direct road to 
 Goldsboro . In like manner, General Howard was ordered to send his trains, 
 under good escort, well to the right, toward Faison s Depot and Goldsboro , 
 and to hold four divisions light, ready to go to the aid of the left wing if 
 
686 BATTLE OF AVERYSBORO*. 
 
 attacked while in motion. The weather continued very bad, and the roads 
 had become mere quagmire. Almost every foot of them had to be corduroyed 
 to admit the passage of wheels. Still, time was so important that punctu 
 ally, according to order, the columns moved out from Cape Fear River on 
 Wednesday, the 15th of March. I accompanied General Slocum, who, pre 
 ceded by Kilpatrick s cavalry, moved up the river or plank road that day to 
 Kyle s Landing, Kilpatrick skirmishing heavily with the enemy s rear-guard 
 about three miles beyond, near Taylor s Hole Creek. At General Kilpat 
 rick s request, General Slocum sent forward a brigade of infantry to hold a 
 line of barricades. Next morning, the column advanced in the same order, 
 and developed the enemy, with artillery, infantry, and cavalry, in an in 
 trenched position in front of the point where the road branches off toward 
 Goldsboro through Bentonville. On an inspection of the map, it was man 
 ifest that Hardee, in retreating from Fayetteville, had halted in the narrow, 
 swampy neck between Cape Fear and South Rivers, in hopes to hold me to 
 save time for the concentration of Johnston s armies at some point to his 
 rear, namely, Raleigh, Smithfield, or Goldsboro . Hardee s force was esti 
 mated at 20,000 men. It was necessary to dislodge him, that we might have 
 the use of the Goldsboro road, as also to keep up the feint on Raleigh as 
 long as possible. General Slocum was therefore ordered to press and carry 
 the position, only difficult by reason of the nature of the ground, which was 
 so soft that horses would sink every where, and even men could hardly make 
 their way over the common pine barren. 
 
 The Twentieth Corps, General AVilliams, had the lead, and Ward s divis 
 ion the advance. This was deployed, and the skirmish line developed the 
 position of a brigade of Charleston heavy artillery armed as infantry 
 (Rhett s) posted across the road behind a light parapet, with a battery of 
 guns enfilading the approach across a cleared field. General Williams sent 
 a brigade (Casey s) by a circuit to his left that turned this line, and by a 
 quick charge broke the brigade, which rapidly retreated back to a second line, 
 better built and more strongly held. A battery of artillery (Winnager s) 
 well posted, under the immediate direction of Major Reynolds, chief of artil 
 lery, of Twentieth Corps, did good execution on the retreating brigade, and, 
 on advancing Ward s division over this ground, General Williams captured 
 three guns and two hundred and seventeen prisoners, of which sixty-eight 
 were wounded, and left in a house nearby with a rebel officer, four men, and 
 five days rations. One hundred and eight rebel dead were buried by us. As 
 Ward s division advanced, he developed a second and stronger line, when 
 Jackson s division was deployed forward on the right of Ward, and the two 
 divisions of Jeff. C. Davis, (Fourteenth) Corps on the left well toward the 
 Cape Fear. At the same time, Kilpatrick, who was acting in concert with 
 General Williams, was ordered to draw back his cavalry and mass it on the 
 extreme right, and, in concert with Jackson s right, to feel forward for the 
 Goldsboro road. He got a brigade on the road, but it was attacked by 
 McLaw s rebel division furiously, and though it fought well and hard, tho- 
 brigade drew back to the flank of the infantry. The whole line advanced late 
 in the afternoon, drove the enemy well within his intrenched line, and pressed 
 him so hard that next morning he was gone, having retreated in a miserable 
 stormy night over the worst of roads. Ward s division of infantry followed 
 to and through Averysboro , developing the fact that Hardee had retreated, 
 not on Raleigh, but on Smithfield, I had the night before directed Kilpat* 
 
COMMUNICATION WITH SCOFIELD. 687 
 
 rick to cross South River at a milldam to our right rear and move up on the 
 east side toward Elevation. General Slocum reports his aggregate loss in 
 this affair, known as that of Averysboro , at twelve officers and sixty-live men 
 killed, and four hundred and seventy-seven wounded. We lost no prisoners. 
 The enemy s loss can be inferred from his dead (one hundred and eight) left 
 for us to bury. Leaving Ward s division to keep up a show of pursuit, Slo- 
 cum s column was turned to the right, built a bridge across the swollen South 
 River, and took the Goldsboro road, Kilpatrick crossing to the north in the 
 direction of Elevation, with orders to move eastward, watching that flank. 
 In the meantime, the wagon trains and guards, as also Howard s column, 
 were wallowing along the miry roads toward Bentonville and Goldsboro . 
 The enemy s infantry, as before stated, had retreated on Smithfield, and his 
 cavalry retreated across our front in the same direction, burning the bridges 
 across Mill Creek. I continued with the head of Slocurn s column, and 
 camped the night of the 18th with him on the Goldsboro road, twenty-seven 
 miles from Goldsboro , about five miles from Bentonville, and where the 
 road from Clinton to Smithfield crosses the Goldsboro road. Howard was 
 at Lee s Store, only two miles south, and both columns had pickets three 
 miles forward, to where the two roads came together and became common to 
 Goldsboro . 
 
 All the signs induced me to believe that the enemy would make no farther 
 opposition to our progress, and would not attempt to strike us in flank while 
 in motion. I therefore directed Howard to move his right wing by the new 
 Goldsboro road, which goes by way of Falling Creek Church. I also left 
 Slocum and joined Howard s column, with a view to open communications 
 with General Schofield, coming up from Newbern, and Terry from Wilming 
 ton. I found General Howard s column well strung out, owing to the very 
 bad roads, and did not overtake him in person until he had reached Falling 
 Creek Church, with one regiment forward to the cross-roads near Cox s 
 Bridge across the Neuse. I had gone from General Slocum about six miles, 
 when I heard artillery in his direction , but was soon made easy by one of 
 his staff officers overtaking me, explaining that his leading division (Carlin s) 
 had encountered a division of rebel cavalry (Dibbrell s), which he was driving 
 easily. But soon other staff officers came up, reporting that he had devel 
 oped near Bentonville the whole of the rebel army, under General Johnston 
 himself. I sent him orders to call up the two divisions guarding his wagon 
 trains, and Ilazen s division of the Fifteenth Corps, still back near Lee s 
 Store, to fight defensively until I could draw up Blair s Corps, then near 
 Mount Olive Station, and, with the three remaining divisions of the Fifteenth 
 Corps, come up on Johnston s left rear from the direction of Cox s Bridge. 
 In the meantime, while on the road, I received couriers from both Generals 
 Schofield and Terry. The former reported himself in possession of Kins- 
 ston, delayed somewhat by want of provisions, but able to march so as to 
 make Goldsboro on the 21st; and Terry was at or near Faison s Depot. 
 Orders were at onco dispatched to Schofield to push for Goldsboro , and to 
 make dispositions to cross Little River in the direction of Smithfield as far 
 as Millard ; to General Terry to move to Cox s Bridge, lay a pontoon bridge, 
 and establish a crossing; and to General Blair to make a night inarch to 
 Falling Creek Church ; and at daylight, the right wing, General Howard, 
 less the necessary wagon guards, was put in rapid motion on Bentonville. 
 By subsequent reports, I learned that General Slocum s head of column had 
 
633 BATTLE OP BENTONVILLE. 
 
 advanced from its camp of March 18th, and first encountered Dibbrell s cav 
 alry, but soon found his progress impeded by infantry and artillery. The 
 enemy attacked his head of column, gaining a temporary advantage, and took 
 three guns and caissons of General Carlin s division, driving the two leading 
 brigades back on the main body. As soon as General Slocum realized that 
 he had in his front the whole Confederate army, he promptly deployed the 
 two divisions of the Fourteenth Corps, General Davis, and rapidly brought 
 up on their left the two divisions of the Twentieth Corps, General Williams. 
 These he arranged on the defensive, and hastily prepared a line of barricades. 
 General Kilpatrick ahso came up at the sound of artillery, and massed on the 
 left. In this position, the left wing received six distinct assaults by the com 
 bined forces of Hoke, Hardee and Cheatham, under the immediate command 
 of General Johnston himself, without giving an inch of ground, and doing 
 good execution on the enemy s ranks, especially with our artillery, the enemy 
 having little or none. 
 
 Johnston had moved by night from Smithfield with great rapidity and 
 without unnecessary wheels, intending to overwhelm my left flank before it 
 could be relieved by its cooperating columns. But he " reckoned without 
 his host." I had expected just such a movement all the way from Fayette- 
 ville, and was prepared for it. During the night of the 19th, General Slo 
 cum got up his wagon train with its guard of two divisions, and Hazen s 
 division of the Fifteenth Corps, which reinforcement enabled him to make 
 his position impregnable. The right wing found rebel cavalry watching its 
 approach, but unable to offer any serious opposition, until our head of col 
 umn encountered a considerable body behind a barricade at the forks of the 
 road near Bentonville, about three miles east of the battle-field of the day 
 before. This body of cavalry was, however, quickly dislodged, and the in 
 tersection of the roads secured. On moving forward the Fifteenth Corps, 
 General Logan found that the enemy had thrown back his left flank, and 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, interposing 
 between General Slocum on the west and General Howard on the east, while 
 the flanks rested on Mill Creek, covering the road back to Smithfield. Gen 
 eral Howard was instructed to proceed with due caution until he had made 
 strong connection on his left with General Slocum. This he soon accom 
 plished, and by four p. M. of the 20th, a complete and strong line of battle 
 confronted the enemy in his intrenched position, and General Johnston, in 
 stead of catching us in detail, was on the defensive, with Mill Creek and a 
 single bridge to his rear. Nevertheless, we had no object to accomplish by 
 a battle, unless at an advantage, and therefore my general instructions were 
 to press steadily with skirmishers alone, to use artillery pretty freely on the 
 wooded space held by the enemy, and to feel pretty strongly the flanks of his 
 position, which were, as usual, covered by the endless swamps of this region of 
 country. I also ordered all empty wagons to be sent at once to Kinston for 
 supplies, and all other impediments to be grouped near the Neuse, south 
 of Goldsboro , holding the real army in close contact with the enemy, ready 
 to fight him if he ventured outside his parapets and swampy obstructions. 
 
 Thus matters stood about Bentonville on the 21st of March. On the same 
 day General Schofield entered Goldsboro with little or no opposition, and 
 General Terry had got possession of the Neuse River at Cox s Bridge, ten 
 miles above, with a pontoon bridge laid and a brigade across ; so that the 
 
JOHNSTON RUNS. 689 
 
 three armies were in actual connection, and the great object of the campaign 
 was accomplished. 
 
 On the 21st a steady rain prevailed, during which General Mower s divis- 
 ion of the Seventeenth Corps, on the extreme right, had worked well to the 
 ris^ht around the enemy s flank, and had nearly reached the bridge across 
 Mill Creek, the only line of retreat open to the enemy. Of course, there 
 was extreme danger that the enemy would turn on him all his reserves, and, 
 it might be, let go his parapets to overwhelm Mower. Accordingly, I ordered 
 at once a general attack by our skirmish line from left to right. Quite a 
 noisy battle ensued, during which General Mower was enabled to regain his 
 connection with his own corps by moving to his left rear. Still, he had de 
 veloped a weakness in the enemy s position of which advantage might have 
 been taken ; but that night the enemy retreated on Smithfield, leaving his 
 pickets to fall into our hands, with many dead unburied, and wounded in 
 his field hospitals. At daybreak of the 22d, pursuit was made two miles 
 beyond Mill Creek, but checked by my order. General Johnston had utterly 
 failed in his attempt, and we remained in full possession of the field of battle. 
 
 General Slocum reports the losses of the left wing about Bentonville at 
 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 hun 
 dred and twenty -three men missing, taken prisoners by the enemy ; total, 
 one thousand two hundred and forty-seven. He buried on the field one 
 hundred and sixty-seven rebel dead, and took 338 prisoners. 
 
 General Howard reports the losses of the right wing at two officers and 
 thirty-five men killed, twelve officers and two hundred and eighty-nine men 
 wounded, and one officer and gixty men missing ; total, three hundred and 
 ninety-nine. He also buried one hundred rebel dead and took twelve hun 
 dred and eighty-seven prisoners. 
 
 The cavalry of Kilpatrick was held in reserve, and lost but few, if any, of 
 which I have no report as yet. Our aggregate loss at Bentonville was six 
 teen hundred and forty-six. " 
 
 I am well satisfied that the enemy lost heavily, especially during his 
 assaults on the left wing during the afternoon of the 19th; but as I have no 
 data save his dead and wounded left in our hands, I prefer to make no com 
 parisons. 
 
 Thus, as I have endeavored to explain, we had completed our march on 
 the 21st, and had full possession of Goldsboro , the real "objective," with 
 its two railroads back to the sea-ports of Wilmington and Beaufort, N. C. 
 These were being rapidly repaired by strong, working parties, directed by 
 Colonel W. W. Wright, of the railroad department. A large number of 
 supplies had already been brought forward to Kinston, to which place our 
 wagons had been sent to receive them. I therefore directed General How 
 ard and the cavalry to remain at Bentonville during the 22d, to bury the dead 
 and remove the wounded, and on the following day, all the armies to the 
 camps assigned them about Goldsboro , there to rest and receive the cloth 
 ing and supplies of which they stood in need. In person I went, on the 22d, 
 to Cox s Bridge, to meet General Terry, whom I met for the first time, and 
 on the following clay rode into Goldsboro , where I found General Schofield 
 and his army. The left wing came in during the same day and next morn 
 ing, and the right wing followed on the 24th, on which day the cavalry 
 moved to Mount Olive Station and General Terry back to Faison s, On tho 
 
690 SUMMARY OF CAMPAIGN. 
 
 25th the Newbern raihoad was finished, and the first train of cars came in, 
 thus giving us the means of bringing from the depot at Morehead City full 
 supplies to the army. 
 
 It was all-important that I should have an interview with the General-in- 
 Chief; and, presuming that he could not at this time leave City Point, I left 
 General Schofield in chief command, and proceeded with all expedition by 
 rail to Morehead City, and thence by steamer to City Point, reaching Gen 
 eral Grant s head-quarters on the evening of the 27th of March. I had the 
 good fortune to meet General Grant, the President, Generals Meade, Ord, 
 and others of the Army of the Potomac, and soon learned the general state 
 of the military world, from which I had been in a great measure cut off since 
 January. Having completed all necessary business, I re-embarked on the 
 navy steamer Bat, Captain Barnes, which Admiral Porter placed at my com 
 mand, and returned via Hatteras Inlet and Newbern, reaching my own head 
 quarters in Goldsboro during the night of the 30th. During my absence, 
 full supplies of clothing and food had been brought to camp, and all things 
 were working well. 
 
 I have thus rapidly sketched the progress of our columns from Savannah 
 to Goldsboro , but for more minute details must refer to the reports of subor 
 dinate commanders and of staff-officers, which are not yet ready, but will in 
 due season be forwarded and filed with this report. I can not even with anv 
 degree of precision recapitulate the vast amount of injury done the enemy, or 
 the quantity of guns and materials of war captured and destroyed. In gen 
 eral 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 meats, corn meal, etc. The public enemy, instead of drawing 
 supplies from that region to feed his armies, will be compelled to send pro 
 visions from other quarters to feed the inhabitants. A map herewith, pre 
 pared by my chief engineer, Colonel Poe, with the routes of the four corps 
 and cavalry, will show at a glance the country traversed. Of course, the 
 abandonment to us by the enemy of the whole sea-coast, from Savannah to 
 Newbern, N. C., with its forts, dock-yards, gunboats, etc., was a necessary 
 incident 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 posi 
 tion easy of supply, whence it could take an appropriate part in the spring 
 and summer campaign of 1865. This was completely accomplished on the 
 21st of March, by the junction of the three armies and occupation of 
 Goldsboro . 
 
 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 can not 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, offi 
 cers, and men, for these 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." I have the honor to be your obe 
 dient servant, 
 
 W. T. SHERMAN, Major General Commanding. 
 Mpjor General H. TV. HALLECK, Chief of Staff, Washington City, P. C. 4, 
 
THE SITUATION. 691 
 
 III. 
 
 OPERATIONS IN NORTH CAROLINA, AND SURRENDER OF 
 JOHNSTON S ARMY. 
 
 HEAD-QUARTERS OF THE MILITARY DIVISION OP THE MISSISSIPPI, ) 
 IN THE FIELD, CITY POINT. VIRGINIA, May 9, 1865. ) 
 
 GENERAL : My last official report brought the history of events, as con 
 nected with the armies in the field subject to my immediate command, clown 
 to the 1st of April, when the Army of the Ohio, Major General J. M. Scho- 
 field commanding, lay at Goldsboro , with detachments distributed so as to 
 secure and cover our routes of communication and supply back to the sea 
 at Wilmington and Morehead City ; Major General A. II. Terry, with the 
 Tenth Corps, being at Faison s Depot; the Army of the Tennessee, Major 
 General 0. 0. Howard commanding, was encamped to the right and front 
 of Goldsboro ; and the Army of Georgia, Major General II. W. Slocum 
 commanding, to its left and front ; the cavalry, Brevet Major General J. Kil- 
 patrick commanding, at Mount Olive. All were busy in repairing the wear 
 and tear of our then recent and hard inarch from Savannah, and in replen 
 ishing clothing and stores necessary for a farther progress. 
 
 I had previously, by letter and in person, notified the Lieutenant General 
 commanding the armies of the United States, that the 10th of April would 
 be the earliest possible moment at which I could hope to have all things in 
 readiness, and we were compelled to use our railroads to the very highest 
 possible limit in order to fulfill that promise. Owing to a mistake in the 
 railroad department in sending locomotives and cars of the five-foot gnage, 
 we were limited to the use of the few locomotives and cars of the four-foot 
 eight and a half inch guage already in North Carolina, with such of the old 
 stock as was captured by Major General Terry at Wilmington and on his 
 way up to Goldsboro . Yet such judicious use was made of these, and such 
 industry displayed in the railroad management, by Generals Easton and 
 Beckwith, and Colonel Wright and Mr. Van Dyne, that by the 10th of April 
 our men were all reclad, the wagons reloaded, and a fair amount of forage 
 accumulated ahead. 
 
 In the meantime, Major General George Stoneman, in command of a di 
 vision of cavalry operating from East Tennessee in connection with Major 
 General George II. Thomas, in pursuance of my orders of January 21st, 1865, 
 had reached the railroad about Greensboro , N. C., and had made sad havoc 
 with it, and had pushed along it to Salisbury, destroying en route bridges, 
 culverts, depots, and all kinds of rebel supplies, and had extended the break 
 in the railroad down to the Catawba Bridge. 
 
 This was fatal to the hostile armies of Lee and Johnston, who depended 
 on that road for supplies, and as their ultimate line of retreat. Major Gen 
 eral J. H. Wilson, also in command of the cavalry corps organized by him 
 self under special field orders No. , of October 24th, 1864, at Gaylesville, 
 Ala., had started from the neighborhood of Decatur and Florence, Ala., and 
 moved straight into the heart of Alabama, on a route prescribed for General 
 Thomas after he had defeated General Hood at Nashville, Tenn. ; but the 
 roads being too heavy for infantry, General Thomas had devolved that duty 
 
692 MARCH AGAINST JOHNSTON. 
 
 on that most energetic young cavalry officer, General Wilson, who, imbued 
 with the proper spirit, has struck one of the best blows of the war at the 
 waning strength of the Confederacy. His route was one never before touched 
 by our troops, and afforded him abundance of supplies as long as he was in 
 motion, namely, by Tuscaloosa, Selma, Montgomery, Columbus, and Macon. 
 Though in communication with him, I have not been able to receive, as yet, 
 his full and detailed reports, which will in due time be published and appre 
 ciated. Lieutenant General Grant, also in immediate command of the armies 
 about Richmond, had taken the initiative in that magnificent campaign which, 
 in less than ten days, compelled the evacuation of Richmond, and resulted in 
 the destruction and surrender of the entire rebel army of Virginia under 
 command of General Lee. 
 
 The news of the battles about Petersburg reached me at Goldsboro on the 
 6th of April. Up to that time my purpose was to move rapidly northward, 
 feigning on Raleigh and striking straight for Burkesville, thereby interposing 
 between Johnston and Lee. But the auspicious events in Virginia had 
 changed the whole military problem, and, in the expressive language of Lieu 
 tenant General Grant, "the Confederate armies of Lee and Johnston" became 
 the " strategic points." General Grant was fully able to take care of the 
 former, and my task was to capture or destroy the latter. Johnston at that 
 time, April 6th, had his army well in hand about Smithfield, interposing be 
 tween me and Raleigh. I estimated his infantry and artillery at thirty-five 
 thousand, and his cavalry from six thousand to ten thousand. He was supe 
 rior to me in cavalry, so that I held General Kilpatrick in reserve at Mount 
 Olive, with orders to recruit his horses arid be ready to make a sudden and 
 rapid march on the 10th of April. 
 
 At daybreak of the day appointed, all the heads of columns w T ere in motion 
 straight against the enemy Major General II. W. Slocum taking the two di 
 rect roads for Smithfield ; Major General O. O. Howard making a circuit by 
 the right, and feigning up the Weldon road to disconcert the enemy s cav 
 alry ; Generals Terry and Kilpatrick moving on the west side of the Neuse 
 River, and aiming to reach the rear of the enemy between Smithfield and 
 Raleigh. General Schofield followed General Slocum in support. 
 
 All the columns met, within six miles of Goldsboro , more or less cavalry, 
 with the usual rail barricades, which were swept before us as chaff, and by 
 10 A. M. of the llth the Fourteenth Corps entered Smithfield, the Twentieth 
 Corps close at hand. Johnston had rapidly retreated across the Neuse River, 
 and, having his railroad to lighten up his trains, could retreat faster than we 
 could pursue. The rains had also set in, making the resort to corduroy ab 
 solutely necessary to pass even ambulances, x The. enemy had burned the 
 bridge at Smithfield, and as soon as possible Major General Slocum got up 
 his pontoons and crossed over a division of the Fourteenth Corps. We there 
 heard of the surrender of Lee s army at Appomattox Court-House, Va., which 
 was announced to the armies in orders, and created universal joy. Not an 
 officer or soldier of my armies but expressed a pride and satisfaction that it 
 fell to the lot of the armies of the Potomac and James so gloriously to over 
 whelm and capture the entire army that had held them so long in check, and 
 their success gave new impulse to finish up our task. Without a moment s 
 hesitation we dropped our trains and marched rapidly in pursuit to and 
 through Raleigh, reaching that place at 7:30 A. M. of the 13th, in a heavy 
 rain. The next day the cavalry pushed on through the rain to Durham s 
 
THE PURSUIT. 693 
 
 Station, the Fifteenth Corps following as far as Morrisville Station, and the 
 Seventeenth Corps to Jones Station. On the supposition that Johnston was 
 tied to his railroad as a line of retreat by Hillsboro , Greensboro , Salisbury, 
 Charlotte, etc., I had turned the other columns across the bend of that road 
 toward Ashboro . (See Special Field Orders, No. 55.) The cavalry, Brevet 
 Major General J. Kilpatrick commanding, was ordered to keep up a show of 
 pursuit toward the " Company s Shops," in Alarnance County ; Major Gen 
 eral O. O. Howard to turn to the left by Hackney s Cross-roads, Pittsboro , 
 St. Lawrence, and Ashboro ; Major General II. W. Slocum to cross Cape 
 Fear River at Avon s Ferry, and move rapidly by Carthage, Caledonia, and 
 Cox s Mills; Major General J. M. Schofield w r as to hold Raleigh and the road 
 back, and with his spare force to follow by an intermediate route. 
 
 By the 15th, though the rains were incessant and the roads almost im 
 practicable, Major General Slocum had the Fourteenth Corps, Brevet Major 
 General Davis commanding, near Martha s Vineyard, with a pontoon bridge 
 laid across Cape Fear River at Aven s Ferry, with the Twentieth Corps, Ma 
 jor General Mower commanding, in support, and Major General Howard had 
 the Fifteenth and Seventeenth Corps stretched out on the roads toward Pitts 
 boro 1 , while General Kilpatrick held Durham s Station and Chapel Hill 
 University. 
 
 Johnston s army was retreating rapidly on the roads from Hillsboro to 
 Greensboro , he himself at Greensboro . Although out of place as to time, I 
 here invite all military critics who study the problems of war to take their 
 maps and compare the position of my army on the 15th and 16th of April 
 with that of General Halleck about Burkesville and Petersburg, Va., on the 
 26th of April, when, according to his telegram to Secretary Stanton, he 
 offered to relieve me of the task of " cutting off Johnston s retreat." Major 
 General Stoneman at the time was at Statesville, and Johnston s only line of 
 retreat was by Salisbury and Charlotte. It may be that General Halleck s 
 troops can outmarch mine, but there is nothing in their past history to show 
 it; or it may be that General Halleck can inspire his troops with more en 
 ergy of action. I doubt that also, save and except in this single instance, 
 when he knew the enemy was ready to surrender or disperse, as advised by 
 my letter of April 18th, addressed to him when Chief of Staff at Washington 
 City, and delivered at Washington on the 21st instant by Major Hitchcock 
 of my Staff. 
 
 Thus matters stood at the time I received General Johnston s first letter 
 and made my answer of April 14th, copies of which were sent with all expe 
 dition to Lieutenant General Grant and the Secretary of W"ar, with my letter 
 of April 15th. I agreed to meet General Johnston in person at a point in 
 termediate between our pickets on the lYth at noon, provided the position 
 of the troops remained statu quo. I was both willing and anxious thus to 
 consume a few days, as it would enable Colonel Wright to finish our railroad 
 to Raleigh. 
 
 Two bridges had to be built and twelve miles of new road made. We had 
 no iron except by taking up that on the branch from Goldsboro to Weldon. 
 Instead of losing by time, I gained in every way; for every hour of delay 
 possible was required to reconstruct the railroad to our rear and improve the 
 condition of our wagon roads to the front, so desirable in case the negotia 
 tions failed and we be forced to make the race of near two hundred miles to 
 head off or catch Johnston s army, then retreating toward Charlotte. 
 
694 NEGOTIATIONS WITH JOHNSTON. v 
 
 At noon of the day appointed I met General Johnston for the first time in 
 my life, though we had been interchanging shots constantly since May, 
 1863. 
 
 Our interview was frank and soldier-like, and he gave me to understand 
 that farther war on the part of the Confederate troops was folly, that the 
 cause was lost, and that every life sacrificed after the surrender of Lee s army 
 was the " highest possible crime." He admitted that the terms conceded to 
 General Lee were magnanimous, and all he could ask ; but he did want some 
 general concessions that would enable him to allay the natural fears and 
 anxieties of his followers, and enable him to maintain his control over them 
 until they could be got back to the neighborhood of their homes, thereby 
 saving the State of North Carolina the devastations inevitably to result from 
 turning his men loose and unprovided on the spot, and our pursuit across 
 the State. 
 
 He also wanted to embrace in the same general proposition the fate of all 
 the Confederate armies that remained in existence. I never made any con 
 cession as to his own army, or assumed to deal finally and authoritatively in 
 regard to any other, but it did seem to me that there was presented a chance 
 for peace that might be deemed valuable to the Government of the United 
 States, and was at least worth the few days that would be consumed in 
 reference. 
 
 To push an army whose Commander had so frankly and honestly confessed 
 his inability to cope with me were cowardly, and unworthy the brave men I 
 led. 
 
 Inasmuch as General Johnston did not feel authorized to pledge his power 
 over the armies in Texas, we adjourned to meet the next day at noon. I re 
 turned to Raleigh, and conferred freely with all my general officer^ every one 
 of whom urged me to conclude terms that might accomplish so complete and 
 desirable an end. All dreaded the weary and laborious march after a fugitive 
 and dissolving army back toward Geogia, almost over the very country where 
 we had toiled so long. There was but one opinion expressed ; and, if con 
 trary ones were entertained, they were withheld, or indulged in only by that 
 class who shun the fight and the march, but are loudest, bravest, and fiercest 
 when danger is past. I again met General Johnston on the 18th, and we re 
 newed the conversation. He satisfied me then of his power to disband the 
 rebel armies in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, as well as those 
 in his immediate command, namely, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, 
 and Georgia. 
 
 The points on which he expressed especial solicitude were, lest their States 
 were to be dismembered and denied representation in Congress, or any sepa 
 rate political existence whatever, and that the absolute disarming his men 
 would leave the South powerless, and exposed to depredations by wicked 
 bands of assassins and robbers. 
 
 President Lincoln s Message of 1864 ; his Amnesty Proclamation ; General 
 Grant s terms to General Lee, substantially extending the benefits of that 
 proclamation to all officers above the rank of colonel ; the invitation to the 
 Virginia Legislature to reassemble in Richmond by General Weitzel, with 
 the approval of Mr. Lincoln and General Grant, then on the spot ; a firm be 
 lief that I had been fighting to reestablish the Constitution of the United 
 States ; and last, and not least, the general and universal desire to close a war 
 any longer without organized resistance, were the leading facts that induced 
 
OF SHERMAN S "MEMORANDUM." 695 
 
 me to pen the " memorandum " of April 18th, signed by myself and General 
 Johnston. 
 
 It was designed to be, and so expressed on its face, as a mere " basis " for 
 reference to the President of the United States and constitutional Commander- 
 in-Chief, to enable him, if he chose, at one blow to dissipate the military 
 power of the Confederacy which had threatened the national safety for years. 
 It admitted of modification, alteration, and change. It had no appearance 
 of an ultimatum, and by no false reasoning can it be construed into an usurp 
 ation of power on my part. I have my opinions on the questions involved, 
 and will stand by the memorandum ; but this forms no part of a military re 
 port. Immediately on my return to Raleigh I dispatched one of my Staff, 
 Major Hitchcock, to Washington, enjoining him to be most prudent and care 
 ful to avoid the spies and informers that would be sure to infest him by the 
 way, and to say nothing to any body until the President could make known 
 to me his wishes and policy in the matter. 
 
 The news of President Lincoln s assassination on the 14th of April (wrongly 
 reported to me by telegraph as having occurred on the llth) reached me on 
 the 17th, and was announced to my command on the same day in Special 
 Field Orders, No. 56. I was duly impressed with its horrible atrocity and 
 probable effect upon the country ; but when the property and interests of 
 millions still living were involved, I saw no good reason to change my course, 
 but thought rather to manifest real respect for his memory by following after 
 his death that policy which, if living, I feel certain he would have approved, 
 or, at least, not rejected with disdain. Up to that hour I had never received 
 one word of instruction, advice, or counsel as to the "plan or policy" of the 
 Government, looking to a restoration of peace on the part of the rebel States 
 of the South. Whenever asked for an opinion on the points involved, I had 
 always evaded the subject. My letter to the Mayor of Atlanta has been pub 
 lished to the world, and I was not rebuked by the War Department for it. 
 
 My letter to Mr. N. W. , at Savannah, was shown by me to Mr. 
 
 Stanton before its publication, and all that my memory retains of his answer 
 is that he said, like my letters generally, it was sufficiently " emphatic, and 
 could not be misunderstood." 
 
 But these letters asserted my belief that, according to Mr. Lincoln s proc 
 lamations and messages, when the people of the South had laid down their 
 arms and submitted to the lawful power of the United States, ipso facto the 
 war was over as to them ; and, farthermore, that if any State in rebellion would 
 conform to the Constitution of the United States, " cease war," elect Senators 
 and Representatives to Congress, if admitted (of which each House of Con 
 gress alone is the judge) that State became instanter as much in the Union 
 as New York or Ohio. Nor was I rebuked for this expression, though it was 
 universally known and commented on at the time. And again, Mr. Stanton 
 in person, at Savannah, speaking of the terrific expenses of the war and diffi 
 culty of realizing the money necessary for the daily wants of Government, 
 impressed me most forcibly with the necessity of bringing the war to a close 
 as soon as possible for financial reasons. 
 
 On the evening of April 23d Major Hitchcock reported his return to 
 Morehead City with dispatches, of which fact General Johnston, at Hillsboro , 
 was notified, so as to be ready in the morning for an answer. At 6 o clock 
 A. M. on the 24th, Major Hitchcock arrived, accompanied by General Grant 
 and members of his Staff, who had not telegraphed the fact of his eoming 
 over our exposed roads for prudential reasons. 
 74 
 
696 JOHNSTON S SURRENDER. 
 
 I soon learned that the memorandum was disapproved, without reasons 
 assigned, and I was ordered to give the forty-eight hours notice, and resume 
 hostilities at the close of that time, governing myself by the substance of a 
 dispatch then inclosed, dated March 3d, 12 noon, at Washington, D. C., 
 from Secretary Stanton to General Grant, at City Point, but not accompanied 
 by any part of the voluminous matter so liberally lavished on the public in 
 the New York journals of the 24th of April. That was the first and only 
 time I ever saw the telegram, or had one word of instruction on the import 
 ant matter involved in it ; and it does seem strange to me that every bar-room 
 loafer in New York can read in the morning journals "official" matter that is 
 withheld from a General whose command extends from Kentucky to North 
 Carolina. 
 
 Within an hour a courier was riding from Durham s Station toward Hills- 
 boro with notice to General Johnston of the suspension of the truce, and 
 renewing my demand for the surrender of the armies under his immediate 
 command (see two letters, April 24th, 6 A. M.,) and at 12 noon I had the 
 receipt of his picket officer. I therefore published my Orders, No. 62, to 
 the troops, terminating the truce at 12 M. on the 26th, and ordered all to be 
 in readiness to march at that hour on the routes prescribed in Special Field 
 Order, No. 55, April 14th, from the positions held April 18th. 
 
 General Grant had orders from the President, through the Secretary of 
 War, to direct military movements, and I explained to him the exact posi 
 tion of the troops, and he approved of it most emphatically; but he did not 
 relieve me, or express a wish to assume command. All things were in 
 readiness, when, on the evening of the 25th, I received another letter from 
 General Johnston, asking another interview to renew negotiations. 
 
 General Grant not only approved, but urged me to accept, and I appointed 
 a meeting at our former place at noon of the 26th, the very hour fixed for 
 the renewal of hostilities. General Johnston was delayed by an accident to 
 his train, but at 2 p. M. arrived. We then consulted, concluded, and signed 
 the final terms of capitulation. 
 
 These were taken by me back to Raleigh, submitted to General Grant, and 
 met his immediate approval and signature. General Johnston was not even 
 aware of the presence of General Grant at Raleigh at the time. 
 
 Thus was surrendered to us the second great army of the so-called Con 
 federacy ; and though undue importance has been given to the so-called 
 negotiations which preceded it, and a rebuke and public disfavor cast on me 
 wholly unwarranted by the facts, I rejoice in saying it was accomplished 
 without farther ruin and devastation to the country, without the loss of a 
 single life to those gallant men who had followed me from the Mississippi to 
 the Atlantic, and without subjecting brave men to the ungracious task of 
 pursuing a fleeing foe that did not want to fight, As for myself, I know my 
 motives, and challenge the instance during the past four years where an 
 armed and defiant foe stood before me that I did not go in for a fight, and I 
 would blush for shame if I had ever insulted or struck a fallen foe. The in 
 stant the terms of surrender were approved by General Grant, I made my 
 Orders, No. 65, assigning to each of my subordinate commanders his share 
 of the work, and, with General Grant s approval, made Special Field Orders, 
 No. 66, putting in motion my old army, (no longer required in Carolina) 
 northward for Richmond. General Grant left Raleigh at 9 A. M. of the 27th, 
 and I glory in the fact that during his three-days stay with me, I did not 
 detect in his language or manner one particle of abatement in the confidence, 
 
OCCUPATION OF AUGUSTA. 69 
 
 
 respect, and affection that have existed between us throughout all the varied 
 events of the past war ; and, though we have honestly differed in opinion in 
 other cases as well as this, still we respected each other s honest convictions. 
 
 I still adhere to my then opinions, that by a few general concessions, 
 " glittering generalities," all of which in the end must and will be conceded 
 to the organized States of the South, that this day there would not be an 
 armed battalion opposed to us within the broad area of the dominions of the 
 United States. Robbers and assassins must, in any event, result from the 
 disbandmcnt of large armies, but even these should be and could be taken 
 care of by the local civil authorities without being made a charge on the 
 national treasury. 
 
 On the evening of the 28th, having concluded all business requiring my 
 personal attention at Raleigh, and having conferred with every army com 
 mander and delegated to him the authority necessary for his future action, I 
 dispatched my head-quarter wagons by land along with the Seventeenth 
 Corps, the office in charge of General Webster from Newbern, to Alexandria, 
 Va., by sea, and in person, accompanied only by my personal staff, hastened 
 to Savannah to direct matters in the interior of South Carolina and Georgia. 
 I had received across the rebel telegraph wires cipher dispatches from Gen 
 eral Wilson at Macon to the effect that he was in receipt of my orders, No. 
 65, and would send General Upton s division to Augusta, and General Mc- 
 Cook s division to Tallahassee, to receive the surrender of those garrisons, 
 take charge of the public property, and execute the paroles required by the 
 terms of surrender. He reported a sufficiency of forage for his horses in 
 Southwest Georgia, but asked me to send him a supply of clothing, sugar, 
 coffee, etc., by way of Augusta, Ga., whence he could get it by rail. I 
 therefore went rapidly to Goldsboro and Wilmington, reaching the latter city 
 at 10 A. M. of the 29th, and the same day embarked for Hilton Head in the 
 blockade runner " Russia," Captain A. M. Smith. I found General Q. A. 
 Gillmore, commanding Department of the South, at Hilton Head, on the 
 evening of April 30th, and ordered him to send to Augusta at once what 
 clothing and small stores he could spare for General W T ilson, and to open up 
 a line af certain communication and supply with him at Macon. Within an 
 hour the captured steamboats " Jeff. Davis" and " Amazon," both adapted 
 to the shallow and crooked navigation of the Savannah River, were being 
 loaded, the one at Savannah and the other at Hilton Head. The former 
 started up the river on the 1st of May, in charge of a very intelligent officer 
 (whose name I can not recall) and forty-eight men, all the boat could carry, 
 with orders to occupy temporarily the United States Arsenal at Augusta and 
 open up communication with General Wilson at Macon, in the event that 
 General McCook s division of cavalry was not already there. The "Ama 
 zon" followed next day, and General Gillmore had made the necessary orders 
 for a brigade of infantry, to be commanded by General Molyneux, to follow 
 by a land march to Augusta as its permanent garrison. Another brigade of 
 infantry was ordered to occupy Orangeburg, S. C., the point farthest in the 
 interior that can at present be reached by rail from the sea-coast (Charleston.) 
 
 On the 1st of May I went on to Savannah, where General Gillmore also 
 joined me, and the arrangements ordered for the occupation of Augusta were 
 consummated. 
 
 At Savannah I found the city in the most admirable police, under direc 
 tion of Brevet Major General Grover, and the citizens manifested the most 
 unqualified joy to hear that, so far as they were concerned, the war was 
 
698 SHERMAN ON STANTON. 
 
 over. All classes, Union men as well as former rebels, did not conceal, how 
 ever, the apprehensions naturally arising from a total ignorance of the polit 
 ical conditions to be attached to their future state. Any thing at all would 
 be preferable to this dread uncertainty. 
 
 On the evening of the 2d of May, I returned to Hilton Head, and there, 
 for the first time, received the New York papers of April 28th, containing 
 Secretary Stanton s dispatch of 9 A. M. of the 27th of April to General Dix, 
 including General Halleck s, from Richmond, of 9 p. M. of the night before, 
 which seems to have been rushed with extreme haste before an excited pub 
 lic, namely, morning of the 28th. You will observe from the dates that 
 these dispatches were running back and forth from Richmond and Washing 
 ton to New York, and there published, while General Grant and I were to 
 gether in Raleigh, N, C., adjusting, to the best of our ability, the terms of 
 surrender of the only remaining formidable rebel army in existence at the 
 time east of the Mississippi River. Not one word of intimation had been 
 sent to me of the displeasure of the Government with my official conduct, 
 but only the naked disapproval of a skeleton memorandum sent properly for 
 the action of the President of the United States. 
 
 The most objectionable features of my memorandum had already (April 
 24th) been published to the world in violation of official usage, and the con 
 tents of my accompanying letters to General Halleck, General Grant, and 
 Mr. Stanton, of even date, though at hand, were suppressed. 
 
 In all these letters I had stated clearly and distinctly that Johnston s army 
 would not fight, but, if pushed, would " disband" and " scatter" into small 
 and dangerous guerrilla parties, as injurious to the interests of the United 
 States as to the rebels themselves; that all parties admitted that the rebel 
 cause of the South was abandoned, that the negro was free, and that the 
 temper of all was most favorable to a lasting peace. I say all these 
 opinions of mine were withheld from the public with a seeming purpose ; 
 and I do contend that my official experience and former services, as well as 
 my past life and familiarity with the people and geography of the South, 
 entitled my opinions to at least a decent respect. 
 
 Although this dispatch (Mr. Stanton s of April 27th) was printed "offi 
 cial," it had come to me only in the questionable newspaper paragraph 
 headed " Sherman s Truce Disregarded." 
 
 I had already done what General Wilson wanted me to do, namely, had 
 sent him supplies of clothing and food, with clear and distinct orders and in 
 structions how to carry out in Western Georgia the terms for the surrender 
 of arms and paroling of prisoners made by General Johnston s capitulation 
 of April 26th, and had properly and most opportunely ordered General Gill- 
 more to occupy Orangeburg and Augusta, strategic points of great value at 
 all times, in peace or war; but, as the Secretary had taken upon himself to 
 order my subordinate Generals to disobey my " orders," I explained to Gen 
 eral Gillmore that I would no longer confuse him or General Wilson with 
 " orders" that might conflict with those of the Secretary, which, as reported, 
 were sent, not through me, but in open disregard of me and of my lawful 
 authority. 
 
 It now becomes my duty to paint in justly severe character the still more 
 offensive and dangerous matter of General Halleck s dispatch of April 26th 
 to the Secretary of War, embodied in his to General Dix of April 27th. 
 
 General Halleck had been Chief of Staff of the army at Washington, in 
 which capacity he must have received my official letter of April 18th, wherein 
 
SHERMAN ON HALLECK. CT99 
 
 I wrote clearly that if Johnston s army about Greensboro were " pushed" it 
 would " disperse," an event I wished to prevent. About that time he seems 
 to have been sent from Washington to Richmond to command the new Mil 
 itary Division of the James, in assuming charge of which, on the 22d, he 
 defines the limits of his authority to be the " Department of Virginia, the 
 Army of the Potomac, and such part of North Carelina as may not be occu 
 pied by the command of Major General Sherman. 11 (See his General Orders, 
 No. 1.) Four days later, April 26th, he reports to the Secretary that he 
 has ordered Generals Meade, Sheridan, and Wright to invade that part of 
 North Carolina which was occupied by my command, and pay " no regard 
 to any truce or orders of" mine. They were ordered to "push forward, re 
 gardless of any orders save those of Lieutenant General Grant, and cut off 
 Johnston s retreat." He knew at the time he penned that dispatch and 
 made those orders, that Johnston was not retreating, but was halted under a 
 forty-eight hours truce with me, and was laboring to surrender his command 
 and prevent its dispersion into guerrilla bands, and that I had on the spot a 
 magnificent army at my command, amply sufficient for all purposes required 
 by the occasion. 
 
 The plan for cutting off a retreat from the direction of Bnrkesville and 
 Danville is hardly worthy one of his military education and genius. When 
 he contemplated an act so questionable as the violation of a ** truce" made 
 by competent authority within his sphere of command, he should have gone 
 himself and not have sent subordinates, for he knew I was bound in honor 
 to defend and maintain my own truce and pledge of faith, even at the cost of 
 many lives. 
 
 W T hen an officer pledges the faith of his Government, he is bound to de 
 fend it, and he is no soldier who would violate it knowingly. 
 
 As to Davis and his stolen treasure, did General Halleck, as Chief of Staff 
 or commanding officer of the neighboring military division, notify me of the 
 facts contained in his dispatch to the Secretary ? No, he did not. If the 
 Secretary of War wanted Davis caught, why not order it, instead of, by pub 
 lishing in the newspapers, putting him on his guard to hide away and escape ? 
 No orders or instructions to catch Davis or his stolen treasure ever came to 
 me ; but, on the contrary, I was led to believe that the Secretary of War 
 rather preferred he should effect an escape from the country, if made " un 
 known" to him. But even on this point I inclose a copy of my letter to 
 Admiral Dahlgren, at Charleston, sent him by a fleet steamer from Wilming 
 ton on the 26th of April, two days before the bankers of Richmond had im 
 parted to General Halleck the important secret as to Davis s movement, de 
 signed doubtless to stimulate his troops to march their legs off to catch their 
 treasure for their own use. 
 
 I know now that Admiral Dahlgren did receive my letter on the 26th, and 
 had acted on it before General Halleck had even thought of the matter ; but I 
 do not believe a word of the treasure story it is absurd on its face and Gen 
 eral Halleck or any body has my full permission to chase Jeff. Davis and 
 Cabinet with their stolen treasure through any part of the country occupied 
 by my command. 
 
 The last and most obnoxious feature of General Halleck s dispatch is 
 wherein he goes out of his way and advises that my subordinates, Generals 
 Thomas, Stoneman, and Wilson, should be instructed not to obey " Sher 
 man s" commands. 
 
 This is too much ; and I turn from the subject with feelings too strong for 
 
700 HALLECK S ORDER COUNTERMANDED. 
 
 words, and merely record my belief that so much mischief was never before 
 embraced in so small a space as in the newspaper paragraph headed " Sher 
 man s Truce Disregarded," authenticated as " official" by Mr. Secretary 
 Stanton, and published in the New York papers of April 28th. 
 
 During the night of May 2d, at Hilton Head, having concluded my busi 
 ness in the Department of the South, I began my return to meet my troops 
 then marching toward Richmond from Raleigh. On the morning of the 3d 
 we ran into Charleston Harbor, where I had the pleasure to meet Admiral 
 Dahlgren, who had, in all my previous operations from Savannah northward, 
 aided me with a courtesy and manliness that commanded my entire respect 
 and deep affection ; also General Hatch, who, from our first interview at his 
 Tullifinney camp, had caught the spirit of the move from Pocotaligo north 
 ward, and had largely contributed to our joint success in taking Charleston 
 and the Carolina coast. Any one who is not satisfied with war should go 
 and see Charleston, and he will pray louder and deeper than ever that the 
 country may in the long future be spared any more war. Charleston and 
 secession being synonymous terms, the city should be left as a sample, so 
 that centuries may pass away before that false doctrine is again preached in 
 our Union. 
 
 We left Charleston on the evening of the 3d of May, and hastened with 
 all possible speed back to Morehead City, which we reached at night of the 
 4th. I immediately communicated by telegraph with General Schoficld at 
 Raleigh, and learned from him the pleasing fact that the Lieutenant General 
 commanding the armies of the United States had reached the Chesapeake in 
 time to countermand General Halleck s orders, and prevent his violating my 
 truce, invading the area of my command, and driving Johnston s surrender 
 ing army into fragments. General Johnston had fulfilled his agreement to 
 the very best of his ability ; and the officers charged with issuing the paroles 
 at Greensboro 7 reported about thirty thousand already made, and that the 
 greater part of the North Carolina troops had gone home without waiting for 
 their papers, but that all of them would doubtless come into some one of the 
 military posts, the commanders of which are authorized to grant them. 
 About eight hundred of the rebel cavalry had gone South, refusing to abide 
 the terms of the surrender, and it was supposed they would make for Mexico. 
 I would sincerely advise that they be encouraged to go and stay ; they would 
 be a nuisance to any civilized Government, whether loose or in prison. 
 
 With the exception of some plundering on the part of Lee s and John 
 ston s disbanded men, all else in North Carolina was " quiet." When to the 
 number of men surrendered at Greensboro are added those at Tallahassee, Au 
 gusta, and Macon, with the scattered squads who will come in at other military 
 posts, I have no doubt fifty thousand armed men will be disarmed and restored 
 to civil pursuits by the capitulation made near Durham s Station, N. C., on 
 the 2Gth of April, and that, too, without the loss of a single life to us. 
 
 On the 5th of May I received and here subjoin a farther dispatch from 
 General Schofield, which contains inquiries I have been unable to satisfy, 
 similar to those made by nearly every officer in my command whose duty 
 brings him in contact with citizens. I leave you to do what you think expe 
 dient to provide the military remedy. 
 
 BT TELEGRAPH FROM RALEIGH, N. C., May 5, 18G5. 
 To Major General W. T. SHERMAN, Morehead City : 
 - "When General Grant was here, as you doubtless recollect, he said the lines had been 
 
CLOSE OF THE CAMPAIGN. 701 
 
 extended to embrace this and other states south. The order, it seems, has been modified 
 so as to include only Virginia and Tennessee. I think it would be an act of wisdom to 
 open this State to trade at once. I hope the Government will make known its policy as 
 the organ of State Governments without delay. Affairs must necessarily be in a very 
 unsettled state until that is done; the people are now in a mood to accept almost any 
 thing which promises a definite settlement. 
 
 What is to be dons with the freedmen, is the question of all, and is the all-important 
 question. It requires prompt and wise action to prevent the negro from becoming a huge 
 elephant on our hands. If I am to govern this State, it is important for me to know it at 
 once. If another is to be sent here, it can not be done too soon; for he will probably 
 undo the most that I shall have done. I shall be glad to hear from you freely when you 
 have time to write. I will send your message to Wilson at once. 
 
 J. M. SCHOFIELD, Major General." 
 
 I give this dispatch entire, to demonstrate how intermingled have become 
 civil matters with the military, and how almost impossible it has become for 
 an officer in authority to act a pure military part. 
 
 There are no longer armed enemies in North Carolina, and a soldier can 
 deal with no other sort. The marshals and sheriffs with their posses (of which 
 the military may become a part) are the only proper officers to deal with 
 civil criminals and marauders. But I will not be drawn out in a discussion 
 of this subject, but instance the case to show how difficult is the task become 
 to military officers, when men of the rank, education, experience, nerve, and 
 good sense of General Schofield feel embarrassed by them. 
 
 General Schofield, at Raleigh, has a well-appointed and well-disciplined 
 command, is in telegraphic communication with the controlling parts of his 
 department, and remote ones in the direction of Georgia, as well as with 
 Washington, and has military possession of all strategic points. 
 
 In like manner. General Gillmore is well situated in all respects, except as 
 to rapid communication with the seat of the General Government. I leave 
 him also with every man he ever asked for, and in full and quiet possession 
 of every strategic point in his department; and General Wilson has in the 
 very heart of Georgia the strongest, best appointed, and best equipped cav 
 alry corps that ever fell under my command; and he has now, by my recent 
 action, opened to him a source and route of supply by way of Savannah 
 River that simplifies his military problem, so that I think I may with a clear 
 conscience leave them and turn my attention once more to my special com 
 mand, the army with which I have been associated through some of the most 
 eventful scenes of this or any war. 
 
 I hope and believe none of these Commanders will ever have reason to 
 reproack me for any " orders" they may have received from me ; and the 
 President of the United States may be assured that all of them are in posi 
 tion, ready and willing to execute to the letter and in spirit any orders he 
 may give. I shall henceforth cease to give them any orders at all, for the 
 occasion that made them subordinate to me is past ; and I shall confine my 
 attention to the army composed of the Fifteenth and Seventeenth, and Four 
 teenth and Twentieth Corps, unless the commanding General of the armies 
 of the United States orders otherwise. 
 
 At four p. M. of May 9th I reached Manchester, on the James River, oppo 
 site Richmond, and found that all the four corps had arrived from Raleigh, 
 and were engaged in replenishing their wagons for the resumption of the 
 march toward Alexandria. I have the honor to be your obedient servant, 
 
 W. T. SHERMAN, Major General Commanding. 
 General JOHN A. RAWLINS, Chief of Staff, Washington, D. C. 
 
702 
 
 S FOR MEN WHO WERE 
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 OWING T 
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 ARMY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Aggregate number of men fur- ! si"Ss|:8 8S "*?S23SP -SSSSSS"- 
 
 nished under all calls, reduced to I 53 2 &53 5K5K 5 35 *a 2 - 2 - J l^ ^SJSlllP.SS 
 
 the 3 years .Undard. 8aigESgS^SK = 32tf jt28JggS . .^ - - 
 
 number of men fur 
 ished under all calls ..... 
 
 mtKfinnn^ii 
 
 ??JKSP;| ?asf j 
 
 
 
 I jra - ."53* . :: - ............... 
 
 I *&*" ^i-o n w "" S S 1 S5- 5 i : : : : 
 
 11 
 
 if 
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 iff 
 
 s.S$s^sg3gg : ; 
 
 10 - SS^-*- { 
 
 Militia for 100 days muitered in 
 etween April 23 and July 18, 
 861. . . , ...... . ! 
 
 Call March H, 1864, for 200,000 =-fV^ 
 or 3 years 
 
 Call Oct. 17,1863, (including men 
 aised by draft in 1863,) and Feb. 
 , 1864, for 500,000 men for3 years. 
 
 ; . . 
 
 Men furnished under Prnclama- 
 ion of June 15, 1863, for Militia 
 
 Call August 4, 1862, for 300,000 
 
 S?S 
 
 ss- 
 
 Call July 2, I8U, for 300,000 for j ||||||||||||^ 
 ears* **) r* 
 
 Men furnished in May and June, 
 
 862, by special authority for 3 
 
 ntfis 
 
 21 s 
 
 cia : : s - 
 
 t-ai rr^aj.a.os, t^ . 
 
 ,5 .9) 
 -- ~2 
 
 Men furnished under Act of | 
 pril 15, 1861, for 15,000 militia I 
 ir 3 months. 
 
 zllBS:? 
 
 
 s? . . 
 
 
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