THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES GENERAL U. S. GRANT: EARLY LITE MILITARY CAREER. ACCOUNT OF HIS PRESIDENTIAL ADMINISTRATION AND TOUR AROUND THE WORLD. BY J. K. LAKKE AND PKOF. J. HAKEIS PATTON, AUTHOR OF "PATTON'B CONCISE HISTORIES ov THE AMERICAN PEOPLE," "UNITED STATES," ETC. NEW YORK: THOMAS KELLY, PUBLISHES, 358 AKD 360 BECOME STREET. 1885. COPTBIGHT, 1885, THOUAS KmiY. q v PREFACE. IT is fitting that the American people should know more of General Grant than is usually found in the ordinary histories of the times ; of his early days ; of his training and characteristics, as he is another example of the man- ner in which our men who have made their mark have risen to eminence from the ranks of the upright and well-to-do classes among the people. The aim, there- fore, of the present volume is to give a sketch of his boy- hood, including the preparation for the work in life that fell to his lot, by means of his education and training at West Point ; his services in the Mexican War, and, afterward, his experience as a subordinate officer on duty in Oregon and California. Then we see him resigning from the army and entering upon the life of a farmer e< he was honest, truthful, indefatigable, always at work, but he did not possess the knack of making money/' says one who knew him well. This narrative is designed to treat fully of the per- formance of the duties that devolved upon him in con- ducting to a successful issue the Civil War, and also of his influence in the reconstruction of the Union. Then follows an account of his administrations as President ; his retirement from, that office and of his tour round the globe, so remarkable in many respects. Under these different phases of life, the reader will 550556 IV PEEFACE. not fail to notice the symmetry of mental characteristics that Ulysses S. Grant uniformly exhibited, even in boy- hood, and still more in crises occurring in his manhood ; never appearing to act from impulse, but when difficul- ties suddenly presented themselves, he seemed as if by intuition to have anticipated them, and met them promptly. The American people are justly proud of that feature of their institutions which opens the way to all their children by means of education combined with well-di- rected industry to secure success in life ; thus are supplied the conditions, and the youth, each one for himself, is encouraged to enter upon some field of labor and of use- fulness. This mode of training citizens has attracted the attention of thinking minds abroad. When speak- ing of the character of President Garfield, the late Dr. Tait, Archbishop of Canterbury, said : " All this was cal- culated to enlist our sympathy, and then we were taught to trace a career, such as England knows nothing of, and to wonder at the mode in which great men are formed in a country so like and yet so dissimilar from our own. All this I must say to most of us was quite new. It opened up a picture of manhood, such as in this country we were little acquainted with.'* LIST OF CONTENTS. MM iNTBODUCTION 3 CHAPTER I. GRANT'S EARLY DATS. Birth and birth-place Name, and how he obtained it Where he was educated "What is the meaning of Can't?" The horse trade Anecdotes and incidents of his early life 13 CHAPTER II. AT WEST POINT. When admitted and by whose influence Advancing through the classes What he learned each year His graduation His class- mates Pertinacity of character " Company Grant" 20 CHAPTER III. ENTERS THE ARMY. Mexican War Brevet Second-Lieutenant of Infantry Employed on the Missouri frontier Ordered to Texas Fully commissioned Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma Rio Grande Monterey Vera Cruz Molino del Rey Chapultepec Brevets-First-Lieu- ' tenant Mentioned in official reports Regimental companions. . . 30 CHAPTER IV. SUBSEQUENT SERVICES AND RESIGNATION. Civil life Oregon Captain Resigns the United States Service Farmer and cord-wood dealer Engages in the leather trade Knows more of tanning leather than of politics Value of good leather 41 CHAPTER V. THE REBELLION. GRANT VOLUNTEERS AND BECOMES A BRIGADIER-GENERAL. Staff and mustering officer in Illinois Energy Colonel of the 21st Illinois Volunteers Services in Missouri Brigadier-General of Volunteers Comparative table of Generals appointed on the same day, and how employed on January 1, 1864 45 CHAPTER VI. POST AND DISTRICT COMMANDER. BELMONT. Commander at Cairo Forces increased Value of Cairo Occupa- tion of Paducah and Smithland, Kentucky Proclamation Un- pretending style of dress Constantly smoking Correspondence with General Polk Victory at Fredericktown Belmont Bra- very of his troops Letter to his father His appreciation of hig ommand Care for the wounded. . 49 6 CONTENTS. PAH CHAPTER VII. DISTRICT or CAIRO. GRAND RECONNOISSANCE. District extended Assumes command Composition of staff Forces further increased Issues an order against picket-shoot- ing Spies to be looked after Reconnoissance in force into West- ern Kentucky Manning the gunboats 59 CHAPTER VIII. FORTS HENRY AND DONELSON. VALUE OP THE FEINT. His command brigaded The start Advance upon and occupation of Fort Henry Treatment of prisoners Commander of three divisions Movement upon Fort Donelson Investment and bat- tles Rebel sorties Correspondence with General Buckner An " uncoaditional surrender" demanded "I propose to move immediately upon your works" Victory " The Union flag floats over Fort Donelson" Value of the victory Major-General of Volunteers General Halleck's announcement of the success A spirited incident 66 CHAPTER IX. DISTRICT OP "WEST TENNESSEE. A new district formed General Grant in command Congratula- tory order for recent victories Clarksville taken Martial law in Tennessee Marauding and plunder prohibited Advance up the Tennessee River Sword presentation Expeditionary move- ments The rebel commanders opposed to Grant The Missis- sippi blockade 79 CHAPTER X. PITTSBURG LANDING OR SIIILOH. Positions of the belligerent forces General A. S. Johnston's ad- dress to his command The commanding officers of both armies Preliminary skirmishing Rebel plans " The first day's strug- gle" Bravery of General Grant Driven back but not defeated Re-enforcements "The second day's battle" The result, Vic- tory The news received in New York Excitement throughout the North Thanks of the "War Department Salute of one hun- dred guns General Grant wounded Correspondence with Gen- eral Beauregard Reconnoissance Evidences of a hasty retreat of the rebels General Halleck at Pittsburg Landing His thanks to General Grant 86 CHAPTER XI. MOVEMENT AND SIEGE OF CORINTH. Preliminary movements Three armies combined The "Grand Army of the Tennessee" How composed Outcry against Gen- eral Grant Mr. Washburne defends him in Congress General Halleck retains him, and appoints him second in command He superintends the movements hi the field Gradual evacuation of Corinth Approach of the parallels Advance of the whole army with General Grant at the head Occupation of Corinth In- teresting details Pursuit of the enemy 9T CONTENTS. T PAQB CHAPTER XII. THE DEPARTMENT OP WEST TENNESSEE. MEMPHIS. His command further increased Difficulty with regard to Memphis Stringent orders Guerilla warfare Aiding the rebels Gen- eral Grant strikes at the root of the evil The negroes put to useful employment The Act of Congress obeyed Confiscation not wholesale plunder Skulkers to be drafted Quiet restored. Ill CHAPTER XIII. IUKA CORINTH AND THE HATCHIE. Approach of the rebels Battle of luka His combinations The result Change of head-quarters and why Rebel advance upon Corinth Disposition of his forces Attack upon Corinth The p epulse The rebels brought between two fires Grant's strategy Victory The President's congratulations 120 CHAPTER XIV. DEPARTMENT OP THE TENNESSEE. DISCIPLINE. TRADB The new command Reorganization of the forces The army to move light Cavalry expeditions Head-quarters removed to La Grange, Tennessee Discipline Marauding to be severely pun- ished, and how Departmental staff Contraband camp estab- lished A regiment assessed to pay for plundering Trade regu- lations Punishment for violation of the same Why General Grant would not appoint traders 132 CHAPTER XV. ADVANCE INTO MISSISSIPPI. A RETROSPECT. The previous efforts to take Vicksburg and their failures 146 CHAPTER XVI. GRANT'S FIRST MOVEMENTS TOWARDS VICKSBURG. The expedition by way of Delta, Mississippi Its success Ad- vance to and occupation of Holly Springs Arrival at Oxford, moving towards Jackson, Mississippi Surrender of Holly Springs The result The guilty party Brave defence of other posts Investigation punishment and reward 151 CHAPTER XVII. COMMANDER OP FOUR ARMY CORPS. SHERMAN'S EXPEDITION. Constitution of the 13th, 15th, 16th and 17th Army Corps Start of General Sherman's expedition Stringent order Landing of the forces 157 CHAPTER XVIII. SHERMAN'S ATTACK UPON VICKSBUBO. ARKANSAS POST. Advance of the right wing of the Army of tho Tennessee The assault upon the works Their strength The charge upon the heights Change in the command The capture of Arkansas Post 16 CHAPTER XIX. DISCIPLINE. GUERILLAS. Disaffection of the 109th Illinois Volunteers Court of Inquiry Disgraceful dismissal of disloyal officers Cavalry operations General Grant's order concerning negro trooos 110 I CONTENTS. PAOl CHAPTER XX. CHANGE OF BASE. WILLIAMS'S CANAL. Head-quarters established at Young's Point The rebel position Reopening of the Williams Canal Important order Recon- noitring expeditions 174 CHAPTER XXT. THE QUEEN OF THE WEST AND INDIANOLA Running the batteries Colonel Ellet's operations loss of the two vessels 178 CHAPTER XXII THE LAKE PROVIDENCE CANAL. 182 CHAPTER XXIII. THE TAZOO PASS EXPEDITION. Dangers of the trip Blockade of the Tallahatchie Diversion of the rebel forces 184 CHAPTER XXIV. THE STEELE'S BAYOU EXPEDITION. Personal reconnoissance Dangerous position of the expeditionary vessels Opportune arrival of General Sherman's troops 190 CHAPTER XXV. THE HEALTH OF THE ARMY. Surgeon-General Hammond's inquiries General Grant's replies "No army in better condition" 198 CHAPTER XXVI. OVERLAND MOVEMENTS. RUNNING THE BATTERIES. Admiral Farragut's arrival at Vicksburg via Port Hudson Two rams run by the Vicksburg batteries The march to New Car- thage and Perkins's Plantation Porter's fleet passes Vicksburg Passage of the transports 201 CHAPTER XXVII. GRIERSOX'S EXPEDITION. Dash of the cavalry Feints The Southern Railroad destroyed Immense destruction of rebel government property Arrival at Baton Rouge General Grant's report 204 CHAPTER XXVIII. OTHER PRELIMINARY MOVEMENTS. ATTACK UPON GRAND GULF. Affair at Nanconnah General Banks's movements from Baton Rouge The army at Hard Times Naval attack upon Grand Gulf Running the batteries 210 CHAPTER XXIX. THE LANDING AT BRUINSBURG AND ADVANCE. Marching light The bivouac Rapid movements The march. ... 212 CHAPTER XXX. THE BATTLE OF THOMPSON'S HILL OR PORT GIBSON. THE EVACUATION OP GRAND GULF. Skinnishing The fight General Grant on the field The enemy driver. The pursuit General Grant occupies Grand Gulf His entire disregard of danger 21* CONTElfTS. 9 PAOH CHAPTER XXXI. OUTSIDE OPERATIONS. Corwyn's cavalry expedition Sherman's feint on the Tazoo General Banks to co-operate 223 CHAPTER XXXII. THE ADVANCE TOWARDS JACKSON. BATTLE OF RAYMOND. Hawkinson's Ferry. Feint towards "Warrenton Alarm in Jack- son Governor Pettus's proclamation Order of advance The march " I shall communicate with Grand Gulf no more" Battle near and occupation of Raymond 227 CHAPTER XXIII. THE CAPTURE AND OCCUPATION OF JACKSON. Clinton occupied Movement upon the city by two routes The contest outside the city At Jackson Destruction of rebel government property Interesting details ., 236 CHAPTER XXXIV. THE ADVANCE RENEWED. CHAMPION'S HILL. Important information gained Prompt advance Concentric move- ments Battle of Champion's Hill General Grant on the field Rebel official acknowledgments of defeat 243 CHAPTER XXXV. BATTLE OP BIG BLACK RIVER. General Sherman's flank movement General Grant personally looks after the pontoon train The contest on the banks of the Big Black The rebels' admirable position 248 CHAPTER XXXVI. APPROACHING VICKSBURG. INVESTMENT. FIRST ASSAULT. Communication opened with the Yazoo River The advance upon the rebel strong-hold The first assault Admiral Porter's co- operation The United Service 252 CHAPTER XXXVIL THE SECOND ASSAULT UPON VICKSBURG. Why this assault was made A decisive order The signal The advance Determination of the troops Heavy rebel fire The charge The repulse Interesting details Admiral Porter's re- port General McClernand's objectionable order General Grant's decisive action His army first, his friend afterwards The rebel General Pemberton's determination to hold Vicksburg. . . . 260 CHAPTER XXXVIII. THE SIEGE OP VICKSBURG. The rebel works nearly invested A leak discovered Valuable information gained Threatened in the rear Preparations to resist the threat General Blair's expedition The sappers and miners at work Reenforcements General Sherman's expedi- tion The rebels' " faith in the Lord and Joe Johnston" The latter taken care of 275 1* 10 CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXXIX. THE EXPLOSION OF THE MINE. The mine How worked The powder deposited Details of the firing and explosion The scene The dash at the breach An- other decisive order 281 CHAPTER XL. THE SURRENDER OP VICKSBURG. The city spared, and why The approaching parallels The rebels desire a capitulation The meeting of the commanding Generals The terms "Unconditional Surrender" Suspension of hostili-' ties Magnanimous conduct to the besieged The garrison al- lowed to march out with the honors of war 290 CHAPTER XLI. OCCUPATION OP VICKSBURG. THE LOSSES. The entrance of the Union Army into Vicksburg Condition of the city The rebel losses Comparative statement of casualties General Halleck's report of the campaign His opinion of Gen- eral Grant The President's autograph letter of thanks. His joke upon Grant's whiskey Port Hudson Its fall necessitated by the capitulation of Vicksburg 302 CHAPTER XLIL THE PURSUIT OP JOHNSTON. SECOND CAPTURE OF THE CITY OF JACKSON. General Sherman's preparations The pursuit commenced Joe Johnston's appealJackson invested on three sides Details of the advance Evacuation of the city by the rebels and occupa- tion by the Union troops 317 CHAPTER XLIII. AT VICKSBURG, BUT NOT IDLE. The Tazoo City expedition The Red River and Natchez expedi- tion The Mississippi Valley campaign ended 326 CHAPTER XLIV. His SUCCESS MADE SURE. His DEPARTMENT SB- CURED. CARE FOR THE SOLDIERS. Mrs. General Grant Sword presentation Major-General of the Regular Army Furloughs for the troops The contrabands Trade Letter to Secretary Chase An overcharging steam- boatman made to disgorge Guerillas to be severely dealt Avitli Negro camps 331 CHAPTER XLV. VISIT TO MEMPHIS AND NEW ORLEANS. The dinner at Memphis The toasts " De Soto, Fulton. Grant" He visits other districts Arrival at New Orleans Review at Carrolton Thrown from his horse and seriously injured The result 341 CHAPTER XLVI. AN ENLARGED COMMAND. MILITARY DIVISION OP THE MISSISSIPPI. General Grant looks after the pay of his soldiers Jurisdiction of the district of Vicksburg Badge of honor for the troops Concentra- COOTEHTS. 11 PAO tion at Chattanooga The rebels resisting the advance of re-en- forcements Meeting between General Grant and Secretary Stan- ton Arrival at Louisville Assumes command His immense re- sponsibility Position of affairs 349 CHAPTER XL VII. ACTIVE MOVEMENTS. LOOKOUT VALLEY. Sad condition of the troops at Chattanooga General Grant effects a change Lookout Valley occupied Communications re-opened Rebel chagrin Incidents 360 CHAPTER XLVIII. LONQSTREET'S ADVANCE UPON KNOXVILLE. General Grant's quiet demeanor Deals with raiding parties through their friends Arrival of Sherman's forces at Chatta- nooga Longstreet's flank movement The rebels allowed to advance, and why General Grant's plans 371 CHAPTER XLIX. THE BATTLES BEFOBE CHATTANOOGA. FIRST DAT. General Wood's reconnoissance An advance The rebels think it a review until too late Orchard Knob taken Gallantry of the troops 376 CHAPTER L. THE SECOND DAT. LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN. General Hooker's movements on the right A new specimen of tactics. The mountain taken General Grant's modest dispatch.. 330 CHAPTER LI. THIRD DAT. TUNNEL HILL. MISSION RIDGE. Sherman's terrific assaults Details of the contest Value of the struggle Granger's grand attack hi the centre The advance through the valley of death The heights gained The rebels hi full retreat Granger's complimeutarv order Incidents 390 CHAPTER LIT. RETROSPECT OF THE THREE DAYS' BATTLES. General Meigs's semi-official dispatch The victory General Grant's bravery " Another victory added to the chapter of ' Uncondi- tional surrender Grant.' " 409 CHAPTER LIII. THE PURSUIT. FIGHT AT RINGGOLD. The rebels closely followed up The affair at Chickamauga Depot Immense destruction of rebel stores The contest at Ring- gold Occupation of the Gaps Rebels retreat to Dalton Gen- eral Bragg' s dispatch 413 CHAPTER LIV. KNOXVILLE RELIEVED. General Grant's splendid strategy developed He first defeats Bragg and then turns upon Longstreet President Lincoln's proclamation of thanNSgiving for victory His dispatch of thanks to General Grant General Halleck's report of the campaign Rebel fears of Grant's movements Congratulatory order to the troops What had been accomplished in a short time General Grant as he appeared during the campaign Incidents 420 1 2 CONTENTS. MM CHAPTER LV. HONORS TO GENERAL GRANT. THANKS OF CONGRIBS. GOLD MEDAL. The Hon. E. B. Washburne's resolutions Thanks of Congress A gold medal to be presented to General Grant " Public resolu- tion No. 1" The medal Honorary member of missionary soci- eties Nominated for President Thanks of State Legislatures Presentations 4BC CHAPTER LVI. LIEUTENANT-GENERAL. CONGRESSIONAL NOMINATIONS. The grade of Lieutenant-General to be revived General Grant nominated for the position Exciting debate in Congress Speeches of the Hon. Messrs. Farnsworth and Washburne The nomination approved by one hundred and seventeen votes 431 CHAPTER LVII. PREPARING FOR A NEW CAMPAIGN. General Grant submits a plan of action Resolution to raise one million of men to be placed under his command Forethought on behalf of repentant rebels Orders under the confiscation act The property of loyal persons Care for his troops 443 CHAPTER LVIII. PERSONALLY INSPECTS HIS GRAND DEPARTMENT. His departure from Chattanooga Arrival at Nashville Visit to Knoxville Dangerous and unpleasant trip to Louisville by way of Cumberland Gap Reception at Lexington Railroad com- munication opened with Chattanooga The rear of his lines per- fectly safe 449 CHAPTER LIX. AT ST. Louis. PUBLIC DINNER. His quiet and modest arrival in that city Invitations to a public dinner and reply The reception General Grant's speeches Honorary member of the Western Sanitary Commission. '. 455 CHAPTER LX. His PERSONAL APPEARANCE AND CHARACTER. In battle and at home Kindness of heart Abnegation of self Appreciation of others Modesty Ideas of Strategy 463 CHAPTER LXL GRANT'S LAST CAMPAIGN, AND CLOSE OF THE WAR. Ordered to the National Capital Reception at the Wtiite House His preparations for an immediate campaign Battles of the Wilderness and Cold Harbor His flank movement across the James Siege of Petersburg Capture of Fort Fisher and Wil- mingtonBattle of the Five Forks Assault on Lee's Army- Fall of Petersburg and Richmond Surrender of Generals Lee and Johnston Grant commissioned General 470 CHAPTER LXII. ELECTED PRESIDENT TWICE. The Nomination, Election, and Inauguration Important events of the Administration Pacific Railway Alabama Claims, etc 500 CONTENTS. 13 PAGE CHAPTER LXIII. TOUR AROUND THE WORLD. Departure for Europe Arrival at Liverpool Visits to Manchester, London, Scotland, Belfast 512 CHAPTER LXIV. TOUR AROUND THE WORLD. Visits to Switzerland, Paris, Italy Ascent of Mt. Vesuvius Pom- peii Malta Egypt The Holy Land Constantinople Athens . 528 CHAPTER LXV. TOUR AROUND THE WORLD. Rome Florence Venice Milan Holland Berlin Hamburg Copenhagen St. Petersburg Moscow South of France Red Sea India Siam China Japan Return Home 541 CHAPTER LXVI. HOME AGAIN. SICKNESS, DEATH, AND FUNERAL OBSEQUIES. Reception at San Francisco A Home Business Enterprises Failure of Grant & Ward Sickness Death Funeral Ceremonies. 559 GENERAL GRANT: HIS EAELY LIFE AND MILITARY CAREER. CHAPTER I. GRANT'S EAELY DAYS. IF, as has been said, "success is the test of merit," then indeed has the subject of this biography fairly earned the warmest encomiums, and the sincerest respect and admiration, not only of his fellow-countrymen, but of the entire world. Rising from humble life by rapid yet regular grades of promotion, to the most exalted position within the gift of the Republic, his personal history is one which, like that of the " Father of his Country," can never fail to attract the deepest interest of the people who now, and through all time to come, shall enjoy the rich fruits of his labors, his skill, and his patriotism. "Deeds, not words," seems to have been the motto of this grave, unassuming, and reticent man, who cheerfully accepts any responsibility which his superiors see fit to lay upon him, and gives to the work in hand all the best energies of his mind, and all the unwearied devotion of a patriot soldier. "Posterity delights in detail ; " and, both in the present and future time, throughout the length and breadth of the land which he has so largely contributed to save intact from the attacks 14 GENERAL GRANT. of treason, the slightest event connected with the life, character, and career of the eighteenth President of the United States, cannot fail to have an absorbing interest to readers of every class and every age. GEN. ULYSSES S. GRANT is descended from an ancient and worthy Connecticut family, the immigrant ancestor of which was Matthew Grant, who came over from England in 1630, in the ship "Mary and John," and with his fellow-passengers founded the town of Dorchester (now South Boston), Mass. In 1636 he was one of the com- pany who settled the town of Windsor, Connecticut, and was an active and prominent citizen, being a notable land surveyor, a faithful and remarkably conscientious town- clerk and an influential member of the Church. His great-grandson, Noah Grant, located at Tolland, Conn., and his son Noah removed to Coventry, about 1750, and was a Captain in the Crown Point Expedition of 1755, in which he and his brother Solomon were killed. His son, Noah, General Grant's grandfather, was a lieu- tenant of militia at the battle of Lexington, in 1776, and served in the Continental Army during the entire Revo- lutionary War. He removed from Coventry to Westmore- land County, Pennsylvania, about 1787, and there married, as his second wife, Rachel Kelley, in 1791. His son by this second marriage, Jesse Root Grant, the father of the hero, was born in Westmoreland County, in 1794, from whence, when he was five years of age, the family removed to what is now Columbiana County, Ohio ; and again, when he was ten years old, to Deerfield, Portage County, in the Western Reserve. His father dying the next year, 1805, the family became somewhat scattered ; and during the War of 1812 Jesse, with his mother and the younger children, removed to Maysville, Kentucky ; the northern part of Ohio being unsafe for women and children, HIS EAELY DAYS. 15 on account of the dangers from the British and their In- dian allies. In 1815, being then of age, he established himself at Eavenna, Ohio, in the tanning business, to which he had served a full apprenticeship. Driven from thence in 1820 by the prevalence of the fever and ague, he removed to Point Pleasant, Clermont County, Ohio, on the Ohio River, twenty-five miles above Cincinnati ; and there, in June of the same year, he married Hannah, daughter of John Simpson, who, some three years pre- vious, had removed thither from Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. Of good family, domestic in her habits, cheerful in disposition, and possessing great firmness and steadiness of character, as well as being a consistent member of the Methodist Church, she was well fitted to be the mother of children, and to influence their lives in the right and noblest direction. Hiram Ulysses, the eldest child of this worthy couple, both of whom were fortunately spared to witness and participate in his fame, was born on the 27th of April, 1822. Among the various anecdotes which, now that he is famous, have been brought to light concerning his earlier years, is this : That once, when he was but two years old, his father "took him in his arms and carried him through the village on some public occasion, and a young man wished to try the effect of the report of a pistol upon him. Mr. Grant consented, though, as he said, the child had never seen a gun or pistol in his life. The hand of the baby was accordingly put on the lock and pressed there quietly, until the pistol was discharged with a loud report. The little fellow exhibited no alarm, neither winking nor dodging, but presently pushed the pistol away, asking, in a childish way, that it be again fixed." From his father's statement, we learn that the boy's first and " ruling passion," almost from the time he could go 16 GENERAL GRANT. alone, was for horses. When only seven and a half years old, he took advantage of his father's absence from home for a day, to harness up a three-year-old colt, which, though accustomed to the saddle, had never before had a collar on ; and hitching him to a sled, spent the day in hauling brush. By the time he was eight and a half years old, he was a regular driver, hauling wood for his father, and at ten years of age was intrusted with the charge of a pair of horses, with which he drove forty miles, to Cincin- nati, and brought back a load of passengers alone. He was always " on hand " when a traveling show or circus came along, was always ready to ride the pony, when the "ring-master" offered the boys in the audience the chance ; and, in his father's words, " whatever he under- took to ride he rode" and nothing could shake him off. He early began to break horses himself, and developed a wonderful faculty for teaching them to pace, a knack which would have given him plenty of work from the neighbors, if he had not considered it rather degrading to do it for money, and refused to accommodate them. An anecdote is related by his father, in his contributions to the New YorTc Ledger, which is remarkably character- istic of the determined " grit," as well as of the faculty of adaptation to circumstances, which has since been noticed in his son as a general. Mr. Grant, who had a contract for building the Brown County jail, had need of a number of logs, some fourteen feet in length ; and Ulysses, then in his twelfth year, volunteered to drive team until the logs were hauled, if his father would purchase a certain horse which he thought an excellent match for another which he then owned. This he did, and hired a man to go along with the boy ; but, after a few days' trial, the man reported that there was no use in his watching the boy or the team, for the lad could manage it as well, if not HIS EARLY DATS. 17 better, than he could. A few days passed, and Mr. Grant accidentally discovered that the boy loaded the logs into the wagon, by himself, with no assistance but such as he got from the new horse. Surprised and incredulous, he inquired into the process of the apparently impossible feat, and the boy quietly, and in a " matter-of-fact " way, explained that, taking advantage of a large sugar-tree which had been felled, so that it lay aslant, one end rest- ing on the ground and the other elevated, he had hitched the horse to the end of a hewn log, and drawn it up on the sugar-tree, until the end projected far enough over to allow of his backing the wagon under it ; then, when he had hauled up three, which made his "load," in this manner, he backed the hind part of the wagon under them, hitched the horse a strong animal in front by means of a long chain extending over the whole length of the wagon-box, and pulled them over, one after an- other, into the wagon. And thus he worked for seven months, until the job was completed. As an example of his self-possession, it is related that, in driving a couple of lady passengers, in a two-horse wagon, across a creek in which the water was higher than he had expected, and finding suddenly that the horses were swimming, and the water up level with the wagon- bottom, the ladies were much alarmed, and began to scream, when Ulysses, who was on the front seat, look- ing coolly over his shoulder, quietly said, " Don't speak I will take you through safe" and he did. In these incidents of his boyish days we see a gleam of the same spirit that led him, in after-years, when the whole country were looking on, to say, " I propose to fight it out on this line, if it takes all summer ! " The first book that Ulysses read, when he was some seven years old, was a "Life of George Washington." 18 GEtfEKAL At school he was a fair but not a remarkable scholar developing a special interest only in mathematics. As a bov he seems to have been as modest, retiring, and reticent as he has been in his subsequent career; yet he always manifested a proper amount of confidence in his ability to do any thing which was to be expected of a boy of his size and years. Among boys he was regarded as a leader ; yet, without forwardness, he rather sought the company of older persons. It is needless to repeat here the well-known story of the exceeding difficulty which he experienced in his school-days, in learning the meaning of the word " cant;" and it is pretty certain that he never has learned it, even to this day ! His disposition was peaceable, yet would stand no imposition upon what he considered his rights; and when forced into a corner could fight as well as any one. The current story of his "flogging a captain" is, on his own authority, untrue ; and it is said by those who know him well, that he never had a personal controversy in his life. Profanity was a vice which he was peculiarly free from, both in boyhood and in his subsequent military career. Honesty of thought and speech were also traits of his youth, which have strengthened with his growth, and which are now seen to underlie his whole character. A popular, and probably a true, story which was current among his companions, was concerning a horse trade in which he was once engaged. It appears that when he was about twelve years of age, his father sent him to purchase a horse of a farmer, named Ralston, who resided Borne short distance in the country. The elder Grant wanted the horse, but still desired to get it as cheaply as possible. Before starting, the old gentleman impressed upon young Grant's mind that fact in these words : HIS EARLY DATS. 19 " "Ulysses, when you see Mr. Ralston, tell him I have sent you to buy his horse, and offer him fifty dollars for it. If he will not take that, offer him fifty-five dollars; and rather than you should come away without the horse, you had better give him sixty dollars." Off started the boy, and in due course of time arrived at Ealston's farm-house. He had carefully studied over in his mind his father's instructions, and of course in- tended to do as his parent had told him. Mr. Ralston, however, threw him off his balance, by putting the fol- lowing direct but natural question to him : " How much did your father tell you to give for him ?" Young Ulysses had always had it impressed upon his mind by his mother, that the truth must be spoken at all times, and therefore he replied: " Why, father told me to offer you fifty dollars at first ; and if that would not do, to give you fifty-five dollars; and rather than come away without the horse I was to pay sixty dollars." Of course, Ralston could not sell the horse for less than sixty dollars. " I am sorry for that," returned Grant, " for, on look- ing at the horse, I have determined not to give more than fifty dollars for it, although father said I might give sixty. You may take fifty if you like, or you may keep the horse." Ulysses rode the horse home ! Industrious by nature, he nevertheless was strongly pi'ejudiced against working in his father's tannery; and his father, seeing this, wisely gave him a choice of busi- ness. The boy expressed a preference for being either a farmer, a down-the-river trader, or for getting a better education than he had hitherto been able to obtain at the schools in his native place. Mr. Grant's circumstances, 20 GENERAL GEANT. however, did not permit of his aiding his son in any of these directions, and finally proposed West Point as offering an opportunity for a free education, at the ex- pense of the government. This exactly suited his son ; and, througn the friendly offices of Senator Thomas Morris, an appointment to West Point was presented to Ulysses by tne Hon. Thomas L. Hamer, then Eepresen- tative of Grant's own district. The happy recipient, unprepared as he was by a previous course of special study, went to West Point, passed his examination, and commenced his military career, July 1st, 1839. At the Academy he was studious, and, although taking no especial pains to make himself popular, was a general favorite among his comrades. Among them he was familiarly called " Uncle Sam," from his initials " U. S.," which, by the way, were thrust upon him accidentally and in this wise: He had been duly christened Hiram Ulysses, being always called by the latter name, accord- ing to his own preference, when he got to be old enough. But Mr. Hamer, when making the nomination for the cadetship at West Point, having a recollection that Mrs. Grant's maiden name was Simpson, got it a little "mixed," and sent in the name as Ulysses Simpson Grant. The young cadet afterward endeavored to have it set right by the proper authorities, but failed, and has since remained content with it as it is. AT WEST POINT, CHAPTER H. AT WEST POINT. WHEN the young cadet entered the West Point Institu- tion, he had to submit to a thorough physical and mental examination, to see whether he was fit to enter upon the life of a soldier, and was possessed of the proper mental talents, to make him competent to be trained as an officer. He passed the examination successfully and was admitted into the fourth class, where his studies consisted of math- ematics, English grammar, including etymological and rhetorical exercises, composition, declamation, geography of the United States, French, and the use of small arms. In tne camp for the cadets have to live part of the sum- mer months in tents as if on the field he ranked as a private of the battalion, and had to submit to all the inconveniences that privates in camp have to suffer. During the year 1840 he was advanced into the third class of the West Point Academy. Here he ranked as corporal in the cadet battalion, and his studies consisted of higher mathematics, French, drawing, and the duties of a cavalry soldier. In this last study he received practi- cal instruction for sixteen weeks, so as to make him a good horseman. He progressed steadily, but not rapidly. He however did not fall back from any advance he had made, and if he only gained one seat at a time, he held on to that, with the intention of never again going below the cadet sitting next lower in his class. Cadet Grant, during 1841, entered the second class of 22 GENERAL GBANT. the IT. S. Military School at West Point, obtaining with this change the rank of sergeant of cadsts. His studies now were somewhat more laborious ; but still Grant persevered, and gradually mastered them. From September, 1841, to June, 1842, he was engaged in the study of natural and experimental philosophy, chemistry, and drawing, and in receiving practical instruction in horsemanship. During the summer months he was again encamped, and was well drilled in both infantry and artillery tactics. He passed out of this class with credit During the year 1842, the young soldier passed into the first and concluding class of instruction of the Military Academy. In this class he ranked as a commissioned offi- cer of cadets, and was first put into the position where he could learn how to command a section, troop, or company. This is generally the trying position for the cadet ; for, be- ing invested with a little brief authority, he will either use it with credit or abuse it. Grant, while holding this position, set forth all the nobleness of his nature. He was no petty tyrant, nor was he a spy upon the actions of those who for the time were his subordinates. In the camp he commanded respect for his position ; but out of camp he was still nothing more than a fellow- cadet. In this trait of his character, he was always liked by his classmates, and esteemed by those whose class degree was below him. Cadet Grant had now more serious duties to perform, and studies to master. From September, 1842, to June, 1843, he was engaged in acquiring the knowledge of civil and military engineering, and from the 1st day of April to the 15th of May, 1843, he received practical instruc- tion in this branch of the service. While encamped previous to September, 1842, he received some practical lessons in this science, and during the whole classical AT WEST POINT. 23 year he was engaged either in the study of ethics, consti- tutional law, international law, or military law, or in per- fecting himself in horsemanship. He is now reputed one of the best riders in the service, not being easily thrown. While in this class, he also endeavored to gain a knowledge of the science of mineralogy and geology, and of the Spanish language. He also received instruction in ordnance, gunnery, and cavalry tactics, which are esteemed among the higher branches of military acquire- ments. He passed through this class with credit, and graduated from the Military Academy on the 30th day of June, 1843, with thirty-eight other classmates, he stand- ing ~No. 21, or about the middle of the class. He had now acquired a practical knowledge of the use of the rifled musket, the field-piece, mortar, siege, and sea-coast guns, small sword and bayonet, as well as of the con- struction of field-works, and the fabrication of all muni- tions and materiel of war. The school companions of great men are very often mixed up with their after-life, and this statement is more applicable to the West Point cadets who graduate in the same class. Such being the case, it may be a matter of interest to the reader to know who were General Grant's fellow-graduates, and what their relative positions were at the close of the war. The cadet who graduated first in the class was William Benjamin Franklin, who entered the Topographical En- gineer Corps ; and having passed through a series of adventures under various commanders was, at the begin- ning of 1864, the general commanding the Nineteenth Army Corps, in the Department of the Gulf, under Gen- eral Banks. The names of the next three graduates do not now appear in the Army List of the United States. 24 GENEEAL GEANT. Wm. F. Raynolds graduated fifth in the class, entered the infantry service, and was appointed an aide on the staff of Genera] Fremont, commanding the Mountain Department, with the rank of colonel, from the 31st day of March, 1862. The next graduate was Isaac F. Quinby. He had entered the artillery service, and had been professor at West Point, but had retired to civil life. The rebellion, however, brought him from his retirement, and he went to the field at the head of a regiment of New York vol- unteers. He afterward became a brigadier-general in the Army of the Potomac. Roswell S. Ripley, the author of " The War with Mex- ico," graduated seventh ; but his name does not now appear in the official Army Register of the United States, as he had attached himself to the rebel cause. The next graduate was John James Peck, who entered the artillery service, and was, on January 1, 1864, the commander of the district of and army in North Carolina, which then formed a portion of General Butler's De- partment. John P. Johnstone, the daring artillery lieutenant who fell gallantly at Contreras, Mexico, was the next graduate. General Joseph Jones Reynolds was the next in grade. This officer had gained great credit, while in the army, as a professor of sciences ; but had resigned some time when the rebellion broke out. He was, however, in 1861, again brought forward as a general of three-months volunteers, under General McClellan, in Western Virginia ; was after- ward commissioned by the President ; and latterly became attached to the Army of the Cumberland. He served on the staff of the general commanding that army, with the rank of major-general, until General Grant assumed command of the military division embracing the Depart- AT WEST POINT. 25 ments of Ohio, Tennessee, and Cumberland, when he was transferred to New Orleans. The eleventh graduate was James Allen Hardie, who, during the "War of the Kobellion, became an Assistant Adjutant-General of the Army of the Potomac, with the rank of colonel. Henry F. Clarke graduated twelfth, entered the artil- lery service, gained brevets in Mexico, and became chief commissary of the Army of the Potomac, during the War of the Eebellion, with the rank of colonel. Lieutenant Booker, the next in grade, died while in service at San Antonio, Texas, on June 26, 1849. The fourteenth graduate might have been a prominent officer of the United States army, had he not deserted the cause of his country, and attached himself to the rebels. He had not even the excuse of " going with his State," for he was a native of New Jersey, and was appointed to the army from that State. His name is Samuel G. French, major-general of the rebel army. The next graduate was Lieutenant Theodore L. Chad- bourne, who was killed at the battle of Besaca de la Palma, on May 9, 1846, after distinguishing himself for his bravery at the head of his command. Christopher Colon Augur, one of the commanders of the Department of Washington, and major-general of volunteers, was the next in grade. We now come to another renegade. Franklin Gard- ner, a native of New York, and an appointee from the State of Iowa, graduated seventeenth in General Grant's class. At the time of the rebellion he deserted the cause of the United States and joined the rebels. He was dis- gracefully dropped from the rolls of the United States Army, on May 7, 1861, became a major-general in the rebel service, and had to surrender his garrison at Port 26 GENERAL GRANT. Hudson, July 9, 1863, through the reduction of Vicks- burg by his junior graduate, U. S. Grant. Lieutenant George Stevens, who was drowned in the passage of the Eio Grande, May 18, 1846, was the next graduate. The nineteenth graduate was Edmund B. Holloway, of Kentucky, who obtained a brevet at Contreras, and was a captain of infantry in the United States regular army at the commencement of the rebellion. Although his State remained in the Union, he threw up his commis- sion on May 14, 1861, and joined the rebels. The graduate that immediately preceded General Grant was Lieutenant Lewis Neill, who died on January 13, 1850, while in service at Fort Croghan, Texas. Joseph H. Potter, of New Hampshire, graduated next after the hero of Vicksburg. During the War of the Rebellion he became a colonel of volunteers, retaining his rank as captain in the regular army. Lieutenant Robert Hazlitt, who was killed in the storm- ing of Monterey, September 21, 1846, and Lieutenant Edwin Howe, who died while in service at Fort Leaven- worth, March 31, 1850, were the next two graduates. Lafayette Boyer Wood, of Virginia, was the twenty-fifth graduate. He is no longer connected with the service, having resigned several years before the rebellion. The next graduate was Charles S. Hamilton, who for some time commanded, as major-general of volunteers, a district under General Grant, who at that time was chief of the Department of the Tennessee. Captain Wm. K. Van Bokkelen, of New York, who was cashiered for rebel proclivities, on May 8, 1861, was the next graduate, and was followed by Alfred St. Amand Crozet, of New York, who had resigned the service several years before the breaking out of the civil war, and Lieu- AT WEST POINT. 27 tenant Charles E. James, who died at Sonoma, Cal., on June 8, 1849. The thirtieth graduate was the gallant General Frederick Steele, who participated in the Vicksburg and Mississippi campaigns, as division and corps commander under Gen- eral Grant, and afterward commanded the Army of Arkansas. The next graduate was Captain Henry R. Selden, of Vermont, and of the Fifth U. S. Infantry. General Rufus Ingalls, quartermaster-general of the Army of the Potomac, graduated No. 32, and entered the mounted rifle regiment, but was found more valuable in the Quartermaster's Department, in which he held the rank of major from January 12, 1862, with a local rank of brigadier-general of volunteers from May 23, 1863. Major Frederick T. Dent, of the Fourth TJ. S. Infantry, and Major J. C. McFerran, of the Quartermaster's Depart- ment, were the next two graduates. The thirty-fifth graduate was General Henry Moses Judah, who commanded a division of the Twenty-Third Army Corps during its operations after the rebel cavalry general, John H. Morgan, and in East Tennessee, during the fall of 1863. The remaining four graduates were Norman Elting, who resigned the service October 29, 1846; Cave J. Couts, who was a member of the State Constitutional Convention of California during the year 1849 ; Charles G. Merchant, of New York ; and George C. McClelland, of Pennsylvania, no one of whom is now connected with the United States Service. It is very interesting to look over the above list to see how the twenty-first graduate has outstripped all his seniors in grade, showing plainly that true talent will ultimately make its way, no matter how modest the pos- 28 GENERAL GRANT. sessor may be, and notwithstanding all the opposition that may be placed in its way by others. It will be seen how General Grant came to command a larger force and a greater extent of country than all his thirty-eight class- mates put together, and has risen higher in the military scale than any in his class, notwithstanding the fact that ha did not seem to possess the same amount of apparent dashing ability. His Scotch blood, however, gave him a pertinacity of character that enabled him to push forward against all difficulties, and this stubborn perseverance even in the midst of disappointments has characterized the whole of his life, civil, military and executive. When, however, he found he was on the right track he kept to it without turning aside for even a moment, and so ultimately be- came successful The following incident occurred while young Grant was serving his first year as a cadet of the Military Aca- demy at West Point, and is a very good illustration of the coolness of his disposition. It is related by his father in his interesting reminiscen- ces of the early life of his distinguished son, published in the New York Ledger. " As is well known, it is the practice at West Point to get some rig, run, or joke on every new-comer. Ulysses took a letter of introduction to a cadet, who told him all Miis,and put him on his guard. In the course of the first night, one of the cadets, dressed as an officer, entered the room where Ulysses and his chum were sleeping, and told them that one of the rules of the institution required that a task should be given them, to see how they would get through it, while laboring under the excitement consequent upon their first admission. He then, pro- ducing a book, ordered that, before morning, they should AT WEST POINT. 29 each commit to memory a lesson of twenty pages. " All right, all right/' responded Ulysses ; and as soon as the pretended officer had withdrawn, he went quietly back to bed, while his companion sat up and studied all night. Of course, the recitation has not yet been called for." Grant's career at West Point was uneventful, his de- merits, as his father says, being mostly " of a trivial char- acter, such as not having his coat buttoned, or his shoes tied right, or something of that kind." His progress was of the slow and sure kind, holding firmly on to all he acquired, but having nothing of that dashing brilliancy which is thought so much of by collegiates. He did not, like many, only study to pass the examiner, and then for- get what he had learned. Even if his seat was below those of some others in his classes, at the end of each year it would be found that his education was of a far more solid and substantial nature than that of several of his class-mates who stood higher in grades. Experience, however, has demonstrated that the rank attained at a Military Academy, or at College, affords a very uncertain indication of the future success or usefulness of the mom. 30 GENERAL GRANT CHAPTER HI. ENTERS THE ARMY. MEXICAN WAR. WHEN a youth enters the West Point Military Academy he takes upon himself obligations to serve a certain time in the TJ. S. Regular Army, to finish the eight years the term for which he is sworn into the service of the United States at the time he receives his cadet warrant. Cadet Grant, therefore, when he graduated, at once entered the United States army as a brevet second-lieu- tenant of infantry. The date at which this brevet rank was awarded to him was that of the succeeding day to his graduation, viz., July 1, 1843. At the time Grant entered the army, the United States were at peace with all the world, and very few vacancies then occurred in the rolls of army officers. He was, there- fore, attached as a supernumerary lieutenant to the Fourth Regiment of Regular United States Infantry, then sta- tioned on the frontier in Missouri and Missouri Territory, and engaged in keeping down the Indian tribes, that at that tune were very annoying and dangerous to the early settlers of that region, which, twenty years ago, was almost a wilderness, except on the immediate banks of the great rivers. While in this part of the West, Brevet Second-Lieu- tenant Grant assisted his military companions in superin- tending the opening up of the country, as well as in main- taining the peace and safety of those who had settled and were settling in that region. The young officer had not been many months in the AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 31 West before he was ordered, with his regiment, into Texas, to join the army of General Taylor, who had been appoint- ed to the command of the United States troops then con- centrating in that republic. This army occupation was made during the year 1845. The Mexicans and Americans bad for some time held an imaginary line of boundary with- in what is now known as the State of Texas. As all ima- ginary lines become more or less subjects of dispute, it was quite natural that two armies of distinct races, and with great personal animosities daily arising, should at last find, or imagine they had found, the other overstepping its proper limits, and, as a natural sequel, quarrels would take place, supposed wrongs would have to be revenged, and bloodshed would be the ultimate result. Such was cer- tainly the origin of the actual hostilities which ripened into the American war with Mexico. Corpus Christi, an important port on the Texan shore, was soon taken possession of by the Americans as a base of operations, and Grant was stationed at this place when he -eceived his commission as full second lieutenant of in- fantry. This commission was dated from the 30th day of September, 1845, and was made out for a vacancy in the Seventh Regiment of U. S. Regular Infantry. He had, however, become so attached to the members of the Fourth Regiment, that a request was sent to Washington to allow him to be retained with that force, and in the fol- lowing November a commission was handed to him, appointing him a full second lieutenant in the Fourth Regiment of U. S. Regular Infantry. Some time before the declaration by Congress of a war with Mexico, the struggle commenced in Texas. The primary cause of the actual commencement of hostilities was a trifle ; but the spark was no sooner applied than the conflagration began to make its rapid way, drawing the 32 GENERAL GRANT whole within its fearful grasp. Several petty struggles ensued, until at last General Taylor learned that an immense force of Mexicans were marching with the intention of crossing the Rio Grande into Texas, to drive the Americans from that region of territory. Promptly General Taylor moved ; but, in the mean time, Fort Brown, on the Texas shore of the Rio Grande, was besieged. The gallant American garrison defended the position with great bravery ; but, unless relief could have been sent them, it must have fallen. To relieve the besieged was General Taylor's duty ; and, under his command, Lieutenant Grant marched to his first battle-ground. On the 8th day of May, 1846, he participated in the battle of Palo Alto, and, although not mentioned in the official reports, he is spoken of by his companions to have acted with gallantry ; several officers of his regiment obtaining brevets for their gallant and meritorious conduct. With his characteristic modesty, the young lieutenant kept him- self in the back-ground, while his seniors gained the reward. The battle of Resaca de la Palma was fought the next day, and here again Lieutenant Grant acted with praise- worthy gallantry. As before, his seniors in the regiment gained the brevets, while he quietly remained behind, perfectly satisfied that he had done his duty, and that time would ultimately bring to him his recompense. Fort Brown was relieved, and the Mexicans felt the weight of its metal as they, in disorder, rushed across the Rio Grande in full retreat from the battle so bravely fought and won by General Taylor, on May 9, 1846. The American army then advanced to and up the Rio Grande, and Texas was relieved from the jurisdiction ot the Mexicans. Lieutenant Grant also participated in the subsequent brilliant operations of General Taylor along the banks of that historic stream, and advanced into the A.XD HIS CAMPAIGNS. 3S Mexican territory, at a point over a hundred miles above the mouth of the river, in the Republic of New Leon. On the 23d of September, 1846, Lieutenant Grant took part in the splendid operation of General Taylor against Monterey, which place the Mexicans had strongly fortified. In these works were posted a far superior force of Mexicans ; but General Taylor was determined to drive them out of their intrenchments, and succeeded. The American campaign in Mexico was now about to assume a different phase of character. War had been regularly declared, and a systemized plan of attack was made out. The advance by the northern route was to be made secondary to the grand movement by way of Vera Cruz ; and the army and navy, as in the late war, were both to be brought into active use. After General Scott had effected a landing above Vera Cruz, the forces on the Rio Grande were in part brought down that river to co-operate with him ; and among the others was the Fourth Infantry. Lieutenant Grant, follow- ing the fortunes of his regiment, was, with it, transferred to the command under that general, and participated in the siege operations which finally caused the surrender of Vera Cruz, on the 29th day of March, 1847. It now began to be perceived by his commanding officers, that Lieutenant Grant possessed some talents more than ordinary, and during the early part of April, when the army was preparing to advance into the interior of the Mexican country, Lieutenant Grant was appointed the quartermaster of his regiment, a post both honorable and of vital importance to an army in a strange country the home of an enemy. With this position he participated in the whole of the remainder of the Mexican campaign, to the occupation, by the United States forces, of the capital. 2* 34 GENERAL GKANT It was while holding this staff appointment that Lieu- tenant Grant's brave disposition came more prominently before his commanding officers. His position in the army did not of necessity call upon him to enter into the actual strife ; but, at the same time, his nature would not allow of his keeping out of it, when he found that his services were needed in the field. At the battle of Molino del Key, on the 8th of September, 1847, he behaved with such distin- guished gallantry and merit, that he was appointed on the field a first-lieutenant, to date from the day of that battle. Congress afterwards wished to confirm the appointment as a mere brevet, but Grant declined to accept it under such circumstances. At the battle of Chapultepec, on the 13th day of Sep- tember, 1847, Lieutenant Grant behaved with the most distinguished gallantry,* and also during the subsequent * In the report of Captain Horace Brooks, Second Artillery, of the battle of Chapultepec, he says: " I succeeded in reaching the fort with a few men. Here Lieutenant U. S. Grant, and a few more men of the Fourth T nfantry found me, and, by a joint movement, after an obstinate resistance, a strong fieJd-work was carried, and the enemy's right was completely turned/' The report of Major Francis Lee, commanding the Fourth Infantry, of the battle of Chapultepec, says : "At the first barrier the enemy was in strong force, which rendered it necessary to advance with caution. This was done, and when the head of the battalion was within short musket range of the barrier, Lieutenant Grant, Fourth Infantry, and Captain Brooks, Second Artillery with a few men of their respective regiments, by a handsome movement to the left, turned the right flank of the enemy, and the barrier was carried. * * * Second-Lieutenant Grant behaved with distinguished gallantry on the 13th and. 14th." * * * The report of Brevet Colonel John Garland, commanding the First Brigade, of the battle of Chapultepec, says: " The rear of the enemy had made a stand behind a breastwork, from which they were driven by detachments of the Second Artillery, under AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 35 battles, which only ceased with the final surrender of the city of Mexico. Lieutenant Grant received the brevet of captain of the regular army, for gallant and meritorious conduct in the battle of Chapultepec, his rank to date from September 13, 1847, the day of that battle. The brevet was awarded to him in 1849; the nomination sent into Congress during the session of 1849-50, and confirmed during the executive session of 1850. On the 16th day of September, 1847, the brave second lieutenant was commissioned a first-lieutenant in the Fourth Regiment of Regular Infantry, still holding his bre- vet rank of captain of three days prior date. The following were the officers of the Fourth Regiment of United States Regular Infantry during the war with Mexico : LIEUTENANT-COLONEL John Garland, who participated in the whole of the Mexican war, and commanded a brigade, received a brevet colonelcy from Resaca de la Palma, and a brevet as brigadier-general from Churubusco. He was severely wounded in the capture of the city of Mexico; was made colonel of the Eighth Regular Infantry Regiment in May, 1849, and died in the city of New York, June 5, 1861. Captain Brooks, and the Fourth Infantry, under Lieutenant Grant, sup- ported by other regiments of the division, after a short but sharp conflict. * * I recognized the command as it came up, mounted a howitzer on the top of a convent, which, under the direction of Lieutenant Grant, quartermaster of the Fourth Infantry, and Lieutenant Lendrum, Third Artillery, annoyed the enemy considerably. * * * I must not omit to call attention to Lieutenant Grant, Fourth Infantry, who acquitted himself most nobly, upon several occasions, under my own observation." In this particular mention of officers for gallantry and good conduct, besides the officers of his own staff, General Garland names but one other officer, besides Lieutenant Grant, out of his whole brigade. General "Worth's report, September 16th, also speaks highly of Lieu* tenant Grant. 30 GJENEBAL GHA.NT MAJOR Francis Lee, who had entered upon the campaign at captain in the Seventh Reg't U. S. Regular Infantry, was brevetted lieutenant-colonel from Churubusco, and colonel from El Molino del Rey. He became colonel of the Second Regiment of Regular Infantry, October 18, 1855, and died at St. Louis, Missouri, January 19, 1859. CAPTAINS. George W. Allen (who had been brevetted major from Florida) was further brevetted lieutenant-colonel from Resaca de la Palma. He was next promoted to be a major of the Second Regiment Regular Infantry, and died at Vera Cruz, on March 15, 1848. John Page was mortally wounded in the first battle, Palo Alto, and died on the 12th of July, 1846. "William M. Graham (who had been brevetted major from Florida) continued with the regiment until February, 1847; was promoted major of the Second Regiment of Regular Infantry, on February 16, 1847, and afterwards to lieutenant-colonel of the Eleventh U. S. Infantry, a regiment especially organized for the Mexican war. He was several times wounded during the campaign, and was finally killed at El Molino del Rey, on September 8, 1847. Pitcairn Morrison was brevetted major from Resaca de la Palma, be- came major of the Eighth Regiment of U. S. Infantry, on September 26, 1847 ; lieutenant-colonel of the Seventh Regular Infantry, on June 9 1853, and colonel of the Eighth Regular Infantry, June 6, 1861, with which rank he retired from the service during the fall of 1863. George A. McCall, was brevetted major and lieutenant-colonel from Resaca de la Palma, and afterwards appointed .to the Adjutant-General's Department as inspector-general. He r esigned the service on April 29, 1853, and came in as a volunteer at the commencement of the Rebellion. Gouverneur Morris was brevetted major from Resaca de la Palma, pro- moted to major of the Third Infantry, on January 31, 1850, and lieu- tenant-colonel of the First Infantry, May 31, 1857. He was retired from the service on September 9, 1861. Robert C. Buchanan, was brevetted major from Resaca de la Palma, and lieutenant-colonel from El Molino del Rey. He served through the whole of the Mexican war with great credit, and was, in 1848, appointed acting inspector-general He resumed his regimental posi- tion, and was promoted major of the regiment on February 3, 1855, and lieutenant-colonel on the 9th of September, 1861, which rank he AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 37 neld at the commencement of 1864, when he was employed as Superin- tendent of Volunteer Recruiting in the State of New Jersey. Charles H. Larnard was brevetted major from Resaca de la Palma, and was drowned in Puget's Sound, near Fort Madison, Washington Territory, on the 27th of March, 1854. Benjamin Alvord was brevetted captain from Resaca de la Palma, and major from the National Bridge. He became a paymaster, with the rank of major, from June 22, 1854, and during the Rebellion was appointed a brigadier-general of volunteers. Henry L. Scott was appointed aide and acting adjutant-general to General Scott, gained the brevet of major from Churubusco, and liou- tenant-colonel from Chapultepec. Ho became special aide to General Scott on March 7, 1855, and retired from the service on the 30th of October, 1861. FIRST LIEUTENANTS. Henry Prince, the adjutant of the regiment, was brevetted captain from Churubusco, and was severely wounded at, and brevetted major from, El Molino del Rey. He was appointed paymaster, May 23, 1855, and brigadier-general of volunteers during the War of the Rebellion. Charles Hoskins, the former adjutant of the regiment, was killed at Monterey, September 21, 1846. Richard H. Graham was mortally wounded at Monterey, September 21, 1846, and died on October 12, 1846. John H. Gore was brevetted captain from Churubusco, and major from El Molino del Rey. He died, August 1, 1852, in the Bay of Panama, New Grenada. Richard K. Cochran was killed in the second battle of the war, Resaca de la Palma, on May 9, 1846. Theodore H. Porter was killed in a skirmish near the Rio Grande, on April 19, 1846. Sidney Smith was wounded at El Molino del Rey, and was mortally wounded in the attack upon the city of Mexico, on September 14, 1847, and died on September 16, 1847. Granville 0. Haller served through the whole of the Mexican war ; waa brevetted captain from El Molino del Rey, and major from Chapultepec ! became captain in January, 1848, and Major of the Seventh Infantry, September 25, 1861 ; and was summarily dismissed from the service during the summer of 1863. Henry D. Wallen was wounded at Palo Alto, May 8, 1846, became adjutant from February, 1849, to May, 1850 ; captain from January 31, 86 G&NEKAL GRANT 1850, and Major of the Seventh Infantry from November 25, 1861. He held this position at the beginning of 1864. Henderson Ridgeley was acting assistant adjutant-general to Brigadier- General Lane, and was killed at the Pass of Guadalaxara, on the 24th of November, 1847. Jenks Beaman participated in the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma ; commanded his company in the battle of El Molino del Roy, and died at Tampico, on the 6th of May, 1848. SECOND LIEUTENANTS. Christopher R. Perry, after participating in part of the campaign, died at sea, on his return home, October 8, 1848. Christopher C. Augur was aide to General Hopping, and, after the war in Mexico, remained in the 0". S. Army. During the War of the Rebellion he became a major-general of volunteers. ULYSSES S. GRANT. Henry M. Judah was brevetted a first lieutenant from El Molino del Rey, and captain from Chapultepec. During the War of the Rebel- lion he commanded a division in General Grant's Military Division of the Mississippi. James S. Woods was brevetted first lieutenant from Resaca de la Palma, and was killed at Monterey, September 21, 1846. Alexander Hays was brevetted first lieutenant from Resaca de la Palma, and became acting assistant adjutant-general to Brigadier- General Lane. He resigned the service on April 12, 1848, and volun- teered during the War of the Rebellion. A.bram B. Lincoln was wounded at, and brevetted first lieutenant from, El Molino del Rey, and died at Pilatka, Florida, April 15, 1852. Thomas J. Montgomery commanded his company at the battles of Churubusco and El Molino del Rey; became first lieutenant during December, 1847, and captain, in March, 1854, and died at Fort Steila- coom, Washington Territory, November 22, 1854. David A. Russell was brevetted first lieutenant from the National Bridge, and, remaining in the regular army after the war, became a brigadier-general of volunteers during the War of the Rebellion. Alexander P. Rodgers was wounded, and afterwards killed, at Cha- pultepec, September 13, 1847. Delancey Floyd Jones was brevetted first lieutenant from El Molino del Rey, but is no longer on the roll of army officers. Maurice Maloney was brevetted first lieutenant from El Molino dei L_ AXD HIS CAMPAIGNS. 39 Rey, and captain from Chapultepec ; was wounded at the San Cosmo Gate, on September 13, 1847 ; became first lieutenant during May, 1848, captain in November, 1854, and Major of the First Infantry, Sep- tember 16, 1862, which rank he held at the beginning of 1864. Archibald B. Botta died on the first of January, 1847, at Camargo, Mexico. Thomas R. McConnell was brevetted first lieutenant at El Molino del Rey, and captain from Chapultepec; became captain, hi February, 1855, and resigned the service on March 11, 1856. Edmund Russell was wounded at Churubusco; was brevetted first eutenant from El Molino del Rey, and was killed by the Indians, near Red Bluff, California, on March 24, 1853. Of the foregoing, the following only have occupied prominent positions during the War of the Rebellion : Captain George Archibald McCall was appointed the com- mander of the division of troops known as the "Pennsyl- vania Reserve Corps," which consisted of three brigades and fifteen regiments, and fought with the Army of the Potomac, with the rank of brigadier-general of volunteers, from May 17, 1861. He resigned his connection with the United States service on March 31, 1863. Captain Robert C. Buchanan was appointed Lieutenant- Colonel of the Fourth Infantry on September 9, 1861, and afterwards nominated for a volunteer brigadier-general's commission ; but being too far advanced in years to endure the fatigues and laborious marches in the field during the civil war, he was principally kept in command of posts and garrisons within the Union lines. Captain Benjamin Alvord became a brigadier-general of volunteers during the War of the Rebellion. Lieutenant and Adjutant Henry Prince obtained a com- mission as brigadier-general of volunteers, dating from April 28, 1862, and participated in the campaigns in North Carolina and Virginia. At the beginning of 1864, he was 40 GENERAL GEANT in command of the Second Division of the Third Army Corps. Lieutenant Christopher C. Augur distinguished himself during the Rebellion in the various capacities of brigade, division, and corps commander, and, on January 1, 1864, held the command of the Department of Washington, and of the Twenty-Second Army Corps, with head-quarters at the national capital. Rank, major-general of volunteers, from August 9, 1862. Lieutenant Henry M. Judah was appointed a brigadier- general of volunteers on the 21st of March, 1862 ; distin- guished himself in the pursuit of the rebel guerilla chief, General John H. Morgan, and in the Eastern Tennessee campaign of 1863. On January 1, 1864, he held the com- mand of a division in the Twenty-Third Army Corps, which formed a part of General Grant's Military Division of the Mississippi. Lieutenant Alexander Hays was appointed a brigadier- general of volunteers from September 29, 1862, he having previously held the command of a company of the Sixteenth Regiment of U. S. Regular Infantry. At the beginning of 1864, he was in command of a division in the Second Army Corps, then with the Army of the Potomac. Lieutenant David A. Russell, having held the rank of Major of the Eighth Regiment of Regular Infantry, was appointed a brigadier-general of volunteers, on November 29, 1862, and distinguished himself during 1863, while in command of a brigade, and afterwards of a division of the Second Army Corps, then with the Army of the Potomac. It will thus be seen that the young second lieutenant, of the Mexican war, has far outstripped all his regimental companions many of whom then outranked him ; and he has done so by his military merit alone. HIS CAMPAIGNS. 41 CHAPTER IV. SUBSEQUENT SERVICES AND BESIGNATION CIVIL LIFE. THE struggles in Mexico having at last settled down into the mere brigandage so common to that coun- try, the various volunteer troops of the United States Army were disbanded, and the regular regiments ordered back to the United States. Lieutenant Grant came home with his regiment the Fourth Regular Infantry and dis- embarked within the harbor of New York. The regiment was then distributed in companies and sections among the various northern frontier defences, along the borders of the States of Michigan and New York ; and in one of these forts the young brevet captain commanded his company. The emigration furor to California of 1850-51, carried to that El Dorado region an immense number of the vilest characters of all parts of the world ; and the thirst for gold rendered all moral law and obligations, in that territory, subservient to violent might. To preserve even a show of law and order, and to restrain the Indians from murderous attacks upon the whites, the Government dispatched a force of troops to that part of the country, and among others the Fourth Regular Infantry was ordered to the De- partment of the Pacific. The battalion to which Lieuten- ant Grant was attached was sent up into Oregon, and, for some time, had its head-quarters at Fort Dallas, in that territory. It. was while the regiment was engaged in this duty that 42 GENERAL GRANT Lieutenant Grant received his full promotion to captain of infantry, with a commission dating from August, 1853. Captain Grant shortly after became attached to the De- partment of the West ; but, anticipating more chances of progress in civil life than in the military, during the then prospective happy tunes of peace, he resigned his connec- tion with the United States Army, on the 31st day of July, 1854. Thus, for a time, the valuable 'services of the embryo hero were lost to the country, and his talents hid from the world. But like a cork, held by the finger at the bottom of a vessel of water, the release of which is no sooner effected by the removal of the pressure than it springs higher than ever above the surface, has Grant again sprung into notoriety. After Captain Grant had severed his connection with the military service, he made his residence near the city of St. Louis, Missouri, and was there engaged in commer- cial pursuits until the year 1859. The following is extracted from the letter of one who had taken some pains to trace the history of Grant's life while a resident in and near St. Louis : " General Grant occupied a little farm to tlie southwest of St. Louis, whence he was in the habit of cutting the wood, drawing it to Carondelet, and selling it in the market there. Many of his wood purchasers are now calling to mind that they had a cord of wood delivered in person by the great General Grant. When he came into the wood market he was usually dressed in an old felt hat, with a blouse coat, and his pants tucked in the tops of his boots. In truth, he bore the appearance of a sturdy, honest woodman. This was his winter's work. In the sum- mer he turned a collector of debts ; but for this he was not qualified. He had a noble and truthful soul ; so when he was told tliat the debtor had no money, he believed him, and would not trouble the debtor again. One of the leading merchants of St. Louis mentioned this circumstance to me. From all I can learn of his history here, he was honest, truthful, AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 43 indefatigable always at work at something ; but he did not possess the knack jf making money. He was honorable, for he always repaid bor- rowed money. His habits of life were hardy, inexpensive, and simple. About nis being an inebriate, I find nothing to confirm it. On a cold day, when he had brought a load of wood to the Caroiidelet market, Le would take something to keep himself warm. This, so far as I can trace, is the foundation of many reports of his inebriety."* During 1859, Grant entered into partnership with his father, in the leather trade, and opened business in the city of Galena, Jo Daviess county, Illinois. This city is located on the Fevre River, about six miles above the point where it falls into the Mississippi, of which it is properly an arm. The city is built upon a bluff, with the streets rising one above the other, and communicating by means of flights of steps. Large portions of the States of Wiscon- sin, Iowa, and Minnesota are tributary to this town, and consequently it is a place of considerable trade. The leather house of Grant & Son soon became a very prosperous concern, and, at the time of the outbreak of the rebellion, presented one of the best business prospects of any house in Galena. The younger Grant devoted himself to his business, and made it a study, so that, after a short time, the recommendation of a piece of leather by either of the firm of Grant & Son, was a sure guarantee of its good quality. While alluding to the leather business of this firm, it will not be out of place to repeat an anecdote connected with General Grant, while at Vicksburg. The Illinois politicians were everlastingly trying to inveigle General Grant into some debate, or the rendering of some definite idea or opinion in relation to the state of the various political parties of the country, and their j.x>- * St. Louis correspondence of the Milwaukie Wisconsin, January, 18G4 44 GENERAL GRANT fessed tenets. General Grant, however, was not to be drawn out. He had never attached himself to any other party than that of the true patriot, and all minor issues were, to that feeling, made entirely subservient, even if he knew or cared any thing at all about them. While operating in the vicinity of Yicksburg, his pro- fessed political friends paid a visit to his head-quarters, and after a short time spent in compliments, they touched upon the never-ending subject of politics. One of the party was in the midst of a very flowery speech, using all hia rhetorical powers to induce the general, if possible, to view matters in the same light as himself, when he was sudden- ly stopped by Grant. " There is no use of talking politics to me. I know nothing about them ; and, furthermore, I do not know of any person among my acquaintances who does. But," continued he, " there is one subject with which I am per- fectly acquainted ; talk of that, and I am your man." " What is that, General ?" asked the politicians, in great surprise. " Tanning leather," was the reply. The subject was immediately changed. On another occasion, an infamous proposal was made by a person to General Grant, while he was staying at his head-quarters " in the field." The general, irritated, administered a severe kick to the proposer with the toe of his great cavalry boot; and, after the fellow had been driven from the tent, one of his staff remarked to a com- panion, that he did not think the general had hurt the rascal. " Never fear," was the reply ; " that boot never fails under such circumstances, for the leather came from Grant's store, in Galena." HIS CAMPAIGNS. 45 CHAPTER V. THE REBELLION GRANT VOLUNTEERS, AND BECOMES A BRIGADIER-GENERAL. THE attacks made by the rebels upon the arsenals and forts of the United States were enough to inflame the patriotic ardor of Grant, as well as that of all the loyal West Pointers who had retired into civil life ; but when Fort Sumter was fired upon, he at once gave up his business, prosperous as it was, and tendered his services to the Gov- ernor of the State in which he resided, in answer to the call of the President for volunteers. Governor Yates, of Illinois, at first retained him near his person, as an aide upon his staff as command er-in-chief of the Illinois forces, and gave him the responsible position of mustering officer of Illinois volunteers. It is owing a great deal to the enthusiastic labors of Grant, as mustering officer, that Illinois was enabled to turn out as many men as she did at the early stages of the war. Her quota was more than filled, and the men were speedily put into the field. But Grant could not sit down in the office of the mustering department while his services were more actively needed against the enemy in the field ; and he therefore requested, that the Governor would give him some position in connection with one of the three years' regiments, then being raised. He therefore, about the middle of June, 1861, resigned his appointment as muster- ing officer, and accepted the colonelcy of the Twenty-first 46 GENERAL GRANT Regiment of Illinois Volunteers, with a commission dating from June 15, 1861. Colonel Grant at once left the capital of the State to join his regiment, then organizing at Mattoon, Illinois, and removed the men to the camp at Caseyville, where he per- sonally superintended their drill and equipment. As soon as the regiment was considered fit to enter upon active duties in the field, it was removed across the Missis- sippi River into Missouri, and formed part of the guard of the Hannibal and Hudson Railroad, a line running across the northern part of the State, from the Mississippi River to St. Joseph, on the border of Kansas, and one of the branches of the main lines which connected the East with the West. On the 31st of July, 1861, Colonel Grant was placed in command of the troops at Mexico, on the North Missouri Railroad. Colonel Grant's force, at this time, formed a portion of Brigadier-General John Pope's command, which embraced the section of country north of the Missouri River, then known as the " District of North Missouri." It was, however, shortly after transferred to Pilot Knob, which was fortified and garrisoned. The regiment next marched to Ironton, Missouri; thence to Marble Creek, which it garrisoned. These movements occupied most of the time until about the 23d of August, 1861, when Colo- nel Grant was detached from his regimental command and appointed to the rank of brigadier-general of volunteers, with a commission dating from May IV, 1861. The following table will show Dhe relative position of General Grant, on May 17, 1861, with the others of the same rank, appointed on the same day, and how each of these generals was employed towards the close of the war. A3TD HIS CAMPAIGNS. Generals. Samuel P. Heintzelman, Erasmus D. Keyes, Andrew Porter, Fitz John Porter, Win. B. Franklin, Wia T. Sherman, Charles P. Stone, Don Carlos Buell, Thomas W. Sherman, James Oakes, John Pope, George A. McCall, William R. Montgomery, Philip Kearney, Joseph Hooker, John W. Phelps, ULYSSES S. GRANT, Joseph J. Reynolds, Samuel R. Curtis, Charles S. Hamilton, Darius N. Couch, Rufus King, J. D. Cox, Stephen A. Hurlbut, Franz Sigel, Robert C. Schenck, B. M. Prentiss, Frederick W. Lander, Benj. F. Kelly, John A. McClernand, A. 8. Williams, I. B. Richardson, William Sprague, James Cooper, January 1, 1864. Not in active field service, do. do. do. do. Cashiered. Commanding 19th Army Corps. Commanding a Department under General Grant. Chief of Staff to General Banks. Not in active field service. Temporarily invalided. Not in service. Commanding Department of the Northwest Resigned. Not in active field service. Dead. Commanding Grand Division under General Grant. Commanding troops at New Orleans. Not in active field service. do. do. Commanding Department of the Susquehanna. Foreign Minister. Comm'ding Corps under Gen. Grant. do. do. Not in active field service. In Congress. Resigned. Dead. Commanding Department of West ern Virginia. Not in active field service. Commanding a Division. Dead. Declined. Dead. 48 GENERAL GRANT By referring to the foregoing, it will be perceived that the name of Ulysses S. Grant stood No. 17 exactly half way down the list, at the time he received his brigadier- general's commission. Before the war closed it is shown, General Grant commanded as much territory and as many troops in the field as all the other thirty-three generals combined a rapid rise in position scarcely equalled by any officer of modern times, Napoleon excepted. AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 49 CHAPTER VI. POST AND DISTKICT COMMAJO)BR. BELMONT. As soon as General Granl had been invested with the rank and authority sufficient to enable him to take the command of a post, he was placed in charge of the one at Cairo, and his forces were increased by the addi- tion of another brigade, which had been organized for, and was under the command of, Brigadier-General John A. McClernand. The post at Cairo included within its jurisdiction the Missouri shore of the Mississippi River, from Cape Gi- rardeau to New Madrid, and the opposite Illinois shore, to the point of land on which Cairo stood. This post com- manded the mouth of the Ohio River, and was the key to the Upper Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. Its impor- tance as a defensive military position, and also as a base of operations, at the early stages of the war, was without estimate ; and even later, as a permanent base of sup- plies, its value was great, and its loss would have been severely felt by the Union army. At this time, the State of Kentucky was in that incom prehensible condition designated as neutral; but as the line that separated Tennessee, which had seceded, from Kentucky, which had not, was a mere imaginary one ; and as the rebel forces of the seceding States were stationed so closely on these borders, it is not to be wondered at that 3 60 GENERAL GRANT they often crossed the line into the neutral State, especially when it was to their advantage so to do. General Grant no sooner found out that this course of policy was being adopted by the rebels, and that they had actually encroached upon the State of Kentucky, and were fortifying Columbus and Hickman, on the Mississippi River, and Bowling Green, on the Big Barren River, than he ordered the seizure of Paducah, a valuable post at the mouth of the Tennessee River. This village was occupied :>n September 6, 1861, and within nineteen days he also held possession of Smithland, at the mouth of the Cum- berland River. By these movements he not only blockaded the rivers leading up into the Rebel States, against the run- ning of supplies and contraband articles for the use of those who were up in arms against the government ; but he also secured two fine bases for further operations, and cleared out the guerillas, who were trying to blockade the Ohio River, below those points. He also garrisoned each of these places with a force sufficient to hold them ; but still retained his head-quarters at Cairo, which had then become the head-quarters of the sub-department or Dis- trict of Southeast Missouri. At the time when General Grant took possession of Pa- ducah, he found secession flags flying in different parts of the city, in expectation of greeting the arrival of the rebel forces, which were reported to be nearly four thousand strong, and not many miles distant. The landing of the Union troops was a signal for a general uprising of the loyal citizens of the place, who, being properly supported, in effect, if not in fact, at once tore down from the houses of the rebel sympathizers the secession flags which they had raised. General Grant immediately took possession of the tele- graph office, railroad depot, hospitals, etc., and other points AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 5J of importance, after which he issued the following pro- clamation to the citizens : PADDCAH, KT., Septembers, 1861. To the citizens of Paducah : L am come among you, not as an enemy, but as your fellow-citizen. Not to maltreat you nor annoy you, but to respect and enforce the rights of all loyal citizens. An enemy, in rebellion against our common gov- ernment, haa taken possession of, and planted its guns on the soil of Ken- tucky, and fired upon you. Columbus and Hickman are in his hands. He is moving upon your city. I am here to defend you against this ene- my, to assist the authority and sovereignty of your government. / have nothing to do with opinions, and shall deal only with armed rebellion, and a c aiders and abettors. You can pursue your usual avocations without fear. The strong arm of the government is here to protect its friends, and punish its enemies. "Whenever it is manifest that you are able to defend yourselves, and maintain the authority of the government, and protect the rights of loyal citizens, I shall withdraw the forces under my command. U. S. GBANT, Brig.- Gen, Commanding. The tone of the above proclamation speaks well for the temper of the soldier, who, although in the midst of ene- mies, and with the power in his hands, yet refused to use that power further than he, of actual necessity, was called upon to do by the exigencies of his position. General Grant, when in camp at Cairo, presented little, in fact nothing, of the gewgaws and trappings which are generally attached to the attire of a general; and in this respect, he showed a marked contrast between himself and some of his sub-lieutenants, whose bright buttons and glit- tering shoulder-straps were perfectly resplendent. The general, instead, would move about the camp with his attire carelessly thrown on, and left to fall as it pleased. In fact, he seemed to care nothing at all about his personal appearance, and in the place of the usual military hat and gold cord, he wore an old battered black hat, generally 52 GENERAL GEANT designated as a " stove-pipe," an article that neither of his subordinates would have stooped to pick up, even if unob- served. In his mouth he carried a black-looking cigar, and he seemed to be perpetually smoking. In connection with these facts, a detractor of General Grant was, on one occasion, speaking rather sarcastically of the stove-pipe General and his passion for cigars, when he was taken up by one of Grant's friends, who said : " Such a bright stove-pipe as Grant, should be excused for smoking." Several reconnoissances were made down the Mississippi River and inland from the Ohio River, and occasionally skirmishes would also take place. At these contests pris- oners would sometimes be taken on both sides, and the following correspondence was the result of these captures ; HEAD-QUARTERS, FIRST DIVISION, WESTERN DEPARTMENT, October, 1861. To the Commanding Officer at Cairo and Bird's Point : I have in my camp a number of prisoners of the Federal army, and am informed there are prisoners belonging to the Missouri State troops in yours. I propose an exchange of these prisoners, and for that pur- pose send Captain Polk of the artillery, and Lieutenant Smith of the infantry, both of the Confederate States Army, with a flag of truce, to deliver to you this communication, and to know your pleasure in regard to my proposition. The principles recognized in the exchange of prisoners effected on the 3d of September, between Brigadier-General Pillow, of the Con- federate Army, and Colonel "Wallace, of the U. S. Army, are those I -ropoae as the basis of that now contemplated. Respectfully, your obedient servant, L. POLK, Major- General Commanding. To which communication General Grant dispatched the following reply : DISTRICT OP SOUTHEAST MISSOURI, HE AD- QUARTERS, CAIRO, October 14, 1861. GENERAL: Yours of this date is just received. In regard to an exchange of prisoners, as proposed, I can, of my own accordance, make AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 53 none. I recognize no " Southern Confederacy " myself, but will com municate with higher authorities for their views. Should I not be sustained, I will find means of communicating with you. Respectfully, your obedient servant, U. S. GRANT, Brig.- Gen. Commanding. To Major-General POLK, Colwribus, Ky. On the 16th of October, 1861, General Grant ordered a portion of his forces under Colonel Plummer, then stationed at Cape Girardeau, Mo., to march towards Fredericktown, by way of Jackson and Dallas, and in conjunction with Colonel Carlin, who was moving in another direction, to check the advance of, and, if possible, defeat the rebel forces, then advancing northward under Brigadier-General Jeff Thompson. The movement was a success ; and on the morning of October 21, 1861, the rebels were defeated, and the U. S. troops afterwards returned to their former posts. Having thus secured the information he required relative to the position of Jeff Thompson's forces, and also having learned that others were concentrating at the rebel camp at Belmont, Mo., General Grant at the head of two brigades, commanded respectively by General McClemand and him- self, left Cairo on November 6, 1861, for that point. On the opposite Kentucky shore, the rebels had fortified a position at Columbus, which was to command the camp at Belmont, as well as to blockade the Mississippi River. The two U. S. brigades landed at Belmont, at eight o'clock of the morning of November 7, were at once form- ed into line of battle, and immediately attacked the rebel works, where they found the enemy in force under General Cheatham. The rebel forces were driven to and through their camp, and their battery of twelve guns was 54 GENERAL GRANT captured. The camp was then burned, and the enemy's baggage and horses taken. Several prisoners also fell into the hands of the Union troops, and the attack was a com- plete triumph. But at the very moment when victoiy was deemed cer- tain, several large bodies of rebel troops from Columbus and Hickman crossed the Mississippi River, and re-enforced those at Belmont. This re-enforcement made the enemy numerically stronger than the forces under General Grant, and after another severe fight, the Union troops had to withdraw to their transports, their retreat being well covered by the ordnance of the gunboats. The following is from a private letter from General Grant to his father, written on the night of the 8th : " Day before yesterday I left Cairo with about three thousand men in five steamers, convoyed by two gunboats, and proceeded down the riv- er to within about twelve miles of Columbus. The next morning the boats were dropped down just out of range of the enemy's batteries, and the troops debarked. During this operation our gunboats exercised the rebels by throwing shells into their camps and batteries. "When ah ready, we proceeded about one mile toward Belmont, opposite Columbus, NOTE. Now that the clouds which mystified the view of this battle have cleared away, it is far from established that the Union troops were defeated on this occasion. General Folk's dispatch to Richmond, plainly shows the rebels to have suffered heavily, and to have lost part of their artillery. Nor should General Grant be blamed for the result of the expedition. He was ordered to make the attack, and, being only a Dis- trict Commander, he had to obey his superior officer at the head of the Department, except as to the time and manner of fighting. That the attack was well planned and brilliantly executed there can be no manner of doubt, the troops displaying great bravery ; and but for the heavy re-enforcements of the enemy, Belmont certainly would have been classed as one of the early victories for the Union arms. All this is established ; and had the North nothing worse to contemplate than the affair at Bel- mont, the record of the war would be almost stainless. PLAN OF THE BATTLE OF BELMOKT. AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 55 when I formed the troops into line, and ordered two companies from each regiment to deploy as skirmishers, and push on through the woods and discover the position of the enemy. They had gone but a little way when they were fired upon, and the ball may be said to have fairly opened. " The whole command, with the exception of a small reserve, was then deployed in like manner and ordered forward. The order was obeyed with great alacrity, the men all showing great courage. I can say with great gratification that every colonel, without a single exception, set an example to their commands that inspired a confidence that will always insure victory when there is the slightest possibility of gaining one. I feel truly proud to command such men. " From here we fought our way from tree to tree through the woods to Belmont, about two and a half miles, the enemy contesting every foot of ground. Here the enemy had strengthened their position by felling the trees for two or three hundred yards and sharpening their limbs, making H sort of abatis. Our men charged through, making the victory complete, giving us possession of their camp and garrison equipage, artillery, and every thing else. " We got a great many prisoners. The majority, however, succeeded in getting aboard their steamers and pushing across the river. "We burned every thing possible and started back, having accomph'shed all that we went for, and even more. Belmont is entirely covered by the batteries from Columbus, and is worth nothing as a military position cannot be held without Columbus. " The object of the expedition was to prevent the enemy from send- ing a force into Missouri to cut off troops I had sent there for a special purpose, and to prevent re-enforcing Price. " Besides being well fortified at Columbus, their number far exceeded ours, and it would have been folly to have attacked them. "We found the Confederates well armed and brave. On our return, stragglers, that aad been left in our rear (now front), fired into us, and more recrossed che river and gave us battle for a full mile, and afterward at tho boats s^hen we were embarking. " There was no hasty retreating or running away. Taking into ac- rjount the object of the expedition, the victory was complete. It has given us confidence in the officers and men of this command, that will enable us to lead them in any future engagement without fear of the re- sult. Gen. McClernand (who, by the way, acted with great coolness and courage throughout, and proved that he is a soldier as well as a 66 GENERAL GRANT statesman) and myself, each had our horses shot under us. Most of the field-officers met with the same loss, beside nearly one-third of them be- ing themselves killed or wounded. As near as I can ascertain, our loss was about two hundred and fifty killed, wounded, and missing." General McClernand, in his official report of this battle, after speaking of the hotness of the engagement, and nar- row escapes of some of his officers, makes use of the following words : " Here the projectiles from the enemy's heavy guns at Columbus, and their artillery at Belmont, crashed through the woods over and among us. * * * A.nd here, too, many of our officers were killed or wound- ed ; nor shall I omit to add, that this gallant conduct was stimulated by your (Grant's) presence, and inspired by your example. Here your horse was killed under you." After the U. S. troops had returned to their base of operations at Cairo, General Grant issued the following order : HEAD-QUARTERS, DISTRICT OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI, CAIRO, November 8, 1861. The General commanding this military district, returns his thanks to the troops under his command at the battle of Belmont on yesterday. It has been his fortune to have been in all the battles fought in Mexico by Generals Scott and Taylor, save Buena Vista, and he never saw one more hotly contested, or where troops behaved with more gallantry. Such courage will insure victory wherever our flag may be borne and protected by such a class of men. To the brave men who fell, the sympathy of the country is due, and will be manifested in a manner unmistakable. TJ. S. GRANT, Brig.-Geii. Commanding. But, while General Grant was engaged in congratulating those who had returned safe, he was not unmindful of the sufferers who had fallen wounded into the hands of the enemy. Knowing the incomplete state of the Medical and Surgical Departments of the rebel army opposed to him, he AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 57 addressed the following dispatch to the rebel general under a flag of truce : HEAD-QUARTERS, DISTRICT OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI, CAIRO, November 8, 1861. General commanding forces, Columbus, Ky. SIR : In the skirmish of yesterday, in which both parties behaved with so much gallantry, many unfortunate men were left upon the field of battle, whom it was impossible to provide for. I now send, in the interest of humanity, to have these unfortunates collected and medical attendance secured them. Major "Webster, Chief of Engineers, District Southeast Missouri, goes bearer of this, and will express to you my viewa upon the course that should be pursued under the circumstances, such as those of yesterday. I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, U. S. GRANT, Brig. -Gen. Commanding. To this communication, the commander of the rebel post returned the following answer : HEAD-QUARTERS, FIRST DIVISION, WESTERN DEPARTMENT, COLUMBUS, KY., November 8, 1861. Brigadier-General U. S. GRANT, U. S. A. : I have received your note in regard to your wounded and killed on the battle-field, after yesterday's engagement. The lateness of the hour at which my troops returned to the principal scene of action prevented my bestowing the care upon the wounded which I desired. Such attentions as were practicable were shown them, and measures were taken at an early hour this morning to have them all brought into my hospitals. Provision was also made for taking care of your dead. The permission you desire under your flag of truce to aid in attention to your wounded, is granted with pleasure, under such restrictions as the exigencies of our service may require. In your note you say nothing of an exchange of prisoners, though you send me a private message as to your willingness to release certain wounded men, and some invalids taken from our list of sick in camps, and expect, in return, a corresponding number of your wounded prisoners. My own feelings would prompt me to waive again the unimportant affectation of declining to recognize these States as belligerents, in the interests of humanity ; but my gov- 3* 58 GENERAL GKANT eminent requires all prisoners to be placed at the disposal of the Secre- tary of "War. I have dispatched him to know if the case of the severely wounded held by me will form an exception. I have the honor to be, your obedient servant, L. POLK, Major- General C. S. A. XNT> HIS CAMPAIGNS. 69 CHAPTER VII. DISTRICT OF CAIRO. GRATO> BECONTSTOISSANCE. AFTER General Halleck had assumed the command of the Department of the Missouri, he began to organize the same into proper military districts, so as to allow each dis- trict commander to have full control of the section of country embraced within his lines. On the 20th of December, 1861, General Halleck, appre- ciating the military ability of General Grant, issued an order defining what should constitute the District of Cairo, and extending the command until it became one of the largest divisions in the country. He then appointed General Grant to be chief commander of the same. In accordance with that appointment, General Grant assumed the com- mand of the new district on December 21, 1861, and announced the same in the following order : HEAD-QUARTERS, DISTRICT OP CAIRO, CAIRO, December 21, 1861. [General Order No. 22.] In pursuance of Special Order No. 78, from Head-Quarters. Depart- ment of the Missouri, the name of this Military District will be know as the " District of Cairo," and will include all the southern part of llli nois, that part of Kentucky west of the Cumberland River, and the southern counties of Missouri, south of Cape Girardeau. The force at Shawneetown will be under the immediate command of Colonel T. H. Cavanaugh, Sixth Illinois Cavalry, who wilJ consolidate the reports of his command weekly, and forward to these head- quarters 60 GENERAL GKAiNT All troops that are, or may be, stationed along the banks of the Ohio, on both sides of the river, east of Caledonia, and to the mouth of the Cumberland, will be mcluded in the command, having head-quarters at Paducah, Ky. Brigadier-General E. A. Paine ia assigned to the command of the forces at Bird's Point, Missouri. All supplies of ordnance, Quarter-Master and Commissary stores, will be obtained through the chiefs of each of these departments, at district head-quarters, where not otherwise provided for. For the information of that portion of this command, newly attached, the following list of Staff Officers is published : Captain John A. Rawlins, Assistant Adjutant-General. Captain Clark B. Lagow, Aide-de-Camp. Captain "Wm. S. Hillyer, Aide-de-Camp. Major John Riggin. Jr., Volunteer Aide-de-Camp. Captain R. B. Hatch, Assistant Quarter-Master TJ. S. Volunteers, Chief Quarter-Master. Captain W. W. Leland, A. C. S. U. S. Volunteers, Chief Commissary. Captain "W. F. Brinck, Ordnance Officer. Surgeon James Simons, U. S. A., Medical Director. Assistant Surgeon, J. P. Taggart, U. S. A., Medical Purveyor. Major I. N. Cook, Pay-Master. Colonel J. D. Webster, Chief of Staff, and Chief of Engineers. By order, U. S. GRANT, Brig.- Gen. Commanding. General Grant at once began organizing, under his per- eonal supervision, the new troops added to his command, and as soon as deemed fit for such service, they were sent to the various posts belonging to the district, including Fort Jefferson and Paducah, in Kentucky. By this plan of operation General Grant had all his troops well in hand, and yet so distributed that it was a matter of great diffi- culty, if not an actual impossibility, for the enemy to learn his strength. V)n the 10th of January, the forces under the immediate command of General McClernand, left Cairo in transports, and disembarked at Fort Jefferson. The transports were protected by two gunboats, which were next ordered AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 61 vo lie off the fort. The rebels, with three armed vessels, attacked these gunboats the next morning ; but, after a brisk engagement, had to beat a retreat the Union vessels chasing them until they took refuge under the guns of Columbus. As picket shooting had existed to a fearful extent in the vicinity of Cairo, General Grant, on the llth of January, issued an order, as follows : HEAD-QUARTERS, CAIRO, January 11, 1862. Brigadier-General PAINE, Bird's Point : I understand that four of our pickets were shot this morning. If this is so, and appearances indicate that the assassins were citizens, not regularly organized in the rebel army, the whole country should be cleared out for six miles around, and word given that all citizens, mak- ing their appearance within those limits, are liable to be shot. To execute this, patrols should be sent out in all directions, and bring into camp, at Bird's Point, all citizens, together with their subsistence, and require them to remain, under penalty of death and destruction of their property, until properly relieved. Let no harm befall these people, if they quietly submit; but bring them in and place them in camp below the breastwork, and have them properly guarded. The intention is not to make political prisoners of these people, but to cut off a dangerous class of spies. This applies to all classes and conditions, age and sex. If, however, women and children prefer other protection than we can afford them, they may be allowed to retire beyond the limits indicated not to return until authorized. By order of U. S. GRANT, Brig.- Gen. Commanding. As General Grant states in the above order, it was ne- cessary to keep spies away from his vicinity, as he was then about to start on a perilous expedition. He had already divided his forces into three columns under Generals Paine, McClernand, and C. F. Smith General Grant com- manding the whole expedition in person. 62 GENERAL GRANT Before starting on this adventure, General Grant issued the following order to his troops : HEAD-QUARTERS, DISTRICT OF CAIRO, CAIRO, January 13, 1862. [General Order No. 3.] During the absence of the expedition, now starting upon soil occu- pied almost solely by the rebel army, and when it is a fair inference that every stranger met is an enemy, the following orders will be observed : Troops, on marching, will be kept in the ranks ; company officers being held strictly accountable for all stragglers from their companies. No firing will be allowed in camp or on the march, not strictly required in the performance of duty. While in camp, no privilege will be granted to officers or soldiers to leave their regimental grounds, and all violations of this order must be promptly and summarily punished. Disgrace having been brought upon our brave fellows by the bad conduct of some of their members, showing on all occasions, when marching through territory occupied by sympathizers of the enemy, a total disregard of the rights of citizens, and being guilty of wanton de- struction of private property, the general commanding desires and intends to enforce a change in this respect. The interpreting of confiscation acts by troops themselves has a de- moralizing effect weakens them in exact proportions to the demoraliza- tion, and makes open and armed enemies of many who, from opposite treatment, would become friends, or, at most, non-combatants. It is ordered, therefore, that the severest punishment be inflicted upon every soldier who is guilty of taking, or destroying, private property ; and any commissioned officer, guilty of like conduct, or of countenancing it, shall be deprived of his sword and expelled from the camp, not to be permitted to return. On the march, cavalry advance guards will be thrown out, also flank guards of cavalry or infantry, when practicable. A rear-guard of infantry will be required to see that no teams, baggage, or disabled soldiers are left behind. It will be the duty of company commanders to see that rolls of their company are called immediately upon going into camp each day, and every member accounted for. By order, U. S. GRANT, Brig.- Gen. Commanding. On the morning of Tuesday, January 14, 1862, General McClernand's column moved forward from Fort Jefferson, AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 63 and the columns under Generals Paine and Smiih, at Padu- cah, commenced similar movements. The three columns combined made a force of nineteen regiments of infantry, four regiments of volunteer cavalry, two companies of reg- ular cavalry, and seven batteries of artillery. At the time this expedition commenced its march, the Mississippi River was nearly filled with floating ice, thus making the transportation of troops a serious difficulty Demonstrations were made by General McClernand's column, as if with the intention of attacking Columbus in the rear, by way of Blandville, Ky., while the real object was to concentrate with the troops marching from Padu- cah, Ky. The feint proved successful, and a great alarm was manifested by the rebel forces in Columbus. As General McClernand's column advanced, it was at intervals joined by a regiment from the other columns, and. on the night of January 15th, his force encamped in line of battle ten miles to the rear of Columbus, threatening that post by two roads. Here General Grant, who had been with the column from Paducah, came up with this part of the expedition, and personally superintended the disposition of the troops. The first division was next morning marched to Milburn, apparently en route for Mayfield ; but instead of following that path, the troops, after passing through Milburn, turned aorthward, so as to communicate with the force from ?aducah; and, on the 17th, were within eight miles of Lovelaceville. They then turned westward, and, on the nights of the 18th and 19th, encamped about a mile from Blandville. On January 20th, the column returned to Fort Jefferson. During the interval between the 14th and 20th of January, the infantry of this column marched over seventy-five miles, and the cavalry about one hundred and forty miles, over icy and miry roads, and during a most 64 GENERAL GRAXT inclement season. This march was a very heavy one for troops who had never before been in the field. The reconnoissance developed the fact, that the rebel army was not in large force west of the Paducah and Mayfield rail- road, except, perhaps, in the rebel works at Columbus, and led to the discovery of valuable side-roads, not laid down in any map of that time. It also showed that Columbus was far from being as strong as was supposed, and that it could be attacked in the rear by several different roads, along which large forces of troops could be moved. As soon as General Grant had communicated with General McClernand, at his encampment, on the night of the 15th, and had received his report, he at once discovered the mere shell of rebel defence which held that part of the State of Kentucky, and allowing General McClernand's column to keep up the appearance of an advance, he with- drew the other two columns to Cairo. He had, in fact, accomplished and ascertained all that he had desired when he first moved. During the fall and winter of 1861, several gunboats had been ordered to be constructed on the Mississippi River, above Cairo, and by this time the majority of them were completed. In order to obtain sailors to man these gun- boats, General Grant issued the following important order : HEAD- QUARTERS, DISTRICT OP CAIRO, CAIRO, January 20, 1862. CIRCULAR. Commanders of Regiments will report to these nead-quarters, without uelay, the number of river and seafaring men of their respective com- mands, who are willing to be transferred from the military to the gun- boat service. Seeing tlie importance of fitting out our gunboats as speedily as possible, it is hoped there will be no delay or objections raised by company or regimental commanders in responding to this call. Men thus volunteering will be discharged at the end of one year, or at the end of the war, should it terminate sooner. By order, U. S. GRANT, Brig.-G&ti. Commanding. AXD HIS CAMPAIGNS. 65 A few days afterwards, General McClernand's forces were withdrawn from Kentucky, and again rendezvoused at Cairo, the commander being placed in temporary charge of the District during: the necessary absence of General Grant. 66 GENERAL GRAHT FORTS HENRY AND DONELSON. A FEW days soon developed the whole object of the movement made by General Grant's forces in the western part of the State of Kentucky. It must also not be for- gotten, that his troops still held the posts at Paducah and Smithland, at the mouth of the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers. By keeping up a false show of an advance upon the fear of Columbus, which had several times been attacked in the front by armed vessels, the rebels were led to believe that post to be in actual danger, and consequently concentrated all their available forces in that vicinity. In the mean time, General Grant was preparing for an advance into the State of Kentucky, by an entirely dif- ferent route, and, to have his forces well in hand, he issued the following order brigading the same : HEAD-QUARTERS, DISTRICT OF CAIRO, CAIRO, February 1, 1862. [General Order No 5.] For temporary government, the forces of this military district will be divided and commanded as follows, to wit : The First Brigade will consist of the Eighth, Eighteenth, Twenty- seventh, Twenty -ninth, Thirtieth, and Thirty-first Regiments of Illinois Volunteers, Schwartz's and Dresser's batteries, and Stewart's, Dollin's, O'Harnett's, and Carmichael's cavalry. Colonel II. J. Oglesby, senior colonel of the brigade, commanding. The Second Brigade will consist of the Eleventh, Twentieth, Forty- fifth, and Forty-eighth Illinois Infantry, Fourth Illinois Cavalry, Taylor's and McAllister's Artillery. (The latter with four siege-guns.) Colonel W. H. L. Wallace commanding. The First and Second Brigades will constitute the First Division of the AJSTD HIS CAMPAIGNS. 67 District of Cairo, and will be commanded by Brigadier-General John A. McClernaud. The Third Brigade will consist of the Eighth Wisconsin, Forty-ninth Illinois, Twenty-fifth Indiana, four companies of artillery, and such troops as are yet to arrive. Brigadier-General E. A. Paine commanding. The Fourth Brigade will be composed of the Tenth, Sixteenth, Twenty- second, and Thirty-third Illinois, and the Tenth Iowa Infantry ; Hou- taling's battery of Light Artillery, four companies of the Seventh and two companies of the First Illinois Cavalry. Colonel Morgan com- manding. General E. A. Paine is assigned to the command of Cairo and Mound City, and Colonel Morgan to the command at Bird's Point. By order of U. S. GRANT, Brig.- Gen. Commanding. JOHN A. RAWLINS, A. A.-G. A subsequent order placed General E. A. Paine in com- mand at Cairo. This order having been publicly announced, if it, even fell into the hands of the rebels and there was but little doubt that such would be the case would give them the idea that the above were all the troops that comprised the forces under General Grant ; whereas the divisions then organizing under Generals C. F. Smith and Lewis Wallace, at the posts of Paducah and Smithland, are not mentioned at all. General Grant, having secured his base, left Cairo on the night of February 2d, and, with Generals McClernand and Smith's Divisions, soon after began moving from Paducah upon Fort Henry, a defensive work erected near the border- line of the States of Kentucky and Tennessee, on the east side of the Tennessee River, so as to command the stream at that point. The gunboats had also advanced up that river from the Ohio, and at about half-past eleven o'clock, on the morning of February 6, 1862, opened fire upon the works. After about two hours and a quarter's engagement, the rebels, finding their retreat cut off by the Union troops in the rear, lowered their flag, and the work and garrison 08 GENEBAL GRANT surrendered before the military forces were called into action. General Grant, however, arrived at the fort with- in an hour after it had capitulated, when Commodore Foote gave up the post and his prisoners into the hands of the military.* General Grant, as a conqueror, possessed the virtue and true nobleness or character which plainly set forth the imprint of the hero. The captured General Tighlman thus speaks of him in his report to the rebel authorities : FORT HENRY, February 9, 1862. Colonel "W. "W. MACKALL, A. A.- General, C. S. A., Bowling Green: SIR : Through the courtesy of Brigadier-General U. S. GRANT, com- manding Federal forces, I am permitted to communicate with you in relation to the result of the action between the fort under my command at this place, and the Federal gunboats, on yesterday. At eleven o'clock and forty minutes, on yesterday morning, the enemy engaged the fort with seven gunboats, mounting fifty-four guns. I prompt ly returned their fire, with the eleven guns from Fort Henry bearing on the river. The action was maintained with great bravery by the force under my command until ten minutes before two p. if., at which time I had but four guns fit for service. At five minutes before two, finding it impossible to maintain the fort, and wishing to spare the lives of the gallant men under my command, and on consultation with my officers, I surrendered the fort. Our casualties are small. The effect of our shot was severely felt by the enemy, whose superior and overwhelming force alone gave them the advantage. The surrender of Fort Henry involves that of Captain Taylor, Lieu- tenant "Watts, Lieutenant "Weller, and one other officer of artillery ; Cap- tains Hayden and Miller, of the engineers ; Captains H. L. Jones and McLaughlin, Quartermaster's Department; A. A.-General McConnico and myself, with some fifty privates and twenty sick, together with all the munitions of war in and about the fort. I communicate this result with deep regret, but feel that I performed ray whole duty in the defence of my post. * It will be seen by reference to General Grant's report and order for battle, that the disposition of the troops was perfectly satisfac- tory, and must have secured a victory, even if the gunboats had not accom- plished that object AXD HIS CAMPAIGNS. 69 T take occasion to bear testimony to the gallantry of the officers and men under my command. They maintained their position with consum- mate bravery, as long as there was any hope of success. I also take great pleasure in acknowledging the courtesies and consideration shown by Briga- dier-General U. S. Grant and Commodore Foote, and the officers under their command. I have the honor to remain, very respectfully, Your obedient servant, LLOYD TIGHLMAN, Brig.- Gen. C. S. A. The reduction of Fort Henry was but a portion of the grand work that was to be accomplished ; therefore, Gene- ral Grant had no time to waste in sitting and contempla- ting the result of his movements, even if he had so wished. He at once ordered all available troops in his district to be sent to his command, and on the morning of the llth of February, re-enforcements left Cairo, under orders to join him on the strip of Kentucky land which lies between the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers. Having properly disposed of these troops, in brigades and divisions, he placed the latter under the command of the following generals : First Division, Acting Major-General J. A. McClernand. Second Division, Acting Major-General C. P. Smith. Third Division, Acting Major-General Lewis Wallace. The last-mentioned division assembled at Smithland, and moved from that place towards the objective point. On the evening of February llth, General Grant issued the following important order : HEAD-QUARTERS, DISTRICT OF CAIRO, FORT HENRY, TKNN., Feb. 11, 1862. [General Field Orders, No. 12.] The troops designated in General Field Orders Xo. 9 will move to- morrow, as speedily as possible, in the following order: One brigade of the First Division will move by the Telegraph road di- rectly upon Fort Donelson, halting for further orders at a distance of two 70 GENEBAL GRANT miles from the fort. The other brigades of the First Division will move by the Dover Ridge road, and halt at the same distance from the fort, and throw out troops so as to form a continuous line between the two wings. The two brigades of the Second Division, now at Fort Henry, will follow as rapidly as practicable, by the Dover road, and will be followed by the troops from Fort Heiman, as fast as they can be ferried across the river. One brigade of the Second Division should be thrown into Dover to cut off oil retreat by the river, if found practicable to do so. The force of the enemy being so variously reported, it is impossible to give exact details of attack ; but the necessary orders will be given on the field. By order of Brig.-Gen. U. S. GBANT, Commanding. JOHN A. RAWIINS A. A.-G. In accordance with the above order, the troops moved from Fort Henry on the morning of February 12, and being well started, were soon followed by General Grant and stalf. The troops moved rapidly, and by noon the ad- vance of the First Division came upon the rebel outposts and drove in the pickets. General Grant soon got his troops into line of battle, and, to prevent the enemy from holding the high ground, ordered the hills to be occupied by our forces. The movement was made in line of battle order, and gallantly executed the men pushing forward with even front through brush, over brooks and fences, until the desired point had been reached speaking volumes for their drill and discipline. Reconnoitring forces were sent out and slight skirmish- ing ensued ; but after the woods had been thoroughly scoured, it was soon ascertained that all the enemy's main forces wer,e in General Grant's front. The proper dispositions were made of the troops ; the First Division forming the right of the extended line, the extreme right resting on Dover, while the Second Division CONFLICT A hGHTTBETWCEN SHARP SHOOTEHS&REB r PLAN OF FORT DONELSON. AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 71 occupied the left, its extreme extending to a creek on the north of the fort. In this order they passed the night, without any disturbance worthy of mention. On the morning of the 13th of February, the gunboat Caron-delet, under the direction of General Grant, approach- ed the fort by the Cumberland River, and an engagement, which lasted two hours, ensued, when the boat was with- drawn. The object of this attack was to give time for the other gunboats and the troops belonging to the Third Division to arrive by way of the river. The gunboats and troops having joined General Grant, preparations were made to attack the rebel works by a concerted action of both the military and naval forces. At two o'clock on February 14th, the gunboats moved up the river and received the fire of the batteries. The water battery was silenced and the gunners driven from their position ; but the plunging shots from the upper batteries having crippled the flag-ship, by shattering her wheel and pilot-house, and otherwise injuring the other vessels, Com- modore Foote ordered a withdrawal from the action. And thus ended the contest on the 14th. General Grant now determined to thoroughly invest the fort, and either reduce it by siege, or wait until the gun- boats could be repaired. A change, for that purpose, was therefore made in the disposition of the troops. A sortie of the enemy the next morning, however, caused General Grant somewhat to alter his plans of operation. On the morning of the loth, a heavy body of rebel troops attacked the extreme right of General Grant's line. The suddenness of the attack, as well as the overpowering numbers of the enemy on that particular portion of the tine, caused the Union troops to give way, after a very Btubborn resistance, and the rebels captured two batteries of artillery. Re-enforcements were soon sent up by the 72 GENERAL GRANT general in command, and after a desperate struggle, in which ' oth armies displayed great bravery and endurance, all the captured guns but three were retaken. The rebels were then also re-enforced, and made a renewed and violent attack upon the wearied troops, who were again compelled to give way. On rushed the enemy, with fright- ful yells, flanking the Union forces, with every prospect of final success. Other Union regiments were then brought into action ; but, by mistake, they took their friends for the enemy, and caused some serious loss in one of tho wearied regiments, thus increasing the confusion. An- other Union brigade was brought into action, with similar results ; but the rebels had so concentrated their forces that the new arrivals also had to fall back. On another part of the line, in obedience to General Grant's orders, the Union troops had driven back the enemy with great gallantry ; but, in spite of this success, the day appeared to be lost ; and, although to ordinary ob- servers the prospect was dreary, General Grant seemed to perceive a most encouraging future. The reports of the various commanders were handed in to him at his head-quarters, and on comparing them he said to one of his staff: " Good ! we have them now exactly where we want them." General Grant then ordered General C. F. Smith to make a strong assault on the left of the line, and to carry the position, no matter at what sacrifice. He also directed certain movements on the right, with the in- tention of not only recovering the lost ground, but also to gain a solid position in front of the enemy's works. General Smith carried out his orders with praiseworthy gallantry, and the position was gained, after a very despe rate struggle. The column of attack moved forward with- out firing a gun, charged desperately upon the works, and drove the rebels out of them at the point of the bayonet. AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 73 It was a brave assault, and reflects honor on every man engaged in it. The position was occupied, and the flag of the United States waved over the works ; but the loss with which it was purchased was enormous. The success, however, which attended the assault, inspired the troops with both hope and courage, and all along the lines rang the wildest shouts of enthusiasm. The heights were all carried by storm; and when the day ended, notwithstanding the disas- ters that had attended the contest in the morning, the Union army held a better position than they had ever had before. The soldiers again slept on their arms, with the intention of renewing the attack at daybreak; but the morning sun found a flag of truce waving over the enemy's works. The rebels wished to treat for a surrender. The following correspondence then passed between the commanding generals of the contending armies : CENERAL BUCKNER TO GENERAL GRANT. HEAD-QUARTERS, FORT DONELSON, February 16, 1862. SIR: In consideration of all the circumstances governing the present situation of affairs at this station, I propose to the commanding officer of the Federal forces the appointment of commissioners to agree upon terms of capitulation of the forces and fort under my command, and in that view suggest an armistice until twelve o'clock to-day. I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, S. B. BUCKNER, Brig. -Gen. C. S. A. To Brigadier-General GRANT, commanding the United States forest near Fort Donelson To the bearer of this dispatch General Buckner gave the following orders : HEAD-QUARTERS, FORT DONELSON, February 16, 1862. Major Cashy will take or send by an officer, to the nearest picket oi the enemy, tho accompanying communication to General Grant, and re- 4 74 GENERAL GRANT quest information of the point where future communication may reach him ; also inform him that my head-quarters will be, for the present, in Dover. S. B. BUCKNER, Brigadier- General. Have the white flag hoisted on Fort Donelson, not on the battery. S. B. BUCKNER, Brigadier- General. The communication reached General Grant in due course of time ; but it did not take him long to make up his mind as to his reply. In a few minutes, the following document was placed in the hands of the bearer of General Buckner's message : HEAD-QUARTERS. ARMY IN THE FIELD, CAMP NEAR DONELSON, Feb. 16, 1862. To General S. B. BUJCKNER, Confederate Army : Tours of this date, proposing an armistice and appointment of com- missioners to settle terms of capitulation, is just received. No terms other than an unconditional and immediate surrender can be accepted propose to move immediately upon your works. I am, sir, very respectfully your obedient servant, U. S. GRANT, Brig.- Gen. U. S. A., Commanding. The reply was far from a pleasing one to the rebel com- mander ; but, on looking around his position, he found he could not stand another assault, and his followers were anxious for a cessation of the strife. He therefore sent the following acceptation of General Grant's terms of capitulation : HEAD-QUARTERS, DOVER, TENNESSEE, February 16, 1862. To Brigadier-General U. S. GRANT, U. S. A. : SIR: The distribution of the forces under my command, incident to an unexpected change of commanders, and the overwhelming force under your command, compel me, notwithstanding the brilliant success of the Confederate arms yesterday, to accept the ungenerous and unchivalroua terms which you propose. I am, sir, your very obedient servant, S. B. BUCKNER, Brig. -Gen. 0. S. A, AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 75 And thus fell into the hands of General Grant and his array, the whole of the forces that garrisoned the works of Forts Henry and Donelson, with the exception of one small brigade of rebel troops, which escaped during the night with Generals Floyd and Pillow. The troops under the former general were stationed in the extreme rear of the works ; and when it was ascertained that the day was certainly lost, the two generals, with this brigade, left General Buckner to please himself, as to whether he would run, fight, or surrender. The rebel loss in the surrender of Fort Henry, was the commander, General Tighlman, his staff, and about sixty men, the rest of the garrison having moved to support the troops at Fort Donelson. At Fort Donelson the rebels lost General Buckner, over thirteen thousand prisoners, three thousand horses, forty-eight field-pieces, seventeen heavy guns, twenty thousand stand of arms, and a large quantity of commissary stores. The rebels killed in the last engagement were 231, and wounded, 1,007, some of whom were prisoners. The Union loss was 446 killed, 1,735 wounded, and 150 prisoners. The Union troops having to fight in an open field, against the works of the rebels, ac- counts for the disparity of numbers in killed and wounded. Two regiments of rebel Tennesseeans, who had been or- dered to re-enforce the garrison at Fort Donelson, marched into that work on the day after the capitulation, being un- aware of its capture. They went along with their colors flying and their bands playing, and were allowed to enter the camp without any warning as to the character and nationality of those who held it in possession. The whole force (1,475 men and officers) were at once captured. The result of thi fi&rupaisrn was far more valuable than 76 GEXEKAL GRANT would at the first sight appear. The rebel line, at this par- ticular part of the country, may be said to have extended from Columbus to Bowling Green, Ky., a distance of one hundred and twenty miles, with the extreme points of each wing resting on those two places, which had been strongly fortified. The reduction of Forts Henry and Donelson, and the opening of the rivers at this point broke the cen- tre or backbone of this whole line, and, as a natural se quence, the wings had to fall. In a few days after, both Bowling Green and Columbus were in the possession of the Union troops, the rebels having evacuated those de- fences. When the victory was telegraphed to Washington,* the following words were added to the dispatch : " The United States flag now waves over Tennessee. It shall never be removed." * The following was the report of Gen. Cullum : CAIRO, February 17, 1862. To Major-General McCLELLAN : The Union flag floats over Fort Donelson. The Carondelet, Capt. "Walke, brings the glorious intelligence. The fort surrendered at nine o'clock yesterday (Sunday) morning. Gen. Buckner and about fifteen thousand prisoners, and a large amount of materiel of war, are the trophies of the victory. Loss heavy on both sides. Floyd, the thief, stole away during the night previous, with five thou- sand men, and is denounced by the rebels as a traitor. L am happy to inform you, that Flag-Officer Foote, though suffering with his foot, with the noble characteristic of our navy, notwithstanding his disability, will take up immediately two gun-boats, and with the eight mortar-boats, which he will overtake, will make an immediate attack on Clarksville. if the state of the weather will permit. We are now firing a national sa- lute from Fort Cairo, General Grant's late post, in honor of the glorious achievement [Signed] . GEO. "W. CULLTTM, Brig.- Gen. Vols. and U. S. A. and Chief of Staff and Engineers. AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 77 For this victorious campaign General Grant was at once nominated for, and received the confirmation of the appoint- ment of major-general of volunteers, to date from- the day of the surrender of Fort Donelson, February 16, 1862. The following is a very amusing incident connected with General Grant's victory on the rivers Tennessee and Cum- berland : Several rumors had appeared in the newspaper press, and had otherwise been publicly proclaimed, that General Grant was in the habit of getting intoxicated. This idea may have arisen from his slovenly mode of attiring himself, or from some other equally unreliable cause. The friends of the Illinois troops under General Grant's command, being anxious for their safety, selected a delegation to visit General Halleck, and have Grant removed. *' You see, General," said the spokesman, " we have a number of Illinois volunteers under General Grant, and it is not safe that their lives should be intrusted to the care of a man who so constantly indulges in intoxicating liquors. Who knows what blunders he may commit ?" " Well, gentlemen," said General Halleck, " I am satisfied with General Grant, and I have no doubt you also soon will be." While the deputation were staying at the hotel, the news arrived of the capture of Fort Donelson and thirteen thou- sand prisoners. General Halleck posted the intelligence himself on the hotel bulletin, and as he did so he remarked, loud enough for all to hear : " If General Grant is such a drunkard as he is reported to be, and can win such victories as these, I think it is my duty to issue an order that any man found sober ic St. Louis to-night shall be punished with fine and imprison- ment." The people of St. Louis took the hint, and nearly all, that 78 GENERAL GRANT night, entered into the spirit of jollification. The tempe- rance delegation from Illinois were not behind their neigh- bors in celebrating the occasion, and with whiskey too.* * It is scarcely necessary to contradict a charge of drunkenness made against so successful a general as Grant ; but it may not be out of place to quote the following extract from a private letter from one of hia staff officers to a friend in New York: " I have seen it stated in the public prints that General Grant is a drunkard. I have seen him in every phase of his military life, and I can assert that the accusation is false. I have been in the same tent with him at all hours of the day and night, and I never knew him to be under the influence of liquor, or any thing even approaching to it. I do not know what his former life may have been, but I do know that now he is a temperate man." AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 79 CHAPTER IX. DISTBICT OF WEST TENNESSEE. THE operations of the early part of February, 1862, had brought General Grant and his army into the State of Ten- nessee, and to enable him to act with promptitude and suc- cess, it became necessary to increase his line of operations. Therefore, on the 14th day of February, General Halleck issued an order creating the new district of West Tennessee, to embrace all the countrv between the Tennessee and Mississippi Rivers, to the Mississippi State line, and Cairo, making the head-quarters temporarily at Fort Donelson, or wherever the general might be. The first order issued by General Grant, after the as- sumption of the command of that district, was a con- gratulatory order to his troops on their late victory. The order was worded as follows : HEAD-QUARTERS, DISTRICT OP WEST TENNESSEE, FORT DONELSON, February 17, 1862. [General Order No. 2.] The general commanding takes great pleasure in congratulating the troops of this command for the triumph over rebellion, gained by their valor, on the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth instant. For four successive nights, without shelter, during the most inclement weather known in this latitude, they faced an enemy in large force, in a position chosen by himself. Though strongly fortified by nature, all the additional safeguards suggested by science were added. Without a murmur this was borne, prepared at all times to receive an attack, and, with continuous skirmishing by day, resulting ultimately in forcing the enemy to surrender without conditions. 60 GENEBAL GBANT The victory achieved is not only great in the effect it will have in breaking down rebellion, but has secured the greatest number of prison- ers of war ever taken in any battle on this continent. Fort Donelson will hereafter be marked hi capitals on the map of our United Country, and the men who fought the battle will live in the memory of a grateful people. By order, U. S. GRANT, Brig. -Gen. Commanding. Although one of the principal objects of the campaign the reopening of the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers had been accomplished, General Grant did not allow his forces to remain long idle. After Fort Donelson had been reduced, the gunboats, under Commodore Foote, were pushed up the Cumberland River, while, at the same time, a co-operating land force, consisting of a division of Gen- eral Grant's army, marched along the western bank. On the 20th of February, the town of Clarksville was taken, without a fight; and at this depot were found supplies enough for subsisting General Grant's army for twenty days. The place was at once garrisoned and held, while the gunboats moved still further up the river, to open the way for the army of the Ohio to occupy Nashville. The Union army had by this time advanced some dis- tance into the territory of the rebels; and it became neces- sary, in order to protect the morale as well as the persons of those composing that army, that a most rigid discipline should be exacted, and a searching law imposed upon all, both friend and foe. General Grant, therefore, appended to his army orders of February 22d, the following: HEAD-QUARTERS, DISTRICT OP WEST TENNESSEE, FORT DONELSON, Tenn., Feb. 22, 1862. {General Orders, No. 7.] [Extract.] Tennessee, by her rebellion, having ignored all laws of the United States, no courts will be allowed to act under State authority ; but al] AXD HIS CAMPAIGNS. 81 oases coming within the reach of the military arm, will be adjudicated by the authorities the government has established within the State. Martial law is, therefore, declared to extend over West Tennessee. Whenever a sufficient number of citizens return to their allegiance to maintain law and order over the territory, the military restriction here indicated will be removed. By order of Major-General U. S. GRANT. J. A. RAWLINS, A. A. G. In addition to the above, General Grant also caused the following order from the head of the department, to be read at dress parade : HEAD-QUARTERS, DISTRICT OF WEST TENNESSEE, February, 1862. The following order from the commander of the department is pub- lished for the information of this command : HE AD- QUARTERS, DEPARTMENT OF MISSOURI, ST. Louis, February 23. The major-general commanding this department desires to impress upon all officers the importance of preserving good order and discipline among these troops and the armies of the West, during their advance into Tennessee and the Southern States. Let us show to our fellow-citizens of these States, that we come merely to crush out this rebellion, and to restore to them peace and the benefits of the Constitution and the Union, of which they have been deprived by selfish and unprincipled leaders. They have been told that we come to oppress and plunder. By our acts we will undeceive them. We will prove to them that we come to restore, not violate, the Constitution and the laws. In restoring to them the glorious flag of the Union, we will assure them that they shall enjoy, under its folds, the same protection of life and property as in former days. Soldiers ! Let no eoccesses on your part tarnish the glory of our arms I The orders heretofore issued from this department in regard to pillaging, marauding, ard the destruction of private property, and the stealing and concealment 01 slaves, must be strictly enforced. It does not belong to the military to decide upon the relation of master and slave. Such questions must be settled by the civil courts. Xo fugitive slave will, therefore, be admitted within our lines or camps, except when especially ordered by the general commanding. Women and children, mcrchanta, 4* 82 GENERAL GRANT farmers, and all persons not in arms, are to be regarded as non-combatants, and are not to be molested, either in their persons or property. If, however, they assist and aid the enemy, they become belligerents, and will be treated as such. As they violate the laws of war, they will be made to suffer the penalties- of such violation. Military stores and public property of the enemy must be surrendered ; and any attempt to conceal such property by fraudulent transfer or other- wise will be punished. But no private property will be touched, unless by order of the general commanding. Whenever it becomes necessary, forced contributions for supplies and subsistence for our troops will be made. Such levies will be made as light as possible, and be so distributed as to produce no distress among the people. All property so taken must be receipted fully and accepted for as heretofore directed. These orders will be read at the head of every regiment, and all officers are commanded strictly to enforce them. By command of Major-General HALLECK "W. H. MCLEAN, Adjutant- General. By order of Major-General U. S. GRANT. J. A. RAWLINS, A. A. G. It will thus be seen, that, although strict martial law was to be exacted, and every effort made to crush the rebellion, still non-combatants were to be respected in their persons and property. After Nashville had been occupied, the gunboats were taken down the Cumberland River for further operations ; and, among others, a reconnoissance was made up the Ten- nessee River, as far as the northern State lines of Missis- sippi and Alabama. It was ascertained by the officers of the fleet, that along the banks of this river the Union fuel ing was strongly manifested, and that the gunboats were welcomed with enthusiasm. It was also discovered that no large rebel force was concentrated near the river itself, and that a base of operations might be established near the borders of the southern Tennessee State line. In conse- cfuence of this discovery, General Grant removed his head- quarters to Fort Henry, on the Tennessee River, where AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 83 he began fitting out his expedition for operations at a dis- tance of about one hundred miles further up that stream. About this time another very strong effort was made, by General Grant's detractors, to get him removed, and it was ev n n reported that he had been deprived of his command. Suusequent events explained the origin of the rumcr, in the fact that General C. F. Smith had been placed in com- mand of the troops in the field, while General Grant was still kept at Fort Henry, organizing and fitting out the forces with which he was about to operate. The advance troops were sent by transports up the Tennessee River, to Savan- nah, Tennessee, and while en route, and even after disem- barking, General Smith held the command until the arrival of General Grant at that place.* On the llth of March, 1862, General Grant, while at Fort Henry, was presented with a handsome sword, by the regimental commanding officers. The handle of the sword was made of ivory, mounted with gold, and the blade was of the finest tempered steel. Two scabbards were attach- ed to the sword, the service one being of fine gilt, while the parade scabbard was of rich gilt, mounted at the band. The sword was enclosed in a fine rosewood case, and ac * The Florence (Ala.) Gazette, of March 12, 1862, had the following very significant article : " "We learned yesterday that the Unionists had landed a very large force at Savannah, Tenn. We suppose they are making preparations to get possession of the Memphis and Charleston Railroad. They must never be allowed to get this great thoroughfare in their possession, for then ive would indeed be crippled. The labor and untiring industry of too many faithful and energetic men have been expended on this road to bring it up to its present state of usefulness, to let it fall into the hands of the enemy to be used against us. It must be protected. We. as a peo- ple, are able to protect and save it. If unavoidable, let them have our river; but we hope it is the united sentiment of our people, that we will have our railroad." b4 GENEBAL GEAKT companied by a suitable sash and belt. The inscription on the sword was very simple, being merely : " Presented to General U. S. Grant, by G. W. Graham, C. B. Lagow, 0. C. Marsh, and John Cook, 1862." While the Tennessee operations were thus being carried out, General Grant was not unmindful of the fact that he had the enemy's forces scattered about at posts nearer home. He, therefore, sent expeditions and reconnoitring parties in all directions ; and on the 12th of March, 1862, oue por- tion of his forces, consisting of artillery and cavalry, at- tacked the enemy's works which were located at a point about a mile and a half west of Paris, and commanding the various roads leading to that place. The rebels were driven out, with a loss of about one hundred killed, wounded, aud prisoners, and the Union forces occupied the works. As the tendency of the movements of the different ar- mies of the West was towards the mouth of the Mississippi River and the Gulf, it became necessary that one chief should have the direction of the whole, so as to cause the combinations to take place at the proper time. Such being the case, a new department was created, to be known as the " Department of the Mississippi," which embraced all the country west of a line drawn north and south through Knoxville, as far as Kansas and the Indian Territory, and running north to the lakes. Of this large department General Grant commanded a very important district. The enemy also began concentrating a large force in the Southwest, under General Albert Sydney Johnston, and of this force, General P. G. T. Beauregard commanded the troops which constituted the rebel army of the valley of the Mississippi. The head-quarters of this army were loca- ted at Corinth, Mississippi, with the intention of holding the line of the Memphis and Charleston Railroad ; of pre- HIS CAMPAIGNS. 85 renting any advance of the Union forces below the line of the Tennessee River ; and, also, for the purpose of having a force ready to move into Kentucky and across the Ohio River, if an opportunity should occur for so doing. The Mississippi River was also blockaded, by fortified positions, at Island No. 10, and other points above Memphis, and at Vicksburg, New Orleans, etc., below that city. It was, therefore, considered certain by the rebels, that Corinth could not be attacked by the way of the Mississippi, and they determined to mass their forces to resist the advance of Grant's army from the Tennessee River. As the remainder of the troops under General Grant passed up the river, they encamped at Savannah and Pitts- burg Landing, which positions were at a distance of about twenty miles from the rebel stronghold at Corinth. On the 15th of March, 1862, the troops belonging to the Third Division of Grant's army advanced from Savannah, Tennessee, into McNairy County, and struck the line of the Jackson (Tenn.) and Corinth Railroad, at Purdy, where they burned the railroad bridge, and tore up the track for a long distance. This movement prevented a train, heavily laden with rebel troops, from passing over that line from Jackson, the cars arriving shortly after the bridge was de- stroyed. As the rebels held the road between Jackson and Grand Junction, thence to Corinth, the concentration of the rebel army was not prevented, but only delayed, by the destruction of this part of the line. 86 GENERAL GRANT CHAPTER X. prrrsBURG LANDING, OR SHILOH. THE rebel forces which had concentrated at Corinth, about the 1st of April, 1862, were supposed to number, at least, forty-five thousand men, under General A. S. Johns- ton, commanding department ; General P. G. T. Beauregard, commanding army at Corinth ; and Generals Bragg, Har- dee, Breckinridge, and Polk, in command of divisions. It was also expected, by General Johnston, that the forces under Generals Van Dorn and Price would have reached them within a few days, which re-enforcement would have swollen his numbers to at least seventy thousand. General Grant's forces had, by this time, been nearly all brought together at Pittsburg Landing, Savannah, and other places within reach, the cavalry pickets occupying the outposts of the army. On the evening of April 2, 1862, the Union videttes of the Third Division, who had been stationed at Crump's Landing, were driven in, and a sharp skirmish, ensued, dur- ing which several were wounded and a'few taken prisoners. The next day, April 3d, the rebel commanding general is&ued the following order : SOUHERS OF THE ARMY OF THE MISSISSIPPI: I have put you in motion to offer battle to the invaders of your country, with the resolution and discipline and valor becoming men, fighting, as you are, for all worth living or dying for. Tou can but march to a decisive victory over agrarian mercenaries, sent to subjugate and despoil you of your liberties, property, and honor. L_ AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 87 Remember the precious stake involved ; remember the dependence of your mothers, your wives, your sisters, and your children, on the result. Remember the fair, broad, abounding lands, the happy homes, that will be desolated by your defeat. The eyes and hopes of eight million people rest upon you. You are expected to show yourselves worthy of T cmr valor and courage, worthy of the women of the South, whose noble devotion in this war, has never been exceeded in any time. With such incentives to brave deeds, and with trust that God is with us, your general will lead you confidently to the combat, assured of success. By order of General A. S. JOHNSTON, Commanding. The rebel army of the Mississippi was then divided into three army corps, and was commanded as follows : Commanding- General, General Albert Sydney Johnston. Second in Command, General P. G. T. Beauregard. First Army Corps, Lieutenant-General L. Polk. Second Army Corps, Lieutenant-General Braxton Bragg. Third Army Corps Lieutenant-General W. J. Hardee. Reserves, Major-General G. B. Crittenden. Against this force, Major-General Grant had but a small army in comparison, consisting of five divisions. The or- ganization of this army was as follows : Commanding-General, Major-General U. S. Grant. First Division, Major-General J. A. McClernand. Second Division, Brigadier-General "W. H. L. "Wallace. Third Division, Major-General Lewis "Wallace. Fourth Division, Brigadier-General S. A. Hurlburt. Fifth Division, Brigadier-General "W. T. Sherman. On the evening of April 4th, the rebels made a recon- noissance with two regiments, and found the Union troops ready to receive them. A very slight skirmish ensued, after which the rebels retired, as they did not wish to bring on a general engagement, for the simple reason that the expected forces under Van Dora and Price, had not arrived. At the same time that the " Battle of Shiloh" or Pitts- burg Landing, was opened by the main body of the rebels, 88 GENERAL GRANT a force of rebel cavalry made a dash upon the position held by the Third Division of Grant's army, at Adamsville, a vil- lage situated at about halfway between Savannah and Purdy. This dash was made to prevent General Wallace from rendering any assistance to General Grant's forces at Pittsburg Landing. Having thus glanced at the position of affairs previous to the opening of the battle of Shiloh, it will plainly be seen that the rebels held a great advantage over the Unionists, even without the assistance of Van Dorn and Price. Johnston and Beauregard had resolved to attack Grant before Buell should join him, for those rebel generals were perfectly aware that Buell was advancing from Nashville for that purpose. The rebel commanders had set apart April 5th, for the day of attack ; but in consequence of the non-arri- val of Price and Van Dorn's forces, they had resolved to wait one day longer. This gave General Buell further time to reach Grant ; and, doubtless, saved the country from an irretrievable disaster, which must have been the result, had the re-enforcements not arrived, in spite of all General Grant could have done. A decisive defeat here would have been a crushing blow to the success of the Union, and would have been a sad reward to General Grant for the b'ravery manifested by him on the field. At an early hour on Sunday morning, April 6, 1862, the Union pickets were driven in, and the rebel sharpshoot- ers began picking off the officers. At about eight o'clock in the morning, heavy masses of rebel infantry were to be seen advancing on the front, and the Union troops were ready to receive them. There was no surprise; but a steady advance of men in overwhelming numbers, and with an apparent determination to attack with the greatest des- peration. The Union troops fought well, and fell back foot by foot, until they reached the river. They were closely fol-. AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 89 lowed in their retreat by the rebel forces, who seemed to gather more energy and desperation when they found the Union troops were falling back. The following account from an eye-witness, being the first published of this terrific battle, will be found of great interest, inasmuch as it was the most complete, as well as the first, epitome of the contest, that found its way into print: THE FIRST DAY'S STRUGGLE. PITTSBURG, via Fort Henry, April 9th, 3.20 A. M. One of the greatest and bloodiest battles of modern days has just closed, resulting in the complete rout of the enemy, who attacked us at daybreak Sunday morning. The battle lasted, without intermission, during the entire day, and was again renewed on Monday morning, and continued undecided until four o'clock in the afternoon, when the enemy commenced their retreat, and are still flying towards Corinth, pursued by a large force of our cavalry. The slaughter on both sides is immense. We have lost in killed, wounded, and missing, from eighteen to twenty thousand ; that of the enemy is estimated at from thirty-five to forty thousand. It is impossible, in the present confused state of affairs, to ascertain any of the details ; I, therefore, give you the best account possible from observation, having passed through the storm of action during the two days that it raged. The fight was brought on by a body of three hundred of the Twenty- fifth Missouri Regiment, of General Prentiss's Division, attacking the advance guard of the rebels, which were supposed to be the pickets of the enemy in front of our camps. The rebels immediately advanced on General Prentiss's Division on the left wing, pouring volley after volley of musketry, and riddling our camps with grape, canister, and shell. Our forces soon formed into line and returned their fire vigorously. By the time we were prepared to receive them, the rebels had turned their heaviest fire on the left cen- tre, Sherman's Division, and drove our men back from their camps; then, bringing up a fresh force, opened fire on our left wing, under General McClernand. This fire was returned with terrible effect and determined 90 GENERAL spirit by both infantry and artillery, along the whole line, for a distance of over four miles. General Hurlburt's division was thrown forward to support the centre, when a desperate conflict ensued. The rebels were driven back with terrible slaughter, but soon rallied and drove back our men in turn. From about nine o'clock, tlie time your correspondent arrived on the field, until night closed on the bloody scene, there was no determination of the result of the struggle. The rebels exhibited remarkably good gen- eralship. At times engaging the left, with apparently their whole strength, they would suddenly open a terrible and destructive fire on the right or centre. Even our heaviest and most destructive fire upon the enemy did not appear to discourage their solid columns. Thtf fire ot Major Taylor's Chicago Artillery raked them down in scores, but oha smoke would no sooner be dispersed than the breach would again be filled. The most desperate fighting took place late in the afternoon. The rebels knew that, if they did not succeed in whipping us then, their chances for success would be extremely doubtful, as a portion of General Buell's forces had by this time arrived on the opposite side of the river, and another portion was coming up the river from Savannah. They be- came aware that we were being re-enforced, as they could see General Buell's troops from the river bank, a short distance above us on the left, to which point they had forced their way. At five o'clock the rebels had forced our left wing back so as to occupy fully two-thirds of our camp, and were fighting their way forward with a desperate degree of confidence in their efforts to drive us into the river, and at the same time heavily engaged our right. Up to this time we had received no re-enforcements, General Lewis Wallace failing to come to our support until the day was over. Being without other transports than those used for quartermaster's and com- missary stores, which were too heavily laden to ferry any considerable number of General Buell's forces across the river, and the boats that were here having been sent to bring up the troops from Savannah, we could not even get those men to us who were so near, and anxiously waiting to take part in the struggle. We were, therefore, contesting against fearful odds, our force not exceeding thirty-eight thousand men, while that of the enemy was upwards of sixty thousand. Our condition at this moment was extremely critical. Large numbers of men panic struck, others worn out by hard fighting, with the average AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 91 percentage of skulkers, had straggled towards the river, and could not be rallied. General Grant and staff, who had been recklessly riding along the lines during the entire day, amid the unceasing storm of bullets, grape, and shell, now rode from right to left, inciting the men to stand firm, until our re-en- forcements could cross the river. Colonel Webster, Chief of Staff, immediately got into position the heaviest pieces of artillery, pointing on the enemy's right, while a large number of the batteries were planted along the entire line, from the river bank northwest to our extreme right, some two and a half miles distant. About an hour before dusk a general cannonading was opened upon the enemy, from along our whole line, with a perpetual crack of musketry. Such a roar of artillery was never heard on this continent. For a short time the rebels replied with vigor and effect, but their return shots grew less frequent and destructive, while ours grew more rapid and more terrible. The gunboats Lexington and Tyler, which lay a short distance off, kept raining shell on the rebel hordes. This last effort was too much for the enemy, and ere dusk had set in the firing had nearly ceased, when, night coming on, all the combatants rested fro?n their awful work of blood and carnage. Our men rested on their arms in the position they had at the close of the night, until the forces under Major-General Lewis Wallace arrived and took position on the right, and General Buell's forces from the opposite side and Savannah, were being conveyed to the battle-ground. The en- tire right of General Nelson's division was ordered to form on the right, and the forces under General Crittenden were ordered to his support early in the morning. THE SECOND DAY'S BATTLE. General Buell, having himself arrived on Sunday evening, on the morn- ing of Monday, April 7th, the ball was opened at daylight, simultaneously by General Nelson's division on the left, and Major-General Wallace's division on the right. General Nelson's force opened up a most galling fire on the rebels, and advanced rapidly as they fell back. The fire soon became general along the whole line, and began to tell with terrible effect on the enemy. Generals McClernand, Sherman, and Hurlburt's men, though terribly jaded from the previous day's fighting, still main- tained their honors won at Donelson ; but the resistance of the rebels at all points of the attack was terrible, and worthy of a better caus. 92 GENERAL GRANT But they were not enough for our undaunted bravery, and the dread- fui desolation produced by our artillery, which was sweeping them away like chaff before the wind. But knowing that a defeat here would be the death-blow to their Jiopes, and that their all depended on this great struggle, their generals still urged them on in the face of destruction, hoping by flanking us on the right to turn the tide of battle. Their success was again for a time cheering, as they began to gain ground on us, appearing to have been re-enforced; but our left, under General Nelson, was driving them, and with wonderful rapidity, and by eleven o'clock Gen- eral Buell's forces had succeeded in flanking them, and capturing their batteries of artillery. They, however, again rallied on the left, and recrossed, and the right forced themselves forward in another desperate effort. But re-enforce- ments from General Wood and General Thomas were coming in, regi- ment after regiment, which were sent to General Buell, who had again commenced to drive the enemy. About three o'clock in the afternoon, General Grant rode to the left where the fresh regiments had been ordered, and, finding the rebels wavering, sent a portion of his body guard to the head of each of five regiments, and then ordered a charge across the field, himself leading ; a,nd as he brandished his sword and waved them on to the crowning victory, the cannon-balls were falling like hail around him. The men followed with a shout that sounded above the roar and din of the artillery, and the rebels fled in dismay as from a destroying ava- lanche, and never made another stand. General Buell followed the retreating rebels, driving them in splendid style, and by half-past five o'clock the whole rebel army was in full re- treat to Corinth, with our cavalry in hot pursuit, with what further re- sult is not known, not having returned up to this hour. "We have taken a large amount of their artillery and also a number of prisoners. "We lost a number of our forces prisoners yesterday, among whom is General Prentiss. The number of our force taken has not yet been ascertained. It is reported at several hundred. General Prentiss was also reported as being wounded. Among the killed on the rebel side, was their General-in-Chief, Albert Sydney Johnston, who was struck by a cannon-ball on the afternoon of Sunday. Of this there is no doubt, and it is further reported that General Beauregard was wounded. This afternoon, Generals Bragg, Breckinridge, and Jackson were com- manding portions of the rebel forces. AlSTD HIS CAMPAIGNS. 93 THE SUMMING UP OP THE TWO DATS. There has never been a parallel to the gallantry and bearing of our officers, from the Commanding General to the lowest officer. General Grant and staff were in the field, riding along the lines in the thickest of the enemy's fire during the entire two days of the battle, and all slept on the ground Sunday night, during a heavy rain. On several occasions General Grant got within range of the enemy's guns and was discovered and fired upon. Lieutenant-Colonel McPherson had his horse shot from under him when along side of General Grant. Captain Carson was between General Grant and your correspondent when a cannon-ball took off his head and killed and wounded several others. General Sherman had two horses killed under him, and General McCler- nand shared like dangers ; also General Hurlbut, each of whom received bullet holes through their clothes. * The publication of the foregoing account so soon after the battle, created a great excitement among the citizens of New York, and during the day it was telegraphed to the national capital and to other parts of the Union. The proprietor of the newspaper in which it was published, telegraphed it immediately to the President and to both Houses of Congress, in which it was read aloud. In the Lower House, Mr. Colfax, on asking leave to read the dis- patch, was greeted on all sides of the House with cries of " To the Clerk's desk." The previous noise and excite- ment subsided, and as the House listened to the brief and pregnaat details of the bloody struggle which preceded the glorious victory over the concentrated strength of reb- eldom, all hearts were stilled, and the very breathing almost suppressed, till the last word of the dispatch was read. The rejoicing was great at the victory, though somewhat saddened at the price of blood with which it had been purchased. * Army Correspondence. 94 GENEKAL GKANT The following extract from the official War Bulletin is complimentary to the commanding generals engaged. " WAB DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON, "April 9, 18G2. [Extract.] ****** "That the thanks of the Department are hereby given to Major-Gen- erals Grant and Buell, and their forces, for the glorious repulse of Beau- regard at Pittsburg, in Tennessee." A salute of one hundred guns was fired at Washington, in honor of this and other victories which had recently taken place. During this engagement, Major-General Grant was slightly wounded in the ankle, but not enough to prevent him from attending to his duties in the field. It will be seen by the details of the struggle that on the first day, the success seemed to be entirely on the side of the rebels, and on that ground, General Beauregard, who succeeded General Johnston, telegraphed to the rebel government as follows : CORINTH, Tuesday, April 8, 18G2. To THE SECRETARY OF WAR, RICHMOND : We have gained a great and glorious victory. Eight to ten thousand prisoners and thirty-six pieces of camion. Buell re-enforced Grant, and Wf retired to our intrenchments at Corinth, which we can hold. Loss heavy on both sides. BEAUREGARD. From the following correspondence it does not appear that the rebels could have moved about at will, or had even the consolation of a victory : HEAD-QUARTERS. DEPARTMENT OP MISSISSIPPI, MONTEREY. April 8, 1862. SIR : At the close of the conflict yesterday, my forces being exhausted by the extraordinary length of the time during which they were engaged with yours on that and the preceding day, and it being apparent that IF TMM IBATTQg 01? P1TTSBURG LANDING- on the morning of .April 0th (Positions ofGf-n. Grant's fa-rets J an OJtMtlmufteraSamtO T anfL Crtiten ite-ii. on the ev'g *of-Ai fl'ositio-tvs ofMaf. C 4 Grant icBuell on-mor-n (.-ing of April Hli. Positions ofMaj.Grnl'x Grant &r Hufll onern' of^pril Till AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 95 you had received, and were still receiving, re-enforcements, I felt it my duty to withdraw my troops from the immediate scene of the conflict Under these circumstances, in accordance with the usages of war, I shall transmit this under a flag of truce, to ask permission to send a mounted party to the battle-field of Shiloh, for the purpose of givingde- cent interment to my dead. Certain gentlemen wishing to avail them- selves of this opportunity to remove the remains of their sons and friends, I must request for them the privilege of accompanying the burial party ; and in this connection, I deem it proper to say. I am asking what I have extended to your own countrymen under similar circumstances. Respectfully, General, your obedient servant, P. G. T. BEAUREGARD, General Commanding. To Major-General U. S. GRANT, Major- General Commanding United States Forces, Pittsburg Landing. HEAD-QUARTERS, ARMY IN FIELD, PITTSBURG, April 9, 1862. General P. G. T. BEAUREGARD, Commanding Confederate Army on Mis- sissippi, Monterey, Tenn. Your dispatch of yesterday is just received. Owing to the warmth of the weather I deemed it advisable to have all the dead of both parties buried immediately. Heavy details were made for this purpose, and it is now accomplished. There cannot, therefore, be any necessity of ad- mitting within our lines the parties you desired to send on the ground asked. I shall always be glad to extend any courtesy consistent witL duty, and especially so when dictated by humanity. I am, General, respectfully, your obedient servant, U. S. GRANT, Maj.-Ge n. Commanding. On the morning of April 8th, General Sherman, the com- mander of the Fifth Division, at the head of a cavalry force and two brigades of infantry, made a reconnoissance along the Corinth road, where he found the abandoned camps of the rebels lining the roads with hospital flags for their protection. Shortly after he came upon the rebel cavalry, which, after a skirmish, was driven from the field. He then destroyed the rebel camp, including the ammunition in- tended for the rebels' guns. General Sherman found the road to Corinth strewed 96 GENEKAL GRANT with abandoned wagons, ambulances, and limber-boxes, evident sign of a hasty retreat. The enemy had succeeded in removing the guns ; but had crippled his batteries by abandoning the limber-boxes of, at least, twenty pieces. The retreat of the enemy's infantry was evidently a disor- derly one, and had not the cavalry been in great force, to protect the rear, might soon have been turned into a disas- trous rout. When the news of this battle reached St. Louis, General Halleck, the commander of the department, determined to take the field himself, and inquire into the real results of the "Battle of Shiloh." On his arrival at Pittsburg Landing, he issued the follow- ing order to the troops : HEAD-QUARTERS, DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSISSIPPI, PITTSBURG, TENN., April 13, 1862. I. The major-general commanding this department thanks Major- General Grant and Major-General Buell, and the officers and men of their respective commands, for the bravery and endurance with which they sustained the general attacks of the enemy on the 6th, and for the heroic manner hi which, on the 7th instant, they defeated and routed the entire rebel army. The soldiers of the great West have added new laurels to thjie which they had already won on numerous battle-fields. * ****** III. Major-Generals Grant and Buell will retain the immediate com- mand of their respective armies in the field. By command of Major-General HALLECK N. H. MCLEAN, A. A. G. Cavalry skirmishes still continued, at intervals, to take place along the outposts of the Union army ; but nothing important occurred until April 17, 1862, when the move- ment was made towards Corinth. AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 91 CHAPTER XL MOVEMENT AND SIEGE OP CORINTH. ON the morning of April 17, 1862, a heavy cavalry force under Brigadier-General Smith, Chief of Cavalry, was detailed to make a reconnoissance along the upper road from Pittsburg Landing to Corinth. The force arrived within two miles of Monterey without meeting any opposition. Several of the men dismounted to act as skirmishers, and steadily advanced until they discovered the exact position of a large force of the enemy, when they fell back upon the main body and returned. On April 24th, another similar reconnoissance was made under the same commander, towards an elevation known as Pea Ridge, where a rebel camp was discovered and de- stroyed, and a few prisoners taken. The operations along the Mississippi River, had also opened that highway some distance below Island No. 10, and on learning this, General Beauregard, who had assumed the sole chief command of the rebel troops, issued an ad- dress to the planters as follows : <: The casualties of war have opened the Mississippi to our enemies. Fhe time has, therefore, come to test the earnestness of all classes, and I call upon all patriotic planters owning cotton in the possible reach of our enemies, to apply the torch to it without delay or hesitation." It was thought that, by this mode of procedure, the Union troops would have less inducements to fight, as the profit of their victories would necessarily be greatly de- 5 98 GENERAL GKANT creased. In this, however, the rebels had greatly de- ceived themselves. On April 27th, Purdy, on the Jackson and Corinth Rail- road, was abandoned by the rebels, and a cavalry skirmish took place near Monterey, a village situated at about ten miles from Corinth. Several prisoners were taken, and from them it was ascertained that Beauregard was concen- trating all his available force at Corinth, which he had for- tified, and where, he stated, he was determined to make a desperate resistance. On the 29th, a similar affair took place at Monterey, the rebels losing their camp and several prisoners. A reconnoissance in force was made by the right wing of General Halleck's grand army, on April 30, 1862, to a point of the railroad four miles above Purdy, between Corinth and Jackson, Tennessee. The Union troops were met by a body of rebel cavalry, who fled to that town, closely pursued by the advancing forces. Purdy was taken possession of by the Unionists, who soon, by the destruc- tion of bridges, etc., cut off all railroad communication along that route between Corinth and Northwestern Tennessee. On this daj^be siege of Corinth may be said to have com- menced. General Halleck, wishing to have a force of men under hinj that should be invincible in the event of a battle taking place, sent for all the unemployed troops in his large department, and ordered them to be concentrated at Pitts- burg Landing, which was constituted a base of operations in the movement upon Corinth. This force he designated as the " Grand Army of the Tennessee," a special compli inent to General Grant, the commander of the original Army of the Tennessee. The " Grand Army" was divided into three armies, as follows : HIS CAMPAIGNS. 99 The Army of the Ohio (centre), under General Buell. The Army of the Mississippi (left), under General Pope. The Army of the Tennessee (right), under General Grant. This grand army was composed of sixteen divisions, eight of which formed the Army of the Tennessee, and were placed under the immediate command of General Grant ; four under General Pope, and four under Genera' Buell. General Grant's command was, therefore, as large as the two other armies combined, and was divided into the "right" or active wing, under General Thomas, and the " reserve" under General McClernand. About this time, an almost universal hue and cry was raised against General Grant, by the friends of those who had fallen at Donelson and Shiloh. The charges preferred against him were incapacity and inebriety, and the persons who made them had, doubtless, been stirred u^: by those who wished to kill the rising fame of the heroic commander. The feeling against him even found its way into the halls of Congress, and every effort was made to remove him from his command. The Hon. E. B. Wash- burne, representing, in Congress, the Galena District the home of both General Grant and himself promptly under- took his defence. The Governors of the Western States went down in a body to General Halleck, at Pittsburg Landing, and tried to induce him to send General Grant away from that army. But General Halleck knew his worth too well to adopt such a course. He, instead, gave him, on May 1 st, a far higher position, by placing him second in command to himself over the grand army, allowing him to retain the personal command of his own special forces on the right, and of the District of the Tennessee, in which the expected battle was to be fought. 100 GENEBAL GRANT General Beauregard, being advised of the manner of procedure of the Union troops, and expecting a severe bat- tle, called for all the re-enforcements he could obtain. On the 2d of May, 1862, a strong rebel force concentrated at Corinth, and to this united command, he issued a very spirited address. Reconnoissances were continually being sent out by the Union commanders ; and, on the 8th of May, the cavalry penetrated the rebel lines to within a mile and a half of Corinth. The rebels also made several dashes upon the Union lines, and even succeeded in causing the retirement of some of the forces on the left. On the llth of May, a consultation of the chief officers was held at General Halleck's head-quarters, and it was determined that a general advance should be made of the whole grand army. Shortly after this consultation, the movement of the troops commenced. Steadily and surely did they all push forward towards a common centre, which was understood to be Corinth, and the enthusiasm of the men was only kept within bounds by the knowledge that to secure victory, a terrific battle would have soon to be fought. The rebels, however, were determined that the Union troops should not arrive at Corinth, or in its close vicinity, without a struggle. Therefore, on May 17, 1862, General Sherman's Fifth Division of General Grant's Army of the Tennessee, was brought into actual conflict with the rebel troops, at Russell's House, on the road to that city. The rebels were forced to give way, and fell back to their strongholds, while the Unionists continued to occupy this former rebel position, which they intrenched. When the strength of Corinth was definitely ascertained, it was determined to reduce the fortified city by regular approaches. General Beauregard being, as an engineer AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 101 officer, fully aware of the ultimate result of such a course of action, began to withdraw his garrison by the roads still open to him. This movement became the more necessary, as the II. S. naval forces were rapidly approaching Mem- phis from above, and New Orleans and other points of the Mississippi River below had already fallen into the hands of the Unionists. Should Memphis and Vicksburg be taken before his forces could escape from Corinth, it was more than likely that his whole command, which was be- coming demoralized, would have surrendered, rather than endure the horrors of a siege. To cover his retrograde movements, General Beauregard sent out a force to resist the advance of the Union troops, who were about to take possession of the ridge to the North of Phillip's Creek. On May 21st, the Second Di- vision of General Grant's Army of the Tennessee, under General T. A. Davis, made the necessary movements to occupy the elevation ; but found the rebels very strongly posted. By a feint of a retreat the garrison was brought out of their works, and, after a vigorous contest, was Com- pletely routed. The Union division then took possession of the heights, securing at the same time several prisoners, with their arms, camp equipage, etc. A reconnoissance was then made towards Corinth, to find out the position of the enemy, who still was able to show a bold front. The parallels of the Union army began daily to get nearer and nearer to the city, and skirmishing was a con- stant occurrence along the whole line. A sharp fight be- tween General Sherman's division and the rebels took place on May 27th ; but as the latter, notwithstanding that they were in larger force than the Unionists, retreated, it is now plainly to be seen that the contest was merely for the purpose of delaying the advance of the Union army. General Sherman, in his report of the engagement, says 102 GENERAL GRANT "The enemy was evidently surprised, and only killed two of our men, and wounded nine. After he had reached the ridge, he opened on ua with a two-gun battery on the right and another from the front and left, doing my brigades but little harm, but killing three of General Veatch'a men. With our artillery we soon silenced his, and by ten A. M. we were masters of the position. Generals Grant and Thomas were present during the affair and witnessed the movement, which was admirably executed, all the officers and men keeping their places like real soldiers." The above extract plainly removes the impression which had been formed that General Grant had been relieved from actual command in the field for the result of the first day's engagement at Shiloh. Three columns of Union troops advanced the next day, under the personal superintendence of General Grant, to within gunshot of the rebel works at Corinth, and made a reconnoissance in force. The rebels hotly contested the ground ; but being closely pressed had to fall back, with considerable loss. The column on the left encountered the greatest opposition. The following account of the advance is given by one who participated in the siege : Though the task be a most difficult one, yet I will try to give your readers a faint idea of the scenes which an advance presents. First, the enemy must be driven back. Regiments and artillery are placed in position, and generally the cavalry is in advance, but when the opposing forces are in close proximity the infantry does the work. The whole front is covered by a cloud of skirmishers, and then reserves formed, and then, in connection with the main line, they advance. For a moment, all is still as the grave to those in the background ; as the line moves on, the eye is strained in vain to follow the skirmishers as they creep silently forward ; then, from some point of the line, a single rifle rings through the forest, sharp and clear, and, as if hi echo, another answers it. In a moment more the whole line resounds with the din of arms. Here the fire is slow and steady, there it rattles with fearful rapidity, and this mingled with the great roar of the reserves as the skirmishers chance at any point to be driven hi ; and if, by reason of AXD HIS CAMPAIGNS. 103 superior force, these reserves fall back to the main force, then every nook and corner seems full of sound. The batteries open their terrible voices, and their shells sing horribly while winging their flight, and their dull explosion speaks plainly of death ; their canister and grape go crashing through the trees, rifles ring, the muskets roar, and the din is ter- rific. Then the slackening of the fire denotes the withdrawing of the one party, and the more distant picket-firing, that the work was accomplish- ed. The silence becomes almost painful after such a scene as this, and no one can conceive of the effect who has not experienced it ; it cannot be described. The occasional firing of the pickets, which shows that the new lines are established, actually occasions a sense of relief. The movements of the mind under such circumstances are sudden and strong. It awaits with intense anxiety the opening of the contest, it rises with the din of battle, it sinks with the lull which follows it, and finds itself in fit condition to sympathize most deeply with the torn and bleeding ones that are fast being borne to the rear. "When the. ground is clear, then the time for working parties has arrived, and as this is the description of a real scene, let me premise that the works were to reacli through the centre of a large open farm of at least three hundred acres, surrounded by woods, one side of it being occupied by rebel pickets. These had been driven back as I have described. The line of the works was selected, and at the word of command three thousand men, with axes, spades, and picks, stepped out into the open field from their cover in the woods ; in almost as short a time as it takes to tell it, the fence-rails which surrounded and divided three hundred acres into convenient farm-lots were on the shoulders of the men, and on the way to the intended line of works. In a few moments more a long line of crib-work stretches over the slope of the hill, as if another anaconda fold had been twisted around the rebels. Then as for a time, the ditches deepen, the cribs fill up, the dirt is packed on the outer side, the bushes and all points of concealment are cleared from the front, and the centre divisions of our army had taken a long stride to- wards the rebel works. The siege-guns are brought up and placed in commanding positions. A log house furnishes the hewn and seasoned timber for the platforms, and the plantation of a Southern lord has been thus speedily transferred into one of Uncle Sam's strongholds, where the Stars and Stripes float proudly. Thus had the whole army (under the immediate charge of General Grant, the commander in the field) worked itself up into the very teeth of the rebel works, and rested there 104 GENEBAI, GBANT on Thursday night, me twenty-eighth, expecting a general engagement at any moment. Soon after daylight, on Friday morning, the army was startled by rapid and long-continued explosions, similar to musketry, but much louder. The conviction flashed across my mind that the rebels were blowing up their loose ammunition and leaving. The dense smoke arising in the direction of Corinth strengthened this belief, and soon the whole army was advancing on a grand reconnoissance. The distance through the woods was short, and in a few minutes shouts arose from the rebel lines, which told that our army was in the enemy's trenches. Regiment after regiment pressed on, and passing through extensive camps just vacated, soon reached Corinth and found half of it in flames. Beauregard and Bragg had left the afternoon before and the rear-guard had passed out of the town before daylight, leaving enough stragglers to commit many acts of vandalism, at the expense of private property. They burned churches and other public buildings, private goods, stores and dwell- ings, and choked up half the wells in town. In the camps imme- diately around the town, there were few evidences of hasty retreat, but on the right flank where Price and Van Dorn were encamped, the destruction of baggage and stores was very great, showing precipitate flight. Portions of our army were immediately put in pursuit. It seems that it was the slow and careful approach of General Halleck which caused the retreat. They would doubtless have remained had we attacked their positions without first securing our rear, but they could not stand a siege. Their position was a most commanding one and well protected.* The works were first occupied by the Fifth Division of General Grant's Army of the Tennessee, under the com- mand of Major-General William T. Sherman, which body of troops had, between the interval of leaving Shiloh and the occupation of Corinth, occupied and strongly intrench- ed seven distinct camps, in a manner to excite the admira- tion and high commendation of the commanding generals. This division had occupied the right flank of the grand army during the whole advance, and was consequently the more exposed by their position ; having to detail a larger * Corinth Correspondence of the Cincinnati Gazette AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 105 guard and perform more work than their companion divis- ions. Shortly before midnight, on May 29th, 1862, the remain- ing portion of the rebel army was withdrawn from the works, leaving their pickets unprotected. The evacuation of Corinth at the time, and the manner in which it was done, was a clear back down from the high and arrogant tone heretofore used by the rebels. They had chosen their own ground, which they had fortified, occupying a very large force for two months in the construction of their defences, and it was naturally supposed that the works were fully strong enough to secure the defeat of the assailants. o o Corinth was, indeed, a stronghold, and its importance to whichever side should hold it cannot be over estimated. As an evidence of that fact, it was kept by the United States forces as a strong military post until the begin- ning of 1864, and a proper garrison there retained. The following description of the occupation of Corinth, written on the spot, may not be uninteresting to our readers : COBINTH, May 30, 1862. ' The siege of Corinth, begun on April 30th, ended this morning. About half-past six, in the morning, orders to march were received, and at seven, the greater portion of the men were outside their breastworks, cautiously feeling their way through the dense underbrush which inter- vened between our fortifications and the defences of Corinth ; but after proceeding three-eighths of a mile, they came to an open space, and the enemy's works, abandoned and desolate, burst upon their astonished gaze. The sight was entirely unexpected. The opening was made by the rebels, who had felled the timber for about three hundred yards in front of their intrenchments, for the double purpose of obstructing our progress and giving them a fair view of our column when within rifle-range. The view from the highest point of the rebel works, immediately in front of Davies's, now Rosecrans's division, of Grant's Army of the Tennessee, was truly grand. The circle of vision was at least five railes in extent, stretching from the extreme right to the extreme left, 5* 106 GENERAL GEAKT and the magnificent display of banners, the bristling of shining bayonets, and the steady step of the handsomely attired soldiers, pre- sented a pageant which has seldom been witnessed on this continent. Upon many of the regimental ensigns were printed ' Wilson' a Creek,' 'Dug Springs, 'Donelson,' or ' Shiloh,' and one or two wave all these mottoes in the breeze. Those who passed through all these trying ordeals, unscathed, or who received honorable wounds in either, in future can look back upon a life devoted to their country's service, and feel that proud satisfaction which is denied to others not less patri- otic, but less fortunate. In future pageants in honor of the nation's birthday, when the last relics of former struggles have become extinct, and when these shall be bowed down with age, they will be their country's honored guests, and receive that consideration due their noble deeds. Notwithstanding the desire of the soldiers to possess themselves of relics of the retreating foe, perfect order was maintained in the lines. Your correspondent wandered around the large area lately occupied by the rebel troops, but found few trophies which were worth preserving. A broken sword and double-barreled shot-gun were picked up after an hour's search, but these were seized by the Provost-Marshal at the Landing, and confiscated. The enemy, with the exception of the rear-guard, had left with the greatest deliberation. A few worthless tents, some heavy kettles, a large number of old barrels, tin cups, and articles of this description, were the only camp equipages not taken away. There is nothing so desolate as a newly deserted camp. But yes- terday, and all was life and animation ; to-day the white tents have disappeared, the heavy footsteps have ceased to sound, and no evidence, saile the desolated, hard-trodden ground, and a few tent-stakes, remain to tell the story. Nothing surprised me more than the character of the rebel works. From the length of time Beauregard's army had been occupying the place, with a view to its defence, and from the importance the rebel general attached to it, in his dispatch which was intercepted by General Mitchel, I had been led to suppose that the fortifications were really formidable. But such was not the case. I admire the engineering which dictated the position of the intrenchments, and the lines they oc- cupied, but that is all that deserves the slightest commendation. But a single line of general fortifications had been constructed, and these were actually less formidable than those thrown up by our forces last AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 107 night, after occupying a new position. There were, besides this gene- ral line, occasional rifle-pits, both outside and inside the works, but they could have been constructed by three relief details in six hours. The only fortifications really worthy the name, were a few points where batteries were located, but these could not have resisted our Par- rot and siege-guns half an hour. Tet the positions occupied by the breastworks were capable of being strengthened so as to render them almost invulnerable to a front attack, and no little difficulty would have been experienced in flanking the position, either on the right or left. The works were on the brow of a ridge, considerably higher than any in the surrounding country, and at the foot of it was a ravine, correspond- ingly deep. The zigzag course of the line gave the defenders the com- mand of all the feasible approaches, and hundreds could have been mowed down at every step made by an assailing army, even from the imperfect earth-banks which had been thrown up. Had a fight occurred, it must have been decided by artillery, and in this respect we had the advantage, both in number and calibre of our guns ; but had they unproved the advantages they possessed, and forti- fied as men who really intended to make a stubborn defence, this supe- riority might have been overcome. The conduct of the rebels is, indeed, beyond comprehension. Here is a place commanding several important railroads ; a place, the seizure of which Beauregard confessed, in his celebrated dispatch to Davis, would open to us the valley of the Mississippi ; a position capable of as stubborn a defence as Sebastopol, and yet scarcely an effort is made to fortify it, and its possessors fly at our approach. A stubborn resistance, even though followed by defeat, would command respect abroad ; but a suc- cession of evacuations, upon the slightest approach of danger, can insure only contempt. The troops from every direction marched toward a common centre Corinth ; and as they neared each other and friends recognized friends, whom they had not seen for weeks or months, though separated but a few miles, greetings were exchanged, and as regiments met for the first time since leaving the bloody fields of Donelson and Shiloh, cheer after cheer resounded through the forests, and were echoed and re-echoed by the hills, as if the earth itself desired to prolong the sound. As no rain had fallen for some time, the roads were exceedingly dusty, as was the whole camping-ground, which had been trampled Bolid by eighty thousand rebels. But all forgot obstacles and annoyan- 108 GENERAL GRANT ces in the eagerness to see the town before which they had lain so long. A little after eight o'clock, a portion of the left and centre filed in. and were met by Mr. Harrington, the Mayor's clerk, who asked protection for private property, and for such of the citizens as had determined to remain. It is needless to add that his request was granted, and guards stationed at every door, as the object of our march is not to plunder, but to save.* Corinth is built upon low lands and clay soil, so that in wet weather the place may very properly be denominated a swamp ; but the soil is as easily affected by the drought as by rains. Just outside of the town are the ridges, which might be appropriately denominated hills, and upon which second, third, and fourth lines of defences could have been erected. The highest lands are in the direction of Farmington on the east, and College Hill on the south- west. The town is situated at the junction of the Mobile and Ohio and the Memphis and Charleston Railroads, both very important lines of communication, and indispensable to the enemy. The town is nearly all north of the Mem- phis and east of the Mobile road. Corinth was at one time a pleasant country village, of about 1,200 inhabitants, and the houses were built in the style only used in the South. The rebel generals all had their head-quarters in houses during the siege, generally occupying the finest residences in the pla MEMPHIS, TENN., July 9, 1862. ) [Special Orders, No. 13.] * * * * * * All passes heretofore issued to citizens, either by the Commanding General, the Provost- Marshal General, the Provost-Marshal of Memphis, or any other officer, which may have been issued without the party being required to take the Oath of Allegiance, or give the prescribed Parole of Honor, are hereby revoked. No pass will be granted in any case hereafter, except upon the taking of the oath or parole. The parole will be substituted for the oath only in special cases (at AMD HIS CAMPAIGNS. 113 the discretion of tho officer authorized to grant passes), where the party lives beyond the protection of our army. By command of Major-General GRANT. Wn. S. HILLYER, Provost-Marshal General DISTRICT OP WEST TENNESSEE, ) OFFICE PROVOST-MARSHAL GENERAL, > MEMPHIS, July 10, 1862. ) [Special Orders, No. 14] The constant communication between the so-called Confederate army and their friends and sympathizers in the city of Memphis, despite the orders heretofore issued, and the efforts to enforce them, induced the issuing of the following order: The families now residing in the city of Memphis of the following persons, are required to move south beyond the lines within five days from the date hereof: First. All persons holding commissions in the so-called Confederate army, or who have voluntarily enlisted in said army, or who accompany and are connected with the same. Second. All persons holding office under or in the employ of the so- called Confederate Government. Third. All persons holding State, county, or municipal offices, who claim allegiance to said so-called Confederate Government, and who have abandoned their families and gone South. Safe conduct will be given to the parties hereby required to leave, upon application to the Provost- Marshal of Memphis. By command of Major-General GRANT. DISTRICT OF WEST TENNESSEE, ) OFFICE OF THE PROVOST-MARSHAL GENERAL, > MEMPHIS, TENN., July 11, 1862. ) [Special Orders, No. 15.] * * * * * * fn order that innocent, peaceable, and well-disposed persons may not suffer for the bad conduct of the guilty parties coming within the purview of Special Order No. 14, dated July 10, 1862, they can be relieved from the operation of said order No. 14, by signing the following parole, and producing to the Provost- Marshal General, or the Provost- Marshal of Memphis, satisfactory guarantees that they will keep tho pledge therein made: 114 GENERAL GRANT First. I Lave not, since the occupation of the city of Memphis by the Federal army, given any aid to the so-called Confederate army, nor given or sent any information of the movements, strength, or position of the Federal army to any one connected with said Confederate army. Second. I will not, during the occupancy of Memphis by the Federal army and my residing therein, oppose or conspire against the civil or military authority of the United States, and that I will not give aid, comfort, information, or encouragement to the so-called Confederate army, nor to any person co-operating therewith. All of which I state and pledge upon my sacred honor. By command of Major-General GRANT. Wit. S. HILLYER, Provost-Marshal General. And as a warning to the guerillas who were operating about Memphis, destroying cotton and plundering from friend and foe, the following order was also issued : HEAD-QUARTERS, DIST. OF WEST TENNESSEE, ) MEMPHIS, TENN., July 3, 1862. f [General Order No. 60.] The system of guerilla warfare now being prosecuted by some troops organized under authority of the so-called Southern Confederacy, and others without such authority, being so pernicious to the welfare of the community where it is carried on, and it being within the power of the community to suppress this system, it is ordered that wherever loss is sustained by the Government, collections shall be made, by seizure of a sufficient amount of personal property, from persons in the immediate neighborhood sympathizing with the rebellion, to remunerate the Gov- ernment for all loss and expense of the same. Persons acting as guerillas without organization, and without uniform to distinguish them from private citizens, are not entitled to the treat- ment of prisoners of war when caught, and will not receive such treat- lent. By order of Major-General U. S. GRANT. JOHN A. RAWLINS, A. A.-G. The newspapers of Memphis had also continued to pub- lish articles of a character likely to inflame the people against the United States authorities ; and while such license of the press was allowed it would have been impossible to AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 115 have restored order in that part of the district. The fol- lowing documents have a very significant tone : HEAD-QUARTERS DISTRICT OP WEST TENNESSEE, } . OFFICE PEOVOST-MARSHAL GENERAL, MEMPHIS, TBNN., July 1, 1862. ) Messrs. WILLS, BINGHAM & Co., Proprietors of the Memphis Avalanche. You will suspend the further publication of your paper. The spirit with which it is conducted is regarded as both incendiary and treason- able, and its issue cannot longer be tolerated. This order will be strictly observed from the time of its reception. By command of Maj.-Gen. U. S. GRANT. WM. S. HILLTER, Provost- Marshal General. MEMPHIS, July 1, 1862. The Avalanche can continue by the withdrawal of the author of the obnoxious article under the caption of " Mischief Makers," and the edi torial allusion to the same. U. S. GRANT, Major- General. To OUR PATRONS. For reasons apparent from the foregoing order, I withdraw from the editorial management of The Avalanche. Self-respect, and the spirit of true journalism, forbid any longer attempt to edit a paper. I approved and indorsed the articles in question. Prudence forbids my saying more, and duty less, to the public. JEPTHA FOWLKES. The ruinous system of guerilla warfare continuing, and it being found almost impossible to stop the contraband trade which was being carried on through Memphis, in aid of the rebellion, General Grant appointed General Sherman to the command of that city, with the full knowledge that his determination would soon check both operations. On the 21st of July, 1862, General Sherman assumed the com- mand, and it was soon detected where the difficulty lay, as may be judged from the following order : U. S. MILITARY TELEGRAPH, COKINTH, July 26, 1862. To Brigadier-General J. T. QUIMBT, Columbus, Ky. GENERAL : Examine the baggage of all speculators coming South, and when they have specie turn them back. If medicine and other 116 GENERAL GRANT contraband articles, arrest them and confiscate the contraband articles. Jews should receive special attention. (Signed) U. S. GRANT, Major- General. He also ordered the most stringent measures to be adopted against all guerillas and their agents, and the fol- lowing dispatch is an evidence of the manner with which his orders were carried out : TRENTON, TENN., July 29, 1862. GENERAL : The man who guided the rebels to the bridge that was burned was hung to-day. He had taken the oath. The houses of four others who aided have been burned to the ground. (Signed) G. M. DODGE, Brigadier- General. On July 28th, General Grant ordered General Sherman to take possession of all unoccupied dwellings, manufactories, and stores, within the city of Memphis, to hire them out, and to collect the rents for the United States Government, in all cases where the owners were absent, engaged in arms against the United States. This plan was adopted to prevent the property being destroyed or abused, as well as to bring in a revenue from rebel sources to help pay the expenses of the war. A portion of the rebel forces that had been engaged at Coiinth were afterwards concentrated at Jackson, Miss., whence they were sent to Vicksburg, Baton Rouge, Port Hudson, and other places along the Mississippi River, for the purpose of again blockading that stream. On the 5th of August a battle was fought at Baton Rouge.* The large number of negroes that had found refuge within the union lines, were about this time becoming a seri- ous incubus upon the commanders of the army, and it was * Although this battle occurred outside of the limits of General Grant's department, it is here alluded to as it will be found in the course of the narrative, that these movements were more or less connected with his grand campaign of 1863. AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 117 decided that these men should be put at some useful em- ployment. General Grant, therefore, to remedy the evil in his own special department, issued the following order, which contains certain regulations in relation to both the negro refugees and the carrying out of the Confiscation law, as passed by the Houses of Congress, and signed by the President : HEAD-QUARTERS, DEPARTMENT OF WEST TENNESSEE, ) CORINTH, Miss., August llth, 1862. J [General Orders, No. 72.] The recent Act of Congress prohibits the army from returning fugi- tives from labor to their claimants, and authorizes the employment of such persons in the service of the government. The following orders are therefore published for the guidance of the army in this matter. 1. All fugitives thus employed must be registered; the names ot the fugitives and claimant given, and must be borne upon the morning report of the command in which they are kept, showing ^ow they are employed. 2. Fugitives may be employed as laborers in the quartery.asiers, subsistence, and engineer's department ; and whenever by such employ- ment a soldier may be saved to its ranks, they may be employed sis teamsters and as company cooks, not exceeding four to a company, or as hospital attendants and nurses. Officers may employ them as pri- vate servants, in which latter case the fugitives will not be paid or ra- tioned by the government. Negroes thus employed must be secured as authorized persons, and will be excluded from the camps. 3. Officers and soldiers are positively prohibited from enticing slaves to leave their masters. When it becomes necessary to employ this kind of labor, the commanding officer of the post or troops must send details, all under the charge of a suitable commissioned officer, to press into service the slaves of persons to the number required. 4. Citizens within reach of any military station, known to be dis- loyal and dangerous, may be ordered away or arrested, and their crops and stock taken for the benefit of the government or the use of the army. 5. All property taken from rebel owners must be duly reported and used for the benefit of the government, and be issued to the troops through the proper department, and, when practicable, the act of taking 118 GENERAL GRANT should be accompanied by the written certificate of the officer so taking to the owner or agent of such property. It is enjoined on all commanders to see that this order is executed strictly under their own direction. The demoralization of troops subse- quent upon being left to execute laws in their own way without a proper bead must be avoided. By command of Major-General GRANT. JOHN A. RAWLINS, A. A.-G. It will be seen by the last clause of the above order that, although General Grant was perfectly willing to carry out the laws according to their letter and spirit, he was deter- mined that wholesale plunder should not be allowed within the limits of his department. Several had taken advantage of the advance of the armies to visit certain places in the Southern States within the Union lines. Among others were a number of individu- als who had fled from their own States to avoid the en- rolment ordered under the Conscription act. These men were generally of a disreputable character, and made their living by following the army, robbing the soldiers, or trad- ing with the rebels. To meet the particular cases of these men, the following order was issued by General Grant from his departmental head-quarters. ^ HEAD-QUARTERS, DEPARTMENT OP WEST TENNESSEE, ) CORINTH, Miss., August 16, 1862. f [General Orders, No. 74.] 1. All non-residents of this department, found within the same, who, if at home, would be subject to draft, will at once be enrolled under ;he supervision of the local commanders where they may be found, and, in case of a draft being made by their respective States, an equal proportion will be drawn from persons thus enrolled. Persons so drawn will at once be assigned to troops from the States to which they owe military service, and the executive thereof notified of such draft. 2. All violation of trade by army followers may be punished by AXD HIS CAMPAIGNS. J19 confiscation of stock in trade, and the assignment of offenders to do military duty as private soldiers. By command of Major-General U. S. GRANT. JOHN A. RA.WLINS, A. A.-G. As far as actual fighting was concerned, it may be safely stated that from June to September, 1862, General Grant's Department was particularly quiet. Skirmishes would occasionally take place between guerillas and the troops occupying small districts, as at Bolivar, on August 30th, and at Medon Station of the Mississippi Central Railroad, on August 31st. On all these occasions the rebel troops were generally worsted, so well had General Grant looked after the defences of these posts. During the early part of September, 1862, the rebel forces in the Southwest began to make a general advance upon the Union positions. General Bragg issued an order on September 5, 1862, which he dated at Sparta, in the most southern part of Alabama, for the purpose of deceiving the Union troops as to his actual whereabouts, while, at the same time, he was at Chattanooga, Tenn., preparing to make a flank movement through East Tennessee and Ken- tucky, to the Ohio River. The deceitful order certainly misled the commander of the army of the Ohio ; but did not impose upon General Grant, nor the officers under his command, as cavalry reconnoissances were continually being sent out to ascertain the whereabouts of the enemy. The rebels soon discovered that General Grant was sending troops to re-enforce the army in Kentucky, and to prevent him from so doing, a portion of the rebel army in the State of Mississippi was detached, to operate against his lines. General Grant had, however, taken care of his own position while helping the others, and the results were the glorious victories of luka and Corinth. 120 GEJTEKAL GRANT CHAPTER XIH. ITJKA. CORINTH AND THE HATCHIE. THE careful system of reconnoissance adopted in General Grant's army made the commander of the Department of West Tennessee and his subordinate general officers fully aware of the approach of the rebels upon their lines long before the actual attack took place. Even as early as September 10th, 1862, it was known that General Sterling Price, at the head of a far superior force of rebel troops, was marching upon the little camp at Jacinto, Tishamingo County, Miss. Orders were, of course, quickly given to break up this camp, and take the wagon trains to the de- fences at Corinth. The men who were ordered to remain behind were thereby compelled to sleep on their arms and in the open air for several nights. On September 17th, a general: advance was ordered by Geieral Grant, and at four o'clock on the morning of Sep- tember 1 8th the regiments from Corinth and Jacinto were pushing towards luka, where General Price had con- centrated his forces. The march of the Union troops was made amidst a drenching rain, and along muddy roads, and they advanced upon the place by different routes, the force under General Rosecrans, known as the Army of the Mississippi, making the advance along the road from the south, while that under Generals Grant and Orel ap- proached the town from the north, via Burnsville. At daybreak, on the morning of September 19th, the march was renewed, and the advance of General Hamil- AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 121 ton's Division encountered the rebel pickets at Barnett's Corners, on the road to luka. After a sharp skirmish, the pickets were driven six miles towards that town, losing slightly in killed and prisoners. The division again pushed forward until within two miles of luka, where they were received with a hot fire of musketry from the rebels who were posted on the ridge which commanded the country for several miles around. The engagement soon became general, on this part of the line, and lasted until dark, when the men threw themselves down on their arms, to take that rest so needed to enable them to renew the struggle on the morrow. The contest had been very sanguinary and fierce while it lasted, nearly one-third of the Union forces engaged being placed hors de combat. During the night the rebel forces under Price evacuated the town, and in the morning General Rosecrans's troops entered luka from the south, and began pushing after the flying rebels. Shortly after, the forces under Generals Grant and Ord arrived by the northern route. As the in- tention of General Grant had been to cut off Price's retreat by that road, and as Price had chosen another towards the east, this part of the army was not engaged, although its position contributed towards forcing the enemy to evacuate the place. The following extracts from a private letter of a rebel to a friend, under date of September 24th, 1862, contain matters of interest : " We held peaceable possession of luka for one day, and on the next were alarmed by the booming of cannon, and were called out to spend the evening in battle array in the woods. On the evening of the 19th, when we supposed we were going back to camp, to rest awhile, the sharp crack of musketry on the right of our former lines told us that the enemy was much nearer than we imagined. In fact, they had almost penetrated the town itself. How on earth, with the woods full of our cavalry, they could have approached eo near our lines, is a mya- 6 122 GENEBAL GKASTT tery. They had planted a battery sufficiently near to shell General Price's head-quarters, and were cracking away at the Third Brigade when the Fourth came up at double-quick, and then, for two hours and fifteen minutes, was kept up the most terrific fire of musketry that ever dinned my ears. There was one continuous roar of small arms, while grape and canister howled in fearful concert above our heads and through our ranks. General Little was shot dead early in the action, * * It was a terrible struggle, and we lost heavily. All night could be heard the groans of the wounded and dying, forming a sequel of horror and agony to the deadly struggle, over which night had kindly thrown its mantle. Saddest of all, our dead were left unburied, and many of the wounded on the battle-field to be taken in charge by the enemy. " Finding that the enemy were being re-enforced from the north, and as our strength would not justify us in trying another battle, a retreat was ordered, and we left the town during the night. The enemy pressed our rear the next day, and were only kept off by grape and canister. " It grieves me to state that acts of vandalism, disgraceful to any army, were, however, perpetrated along the line of retreat, and makes me blush to own such men as my countrymen. Corn-fields were laid waste, potato patches robbed, barn-yards and smoke-houses despoiled, hogr killed, and all kinds of outrages perpetrated in broad daylight and in full view of the officers. The advance and retreat were alike disgrace- ful, and I have no doubt that women and children along the route will cry for the bread which has been rudely taken from them by those who should have protected and defended them."* i| The Army of the Mississippi bore the brunt of the fight, but the combinations caused the evacuation of the town. On the morning of the 20th of September, 1862, General Grant sent the following dispatch to the general-in-chief at Washington : IUKA, Miss., September 20, 18G2. To Major-General H. TV. HALLECK, General-in- Chief: General Rosecrans, with Stanley's and Hamilton's Divisions and Mise- ner's Cavalry, attacked Price south of this village about two hours before dark yesterday, and had a sharp fight until night closed in. General * D rivate letter published in the Montgomery Advertiser, September 862. AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 123 Ord was to the north with an armed force of about 5.000 men, and had seme skirmishing with the rebel pickets. This morning the fight was renewed by General Rosecrans, who was nearest to the town ; but it was found that the enemy had been evacuating during the night, going south. Generals Hamilton and Stanley, with cavalry, are in full pursuit. This will, no doubt, break up the enemy, and possibly force them to abandon much of their artillery. The loss on either side, in killed and wounded, is from 400 to 500 The enemy's loss in arms, tents, etc., will be large. "We have about 250 prisoners. I have reliable intelligence that it was Price's intention to move over east of the Tennessee. In this he has been thwarted. Among the enemy's loss are General Little killed, and General Whitefield 'Wounded. I cannot speak too highly of the energy and skill displayed by General Rosecrans in the attack, and of the endurance of the troops. General Ord's command showed untiring zeal ; but the direction taken by the enemy prevented them from taking the active part they desired, Price's force was about 18,000. U. S. GRANT, Major- General. The examination of the field, after the first excitement of the battle was over, showed a still more favorable result for the Union forces, as may be judged by the following dispatch : HEAD-QUARTERS, CORINTH, September 22, 1862. Major-General HALLECK, General-in- Chief : In my dispatch of the 20th our loss was over estimated, and the rebel loss under estimated. We found two hundred and sixty-one of them dead upon the field, while our loss in killed will be less than one hundred. U. S. GRANT, Major- General. General Grant, on the same day as he sent the above dispatch, issued the following order, complimenting his officers and men upon their bravery, not forgetting those who fell on that occasion : HEAD-QUARTERS, DEPARTMENT OP WEST TENNESSEE, ) CORINTH, September 22. 1862. \ [General Field Orders, No. 1.] The General Commanding takes great pleasure in congratulating the 124 GENERAL GRANT two wings of the army, commanded respectively by Major-General Ord and Major-General Rosecrans, upon the energy, alacrity, and bravery displayed by them on the 19th and 20th inst., in their movement against the enemy at luka. Although the enemy was in numbers re- puted far greater than their own, nothing was evinced by the troops but a burning desire to meet him, whatever his numbers, and however strong his position. With such a disposition as was manifested by the troops on this occasion, their commanders need never fear defeat against any thing but overwhelming numbers. While it was the fortune of the command of General Rosecrans, on the evening of the 19th inst., to engage the enemy in a most spirited fight for more than two hours, driving him with great loss from his position, and winning for themselves fresh laurels, the command of General Ord is entitled to equal credit for their efforts in trying to reach the enemy, and in diverting his attention. And while congratulating the noble living, it is meet to offer our condolence to the friends of the heroic dead, who offered their lives a sacrifice in defence of constitutional liberty, and in their fall rendered memorable the field of luka. Ry command of Major-General U. S. GRANT. JOHN A. RAWLINS, A. A.-G. General Bragg's forces were all this time pushing forward towards the Ohio River, and it became necessary, to enable General Grant to have full control over his department, that he should move his head-quarters to a more central position. He therefore chose Jackson, Tennessee, for that purpose ; placing the commander of the Army of the Mis- sissippi in local command at Corinth. The rebel forces which had retreated from luka, were next concentrated near Ripley, Tippah County, Missis- sippi, and southwest of Corinth, at which point they were joined by those under Generals Van Dorn and Lovell. It appears that Price's forces, in retreating from luka, coun- termarched at a point several miles south of the Union position, crossed the Mobile and Ohio Railroad in the vicinity of Baldwyn, Tupello, etc., and were thus enabled to AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 125 form a junction with the troops under the before mention ed Generals, and comprising all the available rebel forces in North Mississippi. The intention of the enemy was to retake Corinth at all hazards, or at least to break the Union line of communications, and force a retreat. General Grant being duly advised of these facts, so ar- ranged his forces that if the rebels were driven from Cor- inth and he had not a doubt but that they would be they should not be able to escape without a very severe punishment. Cavalry scouts were sent out in all directions and dem onstrated the fact that the rebels were on October 1st, 1862, moving from Ripley, via Buckersville, upon Corinth, while the main army was at Pocahontas. The question then was, where did they intend to strike the principal blow, as they were situated in such a position that they could at tack with equal ease either of the posts at Bethel, Bolivar, Corinth, or Jackson. In fact, they held the centre of the base of the irregular triangle which had Jackson for its apex and Corinth for its right hand corner. General Grant, however, was master of the situation, and to him it mattered little at what point the rebels struck, as he could move his forces to support the position attacked so well had he arranged them within reasona- ble reach of each other. General Ord held the position at Bolivar, General Hurlbut was stationed nearer Pocahon- tas, General Rosecrans was at Corinth, and General Grant at Jackson. It will be seen that the rebels were hemmed in except on the south. On the 4th of October, the enemy made a determined and vigorous attack upon the works at Corinth, and the most obstinate fighting ensued. General Grant was in con- stant telegraph communication with General Rosecrans, during the attack, and also with his other generals. He AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 127 the line of railroad from Grand Junction, had already on the previous day driven in the rebel videttes, but his ad- vance had been somewhat disputed during the night. Gen- eral Hurlbut was, on the morning of October 5th, joined by General Ord's forces from Bolivar. General Ord assumed command ; but finding General Hurlbut had made excel lent arrangements for the advance, he followed out the same plan. The road, narrow and winding, through swamp and jungle, and over precipitous ridges, across which at times the guns were with great labor dragged by hand, made the advance more than ordinarily dangerous in the face of the enemy, especially as the retreating forces from Corinth were likely soon to be joined with the others in the front. The rebels made use of every advantage the country gave them, using the swamps and jungles for their infantry, and the ridges for their artillery ; but so valor- ous was the attack of the forces under Generals Ord and Hurlbut, that the enemy was driven for five miles to, and across the Hatchie, and up the heights beyond. The following dispatch from General Grant, announces the victory on the Hatchie : GRANT'S HEAD-QUARTEBS, ) JACKSON, TENN., October 5, 1862. ) To Major-General H. W. HALLECK, General-in- Chief United States Army : General Ord, -who followed General Hurlbut, met the enemy to-day on the south side of the Hatchie, as I understand from a dispatch, and drove them across the stream, and got possession of the heights with our troops. General Ord took two batteries and about two hundred prisoners. A large portion of General Rosecrans's forces were at Chevalla. At this distance every thing looks most favorable, and I cannot see how the enemy are to escape without losing every thing but their small arms. / have strained every thing to take into the fight an adequate force, and to get them to the right place. U. S. GRANT, Major- General Commanding. 128 GE3TEKAL GRAXT The union of General McPherson's forces with those at Corinth, enabled General Rosecrans to continue vigorously the pursuit of that part of the enemy who had attacked his position at that place, and at about noon on the 6th of October General Grant was enabled to send the following dispatch, which sets forth the entire rout of the rebel forces on every side : HEAD-QUARTERS OP GENERAL GRANT, ) JACKSON, TENN., 12.20 P. M., October 6, 1862.,) To Major-General HALLECK, General-in-Chief: Generals Ord and Hurlbut came upon the enemy yesterday, and General Hurlbut having driven in small bodies of the rebels the day before, after seven hours hard fighting, drove the enemy five miles back across the Hatchie towards Corinth, capturing two batteries, about 300 prisoners, and many small arms. I immediately apprised General Rosecrans of these facts, and directed him to urge on the good work. The following dispatch has just been received from him : CHEVALLA, October 6, 1862. To Major-General GRANT: The enemy is totally routed, throwing every thing away. "We are following sharply. "W. S. ROSECRANS, Major- General. Under previous instructions, General Hurlbut is also following. General McPherson is in the lead of General Rosecrans's column. The rebel General Martin is said to be killed. U. S. GRANT, Major- General Commanding. The repulse of the rebels was really disastrous to them. The accounts published in the southern newspapers plainly manifest that their ioss had been heavy, and that they failed in accomplishing the object of their movement the capture of Corinth. But the same journals endeavored to console themselves and the people with the idea that General Grant had, at least, been prevented from sending re-enforcements to the aid of General Buell, who was then about to engage the rebel forces under General Bragg. The following is the congratulatory order of General Grant to his troops relative to this campaign : AND Hie CAMPAIGNS. 129 HEAD-QUARTERS, DEPARTMENT OP WEST TENN., / JACKSON, TENN., October 7, 1862. ) [General Orders, No. 88.] It is with heartfelt gratitude the General Commanding congratulates the armies of the West for another great victory won by them on the 3d, 4th, and 5th instants, over the combined armies of Van Dorn, Price, and Lovell. The enemy chose his own time and place of attack, and knowing the troops of the West as he does, and with great facilities for knowing their numbers, never would have made the attempt except with a superior force numerically. But for the undaunted bravery of officers and soldiers, loho have yet to learn defeat, the efforts of the enemy must have proven successful. Whilst one division of the army, under Major-General Rosecrans, was resisting and repelling the onslaught of the rebel hosts at Corinth, another, from Bolivar, under Major-General Hurlbut, was marching upon the enemy's rear, driving in their pickets and cavalry, and attracting the attention of a large force of infantry and artillery. On the following day, under Major-General Ord, these forces advanced with unsurpassed gallantry, driving the enemy back across the Hatchie, over ground where it is almost incredible that a superior force should be driven by an inferior, capturing two of the batteries (eight guns), many hundred small arms, and several hundred prisoners. To those two divisions of the army all praise is due, and will be awarded by a grateful country. Between them there should be, and I trust are, the warmest bonds of brotherhood. Each was risking life in the same cause, and, on this occasion, risking it also to save and assist the other. No troops could do more than these separate armies. Each did all possible for it to do in the places assigned it. As in all great battles, so in this, it becomes our fate to mourn the loss of many brave and faithful officers and soldiers, who have given up their lives as a sacrifice for a great principle. The nation mourna for them. By command of Major-General U. S. GRANT. JOHN A. RAWLINS, A. A.- G. President Lincoln, when he had received the intelligence from General Grant announcing the victories at Corinth and on the Hatchie, dispatched to him the folio w'ng con- gratulations and inquiries : 6* 130 GENEBAL GBANT WASHINGTON, D. C., October 8, 1862. Major-General GRANT: I congratulate you and all concerned in your recent battles and victo- ries. How does it all sum up ? I especially regret the death of Gen- eral Hackleman, and am very anxious to know the condition of General Oglesby, who is an intimate personal friend. A. LINCOLN. The rebel forces of General Bragg were also by this time in full retreat from, the Ohio river, and were being pursued by the Army of the Ohio. Skirmishes with guerillas occurred occasionally within General Grant's lines ; but otherwise this department was, by this time, once more reduced to quietness. On the 16th of October, 1862, General Grant's Depart- ment was designated as the Department of the Tennessee, and was further extended so as to embrace the State of Mississippi as far as Vicksburg. General Rosecrans was shortly after relieved of his command under General Grant, and made commander of the Army of the Ohio in the place of General Buell. The combined troops under General Grant were now known as the Thirteenth Army Corps. The victories of General Grant's forces were supposed in "Washington to have had a beneficial effect upon the people of Tennessee ; and to enable them to resume their own government under the auspices of the United States, the following document was sent to General Grant by the hands of the person therein named : . EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, October 21, 1862. Major-General GRANT, Governor JOHNSON, and all having Military, Naval, and Civil Authority under the United States within the State of Tennessee : The bearer of this, Thomas R. Smith, a citizen of Tennessee, goes to that State, seeking to have such of the people thereof as desire to avoid the unsatisfactory prospect before them, and to have peace again upon the old terras under the Constitution of the United States, to manifest such desire by elections of members to the Congress of the United AJSD HIS CAMPAIGNS. 131 States particularly, and perhaps a Legislature, State Officers, and a United States Senator friendly to their object. I shall be glad for you and each of you to aid him, and all others acting for this object, as much as possible. In all available ways give the people a chance to express their wishes at these elections. Follow law, and forms of law, as far as convenient ; but, at all events, get the expression of the largest number of the people possible. All see how much such action will 2onnect with and affect the proclamation of September 22d. Of course, the men elected should be gentlemen of character, willing to swear support to the Constitution as of old, and known to be above reasonable suspicion of duplicity. Yours, very respectfully, A. LINCOLN. To prevent the intention of the foregoing from being carried out, General Bragg marched his forces to within striking distance of the State Capital at Nashville. 182 GENERAL GRANT CHAPTER XIV. THE DEPARTMENT OP THE TENNESSEE. DISCIPLINE. TBADE. GENERAL GRANT assumed the command of his new department on the 25th day of October, 1862, and issued the following orders : HEAD-QUARTERS, DEPARTMENT OP THE TENNESSEE, ) JACKSON, TENN., October 25, 1862. J [General Orders, No. 1.] L In compliance with General Orders, No. 159, A. G. 0., "War Department, of date October 16th, 1862, the undersigned hereby as- sumes command of the Department of the Tennessee, which includes Cairo, Fort Henry and Fort Donelson, Northern Mississippi, and the portions of Kentucky and Tennessee west of the Tennessee river. II. Head-quarters of the Department of the Tennessee will remain, until further orders, at Jackson, Tennessee. IIL All orders of the District of West Tennessee will continue in force in the Department. U. S. GRANT, Major- General Commanding. HEAD-QUARTERS, DEPARTMENT OP THE TENNESSEE, ) JACKSON, TENN., October 26, 1862. ) [General Orders, No. 2.] I. The geographical divisions designated in General Orders, No. 83. from Head-quarters District of "West Tennessee, dated September 24ih, 18C2, will hereafter be known as districts. The First Division will constitute the " District of Memphis," Major-General "W. T. Sherman commanding; the Second Division, the "District of Jackson," com- manded by Major-General S. A. Hurlbut: the Third Division, the " District of Corinth," Brigadier-General C. S. Hamilton commanding ; the Fourth Division, the " District of Columbus," commanded by Briga- dier-General T A. Davies. AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 133 II. The army heretofore known as the "Army of the Mississippi," being now divided and in different departments, will be continued as a separate army. III. Until army corps are formed, there will be no distinction, known, except those of departments, districts, divisions, posts, brigades, regiments and companies. By command of Major-General U. S. GRANT. JOHN A. RAWLINS, A. A.-G. As General Grant was now to have heavy work before him, it became necessary that he should also have his forces thoroughly well organized, and in this matter he determined to exercise bis personal supervision. He be- gan by rooting out, as far as possible, all guerilla bodies in his department, and in the affair at Clarkson his forces were very successful. The following order shows that it was the intention during the approaching campaign to move light, and be- spoke great activity with the command : HEAD-QUARTERS, DEPARTMENT OF THE TENNESSEE, ) JACKSON, TENN., November 1, 1862. ) [General Orders, No. 3.] I. General Orders, No. 160, from the Adjutant-General's office, having been received at head-quarters, is published for the information of all concerned : [General Orders, No. 160.] The following regulations are established for army trains and baggage' 1. There will be allowed For head-quarters train of an army corps, four wagons; of a division or brigade, three ; of a full infantry regiment, six ; and of a light artil- lery battery or squadron of cavalry, three. In no case will this allowance be exceeded, but always proportionably reduced, according to the officers and men actually present. All surplus wagons will be turned over to the Chief Quartermaster, to be organized under direction of the commanding Generals, into supply trains, or sent to the nearest depot. The requisite supply trains, their size depending upon the state of the roads and character of the campaign, will be organized by the Chief 134 GENERAL GEANT Quartermaster, with the approval of the commanding generals, subject to the control of the "War Department. 2. The wagons allowed to a regiment, battery, or squadron, must carry nothing but forage for the teams, cooking utensils, and rations for the troops, hospital stores, and officers' baggage. One wagon to each regiment will transport exclusively hospital supplies, under direction of the regimental surgeon; the one for regimental head-quarters will carry the grain for the officers' horses, and the three allowed for each battery or squadron will be at least half loaded with the grain for their own teams. Stores in bulk and ammunition will be carried in the regular or special supply trains. 3. In active campaign, troops must be prepared to bivouac on the march, the allowance of tents being limited, as follows : For the head-quarters of aii army corps, division, or brigade, one wall tent to the commanding General, and one to every two officers of his staff. For the Colonel, Field and Staff of a full regiment, three wall tents; and for every other commissioned officer, one shelter tent each. For every two non-commissioned officers, soldiers, officers' servants, and authorized camp followers, one shelter tent. One hospital tent will be allowed for office purposes, at corps head quarters, and one wall tent at those of a division or brigade. All tents beyond this allowance will be left in depot. 4. Officers' baggage will be limited to blankets, one small valise or carpet bag and a moderate mess-kit. The men will carry their own blankets and shelter tents, and reduce the contents of their knapsacks as much as possible. The Depot Quartermaster will provide storage for a reasonable amount of officers' surplus baggage and the extra clothing and knapsacks of the men. 5. Hospital tents are for the sick and wounded, and except those allowed for army corps head-quarters, must not be diverted from their proper use. 6. Commanding officers will be held responsible for the strict enforce- ment of these regulations, especially the reduction of officers' baggage within their respective commands. 7. On all marches, Quartermasters, under the orders of their com' manding officers, will accompany and conduct their trains in a way not to obstruct the movement of troops. AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 13 8. All Quartermasters and Commissaries will personally attend to the reception and issue of supplies for their commands, and will keep themselves informed of the condition of the depot, roads, and other communications. 9. All Quartermasters and Commissaries will report, by letter, on the first of every month, to the chiefs of their respective departments, at "Washington, D. C., their station, and generally the duty on which they have been engaged during the preceding month. By command of Major-General HALLECK. (Signed) L. THOMAS, Adjutant General. II. District Commanders will immediately cause an inspection of their command, with the view to a strict compliance of the above order, and see that all tents and transportation in excess of allowance are turned over to the Quartermaster ; that all extra clothing and knapsacks of en- listed men are.delivered for storage as provided ; that the baggage of officers does not exceed the limitation prescribed ; and that all hospital tents not in use for the sick and wounded are turned over to the Quarter- master at once. III. Where there is a deficiency of clothing or tents, as allowed by regulations and said order, proper requisitions will be made on the Chief Quartermaster of the Department, Captain C. A. Reynolds, for same. IV. The requirements of this order must be complied with without delay, and report of such compliance promptly made to these head-quar- ters. By command of Major-General U. S. GRANT. JOHN A. RAWLINS, A. A.-G. About the latter end of October, 1862, a body of cav- alry belonging to the army of General Grant, and under the command of Colonel [since Brigadier General] A. L. Lee, started on a reconnoissance below Ripley, Missis- sippi, which place was captured and held for twenty-four hours, as was also the town of Orizaba. Colonel Lee re- turned to Grand Junction on November 2d, with several prisoners. On the evening of the 4th of November, General Grant removed his head- quarters to La Grange, west of Grand 136 GEKEKAL GRANT Junction, occupying that place with a heavy body of troops, thereby out-generalling the rebels, who were concentrating their forces in the vicinity of Ripley, a long distance far- ther east. Colonel Lee again made a successful reconnoissance with about fifteen hundred cavalry to Hudsonville, Missis- sippi. This was but the beginning of a grand reconnois- sance, as follows : On November 8th, General Grant ordered a strong force, consisting of two divisions of Infantry and Artillery and part of a cavalry division, upon a special reconnoissance. The cavalry was under the command of Colonel Lee, and the infantry under General McPherson. This force started from La Grange, the cavalry taking the lead.* At Lamar, the infantry halted, while the cavalry pushed toward Hudsonville. On the road Colonel Lee encountered a body of rebel cavalry, which he engaged on the flank with one half of his force, while the other half proceeded to Hudsonville. After routing the cavalry, killing sixteen and capturing one hundred and thirty-four, with their horses and arms, Colonel Lee joined the remainder of his command at Hudsonville, and then returned to La Grange. The following is General Grant's brief but complimen- tary dispatch to the General-in-Chief in relation to this movement : LA GRANGE, Nov. 11, 1862, 10:30 p. M. Major-General HALLECK, Gene' al-in- Chief: One hundred and thirty-four prisoners were taken by Colonel Lee, of the Seventh Kansas Cavalry, and sixteen rebels killed. Our loss is two wounded. Colonel Lee is one of our best cavalry officers. I earnestly recommend him for promotion. (Signed) U. S. GRANT. The information gained by this reconnoissance was as follows : AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 137 General Lovell, who had been in command of the rebel forces north of Holly Springs, Mississippi, had fallen back through that place on November 2d ; but while retreating, was met on November 5th by General Pemberton, who had come up from the State Capital Jackson. General Lovell was ordered back to his old post, which he held, with two divisions, on the 8th of November. Price, with twelve thousand men, was seven miles below Holly Springs, on the Salem road ; and twenty-two miles further south, at Abbeville, was a rebel conscript camp of about thirteen thousand men. Some complaints having been made by the farmers in the vicinity, of the conduct of the rebel forces, while pass- ing through their country, General Grant issued the fol- lowing order, to prevent his troops from falling into the like disgraceful system of plunder : HEAD-QUARTERS, DEPARTMENT OP THE TENNESSEE, ) LAGRANGE, TENN., November 9, 1862. j [Special Field Orders, No. 2.] Hereinafter stoppage will be made on muster and pay rolls against di- visions for the full amount of depredations committed by any member or members of the division, unless the act can be traced either to the individ- uals committing them, or to the company, regiment, or brigade to which the offenders belong. In all cases the punishment will be assessed to the smallest organiza- tion containing the guilty parties. Confiscation acts were never intended to be executed by soldiers ; and if they were, the general government should have full benefit of all property of which individuals are deprived. A stoppage of pay against offenders will effect this end, and it is to be hoped will correct this growing eviL It is not only the duty of commissioned officers to correct this evil, but of all good men in the ranks to report every violation ; and it is determined now that they shall have a pecuniary interest in doing so. Assessments will also be made against commissioned officers, hi the proportion of ttieir pay proper. Where offences of the nature contemolated in this order are traced i*. 135 GENERAL GRANT individuals, they will be summarily punished to the full extent formerly given to garrison court-martials, or be arrested and tried by a general court-martial, according to the enormity of the offence, and the severest penalties provided imposed and executed. This order will be read on parade, before each regiment and detach- ment, for three successive evenings. By order of Major-General U. S. GRANT. By this means it was hoped that the evil would be rem- edied, or at least greatly ameliorated, and it was also by this strict discipline that General Grant was enabled to gather around him one of the finest working armies in the United States. The change in the Department naturally led to a remod- elling of the commander's staff, the officers of which were announced as follows : HEAD-QUARTERS, THIRTEENTH A.RMY CORPS, ) DEPARTMENT OP THE TENNESSEE, > LAGRANGE, TENN., November 11, 1862. ) [General Orders, No. 6.] I. The following officers are announced as the staff and staff corps of this department, and will be recognized and obeyed accordingly; Brigadier-General J. D. "Webster, Superintendent Military Railroads. Lieutenant-Colonel John A. Rawlins, Assistant Adjutant-General and Chief of Staff. Colonel T. Lyle Dickey, Chief of Cavalry. Colonel "William S. Hillyer, Aide-de-Camp and Provost-Marshal General Colonel Clark B. Lagow, Aide-de-Camp and Acting Inspector-General. Colonel George P. Ihrie, Aide-de-Camp and Acting Inspector-General. Colonel John Riggin, Jr., Aide-de-Camp and Superintendent of Mili- tary Telegraphs. Colonel George G. Pride, Chief Engineer of Military Railroads. Lieutenant-Colonel "W. L. Duff. Chief of Artillery. Lieutenant-Colonel J. P. Hawkins, Chief of Subsistence Department Lieutenant-Colonel C. A.. Reynolds, Chief of Quartermaster's Depart- ment. Surgeon Horace R. "Wirtz, Chief of Medical Department. Major William R. Rowley, Aide-de-Camp and Mustering Officer. AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 139 Captain T. S. Bowers, Aide-de-Camp. Captain F. E. Prime, Chief of Engineers. Lieutenant James II. Wilson, Chief of Topographical Engineers. Lieutenant S. C. Lyford, Chief of Ordnance Department. By command of Major-General U. S. GRANT. JonxA RAWLINS, A. A.-G. As it was found difficult to reduce the baggage and wagon trains of the army at a moment's notice, especially as the lighter material to be used in the place of the old fashioned tents had not been supplied to the troops, and as it was also necessary to make some provision for the cotton seized from the rebels, the following order was issued to remedy the evil as much as possible : CHIEF QUARTERMASTER'S OFFICE, ) LAGRANGE, TENN., November 13, 1862. ) 1. In compliance with General Orders, No. 160, from the War Department, and of General Orders, No. 3, from Head-Quarters, Department of the Tennessee, all officers of the Quartermaster's Depart- ment are required to reduce their means of transportation as much as possible until shelter tents are provided, when the transportation will be reduced in compliance with the above orders. 2. All surplus teams and wagons in charge of regimental quarter- masters will be transferred to division quartermasters, who are hereby required to organize a supply train of from fifty to one hundred teams as the service of their division may require, and any teams*in excess of the demands for division supply trains will be turned over to such officer as may be designated to take charge of the general supply train. 3. All division and brigade quartermasters are required to report immediately by letter their address and the division or brigade to which they belong, and the name of its commander to the Chief Quartermaster of the department; if an acting assistant quartermaster, they will report in addition the regiment to which they are attached. 4. Brigade quartermasters will not be required to have supply trains, as the division quartermaster will issue direct to regiments. Division, brigade, and regimental quartermasters are required to remain in camp with their respective commands. The only quartermasters allowed to take quarters or offices in towns which the army may occupy are the depot and post quartermasters ; and no quarters will be occupied by any 140 GENERAL GBANT officer whatsoever, unless duly assigned thereto by the post quartei master, under the direction of the Chief Quartermaster. 5. All cotton coming into the hands of quartermasters, seized south of Jackson, Tenn., -will be sent to that point, and invoiced to Captain G. L. Fort, A. Q. M., or the post quartermaster, giving the name and resi- dence of the parties from whom it was taken. And all cotton seized north of that place will be shipped to Captain Thomas O'Brien, A. Q. M., or the post quartermaster, at Columbus, Ky. The quartermasters above mentioned will hold such cotton untiJ ordered to sell the same at public auction by the General Commanding or the Chief Quartermaster of the department. 6. All regimental and other quartermasters are required to show that they have sent the monthly papers and returns prescribed by regula- tions and existing orders to the Quartermaster-General and the proper Auditor of the Treasury at "Washington, before they can receive funds for the payment of extra duty men. Extra duty rolls should have attached to the certificate, " and that I have forwarded -a copy of the above roll to the Quartermaster-General at Washington." Estimates for funds should be approved by the Division General. By command of Major-General U. S. GRANT. CHARLES A. REYNOLDS, Chief Quartermaster. The negro refugees at this time became a source of much anxiety, as well as an incubus on the army. Several of these men had played the parts of spies at the instiga- tion of their rebel masters, by entering the Union line* under the pretence of being escaped slaves, and, after gain- ing what information they could, had made their way back to the rebel lines with the intelligence. To remedy this evil a special camp was organized for their accomino dation and protection, and was placed under the charg of a responsible person. The following order located th camp and appointed the cMnmander thereof: HEAD-QUARTERS, ISTH ARMY CORPS, ) DEPARTMENT OF THE TENNESSEE, > LAGRANGE, TENN., Nov. 14. ) [Special Field Oilers, No. 4.] 1. Chaplain J, Eaton, Jr., of the 27th Regiment Ohio Infantry Vol AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 141 unteers, is hereby appointed to take charge of all fugitive slaves that are now, or may from time to time come within tho military lines of the advancing army in this vicinity, not employed and registered in accor- dance with General Orders, No. 72, from Head-quarters District of "West Tennessee, and will open a camp for them at Grand Junction, where they will be suitably cared for and organized into companies and set to work, picking, ginning, and baling all cotton now outstanding in fields. 2. Commanding officers of troops will send all fugitives that come within the lines, together with such teams, cooking utensils and other baggage as they may bring with them, to Chaplain J. Eaton, Jr., at Grand Junction. 3. One regiment of infantry from Brigadier-General McArthur's division will be temporarily detailed as guard in charge of such contra- bands, and the Surgeons of said regiment will be charged with the caro of the sick. 4. Commissaries of subsistence will issue on the requisitions of Chap- lain J. Eaton, Jr., omitting the coffee rations, and substituting rye. By order of Major-General U. S. GRANT. JOHN A. RAWLIKS, A. A.-G. The Special Order No. 2, relative to plundering, began to have some efiect in finding out who were the guilty parties engaged in such nefarious practices ; and General Grant being fully determined to have his orders obeyed, not only in the spirit, but to the letter, assessed the guilty regiment for the whole amount of the injury inflicted, and punished the officers for neglect of duty. The following order will explain his method of cor- recting the evil : HEAD-QUARTERS 13TH ARMY CORPS, ) DEPARTMENT OP THE TENNESSEE, V LA GRANGE, TENN., Nov. 16, 1862. ) [Special Field Orders, No. 6.] The facts having been officially reported to the Major-General Com- manding, that a portion of the Twentieth Regiment Illinois Infantry Volunteers did, on the night of the 7th of November inst., at Jackson, Tennessee, break into the store of G. "W. Graham & Co., and take there- from goods to the value of $841.40, the property of said Graham & Co., 142 GENERAL GRANT and did cut the tent of R. B. Kent and N. A. Bass, and take therefrom goods to the value of $345, the property of said Kent and Bass, and burn and destroy the tent and poles, also the property of said Kent and Bass, of the value of $56.26, all of which damages amount to the sum of $1,242.66 ; and it further appearing from said report that Capt. C. L. Page, Co. D ; Capt. J. M. North, Co. E ; Capt. G-. W. Kennard, Co. I ; Lieutenants Harry King, Co. B ; William Seas, Co. C ; John Edmonston, Co. E; David Wadsworth, Co. F; J. Bailey, Co. F; Victor H. Stevens, Co. H ; R. M. Evans, Co. I ; Charles Taylor, Co. I, of said regiment, were absent from their commands at the time of the perpetration of these outrages, in violation of orders, and without proper cause, when they should have been present ; and also that Captain Orton Frisbee, of Co. H. acting in the capacity of Major, and Captain John Tunison, of Co. G, the senior Captain, immediately after the commission of these depre- dations, did not exercise their authority to ferret out the men guilty of the offences, but that, on the contrary, Captain Tunison interposed to prevent search and discovery of the parties really guilty, and that Cap- tain Frisbee, after the commission of the said depredations, being in com- mand of the regiment, remained behind twenty-four hours after the regiment marched, and the names of the individual parties guilty not having been disclosed, it is therefore ordered 1. That the said sum of $1,242.66 be assessed against said regiment and the officers hereinbefore named, excepting such enlisted men as were at the time sick in the hospital or absent with proper authority ; that the same be charged against them on the proper muster and pay rolls, and the amount each is to pay noted opposite his name thereon, the officers to bo assessed pro rata with the men on the amount of their pay proper ; and that the sum so collected be paid by the command- ing officer of the regiment to the parties entitled to the same. 2. That Captain Orton Frisbee and Captain John Tunison of the Twentieth Regiment Illinois Infantry Volunteers, for wilful neglect of duty and violation of orders, are hereby mustered out of the service of the United States, to take effect this day. By order of Major-G-eneral U. S. GRANT. JOHN A. RAWLINS, A. A.-G. The subject of trade in the insurrectionary States after they had again come within the Union lines, became a mat- ter of much importance, and the Treasury Department had laid down certain rules for the guidance of those engaged AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 143 in such traffic. These rules were, however, very deficient in many cases ; and it also required certain stringent mili- tary regulations to be enforced to prevent the trade be- coming a source of aid and comfort to the enemy. The following order was therefore issued, defining such trade within the lines of the Department of the Tennessee : HEADQUARTERS 13TH ARMY CORPS, DEPARTMENT OF THE TENNESSEE, LAGRANGE, TENN., November 19, 1862. [General Orders, No. 8.] I. In addition to permits from the Treasury Department, all persons are required to have a permit from the local Provost- Marshal at the post before purchasing cotton or other Southern products in this Department, and shipping the same North. II. It will be regarded as evidence of disloyalty for persons to go beyond the lines of the army to purchase cotton or other products ; and all contracts made for such articles in advance of the army, or for cotton in thefitld, are null and void, and all persons so offending will beexpeUedfrom the department. III. Freight agents on military railroads will report daily to the Post Provost-Marshal all cotton or other private property shipped by them; and when shipments are made by persons who have not the proper per- mits, notice will be given by telegraph, to the Provost-Marshal at Co- lumbus, Ky., who will seize the goods for the benefit of the Government. IV. The Federal army being now in the occupancy of "West Tennes- see to the Mississippi line, and it being no part of the policy of the Government to oppress, or cause unnecessary suffering to those who are not in active rebellion, hereafter, until otherwise directed, licenses will be granted by District Commanders to loyal persons, at all military stations within the department, to keep for sale, subject to the Treasury regula- tions, such articles as are of prime necessity for families, and sell the same to all citizens who have taken, or may voluntarily take the oath of allegiance, and who have permits from the Provost-Marshal, obtained under oath, that all goods to be purchased are for their own and for their fami- ly's use, and that no part thereof is for sale or for the use of any person other than those named in the permit. Permits so given will be good until countermanded ; and all violations of trading permits will be pun- ished by the forfeiture of the permit, fine and imprisonment, at the dis- 3retion of a military commission. V. Particular attention is called to existing orders prohibiting the em- 144 GENERAL GEANT ployment or use of Government teams for hauling private property. All cotton brought to stations or places for shipment in this department by Government teams will be seized by the Quartermaster's Department for the benefit of the Government, and persons claiming such property ex- pelled from the Department. It is made the duty of all officers, and especially of local Provost-Marshals, to see that this order is rigidly en- forced. By command of Major- General TJ. S. GRANT. JOHN A. RAWLINGS, A. A.- G. But, despite the above orders, the Jewish camp followers were found to be continually engaged in an illegal traffic ; whereupon General Grant expelled them all from his de- partment. The following is his order of expulsion : HEAD-QUARTERS, DEPARTMENT or THE TENNESSEE, ) OXFORD, Miss., Dec. 17, 1862. ) [General Orders, No. 11.] The Jews, as a class, violating every regulation of trade established by the Treasury Department, also department orders, are hereby ex- pelled from the department within twenty -four hours from the receipt of this order by post commanders. They will see that all this class of people are furnished with passes and required to leave ; and any one re- turning after such notification will be arrested and held in confinement until an opportunity occurs of sending them out as prisoners, unless furnished with permits from these head-quarters. No passes will be given these people to visit head-quarters for the purpose of making per- sonal application for trade permits.* By order of Major-General GRANT. An anecdote is told of General Grant, relative to his re- fusal to engage in or authorize any movements for the reopening of trade with the rebellious States. On one oc- casion, especially, after his protests and orders suppressing such traffic, he was eagerly entreated by the agents of the Treasury Department to authorize some system of trade. * This order was afterwards moderated and the Jews allowed to trade under certain regulations. AND HIS CAMPAJGwa. 145 For a long time he refused, for the reason that he could not successfully conduct his military operations while such per- sons were moving around him; but at last he conceded, that a certain amount of trade in the recaptured districts of the South would be safe, proper, and even highly useful to the Union provided io could be conducted through honest, unimpeachable Union hands. He was asked to name the persons to whom he would be willing to trust. " I will do no such thing," was Grant's reply ; " for if I did, it would appear in less than a week that I was a part- ner of every one of the persons trading under my an thoritv-" 146 GENERAL CHAPTER XV. ADVANCE INTO MISSISSIPPI. A RETROSPECT. THE object of the advance of General Grant's army into the State of Mississippi was to reduce Vicksburg, and open the Mississippi River from its source to the Gulf. The river had been blockaded at different times, by the fortification of certain points, which had all been subdued by the gun- boats, with the exception of Vicksburg ; but in consequence of the natural, as well as artificial strength of that position, it could not be taken from the water-front. It became, therefore, necessary that the land forces should co-operate in the movement for the conquest of the rebels at this point. It will be needful, for a clear understanding of the posi- tion of affairs when General Grant first undertook this re- sponsible duty, to go back to the time when the great river of the West was first blockaded at Vicksburg by the rebels, and show how every previous effort had failed to reduce the stronghold which had been styled by the enemy, the " Gibraltar of the Mississippi." On the 12th day of January, 1861, the Governor of the State of Mississippi first sent artillery to fortify Vicksburg, then supposed to be the strongest defensive position on the river, commanding as it did, from an important elevation, the channel for some miles, both above and below the city. n it was found that the gunboat fleet had, with the AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 147 assistance of the army, reduced the strong position at Island No. 10, and had pushed down past the works constructed to blockade the river above Memphis, the rebels at once, under skilful engineers, began strengthening the fortifica- tions at Vicksburg, until they were considered incapablo of being stronger, and sufficient to resist the advance of any enemy either by land or from the water. Vicksburg, in fact, became a series of forts, inclosed and connected, as it were, within a larger fortress. The operations of the army and the naval forces in the West up to May, 1862, had principally been for two grand objects the reopening of the Mississippi River to the Gulf, and the suppression of the rebels in arms. The movements were therefore general in their character up to this date, and had not been directed to any one particu- lar point, until the advance upon Corinth, under General Halleck. About June, 1862, the reduction of Vicksburg and its neighboring batteries became a subject of more direct im- portance, and a special object to be accomplished ; and on the 1st of that month, Commodore Farragut's fleet, which had taken New Orleans, and the other points of the Lower Mississippi, arrived off Grand Gulf, where it attacked a rebel battery of rifled guns. After a brief engagement the fleet passed up the river, without reducing the battery. It was the approach of this fleet from below and of the gun- boat fleet from above, that warned General Beauregard that his army was in great danger, if he should remain too long at Corinth. As before stated, Memphis was reduced on June 6th, and the next day, Farragut's fleet arrived off Vicksburg. On June 8th, a portion of the fleet returned to Grand Gulf, and for the time, silenced the rebel battery at that point. The gunboat fleet having cleared the river to Vicksburg 148 GENERAL GKANT from above, after reaching that place returned north, to operate on the rivers of Arkansas. The movements of the Union army under General Grant, after the evacuation of Corinth, and the arrival of Farra- gut's fleet before Vicksburg, had such an effect upon the rebel inhabitants of the State of Mississippi, that they, on June 16th, 1862, removed their state archives from their capital Jackson to a more remote position. On the 27th of June, 1862, the fleet began bombarding Vicksburg, and with the aid of Porter's mortar fleet, kept shelling the rebel position at intervals, until the end of July, when the river was found to be so low, that the fleet had to retire to New Orleans, to prevent the larger vessels from becoming aground. About twelve miles north of Vicksburg is the mouth of the Yazoo River, the waters of which stream are deep enough to float an ordinary river vessel, at almost any season of the year. Up this river, the rebels had established an impro- vised navy- yard ; had there constructed a powerful iron-clad ram, which they had named the " Arkansas ;" and, to pre- vent an enemy from passing up the Yazoo River to destroy this ship-building, the rebels had fortified Raines's Bluff, a strong elevation, a short distance above the point where the Yazoo falls into the Mississippi River. On July 15th, 1862, this ram came down the Yazoo, ran by the fleet, and laid up before the city of Vicksburg, adding thereby a floating battery to the works of that place. The gunboat " Essex" and the ram " Queen of the West," however, sub- sequently inflicted such injuries on this rebel vessel, that in a short time she was completely destroyed. At this time, Vicksburg and its vicinity formed a portion of the Union Department of the Gulf, therefore, all military operations had to be made by troops having their base at New Orleans. While the United States vessels were en- AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 149 gaged as just described, the troops, which consisted of one small division of infantry, under General Williams, were far from being idle An idea had be-jn conceived that it was possible to iso- late the city of Vickf burg, which was located on a bend of the Mississippi Rive', by turning the course of that stream, and thus force the city inland, some six miles.* As the only strategical value of Vicksburg to the rebels was its power in blockading the river, if the channd could be thus changed into another direction, the rebel works would be useless, and could be reduced without much bloodshed, even if they were not voluntarily abandoned. To effect this change in the channel of the river, it was deemed necessary to cut a canal across the neck of land between De Soto and Richmond, La., and nearly opposite Vicks* burg. The troops were therefore employed on this work, while the fleet bombarded the city. If the channel had been thus changed, the piece of land cut off in this method would have been taken out of the State of Louisiana, and added to the State of Mississippi. On the 22d of July, 1862, this canal was declared com- pleted ; but the waters of the river were too low to flow through it, at least it was then so supposed ; but, after- wards, it was ascertained that the canal was located in the wrong spot, to cause any variation in the channel. The waters of the river continuing to subside rapidly, it was deemed advisable to raise the siege ; and the rebels took this opportunity to fill up the cana! cut by the Union troops, and then to add their Vicksburg garrison to the force engaged against Corinth, during the early part of October. They, also, further fortified the hills around * On many previous occasions, the course of the Mississippi River oad been changed in one night, by merely running a plough across a neck of land, and thus making a previous peninsula into an island. 150 GENERAL, GEANT Vicksburg, on both the land and water sides, so as to ren- der it, if possible, perfectly impregnable. Such was the position of affairs, when General Grant commenced his advance into the State of Mississippi ; and to prevent the naval vessels from N w Orleans from again ascending the river, to co-operate with him, the rebel forces, on November 25th, 1862, fortified Port Hudson, on the southwest corner of East Feliciana County, La., and a short distance above Baton Rouge. AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 151 CHAPTER XVL FIRST MOVEMENTS TOWARDS VICKSBURG. GENERAL JOHN A. LOGAN, one of the officers who had served under General Grant, from the first day he assumed command at Cairo, asserted, in the halls of the National Congress, that, if the Mississippi River could not other- wise be opened, " the men of the Northwest would hew their way to the Gulf," if the opportunity was only al- lowed them. The Government, finding this to be the tem- per of those hardy Western men, determined to foster that feeling, by not only enlarging General Grant's Depart- ment, but also by increasing his forces. On the 28th of November, a force of infantry and cav- alry, under Generals A. P. Hovey and Washburne, arrived at Delta, on the Mississippi River, near the mouth of the Yazoo Pass. They had started the previous day from He- lena, on the Arkansas shore, at which point the Union troops about to join General Grant were being concen trated. General Washburne's cavalry made a reconnoissance to the mouth of the Cold water River, where he captured a rebel camp, a number of horses, arms, and equipments, and routed the enemy. The reconnoissance was pushed along both the Coldwater and Tallahatchie Rivers, thence to Preston, after which an expedition was sent to Garner's Station, to destroy the railroad bridge and track. This expedition was completely successful, as were several others 152 GENERAL GBANT of a similar character. The cavalry then returned via Charleston, and formed a junction, near Mitchell's Cross- Roads, with General Hovey's forces. The reconnoissance was next pushed up to Panola, where an abandoned rebel camp was discovered, the occupants having fled during the previous night. The cavalry again moved in a southerly direction to Oakland, and along the road towards Coffee- ville. After ascertaining the exact position of the rebel forces, and being engaged in a few skirmishes, this part of the expedition returned to the mouth of the Coldwater River. General Hovey's command also cut some portions of the railroad lines. This movement created quite a panic among the rebels of the Southwest. Meanwhile, the main forces, under General Grant, moved steadily forward along the line of railroad leading from Grand Junction to Grenada. On November 28th, the ad- vance left Davis's Mills for Holly Springs, Colonel Lee's cavalry pushing on ahead. All along the line of march were evidences of the recent cavalry operations of the Union forces. At ten o'clock of the morning of November 29th, the advance passed through Holly Springs, pushing on rapidly still further south, arriving near Waterford on the 30th. In this place was discovered several evidences of the illegal traffic that had been carried on through the rebel lines ; one house, in St. Louis, having a branch clothing establishment for the supply of the rebels. This, and simi- lar facts, led General Grant to issue his order, No. 11. Cavalry reconnoissances were sent out under Colonel Lee, and discovered the enemy in force on the Tallahatchie. A skirmish took place on November 30th, near Abbeville, i ^suiting in the retreat of the rebels to the defences at that 'lace. On the 2d of December, Abbeville was evacuated, and occupied by the Union forces. A series of skirmishes occurred on December 3d, near Oxford, Miss., between the AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 153 Union cavalry advance and the rebels, and resulted in the retreat of the latter. The cavalry then pushed on after Van Dorn's retreating column, and, on December 4th, drove the rebels out of Water Valley, engaging them sharply near Coffeeville, on December 5th. As the cavalry thus pushed on, they were followed by the main army under General Grant, whose generalship was plainly manifested in every movement he made. By sending General Hovey's forces, via Delta, toward the rail- road lines, he created a panic in the very vicinity through which he was marching, thus making his advance almost a bloodless one. The gunboat fleet were also operating along the rivers, especially the Yazoo, in which torpedoes had been sunk by the rebels, to repel the advance. On December llth, the gunboat Cairo was sunk by the ex- plosion of one of these hidden weapons. Skirmishes would occasionally take place at the posts left behind General Grant in his advance, but as he always took care that such places should be well guarded, these brief contests did not, at first, interfere with his move- ments. On December 12th, a skirmish took place at Cor- inth, but was handsomely repulsed by Colonel (since Gen- eral) Sweeny. General Grant's head-quarters had, by this time, been re- moved to Oxford, Mississippi ; but, in consequence of the attack upon and disgraceful surrender of Holly Springs, on December 20th, with all its stores, etc., so necessary to the advance, General Grant's main forces had to fall back to that place, where he located his head-quarters, in order to recruit his supplies. Upon the investigation of the matter concerning this surrender, General Grant found that it was not warranted by any circumstances that attended it, and he expressed his displeasure in the following condemnatory order : RPS, ) BE, V I, 1862. ) 154 GENERAL GRANT HEAD-QUARTERS, I3TH ARMY CORPS, DEPARTMENT OP THE TENNESSEE, HOLLY SPRINGS, Miss., December 24, [Special Field Orders, No. 23.] (Extract.) It is with pain and mortification that the General Commanding reflects upon the disgraceful surrender of the place, with all the valuable stores it con- tained, on the 20th inst., and that without any resistance except by a few men, who form an honorable exception ; and this, too, after warning had been giving of the enemy northward, the evening previous. With all the cotton, public stores, and substantial buildings about the depot, it would have been perfectly practicable to have made, ir* a few hours, a de- fence sufficient-^) resist, with a small garrison, all the cavalry force brought against them until the re-enforcements which the commanding officer was notified were marching to his relief could have reached him. The conduct of officers and men in accepting paroles, under the circum- stances, is highly reprehensible, and, to say the least, thoughtless. By the terms of the Dix-Hill cartel each party is bound to take care of their prisoners and to send them to Vicksburg, or a point on the James River, for exchange, or parole, unless some other point is mutually agreed upon by the generals commanding the opposing armies. By a refusal to be paroled, tha enemy, from his inability to take care of the prisoners, would have been compelled either to have refused them uncon- ditionally, or to have abandoned further aggressive movements for the time being, which would have made their recapture, and the discomfiture of the enemy almost certain. The prisoners paroled at this place will be collected in camp at once by the post commander, and held under close guard until their case can be reported to Washington for further instructions. Commanders throughout the department are directed to arrest and hold as above all men of their commands and all stragglers who may have accepted their paroles upon like terms. The General Commanding is satisfied that the majority of the troops who accepted a parole did so thoughtlessly and from want of knowledge of the cartel referred to, and that in future they will not be caught in the same way. By order of Major-General U. S. GHANT. JOHN A. RAWLINS, A. A.-G. OtLer posts in General Grant's rear were attacked at about the same time as Holly Springs, but were bravely AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 155 defended by their garrisons, and the rebel onslaughts re- pulsed. General Grant, therefore, caused a full investiga- tion to be made, respecting the conduct of the troops at all the points that were assailed, and expressed his feelings concerning it, in the following order : HEAD-QUARTERS, DEPARTMENT OF THE TENNESSEE, ) HOLLY SPRINGS, Miss., January 8, 1863. ) [General Orders, No. 4.] I. The Major-^Greneral Commanding the department takes just pride and satisfaction in congratulating the small garrisons of the posts of Coldwater, Davis's Mills, and Middleburg, for the heroic defence of their positions on the 20th, 21st, and 24th ultimo, and their successful repulse of an enemy many times their number. The 90th Illinois, at Coldwater (its first engagement ) ; the detach- ment of the veteran 25th Indiana, and two companies of the 5th Ohio Cavalry, at Davis's Mills ; and the detachment of the gallant 12th Michi- gan at Middleburg, are deserving of the thanks of the army, which was in a measure dependent upon the road they so nobly defended for supplies, and they will receive the meed of praise ever awarded by a grateful public to those who bravely and successfully do their duty. These regiments are entitled to inscribe upon their banners, respec- tively, Coldwater, Davis's Mills, and Middleburg, with the names of other battle-fields made victorious by their valor and discipline. It is gratify ing to know that at every point where our troops made a stand during the late raid of the enemy 1 's cavalry, success followed, and the enemy was made to suffer a loss in killed and watnded greater than the entire gar- risons of the places attacked. Especially was this the case of Davis's Mills and Middleburg. The only success gained by V-in Dorn was at Holly Springs, where the whole garrison was left by their commander in ignorance of the approach of danger. II. Colonel R. C. Murphy, of the 8th Regiment Wisconsin Infantry Volunteers, having, while in command of the post of Holly Springs, Mississippi, neglected and failed to exercise the usual and ordinary pre- cautions to guard and protect the same; having, after repeated and timely warning of the approach of the enemy, failed to make any pre- parations for resistance or defence, or shown any disposition to do so ; and having, with a force amply sufficient to have repulsed the enemy and protect the public stores intrusted to his care, disgracefully permitted him to capture the post and destroy the stores and the movement of 156 GENERAL GKANT troops in the face of an enemy rendering it impracticable to convene a court-martial for his trial is, therefore, dismissed the service of the United Stales to take effect from the IQlh day of December, 1862, the date of his cowardly and disgraceful conduct. By order of Major-General U. S. GRANT. JOHN A. EAWLINS, A. A.- G. It will be seen, by the date of this last order, that it had not been issued in the heat of the moment, or without due consideration, but had been the result of* a careful in- vestigation of the merits and demerits of the case. AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 157 CHAPTER XVIL COMMANDER OF FOUR ARMY CORPS. SHERMAN'S EXPEDI- TION. THE forces under General Grant having now been in- creased to such an extent as to authorize their division into Army Corps,the following order was issued, and gave directions for the arrangement of the forces by divisions into corps, and stated who were the commanders of the new organizations : HEAD-QUARTERS, DEPARTMENT OP THE TENNESSEE, 7 HOLLY SPRINGS, Miss., Dec. 22, 1862. ) [General Orders, No. 14.] By directions of tlie General-in-Chief of the army, the troops in this department, including tho.=!e of the Department of the Missouri opera- ting on the Mississippi River, are hereby divided into four Army Corps, as follows: 1. The troops composing the 9th Division, Brigadier-General G. "W. Morgan commanding ; the 10th Division, Brigadier-General A. J. Smith commanding ; and all other troops operating on the Mississippi River below Memphis, not included in the 15th Army Corps, will constitute the 13th Army Corps, under the command of Major-General John A. Me- Clernand. 2. The 5th Division, Brigadier-General Morgan L. Smith commanding; the Division from Helena, Ark., commanded by Brigadier-General F. Steele ; and the forces in the " District of Memphis," will constitute the 15th Army Corps, and be commanded bv Major-Ger.eral W. T. Sherman. 3. The 6th Division, Brigadier-General J. McArthur commanding ; the 7th division, Brigadier-General I. P. Quinby commanding ; the 8th Division, Brigadier General L. F. Ross commanding ; the 2d Brigade of Cavalry, Colonel A. L. Lee commanding ; and the trooos in the " Dia- 158 GENERAL GRANT trict of Columbus," commanded by Brigadier-General Davies, and those in the " District of Jackson," commanded by Brigadier- General Sullivan, will constitute the 16th Army Corps, and be commanded by Major-Gen- eral S. A Hurlbut. 4. The 1st Division, Brigadier-General J. W. Denver commanding; the 3d Division, Brigadier-General John A. Logan commanding ; the 4th Division, Brigadier-General J. G. Lauman commanding; the 1st Bri- gade of Cavalry, Colonel B. H. Grierson commanding ; and the forces in the "District of Corinth," commanded by Brigadier-General G. If. Dodge, will constitute the 17th Army Corps, and be commanded by Major-General J. B. McPherson. District commanders will send consolidated returns of their forces to these head-quarters as well as to Army Corps head-quarters, and will, for the present, receive orders from Department head-quarters. By order of Major-General U. S. GRANT. JOHN A. RAWLINS, A. A.- G. Another general order transposed the divisions of Gen- erals McArthur and Quinby, of the 16th Army Corps, with those of Generals Lauman and Denver, of the 17th. Two days before the issuance of the foregoing, General Sherman, who had been placed in command of an expedi- tion down the Mississippi River to Vicksburg, and who had personally made certain reconnoissances in the vicinity of the Tallahatchie River, embarked his forces at Memphis, and they were ordered to rendezvous at Friar's Point, eighteen miles below Helena. The fleet consisted of one hundred and twenty-seven steamers, in addition to the gunboats. General Sherman's force was composed en- tirely of Western men, good fighters, hardy, daring, and uaed to a rough and adventurous life. In order that the expedition might be composed entirely of fighting material, General Sherman issued the following, before embarkirj? his forces : AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 159 HEAD-QUARTERS, RIGHT WIXG. 13rn ARMY CORPS, ) MEMPHIS, TENN., Dec. 18, 1862. J [General Orders, No. 8.] 1. The expedition now fitting out is purely of a military character, and the interests involved are of too important a nature to be mixe^ up with personal and private business. No citizen, male or female, will be a,ttowed to accompany it, unless employed as part of a crew or as ser- vants to the transports. Female chambermaids to the boats and nurses to the sick alone will be allowed, unless the wives of captains and pilots actually belonging to the boats. No laundress, officer's, or soldier's wife must pass below Helena. 2. No person whatever, citizen, officer, or sutler, will, on any con- sideration, buy or deal in cotton or other produce of the country. Should any cotton be brought on board of any transport going or return- ing, the brigade quartermaster, of which the boat forms a part, will take possession of it, and invoice it to Captain A. R. Eddy, Chief Quartermaster at Memphis. 3. Should any cotton or other produce, be brought back to Memphis by any chartered boat, Captain Eddy will take possession of the same, and sell it for the benefit of the United States. If accompanied by its actual producer, the planter or factor, the quartermaster will furnish him with a receipt for the same to be settled for, on proof of his loyal- ty at the close of the war. 4. Boats ascending the river may take cotton from the shore for bulk- heads to protect their engines or crew, but on arrival at Memphis it will be turned over to the quartermaster with a statement of the time, place, and name of its owner. The trade in cotton must await a more peaceful state of affairs. 5. Should any citizen accompany the expedition below Helena, in violation of these orders, any colonel of a regiment or captain of a battery will con- script him into the service of the United States for the unexpired term of his command. If he show a refractory spirit unfitting him for a soldier, the commanding officer present will turn him over to the captain of the boat as a deck hand, and compel him to work in that capacity without wages until the boat returns to Memphis. 6. Any person whatever, whether in the service of the United States or transports, found making reports for publication, which might reach the enemy, giving them information, aid, and comfort, will be arrested and treated as spies. By order of Major-General SHERMAN. J. H. HAMMOUD, Major and A. A.-G. 160 GENERAL GRANT The foregoing order certainly gave speculators due warn- ing of what they might expect, if they attempted to conceal themselves among the soldiers and were found out. General Sherman, when he left Memphis, located his head-quarters on the " Forest Queen," and with his staff arrived at Friar's Point on December 21st. It will thus be seen that General Sherman was entirely unaware of the necessity which existed in General Grant retracing his steps from Oxford to Holly Springs ; and as the plan had been for the latter to move upon Jackson by the railroad, thence to Vicksburg, while the former attacked the works, a proper combination was certainly needed to secure success. It was not possible for General Grant to inform Gen- eral Sherman of his retrograde movement ; and it was only to be hoped that, having the moral support of supposing General Grant was successful, he would himself succeed. As it was, the troops that had retreated before General Grant's advance, finding that they were released from the necessity of further resisting him as it would have been a fatal madness for him to have pushed on to Jackson with- out supplies were immediately transported to Vicksburg to resist the onslaught of General Sherman, of whose expedition the rebels had been duly apprised by their sym- pathizers in Memphis. General Sherman, therefore, proceeded with his part of the expedition, and landed a small force under General Morgan L. Smith, at Milliken's Bend. These troops pro- ceeded to Delhi and Dallas, on the Vicksburg and Texas Railroad, and destroyed the depots and a section of the track, so as to cut off the retreat of the rebels from Vicks- burg. It will be seen that General Grant's plan was a splendid one ; and but for the surrender of Holly Springs, must have proved successful. AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 161 On the 27th of December, 1862, the main forces under General Sherman, having successfully disembarked at Johnston's Landing, near the mouth of the Yazoo River, the command next prepared for an assault upon the north- ern works that defended the city of Vicksburg. 162 GENERAL GRANT CHAPTER XVIH. SHERMAN'S ATTACK UPON VICKSBURG. ARKANSAS POST.* THE forces under General Sherman consisted of four di- visions, and were known as the " Right Wing of the Army of the Tennessee." At about noon of December 26th, 1862, the fleet of trans- ports arrived off Johnston's Landing, and under cover of the gunboats, the men were disembarked ; the armed ves- sels having first silenced the battery which the rebels had planted. By early morning the whole force, infantry and artillery were landed the advance having already moved some distance inland. Vicksburg, from this point of landing, was peculiarly situated, being on a hill, with a line of hills surrounding it at a distance of several miles, and extending from Haines' Bluff, on the Yazoo River, to Warrenton, ten miles below the city, on the Mississippi River. The low country in the vicinity is swampy, filled with sloughs, bayous, and lagoons. To approach Vicksburg with a large force by this route, even in times of peace, would be a matter of great diffi- culty, and with an enemy in front, it was almost an im- possibility. * These two actions were not under the immediate supervision of General Grant ; but as they occurred within his department, and were fought by his troops, they consequently form a portion of his military his- tory. Under such circumstances, it is not necessary to fully describe each battle in detail, but briefly allude to them, so as to connect the links in the historic chain. L_ AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 163 On Saturday morning, December 27th, 1862, the army was drawn up in line of battle, prepared to make the as sault on the enemy's works. The general advance was then commenced from different points, and by dusk the enemy was driven at least a quarter of a mile from his for- mer position.* On the 28th, the men fought with great bravery and de- termination ; but the non-arrival of the left wing had com- pletely disarranged the plan of battle. The enemy had also by this time, been considerably re-enforced by the troops that had fled from before General Grant's advance ; and the missiles from this concentrated body were thrown with great rapidity upon General Sherman's lines. The rebels, however, refused to come from behind their de- fences, which, on the morning of the 29th, extended for at least two miles up the bluffs the newly arrived troops having been at once set to work, during the previous night, throwing up earthwork batteries in all directions, and at every assailable point. The position was naturally strong, but by the addition of art, it was made completely impreg- nable against so small a force as that commanded by Gen- eral Sherman. The woods were also filled with sharpshoot- ers, who picked off the officers with great rapidity. During Monday, the 29th, several brilliant charges were made by the troops on the rebel works ; but all was in vain, as the men were, on all occasions outnumbered by the enemy, and consequently could not hold the positions, even after they were taken. General Blair's brigade, headed * General Sherman had so far successfully carried out his part uf the programme ; and it was by this time expected that General Grant would have been able to co-operate with him. The surrender of Holly Springs, as before described, had, however, prevented the latter from following out his portion of the plan; and thus, by the delinquency of one B'ibordinate, the whole campaign was ruined. 164 GENERAL GRANT by himself on foot, particularly distinguished itself, and suffered the greatest loss. As the men fell back upon their supports, the last man to leave the hill, was the brigade commander. The following description of the charge is given by one who witnessed the whole action : General Morgan, at eleven o'clock A. M., sent word to General Steele that he was about ready for the movement upon the hill, and wished the latter to support him with General Thayer's Brigade. General Steele accordingly ordered General Thayer to move his brigade forward, and be ready for the assault. The order was promptly complied with, and Gen- eral Blair received from General Morgan the order to assault the hill. The artillery had been silent for some time ; but Hoffman's Battery opened when the movement commenced. This was promptly replied to by the enemy, and taken up byGriffith's First Iowa Battery, and a vig- orous shelling was the result. By the time General Blair's Brigade emerged from its cover of cypress forest, the shell were dropping fast among the men. A field battery had been in position in front of Hoff- man's Battery ; but it limbered up and moved away beyond the heavy batteries and the rifle-pits. In front of the timber where Blair's Brigade had been lying was an abatis of young trees, cut off about three feet above the ground, and with the tops fallen promiscuously around. It took some minutes to pass this abatis, and by the time it was accomplished the enemy's fire had not been without effect. Beyond this abatis was a ditch fifteen or twenty feet deep, and with two or three feet of water in the bottom. The bottom of the ditch was a quicksand, in which the feet of the men com- menced sinking, the instant they touched it. By the time this ditch was passed the line was thrown into considerable confusion, and it took seve- ral minutes to put it in order. All the horses of the officers were mired in this ditch. Every one dismounted and moved up the hill on foot. Beyond this ditch was an abatis of heavy timber that had been felled several months before, and, from being completely seasoned, was more difficult of passage than that constructed of the greener and more flex- ible trees encountered at first. These obstacles were overcome under a tremendous fire from the enemy's batteries and the men in the rifle-pits, The line was recovered from the disorder into which it had been thrown by the passage of the abatis ; and, with General Blair at their head, the regiments m^^ed forward " upon the enemy's works." The first move- AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 165 ment was over a sloping plateau, raked by direct and enfilading fires from heavy artillery, and swept by a perfect storm of bullets from the rifle- pits. Nothing Jaunted by the dozens of men that had already fallen, the brigade pressed on, and in a few moments had driven the enemy from the first range of rifle-pits at the base of the hill, and were in full possession. Halting but a moment to take breath, the brigade renewed the charge, and speedily occupied the second line of rifle-pits, about two hundred yards distant from the first. General Blair was the first man of his brigade to enter. All this time the murderous fire from the enemy's guns continued. The batteries were still above this line of rifle-pits. The regiments were not strong enough to attempt their capture without a prompt and powerful support. For them it had truly been a march Into the jaws of death Into the mouth of hell. Almost simultaneously with the movement of General Blair on the left, Gen. Thayer received his command to go forward. He had previ- ously given orders to all his regiments in column to follow each other whenever the first moved forward. He accordingly placed himself at the head of his advance regiment, the Fourth Iowa, and his order " Forward, Second Brigade !" rang out clear above the tumult. Colonel Williamson, commanding the Fourth Iowa, moved it off in splendid style. General Thayer supposed that all the other regiments of his brigade were following, in accordance with his instructions previously issued. He wound through the timber skirting the bayou, crossed at the same bridge where General Blair had passed but a few minutes before, made his way through the ditch and both lines of abatis, deflected the right and ascended the sloping plateau in the direction of the rifle-pits simultv neously with General Blair, and about two hundred yards to his right. When General Thayer reached the rifle-pits, after hard fighting and a heavy loss, he found, to his horror, that only the Fourth Iowa had fol- lowed him, the wooded nature of the place having prevented his ascer- taining it before. Sadly disheartened, with little hope of success, he still pressed forward and fought his way to the second line, at the same time that General Blair reached it on the left. Colonel Williamson's regiment was fast falling before the concentrated fire of the rebels, and with an anxious heart General Thayer looked around for aid. The rebels were forming three full regiments of infantry to move down upon General Thayer, and were massing a proportionately for- midable force against General Blair. The rebel infantry and artillery were constantly in full play, and two heavy guns were raking the rifle- 166 GENERAL GRANT pits in several places. With no hope of succor, General Thayer gave the order for a return down the hill and back to his original position. The Fourth Iowa, entering the fight five hundred strong, had lost a hun- dred and twenty men in less than tliirty minutes. It fell back at a quick inarch, but with its ranks unbroken and without any thing of panic. It appears that just at the time General Thayer's Brigade started up the hill, General Morgan sent for a portion of it to support him on the right. General Steele at once diverted the Second Regiment of Thayer's Brigade, which was passing at the time. The Second Regiment being thus diverted, the others followed, in accordance with the orders they had previously received from their commander. Notice of the move- ment was sent to General Thayer ; but, in consequence of the death of the courier, the notification never reached him. This accounts for his being left with nothing save the Fourth Iowa Regiment. The occur- rence was a sad one. The troops thus turned off were among the best that had yet been in action, and had they been permitted to charge the enemy they would have won for themselves a brilliant record. When General Blair entered the second line of rifle-pits, his brigade continued to pursue the enemy up the hill The Thirteenth Illinois In- fantry was in advance, and fought with desperation to 'win its way to the top of the crest. Fifty yards or more above the second line of rifle-pits is a small clump of willows, hardly deserving the name of trees. They stand in a corn-field, and from the banks of the bayou below presented the appearance of a green hillock. To this copse many of the rebels fled when they were driven from the rifle-pits, and they were promptly pur- sued by General Blair's men. The Thirteenth met and engaged the rebels hand to hand, and in the encounter bayonets were repeatedly crossed. It gained the place, driving out the enemy ; but as soon as our men occupied it the fire of a field-battery was turned upon them and the place became too hot to be held. The road from Mrs. Lake's plantation to the top of the high ground and thence to Vicksburg, runs at an angle along the side of the hill, so as to obtain a slope easy of ascent. The lower side of this road was pro- vided with a breastwork, so that a light battery could be taken any- where along the road and fired over the embankment. From the nearest point of this embankment a battery opened on the Thirteenth Illinois, and was aided by a heavy battery on the hill. Several men were killed by the shell and grape that swept the copse. The other regiments of the brigade came to the support of the Thir- teenth, the Twenty -ninth Missouri, Colonel Ca vender, being in the AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 167 advance. Meantime the rebels formed a large force of infantry to bring against them, and when the Twenty-ninth reached the copse the rebels were already engaging the Union troops. The color-bearer of the Twelfth had been shot down, and some one picked up the standard ind planted it in front of the copse. The force of the rebels was too great for our men to stand against them, and they slowly fell back, fighting Btep by step toward the rifle-pits, and taking their colors with them. In this charge upon the hill the regiments lost severely. In General Blair's Brigade there were eighteen hundred and twenty-five men en- gaged in this assault, and of this number six hundred and forty-two were killed, wounded, and captured.* Under a flag of truce the dead were buried and the wounded removed, after which General Sherman gave the order for his troops to re-embark. The arrival of General McClernand at the scene of action next caused a change in the command, as he ranked Gen- eral Sherman by over one month in the date of his com- mission ; and an order was at once given by the former to withdraw from the Yazoo River, where the vessels were stationed, and return to the Mississippi River. General McClernand, on assuming the command, ordered the title of the army to be changed, and General Sherman an- nounced the fact in the following order : HEAD-QUARTERS, RIGHT WING ARMY OF TENNESSEE, t STEAMER FOREST QUEEN, MILLIKEN'S BEND, January 4, 1863. ) [General Orders, No. 5.] Pursuant to the terms of General Orders, No. 1, made this day by General McClernand, the title of our army ceases to exist, and consti- tutes in the future the Army of the Mississippi, composed of two " army corps," one to be commanded by General G. W. Morgan, and the other by myself. In relinquishing the command of the Army of the Tennessee, and restricting my authority to my own corps, I desire to express to all commanders, to soldiers and officers recently operating before Yicksburg, my hearty thanks for their zeal, alacrity, and courage manifested by them on all occasions. We failed in accomplishing one * Army Correspondence. 168 GENERAL GRANT purpose of our movement, the capture of Yicksburg ; but we were part of a whole. Ours was but part of a combined movement, in which others were to assist. We were on time ; unforeseen contingencies must have delayed the others. "We have destroyed the Shreveport road, we have attacked the defences of Vicksburg, 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. A new commander is now here to lead you. He is chosen by the President of the United States, who is charged by the Constitution to maintain and defend it, and he has the undoubted right to select his own agents. / know that all good officers and soldiers will give him the same hearty support and cheerful obedience they have hitherto given me. There are honors enough in reserve for all, and work enough too. Let each do his appropriate part, and our nation must in the end emerge from this dire conflict purified and ennobled by the fires which now test its strength and purity. All officers of the general staff now attached to ray person wilT hereafter report in person and by letter to Major General McClernand, commanding the Army of the Mississippi, on board the steamer Tigress, at our rendezvous at G-aines's Landing and at Mont- gomery Point. By order of Major-General W. T. SHERMAN. J. H. HAMMOND, A. A.-Q. For a short time this part of the army operated without being under the direct command of General Grant, and was, therefore, taken away from aiding in the grand object of the campaign the reduction of Vicksburg. As such a diversion of General Grant's troops would necessarily lead to reduction of one-half of the force under his command, and perhaps a complete failure of the whole enterprise, for which he had so long labored, an application was made to the President to change the programme, which was done accordingly, and the two army corps the 13th and 15th again united to his forces, and ordered to report to him. In the mean time the Army of the Mississippi, composed of those two corps, was taken up the Arkansas and White AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 109 Rivers to operate against Fort Hindman, a rebel work commanding the former stream. The following dispatches will explain the result of the movement : HEAD-QUARTERS, AHMY OF THE MISSISSIPPI, ) POST OP ARKANSAS, January 11, 1863. J Major-General U. S. GRANT, Commanding Department of the Tennessee: I have the honor to report that the forces under my command attacked the Post of Arkansas to-day, at one o'clock, having stormed the enemy's work. We took a large number of prisoners, variously estimated at from seven thousand to ten thousand, together with all his stores, ani- mals, and munitions of war. Rear- Admiral David D. Porter, commanding the Mississippi Squadron, effectively and brilliantly co-operated, accomplishing this complete success. JOHN A. McCLERNAND, Major- General Commanding. UNITED STATES MISSISSIPPI SQUADRON, ) ARKANSAS POST, January 11, 1863. f Hon. GIDEON WELLES, Secretary of Navy : SIR The gunboats Louisville, De Kalb, Cincinnati, and Lexington, attacked the heavy fort at the Post, on the Arkansas, last night, and silenced the batteries, killing twenty of the enemy. The gunboats attacked again this morning, and dismounted every gun, eleven in all. Colonel Dunnington, late of the United States Navy, commandant of the fort, requested to surrender to the Navy. I received his sword. The army co-operated on the land side. The forts were completely silenced, and the guns, eleven in number, were all dismounted in three hours. The action was at close quarters on the part of the three iron-clad 1 " and the firing splendid. The list of killed and wounded is small. The Louisville lost twelve, De Kalb seventeen, Cincinnati none, Lexington none, and Rattler two. The vessels, although much cut up, were ready for action in half an hour after the battle. The light draught Rattler, Lieutenant-Commander Wilson Smith, and the other light draughts, joined in the action when it became general, as did the Black Hawk, Lieutenant-Commander R. B. Breese, with her rifle- guns. Particulars will be given hereafter. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, DAVID D. PORTER, Acting Eear-AdmirdL 8 17C GENERAL GRANT CHAPTER XIX. DISCIPLINE. GUERILLAS. DURING the investigation that followed the surrender of Holly Springs, it was discovered that political agencies had been brought to bear, to induce certain regiments to throw down their arms and refuse to fight, and even to surrender to the enemy. General Grant, in order to check an evil that would soon prove disastrous, if allowed to go unpunished, issued the following special order concerning one of the regiments so disaffected. HEAD-QUARTERS THIRTEENTH ARMY CORPS, ) DEPARTMENT OF THE TENNESSEE, > HOLLY SPRINGS, Miss., December 31, 1862. ) [Special Orders, No. 58.] It having been alleged that the 109th Regiment Illinois Infantry Volunteers has shown indications of disloyalty, and many members o f the regiment having voluntarily hunted up citizens in the neighbor- hood of their camp to surrender and obtain parole from, is hereby placed in arrest. The regiment will be disarmed by the commander of the brigade to which the regiment is temporarily attached, and the arms and ammuni- tion of the regiment turned over to the Ordnance Offiaer, Lieutenant Carter, to be disposed of as may hereafter be ordered. Officers and men will be confined within camp limits until other wise ordered. The conduct of Company K, of said regiment, being in honorable contrast to the balance of the regiment, is exempt from the effect of the ftbore order, and will be placed on duty with the brigade to which said regiment is attached. By command of Major-G-eneral U. S. GRANT. JOHN A. RAWLINS, A. A.-G AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 171 The condition of this regiment was made the matter for a special court of inquiry, which was convened under an order from General Grant, bearing date January 2d, 1863. The case was carefully investigated, and exonerated tho regiment as a body. The result of the investigation was publicly set forth by General Grant, in general orders, and read at the head of each regiment. HEAD-QUARTERS, DEPARTMENT OF TENNESSEE, ) YOUNG'S POINT, LA., February 1, 1863. y [General Orders, No. 12.] The proceedings of the Court of Inquiry, convened at Holly Springs, Miss., by Special Orders, No. 2, of date of January 2d, 1863, from these head-quarters, and of which Lieutenant-Colonel Dewitt C. Loudon, of the 7th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, was president, to inquire into and in- vestigate the allegations and charges of disloyalty against the 109th Illinois Infantry Volunteers, exonerate said regiment, as a regiment, from all suspicion of disloyalty, satisfactorily vindicate its innocence, and place it where the commanding-general hoped to find it, among the pure and patriotic in their country 1 s defence ; that whatever cause for suspicion or charges of disloyally there was arose from the conduct and declarations of the following named officers, who are hereby dismissed the service of the United States, with forfeiture of pay and allowances, to take effect from this date, for the offences of which they are severally shown to be guilty. Lieutenant-Colonel Elijah Willard, for disobedience of orders, and deserting his command in the face of an enemy, that he might be taken prisoner. Captain John M. Richie, for disobedience of orders, encouraging his men to desert, and discouraging his men from fighting in the face of the enemy. Captain Thomas Boswell, for encouraging his men to desert, that they might be captured and paroled, and advising them to apply for dis- charges for slight causes ; also, for trying to impress upon the minds ol the officers and men of his regiment that they were embraced in the sur- render of Holly Springs by Colonel Murphy, on the 20th day of Decem- ber, 18G2, well knowing the same to be false. Captain John Mclntosh, for declaring in the hearing of his men. and in the presence of the enemy, that he would not fight if attacked, neai Holly Springs, on the 20th December, 1862. 172 GENERAL GRANT Captain Penninger, of Company G, for proposing a plan oy -which the regiment could be surrendered to the enemy, and attempting to induce others of the regiment to aid in carrying it into execution during the raid of the enemy's cavalry on Holly Springs, on the 20th day of December, 1862. Second-Lieutenant John Stokes, for straggling from his command, and procuring for himself and a number of his men fraudulent paroles from a rebel citizen. Second-Lieutenant Daniel Kimmel, for adraing the colonel of his regiment, if attacked by the enemy, to surrender, and on feigned sick- ness procuring a surgeon's certificate, to go to the hospital, at Holly Springs, Miss., by reason of which he was c?-pturod and then paroled by the enemy during the raid on that place. First-Lieutenant and Adjutant James Evans, for inciting dissatisfaction among the men of his regiment, and speaking in an improper manner of the war and President, in violation of the 5th Article of War. Commissary-Sergeant Joshua "Wisenheimer is reduced to the ranks for declaring that he would never fire a gun upon the enemy, and on hearing a camp rumor that Major-General Burnside was defeated with a loss of twenty thousand men, wished that it was so. By order of Major-General U. S. GBANT. JOHN A. RAWLINS, A. A.- G. Cavalry operations were continually taking place in the vicinity of the Union posts, and on January 8th, 1863, a descent was made on a camp near Ripley, Tennessee, kill- ing and wounding several rebel soldiers, and capturing forty-six, besides horses, arms, camp equipage, etc. The remainder of the force was dispersed. The commander at Memphis gave notice that, for all guerilla raids upon Union citizens and communications with the city, the resi- dent secessionists should be punished in the forfeiture of i.heir property and expulsion beyond the extreme limits of the Union army lines. General Grant's immediate army, except the special posts held at Corinth and elsewhere, was also withdrawn from Northern Mississippi, after the diversion of the forces AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. i'/S acting along the Mississippi River, and the head-quarters of the Department were located at Memphis. From this city- General Grant announced the victory at Arkansas Post. After the withdrawal of the army, the rebel guerilla forces began to make raids upon all towns recently held by the Union troops, and any person or persons that had mani- fested to Grant's army any evidence of returning loyalty, were summarily punished, either in person or property. On the 28d of January, the Army of Mississippi, having destroyed all offensive and defensive works at Arkansas Post, returned to Memphis and reported to General Grqnt. General Grant was also determined that the President's Proclamation of Emancipation should be carried out in his department, and issued an order, relative to the negro regiments, of which document the folio whig is an ex- tract : MILLIKEN'S BEND, LA. [General Orders, No. 25.] I. Corps, Division, and Post Commanders will afford all facilities for the completion of the negro regiments now organizing in this Depart- ment. Commissaries will issue supplies, and Quartermasters will furnish stores on the same requisitions and returns as are required from other troops. II is expected that ail commanders will especially exert themselves in car- rying out the policy of the administration, not only in organizing colored regiments, and rendering them efficient; but also in removing prejudice against them. ***** By order of Major-General U. S. JOHN A. RAWLINS A. A -G 174 GENERAL GBANT CHAPTER XX. CHANGE OF BASE. WILLIAMg's CANAI,. OH the 29th of January, 1863, General Grant landed a portion of his army at Young's Point, Louisiana, and an- other portion at Milliken's Bend. He shortly followed these forces, and established his head-quarters at the former place, whence he could have good control of all the opera- tions necessary to the reduction of the rebel stronghold. General Grant next thoroughly inspected the rebel works, and became convinced that it was impossible to take them from the water front. He then held a consultation with his generals as to the best plan to be adopted to turn the rebel position, and all agreed that the only method that promised success was to flank the works on the south side. The most important object of consideration was the means to be adopted to transport his forces to the south side of the fortified city. But in this lay the great dif- ficulty. The river was completely blockaded above by the works on the Walnut Hills and other elevations, and no advance could be made from New Orleans in conse- quence of the fortification of Port Hudson. General Grant, therefore, turned his attention to the reopening of the canal first cut by General Williams, opposite Vicks- burg, across the Peninsula on the Louisiana side of the river. If this canal had been made successful, trans- ports and gunboats could have been taken through it GEN, RICHARD S. EWELL. GEN. BRAXTON BRAGG. CONFEDERATE LEADERS. A:ST> HIS CAMPAIGNS. 175 to the south side of the city, and the troops and supplies moved to a new base of operations. The work, however, was of such a herculean nature, and was being continually interrupted by the heavy rains and the rap id rise of the river, that the number of men re- quired to keep the water out of the camps and cuttings was much larger than those engaged on the canal, and more than could be conveniently detailed for the purpose It now became necessary that the utmost secrecy should be used concerning every thing that was being done or about to be done in General Grant's army, and the follow- ing order was issued to prevent any one from being ad- mitted withia the lines who did not properly belong to the army, and to prohibit those who were inside from going beyond the limits : HEAD-QUARTERS, DEPARTMENT OP THE TENNESSEE, ) YOUNG'S POINT, LA., Feb. 12, 1863. ) [Special Field Orders, No. 2.] I. The nature of the service the army is now called upon to perform, making it impracticable to transport or provide for persons unemployed by government, the enticing of negroes to leave their homes to come within the lines of the army is positively forbidden. They should be permitted to remain at their homes, in pursuance of the recommendation of the President, " in all cases where allowed to labor faithfully for rea- sonable wages." Those at present within the lines witt not be turned out; but in future, in the field, no persons, white or black, who are not duly au- thorized to pass the lines of sentinels, will be permitted to enter or leave camp. II. Whenever the services of negroes are required, details will be made by army corpse ommanders for the purpose of collecting them, and they will be registered, provided for, and employed in accordance with law and existing orders. III. The habit too prevalent of arresting citizens beyond the lines of the army, and bringing them into camp without charges, is pre- judicial to the service, and must not be continued. When citizens are arrested hereafter without charges being preferred warranting the arrest, the citizen will be turned outside the lines, and the officer or soldier 1 V6 GENEBAL GBANT causing the arrest will be confined, and otherwise punished at the dis- cretion of a court-martiaL TV. No flag of truce will hereafter be allowed to pass our outposts. Any message sent under it will be received by an officer and receipted for, and the flag directed to return immediately. All answers to such messages will be sent under our own flag of truce. V. Attention of army corps commanders is particularly called to the 41st, 42d, 46th, and 50th Articles of "War, which will be rigidly en forced. By order of Major-General U. S. GRANT. JOHN A. RAWLINS, A. A.-G. The four Articles of War referred to in the foregoing order are as follows : ART. 41. All non-commissioned officers and soldiers, who shall be found one mile from the camp, without leave in writing, from their com- manding officer, shall suffer such punishment as shall be inflicted upon them by the sentence of a court-martial. ART. 42. No officer or soldier shall be out of his quarters, garrison, or camp, without leave from his superior officer, upon penalty of being punished according to the nature of his offence, by the sentence of a court-martiaL ART. 46. Any sentinel who shall be found sleeping upon his post, or shall leave it before he shall be regularly relieved, shall suffer death, or such other punishment as shall be inflicted by the sentence of a court- martial, ART. 50. Any officer or soldier who shall, without urgent necessity, or without the leave of his superior officer, quit his guard, platoon, or division, shall be punished, according to the nature of his offence, by the sentence of a court-martial. It will be seen at once that something of more than ordinary importance was being transacted, to require the issuance of such stringent orders as the foregoing. The banks of the Mississippi River at this time were lined with guerilla parties, who would occasionally fire upon the supply boats and transports with light field- pieces, and when attacked would retreat into the jungles and cane-brakes, This partisan warfare proved to be a AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 177 great annoyance, and sometimes destructive, but did not seriously interfere with General Grant in the prosecution of his work. During the early part of February, a reconnoissauco was made in the neighborhood of Lake Providence, and a skirmish took place at a point about five miles distant from the lake, resulting in the defeat of the rebels. Another skirmish took place at Old River, Louisiana, on the 10th of February, with a similar result. During the reconnois- sance, Captain Prime, Chief of Engineers on General Grant's staff, ascertained certain facts that led him to be- lieve that a water route could be made through the bayous which run from near MUliken's Bend, north of Vicksburg, and from New Carthage, south of that city, into the Ten- sas river. Meanwhile, the work on the Williams Canal continued to be prosecuted with great vigor, and a large number of men were employed upon it. On the 8th of March the overflow of the river broke in the dam at the end of the canal, and flooded the whole of the low lands, before the cutting could be completed. As the season was too far advanced to renew experiments on this enterprise, it had to be abandoned. 8* 178 GENERAL GKANT CHAPTER XXI. THE QUEEN OF THE WEST AND INDIANOLA.* ACTING Rear-Admiral Porter's gunboat fleet ably co- operated with General Grant in his operations before Vicksburg, and, early in February, the ram Queen of the West, under command of Colonel Ellet, ran by the batteries at Vicksburg, and pushed down the Mississippi and up the Red Rivers on a reconnoisance. During the first trip Col- onel Ellet captured three of the enemy's transports, and then returned to the lower end of the Williams Canal. On the 10th of February Colonel Ellet started on a second ex- pedition in the same direction, and on the 12th arrived at the junction of the Red and Atchafalaya Rivers. The lafc- ter stream runs from the Red River to the Gulf through a curious swampy tract of country in Louisiana. The Queen, having left her tenders behind in a secure position, started down the Atchafalaya, and after passing along about six * This chapter is written to point out one of the great difficulties un- der which General Grant labored. The Red River had been used by the rebels as a highway for the transportation of stores and supplies for the rebel garrisons at Vicksburg, Grand Gulf, Natchez, and Port Hudson, and until that source of supply was cut off, it would have been 'impossible to reduce the place by siege. To reach the mouth of the Red River it became necessary to run the batteries, and the experiment was first made by the Queen of the "West, and next by the Indianola. These trials of the strength of the rebel batteries may also be looked upon as special reconnoissances for future use, as will be developed in the course of the narrative. AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 179 miles, succeeded in destroying an army wagon train, and a quantity of stores, ammunition, etc., belonging to the en. emy. On February 14th, Colonel Ellet captured a rebel steam transport on the Red River, at a point about fifteen miles above the mouth of the Black River. At the time of her capture this rebel vessel had on board two lieutenants and fourteen privates of the rebel army, and was laden with four thousand five hundred bushels of corn. The prisoners were put on shore, and the vessels sent under guard to a secure position. Colonel Ellet then went about thirty miles further up the Red River, with the intention of capturing or destroy- ing three other steamers which were lying under the pro- tection of a rebel battery. The rebels opened upon the Queen with four pieces of artillery, and the pilot having purposely run the vessel aground, she was brought within easy range, and so crippled by the shots from the rebels that she had to be abandoned, Colonel Ellet and others es- caping on bales of cotton, while the remainder of those on board were captured by the rebels.* On the night of the 13th, the U. S. gunboat Indianola successfully ran by the batteries ofVicksburg, for the pur- pose of supporting the Queen of the West in her move- ments; but, after the former had passed Natchez, the captain was informed of the capture of the latter vessel by those who had escaped. The Indianola, under the guidance of Colonel Ellet, who had located his head-quarters on the captured vessel Era, then returned towards the Red River, with the intention of destroying the battery and retaking the Queen of the West. * One of those was Mr. Finlay Anderson. 180 GENERAL GRANT On arriving at the mouth of the Red River, it was ascer- tained that the rebels had several armed vessels up that stream, and, under the circumstances, it was deemed advis- able not to proceed farther, but to return at once to Vicks- burg. While ascending the river, Colonel Ellet's vessel was fired upon several times. The Indianola was then detailed to blockade the mouth of the Red River, barges of coal having been floated by tho batteries, to keep her well supplied with fuel. At about half-past nine P. M. on February 24th, four armed rebel vessels approached the Indianola under the cover of darkness. The captured Queen of the West, which the rebels had armed and manned, and another ram, made the first attack upon the Indianola, and in a short time the .engagement became general at close quarters. The other two rebel vessels were merely cotton clad, and not being heavily armed, could do but little damage to the Union gunboat. The rebel rams plunged with their prows at the Indianola, with great violence, but it was not until the sixth blow was administered that any serious damage was in* flicted. The engagement lasted one hour and twenty-seven min- utes, after which the Indianola became so damaged that the captain ran her ashore, and surrendered her to the reb- els, first destroying all documents of value that had been on board. But, before the rebels could take possession of their prize, her stern had sunk under water, and her guns rendered useless, the lighter ones having be may be gathered from the following extracts, from a de- scription penned by one of the parties who took an active part in the expedition : UNITED STATES GUNBOAT MARMORA, ) COLD WATER RIVER, Miss., Feb. 28, 1863. ) The Rubicon is passed. Three and a half days of most tedious, vexa- tious, bothersome, troublesome, and damaging steamboating has brought this expedition twenty miles on its way, and disclosed to its view the end of the now famous Yazoo Pass. A more execrable place was never known. Should one propose to run a steamboat to the moon he would be consid- ered equally sane, by those who had seen the Yazoo Pass before this ex- pedition forced its way through it, as the person who proposed this movement. I would like to describe the Yazoo Pass. I would like to compare it to something that would be intelligible. But I know of nothing in heaven or on earth, or in the waters under the earth, that will compare with it. Had the immortal bard desired a subject from which to draw a picture of the way that leads to the realms of darkness and despair, he had only to picture the Yazoo Pass. Let me try, in the feeble language I can command, to de- scribe it. Perhaps the reader has passed through the Dismal Swamp of Virginia ; or, if not, he has read accounts of travellers who have enjoyed that privilege. Then he has heard of the famous jungles of India. He has seen or read of the uubroken silence of the boundless tall forests of the John Brown tract in Western New York. Conceive the ugliest features of these three varieties of territory, and he will be able, by combining them, to form a tolerably -wrrect idea of the region through which the Yazoo Pass runs. Those who have watched the course of a snake as he trails his way along the ground, winding this way and that, hither and yon- der, going in all directions at the same time, and yet maintaining some- thing of a regular course hi the average, will, by exaggerating the picture hi their own minds, understand something of the tortuous course of the Yazoo Pass. I have passed through it from one end to the other, and 1 assert candidly that there is not throughout its entire length a piece two hundred feet long of perfectly straight river. The orders under which this expedition moved required that boats should keep three hun- dred yards apart; but there was no place to be found in ths whole stream where they could see one-third of this distance ahead or behind them. Once, indeed, we did catch a glimpse of the Rattler, flagship. Bhe was just abreast of us, and about one hundred yards away, going 186 GENEBAL GBANT in an opposite direction to us. We fancied we were close on to her, and, as it was near night, concluded to tie up, so as to let her get away from us. The next morning we got under way at daylight, and just as the sun was at the meridian we passed the spot where we had seen our file leader eighteen hours before. Much has been said and written of the efforts put forth by the rebels to obstruct this pass. Their labor was all thrown away. Nature had placed greater obstructions in the way than any an enemy could place there, no matter how powerful he might have been or how long he had been employed. Cypress and sycamore trees lined the banks in great profusion, intermixed with gigantic cotton-woods bearing the wildest entanglement of wild grape-vines. The stream itself is never to exceed a hundred feet in breadth, and frequently not more than fifty or seven- ty-five. Over this the timber forms a most perfect arch, frequently, as good fortune would have it, so high as to admit the easy passage of the tall smokestacks beneath it, but sometimes grazing their tops, and again angrily toppling over these intruders. But Providence evidently did not intend this pass for a military highway. Providence opposed the movement, not so much by this high arch enclosing the river and shut- ting it out from view, as by the long, jagged limbs it thrust out from the trees directly across the channel, and the numerous crooked and leaning trees that formed a most effective blockade. It may be possible, from what I have written, to get an idea of the Tazoo Pass. A short account of the trip through it will be more profit- able for this purpose. The total length of the pass from the Mississippi to the Coldwater River is twenty miles. From the Mississippi to the east side of Moon Lake, where the pass proper commences, is called eight miles, leaving the distance from Moon Lake to the Coldwater twelve miles. We left the lake on Wednesday morning, the 25th inst., and reached the Coldwater this afternoon just after dinner, making the trip in exactly three day* and a half! To be sure, we did not travel nights, but we made, usually, about twelve hours time each day. This gives the rapid progress of one mile in three and a half hours. Does the progress made express any thing of the character of the route ? If it does not, I hardly know what will. In the upper end of the pass the stream is confined, and runs along with great rapidity through its nar- row channel, the rate being not less than five or six miles per hour. Lower down there are strips of bottom-land along the sides which are now overflown, giving greater width, and consequently less rapidity to the current. But in no place were we able even to drift with the cur HIS CAMPAIGNS. 187 rent. That would inevitably have dashed us into the timber and have torn our boat to atoms. From the time we entered the pass until we emerged from it, we could only keep our wheels backing, and even this was not enough. A small boat was requisite on either side, by which lines were passed out and made fast to the trees, to check our headway or ease us around the sharp bends. The expedition has been facetiously called "the stern-wheel expedition," from the circumstance of there being none but stern-wheel boats (which are narrower than side-wheel steamers) engaged in it; but it might with equal propriety be called "the back-water expedition," or " the hold-back expedition," because of our advancing only by holding back. But with all our care and labor, it has been impossible to save our boats from much damage. Frequently it was impossible to check the headway of a vessel in time to save its smokestacks, and away would go these tall iron cylinders, crashing through the hurricane deck, and making a complete wreck of the cabin and light upper works. Again a huge limb would come crashing and smashing along the side, tearing away stanchions and braces, and sometimes even the light bulkheads around the upper works. The flagship was thus visited, and Acting Commander Smith's cabin turned into a complete wreck. In fact, all the vessels looked as if they had been in a hard fought battle and had been badly worsted, only that none of them were damaged in machinery or hulL It has been a most exciting trip ; but I believe or hear all have survived it save one poor old nigger a contraband belonging to this vessel He was ly- ing in his hammock, in the sick bay, being on the sick list, when a huge limb, broken off by the persistence of our smokestacks, came cbwn endwise upon the deck, and, passing through, administered the death blow to poor Cuffee. COLDWATEB RIVER, March 3, 1863. "We are progressing towards our destination, though slowly. To-day we have made about six miles down stream, and are now catching our breath after this rapid locomotion, preparatory to an early start to- morrow morning. The Coldwater River is but a slight improvement on the Tazoo Pass. It is a trifle wider, it is true so wide, in fact, that the branches seldom meet above it but in other respects we have gained nothing, so far as ease of navigation is concerned. Rather we have lost as much as we have gained, since the increased width of the stream is quite counterbalanced by the sluggishness of the current The course of the stream is nearly as tortuous as that of the pass, so 188 GENERAL GRANT that we cannot yet venture to steam ahead, and as floating and backing up continues to be the order, the progress made is provokingly slow. Since my last date we have lain quiet at the mouth of the pass waiting for all the boats to come up. This detained us until this morning, when we once more started forward.* The rebels had, however, gained information of the Union movement through Yazoo Pass ; but at first scouted the idea of its success, prophesying the destruction of every vessel connected with the expedition. When, however, they ascertained that the fleet had safely arrived in the Coldwater River, they, knowing that the other part of the stream was navigable, at once began diligently closing up the lower end of the Tallahatchie River, into which the Coldwater empties itself. This was accomplished by erect- ing a fort across the neck of land caused by a change of course of the stream after the Yalabusha had formed a junction with the Tallahatchie. These united waters were named the Yazoo River, which, after flowing through several hundred miles of country, empties itself into the Mississippi River a little above Vicksburg. The advance of the expedition under General Ross pro- ceeded without serious interruption through the Coldwater and Tallahatchie Rivers until it reached this newly erected fort, which was designated Fort Pemberton it having been constructed by some of the forces that had been sent from Vicksburg for that purpose. At the point where the fort was erected, the distance from the Tallahatchie shores above the defences, to the Yazoo shores below that work, was but a few hundred yards by land, but was several miles by water. The fort, having been built across the neck, commanded both streams for a long distance. The rebels had well chosen their defensive position, as the land about the fort was low, and at the time of the * Correspondence of the New York Herald, March 14th, 1863. AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 1S9 expedition was entirely overflowed. General Ross, there- fore, in attacking this work, could not make use of his land forces to reduce it, and had to depend on the armed vessels under his command. After an engagement of several hours, these vessels had to withdraw without silencing the bat- tery. Finding that this obstruction prevented the water route from being used by the army, General Grant, on March 23d, sent orders for the withdrawal of the forces. One advantage, however, arose from the movement. It caused a diversion of a portion of the rebel force at Vicks- burg, and engaged the attention of the rebel authorities while General Grant was perfecting his own plaus. 190 GENEEAL GEANT CHAPTER XXIV. THE STEELE'S BAYOU EXPEDITION. ADMIKAL POUTER, having made a naval reconnoissance up Steele's Bayou, and through Black Bayou to Duck Creek, returned to General Grant, and on March 14th, 1862, in- formed him that those water-courses were navigable for small gunboats and light draft transports. It was sup- posed that by following this route Deer Creek could be navigated to Rolling Fork, and thence by the Sunflower River into the Yazoo. Of the navigation of these two latter streams there was no doubt. As the forces by way of the Coldwater and Tallahatchie Rivers had been prevented from proceeding further in conse- quence of the construction of Fort Pemberton, it was deem- ed necessary to ascertain whether this new route could be made practicable. General Grant, therefore, accompanied Admiral Porter on the morning of March 15th on another reconnoissance. The vessel in which the tw T o commanding officers had temporarily taken up their head-quarters, pro- ceeded along Steele's Bayou several iron-clads taking the lead to prevent a surprise until it reached the Black Bayou. General Grant then returned to Young's Point, for the purpose of sending up a pioneer corps to clear away the overhanging trees, which appeared to be the only important obstruction to the successful navigation of the route, at least so far as it had been explored. Soon after General Grant had reached Young's Point, a AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 191 message was received from Admiral Porter, who had pro- ceeded on the reconnoissance, requesting the co-operation of a good military force. General Grant promptly sent to him a division of the Fifteenth Army Corps, with General Sherman at its head. The number of steam transports suitable for such an expedition being limited, the major part of the military force was sent up the Mississippi River to Eagle Bend, a point where the river runs within a mile of Steele's Bayou. The only cause of the failure of this expedition was the want of knowledge of the country to be passed through, and this ignorance led the expedition on until it encoun- tered serious difficulties, which could not be removed with- out great delay. This gave the rebels time to place ob- structions in the way of further progress, and the movement had to be abandoned when within a few hundred yards of a point, which, if attained, would have secured complete success. The following is an interesting account of the expedition, from an eye witness : U. S. TRANSPORT SILVER WAVE, ) BLACK BAYOU, Miss., March 21. ) On the 16th inst., late in the afternoon, General Grant ordered Gene- ral Stuart to prepare the infantry of his division to move at daylight next morning. Leaving transportation, horses, tents, and every thing except ammunition, arms, and rations, the division embarked and pro- ceeded up the Mississippi to Eagle Bend. A few days before the em- barkation. Admiral Porter and General Grant had made a personal reconnoissance of a proposed route to the Yazoo above Raines's Bluff, and General Sherman was ordered by General Grant to take charge of the opening of the route. General Sherman, with the pioneer corps of Stuart's Division and the Eighth Missouri, left at once with the steamer Diligent. In the evening General Grant received dispatches from Ad- miral Porter, announcing that his gunboats were meeting with great success, and asking that the land force be sent at once. Grant imme- diately ordered General Stuart to proceed with his division. The dis- 192 GENERAL GEANT tance by land from the Mississippi, along the Muddy Bayou, is abort one mile. On account of the impossibility of taking any thing but small steamers, of which we had but five, through Steele's Bayou, the infantry was ordered to cross by this route to the bayou. On reaching Eagle Bend, a personal examination of the ground, made by Generals Stuart and Ewing, disclosed the fact that two long bridges were necessary to the movement of troops. The levee near the plantation of Senator Gwin had been carried away by a crevasse, and the water was rushing across his fields in a rapid torrent of considerable depth. The building of the bridges occupied a day and a half. Soon as it was completed, the division marched across to Steele's Bayou. General Stuart at once embarked so much of the First Brigade as could be transported upon the steamer Silver Wave, and started up through the wilderness of forest and water. Between the Mississippi and the line of railway from Memphis to Jackson, the country north of the Yazoo, for some fifty miles, is trav- ersed by three considerable streams, Steele's Bayou, Deer Creek, and the Sunflower, all of which are fed by innumerable creeks, bayous, and lakes, and empty into the Yazoo Steele's seven miles from the Mississippi, near the scene of the battle of Chickasaw Bayou; Deer Creek below, and the Sunflower above Haines's Bluff. Their course, as is that of all streams through low and level ground, is very tortuous, very like the streams in the wild marshes. Transform the reeds of such marshes into the luxuriant growth of a Southern swamp, and a better idea could not be had of the wet wilderness in which we were. The eastern part of Issaguena county, on Deer Creek, has higher land, and some of the most valuable cotton plantations in the State. The soil is exceedingly prolific. We found in it immense numbers of slaves, and great quantities of cotton and grain. The Admiral called it Dne of the granaries of the Confederacy. It was supposed to be so inaccessible, that the plantations were in the usual process of cultivation, the fields planted with corn, which was up, instead of cotton. They believed themselves beyond the reach of the devastations of war had their gardens well stocked with vegeta- bles, which were growing most temptingly, and, fancying that " the in- vader" could not penetrate, with gunboats and armies, the lagoons and forests which surrounded them, devoted their fancied security to the raising of crops to feed their brother rebels in the field. The appear- ance of the iron-clads was the first notice they had had of our approach. The overseer hastily fled, giving notice of the presence of the Yankees AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 193 in the garden. A contraband told us, his master called the Deer Creek country the Confederate snuff-box, that the Yankees could not open. Going up the Yazoo river seven miles, thence up Steele's Bayou twelve miles, the fleet came to Muddy Bayou, which runs across from the Mississippi into Steele's. At this point the troops came over on floating bridges and embarked. Hence they were transported up Steele's and Black Bayou about twenty miles to Hill's plantation, and marched thence twenty-one miles on a levee north along Deer Creek nearly to Rolling Fork. It was proposed at that point to embark the troops again on transports, and proceed on that creek a distance Oi seven miles, until we reached the Sunflower. Once upon the Sun- flower, a stream of considerable width, we could reach the Yazoo, be- tween Haines's Bluff and Yazoo City, and would be in a position to ope- rate against the enemy at various points with great effect. So much for the object of the expedition and the route through which it was to pass. General Grant and Admiral Porter, with the Musquito Rattler, and a tug, made a reconnoissance far enough to establish the fact that gun- boats could pass from the Yazoo into Steele's Bayou. Admiral Porter immediately started with his gunboats up the Bayou. General Grant ordered General Sherman, with a division of his army corps, to form the land force. General Sherman started at once with a regiment, and the pioneer corps, to clear the bayou of obstructions there was no de- lay. The reconnoissance was made on the 15th, General Grant's tug returning the morning of the 16th. Before night the advance of the land force and gunboats were at Muddy Bayou. Dispatches were re- ceived by General Grant that evening of the progress of the expedition, and General Stuart was ordered to follow with the rest of the division in the morning. Arriving at Eagle Bend on the 17th, a reconnoissance in small boats, made by General Suart and his brigade commanders, and another made twenty miles above, at Tullahola, by Colonel Giles A. Smith, demonstrated that the troops could not be marched across, a crevasse having swollen the Muddy Bayou to a rapid deep stream. The construction of two long floating bridges occupied the 18th and the fore- noon of the 19th, and the division marched at once to Steele's Bayou. Arriving there, we found only one transport, the Silver "Wave. Embark- ing two regiments, Stuart started up at once. During the three succeed- ing days, the boats which we had were used with all the dispatch possible, in transporting the troops to the rendezvous. At the mouth of Black Bayou they were transported i'rom the steamers to a coal-barge, which was towed 9 IVi GENERAL GRANT by a tug up Black Bayou. In the mean time the gunboats had gone through Black Bayou into Deer Creek. The great might and strength of the iron-clads enabled them to ride over almost any ordinary growth of willow and cypress hi the creek the water was deep, and they moved slowly and surely along up Deer Creek some fifteen miles, with- out much labor, and without any obstruction from the enemy. On the 20th, the rebels commenced annoying them with sharp-shooters, and by felling trees in the creeks. The boats were obliged to lay by at night, and on the morning of the 21st, the Admiral found considerable obstruc- tions in the river, and an enemy, some 600 strong, with a field battery of rifles, disputing his passage. This was near some old Indian mounds, and for the greater part of the day they were kept quite busy, making but a half mile progress. Large bodies were kept a good distance from the fleet, but sharp- shooters would come up behind trees and fire, taking deliberate ami at our men. The Admiral sent a dispatch back to General Sherman, stating the condition of affairs, and a force was at once sent to the relief of the gunboats, and to assist in getting them through. They made a forced march, skirmishing a part of the way, and reaching the gunboats before night of the 22d, a distance of twenty-one miles, over a terrible road. During the day the enemy had been largely re-enforced from the Tazoo, and now unmasked some 5,000 men infantry, cavalry, and artillery. The boats were surrounded with rebels, who had cut down trees before and behind them, were moving up artillery, and making every exertion to cut off retreat and capture our boats. A patrol was at once established for a distance of seven miles along Deer Creek, behind the boats, with a chain of sentinels outside of them, to prevent the fell- ing of trees. For a mile and a half to Rolling Fork, the creek was full of obstructions. Heavy batteries were on its bank, supported by a large force. To advance was impossible ; to retreat seemed almost hopeless. The gunboats had their ports all closed, and preparations made to re- sist boarders. The mortar-boats were all ready for fire and explosion. The army lines were so close to each other that rebel officers wander- ed into our lines in the dark, and were captured. It was the second night without sleep aboard ship, and the infantry had marched twenty- one miles without rest. But the faithful force, with their energetic leader, kept successful watch and ward over the boats and their valuable artillery. At 7 o'clock that morning (the 22d), General Sher- man received a dispatch from the Admiral, by the hands of a faithful contraband (who came along through the rebel lines in the night), A1STD HIS CAMPAIGNS IflS stating his perilous condition. Leaving a dispatch for General Stuart, who was bringing up Ewing's Brigade, and orders for Stuart to follow him with the remainder of the division, General Sherman at once march- ed with the Second Brigade, and a part of the First Brigade. Our gunboats at that time were in a bend of the creek, the three regiments of the First Brigade had been brought in and placed in position near the boats. A rebel battery of fifteen guns was in front, at Rolling Fork. The creek was barely the width of a gunboat the boats were so close up that only one bow gun apiece of four could be used, and then at an inconvenient angle in fact, in only one position and the broadsides of several were useless on account of the bank. Our immense superiority of metal was thus rendered almost useless for the purpose of engaging an enemy that was endeavoring to encircle the Admiral's boats. If his rear was gained, their superior numbers could board the first or the last boat, and, having captured her. use her guns with fearful effect on the others. About mid-day the enemy commenced moving upon us, with the pur- pose of reaching the bank of the creek below the gunboats and below the infantry. General Sherman was some six miles distant. The rebels are believed to have advanced with about 4,000 men. It must be borne in mind that our troops were on a belt of land which forms the bank of the creek, of not great width, back of which the bottom laud was under water and impassable. The rebels came down with the intention of turning his right and reaching the creek below. The gunboats and four mortars opened upon them, as soon as they discovered themselves in bodies. This firing embarrassed their movements and considerably retarded them. They debouched through the wood and became engaged vith the skirmishers. The fight was beginning to be in earnest, but the relols were gaining ground. The object was not a battle, but to pass by our forces. The first firing of the gunboats was heard by General Sherman near the Shelby plantation. He urged his troops forward, and after an hour's hard marching, the advance, deployed as skirmishers, came upon a body of the enemy who had passed by the force which had been engaged. Immediately engaging them, the enemy stood a while disconcerted by the unexpected attack, fought a short time, and gave way. Our forces pressed them, driving them back some two miles. Tho gunboats opened upon them thus hemmed in, and the day was ours. The rebels retreated, and the g.unboats were saved for that day. Our loss was but one killed and none wounded. The loss of the rebels was heavy. One shell from a mortar killed twenty-sir, as they were rallying U8 skirmishers. Another is stated to have killed and wounded forty 196 GENERAL GRANT persons. They suffered very much, but, as we did not attempt to occupy the field, it cannot be ascertained. It being obvious that further advance was impracticable, the boats at once commenced moving backward, and made several miles that evening. The next effort of the rebels was to pass around our lines in the after- noon and night, and throw their whole force still further below us. Gen- eral Stuart, with four regiments, marched on Hill's plantation the same morning, having run his transports in the night, and immediately ad- ranced one regiment up Deer Creek, and another still further to the right. The rebels, who were making a circuit about General Sherman, thus found the whole line occupied, aud abandoned the attempt to cut off the gunboats for that day. During the afternoon the troops and gunboats all arrived at Hill's plantation. Rebel scouts followed them withiu two miles of the division head-quarters. During the night the picket about one-half mile out was attacked by a squadron of cavalry, It immediately, upon the return of their fire, fell back. In the afternoon of the next day, another regiment was attacked by three regiments of infantry and 'a squadron of cavalry. Acting under instructions to draw them on, and to develop their whole force, a skirmish ensued, but they refused to follow. The enemy, the night before, landed a steamer and two flatboats, loaded with troops and artillery, about six miles above. We remained two days at Hill's plantation, waiting for the rebels to prepare ; but they would not give -or receive battle. We embarked on the trans- ports and gunboats, and returned. The troops, gunboats, ammunition, and supplies, with a considerable quantity of cotton and fifty good mules, are all safe, and approaching Young's Point, as I write. There were destroyed by our troops and by the rebels at least 2.000 bales of cotton, 50,000 bushels of corn, and the gins and houses of the plantations whoso owners had obstructed our progress, and joined in the warfare. The resources of the country we found ample to subsist the army at Vicksburg for some length of time, and by the destruction of them we crippled the enemy so far. There were features about this expedition novel and exciting. Black Bayou, a narrow stream heretofore, only navigated by dug- outs, was made of the width of our steamers, with great labor of 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 steamer, at the highest possible speed, AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 197 pushed through overhanging tree? and around short curves. Some- times 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 iu a night pitchy dark and rainy. While the adventure was of uncertain success when the result seemed almost accomplished, and when our gunboats were surrounded with an enemy confident of victory, and their extrication seemed almost an impossibility officers and men worked with equal alacrity, whether in building bridges or making forced marches, both by day and in the night. The whole tune was used in labor constant and severe. It seems almost a miracle that the boats were saved. If Generals Sher- man and Stuart, by their utmost exertions and labor, had forwarded their troops a single half day later, if the second forced march under General Sherman had been retarded a single hour, in all human proba- bility the whole force would have been lost.* All these expeditions proved to be excellent feints to distract the enemy's attention ; but there is no doubt that if they had succeeded, one of them would have been adopted, and might not have produced so glorious a result as the final campaign and plans which General Grant had himself laid out. In fact, he states in his report, that the failure of these expeditions " may have been providential in driving him ultimately to a line of operations which has proven eminently successful." The losses inflicted on the enemy in the destruction of supplies, and the withdrawal of certain portions of his garrison to meet the expeditionary movements were of inestimable value to General Grant in his final Vicksburg campaign. * Correspondence of the Chicago Tribune, April, 1863. 198 GEXEKA.L SEJLNT CHAPTER XXV. TBB HEALTH OF THE ABMY. IT has often been stated by generals in the field, that they had far less dread of the enemy in their front than they had of their friends at home. A slight word of alarm, uttered by the latter in a careless moment, would soon be increased until it became a perfect panic. While General Grant was engaged in the before described expe- ditions, letters to friends were for a time prohibited, to prevent information reaching the enemy through a mail captured by guerillas ; and this absence of regular communi- cation between those in the army and their friends at home, led the latter to believe that the former were sick. An interchange of such news between the friends of various absentees, and the return of a* few invalids, settled it as a matter of fact that the whole army was dying of disease. An official inquiry was at once made by the Surgeon- in-chief, and General Grant, under date of March 6th, 1863, wrote to Surgeon-General Hammond, as follows : No army ever went into the field better provided with medical stores and attendance than is furnished to the army before Yicksburg. There was a deficiency in volunteer surgeons, but that is now supplied. The hospital boats are supplied with their own surgeons, nurses, and every thing for the comfort of the sick. The purveyor's department not only has every thing furnished the sick, but more than it ever dreamed of was furnished to the army, and more than the great majority of men could have at home. Then, too, there is not that amount of sickness that oersons would be led to believe from the statements in AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 199 ice public prints. I question whether the health of the St. Louis force is better than that of this command. On my arrival here, the men who had to put up with straw for so long a time, and then with camping on low ground and in the most terrible weather ever experienced, there was for a time, of necessity, a great number of sick. U. S. GRANT, Major- General. The foregoing letter was informal ; but shortly after Gen- eral Grant sent, in answer to the official inquiry, the follow- ing document for registry in the departmental offices at Washington : HEAD-QUARTERS, DEPARTMENT OF THE TENNESSEE, ) BEFORE VICKSBURG, March 12, 1863. ) Brigadier-General "W. A. HAMMOND, Surgeon- General, United States Army. SIR: Surgeon J. R. Smith's letter of the 20th of February is just received, inquiring into the sanitary condition of this command, and asking for suggestions for its improvement. / know a great deal has been said to impress the public generally, and officials particularly, with the idea, that this army was in a suffering condition, and mostly from neglect. This is most erroneous. The health of this command will, I ven- ture to say, compare favorably with that of any army in the field, and every preparation is made for the sick that could be desired. I will refer Surgeon Smith's letter to my medical director for a fuller report of the condition of the medical department here. I am, sir, very respectfully your obedient servant, U. S. GRANT, Major- General. General Grant, desirous of having a good supply of sani- tary stores, and to provide for the proper transportation and care of the same, issued the following order on the date specified. HEAD-QUARTERS, DEPARTMENT OF THE TENNESSEE, ) YOUNG'S POINT, LA.. March 27, 1863. ) [Special Orders, No. 86.] I. The Quartermaster's Department will provide and furnish a suita- ble steamboat, to be called the " United States Sanitary Store Boat," and put the same in charge of the U. S. Sanitary Commission, to be used by it exclusively for the conveyance of goods calculated to prevent disease 200 GENERAL GRANT and supplement the government supply of stores for the relief of the sick and wounded. II. No person will be permitted to travel on said boat, except sick officers of the Army and Navy (and they only on permits from their proper commanding officers), discharged soldiers, and employes of said Sanitary Commission, and no goods whatever for trading or commercial purposes will be carried on said boat, and no goods will be taken for in- dividuals, or with any conditions which will prevent their being deliv- ered to those most needing them in the Army or Navy. III. The contents of all packages to be shipped on said U. S. Sanita- ry Store Boat, will be inspected before shipment by an agent of said Sanitary Commission, at the point of shipment, unless an invoice of their contents has been received, the correctness of which is assured by the signature of some person of known loyalty and integrity. A statement, showing what goods have been placed on board at each trip, will bo sent to the Medical Director of the Department at these head-quarters. IV. A weekly statement will also be made by said Sanitary Commis- sion to the Department Medical Director, showing what sanitary supplies have been issued by said commission, and to whom issued. V. All orders authorizing the free transportation of sanitary stores from Cairo south, on boats other than the one herein provided for, are hereby rescinded. By order of Major-General U. S. GBAKT JOHN A. lUwuNs, A. A.-G. AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 201 CHAPTER XXVL THE OVERLAND MOVEMENTS. RUNNING THE BATTERIES. IT having been plainly manifested to General Grant that all the former operations would not reach the desired end, he at once determined to move his forces below Vicks- burg on the Louisiana shore, so as to take the rebel works in the rear. On the 29th of March, 1863, the movement commenced ; the Thirteenth Corps taking the lead, followed by the Seventeenth and Fifteenth, while to the Sixteenth Corps was left the charge of the communications and sup- plies. Shortly before this, Admiral Farragut had run by the batteries at Port Hudson with his flag-ship, the Hartford, and her tender, the Albatross ; and on March 1 7th was ly- ing off Natchez, Miss. On March 2 1 st the Hartford arrived off Vicksburg, and anchoring below the batteries, communi- cated with Admiral Porter and General Grant. On the 25th of March, the TJ. S. rams Lancaster and Switzerland attempted to run by the batteries at Vicksburg, but were so crippled in the attempt that the former was sunk and the latter temporarily disabled. The rams had been made by altering river steamboats, and were far too light to withstand the shock of a heavy fire from such bat- teries as those at Vicksburg. Two days after this event Admiral Farragut, with the Hartford, engaged the batteries at Warrenton, and sue ceeded in passing below them en route for the Red River. 9* 202 GENERAL GRANT On the 1st of April he engaged the battei'ies at Grand Gulf, and passed farther down the river with the Albatross and Switzerland in his company, arriving at the mouth of the Red River on the evening of April 2d. In the mean time the army kept on the move, and on the 30th of March, Richmond, a village of Madison county, La., and on a direct line with Vicksburg, a few miles in- land from the Mississippi River, was taken possession of by a portion of the Thirteenth Army Corps, who drove out the rebel cavalry after two hours sharp fighting. The Corps then pushed on towards New Carthage. The roads, although level, were in a very bad condition, and the march was necessarily slow and tedious. It was important that supplies and ammunition should travel with this corps, and consequently the movements were considerably delayed, AS it became at times necessary to drag the wagons by hand. When the corps was within tw r o miles of New Carthage, it was found that, in consequence of the recent floods and the breaking of the levee of Bayou Vidal, that place was isolated, and located on an island. Boats were collected from the neighboring bayous, and barges were built ; but by this method the progress of the army was too slow for the purpose intended. The corps was therefore marched to Perkins's plantation, twelve miles below New Carthage, and thirty-five miles from the point of starting. Over these thirty-five miles supplies and ordnance stores had to be transported ; and as the roads were soft and spongy, owing to the floods, the labor of this movement is almost incon- ceivable. Provisions and ammunition had to be hauled in wagons, and until a sufficient quantity had reached the camp near the Mississippi River, below Vicksburg, it would have been impossible to have commenced a campaign, if a suc- cessful issue was to be desired. AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 203 While these army movements were in progress, Admiral Porter was not idle ; but was engaged in making prepara- tions for the running of transports and gunboats by the batteries at Vicksburg, so as to be able to co-operate with General Grant, and transport his troops from the Louisiana shore of the river to the Mississippi side. Until this was accomplished, the troops were no nearer reducing Vicks- burg than they would have been at Young's Point or Mil- liken's Bend. On the night of the 16th of April, Admiral Porter's fleet and three transports ran by the batteries at Vicksburg, and all but one succeeded in passing without being too much injured for service. These injuries were soon after repaired under the direction of Admiral Porter. The success of this enterprise induced General Grant to send six more transports down the river, the fleet below being ready to receive them on their arrival. Volunteers were called for to man the transports, and a large number of men and officers tendered their services to take the vessels through on this dangerous trip. The enthusiasm of the volunteers for this expedition has scarcely ever been ex- ceeded during the war. Five out of the six vessels arrived, on April 22d, safely below the batteries. The transports injured in running this blockade were re- paired by order of Admiral Porter, who was supplied with the material for such repairs as they required. The army supplied the requisite artisans and mechanics, and in a very short time five of the transports were in running order, and the remainder were in condition to be used as barges for the removal of troops. Twelve barges loaded with forage and rations were sent in tow of the six transports that passed the batteries on the 22d, and of these barges one- half got through in a condition to be used. 204 GENERAL GRANT CHAPTER XXVH. GRIERSON'S EXPEDITION. BEFORE leaving the north side of Vicksburg, to take command of his army in person, General Grant determined to cut all the enemy's communications with that city, so as to secure his forces from an attack in the rear, should it be- come necessary to invest the place. He therefore detailed the First Cavalry Brigade, under Colonel B. H. Grierson, to this duty. On April 17th, 1863, this force left La Grange, Tenn., at about two o'clock in the morning, and after trav- elling a distance of thirty miles along the turnpike road, encamped within four miles of Ripley, Miss. At eight o'clock the next morning the force was again on the march, and passing through Ripley moved south- wardly toward New Albany. One battalion occupied the place, while the main body passed to the east, but all en- camped about four miles south of New Albany. Before leaving Ripley a part of the force, under Colonel Hatch, was detached to march on the left flank of the col- umn, and taking a southeasterly direction, crossed the Tal- lahatchie about five miles northeast of New Albany. It was impossible for a large force to move through the enemy's country without meeting some of the foe ; and as a natural result, skirmishing took place all along the route, and several prisoners were taken. At one time the advance was engaged with the pickets of Chalmers's rebel brigade, but the latter was soon overpowered, and the main body of the rebels retreated. AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 205 The rebels attempted to fire the bridge at New Albany ; but so rapid was Colonel Grierson's advance, that his forces were across the river before they could accomplish their purpose. It now became necessary to mislead the enemy as to the actual destination of the main body; therefore, on April 19th, Colonel Grierson ordered a portion of his force to march back to New Albany, thence by Kingsbridge, where a rebel camp was said to be in existence. A second force he ordered east, and a third northwest, while the main body marched due south. It had been raining all the previous night ; consequently this day's march was performed under great difficulties. The centre column then proceeded to Pontotoc, where a small rebel force was dispersed, and their camp equipage and a quantity of salt seized and destroyed. At eight o'clock that evening the command encamped six miles south of Pontotoc on the road to Houston. On the 20th, a portion of the force was detached and sent back to La Grange with the prisoners and captured bag- gage. They were ordered to make as much noise in re- turning as possible, so as to give the rebels the idea that the expedition was over, while in fact the main body would still proceed south. This feint succeeded admi rably. The next day another force was detached, under Colonel Hatch, and ordered to destroy as much as possible of the Mobile and Ohio Railroad ; to attack Columbus near the State line, between Mississippi and Alabama, and then to march back to La Grange. In this Colonel Hatch was suc< cessful, and the movement drew off General Chalmers's rebel forces from following Colonel Grierson, thus giving him three days fresh start. The main body next moved to Starkville, where they captured and destroyed a rebel mail. After travelling four 206 GENEBAL GRANT miles further, the command divided ; one-half swimming the Dismal Swamp to destroy a tannery, which at the time contained a very large stock of boots and shoes, saddles, bridles, and several thousand dollars worth of leather ; the other half proceeding on its course. The command being again united, it pushed on towards Louisville, Miss. This part of the march was of the most dangerous character, as streams and blind marshes had to be crossed without any guide. Sometimes the horses would sink in the mud and be left to perish, and it is won- derful that some of the men did not share the same fate. Notwithstanding the horrible nature of this route, the men preserved their fortitude, and pushed on vigorous- ly for Philadelphia, Miss., where another mail was de- stroyed. Private property, however, was in all cases respected. On April 23d, the force pushed on to the Southern Rail- road at Newton, moving by way of Decatur, and arrived at the former place about daylight on the 24th. Here two trains, bound to Vicksburg, via Jackson, were captured, and the whole thirty-eight cars, with the loads of quarter- master, commissary, and ordnance stores destroyed. The locomotives were also rendered useless. Several bridges and a quantity of trestlework were destroyed in this vicin- ity, after which, on the 25th, the raiding force moved to- wards Montrose, thence to Raleigh, Miss., where they encamped for the night. At this time the rebels were close upon Colonel Grier- son's heels, on ascertaining which, he moved over the Leaf River, destroying the bridge behind him, and then marched to Westville. Here two battalions were detached, and made a forced march to Hazlehurst station, on the Jackson and New Orleans Railroad, where they destroyed forty cars, four of which were loaded with shell and ammunition, GEN. FRANZ SIGEL. GEN. DANIEI, KTOKI..E GEN. N. P. BANKS. GEN. B. F BUTLER. AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 20 7 and the remainder with quartermaster and commissary stores. A detachment also made a raid upon Enterprise, on the Mobile and Ohio railroad, and thus diverting the enemy's attention from the movements of the main body. When near Gallatin, the cavalry captured and spiked a thirty-two pound Parrot gun, which the rebels were haul- ing towards Vicksburg. A detachment was next ordered to Bahala, on the Jack- son and New Orleans Railroad, where thev destroyed sev- eral miles of track and telegraph wire, a number of cars, water-tanks, and a considerable amount of government property. On the morning of April 28th, the advance arrived at Brookhaven, where it surprised a body of rebels, taking about two hundred prisoners. Here a camp of instruction, about five hundred tents, and a large supply of small arms were destroyed. Colonel Grierson, after making feints of moving towards Port Gibson and Natchez, marched, on April 30th, along the New Orleans and Jackson Railroad, destroying all the bridges between Brookhaven and Bogue Chito station. At the latter place, a number of loaded cars were found and destroyed. He next moved on to Summit, where he de- stroyed another train of cars. The Union cavalry force then passed along the country road towards Clinton, and on their way met a body of rebel cavalry, which they engaged and routed. They again pushed on steadily towards the Mississippi River. On Friday, May 1st, at about noon, the inhabitants of Ba- ton Rouge were startled by the arrival of a courier, who announced that a brigade of cavalry from General Grant's army had cut their way through the heart of the rebel country and were then only five tniles outside of the city. 208 GESTERAI, The information seemed too astounding for belief. At four o'clock, however, there was no longer doubt of the fact, for Colonel Grierson and his heroes were escorted into the city by a company of cavalry belonging to that post. At the picket lines they were welcomed by the commander and his staff, and the cheers of the garrison, as the adventu- rers entered Baton Rouge, could have been heard for miles. The value of this expedition can scarcely be appreciated by merely reading the preceding account ; but when it is considered that, in fifteen days this cavalry force marched over eight hundred miles, travelling through the very heart of the enemy's country, killed and wounded a number of the enemy, destroyed over four million dollars worth of prop- erty, cut off all communication with the rebel stronghold at Vicksburg, captured over a thousand prisoners, and twelve hundred horses, besides menacing the enemy at points where they deemed themselves secure, it will be at once seen that the expedition was one of the most impor tant, as well as the most successful of the war, and is ex ceedingly creditable to all concerned. About the same time cavalry raids were being made into Alabama and Georgia, under Colonel Streight, and to the rear of General Lee's army in Virginia, under General Stone- man, the various movements carrying consternation and terror into the midst of the enemy's dominions, and making it shake at its very centre. The following table will show the work accomplished by Colonel Grierson during his expedition. Locomotives destroyed, 2 ; cars destroyed, nearly 200 ; bridges burned, etc., 9 ; telegraph wires cut, 2 ; railroad tracks destroyed and broken, 3 ; rebel camps destroyed, 3 ; important rebel mails destroyed, 3 ; prisoners taken, over 1,000 ; tannery burned, 1 ; horses captured, over 1,200 ; miles travelled, over 800 ; value of property destroyed, AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 309 over $4,000,000. Besides cutting off all railroad communi cation with the rebel strongholds on the Mississippi, as well as entirely destroying muskets, tents, stores, leather, boots, saddles, etc., of great value to the rebels in a military point of view. Although the loss to the rebels was very great, the gain to General Grant was of corresponding value. The following is General Grant's first announcement of the success of the expedition : GRAND GULP, Miss., May 6. Major-General HALLECK, Generalrin- Chief: I learn that Colonel Grierson, with his cavalry, has been heard of, first, about ten days ago, in Northern Mississippi. He moved thence and struck the railroad thirty miles east of Jack- son, at a point called Newton's Station. He then moved southward, towards Enterprise, demanded the surren- der of the place, and gave one hour's grace, during which General Lorm- niey arrived. He left at once and moved towards Hazelhurst, on the New Orleans and Jackson Railroad. At this point he tore up the track. Thence he pushed to Bahala, ten miles further south, on the same road, and thence eastward, on the Natchez road, where he had a fight with Wirt Adams's cavalry. From this point tie moved back to the New Orleans and Jackson Rail- road, to Brookhaven, ten miles south of Bahala, and when last heard from he was three miles from Summit, ten miles south of Brookhaven, and was supposed to be making his way to Baton Rouge. He had spread excitement throughout the State, destroying railroads, trestleworks, and bridges, burning locomotives and railway stock, taking prisoners, and destroying stores of all kinds. U. S. GRANT, Major- General GENERAL GRANT CHAPTER XXVIII. OTHER PRELIMINARY MOVEMENTS. ATTACK UPON GRAND GULF. THE day after Colonel Grierson had started on his expe- dition, a party of Union troops, consisting of three regi- ments of infantry and one of cavalry, left Memphis, Tenn., on a reconnoissanoe into Mississippi. At Nanconnah they met a body of rebel cavalry, which, after a brisk fight, was repulsed with some loss. On the 19th another body of mounted rebels were met and driven over the Coldwater in confusion. The Union troops having been re-enforced at Hernando, Miss., again crossed the Coldwater and engaged the rebels at that point. At about the same time General Banks's forces were making a demonstration in the neighborhood of Baton Rouge. Owing to the limited number of transports below Vicks- burg, it was deemed advisable by General Grant to extend his line of land travel to a little place in Louisiana, on the Mississippi River shore, locally known by the designation of Hard Times. As this place could only be reached by a very circuitous land route, the distance between the base of supplies at Milliken's Bend and the advance of the army was increased to seventy miles, with roads entirely unsuited for the operations of an army. But as the place was nearer to the point at which General Grant had intended to land his troops, on the Mississippi side of the river, he HIS CAMPAIGNS. 211 was determined that the roads should not prove an obstacle to thwart him in his plans. He therefore detailed a por- tion of his pioneer force to prepare the line of travel, and to keep it in order after it was constructed. The Thirteenth Army Corps was embarked during the night of the 28th and early on the morning of the 29th of April, 1863, and the Seventeenth Corps being well on its way to take their place, General Grant ordered the trans- ports to move over to the front of Grand Gulf. The plan had been for the navy to attack the rebel works, and for the military forces to land under cover of the guns, for the purpose of taking the place by storm. At eight- o'clock hi the morning Admiral Porter's fleet opened upon the works, which he engaged for five hours in the most brilliant manner. It, however, soon became evident that the enemy's batteries could not be silenced or taken from the water front, as the whole range of hills was lined with rifle-pits, supported by field artillery, that could be moved from one position to the other with the greatest ease. General Grant therefore determined to change his plan and effect a landing, if possible, at Rodney, some distance be- low Grand Gulf. But to effect this it became necessary again to run the rebel batteries. A consultation was therefore held between General Grant and Admiral Porter, and a plan soon agreed upon. At dark Admiral Porter's fleet again engaged the batte- ries, and under cover of this contest the transports ran by the rebel works, receiving but two or three shots in the passage, and these not inflicting any material injury. During the whole of the naval engagement at Grand Gulf, General Grant was on board a tug in the middle of the stream, a witness of the contest, ; nd ready to move his forces to the assault as soon as the time appeared pro- pitious. 212 GENERAL GRAIJT CHAPTER XXIX. THE LANDING AT BRTTINSBTJRG, AND ADVANCE. AFTER the withdrawal of the fleet from before Grand Gulf, the troops were again landed at Hard Times, so that the transports might run easily by the rebel batteries with- out endangering more lives than was actually necessary. These disembarked troops were then marched overland, across the upper end of Coffee's Point and D'Schron's plantation, to the Louisiana shore of the Mississippi River below Grand Gulf. A reconnoitring party was next sent out to discover the best point at which the troops could cross the river to the Mississippi shore. General McClernand says in his report of June 17th, 1863 : " The reconnoissance made by my cavalry, in pursuance of Major-General Grant's order, in- dicated Bruinsburg to be the point. Hence, embarking on the morning of the thirtieth, my corps immediately pro- ceeded to that place, and disembarked before noon." The advance was now on the Vicksburg side of the river, and every thing was to be subservient to activity and rapid motion. The orders were that there should be no delay under any circumstances. Promptitude was espe- cially necessary, as by that only could success be guaran- teed. At four o'clock in the afternoon, after having halted just long enough to distribute three days' rations, the advance of the Thirteenth Army Corps took up its line of march AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 213 for the bluffs, three miles from the river. In this move- ment the corps commander states in his report that he acted " agreeably with General Grant's instructions." The bluffs were, therefore, reached and taken possession of some time before sunset. The army had started in very light marching order, with out trains or baggage, so that nothing should interfere with their rapid movements. Each man carried his allotted quan- tity of rations, and the bivouac and not the camp was to be the order of the night.* The Thirteenth Army Corps, after reaching the Bluffs, pushed on toward Port Gibson, for the purpose of surpris- ing any enemy that might be found in that neighborhood, and if possible to prevent him from destroying the bridges over Bayou Pierre, on the roads leading to Grand Gulf and to Jackson. To accomplish this object, the corps had to make forced inarches, and to travel as far as possible along the road during that night. The following account is given by one who participated in this movement of the rear column of the Thirteenth Ar- my Corps : Events have followed each other so rapidly within the last three days, * The following is related of the very light manner in which General Grant commenced the campaign: A gentleman who participated in the Vicksburg campaign of General Grant, up to the time the enemy crossed the Big Black in the retreat to- wards Vicksburg, states that " in starting on the movement the General disencumbered himself of every thing, setting an example to his officers and men. He took neither a horse nor a servant, overcoat nor blanket, nor tent nor camp chest, nor even a clean shirt. His only baggage con- sisted of a tooth-brush. He always showed his teeth to the rebels. He shared all the hardships of the private soldier, sleeping in the front and in the open air, and eating hard tack and salt pork. He wore no sword, had on a low-crowned citizen's hat, and the only thing about him to mark him as a military man was his two stars on his undress military coat." 214 GEXEKAL GKANT that it seems utterly impossible to keep pace with them as they have occurred. "When I wrote to you from Bruiiisburg, it was long past midnight, and at the conclusion of my letter I was forced to throw myself upon the ground, under the friendly shelter of a thrifty cottonwood, to gain a little sleep for the labors of the coming day. Since eleven o'clock of the preceding (Thursday) night we had heard the occasional boom of cannon, followed by the sharp rattle of musketry, and I was not sur- prised, soon after I went into bivouac, to learn that an order was issued to march at daylight. At five reveille was beaten, and swallowing a cup of coffee and securing within haversack a cracker or two, just as the first rays of the tropical sun came glittering along the surface of the Missis- sippi, we left our bivouac, and taking the levee, moved in the direction of Port Gibson. The steamers, which a few nights before had run the rebel batteries at Vicksburg and Grand Gulf were then used to carry troops from Bromly's plantation to Bruinsburg. Among others the Moderator and Horizon were thus used. The Moderator, on her return trip, met the Horizon coming down the river, having on board one hundred and fifty thousand rations and a full battery of artillery. Whether it was owing to the fog or the carelessness of the pilot has not been ascertained ; but somehow the two vessels collided, and the Horizon, rations and battery, sank in deep water and disappeared from mortal vision. Every horse on board was drowned. Every gun lies fathoms deep in water, rations are ruined, and I regret to add that two or three soldiers found a watery grave. At this juncture the loss is almost irreparable. But to describe our march from Bruinsburg : The road to Port Gib- son lies along the inner side of the levee for a couple of miles, until it branches to the right and strikes the bluffs or series of hills extending to Grand Gulf and Vicksburg. The route over these bluffs differs so materially from that over the dead levels of the preceding days, that we were continually finding something to wonder at and admire. The abrupt acclivities, the deep ravines, the waving corn, the beautiful flowers and magnificent magnolias, just now in full blossom, diffusing most delicious perfumes, and the long line of soldiers winding along the green trees, formed a truly beautiful picture. The harmony of this scene, normally so suggestive of peace, was sadly marred by the constantly recurring evidences that man was at variance with his fellow. As we approached a point six miles from Bruinsburg, we could hear the more rapid firing of cannon and the sharper rattle of musketry. When we i AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 215 arrived within four miles of Port Gibson we met a small force of strag- glers, and received orders to move forward to the front. The peculiar features of the region a little east of Bruinsburg are rigidly maintained at Thompson's Hills, except that, if possible, the hilla are steeper, the ravines deeper, and ingress much more difficult. AB we approached the plantation, whence the battle takes its name, we found at the bottom of a deep ravine a clear running stream of water a rarity in this latitude. Ordinarily the streams are muddy and turbid, but here was one as clear as crystal. Beyond this stream the road over the hill rises abruptly until it reaches an open field, upon which the plantation mansion stands. Just beyond is a road to the left leading to Grand Gulf, and to the right a road leading south. "We followed the latter, and reached a primitive church just in the edge of a grove of magnolias, with an open iawn in front. A half mile beyond, this road again forks, the left leading to Port Gibson and the right to Rodney. Taking this church as a centre, and striking a semicircle towards the east whose periphery shall be everywhere two miles from the common centre, and your line will strike a chain of hills and valleys, upon which and between which the battle, known as that of Thompson's Hills, was fought. Just beyond these hills is Port Gibson.* * Army correspondence under date of May 3d. 216 GENERAL Gil ANT CHAPTER XXX. THE BATTLE OF THOMPSON'S HILLS, OK PORT GIBSON. 'EVAC- UATION OP GRAND GULF. THE advance of the Thirteenth Army Corps approached the church, spoken of in the foregoing correspondence, at about one o'clock on the morning of the first of May, 1863. This church was distant from Briinsburg about thirteen miles, and from Port Gibson about four miles. As the Fourteenth Division of Grant's army drew near the place, they were accosted by a light fire of rebel musketry, fol- lowed at a quick interval by a sharp attack with field artil- lery. The Union troops were at once formed into line of battle, and their batteries replied to the fire of the rebels. After a short but brisk engagement, the guns of the latter were silenced. The Union troops then withdrew out of range, and pa- tiently waited until daylight. At daybreak the fight was renewed by the ordering of the Ninth Division of Grant's army on to the road to the left. The First Brigade, while hastening forward to execute this order, encountered the enemy in force at about half-past five in the morning ; and although the rebel position was strong, and the enemy apparently determined to keep it, he was forced to yield up possession after a hard struggle of over an hour's duration. The Ninth Division, consisting only of two brigades, pressed forward ; but the enemy had so obstructed the AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 217 road by this route, that it was soon discovered a front at- tack would only result in disaster. A flank movement was then resolved upon, and by a spirited assault upon the riffht carried the rebel works, captured three pieces of can- uon, and routed the enemy. The following interesting account of the fight is given by an eye-witness : General McClernand's army corps was marching in the direction of Port Gibson, and had reached the ravine and the running brook alluded to. It was his intention to encamp on the opposite hill, but the enemy had placed a three-gun battery there, and, as our advance reached the ravine, he began most persistently to shell us. His range was not god, and the guns did no damage. We withdrew out of range, and atiently waited until daylight. At daybreak the fight was renewed, first by the advance skirmishers, and afterwards by the main body The battery placed upon the hill opposite was annoying us, and two regiments were ordered to take it. Across the running water and up the steep ascent advanced the brave soldiers, with bayonets firmly set, nor faltered a single step until the enemy were driven from the position and their guns fell into our hands. From here the enemy retired to the right, following the road which led past the church, near which they had stationed another battery. Here the battle raged fearfully, and several of our men were wounded and killed. After the rebels had left this point I was able to find, where the fight raged the fiercest, the dead bodies of twenty men within a circuit of half as many rods. . Driven from this position by the impet uous attack of the federal soldiers, the rebel general sought a convenient circlet of hills, and established his battle line. His centre rested on the Port Gibson road, with his right and left on the right and left of that thoroughfare. The attack was first made with artillery upon his centre, then skirmishers advanced, and the engagement became general in that locality. After heavy firing, the enemy gave way, and massed his forces on his left with the evident intention of flanking our right. This inten- tion was discovered in season to avoid it by a proper disposition ol our reserves, when the enemy wheeled over to his right and massed his forces, making a most formidable demonstration. The attack against this wing was resisted with great determination and with partial suc- cess in the earlier part of the day, and the enemy gained several irnpor- 10 218 GENERAL GRANT tant positions, from which, for some hours, we tried in vain to dislodge him. On our extreme left and their right there was an elevation, pro- tected in front by an impenetrable canebrake, and defended from flank approach by ravines, where the attacking party would be forced to under- go an enfilading fire. The enemy had mounted his guns upon the hill, and posted his skirmishers in the thicket before it. Several hours' most strenuous efforts were made to dislodge them, but our boys were unable to penetrate the dense thicket. The deadly missiles came singing through the air with fearful accuracy, and many a brave soldier was laid low. General Osterhaus and a portion of the Ninth Division were op- posite. At length re-enforcements were called for, and the First Brigade of the Third Division, belonging to the Seventeenth Army Corps, came rushing along the road towards Grand Gulf. They were quickly formed in battle array, and with a shout, which must have struck terror in the hearts of the enemy, the boys fixed bayonets and boldly charged the po- sition. Down upon their hands and knees, they worked their way through the young cane, and mercilessly slaughtered all who did not yield. One hundred and fifty men were taken prisoners in this glorious charge, and scores of rebels were killed and wounded. They gained the other side of the thicket, and picked off the men and horses serving the rebel battery. The Union batteries finished the good work, and the position and guns fell into our hands. Beaten at every point, losing one hundred and fifty killed, three hun- dred wounded, and more than five hundred prisoners, the enemy sul- lenly and rapidly retreated to Port Gibson, harassed in his flight by vol- leys of musketry and the most strenuous efforts of our artillery. Without difficulty they reached Port Gibson, blowing up, when near the village, a caisson filled with shot, shell, and powder. Night was wrapping her sable mantle over hill and valley, and the silver moon shone out clear and bright, casting a flood of beautiful light over friend and foe, when the order was given to cease pursuit. We rested on the battle-field, wearied and exhausted, and soon deep silence reigned supreme where Mars so recently held high carnival. The commander of the corps, in his official report of this engagement, states that during the heat of the battle, " Ma- jor-General Grant came up from Bruinsburg, and soon after he had the pleasure of meeting him on the field." AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 219 It also appears from the official reports, that the second position taken by the enemy was much stronger than the first, being located in a creek bottom, covered with trees and underbrush, the approach to which was over open fields, and ragged and exposed hill-slopes. At break of day on the morning of Saturday, May 2d, the Thirteenth Army Corps triumphantly entered Port Gibson,' through which place, and across the south branch of the Bayou Pierre, the enemy had hastily fled the night before, burning the bridge across that stream in his rear. This bridge was even burning when the advance entered Port Gibson, and it was necessary to remain a few hours in that village, until a floating bridge could be constructed. While this bridge was being built, the rebels appeared on the opposite side of the Bayou Pierre, both above and below the town, and a desultory fire ensued between the belligerents, without any material damage to either side. In the afternoon the bridge was completed, and the advance crossed over. Three miles beyond Port Gibson, on the Raymond road, the Union Army came across two large piles of bacon be- longing to the rebel army, and at least of fifty thousand pounds weight. The army next came upon the upper causeway across the Bayou Pierre, which being a substan- tial iron suspension bridge, the rebels had not time to com- pletely destroy, although they left behind them evidences of their attempts at its destruction. This bridge repaired, the Union army passed over it, and came to the cross-roads near the site of an old town which once rejoiced in the name of Willow Springs. As the army was proceeding leisurely along the road, a battery opened upon them with shell at short range, causing a few casualties. The advance was next drawn up in line of bat- tle, and moved slowly forward until the rebel position was 220 GENERAL GRANT attained. The enemy, however, then soon retired with unusual haste. The advance of the Union army then pushed on to the bank of the Big Black River, where it arrived shortly be- fore dark, and was received with a sharp fire of musketry. Lines of skirmishers were quickly formed, and the rebel troops driven across the river. Their rearguard attempted to destroy the pontoon bridge ; but in this design they were frustrated by the rapid movements of the sharp- shooters of the Union army. After exchanging a few shell and shot, all was quiet for a time. This part of the army was seven miles beyond Grand Gulf, and within eighteen miles of Vicksburg. While passing through a deep ravine to reach the above position, the Union troops met a strong line of rebel skirmishers, and, after an engagement of about two hours, the latter re- tired, closely followed by the Unionists. Several prisoners were taken, from whom it was ascertained that Grand Gulf had been evacuated and the rebel magazine blown up. This was owing to two causes ; first, the flanking of the position by General Grant, and secondly, the severe bombardment it received at the hands of Admiral Porter. Finding that Grand Gulf had been evacuated, and that the advance of the Union forces was already fifteen miles on the road they would have to take to reach either Vicksburg, Jackson, or any point of the railroad between those cities, General Grant determined not to stop the troops in their vic- torious course, for the purpose of furnishing himself with an escort due to his rank, but took with him some fifteen men, and proceeded in person to the evacuated position, where he made the necessary arrangements for changing his base of supplies from Bruinsburg to Grand Gulf. From this point General Grant telegraphed to the Gov- ernment the complete success of the first part of his AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 221 movement. It will be seen that the document was worded in the most modest manner, considering the value of the work accomplished, and was as follows : GRAND GULP, Miss., May 3, 1863. Major-General HALLECK, General-in-Chief: We landed at Bruinsburg April 30th, moved immediately on Port Gibson, met the enemy, 11,000 strong, four miles south of Port Gibson at two o'clock A. si., on the 1st inst., and engaged him all day, entirely routing him, with the loss of many killed, and about 500 prisoners, besides the wounded. Our loss is about 100 killed and 500 wounded. The enemy retreated towards Vicksburg, destroying the bridges over the two forks of the Bayou Pierre. These were rebuilt, and the pursuit has continued until the present time. Besides the heavy artillery at the place, four field-pieces were captured, and some stores, and the enemy were driven to destroy many more. The country is the most broken and difficult to operate in I ever saw. Our victory has been most complete, and the enemy is thoroughly demoralized. Very respectfully, U. S. GRANT, Major- General Commanding. Governor Yates, of Illinois, who was on a visit to the army at the time of the movement, and had necessarily to participate therein, telegraphed at the same time to the officials at his State Capital, as follows : GRAND GULP, Miss., May 3, 1863. We gained a glorious victory at Port Gibson, on the 1st instant. The enemy are in full retreat. Our forces are in close pursuit. The Illinois troops, as usual, behaved with the greatest gallantry. The loss on our side is 150 killed and 500 wounded. We have taken 1,000 prisoners. The loss of the enemy in killed and wounded was much greater than ours. RICHARD YATBS. On the same night that Grand Gulf had been taken pos- session of, several barges, loaded with stores, were sent down past the Vicksburg batteries. The firing was very heavy upon some of them, and a shell bursting in the midst of a quantity of cotton and hay, destroyed the vessels, and 222 GENERAL GKAOT compelled those on board to surrender. The following is the rebel official dispatch of the occurrence: VICKSBURG, May 4, 1863. To General S. COOPER: Last night two large barges, heavily laden with hospital and commis- sary stores, with a small tug between them, attempted to pass here. They were burned to the water's edge, and twenty-four prisoners taken from them, among whom are one correspondent of the New York World, two of the New York Tribune, and one of the Cincinnati Times* J. C. PEMBERTON, Lieut- Gen. Commanding. The day after the occupation of Grand Gulf, Governor Yates sent the following report of the operations of the few preceding days : GRAND GULF, Miss., May 4, 1863. Our arms are gloriously triumphant. We have succeeded in winning a victory which, in its results, must be the most important of the war. The battle of May 1st lasted from eight o'clock in the morning until night, during all which time the enemy was driven back on the right, left, and centre. All day yesterday our army was in pursuit of the rebels, they giving us battle at almost every defensible point, and fighting with desperate valor. Last night a large force of the enemy was driven across Black River, and General McClernand was driving another large force in the direction of Willow Springs. About two o'clock yesterday I left General Logan, with his division, in pursuit of the enemy, to join General Grant at Grand Gulf, which the enemy had evacuated in the morning, first blowing up their magazines, spiking their cannon, destroying tents, etc. On my way to Grand Gulf I saw yuns scattered all along the road, which the enemy had left in their retreat. The rebels were scattered through the woods in every direction. This army of the rebels was con- sidered, as I now learn, invincible; but it quailed before the irresistible assault* of Nortluwcstern valor. I consider Vicksburg as ours in a short time, and the Mississippi River as destined to be open from its source to its mouth. I have been side by side with our boys in battle, and can bear witness to the unfaltering courage and prowess of our brave Illinoisans. RICHARD YATES, Governor. * Some of the unfortunate correspondents wer,' in Libby Prison at the sommencement of 18G4. But were soou after released. AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 223 CHAPTER XXXI. OUTSIDE OPERATIONS. GENERAI, GRANT, in order to deceive the rebel authori- ties at Richmond, Chattanooga, and elsewhere, as to the precise direction from which he intended to strike at Vicks- tmrg, and also to prevent heavy re-enforcements from being sent to Grand Gulf from that place, ordered some very excellent feints to be made in all directions. Among others, General Grant ordered Colonel Corwyn, with his Cavalry Brigade, to go down the Mobile and Ohio Railroad, on the east of his line of operations, and threaten an attack upon all the rebel posts along that road. On the 6th of May a fight took place between the Union cavalry and the rebel forces under General Ruggles, at Tupello, a railroad station in Itawamba county, Missis- sippi, and, after a half-hour's conflict, the rebels retreated in disorder, leaving behind them their arms, equipments, and ninety of their men prisoners. On the north General Grant ordered a still more valua- ble feint. In moving from Milliken's Bend, the Fifteenth Army Corps had been set apart to bring up the rear, and, consequently, under that order, it was to be the last to start upon the southern march. General Sherman, com- manding the Fifteenth Corps, had made every preparation to move by April 26th, 1863, on which day he received a letter from General Grant, who was then near New Car- thage, ordering him to' delay his march, in consequence of 224 GENERAL GRANT the, state of the roads, until the system of canals, tnen in process of construction, could be completed.* On the 28th of April, General Sherman received a letter in cipher, fixing the time when General Grant proposed to attack Grand Gulf, and stating that a simultaneous feint on the enemy's batteries near Haines Bluff, on the Yazoo River, would be most desirable, provided it could be done without the ill effect on the army and the country of an appearance of a repulse. Knowing full welJ that the army could distinguish a feint from a real attack, by succeeding events, General Sherman made the necessary orders, em- barked the Second Division on ten steam transports, and sailed for the Yazoo River. At about ten o'clock on the morning of April 29th, Gen- eral Sherman with this force proceeded to the mouth of the Yazoo River, where he found several vessels of the fleet, ready to co-operate with the feigned movement. This fact alone proves how well General Grant and Admiral Porter had agreed upon the plan of operations, and how they worked in harmony together ; neither one being jeal- ous of the other's fame, but both being ready to do battle in their country's service, and for the common cause. The united forces then proceeded at once up the Yazoo River, in proper order, and lay for the night of April 29th at the mouth of the Chickasaw Bayou. The next morning, at an early hour, the fleet proceeded up within easy range of the enemy's batteries. The gunboats at once made an attack upon the works, and for four hours a very pretty demonstration was kept up. The vessels were then called out of range, and toward evening General Sherman dis- embarked his troops, in full mew of the enemy, making * If this document had fallen into the hands of the enemy, no idea could have been obtained of the true motive of the delay. AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 225 preparations as if to assault the works. As soon as the land- ing was effected the gunboats reopened their fire upon the rebel defences. The perceptible activity of the enemy, in moving the guns, artillery, and infantry, gave evidence that they ex- pected a real attack ; and keeping up a show of this intent until dark, General Sherman succeeded in accomplishing the full object of his ruse. At night the troops re-embark- ed ; but during the whole of the next day similar move- ments were made, accompanied by reconnoissances of all the country on both sides of the Yazoo River. While thus engaged, General Sherman received instructions from General Grant to hasten and rejoin him at Grand Gulf. The two divisions of General Sherman's Corps, that had remained at Milliken's Bend, were at once ordered to march, and to join General Grant by way of Richmond, Louisiana, while General Sherman, at the head of the Sec- ond Division, kept up his feint on the Yazoo River until night. General Sherman then quietly dropped back to his camp at Young's Point, when the whole corps, with the ex- ception of one division left behind as a garrison, marched to Hard Times, four miles above Grand Gulf, on the Louisiana shore, where it arrived on the morning of May 6th, after travelling sixty-three miles on foot. During the night of the 6th, and the morning of the 7th, the forces were ferried over the river, and on the 8th commenced their march into the interior. It appears also that a junction was to have been formed between the forces under General Grant and those under General Banks, but, in consequence of the position of the troops under the latter general, this movement was found to require a much greater delay and loss of time than General Grant could, under the circumstances, have afforded, as will be seen from the following extract from his official report : 10* 226 GENERAL GRANT About this time (May 4th), I received a letter from General Banks, giving his position west of the Mississippi Eiver, and stating that he could return to Baton Kouge by the 10th of May; that by the reduction of Port Hudson he could join me with twelve thousand men. I learned about the same time, that troops were expected at Jack- son from the southern cities, with General Beauregard in command. To delay until the 10th of May, and for the reduction of Port Hudson after that, the accession of twelve thousand men would not leave me relatively so strong as to move promptly with what I had. Information received, from day to day, of the movements of the enemy, also impel led me to the course I pursued. AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 22? CHAPTER XXXTT. ADVANCE TOWARDS JACKSON. BATTLE OF EAYMOND. THK army had, as before stated, advanced in light marching ordf r, up to the occupation of Grand Gulf, after which it became necessary that trains should follow, as the three days rations set apart for each man at starting, had by this time been consumed. This naturally led to a short delay ; but no longer time was occupied than was actually necessary. General Grant personally superintended the landing and distribution of the supplies, with the full de- termination that his campaign should not fail through any dereliction of duty on the part of his quartermasters or commissaries. In this he manifested one of the traits of a good soldier ; as it is not merely essential to put an army into the field to secure victory, but it is also superlatively necessary, to insure the same result, that the army shall be properly fed, clothed, and sheltered, from the commence- ment to the close of the campaign. It is this forethought and care for the soldiers, that has secured for General Grant the love and veneration of every man under his command. Having secured a sufficient amount of supplies to last him for a certain time, and having made arrangements for others to follow, General Grant removed his head-quarters, on the morning of May 7th, to Hawkinson's Ferry, on the Black River, leaving General Sherman's forces to garrison Grand Gulf for the few hours it was necessary to hold it, during the landing of the remainder of the supplies. 228 GESTERAL GRANT "While lying at Hawkinson's Ferry, waiting for the wag- ons, supplies, and Sherman's Corps to come up, demonstra- tions were made to induce the enemy to believe, that the routes to Vicksburg by that ferry and the one by Hall's Ferry, which was a short distance higher up the river, were very desirable to General Grant. To impress this idea still further upon the minds of the rebel generals, reconnoitring parties were sent out along the roads, on the west side of the Big Black River, to within six miles of Warrenton. The artifice was completely successful. In the mean time, all Mississippi was called to arms to resist the advance of General Grant. The following pro- clamation of the Governor of the State, will show the anxious feeling that existed in the hearts of the State authorities : EXECUTIVE OFFICE, ) JACKSON, Miss., May 5, 1863. ) To flic People of Mississippi : Recent events, familiar to you all, impel me, as your Chief Magis- trate, to appeal to your patriotism for united effort in expelling our ene- mies from the soil of Mississippi. It can and must be done. Let no man capable of bearing arms withhold from his State his services in repelling the invasion. Duty, interest, our common safety, demand every sacri- fice necessary for the protection of our homes, our honor, liberty itself. The exalted position won in her name upon every battle-field where Mississippi's sons have unfurled her proud banner, and hurled defiance in the face of overwhelming numbers, forbids that her honor, the chiv- alry of her people, the glory of her daring deeds on foreign fields, should be tarnished and her streaming battle flag dragged to the dust by barbarian hordes on her own soil. Awake, then arouse, Mississippians, young and old, from your fer- tile plains, your beautiful towns and cities, your once quiet and happy but now desecrated homes, come and join your brothers in arms, your sons and neighbors, who are now baring their bosoms to the storm of battle, at your very doors, and in defence of all you hold dear. Meet in every county with your arms ; organize companies of not less than twenty (under the late act of Congress), forward your muster AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 229 rolls to this office, and you will be received into the service with all the protection and rights belonging to other soldiers in the field. Ammunition will be furnished you, and every aid in my power ex- tended to you for your security and efficiency. Fathers, brothers, Mississippians while your sons and kindred arc bravely fighting your battles on other fields, and shedding new lustre on your name, the burning disgrace of successful invasion of their homes, of insult and injury to their wives, mothers, and sisters, of rapine and ruin, with God's help and by your assistance, shall never be written while a Mississip- pian lives to feel in his proud heart the scorching degradation. Every moment's inaction and delay but strengthens your enemy and weakens your brothers in arms. Let every man, then, make it his business, laying all else aside, to assist in organizing as many com- panies as can bo raised in each county, and report immediately to this office for orders. By this course you will enable our arms in a short time to repel the invader, secure the safety of your homes, and shed imperishable honor on your cause. You will not be without assistance. Let no man forego the proud distinction of being one of his country's de- fenders, or hereafter wear the disgraceful badge of the dastardly traitor who refused to defend his home and his country. JOHN J. PETTUS, Governor of Mississippi. General Grant's plans had been too carefully studied and followed out, to be thwarted by any suddenly improvised forces that the Governor could then raise. On the morning of the 7th of May, a general advance was ordered by General Grant. The Thirteenth Army Corps was directed to move along the ridge road from Wilton Springs ; the Seventeenth Army Corps was to keep the road nearest the Black River to Rocky Springs ; and the Fifteenth Army Corps was to divide in two parts and follow. All the ferries were closely guarded until the troops were well advanced, to prevent surprise on the flanks, and also to mislead the enemy as to the intention of the movement. Before the troops were started on this march, the fol- lowing congratulatory order was read at the head of every regiment : 230 GENERAL GRANT HEAD-QUARTERS, ARMY OP THE TENNESSEE, IN THE FIELD, HAWKINSON'S FERRY, May 1th. Soldiers of the Army of Tennessee : Once more I thank you for adding another victory to the long list of those previously won by your valor and endurance. The triumph gained over the enemy near Port Gibson, on the 1st, was one of the most important of the war. The capture of five cannon and more than one thousand prisoners, the possession of Grand Gulf, and a firm foothold on the highlands between the Big Black and Bayou Pierre, from whence we threaten the whole line of the enemy, are among the fruits of this bril- liant achievement. T/ie march from Milliken's Send to the point opposite Grand Gulf was made in stormy weather, over the worst of roads. Bridges and ferries had to be constructed. Moving by night as ivell as by day, with labor incessant, and extraordinary privations endured by men and officers, such as have been rarely paralleled in any campaign, not a murmur of complaint has been uttered. A few days continuance of the same zeal and constancy will secure to this army crowning victories over the rebellion. More difficulties and privations are before us; let us endure them manfully. Other battles are to be fought ; let us fight them bravely. A grateful country will rejoice at our success, and history will record it with immortal honor. U. S. GRANT, Major- General Commanding. It appears from General Grant's official report of the Vicksburg Campaign, that it had been his intention, while at Hawkinson's Ferry, to have moved the Thirteenth and Fifteenth Army Corps in such a manner as to hug the Black River as closely as possible, in order that they might be able to strike the Jackson and Vicksburg Rail- road at some point between Edwards's Station and Bolton. The Seventeenth Army Corps was to move by way of Utica to Raymond, thence to Jackson, at which place, and in its vicinity, it was intended that the railroad, telegraph, public stores, etc., should be destroyed, after which the corps was to move west and rejoin the main army. The following is an account of the primary movements of the army, by one who took part in its operations from its organization to the capitulation of Vicksburg : AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 231 On Thuisday, the 7th of May, General McPherson, commanding the Seventeenth Army Corps, moved his troops to Rocky Springs, and his camp was occupied next day by General Sherman, with the Fifteenth Army Corps. On Saturday, the 9th, General McPherson again moved to the eastward, to the village of Utica, crossing the road occupied by the Thirteenth Army Corps under General McClernand, and leaving the latter on his left. On Sunday morning, the 10th, General McClernaud marched to Five Mile Creek, and encamped on the south bank at noon, on account of broken bridges, which were repaired the same day. On Monday morning, the llth, General Sherman's Corps came up, passed. General McClernand's, and encamped that night at the village of Auburn, about ten miles south of Edwards's Station, which is on a portion of the railroad from Vicksburg to Jackson. As soon as it passed, General McClernand's corps followed a few miles, and then took a road going obliquely to the left, leading to Hall's Ferry, on the Big Black River. Thus on Monday evening, May llth, General McClernand was at Hall's Ferry ; General Sherman was at Auburn, six or eight miles to the northeast, and General McPherson was about eight miles still further to the northeast, a few miles north of Utica. The whole formed an immense line of battle ; Sherman's Corps being in the centre, with those of McPherson and McClernand forming the right and left wings. It will be observed, also, that a change of front had been effected. From Grand Gulf the army marched eastward ; but, by these last movements, it had swung on the left as a pivot, and fronted nearly northward. Up to this the enemy had not appeared on our line of march. On Tuesday morning, May 12th, General McClernand's advance drove in the enemy's pickets near Hall's Ferry, and brisk skirmishing ensued for an hour or two, with little loss to either side. By noon the rebels had disappeared from his front, and seven wounded and none killed was the total Union loss. General Sherman put Steele's Division in motion early in the morning, and came upon the enemy at the crossing of Fourteen Mile creek, fowr miles from Auburn. The cavalry advance was fired into from the thick woods that skirt the stream, and was unable, owing to the nature of. the ground, to make a charge or clear the rebels from their position. A battery was taken to the front, supported by the two infantry regiments, and threw a few shell into the bushy undergrowth skirting the stream which gave them cover. Skirmishers was thrown out and advanced to the creek, driving the enemy slowly. A brigade was thrown to the right and left flanks, '232 GENERAL GKAXT when the rebel forces, mainly cavalry, withdrew towards Raymond. The bridge was burned during the skirmish ; but a crossing was con- structed in two hours, and trains were passing before noon.* General Grant was not behind his troops ; but as they advanced, he continually changed his head-quarters and his line of communications, keeping with the centre of the army for the purpose of better directing the movements of his three columns. When he had advanced far enough into the field to be sure of his position, he sent the following telegraphic message to the government at Washington : IN THE FIELD, May 11, 1863. To Major-General HALLECK, General-in-Chief: My force will be this evening as far advanced along Fourteen Mile Creek, the left near Black River, and extending in a line nearly east and west, as they can get without bringing on a general engagement. / shatt communicate with Grand Gulf no more, except it becomes necessary to send a train with a heavy escort. You may not hear from me again for several days. U. S. GRANT, Major- General. The foregoing dispatch plainly sets forth that General Grant in his plans had intended to cut an opening through the enemy's lines, and communicate with the General-in- chief by a more northern route. When the dispatch was sent from General Grant, he plainly foresaw the success of this plan, and as he personally superintended all the movements of his army, and had not to depend upon any other outside co-operation than that of the fleet, he doubt less felt sure he could not fail through any lack of proper combination at the right time. He also, by breaking up this line of communication by way of Grand Gulf, pre- vented the enemy from cutting off his supplies, and he * Army correspondence AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 233 had taken the precaution to have with him all that was needed until he was ready to open up the new line by the Yazoo. The Fifteenth Army Corps moved forward on the Ed- wnrds Station road, and crossed the Fourteen Mile Creek at Dillon's plantation. The Thirteenth Army Corps cross ed the same Creek, some short distance further west, making a demonstration along the road towards Bald win's Ferry, as if to advance upon Vicksburg or War renton by that route. While crossing the Fourteen Mile Creek, both corps had to skirmish considerably with the enemy in order to gam possession of the right of way ; but under the persistent attacks of the determined Union troops, the rebels had to give way, and the Union army moved towards the railroad in splendid order. In the meantime the Seventeenth Army Corps was steadily advancing upon Raymond, but met with no small opposition from the rebels, who were stationed hi two brigades under Generals Gregg and Walker, at a point of the road about two miles southwest of that village. Gen- eral Logan's Division came upon the rebel troops, estimated at about ten thousand, posted on Fondren's Creek, at ten o'clock on Tuesday morning, May 12th, and brisk skirmish- ing began at once, followed by a general engagement. The enemy (as in front of General Sherman) was almost wholly concealed at first by the woods bordering the stream, behind which their forces were posted. Their artillery was on an eminence that commanded the approach, and the Union troops had to cross an open field, exposed to a ter- rible fire. The First and Second Brigades were in the thickest of the contest, and suffered most. After three hours' hard fighting, the enemy withdrew sullenly in two columns, the principal one taking the road to Jackson. 234 GENERAL GRANT General Grant, in his report of this action, states that the fighting was very hard ; that the enemy were driven, with heavy loss in killed, wounded, and prisoners; and that many of the rebels threw down their arms and deserted their cause. When General Grant discovered that the enemy had re- treated from Raymond to Jackson, he, on the night of May 12th, diverted the Thirteenth and Fifteenth Army Corps from their intended route, and ordered them both to move towards Raymond, at which place he established his head-quarters on the evening of May 13th. The next day General Grant sent the following dispatch by way of Memphis : RAYMOND, Miss., May 14, 1863. Major-General HALLECK, General-in-Chief: McPherson took this place on the 12th inst., after a brisk fight of more than two hours. Our loss was fifty-one killed, and one hundred and eighty wounded. The enemy's loss was seventy-five killed (buried by us) and one hundred and eighty-six prisoners captured, besides the wounded. McPhersou is now at Clinton. General Sherman is on the direct Jack- son road, and General McClernand is bringing up the rear. I will attack the State capital to-day. U. S. GRANT, Major- General. The commander at Memphis, before receiving the above dispatch from General Grant, sent the following to Wash ington : MEMPHIS, TENN., May 17, 18G3. Major-General HALLECK, General-in-Chief: Papers of the 14th from Vicksburg and Jackson report that Grant de- feated Gregg's Brigade at Raymond, on Tuesday, the 12th. The rebel loss is admitted in the papers at seven hundred. The next day Gregg was re-enforced by General W. H. T. "Walker, of Georgia, when he was attacked at Mississippi Spring, and driven toward Jackson on Thursday. AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 235 General Joseph Johnston arrived at Jackson on the 13th, and went out toward Vicksburg with three brigades. The force which General Grant fought, viz., Gregg's Brigade, was from Port Hudson, while Walker's was from Jordan. Every horse fit for service in Mississippi is claimed by the rebel gov. ernment to mount their troops. Grant has struck the railroad. S. A. HURLBTIT, Major- General 230 GEN LEAL GEANT CHAPTER XXXIIL THE CAPTURE AND OCCUPATION OF JACKfeON. THE Seventeenth Army Corps had moved ujr to Clinton, on the Jackson and Vicksburg Railroad, during the pre vious day, May 13th, so as to be able to make tne movement along that railroad to Jackson, simultaneously with that of the Fifteenth Army Corps by way of the Raymond and Jackson turnpike road. Clinton was no sooner taken possession of, than parties were sent out to destroy the track arid telegraph, and while engaged on this duty, several important dispatches from General Pemberton to General Gregg, both of the rebel forces, were captured and taken to General Grant's head-quarters. As the Seventeenth Army Corps advanced along the railroad, a parallel line of march was kept up by the Fif- teenth Army Corps, along the turnpike road by way of Mississippi Springs, while the Thirteenth Army Corps oc- cupied Raymond. On May 14th, the Fifteenth and Seventeenth Corps moved with their whole force then present on the field, upon Jackson the march being made amidst a heavy torm of rain, which fell in torrents from midnight of the 13th until noon of the 14th. ^The roads were therefore in the most horrible condition^ at first slippery, next ankle deep in mud. "Notwithstanding this," says General Grant, in his report, " the troops marched in excellent order, without straggling, and in the best of spirits, nearly AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 237 fourteen miles, and engaged the enemy at about twelve o'clock, noon, near Jackson." As the two corps marched toward Jackson, the Thir- teenth Corps garrisoned the places they had vacated, one division occupying Clinton, another holding Mississippi Springs, while a third took possession of Raymond. Gen- eral Blair's division of the Fifteenth Corps guarded the wagon train at New Auburn, and the road to Utica was held by an advancing brigade of the Seventeenth Corps that had not, since the movement commenced, been joined to the main column. These forces were kept back as a corps of reserve, if necessary, and ready to move in either direction towards Jackson or Vicksburg. When General Joseph E. Johnston, who commanded the rebel forces at Jackson, discovered that Grant's troops were marching upon him, he determined to meet them on the outside of the city, and delay this advance as long as ^ossible, to give him an opportunity to remove a portion if not the whole of the property of the rebel government, then at Jackson. As his forces were small in numbers, he ordered a feigned resistance to be made with artillery, sup- ported by a small force of infantry, against the advance of the Fifteenth Army Corps by the turnpike road, while, with the bulk of his army, he marched out on the Clinton road and engaged the Seventeenth Corps about two and a half miles from the city. The determined advance of the skirmishers of the Fif- teenth Corps soon drove in, the resistance in their front, and the rebels took refuge in their rifle-pits, which had been thrown up just outside the city of Jackson. General Sher- man, the commander of the Fifteenth Corps, soon discov- ered the weakness of the enemy by means of a reconnois- sance to his right, and this flank movement caused an evac- uation of the rebel positufc on this part of their line. 238 GENERAL GRANT Meanwhile, General McPherson, at the head of two divisions of the Seventeenth Corps, engaged the main bulk of the rebel forces from Jackson without any support, or requiring any further aid. After a very spirited contest of over two hours' duration, he defeated the rebel forces, and the dispirited and beaten troops retreated northward, along the Canton road, leaving the city in the hands of the conquerors. A pursuit was immediately ordered ; but the rebels had escaped ; their retreat having been made in the greatest haste. The following is General Grant's modest dispatch con- cerning this brilliant operation : JACKSON, Miss., May 15, 1863. Major-General H. W. HALLECK, General-in- Chief, Washington : This place fell into our hands yesterday, after a fight of about threo hours. Joe Johnston was in command. The enemy retreated north, evidently with the design of joining the Vicksburg forces. U. S. GRANT, Major- General. General Grant entered the town of Jackson on the after- noon of the 14th, and held a consultation with the com- manders of the two corps which had taken possession of the city. To prevent any unjustifiable plunder or marau- ding, the troops were encamped on the outskirts of the city during the night. General Grant ordered the rifle- pits to be occupied at once, and on the following day to destroy effectually the railroad tracks in and about Jack- eon, and all the property belonging to the enemy. Accordingly, on the morning of May 15th, one division was set to work to destroy the railroad and property to the south and east of the city, including the Pearl River bridge, while another division was engaged on the road to AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 239 the north and west. This work of destruction was so well performed, that the utility of Jackson as a railroad or mil- itary centre, or as a depot of stores or military supplies, was completely destroyed for the time being. The roads were laid waste for at least four miles to the east of Jack son, three miles south, three miles north, and nearly ten miles west. Cavalry raids were also sent along the road running towards Meridian, and cut the railroad at Bran don and elsewhere. In the city itself, the arsenal building, government foundery, a gun carriage establishment, including the car riages for two complete batteries of artillery, military car pouter's shop, stables and paint shops were at once de- stroyed. Some convicts who had broken loose succeeded in setting fire to the penitentiary during the time the mili tary were thus engaged. A valuable cotton factory was also demolished. General Sherman, in speaking of the de struction of this establishment, says : " This factory waa the property of the Messrs. Greene, who made strong ap peals, based on the fact that it gave employment to very many females and poor families ; and that, although it had woven cloth for the enemy, its principal use was in weav- ing cloth for the people. But I decided that machinery of that kind could so easily be converted into hostile uses, that the United States could better afford to compensate the Messrs. Greene for their property, and for the poor families thus thrown out of employment, than to spare the property. I therefore assured all such families that if want should force them, they might come to the river, where we would feed them until they could find employ- ment or seek refuge in some more peaceful land." The following letter from an army correspondent con- tains incidents of interest concerning the march to and occupation of the city of Jackson : 240 GENERAL GRANT The Union army have undisturbed possession of Jackson, the capital of Mississippi, and the head-quarters of the Rebel Department of Missis- sippi and Eastern Louisiana. The Federal flag floats gracefully from the dome of the State House, Yankee soldiers are patroling the streets, pris- oners are gathering at the guardhouse, the sick in the hospitals are be- ing paroled, negroes are grinning from the sidewalks, citizens look silently and sullenly at us from behind screens and closed window- blinds, and ah* the details of military government are in full operation. We encamped at Eaymond on Tuesday night, and early "Wednesday morning started for Clinton, a small town on the Vicksburg and Jack- son Railroad. It was considered indispensably necessary for the suc- cess of our movement upon Vicksburg, that we should have possession of the railroad and the city of Jackson. "We reached Clinton at night fall, and went into camp. During the night, a regiment, under the command of Captain Tresil- ian, of General Logan's staff, moved out on the railroad east and west of Clinton, and destroyed it. tearing up the rails and burning every bridge and the timbers across every cattle guard for four miles each side of the village. The telegraph office and the post office were seized and rifled of their precious contents. From this source most valuable infor- mation of the enemy's future movements was obtained. In the express packages left by the train of cars which steamed out of town just as our advance came in sight, several orders from General Johnston were discovered, and a package of Confederate scrip. At Clinton a hundred prisoners were found, occupants of rebel hospi- tals. These were paroled, and taken in charge by the citizens. At daylight Thursday morning, the army was on the road to Jackson, moving in line of battle. A strong advance guard was thrown out, and a heavy line of skirmishers on the right and left flank, and thus we moved in the direction of the city, All was quiet for the first five or six miles, until we reached a hill overlooking a broad open field, through the centre of which, and over the crest of the hill beyond which the road to Jackson passes. On the left of this hill the enemy had posted his artillery, and along the crest his line of battle. From the foot of the acclivity, and not a mile re- moved, we could see the long line of rebel infantry awaiting in silence our onset. Slowly and cautiously we moved up the hill until we came within range, when all at once, upon the heights to the right, we dis- covered a puff of white smoke and heard the report of booming cannon, followed by the shrill scream of an exploding shell. One of our batte- AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 241 ries was moved to the left of a cotton gin in the open field, midway be- tween the enemy's line of battle and the foot of the hill, and played upon the rebel battery with telling effect. The duel was kept up with great spirit on both sides for nearly an hour, when all at once it ceasea by the withdrawal of the enemy's guns. Two brigades were throwi. out to the right and left of this battery, supported by another brigade at proper distance. A strong line of skirmishers had been pushed forward and posted in a ravine just in front, which protected them from rebel fire. After a little delay, they were again advanced out of cover, and for several minutes a desultory fire was kept up between both lines of skirmishers, in which, owing to the topographical nature of the ground, the enemy had the advantage. At last General Crocker, who was on the field and had personally in- spected the position, saw that, unless the enemy could be driven from his occupation of the crest of the hill, he would be forced to retire. He therefore ordered a charge along the line. "With colors flying, and with a step as measured and unbroken as if on dress parade, the move- ment was executed. Slowly they advanced, crossed the narrow ravine, and, with fixed bayonets, rose the crest of the hill in easy range of the rebel line. Here they received a tremendous volley, which caused pain- ful gaps in their ranks. They held their fire until they were within a distance of thirty paces, when they delivered the returning volley with fearful effect, and, without waiting to reload their muskets, with a ter rific yell they rushed upon the staggered foe. Over the fences, through the brushwood, into the enclosure, they worked their way, and slaughtered right and left without mercy. The enemy, astonished at their impetuosity, wavered and fell back, rallied again, and finally broke in wild confusion. The brave Union soldiers gained the crest of the hill, and the rebels fled in utter terror. Our boys reloaded their muskets and sent the terrible missiles after the flee- ing rebels, adding haste to their terrified flight They cast muskets and blankets to the ground, unslung their knapsacks, and ran like greyhounds, nor stopped to look back until they reached the intrenchments just within the city. Meantime General Sherman, who had left Raymond the day before, and taken the road to the right just, beyond the town, came up with the left wing of the enemy's forces and engaged them with artillery. They made a feeble resistance, and they, too, broke and ran. After a delay of half an hour, to enable our wearied soldiers to take breath, our column moved forward again. 11 242 GENEEAL GRANT We reached the fort, and found a magnificent battery of six pieces, which the enemy had left behind him, and a hundred new tents, await- ing appropriation. The hospital flag was flying from the Deaf and Dumb Institute, and this was crowded with sick and wounded soldiers, who, of course, fell into our hands as prisoners of war. Opposite and all around this building were tents enough to encamp an entire division, and just in front of it, hauled out by the roadside, were two small breech-loading two-pounder rifles, which had been used to pick off officers. Further down the street we found a pile of burning caissons, and on the opposite side of the street, directly in front of the Confederate House, the stores, filled with commissary and quartermaster's supplies, were briskly consuming. Directly in front of us the State House loomed up in ample proportions. Two officers, taking possession of the flag of one of the regiments, gal- loped rapidly forward, and hoisted it from the flag-staff surmounting its broad dome. The beautiful flag was seen in the distance by the advanc- ing column, and with cheers and congratulations it was greeted. We had captured Jackson, the hotbed of the rebellion. Guards were established, a provost-marshal appointed, and the city placed under martial law. The citizens, particularly those who sustained official re lations to the State and rebel governments, had left the city the evening before ; but there were many soldiers left behind, and a large number in hospital, who fell into our hands. The State Treasurer and Governor Pettus* were gone, taking the funds and State papers with them. A large amount of government and mili- tary property fell into our hands ; but private property was altogether unmolested. The offices of the Memphis Appeal and Jackson Mississip- pian were removed the preceding night the former to Brandon and the matter to Mobile. We now have quiet and undisturbed possession of Jackson. One portion of the rebel force has moved out on the Canton road, and the other on the road south of the city, whence they will both doubtless make a detour around Jackson, outside of our lines, and unite at Ed- wards's Station, on the Vicksburg and Jackson Railroad, where the citi- zens say they will give us battle, f * See Proclamation in Chapter XXXII., pages 228, 229. \ Army Correspondence. May 14, 1863. AJSTD HIS CAMPAIGNS. 243 CHAPTER XXXIV. THE ADVANCE RENEWED. CHAMPION'S HILL. GENERAL GRANT, after he had taken possession of the State capital of Mississippi on May 14th, obtained some very important information relative to the plans of the rebel army, and among other things ascertained that General Johnston had ordered General Pemberton peremptorily to move out of Vicksburg and attack the United States forces in the rear. As soon as General Grant was satisfied of the correctness of this information, he at once ordered the Thirteenth Army Corps and General Blair's Division of the Fifteenth Army Corps to face then* troops toward Bolton, with a view of marching upon Edwards's Station. These troops being admirably located for such a move, marched along different roads converging near Bolton, and the move ment resulted in a complete success. The Seventeenth Army Corps was ordered to retrace its steps to Clinton, and commenced its march early on the morning of the 15th of May. The balance of the Fifteenth Army Corps was left at Jackson to destroy every thing that might have been or was capable of being used in a hostile manner by the enemy. At half past nine o'clock on the morning of the 15th of May, a division of the Thirteenth Army Corps occupied Bolton, capturing a number of prisoners, and driving away the rebel pickets from the post. On the afternoon of the same day, General Grant re- 244 GENERAL GBANT moved his head-quarters to Clinton,* where he arrived at about a quarter to five o'clock p. M. The Seventeenth Army Corps having passed through Clinton to the support of the right of the Thirteenth Corps, General Grant ordered General McClernand to move his command early the next morning upon Edwards's station, marching so as to feel the enemy; but not to bring on a general engagement unless he felt sure of de- feating the force before him. In accordance with this or- der, cavalry reconnoissances were sent out toward the picket lines of the enemy ; three good roads were discov- ered leading from the Bolton and Raymond road to Ed- wards's station ; and on the night of the fifteenth of May, the necessary orders were given for the advance of the corps on the morrow. The following account of the battle of Champion's Hill is given by a participant : The programme of the advance was arranged by General Grant and General McClernand as follows : Extreme left, General Smith, supported by General Blair: on the right of General Smith, General Osterhaus, supported by General Carr: General Hovey in the centre, with General McPherson's Corps on the extreme right, with General Crocker, as re- serve. In this order the advance was made. General McClernand's Corps, with the exception of General Hovey's Division, reaching the position by way of the several roads leading from Raymond to Edwards'a Station. On the evening of the 1 5th, General McClernand heard that the enemy were advancing from Edwards's Station, and quickly placed his troops in order of battle to repel the anticipated attack. Extensive reconnois- eances revealed the fact, however, that he was merely feeling his posi- tion and force, and that no attack need be expected that day. The enemy's first demonstration was upon our extreme left, which * It will be plainly seen that during the successive changes in the po- sition of the army, General Grant was always in the immediate vicinity of his fighting troops, directing their movements. AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 245 they attempted to turn. This attempt was most gallantly repulsed by General Smith, commanding the left wing. At seven o'clock the skir mishers were actively engaged ; and as the enemy sought the cover of the forest our artillery fire was opened, which continued without intermis- sion for two hours. At this time General Ransom's Brigade marched on the field, and took up a position as reserve behind General Carr. Now the battle raged fearfully along the entire line, the evident inten- tion of the enemy being to mass his forces upon Hovey on the centre. There the fight was most earnest ; but General McPherson brought hia forces into the field, and after four hours hard fighting the tide of bat- tle was turned and the enemy forced to retire. Disappointed in his movements upon our right, the rebels turned their attention to the left of Hovey's division, where Colonel Skck command ed a brigade of Indianians. Massing his forces here, the enemy hurled them against the opposing columns with irresistible impetuosity, and forced them to fall back : not, however, until at least one quarter of the troops comprising the brigade were either killed or wounded. Taking a new position, and receiving fresh re-enforcements, our soldiers again attempted to stem the tide, this time with eminent success. The enemy was beaten back, and compelled to seek the cover of the forest in his rear. Following up their advantage, without waiting to reform, the soldiers of the Western army fixed their bayonets and charged into the woods after them. The rebels were seized with an uncontrollable panic, and thought only of escape. In this terrible charge men were slaugh- tered without mercy. The ground was literally covered with the dead and dying. The enemy scattered in every direction, and rushed through the fields to reach the column now moving to the west along the Vicks- burg road. At three o'clock in the afternoon, the battle was over and the victory won. Of the part taken in this battle by McPherson's Corps, it is only necessary to say that it rendered the most efficient and satisfactory as- sistance. To it belongs the credit of winning the fight on the extreme right. The battle ended, the left wing was speedily advanced upon the Vicksburg road, driving the enemy rapidly before them, and picking up as they advanced numbers of prisoners and guns. On the left of the road we could see large squads of rebel soldiers and commands cut off from the main column, and whom we engaged at intervals with artillery. Thus we pursued the enemy until nearly dark, when we entered *246 GENERAL GRANT the little village, known by the name of Edwards'a Station, just as the enemy was leaving it. When within rifle range of the station, we discovered, oc the left, . & large building in flames, and on the right a smaller one from which, just then, issued a series of magnificent explosions. The former con- tained commissary stores, and the latter shell and ammunition five car-loads brought down from Vicksburg on the morning of the day of the battle. In their hasty exit from Edwards's Station the rebels could not take this ammunition with them, but consigned it to the flames rather than it should fall into our hands. We bivouac in line of battle to-night, and to-morrow move upon the bridge across Big Black River.* The following extracts from General McClernand's offi- cial report will also prove interesting, inasmuch as it sets forth the part taken by General Grant in this brilliant affair : The different divisions were started at different hours, in conse- quence of the different distances they had to march, which was designed to secure a parallel advance of the different columns. Believing that. General Hovey's Division needed support, I sent a dispatch to General Grant, requesting that General McPherson's Corps should also move forward. Assurances altogether satisfactory were given by the Gen- eral, and I felt confident of our superiority. After alluding to the demonstrations made in the early part of the contest, General McClernand continues : Early notifying Major-General Grant and Major-General McPherson what had transpired on the left, I requested the latter to co-operate with my forces on the right, and directed General Ilovey to advance prompt- ly but carefully, and received a dispatch from General Hovey informing me that lie had found the enemy strongly posted in front ; that General McPherson's Corps was behind him ; that his right flank would probably encounter severe resistance : and inquiring whether he should bring on the impending battle. My command was now about four miles from Ed- wards's Station, and immediately informing Major-General Grant, whom I understood to be on the field, of the position of affairs, I inquired whether I should bring on a general engagement. A dispatch from the General, * Army correspondence. AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 247 dated at thirty-five minutes past noon, came, directing me to throw for- ward skirmishers as soon as my forces were on hand, to feel and attack the enemy in force, if opportunity occurred, and informing me that he was with Hovey and McPherson, and would see that they fully co-operated. Meanwhile, a line of skirmishers had encountered Generals Osterhaus and Smith's Divisions, closing up the narrow space between them. * * These measures had been taken in compliance with General Grant's orders, based on information of which he had advised me, that the enemy was in greatest strength in front of my centre and left, and might turn my left flank and gain my rear. * * * Instantly upon the re- ceipt of General Grant's order to attack, I hastened to do so. Then follows an account of that part of the battle m which the Thirteenth Army Corps participated, the details of which will be found in the army correspondence imme- diately preceding the foregoing extracts, and in General Grant's report. The following*^ General Johnston's dispatch announcing the defeat of the rebel forces : CAMP BETWEEN LIVINGSTOK AND BROWNSVILLE, Miss., ) May 18, 18C3. f To General S. COOPER : Lieutenant-General Pemberton was attacked by the enemy on the morning of the 16th inst., near Edwards's Dep6t, and, after nine hours fighting, was compelled to fall back behind the Big Black. J. E. JOHNSTON, General- Commanding. The dispatch also shows the position of the forces that retreated from Jackson, and how, by General Grant's rapid movements, they had been cut off from forming a junction with Pemberton. 848 GENERAL GRANT CHAPTER XXXV. BATTLE OF BIG BLACK RIVER. BEFORE leaving Clifton, General Grant notified General Sherman of the approaching engagement at Edwards's Sta- tion, and ordered him to advance upon Bolton as quickly as possible. The dispatch was received on the morning of May 16th, and with his usual promptitude one of his divisions marched at ten o'clock in the forenoon, and he followed with the other at noon. The whole corps marched during that day from Jack- son to Bolton, nearly twenty miles, and the next morning, May 17th, by order of General Grant, resumed the march by a road lying north of Baker's Creek to Bridgeport on the Big Black River, where it arrived at noon. At this point General Blair's Divison, also by order of General Grant, rejoined the command. The success at Champion's Hill was the cause of this change of route, and as the enemy had fallen back over the Big Black River towards Vicksburg, it was necessary that means of crossing should be supplied to the pursuing troops. When General Sherman arrived at Bridgeport, he found that General Grant had looked after this vital point, for in his official report he says: "There I found General Blair's Division and the, pontoon train." The pontoon bridge was laid, and two divisions crossed the river that night, the third following the next morning. The defeated rebels fell back from Edwards's Station to AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 249 the Black River, which they crossed by means of the rail- road bridge. At daylight on May 17th, the pursuit was renewed with General McClernand's Thirteenth Army Corps in the advance. The enemy was found strongly posted on both sides of the Black River. At this point of the stream the bluffs extend to the water's edge on the west or Vicksburg bank, while on the east side is an open, culti- vated bottom of nearly one mile in width, surrounded by a bayou of stagnant water from two to three feet in depth, and from ten to twenty feet in width, running from the river above the railroad to the river below. The enemy, by constructing a line of rifle-pits along the inside edge of this bayou, had formed it into a natural ditch before a fortified work. The spot was well chosen for defence, and gave to the enemy every advantage. The position had, however, to be carried before Vicksburg could be reached ; and notwithstanding the level ground over which a portion of the troops had to pass without cover, and the great obstacle of the bayou in front of the enemy's works, the charge was gallantly and successfully made, and in a few minutes the entire garrison with seventeen pieces of artillery were the trophies of this brilliant and daring movement. When the rebels on the west bank of the river discov- ered that the position on the level below was sure to be taken, they destroyed the railroad bridge by fire with the intent of preventing General Grant's army from crossing the Big Black River : but in this operation they merely cut off every chance of escape for the garrison on the eastern bank, and the men were therefore all taken prisoners with their arms and equipments. An eye-witness of the struggle at the Black River bridge gives the following account of the battle : The battle of Big Black bridge was fought on Sunday, May 17th, the day after the battle of Cham . on's Hill In this spirited engagement 11* 250 GENERAL GRANT only the Thirteenth Army Corps was engaged. It is superfluous to odd that the troops comprising this corps fought as they always do, excellently well.* In the morning, after a night's bivouac on the hill overlooking the village of Edwards's Station, the column with McClernand at its head moved towards Black River bridge. The citizens who were questioned on the subject, said the position was strongly fortified at the crossing, and we naturally thought the enemy would make stubborn resistance there. We were not surprised, therefore, to learn that our advance guard was fired upon by the rebel pickets as the column moved towards the river. The country between Edwards's Station and the bridge loses that hilly and broken character which distinguishes the region further east, and spreads out into a broad and fertile plain, over which we moved rapidly. There were no commanding hills whence they could pour a deadly fire into our ranks ; but there were numerous patches of forest, under the cover and from the edge of which they could easily enfilade the open fields by the roadside. There was such a one a mile east of the intrenchmeuts where the main picket-guard was stationed. Hsre determined resistance was first made. General Carr's division had the extreme advance of the column, and opened and ended the engagement. Hastily deploying a heavy line of skirmishers to the right of the road, backed up by the two brigades of Carr's Division in line of battle behind it, with General Osterhaus's Di- vision on the left of the road similarly disposed, General McClernand gave the order to advance. Soon in the depths of the thick forest the skir- mishers of both armies were hotly engaged, while batteries of artillery planted on the right and left of the road poured shot and shell into the fort most furiously. The guns in the iutrenchments replied with vigor and spirit. Almost the first shot dropped in the caisson belonging to a Wisconsin battery, and exploded its contents, slightly wounding General Osterhaus, and Captain Foster, of the battery, and very seriously injur- ing two gunners. General Osterhaus being thus disabled, the command of his division was temporarily given to Brigadier-General A. L. Lee. After skirmishing had continued for an hour, during which the enemy gave way and sought the cover of his intrenchments, the order was given to the several brigade commanders, on the right, to advance and charge * It will be remembered that this corps was mostly composed of troops who had participated hi the contests of Fort Donelson, Shiloh, and Corinth, under General Grant. AXD HIS CAMPAIGNS. 251 the enemy's works. The order was received with cheers ; and when the word "Forward" was spoken, steadily and splendidly the brave boys mo^ed up to the assault. The enemy crouched down behind the breast- works. A portion of them, stationed in a curtain of the fort, whence they were able to get a cross-fire upon the column, reserved their volley until we were within easy musket range of the intrenchments, when they gvvept the advancing line with their terrible fire. The brave boys lost in that fearful volley one hundred and fifty men ; yet they faltered not nor turned their steps backward. They waded the bayou, delivering their fire as they reached the other bank, and rushed upon the enemy with fixed bayonets. So quickly was all this accomplished, that the enemy had not time to reload then- guns, and were forced to surrender. The battle was ended, and the fort, with three thousand prisoners, seventeen pieces of artillery some of them captured from ourselves, and bearing appropriate inscriptions several thousand stand of arms and a large supply of corn and commissary stores, fell into our hands. The enemy had, earlier in the day, out of the hulls of three steam- boats, constructed a bridge, over which he had passed the main body of his army. As the charge was made, and it became evident that we should capture the position, they burned this bridge, and also the rail- road bridge across the river just above. In the afternoon several attempts were made to cross the river, but the sharpshooters lined the bluffs beyond and entirely prevented it. Later, the main body of sharpshooters were dispersed by our artillery. It was not, however, safe to stand upon the bank, or cross the open field east of the bridge, until after dark, when the enemy withdrew altogether 252 GEXEKAL CHAPTER XXXVI. APPROACHING VICKSBUBG. INVESTMENT. FIEST ASSAULT. GENERAL SHERMAN, with the Fifteenth Corps, during the time the battle of Black River was being fought, had as before stated, reached Bridgeport. By the morning of May 18th, he had crossed his command to the west side of the Black River, and was ready for the onward inarch. It appears, by General Grant's report, that " the only pontoon train with the expedition was with him ;" and as the rebels had destroyed the railroad bridge, it became necessary, in order to get the Thirteenth and Seventeenth Corps across the river, to build floating bridges, which were construct- ed during the night of May 17th, and early morning of the next day. At eight o'clock, on the morning of May 18th, the two army corps were ready to make the crossing. The Fif- teenth Corps was now ordered in the advance, and com- menced moving along the Bridgeport and Vicksburg road at a very early hour. As the corps arrived within three and a half miles of Vicksburg, the men turned to the right, to get possession of the Walnut Hills, and to open a communication with th'u fleet in the Yazoo River. This mano3uvre was successfully accomplished by the evening of May 18th. The Seventeenth Corps followed the Jackson road until it connected with the same road previously taken by the Fifteenth. The former then took up the line of march to the rear of the latter, and at about nightfall arrived at the AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 253 point of the road where General Sherman had turned off towards the Yazoo River. The Thirteenth Corps had moved by the Jackson and Vicksburg road to Mount Albans, whence it turned to the left, for the purpose of striking the Baldwin's Ferry road. " By this disposition," says General Grant, " the three army corps covered all the ground their strength would admit of, and by the morning of the 19th of May the in- vestment of Vicksburg was made as complete as could be by the forces under my command." As the army advanced, it was continually met by the rebel skirmishers, who fell back steadily to their works be- fore the city. " Relying," says General Grant, " upon the demoralization of the enemy, in consequence of repeated defeats outside of Vicksburg, I ordered a general assault at two P. M., on this day." At the appointed signal, the line of the Fifteenth Army Corps advanced, and made a vigorous assault ; but the other two corps succeeded only in securing advanced posi tions, where they were covered from the enemy's fire. The ground to the right and left of the road by which the Fifteenth Corps advanced, was cut up in deep chasms, filled with standing and fallen timber, and was so imprac- ticable that the line was slow and irregular in reaching the trenches. The object was, however, finally attained, and the colors of the Thirteenth U. S. Infantry planted on the exterior slope of the works. But this was not accomplish- ed without serious loss. General Sherman reports that the " commander of the regiment was mortally wounded, and five other officers were wounded more or less severely. Seventy-seven, out of two hundred and fifty men, are re- ported killed or wounded." Two other regiments reached the position about the same time, held their ground, and fired upon any head that presented itself above the parapet ; 254 GENERAL GRANT but it was found impossible to enter the works. The fight was continued till night ; but the men were still outside the defences, and the assaulting column was then withdrawn to a more sheltered position, for the purpose of bivouac. The following account of the advance and assault, is given by one who accompanied the main army : The army crossed the river early on Monday morning, over the bridge constructed during the night. General Osterhaus's Division first crossed, followed by General A. J. Smith's, which in turn was followed by McPherson's Army Corps. Sherman had continued north of the railroad from Jackson, striking Big Black River a little west of Bridgeport. Here he crossed on his pontoon bridge, and moved upon the Vicksburg and Haines Bluff and Spring Dale roads. McPherson moved out on the main Vicksburg and Jackson road, while McClernand took posses- sion of the Baldwin's Ferry road. On the summit of the high bank across the river the column moved through the camp whence the night before the enemy made his hasty exit. On the plateau nearest the river, before the bill is reached, numerous tents were left standing, just as the occupants had hastily left them. They could not be destroyed under the heavy fire of our skirmishers posted on the hither bank of the river. "When the hill was reached, we found abundant evidence of the demoralization of the enemy. Several piles of gun-barrels, with stocks but half consumed, were lying by the roadside. Tents, wagons, and gun-carriages were hi ashes, corn was burning, and officers' baggage and . soldiers' clothing were scattered all over the camp. The column moved to Bovina, where no evidence of the enemy was seen, save a rebel hospital filled with sick and wounded Here General Grant was joined by General Dwight from Banks' s army. At Mount Albans, General McClernand turned off on the Baldwin's Ferry road, while McPherson kept along the railroad upon the main Vicksburg road. The approaches to Vicksburg were now all occupied, with the exception of that by way of Warrenton, which was afterwards occupied by McArthur. When General Sherman crossed the river at Bridgeport, he met the advance of the enemy, which immediately turned back, and, it is rumored, reached Vicksburg by way of Warrenton the next day. That gap is now closed, and if we capture Vicksburg we shall capture the entire force. The night of the 18th, the command encamped in the open fields out- AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 255 side the outer works, and within easy artillery range of them General McClernand, with the Thirteenth Army Corps on the left, General Mo Pherson's Seventeenth Corps in the centre, and General Sherman's Fif- teenth Corps on the right. At daylight on the 19th, General Grant proceeded to move upon tho enemy's works a series of redoubts arranged with great skill., and extend* ing from the rear of Haines Bluff around to the Warrenton road, a dis- tance of from eight to ten miles. The ground by which they are approached is singularly broken a vast plateau upon which a multitude of little hills seem to have been sown broadcast, and of course the rebel redoubts were so disposed a-s to sweep every neighboring crest and enfilade every approach. The corps of General Sherman moved up on the Haines' Bluff road, by a sort of poetic justice taking possession of the ground by the rear winch he had once vainly attempted to gain from the front. McPherson advanced on the Jackson road, and covered the ground from the left of Sherman to the railroad, while McClernand's Corps occupied the front from the railroad to the extreme left. The action began by a slow fire from our artillery along the whole line, our guns having a pretty long range, and eliciting but feeble re- sponse from the enemy. About noon, Osterhaus's Division advanced on the left to within about six hundred yards of the enemy's works, to find themselves confronted by fifteen redoubts, with their rifle-pits, which opened fire upon us whenever we appeared on a crest or through a hollow. The guns of the rebels appeared to be of small calibre, throwing principally grape and canister. Our skirmishers were thrown further up ; but little firing was done on eitbrr side. At two o'clock the order came for a general advance upon the rebel works, over ground which, on the left, at least, was almost impassable under the most peaceful circumstances. The order seemed a hard one ; yet nothing is too hard for true soldiers to try. General A. L. Lee, who commanded the First Brigade of Osterhaus's Di- vision, and was in the advance, determined to carry out his orders if thei' execution was possible. Addressing a few words of cheer to his men, h placed himself in front of the centre of his brigade, led them forward in line of battle, and was the first man to gain the crest of the hill which he was attempting. He then found that it was only the first of several ridgef which were to be crossed, the ravines between which were swept by the guns of the enemy's redoubt. Still he tried to press on, and hia 2L>6 GENERAL GRANT brigade of brave fellows to follow him, the air, in the mean time, thick with bullets and shells; but a ball from the rifle of a sharpshooter struck him on the face, and he fell. His brigade withdrew a few feet only, behind the crest of the hill on which they had just raised, and held their position ; one of the regiments getting so favorable a point, that they were able to remain within about two hundred yards of one of the redoubts, and to prevent the gunners from firing a single shot. I am glad to say that General Lee, though severely, was by no means dangerously wounded. His brigade sustained a much smaller loss than a distant observer could have believed possible. The same degree of success, or want of success, attended the move- ment along the whole line. Our forces moved very close to the works, and then remained waiting and watching for the nearer approach of our artillery. At nightfall our troops retired a short distance and went into camp. During the night heavy siege-guns were planted by us for future use. our light artillery moved nearer, and a slight earthwork was thrown up to protect them. To-day (Wednesday, May 20th), the heavy guns on our left opened long before daylight. As heretofore, the enemy have failed to reply. Our skirmishers are pushed forward within a hundred and fifty yards of the whole line of the redoubts, and keep so sharp a lookout that the enemy finds it impossible to work his guns. On the centre two heavy siege-guns are in position less than half a mile from a strong fort just in front of them, so near that the Minie bullets were whistling merrily past the ears of the workmen. To- morrow they will open on the fort. On the right, Sherman still holds his line of skirmishers well up to the rebel forts on his front, and the artillerists are trying to level the rebel works, so far without success. During our operations to-day thirty or forty men were wounded.* General Sherman, in making his movement of May 18th, - towards the Yazoo River, as before stated, acted undei General Grant's instructions, for the purpose of opening communication with the fleet in those waters, and securing a base of supplies north of the city of Vicksburg. It is therefore necessary to show how Admiral Porter had co Army correspondence AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 257 operated with General Grant's movements. The following report will, without comment, clearly explain his pro- ceedings in the front of Vicksburg while General Grant was acting in the rear : FLAGSHIP BLACK HAWK, HAINES BLUFF, ) YAZOO RIVER, May 20, 1863. ) Hon. GIDEON WELLES, Secretary of the Navy : On the morning of the 15th, I came over to the Yazoo, to be ready to co-operate with General Grant. Leaving two of the iron-clads at Red River, one at Grand Gulf, one at Carthage, three at Warrenton, and two in the Yazoo, left me a small force. Still I disposed of them to the best advantage. On the 18th, at meridian, firing was heard in the rear of Vicksburg, which assured me that General Grant was approaching the city. The can- nonading was kept up furiously for some time, when, by the aid of glasses, I discerned a company of our artillery advancing, taking position, and driving the rebels before them. I immediately saw that General Sherman's Division had come on to the left of Snyder's Bluff, and that the rebels at that place had been cut off from joining the forces in the city. I dispatched the De Kalb, Lieutenant-Commander Walker ; Choctaw, Lieutenant-Commander Ramsay; Romeo, Petrel, and Forest Rose, all under command of Lieutenant-Commander Breese. up the Yazoo, to open communication in that way with Generals Grant and Sherman. This I succeeded in doing, and in three hours received letters from Generals Grant, Sherman, and Steele, informing me of this vast success, and asking me to send up provisions, which was at once done. In the mean tune, Lieutenant-Commander Walker, in the De Kalb, pushed on to Haines Bluff, which the enemy had commenced evacuating the day before, and a party remained behind in the hopes of destroying or taking away a large amount of ammunition on hand. Wlien they saw the gunboats, they ran out and left every thing in good order guns, forts, tents, and equipage of all kinds, which fell into our ho.nds. As soon as the capture of Haines Bluff and fourteen forts was re- ported to me, I shoved up the gunboats from below Vicksrurg to fire at the hill batteries, which fire was kept up for two or three hours, At midnight they moved up to the town and opened on it for about an hour, and continued at intervals during the night to annoy the garrison.. 258 GENEKAL GKANT On the 19th I placed six mortars in position, with orders to fire night and day as rapidly as they could. The works at Haines Bluff are very formidable. There are fourteen of the heaviest kind of mounted eight and ten inch and seven and a half inch rifled guns, with ammunition enough to last a long siege. As the gun- carriages might again fall into the hands of the enemy, I had them burned, blew up the magazine, and destroyed the works generally. I also burned up the encampments, which were permanently and remark- ably well constructed, looking as if the rebels intended to stay for some tune. These works and encampments covered many acres of ground, and the fortifications and the rifle-pits proper of Haines Bluff extend about a mile and a quarter. Such a network of defences I never saw. The rebels were a year constructing them, and all were rendered useless in an hour. As soon as I got through with the destruction of the magazines and other works, I started Lieutenant-Commander "Walker up the Yazoo River, with sufficient force to destroy all the enemy's prop- erty in that direction, with orders to return with all dispatch, and only to proceed as far as Yazoo City, where the rebels have a navy-yard and store-houses. In the mean time, General Grant has closely invested Vicksburg, and has possession of the best commanding points. In a very short time a gene- ral assault will take place, when I hope to announce that Vicksburg has fallen, after a series of the most brilliant successes that ever attended an army. There has never been a case, during the war, where the rebels have been so successfully beaten at all points ; and the patience and endurance shown by our army and navy, for so many months, are about being rewarded. It is a mere question of a few hours, and then, with the exception of Port Hudson, which will follow Vicksburg, the Mississippi will be open its entire length. D. D. PORTER, Rear-Admiral commanding the Mississippi Squadron. It will thus be seen that the most perfect harmony of plan had been agreed upon between General Grant and Admiral Porter, and that the latter rendered the former all the assistance in his power, towards accomplishing the grand object the reduction of Vicksburg AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 259 The following official dispatches from General Pember Don, the commander at Vicksburg, were sent to Jackson, Mississippi, and from thence telegraphed to the rebel President Davis : VICKSBURG, May 20, 1863. The enemy assaulted our intrenchments yesterday on our centre and eft. They were repulsed with heavy loss. Our loss is small The enemy's force is at least 60,000. VICKSBURG, May 21, 1863. The enemy kept up a heavy artillery fire yesterday. Two of our guns were dismounted in the centre. Our works, however, were un- injured. Their sharpshooters picked off officers and men all day. Our works were repaired, and our guns replaced last night. Our men are encouraged by a report that General Johnston is near with a large army, and are in good spirits. We have had a brisk artillery and musketry firing to-day, also heavy mortar firing from gunboats. During the past two days transports with troops have gone up the river. Their destination is unknown. 260 GENERAL GRANT CHAPTER XXXVH. THE SECOND ASSAULT UPON VICKSBURG. AFTER the withdrawal of the forces from before Vicks- burg on the night of the 19th of May, the army, for two days, was kept in a state of comparative inactivity, al- though lively skirmishing occurred all along the line. General Grant was, however, far from being idle, inasmuch as he was fully engaged in perfecting communications with the depots of supplies north of the invested city. The greater part of the troops had been marching and fighting battles for twenty days, on an average of about five days' rations, drawn from the commissary department. Although the men had not suffered from short rations up to this time, still they had begun to feel the want of bread to ac- company the other food with which they had been sup- plied, and to remedy this deficiency was for the time Gen- eral Grant's first and greatest object. By the 21st of May, General Grant had completed his arrangements for the drawing of every description of sup- ply, and having secured this desirable aim, he was deter- mined to make another effort to take the city of Vicksburg by storm. General Grant was induced to again make the assault upon the rebel defences of Vicksburg from several causes, some of which he sets forth in his official report. " There were many reasons," said he, "to determine me to adopt this course. I believed an assault, from the position gained AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 261 by this time, could be made successfully. It was known that Johnston was at Canton with the force t.-iken by him from Jackson, re-enforced by other troops from the East, and that more were daily reaching him. With the force I had, a short time must have enabled him to attack me in the rear, and, possibly, succeed in raising the siege. Pos- session of Vicksburg at that time would have enabled me to have turned upon Johnston, and driven him from the State, and possess myself of all the railroads and practical military highways, thus effectually securing to ourselves all territory west of the Tombigbee, and this before the sea- son was too far advanced for campaigning in this latitude. 1 would have saved the Government sending large re-en- forcements, much needed elsewhere ; and, finally, the troops themselves were impatient to possess Vicksburg, and would not have worked in the trenches with the same zeal, believing it unnecessary, that they did after their fail- ure to carry the enemy's works." General Grant, therefore, gave orders on the 21st of May for a general assault upon the rebel defences, to be made at ten o'clock of the next morning, by the whole line ; and that there should be no mistake or difference in the time of movement, and as a great deal would sometimes depend upon minutes, all the corps commanders set their chronometers by the one in the possession of General Grant. The following is the copy of the order issued for the movement to the corps commanders : HEAD-QUARTERS IN THE FIELD, May 21, 1863. GENERAL: A simultaneous attack will be made to-morrow at ten o'clock A. M., by all the army corps of this army. During this day army corps commanders will have examined all prac- tical routes over which troops can possibly pass. They will get in po- sition all the artillery possible, and gain all the ground they can with their infantry and s'drmishers. 262 GENERAL GBANT At an early hour in the morning a vigorous attack will be commenced by artillery and skirmishers. The infantry, with the exception of re- serves and skirmishers, will be placed in column of platoons, or by a flank, if the ground over which they may have to pass will not admit of a greater front, ready to move forward at the hour designated. Promptly at the hour designated all will start, at quick time, with bayonet fixed, and march immediately upon the enemy, without firing a gun until the outer works are carried. Skirmishers will advance as soon as pos- sible after heads of columns pass them, and scale the walls of such works as may confront them. By order of U. S. GRANT, Major' General Commanding. In order the better to secure success, General Grant's or- der was, on the evening of May 21st, communicated to the division and brigade commanders, and, as far as practica- ble, every thing was done calculated to insure the grand object of the movement. Five minutes before ten o'clock, on the morning of May 22d, the bugles rang along the line to prepare for the charge, and, at ten o'clock precisely, the three army corps commenced their movement in the following order : General McClernand, with the Thirteenth Army Corps on the left, General McPherson, with the Seventeenth in the centre, and General Sherman, with the Fifteenth on the right. General Grant himself took up a commanding position near the front of the Seventeenth Corps, by which he was en- abled to see all the advancing columns from that corps, and part of each of those on the right and left. The preliminary work had been performed by the artil- ery, and the outer works were breached in several places. Under cover of this fire, the infantry advanced to the charge all along the line. Brigade after brigade rushed forward, and slope and ditch were carried at the point of the bayonet. The Stars and Stripes were planted on seve- ral portions of the outer slopes of the enemy's bastions, and AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 263 they were maintained in that position until night. The as- sault was a splendid one, and was gallantly performed by all the troops on every part of the line ; but the position of the enemy was far too strong to be thus taken. Vicks- burg had always been naturally strong, but art had greatly improved it by the cutting of ditches, felling of trees, con- struction of works, and, what is of far more importance, the proper location of batteries to guard every avenue of approach. General Sherman reported that the artillery fire from the rebel works, on one part of his line, was so steady and severe, that it was impossible for the infantry to pass that point ; and even when an attempt was made to take the death-dealing works, it was found to be so well covered by other works, that the assaulting party recoiled under the effects of a staggering fire. Notwithstanding this fearful artillery reply to the assault, several evidences of individual bravery were manifested by the soldiers.* The walls were scaled, but with no suc- cessful effect. Although assaulted at every point and at all of them at the same time, the enemy was enabled to show as much force as his work could cover. "The assault failed," says General Grant, in his report, " but without weakening the confidence of the troops in their ability to ultimately suc- ceed." They knew well that the failure did not arise from lack of courage in themselves, or skill in their commander, but they also discovered that works of the character which defended Vicksburg could not be carried by storm. The position taken up by General Grant enabled him to have a view of the whole field of action, and he states em- phatically that " the assault of this day proved the quality of the soldiers of the Army of the Tennessee. Without either success, and with a heavy loss, there was no mur- * See General Grant's Report, July 6, 1863. 264 GENERAL GRANT muring nor complaining, no falling back, nor other evi- dence of demoralization." This fact alone proves the vaie of the discipline by which General Grant had reared bis army, and the love the men bore their commanders. The following sketch of the assault, by a participant, is of interest : NEAR VICKSBURG, May 22, 1863. It was rumored yesterday that this morning General Grant would or- der a charge simultaneously along the entire line of works. Late in the evening, the commanders of the different divisions and brigades received their orders, and prepared to execute them. The order contemplated a fierce cannonade from daylight until ten o'clock, but, for some reason, it was not opened until after eight. During the night, however, the gunboats and mortars lying in front of Vicksburg kept up a continual fire, and dropped their fiery messengers right and left without distinction. During this bombardment several buildings were set on fire by the exploding shells, and lighted up the darkness, revealing strange shapes and wonderful outlines standing out in relief against the dark sky, which added wonderful interest to the bombardment as witnessed by the dis- tant observer. It is impossible to estimate the damage occasioned by thus dropping into Vicksburg those heavy eleven and thirteen inch shells. Imagination falls far short of its reality. Before we approached the city, General Pemberton ordered all the women and children for miles around Vicksburg to come within the in- trenchments, assuring them that in that way they would escape all danger. The consequence is, that there are a large number of non- combatants in Vicksburg, exposed to all the dangers of siege and bom- bardment. At eight o'clock this morning the cannonading began, and continued, with scarcely a moment's intermission, along the entire line until ten o'clock. From every hill-top in front of the enemy's works cannon were placed, and the fiery tempest raged fearfully. Guns were dismounted, embrasures torn up, parapets destroyed, and caissons exploded. It was a fearful demonstration. The enemy were powerless to reply ; for our line of skirmishers were pushed up close to the enemy's works, and unerringly picked off the gunners whenever they attempted to work the guns. AXD HIS CAMPAIGNS. 265 For two long hours did this cannonade continue, when a general charge was made. Winding through the valleys, clambering over the hills everywhere, subjected to a murderous enfilading and cross-fire, the advance pressed up close to the rebel works to find that a deep ditch, protected by sharp stakes along the outer edge, lay between them and the intrenchments. They planted their flag directly before the fort, and crouched down behind the embankment, out of range of the rebel fire, as calmly as possible, to await developments. The soldiers within the forts could not rise above the parapet to fire at them, for if they did, a hundred bullets came whizzing through the air, and the adventurers died. The rebels, however, adopted another plan. Taking a shell, they cut the fuse close off, lighted it and, rolled it over the outer slope of the embankment. Subsequently, with picks and shovels, a way was dug into one fort, and through the breach the boys walked bravely in. The first fort on the left of the railroad was stormed by a portion of General Carr's Di- vision, and gallantly taken. The colonel that led the charge was wounded. On the centre the fire was persistent and terrible. Many brave offi- cers were killed and many more wounded. CoL Dollins, of the Eighty first Illinois, fell dead while leading his men to the charge. Later in the afternoon General Ransom's Brigade charged the works opposite his position, with heavy loss. Steele and Tuttle, on the right, were also heavily engaged, and the former is reported to have lost nearly a thousand men.* The following account, also, gives interesting details of the action, as seen from General Grant's head-quarters : For several days the disposition of the troops designed for the reduc- tion of Vicksburg had been going on with unceasing energy. The pecu liar formation of the country in this vicinity made it a matter of no small importance to thoroughly comprehend the ground before using it for military ends, because there were some localities which possessed strik- ing advantages over others, yet they did not appear upon first sight Accordingly, the day after the arrival of the army here, General Grant * Army correspondence of the Chicago Tribune, under date, of May 22d, 1863. 12 266 GEXEKAL GBANT spent most of his time in riding over the ground and studying out the posi- tions. This being finished, on the following day the troops were moved to the positions which they were to occupy and hold, in corps, the Fif- teenth (General Sherman) on the right, the Seventeenth (General Mc- Pherson) in the centre, and. the Thirteenth (General McClernand) on the left. General Sherman the day before had detached part of his command, with orders to march against a strong position in the enemy's possession at Chickasaw Bluffs. The movement was made, and resulted most emi- nently in our favor that is, without the loss of a man. The enemy at this point, hearing of the presence of our army in the rear of Vicks- burg, and its proximity to their own position, concluded that the better part of valor would be the evacuation of their works, which action was had immediately and without delay. The possession of this point is of great importance to this army in its present movements. It gives us a ready and short h'ne of communication between our base of supplies at Young's Point and the army in the field, the distance being but fifteen miles by water and ten by land, making twenty-five miles ; and by this time the arrangements are so far matured that in a day from Youny's Point supplies of aU sorts can reach the army. Having every facility at his command, the troops in possession of every necessary to their comfort and efficiency, the men in the best of spirits after a victorious campaign from Grand Gulf to Big Black, and the posi- tions we now hold in the rear of Vicksburg, General Grant planned the assault upon the enemy's works which came off to-day. The arrange- ment was to make a simultaneous move on all points, basing success upon the consideration that the insufficient garrison of the place would not be able to contest equally our assault at all points, and, as a conse- quence,' the weaker places could be taken while the stronger were mak- ing their defence. This conclusion was very natural, and there seemed hardly a doubt that at this moment our troops would be at least in pos session of several of the enemy's outer works, the occupation of which would insure us a decided advantage in position. But from causes, perhaps beyond the control of the generals in the field, this enemy found us unsuccessful, and some of our lines were less advanced than in the morning. However, due to the high stole nf disci- pline of the army, instead of being disheartened at our repulse ard severe loss, the men are even more determined than they were at first : they think of nothing but the capture of Vicksburg a fact, under suoii cir oumstances, surely te l%o roixiiv. ft( j_ AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 267 General Giant's " field order," issued last night, ordered that all the reserve troops should be formed in line at an early hour this morning, and that those commands selected for the storming of the fortifications should be drawn up in " column" by division, so as to be ready to move at precisely ten o'clock this morning, which was the hour designated for the assault to commence. The artillery opened a vigorous fire sometime before the designated hour of the assault. The firing was excellent, al- most every shot striking the crest of the parapet, and nearly all the shells exploding immediately over the inner side of the breastworks. Of course it is not possible to judge of the enemy's loss, but he certainly must have suffered severely during our heavy fire. Two large explo- sions occurred within the works, during the engagement, which were thought to be caissons. A large building was also destroyed by our shells. At a given hour the troops were in motion, moving along the ravines, in which to assume the required formation and make the attack. The charges were most admirably executed. With perfect composure the men moved up the hill, though not under fire, yet under the influence of a dreadful anticipation of a deadly volley at close quarters. When within forty yards of the works, of a sudden the parapet was ah've with armed men, and in an instant more the flash of thousands of muskets hurled death and destruction most appalling into the ranks of our ad- vancing columns. Five hundred men lay dead or bleeding on one pa*-t of the field at the first fire. Bravely, against all odds, this command fought until its depleted ranks could no longer stand, when sullenly it withdrew under cover of a hill near by. In addition to the heavv musketry fire which repelled the assault, artillery played with dreadfui havoc upon the fading ranks, which, after every effort to win the goal, were obliged to give way, not to numbers, but impregnability of position. Upon the whole, as regards the designs of our movement, we were frustrated, but nothing more. Our troops, with but few exceptions, hold their own. The loss of this day's engagement has been exceed- ingly heavy, according to first accounts, which are not the most reliable, and it is to be hoped the authenticated returns will greatly lessen the casualties. The failure of our endeavors to take the city by assault will be suc- ceeded by an effort to reduce the place by means of the spade. The argument in favor of this course is economy of life, for even a success- ful attack upon the city would be attended with an extravagant loss of men. 268 GENERAL GKANT The strength of Vicksburg towards the land is equally as strong as on the river-side. The country is broken to a degree, affording excellent defensive positions, and an attacking party must necessarily be exposed to a fire which could not be withstood by any troops. In addition to this, the ravines intervening the ridges and knolls, which the enemy has forti- fied, are covered with a tangled growth of cane, wild grape, etc., making it impossible to move the troops in well-dressed lines. The attempt of to-day has exhibited the impossibility of taking the city by storm ; but a few weeks of the spade will show that Vicksburg can be taken.* The following official report from Admiral Porter will explain the part taken by the fleet during this assault : MISSISSIPPI SQUADRON, FLAGSHIP BLACK HAWK, May 23, 1863. SIR: On the morning of the 21st, / received a communication from General Grant, informing me that he intended to attack the whole of the rebel works at ten A. M. the next day, and asking me to shell the batteries from half-past nine until half-past tun, and annoy the garrison. I kept six mortars playing rapidly on the works and town all night, and sent the Benton, Mound City, and Carondelet up to shell the water batteries and other places where troops might be resting during the night. At seven o'clock in the morning the Mound City proceeded across the river, and made an attack on the hill batteries opposite the canal. At eight o'clock I found her in company with the Benton, Tuscumbia, and Carondelet All these vessels opened on the hill batteries and finally silenced them, though the main work on the battery containing the heavy rifled gun was done by the Mound City, Lieutenant-Commanding Byron Wilson. I then pushed the Benton, Mound City, and Carondelet up to the water batteries, leaving the Tuscumbia, which is still out of repair, to keep the hill batteries from firing on our vessels after they had passed by. The three gunboats passed up slowly, owing to the strong current, the Mound City leading, the Benton following, and the Carondelet astern. The water batteries opened furiously, supported by a hill battery on the star- board beam of the vessels. The vessels advanced to within four hun- dred and forty yards (by our marks), and returned the fire for two hours without cessation, the enemy's fire being very accurate and incessant. Finding that the hill batteries behind us were silenced, I ordered up the Tuscumbia to within eight hundred yards of the batteries ; but the * Army correspondence. AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 209 turret was soon made untenable, not standing the enemy's shot, and I made her drop down. I had been engaged with the forts an hour longer than General Grant asked. The vessels had all received severe shots under water which we could not stop while in motion, and not knowing what might have delayed the movement of the army, I ordered the vessels to drop out of fire, which they did in a cool, handsome manner. Thia was the hottest fire the gunboats have ever been under ; but, owing to the water batteries being more on a level with them than usual, the gunboats threw in their shell so fast that the aim of tho enemy was not very good. The enemy hit our vessels a number of times, but, fighting bow on, th at did but little damage. Xot a man was killed, and only a few wounded. I had only enough ammunition for a few moments longer, and set all hands to work to fill .p from our depot below. After dropping back I found that the enemy had taken possession again of one of the lower hill batteries and was endeavoring to mount his guns, and had mounted a twelve-pounder field-piece to fire at Gen- eral McArthur's troopa which had landed a short time before at "War- renton. I sent the Mound City and Carondelet to drive him off, which they did in a few moments. I beg leave to inclose a letter 1'rom General McArthur, explaining why he did not (to use his own expressions take advantage of the results gained by the gunboats. / have since learned through General Grant that the army did assault at the right time vigorously In the noise and smoke we could not see or hear it. The gunboats were, therefore, still fighting when the assault had proved unsuccessful. . TJte army had terrible work before them, and are fighting HIS CAMPAIGNS. 291 in their easy chairs, think it ought to have been finished long since. To such let me say, could they be present here, and make a tour of the country in this vicinity, and see the configuration of the country, its broken topography, its high and abrupt hills, deep gullies, gorges and dilapidated roads, they would then realize the difficulties of the work. Then there is a large army to feed, great materiel to be brought into position, all of which demands large transportation, and the united ef- forts of thousands of men. General Grant acts independently of opinions of the public. He fully realizes the responsibility of his position, and in the duty before him, he is determined to accomplish his work with as great an economy of human life as possible. He feels now that the prize is within his grasp, and a little patience will achieve all, which, if rashly sought, might cost the lives of the brave army with whom he has gained so many vie tories.* General Sherman's expedition returned from the special duty assigned it without meeting anywhere near the doom- ed city the rebel army under General Joseph E. Johnston. The commander, however, obtained sufficient intelligence of the rebel movements to decide General Grant as to his plan of operations immediately after the reduction oi Vicksburg. The bombardment and approaches steadily progressed, and it was whispered about among the troops that on the following anniversary of the day of Independence a grand assault was to be made, for the purpose of taking the place by storm. The rebels, doubtless, were apprised of this fact, or at least suspected it, for, on the morning of the previous day, July 3d, 1863, a flag of truce left the rebel lines, with a sealed communication for General Grant, borne by General Bowen and Colonel Montgomery. The bearers of the document having been taken to the nearest general head-quarters, a courier was at once dispatched with all possible haste to the chief commanding office. * Army Correspondence. 292 GENERAL GRANT On opening the document General Grant found the fol lowing communication addressed to himself: HEAD-QUARTERS, VICKSBURG, July 3, 1863. Major-General GRANT, commanding United States forces : GENERAL : I have the honor to propose to you an armistice for hours, with a view to arranging terms for the capitulation of Vicks- burg. To this end, if agreeable to you, I will appoint three commis- sioners, to meet a like number to be named by yourself, at such place and hour as you may find convenient. I make this proposition to save the further effusion of blood, which must otherwise be shed to a frightful extent, feeling myself fully able to maintain my position for a yet indefinite period. This communication will be handed you, under a flag of truce, by Major-General James Bowen. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, J. C. PEMBERTOW. To this General Grant replied as follows : HEAD-QUARTERS, DEPARTMENT OF TENNESSEE, IN THE FIELD, NEAR VICKSBURG, July 3, 1863. Lieutenant-General J. C. PEMBERTON, commanding Confederate forces, &c. : GENERAL : Your note of this date, just received, proposes an armis- tice of several hours, for the purpose of arranging terms of capitula- tion through commissioners to be appointed, &c. The effusion of blood vou propose stopping by this course, can be ended at any time you may choose, by an unconditional surrender of the city and gawison. Men who have shown so much endurance and courage as those now in Ticks- burg, will always challenge the respect of an adversary, and I can assure you will be treated with all the respect due them as prisoners of war. I do not favor the proposition of appointing commissioners to arrange terms of capitulation, because I have no other terms than those indicated above. I am, General, very respectfully, your obedient servant, U. S. GRANT, Major- General. General Bowen expressed a wish to converse with the chief General on this important matter ; but the latter at once declined. General Bowen then requested that Gen- eral Grant would meet General Pemberton on neutral AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 293 ground, as more could be arranged at one personal inter- view than by an exchange of numerous dispatches. Gene- ral Grant very readily replied he would willingly do so in person, offering to meet General Pemberton the same afternoon at three o'clock, and consult with him on the terms he would grant the garrison. This reply was placed in the hands of the rebel messengers, who, blindfolded, were conducted back to the place of entrance to the Union lines, and were there set at liberty, to return to General Pemberton with the answer. Nothing more was now done until afternoon. The ar- tillery re-opened, and the siege went on as before. By noon, however, the general promulgated his orders, requir- ing a temporary cessation of hostilities. The following interesting account of the interview be- tween Generals Grant and Pemberton, is given by one who had followed the army during the whole campaign : At three o'clock precisely, one gun, the prearranged signal, was fired, and immediately replied to by the enemy. General Pemberton then made his appearance on the works in McPherson's front, under a white flag, considerably on the left of what is known as Fort Hill. General Grant rode through our trenches until he came to an outlet, leading to a small green space, which had not been trod by either army. Here he dismounted, and advanced to meet General Pem- berton, with whom he shook hands, and greeted familiarly. It was beneath the outspreading branches of a gigantic oak that the conference of the generals took place. Here presented the only space whi'jii had not been used for some purpose or other by the contending armies. The ground was covered with a fresh, luxuriant verdure ; here and there a shrub or clump of bushes could be seen standing out from the green growth on the surface, while several oaks filled up the scene, and gave it character. Some of the trees in their tops exhibited the effects of flying projectiles, by the loss of limbs or torn foliage, and in their trunks the indentations of smaller missiles plainly marked the occurrences to which chey had been silent witnesses. The party made up to take part in the conference was composed aa follows : 294 GENERAL GKANT United States Officers. Major-General U. S. Grant. Major-General James B. McPherson. Brigadier-General A. J. Smith. Rebel Officers. Lieutenant-General John C. Pemberton. Major-General Bowen. Colonel Montgomery, A. A.-G. to General Pemberton. When Generals Grant and Pemberton met they shook hands, Colonel Montgomery introducing the party. A short silence ensued, at the ex- piration of which General Pemberton remarked : " General Grant, I meet you in order to arrange terms for the capitu- lation of the city of Vicksburg and its garrison. What terms do you demand?" " Unconditional surrender," replied General Grant. " Unconditional surrender?" said Pemberton. "Never, so long as I have a man left me I I will fight rather." " Then, sir, you can continue the defence," coolly said General Grant. " My army has never been in a better condition for the prosecution of the siege. 11 During the passing of these few preliminaries, General Pemberton was greatly agitated, quaking from head to foot, while General Grant experienced all his natural self-possession, and evinced not the least sign of embarrassment. After a short conversation standing, by a kind of mutual tendency the two generals wandered off from the rest of the party and seated themselves on the grass, in a cluster of bushes, where alone they talked over the important events then pending. General Grant could be seen, even at that distance, talking coolly, occasionally giving a few puffs at his favorite companion his black cigar. General McPherson, General A. J. Smith, General Bowen, and Colonel Montgomery, imitating the example of the commanding generals, seated themselves at some distance off, while the respective staffs of the general? formed another and larger group in the rear. After a lengthy conversation the generals separated General Pem- oerton did not come to any conclusion on the matter, but stated his intention to submit the matter to a council of general officers of his com- mand ; and, in the event of their assent, the surrender of the city should be made in the morning. Until morning was given him to consider, to AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 295 determine iipon the matter, and send in his final reply. The generals now rode to their respective quarters.* General Grant next conferred at his head-quarters with his corps and division commanders, and sent the following letter to General Pemberton, by the hands of General Logan and Lieutenant-Colonel Wilson : HEAD-QUARTERS, DEPARTMENT OP TENNESSEE, ) NEAR VICKSBURG, July 3, 1863. j" Lieutenant-General J. C. PEMBERTON, commanding Confederate forces, Vicksburg, Miss: GENERAL : In conformity with the agreement of this afternoon, I will submit the following proposition for the surrender of the city of Vicks- burg, public stores, &c. On your accepting the terms proposed, I will march in one division, as a guard, and take possession at eight o'clock to-morrow morning. As soon as paroles can be made out and signed by the officers and men, you will be allowed to march out of our lines, tjhe officers taking with them their regimental clothing, and staff, field, and cavalry officers one horse each. The rank and file will be allowed all their clothing, but no other property. If these conditions are accepted, any amount of rations you may deem necessary can be taken from the stores you now have, and also the necessary cooking utensils for preparing them; thirty wagons also, counting two two-horse or mule teams as one. You will be allowed to transport such articles as cannot be carried along. The same conditions will be allowed to all sick and wounded officers and privates, as fast as they become able to travel. The paroles for these latter must be signed, however, whilst officers are present, authorized to sign the roll of prisoners. I am, General, very respectfully, Your obedient servant, U. S. GRANT, Major- General The same correspondent, whose description of the inter- view between the generals has already been given, writes under date of July 4th, as follows : From the time of the breaking up of the conference of generals, till * Army Correspondence. 296 GENERAL GKA>T this morning, when the surrender became an irrevocable fact, the im- patience and restlessness of the entire army was greater than can possibly be imagined. The troops ceased their customary vigilance and wandered from camp to camp in a state of listless reaction. There was no firing from the trenches or batteries, for orders had been promulgated that all operations of a hostile character should cease until resumed by authority from head-quarters. This was the first instance of a cessation of firing since our arrived. The existence of the two armies was not perceptible except in the presence of the troops. Everywhere silence and relaxation reigned. It was a change from the most exacting duty on the one hand, to the most extreme idleness on the other. The only appearance of duty by either army was on the part of a few sentinels, national and rebel, posted at various points along our linos and the rebel works, to keep back the curious of our own men, as well as to stay the desire of the enemy to penetrate within our lines and see the perfect network of approaches by means of which we have advanced unharmed up to the very ditches of their forts. .The remainder of yesterday was passed by many of the soldiers of both armies in chats upon various matters connected with the campaign. Knots of a half dozen of our men, and a like number of rebels, could be seen here and there reclining upon the exterior slope of the enemy's works, engaged in enthusiastic conversation, not unfrequently relieving its monotony by physical application upon each other, to enforce the veracity of their assertions, when doubted by the opposite party. Thus did they wile away the hours of the evening until tattoo, when the soldiers of each side, excepting those on sentinel duty, disappeared. During the night no startling occurrences happened, all being quiet. The morning of this thrice glorious Fourth da wned with a cloudless sky, and, even ere the sun had risen, the camps were alive with an anticipating and impatient set, whose loquacity poured itself forth, in a confusion of languages which might be heard ringing in the clear air at a distance several times the usual compass of the human voice. Nor were the speculations of the men less various than their language. One had his reasons for knowing that the rebels were using the present mo- ments of respite to strengthen themselves, or to consolidate their force on some unexpected point of attack, or perhaps to effect some other designs equally as nefarious, of which we were not aware. Some said the enemy had no intention of surrendering, but, fearing a first class Fourth of July bombardment, they hit upon the present plan of eluding such a direful visitation and its necessary results. In this way rea- AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 297 doncd many. Another set thought, if it really were the intention of the enemy to surrender, it was time they were coming to a conclusion. They " could not see why they did not do so at once," they " thought the rebels were playing a sharp game," and so forth; every man giving himself ti vast amount of unnecessary trouble and eonce-n. Thus time moved along heavily, each moment passing like a duration of almost weeks, until the eventful time had arrived, and it was known to a certainty that Vicksburg had indeed surrendered. Having a few hours leisure this morning, prior to the arrival of the dispatch from General Pemberton, stating he was ready to surrender, I took occasion to visit General Grant, and found everybody about his head-quarters in a state of the liveliest satisfaction. It was evident the glorious events of the day were duly appreciated. The General I found in conversation more animated than I have ever known him. He is evidently contented with the manner in which he has acquitted himself of the responsible task which has for more than five months engrossed his mind and his army. The consummation is one of which he may well be proud. From Bruinsburg to Vicksburg, nineteen days, presents one of the most active records of marches, actions, and victories of the war. All the combined operations of our armies, for a similar length of time, cannot equal it. It is unparalleled, the only campaign of the war which has involved celerity of movement, attack, victory, pursuit, and the annihilation of the enemy. But of this I have occasion to speak in another place, and will therefore drop it for the present. Among other things, the General signified his intention to enter into an immediate pursuit of the rebel Johnston. He was ready as soon as he received Pemberton' s final reply to order the troops under Sherman (then resting this side of the Big Black) across the river, while the contingent forces held at Haines and Snyder's bluffs were to follow, overtake and effect a junction with the other troops. This would create a force equal to all the possibilities of the campaign, and irretrievably wrest Southern Mississippi, with the towns of Jackson, Canton, and Meridian, from the possession of the enemy. Such action would restore a large territory to the government, and weaken the enemy correspondingly by subtracting so much from his already limited resources. From General Grant I returned to the head-quarters of the Seven- teenth (McPhersou's) Corps, and found the same prevailing good humoi that I remarked everywhere else.* * Army Correspondence. 13* 298 GENEBAL GRANT The officers who received General Grant's letter stated that it would be impossible to answer it by night, and it was not till a little before the peep of day that the pro- posed reply was furnished. Early in the morning, how ever, a messenger arrived at the Union lines with the fol- lowing letter from General Pemberton : HEAD-QUARTERS, VICKSBURG, July 3, 1863. Major-General GRANT, commanding United States forces : GENERAL: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your com- munication of this date proposing terms for the surrender of this garrison and post. In the main your terms are accepted ; but in justice both to the honor and spirit of my troops, manifested in the defence of Vicks- burg, I have the honor to submit the following amendments, which, if acceded to by you, will perfect the agreement between us. At ten o'clock to-morrow I propose to evacuate the works in and around Vicks- burg, and to surrender the city and garrison under my command by marching out with my colors and arms and stacking them in front of my present limits, after which you will take possession ; officers to retain their side arms and personal property, and the rights and property of citizens to be respected. I am, General, yours, very respectfully, J. C. PEMBERTON, Lieutenant- General This was a proposal for the besieged to march out with the honors of war, only allowed to garrisons after a very obstinate and brave defence. It is entirely optional on the part of the victor to allow such a privilege, and many com- manders have entirely refused it. General Grant, however, with his accustomed magna- nimity to the conquered, acquiesced in the request as fol- lows: HEAD-QUARTERS, DEPARTMENT OF TENNESSEE, BEFORE VICKSBURG, July 4, 1863. Lieutenant-General PEMBERTON, commanding forces in Viclcsburg : GENERAL : I have the honor to acknowledge your communication of the 3d of July. The amendments proposed by you cannot be acceded to in full. It will be necessary to furnish every officer and man with a AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 299 parole signed by himself, which, with the completion of the rolls of prisoners, will necessarily take some time. Again, I can make no stipu- lation with regard to the treatment of citizens and their private property. Wkile I do not propose to cause any of them any undue annoyance or loss, I cannot consent to leave myself under restraint by stipulations. The prop- erty which officers can be allowed to take with them will be as stated in the proposition of last evening that is, that officers will be allowed their private baggage and side arms, and mounted officers one horse each. If you mean by your proposition for each brigade to march to the front of the lines now occupied by it, and stack their arms at ten o'clock A. M., and then return to the inside and remain as prisoners until properly paroled, I will make no ob- jection to it. Should no modifications be made of your acceptance of my terms by nine o'clock A. if., I shall regard them as having been rejected, and act accordingly. Should these terms be accepted, white flags will be displayed along your lines to prevent such of my troops as may not have been notified from firing on your men. I am, General, very respectfully, Your obedient servant, U. S. GRANT, Major- General U. S. A. After a very short consultation with his general officers, the commandant of Vicksburg sent the following reply: HEAD-QUARTERS, VICKSBURG, July 4, 1863 Major-General U. S. GRANT, commanding United States forces, etc. : GENERAL : I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your com- munication of this date, and, in reply, to eay that the terms proposed by you are accepted. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, J. C. PEMBERTON, Lieutenant- General. At ten o'clock on the morning of July 4th, the above final dispatch was received from General Pemberton, and he stated that he was ready to capitulate. General Grant at once telegraphed to General McPherson's head- quarters with instructions that the Seventeenth Corps be ordered under arms immediately, to be in readiness to move instantly into the city upon the receipt of orders to that effect. Shortly after the hour above mentioned, the rebel works 300 GENERAL GRAOT were surmounted by a large number of white flags along the entire lines, extending from right to left. This was the signal of surrender. Soon the enemy marched out by regiment, on McPherson's front, and stacked their arms and returned within, where they were paroled in a body, prior to the individual parole of each man. The privilege allowed by General Grant to the enemy of stacking their arms outside of their fortifications somewhat crowded matters, as the Union works were so close that the enemy was pressed for room in order to avoid tres- passing beyond the small strip of unoccupied territory lying between the works of the two armies. However, after considerable difficulty, the arms, excepting those of several regiments, were deposited according to the provis- ions of the surrender, without encroachment upon our ap- proaches. In attendance upon the capitulation of the rebels there were a number of line officers and privates of the Union army as lookers on. No one had been delegated by General Grant to superintend the matter, out of courtesy to tlic enemy, whose noble defence had won them the highest esteem of both officers and men. The surrender, there- fore, appeared, as it were, a volition, and not of compul- sion ; and was hardly known until some time after, owing to the quietness with which it was conducted. General Grant had wisely taken this matter into consideration, and prevented the lips of the incautious and uncalculating from uttering remarks of no good to the Union cause, and not in the least calculated to keep alive that harmony of feeling which turned out to be one of the most noticeable features of the occasion. As it was, as the General had desired, the enemy was allowed to conduct the matter according to his own liking, so it was done within the limitations of the previously stipulated terms of capitulation. AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 301 Several regiments not having room to stack arms with the rest of the command, deposited them at the Court House. Three hours elapsed before the last of the rebel regi- ments had surrendered their arms. During this time General John A. Logan was engaged in getting his troops in readiness for subsequent movements. T02 GENEKAL GBANT CHAPTER XLI. OCCUPATION OF VICKSBUBG. THE LOSSES. THE Fourth of July, 1863, was one of the most impor- tant in the history of the United States, and of its armies. On this day the glad tidings of victory in Pennsylvania was sounded throughout the land, and on this day the vic- torious " Army of Tennessee" took possession of the boast- ed stronghold of the rebels " the Gibraltar of the Mis- sissippi" Vicksburg. The entrance into the city of Vicksburg is thus describ- ed by a participant : It was about one o'clock p. M., before matters had assumed sucL a stage of completion as would admit of the entrance of. the city by our troops. A slight further detention was also occasioned awaiting the pioneer corps, thrown out in advance, to open a passage through the breastworks and across the ditches and rifle-pits of the enemy. After this was finished, no further obstructions presented themselves, and the column moved forward. The order of march was by a seniority of brigade commanders, with an exception in the case of the Forty-fifth Illinois Infantry, Colonel J. A. Maltby, which was specially ordered to kad the column, in consequence, of heroic conduct during the siege and operatwns in tha campaign against Vicksburg. The order of formation, in the march into the city, was as follows : Major-General U. S. Grant and staff. Major-G-eneral J. B. McPherson and staff. Major-General J. A. Logan and staff. Brigadier-General M. D. Leggett, First Brigade, Third Division, led by the Forty-fifth Illinois Infantry. Brigadier-General Z. E. G. Ransom, First Brigade, Seventh Division, temporarily assigned to Logan. ASTD HIS CAMPAIGNS. 303 Brigadier-General John Stevenson, Second Brigade, Third Division; and with each brigade its batteries, baggage train, &c. The division of General John E. Smith, though part of the Seven- teenth Army Corps which was designated by General Grant to occupy the city, was held outside of the works as a kind of outer line of guards to prevent the escape of prisoners. After passing through several inner lines of the rifle-pits and breast- works, the column of occupation penetrated the suburbs of the city, and marched through its principal streets to the Court House. As might be expected, from the long schooling the city had received under the influ- ence of the secession conspirators, no demonstrations of satisfaction at our arrival were made along the h'ne of march ; but on the contrary, houses were closed, the citizens within doors, and the city was wrapped in gloom. It seems as if the population anticipated their next step would be into the grave. Upon arriving at the Court House, ^e troops were drawn up in line facing the building. This done, the ceremony of possession was com- pleted by the display of the flags of the Forty-fifth Illinois Infantry, and of the head-quarters of the Seventeenth Corps, from the dome of the Court House. Upon the appearance of the flags the troops cheered vociferously, making the city ring to its very suburbs with shouts of the votaries of liberty. It was an occasion which few ever have the opportunity 01 witnessing, and one which will secure a life-long remembrance in the minds of all present In consideration of the active part taken by the Seventeentn Corps in the campaign which consummated in the capture of Vicksburg, that com- mand was designated by General Grant to take possession of the city. General Logan's Division occupied within the works, while General John E. Smith held the Union works without. General McArthur continued with General Sherman's army in its operations against Johnston. In view of General Grant's plans, Major-General McPherson was ap- pointed to the command of the new district about to be formed, and having Vicksburg for its centre. Major-General Logan commanded the city and its environs. The Provost- Marshal's department was placed in charge of Lieutenant- Colonel James Wilson, Provost-Marshal of the corps Provost-Guard, Forty-fifth Illinois Infantry. A number of subordinate officers had to be created to carry out the laborious and endless details which naturally occur in the administra- 304 GEKBEAL GRAJSTT tion of a city in population as large as the present. However, as initia- tory measures, the above answered every purpose, and the workings of the plans were harmonious and effective. There were no disgraceful scenes of rapine, violence or insult to note, nor had any thing occurred to compromise as a mass the soldiers of the government. There were a few instances of battering down store doors, to examine the contents of the establishments, but this was soon stopped upon the inauguration of the provost-guard. One rather unaccountable fact was the trouble the guard experienced in keeping down the rebel soldiery. The people feared the thieving proclivities of their own men even more than ours. It was not long, however, before the efficient guard patroling the city had picked up all vagrant individuals, compelled them to disgorge, and then quietly consigned them to the peaceable retirement of the guard- house, to await their trial before his worship, the Provost-Marshal. The aforesaid establishment is already quite populous with miscreant secesh, and a slight sprinkling of ou& own unfortunates. While they are amongst us they must expect tor>e obliged to conduct themselves like soldiers, and obey the newly inaugurated authority now ruling and in- suring order and security to the inhabitants and property within the city. The quiet which now prevails everywhere is astonishing, and re fleets great credit upon the abilities and judgment of those at the head of affairs. After the surrender of the city was officially known to the transport- ation officers in charge of steamboats at Chickasaw Bayou, there was a general, mixed and laughable stampede of boats out of the Yazoo and down the Mississippi for the levee of Vicksburg. The John H. Groesbeck, being the office boat of the Chief of Transportation, appropriated the advance of the Yazoo River batch. The transports, however, were not the first to arrive before the city, for the Neptune of the Mississippi was on the alert, and impatiently awaited the course of events under full steam. No sooner was the flag thrown to the breeze from the Court House than the Admiral's glass caught sight of its beautiful folds, and in due time his vessel steamed down to the city, followed by all the gunboats in the neigh- borhood, and took possession of a few feet of river front. All this was duly done, after the authority of the army of the United States was secured beyond doubt. In less than four hours after the city had capitulated, the levees were lined with steamers as far as the eye could reach. At least seventy-five had arrived up to that time, and more were corning in hourly. All the AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 305 boats from below, as well as those from above, were there to swell the number. The city had the appearance of a great inland commercial metropolis. The levees were almost instantaneously covered with a busy, moving crowd of humanity, pushing hither and thither, as if they were old residents, and the city had not experienced the interregnum of intercourse with the outer world, which had been her fate for nearly two years. Many of the boats had already commenced to discharge their cargoes, which, of course, occasioned a lively activity on shore, while teams and men were busily engaged in hauling the different stores to their respective destinations. It may be said that Vicksburg is once more a living city. Reclaimed from her late oppressors, she is free to share with her sister cities the numerous opportunities which have been restored to them by the rein- stated authority of our great, and glorious, and ever to be perpetuated republic * The ^alue of the reduction of Vicksburg was not only great in a moral, political, and strategical point of view ; but it p t TlCKSBURG, MlSS., Oct. 2, 1863. J [General Orders, No. 30.] I. In order to encourage and reward the meritorious and faithful officers and men of this corps, a "Medal of Honor," with appropriate device, has been prepared, and will be presented by a "Board of Honor," of which the Major-General commanding is the advisory member, to all those who, by their gallantry in action and other soldierlike qualities, have most distinguished themselves, or who may hereafter most dis- tinguish themselves, during the war. II. The following officers will constitute the " Board of Honor" here- by appointed : Major-General John A. Logan, commanding Third Division. Brigadier-General John McArthur, commanding First Division. Brigadier-Geueral John B. Smith, commanding Second Division. Brigadier-General M. M. Crocker, commanding Fourth Division. Brigadier-General T. E. G. Eansom, commanding Second Brigade, First Division. Brigadier-General M. M. Force, commanding Second Brigade, Third Division. Brigadier-General "W. Q. Gresham, commanding Third Brigade, Fourth Division. Brigadier-General Alex. Chambers, commanding Third Brigade, First Division. Colonel Gabriel Bouck, Eighteenth "Wisconsin Infantry. Lieutenant-Colonel A. M. Powell, Chief of Artillery. HI. Company commanders will forward to the commanding officer of their regiment a list of the names of the non-commissioned officers and men of their command whom they deem entitled to receive the " mod al," accompanied by a full and complete statement of facts to guide the " Board" in their award. These lists will be revised by the regimental commander, who will forward them, with his remarks, to the command- ing officer of the brigade. IV. Regimental commanders will send similar lists of those officers of their command whom they believe entitled to the "medal," to th AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 358 brigade commander, who, after revising the whole, will send them di- rect to the President of the " Board." V. The " Board of Honor" will be convened upon the order of the President, at such times and places as he may direct, and they are em- powered to make all needful rules and regulations for the attainment of the object of this order the just and impartial award to the most deserving of the " Medal of Honor." By order of Major-General JAS. B. McPHERSON. W. T. CLARK, A. A.-G. After the repulse of the forces at Chickamauga in front of Chattanooga, important movements of troops com- menced from General Grant's department toward that place. All of General Sherman's Fifteenth Army Corps, excepting General Tuttle's Division, was transported from Vicksburg to the line of the Memphis and Charleston Railroad. On Saturday, October 10th, General Oster- haus's Division entered luka. No considerable body of rebels were encountered anywhere on the march between luka and Corinth. The rebel cavalry were seen hovering on the Union flank and front continually, although they gave but little trouble or uneasiness. A reconnoissance was made on October llth by two regiments of infantry, a section of artillery, and one company of cavalry, and re- vealed a battalion of cavalry at the crossing of Bear Creek, five miles east of luka. In the mean time, it was known by the rebels that Gene- ral Sherman was at Memphis, and intended to pass over the Memphis and Charleston Railroad to Chattanooga. A body of rebel cavalry and infantry therefore concentrated at Wyeth, a small village on the Tallahatchie, where were located the head-quarters of Colonel Chalmers. This force was further increased by the addition of a number of con scripts. Having thus gathered all the numbers they could in the country, Chalmers found himself at the head ot 354 GENERAL GBANT about four thousand men of all kinds and five pieces of ar- tillery. With this command he moved north, and on the morning of October llth made his appearance upon the railroad, several miles beyond Colliersville. The regular passenger train, though in his power, the enemy allowed to pass, but as soon as that had run by, working parties were thrown upon the track, which was torn up in several places and the ties stacked upon the road and fired. These fires proved a fortunate circumstance, as, soon after, General Sherman and staff, accompanied by his body guard, a bat- talion of the Thirteenth Regulars, approached the place on an extra train. Discovering the fires, the troops on board prepared for an attack, though they did not disembark, and the entire party ran up to the station. As they were passing a certain point, as was expected, the enemy fired upon the train, particularly into the passenger car, wound- ing several persons. Having run up to the stockade, the enemy closed in upon the Union troops, and commenced a fire from all directions. In order to cover the transit of the United States troops from the train to the stockade, the regulars made a charge out of the cars and directly upon the enemy, who fled in all directions in a perfect panic. The entire force then succeeded in taking refuge within O O the stockade, and acted entirely on the defensive. Before General Sherman arrived, the garrison had en- gaged the enemy in a desperate conflict, and at the time of bis appearance they had been overwhelmed and driven within the fortifications of the place. The fight continued but a short time after the opportune arrival of the regu- lars, though while it did the General took an active part among the men. His presence had much to do with keep- ing up their spirits. The enemy soon exhibited signs of discomfiture. Irnme iiately upon the receipt of information that the enemy AXD HIS CAMPAIGNS. 355 was in this neighborhood, a strong body of infantry re- enforcements was ordered from Memphis to the scene of operations. At the same time the cavalry, encamped at Germantown, were ordered to mount and move out. A force also demonstrated from the east. On October 21st, the Union forces moving eastward from Corinth met with resistance near Cherokee Station, eighty- nine miles from Tuscumbia. General Osterhaus was in the advance, and had not moved far when he encountered two brigades of rebel cavalry, estimated at from four to six thousand. The fight lasted an hour, when the rebels were defeated. General Sherman, finding that to advance along the rail- road would only lead to continual fighting and delay, kept a small force moving by that direction, while he marched the main body north of the Tennessee River, and thus reached Chattanooga without any serious opposition, as the rebels had concentrated their forces to resist his ad- vance by the route south of that stream. Meanwhile General Grant moved up the Mississippi River to Cairo, and as he did so, he paid a short visit to all the military posts along that river. He telegraphed his arrival at each of these places to the head-quarters of the General-in-Chief at Washington, and the Secretary of War started to meet him on the route. When General Grant arrived at Indianapolis, he found that a telegram was there awaiting him at the depot, requesting him to delay his further journey until the arrival of that official. It was not long before they met, and as soon as the Secretary of War and General Grant had passed the usual compliments between gentlemen on their first personal acquaintance, the former handed the latter the following order: 356 fcrEXEKAL GRANT WAS DEPARTMENT, ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE, ) WASHINGTON, October 16, 1863. J [General Orders, No. 337.] By direction of the President of the United States, the Departments of the Ohio, of the Cumberland, and of the Tennessee, will constitute the Military Division of the Mississippi. Major-General U. S. Grant, United States army, is placed in command of the Military Division of the Mississippi, with his head-quarters in the field. Major-General W. S. Rosecrans, U. S. Vols., is relieved from the com- mand of the Department and Army of the Cumberland. Major-General G. H. Thomas is hereby assigned to that command. By order of the Secretary of War. E. D. TOWNSEND, A. A.-G. The party then proceeded, with their special attendants, to Louisville, where their arrival created intense excite- ment. They found a wondering crowd gathered in the hall of the Gait House to catch a glimpse of the hero of Vicksburg. Numerous were the exclamations of wonder as General Grant made his appearance. There seemed to have been an impression that the General was above the ordinary stature of men. "I thought he was a large man," said a native. "He would be considered a small chance of a fighter if he lived in Kentucky." The medium sized frame of the General formed a strange contrast to the huge figures of the Kentuckiaus who swarmed to behold him. During the afternoon, General Grant indulged in a ride on horseback around the town. He was still unable to walk without his cane and crutch, but managed to ride quite well. Even then, in his feeble condition, it would have required a strong effort on the part of fe horse to unseat him. The condition of the region of country over which General Grant was now to exercise superintendence, was AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 857 such as to require immediate action ; and notwithstand- ing his crippled condition, he at once assumed his new command, announcing the same in the following simple order : HEAD-QUARTERS MILITARY DIVISION OF THE MISSISSIPPI, ) LOUISVILLE, Ky., October 18, 1863. ) [General Orders, No. 1.] In compliance with General Orders, No. 337, of date Washington, D. C., October 16th, 1863, the undersigned hereby assumes command of the " Military Division of the Mississippi, embracing the departments of the Ohio, of the Cumberland, and of the Tennessee." The head-quarters of the Military Division of the Mississippi will be in the field, where all reports and returns required by army regulations and existing orders will be made. U. S. GRANT, Major- General. The new command of General Grant was one of the most stupendous ever held by a General, below the grade of a General-in-Chief, in this or any other nation. It cov- ered a larger area and controlled a greater number of troops than had previously been massed under one man. The Military Division of the Mississippi embraced the cen- tral zone of operations, and the nature of the territory be- longing thereto rendered it absolutely essential that one mind should direct its movements. The necessity for proper co-operation alone made this imperative. General Grant now had under his direction four of the largest armies in the field. His own army, with which he won the victories in and around Vicksburg, and through- out Mississippi ; the " Army of the Cumberland ;" the " Army of the Ohio," and General Hooker's Grand Divi- sion. Under him were a perfect galaxy of Marshals. His army commanders were Generals Sherman, Thomas, Burn- side, and Hooker. (General Foster's column was after wards added.) His corps commanders were as follows : The Fourth Army Corps, General Granger ; the Ninth Army Corps, General Potter ; the Eleventh Army Corps, 358 GENEKAL GKANT General Howard ; the Twelfth Army Corps, General Slo cum ; the Fourteenth Array Corps, General Palmer ; the Fifteenth Army Corps, General J. A. Logan ; the Six- teenth Army Corps, General Hurlbut ; the Seventeenth Army Corps, General McPherson ; and the Twenty-third Army Corps, General Manson. His division and brigade leaders were not inferior, while the regiments were of the best fighting material in the world. The country embraced within the limits of this new command included the States of Michigan, Illinois, Indi- ana, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Northern Alabama and Northwestern Georgia. One glance at the map will therefore show what comprised General Grant's Military Division of the Mississippi. The opposing forces were not less grand in their consti- tution. General Bragg's army embraced his own veteran troops, and to that army were added Longstreet's and Hill's Corps from the Virginia rebel army. General Pein- berton's army, which were said to be exchanged, were with Bragg. Joe Johnston had a co-operating force of 30,000 men, in addition to which there was a small rebel force in Mississippi, consisting of one brigade of infantry at Newton Station, on the Southern Road, and a cavalry division of from 5,000 to 6,000, operating between Jack- son and the Big Black, under General S. D. Lee. The rebels, however, began to dread the approaching campaign, as is evident from the following extract from one of their newspapers, published in Atlanta : The Yankee Army of the Cumberland holds the door to lower East Tennessee, and this door we must leave open. * * * If we continue to gaze listlessly from the bold knobs of Missionary Ridge upon the com- fortable barracks of the Federals below, then may we tremble for the next campaign ; for, as sure as there is any surety in the future, the ASTD HIS CAMPAIGN!*. S. r spring of 1864 must see us far from the borders of Georgia, or near to the verge of destruction. Nail it to your door-posts, men of the South, and refuse to bo deluded into any other belief ! Food and raiment are our needs. "We must have them. Kentucky and Middle Tennessee can only supply them. Better give up the seacoast, better give up the Southwes^ aye, better to give up Richmond without a struggle, and win these, than lns> the golden field, wlwse grain and wool are, our sole hope. The enemy has just one army too many in the field for us. We must crush this over- plus ; we must gain one signal Stonewall Jackson campaign. Destiny points to the very place. Be Rosecrans the victim. Defeat him, pul- verize him, run him to the Ohio River, and then close the war with the next summer. And how ? Nothing easier. The bee which has really stung our flank so long, once disposed of, our triumphant legions have a clear road before them. Fed sumptuously through the winter, well shod and clad, they have only to meet a dispirited foe, retake the valley of the Mississippi, secure the election of a peace democrat to the Presi- dency in the fall, and arrange the terms of treaty and independence. These results can be accomplished nowhere else than in this depart- ment. The Northwest is our real adversary.* The readers of this chapter will see the position of af- fairs when General Grant assumed his new command. It must, however, not be forgotten that he had under him the troops that had been sorely defeated at Chickamauga, ai d were at that time shut up in Chattanooga by a besiegiu,: force of the rebels. The enemy believed that they HIS CAMPAIGNS. 361 us dead. They know we have been, and are being largely re- enforced, and fear a flank movement, similar to that which gave Rosecrans pos- session of Chattanooga. This is a synopsis of the situation. The de- tails, so far as relates to our side of the house, ahout which I am only expected to know, are far less cheering. By the Anderson road (north of the Tennessee), from Bridgeport to Chattanooga the distance is something like sixty miles, and since the heavy rains of the past week, the entire route is dismal beyond execra- tion. Mules stage through twenty-five or thirty miles of almost un- fathomable mud, toil up and over a mountain Walden's Ridge where a single misstep would insure their exit from life over a frightful pre- cipice, grinding along, over enormous boulders and jagged rocks, through more mud, to the muddy banks of the river at Chattanooga. A thousand pounds of provisions or forage were an extraordinary load for the best of six mule teams on their trial trips over this route ; but now it is positive inhumanity to ask half that work of the jaded, half- starved brutes. Yet all the supplies must come by this route, and every animal able to stagger under a burthen, must be kept on the move. Trains, once the pride and boast of proprietary quartermasters, have dwindled away ; wagon after wagon worn out, or destroyed by Wheeler's raiders, till the transportation of the army is not half what it was, or one- quarter what it should be ; and, unless we shah 1 be able to navigate the river soon, want stares us in the face. Half rations for troops will suffice for a time ; quarter rations, now darkly hinted, is rather " crowding the mourners," the troops say. A very patient and meek mule can, exist on two or three pounds of corn per day; but wagon boxes, -dry leaves, and woollen blankets, with harness for relish, are not conducive to mule health, strength, and longevity. Angular skeletons of artillery horses rattle past my quarters toward the Tennessee Heaven be thanked there is plenty of water while I write this, and within my range of vision, up and down the main street are numbers of weak and trem- bling horse " frames," glandered and starving, staggering about in search of a convenient spot to die. The mortality among these innocents is frightful to contemplate. Their corpses line the road, and taint the air, all along the Bridgeport route. In these days, hereabouts, it is within the scope of the most obtuse to distinguish a quartermaster or staff officer, by a casual glance at the animal he strides. " He has the fatness of twenty horses upoa his ribs," as Squeers remarked of little Wackford; "and so he has God help the others." 16 GENERAL GRANT I am assured this state of things will not last long ; that hordes of men are energetically at work improving our means of communication, and that we soon shall be benefited by the overflowing plenty of the North. The vigor and good spirits of the army all this time are de- veloped in a most astonishing manner. Major-General Grant, who presides over the destinies of this, amongst other armies, reached Chattanooga to-day. He was accompanied by Quartermaster-General Meigs, and Mr. Dana, of the "War Department. who now returns after a short absence. They have come back, per- haps, to witness operations at the front, which their superior knowledge of the situation may lead them to expect. If I should write what I know of the whereabouts and movements of the troops, above and below us, on the Tennessee River, and elsewhere, all aiming at that grand object, tho overthrow of "this accursed rebellion," I would, no doubt, be arrested for dealing in contraband news. Luckily, I know so little about Burnside, General Joe Hooker, and the rest, that it requires but little effort to keep my pencil quiet. They are in their proper places, however. General Grant probably knows where they are, and what they are doing ; the enemy will find out when the thing is fully developed. One of Wheel- er's couriers was captured the other day, with that chieftain's written reply to a dispatch from General Braxton Bragg, ordering the raider back into Middle Tennessee. Wheeler said it was utterly impossible for him to go back, on account of his impoverished and worn-out con- dition. His command would not hold together. (He said nothing about the Union troopers, who were following him up in vast force.) He also whined considerably about the difficulty in escaping across the Tennessee to the South. He was prevented, he said, by " Lee's Fed- eral Jayhawkers." How Grant's cavalry could bother the rebels in Southern Tennessee, was something the raider couldn't understand.* General Grant no sooner made his appearance at Chat- tanooga, than a change was at once set about in the situa- tion of affairs. He had left directions for the management of the raiders, with the corps and district commanders out* side of that position, and he, therefore, was at liberty to direct his personal attention to the re-opening of commu- nications, by proper routes, with his depots of supplies. * Army Correspondence. AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 363 After the battles of Chickamauga, the post on Lookout Mountain was abandoned by the Union troops, and was immediately taken possession of by the rebels. From this point the rebels were enabled to shell the supply trains moving along the valley route towards Chattanooga from Bridgeport. From this cause the Union troops were com- pelled to take their supplies along the mountain roads, de- scribed in the foregoing correspondence. To reopen the valley route was General Grant's primary and most important design. He, therefore, while at Nash- ville communicated his plans to General Hooker, and when he arrived at Chattanooga, he, with the assistance of his chief-engineer, Brigadier-General W. F. Smith, at once set about the' work. The following correspondence will show what was accomplished during this movement : CHATTANOOGA, October 28, 1863. The reoccupation of Lookout and the reopening of the " Southern line" to Bridgeport has for some time been the chief aim of strategists in this department. A movement of Major-General Hooker's troops from opposite Bridgeport, along the south bank of the Tennessee, through Shellmound and Whiteside, commenced a week ago.* A large additional force, under Major-General Palmer spared from the army without weakening our lines joined Hooker on the march up Lookout Valley, and the combined forces effected a junction with Brigadier-Gen- eral Hazen's command last night, near the foot of Lookout. The valley route to Bridgeport is now ours, and I am led to believe that move- ments in progress will give us possession of the mountain itself, and perhaps force an evacuation by Bragg's whole army ere many weeks are gone. 1 am, at present, unable to write particularly of the preliminary move- ments by the forces under General Hooker's immediate command ; but I am able to describe the hazardous expedition of the co-operating forces from this end of the line with all the accuracy of an eye-witness. Fourteen hundred men were, on Monday night, October 26th, picked * While General Grant was at Nashville. 364 GENERAL GRANT from Brigadier-General "W. B. Hazen's Brigade, Fourth Army Corps, and ordered to report at the pontoon bridge, Chattanooga, at midnight. The selection of General Hazen and his troops for the expedition was due to a reputation they had long since established for dash and daring, and the brilliant result proves it a well-founded one. So well had the ecret been kept that not one of the fourteen hundred braves, aside from the General and staff, knew where they were going, as they step- ped into the pontoon boats which had been provided for them. The expedition filled fifty-six boats, an average of twenty-five men to a Chattanooga built pontoon. Soon after the embarkation, when they had floated through the gap in the bridge arranged for their passage, the men of the expedition began to understand their situation and to dis- cover the object of their midnight excursion. They were to run past the rebel batteries and sharpshooters on Lookout, and effect a landing at Brown's Ferry, eight miles below, by the river line. The moon was shining bright, but occasionally overcast by drifting clouds, and it seemed impossible to pass the frowning batteries of Lookout without discovery. At half-past one o'clock the advance guard boat, reached Chattanooga Creek, three miles below the starting point and the extreme outpost of our lines. Here a halt was made to concentrate the forces, and the General's watch marked half-past two before the final start was made. Oars were now discarded, and, hugging to the right bank, creep- ing along under its shadows, the boats reached the front of Lookout Brave men held their breath, every eye was fixed upon the mountain, and not a muscle moved as we approached the dangerous point. Rebel camp fires could be seen far up the dark mountain side, their signal torches working slowly, but incessantly, with now and then a stave from some secession air, drowsily sung by the rebel pickets. Not a shot or an alarm as yet, and the men breathed a little freer as the mountain was passed, and we emerged from its shadow into the modified dark- ness of the valley below. The force was now divided, the First Division, comprising half the force, landing at Brown's Ferry, about one and a half miles below Lookout. A rebel cavalry picket was surprised here and fled, closely pursued, up the road, after exchanging a few shots. The second detach- ment landed at the foot of a ridge bordering the river, at a point two miles below Brown's Ferry. The ridge, slippery and almost inaccessi- ble, towered three hundred feet above the level of the river ; but the brave men of the expedition, under the wild excitement of the move- ment and the situation, pushed up the steep declivity almost at a run AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 365 A. rebel picket post on the crest of the ridge was scattered by a volley and a yell, and the first point was gained. Two days before four rebel regiments were stationed in the valley behind this ridge, at the foot of Raccoon Mountain, and an attack was to be expected from them. The sequel proved they had been relieved on Monday, and the force now occupying the camp consisted of two strange regiments, with three pieces of artillery. This force moved along the rear of the ridge and attacked the First Division of the expedition, which had landed at Brown's Ferry. Their superior numbers forced the troops back to the landing, and the rebels planted guns in position to sweep the road to the ferry. It was now four o'clock in the morning, and movements could be distinguished in the gray light of dawn. The cannonading by the rebel battery worked no damage. Not a man was hurt. General Hazen threw out skirmishers, and a brisk fight ensued. The attacking force of rebels was finally driven back in the direction of Lookout Mountain and up its steep sides, while, under cover of a battery on the Union or north side of the Tennessee. Turchin's Brigade, under Brigadier-General Smith, Engineer Corps, crossed on pontoons to the support of Uazen. Being now firmly established, scouting parties were sent out, and the country once more pasced into the possession of the United States. The rebels from a battery half way up tho mountain, kept up a desultory fire till ten o'clock in the forenoon. Our position was secure, and camps were established on the ridge. A foraging party, on an excursion into the country thereabouts, discovered mines of for- age, which was particularly acceptable to the then impoverished Union troops.* The operations of General Hooker's column are thus described by a participant : IN THE FIELD, LOOKOUT YALLET, ) October 29, 1863. J On the morning of October 26th, we left Bridgeport, Ala., by crossing a pontoon at that place, and moving forward to Shell Mount. The next day at daylight we moved forward to and through Lookout Yalley, at a point adjacent to where the roads fork the one going to, and being called the Chattanooga road, and the other Brown's Ferry. Here the enemy made a short stand, but was soon driven from this position. Tho enemy was posted on a high and commanding elevation. * Army Correspsondence. 366 GENERAL GEANT Our troops moved forward, in lino, to the right and left of the hill, and when there was an evidence that the enemy would be surrounded, the latter retreated, in double-quick time, and fell back across Lookout Creek, where he was supported by a reserve rebel force. In moving along the enemy appeared upon our right, on the Lookout Mountain ridge as we moved parallel to it. The enemy opened upon our forces, moving in column, from Point Lookout, but did not succeed in checking the progress of the troops. The rebel signal officers, too, in plain sight, but far above us, pursued their business, and seemed to run along on a ridge, signalling with a view to attract our attention. This signalling continued thus for several miles, and until our forces got fully abreast of Point Lookout, &c. It must have been exceedingly annoying to the rebels to see our long line wind its way in and out of the woods and on the road unbroken and at a steady march, notwith- standing the fire from his high posted guns. Of course, at certain times there were many narrow escapes. Shells constantly burst to the right and left of the road (which lies almost at the base of the mountain), but few on it. The orderly passage of the troops under this fire reflected much credit on the commanders of all grades. The enemy attempted to destroy our trains, but signally failed even in this. This species of shelling was continued upon our line for several hours, and even until dark, but without inflicting any injury of consequence. So close at one time was one portion the Union troops, that the enemy threw percus- sion shells by hand off the mountain, and they exploded almost in our midst. The morning of the 28th opened with a clear, bright, beautiful moon- light, the scenery on every side traced in dark sombre on the back ground of the sky. High, towering mountains the Raccoon Mountain on one side and the Lookout Mountain on the other and the valley diversified by open fields and small clumps of woods, formed a curious picture. On Lookout Mountain bright fires burned, and told us too plainly where to look for the enemy and his signal officers. Our camp fires burned brightly, and our line lay on a parallel with what was the enemy's on the day previous. Two divisions were encamped on the left or front of our line. Another division, General Geary's, was in bivouac, about one mile and a half from the other two divisions. Between the two sections of the command the enemy held a position on the Chatta- nooga road proper, as also on the railroad. In brief, the enemy Lad a force, in a gap between the base of the point of Lookout Mountain, along the river on the flats and some hills, partially situated in our rear. AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 367 Suddenly the Union troops were aroused by the heavy firing in the direction of General Geary'3 Division. At once preparation was made for a general engagement. The troops were soon in column, and the trains and ambulances got in readiness for the emergency. As they pressed forward on the road to join General Geary, the enemy opened a heavy fire of musketry from a high hill close to their line of advance. At once our commanding generals comprehended the state of affairs. The enemy had intended their movement to be a surprise ; and one with a view to the probable surrounding and possible capture of Geary's force. From prisoners taken during the fight that ensued, we learned that General Longstreet, on beholding our column move up the Lookout Valley toward Chattanooga, quietly massed two divisions on Lookout Mountain, and moved them up to and across Lookout Creek, with a view to the carry- ing out of the plan of his surprise movement. About eight P. M. he moved his division across the creek. One division passed on to the Chattanooga road and occupied two hills commanding the road, on a parallel, leading to Brown's Ferry. The other division passed down the railroad, and from there on to the Chattanooga road, below the fork. The rebels had intrenched themselves on the hill, and from their works had opened fire upon the Union command ; but this did not delay the advance of the re-enforcements, which pushed along under fire through an open space or field to the right of the front of the hills. While this command was pressing forward, a second division waa moved up on the road, and a courier sent to inform General Geary of the near approach of assistance. An order was now given to take the hill, and the second division waa assigned to the task. The advance was commenced and the enemy poured down a heavy fire of musketry. Slowly the men went up the hill, the ascent of which was so steep that it was as much as a man could do to get to the top in peaceful times, and with the help of day light. This hill was covered with briar bushes, fallen trees, and tangling masses of various descriptions, but our boys pressed forward in spite of all obstructions. The whole division at last gave a sudden start forward and gained the crest of the hill. The enemy's line wavered and broke, and the rebels composing it went down the other side of the hill with broken, flying, and disordered ranks. On gaining the crest our men found that they had not only driven the enemy off, but had taken some tolerably well-constructed earthworks, behind which the rebels had posted themselves. It was then ascertained, too, that the hill had been occupied by about two thousand rebels. The success and the gallantry 368 GEXEBAJL GRANT with which the height was taken elicited general commendation to the skill and bravery of the troops and their commanding officers. Soon after this a detachment from another division took the nest hill to the right without much resistance. The enemy continued a scattering fire for some time after the hills were taken, but finally ceased troubling us. In the mean time, General Geary had bravely resisted the rebel attack, and after two hours' hard fighting the enemy retreated, without mak ing Geary's line to waver or fall back a foot. Almost every horse in one section of artillery was shot dead. The enemy retired across the rail- road, and from there to the other side of the creek.* The success of this movement of General Grant's forces was very annoying to the rebels, as may be judged from the following extract from one of their journals : The movements of the enemy at Chattanooga are still uncertain, Whether the occupation of Lookout Mountain indicates an advance, or is, like the last crossing of the 'Rappahannock at Fredericksburg by Sedgwick's Corps, merely a feint to cover a retreat, has not yet trans- pired ; but when considered in connection with the reported retreat from Loudon, and its occupation by our forces, we are inclined to believe that Grant is preparing a " change of base" from East Tennes- see to some point more accessible for supplies. This supposition be- comes more probable wben it is remembered that from Lookout Valley to Bridgeport his retreat could be more expeditiously made than from Chattanooga. But whether for advance or retreat this occupation of Lookout Valley is of importance. If for the former, it demonstrates that the enemy have recovered from their defeat at Chickamauga, and taken the initiative, al- ways one of importance hi military movements. It may be useless to inquire why the enemy were permitted to regain strength, morale, and organization, and begin offensive movements, in the immediate front, under the very nose of General Bragg. The vanquished, flying enemy, whom General Bragg reported to be " pursued by our cavalry," have turned upon the pursuers and have occupied a threatening position upon the flank of the victors. The enemy were outfought at Chickamauga, thanks to the army, but the present position of affairs looks as though * New York Herald correspondence. AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 369 we had been outgeneraled at Chattanooga. We hope these, our appre- hensions, may turn out groundless, and that the strategy of General Bragg may prove equal to the prowess and gallantry of his army ; but we must confess that the country will be as much surprised as pleased should success attend our arms at Chattanooga. If the occupation of Lookout Valley by the enemy has been made to cover a retreat, an opportunity for energy, strategy, and perseverance, will be afforded General Bragg, which if promptly embraced and efficiently pursued, will do much to reinstate him in the confidence of the army and the country. As the risk is to be taken under General Bragg, we hope that every oflQcer and private will exert his utmost endeavors to aid the General in overwhelming the enemy. Whether General Grant intends to advance or is preparing to retreat from Chattanooga, he must be defeated either on the south side of the Tennessee or on his retreat to NashviUe. The approaching winter warns both o/rmies that their present positions may be their mutual destruction, and the spring of 1864 open on the wasted and ruined remnants of both. The railroad from " Bridgeport to Jaspar," if not as unreal and unsub- stantial as the taking of Lookout Mountain by the enemy, may solve the difficulty of Grant remaining in Chattanooga for the winter. Thus, from the contradictory and unreconcilable reports of move- ments, it is impossible to ascertain any thing definite and certain as re- gards the situation at Chattanooga. Our readers must exercise patience and hope for the best.* General Grant had, however, no intention of retreating. About this tune the rebel President paid a visit to Bragg's army, to ascertain the true condition of affairs, and it is reported that the following scene occurred on the summit of Lookout Moutain : Looking down one bright day from the lofty eminence commanding a clear view into four States, and a very dis- tant view into a fifth, Davis saw Grant's army almost be- neath his feet, across the valley, working like beavers on their fortifications. " I have them now," said he, " in just the trap I set for them." * Richmond Enquirer, November 6th, 1863. 16* 370 GENERAL GBANT To which Lieutenant-General Pemberton, who was sit- ting on horseback beside him, replied, " Mr. Davis, you are Commander-hi-Chief, and you are here. You think the enemy are in a trap, and can be captured by vigorous assault. I have been blamed for not having ordered a general attack on the enemy when they were drawing around me their lines of circumvallation at Vicksburg. Do you now order an attack upon those troops down there be- low us, and I will set you my life that not one G d d d man of the attacking column will ever come back across that valley, except as a prisoner." AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 371 CHAPTER XLVIH. LONGSTREET'S ADVANCE UPON KNOOCVTLLE. brilliant success of these operations relieved Chat tanooga of the prospective danger of starvation, and Gene- ral Grant found time to prepare for his movements upon the enemy in his front. Stores of all kinds began to make their way into storehouse, and daily parades and drills took place in front of the works, within view of the rebel pickets and sentries. Every thing had settled down into its quiet routine, and even the generals appeared at their ease. A private letter from a resident of Chattanooga had the following paragraph descriptive of this serenity : General Grant, who has almost recovered his strength, occupies a de- lightful Chattanooga residence, and, with his briarwood pipe, walks to and fro up the streets of the town, unattended, many times unobserved, but at att times observing. Quartermaster- General Meigs has taken to a wall tent, from a regard for the fitness of things. His head-quarters are in the field, and soldiers in the field inhabit tents. Generals Thomas and Gordon Granger are workers, and are preparing their grand machine for the next campaign, their consultations often extending far into the night. But in the midst of this quiet lay a slumbering volcano, General Grant had determined he would have no ene- mies around him to report his movements to the rebels or to interfere with his plans ; therefore, previous -to his making any advance upon the rebel positions, he issued the following order : 872 GENERAL GRANT HEAD-QUARTERS, MILITARY DIVISION OP THE MISSISSIPPI, ) IN THE FIELD. CHATTANOOGA, TENN., Nov. 5, 1863. ) [General Orders, No. 4.] The habit of raiding parties of rebel cavalry visiting towns, villages, and farms where there are no Federal forces, and pillaging Union fami- lies, having become prevalent, department commanders will take im- mediate steps to stop the evil, or make the loss by such raids fall upon secessionists and secession sympathizers in the neighborhood where such acts are committed. For every act of violence to the person of an unarmed Union citizen, a secessionist will be arrested and held as hostage for the delivery of the offender. For every dollar's worth of property taken from such citizens, or destroyed by raiders, an assessment will be made upon secessionists of the neighborhood, and collected by the nearest military forces, under the supervision of the commander thereof, and the amount thus collected paid over to the sufferers. When such assessments cannot be collected in money, property useful to the government may be taken at a fair valuation, and the amount paid in money by a disbursing officer of the government, who will take such property upon his returns. "Wealthy secession citizens will be assessed in money and provisions for the support of Union refugees who have been and may be driven from their homes and into our lines by the acts of those with whom secession citizens are in sympathy. All collections and payments under this order will be through disbursing officers of the government, whose accounts must show all money and property received under it, and how disposed of. By order of Major-General U. S. GRANT. T. S. BOWERS, A. A.-G. This order he carried out to the letter when the oppor- tunity offered. About the middle of November the head of General Sher- man's column arrived at Chattanooga and formed a junc- tion with the forces under General Thomas, on the right of the main army. * * Shortly before the time that General Sherman joined Gene- ral Grant, the rebel General Longstreet made several at- tempts to flank the Union position several miles to the east- ward of Chattanooga, with the intention of advancing into Tennessee and capturing Knoxville. The advanced forces of AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 378 the Army of Eastern Tennessee had heretofore resisted Long- street's movement at the crossing of the Little Tennessee River ; but after General Burnside had communicated with General Grant, Longstreet was allowed to advance upon Knoxville, the Union troops impeding his march as much as possible, and drawing him on with a show of resistance. The feint was well planned and finely carried out. On the 14th of November,General Longstreet, after cross- ing the Little Tennessee River, was attacked by a force of General Burnside's Union troops, who drove the rebel advance guard back upon their reserves, which were sta- tioned at about a mile north of the river bank. The Union troops then retreated, while the rebels crossed their whole force and moved toward Marysville. The Unionists then fell back upon Lenoir, as if to hold the railroad at that place. Three times the rebels assaulted that position on November 15th without success; but the next morning the Union troops evacuated it and retreated to Campbell's Station. H^re they again made a stand, and a fight ensued lasting from before noon until dark. This detention of the rebels enabled the Unionists to secure their trains, which they sent within the defences of Knoxville. The Union troops once more fell back, stopped and repeated tiieir resistance to the enemy, and after a fight again retreated in good order, until, on the 19th of November, Longstreet's rebel forces were before the city of Knoxville, which they began to invest the Union troops being all safely within the defences. General Grant was duly advised of the position of affairs, and with his " we have them now where we want them," he prepared to move on the enemy's works. A plan had been made, by the commanding General, to raise the siege of Chattanooga and get possession of Look- out Mountain. This plan was submitted to his general 374 GENERAL GKANT officers by the General himself, and finally adopted. An examination of the enemy's line showed clearly that he had deliberately exposed himself to great danger. He had al- lowed a large portion ol Ms army to go into East Tennes- see, and he extended the remainder of his forces into lines almost as thin as a spider's thread. His exterior line upon Mission Ridge was something near seven miles in extent, while his inner lines of rifle pits and similar defences run- ning through the valleys were not less than five miles long. There were upon the line two points of importance to him ; the first, Missionary Ridge, being the key to his position, and Lookout Mountain, an elevation valuable to Bragg as a barrier to the purposes of the Union troops. It was sup- posed the enemy would defend the former with vigor, as the latter could be held by a small force. General Grant was of the opinion, that by attacking his flanks vigorously, in order to force him to keep his line lengthened, and thus weakened, it would afford the Union troops a favor- able opportunity to test the strength of thte centre. It was therefore decided that General Sherman, with three divisions of his own army, and General Davis, of Palmer's Corps, should move north of the river, to a point oppo- site the mouth of the Chickamauga, and at an early hour on the following morning throw a pontoon bridge across the Tennessee, and, under cover of artillery, cross and carry the heights of Missionary Ridge as far, at least, as Tunnel Hill. On the left rebel flank, General Hooker was to operate with three divisions, his primary object being to hold the rebels there, but authorized, in case of an opportunity presenting itself, to take pose^sion of Lookout Mountain. In the centre, General Thomas was ordered to hold Granger and Palmer's Corps well in hand, to await an opportunity to strike at the centre, whenever in the opinion of General Grant the auspicious moment presented itself. General O. O. How- AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 376 ard's Corps was to be moved to the north side of the river, so as to aid either Sherman or the centre. But subsequently, at the suggestion of General Thomas, Howard was crossed into Chattanooga, and held as a movable column in reserve. Such was the general plan of operations, subject, of course, to such modifications as the movements of the enemy might necessitate. This plan was to have been put in execution on Saturday, November 21st, almost immediately after General Grant had ascertained that Longstreet was before Knoxville ; but General Sherman failed to get into position on Friday, his delay being caused by heavy rains and the partial destruc- tion of the pontoon bridges by rafts floated down the river by the rebels. Indeed, he was prevented from getting up until the night of Monday, and only reported himself ready for his work on Tuesday morning. On Monday, however, a trivial circumstance brought about a development of interest, and which, without changing the plan in the least, rather advanced it and increased the chances of success. 376 GENERAL GRANT CHAPTER XLIX. THE BATTLES BEFORE CHATTANOOGA. FIRST DAT. SHORTLY before noon on the morning of Monday, No- vember 23d, 1863, the order for the preliminary advance of General Grant's forces was promulgated at head-quarters, and the troops advanced as if on parade. The rebels pass- ively watched the movements of the Union forces under the impression that they were engaged in a review, and they were not undeceived until it was too late to remedy the evil. The battles occupied several days and resulted in a complete victory for the Union forces. The details of this important contest are thus given by one who witnessed the whole action : Reports had come in during the morning of Monday that the enemy was evacuating the ridge in our front. On examination it was found that they were engaged in some kind of movement, and about noon General Thomas determined upon a reconnoissance to learn the meaning of his manoeuvres, and also for developing his right, it being a matter of con- siderable interest, in view of Sherman's movements, to know how strongly Bragg was posted on the ridge about the tunnel. General Wood's Division was selected to make the reconnoissance, and at one o'clock he had moved his three brigades into line in an open field east ol the city, and immediately under the siege guns of Fort "Wood. General Howard's Corps having crossed the river from Lookout Valley, deployed into line as a reserve, while General Sheridan, of Granger's Corps, and the troops of the Fourteenth Corps, General Palmer, were drawn up in line in case of a necessity arising for them. General Palmer also showed himself threateningly down the valley of Chattanooga Creek, making his advance well beyond Dobb's house. "Wood's route, as AND HIS CAMPAIGNS 377 chosen, was to be to the left of the road to Blackford's house on Mis- sion Ridge ; but the force headed for two prominent hills a little to the north of this road, and the right hardly rested on the Blackford road when the day was over. I have mentioned two prominent peaks or hills in "Wood's front. These are exactly one mile from Fort Wood, and lie west of Citico Creek, a little stream running between this small ridge and Mission Ridge. The principal of these peaks is called by the citizens "Orchard Knob," and the rebels had used it as a redoubt hi their outer line. The ap- proach to it was down and across an open slope from Fort "Wood and then across a heavily-wooded plain. General Wood began his move- ment down this slope, and across this plain at half-past one p. M. At the moment "Wood began to move, General Granger ordered the siege guns in Fort Wood to open on the enemy's first position, ana immedi- ately the black monsters bellowed a hoarse challenge to the enemy, vho now began to appear on Missionary Ridge in quite a strong force, as also in the valley below and toward us. Wood moved forward in admirable style, his skirmishers driving in the strong picket line of the enemy with ease. Through the open field the line moved unwaver- ingly, and not with undue haste, as if seeking to gain the cover of the woods in their front, but in the style of veterans proud of their leader ; and, knowing that/rom the ramparts of Fort Wood they were watched by Generals Grant, Thomas, Granger, and Hmvard, each seemed to feel that he was part of a scene which, even in this warlike age, has been seldom witnessed. There was no straggling. There were none who seemed so poor and spiritless as to straggle in the presence of men who had led at Vicksburg and Chickamauga, or of troops that had stood at Gettysburg. So, when they disappeared hi the woods at the bottom of the hill, and their position became revealed only by the smoke of battle, which rose above the tree tops and drifted away toward Mission Ridge, a general buzz of admiration went up from the spectators in the fort, and extended to the more distinguished heroes of Vicksburg and Chickamauga. On entering the woods the advancing line became quite warmly engaged, and at a quarter of two o'clock a very brisk musketry fire enveloped the whole of Wood's front. The enemy was found posted behind rather rude but good rifle-pits, and in strong force. But, though they got in upon Wood a heavy and quite destructive fire, it did not for a moment halt him. On reaching the foot of Orchard Knob he ordered a charge, and with & cheer the men went at it, pushed up the Knob in admirable order, while the rest took the rifle-pits, driving the enemy out hi confusioiu 378 GENERAL GRANT and securing one Hundred and fifty men and nine officers of an Alabama regiment. Another force gallantly assaulted and carried the ridge to the right of Orchard Knob, driving the rebels from their pits on the summit. Although now far advanced toward the enemy's line of works on the ridge, General Wood found his flanks entirely unmolested. He discov- ered the position taken to be a very strong one, easily held, in short cannon range of the enemy's camps along Citico Creek, and within reach of the heavy line established by them on the summit of Mission Ridge ; and finding, after some time, that the enemy remained quiet, Wood re- ported the fact to General Granger, who, on orders from General Thomas, instructed Wood to intrench himself, and at the same time sent word he would protect his flanks. In order to support Wood in this situation, General Thomas ordered General Howard, with his two divisions, to move from his position as reserve behind Wood, and to go into line on Citico Creek, closing his right well upon Wood's left, and retiring the left of the corps. He got into position without much fighting, other than some pretty heavy skir- mish ing with a small force of rebels in a second line of rifle-pits beyond Citico Creek. Approaching these pits hi front, General Howard found their occupants prepared, and disposed to make a strong resistance. In order to avoid a bloody affair, General Granger sent a brigade, of Wood's Division, hitherto in reserve, through some woods to the right of the rebel works. The enemy, finding himself thus flanked, and at the same time heavily pressed by Howard, hastily fled to the stronger position at the foot of the mountain. Simultaneously with Howard's movement General Sheridan's Division Granger's Corps was moved forward to support Wood's right, and went into position hi echelon on the left without any fighting. The enemy, finding that our men were intrenching themselves on Orchard Knob, began about five o'clock a vigorous shelling of that point. Al- though this was kept up from three batteries until darkness had set in, no damage was done. During the night the position taken by Wood and the forces which came up to support him, right and left, was materially strengthened by building rough rifle-pits a few yards in front of those of the rebels which had been taken. A battery was moved forward from Fort Wood and posted on Orchard Knob, where it remained during the rest of the operations. There may have been other batteries on the front line at this time, but if so I did not see them. I may as well mention here AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. S79 that the heavy guns of Fort Wood took part in the throe days opera- tions, throwing heavy shells upon Mission Ridge with great accuracy. General Palmer moved during the night a portion of his corps to the left of his position during the day, and stood ready at dawn to continue his demonstrations down Chattanooga Valley, or to aid the left centre, under Granger, in an assault on the ridge. No dispositon appeared on Palmer's part to force a pathway down the valley, as this would have broken the rebel line to no purpose, as they could well afford to retire from the valley entirely in order to hold Mission Ridge. The aim of Gen- eral Grant appears to have been to weaken the rebel centre on Mission Ridge, in order that he might at once take the ridge and break their army in two. Night found the situation very slightly altered, save in the centre, where we had assumed a strong position and threatening attitude. But the rebels did not appear to be much troubled at this. They rather apprehended the movement of Sherman, which it was evident they had suspected. During the last hours of the afternoon it was seen from Orchard Knob that a long column of rebels was moving to the north, and disappearing about the more formidable hills at the tunnel or north end of Mission Ridge. It was evident that Bragg had an inkling of Sherman's purpose to cross on the ensuing morning at the mouth of the creek, and was massing against him; but whether to oppose his crossing or to hold the hill remained at that time a matter of doubt. The enemy in front of Wood allowed that enterprising officer to rest in peace during the night.* * Army Correspondence. GENERAL GEA3JT CHAPTER L. THE SECOND DAY. LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN. THE second day's operations are thus described by a correspondent with the army : Tuesday morning, November 24th, was gloomy, threatening rain, and until quite late our forces remained inactive. On the centre Granger's and Palmer's Corps maintained the silence of the night ju9t past, and only a few guns from Fort Wood disturbed the rebel centre. The day was chosen for operations on the flanks, and for that purpose Hooker and Sherman began to move quite early. It will be remembered that General Howard's Corps (the Eleventh) had crossed the river and gone into camp in Chattanooga on Sunday. On Monday he was held in reserve, and went in late in the day to sup- port General "Wood's left. On Tuesday morning his corps was selected by General Grant to open communications by the east side of the Ten- nessee River with General Sherman. It was about ten o'clock \vhen one of his divisions crossed Citico Creek, near its mouth, and began pushing northward in search of General Sherman. Finding the centre destined to remain quiet, I pushed towards the left, and found General Howard. The whole of the valley between Mission Ridge and the Tennessee River, and between Citico and Chickamauga Creeks, is one vast corn-field. Through this lay the course, of General Howard. Learning that General Sherman's position was not over two miles and a half distant, General Howard sent one of his staff on the dangerous mission of trying to find General Sherman alone. The skirmishers were thrown forward until the line became dangerously extended, and none of General Sherman's troops were found. The staff officer departed on his mission of danger; but by keeping close to the river succeeded in crossing and recrossing the gap without being captured. General Howard, on receiving his report, ordered the division to push further to tlie left, and started out to seek General Sherman. I pursued the same AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 381 route and soon found General Sherman's troops, and was standing on the unfinished pontoon bridge which General Sherman was building, when General Howard came up. The last boat of the bridge was being placed in the centre of the stream as General Howard arrived, and intro- duced himself across the slight gulf between the two. At the moment of its occurrence this was a meeting of considerable interest to me, but coming to write about it I find I cannot get up the same amount of en- thusiasm that I then felt at the reflection of these two men, representing the extreme armies of the country, meeting thus upon the same field. Sherman, on the north end of the bridge, dressed loosely, with a worn gum overcoat thrown around him, was directing the completion of the bridge ; and, as soon as the boat was put in, sprang over and shook the hand of the princely Howard. It was exactly at noon. I found on inquiry that General Sherman had at an early hour thrown a portion of one of his divisions across the river, under the protection of a battery, and subsequently the other divisions, the greater portion being crossed by the steamer Dunbar, which, captured two months ago, at Chattanooga, had been repaired, and was now serving good and loyal purposes. Immediately on arriving he had thrown up strong rifle-pits in two lines, covering the approach to the bridge and adding much strength to a naturally strong position. The troops of his corps at the hour of noon held these works and were waiting for a division of the Fourteenth Corps, to cross the river and take up position in the works. This division had been sent General Sherman in place of Osterhaus, who was acting with General Hooker, and was now being used by Shenjaan as a reserve. This division crossed the river, and went into line within the works about an hour after the meeting between Howard and Sherman. At the same moment General Sherman gave his orders to prepare for an attack. By this hour, one o'clock p. M., the drizzly rain, which had been threatening us, began to fall, and the object of the assault was soon hid from view. General Sherman stood on a prominent hill to the left of the pontoon bridge, and having succeeded, with the aid of two orderlies, and in despite of the rain, in lighting a cigar, stood puf- fing away at one end, chewing at the other, and observing all that could be seen in the country before him. Around him were gathered at this time Generals Frank Blair, Morgan L. Smith, Ewing, John "W. Corse, and Howard. The troops of the several divisions were encamped just in front of him, while on the left and rear Davis's artillery was thun- dering over the bridge. In a very quiet tone Sherman gave his ordera 382 GENERAL GRANT to form for the assault, remarking that the enemy was reported heavy in his front. The formation as ordered, was echelon on the left, Gene- ral Morgan L. Smith's Division being the left, John E. Smith the centre, and Ewing the right. The left was to keep well towards Chickamauga Creek, "and," added Sherman, "I want you to keep up the formation, 400 yards distance, until you get to the foot of the hill." " And shall we keep it after that ?" asked Ewing. " You may go up the hill," answered Sherman, " if you like, and can." General Davis having got into position, and the troops having been arranged as ordered, General Sherman gave the orders to move to the assault They were couched in very common terms, but which ought to be preserved: "I see Davis is up. I guess you may as well go on, and take the hill." In a few moments after the three columns were moving. Soldiers are very different beings under the two different circum- stances of receiving and making an attack. In the first case they are seldom or never composed, cool, and quiet. Put men behind breast- works to receive an assault, and the delay in the attack creates anxiety, which develops into mental excitement, which finds vent in noise and a certain restlessness of person. Going to the assault they are different beings. I watched carefully the columns, as they moved out to the as- sault on Tuesday, each believing that the next step brought his ad- vance against that of the enemy. The silence was painfully noticeable. A command given at one end of the corps, could be distinctly heard at the other. The men looked serious, and rather gruff, and were pain- fully quiet. They conversed with each other but seldom, and then in under tones. All appeared anxious to preserve their weapons from the rain. They moved in perfect order. But though one might fail to no- tice this, the most casual student of human nature could hardly fail to observe how serious those men were. And he would know, too, that it was not the rain which dampened their spirits. Ever and anon they would glance at the hill which they were approaching, and it was easy to see why they looked serious. Perhaps they compared the hills, in their own minds, to the Walnut Hills of Vicksburg ; but I do not think there was one man there who feared to test the question of victory or defeat there and then. But it was not destined that Tuesday should witness a conflict foi these tills. General Sherman had anticipated skirmishing before reaching the foot of the mountain, it having been reported by citizens GEN. GEORGE B. MCCLELLAN. \l GEN. PHII,. KEARNY. GEN. ALFRED PLEASANTON GEN. JOHN SEDGEWICK. AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 383 that the enemy held the position in strong force. But the foot of the bill was reached, after short delay, without any serious skirmishing, only a few shells, from Tunnel Hill, passed over our heads, and ex- ploded among the colored pioneers, who followed in the rear, doing no damage, but causing the negroes to lose all respect for orders to " close up." The enemy made no opposition to the occupation of the extreme end of tho ridge. General Sherman was in possession of this at about four o'clock p. M. It then appeared that the hills occupied were separated from Mission Ridge by a narrow valley, through which the railroad runs. The hills occupied by Sherman were three in number, and semicircu- lar in shape, bending around and north of the end of Mission Ridge. The end of the ridge is generally and very properly called Tunnel Hill. It overlooks and commands the hills of which General Sherman found himself in peaceable possession ; and on examination he found that the labor still remained to be done. A close inspection of the ground and the enemy's position determined Sherman to occupy the semicircular ridge with his centre and right, and throw his left still further to the left and in the region of Myer's mill. The division moved promptly to this position and took possession of the valley from the foot of the hills to Chickamauga River, securing at the time about one hundred rebels engaged in building rafts of fallen timber with which to destroy our pontoon bridges. An examination of the enemy's position revealed him on the top and at the foot of the next hill Tunnel Hill. On the summit he was en- gaged in strengthening a large bastion-shaped work (Fort Buckner), and was working with great vigor and a large force, as if the fort had not been previously completed. At the foot of the mountain and near the west end of the tunnel a force of about one brigade occupied and held the heavy railroad bank. General Sherman ordered the erection of defences on the ridge he had occupied, and finding he did not propose to push further during the little of daylight left him, I left his corps and proceeded to join that of General Hooker, which had been engaged all day. In ordor to carry out the proposed plan, and to keep the enemy's lines as much extended as possible, it was necessary that Hooker and Sher- man should attack the lines simultaneously. General Hooker's task was to assault Lookout Mountain, and in the event of finding a weak force holding it, or the failure of the enemy to weaken the rest of their lin 384 GENERAL GRANT in order to hold the mountain, to take possession of it. It was thought that as Tunnel Hill was of vast importance to the rebels, and Lookout of the same value to us, that they would strongly defend both. General Hooker had only one division of Slocum's Corps to make the assault with, but was re-enforced before the attack was made by a division of Sherman's Corps, and two brigades of the Fourth Corps. The rebels occupied the west side or slope of Lookout Mountain in very strong force, and also the front or spur of the mountain. It must also be*remembered that it is not a regular slope from the summit of Lookout to the foot, but that the first twenty-five or thirty feet of the descent is perpendicular rocks, or what is generally understood to be meant by " palisades." These are very high and grand, and there are but two routes by which they can be overcome. One of these is a gap twenty miles south of the river, and was held by the rebels. The other is by the road to Summertown, which is laid down upon the map. It winds up the east side of the mountain, ascending the palisades by a steep declivity and a narrow road. General Hooker's plan of operation was to get possession of this road. To do so was to gain possession of the mountain. He began his operations early on the morning of Tuesday, and by eight o'clock his column was moving up Lookout Valley, and to the surprise of the enemy on the point of the mountain, it disappeared in the forest south of Wauchatchia. But here, filing his troops to the left, General Hooker began the difficult task of the ascent of the mountain ; but meeting with no opposition he was enabled to do this in a short time. The head of the column having reached the palisades went into lino of battle facing to the north, and with the right resting against the palisades, stretched down the mountain slope. General Hooker then formed a second line of the two brigades of the Fourth Corps, which had been sent him, the remaining division forming a third line, and held in readiness to aid any part of the line which might need it. Thus arranged, the corps was ordered forward, with a heavy line of skirmishers thrown out, and, marching along the slope of the ridge, soon came upon the rear of the enemy, who, unsuspecting such a movement so absolutely opposed to all the military rules by which Bragg fights, were taken completely by surprise. Before those at the foot of the hill could comprehend the situation, the Union skirmishers had penetrated far towards the point of the mountain, and now got in a heavy fire upon the enemy, who were trying to escape up the hill, while our men assaulted them from above a most complete reverse to the late AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 385 ituation. At the same time our batteries on Moccasin Point and those of the rebels on Lookout Mountain opened a heavy fire upon each other, and soon the whole mountain was hid from view in Chattanooga by the cloud of smoke which rose above and around it. Thus taken in rear and flank, the enemy made but little organized re- sistance, but their skirmishers for a long time kept up a heavy fire from behind jutting rocks and from trees. They, however, were forced back by the heavy skirmish line under General Hooker, and the enemy on the point of the mountain gradually gave way, and fell back in some disor- der 10 the line of breastworks on the east slope of the mountain, at Car- lin's house. The Union troops then swung around until his line waa parallel with that of the enemy, and again advanced; but, met by organ- ized and well directed resistance, for a time recoiled and hesitated. It was now that the fruits of the strange movement of Hooker began to develop themselves. The Union line had moved around the spur of the mountain and on the east side with such rapidity that the enemy stationed at the foot of the hill and along the river had no time to escape, and our troops began to secure them by hundreds. Every jutting rock, every thicket of undergrowth, and many a hollow tree, on examination, disclosed their secrets in the shape of prisoners. Each regiment en- gaged seemed to have secured enough to have filled their ranks, and the provost-marshal, who appeared to take charge of them, soon found his hands full. The number thus captured, General Hooker estimated on the spot at two thousand, but on counting them it was found the exact num- ber secured was only one thousand three hundred and sixty. They rep- resented themselves to be from Stevenson's Division, and it was soon discovered that they were the unexchanged prisoners taken by Grant at Vicksburg. I have talked with several of these men since, and I have no doubt in my own mind that they conscientiously believed that they had been exchanged. Certain it is that it had been so represented to these men, and officers and men with whom I have conversed freely on the subject, express great indignation at then- own government and terror of ours. I attempted to convince these men that though our government would hold all officers who had been guilty or cognizant of this outrage to a strict accountability to the laws of nations on the sub- ject, it would at the same time be too merciful to punish those who had already been victims to the deceptions of their friends. This was con- solation to the men, who were terribly frightened at the prospect of punish- ment ; but the more intelligent of the officers seemed to fear very little the power of the government to punish them. 17 386 GENERAL GRANT An examination of the enemy's position revealed him behind very heavy and strong breastworks running diagonally across a large open field, of which Carlin's house is the centre. The works were very strong, and deep rifle-pits, and posted behind them, to the right of Carlin's house, were two pieces of light artillery. The enemy had not yet open- ed with these, but was preparing to do so as soon as our line should appear out of the woods and advancing across this open field. General Hooker, after a close examination of this position, made a new disposition of his force and began a systematic assault upon the works. Every advantage was now with the enemy, and, with re-enforcements to the extent of his losses in prisoners, he could have held the mountain against General Hooker's combined force. But the re-enforcements were not forthcoming. The weakened enemy had to contract his line to the works immediately across the field, and in doing so left his right flank exposed. Now began the heavy struggle of the day. Sending two regiments to hold the road which crosses the spur of the mountain from the east, he advanced the rest of his forces to the front line. An advance waa immediately ordered, and for an hour and a half (it was now two o'clock p. M.) a very heavy sharpshooters' fight was kept up. I cannot expect to give any clear idea of this engagement. It was no place to manoeuvre columns. Each man and companj r fought upon his and its " own hook." From Chattanooga nothing was visible save the misty smoke which en- veloped and hid the mountain. But beneath this the combatants saw each other, and here they continued to fight with desperation until four o'clock, when there came a tide in Hooker's fortune which he did not fail to take at the flood. The skirmish line was enabled, under cover of the trees which grew along that part of the ridge, to advance much nearer the rebel line than those in the immediate front of the enemy and the open field. It was also upon the flank of the position ; and the weakness of the enemy having compelled him to contract his left, a lodgment was found very near their rifle-pits. General Hooker, upon being informed of this, at four o'clock ordered a charge of the line, and through a heavy and rapid Sre, kept up for five long minutes and minutes are sometimes very long the men dashed forward upon, over, and into the abandoned pits. The enemy had seen the long line of steel that glittered even amid the rain which was pouring upon them, and they couldn't stand that. They also saw troops upon their left flank, and, filled with that holy horror which id soldiers have for "flank movements," they couldn't stand that AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. S8t They fell back, abandoning works, artillery, and position, but still holding the important Summertown road. But the enemy, though flanked and overpowered, did not appear disposed to leave us in quiet possession of his works and guns. He hastily reformed his lines and prepared to assault in turn. The Union- ists had hardly occupied the captured position, or been able to remove the captured guns, before the enemy returned to the attack. He pressed forward with great vigor and gained ground very rapidly at first, but found in his way the same obstacle of the open field, while he did not have the advantage of superior numbers. As soon as it came to closo work, his rapidly advancing lines were halted very suddenly by the terrible fire which was now poured in upon him. He continued, how- ever, to fire rapidly, and with some execution upon our line, but would have been ultimately repulsed without other assistance, had not a very serious obstacle presented itself. Men in line of battle very soon expend their ammunition. In a skir- mishing engagement, like that they were then having, they dispose of it even more rapidly. "We were nearly out of ammunition, and the command- ing officer had serious fears he would have to relinquish possession of the works if his cartridge-boxes were not soon replenished. General Hooker, anticipating this, had sent for ammunition at an early hour after getting possession of the road across the spur of the mountain ; but the difficulties of the uncertain pontoon bridges had prevented his getting any. He again asked for it, and this time it came, and at the opportune moment. The men were beginning to fall out of line occasionally, entirelyout of ammunition ; for when a man puts his hand behind him and into his cartridge-box, to find no cartridges there, a good deal of his confidence, if not courage, oozes out at the ends of his fingers, with which he thought to grasp the death- dealing messenger. The line was beginning to be thinned by men who had fired their sixty rounds, when the ammunition which General Thomas had sent sprang across Chattanooga Creek. The enemy had begun to perceive his advantage and to push forward, when this ammu- nition marched up the hill. The enemy had even ventured upon a shout of assured victory, when this ammunition deployed into line and double- quicked across the open field, and sprang into the vacated places There were one hundred and twenty thousand rounds of it, strapped upon the backs of as good men as had stayed with Thomas at Chickamauga, and in ten minutes after it reached the works it had repulsed the enemy ! The re-enforcements which so opportunely arrived consisted of a brigade of the Fourteenth Corps, and upon it devolved the remainder of the labor 388 GENERAL GKANT of the day. It was dark by the time the enemy were repulsed, and those who stayed in Chattanooga describe this fight as the most magnificent view of the grand panorama of war which we have just witnessed. It was just beginning to be dark enough to see the flash of the muskets, and still light enough to distinguish the general outline of the contend- ing masses. The mountain was lit up by the fires of the men in the eocond line, and the flash of musketry and artillery. An unearthly noise rose from the mountain as if the old monster was groaning with the punishment the pigmy combatants inflicted upon him as well as upon each other. And during it all, the great guns on the summit continued, as in rage, to bellow defiance at the smaller guns of Moccasin Point, which, with lighter tone, and more rapidly, as if mocking the imbecility of its giant enemy, continued to fire till the day roared itself into dark- ness. The enemy fell back after Ms repulse to a point covering the Summer- town ascent to the summit of the mountain, and for the remainder of the night confined himself to the defence of that defile and to the evac- uation of the mountain. Subsequently, about midnight, the enemy, to cover Ms retreat, made an assault upon the Union lines, but though they did some execution they were handsomely repulsed. General Hooker made a great reputation by this attack with the men of the Army of the Cumberland. As his lines would advance after night, the men could see his fires springing up and locating his new line. As each line became developed by these fires, those on the moun- tain could plainly distinguish the cheers of their comrades below. One of the expressions used by a private who was watching the fires from Orchard Knob has already grown into the dignity of a camp proverb. On seeing the line of camp fires advanced to Carlin's house and beyond the rifle-pits of the enemy, a soldier in General Wood's command sprang up from Ms reclining position on Orchard Knob, and exclaimed : " Look at old Hooker 1 Don't he fight for ' keeps ? ' " The sequel of the fight the morning's handsome epilogue to the nigbt's drama is already known. Hooker found the enemy gone, and the assault of Lookout Mountain had not been in vain. The following is General Grant's modest dispatch with regard to the opei'ations of the second day : AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 389 CHATTANOOGA, Nov. 24 6 p. M. Major General H. W. HALLECK, General-in- Chief, Washington, D. C. : The fighting to-day progressed favorably. General Sherman carried the end of Missionary Ridge, and his right is now at the tunnel, and his left at Chickamauga Creek. The troops from Lookout Valley carried the point of the mountain, and now hold the eastern slope and point high up. I cannot yet tell the amount of casualties, but our loss is not heavy. General Hooker reports two thousand prisoners taken, besides which a small number have fallen into our hands from Missionary Ridge. U. S. GRANT, Major- General. In the above dispatch General Grant says nothing about himself, or in what manner he had participated in the struggle, although from the correspondent's account it is clearly seen, that notwithstanding his crippled condition he anxiously watched the movements of the troops at a position within cannon shot of the enemy. The following is the rebel dispatch concerning the con- test: MISSION RIDGE, Nov. 24, 1863. To General S. COOPER: "We have had a prolonged struggle for Lookout Mountain to-day, and sustained considerable loss in one division. Elsewhere the enemy has only manoeuvred for position. BRAGG, General 390 GENERAL GKANT CHAPTER LI. THIED DAT. TUNNEL HELL. MISSION BIDGK. The battle raged as furiously on the third day as on those preceding, and is thus described : General Hooker pursued the retreating enemy on top of the moun- tains, but did not succeed in coming up with him. He descended the mountain, however, at Hickajack trace, and, crossing the Chattanooga Creek Valley, made the ascent of Mission Ridge at or near he old battle field of Chickamauga. Here he was to the south of Rossville and in the rear of the rebel line in Chattanooga Valley, entirely cut off from the rest of our army, but perfectly able to take care of himself. He began to move north on top of Mission Ridge, and arrived at an opportune moment in the rear of Fort Breckinridge. Weary with watching Hooker the night previous, it was late before I reached Orchard Knob on the morning of "Wednesday. At the first glance I thought the situation here unchanged ; but upon a closer ex- amination I saw that the mask of night had been used to cover very ex- tensive preparations for hard work. The relinquishing of Lookout Mountain had evinced the rebel intention to defend Mission Ridge with vigor, and in answer to this sensible play of the rebels, General Grant had doubled the strength of forces selected to storm the ridge. Wood had been chosen to storm the heights at Blackfords. General Grant had added to his force that of General Baird. Sheridan had been chosen to make the assault at Thurman's house, and a brigade was added to his force. General Palmer had taken command of these in person, while General Gordon Granger assumed command of the divisions of Wood and Baird. Under the cover of the forest in which they rested, these two formidable columns were hid from view from Mission Ridge, and there were no rebels on Mission Ridge to signalize the important information to Bragg, who kept head-quarters at Blackfords. The men were in ex- cellent spirits. They had rested well from their Monday's labor, and their souls had been cheered by seeing Hooker's camp fires on Lookout and Sherman's on Mission Ridge. Daylight had revealed the signa* AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 391 flags waving on Lookout, and the artillery of Sherman opening from his position on Fort Buckner. General Wood was enjoying himself hugely, and called to me to stay and see the finest work of the day ; but I had seen General Rawlings, of Grant's staff, dash away a few minutes before towards Fort Wood, and I knew that he had gone to fire the signal for the assault, and, putting spurs to the (not) noble asa which I had pressed into service in default of a good horse I had bro- ken down the day before, I dashed off to see Sherman's fight. I found General Howard's Corps moving to the left, taking care to expose itself as much as possible to rebel eyesight. The corps subse- quently reached General Sherman, and were sent to strengthen his left in a movement up Chickamauga Creek. On reaching the summit of the semi-circular shaped hills, which General Sherman had occupied on Tuesday afternoon, I found he had strengthened his position by strong rifle-pits, and had put four pieces of artillery on the right of his line, on the hills, and a section on the other extreme, thus getting in an enfilading fire on Fort Buckner. I asked the distance from the right position to Fort Buckner, and by the eleva- tion given to the guns it was reported to be a fraction over 900 yards. A short time after my arrival this battery again became rather seriously engaged with a rebel battery in Fort Buckner, which was kept up for half an hour, to the evident discomfiture of the rebels. With the excep- tion of the artillery, the line was as quiet and composed as if in camp, or as were three of our high privates, whom I saw sitting in a cluster to the left, making entries in their diaries. Three private soldiers, under fire, entering in diaries, in plain, legible chirography, the events of the day, is a spectacle only seen in the army of the Union. It is one of the sights which causes one to reflect, and which will long retain hold upon his memory. The operations of the day, on General Sherman's part, began by an attack on his right upon the enemy posted behind the railroad bank at Glass Station. This attack was made at ten o'clock, and resulted in a repulse of the assaulting Union troops, after a short fight, so weakly made and so early dropped that I imagine it was intended to develop the enemy and his strength for the benefit of the artillery on the hill which began to pour upon the rebels a very destructive fire of shells, which exploded above them in handsome style. The Union commander recalled his troops after they had fully drawn the fire of the enemy, and awaited further developments on the left. I find myself using the pronoun of the egotist rather oftener than it 392 GENERAL GRANT modest, perhaps ; but the history of the first events of the battle must necessarily be matters of personal observation and that must be my apology. On going to the left of the ridge I found gathered together there Generals Sherman, Blair, M. L. Smith and Lightburn, watching the re-enforcement by General Corse's command of three regiments of General Lightburn's Brigade, which had succeeded in effecting a lodg- ment on Tunnel Hill, and upon which the enemy was still at work on Fort Buckner. General Blair pointed out the situation to me, remark- ing, " When we take one hill it looks as if there was another to be taken." But, after a moment's pause and silent observation of Tunnel Hill, he added, " "When we've got that we'll be done." I don't know that General Blair thought we should be repulsed ; but I imagine he did when he made that last remark. General Corse, with his command, mounted the hill in good style, and reached the crest without any difficulty or opposition, as other troops had also succeeded in doing ; for you must understand that Fort Buck- ner was not built immediately on the edge of the hill. That is, you reached the top and the plateau before you got under the fire of the fort; but the moment you began to move over the plateau the fire of the enemy was likely to open out upon you. General Corse, taking command, formed the whole force under the crest of the hill, his own immediate command on the right, with the other three regiments on the left. It was just eleven o'clock when a tremendous volley from the enemy revealed the fact, patent only to good field-glasses, that Corse had marched over the crest, was on the plateau, and was charging on Fort Buckner. The opening chorus was well worthy to be the prologue of the day's drama, for it had all the merit of brevity and briskness. It lasted but ten minutes. The men fell back under the crest of the hill, but they left their dead and wounded in the enemy's rifle-pits. As they retreated our batteries opened upon the pursuing enemy, who ap- peared in heavy force. This ably-directed fire covered the retreat so well that the enemy were unable to pursue to the crest of the hill. This column had hardly fallen back to its position when from the right appeared another Union brigade, pushing steadily and rapidly across some open fields in a persistent and stronger attack upon the railroad bank at this station. The enemy gave him a warm reception in front; but one of the Union regiments appearing upon their left flank, and our batteries opening on them from their right, they failed to stand the assault, and hastily abandoning it fled up the hill to the fort. Our men were seen in permanent occupation of the AND 1IIS CAMPAIGNS. 393 bank, and from it continued to fire on the retreating rebels until the last one found safety behind the mud walls of Fort Buckner. While this had been going on, General Corse was re-enforced by a portion, perhaps all, of another brigade, and the position vacated by him was then filled by the Eleventh Corps of General Howard, which about this time double-quicked across the ridge and went into position on the left extreme. A second assault was now ordered, and General Lightburn, who had been anxiously watching the action, joined the portion of his brigade on the hill, and assumed command of the whole assaulting column. He ordered the movement to begin immediately, and a more desperate and bloody assault than the former was made. The combat had no salient point to be described; it was simply a steady and slow advance of the whole line to within a few dozen yards of the fort, occupying three quarters of an hour, and then a rapid retreat to the former position at the crest of the hill, leaving the dead and wounded in the hands of the enemy ; and between their outer rifle pits and Fort Buckner, Generals Corse and Giles Smith, seriously wounded, were carried into the valley in the rear the one to lose his leg, and the other probably to die. Corse and Smith gone, the troops were reformed in a new line of battle by Lightburn, and under orders the line lay down to rest and await the attack of the enemy should he venture to make one. From this time quarter after twelve, was the time which this repulse took place until half-past one there was a pause in Sherman's battle. This he occupied in inditing a message to Grant, and in preparing for a more determined assault. The centre of the line at Orchard Knob noted the time by rapid and vigorous firing. I employed the time by examining the hospitals in rear of the lately assaulting party, and I found at the old log hut, which was being used as ,an hospital, and in the side at the foot of the hill, many a bravo heart that had grown suddenly silent to the praises which comrades were murmuring over them. On leaving the valley and the hospitals I returned to the point on the right of the ridge, where the guns were posted. Here I found that a Union brigade had, disdaining the protection of the railroad bank, rushed forward and was now skirmishing with the enemy for the pos- session of an abrupt ledge of rocks, which, outcropping from the hill side, afforded a secure position to an attacking column, at a point not more than fifty yards from Fort Buckner, which, let it be noticed, was lear the crest of the west side of tho hill, up which the brigade was now moving. The brigade eventually gained possession of this by half- 17* 894 GENERAL GEAKT past one o'clock, when a second brigade moved upon its left and rear. This brigade got into position without any serious skirmishing. But while this force was moving up, the enemy had continued to pour into the advance not only a continuous, though harmless fire of musketry, but had devised and put into execution a system of warfare worthy of the ancients. They began throwing stones. And this, too, with such an effect, that they soon grew to be as great a terror to our boys as gun- boats were formerly to the rebels. These stones huge in size partly thrown down the mountain, would leap over the outjutting rocks and fall upon onr men with great force, doing much damage. The men at length, unable to bear this fire, demanded to be led against the fort, and did rush forward, but met with such a heavy fire that in their tempo- rarily disordered state they were unable to stand it, and breaking, turned and fled, only the color-bearer of one of the regiments remaining in position. Here he continued, waving his flag, until the retreating forces having met in descending, the second advancing brigade turned, rallied, and again marched in good order to the position formerly held by it, and rescued their colors from the enemy, who was making a charge for their possession. The color-bearer remained unhurt. The two brigades now laid down again when the enemy began again hia fire of stones, but failed this time to break the line, though the troops were much harassed by this novel expedient to dislodge them. Not content with the strength of the column which lay now resting on the hill, General Sherman ordered two other regiments to move up to the left and rear of those forces, in order to support it. These regi- ments moved forward and took up a strong position about nalfway up the hill He had no sooner gotten into position than the other troops moved, and began to advance up the hill, with loud shouts of encour- agement. The enemy sprang to their guns, and from six pieces of artil- lery and a long line of musketry a heavy and destructive fire was poured upon them Instantly the last two regiments sent by General Sherman, though out of breath in climbing halfway up the hill, pushed forward in support of this perhaps premature assault. The hill at thia time fitfully flashed and flared with flame, and the columns, the flags, the figures of both foe and friend being plainly visible, there was pre- sented the most magnificent vision of war which has yet been vouchsafed me. I cannot and dare not attempt to describe it. If the reader can imagine two hosts thus struggling, his imagination, however weak, can- not fail to draw a sublimer picture than my pen ; and however bright that imagination may be, it cannot fail to fall far short of the sublime reality. AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 396 Through a half hour of slow, toilsome ascent did this keep on. The enemy continued without intermission to pour canister and musket balls into the column whose success they appeared so much to fear. Our men toiled on slowly, making but one wild dash at the guns, from which they came back maddened with rage at their failure. From their line the fire leaped upward to almost meet that of the enemy they were ap- proaching. Success seemed within our very grasp, and when It was a partial repulse, but that momentary episode of the battle will reflect undying honor on the army of which those repulsed troops formed a part. I know not the cause the rebel artillery may have been concentrated upon it, but one brigade broke broke in utter confusion, I thought, as I saw it, and the men came rushing down the hill. The others still stood, and the re-enforcements continued to move forward. But the retreating troops did not fly to the foot of the hill, for at the moment they were passing the re-enforcements an officer sprang forward among them, seized the standard of one of the regiments and stuck it in the ground. I saw him wave bis sword once over his head and point up the hill. I could not hear his voice, but the men did, and as if by magic which will be forever a mystery to me that routed column turned, turned instantly, and in a single second was marching up the hill, as firmly and as strongly formed as that of the newly arrived troops, and apparently forming a part of them. Not a man went further than where the re-enforcements were met, and there all turned and re- charged as if it were a movement they had been practising for years. And then this whole line pushed forward again certainly the most wonderful display of human nature under thorough discipline I have ever beheld or imagined. Both brigades had broken once ; yet now, after half an hour's fight, they again returned to the fight by the side of a third leader. It is to me, writing it, perfectly incomprehensible, and I turn to my notes to see if my memory is not at fault. But no the wonderful achievement is there in black and white the very hour marked and noted, and just beneath it is a still more wonderful achieve- ment in the last charge and repulse. It was just at a quarter after two o'clock that the forces then in line made a last grand charge at the rebel works, fifty yards in front of them. The line was perfect now, though the stream of wounded that straggled to the rear made it look ragged. The order was given, and they push- ed forward. It was but a short walk before breakfast, that fifty yards, but it was no child's play to charge over it. Double shotted with canister, the rebel guns thundered upon our men ; and, alas ! we could 396 GENERAL GKANT see it was fearfully thinning our still advancing ranks. But still our boya pressed on stern, rigid, boldly, grandly. I saw them with my glass draw the blue cloth cap down over their eyes, as if seeking to hide the fearful flame that devoured them. A few more yards and a few more lives, and the rebel battery, the rebel position was ours. "We did Dot win it here. The enemy was forced to call for help to draw from his centre and at this moment, when all was ours, they poured in from their left around the hill, and got in upon our boys a damnable flank and cross fire that it was perfectly impossible to oppose. This force proved to be very heavy, and came into the engagement at double -quick. Our line crumbled almost instantaneously. A few hun- dred faced about and fought a running fight to the rear ; but the main body turned and retreated. But there was no panic, no despair. They saw they had failed and were overcome. They retreated, but not rush- ing wildly and furiously far to the rear. The powerful aided the weak, and the strong bore off the wounded. The west side of the hill was soon cleared of all but our wounded and the rebels. These latter pushed around the hill, under the fire of our guns, until they suddenly, and apparently unexpectedly, came upon Lightburn, who had during all this remained perfectly quiet, but who now sent them howling to their holes. At this moment I was standing near the bronze figure of Sherman. As our men retreated down the hill I saw him bite off the end of a cigar, light it, take a puff or two, and then, turning to one of his aides, said, " Tell Lightburn to intrench and go into position." He then sat down to write a dispatch. I knew the battle of Tunnel Hill was over. "We had been repulsed. I may say bloodily repulsed. But the enemy had been forced to commit the fatal error.* The following interesting accoiint of the battle of Mis- sion Ridge is given by an eye-witness. The iron heart of Sherman's column began to be audible, like the fall of great trees in the aepth of the forest, as it beat beyond the woods on the extreme left. Over roads indescribable, and conquering lions o! difficulties that met him all the way, he had at length arrived with his command of the Army of the Tennessee. The roar of his guns was lika Army Correspondence. AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 397 the striking of a great clock, and grew nearer and louder as the morn- ing wore away. Along the centre all was still. Our men lay as they had lain since Tuesday night, motionless behind the works. Generals Grant, Thomas, Granger, Meigs, Hunter, Reynolds, were grouped at Or* chard Knob, here ; Bragg, Breckinridge, Hardee, Stevens, Cleburn, Bates, Walker, were waiting on Mission Ridge, yonder. And the northern clock tolled on I At noon, a pair of steamers, screaming in the river across the town, telling over, in their own wild way, our mountain tri- umph on the right, pierced the hushed breadth of air between two lines of battle with a note or two of the music of peaceful life. At one o'clock the signal flag at Fort Wood was a nutter. Scanning the horizon, another flag, glancing like a lady's handkerchief, showed white across a field lying high and dry upon the ridge three miles to the northeast, and answered back. The centre and Sherman's Corps had spoken. As the hour went by, all semblance to falling tree and toll- ing clock had vanished; it was a rattling roar; the ring of Sherman's panting artillery, and the fiery gust from the rebel guns on Tunnel Hill, the point of Mission Ridge. The enemy had massed there the corps of Hardee and Buckner, as upon a battlement, utterly inaccessible save by one steep, narrow way, commanded by their guns. A thousand men could hold it against a host. And right in front of this bold abutment of the ridge, is a broad, clear field, skirted by woods. Across this tre- mendous threshold up to death's door, moved Sherman's column. Twice it advanced, and twice I saw it swept back in bleeding lines before the furnace blast, until that russet field seemed some strange page ruled thick with blue and red. Bright valor was in vain ; they lacked the ground to stand on ; they wanted, like the giant of old story, a touch of earth to make them strong. It was the devil's own corner. Before them was a lane, whose upper end the rebel cannon swallowed. Mov- ing by the right flank, nature opposed them with precipitous heights. There was nothing for it but straight across the field, swept by an enfi- lading fire, and up to the lane, down which drove the storm. They could unfold no broad front, and so the losses were less than seven hundred, that must otherwise have swelled to thousands. The musketry fire was delivered with terrible emphasis ; two dwellings, in one of which Federal wounded men were lying, set on fire by the rebels, began to send up tall columns of smoke, streaked red with fire ; the grand and the terrible were blended. If Sherman did not attain the height and roll the enemy along the Ridge like a carpet, at least he rendered splendid services, for he had a 398 GENERAL GRANT huge ganglion of rebels as firmly on their right as if he held them in the vise of the "lame Lemnian," who forged the thunderbolts. * * * '. The brief November afternoon was half gone ; it was yet thundering on the left ; along the centre all was still. At that very hour a fierce assault was made upon the enemy's left near Rossville, four miles down towards the old field of Chickamauga. They carried the Ridge ; Mission Ridge seems everywhere they strewed its summit with rebel dead; they held it. And thus the tips of the Federal army's wide-spread wings flapped grandly. But it had not swooped ; the gray quarry yet perched upon Mission Ridge ; the rebel army was terribly battered a the edges, but there full in our front it grimly waited, biding out its time. If the horns of the rebel crescent could not be doubled crushmgly together, in a shapeless mass, possibly it might be sundered at its cen- tre, and tumbled in fragments over the other side of Mission Ridge. Sherman was halted upon the left; Hooker was holding hard in Chat- tanooga Yalley ; the Fourth Corps, that rounded out our centre, grew im- patient of restraint ; the day was waning ; but little time remained to complete the Commanding General's grand design ; Gordon Granger's hour had come ; his work was full before him. And what a work that was to make a weak man falter and a brave man think I One and a half miles to traverse, with narrow fringes of woods, rough valleys, sweeps of open field, rocky acclivities, to the base of the ridge, and no foot in all the breadth withdrawn from rebel sight ; no foot that could not be played upon by rebel cannon, like a piano's keys, under Thalberg's stormy fingers. The base attained, what then ? A heavy rebel work, packed with the enemy, rimming it like a battlement. That work carried, and what then ? A hill, struggling up out of the valley, four hundred feet, rained on by bullets, swept by shot and shell ; another line of works, and then, up like a Gothic roof, rough with rocks, a wreck with fallen trees, four hii ndred more ; another ring of fire and iron, and then the crest, and then the enemy. To dream of such a journey would be madness ; to devise it a thing incredible ; to do it a deed impossible. But Grant was guilty of them all, and Granger was equal to the work. The story of the battle of Mission, Ridge is struck with immortality already ; let the leader of the Fourth Corps bear it company. That the centre yet lies along its silent line is still true : in five min- utes it will be the wildest fiction. Let us take that little breath of grace for just one glance at the surroundings, since we shall have neither AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 399 heart nor eyes for it again. Did ever battle have so vast a cloud of wit- nesses? The hive-shaped hills have swarmed. Clustered like bees, blackening the house-tops, lining the fortifications, over yonder across the theatre, in the seats with the Catilines, everywhere, are a hundred diousand beholders. Their souls are in their eyes. Not a murmur can you hear. It is the most solemn congregation that ever stood up in the presence of the God of battles. I think of Bunker Hill, as I stand here ; of the thousands who witnessed the immortal struggle ; and fancy there is a parallel I think, too, that the chair of every man of them will stand vacant against the wall to-morrow, and that around the fire- side they must give thanks without him, if they can. At half-past three, a group of generals, whose names will need no " Old Mortality" to chisel them anew, stood upon Orchard Knob. The hero of Vicksburg was there, calm, clear, persistent, far-seeing. Thomas, the sterling and sturdy; Meigs, Hunter, Granger, Reynolds. Clusters of humbler mortals were there, too, but it was any thing but a turbulent crowd ; the voice naturally fell into a subdued tone, and even young faces took on the gravity of later years. Generals Grant, Thomas, and Granger conferred, an order was given, and in an instant the Knob was cleared like a ship's deck for action. At twenty minutes of four, Granger stood upon the parapet ; the bugle swung idle at the bugler's side, the warbling fife and the grumbling drum unheard: there was to be louder talk six guns at intervals of two seconds, the signal to advance. Strong and steady his voice rang out : " Number one, fire 1 Number two, fire I Number three, fire 1" it seemed to me the tolling of the clock of destiny and when at " Number six, fire I" the roar throbbed out with the flash, you should have seen the dead line that had been lying behind the works all day, aU night, all day again, come to resurrection in the twinkling of an eye leap like a blade from its scabbard, and sweep with a two-mile stroke towards the ridge. From divisions to brigades, from brigades to regiments, the order ran. A minute, and the skirmishers deploy ; a minute, and the first great drops begin to patter along the line ; a minute, and the musketry is in full play like the crack- ling whips of a hemlock fire ; men go down here and there, before your eyes ; the wind lifts the smoke and drifts it away over the top of the ridge ; every thing is too distinct ; it is fairly palpable ; you can touch it with your hand. The divisions of Wood and Sheridan are wading breast deep in the valley of death. I never can tell you what it was like. They pushed out, leaving nothing behind them. There was no reservation in that battle. On moves tho 400 GENERAL GRANT line of skirmishers, like a heavy frown, and after it, at quick time, the splendid columns. At right of us and left of us and front of us, you can see the bayonets glitter in the sun. You cannot persuade yourself that Bragg was wrong, a day or two ago, when, seeing Hooker moving in, he said, " Now we shall have a Potomac review ;" that this is not the parade he prophesied ; that it is of a truth the harvest of death to which they go down. And so through the fringe of woods went the line. Now, out into the open ground they burst at the double-quick. Shall I call it a Sabbath day's journey, or a long one and a half mile ? To me that watched, it seemed endless as eternity, and yet they made it in thirty minutes. The tempest that now broke upon their heads was terrible. The enemy's fire burst out of the rifle-pits from base to summit of Mission Ridge ; five rebel batteries of Parrotts and Napoleons opened along the crest. Grape and canister and shot and shell sowed the ground with rugged iron and garnished it with the wounded and the dead. But steady and strong our columns moved on. " By heaven ! It was a splendid sight to see, For one who had no friend, no brother there ;" but to all loyal hearts, alas ! and thank God, those men were friend and brother, both in one. And over their heads as they went, Forts "Wood and Negley struck straight out like mighty pugilists right and left, raining their iron blows upon the Ridge from base to crest ; Forts Palmer and King took up the quarrel, and Moccasin Point cracked its fiery whips and lashed the rebel left till the wolf cowered in its corner with a growL Bridges's battery, from Orchard Knob below, thrust its ponderous fists in the face of the enemy, and planted blows at will. Our artillery was doing splen- did service. It laid its shot and shell wherever it pleased. Had giants carried them by hand they could hardly have been more accurate. All along the mountain's side, in the rebel rifle-pits, on the crest, they fair- ly dotted the Ridge. General Granger leaped down, sighted a gun and in a moment, right in front, a great volume of smoke, like " the cloud by day," lifted off the summit from among the rebel batteries, and hung motionless, kindling in the sun. The shot had struck a caisson and that was its dying breath. In five minutes away floated another. A shell went crashing through a building in the cluster that marked Bragg's head-quarters; a second killed the skeleton horses of a battery at his elbow, a third scattered a gray mass as if it had been a waap'i BMt AND HIS CAMPAIGNS 401 .And all the while our lines were moving on; ttey had burned through the woods and swept over the rough and rolling ground like a prairie-fire. Never halting, never faltering, they charged up to the first rifle-pits with a cheer, forked out the rebels with their bayonets, and lay there panting for breath. If the thunder of guns had been terrible, it was now growing sublime ; it was like the footfall of God on the '.edges of cloud. Our forts and batteries still thrust out their mighty arms across the valley ; the rebel guns that lined the arc of the crest full in our front, opened like the fan of Lucifer, and converged their fire down upon Baird and "Wood and Sheridan. It was rifles and mus- ketry; it was grape and canister; it was shell and schrapnel. Mis- sion Ridge was volcanic ; a thousand torrents of red poured over its brink and rushed together to its base. And our men were there, halt- ing for breath ! And still the sublime diapason rolled on. Echoes that never waked before, roared out from height to height, and called from the far ranges of "Waldron's Ridge to Lookout. As for Mission Ridge, it had jarred to such music before ; it was the " sounding-board" of Chickamauga ; it was behind us then ; it frowns and flashes in our faces to-day ; the old army of the Cumberland was there ; it breasted the storm till the storm was spent, and left the ground it held; the old army of the Cumberland is here! It shall roll up the Ridge like a surge to its summit, and sweep triumphant down the other side. Be- lieve me, that memory and hope may have made the heart of many a blue-coat beat like a drum. "Beat," did I say? The feverish heart of the battle beats on; fifty -eight guns a minute, by the watch, is the rate of its terrible throbbing. That hill, if you climb it, will appal you. Furrowed like a summer-fallow, bullets as if an oak had shed them; trees clipped and shorn, leaf and limb, as with the knife of some heroic gardener pruning back for richer fruit. How you attain the summit, weary and breathless, I wait to hear ; how they went up in the teeth of the storm no man can tell ! And all the while rebel prisoners have been streaming out from the rear of our lines like the tails of a cloud of kites. Captured and dis- armed, they needed nobody to set them going. The fire of their own comrades was like spurs in a horse's flanks, and amid the tempest of Uieir own brewing they ran for dear life, until they dropped like quails into the Federal rifle-pits and were safe. But our gallant legions are out in the storm ; they have carried the works at the base of the Ridge ; they have fallen like leaves in winter weather. Blow, dumb bugles 1 Sound the recall I "Take the rifle-pit," was the order; and it is at 402 GENKKAJL GKAST empty of rebels as the tomb of the prophets. Shall they turn theii backs to the blast? Shall they sit down under the eaves of that drip- ping iron? Or shall they climb to the cloud of death above them, and pluck out its lightnings as they would straws from a sheaf of wheat ? But the order was not given. And now the arc of fire on the crest grows fiercer and longer. The reconnoissance of Monday had failed to develop the heavy metal of the enemy. The dull fringe of the hill kin- dles with the flash of great guns. I count the fleeces of white smoke that dot the Ridge, as battery after battery opens upon our line, until from the ends of the growing arc they sweep down upon it in mighty X's of fire. I count till that devil's girdle numbers thirteen batteries, and my heart cries out, " Great God, when shall the end be 1" There is a poem I learned in childhood, and so did you: it is Campbell's " Hohenlinden." One line I never knew the meaning of until I read it written along that hill 1 It has lighted up the whole poem for me with the glow of battle forever : " And louder than the bolts of heaven, Far flashed the red artillery." At this moment General Granger's aids are dashing out with an order; they radiate over the field, to left, right, and front; "Take the Ridge if you can" "Take the Ridge if you can" and so it went along the line. But the advance had already set forth without it. Stout- hearted Wood, the iron-gray veteran, is rallying on his men ; stormy Turchin is delivering brave words in bad English: Sheridan "little Phil" you may easily look down upon him without climbing a tree, and see one of the most gallant leaders of the age if you do is riding to and fro along the first line of rifle-pits, as calmly as a chess-player. An aid rides up with the order. " Avery, that flask." said the General Quietly filling the pewter cup, Sheridan looks up at the battery that frowns above him, by Bragg's head-quarters, shakes his cap amid that etorm of every thing that kills, when you could hardly hold your hand without catching a bullet in it, and with a " how are you ?" tosses off the cup. The blue battle-flag of the rebels fluttered a response to the cool salute, and the next instant the battery let fly its six guns, showering Sheridan with earth. Alluding to that compliment with any thing but a blank cartridge, the General said to me in his quiet way, " I thought it ungenerous 1" The recording angel will drop a tear upon the word for the part he played that day. Wheeling towards the men, be cheered them to the charge, and made at the hill like a bold-riding hun- AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 403 ter ; tney were o it of the rifle-pits and into the tempest and struggling up the steep, before you could get breath to tell it, and so they were throughout the inspired line. And now you have before you one of the most startling episodes of the war ; I cannot render it in words ; dictionaries are beggarly things. But 1 may tell you they did not storm that mountain as you would think. They dash out a little way, and then slacken ; they creep up, faand over hand, loading and firing, and wavering and halting, from the first line of works to the second; they burst into a charge with a cheer, and go over it. Sheets of flame baptize them ; plunging shot tear away comrades on le'ft and right ; it is no longer shoulder to shoul- der ; it is GOD for us all I Under tree-trunks, among rocks, stumbling over the dead, struggling with the living, facing the steady fire of eight thousand infantry poured down upon their heads as if it were the old historic curse from heaven, they wrestle with the Ridge. Ten, fif- teen, twenty minutes go by like a reluctant century. The batteries roll like a drum ; between the second and last lines of rebel works is the torrid zone of the battle ; the hill sways up Like a wall before them at an angle of forty-five degrees, but our brave mountaineers are clamber- ing steadily on up upward still! You may think it strange, but I would not have recalled them if I could. They would have lifted you, as they did me, in full view of the heroic grandeur : they seemed to be spurning the dull earth under their feet, and going up to do Homeric battle with the greater gods. And what do those men follow ? If you look you shall see that the thirteen thousand are not. a rushing herd of human creatures ; that along the Gothic roof of the Ridge a row of inverted Vs is slowly mov- ing up almost in line, a mighty lettering on the hill's broad side. At the angles of those Vs is something that glitters like a wing. Yonr heart gives a great bound when you think what it is the regimental flag and glancing along the front count fifteen of those colors that ^ere borne at Pea Ridge, waved at Shiloh, glorified at Stone River, riddled at Chickamauga. Nobler than Cajsar's rent mantle are they all 1 And up move the banners, now fluttering like a wounded bird, now faltering, now sinking out of sight. Three times the flag of one regiment goes down. And you know why. Three dead color-ser- geants lie just there, but the flag is immortal thank God I and up it comes again, and the Vs move on. At the left of Wood, three regi- ments of Baird Turchin, the Russian thunderbolt, is there hurl themselves against a bold point strong with rebel works , for a long 404 GENERAL GRANT quarter of an hour three flags are perched and motionless on a plateau under the frown of the hill. "Will they linger forever ? I give a look at the sun behind me ; it is not more than a hand's breadth from the edge of the mountain ; its level rays bridge the valley from Chatta- nooga to the Ridge with beams of gold ; it shines in the rebel faces ; it brings out the Federal blue ; it touches up the flags. Oh, for the voice that could bid that sun stand still I I turn to the battle again ; those three flags have taken flight 1 They are upward bound. The race of the flags is growing every moment more terrible. There at the right, a strange thing catches the eye ; one of the inverted Vs is turning right side up. The men struggling along the converging lines to overtake the flag have distanced it, and there the colors are, sinking down in the centre between the rising flanks. The line wavers like a great billow and up comes the banner again, as if heaved on a surge's shoulder. The iron sledges beat on. Hearts, loyal and brave, are on the anvil, all the way from base to summit of Mission Ridge, but those dreadful hammers never intermit. Swarms of bullets sweep the hill ; you can count twenty-eight balls in one little tree. Things are growing desperate up aloft; the rebels tumble rocks upon the rising line ; they light the fuses and roll shells do\ra the steep ; they load the guns with handfuls of cartridges in their haste ; and as if there were powder in the word, they shout " Chickamauga!" down upon the mountaineers. But it would not all do, and just as the sun, weary of the scene, was sinking out of sight, with magnificent bursts all along the line, exactly as you have seen the crested seas leap up at the breakwater, the advance surged over the crest, and in a minute those flags fluttered along the fringe where fifty rebel guns were kenneled. GOD bless the flag I GOD save the Union 1 What colors were first upon the mountain battlement I dare not try to say ; bright honor itself may be proud to bear nay, proud to follow the hindmost. Foot by foot they had fought up the steep, slippery with much blood ; let them go to glory together. A minute and they were all there, fluttering along the Ridge from left to right. The rebel hordes rolled off to the north, rolled off to the east, like the clouds of a worn-out storm. Bragg, ten minutes before, was putting men back in the rifle-pits. His gallant gray was straining a nerve for him now, and the man rode on horseback into Dixie's bosom, who, arrayed in some prophet's discarded mantle, foretold on Monday that the Yankees would leave Chattanooga in five days. They left in three, and by way of Mission Ridge, straight over the mountains as then- forefathers HIS CAMPAIGNS. 405 went ! As Sheridan rode up to the guns, the heels of Breckinridge'a horse glittered in the last rays of sunshine. That crest was hardly '' well off with the old love before it was on with the new." But the scene on the narrow plateau can never be painted. As the blue coats surged over its edge, cheer on cheer rang like bells through the valley of the Chickamauga. Men flung themselves exhausted upon the ground. They laughed and wept, shook hands, embraced ; turned round and did all four over again. It was as wild as a carnival Granger was received with a shout. " Soldiers," he said, " you ought to be court-martialed every man of you. I ordered you to take the rifle- pits and you scaled the mountain!" but it was not Mars's horrid front exactly with which he said it, for his cheeks were wet with tears as honest as the blood that reddened all the route. "Wood uttered words that rang like " Napoleon's," and Sheridan, the rowels at his horse's flanks, was ready for a dash down the Ridge with a "view halloo," for a fox hunt. But you must not think this was all there was of the scene on the crest, for fight and frolic was strangely mingled. Not a rebel had dreamed a man of us all would live to reach the summit, and when a little wave of the Federal cheer rolled up and broke over the crest, they defiantly cried " Hurrah and be damned 1" the next minute a Union regiment followed the voice, the rebels delivered their fire, and tum- bled down in the rifle-pits, their faces distorted with fear. No sooner had the soldiers scrambled to the Ridge and straightened themselves, than up muskets and away they blazed. One of them, fairly beside himself between laughing and crying, seemed puzzled at which end of his piece he should load, and so abandoning the gun and the problem together, he made a catapult of himself and fell to hurling stones after the enemy. And he said, as he threw well, you know our " army swore terribly in Flanders." Bayonets glinted and muskets rattled. Gen. Sheridan's horse was killed under him ; Richard was not in his role, and so he leaped upon a rebel gun for want of another. Rebel artillerists are driven from their batteries at the edge of the sword and the point of the bayonet ; two rebel guns are swung around upon their old masters. But there is nobody to load them. Light and heavy ar- tillery do not belong to the winged kingdom. Two infantry men claiming to be old artillerists, volunteer. Granger turns captain of the guns, and right about wheel ! in a moment they are growling after the flying enemy. I say " flying," but that is figurative. The many nm like Spanish merinos, but the few fight like gray wolves at bay ; 406 GENERAL GRANT they load and fire aa they retreat; they are fairly scorched out of position. A sharpshooter, fancying Granger to be worth the powder, coolly tries his hand at him. The General hears the zip of a ball at one ear, but doesn't mind it. In a minute away it sings at the other. He takea the hint, sweeps with his glass the direction whence the couple came, and brings up the marksman, just drawing a bead upon him again. At that instant a Federal argument persuades the cool hunter and down he goes. That long range gun of his was captured, weighed twenty- four pounds, was telescope-mounted, a sort of mongrel howitzer. A colonel is slashing away with his sabre in a ring of rebels. Down goes his horse under him ; they have him on the hip ; one of them is taking deliberate aim, when up rushes a lieutenant, claps a pistol to one ear and roars in at the other, " Who the h 1 are you shooting at?" The fellow drops his piece, gasps out, " I surrender," and the next instant the gallant lieutenant falls sharply wounded. He is a " roll of honor " officer, straight up from the ranks, and he honors the roll. A little German in Wood's Division is pierced like the lid of a pepper box, but he is neither dead nor wounded. " See here," he says, rush- ing up to a comrade, " a pullet hit te preach of mine gun, a pullet in mine pocket-book a pullet in mine coat tail they shoots me tree, five time, and py dam I gives dem h 1 yet I" But I can render you no idea of the battle caldron that boiled on the plateau. An incident here and there, I have given you, and you must fill out the picture for yourself. Dead rebels lay thick around Bragg's head-quarters and along the Ridge. Scabbards, broken arms, artillery horses, wrecks of gun-carriages, and bloody garments, strewed the scene ; and, tread lightly, oh ! loyal-hearted, the boys in blue are lying there ; no more the sounding charge , no more the brave, wild cheer, and never for them, sweet as the breath of the new-mown hay in the old home fields, " The Soldier's Return from the War." A little waif of a drummer-boy, somehow drifted up the mountain in the surge, lies there; his pale face upward, a blue spot on his breast. Muffle his drum for the poor child and his mother. Our troops met one loyal welcome on the height. How the old Tennesseean that gave it managed to get there nobody knows, but there he was, grasping a colonel's hand, and saying, while the tears ran down his face, " GOD be thanked I I knew the Yankees would fight 1" With the receding flight and swift pursuit the battle died away in murmurs, far down the valley of the Chickamauga ; Sheridan was again in the AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 407 paddle, and with his command spurring on after the enemy. Tall columns of smoke were rising at the left. The rebels were burning a train of stores a mile long. In the exploding rebel caissons we had " the cloud by day," and now we are having " the pillar of fire by night." The sun, the golden dish of the scales that balance day and night, had hardly gone down, when up, beyond Mission Ridge, rose the silver sule, for that night it was full moon. The troubled day was done. A Fed- eral Gmeral sat in the seat of tli/e man w)w, on the very Saturday before the battle, had sent a flag to the Federal lines with the words : "Humanity would dictate the removal of all non-combatants from Chattanooga, as I am about to shell the city !" Sat there, and announced to the Fourth Corps the congratulations and thanks, just placed in his hands, from the commander of the depart- ment: BRAGG'S HEAD-QUARTERS, MISSION RIDGE, ) November 25, 1863. ) In conveying to you this distinguished recognition of your signal gal- lantry in carrying, through a terrible storm of iron, a mountain crowned with batteries and enriched with rifle-pits, I am constrained to express my own admiration of your noble conduct, and am proud to tell you that the veteran Generals from other fields, who witnessed your heroic bearing, place your assault and triumph among the most brilliant achievements of the war. Thanks, soldiers ! You have made, this day. a glorious page of history. GORDON GRANGER. There was a species of poetic justice in it all, that would have made the prince of dramatists content. The ardor of the men had been quenchless : there had been three days of fitful fever, and after it, alas ! a multitude had slept well. The work on the right, left, and centre, cost us full four thousand killed and wounded. There is a tremble of the lip, but a flash of pride in the eye, as the soldier tells with how many he went in how expressive that "went in!" Of a truth it waa wading in deep waters with how few we came out. I cannot try to swing the burden clear of any heart, by throwing into the scale upon tha other side the dead weight of fifty-two pieces of captured artillery, ten thousand stand of arms, and heaps of dead rebels, or by driving upon a herd of seven thousand prisoners. Nothing of all this can lighten that burden a single ounce, but this thought may, and I dare to utter it Those three days' work brought Tennessee to resurrection ; set the flag 408 GENERAL GRANT that fairest blossom in all this flowery world, to blooming in its native soL once more. That splendid march from the Federal line of battle to the crest, was made in one hour and five minutes, but it was a grander march towards the end of rebeldom ; a glorious campaign of sixty-five minutes towards the white borders of peace. It made that fleeting November afternoon imperishable. Than the assault upon Mission Ridge, I know of nothing more gallant in the annals of the war. Let it rank foremost with the storming of Fort Scharnitz and Alma, that covered the French arms with undying fame. Reader and writer must walk together down the heights another day ; press that rugged earth with the first backward step a loyal foot has made upon it, and as we linger, recall a few of the incidents that will render it historic and holy ground for coming time. Let the struggle be known as the Battle of Mission Ridge, and when, in calmer days, men make pilgrimage, and women smile again among the mountains of the Cumberland, they will need no guide. Rust will have eaten the guns; the graves of the heroes will have subsided like waves; weary of their troubling, the soldier and his leader will have lain down together; but there, embossed upon the globe, MISSION RIDGE will stand its fitting monument forever.* Gener tl Grant announced the victory in the following few but telling words : CHATTANOOGA, November 25, 1863. 7.15 p. M. Major-General H. W. HALLECK, General-in-Chief: Although the battle lasted from early dawn till dark this evening, / believe I am not premature in announcing a compkte victory over Bragg. Lookout Mountain top, all the rifle-pits in Chattanooga Volley, and Missionary Ridge entire have been carried, and are now held by us. U. S. GRANT; Major-Ge.terul. The rebel dispatch is thus worded : CHICKAMAUGA, November 25, 1863. General S. COOPER, Adjutant and Inspector General: After several unsuccessful assaults on our lines to-day, the enemy carried the left centre about four o clock. The ichole left soon gave way in considerable disorder. The right maintained its ground, and repelled every attack. I am withdrawing all to this point. BRAXTON BRAGG. * Mr. B. F. Taylor's correspondence to the Chicago Journal. AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 409 CHAPTER LIT. UETKOSPECT OF THE THKEE DAYS' BATTLES. PERHAPS no better retrospect of these battles could be written, than that which will be found in the following pithy dispatch from General Meigs, Quartermaster-General of the United States Army, who was present at Chatta- nooga during the whole action : HEAD-QUARTERS, CHATTANOOGA, Nov. 26, 1863. EDWIN M. ST ANTON, Secretary of War : SIR: On the 23d instant, at half-past eleven, A. M., General Grant ordered a demonstration against Missionary Ridge, to develop the force holding it. The troops marched out, formed in order, and advanced in line of battle as if on parade. The rebels watched the formation and movement from their picket lines and rifle-pits, and from the summits of Missionary Ridge, five hun- dred feet above us, and thought it was a review and drill, so openly and deliberately, so regular, was it all done. The line advanced, preceded by skirmishers, and at two o'clock p. M. reached our picket lines, and opened a rattling volley upon the rebel pickets, who replied and ran into their advanced line of rifle-pits. After them went our skirmishers and into them, along the centre of the line of 25,000 troops which General Thomas had so quickly displayed, until we opened fire. Prisoners assert that they thought the whole movement was a review and general drill, and that it was too late to send to their camps for re-enforcements, and that they were overwhelmed by force of numbers. It was a surprise in open daylight. At three P. M., the important advanced position of Orchard Knob and the lines right and left were in our possession, and arrangements were ordered for holding them during the night. The next day at daylight General Sherman had five thousand men across the Tennessee, and established on its south bank, and commenced the construction of a pontoon bridge about six miles above Chattanooga. 18 410 GENERAL GRANT The rebel steamer Dunbar was repaired at the right moment, and render- ed effective aid in this crossing, carrying over six thousand men. By nightfall General Sherman had seized the extremity of Missionary Ridge nearest the river, and was intrenching himself. General Howard, with a brigade, opened communication with him from Chattanooga on the south side of the river. Skirmishing and cannonading continued all day on the left and centre. General Hooker scaled the slopes of Lookout Mountain, and from the valley of Lookout Creek drove tne rebels around the point. He captured some two thousand prisoners, and established himself high up the mountain side, in full view of Chattanooga. This raised the blockade, and now steamers were ordered from Bridgeport to Chattanooga. They had run only to Kelley's Ferry, whence ten miles of hauling over mountain roads and twice across the Tennessee on pon- toon bridges brought us our supplies. All night the point of Missionary Ridge on the extreme left, and the side of Lookout Mountain on the extreme right, blazed with the camp fires of loyal troops. The day had been one of dense mists and rains, and much of General Hooker's battle was fought above the clouds, which concealed him from our view, but from which his musketry was heard. At nightfall the sky cleared and the full moon " the traitor's doom" shone upon the beautiful scene, until one A. M., when twinkling sparks upon the mountain side showed that picket skirmishing was going on. Then it ceased. A brigade sent from Chattanooga crossed the Chatta- nooga Creek and opened communication with Hooker. General Granfs head-quarters during the afternoon of the 23d and the day of the 24/i were in Wood's redoubt, except when in the course of the day he rode along the advanced line, visiting tJie head-quarters of the several command- ers in Chattanooga Valley. At daylight on the 25th the Stars and Stripes were descried on the peak of Lookout The rebels had evacuated the mountain. Hooker moved to descend the mountain, striking Missionary Ridge at the Rossville Gap, to sweep both sides and its summit. The rebel troops were seen, as soon as it was light enough, streaming regiments and brigades along the narrow summit of Missionary Ridge, either concentrating on the right to overwhelm Sherman, or marching for the railroad to raise the siege. They had evacuated the valley of Chattanooga* "Would they abandon that of Chickamauga? The twenty-pounders and four-and-a-quarter inch rifles of Wood's AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 411 redoubt opened on Missionary Ridge. Orchard Knob sent its compli- ments to the Ridge, which, with rifled Parrotts, answered, and the can- nonade, thus commenced, continued all day. Shot and shell screamed from Orchard Knob to Missionary Ridge, and from Missionary Ridge to Orchard Knob, and from "Wood's redoubt, over the heads of Generals Grant and Thomas and their staffs, who were with vs in this favorable position., f rom whence the whole battle could be seen as in an amphitheatre. The head- quarters were under fire all day long. Cannonading and musketry were heard from General Sherman, and General Howard marched the Eleventh Corps to join him. General Thomas sent out skirmishers, who drove in the rebel pickets and chased them into their intrenchments, and at the foot of Missionary Ridge Sherman made an assault against Bragg's right, intrenched on a high knob next to that on which Sherman himself lay fortified. The assault was gallantly made. Sherman reached the edge of the crest, and held his ground for (it seemed to me) an hour, but was bloodily repulsed by reserves. A general advance was ordered, and a strong line of skirmishers fol- lowed by a deployed line of battle some two miles in length. At the sig- nal of leaden shots from head-quarters on Orchard Knob, the line moved rapidly and orderly forward. The rebel pickets discharged their muskets and run into their riHe-pits. Our skirmishers followed on their heels. The line of battle was not far behind, and we saw the gray rebels s \varm out of the ledge line of rifle-pits and over the base of the hill in numbers which surprised us. A few turned and fired their pieces ; but the greater number collected into the many roads which cross obliquely up its steep face, and went on to the top. Some regiments pressed on and swarmed up the steep sides of the Ridge, and here and there a color was advanced beyond the lines. The attempt appeared most dangerous ; but the advance was supported, and the whole line was ordered to storm the heights, upon which not less than forty pieces of artillery, and no one knew how many muskets, stood read}' to slaughter the assailants. "With cheers answering to cheers the men swarmed upward. They gathered to the points least difficult of ascent, and the line was broken. Color after color was planted on the summit, while musket and cannon vomited their thunder upon them. A well-directed shot from Orchard Knob exploded a rebel caisson on the summit, and the gun was seen being speedily taken to the right, its driver lashing his horses. A party of our soldiers intercepted them, and the gun was captured, with cheers. 412 GENERAL GRANT A fierce musketry fight broke out to the left, where, between Thomas and Sherman, a mile or two of the Ridge was still occupied by the rebels. Bragg left the house in which he had held his head-quarters, and rode to the rear as our troops crowded the hill on either side of him. General Grant proceeded to the summit, and then only did we know itt ht-ight. Some of the captured artillery was put into position. Artillerists were sent for to work the guns, and caissons were searched for ammunition. The rebel log breastworks were torn to pieces and carried to the other side of the Ridge, and used in forming barricades across. A strong line of infantry was formed in the rear of Baird's line, and engaged in a musketry contest with the rebels to the left, and a secure lodgment was soon effected. The other assault to the right of our centre gained the summit, and the rebels threw down their arms and fled. Hooker, coming into favorable position, swept the right of the Ridge, and captured many prisoners. Bragg's remaining troops left early in the night, and the battle of Chat- tanooga, after days of manoeuvring and fighting, was won. The strength of the rebellion in the centre is broken. Burnside is relieved from danger in East Tennessee. Kentucky and Tennessee are rescued. Georgia and ths Southeast are threatened in the rear, AND ANOTHER VICTORY is ADDED TO THE CHAPTER OP " UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER GRANT." To-night the estimate of captures is several thousand prisoners and thirty pieces of artillery. Our loss for so great a victory is not severe. Bragg is firing the railroad as he retreats towards Dalton. Sherman is in hot pursuit. To-day I viewed the battle-field, which extends for six miles along Missionary Ridge and for several miles on Lookout Mountain. Probably not so well directed, so weU ordered a battle, has taken place du- ring the war. But one assault was repulsed ; but that assault, by calling to that point the rebel reserves, prevented them repulsing any of the others. A few days since Bragg sent to General Grant a flag of truce, advising kim that it would be prudent to remove any non-combatants who might be still in Chattanooga, No reply has been returned ; but the combat- ants having removed from the vicinity, it is probable that non-combat- ants can remain without imprudence. M. C. MJEIGS, Quartermaster- General, AJTD HIS CAMPAIGNS. 413 CHAPTER LHI. THE PURSUIT. FIGHT AT RINGGOLD. THE main portion of the struggle was over, but other work had yet to be done. The siege of Chattanooga was raised, but still the beaten rebels must not be allowed to gather their remnants together within any long day's march of the battle-field. A pursuit of their flying columns was ordered, and to Generals Sherman, Hooker, and Pal- mer was assigned the task of completing the rebel dis- comfiture. The following account of the pursuit is given by one who took part in the movements of General Hooker's column : After the successes of the 25th, the army was again put in motion, with a view of following up the enemy to Ringgold, and doing him as much injury as possible in the shortest space of time. The army moved in three main columns, Hooker being on the right, Palmer in the centre, and Sherman on the left. Hooker took the Rossville road direct to Ring- gold, and Palmer made a junction with Sherman at Greysville, Sherman having moved up the left bank of the Chickamauga. All three of the columns met at and near Ringgold, from which place they opened lines of communication. Davis's Division of the Fourteenth Corps evacuated its position on a hill immediately adjacent to Missionary Ridge at two o'clock on the morning of the 26th, and marched to a point near where the Chicka- mauga empties its waters into the Tennessee River. Here the division crossed the Chickamauga on a pontoon bridge, and continued its march up the left bank of the stream. This division was immediately followed by all the divisions of the Eleventh Corps, and this again by Ewing's Division of Sherman's Corps. Towards daylight the extreme head of 414 GENERAL GRANT the column had some brief skirmishes, the rebel videttes or scouts fall- ing back after delivering their first fire. The morning was clear and bright, and the officers and men of the en- tire command in the best of spirits, for the successes of the previous day were truly of the most inspiriting character. Our movement now was to get on the enemy's flank in the course of his retreat, and strike a blow for the capture of his trains, pick up stragglers, give those willing to desert an opportunity to do so, and do what other damage we could. During the morning of this day, as General Sherman was absent else- where, Major-General Howard assumed command of the column and di- rected its movements. On the march we took some prisoners, picked up several deserters, and no small number of stragglers. The deserters represented what they had seen of Bragg's retreat as being confused and precipitate. About ten A. M. we reached the neighborhood of Chickamauga depot. After a short engagement more of a skirmish than any thing else we drove the rebels back from the depot. We found the depot in flames, and two large piles of corn meal burn- ing. The amount of commissary stores captured here was tolerably large. By the burning alone the rebels must have lost fifty thousand dollars' worth. We captured, fit for use, one pontoon train of fifteen boats ; two sixty- four-pounder rifled siege guns ; twenty army wagons ; sixty thousand rations of shelled corn ; fifty thousand rations of corn meal ; four hun- dred gallons of molasses ; two caissons ; six forges ; thirty barrels of pork ; one thousand pounds of bacon ; some ordnance stores, artillery, and small arm ammunition. The carriages on which the siege guns were mounted were found in flames, and became eventually totally destroyed. One of the guns was spiked with a wrought nail. The place presented a curious sight. A burning railroad depot, piles of burning corn meal, barrels and boxes scattered around in the wildest confusion, piles of bacon lying on the railroad track, shelled corn scat- tered in piles around the railroad platform, two heavy guns pointed in the direction in which we advanced their carriages in flames ; a pon- toon train, new, and apparently never used, massed near the station ; army wagons some good and some broken down turned over, on end, and every way displayed, in whatever direction the eye might turn ; amall arms lying around, some broken and some not; broken open boxes AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 416 of ammunition for small arms thrown here and there, by the fire and away from it ; a caisson on one side, limber chest on the other, half open ; shells scattered under it, broken wheels, tongues of wagons, and other things pertaining to army transportation, thrown to the right and left, far and near, on all sides, and in the most disordered manner, showing that the enemy left with the greatest precipitancy, and before he could complete the destruction of one-third of his commissary, quartermaster, or ordnance stores. On an examination of the hills and fields around the station we found breastworks and redoubts. The latter were well constructed, and if properly manned could not have been taken without considerable loss of life, and without such manoeuvring as pertains to regular operations for battle. "We manned the works at once. The inhabitants we found in the place (which is but a small one) were few. They were so frightened at what had occurred, that it was some time before we could get from them intelligent answers to our questions. Even after they had a chance to get a little quieted, all they could tell us was that on the night previous, about eleven o'clock, the rebels commenced the movement of their stores loading their teams and mov- ing them off as fast as possible ; and that finally they set fire to what stores they could ; when they found the Yankees pressing them, and left the place on a full run. Before leaving the depot, the retreating rebel forces destroyed two small railroad bridges (one over the Chickamauga) near that place. When necessary, the bridges can easily be rebuilt. Pushing on past Chickamauga depot, we drove the enemy to Pigeon Ridge, where he made a stand ; this at a point near where we had to pass. The enemy o'pened on us with artillery. Not knowing what force might be on the ridge, the whole column was placed in position for battle. We then advanced. The sight presented was a beautiful one. The far stretching lines, one after another emerging from the woods and advancing over open fields, with colors flying, made up a scene of interesting peculiarity. After a short engagement, in which we brought artillery to bear against that of the enemy, a brigade, of Daris's Division, charged up the heights and took them without any material loss, the enemy precipitately retiring on finding us determined to advance. This occurred at about half-past twelve o'clock. The column then rested for a short tune. At this juncture General Sherman arrived on the field, and took direct command of the column. 416 GENERAL GRANT General Sherman, while at Chickamauga depot, and in common with some other officers, assisted in putting out a portion of the fire around the railroad platform, thereby rendering service in saving some of the abandoned stores from destruction by the flames. On our march being resumed, and as the column moved forward, we came upon wagons, caissons, and odd wheels that had been abandoned by the enemy from time to tune in the course of his retreat. No opposition worthy of mention attended our march forward until near dark, when, as we emerged out of some low, swampy ground, the enemy opened fire with musketry and artillery from a low hill. Quite a lively musketry fire ensued, lasting for about three-quarters of an hour, when we drove the enemy from the field, leaving his killed and wounded in our hands. "We then bivouacked for the night. Next morning we pressed on to Graysville, where we made a junction with the forces under command of Major-General Palmer. Here we learned that the enemy who fought us on the previous afternoon had retired to Graysville and gone into camp near that place, intending to move back to Ringgold on the following morning. Scarcely had he got into camp when he was surprised and attacked by Palmer's Corps, and immediately put to flight. In this surprise movement we captured three pieces of artillery, sixty-four prisoners, two caissons, and all the artillery horses. In subsequent movements General Palmer took this artillery with him to use it against the enemy. From the prisoners taken we learn that a General Stuart was in command of the forces thus surprised. Other than this surprise movement and some slight skirmishing, Palmer's col"mn met with nothing of particular interest during Thurs- day. On Thursday Hooker's column had skirmishing most all day, and towards evening an engagement, that was briefly terminated by our forces pressing forward and the enemy falling back. On Friday morning, November 27th, at half-past eight o'clock, Hooker's column moved up the Rossville road towards Ringgold and became engaged. As we pressed forward with rapidity and obstinacy, the enemy slowly fell back, through the town of Ringgold and towards the gap, being closely followed up. Ringgold is a small place, of about two thousand five hundred in- habitants, and the county seat of Catoosa County, Georgia ; is situated at the base of the White Oak Mountain Ridge, and directly in front of Ringgold Gap. The surrounding scenery is mountainous and decidedly 18* AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 417 romantic. Like all southern towns, it presents a dingy appearance, and shows evidence of neglect or decay. Among its buildings are some neat cottage residences and a few substantial structures of brick. The line of the railroad from Dalton to Chattanooga runs through the town. The railroad connects with the railroad lines to Cleveland aud Atlanta. The inhabitants, both in their language and manners, and the manner in which they furnish their houses, show some considerable degree of tasto and refinement. Many of the houses into which I went were neatly and even elegantly furnished. As you pass up the main street you come to the road, narrow and straight ahead, leading through Ringgold Gap. On either side of it rises the mountainous heights of White Oak Eidge. This ridge extends along for a very considerable distance, forming a chain of low moun- tains. In fact, the whole of this region of country is but a succession of ridges, with narrow valleys between. The common or generally travelled roads converge to these gaps. These are so peculiarly pro- . teeted by the adjacent ridges, that two or three hundred men, posted on the ridges, with a section of artillery to sweep the gap, can hold an army in check until such time as preparation is made either to take the position by direct assault in front or by a flank movement, through other gaps in the same ridge, and an advance in the valley beyond. The enemy slowly retired towards the ridge and gap, and supposing them to be in small force, Osterhaus's Division pressed forward in line of battle with great gallantry. The enemy opened a scattering musketry fire from the top of the ridge, and also brought into action four pieces of artillery, that swept the gap and threw their shells into the town and our lines. Notwithstanding this, Osterhaus's men kept on their course, advanc- ing at quick time up the slope, on both sides of the gap. They had almost gained the summit, when the enemy showed its strength by delivering a terrific fire from the mountain top, at the same time succeeding in throwing a brigade each on the right and left of our lines. Our men stood their ground well, but at last had to slowly retire in consequence of the enemy's superior strength and position. The enemy finding our men falling back, followed them up with great persistency, and attempt- ed to drive them across the railroad line by making a charge, but did not succeed, as Osterhaus's men bravely held their own and kept their line unbroken. In this emergency Geary's Division, of the Twefth Corps, was ordered into action. General Geary at once ordered a brigade around on our left, to advance up the slope for the purpose of turning the 418 GENEBAL GRANT enemy's right. The General's orders were promptly obeyed. The brig ade got within about thirty yards of the crest, the Seventh Ohio being in the extreme advance (their skirmishers had even got on the crest), when the enemy, by a quick movement, massed a superior force against it, and succeeded in delivering a cross fire, successfully enfilading their line. The enemy's fire was so rapid and heavy that it was totally im- possible for so small a force to withstand it any length of time without being almost annihilated. Still they stood their ground firmly and nobly, when General Geary, seeing it was of no use for them to remain longer under such a heavy fire, they were withdrawn by his orders. In this advance, the Seventh Ohio lost all its officers, the regiment coming out of the action under command of a lieutenant. The enemy continuing to press our lines, two sections of a battery were got into position, and opened a rapid fire on the right and left of the rebel line. At this time, too, the Second and Third Brigades of Geary's Division were ordered up. Our line then became extended in view of making an assault. The decisive moment came at last. The grand movement was made. Slowly our men advanced, and slowly the rebels retired towards the gap and up the mountain slope. Our artillery, too, kept up a steady fire, almost immediately silencing that of the enemy. Osterhaus's Divi- sion occupied the centre, one brigade of Geary's was on the extreme left and the other two on the extreme right. After much patient effort we outflanked the rebels on the right and left of the hills, gained these, and drove the remaining rebels from the gap, and held the latter posi- tion. In the final movements the rebels retreated in the most disor- derly manner. They did not all of them get away, as we took about three hundred prisoners. After the enemy were driven through and from the gap, we established our lines hi the next valley beyond. The enemy fell back to Tunnel Gap, situated in the succeeding ridge to that of White Oak After Sherman made a junction with Palmer, on Friday morning, the Eleventh Army Corps, under command of Major-General Howard, was sent off to the left to take Parker's Gap, this being situated on the enemy's right, and the second gap from RinggoldGap in the same ridge. The position was taken and occupied without opposition, the enemy's scouting parties falling back without firing. During the battle of Ring- gold, the Eleventh Corps was in a position almost in the enemy's rear, and we could at any tune have turned their right flank. AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 419 A. portion of the Eleventh Corps pressed on to the line of the Dalton And Cleveland Railroad, reaching Red Clay Station about dark. The object in destroying the railroad line at Red Clay was to prevent Longstreet from using it to make a junction with Bragg. Another point was, that if the cavalry failed of accomplishing its object at Cleve- land. \ve would carry out the design at Red Clay. General Grant had his head-quarters in the town of Ringgold on November 28th. The General was much pleased with the success of his plans, spoke freely on the subject, and was of opinion that this cam- paign had been successful to an almost extraordinary degree, and had* been fruitful of results of the most unqualifiedly gratifying character. It was decided not to pursue the enemy further, as more important operations were afoot.* The rebels having retreated as far as Dalton, Ga., and finding the Union troops did not pursue further than Ring- gold, there turned and made a stand. General Bragg then telegraphed the following, four days after the pursuit had been given up : DALTON, GA., December 2, 1863. General COOPER, Richmond : The enemy have fallen back across the Chattanooga, destroying every thing in their route, including the railroad track and bridges. Their loss was heavy in their attack on our rear guard, under General Clayborn. BRAXTON BRAGG. General Grant, by taking possession of Red Clay, Cleve- land, and Chattanooga, thus breaking the rebel railroad triangle the corners of which rest on Dalton, Cleveland, and Chattanooga, compressed the principal artery of the heart of the rebel confederacy, and smote it in its most vital part. * Army Correspondence. 420 GENERAL GKANT CHAPTER LIV. KNOXVILLE KELIEVED. WHILE the operations described in the foregoing chap- ters were being carried out by Gen. Grant, the rebel General Longstreet was engaged in the investment of the city of Knoxville. Finding that General Bragg had been defeated below Chattanooga, Longstreet determined to do something to redeem his name from the obloquy that would attend it through being attached to Gen. Bragg's command. He therefore on November 29th, 1863, made an assault up- on Fort Sanders and the other works around Knoxville. The assault proved a failure, and long before he could recover from the effects of the repulse, he found the Union columns were gathering around him, in such a manner that if he did not soon withdraw from his position he would be completely encircled by them. Gen. Foster's column was advancing from the North, and Gen. Granger's and other forces under Gen. Sherman from Chattanooga. This was the movement that caused the withdrawal of the troops from the pursuit of the rebels beyond Ringgold, Ga. Gen. Sherman's Cavalry arrived at Knoxville on Dec. 8, and on the night of Dec. 4, Gen. Longstreet raised the siege of that place, retreating eastward toward Virginia, pursued by both Foster and Sherman's Cavalry. On Dec. 7 it was telegraphed to Washington that Knox- ville had been relieved and re-enforced by Granger's Corps, AXD HIS CAMPAIGNS. 421 and that Longstreet was retreating. On the same day President Lincoln issued the following proclamation of thanksgiving: EXECUTIVE MANSION. ) WASHINGTON, D. C., Dec. 7, 1863. \ Reliable information being received that the insurgent force is retreat- ing from East Tennessee, under circumstances rendering it probable that the Union forces cannot hereafter be dislodged from that important position; and esteeming this to be of high national consequence, I recommend that all loyal people do, on receipt of this information, assemble at their places of worship, and render special homage and gratitude to Almighty God for this great advancement of the national cause. A. LINCOLN. The President also sent the following dispatch to Major- General Grant : "WASHINGTON, Dec. 8. Major-General GRANT: Understanding that your lodgment at Chattanooga and Knoxville is now secure, / wish to tender you and all under your command my more than thanks my profoundest gratitude for the skill, courage, and persever- ance with which you and they, over so great difficulties, have effected that important object. God bless you all ! A. LINCOLN. The above dispatch was embodied in an order by Gen. Grant, and so read to every regiment in his command. In reference to this brief but decisive campaign, Gen. Halleck added the following supplementary remarks to his annual report : HEAD-QUARTERS OF THE ARMY, ) WASHINGTON, D. C., December 6, 1863. ) In compliance with your instructions I submit the following sum- mary of the operations of General Grant's army since my report of the 15th ult. : It appears from the official reports which have been received here that our loss in the operations of the 27th, 28th, and 20th of Octtiber in reopening communications on the south side of the Tennessee River, from Chattanooga to Bridgeport, was 76 killed, 339 wounded, and 22 missing ; total 437. The estimated loss of the enemy was over 1,500. 422 GENERAL, GRANT As soon as General Grant could get up his supplies he prepared to advance upon the enemy, who had become weakened by the detachment of Longstreet's command against Knoxville. General Sherman's army moved up the north side of the Tennessee River, and during the nights of the 23d and 24th of November established pontoon bridges and crossed to the south side between Citico Creek and Chickamauga. On the afternoon of the 23d General Thomas's forces attacked the enemy's rifle-pits between Chattanooga and Citico Creek. The battle was re- newed on the 24th along the whole line. Sherman carried the eastern end of Missionary Ridge up to the tunnel, and Thomas repelled every attempt of the enemy to regain the position which he had lost at the centre ; while Hooker's force, in Lookout Valley, crossed the mountain and drove the enemy from its northern slope. On the 25th the whole of Mission Ridge, from Rossville to the Chickamauga, was, after a desperate struggle, most gallantly carried by our troops, and the enemy was completely routed. Considering the strength of the rebel position and the difficulty of storming his intrenchments, the battle of Chattanooga must be considered the most remarkable in history. Not only did the officers and men exhibit great skill and daring in their operations on the field, but the highest praise is due to the commanding general for liis admirabk dis- positions for dislodging the enemy from a position apparently impregnabk* Moreover, by turning his right flank and throwing him back upon Ringgold and Dalton, Sherman's forces were interposed between Bragg and Longstreet so as to prevent any possibility of their forming a junction. Our loss in killed, wounded, and missing is reported at about 4,000. We captured over 6,000 prisoners, besides the wo mded left in our hands, forty pieces of artillery, five or six thousand small arms, and a large train. The enemy's loss in killed and wounded is not known. While Generals Thomas and Hooker pushed Bragg's army back into * General Scott is reported to have stated to a leading Washington official, with whom the old veteran fell into a very unreserved talk, that General Grant's operations displayed more military skill than any other general had exhibited on our side ; and be was the more surprised and mystified at it, as he could only remember him in the Mexican war as a young lieutenant of undoubted courage, but giving no promise whatever of any tiling beyond ordinary abilities. AND niS CAMPAIGNS. 423 Georgia, General Sherman with his own and Genera.! Granger's forces was sent into East Tennessee to prevent the return of Longstreet and to relieve General Burnsid^, who was then besieged in Knoxville. "We have reliable in- formation that General Sherman has successfully accomplished his object, and that Longstreet is in full retreat towards Virginia. But no details Lave been received with regard to Sherman's operations since he crossed the Hiwassee, nor of Burnside's defence of Knoxville. It is only known that every attack of the enemy on that place was successfully repulsed. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, H. W. HALLECK, General-in-Chief. Hon. E. M. STANTON, Secretary of War. On December 5, 1863, General Burnside, the commander at Knoxville, issued a congratulatory order to his troops in reference to the raising of the siege, which had lasted about three weeks. An army correspondent writing from Knoxville, states as follows : Now that the campaign has developed itself, it may not be considered contraband information to' say that, in holding Knoxville, General Burn- side has played an important part in the grand campaign of General Grant. Some incline to the belief that with the troops under his command, General Burnside could have checked Longstreet on the Tennessee River, and there kept him, transferring the scene of the contest from Knoxville to the vicinity of Loudon or Kingston. Bat by doing so Long- street would have been within supporting distance of Bragg. To draw him, therefore, still further away from Chattanooga, General Burnside slowly re- treated before him until he reached Knoxville, where, of course, his plan was to keep him in efforts to take the city lohile General Thomas might fall upon and rout the army of Bragg, diminished as it was by the withdrawal of Long- street's command. Sow egregiously he fell into the trap, and how successfully the other portion of the programme was carried out at Chattanooga, are now fully known from the history of the past few weeks. Bragg, in the first place, has been thoroughly routed, and Longstreet, after vain efforts to capture this city by siege and assault, as an offset to the defeat of Bragg, has been compelled to raise the siege and retreat, an inglorious fugitive, towards Virginia. On Nov. 13, when Longstret crossed his advance 424 GENERAL GKANT guard over the Tennessee, it would have been an easy matter with General Burnside to have driven it back again, destroyed the pontoon bridges, and by planting his artillery on the hills thte side of the river, prevented a recross- ing ; but the part assigned him by General Grant was to lure his antagonist on. Longs treet discovered his mistake too late. Letters written by his officers and captured by our forces, show that when the fighting commenced at Chattanooga he was extremely puzzled as to what part he should take. The capture of Knoxviile seemed a very difficult mat- ter, and he entertained ideas of abandoning the siege for the purpose of returning to Bragg ; but when the latter was defeated, and when he saw that Thomas was now between Bragg and himself, he endeavored to re- trieve the disaster in a measure by the capture of Knoxviile. Hence the desperate assault of the 29th ult. That lie was preparing for another attack when our re-enforcements reached us we have the best of evidence. So far as capturing the city is concerned, we know that he could not have done it by actual fighting. The garrison was all sufficient in this respect. But, if unmolested in the siege, he might have starved us out, and hence the necessity of re-enforcements. It may be that the programme also embraced his rout, if not capture, before he could get away from Knox- viile. If so, he took the alarm in time, and is now well on his way to re- enforce Lee. How far he will succeed in escaping time will develop.* The rebels now began to be seriously worried about General Grant's movements, and the following article appeared in one of their principal journals : " Sallust," the well-informed and trustworthy correspondent of the Dispatch, telegraphing from Resaca, under date of December, 1863, states, in substance, that the wagon roads are in a horrible condition, that the enemy cannot advance without the railroad, that they have no cars, and that the probabilities are that no movement in force upon Dai- ton and Atlanta will be made till next spring. With great general con- fidence in the accuracy of statement and correctness of judgment of this correspondent, we should, nevertheless, be exceedingly sorry to learn that his opinions are derived from the general now commanding the rem- nant of Bragg's army, and that they are shared by the President and * Army Correspondence. AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 425 War Department at Richmond. To count upon the tardiness of Grant's movements, in consequence of the condition of the turnjnkcs or the railroads, would be suicidal. Grant has proved that lie can do what so few of our gene- rals have been able to accomplish follow up a victory in spite of natural obstacles; and it is certain that he will not permit himself now to be stopped, lither by mud or by a want of cars. These difficulties are by no means insurmountable. Every one remembers the sanguine predictions of the impossibility of car- rying on the siege of Vicksburg. Gentlemen owning plantations on which Grant's army was encamped before Vicksburg, declared that the soldiers would perish for lack of water, or die like sheep with the rot, from drink- ing such as they could obtain. Moreover, we were told that the mala- rious diseases of the climate would decimate his army, and compel him to raise the siege. Further, it was stated by the same reliable operator, who is now at work in Atlanta, cheering us with the assurance that the Yankees lost at least twenty thousand men in the assault on Lookout Mountain, that Grant had lost quite fifty thousand of the flower of his army in the various attempts to storm the intrenchments at Vicksburg. How utterly fallacious all these predictions and assertions proved ! The siege of Vicksburg progressed steadily to its conclusion, without, so far as we have ever learned, any serious impediment whatever. In spite of water, cli- mate, diseases, and repeated repulses, Grant compelled Pemberton to sur- render in less than three months from, the day the siege began. Shall we again be the dupes of ill-founded hopes ? Shall we rely for safety upon mud and not upon men ? Shall we trust to cars and not to energy ? Heaven forbid I The railroad from Nashville to Chattanooga is, doubtless, now open, and trains running all the way through. On tliis railroad any quantity of cars and engines necessary to stock the road from Chattanooga to Atlanta, may be brought through in less than a week's time. Two weeks more will be all that Yankee activity and ingenuity will demand to complete the re-building of burned bridges. But ive dmibt if Grant will await the arrival of cars and the completion of bridges. He has plenty of transportation, and the whole North behind him to supply horses and wagpus as fast as they break down. ****** What is to be done must be done without one moment's delay, and much must be given up in order that something may be saved. Gmufs goal is Atlanta. He will be there before Christmas, and half the cotton remaining in the Confederacy will be in his hands or destroyed, UP less 426 GENERAL GRANT a truly great general and a great army are placed athwart his path with- in three weeks from this day.* The Chattanooga-Knoxville campaign ended, General Grant issued the following congratulatory order to hia command : HEAD-QUARTERS MILITARY DIVISION OF THE ) MISSISSIPPI, IN THE FIELD, CHATTANOOGA, TENNESSEE, Dec. 10, 1863. ) [General Orders, No. 9.] The General Commanding takes this opportunity of returning his sin- cere thanks and congratulations to the brave armies of the Cumberland, the Ohio, the Tennessee, and their comrades from the Potomac, for the recent splendid and decisive successes achieved over the enemy. In a short time you have recovered from him the control of the Tennessee River from Bridgeport to KnoxviUe. Ton dislodged him from his great strong- hold upon Lookout Mountain, drove him from Chattanooga VaUey, wrested from his determined grasp the possession of Missionary Ridge, repelled with heavy lass to him his repeated assaults upon Knoxville, forcing him to raise the siege there, driving him at all points, utterly routed and discomfited, be- yond the limits of the State. By your noble heroism and determined courage, you have most effectually defeated the plans of the enemy for regaining possession of the States of Kentucky arid Tennessee. You have secured positions from which no rebellious power can drive or dis- lodge you. For all this the General Commanding thanks you collectively and individually. The loyal people of the United States thank and bless you. Their hopes and prayers for your success against this unholy re- bellion are with you daily. Their faith in you will not be in vain. Their hopes will not be blasted. Their prayers to Almighty God will be an- swered. You will yet go to other falds of strife ; and with the invincible bravery and unflinching loyalty to justice and right which have chanacter- ized you in the past, you will prove that no enemy can withstand you, and that no defences, however formidable, can check your onward march. By order of Maj.-Gen. U. S. GRANT. T S BOWERS, A. A.-G. At the time General Grant issued the above order he was far from being in good health, as may be gathered from the following extract from a correspondent's letter: * Richmond (Va.) Whig, December, 1863 AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 427 General Grant is still suffering from his fall at New Orleans, has grown thin and stooping, and shows marks of so great a loss of health and strength as to create fear of his recovery, though he still works as indefatigably as ever. When it was announced at General Grant's head- quarters that Bragg had been removed and Hardee put in command of the rebel army, the General quietly remarked: "He is my choice," - an opinion that seems to be very generally entertained in both armies.* In connection with the foregoing paragraph it is neces- sary to state that General Bragg was removed from his command for his defeat at Chattanooga, and was tempora- rily succeeded by General Hardee. It was announced from Chattanooga on December 7th that General Grant had captured, from the commencement of the war up to that date, no less than four hundred and seventy-two cannon and ninety thousand prisoners, with small arms innumerable. The following remarks are reported to have been writ- ten by Colonel Ely S. Parker Indian Sachem and Chief of the Tonawanda tribe and Seneca Nation of Indians, and who became a member of General Grant's staff in rela- tion to the conduct of the commanding general during the battles around Chattanooga : I need not describe to you the recent battle of Chattanooga. The papers have given every possible detail concerning it. I may only say that I saw it all, and was in the five days' fight. Of General Grant's staff only one was wounded, a Lieutenant Towner, Assistant Chief of Artillery, whose parents formerly lived at Batavia, N. T., but now of Chicago. It has been a matter of universal wonder in this army that Gen- eral Grant himself was not killed, and that no more accidents occurred to his etaff, for tlie General was always in the front (his staff with him, of course), and perfectly heedless of the storm of hissing bullets and scream- ing shell flying around him. His apparent want of sensibility does not arise from heedlessness, heartlessness, or vain military affectation, but 'rom a sense of the responsibility resting upon him when in battle. When * Indianapolis Journal, December, 1865. * GENERAL GRANT at Ringgold, we rode for half a mile in the face of the enemy, under an incessant fire of cannon and musketry, nor did we ride fast, but upon an ordinary trot, and not once do I believe did it enter the General's mind that he was in danger. I was by his side and watched him closely. lu riding that distance we were going to the front, and I could see that ho was studying the positions of the two armies, and, of course, planning hew to defeat the enemy, who was here making a most desperate stand, a:?d was slaughtering our men fearfully. After defeating and driving the enemy here we returned to Chattanooga. Another feature in General Grant's personal movements is, that he requires no escort beyond his staff, so regardless of danger is he. Roads are almost useless to him, for he takes short cuts through fields and woods, and will swim his horse through almost any stream that ob- structs his way. Nor does it' make any difference to him whether he has daylight for his movements, for he will ride from breakfast until two o'clock in the morning, and that too without eating. The next day he will repeat the dose, until he finishes his work. Now such things come hard upon the staff, but they have learned how to bear it. General Grant has the reputation of being the best rider in the army ; and an eye-witness to his movements during the battle of Chattanooga relates that when he spurred from one portion of the Held to another, his staff very soon strung out like the tail of a kite. The General always leads. The following amusing incident took place during the Chattanooga campaign : During the dark days of the siege, when food and forage were scarce, and the ghastly corpses and bleached skeletons of starved mules lined the thoroughfares thereabouts, General Grant and Quarter- master General Meigs arrived in Chattanooga. Taking an airing on horseback one afternoon, they passed the carcass of a huge mule lying by the roadside, whose " ill-savor went up" before and around them. The hero of Vicks- burg removed his briar root from his lips, and remarked sorrowfully, " Ah, General, there lies a dead soldier of the Quartermaster's Department." "Yes, General," replied AITD HIS CAMPAIGNS. 429 the Quartermaster General, in subdued tones, " in him you see the ' ruling passion strong in death' exemplified, for the old veteran has already assumed the offensive." From, a private letter from an officer the following inci- dent has been gleaned : A great many prisoners have been brought in. The charge of Uie army on Mission Ridge astounded Bragg. Breckinridge's head- quarters were on the Ridge, in full view of our troops. A lady who lives there told our troops the following: "Before you all came up here, I asked General Bragg, 'What are you going to do with me, General?' He Bays to me, ' Lord I madame, the Yankees will never dare to come up here. 1 And," she added with a blubber, "it was not fifteen minutes till you were all around here." i30 GENERAL GRANT CHAPTER LV. HONORS TO GENERAL GRANT. THANKS OP CONGRESS. GOLD MEDAL. THE intelligence of General Grant's victorious mountain campaign in Tennessee and Georgia was announced in Wash- ington on the day of the first assembling of the United States Congress for 1863-'4. Mr. Washburne, the repre- sentative for Galena, in the House, immediately gave notice of the introduction of two bills, one " to revive the grade of Lieutenant-General of the army," and the other " to pro- vide that a medal be struck for General Grant, and that a vote of thanks be given him and the officers of his army." It did not require either any very acute mental penetration or a knowledge of the intimate relations of Congressman Washburne with General Grant, to understand the meaning and bearing of the above bill for the revival of the grade of Lieutenant-General. The object was nothing more nor less than the elevation of Major-General Grant to that position. It was not the intention of those who desired the further promotion of General Grant to take him away from his command, and substitute him for the General-in-Chief. It was their conviction that he would be most useful in the field, and hence they wanted him to remain at the head of hife great army, but to exercise, at the same time, from the field, the functions of a General-in-Chief. Mr. Washburne's motion relative to the joint thanks of Congress and the Gold Medal did not require long deliber- ation. The members of both Houses were thoroughly con- GRANT MEDAL. AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 431 vinced that General Grant deserved the thanks of the nation, and when that resolution was brought up, it was passed by both Congress and Senate without opposition, and received the President's signature within ten days of its introduction. It then became the first law of the session of 1863-'4. The following is a copy of the official document : LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. Passed at the First Session of the Thirty-eighth Congress. [PUBLIC RESOLUTION No. 1.] JOINT RESOLUTION of thanks to Major-General Ulysses S. Grant arid the officers and soldiers who have fought under his command during this rebellion ; and providing that the President of the United States shall cause a medal to be struck, to be presented to Major-General Grant in the name of the people of the United States of America. Be it resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of tJie United States of America in Congress assembled, That the thanks of Congress bo and they hereby are presented to Major-General Ulysses S. Grant, and through him to the officers and soldiers who have fought under his com- mand during this rebellion, for their gallantry and good conduct in the battles in which they have been engaged ; and that the President of the United States be requested to cause a gold medal to be struck, with suit- able emblems, devices, and inscriptions, to be presented to Major-Gen- eral Grant. SEC. 2. And be it further resolved, That, when the said medal shall have been struck, the President shall cause a copy of this joint resolution to be engrossed on parchment, and shall transmit the same, together with the said medal, to Major-General Grant, to be presented to him in the name of the people of the United States of America. SKC. 3. And be it further resolved, That a sufficient sum of money to sarry this resolution into effect is hereby appropriated out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated. SCHUYLER GOLF AX, Speaker of the House of Representative* H. HAMLIN, . Vice-President of the United States and President of the Senate Approved Dec-ember 17, 1863. ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 432 GENERAL GRANT The resolution having become a law of the land, it was necessary that a design should at once be made for the medal. The following by Leutze was announced* as the one selected by the committee having the matter in charge : " The obverse of the medal was to consist of a profile like- nss of the hero, surrounded by a wreath of laurels ; his name and the year of his victories inscribed upon it, and the whole surrounded by a galaxy of stars. The design for the reverse was original, appropriate, and beautiful. It was the figure of Fame seated in a graceful attitude on the American eagle, which, with outspread wings, seems preparing for flight. In her right hand she held the sym- bolical trump, and in her left a scroll on which were in- scribed the names of the gallant chief's various battles, viz.: Corinth, Vioksburg, Mississippi River, and Chat- tanooga. On her head was a helmet, ornamented in Indian fashion, with feathers radiating from it. In front of the eagle, its breast resting against it, was the emblematical shield of the United States. Just underneath this group, their stems crossing each other, were single sprigs of the oine and the palm, typical of the North and South. Above the figure of fame, in a curved line, the motto, " Proclaim Liberty throughout the Land." The edge was surrounded, nke the obverse, with a circle of stars of a style peculiar to the Byzantine period, and rarely seen except in illuminated MSS. of that age. These stars were more in number than the existing States of course, including those of the South thereby suggesting further additions in the future to the Union." Other honors were paid him by societies, electing him Lonorary life member, your ob't ser't, J. H. WILSON, Brig.-Gen. On the thirteenth day of January, 1864, the following resolution, moved by Mr. Reed, was adopted by the Legis- lature of the State of New York : Resolved, That the thanks of the people of this State be tendered to General Grant and his Army for their glorious victories in the valley of the Mississippi, and the still more glorious victory at Mission Ridge and Lookout Mountain, and that a certified copy of this resolution be forward- ed to General Grant. The Legislature of the State of Ohio also presented him with a vote of thanks. The following is the description of a handsome pair of revolvers in course of construction at the Colt's arm mauu facturing establishment designed to be presented to General Grant : The handles are of black horn, beautifully polished, and the barrel* magazines, and other steel parts are elaborately inlaid with pure gold, which is beaten into a design previously cut out of the steel. The other ornaments, guard, &c., are of a solid gold. The pair are to be enclosed In a handsome rosewood box, lined with velvet, and accompanied by all the tools, &c., belonging to them the cartridge-boxes, &c., being manu- factured of silver. "When finished these pistols will equal any pair that has ever left the establishment.* * Hartford (Ct) Times AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 435 CHAPTER LVL IJEUTENANT-GEKERAL. CONGRBSSIONAL KOMINAT101T. THE bill introduced by Mr. Washburne for the revival of the grade of Lieuten ant-General of the United States Army, having in the due course of business been read and referred to the military committee of the House of Con- gress, was slightly amended, and came up on February 1st, 1864, for final action of that portion of the law-making power. The amended bill introduced was thus worded : Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Umt& States of America in Congress assembled, That the grade of Lieutenant General be, and the same is hereby, revived in the Army of the Unite? States of America ; and the President is hereby authorized, whenever he shall deem it expedient, to appoint, by and with the advice and con- sent of the Senate, a commander of the army, to be selected, during war, from among those officers in the military service of the United States, not below the grade of Major-General, most distinguished for courage, skill, and ability; and who, being commissioned as Lieutenant- General, shall be authorized, under the direction of the President, to command thf armies of the United States. SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the Lieutenant-General appoint- ed as hereinbefore provided, shall be entitled to the pay, allowances, and staff specified in the fifth section of the act approved May 28th, 1798 ; and also the allowances described in the sixth section of the act approved August 23d, 1842, granting additional rations to certain officers : Provided, That nothing in this bill contained shall be construed in any way to affect the rank, pay, or allowances of "Winfield Scott, lieutenant general oy brevet, now on the retired list of the army. 436 GENERAL GRANT Mr. Farnsworth opened the debate by a recommendation that the bill should be passed that morning. Mr. Garfield, formerly chief of staff to General Rose- crans, having opposed the motion, Mr. Farnsworth addressed the House as follows : Mr. Speaker, the argument of my colleague of the Committee on Mil- itary Affairs who has just taken his seat, is a twofold argument. I un- derstand his first argument to be that the war has not progressed far enough, and that we have not given our generals in the field a sufficient term of trial to enable the President to select with proper judgment a man upon whom to confer the rank of lieutenant-general. His second argument is, that the General toward whom this legislation is directed is so great and so successful a general that it would be dangerous to take him from the field and put him in command of the entire Army of the United States. In answer to the first branch of the gentleman's argument I have only tin's to say : we are now very near to the close of the third year of this war, and while it is true that many generals in the army may be up to-day and down to-morrow, and that their fortunes fluctuate., is not true of tin general to whom this legislation applies. His star has been steadily rising. He has been growing greater and greater day by day, rising from an ob- scure position, scarcely known out of the county in which he resided. By his masterly ability he now stands, without saying any thing to the disparagement of other generals, head and shoulders over every other gene- ral in the Army of the United States. He has been tried, tried long enough ; and if his star were to go down to-morrow he has still done enough to entitle Mm to this prize. After some further debate Mr. Ross submitted the fol- lowing amendment, to be added to the act : And that we respectfully recommend the appointment of Major Gene- ral U S. Grant for the position of lieutenant-general. On this amendment a spirited debate ensued in favor of General Grant, when Mr. Washburne took the floor and paid: I had not intended to submit any remarks on this bill. I have made no preparation whatever to speak to its merits ; and if I had I should be AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 437 nnable to do so on account of the present state of my health. No subject of less importance than this, no bill in which I felt a less degree of in- terest, could have brought me to the House to-day. I had not looked for the opposition to the bill which has been manifested. The bill hav- ing been printed, and its provisions being very simple and easy of com- prehension. I supposed we should have come to a vote without extended debate, as every member of the House had undoubtedly made up his mind as to how he would vote on the question. The proposition is to revive the grade of lieutenant-general, for the purpose of conferring it not only for the recognition of distinguished and exceptional services already rendered to the country, but for the practical purpose of investing full command of the army in the party receiving the appointment, in subordination, of course, to the Command- er-in-Chief under the Constitution. I do not propose to enter upon the reasons which I supposed would control the House in passing this bill. Those reasons must suggest themselves to all men who love our country and the flag. They spring from the admiration which a great and magnanimous people must ever feel for deeds of heroism and for public service of untold value, and for which no reward can be esteemed too great. The question has been raised as to who will be appointed under the bill in the event of its passage. I take it there is no gentle- man upon this floor who has really any doubt upon whom this appoint- ment will be conferred. Under the language of the bill, referring to most eminent and distinguished service, I think one individual, and one individual alone, is pointed out so distinctly that no man can misunder- stand. A great deal has been said as to what might have happened if some such bill had passed two years ago ; that such or such a man might have received the honor, and implying that the party upon whom the honor may be conferred under this bill may prove himself unworthy. How much, I would ask, is now to be required of a general before he can have the confidence of this House ? Has not General Grant earned that confidence, and proved himself worthy of full trust in the greatest posi- tions f I demand to know what would have been our position as a nation in the present struggle had it not been for the achievements of General Grant? Where can you point to a series of greater triumphs than he haa achieved, a more complete succession of victories, which are unsurpassed in history, and which for the brilliancy of their achievement, and in furtherance of the great cause in which he has so nobly fought, have made his name and his fame as lasting as the history of the nation? 438 GENERAL GRANT I have spoken of the interest I feel in this bill, but if I know myself it is a feeling that rises far above the considerations of personal friend- ship which I entertain for the distinguished soldier whose name has boen connected with it. / am not here to speak for General Grant. Nn man with his consent has ever mentioned his name in connection with any position. I say what I know to be true when I allege that every pro- motion he has received since he first entered the service to put down this rebellion was moved without his knowledge or consent ; and in regard to this very matter of lieutenant-general, after the bill was intro- duced and his name mentioned in connection therewith, he wrote me and admonished me that he had been highly honored already by the Government, and did not ask or deset ae any thing more in the shape of honors or promo- tion ; and that a success over the enemy was what he craved above every thing else; that -he only desired to hold such an influence over those under /iis command as to use ihem to the bent advantage to secure that end* Such is the language of this patriotic and single-minded soldier, ambitious only of serving his country and doing his whole duty. Sir, whatever this House may do, the country will do justice to General Grant. We can see that. I think I can appreciate that myself. After the battle of Shiloh, a little less than two years ago, a wave of calumny and detraction swept over General Grant with a power that would have overwhelmed any man of less strength and courage. My neighbor and my friend, appointed upon ny own recommendation, I sought in my place on this floor the earliest occasion to tell the country something of this general, denunciations of whom were ringing from one end of the country to the other. I believe I can say I scarcely had the sympathy of a single member on this floor in making that speech, which was only regarded as a somewhat extravagant defence of a friend. Willing to take the responsibility of standing by my record then, I now appeal to history for my justification, and ask if General Grant has not far transcended every thing that I claimed far him. It cannot certainly, Mr. Speaker, be necessary for me to enter intc any detail of the services of General Grant to the country. They are as familiar as household words to our constituents, if not to us here. Why necessary to recount that long list of triumphs and of victoi iea iron Belmont to Lookout Mountain? Look at what this man has done for his country, for humanity and civilization this modest and unpre tending general whom gentlemen appear to be so much afraid of. He 1 Another evidence of General Grant's remarkably retiring modesty. AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 439 has fought more battles and won more victories than any man living ; he has captured more prisoners and taken more guns than any general of modern times. To us in the great valley of the West he has rendered a service in opening our great channel of communication to the ocean, BO that the great Father of Waters nowgoes " unvexed to the sea, "which endears him to all our hearts. Sir, when his blue legions crowned tht crest of Vickaburg, and tlie hosts of rebeldom laid their arms at tJie feet of this great conqueror, the rebel confederacy was cut in twain and the back- bone of the rebellion broken. I speak of the fall of Vicksburg. I might speak of what went before. It was my good fortune to be with General Grant, and with that noble army, every man of whom is a hero, at the commencement of the expedition which culminated in the taking of Vicksburg. We all know how ill at ease the public mind was last winter pending General Grant's operations on the lower Mississippi. The expedition by Gren- ada, the opening of the canal, the opening of the bayous had not suc- ceeded : the country saw all the attempts to flank that stronghold likely to prove abortive, and there was great anxiety. But with un- shaken confidence in himself, General Grant pursued the even tinor of Aw way, and with entire reliance upon his success in the plan finally adopted, and which could not be undertaken until the river and bayous should sufficiently recede to enable them to move. Then, sir, was seen that bold and daring conception which I say is witJtout parallel in all mili- tary history. It was to send his army and his transportation by land on the Louisiana side from Milliken's Bend to a point below Vicksburg, and then run the frowning batteries of that rebel Gibraltar, with its hun- dreds of guns, with his transports, and thus enable him to cross the river below Vicksburg, and get on to the shores of Mississippi. The country was startled at the success which attended the running of those batteries by the frail Mississippi steamboats used as transports, and the rebels stood aghast when they saw seven or eight transports and all of Porter's gunboats below Vicksburg. There was something in this matter of running those batteries by the transports which deserves more than a passing notice, as showing the indomitable spirit and courage of that magnificent army. Certain boats were detailed for the extraordinary and hazardous service of run- ning the batteries, but, with one exception, the crews of all the boats re- fused to go. The provost marshal was then ordered to beat up for vol- unteers. No sooner was the notice given than soldiers rushed in for the *ervice t and at once many times the number that was called for was fill 440 GKNEBAL GRANT ed pilots, engineers, firemen, and deck-hands, in the greatest numbers offered themselves. From one regiment, known as the Lead Mine regi- ment, raised in my own section, no less than one hundred and sixteen men and sixteen commisioned officers volunteered for that dangerous yet glorious service. The consequence of all this was that resort was had to lot as to who should have the privilege of risking life in that unparal- leled adventure. One nolk boy from my own city, who had drawn the prize, was offered $100 in greenbacks for his chance, which he refused to take, but courageously held on and successfully passed not only the Vicksburg but the Grand Gulf batteries. What language can do justice to au army animated by such a spirit? "What triumphs and what glories might not justly be expected from it? The transports and gunboats below the batteries, the army reaches by land marches Perkins's plantation, twenty miles above, and Hard Times landing, nearly opposite Grand Gulf. It was supposed that Admiral Porter, who always seconded General Grant with a zeal equal to his courage and ability, could reduce the batteries at Grand Gulf, after which the troops were to be crossed over in the transports, and were to land and carry the place by assault. But after five hours and a half of the most desperate naval fighting ever seen upon this continent, the brave Porter drew off his shattered fleet, unable to effect a reduction of the principal battery. During all of this time the army had been wait- ing with intense impatience for the time to come when the guns of the batteries should be silenced and they could land, and great was the disappointment when it was known that the fleet had failed to reduce the works. It. seemed then that all had miscarried, and that the expe- dition, on which so many hopes hung, would be a failure. At that moment was seen in General Grant that greatest of all gifts of a military man flic gift of deciding instantly amid the pressure of the great- est emergencies. I was with him when Porter reported his inability to reduce the batteries, and in an instant he made his new dispositions, and gave his orders. They were, to debark all his troops, and march them down three miles below Grand Gulf, " and," said he, " after nightfall I will run every transport I have below their batteries, and not one shal] be injured." And, sure enough, when it became dark, Porter again at- tacked the batteries with his fleet, and amid the din and clatter of the attack, the transports all safely passed Grand Gulf. And, sir, it was a noble sight as this grand army was about to bivouac at Disharoon land- ing, three miles below Grand Gulf, with their camp fires burning brightly on that soft April night, when these transports, one by one, escaping all AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 441 serious injury from the terrific tempest through which they had passed, rounded to, responding to eager inquiries, " All is well," and which was followed by such a shout as our brave and patriotic soldiers only can give. Early the next morning this whole army was again embarked on board the gunboats and transports, bound down the Mississippi, for ' Cowes and a market," for some place where a landing could be made on eolid ground on the Mississippi side. And that was a proud spectacle when the grim old iron-clad Benton, the flag-ship of Admiral Porter, on which was General Grant, led the way down the river, the entire fleet and the transports following. She landed at a dilapidated plantation called Bruinsburg, and General Grant was the first man to go ashore to seek information. He there met a loyal " American citizen of African descent," who gave him trustworthy information in regard to the coun- try and the roads into the interior. Instantly the debarkation of the troops commenced, and the line of march taken up toward Port Gibson. Before two o'clock the next morning, May 1, 1863, the enemy was en- countered, and the battle of Port Gibson, the first of the series resulting in the capture of Vicksburg, was fought during that whole day, ending finally in the complete rout of the enemy. And that which must ever be regarded by the historian as the most extraordinary feature of this campaign, is the astounding fact that when General Grant landed in the State of Mississippi and made his campaign in the enemy's country, he had a smaller force than the enemy. There lie was, in the enemy's country, cut off, in a measure, from his supplies, with a great river in his rear, and in one of the most defensible of coun- tries, through which he had to pass. To his idomitable courage and en- ergy, to his unparalleled celerity of movement, striking the enemy in detail, and beating him on every field, is the country indebted to those wonderful successes of that campaign which have not only challenged the gratitude and admiration of our own countrymen, but the admiration of the best military men of all nations. My colleague [Mr. Farnsworth] has well said that General Grant is no " carpet knight." If gentlemen could know him as I know him, and as his soldiers know him, they would not be so reluctant about conferring this honor. If they could have seen him as I saw him on that expedition ; if they could have witnessed his terri- ble earnestness, his devotion to his duty, his car*, his vigilance, and his un- challenged courage, I think their opposition to this bill would give way. "When he left his head-quarters at " Smith's plantation," below Vicks- burg, to enter on that great campaign, he did not take with him the 19* 442 GENERAL GRANT trappings and paraphernalia so common to many military men. As all depended on quickness of movement, and as it was important to be en- cumbered with as little baggage as possible, he set an example to all un- der him. He took with him neither a horse, nor an orderly, nor a servant, nor a camp chest, nor an overcoat, nor a blanket, nor even a clean shirt His entire baggage for six days I was with him at that time was a tooth brush. He fared like the commonest soldier in his command, par- taking of his rations and sleeping upon the ground, with no covering excepting the canopy of heaven. How could such a soldier fail to inspire confidence in an army, and to lead it to victory and to glory ? Confer upon him the rank contemplated by this bill, and you excite the enthu- siasm of all your armies, and all your soldiers will be eager to follow his victorious banners 1 But, gentlemen say, wait and confer this rank when the war is over. Sir, I want it conferred now, because it is my most solemn and earnest conviction that General Grant is the man upon whom, we must depend to fight out this rebellion in the field, and bring this war to a speedy and trium- phant close. It is said that he will have to leave his army if this rank is conferred upon him and come to Washington. Let me say to gentlemen that they need have no uneasiness upon that score. General Grant, if this appointment shall be conferred upon him, will never leave the field, but he will be with his army wherever his presence is most needed ; he will be with his soldiers to lead them on in this gigantic struggle to preserve our God-given Government, in which he, in common with all loyal men, has so great an interest. After a few brief remarks from other members, Mr. Ross's amendment was carried by 117 votes against 19. The bill so amended was finally passed and sent to the Senate for their action. The Senate having confirmed the bill, so for as it revived the grade of Lieutenant-Generals, and the President hav- ing, on March 1st, approved the same, Major-General Ulysses S. Grant was nominated by President Lincoln for that high rank. On the 2d of March, 1804, the nomina- tion was confirmed by the Senate in Executive Session, and he became the ranking officer of the United States Army. AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 443 CHAPTER LVIL PREPARING FOR A NEW CAMPAIGN. GENERAL GRANT had no sooner finished one campaign before he began making his plans for another still more brilliant. He forwarded to Washington his views of the way the war in the southwest should be conducted to in- sure the earliest and most complete suppression of the rebellion. What these views are in detail will be devel- oped by time ; but among other recommendations that of a concerted movement of all our armies under one policy, and, so far as practicable, under one direction, was the principal feature of General Grant's project. In alluding to this plan, a correspondent at Chattanooga wrote as follows : Assuming that it is true that General Grant has forwarded to Washington his plan and whether he has or not can be ascertained by inquiry at the proper department no one will question his title to do so, or the weight his recommendations should have. Standing before the country the first General in the field, with results proving his great abilities, almost marveUov^, it is not to be supposed for an instant that liis views will fail to excite the greatest interest. To suppose that they will not enter largely into the future conduct of the war is to imply disposition to deny him the influence his great services entitle him to have, and a suspicion that the powers at Washington are inimical to the General, whom the country recognizes as not only having doue most, but as best qualified to give counsel. It may, therefore, con- fidently be expected that the future movements of our armies and the policy that will prevail in the campaigns co follow, will be much in ac- cordance with the suggestions of General Grant. 444 CENEEAL GRANT I do not pretend to speak from authority. If General Grant lias not presented his views nothing will be heard of them at Washington. If he has, we may safely assume that no time will be lost in giving them that consideration to which the great eminence of the author entitles them.* The Congress at "Washington, however, gave evidence of their desire to forward General Grant's plans, and Senator Howe, of Wisconsin, offered the following joint resolution on the 7th of January, 1864, under the plea of releasing the prisoners within the rebel lines : Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives in Congress assembled : SEC. 1. That the President of the United States is hereby authorized and requested to call out and arm one million of volunteers to serve for the period of ninety days unless sooner discharged, and to be employed to carry food and freedom to every captive held in rebel prisons, and to plant the flag of the United States upon every prison they occupy. SEO. 2. That the President be requested to assign Major- General Ulysses S. Grant to the command of the forces raised under this call, together with such of the forces now in the field as may be joined with them, and he is hereby authorized to detail for the subordinate commands in the forces to be raised under the authority of these resolutions, such officers or privates now in the field as he may deem best qualified therefor ; or he may assign to such commands any person or persons who may vol- unteer under the same authority ; provided, however, that any officer or private, now in the military service of the United States, who may be detailed to any such command by authority hereby, shall receive no additional pay for such substituted service; and no volunteer, under the same authority, who shall be detailed to any such command, shall receive more pay than the pay of a private. In the mean time General Grant devoted his attention to the minor duties connected with his immediate depart- ment. Many of the rebel troops finding that all hope for the establishment of a Southern Confederacy had passed away, * New York Times, December, IS63. ASD HIS CAMPAIGNS. 445 and that whenever General Grant moved victory was al- ways his constant attendant, began to desert from their ranks, and came within the Union lines in large numbers. To prevent them from being retaken and summarily pun- ished by the rebel authorities, the commanding General issued the following order for their disposition and pro- tection : 33. ) < HEAD-QUARTERS MILITARY DIVISION OF THE MISSISSIPPI, IN THE FIELD, CHATTANOOGA, TENN., December 12, 1863. [General Orders, No. 10.] To obtain uniformity in the disposition of deserters from the Con- federate armies coming within this military division, the following order is published: I. All deserters from the enemy coming within our lines will be con- ducted to the commander of division or detached brigade who shall b nearest the place of surrender. II. If such commander is satisfied that the deserters desire to quu the Confederate service, he may permit them to go to their homes, \/ within our lines, on taking the following oath ; THE OATH. " I do solemnly swear in the presence of Almighty God, that I will henceforth faithfully support, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Union of 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 yet repealed, modified, .or held void by Congress or by decision of the Supreme Court, and that I will in like mannar abide by and faithfully support 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 :iclp me God. " Sworn and subscribed to before me at this day of 186 ." III. Deserters from the enemy will at once be disarmed, and their arms turned over to the nearest Ordnance Officer, who will account for them. IV. Passes and rations may be given to deserters to carry them to their homes, and free passes over military railroads and on steamboata in Government employ. 446 GENERAL GRANT V. Employment at fair wages will, when practicable, be given to deserters by officers of the Quartermaster and Engineer Departments. To avoid the danger of re-capture of such deserters by ttie enemy, they will be. exempt from, the military service in the armies of the United States. By order of Major-General U. S. GRANT. T. S. BOWERS, A. A.-G. General Grant also issued an order that " no encourage- ment will be given to traders or army followers, who have left their homes to avoid enrollment or the draft, and to speculate upon the soldiers' pay; and this class of persons will not be tolerated in the armies of the Military Di- vision of the Mississippi." He also promulgated orders for the better protection of the property of loyal citizens residing within the rebellious States, and for the proper seizure of the effects of rebels forfeited to the United States under the special act of Con- gress passed for that purpose. The following are the orders alluded to : HEAD-QUARTERS MILITARY DIVISION OP TIIE MISSISSIPPI, IN THE FIELD, CHATTANOOGA, TENN., December 13, 1863. [General Orders, No 11.] All Quartermasters within the Military Division of the Mississippi who now have, or may hereafter receive, moneys for rents accruing from abandoned property, or property known to belong to Secessionists within this Military Division, are hereby directed to pay such moneyg into the hands of the nearest Treasury Agent, taking his receipt there- for, excepting such sums out of said moneys so collected as may be requisite to pay the necessary expenses of collection and the taxes due the United States upon the same. Any property now held by any Quartermaster, and upon which rents are collected by him, shall, when satisfactorily proven to belong tc loyal citizens, be restored to the possession of the owners, togethei with all moneys collected for rents upon the same, excepting only euch sums as may be required to pay the necessary expenses of collec- tion, and the taxes due to the United States upon the same. Department and Corps Commanders and Commandants of Militarj AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 447 Posts and Stations within this Military Division, are hereby required and directed, whenever called upon by proper authority, to promptly afford all necessary assistance in enforcing the collection of the taxes due upon all property within this command. Corps Commanders within this Military Division are directed to immediately seize, or cause to be seized, all County Records and docu- ments showing titles and claims to property within the revolted States hi their respective districts, and hold the same until they can be deliv- ered to an authorized Tax Commissioner of the United States. Where property is used by the Government without paying rent, the collection of taxes on it will be suspended until further orders. By order of Major-General U. S. GBANT T. S. BOWBBS, A. A.-G. , HEAD-QUARTERS MILITARY DIVISION OF } THE MISSISSIPPI, IN THE FIELD, V CHATTANOOGA, TENN., December 16, 1863. ) [General Orders, No. 12.] 1. All seizures of private buildings will be made by the Quarter- master's Department, on the order of the commanding officer. The buildings of disloyal persons alone, will be taken to furnish officers with quarters, and the need for public offices and storehouses must be sup- plied in preference. 2. When the urgent exigencies of the service require it, the buildings of loyal persons may be taken for storehouses and offices, but only after all suitable buildings belonging to disloyal persons have been seized. 3. In the seizure of buildings, the owner will be allowed to retain all movables except the means of heating. 4. All officers will remain in the immediate vicinity of their com- mands, and if having a less command than a division or a post, when the command is in tents they will occupy tents themselves. 5. Commanding officers are prohibited from quartering troops in nouses, without the special written authority of the General command- ing the Corps or Department to which they belong. 6 In furnishing quarters to officers not serving with troops, the Quartermaster's Department will be governed by existing regulations. 7. Ten days after the receipt and distribution of this order, Corps Commanders will cause an inspection of their commands to be made by their Assistant Inspectors General, and will arrest and prefer charges against every officer who may be occupying quarters not assigned to 448 GENERAL GRANT him by the Quartermaster's Department, or in violation of paragraph 4 of this order. By order of Major-General U. 3. GRANT. T. S. BOWERS. A. A.-G. General Grant, ever mindful of the comforts of the sol- diers under his command, ordered the following important notice to be sent on Dec. 22, 1863, from the office of the Chief Quartermaster at Louisville, Ky., to prevent any stoppage of the supplies to his army : All requisitions made by Captain J. A. Potter, Assistant Quarter- master United States Army, for military supplies, will be immediately and promptly filled. In case of delay or refusal on the part of any railroad, Captain Potter is authorized to take such means as may be necessary to enforce compliance. By order of Major-General U. ROBERT ALLEN, Brig.- Gen. and Chief Quartermaster. AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 449 CHAPTER LVIII. SEN. GRANT PERSONALLY INSPECTS HIS GRAND DEPARTMENT. HAVING thus secured all that appeared at that time to require his personal attention, General Grant determined to visit the outposts of his department, and left Chattanooga for Nashville. An army correspondent at the former place thus records his departure : Gen. Grant left Chattanooga yesterday on the roble and fast-sailing government steam packet Point Rock, en route for Nashville and Louis- ville. Head-quarters of the Military Division of the Mississippi will soon be established in the last-named town. Gen. Sherman accom- panied him. Gen. Grant has not yet entirely recovered from the effect of the injuries received by the fall from his horse last summer, and the sickness has made sad work with his once robust frame. He walks slowly, sometimes with a cane, and has come to stoop a very little. But the cheery look, which brightens into a cordial smile so rapidly, does not convey any idea of suffering. The soldiers and sub-officers at Chattanooga will miss him very much; for they had cause to know him from his daily walk in the streets among them. "Then, Grant is so easy to approacJi," say they. If a sub-officer or private wishes to gain the private ear of the General, and the request is well founded, it is not necessary to wade through a "regular channel !" of thirty-two gorgeous and curt staff officers to see the chief. General Grant will have no one between him and his army but his adjutant, Brigadier- General Rowlings, who is a hearty, jovial, plain-spoken, hard-working staff officer, just such as is indispensable to an energetic chief like " Old Vicksburg." * * Army Correspondence. 450 GENERAL GBANT Another correspondent announces Gen. Grant's arrival at Nashville in the following language : The first soldier of the times, the hero of Donelson, Vicksburg, and Missionary Ridge, is also here. General Grant arrived on Saturday last, December 20, 1863, occupying for a few days his head-quarters on High street, the same once occupied by General Rosecrans, being the mansion of the well-known rebel, George Cunningham, and one of the stateliest in Nashville. The General is a man of medium height, rather spare than otherwise, and of far less pretentious appearance than many a second lieutenant frequently seen flashing his finery before the eyes of wondering beholders. His apparel is plain, and a trifle, perhaps, neglige, as a man of his celebrity can very well afford that it should be -or, perhaps, just come in from the engrossing cares and toils of a brilliant field, the spruce exterior of the martinet seemed specially un- worthy of attention. His face is but little striking. Dark brown hair surmounts a brow straight and square, though of no unusual apparent capacity. His blue eyes are sharp and expressive, while his nose, not quite straight enough for Grecian, is delicate as well as bold in outline. A short-cut reddish beard and mustache conceal mouth and chin, which one is sure, from the general contour, must express decision and energy. This countenance seen in repose, with the smoke of a Havana (General Grant is no exception to the all but universal practice in the army of using the fragrant weed) curling up around it, who would be likely to identify it as belonging to the most successful of all our warriors, pear excellence, and beyond a doubt the greatest? Simplicity, indeed, as well in dress as in address and manner, though not inseparable from real greatness, is its most frequent and appropriate attendant. General Grant has the substantial without the showy. Simple as a child, modest and un- assuming, of high honor and blameless integrity, no man could wear more becomingly the clustering chaplets he has so gloriously earned. The President may well felicitate himself in having retained General Grant in command against the strongest pressure for his removal. The result has fuHy vindicated the President's discernment and sagacity, and se- cured a leader to our armies in whom they and the whole eountry re- pose a confidence hardly second to that which the Chief Magistrate him- self enjoys. With such a leader the future will be sure to have other great successes in store, and the campaign about to open, to harbinger the rebellion's speedy downfall.* * New York Times Nashville correspondence, December 23, 1863. AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 451 The commander did not stay longer at Nashville than was necessary to secure active work on the railroad com- munications with Chattanooga, and in a few days his de- parture was announced for Knoxville. He had heard that the communications with that post had been much cut up and endangered, and, therefore, after a brief stay, he left the State capital for that point of his department. While at Knoxville he felt desirous of ascertaining the condition of the roads between that place and Louisville, by way of Cumberland Gap, and he resolved upon making a personal examination of that line of travel. The following dispatch will show the amount of hardship he endured to gain the desired information, and his recep- tion along the route : LOUISVILLE, KT., January 11, 1 864. General U. S. Grant arrived here this afternoon from Knoxville, having just completed a six days' campaign against Jack Frost. He and his staff left Knoxville on the 5th instant, and crossed the country by way of Cumberland Gap, Barboursville, Big Hill, Richmond, and Lexington, to this city, having to encounter tJie coldest weather and deepest snow known there for thirty years. The trip was a most terrible one the officers having to walk a great part of the way, driving their nearly frozen ani- mals before them. The descent of the Gap and of JBig Hill is represented to have been not only difficult but dangerous, and had an army been com- pelled at this time to cross those mountains the task would not have been nmch less terrible than Macdonald's passage of the Spleigen. General Grant had a much easier and shorter route to Nashville by way of Chattanooga ; but he chose this difficult and dangerous one solely from a desire to see for himself the capabilities of the country and route for supply- ing General Foster's army. It is this personal attention to important de- tails and his aggressive style of warfare which is the secret of General Grant's great success. This difficult journey, undertaken at this time, is indicative of the indomitable energy of the man. At Lexington, Kentucky, General Grant met with a spontaneous recep- ion from the citizens. The town was crowded with the country visitors, -nd nothing would satisfy them but a speech. The General, however, contented himself with making his appearance. The people ''nsisted on 452 GENERAL GRANT his getting upon a chair that he might be seen to better advantage, and, half pushed by General Leslie Coombs, General Grant mounted the im- provised rostrum. General Coombs then introduced him in a neat little speech, in which he said that " General Grant had told him in confidence and he would not repeat it that he never had made a speech, knew nothing about speech-making, and had no disposition to learu." After satisfying the curiosity of the people, but without eyer having opened his mouth, General Grant dismounted from his chair and retired, amid the cheers of the assemblage. His arrival at the Gait House was not generally known, and few who had not looked at the books suspected that the little man in faded blue overcoat, with heavy red whiskers and keen; bright eyes, the hero of the two rebel Gibraltars of Vicksburg and Chattanooga, stood before them. This people have been so used to and surfeited with brilliantly dressed and cleanly shaven staff officers, with every pretence star or double star that nas flitted across this horizon, that they never dreamed of recognizing in the blue overcoated men who figured in the scene with him, the ad- mirable and hard-working staff-officers who have aided in no little de- gree to General Grant's success. General Grant was accompanied by General Wilson, Colonel Duff, Colonel T. S. Bowers, and others of his staff. The party are to leave in the morning train for Nashville, where General Grant establishes his head-quarters for the present.* On the 12th of January, 1864, a telegraphic dispatch an- nounced that railroad communication was opened between Louisville and Chattanooga, A private letter from Chat- tanooga states that when the first train of cars from Bridge- port arrived at the military post, the fact caused the greatest rejoicing throughout the whole army, and that our soldiers, who had for so many months been on short rations were soon revelling in plenty. General Grant immediately began the collection of a large amount of supplies at Chattanooga preparatory to the opening of the spring campaign. The following extract will give some idea of the laboi required to effect this desirable result : * Dispatch to the New York Herald, AND HIS CAMPAIGNS, 453 An announcement of great importance appeared in our Chattanooga dispatch of yesterday. It was, that at the close of this week the cars would run through to Chattanooga. Only those thorouglily informed of the vast amount of labor required to get the road in order will appreciate the victory that has been won by our soldiers and mechanics. The heavy force that has been employed in building the bridge over the Tennessee River and Falling "Waters was next used to put the road in perfect order from Nashville to Bridgeport. This road had heretofore been in a wretched condition. The track had been constantly giving way, and the trains have been badly damaged by accidents. The utmost energy was displayed to make this road first-class, and equip it so that not only can our army at Chattanooga be thoroughly supplied, but provisions and ammunition, pork, bread, salt, cartridges, clothing the necessaries of life for a great army be accumulated for next spring's campaign. The road swarmed with laborers from end to end, until this was accomplished. With a good road, the furloughed soldiers can be sent home promptly, and the trains returned ponderous with military indispensables. It was no less important to General Grant than the reorganization and re-enforcement of his army, that the railroad should be efficient. It would be vain to gather the manly strength of the nation at Chattanooga if we could not send to that point that which is needed to provide the men for the pres- ent, and give them a depot of supplies for the future. Therefore, we regard the construction of the road to Chattanooga as a significant victory. It means as much in the direction of overcoming the rebellion, as if we had gained another battle in East Tennessee or Northern Georgia.* On the 13th of January General Grant was in Nashville, having made the circuit of his deparment in the most in- clement season of the year. It was by this personal superintendence of every little detail that he has heretofore been victorious, and was en- abled to prepare for a vigorous campaign at the opening up the spring of 1864. A Washington correspondent sent the following para- graph to a prominent daily paper during February, 1864 : An officer just in from General Grant's head-quarters states that all through the country to the rear of the Union lines a Union officer, in his uni- * Cincinnati Commercial, January 14, 1864. 454 GEISTEEAL GEANT form, can ride unmolested to any portions of Mississippi, Tennessee, and Ala- lama, halting at farm-houses along the road for such refreshments and shelter as he may desire* What an evidence of the superiority of management of the departments in that region is set forth in the foregoing short paragraph. The following, concerning the manner in which the com- mander of the forces in the Southwest carries out his cam- paigns, appeared recently in a public journal : General Grant appears to have been acting from the beginning of his first campaign upon a fixed principle to take away from the rebels what- ever they declare themselves least able to spare. In January, 1862, it was rumored that the rebel capital would presently be removed to Nash- ville. Grant determined to be beforehand with Davis, moved upon the works of Fort Donelson, and after very unhandsomely capturing the garrison, with General Buckner, took possession of Nashville. Next Mr. Davis announced to all the world that the fate of the Con- federacy depended upon the fate of Vicksburg. Hereupon Grant moved down and captured that place. East Tennessee was next declared to be absolutely necessary to the safety of the rebel cause. The untiring Grant no sooner beard this than he sent Sherman to Knoxville to drive off Longstreet, and leisurely drove Bragg away from Chattanooga.f * New York Tribune, \ New York Evening Post, Feuruary, 1864. His* CAMPAIGNS. 456 CHAPTER LIX. GENERAL GRANT AT ST. LOUIS. PUBLIC DINNER. ON the 26th of January, 1864, having satisfied himself that all was right in his grand department, General Grant visited the city of St. Louis, for the purpose of seeing his child, who was there lying sick. The knowledge of General Grant's arrival in that city was gained by some visitors inspecting the book of the hotel where he had put up. The entry was simply as fol- lows : " TJ. S. GRANT, CHATTANOOGA." That entry, modest and simple as it was, spoke volumes ; for, hidden under those seven letters that composed his name and initials, lay unseen the titles of " Major-General of the United States Army, 5 ' 1 " Conqueror of Vicksburg and Chattanooga," " Grand Commander of the Military Divi- sion of the Mississippi." It did not require to be written, for it was all embraced in " U. S. Grant." As soon as it became known that General Grant was really in St. Louis it had been doubted by many that so great a general could have entered their city without a brilliant escort, or his advent being heralded by a flourish of trumpets and rolling of drums the citizens prepared to give him a reception worthy of his deeds. No occasion had occurred since the commencement of the war in which St. Loiiis had more cheerfully united to do honor to one worthy of the gratitude of all. 456 (iKNKJiAL OB* NT The following invitation to a public dinner was tendered to General Grant by the citizens of fet. Louis : ST. Louis, January 27, 1864-. To Major-General U. S. GRANT: DEAR SIR: Your fellow -citizens of St. Louis, in common with aL 1 the loyal men of the republic, have witnessed with the highest admiration your patriotic devotion, unsurpassed services, and commanding success in the various military positions occupied by you from the commence- nent of the existing war. They remember the alacrity with which you sprang to arms at the first call of your country, placing yourself at its disposal to aid in suppressing this moBt unjustifiable and gigantic rebel- lion. As citizens of Missouri they can never forget the promptness and skill with which you aided in defending this State at the beginning of the conflict, when the means at the command of those in authority were wholly inadequate to the great work committed to them ; and as citizens jf the great valley of the Mississippi, they owe you unbounded gratitude, not only for the first signal victories which, under your auspices, crowned our arms, and thrilled the nation with joy, but also for those later and unparalleled triumphs which gave again freedom to "Western commerce, from the sources of its great rivers to the Gulf. Not with more certainty is the indivisibility of the Mississippi Valley proclaimed by its geographi- cal"ffeatures than by the devoted loyalty of the Northwest, which de- mands that from the lakes to the Gulf, along its broad rivers and over its fertile plains, only one flag shall be known, and that the glorious ban- ner of our republic "one and indivisible." You have borne that flag victoriously with your heroic legions until the Mississippi goes |: unvexed to the sea ;" and looking down from the mountain heights of Tennessee upon the States between you and the Gulf in one direction, and the Atlantic in the other, you have, with the inspiration which the past glories of that State should ever arouse, made at Chattanooga a glorious response to that grand utterance of an immortal hero, which crushed out incipient rebellion years gone by, " The federal Union : it shall bo preserved." As citizens of a republic consecrated to constitutional liberty, and duly appreciating the destinies of the future for our own and other lands which hang upon the results of the present conflict, we glory in the brilliant deeds and unparalleled triumphs of yourself, officers, and men To you and the gallant soldiers whom you have led a nation's honor aud gratitude are due. AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 457 In the name of ourselves and St. Louis, we earnestly request that you will, before leaving the city once your home meet your fellow citizens at a public dinner, where old personal friendships may be renewed and new ones formed, and where congratulations over the successes of the past and the hopes of the future may be freely interchanged. We have the honor to be, with sentiments of profound regard, your obedient servants. (Here follow the names of the subscribers.) General Grant accepted the invitation, and forwarded the following written reply to the foregoing document ST. Louis, Mo., Jan. 27, 1864. Colonel JOHN O'FALLAN, Hon. JOHN How, and citizens of St. Louis : GENTLEMEN: Your highly complimentary invitation "to meet old acquaintances and make new ones," at a dinner to be given by citizens of St. Louis, is just received. / will state that I have (mly visited St. Louis on this occasion, to see a sick child. Finding, however, that he has passed the crisis of his disease and is pronounced out of danger by his physicians, I accept the invita- tion. My stay in this city will be short probably not beyond the 1st proximo. On to-morrow I Shall be engaged. Any other day of my stay here, and any place selected by the citizens of St. Louis, it will bo agreeable for me to meet them. I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant, U. S. GRANT, Major- General U. S. A. During that day (Januaiy 27th) General Grant paid a visit to the city University, where he passed some two hours in reviewing the arrangements and listening to the recitations of the students of this institution. The same evening he attended the St. Louis theatre with his family, and was the cynosure of the eyes of all around him during the whole of the performance. After the fall of the curtain upon the play of Richelieu, cheers were proposed and heartily given for the " famous military chief- tain." The general rose from his box bo wing his acknowl- edgments, and in response to calls was understood to say 20 458 GENERAL GBANT that he had never made a speech in his life and never ex- pected to. Asking to be excused, he resumed his seat amidst a shower of cheers. The orchestra struck up "Hail Columbia," followed by " Yankee Doodle," and altogether the incident was a very pleasant one. On Friday evening (January 29th, 1864) the old friends of the modest Lieutenant Grant of former times, the neigh- bors of farmer Grant, the cordwood dealer of Corondelet, and the admirers of General Grant, the redeemer of the Mississippi Valley, sat down in the dining-hall of the Lin- dell Hotel, St. Louis, to a grand dinner given in his honor. A stranger, unacquainted with the object of the gathering, entering the dining-hall during the dinner, would never have selected, from the guests there assembled, the quiet, modest, unassuming man at the upper end of the room, as the victorious hero of the Southwest. The St. Louis journals thus describe the reception and appearance of General Grant on this occasion : The guests assembled in the corridors and parlors of the hotel at half- past six o'clock. Much curiosity was exhibited to see General Grant ; and when he made his appearance, arm-in-arm with Judge Treat, all were eager to go forward and be presented to him. He went through the protracted ceremony of shaking hands with the crowd, and passing a word or two with each, with far less of pretensions and pompous deport merit than many of those who sought his acquaintance. He is a small man about five feet eight inches high, with a well-knit frame, brown hai r and whiskers, both cropped close, and a manner as utterly destitute of style as could be conceived. His sharp nose, heavy lower jaw, and firm set lips, are the only features wherein one would suspect lurked the qual- ities that drove the Western armies like a resistless avalanche down the Mississippi and over the Southwest, in that career of consecutive victo- ries that broke the power of rebellion, even while it was boasting of triumphs at the East. The curiosity of the company centered mainly upon General Grant, to honor whom the demonstration was specially intended. As he lodged In the hotel, any thing like an ostentatious arrival or reception was. of AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 459 course, out of the question. General Grant had a visibly mild, modest manner, and received the cordial greetings tendered him with evident em- barrassment. The lady inmates of the house took possession of an ad- joining parlor, through the open door of which they could see the General, and several of his most ardent admirers among the fair spec- tators took the opportunity of his near proximity to the door in ques- tion, to obtain an introduction. The dinner was as choice as it could possibly be. There were three elegant tables spread lengthwise in the hall, pro- vided abundantly from the larder of the hotel. In the centre of the one on the north side were seated the Presi- dent of the Committee of Citizens, Judge Samuel Treat, with General Grant next on his right, followed by General Schofield, Colonel Leighton, Colonel Marcy, and Lieuten- ant-Governor Hall. Next on his left sat General Rose- crans, General Osterhaus, and Mr. F. Dent, father-in-law of the guest of the evening. Mr. Dent is a white-haired, florid, fine-looking gentleman, about sixty-five years old. He resided in St. Louis County, on the Gravois road. Im- mediately opposite Judge Treat, at the same table, sat Judge Lord, of the Land Court, flanked on the left by Major Dunn, C. B. Hubbell, Colonel Merrill, and G. Hoe- ber ; and on the right by Colonel Callender, Colonel Myers, Colonel Haines, and Major C. P. E. Johnson. At the centre of the south table were seated Honorable Wayman Crow, with General McNeil, General Fisk, Gen- eral Brown, General Totten, and General Gray. The re- maining guests, to the number of two hundred, occupied the other seats at the tables. The hall, superb in the ceiling and wall colorings which embellished it, was further deco- rated by the spirited drapings of the national flag from each of the arched windows, and presented a magnificent appearance. After the dinner the various toasts, incident to such 460 GEXERAL GRANT occasions, were given. At the toast of " our distinguished guest, Major-General Grant," the band played with great spirit the air " Hail to the Chief." General Grant arose amid a perfect storm of applause ; but, true to his resolution never to make a speech, he simply said : GENTLEMEN: In response, it will be impossible for me to do more than to thank you. At the toast of " the City of St. Louis," the following preamble and resolutions, passed by the City Council an hour or two before the time fixed for the dinner, were read : COUNCIL CHAMBER, CITY OF ST. Louis, January 29, 1864. Whereas, Major-General U. S. Grant has, since our last meeting, sud- denly and unexpectedly arrived among us, and the opportunity not hav- ing presented itself whereby the city authorities and this body could testify their great esteem, regard, and indebtedness due his modest, un- swerving energies, swayed neither by the mighty successes which have crowned his genius and efforts in behalf of the government, nor the machi- nations of politicians evidences of the true patriot and soldier ; therefore, belt Resolved, That the thanks of the Common Council of the City of St. Louis are eminently due, and are hereby respectfully tendered to Major- General U. S. Grant, in behalf of the City of St. Louis. Resolved, That his Honor, the Mayor, be respectfully requested to give his official approval to this preamble and resolutions, and cause the seal of the city to be affixed, and the same presented to Major-Gen- eral U. S. Grant. Shortly before the dinner party broke up, the following was read : Major-General Grant He is emphatically U. S. Grant, for he has given US and the U. S. an earnest of those victories which will finally rescue this nation from the rebellion and its cause American slavery. Loud applause greeted the reading of this sentiment. AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 461 During the same evening, the General was honored by the enthusiastic populace with a serenade. His appearance on the balcony was greeted with the most flattering cheers. In response to calls for a speech, he took off his hat, and, amid profound silence, said : GENTLEMEN: I thank you for this honor. I cannot make a speech. It is something I have never done, and never intend to do, and I beg you will excuse me. Loud cheers followed this brief address, at the .conclu- sion of which the General replaced his hat, took a cigar from his pocket, lit it, and stood on the balcony in the presence of the crowd, puffing his Havana and watching 'the rockets as they ascended and burst in the air. " Speech ! speech !" vociferated the multitude, and sev eral gentlemen near him urged the General to say some- thing to satisfy the people, but he declined. Judge Lord, of the Land Court, appeared very enthusiastic, and, placing his hand on General Grant's shoulder, said: "Tell them you can fight for them, but can't talk to them do tell them that !" " I must get some one else to say that for me," replied the General ; but the multitude continuing to cry out, " Speech ! speech !" he leaned over the railing, blew a wreath of smoke from his lips, and said : " Gentlemen : Making speeches is not my business. I never did it in my life, and never will. I thank you, how- ever, for your attendance here," and with that the General retired. At the request of a number of ladies the noted visitor agreed to stay in the city until the end of the month, as the citizens of St. Louis were organizing a Great Western Sanitary Commission Fair. The following letter from him was, however, read at a meeting held on Monday even- ing, February 1, 1864 : 462 GENERAL GKA^T ST. Louis, Mo., Jan. 31, 1864 Dr. W. G-. ELIOT, GEORGE PAETEIDGE, and others, Westa-n Sanitary Commission : GENTLEMEN : Tour letter of yesterday, requesting my presence at a general meeting of the loyal citizens of St. Louis on Monday evening, to make preparations for a " Grand Mississippi Valley Fair," for the benefit of the sick and wounded soldiers of the Western army, is before me. 1 regret that my already protracted stay in the city will prevent any longer delay from my public duties. I regret this, as it would afford me the greatest pleasure to advance, in any manner, the interests of a commis- sion that has already done so much for the suffering soldiers of our Western armies. The gratuitous offerings of our loyal citizens at home, through the agency of Sanitary Commissions, to our brave soldiers in the field, have been to them the most encouraging and gratifying evidence that whilst they are risking life and health for the suppression of this ' most wicked rebellion, their friends, who cannot assist them with mus- ket and sword, are with them in sympathy and heart. The Western Sanitary Commission have distributed many tons of stores to the armies under my command. Their voluntary offerings have made glad the hearts of many thousands o/ wounded and sick soldiers who otherwise would have been subjected to severe privations. Knowing the benefits already conferred on the army by the Western Sanitary Commission, I hope for them a full and enthusiastic meeting to-night, and a fair to fol- low which will bring together many old friends who have been kept apart for the last three years, and unite them again in one common cause that of their country and peace. I am, gentlemen, with great respect, Your obedient servant, U. & GRANT, Major- General U. S. A. Before the close of the meeting the General was elected an honorary member of the Commission. General Grant when he took his departure from St. Louis stated that he felt mnch pleased to find he was so well aided by the residents of the Mississippi River cities. He then set about carrying out his plans for the Spring Campaign, the effects of which will doubtless help to shake the remainder of the rebel confederacy to pieces. AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. CHAPTER LX. GENERAL GRANT'S PERSONAL APPEARANCE AND CHARACTER. THE appearance of General Grant is far from what an idealist would picture of a great hero. He is a man of medium height, and but little above the minimum standard of officers of the army. The appearance of his countenance during repose is far from commanding ; but on the field there seems to be something in the determined glance of his eye, the contracted brow, and the firm-set teeth, that would imply that his wishes " must and shall be carried out." Otherwise there is but little in his countenance that could be called striking. His brow is straight and square, but cannot be characterized as lofty, although it is far from ignoble. His head is covered by a fair quantity of light brownish hair.* His eyes are blue, sharp, and expressive, * We find a letter from General Grant to the wife of General I. P Quinby, which we quote : CHATTANOOGA, TENN., Dec. 13, 1863. MY DEAR MADAM: The letter of my old friend and classmate, you- husband, requesting a lock of my hair, if the article is not growing scarce from age I presume he means to bo put in an ornament (by the most delicate of hands no doubt), and sold at the bazaar for the benefit of disabled soldiers and their families is just received. lam glad to say that the stock is yet abundant as ever, though time or other cause is beginning to intersperse here and there a reminder that winters have passed. The object for which this little requisite is made is so praiseworthy that I cannot refuse it, even though I do, by granting it, expose the fact to the ladies of Rochester, that I am no longer a boy. Hoping that the 464 GENERAL GRANT yet, at times, calm and mild. His nose is aquiline, its bold lines delicately chiseled. His mouth and chin are well formed, but are concealed under a heavy brown beard and mustache, which is kept cut somewhat shorter than it de- serves. His manner is mild even in times of the greatest excite- ment, and the humblest drummer-boy can as easily reach the General with his complaints, as could his corps or de- partmental commanders. His style of dress has often been alluded to in the course of this narrative. He assumes no gaudy plumes nor trap- pings, and takes but little consideration as to his personal appearance. This apparent carelessness is a conclusive evidence that his mind is employed with more important matters. A correspondent from Chattanooga thus describes his appearance during the battle : Those who had never seen General Grant would scarcely be likely to have singled him out from the hundred others on the ground around Chattanooga "as the man whom the country recognizes as having done the most, and of whom so much is expected, to crush the rebellion by hard blows, and of the exercise of those qualities which enter into a character of true greatness. He was there to be seen enveloped in a rather hugh military coat, wearing a slouching hat, which seemed to have a predisposition to turn up before and down behind, with a gait slightly limping from his accident at New Orleans, giving his orders with as few words as possible, in a lo\vtone, and with an accent which partook of the slight nervousness, intensity of feeling, yet perfect self- command, seen in ah 1 his movements. General Grant might be de- scribed best as a little old man yet not really old who, with a keen eye, did not intend that any thing should escape his observation. At citizens of your city may spend a happy week commencing to-morrow and that this fair may remunerate most abundantly, I remain, very truly, your friend, U. S. GRAKT, Major- General U. S. A. AXD HIS CAMPAIGNS. 465 that battle he was not in his usual physical condition, his recent illness, added to his arduous labors, having made him lean in flesh, and given a sharpness to his features which he did not formerly have. Those features, however, go far to define the man of will and self-control that ha is At the critical moment of the day's operations, the muscles appeared to gather tighter and harder over his slightly projecting chin, which seems to have an involuntary way of working, and the lips to contract. There is in what he does or says nothing that has the slightest approach to ostentation or show, but the palpable evidence of a plain man of sense, will, and purpose, who has little idea that more eyes are turned on him than on any other man on the continent. From his first struggle at Belmont to his last at Chattanooga, the men led by him have fought more steadily, fiercely, and successfully than those of any other portion of our army. In looking back over the history of the war, the eye rests upon no more glorious pages than those whereon are written Fort Don- elson, Vicksburg, and Chattanooga.* There are many instances mentioned of the kindness of General Grant's heart, but one will suffice as an evi- dence of the whole. When General Grant heard of the death of Colonel O'Meara, one of the officers under his command at Chattanooga, he hastened to see the daring and brave man's remains which were at the lauding in a coffin, waiting for transportation. The General ordered the coffin to be opened that he might take " a last look at the gallant Colonel of the Irish Legion." When the coffin was opened the General was touched at the sight of one whom he had honored and publicly thanked before he had been two months in the Army of the Tennessee. O'Meara's defence of the trestlework, a few miles north of Holly Springs, Miss., when Van Dorn made a raid there in December, 1862, and which saved Grant's army from starvation, was never forgotten by the General. The spectators were moved at the sad and touching farewell of the Commander of the Department of the Mississippi from * Army Correspondence. 466 GENERAL GRANT the corpse of a young Irish soldier, who had forfeited his life to the belief that " the highest and best duty of all, native or foreign born, was to stand by the flag which is the hope of the exile, the emblem of philanthropy, and the ensign of the American people." General Grant in private is thus described by an officer of his staff: If you could see the General as he sits just, over beyond me, with his wife and two children, looking more like a chaplain than a gen- eral, with that quiet air so impossible to describe, you would not ask ine if he drinks. He rarely ever uses intoxicating liquors ; more moder- ate in his habits and desires than any other man I ever knew ; more pure and spotless is his private character than almost any man I ever knew ; more brave than any man I ever saw ; with more power to command and ability to plan than any man I ever served under ; cool to excess, when others lose nerve, always hopeful, always undisturbed, never failing to accomplish what he undertakes just as he expects to. He is the only General worthy to command Americans fighting for their national sal- vation. Of his bravery there can be no doubt, as it has been shown on all occasions from West Point to Chattanooga ; but if the fact requires an endorsement, it has it in the fol- lowing remarks from General Sherman, at the public din- ner given at Memphis on the 25th of January, 1 364 : " I was at West Point," said General Sherman, " with Gen- eral Grant. The General is not a man of remarkable learning, but he is one of the bravest I ever saw. He smokes his cigar with coolness in the midst of flying shot. lie has no fear, because he is an honest man. I like Grant. I do not say he is a hero ; I do not believe in heroes ; but I know he is a gentleman, and a good man." General Grant has always manifested towards the offi- cers that have served under him a full appreciation of their abilities. His dispatches to the General-in-Chief, concerning AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 467 battles and other movements, have always given evidence of this fact; and the following special recommendations of distinguished officers (since promoted) by General Grant, are on file at the head-quarters of the General-in-Chief. Under date of July 23, 1863, General Grant says: I would respectfully, but urgently, recommend the promotion of Ma- (or-General W. T. Sherman, now commanding the Fifteenth Army Corps,' to the position of Brigadier-General in the regular army. To General Sherman I was greatly indebted for his promptness in forwarding to me, during -the siege of Fort Donelson, re-enforcements and supplies from Paducah. At the battle of Shiloh, on the first day he held with raw troops the keypoint to the landing. To h'is individual efforts I am indebted for Qie success of that battle. Twice hit, and several (I think three) horses shot under him on that day, he maintained his position with raw troops. It is no disparagement to any other officer to say that I do not believe there was another division commander on the field who had the skill and experience to have done it. His services as division commander in the advance on Corinth, I will venture to say, were appreciated by the now General-in-Chief beyond those of any other division commander. General Sherman's arrangement as commander of troops in the attack on Chickasaw Bluffs last Decembei, was admirable; seeing the ground from the opposite side from the attack, I saw the impossibility of making it successful. The conception of the attack on Arkansas Post was General Sherman's. His part of the execution, no one denies, was as good as it possibly could have been. His demonstration at Haines's Bluff, in April, to hold the enemy about Vicksburg, while the army was securing a foothold east of the Mississippi ; his rapid marches to join the army afterward; his management at Jackson. Mississippi, hi the first attack- his almost unequalled march from Jackson to Bridgeport, and passage of Black River; his securing Walnut Kills on the 18th of May, and thus opening communications with oui supplies, all attest his great merit as a. toldier. The siege of Vicksburg and last capture of Jackson and dis- persion of Johnston's army, entitle General Sherman to more credit than usually falls to the lot of one man to earn. The promotion of such men as Sherman always adds strength to our arms. On the same day that he recommended the promotion of General Sherman he also requested the same honor for 468 GENERAL GRANT General McPherson, and wrote to the General-in-Chief concerning him as follows : General McPherson has been with me in every battle since the commencement of the rebellion, except Belmont. At Forts Henry, Donelson, Shiloh, and the siege of Corinth, as a staff officer and en- gineer, his services were conspicuous and highly meritorious. At the second battle of Corinth his skill as a soldier was displayed in success- fully carrying re-enforcements to the besieged garrison, when the ene- my was between him and the point to be reached. In the advance through Central Mississippi last November and De- cember, General McPherson commanded one wing of the army with all the ability possible to show, he having the lead in the advance and the rear returning. In the campaign and siege terminating with the fall of Vicksburg General McPherson has filled a conspicuous part at the battle of Po: Gibson. It was under his direction that the enemy was driven, late ii the afternoon, from a position they had succeeded in holding all day against an obstinate attack. His corps, the advance always under his immediate eye, were the pioneers in the movement from Port Gibson to Hawfcinson's Ferry. From the north fork of the Bayou Pierre to Black River it was a constant skirmish, the whole skilfully managed. The enemy was so closely pressed as to be unable to destroy their bridge of boats after them. From Hawkinson's Ferry to Jackson, the Seven- teenth Army Corps marched roads not travelled by other troops, fight- ing the entire battle of Raymond alone, and the bulk of Johnston's army was fought by this corps, entirely under the management of General McPherson. At Thompson's Hill, the Seventeenth Corps and General McPherson were conspicuous, All that could be termed a battle there, was fought by the divisions of General McPherson' s Corps, and Hovey's Division of the Thirteenth Corps. In the assault of the 22d of May, on the for- tifications of Vicksburg, and during the entire siege, General McPher- son and his command took unfading laurels. He is one of our ablest en- gineers and most skilful Generals. These recommendations secured the nomination by the President of these officers to the positions named in tha documents. AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 409 General Grant's modesty is even more remarkable than the other fine traits in his character. Every dispatch that he sent to head-quarters was full of it ; his quiet acknowl- edgment of honors gave evidence of it ; and his replies concerning the mention of his name for the Presidency the highest honor in the gift of the people, and the proud ambition of every true American breathed it in every syllable. One day being spoken to about that position, he said, "Let us first settle the war and it will be time enough then to talk upon that subject." On another occasion, when rallied about the persistent use of his name by the public press for the Presidency, he said : " I aspire only to one political office. When this war is over I mean to run for Mayor of Galena (his place of residence). And if elected, I intend to have the sidewalk fixed up be- tween my house and the depot." General Howard is reported to have stated in public that General Grant is a strictly temperate man, and religious. Hi3 marked characteristic is a wonderful faith in his success, amounting almost to the fatality in which Napoleon so strongly believed. General Howard's statements can be relied on.* Prominent military men of every age have haA some particu- lar method of fighting, which might be considered peculiar to themselves ; but at the same time the world's great generals have all adopted some acknowledged principles of strategy. On this subject General Grant made the following remarks to the members of his staff at Nashville during March, 1 864 : " I don't believe in strategy as you generally mean it. I use it in getting just as close to the enemy as possible, and then ' up guards and at 'em.' " *NffW York Times, February 18, 1864 470 GENERAL GRANT GRANT'S LAST CAMPAIGN, AND CLOSE or THE WAB. As soon as the President's appointment of General Grant to the revived rank of Lie uten ant-General had received the confirmation of the Senate of the United States, the appointee was ordered to report at the national capital. With true soldierly promptness he obeyed the order, and leaving the head-quarters of his military division "in the field," hastened on to Washington. On the 6th of March, 1864, he visited the Departmental offices at Louisville, Kentucky, to ascertain that every thing was in proper working order before he left the Division ; and having satisfied himself on this subject, he started East, taking with him his son, a lad thirteen years of age. He arrived at Cincinnati the next morning, where he paid a flying visit to his father (J. R. Grant, Esq.), then residing at Covington, opposite that city, after which he proceeded to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He left that place on the morning of March 8th, and arrived at Baltimore about noon, where hi was met at the depot of the Northern Central Railroad by a considerable number of soldiers and citizens. The General was plainly clad, and seemed anxious to avoid show or parade. Many, however, on seeing him, went up to shake hands, and gave vent to their feelings by enthusiastic shouts of welcome. To this greeting he remarked that, " be- yond all things he was determined to avoid political demon- strations; his business was with war, while it existed, and his duty was to crush the spirit of treason and save the nation from destruction. When these things were accomplished, as he hoped and believed they surely would be, then it would be time enough for those whose tastes were toward partisanship to indulge themselves." AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 471 General Grant left Baltimore by the next train, and arrived in Washington at about five o'clock on the evening of March 8th, 1864. He at once proceeded to Willard's Hotel, where he immediately went to his room. Having divested himself of his travelling attire, he, unattended by either staff or escort, quietly walked into the long dining-room of the hotel, and look his seat for dinner. There were several hundred persona present, and the ranking officer of the whole United States army sat down in their midst in his rusty major-general's uniform, attracting but little notice. His quietude was but short-lived ; and he had but half finished his dinner when one of the visitors at the table inquired of a neighbor who the strange major-general was. Looking up, the party ques- tioned recognized the newly arrived officer at a glance, as he had before known him in Galena, and he promptly answered : " Why, that is Lieutenant-General Grant." The mas;ic name was quickly whispered about, and a battery of ladies' cyoc was speedily opened upon him. The General soon betrayed evidences of embarrassment, when sud- denly a member of Congress arose and announced that " the hero of Vicksburg was among them," and proposed his health. Instantly all the guests were on their feet, and the proposal was met with deafening cheers. More embarrassed than before, the General merely bowed and resumed his seat ; but it was some time before he could finish his dinner in conse- quence of the rush of the guests to gain an introduction to him. Late in the evening General Grant visited the White House, where the President was holding a public reception. He entered the reception room unannounced ; but was soon re cognized and greeted by Mr. Lincoln with great cordiality. The noted visitor then became the principal feature of the reception, and, attended by the Secretaries of War and State, he modestly received the congratulations of the crowded mansion, after which he escorted Mrs. Lincoln round the East 472 GENERAL GRANT Room, and retired. He afterwards remarked it was " his warmest campaign during the whole war." The City Councils of Washington also tendered him the hos- pitalities and freedom of the city, together with a cordial wel- come. This welcome was embodied in a series of resolutions, handsomely written, and presented to him by the Mayor. At one o'clock in the afternoon of March 9th, 1864, General Grant was formally presented by President Lincoln with his commission as Lieutenant-General. The ceremony took place in the presence of the Cabinet, the General-in-Chief, the mem- bers of General Grant's staff, that officer's son, the President's private secretary, and Representative Lovejoy. When the General entered the room the President rose and said : GENERAL GRANT : The nation's appreciation of what you have doue, and its reliance upon you for what still remains to bo accomplished in the existing great struggle, are now presented with this commission, constituting you Lieutenant-General in the army of the United States. With this high honor devolves upon you, also, a corresponding respon- sibility. As the country herein trusts you, so, under God, it will sus- tain you. .1 scarcely need to add, that with what I here speak for the nation, goes my own hearty personal concurrence. To which General Grant replied as follows : MR. PRESIDENT : I accept the commission, with gratitude for the high honor conferred. With the aid of the noble armies that have fought on so many fields for our common country, it will be my earnest en- deavor not to disappoint your expectations. I feel the full weight of the responsibilities now devolving on me, and I know that if they are met, it will be due to those armies, and, above all, to the favor of that Providence which leads both nations and men. At the conclusion of these brief speeches, the President in- troduced the General to all the members of the Cabinet ; after which the company were seated, and about half an hour was spent in pleasant social conversation. General Grant, the next day, visited the Army of the Potomac, in company with General Meade, and on his return to the national capital, immediately made preparations for AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 473 his departure. He left Washington with his staff on the eve- ning of March llth, for the West. The day after, the following order was promulgated : WAR DEPARTMENT, ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE, ) WASHINGTON, March 12, 1864. ) {Genera Orders, No. 98.] The President of the United States orders as follows: First. Major-General Halleck is, at his o\vn request, relieved from duty as General-in-Chief of the array, and Lieutenant-General U. S. Grant is assigned to the command of the armies of the United States. The head-quarters of the army will be in Washington, and also with Lieutenant-General Grant in the field. Second. M'ajor-General Halleck is assigned to duty in Washington, as Chief of Staff of the army under the direction of the Secretary of War and the Lieutenant-General Commanding. His orders will be obeyed and respected accordingly. Third. Major-General W. T. Sherman is assigned to the command of the military division of the Mississippi, composed of the Departments of the Ohio, the Cumberland, the Tennessee, and the Arkansas. Fourth. Major-General J. B. McPherson is assigned to the command of the Department and Army of the Tennessee. Fifth. In relieving Major-General Halleck from duty as General-in- Chief, the President desires to express his approbation and thanks for the zealous manner in which the arduous and responsible duties of that position have been performed. By order of the Secretary of War. E. D. TOWNSEXD, Ass't Adjutant- General. It is believed that no military order was issued during the war so universally satisfactory as this which ap- pointed Lieutenant-General Grant to the command o* the Armies of the United States. During the preceding January, Grant had made an extensive tour of inspection through the military division of the Mississippi, and the scope of his new duties as Lieutenant-General required that he should thoroughly inform himself concerning the condition of the other Western departments. It was necessary, also, that he should arrange with General Sherman the plans for the 474 GE1TEEAL GEANT. coming spring and summer campaigns. This done- and, as the result showed, well done he returned to Washington to mature his plans for the Virginia cam- paign, which he was to conduct in person. The month of April was a busy season to the brave soldiers of the Potomac Army, of which General Grant remarked, " This is a very fine army; and these men, I am told, have fought with great courage and bravery. I think, how- ever, that the Army of the Potomac has never fought its battles through" The world was soon to learn, what this calm, self-poised commander intimated by his remark, that this same army always nobly striving, yet never attaining was capable, under proper handling, of fight- ing its battles " through" He came to them with a well- earned reputation for success in whatever he undertook ; he commended himself to them by the earnestness which quickly dispersed speculators, hangers-on and "shirks" of all- sorts; which made fancy-soldiering "below par" in the camp; and which promised to these brave but sorely baffled heroes work, hard work, plenty of it. The loyal heart of the nation, wearied and desponding by reason of its many sad and costly trials, turned to him and rested itself upon him with an appealing trustfulness which the grave, reticent soldier deeply felt, and evidently appreciated. The patient, truthful, and loving heart of President Lincoln trusted him entirely as he wrote him, on the eve of the campaign, "I wish to express, in this way, my entire satisfaction with what you have done up to this time, as I understand it. The particulars of your plans I neither know nor seek to know. You are vigilant and self-reliant ; and, pleased with this, I wish not to obtrude any restraints or constraints upon you. * * If there be any thing wanting which it is within my power to give, do not fail to let me know it." HIS CAMPAIGNS AND BATTLES. 475 The force with which he took the field was of magnifi- cent proportions ; consisting, in fact, of three armies ; viz., the Army of the Potomac, the Army of the James, and the Army of the Shenandoah. From different points, and over different fields, these great columns were con- verging toward one focus RICHMOND, the Confederate capital. This was defended by the rebel forces under General Lee, lying south of the Rapidan Eiver, stretch- ing eastward from Orange Court-House, with his cavalry guarding the left flank toward Gordonsville, while his right was near Chancellors ville. North of the Rapidan, and confronting the rebel position, as it had for months previous, lay the Army of the Potomac, under Major- General Meade, consisting of three corps of infantry (nearly 150,000 men) under such leaders as Hancock, Sedgwick, Warren, etc. ; together with Sheridan's splendid cavalry corps, and a reserve, about 40,000 strong, under Burnside its headquarters being at Culpepper Court- House, and its line extended from Brandy Station to Robertson's River. To this army was assigned the post of honor the opening of the mighty conflict The Army of the James, under Major-General Butler, made up of the former Army of Eastern Virginia and North Caro- lina, and a portion of the Army of the Department of the South, was directed to seize, by an adroit maneuvre, the position known as Bermuda Hundred, on the south bank of the James River, midway between Richmond and Petersburg, and, if practicable, it was expected to inter- pose such a permanent force between the two cities, as should result in the capture of the latter. The Army of the Shenandoah, under Major-General Sigel, and com- posed of the Army of Western Virginia, together with the Nineteenth Corps, formerly of the Department of the Gulf, and a considerable cavalry force, was to operate OD 476 GENERAL GBANT. Staunton, Waynesborough, and Lynchburg, in order to cripple Lee's resources, and cut off his supplies from the West, while, at the same time, it guarded against any sudden rebel incursion into Maryland and Pennsylvania, by way of the Shenandoah Valley. While these movements were in process of execution, Grant's lieutenant, the invincible Sherman, at the head of the three splendid and oft-tried Armies of the Cum- berland, the Tennessee, and the Ohio, with such leaders as the gallant McPherson, Hooker, Logan, Schofield, Howard, and others equally famous, was to move upon Atlanta, Ga., and so completely to occupy the rebel forces in the South-west as to prevent their sending re- inforcements to, or receiving them from, Lee's army. Such, in brief, was the gigantic plan for the simul- taneous movement which was made by all the Union forces in the field, in the early part of May, 1864. The first 'move of the Army of the Potomac, on the 4th, across the Kapidan, aimed at the flanking of Lee's right, then strongly intrenched at Mine's Eun. Plunging, as soon as they had crossed the river, into the " Wilderness," a tract of dense forest, some fifteen or twenty miles in length, and five miles wide, eastward of Chancellorsville, the " boys in blue " were met before they had time to get into position amid the tangled undergrowth of the woods with a staggering attack from Longstreet's rebel corps. Sedgwick's corps, which received this blow, re- pulsed it and a succeeding one also, and then the rebel attack was hurled upon Warren's corps (the Union cen- ter), but was again foiled. The battle, lasting far into the night, was renewed at 4 o'clock on the morning of the 6th, by Lee, who endeavored to break the Union right and center. He was driven back, however, and by 6 A.M. Hancock commenced to drive the rebels back, and HIS CAMPAIGNS AND BATTLES. 477 fighting ensued, lasting through the day, though with indecisive results until dark, when the extreme right of the Union line was turned, and completely flanked. It was truly a critical moment; but Grant, with his usual fertility of resource, "plucked safety out of the flower DANGER," and by extending his left and center, which were still unshaken, brought his right into a new position, changing his base, meanwhile, to Fredericks- burg and the Eappahannock. He thus not only flanked Lee in turn, but, by getting his army out of the "Wilder- ness, gained the advantage of a more open country for the us-?- of his artillery. Lee fell back, and took up a new and strong position at Spottsylvania Court- House where Grant found and fought him on the 8th, 9th, and 10th, but without much decisive result. On the night of the llth, Grant transferred Hancock's corps to the left of the line ; and at half-past 4 o'clock, on the morning of the 12th, this corps completely surprised the rebel right by a terrible bayonet charge, capturing two generals, four thousand prisoners, and thirty heavy guns, and holding the positions thus gained, in spite of the repeated and almost frantic attempts of the enemy to retake them. On the 13th, Lee's lines were re-formed, moving farther to the right, but not escaping the vigi- lance of Grant ; and when, on the same night, Warren's (Union) corps was attacked, it repulsed the rebels with heavy loss. Until the 18th there was a lull, during which both armies were largely reinforced. On that day, Hancock attacked and gained two lines of the rebel intrenchments, and the next three days were occupied by Grant in an- other flanking movement, by way of Gurney's Station, to Milford Bridge. Lee meanwhile moved to a strong posi- tion between the North and South Anna Rivers, and Grant, finding, by some hard fighting, that a direct attack 478 GENERAL GKAOT. would be impracticable, made another flank movement Making an attack with his right wing, as a cover to his real movement, he recrossed the North Anna with his main army, burned the Virginia Central Railroad Bridge, crossed the Pamunkey, and, on the 31st of May, was within fifteen miles of Richmond. But he had an alert and most skillful antagonist to cope with. Lee was ready in force to meet him, and several days were spent in cavalry fighting and skirmishing. On the 1st of June, the Sixth Corps occupied a strong position near Cold Harbor, being joined there by a detachment from the Army of the James, and two days after (June 3d) was fought the battle of Cold Harbor, a most determined, stubborn contest on both sides, resulting in the occupa- tion of the place by the Union troops. An attack the same day on the rebel intrench ments, however, failed of success ; and General Grant, finding that an attempt to dislodge the enemy by direct attack, would involve too serious a loss of life, determined, and within three days (12th to 15th) executed, the bold movement of crossing the James River, in the face of the enemy, though without his knowledge, with the view of attacking Richmond from tnat side. General Butler, with his Army of the James, had mean- while been carrying out his share of the programme with energy and skill. Seizing Bermuda Hundred, and fortify- ing the position, he cut the railroad below Petersburg, made a dash upon the city, though without taking it ; besieged Fort Darling, without success; and stoutly maintaining his own against repeated rebel attacks, was ready to welcome and assist the Army of the Potomac. Sigel's Army, however, had been less successful, ana after a severe rebuff which it met with, on the 15th of May, at Reed's Hill, in the Shenandoah Valley, its com- HIS CAMPAIGNS AND BATTLES. 47i> maud was taken by General Hunter, who defeated Gen- eral Sam Jones, at Staunton, taking several guns and many prisoners, and driving the rebels to Waynesboro. Pressing still forward toward Lynchburg, with Generals Crook and Averill's commands, he was finally met by the rebel General Early, and was obliged bo retreat, by a forced march, into the mountains of Western Virginia, with heavy loss and suffering. "While these movements were in progress, the dashing cavalry force of Sheridan had " raided " completely around General Lee's lines, penetrating the first lines of works around the Confederate capital, destroying railroads, trains, depots of supplies, releasing Union prisoners, and capturing many of the rebels. Having cut all Lee's communications he safely returned to the Army of the James, five days after starting. The rebel General Early, having routed Hunter, found a free road down the Shenandoah Valley, crossed over into Maryland, where he occupied Hagerstown and Frederick, and threatened Baltimore and Washington, approach- ing even to within two miles of the latter city. Finding himself, however, somewhat unexpectedly confronted with the Nineteenth Corps, just from New Orleans, and the Sixth, from the Army of the Potomac, and learning that General Couch, from Pennsylvania, was closing up on his rear, he hastily retreated to Virginia, carrying with him a large amount of plunder. But we must return to General Grant, whose first move, after he had reached the south side of the James, was an immediate attack on Petersburg, which, however, failed through some misunderstanding on the part of the cavalry force which was to have co-operated. A series of attacks upon the rebel works was kept up, and by the of June, the city was invested, except on the north 480 GENERAL GRANT. and west side, and the Petersburg and Danville (or South- side) Eailroad was finally secured by the Union troops, after some very severe fighting. At the same time (June 22d to July 1st) a body of eight thousand cavalry, under Generals "Wilson and Kautz, made a dash upon the Weldon Railroad, which they destroyed and cut up for several, miles, as well as a large amount of stores, sup- plies, etc. Unfortunately, however, they were surrounded by the rebels, and before they could extricate themselves, lost seven or eight hundred men, and their artillery and trains. A season of comparative quiet now followed, during which, however, General Grant was by no means idle ; and his men experienced that most uncomfortable of all service which falls to a soldier's lot, "life in the trenches," under the blistering sun and amid smothering dust, listening to the constant and monotonous rifle-crack, the shriek of shells, and the deep boom of siege-guns ; while, if a head or a hand is raised above the trench, it is liable to feel the bullet of the sharpshooter. But during this month of tedious waiting, far more repulsive to the sol- dier than actual fighting, good solid work had been done. A mine had been constructed, starting from in front of Burnside's corps toward a formidable rebel fort which stood about two thousand yards from Petersburg. This mine, which was five hundred feet long, and contained four tons of powder, was conducted with such secrecy as to have totally escaped the notice of the enemy. "When all was ready, the Second Corps, together with Sheridan's cavalry, starting from the extreme left of the Union lines, crossed the James on pontoons muffled with hay, and struck the enemy at Strawberry Plains, only twelve miles from Richmond, capturing a battery and line of in- *renchments. As had been expected, Leo hurried off HIS CAMPAIGNS AND BATTLES. 481 from Petersburg a force of fifteen thousand men to meet this unexpected onset, and as he did so, the Union force slipped stealthily back, by night, July 27th, 28th, and 29th, to the front of Petersburg. At sunrise of the 30th the mine was exploded, and in a second of time, the fort with its garrison of two hundred men, guns, etc., was gone, and in its place was a yawning crater full of debris, smoke, dust, and dead and dying men. Before the sound of the explosion had died away, a hundred Union guns concentrated their terrible fire upon the rebel lines, and an assaulting column rushed forward to enter the breach. Precious time was lost, however; the assault was fiercely made, but stubbornly resisted, and, after desperate fight- ing until about noon, the Union forces were obliged to withdraw, with a loss of four thousand men, killed, wounded, and missing ; that of the enemy being but one thousand. Disappointed, yet not disheartened, by the failure of this plan, General Grant continued his opera- tions with renewed energy, and on the 12th of August occurred the battle of Deep Bottom, in which the gallan Second Corps dislodged the enemy from his position, capturing five hundred prisoners, six cannon, and two mortars. On the 18th, the Federal forces captured and held the Weldon Railroad at Ream's Station, but on the following day the right center of their line was suddenly attacked, and cut by a powerful rebel column, but ral- lied, and, with the aid of reinforcements, regained and held, in spite of two other attacks (on the 21st and 25th) a part of the road, although sustaining a total loss of nine thousand men. For the next five weeks there was no action of great importance ; but on the 28th of Septem- ber, General Grant again made one of his favorite stra- tegic movements of covering an intended attack on his left, by a strong feint of attack on the right. In this 482 GEKEKAL GRAXT. case, the feint on the right became a more important action than the one it was intended to cover. The Eighteenth Corps, under General Ord, crossing the James, attacked, on the morning of the 19th, the rebel lines at Chaffin's Farm, and carried a strong earthwork, named Fort Harrison, with the lines of intrenchments, its guns, and two or three hundred prisoners, with a loss to the Union force of some eight hundred. Simultaneously, General Birney carried the rebel intrenchments on the Newmarket Eoad, with ease, and the Union troops then advanced to Laurel Hill. On the 30th, a desperate at- tempt, on the part of the rebels, to recapture Fort Har- rison, was repulsed, and on the 1st of October, the Federal cavalry, under Generals Terry and Kautz, made a recon- naissance within less than two miles of the rebel capital. On the 7th of October, the rebels made an attempt, at first successful, to turn the right flank of the Army of the^ames ; but, after severe fighting, were repulsed with heavy loss. The experience of the past summer during which General Early had "raided "into Maryland and Penn- sylvania, supplied Lee's army with provisions, and threat- ened Washington itself had shown conclusively that the division of the Shenandoah Valley and Western Vir- ginia, Northern Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, into separate Military Departments had been productive of much inefficiency, and of much of the disaster Avhich had attended the operations of the Federal troops in that section. And, in August, 1864, at General Grant's sug- gestion, the whole territory lying between that in which the Armies of the James and the Potomac were operat- ing, and that of the Military Division of the Missis- sippi, was consolidated into a new department known as the Middle Military Division, or, as it is better known, HIS CAMPAIGNS AND BATTLES. 483 the Department of the Shenandoah. And at General Grant's suggestion, also, the command of the new Division was given to General Philip H. Sheridan, who speedily concentrated his whole available force in the Valley of the Shenandoah, and made such effective arrangements as would prevent General Early from his favorite pastime of sweeping thence down upon the fertile farming regions of Maryland and Pennsylvania. Early at first endeavored to lure Sheridan into the valley by a feigned retreat, hoping that at the right moment he might successfully flank him, and swoop down again upon his beloved foraging grounds. Sheridan, however, while seeming to take the bait thus offered him, watched his opportunit)', and, finally, on the 19th of September, at Oquequan Creek, met and drove the rebel general from the field in dire confusion, capturing a large number of guns,- and over two thousand prisoners. Again, at Fisher's Hill, on the 22d, he routed them, " man and horse," and pursued them as far as Staunton ; and then, on the 9th October, repulsed General Eosser, who had ventured to attack him there. On the 19th of October, availing himself of Sheridan's absence at Washington, General Early attacked the Union army near Cedar Creek, and routed them for a distance of three miles, capturing their cannon, camps, and fortified positions. Sheridan, coming again into the field, met his retreating soldiers at Winchester. Instantly he comprehended the state of affairs. Putting spurs to his norse, he galloped like a whirlwind up the road toward the enemy, " swinging his cap, and shouting to the strag- glers, ' Face the other way, boys we are going back to our camps. We are going to lick them out of their boots.' The effect was magical; the wounded by the roadside HI. sed their voices to shout; the fugitives, but now hurrying forward to Winchester, turned about at 484 GENERAL GRANT. sight of him who had always led them to -victory, and followed him back to the battle-ground as hounds follow their master." Beaching the main army, he rallied his men, re-formed his lines, defeated and utterly routed the rebels, and captured fifty-four guns, including all which he had lost during the morning. Sherman, meanwhile, had possessed himself of Atlanta, and had commenced his great " March to the Sea," which closed with the surrender of Savannah. Thomas had taken care of Hood who was exploiting in Tennessee and Alabama, and was giving him " his hands full." To return, however, to the Army of the Potomac ; on the 29th of October, a reconnaissance in force was made against the rebel position at Hatcher's Kun, which re- sulted in a severe battle and heavy losses to the Union side, though they held the position as long as it was deemed to be necessary. The capture of Wilmington, N. C., now became a mat- ter of paramount necessity to the Government. Its peculiar situation, together with its formidable defences, had long set at defiance all attempts at an effectual blockade ; and it was, in fact, the channel through which the Eebel Confederacy received the greater part of its supplies of cannon, small arms, munitions of war, cloth- ing, and dry goods, while from it escaped a very consider- able amount of cotton which was gladly received by English merchants in payment for these goods. General Grant now devised an expedition under command of General Butler and Rear-Admiral Porter, which set sail on the 12th of December, and, having all arrived off New Inlet, a terrific bombardment was opened by the fleet, on Fort Fisher, on the 24th, which lasted from noon until nightfall, with no appreciable injury to the fort. On the following evening (25th) a joint attack was to be made, HIS CAMPAIGNS AND BATTLES. 485 the troops attacking the fort on its land face, and the fleet bombarding its seaward front. Upon landing the troops, however, General Weitzel, after carefully survey- ing the fort, reported to General Butler that " it would be butchery to order an assault," in which opinion Butler coincided, and, convinced that nothing but a regular siege would effect the reduction of the fort, re-embarked his men, to the great dissatisfaction of Admiral Porter. On his return he was, at the instance of General Grant, relieved of the command of the Army of the James, and a new expedition was immediately fitted out, the com- mand of the troops being given to General A. H. Terry, of the Army of the James ; the naval co-operating force being, as before, commanded by Admiral Porter. This expedition arrived off New Inlet, and the troops em- barked on the 13th of January, 1865, under cover of a bombardment which was, for its rapidity and weight of metal, the most extraordinary on record, throwing into Fort Fisher four shots per second, for an hour and a half- On the 15th, under cover of a similar heavy fire from the fleet, sixteen hundred sailors and four hundred marines landed and charged upon the seaward face of the fort, while an assaulting column of troops attacked its land side. From half-past 3 P.M. until midnight, raged a deadly, determined hand-to-hand fight; but finally the Union troops were victorious. The loss of the fort was followed by the destruction of Forts Caswell and Camp- bell, blown up by the rebels on the 16th; and they also abandoned other defensive works, and two rebel gun- boats. Five or six blockade-runners were enticed into- the hands of the fleet, and made prizes ; and the evacua- tion of Fort Anderson, fifteen miles above Fort Caswell, on the 19th, was speedily followed, on the 21st, by the surrender of Wilmington. Immense storep of supplies, 486 GENERAL GEAN1. arms, artillery, etc., etc., were the fruits of this expedition, by which, at last, the Confederacy was deprived of its most important port of entry and exit. On the 6th of February, another movement was or- dered on Hatcher's Kun, with four corps of the arnry, for the purpose of bringing the Union lines nearer to the Weldon Railroad. The struggle was a desperate one, and on the second day the enemy broke through a gap in the Union lines; but the ground thus lost was re- gained the next day by the Union soldiers who estab- lished themselves firmly four miles in advance of their previous position. On the 25th of March, the rebels suddenly massed against Fort Steadman, near Peters- burg, and captured it, together with its garrison. The Union troops, however, rallied, retook it, and drove the enemy back, and beyond their own lines, a portion of which were finally gained, and held by an advance of the Sixth and Second Corps. On the 29th, General Grant put his army in motion for the purpose of occupying the Southside Railroad; and with this view, General Sheridan's cavalry force (which only three days before had returned from a great raid) was sent to Dinwiddie Court-House, via Ream's Station. His object was to threaten the Southside Railroad in the neighborhood of Burkesville Junction, and so compel Lee to send out a force for its protection ; while the Second and Fifth Corps were to cross Hatcher's Run by the Yaughan and Halifax roads, and secure the possession of the Boydton plank-road. The Sixth and Ninth Corps were moved westward to connect with the new lines thus to be formed, and portions of the Twenty-Fourth and Twenty-Fifth Corps, under General Ord, were brought from the Army of the James, and stationed across the HIS CAMPAIGNS AND BATTLES. 487 river along the line of the Vaughan road, thus maintain- ing the connection between the Sixth and Second Corps. These movements were executed on the 29th and 30th with but little fighting, and the enemy was discovered to be strongly intrenched at Five Forks, a good position about six miles west of the crossing of Hatcher's Eun, by the Boydton plank-road, and also at "White Oak road, the route of approach to Five Forks from the east. On the 31st, two divisions of the Fifth Corps attempted to advance on this road, but were heavily attacked and fell back in some disorder upon Griffin's division of the same corps. Here a division of the Second Corps flanked the enemy and drove him back, and the Fifth Corps, ral- lying under General Griffin's leadership, regained by sun- set the position they had lost in the morning. But during this temporary repulse of the Union troops, the rebel commanders had availed themselves of the oppor- tunity which it presented, to fling their force furiously upon Sheridan's cavalry, then to the westward of Din- widdie. At one time, Merritt's division was cut off from the main body, and the entire force was in great danger; but General Sheridan finally succeeded in checking the enemy's advance ; then, dismounting his men in front of Dinwiddie Court-House, behind temporary barricades, he gave desperate battle to the foe until nightfall, when the darkness compelled the combatants on both sides to rest upon their arms. Sheridan had been notified by General Grant, that Gen. G. K. Warren had been directed to report to him with his corps (the Fifth) at midnight of the 31st, and his arrival was anxiously awaited by the gallant cavalry general, who proposed to attack the enemy early on the following day, and carry the Five Forks by assault. But Warren did not appear, and at 3 A.M. of April 1st, Sheridan requested him, by note, to attack the 488 GENERAL GRANT. rebel force then in his front, in the rear, by daylight, and he would at the Bame time attack them in front. From General Warren there came neither answer nor attack. Sheridan, however, assaulted them at the time appointed, drove them across Chamberlain's Creek, and finally, by 7 or 8 o'clock, met Warren's advance a few miles north of Dinwiddie. Directing him to await orders, he pushed on with his own force, to surround two sides of the rebel position at Five Forks ; and, a little after mid-day, ordered up Warren and his Fifth Corps, to attack on the east side. Warren's movements, however, were so apparently reluctant and indifferent, that, although the attack was a brilliant success, he was relieved from his command, which was given to Gen. Griffin. The next day a division of the Second and two from the Fifth Corps drove the enemy from a strong position at the junction of the White Oak andClaiborne roads, pursuing them to Suth- erland's Station on the South side Railroad, and thence along the river road on the banks of the Appomattox. The news of this glorious and decisive victory of Five Forks reached General Grant's headquarters at nine o'clock at night; and ere long a general can- nonade was opened against Petersburg all along the front of the Union lines, raging without cessation un- til four o'clock in the morning. Then, before dawn of April 2d, a heavy assaulting column pus'hed forward upon the enemy's works, and after a terrible struggle succeeded in capturing two of the rebel forts, and reached the Southside Railroad which they commenced to tear up, capturing also many prisoners and guns. This was a day of wide-spread, shifting, uncertain fighting all iround the lines a day of indescribable tumult, uproar, and blood ; but when it closed, the fate of Richmond and Petersburg was sealed. They were no longer tenable. HIS CAMPAIGNS AND BATTLES. 489 Their only remaining line of communication and of supply was severed ; starvation threatened them. The positions taken hy the Federal troops commanded the city, and a third of their brave army of defense were ren- dered hors du combat. General Lee ordered the immediate evacuation of the two cities which he could no longer defend, and upon which his longer presence could only bring more certain destruction. Both were abandoned during the night, and on the morning of the 3d of April, 1865, the " Old Flag" waved in triumph above these strongholds of rebeldom, and the glad news went out on the wings of the light- ning to the furthermost parts of the Union and to the world. But General Grant delayed not a moment to enter the captured cities. Pursuit, remorseless and unremitting, followed the panic-stricken foe, whose retreat became a rout, and whose little courage oozed rapidly out beneath the repeated blows which the Union troops dealt them at Deep Creek, Paine's Cross Roads, Deatonsville, Farmville, the High Bridge over the Appomattox, and Appomattox Station, at each of which places artillery, wagons, arms, and supplies, were cast madly away by the rebels. But the " boys in blue," rushed on like a whirlwind, without attempting even to count the prisoners or gather up the spoils of the day. The battles at Deatonville and Painesville (6th and 7th) left Lee no alternative but surrender ; and on the latter day General Grant sent to his antagonist the following brief but characteristic demand : April 7, 1865. General R. E. LEE, Commander, C. S. A. : GENERAL : The result of the last week must convince you of the hopelessness of further resistance on the part of the army of North- 490 GENT3RAL GRANT. ern Virginia in this struggle. I feel that is so, and regard it as my duty to shift from myself the responsibility of any further effusion of blood, by asking of you the surrender of that portion of the 0. S. Army known as the Army of Northern Virginia. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, U. S. QBANT, Lieutenant-General Commanding Armies of the United States. To this, General Lee, under same date, replied, inquir- ing the terms upon which he was expected to surrender ; to which Gen. Grant, on the 8th, replied that, "as peace was his first desire," he should insist upon but one condi- tion ; viz., " That the men surrendered shall be disqualified from taking up arms against the Government of the United States until properly exchanged." But Grant lost no time in talking. While he was thus corresponding with Lee, he was vigorously pushing that chieftain "to the wall." On the morning of the 8th, General Meade's col- umn, accompanied by Gen. Grant, followed the retreating rebels north of the Appomattox, skirmishing with the enemy's rearguard, but unable to bring it to any general engagement ; and General Sheridan's whole cavalry force marched toward Appomattox Station, closely followed by General Ord's command and the Fifth Corps, and late in the evening reached the railroad, there capturing twenty- five guns, a hospital train, and four trains of cars loaded with supplies for Lee's army. On the evening of this day, the Lieutenant-General received a communication from Lee, stating that he did not intend to surrender his army, but wished to know how far General Grant's propositions for an interview would tend to the " restoration of peace." To this General Grant sent, on the 9th, the following an- swer : " As I have no authority to treat on the subject of peace, the meeting proposed for 10 A.M., to-day, could lead to no good. I will state, however, General, that I am HIS CAMPAIGNS AND BATTLES. 491 equally anxious for peace with yourself; and the whole North entertain the same feeling. The terms upon which peace can be had are well understood. By the South laying down their arms they will hasten that most desir- able event, save thousands of human lives, and hundreds of millions of property not yet destroyed. Sincerely hop- ing that all our difficulties may be settled without the loss of another life, I subscribe myself," &c. Having dis- patched this reply, Grant immediately started for Sheri- dan's headquarters at Appomattox Station, before reaching which, however, he received from Lee, who was now fully convinced that escape was impossible, a request for an interview with reference to the proposed surrender. On the 9th, Lee received the following " terms " of capitula- tion from General Grant : " Rolls of all the officers and men to be made in dupli- cate, one copy to be given to an officer designated by me, the other to be retained by such officers as you may designate. "The officers to give their individual paroles not to take up arms against the United States until properly exchanged, and each company or regimental commander to sign a like parole for the men of their commands. " The arms, artillery, and public property to be parked and stacked, and turned over to the officers appointed by me to receive them. This will not embrace the side- arms of the officers, nor their private horses or baggage. "This done, each officer and man will be allowed to return to their homes, not to be disturbed by United States authority so long as they observe their parole and the laws in force where they reside." These terms were accepted by the rebel commander, and the surrender was effected on the same day, to the great joy of both armies, and with the greatest delicacy 492 QEOTSRAL GEANT. and consideration on the part of the victors, toward the vanquished. The number of troops surrendered by Lee was twenty-two thousand, and they were nearly in a starving condition. The Union troops, whose rapid pur- suit of their now conquered enemy had prevented them from carrying but a scanty supply of food, eagerly divided the little which they had among the " gray-backs," and were content to go hungry for several hours until fresh supplies could reach them. The surrender thus perfected, General Grant without passing through Richmond, hastened to Washington, where, on the 13th of April, he established his head- quarters ; and by his advice a dispatch was flashed over the Northern States, by telegraph, announcing four im- portant facts which assured the country that the rebel- lion was virtually ended, and that the reign of peace, law, and order had re-commenced; viz., 1, that all drafting and recruiting in the loyal States would be im- mediately stopped; 2, that Governmental expenses for arms, supplies, etc., were to be curtailed; 3, that the number of general and staff-officers was to be reduced to the actual necessities of the service; and, 4, that all military restrictions upon trade and commerce would be removed as far as might be consistent with the public safety. On the following day (April 14th) the General took the cars to visit his family at Burlington, New Jer- sey, but was overtaken en route by the terrible intelli- gence of the assassination of President Lincoln, and the attempt upon Secretary Seward's life and hastily re- turned to Washington. As was afterward proved at the trial of the conspirators, his own life had been marked out as a sacrifice to their fiendish hate. Meanwhile, the important movements which his com- prehensive mind had inaugurated for the more effectual HIS CAMPAIGNS AND BATTLES. 493 crushing out of the rebellion in various parts of the country, had been vigorously pushed forward to a suc- cessful consummation, through the fidelity and skill of the brave and able commanders to whom they had been respectively intrusted. Sherman's famous sixty days' campaign in th _' Carolinas had resulted in the surrender of Charleston, and tho capture of Columbia, Cheraw, Fayetteville and, after his junction with Generals Scho- field, Terry (who had taken Wilmington), and Golds- borough of Smithfield and Ealeigh, until he now dic- tated terms of surrender to Johnston. General Thomas and his lieutenants in the West had done their work thoroughly ; General Wilson and his cavalry force cap- turing Selma, Montgomery, Columbus (Ga.), West Point, Macon ; aid being sent to the Army of the De- partment of the Gulf; Schofield and his Army of the Ohio taking a part in the capture of Wilmington ; and Stoneman, with a heavy column of cavalry, being sent through South-western Virginia and Western North Caro- lina to hem in and attack Johnston and Lee in the rear, which was effected by their breaking up the Virginia and East Tennessee Kailroad, the capture of Salisbury, and the liberation of all the Union prisoners confined there. At the South-west, General Canby and Admiral Thatcher had captured Spanish Fort, Blakely, and Mo- bile, after a two weeks' siege. Sherman, meanwhile, had been negotiating with Gen- eral Johnston for the surrender of that portion of the rebel army ; and in a few days the Cabinet at Washington received from him a memorandum of the arrangement made to that effect between him and the Confederate leader. The Cabinet, who were called together to consider it, deemed its provisions to be somewhat too liberal, and that it exceeded the powers belonging to 494 GENERAL GRANT. General Sherman ; and, in the then highly excited con- dition of the public mind, it was everywhere received with surprise, and even distrust of the gallant general from whom it proceeded. General Grant, however, who knew General Sherman thoroughly, saw that the error committed by the latter was one of judgment, not of loyalty or ambition. Proceeding immediately, therefore, to Ealeigh, incognito, he consulted with General Sher- man, and gave immediate notice to the rebel commander that hostilies would be commenced again within twenty- four hours. This brought Johnston to a speedy proposal for a surrender on the same terms as those accorded by Grant to Lee ; and, on the 26th, the rebel army was sur- rendered (by a graceful act of courtesy on General Grant's part) to General Sherman. This, with the surrender, a few days later, by General Dick Taylor, of the rebel forces in Alabama, Mississippi, and East Louisiana, and of Gen- Kirbj^ Smith beyond the Mississippi Eiver, closed the great American Civil War. Having settled the Johnston surrender, General Grant returned to Washington, and, a few days later, had the pleasure of receiving the news of the capture of the rebel President, JeflF. Davis. Then, for the first time, he found opportunity to visit his family, and returning from there on the 3d of May, took possession of the splendid man- sion on West Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, which had been purchased by the citizens of that place, at a cost of $30,000, and presented to him as an evidence of their appreciation of his military skill and patriotic services. Keturning to Washington he was present the admired of all beholders at the Grand Review of the returning heroes of the Armies of the Republic a spectacle, which, for its grandeur and the impressiveness of its associations, has never been equaled upon the Western Continent. HIS CAMPAIGNS AND BATTLES. 495 The summer months of 18G5 were occupied by the General in the discharge of the wearisome but necessary duties of his office, and in flying visits to New York, Canada, the Eastern States, and the West. Everywhere he was the idolized object of a nation's respect and ad- miration ; every community and municipality vied with the other in honoring the patriot and the successful sol- dier. At Galena, Illinois, his old home at the time he offered his services to the country, he was received with the most touching evidences of the respect and love of his former neighbors, who presented to him a beautiful residence, on one of the most beautiful hills near that city, at a cost, including furniture, of $16,000, and to which, after the public reception was ended, he and his family were driven amid the booming of cannon, and the joyous ringing of all the church-bells in the place. On the 10th of November, the City of New York, always imperial in her courtesies, outdid even herself in the magnificence of a reception and a banquet given at the Fifth Avenue Hotel, to the greatest soldier of the age. In the quiet, but faithful discharge of his onerous and varied duties as Commander-in-Chief of the Army of the United States, he passed the even tenor of his way, until the summer of 1867. During that season the Johnson- Stanton imbroglio culminated in an open rupture between the President and his Secretary of War, the latter of whom, on the 5th of August, was requested by the Exec- utive, to resign. This Stanton declined to do until the next meeting of Congress ; whereupon President John- son directed General Grant to take the position of Acting Secretary of War, and to assume its duties immediately. To this Secretary Stanton submitted, under protest, and Grant assumed the functions of the Secretaryship ad interim. Later in the month, General Grant, in reply to 496 GENERAL GRANT. a request for his opinion upon an order which President Johnson had drawn up, removing General Sheridan and Sickles from command of the military districts of Lou- isiana and Carolina, frankly entered his protest against the execution of said order, in a letter to the President, of which the following is a portion : " I earnestly urge, in the name of a patriotic people who have sacrificed hundreds of thousands of loyal lives, and thousands of millions of treasure, to preserve the integ- rity and union of this country, that this order be not insisted on. It is unmistakably the expressed wish of the country that General Sheridan should not be removed from his present command. This is a republic, where the will of the people is the law of the land. I beg that their voice may be heard. General Sheridan has per- formed his civil duties faithfully and intelligently. His removal will be regarded as an effort to defeat the laws of Congress. It will be interpreted by the unreconstructed element in the South those who did all they could to break up this Government by arms, and now wish to be the only element consulted as to the method of restoring order as a triumph. It will embolden them to renewed opposition to the will of the masses, believing that they have the Executive with them." He referred to a " private " letter which he had previ- ously addressed Mr. Johnson on the subject, and closed with the assertion that "there are military reasons, pecuniary reasons, and above all, patriotic reasons, why this order should not be insisted upon." To this the President replied at great length, defining his own views and position, and the matter remained in abeyance for ten days. Aside from this difference of opinion between the two, as to the policy of issuing the order in question, there seems to have been a difference, also, as to their HIS CAMPAIGNS AND BATTLES. 497 respective authority in the matter, General Grant believ- ing that, according to the law of Congress, the assignment of military commanders belonged to him, while the Pres- ident claimed that it was vested in him as Commander- in-Chief of the Army and Navy. Finally, however, on the 26th of August, General Grant yielded to Mr. John- son, and the obnoxious order (which, meantime, had been somewhat modified from its original form) was issued, making several changes in the commanders of the differ- ent districts. But the end of this matter was not yet. Meanwhile, there were numerous evidences of a grow- ing disposition on the part of THE PEOPLE to nominate General Grant for the highest office in their gift the Presidential Chair. Although frequently spoken of by the press, and con- sidered by the mass of the community as " the coming man," it was not until December, 1867, that the popular wish found a definite expression. On the 4th of that-, month he was formally nominated for the Presidency, on the platform of his success as a general, and his official record, by a very large meeting of the rich and represent- ative men of New York City, headed by A. T. Stewart, William B. Astor, Hamilton Fish, Moses Taylor, Corne- lius Vanderbilt, F. B. Cutting, Jacob A Westervilt, Peter Cooper, James Brown, and Moses H. GrinnelL The nomination was taken up with enthusiasm by the loyal men, both North and South, and the General was immedi- ately besieged by politicians and wire-pullers, and became the object of innumerable questionings and stratagems, designed to make him commit himself to one party or the other. The imperturbable reticence which we have already noticed as a remarkable characteristic, did much to foil all such attempts, and he very sensibly "minded his own business," apparently the least con- 498 GENERAL GRANT. cerned, among all the busy throng as to who should be the next President of the United States. On the 12th of December the President transmitted to Congress a communication setting forth and defending his reasons for superseding Secretary Stanton. After a long and exhaustive examination of the whole matter, that body refused, January 13th, 1868, by a majority of 35 to 6, to concur in the action of the Executive. Mr. Stanton, therefore, resumed his office as Secretary of War, General Grant voluntarily vacating the position which he had held ad interim. On the 14th of January, General Grant wrote to the President, requesting a rep- etition, in writing, of a verbal order given by him five days before, by which orders from Mr. Stanton were to be disregarded until they were known, from the Presi- dent himself, to be his orders. The answer to this left Grant in such doubt as to the President's intentions, that, *6n the 28th he repeated his request for a written order. There then followed a lengthy and somewhat per- sonal correspondence between the President and the Gen- eral, in which the former charged the latter with having violated an understanding between the two, to the effect that Grant, in case of Stanton's reinstatement by Con- gress, should, acting by the President's orders, refuse to vacate the office of Secretary of War, or, if he did so, should give the Executive such ' preliminary notice as would' enable him to appoint a successor. The General, on the contrary, denied that any such understanding had ever existed on his part ; admitting that he had, when first consulted by the President in regard to the matter, expressed an opinion that Mr. Stanton would have to appeal to the courts to reinstate him ; but that a subse- quent examination of the tenure-of-office bill had con- yinced him that he could not, without violation of the HIS CAMPAIGNS AND BATTLES. 499 law, refuse to vacate the office of Secretary of War, as soon as Mr. Stanton was reinstated by the Senate, and had notified the President to that effect. He boldly affirmed, in the course of the correspondence, that the course which the President desired to have him fol- low, and asserted, indeed, that he had agreed to follow, " was in violation of the law, and that without orders from the President ; while the course he did pursue, and which he never doubted the President fully under- stood, was in accordance with law, and not in disobe- dience to any orders of his superior." He added, also, " when my honor as a soldier, and integrity as a man, have been so violently assailed, pardon me for saying that I can but regard this whole matter, from beginning to end, as an attempt to involve me in the resistance of law, for which you hesitated to assume the responsibility in orders, and thus to destroy my character before the country. I am in a measure confirmed in this conclusion by your recent orders directing me to disobey orders from the Secretary of War, my superior and your subordinate." To this the President replied, reiterating his previous charges. This the General, under date of February llth, emphatically denied, and the whole correspondence being brought befor* 3 Congress, formed the basis of a proposition made to the House Committee on Reconstruction, by Hon. Thaddeus Stevens, for a resolution of impeachment of the Presi- dent. The proposition was at that time laid upon the table ; but, in consequence of the subsequent attempt of Mr. Johnson to remove Stanton from office, and appoint General Lorenzo Thomas, Secretary of War ad interim, it was revived on the 22d of February, by the House Committee on Reconstruction, in the shape of a formal resolution of impeachment which was carried TO a final, though unsuccessful issue. CHAPTEE LXII. ELECTED PKESIDENT. WE have seen General Grant acting successfully in the capacity of military chieftain, during which period, when opportunity served, cropped out the comprehensive views of a Statesman. His uniform terms of " unconditional surrender " from Fort Donelson to Appomattox was the only true and legitimate mode of dealing with those engaged in a rebellion. The latter were inside the Na- tion's jurisdiction, and had no claims to be recognized either as individuals belonging to a so-called confeder- acy, or in a collective capacity to be treated with as in- dependent of the United States Government. Again we see exhibited the same steadfastness of purpose when, though commander of the army, but acting ad interim as secretary of war, he protested most earnestly against President Johnson's order given for reasons known to himself to remove General Sheridan, as commander of the military district of Louisiana, and General D. E. Sickles from that of South Carolina. This decided stand for what he deemed the right, taken in connection with other evidences of good judgment, especially his correspondence with the President, attracted the atten- tion of the people, and they turned spontaneously to him as one fitted to assume the highest office in the land. These indications manifested themselves in various forms as we have seen, through the press and otherwise, till in December, '186 7, he was informally nominated for the Presidency at a large meeting held in the City of New ELECTED PBESIDENT. 501 York, and composed of many of its influential citizens, but apparently irrespective of party affiliations. This meeting was elsewhere followed by others similar in character, and thus throughout the Union the public mind was directed to him as a suitable candidate for the office. Nomination. Five months after this informal nomi- nation, on May 20th, 1868, the Republican National Convention met at Chicago, and by a unanimous vote nominated General Grant for the Presidency, and Schuy- ler Colfax for the Vice- Presidency. In closing his letter of acceptance, General Grant uses the following language: " I always have respected the will of the people and always shall. Peace, and universal prosperity, its se- quence, with economy of administration, will lighten the burdens of taxpayers, while it constantly reduces the National debt. Let us have peace." The pithy sentence at the end of the letter became the watchword of the campaign. The Democratic National Convention met in the fol- lowing July in the City of New York, and put in nomi- nation for the same high offices Horatio Seymour and Francis P. Blair. Grant and Colfax were elected, they having 214 electoral votes while Seymour and Blair had 80. Inauguration. On the 4th of the following March, 1869, General Grant was inaugurated President of the United States. His first Secretary of State was E. B. Washburne, of Illinois, but on his becoming minister to France, he appointed ex-Governor Hamilton Fish, of New York, to the vacant office. Mr. Fish retained the office of Secretary of State through both terms of General Grant's administration. To him is due pre- eminently the gratitude of the American people for the 502 GENERAL GRAXT. skillful and statesmanlike manner in which he managed, and sometimes under trying circumstances, the affairs of that department. Pacific Railway. During the first year of his ad- ministration the Pacific Railway, extending from Omaha, Neb., to San Francisco, was completed ; it is 1,913 miles in length, and though commenced amid the turmoil of the Civil War was pushed with great energy till it was finished. The successful building of that road gave an impulse toward constructing others in the same direction, so that now we have three railways connecting the Atlan- tic with the Pacific, and seven others that are branches of these. Along these railroads millions of native Ameri- cans and foreign immigrants have formed settlements and found homes. The Alabama Claims. The most striking measure of President Grant's administration was that of the Second Treaty of Washington, which led to the adjusting and paying the Alabama Claims. In no respect had the feelings of the loyal portion of the American people been so wounded, as when the ruling classes of England for the greater part sympathized with the rebels, and did all they dared to injure the cause of those who were labor- ing to preserve the integrity of the nation. The hostility of France was confined to Napoleon III. and his syco- phants, but not the French people ; not a Frenchman entered upon blockade running or made a dollar out of our necessities. Certain persons of eminence in England, members of benevolent societies and otherwise, had previous to the rebellion censured in the harshest terms the American people because they did not abolish slavery in the states where it existed, in some way even by force. Yet strange as it may seem, as soon as the slave-holders began a war PRESIDENT. 503 in order, not only to preserve the system where it then existed, but to extend it into the new territories of the Union, they were aided and abetted by the greater part of these philanthropists. In this crusade joined great numbers of manufacturers and merchants the latter by blockade running affording material aid to the rebels. They hoped the Union would be severed and a Confed- eracy formed in which, as had been promised, free trade would be the policy wealth was to be obtained, though at the expense of continuing and extending in its worst form the system of human bondage. The Cruisers. The English government itself mani- fested its hostility by permitting cruisers to issue from the ports of the kingdom to prey on American commerce, though against the repeated protests of our minister Charles Francis Adams and our consuls. Numbers of British merchants hastened to fit out swift vessels to run our blockade and supply the rebels with guns and ammunition and other necessaries, while in British ship- yards private firms were permitted to build war vessels for the use of the so-called Confederates. These cruisers had not a port in the world to which they could take the prizes they captured, and have them adjudicated upon in accordance with the laws of nations in legitimate war- fare. These vessels altogether numbered eighteen, in- cluding tenders ; the latter being fitted out principally in Liverpool and London, were by previous arrangement directed to meet the cruisers at certain points and at specified times in the open ocean and to furnish them with all needed supplies. These vessels could never have been thus successfully fitted out and sent on their errand, had it not been for the connivance of the government officials in these ports. The irritation was very great on the part of the American 504 GENERAL GRAXT. people at these continued outrages, thus permitted by the officials of a government pretending to be friendly, and who had no more right to interfere than the United States would have had if a few counties in England had got up a rebellion. The Animating Spirit. Thus England was virtually " the arsenal, the navy-yard, and the treasury of the Confederacy," while her colonies, animated by the same spirit, aided the rebels as far as possible ; for in every port of these colonies, wherever situated in the Atlantic or the Pacific, these cruisers were welcomed and their wants supplied. When the gunboat Kearsarge off the harbor of Cherbourg, sunk the chief of these cruisers, the Alabama, an English gentleman, who was witness- ing the fight from his yacht, was requested by the Ameri- can officers to assist in rescuing the crew of the sinking cruiser, he picked up with others the latter's command- er, Semmes, then stole away to Southampton, where Semmes was received with every demonstration of sym- pathy and respect. Notwithstanding these repeated in- sults and virtual participation in the war by aiding the rebels, the American people, though indignant, forbore. They preferred the spirit that had sent Macedonians freighted with provisions for the starving subjects of the Queen, to that which had permitted Alabamas going forth to pillage and destroy private American ships upon the high seas. The Clarendon- Johnson Treaty. As long as Lord John Russell was in charge of the Foreign Affairs of the United Kingdom it was useless to seek redress by nego- tiation. He had acknowledged more than once for it was by his negligence, charitably speaking, that the cruisers were able to go to sea that wrong had been done to the United States, but maintained the strange PRESIDENT. 505 doctrine for a Christian statesman, that " The honor of England would not permit her to make any repara- tion!" Lord Kussell having retired, after some delay the Earl of Clarendon assumed the charge of Foreign Affairs. President Johnson, at the suggestion of the Secretary of State, Wm. H. Seward, proposed to adjust by treaty the differences between the two nations. The proposition being accepted, the Hon. Reverdy Johnson, an eminent lawyer and statesman, was deputed by the President to act in behalf of the United States, and he, with Earl Clarendon, concluded a treaty. This treaty was rejected by the Senate as unequal in its provisions. The English people were at first exceedingly irritated at this result, but after reflection, and having seen and un- derstood the force of the arguments urged against the provisions of the treaty, and which had led to its rejec- tion, the conviction was forced upon them that their own officials had manifested during the rebellion a friend- liness of a very peculiar kind toward the loyal men who were combating the rebels. At length, intelligent peo- ple of both nations began to deprecate the unfriendly spirit that seemed to be increasing between these two peoples, who of all others, for many reasons, ought to be united in good will and sympathy rather than alienated. Auditing the Claims. General Grant became Presi- dent soon after the rejection of the Clarendon-Johnson Treaty. He gave on entering office, fully and distinctly his own views of the questions at issue, but without making any suggestion in respect to future negotiations thus leaving England to take the initiative. Notwith- standing this, the President soon after recommended Congress to have these claims of American citizens against Great Britain audited by a commission appointed for the purpose. An account of the losses by these dep- 606 GENERAL GRANT. redations had been kept, and their auditing was prelim- inary to the National Government assuming these debts, and in that capacity looking to England for redress. This recommendation no doubt had influence when taken in connection with the entanglements in Europe that might grow out of the French and Prussian war (1870), as was intimated in the House of Lords by Lord Gran- ville, Minister of Foreign Affairs, when he deprecated " the uneasy relations of the British Government with the United States, and the inconvenience thereof in case of possible complications in Europe." On January 26, 1871, a proposition was made on the part of the Eng- lish Government, through Sir Edward Thornton, British Minister at Washington, to re-open negotiations in order " to settle some questions in respect to boundaries be- tween the two countries." No intimation being given in relation to the " Alabama Claims." To this propo- sition President Grant consented on condition that the latter claims should be also considered. This was ac- ceded to, and a joint High Commission, consisting of five commissioners from each country representing their respective governments, was authorized to. meet in Wash- ington ; the outcome of which was the Second Treaty of Washington the first was made in 1842. The High Commission. At the head of the English Commission was Earl de Grey, now Marquis of Ripon : at that of the United States, Hamilton Fish, Secretary of State. The sessions of the commission began auspi- ciously on May 8th, 1871, the British Commissioners by authority of the Queen expressing "in a friendly spirit, the regret felt by Her Majesty's Government for the es- cape, under whatever circumstances, of the Alabama And. other vessels from British ports, and for the depredations committed by those vessels." This friendly spirit was PRESIDENT. 507 1 reciprocate^ cordially on the part of the American Com- missioners, and they all entered upon their work in the spirit of conciliation. Five subjects of controversy came before the commis- sion, and its duties were to devise the rules by which the questions in dispute should hereafter be investigated and decided upon ; both nations to accept as final the terms of the treaty, not only the manner of the investigation but likewise the decision. Points at Issue. The five points at issue were : the claims of American citizens for damages received from the cruisers permitted to leave British ports ; also the claims of British subjects for losses sustained during the late rebellion ; the regulation of the fisheries of the United States on the coast of the Atlantic, and of the British provinces touching on the same ocean and its estuaries ; the free navigation of certain canals in the Canadian Dominion, and of the river St. Lawrence ; the free navigation of Lake Michigan and also of the rivers Yukon, Porcupine, and Stikine (Alaska) in the United States, with reciprocal free transit across the territories of both countries, and finally the true bound- ary between Washington Territory and British Columbia. The Tribunal of Arbitration. We cannot go into de- tails. The commission in forty -two elaborate articles laid down rules in accordance with which provision was made to settle the various questions in dispute. The con- tracting parties referred the above questions to a " Tri- bunal of Arbitration " to consist of five arbitrators to be appointed as follows : one by the President of the United States, one by the Queen of the United Kingdom, with the request to the King of Italy, the President of the Swiss Confederation, and the Emperor of Brazil, each to name an arbitrator. The work was completed, and 508 GENERAL GRANT. so perfectly that the treaty met the approval of the respective governments, and was promptly ratified by each. The New Departure. This treaty was characteristic in its provisions, as it laid down certain rules to be observed in dealing with international questions, on the merits of which it passed no opinion, leaving that for another commission differently constituted, and which was to arbitrate the points at issue, under the rules laid down. Here was a new departure in settling great inter- national questions, the good effects of which mode has already been felt and will have a benign influence in future negotiations among the nations. Sir Edward M. Archibald, when speaking of this treaty and its results, says : " That one of the most brilliant and successful for- ensic efforts was made before a tribunal " (that at Geneva) " unsurpassed in dignity, when we consider the parties at issue, the magnitude of the interests at stake, and above and beyond all, the exalted Christian principle that was established by the Second Treaty of Washington for the pacific settlement of international disputes." The Arbitrators. The Queen appointed Sir Alexander Cockburn arbitrator, and President Grant, Charles Fran- cis Adams ; the three powers each made appointments : the King of Italy, Count Frederick Sclopis ; the Pres- ident of the Swiss Confederation, Mr. Jacob Staempfli, and the Emperor of Brazil, the Viscount d'ltajuba. Each party employed counsel. On behalf of the United States appeared the eminent lawyers, William M. Evarts, Caleb Gushing and Morrison K. Waite, afterward Chief Justice of the United States ; on behalf of the United Kingdom, Sir Eoundell Palmer, aided by two eminent lawyers. The Investigation. The arbitrators met in Geneva, PRESIDENT. 509 Switzerland (Dec. 15, 1871), and organized by electing Count Sclopis to preside, and, having adopted rules of procedure for their sessions, adjourned to June 15, 1872, to give the parties in the contest time to prepare their respective cases. They came together at the time ap- pointed, and entered upon their duties ; and after three months of laborious investigations of the five questions at issue, in accordance with the rules laid down in the Treaty of "Washington, they rendered their decision on the 14th of September, 1872. By far the most im- portant of these questions and the most difficult to ad- just was the Alabama Claims, and the next the north- west boundary between the Island San Juan and the continent. This question was afterward referred to the Emperor William of Prussia, who decided in favor of the claim of the United States. The three other ques- tions at issue were satisfactorily arranged. The Decision. In respect to the "Alabama Claims," the Arbitrators after a careful examination came to the decision that the British government failed in its duty as a neutral, in not preventing vessels leaving its ports to prey upon American commerce, under the flag of the so-called Confederacy. From this conclusion followed the responsibility of the English government for the damages inflicted by these cruisers upon the property of American citizens. The award was to be in gross, and paid in coin to the United States, within one year after the judgment of the tribunal was rendered the latter to adjudicate the claims of its own citizens. The deci- sion was in the following terms : "The tribunal, mak- ing use of the authority conferred upon it by Article VII. of the Second Treaty of Washington, by a majority of four voices to one, awards to the United States the sum of $15,500,000 in gold as the indemnity to be paid 510 GENERAL GRANT. by Great Britain to the United States, for the satis- faction of all claims referred to the consideration of the tribunal." The money was paid at the appointed time, and all the claims of American citizens are at this time (1885) virtually settled. The Result. This unquestionably was the most re- markable instance in history, wherein disputes of such magnitude and between nations so powerful were happily ended by being submitted to arbitration. For this grand result special credit belongs to President Grant, who was ably and cordially sustained by the mem- bers of his cabinet, especially by Hamilton Fish, Sec- retary of State. The Enforcement Act. In no instance as a ruler did President Grant show more decision than when, in order to put an end to Ku Klux outrages, he promptly sus- pended the habeas corpus in nine counties in South Carolina Congress having previously passed a stringent law known as the " Enforcement Act." This action was necessary, because when these marauders were arrested by Federal officials, the State courts, apparently in the former's interest, interfered with the latter in the dis- charge of their duties. These outrages had for a time been perpetrated almost with impunity, their design be- ing to nullify the effects of the XIV. and XV. Amend- ments to the Constitution. The influence of this prompt action of the President extended to other ex- Confederate States, and in the end restrained similar outrages. Civil Service Specie Payments. Two measures of public policy had their origin in President Grant's admin- istration, which are destined to have a lasting influence for good upon the nation ; one in so using the patronage of the national government in respect to minor offices those that are merely clerical as to secure by " com- PRESIDENT. 511 petitive examinations " men that are competent to per- form such duties. The design being to conduct the clerical business of the United States government on common sense principles, and not in the interest of merely political favoritism. The other affecting the material prosperity of the people in financial affairs. These two measures were the laws for inaugurating Civil Service Reform, and for making provision for the re- sumption of specie payments. Both these had the hearty co-operation of President Grant, the former he recom- mended to Congress. CHAPTER LXIII. TOUR ROUND THE WORLD. THE Hon. William H. Seward was the first American statesman who, having been engaged prominently in public affairs, made a tour round the globe, and who had been received everywhere with a cordiality and respect never before accorded to a private citizen of any nation. Mr. Seward was a civilian and statesman, and as such known only to the diplomatic classes and a few of the intelligent of the nations he visited. He was celebrated as our Secretary of State during the eight eventful years of the war of the Kebellion and of the Reconstruction of the Union ; especially was he famed for the admirable skill with which he managed the criti- cal foreign affairs of the nation. Mr. Seward s ovation was, however, far eclipsed by that given to General Grant. The fame of a military chieftain preceded the latter which always dazzles the multitude ; and also he had been a ruler the President of the great Republic of the West, and to a people governed by a hereditary king or monarch there is attached a prestige to the name of a ruler merely, far greater than to that of the statesman. From that class the Emperor of Prussia would receive more homage than Bismarck but to thinking minds the latter has elements of manly great- ness far superior to his emperor. Another feature of interest, that was exceptional, belonged to General Grant : he was President at the time of the Centennial, 512 L_ TOUR ROUND THE WORLD. 513 and as such had invited the co-operation of foreign powers in the celebration, and nearly forty of these had accepted the invitation. Thus his name became asso- ciated with that unique celebration and familiar to the rulers of the world and their intelligent subjects. The Diplomatic Circular. General Grant's retirement from the Chief Magistry of the nation, by no means diminished the love and respect in which he was held by the mass of the American people. He had passed unscathed the ordeal of being successful and of being willfully slandered, the latter, unfortunately, being the lot of those public men who have brains sufficient to be independent in the performance of duty or to exert in- fluence. This feeling of gratitude and affection mani- fested itself wherever the General appeared ; the people of all classes greeting him with the utmost respect and kindness. These impromptu ovations were given with unusual frequency during the two and a half months from the end of his presidential term, till he set out upon a tour for rest and recreation. This general senti- ment found expression in a circular addressed " To the Diplomatic and Consular Officers of the United States," by the Hon. William M. Evarts, Secretary of State, as directed by President Hayes, in which the Secretary said : " The enthusiastic manifestations of popular regard and esteem for General Grant by the people in all parts of the country that he has visited since his retirement from his official life, and attending his every appearance in public from that time up to the moment of his departure for Europe, indicate beyond question the high place he holds in the grateful affections of his countrymen." These officials were directed, should the General visit any one of the capitals or ports at which they were stationed, " to show him that attention and 514 GEtfEKAL GEANT. consideration which is due from every officer of the government to a citizen of the Republic so signally dis- tinguished both in official and personal renown." This dispatch was sent on the 23d of May, six days after the General sailed. Receptions and Dinners . General Grant determined to take passage from Philadelphia to Liverpool on the steamer " Indiana," at that time "one of the only Amer- ican line of steamships crossing the Atlantic ocean." During the week previous to leaving, the prominent citizens of that city, without distinction of political affil- iations seemed even to excel their wonted high-toned hospitality, in the many receptions, dinners, etc., which they gave in his honor, while clubs and associations, such as the Union League, and, the National Guard of Pennsylvania, found pleasure in treating him with simi- lar respect. To these ovations were added congratula- tions and good wishes from prominent friends through- out the country, to which appropriate replies were sent ; but as telegraphic literature is rather monotonous in style, we will not on this occasion tax the reader with either the communications or their answers. The Embarkation. When the day May 17, 1877 came for the General and his family to go on board, " The wharves on the Delaware were lined with people, who made the air resound with their cheers. Steamers and small craft filled the stream, all decorated with bunting and crowded with enthusiastic people." The General was accompanied by Mrs. Grant and his three sons, Frederick D., Ulysses S., Jr., and Jessie. The voyage of eleven days to Liverpool, though stormy, was in the main uneventful. On the first morning at sea the Gen- eral remarked that he felt freer and better than he had for sixteen years, because he " had no letters to read, TOUR ROUND THE WORLD. 515 and no telegraphic dispatches to attend to." The free- dom from such restraint permitted the native gentleness and kindness of the man to display itself. Almost every hour of his official life had been so absorbed in its duties, that he had no time, in the ordinary sense, for relaxa- tion ; even his social intercourse was so mingled with public affairs, on which were so many theories and opin- ions put forth for his special edification by self-consti- tuted advisers and propounders of doctrine, that he fain became reticent. Thus in his official capacity he was compelled to be on his guard, because often a sentiment or an opinion expressed in the privacy of the guest-table, was liable to be improperly divulged or reported to the public by some one secretly inimical or injudicious. While President these phases of public life were much more prominent than in his military experience. It is recorded that on the voyage over the reserved and silent man became the genial companion ; that he entered with zest into the amusements proposed, and though silent on political questions, he conversed freely on other subjects and with uniform politeness of manner. At Queenstoivn. When on the evening of May 27th the "Indiana" entered the harbor of Queenstown, the General had an earnest of the manner he was to be greeted on his journey. A tug-boat brought out to the ship a friend Mr. John Russell Young who was to accompany him on his journey, and a deputation of prom- inent citizens who welcomed him to Ireland, and urged him with genuine Irish hospitality to prolong his visit to their island and its people. The request was not complied with, but in terms as courteous as it had been made, and the promise given to accept the invitation at some future time, as at present his route of travel was definitely marked out. 516 GEXEKAL GKAXT. The telegraph told the time when he was expected at Queenstown, and numerous letters were awaiting his arrival. They were from a large number of gentlemen and prominent statesmen of England. They brought invitations from private individuals to their hospitalities and to public dinners and receptions. This was alto- gether a surprise. These letters foreshadowed the cordial welcome that he was to receive when he would land on the shores of Old England. The General persisted in ignor- ing self in all his replies to these proffered honors, by attributing them to the feeling of good-will toward his country, and that his presence furnished only the occa- sion to present them, but for this manifestation he was profoundly grateful. Arrival in the Mersey. A clear and pleasant day greeted the General and his party at Liverpool, while the ships in the Mersey rivaled each other in doing honor to the "Indiana" as she approached her dock, by a display of flags of all nations, among which the Stars and Stripes were conspicuous. The Mayor Mr. A. R. Walker met the General, and in an address tendered him the hospitalities and courtesies of the cifcy of Liver- pool, "whose interests," as he expressed it, "are so closely allied with those of your great country," saying, " You have, sir, stamped your name on the history of the world by your brilliant career as a soldier, and still more as a statesman in the interests of peace. I bid you heartily welcome." General Grant made an appropriate reply, thanking the Mayor for the kindness of the recep- tion given. The latter in his state-carriage conveyed the General and his family to the hotel, and then afterward took them six miles out to his beautiful country resi- dence and entertained them for the night. Two days were spent in Liverpool in a round of visiting TOUR BOUND THE WORLD. 517 places of interest and in the reception of hospitali- ties. Visit to Manchester. Having been invited, he visited Manchester, where in a cordial address he was welcomed by the Mayor, Mr. Heywood, by whom, as a guest, he was entertained while in the city. The Mayor, in his address, alluded to the incident that fourteen years be- fore (1863) it had been his duty to welcome the Ameri- can relief-ship, "George Gris wold," that came from the United States freighted with provisions for the work- people of Manchester, who had been thrown out of em- ployment for lack of cotton caused by the rebellion. It is singular, that at the very time Mr. Heywood was re- ceiving the "Griswold," the "Alabama "and her con- federates were roaming the ocean to destroy American merchant vessels. In reply to the Mayor, General Grant alluded to the great manufacturing interests of the city, and also grace- fully, in behalf of the people of the United States, ten- dered thanks to the many citizens of Manchester who so nobly during the civil war manifested their sympathy for those who were contending to preserve the integrity of the Union, for which good-will " exists a feeling of friendship toward Manchester, distinct and separate from that which my countrymen also feel, and I trust always will feel, toward every part of England." Jacob Bright, M.P., from Manchester, in an address on the same occasion, in referring to the great American conflict, said : " General Grant had not fought for con- quest or for fame, but to give freedom to the people, and preserve the Union of his native land. A wonderful magnanimity had been shown in all his conduct, that when the conflict was over he employed all his influence to obtain generous terms for the vanquished." 518 GENERAL GRANT. The American merchants residents in Manchester presented the General an address and welcome, while pressing invitations came pouring in from numbers of the cities of the kingdom to pay them a visit. In a pri- vate letter written from London (June 19) to Mr. S. W. Childs of Philadelphia, General Grant, in referring to this spontaneous outburst of good-feeling on the part of the English people, says : " I appreciate the fact, and am proud of it, that the attentions I am receiving are intended more for our country than for me personally. . . . . It has always been my desire to see all jealousies between England and the United States abated, and every sore healed. Together, they are more powerful for the spread of commerce and civilization than all others combined, and can do more to remove causes of war by creating mutual interests that would be so much endangered by war." (" Around the World," L, p. 18.) From Manchester to London. From Manchester the General passed on to London, being accompanied by Mr. Ellis, Chairman of the Midland Eailway, and by the general manager, Mr. Allport, in order to secure for him both comfort and safety. He was able to stop on the way for a few minutes each time to receive an address at Leicester and at Bedford from their respective Mayors. He remained a month in London, about the middle of which time he was enabled to spend a few days at Southampton in visiting his daughter, Mrs. Sartoris. It was a needed relaxation for himself and family to be alone together, and away from the routine of dinners and receptions. He found further recreation in driving about the country on the southern coast and visiting places of interest, among which were the ruins of Netley Abbey. TOUR BOUND THE WORLD. 519 The Freedom of the City. The most interesting in- cident in General Grant's tour was that of haying con- ferred upon him the freedom of the City of London. This is done only to the most distinguished guests, and if we refer to the relationship between Great Britain and the United States, it was very significant. The cere- mony is very stately and imposing, as it is the highest honor that the Corporation of London ever confers. At Guildhall a deputation of aldermen and other officials conducted the General to his designated seat at the right hand of the Lord-Mayor Sir Thomas White who had come from the Mansion House in state for the occasion. The Common Council, after going through with some routine business, its Chamberlain, Mr. B. Scott, made in substance the following address to General Grant. After alluding to the " Pilgrim Fathers," who chafed under the strictness of parental rule, sought liberty in a distant land beyond the Atlantic ; and afterward their descendants resented the interference of their venerated parent, though to be sure she meant well she was un- wise, and while manifesting a spirit of manhood worthy the Anglo-Saxon stock, took occasion to fight their way to independence. But now there is evidence that " both children and parent have forgotten old differences and forgiven old wrongs," and while the mother is fond of her offspring a freedom-loving race and of their success, the children still revere the mother for the good she has done, though the manner may have been harsh. Then as evidence of this kindly feeling the Chamber- lain referred to the cordial manner in which the Heir- Apparent to the British throne had been welcomed by the people of the United States, and still more recently had they received Prince Arthur in the same kind way 520 GENERAL GRANT. during the General's presidency. In this spirit " the Corporation of London desires to compliment you and your country in your person by conferring upon you the honorary freedom of their ancient City." Then closing with the hope that the two great branches of the Anglo- Saxon family may have a career of increasing amity, mutual respect, and honest rivalry in commerce, agri- culture and manufacture ; in arts, science and literature, and in the highest of all arts, to promote the largest good to the greatest number. At the close of his address the Chamberlain presented to the General an illuminated copy of the Resolutions of the honorable Court, offering the right hand of fellowship as a citizen of London (June 13). The casket prepared for the reception of the parchment was of a chaste and appropriate design and very elaborate in workmanship ; it was of gold. "The adverse central panel contains a view of the Capitol at Washington, and on the right and left are the General's monogram and the arms of the Lord-Mayor. On the reverse side is a view of the entrance to the Guild- hall and an inscription. At the end are two figures, also in gold, representing the City of London and the Republic of the United States. These figures bear enameled shields. At the corners are double columns, laurel-wreathed, with corn and cotton, and on the cover a cornucopia, as a compliment to the fertility and pros- perity of the United States. The cover is surmounted by the arms of the City of London, and in the decora- tions are interwoven the rose, the shamrock, and the thistle. The casket is supported by American eagles in gold, standing on a velvet plinth decorated with stars and stripes." In the course of his reply, General Grant reciprocated the kind sentiments expressed toward the United States, TOUR BOUND THE WORLD. 521 saying in part: "although a soldier by education and profession, I have never felt any sort of fondness for war, and I have never advocated it except as a means of peace. I hope that we shall always settle our differences in all future negotiations as amicably as we did in a recent instance. I believe that settlement has had a happy effect in both countries, and that from month to month, and year to year, the tie of common civilization and common blood is getting stronger between the two countries." At the conclusion of his reply General Grant subscribed his name on the roll of the honorary members of the Corporation of the City of London. This being done the ceremony closed. Entertained by Royalty. The General by invitation dined at the Prince of Wales's, Marlborough House. Here he met the Emperor of Brazil, Dom Pedro, who visited the United States the year of the Centennial Ex- position, when Grant was President. A week later by special request of the Queen the General and Mrs. Grant visited Windsor Castle, where they were received by the Queen surrounded by her court. There were present the Princess Beatrice, Prince Leopold, Prince Christian, Lord and Lady Derby and others. The Ladies of the royal household, owing to the recent death of the Queen of Holland, "were dressed in black trimmed with white. " The evening was passed pleasantly in conversa- tion, the Queen entering in with interest. The follow- ing morning the General and Mrs. Grant took leave of the Queen and her family and returned to London. Dinner at Liverpool. The General when in Liverpool accepted an invitation from the Mayor and Corporation to a public dinner, and accordingly, on June 28th, he came up from London to meet about two hundred and fifty gentlemen, mainly citizens of the city. The General 522 GEXEEAL GKANT. and his son were the guests of the Mayor, Mr. A. E. Walker. Toasts in the usual manner were given, to which reply was made by the General. He alluded to the receptions and the uniform kindness with which he had been received, far beyond anything he could have expected. In relation to the sympathy that ought to exist between England and the United States, he said : " We are of one kindred, of one blood, of one language and of one civilization, though in some respects we believe that, being younger, we surpass the mother country." The last remark was received with a great deal of merriment. Honors from Associations. After his return from Liverpool many of the associations of London honored the General by giving him receptions and dinners, such as the leading journalists ; editors-in-chief of the prominent papers, together with many of the writers and contrib- utors. He was also waited upon by a deputation com- posed of the leading representatives of the workingmen of London and vicinity, such as of the iron founders, miners and engineers, and of other classes of industry. Prominent among these were the Workingmen's League and the Iron Workers' Society. They presented an ad- dress flattering in terms, in reply the General said : "I have received attentions and have had ovations, free hand-shakings, and presentations from different classes-; from the government and from the controlling author- ities of cities, but there is no reception I am prouder of than this to-day. I recognize the fact that whatever there is of greatness in the United States, or indeed in any other country, is due to labor performed. The laborer is the author of all greatness and wealth. With us labor is regarded as highly respectable ; it dishonors no man, and with us his occupation is not considered in TOUB BOUND THE WORLD. 523 the selection of him, whether as a law-maker or an exec- utor of law.' The United Service Club, representing the Army and the Navy, also gave him a dinner, and a reception was also held at the American Embassy, at which were present numbers of Americans who for the time being were in London. Visit to Scotland. To preserve the connection with the visit in London, we will now notice those to Scotland and Ireland. At the close of the festivities just men- tioned, the General and his family made a short run to the Continent, and on his return he paid a visit to Scot- land. The Lord Provost, or Mayor, whose guest he became, welcomed General Grant to Edinburgh : here too he was presented with the freedom of the city (August 31st). In reply to the welcoming address of the Lord Provost the General said : " I am so filled with emotion, that I hardly know how to thank you for the honor con- ferred upon me by making me a burgess of this ancient city of Edinburgh. I feel that it is a great compliment to me and my country. . . . We are proud of Scotch- men as citizens of the United States ; they make good citizens, and they find it profitable for themselves. (Laughter}. I again thank you for the honor you have conferred upon me." General Grant spent about three weeks in Scotland in visiting places of interest too numerous even to men- tion in our limited space in receiving addresses and other testimonials of respect. No one feature was more prominent in these welcomes than the commendation freely given to the part the General as President had taken in bringing about the second treaty of Wash- ington, and indirectly under it the adjustment of the Alabama Claims, and the removal of all the then 524 GENERAL GRAIST. irritating differences between the two nations or, as the General said in one of his replies not peoples, for we are one people. Said Mr. Burt, M.P. : "History will chron- icle the proceedings at Geneva as a grand achievement of civilization, and with it you, General, will ever be identified. In favoring the principle of international arbitration you have earned the applause of the civilized world, and we readily acknowledge the great bless- ings which that mode of settling difficulties between nations has already conferred on your country and on ours." Said the Lord Provost of Glasgow, when the General visited that city : " The great and good Lincoln struck down the upas tree of slavery, but Grant tore it up by the roots. The American people in the forgiveness of injuries present the greatest triumph of Christian prin- ple and practice the world has ever seen. In other countries what crimes of vengeance have followed on revolutionary wars ! Not a drop of blood was spilled in vengeance ; North and South shook hands, agreed to decorate together the graves of their dead, and go on as one Nation a united and free people." Again in England. On leaving Scotland the General passed through a portion of the manufacturing districts of England, such as Newcastle, Sunderland, Sheffield, Birmingham, and others. The very gratifying manner in which he was greeted at Newcastle may serve as a specimen of the other receptions given him. It was a demonstration of working-people, estimated at 80,000 strong with banners on which were inscribed compli- mentary mottoes, such as, " Welcome, Hero of Freedom," " Let us have peace," " Welcome from arms to arts," "Nothing like leather," etc. "It was a moving stream of red and blue banners and badges and insignia." The TOUR BOUND THE WORLD. 525 addresses were for the most part elaborate, showing the blessings of the two nations being always friends. The Visit to Ireland. General Grant was unable to comply with the promise he had made of visiting Ireland until a year and two months afterward. On the evening of July 2, 1878, he left London, with a party of friends, for Holyhead, and thence by the mail steamer to Kings- town, reaching Dublin the following morning. Mrs. Grant remained in England with her daughter, Mrs. Sartoris. The Lord-Mayor of Dublin, Sir J. Barrington, met him on landing, and in his own carriage conveyed the General and his companions to the Shelburne Hotel, where suitable rooms had been engaged. The American Consul paid his respects at an early hour, and the Lord- Mayor came about 11 o'clock with his carriage to escort the General to the places of interest in the city. Among these were the Eoyal Irish Academy, whose museum contains a large and fine collection of antiquities, and it has also an excellent library ; the Bank of Ireland, the Chamber of Commerce, the Stock Exchange, and Trinity College, whose faculty received the General and showed him through the building. Then re-entering the Mayor's carriage, they were driven through the finest streets of the city. Everywhere, when opportunity served, the populace manifested their good-will by cheers. Finally the car- riage brought the General to the City Hall, where the civic authorities were in attendance, and here too he was presented with the freedom of the city, the Lord-Mayor himself reading the resolution and presenting the certif- icate, "which was handsomely illuminated, and con- tained in a very elaborately carved bog-oak casket." Then came the usual address, to which the General re- plied, expressing thanks for the honor, and closed by remarking : " I am by birth a citizen of a country where 526 GENERAL GRAJSTT. there are more Irishmen, either native born or descend- ants of Irishmen, than there are in all Ireland. 1 have, therefore, had the honor and pleasure of representing more Irishmen and their descendants, when in office, than the Queen of England does." The following morning the Lord-Mayor accompanied him to the station, and then took leave as the General went aboard the train for Londonderry. Great crowds assembled and cheered at the various stations on the way, though the weather was very inclement. The General was welcomed with hearty greetings at the station, and received the usual address, to which he re- plied, and was then driven to the Town Hall, the crowd being so great that it was difficult to move, the whole town seemed to be out for a holiday. Here the General went through the ceremony of enrolling himself as an " Ulster Irish man." The places of interest were visited the following morning, among the rest the historic walls of Old Derry, left standing as a memento of its destruc- tion. Belfast. Thence the General was taken to Belfast, where a grand reception awaited him. The linen and other mills stopped work for the occasion, and the work- people in thousands made him welcome. All the public buildings were draped with English and American colors ; the Lord-Mayor and other officials doing the honors of the occasion. On the morrow a number of prominent citizens, including clergymen, editors, merchants and manufacturers, paid their respects, and places of in- terest were visited and inspected. The General's car- riage was continually cheered as it passed through the streets. At a station on the railway a little girl asked the General to " give her love to her aunt, who was in America." TOUR ROUND THE WORLD. 527 The time for taking leave came ; the Lord-Mayor Barrington invited the General into his carriage, which was driven rapidly to the Irish mail train, where farewells were said, and the train passed on to Kingstown, and the party in a few minutes was on board the steamer in the cabin specially prepared for them. On the following morning London was reached. CHAPTER LXIV. TOUR BOUND THE GLOBE. WE have already alluded to a running visit of Gen- eral Grant to the Continent. On that occasion he spent about three weeks in Switzerland, enjoying the scenery and in visiting places of note. He was invited to assist in the interesting ceremony of laying the corner-stone for an American Episcopal church in Geneva (July 27, 1877), for in that city are resident a large number of Americans so many that they are spoken of as the "American Colony." The General struck the stone " with a hammer ornamented with the American colors," and in the "name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost," pronounced it laid. A Brief Address. In reply to an address of welcome he said : " I have never felt myself more happy than among this assembly of fellow-republicans of America and Switzerland. I have long had a desire to visit where the ' Alabama Claims ' were settled by arbitration, with- out the effusion of blood, and where the principle of in- ternational arbitration was established which I hope will be resorted to by other nations, and be the means of con- tinuing peace to all mankind." The General, as already noted, returned across the Channel and spent some time in Scotland, and in the districts of England noted for their manufacturing in- dustries. Again we find him just landed at Boulogne, having crossed over from Folkestone (October 25), with 528 TOUR ROrrffD THE GLOBE. 529 the intention of making an extensive tour of Continental Europe. The General was accompanied by Mrs. Grant and son, and Mr. John Kussell Young, who became the chronicler of the incidents of the tour. Off to Paris. From Boulogne the party took train for Paris ; on the way, at an intermediate station, the American Minister at that city, General Noyes, and General Torbert, the Consul-General, together with an aid-de-camp of Marshal MacMahon, President of the French Kepublic, boarded the train. The aid-de-camp, in the name of President MacMahon, welcomed the ex- President of the United States to France. So many Americans are either temporarily or otherwise resident in Paris that there, too, they are characterized as the "American Colony." Numbers of its leading members were waiting the arrival of the train, and they gave the General a very cordial greeting, after which the party was conveyed to the Hdtel Bristol, where apartments were in readiness. Then followed a series of the usual dinners and receptions, among which none were more gratifying than the public dinner given by some three hundred resident Americans, so that upon the whole the sojourn in Paris was a very pleasant one. Official Reception Political Feeling. President Mac- Mahon's official reception of General Grant was most cordial. The Marshal hailed him as a fellow-soldier and comrade-in-arms, and wished to gratify him by a series of military shows and parades. But to all mili- tary displays the General had an aversion, and uniformly shunned them as courtesy would permit ; he had seen enough of war and of its horrid realities, which lie be- hind the glitter of military displays. There were many meetings, most cordial in their character, between the ex-President and the President, which increased their 530 GENERAL GRANT. mutual respect. Frenchmen are often so intensely partisan that they fail to be unprejudiced. Mr. Elihu B. Washburue, our Minister in Paris during the French and Prussian war, acted with strict impartiality, in his duties toward Frenchmen and Prussians, to aid both to the best of his ability, and thereby has won the highest praise of intelligent and unprejudiced minds. Yet as General Grant was then President, and sustained, and indeed commended, the benevolent and highly proper conduct of Minister Washburne, the French political feeling, as represented by the Imperialistic or Monarchical faction, was inclined to think that as the President up- held his minister he must have been more in favor of the Prussians than of the French. Those gentlemen ought to have known that the American people have the kindest feeling toward the people of France, not only from the traditions of the past, but from present sympa- thy. They did heartily detest the treachery of Louis Napoleon when by his coup d'etat he seized the govern- ment and violated the rights of the French people (1 851), and they looked upon his downfall as a blessing to France and a just retribution upon himself. With this sentiment of the American people General Grant un- doubtedly sympathized. Meanwhile the party visited many of the interesting places in the French capital, though this sightseeing was very often interrupted by accepted civilities. Nota- bly among these was a reception given by the American Minister, General Noyes, at which the General made a brief address. Italy Visited. After about two months' stay in Paris and vicinity the party went to the south of France, and on December 13 the General and Mrs. Grant, his son Jesse E. and companions, went on board the United TOUR ROUND THE GLOBE. 531 States man-of-war "Vandalia" at Villefranche, amid cheers from the American ships in the harbor. The " Vaudalia " was cruising in the Mediterranean, and was detached for the General's service by the government at "Washington. The party now set out for Italy, Egypt and the Holy Land. On the morning of the fourth day afterward the "Vandalia" dropped anchor in the Bay of Naples, so famed for its beauty. In the course of the day a ramble was taken among the curiosities of the city. Ascent of Vesuvius. The following morning the as- cent of Mount Vesuvius was to have commenced quite early, but officials came on board to pay formal visits, so that the party did not set out till ten o'clock. Then in carriages they were driven over dirty and ill-paved streets round the horseshoe of the bay, while running the gauntlet of ragged beggars men, women, and chil- dren. The General provided himself with coins to throw to the crowd, and the party enjoyed the scramble that ensued. These people appear to have no concep- tion of the degradation of being beggars. The lower classes are lazy and happy, and take to begging as an industry not requiring much exertion. The party having ascended as far up the mountain as they could in a conveyance, reached the Hermitage, the last resting-place before mounting to the crest of the volcano. From this point is afforded a prospect sur- passingly beautiful. The bay far below is seen encircled by the City of Naples and its suburbs, which are scat- tered round its shores. Pompeii Visited. The following day (December 19) Pompeii was visited, which two thousand years ago had been overwhelmed, principally by ashes, in an eruption of Vesuvius. Here were seen long narrow streets that had 532 GEXEEAL GRANT. been excavated, and were crossed by others of similar width. They were lined with houses that to the mod- ern eye were curious, and which had also been uncov- ered, and in which, at that time, it is estimated ten thousand persons were living, and who were suddenly overtaken by death, and buried in one vast sepulchre of ashes twenty feet deep. The General remarked that Pompeii did not disappoint his expectations, the reality far surpassing in interest what he conceived would be the peculiar fascination in studying its ruins, which con- tained the evidences of the manner in which life was enjoyed by its inhabitants. Arrival at Malta. It was now time to pass on to Egypt, and on the 28th of December the " Vandalia" on hqr way reached Malta ; but in the midst of a gale, yet when anchored, a salute of twenty-one guns was given the usual ceremony when a man-of-war on enter- ing a port wishes to honor it. The " Vandalia " hap- pened to cast anchor near the " Sultan," an English iron- clad, commanded by the Duke of Edinburgh. Soon after an officer reported that the Duke was about to pay his respects to the General. A few minutes later the captain's boat put off from the " Sultan," the Duke him- self steering ; the rowers soon placed him alongside the "Vandalia." The interview was informal and very pleasant, the Duke inviting the General and his party to luncheon with him and the Duchess, at his palace of San Antonio four miles back in the island. After driving through a country somewhat interesting, and in a sunshine exceedingly bright, the party were received and cordially entertained by the Duke and the Duchess. The San Antonio is surrounded by orange groves and walls, and has a large and beautiful garden, said to be the only one of much size on the island. A regiment TOUR BOUND THE GLOBE. 533 was drawn up in front of the palace as a guard of honor. From Malta to Egypt. On January 5, 1878, the " Vandalia " brought the party to Alexandria, on their way to Cairo and a trip up the Nile as far as Luxor. The General was at once called upon by the Governor of the district, by pachas and beys, and by the American Consul-General, Mr. Farman, judges of courts, and American missionaries who were stationed in that city. The Governor, in the name of the Khedive, in welcom- ing the General, also tendered him a palace in Cairo, the capital, when he should be pleased to visit that re- nowned city, and likewise the use of a steamer for his voyage up the Nile. As in Oriental countries it is an indication of respect to return official calls promptly, in the afternoon of the same day the General, with Com- mander Robeson of the "Vandalia" and one or two other officers, went on shore in the barge. This being an official visit, the "Vandalia" manned her yards and fired a salute of twenty-one guns, to which the Egyptian navy vessels responded. Here for the first time the General had a reception given him in Oriental style. He was received at the palace by a guard of honor, and the visitors were conducted within a spacious room, directed to cushioned seats or divans, and arranged according to rank. The pacha distributed cigarettes, compliments were interchanged, the pacha expressing his satisfaction in receiving a stranger so illustrious, while the latter reciprocated by saying that he expected great pleasure in his sojourn in Egypt. At a signal, attendants bring in coffee in tiny cups ; very little is said, all is formal in the extreme, and in less than ten minutes the visiting party arise and file solemnly down the stairs and out. Meanwhile the guards and servants, as they pass, salute them with respect. 534 GENERAL GRANT. The same evening a dinner was given to the General and Mrs. Grant by the American Vice-Consul, Mr. Salvago. Here General Grant met for the first time Henry M. Stanley, who had just returned from an ex- ploring tour in Africa, and was on his way to Europe to be received with great honor because of his achieve- ments. They had a long conversation in respect to Africa, and of what might be the outgrowth of opening up that portion of the continent to a Christianized civilization. On Route to Cairo. The Khedive furnished a special train at Alexandria to convey the party to Cairo, the governor of the district with his retinue paying his respects by meeting the General at the train, which, starting at eleven A.M., reached Cairo in four hours. Here was waiting a guard of honor, a number of officers and civilians in readiness to receive the party. The General, as his eye passed over the group, recognized two military or West Point friends, General Loring, formerly of the Confederate army, and General Stone of the Union ; both at the close of the Kebellion having taken service in the army of the Khedive. General Stone immediately entered the car, and as the represent- ative of the Khedive presented the welcome of his Highness, for which the General expressed thanks. The party is then conveyed to the palace which had been placed at General Grant's service by the Khedive. The afternoon and night were passed quietly at their quarters, and on the following day the General, accom- panied by the commander of the " Vandalia," several officers, the Consul-General, Mr. Farman, and others, called by appointment upon the Khedive. The General wore the dress of a civilian. The reception was very formal ; a guard of honor and officers of the household TOUE ROUND THE GLOBE. 535 were stationed on the stairs, at the foot of which the Khedive himself met his visitors. At first the General, his son and the Consul were- taken into an inner room, where the formal introduction to the Khedive took place, then the other members of the party were pre- sented. The interview having lasted about half an hour, the visiting party withdrew and returned to the palace, and where a few minutes afterward the Khedive in his carriage was announced to return the call that had been made upon him. The General received his Highness, who was accompanied only by his Secretary of Foreign Affairs, with great respect in the grand recep- tion-room of the palace. The interview was formal ; on the Khedive's retiring, the General accompanied him to his carriage. The General made official calls on the two sons of the Khedive, which were promptly returned : these ended the official presentations on both sides. Other Courtesies. Other civilities were extended to the General. The Khedive intended to give a grand dinner, but his court was in mourning because of the recent death of Victor Emanuel, King of Italy ; for the same reason members of his household could not accept invitations to a dinner that was given by the Consul to the General and his party. The latter entertainment was prepared in the best Parisian style. Toasts were given in honor of the Khedive and of the General, and also of Mrs. Grant. Meanwhile addresses were made of the usual complimentary style. On the Nile About a week was spent in sight-seeing in this unique City of Cairo, and in festivities, and on January 18 the party went on board the river steamer which the Khedive had courteously given the General for his trip up the Nile. The foresight and kindness of the Khedive was shown in another instance, which added 536 GENERAL GRANT. immensely to the pleasure of the voyage and the satisfac- tion of the tourists in viewing the ruins of cities the monuments of past generations. This was in his High- ness detailing Prof. Emile Brugsch, one of the directors of the Egyptian Museum at Cairo, said to possess the finest collection of specimens of such antiquities of that country in the world. Prof. Brugsch was familiar with the ruins of the ancient cities and the various monu- ments of the past that the General and his party proposed visiting, as he had made these subjects a special study. He could read fluently the inscriptions found on the walls of temples, or the hieroglyphics. On one occasion, when returning from viewing the ruins of a temple, the General exclaimed, " What a blank our trip would be without Prof. Brugsch ! " At Siout. The party reached Siout, or Assiout, the capital of Upper Egypt, a city of about 25,000 inhabit- ants. It is an important center in the caravan trade from the west. The American Vice-Consul Wasif el Hayat who is a native, came on board and welcomed the General very courteously, at the same time furnish- ing the party coffee and cigars. The Consul gave a dinner at which were many guests, some officials, and the Eev. Prof. Alexander of the Missionary College and his wife. The son of the Consul, quite a young man, pronounced the address of welcome in correct English. He spoke of the great progress of the United States within a century, by which our country has " taken the first position among the most civilized nations. She has so quickly improved in sciences, morals, and arts, that the world stands amazed." In response the General ex- pressed his gratification at hearing his country so eulo- gized in that distant land. Crowds of the townspeople ac- companied the party on their returning to the steamer. TOUR ROUND THE GLOBE. 537 Excursion to Abydos. The party arrived at a small place, Girgel, January 21, then leaving the steamer they made an excursion of some miles to Abydos the city of Memnon, according to some authors where exists a temple reputed to be the oldest in Egypt. When about to start, the tourists were beset by a host of drivers and their donkeys, which they wished to hire out for the trip. As an inducement, they would give for the time being significant names to their animals ; for example, an American would be offered a donkey whose name was " Yankee Doodle." When they reached the Temple of Abydos, " Here," exclaimed Prof. Brugsch, " we should all take off our hats, for here is the cradle, the fountain-head, of all the civilization of the world. Here are the ruins of the oldest city of Egypt." Ac- cording to some authorities it was in existence about 4,000 years before Christ. The Ruins of Tliebes. The voyage continued up the river, and finally they reached the ruins of Thebes, cele- brated by Homer, one of the oldest Greek poets, who lived seven hundred years before Christ. He described it as a city of one hundred gates, and from the number of men it sent out to battle it must have had a large popu- lation. It was said to have occupied both sides of the river. The whole vicinity was replete with the ruined wonders of the past, in the forms of monuments, tem- ples, and statues ; of the latter are two of Memnon, one the largest yet discovered. It is in a sitting position, one entire granite block, about fifty feet high, and meas- ures across the shoulders eighteen feet three inches, and sixteen feet six inches from the top of the shoulder to the elbow. Well may modern engineers be puzzled to ascertain by what means such immense blocks of stone could have been transported long distances from 538 GENERAL GRANT. their native bed in the quarry, and then placed in posi- tion. Luxor and Karnak. But the ruins of Luxor and Karnak, across the river from Thebes, eclipse all others in their grandeur. The Temple of Karnak excels all others in the magnificence of its columns, in this respect pre-eminently the wonder of the world. Karnak is one of a series of temples which belong to Thebes, and stands back from the river of to-day about half a mile. Here are rows of immense columns standing in line as corridors. As a specimen, one hall is 329 feet long by 170 wide, the roof of which is fallen in ; it was sup- ported by 134 columns. The latter are nearly all stand- ing ; they are more than 60 feet high, and some of them are 34 feet in circumference at the base. The steps to the entrance are 40 feet by 10. Imagina- tion fails to realize what must have been the beauty and the magnificence of the structure when it was fresh from the hands of the workmen. In the vicinity is a granite obelisk 75 feet high, cov- ered with inscriptions, clear and distinct as if just fin- ished. Amid another group of ruins is another obelisk, 90 feet high the largest in the world one solid block of granite. The latter is remarkable, as the inscription reveals that it was raised to commemorate the virtues of the king's daughter travelers have mentioned no other instance in which womanly virtues were thus recognized. The party continued their route up the Nile to the ruins of Philse, near the first cataract about 1,000 miles from the mouth and after exploring the ruins turned home- ward down the river. On to the Holy Land. The party arrived at Cairo, where the General was cordially received by the repre- sentative of the Khedive, and having enjoyed the latter*s TOUR BOUND THE GLOBE. 539 hospitality for a few days, he passed on to Port Said, which was reached February 9. Meanwhile the " Van- dalia" had come round from Alexandria to meet the party. They went on board, and experienced a home- feeling when under the protection of the Stars and Stripes. That evening they started for the Holy Land, the "Vandalia" steaming on the way to Jaffa the ancient Joppa. The party landed, and were received by the American Consul; even Jaffa was decked out in rib- bons and flags, while over an archway was the legend : "Welcome, General Grant!" After a hurried visit to the house of " Simon the Tanner," the party prepared to set out for Jerusalem, some forty miles distant. Three uncomfortable and clumsy wagons with open tops was the best conveyance they could secure for the trip. Having reached the Holy City, they spent a day or two in visiting the places most interesting to the Christian. An incident occurred that was not forgotten: a monk gathered a few flowers in the garden of Geth- semane for Mrs. Grant. A number of other places in Palestine were visited, such as Bethany, Bethlehem, Nazareth, and others. Then they returned to Jaffa (February 27), where the " Vandalia" was waiting ; they went on board, and the good ship steamed up the coast, and on March 5 the General was made welcome at Constantinople by Consul-General Schuyler and other Americans. The General was entertained handsomely by the British Minister, Mr. Austin Henry Layard. Within a few days all the places of interest were visited the palaces, the bazaars, the mosques, especially those of St. Sophia and of Sultan Achmed. For lack of time, many invitations to receptions, and other courtesies, had to be declined. Athens, Greece. They said farewells to many Amer- 540 GENEKAL GKANT. ican friends, and sailed for Athens. A grand reception was given the General and his party by the King and Queen, at which were the foreign Ministers resident at the court, and other prominent persons. It would have taken much time to- have accepted the invitations to hospitalities that were proffered ; instead, the General spent his time in exploring the many places famous for their classic tradition. sHe is represented as having become a most systematic and appreciative sight-seer ; not a scene was visited but what was known of its an- cient history was rehearsed. Still, time forbade their lingering longer on ground so enchanting and classic, and preparations were made for their departure for Kome. CHAPTER LXV. TOUR BOUND THE GLOBE. Rome. The General arrived at Rome at an oppor- tune time. Leo XIII. had just been elected Pope. His Eminence, Cardinal McCloskey, of New York, was in the city as a representative of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States. The Cardinal at once called upon the General, and arranged that he should visit the Holy Father. The interview was agreeable to both it was simply a visit of courtesy on the one part and of cordial and respectful reception on the other. An aid-de-camp of King Humbert called upon the General at his hotel, and proffered him every facility for seeing the places of interest abounding in the city its museums, its monuments, the sculptures within the Vatican and its great library, the churches, which are in great number ; but towering far above all interest was St. Peter's. King Humbert (April 15) gave a state dinner in honor of the General, at which were all the members of the Italian Ministry. It was an honor designed for an American citizen, but an ex-President. > Florence Venice Milan. On April 20 we find the party in Florence. Here were great numbers of Ameri- cans temporary residents who vied with each other in paying honor and respect to the General. The city's galleries of paintings were visited ; the statues ad- mired. The better portion of these delightful days was thus spent, and then the party passed on by railway to 541 542 GENERAL GEANT. Venice. Here the General was greeted by the U. S. Consul, John Harris, and by numbers of Americans who were sojourning in the city, and afterward by the city officials, who gave him a congratulatory address, to which the General gave an appropriate reply. In a day or two the party set out for Milan, which was reached on the 27th. The Prefect and other city offi- cials and prominent citizens gave the General a cordial reception. The Prefect's address was very compliment- ary. The General seemed to be well known in Italy by reputation, as great numbers of Italians, both as officers and soldiers, had served in the Union armies in the late war. The Cathedral or Duomo of Milan is a marvel of beauty, having characteristics peculiarly its own. In it are more sacred relics of various kinds than in any other similar place in Italy. Milan is a wonderfully bright and pleasant city, and it is said every native, though from necessity he may be in dis- tant lands, yet he hopes to come back and spend the remainder of his days, and be buried under the bright sky of Milan. .Holland. Our tourists were compelled to hasten, and from Milan they passed on, arriving at Paris (May 7) on their way to Holland. Four days previous the Paris Exhibition of that year had been formally opened by President McMahon. General Grant remained only a few days in the French capital. By arrangement he visited the Exhibition, but having thoroughly explored the city on his former visit, and notwithstanding the many urgent appeals to tarry and be the recipient of courtesies, he decided, as he needed comparatively more rest, to pass on to Holland. The party arrived at the Hague the court capital and had an imposing recep- tion at the railway station. The General was invited TOUR ROUND THE GLOBE. 543 to luncheon by his Koyal Highness, Prince Frederick. This took place in a royal country seat in the midst of a noble park, about a mile and a half from the Hague. It was a most delightful reception the greetings were reciprocally cordial. The General visited Kotterdam ; here, too, were numbers of Americans, who seemed to turn up in every city. They were here for commer- cial purposes. The party also visited Amsterdam, the commercial center of Holland. This city is dearer, especially to New Yorkers, than any one of Holland's cities. About fifty of the leading merchants gave the ex-Presi- dent a grand dinner, at which attended all the dignitaries of the city. The wealth of plate used- on that occasion far outshone in splendor any that the party saw on their tour. Among objects of interest visited was the great canal that unites Amsterdam with the North Sea, and the village of Broek, famed for its cleanliness, and to such an extent as to be oppressive, in order to keep it up to the ideal standard of the inhabitants. The gen- eral prosperity of the Dutch people, and their true freedom, impress all visitors. Berlin. Nearly a fortnight was spent in Holland, and the next place visited was Berlin, which was reached by railway on June 26th. With this comparatively new city now the fourth in size in Europe the General was delighted, and he explored almost every portion of it in his persistent rambles through its streets and parks. Its progress as a great political center, and that attained within a quarter of a century, is most striking. Its famous university, the latter's number of students, its museums, the libraries, the common schools, as well as those that are military or pertain to art and to music, are all excellent of their kind. In addition, the military 544 GENERAL GRANT. prestige of Prussia was wonderfully increased in the French and Prussian war in 1870. The sad feature of the beautiful city is the vast number of soldiers seen everywhere political economy characterizes them as non-producers, and who have to be supported in idle- ness by the sweat and toil of the industrial classes. Bismarck. Among the first to leave his card was Prince Bismarck ; the General happened to be absent, and Bismarck called again. An arrangement was afterward made for an interview at the Prince's palace. At the time appointed the General, quietly and unat- tended, walked into the court-yard ; the sentinels eye him for an instant, and then instinctively make the military salute, which the General throwing away his half-smoked cigar returned in a soldierly manner, and advanced toward the door, which was at once thrown open by liveried servants, who were on the lookout, and he passed into the spacious marble hall. Bismarck meets him most cordially, clasping his hand in both his, exclaims : " Glad to welcome General Grant to Ger- many." The kind sentiment is earnestly reciprocated. Bismarck expressed surprise at the youthful appearance of the General. A long conversation ensued, in which were discussed the affairs of Europe as then pending before the Berlin Congress, then in session, and also in relation to the internal affairs of the United States, of the destruction of slavery, and the outlook for the con- tinuous prosperity of the country. The Crown Prince gave the General a review of his army, and the Ameri- can Minister, Mr. Bayard Taylor, a grand reception ; also one was given by Prince Bismarck. Hamburg Copenhagen. The journey was now (July 2) from Berlin to Hamburg, distant about 175 miles. This seemed to be the busiest city the tourists had TOUE BOUND THE GLOBE. 545 seen in Germany. The commercial enterprise of Ham- burg is proverbial. Everywhere sailors in strange cos- tumes are seen, they being of so many nationalities, while the flags of all nations are flying from the ships floating in the harbor ; even the business signs are in so many languages. The tourists celebrated the Fourth of July in Hamburg. On July 6 the party leave for Copenhagen. Hence is made a rapid trip of about three weeks in order to visit the cities of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. The time was diligently occupied, and the General was every- where received with cordiality. The people of those king- doms are more than usually intelligent, and they were familiar with the part the General had played in his own country, and that he had aided in preserving the Union of the States, in which so many of their countrymen and their families had found homes. St. Petersburg, On the 30th of July the ex-Presi- dent and his fellow-tourists landed on Eussian territory, at Cronstadt, the seaport of the capital. The stars and stripes are run up the masts in honor of the General, while a salute is being fired from the batteries on shore. After a brief address and welcome, the party go on board a steamboat and are quickly on their way to St. Petersburg, whose spires soon come in sight. The American Minister, Hon. E. M. Stoughton, welcomes the General, and presently an aid-de-camp of the Em- peror brings a kind message from his sovereign, and other officials call with courteous and kind words. Meanwhile a grand audience was arranged for the fol- lowing day, July 31, when the Emperor and the ex- President were to meet. The royal reception was most cordial ; the Emperor introduced Gortschakoff, his Prime Minister. The former himself led the conversation ; 546 GEXEEAL GEANT. he wished specially to obtain information in respect to our Indians. This line of thought may have been sug- gested because of the many races that compose the Eus- sian Empire. On parting, the Emperor gave expression to his sentiments, saying : " Since the foundation of your Government, relations between Eussia and Amer- ica have been of the friendliest character, and as long as I live nothing shall be spared to continue this friend- ship." The ex-President replied : " That, although the two Governments were very opposite in their character, the great majority of the American people were in sym- pathy with Eussia, which good feeling he hoped would long continue." The General had the usual calls of ceremony, and made visitations. The imperial yacht was placed at his disposal, and in which the party visited Peterhoff, which is about fifteen miles from the capital, and is noted for its commanding situation the prospect taking in Cron- stadt, the Gulf of Finland, and, in the distance, St Petersburg. The yacht went on to Cronstadt, and threaded her way between the ships of the Eussian fleet, which ran up the stars and stripes and saluted. Moscow. After taking time to explore St. Petersburg, the next visit was to be made to the ancient capital of Russia Moscow where the empire had its beginning more than a thousand years ago. The distance is a little more than four hundred miles. The railway connecting the old and new capitals was built by American enter- prise, and its entire equipments are American in style and workmanship. This road is peculiar : it runs in a straight line, without reference to the cities that may have been on, or in the vicinity of the route It is said the Emperor Nicholas absolutely forbade the builders to deviate from the straight line he had marked out. The TOUR ROUND THE GLOBE. 547 decision made sad work of the way traffic. The recep- tion at Moscow was gratifying cheer after cheer greeted the General at the railway station. Here were Amer- icans in numbers to bid him welcome. The city of Moscow stands in an undulating region, and on both sides of the Moskwa River. Most of the houses, especially of the wealthy, have gardens around them with shade trees. The main streets are broad, while the cross ones are often ornamented with fine private residences ; these are sometimes painted in vivid, rather than subdued colors. The city is famous for its numerous churches and their many bells. Warsaw South of France. After spending a few days in Moscow, the tourists took the train for Warsaw, Poland ; distance six hundred miles. In this old city they remained a day or two, and then left for Vienna, arriving on the 18th of August. About three months were spent in visiting places of interest in Spain and Portugal, and in the south of France. In all the cities visited, when opportunity served, there was no lack of cordiality shown in the re- ceptions given the ex- President, nor did he fail to recog- nize such uniform good-will as manifested toward his country rather than to himself as an individual. The Red Sea India. On January 24, 1879, we find the ex-President and his fellow-tourists at Marseilles, about to embark on a French ship " Labourdonnais " for the Eed Sea, and India beyond. The party for the India trip consisted of General and Mrs. Grant and Frederick D. Grant, Mr. E. A. Borie, of Philadelphia, Mr. Young, a nd one or two others. On the 29th they reached Alexandria, and the following morning took the train for Suez, which was reached in a few hours. Here they were compelled to wait for the steamer " Venitia," 548 GEXEKAL GRAXT. which was to carry them to India ; meanwhile, having nothing to do, they thoroughly explored the little town of Suez by riding round and about it two or three times. Late in the afternoon, however, the " Venitia " hove in sight across the sands, as she was creeping through the famed Suez Canal. As the sun was going down the tourists went on board, and realized they were off for India. Having passed through the Eed Sea, they launched out into the Indian Ocean, and on February 13 reached Bombay. They supposed it was unknown in advance of them that General Grant was on his way to India, but to their surprise the "Venitia" on enter- ing the harbor was greeted with a display of flags flying from the ships, while the wharf was crowded with ex- pectant people. .From the English flag-ship came a boat alongside bearing an officer, who brought a wel- come to India for General Grant from Admiral Corbet; a few minutes later came another boat bearing an officer who brought a similar welcome from Sir Richard Tem- ple, Governor of the Presidency of Bombay ; these were followed by the American Consul, Mr. Farnham, and a delegation of Americans offering courtesies. Then came a series of receptions, dinners, addresses, and replies, similar in character to those we have seen given the ex-President when sojourning in the British Isles. The same may be said of all the places visited in India that were under British control, and owing to this uniform manner of receptions, etc., in describing them we will not go into detail. A number of days were spent in Bombay, in seeing the strange things in this land of the East. Many places were visited : the schools, both for males and females, the latter a striking evidence of progress ; the temples, famous for being cut out of rocks, and for images carved in the same. TOUR BOUND THE GLOBE. 549 Bombay to Benares. Two comfortable cars were placed by the Governor at the General's disposal, and the train brought the party safely to Allahabad, thence to Agra, where a stay of a few days enabled them to see the Taj, said to be the most beautiful building in the world. Its towers and white marble walls, reflecting the rays of the rising sun, made an impression of architectural beauty never to be forgotten. It was designed to com- memorate the grief of the Emperor Shah Jehan for his wife. From Agra a flying visit by train was made to Delhi, a place so filled with gardens as to be almost country. It is famous for an immense building, a Hindoo tomb, and an equally great and remarkable tower, the Kutab. The whole surrounding country is filled with ruins, the evidences of a civilization that has passed away. At Delhi, in its days of splendor, reigned the Moguls, and here still exists the great mosque in which they wor- shiped, and which, as a sacred relic, has in keeping a hair from Mohammed's beard. Our tourists passed on to Lucknow so famous for its defence in the Sepoy rebellion, and final deliverance by Havelock thence to Benares, the sacred city of the Hin- doos. All along this route, at the various railway stations where they stopped, were found guards of honor, and kindly greetings were given by the authorities and the people. Calcutta Singapore. After a long and tiresome journey from Benares, the General and his party arrived at Calcutta on the 10th of March, 1879. Here many civilities were offered and accepted, and after a week's stay a small steamer carried them across the Bay of Bengal to Rangoon. This place was found to be inter- esting, and the party passed a few days pleasantly ; then 550 GENERAL GRANT. the steamer carried them down the coast to Penang, a British Colony known as the " Straits Settlements." Here they remained a day, the guests of the authorities. The following day (29th) they arrived at Malacca ; and thence to Singapore, at the southern end of the Malacca Straits. This is one of the handsomest towns of the East it is within eighty miles of the equator. At this place the American Consul, Mr. Struder a native of Switzerland, but now an American citizen, and who was a lieutenant under the General at the battle of Shiloh or Pittsburg Landing received his old com- mander with great cordiality. Then followed the usual courtesies, the General and party occupying the Gov- ernment House during their stay of a few days. Bangkok. When at Singapore, the General was sur- prised to receive a letter from the young King of Siam, inviting him to visit his dominions. This young mon- arch is far ahead even of his own people in his desire to adopt the improvements and civilization of Europe and America; It was at once determined to accept the invi- tation, and on the 9th of April the tourists embarked on a steamer which brought them in five days to the outer harbor of Bangkok. About nine o'clock the following morning it was announced from the mast-head that the royal yacht was coming on she came "with the Amer- ican colors at the fore, and the royal standard at the main." Soon as alongside, an officer presented a letter to the General from the King, welcoming him to his dominions, saying, "I desire to show the high esteem in which I hold the most eminent citizen of that great nation which has been so friendly to Siam, and so kind and just in all its intercourse with the nations of the far East." The General and party went on board the royal yacht, and reached Bangkok late in the afternoon. L_ TOUR HOUND THE GLOBE. 551 The King, wishing to honor the General, gave him a palace, and assigned the prince, his brother, with a ret- inue of princes and noblemen, as the hosts of the party. On landing, the reception was grand ; the band played " Hail, Columbia," and the party was driven to the palace which had been assigned to them. The prince shook hands with the General and offered his arm to Mrs. Grant, and led them into the grand Audience Chamber. The usual courtesies were interchanged. The General called on the King, and the following day the King returned the call. Bangkok lies low, and many of its streets are also canals, like Venice, especially when the tides are high. Yet farther back, on higher ground, are massive towers and buildings and pagodas. One of the latter is the most famous in the world. Hong- Kong. The visit being ended at Bangkok, the General returned to Singapore, and then went on board a French steamer for Hong-Kong. The stay at Hong- Kong was very pleasant ; the usual series of receptions and entertainments were held, and the party passed on to Canton. The authorities at Pekin had issued orders that General Grant should be " treated with unusual distinction." The hour named to visit the Chinese Viceroy was two o'clock. Crowds of people lined the streets. The officers of the party came in their uni forms, while the General had on a summer coat of gray color and a white hat, and the multitude did not suspect who he was; but when the chair-bearers came, and this gen- tleman so plainly dressed was ushered into the most stately one, with its distinctive silver globe on the top, their surprise knew no bounds. They expected to see " the barbarian King of America covered with diamonds and gaudily colored feathers." A single Tartar officer preceded the procession. Then came the guard, shout- 552 GENERAL GRANT. ing to the crowd to pay proper respect to the " foreign barbarian." So many friendly formalities were imposed upon the party that they had but little time to view the city. Pekin. The General, having returned to Hong- Kong, payed a short visit to Macao (May 9) once an important Portuguese city and center of influence, but now of faded grandeur and then set out for Pekin, stopping for a day or more each at Swatow, Amoy, Shanghai, and at Tientsin, the latter being 150 miles from Pekin by the river Peiho, but in a direct line only about 80. It was found necessary to go by the river. The Peiho flowed between green fields of rice and wheat ; its stream is narrow and could only be navi- gated by small boats, and they propelled by boatmen. The journey was wearisome, but at length, after mov- ing on both night and day, they found themselves on the third morning at a village, Tung Chow, whence they were to go in state by land a five hours' ride in sedan chairs. Prince Kung, the uncle of the Emperor and the Prince Kegent as the Emperor was a minor had sent an escort of horsemen, and on hand were any number of Mandarins of different grades as indicated by their buttons, red or blue officials from the Foreign Office, and coolies to carry the chairs. The General, as a mark of honor given per- sonages of highest grade, went ahead in a chair carried by eight bearers. Soon after reaching the capital the members of the Imperial cabinet, the highest officials, men very dignified in their manner, paid their re- spects. The First Secretary brought the card of Prince Kung, and who said " his Imperial Highness had charged him to present all kind wishes to General Grant, and the hope that his journey had been pleas- TOUE ROUND THE GLOBE. 553 ant." Never before had a foreigner been treated with so high consideration by the Chinese authorities. On the evening of the same day the American residents called upon the General with an address, to which he made a reply. Asked to be an Arbitrator. Prince Kung was very urgent that the General, when he visited Japan, would act in some way as an arbitrator between the two gov- ernments in respect to their dispute as to the ownership of the Loochoo Islands. This same request was after- ward eloquently urged by the Viceroy of Tientsin Li Hung Chang a most progressive statesman. The General promised to study both sides of the question in dispute, and do all he could in the interest of peace. Mrs. Grant's Dinner. After the return to Tientsin (June 12) there were many receptions and dinners, but none so remarkable, under the circumstances, as the one given to Mrs. Grant by the wife of Li Hung Chang, the Viceroy of Tientsin. Six other American ladies be- longing to the Consulate, and wives of officers, were invited with Mrs. Grant. No gentleman was present. The ladies were sent for by their hostess and brought in sedan chairs, and in the same manner sent home ; in addition, each lady was presented with a roll of silk, which she found in her chair. The interpreter for the occasion was an American lady, a missionary. The Viceroy took pains to have a piano brought to his house from the foreign settlement the first his wife had ever seen. Some of the ladies played various pieces upon the instrument, much to the amusement of the hostess and of her own lady friends whom she had invited to the dinner. This was the first time there had been any intercourse between the Chinese ladies and those that were foreign and resided in Tientsin. 554 GENERAL GRANT. Nagasaki. The General and party left Tientsin on board the United States man-of-war "Kichmond" at 5 P.M., and, steaming across the Yellow Sea, found themselves in the harbor of Chefoo in the morning. They remained for the day, receiving the usual atten- tions. At midnight the " Eichmond " started on her run for Nagasaki, which was reached on the 21st of June. On coming into the harbor she fired the usual honorary salute of twenty-one guns, to which the Jap- anese forts replied. The American Consul, Mr. W. P. Mangum, and his wife, came aboard, and presently a barge came alongside bearing Prince Dati, one of the highest noblemen of the country, the Governor, and Mr. Yoshida. The latter had been Japanese Minister at Washington in President Grant's administration, but had been called home to meet the General. Prince Dati announced that he was deputed by the Emperor to meet the General and welcome him to Japan, and to attend upon him as long as he remained. The Gen- eral was thus recognized as the nation's guest. The Trees. The Governor of Nagasaki, in order to have a fresh and lasting memorial of the visit, re- quested the General and Mrs. Grant to plant each a tree, and also to write an inscription to be engraved on a stone slab, which was to be placed near the trees. The General wrote : " At the request of Governor TJt- sumi Togatsu, Mrs. Grant and I have each planted a tree in the Nagasaki Park. I hope that both trees may prosper, grow large, live long, and in their growth, prosperity, and long life, be enJblematic of the future of Japan." The Elaborate Dinner. The citizens, not the offi- cials, of Nagasaki, gave a dinner to the General that was unique, it being so elaborately prepared. The TOUR ROUND THE GLOBE. 555 Japanese more than any other Oriental people have ad- vanced so far in their ideas of political freedom that they are beginning to recognize men as men, and the citizens as constituting the State. The place where this dinner was given was an old temple in the midst of the city. The bill of fare comprised more than fifty courses ; and in addition were introduced music, dances, plays, and other amusements. No wonder it took seven hours to complete the entertainment. Yokohama Tokio. The tourists, soon after the con- clusion of the feast, went on board the " Richmond," and in the evening (June 26) she steamed out of the harbor, and for five days sailed leisurely along the coast to Yokohama, where they landed July 3. The ves- sels in the harbor French, Russian, Japanese, and English manned their yards and ran up their colors and gave the usual salutes as the General landed from the royal barge. At the Admiralty wharf he was met by Mr. Iwakura, second Prime Minister, who advanced and shook hands. The latter gentleman was at the head of the Japanese embassy that visited the United States to ratify our first treaty with that country. On that occasion he became acquainted with General Grant as President. Members of the cabinet were also pres- ent, and two princes of the Imperial family. A special train was waiting to carry the party to Tokio, the capi- tal, which it did in less than an hour. At the station was a large crowd. A committee of merchants and citizens read an address. When the reading was finished and the reply made, the General was led to the royal carriage, and taken to the palace that had been as- signed him by the Emperor. The Interview. It was arranged that the ex-Presi- dent should have an interview with the Emperor on the 55 G GENERAL GRANT. afternoon of the following day the Fourth of July. He invited several naval friends to accompany him, among whom were Rear-Admiral Patterson, Captain Benham and others ; United States Minister Hon. Mr. Bingham was also of the company. Soldiers were drawn up in front of the palace, and the band played "Hail, Columbia," as the party approached. The palace in which the Emperor lives is by no means an imposing edifice, being only one story high, on account of the frequent occurrence of earthquakes. An officer in waiting led the way with the General and Mrs. Grant, whom the rest of the company followed. They were led through a short passage and thence into a large chamber, at the farther end of which were stand- ing the Emperor and the Empress ; two Japanese ladies and two princesses were also present. The Emperor advanced and shook hands with the ex-President, who, with Mrs. Grant, were presented to the princesses. After which, at a signal, one of the attendants read the translation of an address, the pur- port of which was a welcome to Japan, and mention of the kindness of the General when President toward Japan, closing by saying : "It gives me sincere pleasure to receive you, and we are especially gratified that we have been able to do so on the anniversary of American independence. We congratulate you, also, on the occa- sion." The General replied, thanking the Emperor for the kindness he had experienced in his dominions, and mentioned the deep interest the American people feel in the prosperity and peace of Japan. Then the Empress made a sign and said a few words to the interpreter, who came to Mrs. Grant and expressed the congratula- tions of the Empress to her, hoping she found things pleasant, though they must appear to be so strange, and TOUR ROUND THE GLOBE. 557 closed by saying : " I hope you will prolong your stay in Japan." Mrs. Grant replied: "I thank you very much. I have visited many countries and seen many beautiful places, but I have seen none so beautiful and charming as Japan." Mrs. Grant had afterward several interviews with the Empress, conversing by means of an interpreter. The Remarkable Conference. Afterward, at the Em- peror's own seeking, took place a very remarkable con- ference between him and the ex-President ; it was held at the palace occupied by the latter. The Emperor introduced the subject by saying : " I have heard of the many things you have said to my ministers in reference to Japan. You have seen the country and the people. I am anxious to speak with you on these subjects, and am sorry I have not had an opportunity earlier." Two or three questions were specially dis- cussed : one, the policy of granting in a modified form a legislative assembly, in which the people should be represented. The General gave his views in full, in which the Emperor, who evidently had the good of his people at heart, took much interest, and no doubt re- ceived many new ideas. Another question was in re- lation to the pending dispute with China about the Loochoo Islands, to which allusion has already been made (p. 553). The General merely urged that the difficulty should be settled without permitting outside intermeddling. In connection with the agricultural and mechanical industrial advancement of Japan, the Gen- eral urged that property in the form of foreign imports ought to bear a tax, and thus relieve the land from its undue share of the burdens of alone supporting the expenses of the government. The General congratu- lated the Emperor on the introduction of educational 558 GENERAL GRANT. institutions in his dominions, and in the interest that was taken in the study of the English language. Under the circumstances this was a very remarkable confer- ence, and no doubt will have a beneficial influence. TJie Return Home. Meantime there had been nu- merous receptions and dinners, partaking of the usual character of such festivities, during the two months spent at Tokio and vicinity, and the time came when the tourists must return home. The General and Mrs. Grant took leave of the Emperor and the Empress in the same Audience Chamber in which they had been received. The General wrote out an address to the Emperor, in which he gave his views most fully in relation to the wants and prospects of Japan, which was cordially replied to by his Majesty. Farewells were said, and the General and Mrs. Grant retired. At the station, where the train whose engine was draped with the American and Japanese colors was waiting to take them to Yokohama to take ship, was a great crowd to see them off. Mrs. Grant found in the Imperial car, into which she was conducted by Mr. Iwakura, second Prime Minister, two Japanese ladies, Mrs. Mori and Mrs. Yoshida, both of whom had lived in Washington when their husbands were ministers there. In a few hours they were on board the " City of Tokio," and bound for San Francisco, where the General and Mrs. Grant arrived safely on the 20th of September, 1879, thus virtually completing a " Tour Round the World," and which had been one continuous ovation. CHAPTER LXVI. HOME AGAIN DEATH. GENEBAL GRANT'S reception at San Francisco, Sep- tember 20, 1879, exhibited the generous feeling of love and respect which the American people entertained for him. The ringing of bells and the booming of cannon announced his landing from the ship. The Mayor read an address of welcome home, and the people turned out in a long procession to do him honor. It was equally as great an ovation as that he received in Philadelphia two years and four months before, when he sailed from the Delaware on his tour round the world. The Chinese Address. Many dinners and receptions were given by prominent citizens, and, in addition, an address by the Chinese merchants of the city. A scroll of worked silk was presented him, on which was written in the Chinese characters : " To General Grant. We join our voices to swell the paean which has girdled the earth, wafted over seas and continents. Praises to the warrior and the statesman. Most graciously presented by Chinese of California." The General, in replying, thanked them for their regard toward himself, and referred to the hospitalities and uniform kindness he himself had experienced in his visit to China, and ex- pressed the hope and the opinion that her exclusiveness was fast breaking down. The delegation also presented to Mrs. Grant a small ivory casket in recognition of her 560 GENERAL GRANT. influence in diminishing the domestic seclusion that prevails in Chinese families. Visit to Oregon. After visiting the Yosemite, the groves of Big Trees, and other places of interest in Cali- fornia, the General made a tour in Oregon, and thence homeward. Though he preferred to travel quietly and unobserved, yet he was not permitted to do so, for his journey across the continent was a continuous ovation, as city after city resolved to do him honor. A Home Business Enterprises. For about twenty years he had been so occupied in public affairs that he had no fixed place of abode, and after due deliberation, he determined to make his future home in the city of New York. His life there for a time was, in the main, uneventful, but at length he became interested in various business enterprises. He was one of the incorporators of the Southern Mexican Eailroad Company, and was elected its president. In connection with the interests of the road, he visited Mexico (1881) in order to ascer- tain for himself, as far as possible, the natural resources of that country. He was also named in the bill one of the incorporators of the Nicaragua Canal Company, and was appointed (1882-1883) by President Arthur one of the Commissioners to negotiate a reciprocity treaty with Mexico. General G-rant made one fatal business mistake. Fer- dinand Ward and U. S. Grant, Jr., formed a business partnership early in 1882, under the firm title of Grant and Ward ; the ostensible purpose being to deal in stocks, a third person was admitted as a Stock Exchange member. General Grant -and James D. Fish the latter being president of the Marine Bank entered the firm as special partners. The General, it is said, was induced to become connected with the concern in HOME AGAIN DEATH. 561 order to aid his son, otherwise he took little interest in its affairs or how they were conducted, taking for granted they were legitimately managed. We need not go into detail further than to say the business was car- ried on in a series of swindling operations, by means of facilities afforded by the Marine Bank. In May, 1884, the bubble burst in the failure of the bank. During these two years Ward had traded upon the General's name in the most unauthorized manner ; as in the former's hands was the entire management of the con- cern, while in him the ex-President and his son had implicit confidence. The General was astounded at the failure by which his available means of living would vanish, but that was nothing when compared with his mortification when subsequent revelations told of the dishonorable and swindling manner in which it had been brought about. Trusting still in Ward's represen- tations, that $150,000 would save the bank or firm, the General called on Mr. W. H. Vanderbilt, who at once gave him a check for that amount no security being asked but it was without avail. As soon as the Gen- eral learned the fact, he went to Mr. Vanderbilt to assure him the debt would be paid if he and Mrs. Grant had to sacrifice their entire property. Mr. Vanderbilt wished to cancel the debt, but the generous offer was declined. Mrs. Grant, insisting this personal debt should be paid, transferred to Mr. Vanderbilt her own property, together with that of her husband. It may be a satisfaction to the reader to know that one of these partners James D. Fish is, at this writ- ing, in the penitentiary, serving out his punishment for his part in these swindling operations, and that Ferdi- nand Ward is in jail waiting his trial, with a fair pros- pect of having to undergo a similar penalty. 562 GENERAL GRANT. Labor and Disease. Soon after his Wall Street mis- fortune, General Grant, at the request of the editor, prepared four articles for the Century Magazine. In his preface to his "History of the Civil "War," he says : "I consented for the money it gave, for at that moment I was living upon borrowed money. The work I found congenial, and I determined to continue it. The event is an important one for me, for good or evil I hope for the former. . . . The first volume, as well as a portion of the second, was written before I had reason to suppose I was in a critical condition of health." Thus began his history of that war in which he took so prominent a part the whole work was virtually com- pleted before his death. About nine months previous to his death, the General sought medical advice, as for some time a slight ulcera- tion had appeared at the root of the tongue, and which finally developed into a form of cancer. In no crisis of his life did his fortitude display itself more than in the uncomplaining manner in which he bore the agony of this terrible disease ; while at the same time working in- defatigably on his book, and never relaxing his efforts, except when so prostrated by pain he would be com- pelled by sheer weakness to lay aside his pen for a time. Yet even under the pressure of these difficulties he would often continue his work by dictating to an aman- uensis. The labor of looking up authorities, or of veri- fying facts from the records, was performed by his sons, but the comments are his own. His Death. The General was removed from his home in the city to a cottage Mr. Drexel's at Mount Mac- Gregor, a summer resort some miles north of Saratoga, in the hope that the fresh mountain air would aid in restoring his strength. Though somewhat refreshed HOME AGAIN DEATH. 563 and invigorated during the seven weeks he was on the mountain, the disease steadily progressed. He calmly awaited the end in the line of duty, and in the sweet assurance of the Christian's hope. During the last nine months of his illness he was scarcely a moment free from torture ; yet he never complained, and only yielded up his life when his strong constitution succumbed to the exhaustion induced by the disease. His death occurred on July 23, 1885, in his sixty-fourth year. The sympathy of the whole country and we may say of the civilized world was enlisted, and found expression in kind messages of condolence to the family and the nation from individuals in high positions, and from various assemblies of men, civil and religious. During General Grant's illness messages came to him from all over the Union, on an average several times a day, ex- pressing the warmest sympathy for him in his sufferings. These came from individuals, from meetings of religious bodies, from political clubs, literary associations, and many others. They manifested the deep hold he had in the affections of the American people. Estimate of Character. General Grant's fame will rest mainly upon his military career, as that, in the eyes of men, is the more dazzling. He never gave up in the field a point once gained ; he never retreated, only fall- ing back in order to deliver a severer blow. In mili- tary strategy he was far-sighted, deliberate in plan, and energetic and bold in execution. In the nation's greatest peril he came into full command, after a gradation of advancement and experience, and in the main of unwavering success, which instead of inducing carelessness on his part only stimulated him to greater circumspection. He had a vast amount of reserved force for contingencies, and this force he so utilized in 564 GENERAL GRANT. trying military circumstances that he was seldom at fault. He seemed to be devoid of a jealous disposition, and delighted in the success of his subordinates, and, when deserving, was unstinted in their praise. He was generous to the enemies of the integrity of the nation, when they had submitted, and those who met him on the battle-field, and were vanquished, he treated with courtesy and magnanimity. No humiliation was im- posed upon them, and they, to-day, paying tribute to his memory, hail him as a representative man of all sections of the Union. In private life General Grant was a model as a husband and father. Like Washing- ton, he longed for the retirement of the domestic circle of his own family. No husband or father was ever more tender and loving, and, in return, was better be- loved. Judging Classes of Men. To be nearly perfect in the profession of arms at this day of its accumulated knowl- edge, and of its various applications, would seem almost impossible ; but, in addition to that, much less should it be expected of the military man to be equally competent in the sphere of the statesman. General Grant was remarkably correct in his estimate of military men, as he seems never to have made a mistake in selecting subordinates ; but in civil affairs, which he had never made a special study, he was sometimes at fault in ap- pointing, to responsible positions, men who were without experience. One of his most striking and noble char- acteristics was his adherence to friends. Though he had not made civil affairs a special study, yet his two administrations bear evidence of his comprehensive views as a statesman in the several important measures he recommended to Congress (pp. 502, 508, 510). That during his two terms $435,000,000 of the public debt HOME AGAIN DEATH. . 5G5 was paid, shows that the finances of the nation were well managed. Funeral Observances. Simple services were held (August 4) at Mount MacGregor. They were con- ducted on the piazza of the cottage fronting the hotel, the family being within, in the chamber of the dead. There were present great numbers of prominent per- sons, male and female, officers of the army, and others ; about forty clergymen came in a body from Saratoga, and a guard of honor. Precisely at ten A.M. the services began, the Rev. Dr. Agnew reading a portion of Script- ure; next an improvised choir sang the hymn, "My Faith looks up to Thee," the audience joining in heartily. Bishop Harris, of the Methodist Church, offered prayer, which was followed by an appropriate discourse by Rev. Dr. J. P. Newman. After the bene- diction was pronounced, a procession was formed, and the remains were carried down from the cottage, and, as they neared the train, the troops stood at " present arms " along the pathway. The casket was placed within the funeral car, the guard of honor following ; the military and those who were to accompany the remains filed into the cars appropriated for their use. At one P.M. the train moved slowly down from the mountain. It consisted of seven cars. The funeral car and loco- motive were neatly draped. Minute guns were heard along the line, and at sunset was fired a national salute of thirty-eight guns one for each State. Arrival at Albany. The train from the mountain drew up at the junction alongside the nine beautifully draped cars of the New York Central, which were to compose the train to New York City. The funeral car was specially decked on either side with national emblems and flags. Along the entire route from Mount Mac- 566 GENERAL GRANT. Gregor to Albany, which was reached at 3:40 P.M., crowds had assembled at certain points from the country round about to see the passing train. The body, with the usual ceremonies of respect, was placed in the Capi- tol, where it lay in state until the hour of leaving for New York City. Nearly 80,000 persons viewed the remains during the twenty-one hours they lay in the Capitol. Services in Westminster Abbey. According to arrange- ment, at the very hour that the funeral services were being held at Mount MacGregor, similar ones were in process in "Westminster Abbey, London. That vast edi- fice was crowded by an assemblage of distinguished per- sons, among whom were the representatives of the Queen, the Prince of Wales, and other members of the royal household ; General Wolseley, of the army ; the Duke of Cambridge, its Commander-in- Chief, and six- teen of its staff officers ; Mr. and Mrs. Gladstone ; a large number of peers and members of the House of Com- mons, and foreign ambassadors. Numerous prominent Americans were present Chief-Justice Waite, United States Senators Edmunds and Hawley, and others. The music was appropriate, and finely rendered, in- cluding two funeral marches and two anthems ; the ordinary burial service of the Church of England was read, and a remarkable funeral discourse was delivered by Canon Farrar. He showed an appreciation of General Grant and of our institutions, manifesting the kindest feeling toward the American people, saying : " To-day we assemble at the obsequies of the great soldier, whose sun set while it was yet day, and at whose funeral serv- ice, in America, tens of thousands are assembled at this moment to mourn with the weeping family and friends. I desire to speak simply and directly with generous ap- HOME AGAIN DEATH. 567 preciation, but without idle flattery, of him whose death has made a nation mourn. . . . Upon a bluff overlooking the Hudson his monument will stand, recalling to future generations the dark page in the nation's history which he did so much to close. Such careers are the glory of the American people; they show that they have a sovereign insight into intrinsic force ; that men should be honored simply as men, not according to the accident of birth. Every man derives a patent of nobleness direct from God. . . . The hour came, and the man was needed : Grant's success was not luck, but the result of inflexible faithfulness, indomitable resolution, sleepless energy, persistent te- nacity. He rose by the upward gravitation of fitness." Closing in the following words : "If the two peoples, which are one, be true to their duty, who can doubt that the destinies of the world are in their hands. Let America and England march in the van of freedom and progress, showing the world a magnificent spectacle of human happiness, and of two peoples united, loving righteousness and hating iniquity, inflexibly faithful to the principles of eternal justice, which are the unchang- ing laws of God. " . The flags upon all the royal residences and yachts were lowered during the memorial service in the Abbey. This service was entirely English, both in its inception and in its celebration. Albany to New York City. The remains were escorted in the usual manner from the State Capitol to the train which, leaving at 12:30 P.M., was to bear them to the metropolis, orders having been issued giving the funeral train the right of way. As it passed, demon- strations of respect were made at every village, town, and city. Only at West Point could time be spared to 568 GENERAL GRANT. slacken its speed, for at that station were the professors of the academy and the cadets, who were drawn up in line and standing at "present arms," and their presence was recognized by slowing the train as it passed ; mean- while, across the river, at the Point, was heard the boom- ing of cannon at short intervals. The Grand Central in New York City was reached on time, at five P.M. (August 5). As soon as possible, an imposing procession was formed, and the remains were escorted to the City Hall, where the usual lying in state continued for two days. Riverside Park. General Grant had expressed a wish in preference to two other places mentioned to be buried in New York, perhaps having in mind some one of the cemeteries in the vicinity. " Because," as he patheti- cally expressed it, "the people of that city befriended me in my need . " This wish became known through the n ews- papers, and touched the hearts of numbers, and Mr. Wm. E. Grace, the mayor, proposed that the General should be buried in one of the city's parks ; after some dis- cussion, the family agreeing, Riverside was selected. The place chosen is on an elevated point in Riverside Park, in the upper portion of the city, and for that purpose is the finest location on Manhattan Island. As the name implies, the park is parallel to the Hudson, but it also lies on a ridge ; it is long and narrow, and is encircled by a wide and beautiful drive. The prospect is so fine, that to be fully appreciated it must be seen; the view extending far up and down the river on the west to the hills of Jersey, and on the east over the city and the Sound. Lying in State. By count, 330,000 persons viewed the remains in New York City. On the first day the gates were opened at six A.M., when a vast crowd was HOME AGAIN DEATH. 569 already in waiting, and they were closed at one A.M. the following morning. A crowd remained in the City Hall Park all night long. At five A.M. the line was again formed and arranged two by two, so that they could easily separate, and one pass on either side of the casket. By this method, on an average, about 100 could pass every minute, as time could be given only for a glance. The suburban villages and cities were fully represented. It is estimated that nearly one-third were from outside the city's limits, and about two-thirds of the viewers were women. The Naval Ceremonies. The pageant of the funeral exceeded in its elaborateness and in its proportions any one that ever occurred in the Union. It was conducted both on water and on land. On the Hudson, opposite Eiverside, men-of-war and other United States vessels were moved in position the evening before, and at the next sunrise, while at half-mast draped pennants and flags were fluttering in the gentle breeze, the morning gun on the flag-ship " Dispatch " gave the signal, and others replied down the line of ships. Meanwhile a large number of marines were being transferred in tugs from these government vessels to the City Hall, in order to take part in the procession. As the catafalque left the Hall, the "Dispatch" fired a salute of twenty-one guns ; these were also repeated from the men-of-war, and as long as the procession was in motion half-hour guns were fired. Numbers of yachts and steamers, crowded with spectators, filled the stream till the cere- monies at the tomb were closed. TJte Procession. As the catafalque was leaving the Hall, the German Musical Association Liederkranz, nearly one hundred male voices sang an impressive funeral hymn ; the military portion of the procession 570 GENERAL GRANT. moved to the strains of plaintive music, amid the toll- ing of church bells, and of chimes from some of their towers. Trinity, at midnight, sunrise, noon, and sun- set, chimed each time a number of appropriate tunes. The distance from the City Hall to Eiverside Park is about eight miles. The procession was five hours in pass- ing a point. Of course it moved slowly, but it was re- markably free from the delays that are frequently incident to such occasions the arrangements were made so ad- mirably. The order among the people was perfect ; each one respected the rights of his neighbor, and the police had only occasionally to suggest the straightening of the line of spectators. The numbers that poured into the city from other States and cities were immense, and the railways, in order to accommodate them, were crowded to their utmost capacity. Governors of sixteen States were pres- ent ; some, with their staffs and soldiers, came from as far west as Minnesota. Nearly fifty associations of various kinds, such as commercial, mercantile, banking, Stock Exchange, religious, political clubs and leagues, literary, military, and civil, belonging to the city, sent delegations to take part in the procession, and similar delegations came from other cities and States, while the New York soldiery turned oat to a man. It is not strange that those who took part in the procession, and the spectators, swelled into a vast multitude, numbering, perhaps, more than five hundred thousand. The route of the procession was marked by a profusion of the emblems of public mourning, but they were by no means limited to that portion of the city, for they were seen in every street some elaborate, and some very humble, but equally showing the sentiment of grief. The day was charming for the purpose, being compara- HOME AGAIN" HIS DEATH. 571 tively cool fleeting clouds warding off the hot rays of the sun the air pure and bracing, while the recent rains had made the earth rejoice, and the slopes of Eiverside seemed dressed in living green. At the Consulates in New York City manifestations of sympathy with the nation's sorrow were exhibited that at the German was specially profuse, while that at the French was specially chary. Memorial services were held in Paris, on the day of the funeral, by the American residents of that city ; several prominent Frenchmen were present. Also funeral obsequies were held in the City of Mexico, while throughout the Union memorial services were held in the towns and cities with tokens of respect. The Tomb Last Rites. The temporary tomb is located on a gentle slope of Riverside, a short distance from where the final resting-place will be, and over which will rise the monument. The tomb is strongly constructed of red bricks, the front interspersed with courses of bricks that are black, while the inner arch is composed entirely of white bricks, which are also glazed. The casket, which was covered with purple velvet and decorated with silver trimmings, was enclosed in a box made of cedar, and the latter and its contents placed in a case made of wrought steel. The latter is unique in its construction, being exceedingly strong, as it weighs more than a ton and a half. As soon as the funeral ceremonies were finished, the end of the steel case was riveted on and made secure. The case rests on two marble pedestals. The procession reached Riverside Park at five P.M. Present with the family near the tomb were the Presi- dent and Vice-President of the United States ; ex-Presi- dents Hayes and Arthur ; the Secretary of State, Mr. 572 GENERAL GRANT. Bayard ; Generals Sherman and Johnston, Sheridan and Buckner, the pall-bearers ; governors of States, United States senators, representative clergymen of different de- nominations, and other men of distinction. The last rites were commenced by the Chaplain reading the ritual of the Grand Army of the Kepublic. Afterward Bishop Harris read a portion of the burial service of the Method- ist Episcopal Church, commencing, " I am the resur- rection and the life, saith the Lord." He also read a portion of Scripture beginning at I. Corinthians, xv. 41. The closing prayer was made by Dr. J. P. Newman, and, the benediction being pronounced, the pall-bearers car- ried the casket within the vault. The bugler gave the signal note, and the New York Seventh fired a volley which was followed by several others from different divisions, including the artillery. The last ceremony being performed, the mortal remains of General Ulysses S. Grant were left in charge of a guard of United States soldiers. THE END. University of California SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 405 Hilgard Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90024-1388 Return this material to the library from which it was borrowed. ~ A 001 210163 o 3 1158 00539 1544