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 * *
 
 HISTORY 
 
 Of 
 
 THE GREAT REBELLION, 
 
 FROM ITS COMMENCEMENT TO ITS CLOSE, GIVING AN ACCOUNT OF ITS ORIGIN, THE 
 
 SECESSION OF THE SOUTHERN STATES, ^ 
 
 AND THE FORMATION OF THE fc 
 
 CONFEDERATE GOVERNMENT, 
 
 THE CONCENTRATION OF THE MILITARY AND FINANCIAL RESOURCES OF THH 
 
 FEDEBAL 
 
 THE DEVELOPMENT OF ITS VAST POWER, THE RAISING, ORGANIZING, AND EQUIPPING 07 
 
 THE CONTENDING ARMIES AND NAVIES ; LUCID, VIVID AND ACCURATE DESCRIPTIONS 
 
 OF BATTLES AND BOMBARDMENTS, SIEGES AND SURRENDER OF FORTS, CAPTURED 
 
 BATTERIES, ETC., ETC. ; THE IMMENSE FINANCIAL RESOURCES AND COM- 
 
 PREHENSIVE MEASURES OF THE GOVERNMENT, THE ENTHUSIASM 
 
 AND PATRIOTIC CONTRIBUTION'S OF THE PEOPLE, TOGETHER 
 
 WITH SKETCHES OF THE LIVES OF ALL THE EMINENT 
 
 STATESMEN AND MILITARY AND NAVAL 
 
 COMMANDERS. 
 
 From. Official Scmroes. 
 
 BY THOMAS P. KETTELL, 
 
 LATE EDITOR or " HUNT'S MERCHANTS' MAGAZINE," EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR OF Tint " CKHTUY," 
 
 "ARMY AND NATS CHBONICLE," THB "BANKERS' CIRCULAR," NEW YORK CORRESPONDENT 
 
 or A WASIILNGTON JOURNAL, &o., &o. 
 
 EMBELLISHED WITH OVER 125 ENGRAVINGS, INCLUDING 90 PORTRAITS OF PROMINENT 
 
 STATESMEN, MILITARY AND NAVAL OFFICERS, AND 20 FULL-PAGE BATTLE 
 
 AND OTHER SCENES, ON STEEL, ILLUSTRATING THE VARIED AND EXCITINO 
 
 SCENES OF THE WAR, WITH NUMEROUS MAPS, GIVING THE 
 
 LOCATION OF ALL IMPORTANT MILITARY POINTS. 
 
 THREE VOLS. VOL. III. 
 
 FURNISHED TO SUBSCRIBERS ONLY. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 1ST. C. MILLER, 3 PARK ROW, 
 
 PUBLISHER OF SUBSCRIPTION BOOKS. 
 
 H. H. BANCROFT & CO., SAN FRANCISCO, CAL. 
 
 1866.
 
 Entered according to Act of Congiess, in tne year 1865, 
 BY L. STEBBINS, 
 
 01 me Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, for the Diatnc*. 
 of Massachusetts.
 
 
 l 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 SEN 
 
 CHAPTER XLIII. 
 PAGE 815 TO 822. 
 
 Lee's Retreat from Gettysburg. Peace Mission. Conscription. Meade 
 Re-enforced. Draft. Riots. Lee Crosses the Rapidan. His Advance 
 and Subsequent Retreat. 
 
 CHAPTER XLIV. 
 PAGE 823 TO 827. 
 
 Meade's Advance across the Rapidan. Recrosses. Winter-Quarters. 
 Draft for Three Hundred Thousand Men. Reconnoissance. Kilpatrick's 
 Raid upon Richmond. Death of Dahlgren. 
 
 CHAPTER XLY. 
 PAGE 828 TO 837. 
 
 Creation of the Office of Lieutenant-General General Grant Appointed. 
 Army Reorganization. Draft for Two Hundred Thousand Men. 
 General Grant assumes Command in Chief. Powers of the Lieutenant- 
 General. Country between "Washington and Richmond. Rule of Ad- 
 vance. Rebel Position. 
 
 CHAPTER XLTI. 
 PAGE 838 TO 858. 
 
 The Army in Tennessee. Results at Murfreesboro'. Operations in Tennes- 
 see. Minor Expeditions. Advance of Rosecrans. Retreat of Bragg. 
 Burnside's Campaign in East Tennessee. Occupation of Knoxville. 
 Evacuation of Chattanooga. Concentration of the Enemy. Battle of 
 Chickamauga. The Two Generals. Results of the Battle. 
 
 CHAPTER XLVII. 
 PAGE 859 TO 868. 
 
 Inaction of Bragg. His Position. His Indecision. Rosecrans Recruit- 
 ing. Storms. Hooker Arrives. Grant Ordered up. He Supersedes 
 Rosecrans. Thomas in Command of Department. Position of the Ar- 
 my. Movement to open River. Defeat of the Enemy. Sherman'3 
 March. Combat. Change of Route. Burnside's Position. Longstreet 
 Detached from Bragg. Siege of Knoxville. Burnside Hard Pressed. 
 Bragg Weakened. Grant Attacks. The Movement Successful. Sher- 
 man Relieves Burnside. Retreat of Longstreet.
 
 IV CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XLVIII. 
 PAGB 869 TO 879. 
 
 Operations against Charleston. Arrival of Monitors. Montauk. Attack 
 by the Enemy. Iron-clad Attack on Sumter. Capture of the At- 
 lanta. General GillmofB in Command. Assault on Fort "Wagner. Bom- 
 bardment of Fort Sumter. Siege and Reduction of Fort Wagner. Occu- 
 pation of Morris Island. 
 
 CHAPTER XLIX. 
 PAGE 880 TO 890. 
 
 Advance on Richmond. Crossing of the Rapidan. Routes of Corps. 
 The Enemy attempts a Flanking Movement. Meade's Attack. Repulse 
 of Griffin. Hancock Arrives. Concentration of the Army. Burnside 
 ordered Forward. New Dispositions. Advance of Hancock on the 6th. 
 Arrival of Longstreet. Fall of Wadsworth. Longstreet Wounded. 
 Attack on the Union Right. Results of the Two Days' Fighting. 
 
 CHAPTER L. 
 PAGE 891 TO 902. 
 
 Movement upon Spottsylvania. The Enemy on the Alert. Attack of May 
 10th. Death of Sedgwick. Position of the Troops. Grant " to Fight it 
 out on that Line." Assault by the Second Corps on May 12th. Large 
 Captures of Prisoners and Guns. Results of the Struggle. Sheridan's 
 Cavalry Raid. Death of General Stuart. Battle at Meadow Bridge. 
 Sheridan at the James River. 
 
 CHAPTER LI. 
 PAGE 903 TO 911. 
 
 Retrograde Movement of the Enemy. Bad Condition of the Roads. 
 Union Movement to the Left. Relative Position of Armies. Re-enforce- 
 ments. Irruption on the Rear Repulsed. Grant Crossing the North 
 Anna. Impregnable Position of the Enemy. North Anna Recrossed, 
 and Movement to the Left continued. 
 
 CHAPTER LII. 
 PAGB 912 TO 917. 
 
 Original Plan of Campaign. Butler's Expedition up the James. Movement 
 on Petersburg. Fort Darling. Repulse of the Union Forces. Attack 
 by Beauregard. Beauregard Re-enforces Lee. Smith sent to support 
 Grant. 
 
 CHAPTER LIII. 
 PAGE 918 TO 926. 
 
 Position of Grant's Army. Warren's Advance. Further Development of 
 the Union Left Wing. Severe Battles around Cold Harbor. New Flank 
 Movement determined upon. Crossing of the James and Junction with 
 Butler. Results of that Campaign.
 
 CONTENTS. V 
 
 CHAPTER LIT. 
 
 PAGE 92? TO 930. 
 
 Advance on Petersburg. Position of the City. Assault and Capture of 
 Earthworks and Guns. Assault of Saturday, June 18th. Repulse. 
 Aspect of the Campaign. 
 
 CHAPTER LY. 
 PAGE 931 TO 941. 
 
 Relative Strength of Armies. Grant moves against the Railroad Connections 
 of Richmond Combat of June 21st. Repulsed the 23d. Sheridan's Ex- 
 pedition. Movement of Wilson and Kautz on the Danville Road. Five 
 Hundred Thousand Men called out. Explosion of the Mine in Front of 
 Petersburg. Failure of the Assault. 
 
 CHAPTER LVI. 
 PAGE 942 TO 948. 
 
 Sigel's Movement in the Valley. Hunter Supersedes Sigel, and Defeats the 
 Rebels near Staunton. Occupation of Lexington. Lynchburg. Early 
 sent to the Valley. Retreat of Hunter through "Western Virginia. 
 Advance of Early down the Valley and Invasion of Maryland. Defeat 
 of Wallace. Washington Threatened. Arrival of Sixth Corps and Re- 
 treat of Early. Various Encounters in the Valley. Hunter Superseded 
 by Sheridan. 
 
 CHAPTER LVII. 
 PAGE 949 TO 959. 
 
 Dutch Gap Canal. Movement North of the James. Expedition of the 
 Fifth Corps to the Weldon Road. Attack by Hill. Severe Fighting 
 near Reams's Station. Losses. Repulse of the Enemy. Subsequent 
 Repulse of Hancock. Renewal of the Movement North of the James 
 and Capture of Fort Harrison. Further Operations on the Weldon Rail- 
 road. 
 
 CHAPTER LVIII. 
 PAGE 960 TO 968. 
 
 Operations in Tennessee. Sherman's Raid through Mississippi. Failure of 
 Smith's Co-operative Movement. Invasion of Western Tennessee and 
 Kentucky by Forrest. Massacre at Fort Pillow. 
 
 CHAPTER LIX. 
 PAGE 969 TO 985. 
 
 Co-operative Movement on Atlanta. Size and Organization of the Union 
 and Rebel Armies. Commencement of the Campaign by Sherman. 
 Evacuation of Dalton by Johnston. Battle of Resaca and Retreat of tlie 
 Rebels. Operations at Dallas and Kenesaw. Rebels Flanked and 
 driven across the Chattahoochie.
 
 VI CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER LX 
 PAGE 986 TO 996. 
 
 The New Position of the Enemy. Johnston again Turned and Pushed 
 Back upon Atlanta. Rousseau's Raid. Hood Succeeds Johnston. In- 
 vestment of Atlanta. Battles of July 20th and 22d. Death of McPher- 
 Bon. Cavalry Raids of Stoneman and McCook. Defeat and Capture of 
 Stoneman. Battle of July 28th. Prolongation of the Union Right 
 Wing. Changes of Commanders in Sherman's Army. 
 
 CHAPTER LXI. 
 
 PA<IE 997 TO 100.9. 
 
 Siege of Atlanta. Position of the City. Topography. The Enemy's 
 Strength. Sherman moves to the Right. Wheeler's Raid. Kil- 
 patrick's Raid. Grand Plank Movement of the Army on the Macon 
 Railroad. Defeat of the Enemy at Jonesboro. Evacuation of 
 Atlanta. Congratulatory Order of General Sherman. Truce. De- 
 population of Atlanta.-yCorrespondence between Sherman and Hood. 
 Results of the Campaign. 
 
 CHAPTER LXII. 
 
 PAGE 1010 TO 1022. 
 
 The Gulf Department. Sabine Pass Expedition. McPherson moves from 
 Vicksburg. Expedition to the Rio Grande, and Occupation of Browns- 
 ville. Banks's Red River Expedition. Capture of Fort De Russey. 
 Occupation of Alexandria. Battle of Mansfield. Retreat of the Army. 
 Repulse of the Enemy at Pleasant Hill. Operations of the Fleet. The 
 Dam at Alexandria. Arrival of the Army and Fleet in the Mississippi 
 Co-operative Movement of Steele in Arkansas. Causes of its Failure. 
 
 CHAPTER LXIII. 
 
 PAGE 1023_ro 1031. 
 
 War in Missouri Execution of Guerrillas. Marmaduke's Movements. 
 Helena. Successful Campaign of General Steele in Arkansas. Capture 
 of Little Rock. General Gantt. -Sacking of Lawrence by Quantrell. 
 Price's Last Invasion of Missouri His Disastrous Defeat and Retreat 
 into Arkansas. 
 
 CHAPTER LXIV. 
 
 PAGE 1032 TO 1039. 
 
 Mobile. Its Defences. Concentration of Troops. Combined Operations. 
 Landing on Dauphine Island. Order of Battle. Tecumseh blown up. 
 Tennessee Attacks. Desperate Battle. Mode of Attack. Fort Powell 
 blown up. Fort Gaines Surrenders. Siege of Fort Morgan. Surrender. 
 Minor Expeditions. 
 
 CHAPTER LXV. 
 
 PAGE 1040 TO 1057. 
 
 Expedition to Florida. Occupation of Jacksonville. Advance of General 
 Seymour. Battle of Olustee, and Retreat of the Union Army. Demon- 
 stration against Newbern. Capture of Plymouth. The Albemarle. 
 Her fight with Union Gunboats. Her Destruction. Rebel Privateers. 
 Combat between the Kearsarge and Alabama. Capture of the Florida 
 and Georgia.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Vll 
 
 CHAPTER LXVI. 
 
 PAGE 1058 TO ion. 
 
 Depopulation of Atlanta. Correspondence between General Sherman and 
 Mayor Calhoun. Flank Movement by Hood. Attack o*n AUatoona. 
 Hood Severs Sherman's Communications. Marches into Alabama and 
 Enters Tennessee. Sherman's New Plan of Campaign. Invasion of 
 Tennessee. Battle of Franklin. Affair at Murfreesboro. Battles of 
 December 15th 'and 16th before Nashville. Retreat of Hood into 
 Alabama. Close of the Campaign. 
 
 CHAPTER LXVII, 
 
 PAGE 1078 TO 1089. 
 
 Sheridan in Command of the Middle Military Division. Manoeuvring in 
 the Valley. Object of the Movements. Battles of Opequan Creek 
 and Fisher's Hill. Rout and Retreat of the Rebels. Their new 
 Position at Brown's Gap. Movements of Sheridan. 
 
 CHAPTER LXYIII. 
 
 ^PAGE 1090 TO 1099. 
 
 Position of Armies. Early Advances. Battle of Cedar Creek. Opportune 
 Arrival of Sheridan. Disastrous Defeat of the Enemy. Sheridan's 
 Troops leave for the Potomac. Devastation. 
 
 CHAPTER LXIX. 
 
 PAGE 1100 TO 1118. 
 
 Political Parties. Electicgis of 1862. Organization and Strength of the 
 Peace Party. Banishment of Vallandigham. Ohio Election. Political 
 Reaction in Favor of the Administration. Thirty-eighth Congress. 
 President's Plan of Reconstruction. Amendment to the Constitution. * 
 Presidential Canvass of 1864. Conventions at Baltimore and Chicago. 
 Nomination of Lincoln and McClellan. Result of the Election. Peace 
 Negotiations. Colonel Jaques. The Niagara Falls Correspondence. 
 
 CHAPTER LXX. 
 
 PAGE 1118 TO 1123. 
 
 Finances of 1863. Revenue. Sales of Bonds. Effect of Paper Money. 
 Policy of Mr. Chase. Gold Law, and its Effects. Finances of 1864. 
 Sales of Bonds hi Europe. National Banks. 
 
 CHAPTER LXXI. 
 
 PAGE 1123 TO 1132. 
 
 Sherman Prepared to Cross Georgia. Composition of Army. Combat at 
 Griswoldvillo. Appeal to the People of Georgia. Milledgeville Reached. 
 Army at Louisville. Combat with Wheeler. March to Savannah. 
 Communicates with the Fleet. Fort McAllister. Evacuation of Sa- 
 vannah. Sherman's Dispatch. Wilmington Expedition. Fort Fisher. 
 Powder Ship. Bombardment. Failure. Return to Hampton Roads. 
 Co-operation from Plymouth. 
 
 CHAPTER LXXII. 
 
 PAGE 1132 TO 1142. 
 
 Affairs at Petersburg. Renewed Attempt to Flank the Rebel Right. 
 Battle at Hatcher's Run. Fighting on the North Side of the James.
 
 vlii CONTENTS. 
 
 Review of the Tear. Importance of Sherman's Operations. Calls for 
 Troops. Relative Strength of Armies. Second Attack on Fort Fisher. 
 Capture of Fort and Garrison. 
 
 CHAPTER LXXIII. 
 
 PAGE 1142 TO 1154. 
 
 Capture of Remaining Defences on Cape Fear River. Schofield Ordered 
 from Tennessee. Fort Anderson Taken. Occupation of Wilmington. 
 Movement on Kinston. Goldsboro'. Gillmore before Charleston. 
 Evacuation of the City by Hardee. Flag Restored to Fort Sumter. 
 Sheridan in the Valley. His Raid. Great Destruction of Rebel Prop- 
 erty. Joins Meade. 
 
 CHAPTER LXXIV. 
 
 PAGE 1155 TO 1164. 
 
 General Sherman at Savannah. The Advance Northward. Pocotaligo. 
 Salkehatchie. Movement on Columbia. Conflagration in Columbia, and 
 its Origin. Beauregard at Charlotte. Lee placed in Chief Command of 
 th3 Rebel Armies. Johnston Reinstated. Fayetteville. Rebel 
 Strength. Averysboro'. Bentonville. Goldsboro'. Junction of Three 
 Union Armies. ^Objective of the Campaign Gained. 
 
 CHAPTER LXXV. 
 
 PAGE 1165 TO 1178. 
 
 Grant's Preparations for a Final Movement. Rebel Attack on Fort Stead- 
 man. Disastrous Repulse. Object of Lee. Movement on the Left 
 Commenced. Aflair of Quaker Road. Heary Fighting on Boydton 
 Road. Decisive Battle of Five Forks. Rebel Left turned. Assault on 
 Petersburg. Evacuation of Petersburg and Richmond. Pursuit of 
 Lee. His Surrender to Grant. End of Campaign. 
 
 HAPTEB LXXVI. 
 
 PAGE 1178 TO 1197. 
 
 Raids in Kentucky and East Tennessee. Defeat and Death of Morgan. 
 Successes of Stoneman and Burbridge. Destruction of "Works at Salt- 
 ville. Stoneman's Last Raid. Capture of Salisbury. Negotiations 
 between Sherman and Johnston. Agreement for Surrender by Johnston 
 disavowed at Washington. Reasons Assigned. Final Surrender of 
 Johnston. Wilson's great Raid in Alabama and Georgia. Capture of 
 Selma, Montgomery, and Macon. Exchanges of Prisoners. Cruel Treat- 
 ment by Rebels of Union Prisoners. Horrors of Andersonville. Rebel 
 Plots in Canada. The St. Albans Raid. Execution of Beall and Ken- 
 nedy. Attempts to Fire American Cities and Introduce Pestilence. 
 
 CHAPTER LXXYII. 
 
 PAGE 1198 TO 1206. 
 
 Peace Negotiations at Fortress Monroe. Then* Fruitless Issue. Second 
 Inauguration of Lincoln. His Address. Rejoicings at the Prospect of 
 Peace. Assassination of Lincoln. The Public Mourning. Funeral Pro- 
 cession. Character of Lincoln. Booth, the Murderer, Pursued and Shot. 
 Trial and Execution of his Accomplices. Inauguration of Andrew 
 Johnson as President. Amnesty Proclamation. Plan for Reconstruction. 
 Pursuit and Capture of Davis. Capitulation of Generals Taylor and 
 Kirby Smith. Termination of the War and Disbanding of the Armies. 
 The National Debt. Concluding Reflections.
 
 HISTOEY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 815 
 
 CHAPTER XLIII. 
 
 Lee's Retreat from Gettysburg. Peace Mission. Conscription. Meade 
 Re-enforced. Draft. Riots. Lee Crosses the Rapidan. His Advance 
 and Subsequent Retreat. 
 
 GENERAL MEADE was unable to -press the pursuit of 
 Lee with so much vigor as he could have wished, and the 
 enemy retired unmolested, with the exception of a cav- 
 alry attack in the mountains, by which he lost a number 
 of wagons and ambulances. The mountain passes being 
 held by Lee's rear-guard, it was necessary for Meade to 
 pursue by a flanking movement. The rebel train, guarded 
 by General Imboden, reached "Williamsport on the 6th 
 of July, where, on the succeeding day, he was worsted 
 in a snarp combat with a body of Union cavalry and 
 artillery, losing a number of wagons and prisoners. 
 
 On the 8th, Lee's rear-guard of cavalry, under Stuart, 
 was driven out of Hagerstown with loss, and on the 9th 
 the whole rebel army was concentrated in a strong posi- 
 tion between Williamsport and Falling Waters, covering 
 the crossings of the river at both places. The Potomac 
 was now found to be so swollen by recent rains as to be 
 unfordable. This interrupted communications with the 
 South, and threatened the safety of the rebel army. The 
 difficulty of procuring ammunition and subsistence be- 
 came very great, the more so that the swollen river 
 stopped ths working of neighboring mills. The pontoon 
 bridge at Falling Waters having been partially destroyed 
 by the Unionists, the Confederates were -compelled to 
 remain at Williamsport until a new one could be built 
 and thrown across. This was successfully performed by 
 the 13th. Meanwhile, Lee, having fortified his position 
 by earthworks, awaited an attack from Meade, who,
 
 816 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 following from Gettysburg with caution, did not arrive in 
 the enemy's front until the 12th, and decided not to 
 attack until the rebel position could be reconnoitred. 
 Pending the reconnoissauce, on the night of the 13th the 
 army of Lee began to cross, Ewell's Corps fording 
 the river at Williamsport, while Longstreet and Hill's 
 crossed upon the reconstructed bridge, near Falling 
 Waters, where most of the train had previously passed. 
 The movement was very tedious, owing to the condition 
 of the roads, and was not completed until one P. M. of 
 the 14th, when the bridge was removed. At Falling 
 Waters, Hill's rear-guard was vigorously assailed by 
 Kilpatrick's cavalry, losing two guns and upwards of 
 fifteen hundred prisoners. In this encounter the ene- 
 my lost Brigadier-General Pettigrew, who was mortally 
 wounded, and died a few days after at Bunker's Hill, 
 which point the rebel army reached on the 15th. The 
 army under General Meade crossed in pursuit, and took 
 such a route as, aided by the swollen condition of the 
 Shenandoah, compelled Lee to abandon his original plan 
 of retreat and to cross the Blue Ridge, and keep along 
 the south side of the Rappahannock. He left Martins- 
 burg on the 18th, and, on the 20th, Meade's whole army 
 was over the Potomac in full pursuit. 
 
 The retreat and pursuit continued without much of 
 interest, until Lee's army occupied the south bank of the 
 Kapidan, near Orange Court-House. The Union army 
 occupied the north bank of the river, in the neighborhood 
 of Culpepper Court-House. At the date of the battle of 
 Gettysburg, a flag-of-truce boat arrived at Fortress Mon- 
 roe, having on board Alexander H. Stephens, Vice-Presi- 
 dent of the " Southern Confederacy," between whom and 
 the Federal authorities the following correspondence took 
 place : 
 
 "FORTRESS MONROE, July 4, 1863, ) 
 
 " UNITED STATES STEAMER MINNESOTA 2 p. M. \ 
 " Hon. GIDEON WELLES, Secretary of the Navy : 
 
 " The following communication is just received from Mr. Stephens, who is 
 in the flag-of-truoe boat anchored above. I shall inform Mr. Stephens that 
 I await your instructions before giving him an answer. 
 
 " S. H. LEE, Admiral, <fc& 
 
 " ' CONFEDHBATE SlATBS STEAMER TORPEDO, ) 
 
 " 'IN JAMES RIVER, July 4, 1863. f 
 
 ' 'SlR: As military commissioner, I am the bearer of a communication 
 in writing from Jefferson Davis, Commandor-in-Chief of tho land and naval
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 817 
 
 forces of the Confederate States, to Abraham Lincoln, Commander-in-Chief 
 of the land and naval 'forces of the United States. Honorable Robert 
 Quid, Confederate States Agent of Exchange, accompanies me as secretary, 
 for the purpose of delivering the communication in person, and conferring 
 upon the subject to which it relates. I desire to proceed directly to Wash- 
 ington in the steamer Torpedo, commanded by Lieutenant Hunter David- 
 son, of the Confederate States Navy, no person being on board but the 
 Honorable Mr. Quid, myself, and the boat's officers and crew. 
 " ' Yours most respectfully, 
 
 " ' ALEXANDER H. STEPHENS. 
 " 'To S. H. LEE, Admiral, &c? " 
 
 " NAVY DEPARTMENT, July 4, 1863. 
 " Acting Rear- Admiral S. H. LEE, Hampton Roads : 
 
 " The request of Alexander H. Stephens is inadmissible. The customary 
 agents and channels are adequate for all needful military communication 
 and conference between the United States forces and the insurgents. 
 
 " GIDEON WELLES, Secretary of the Navy," 
 
 The nature of the mission was not at that time made 
 known, but the circumstance led to numberless conjec- 
 tures. This attempted communication was followed by a 
 vigorous conscription of every male person between the 
 ages of eighteen and forty-five, and on the 1st of August 
 Jefferson Davis issued an address to the soldiers of the 
 confederation, appealing to their honor and manhood, and 
 assuring them that there was now no alternative but 
 victory or subjugation. The army of General Lee was 
 gradually strengthened by these means, and it continued 
 in its cantonments on the southern bank of the Eapidan. 
 The corps were reorganized and consolidated after the 
 losses incurred in the Northern invasion, and many 
 changes in command took place. General Fitzhugh Lee, 
 who commanded a brigade composed of the First, Second, 
 Third, Fourth, and Fifth Virginia, and First Maryland 
 Cavalry, was made major-general, and took leave of his 
 brigade in a general order September 12th. Brigadier- 
 General Wade Hampton was made a major-general, and 
 Colonels M. C. Butler, of South Carolina, and William 
 C. Wickham, late commander of the Fourth Virginia 
 Cavalry, were appointed brigadier-generals, and the last 
 named succeeded to the command of Fitzhugh Lee's Bri- 
 gade. 
 
 The Union Army was at the same time re-enforced by 
 the new levies obtained under the draft, which had been 
 enforced in July, and which had caused a most serious 
 riot in the city of New York. This, instigated by 
 
 50
 
 818 HISTORY OF THE GEEAT KEBELLION. 
 
 Southern conspirators, was quelled after considerable loss 
 of life on the part of the rioters, and destruction of prop- 
 erty ; and, to hasten recruiting, volunteering by bounties 
 was in many places adopted instead of the draft. The 
 new levies obtained in the Eastern and Middle States 
 were, by general order from the "War Department, sent 
 to the Army of the Potomac, to which they gradually 
 added great efficiency. On the 12th September, Warren's 
 Corps moved into position at Hartwood, about nine miles 
 north of Falmouth. This manoeuvre was deemed to in- 
 dicate an approaching forward movement by General 
 Meade. The quiet was maintained, however, up to the 
 middle of October. In the mean time, in consequence 
 of important events taking place in Tennessee, consider- 
 able detachments had been made from the army of 
 Meade, to support Rosecraus ; and pending the elections 
 in Ohio and Pennsylvania, a considerable number of 
 troops had been furloughed, that they might enjoy the 
 right of suffrage. Taking advantage of this state of 
 atlairs in Meade's army, which was encamped around 
 Culpepper Court-House, and thence to the Rapidan, 
 General Lee, notwithstanding he had detached Long- 
 street to re-enforce Bragg in the West, on the 9th Octo- 
 ber put his army in motion and crossed the Rapid an, 
 with the design of bringing on an engagement. Imboden 
 was ordered to advance by the valley of the Shenandoah, 
 to guard the gaps of the mountains, and Fitzhugh Lee, 
 with his cavalry, to remain and hold the lines south of 
 the Rapidan. Stuart, with Hampton's Division, moved 
 on the right of the column, and encountered the Union 
 troops under Kilpatrick, near James City, .on the 10th. 
 These retired on Culpepper, slowly followed by General 
 Lee, who arrived there on the llth, and remained there 
 to provision his troops until the 12th. Meantime, Meade, 
 aware of the rapid approach of the enemy, as if to turn 
 his flank, sent on the 12th a strong cavalry force to the 
 Rapidan for the purpose of ascertaining the nature of the 
 enemy's movement. It encountered Fitzhugh Lee, who 
 repulsed and pursued it to Brandy Station. Here Stuart 
 and Lee formed a junction and pressed the Union troops 
 vigorously across the Rappahannock, inflicting sorwe loss. 
 The main body of Lee's army advanced and reached 
 Warrenton Springs on the 13th. Meade, who had fallen
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 819 
 
 back fifteen miles, continued his retreat rapidly, in order 
 to anticipate his antagonist in the possession of the bloody 
 field of Bull Run. The retreat was conducted on several 
 parallel roads, while the march of the Confederates was 
 circuitous. Meade, therefore, could not be outmarched. 
 On October 14th, the Second Corps, commanded by 
 General Warren, took up a position at Bristow Station, 
 behind the railroad embankment, and repulsed *the 
 advance of the enemy under Hill, with the loss of four 
 hundred and fifty prisoners and five pieces of artillery. 
 The enemy's re-enforcements arriving rapidly, the Union 
 troops retreated across Broad Run, and on the following 
 day proceeded to fortify Bull Run, extending the line 
 towards Little River turnpike. Foiled in all his efforts to 
 outflank or deceive his wary opponent, who was gradually 
 drawing him in to unpleasant proximity to the fortifications 
 surrounding Washington, and away from his base, the 
 rebel general gave up the pursuit on the 15th, and retired 
 upon the line of the Rappahannock, which he reached on 
 the 18th, after destroying the Orange and Alexandria Rail- 
 road from Cub Run to that point. The rear of the retreat- 
 ing Confederates was covered by the cavalry under Stuart, 
 who, with Hampton's Division, fell slowly back towards 
 Warrenton, drawing the Union force in that direction, and 
 giving Lee at Auburn an opportunity for a flank attack at 
 Buckland. As soon as Stuart heard Lee's guns, he turned 
 upon the Union troops, which, being in inferior force, 
 were compelled to retreat to Haymarket. The enemy 
 then resumed their march to the Rappahannock. 
 
 Meantime, Imboden, who had proceeded down the 
 valley, by a rapid march surrounded Charlestown, and 
 captured the garrison of four hundred and thirty-four men 
 stationed there, with their stores, and, what was of great 
 advantage to the enemy, the transportation. He then 
 rapidly retired before the advance of the Union troops 
 from Harper's Ferry. The results of the enemy's move- 
 ment were the capture of two thousand prisoners, for 
 which his own losses in killed, wounded, prisoners, and ar- 
 tillery scarcely compensated. The events in East Ten- 
 nessee being at this time very critical, a mutual distrust 
 existed between the opposing armies in Virginia, each 
 dreading lest the other might send succor to the armies 
 struggling there. General Meade, accordingly, made
 
 820 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 such demonstrations as would, it was supposed, deter Lee 
 from sending troops to the rebel army in Tennessee, and, 
 perhaps, compel him to recall Longstreet. The new 
 Union levies under the conscription began now to be 
 more and more available, and so freely were they organ- 
 ized that from the middle of October to June, 1864, ac- 
 cording to the declaration of the chairman of the Senate 
 Military Committee, six hundred thousand men were sent 
 to the armies. In the first week of November, there were 
 indications that an aggressive movement by the army in 
 Virginia would speedily be entered on. It was publicly 
 announced that all able-bodied troops in garrison at Wash- 
 ington, under command of General Martindale, would be 
 relieved from duty and sent to the field, and their place 
 filled by the Invalid Corps. Advices from the Army of 
 the Potomac showed that the rebels intended to resist our 
 occupying the Rappahannock and rebuilding the railroad 
 across it. They had also been recently engaged in forti- 
 fying the approaches to the river on the north side. Un- 
 der these circumstances, General Meade commenced a 
 forward movement from the line of Cedar Run to the line 
 of the Rappahannock. The advance began early on the 
 morning of Saturday, November 7th. The Sixth Corps, 
 General Sedgwick, moved from Warrenton to Rappahan- 
 nock Station. The Second, Third, and Fifth Corps, under 
 "Warren, French, and Sykes, respectively marched by 
 "Warrenton Junction along the line of railway by way of 
 Bealton, where the First Corps, Newton, brought up with 
 the extreme left. Previous cavalry reconnoissances had 
 shown that the enemy occupied the forts at Rappahan- 
 nock Station, and were also in force to the south at Kel- 
 ly's Ford. From Bealton, the Fifth Corps continued in 
 direct line of march to form a junction with the Sixth at 
 Rappahannock Station. The Second and Third deployed 
 at Kelly's Ford. At this point the Third was in advance, 
 and as they neared the ford they threw out strong lines 
 of skirmishers and sharpshooters. Batteries were planted 
 on the range of hills rising abruptly along the north side 
 of the river, and sweeping the extensive plateau on the 
 south side. Under cover of their fire the pontoons were 
 successfully laid, and the attacking party, consisting of 
 Berdan's sharpshooters, the Fortieth New York, the First 
 and Twentieth Indiana, the Third, and Fifth Michigan,
 
 HISTORY OF THE GBEAT REBELLION. 821 
 
 and the One Hundred and Tenth Pennsylvania, rapidly 
 crossed the bridge. Having gained the opposite bank, 
 the rifle-pits were charged, and the rebels, finding them- 
 selves surrounded on all sides, surrendered. The captures 
 at this point were found to include over four hundred 
 prisoners : General French's loss was about seventy. 
 
 "While the Third Corps was thus passing the Rappahan- 
 nock at Kelly's Ford, the Sixth was effecting a crossing 
 under more formidable difficulties at Rappahannock Sta- 
 tion. On the north side the defences consisted of a strong 
 fort, two redoubts, and several rifle-pits. These works 
 were held by nearly two thousand men belonging to 
 Early 's Division of E well's Corps. Commanding posi- 
 tions to the rear of the fort having been obtained, heavy 
 batteries were planted thereon, and a fierce cannonade 
 opened between the two sides. Just before dark, the 
 storming party, consisting of Russell's and Upton's Bri- 
 gades, was formed, and the works carried by a very bril- 
 liant coup de main. Over fifteen hundred prisoners, four 
 guns, and eight battle-flags were taken. General Sedg- 
 wick's loss was about three hundred killed and wounded. 
 
 The Third Corps, after the successful crossing at Kel- 
 ly's Ford, camped for the night on the south side of the 
 Rappahannock, and on the following morning (Sunday, 
 8th) resumed the advance, followed by the Second and 
 First Corps in order. About noon they came upon a 
 strong force of cavalry and light artillery, two miles east 
 of Brandy Station, engaging and pursuing them to a point 
 two miles beyond that place, the fighting continuing till 
 after dark. Meanwhile, the other corps (the Fifth and 
 Sixth) were scouring the country up the river and towards 
 Stevensburg. The rebels had all retreated but a few 
 hours before. Camps were found prepared for winter- 
 quarters. 
 
 The following dispatches were sent by General Meade : 
 
 11 HEAD-QUARTERS ARMY OP THE POTOMAC, ) 
 November 1 9.30 p. M. J 
 
 " Major-General Sedgwick advanced to the railroad crossing, where he 
 drove the enemy to the river, assaulted and captured two redoubts with 
 artillery, on this side, taking a number of prisoners. 
 
 " Major-General French advanced to Kelly's Ford, driving the enemy, 
 in small force, across the river, and captured several hundred prisoners at 
 the ford. * GEORGE G. MEADE, Majvr- General Commanding."
 
 822 HISTOEY OF THE GKEAT KEBELLION. 
 
 " HEAD-QUARTERS ARMY OP THE POTOMAC, ) 
 November 710 p. M. f 
 
 "General Sedgwick reports capturing, this P. M., in his operations, four 
 colonels, three lieutenant-colonels, and many other officers, and over eight 
 hundred men, together with four battle-flags. 
 
 "General French captured over four hundred prisoners, officers and 
 men. "GEORGE G. MEADE, Major- General Commanding." 
 
 The following telegram was sent by President Lincoln 
 to General Meade, and published to the Army on the 
 10th : 
 
 "WASHINGTON, Monday, November 9, 1863. 
 
 " MAJOR-GEWERAL MEADST: I have seen your dispatches about opera- 
 tions on the Rappahannock on Saturday, and I wish to say ' Well done.' 
 (Signed) " A. LINCOLN." 
 
 The sum-total of the movement was to transfer the line 
 of the rebels from the south side of the Rappahannock 
 to the south side of the Rapidan ; and of the Army of 
 the Potomac from the line of Cedar Run to the line of 
 the Upper Rappahannock. Here General Meade took 
 up his position, which was further strengthened by 
 breastworks, and the restoration of the railroad in his 
 rear was at once commenced. 
 
 The main force of the enemy remained between the 
 Rapidan and Orange Court-House, the river being thor- 
 oughly guarded. Its natural strength is considerable, 
 since it commands the northern bank. The rebel defen- 
 ces on the south side of the Rapidan were of a very formi- 
 dable character, being situated on ridges from thirty to a 
 hundred and fifty feet above the river level, and elevated 
 considerably above the northern bank, where the ground 
 falls into an extended plain, presenting on our side every 
 possible disadvantage for strategic movements.
 
 HISTORY OF THE GEEAT REBELLION. 823 
 
 CHAPTER XLIV. 
 
 Meade's Advance across the Bapidan. Recrosses. Winter-Quarters. 
 Draft for Three Hundred Thousand Men. Reconnoissanoe. Kilpatrick's 
 Raid upon Richmond. Death of Dahlgren. 
 
 THE armies maintained their positions without material 
 change until Thanksgiving Day, November 26, when 
 General Meade, impressed with the idea that Lee was 
 in retreat, issued orders for an advance. The cavalry 
 grossed the Rapidan, and, discovering that the enemy had 
 withdrawn, advanced in pursuit. The movement of the 
 main army was as follows : The Second Corps, General 
 "Warren, crossed at Germania Ford, takiffg the road to 
 Orange Court-House, via Robertson's Tavern ; the Third 
 Corps, General French, at Jacob's Mills Ford, and 'took 
 position at night on the right of the Second Corps ; the 
 Fifth Corps, General Sykes, at Culpepper Ford, towards 
 the Fredericksburg plankroad, and formed a junction 
 with the Second Corps on its right, at the forks of the 
 road at Robertson's Tavern ; The Sixth Corps, General 
 Sedgwick, followed the Third Corps at Jacob's Mills 
 Ford ; and the First Corps, General Newton, with the 
 reserve artillery and wagon trains, followed the Fifth 
 Corps across Culpepper Ford. The wagons were parked 
 at Richardsville, about fifteen miles south from Rappa- 
 hannock Station. 
 
 The crossings were made without opposition. The 
 water "was about waist high, and the men forded the 
 river. While on the march the columns were halted, and 
 the telegrams announcing the victory at Chattanooga 
 were read to the men. The news was received with the 
 wildest enthusiasm. The air was darkened with caps 
 . thrown up by officers and men, and resonant with cheers. 
 
 Before this advance, the enemy fell back and took up a 
 position at Mine Run, southwest of Chancellorsville, 
 where severe combats took place on the 27th and 30th.
 
 824: HISTORY OF THE GKEAT REBELLION. 1 
 
 The strength of this position was such that it was not 
 deemed prudent to attack. The soundness of this judg- 
 ment was tested some months later, when Grant vainly- 
 attempted, with a much larger force, to carry the position. 
 General Meade, in consequence, withdrew his troops on 
 December 1, and reoccupied the position whence he had 
 advanced, near Brandy Station, on the Orange and Alex- 
 andria Railroad. The army of Lee resumed its former 
 position at Orange Court-House, his advance guarding 
 the fords of the Kapidan. 
 
 The work of recruiting the army was now in progress. 
 The President, under date of October 17, issued a call for 
 three hundred thousand men, to serve for three years or 
 the war, and the Governors of the States were called upon 
 to raise and have enlisted the quotas due from their States. 
 In case the required number should not volunteer under 
 this call, a draft was to be made on, January 5, 1864. 
 By means of liberal bounties offered to veteran recruits, a* 
 large number of the men of Meade's army, whose time 
 would expire 4kn the spring of 1864, were induced to re- 
 enlist under this call, thirty days' furlough being allowed 
 them. Towards the close of December the men began to 
 leave for their homes, and as the work of reorganizing the 
 army consumed many weeks, there was but little active 
 work, and no important military movement was under- 
 taken. 
 
 Towards the close of January, 1864, it was determined 
 to consolidate the five corps, which then composed the 
 Army of the Potomac, into three, under Generals Sedg- 
 wick, Hancock, and "Warren, who thereafter commanded 
 respectively the Sixth, Second, and Fifth. The First and 
 Third ceased to exist. The re-enlistments went on rather 
 slowly under the call of October, and on the 1st of Feb- 
 ruary the following order appeared : 
 
 " EXECUTIVE MANSION, ) 
 " WASHINGTON, February 1. \ 
 
 " Ordered, That a draft for five hundred thousand men to serve for three 
 years or during the war be make on the 10th day of March next, for the 
 military service of the United States, crediting and deducting therefrom so 
 many as may have been enlisted or drafted into the service prior to the first 
 day of March, and not heretofore credited. 
 
 (Signed) " ABRAHAM LINCOLN." 
 
 By a circular issued by the Provost-Marshal-General,
 
 HISTOKY OP THE GKEAT KEBELLION. 825 
 
 it appeared that this call amounted practically to a call 
 for two hundred thousand men in addition to those re- 
 quired by the October call. The Confederates^ on their 
 side, were stimulated by the vigor of the Northern efforts 
 to raise troops by fresh conscriptions, and the utmost 
 rigor was exercised in filling their depleted ranks. 
 General Meade was at this time ill in Philadelphia, and 
 rumors began to spread of the selection of a new com- 
 mander for the Army of the Potomac, which, however, 
 proved to be utterly groundless. The two armies con- 
 tinued comparatively inactive until the 6th of February, 
 when a reconnoissance in force was undertaken by Gen- 
 eral Sedgwick. Kilpatrick's Division of Cavalry, sup- 
 ported by battery C, Third United States Artillery 
 (Braxton Bragg's old battery), advanced on the extreme 
 left and crossed the Rapidan at Ely's Ford ; after which 
 the cavalry was divided into squads to scour the country 
 in the direction of Richardson s Tavern and Fredericks- 
 burg, on the left. The duty was thoroughly performed, 
 but no enemy was discovered in force. The cavalry then 
 recrossed the Rapidan. The Second and Third Divisions 
 of the Second Corps were ordered to cross at Stevensburg 
 early on the 6th, but as the pontoons, which were ordered, 
 had failed to arrive, the Second Division boldly forded 
 the deep stream in the face of the enemy, who held his 
 ground, and the fight continued all day. The two divi- 
 sions were withdrawn on the 7th, after having lost two 
 hundred men in killed and wounded, most of whom were 
 in the Second Corps. General Merritt's Division of 
 Cavalry advanced on the right, and crossed at Barnett's 
 Ford. They had a brisk skirmish with some of Stuart's 
 cavalry, and recrossed on Sunday, the 7th. The 
 results of the movement did not confirm the impression 
 that had been current as to the demoralization of the 
 enemy. In connection with this movement a cavalry 
 raid, started from the lower peninsula, demonstrated 
 against Richmond, but finding the rebels on the alert, 
 proceeded no farther than Bottom's Bridge over the 
 Chickahominy. 
 
 ^ There was little further of interest until the 28th of 
 February, when the cavalry command of Kilpatrick 
 moved from Stevensburg, Virginia, on a bold raid, 
 having for its object the liberation of Union prisoners
 
 826 HISTORY OF THE GEEAT REBELLION. 
 
 confined in Richmond. That this dashing attempt did 
 not meet with full success, does not detract from the 
 originality of tho enterprise. The troops crossed the 
 Rapidan at Ely's Ford, where Captain Dahlgren was 
 detached with a picked command on a special mission, 
 while the main body pushed on through Spottsylvania 
 Court-House to Beaver Dam, which they reached on the 
 afternoon of the 29th. Much destruction of bridges and 
 railroads here took place, and the column advanced across 
 the South Anna at Taylorsville, and at half-past ten A. M. 
 of the 30th were within the outer defences f Richmond, 
 on the Brook turnpike, three and a half miles from the 
 city. On passing the second line of defences, the force 
 met the fire of the enemy from the third line. The 
 bridge over Brook Creek having now been destroyed by 
 the enemy, and the fire in front increasing, Kilpatrick 
 moved off rapidly on the Meadow Bridge road, destroy- 
 ing property as he went. The command encamped at 
 evening near the Chickahominy, repulsed an attack dur- 
 ing the night, and, finding that the enemy had destroyed 
 the boats on the Pamunkey, in the morning moved down 
 the Peninsula, harassed by the enemy on flank and 
 rear. Meantime, Captain Dahlgren proceeded to Freder- 
 icshall to destroy munitions there, but, finding the place 1 
 too strong, declined to attack, and moved off to the 
 James River Canal, which he reached eight miles east of 
 Goochland Court-House. Here he destroyed a good deal 
 of property, and hanged a guide, who had purposely 
 misled him. The command then proceeded towards 
 Richmond, which it reached after the retreat of Kil- 
 patrick. Encountering a body of the enemy's cavalry, 
 Dahlgren fell back, and with one hundred men got 
 separated from his main body, which, under Captain 
 Mitchell, joined Kilpatrick, who with his command 
 reached "Vfalliamsburg. Colonel Dahlgren was killed 
 while pushing towards the York River, and most of his 
 men taken prisoners. The enemy claimed to have found 
 upon Dahlgren's body papers detailing a plan for destroy- 
 ing Richmond by incendiarism, 'and murdering the 
 members of the Government. The report of the rebel 
 Secretary of War gave particulars of the alleged inten- 
 tions of Dahlgren ; but the friends of Dahlgren and the 
 United States Government have denied that any such
 
 HISTORY OF THE GEEAT REBELLION. 827 
 
 plan was devised, and the alleged instructions bear 
 internal evidence of being a clumsy forgery of the enemy. 
 A co-operating force, sent by Butler from Fortress 
 Monroe to aid this raid, failed to come up in time, and 
 the enterprise failed of any practical results, except the 
 destruction of public property. This may be considered 
 the more unfortunate, as it is now known that at the 
 time Eichmond was defended by a totally inadequate 
 force, and might, perhaps, by a vigorous exertion, have 
 been entered by the Union cavalry.
 
 828 msTOET OF THE GEEAT REBELLION. 
 
 I 
 
 CHAPTER XLV. 
 
 Creation of the Office of Lieutenant-GeneraL General Grant Appointed. 
 Army Reorganization. Draft for Two Hundred Thousand Men. 
 General Grant assumes Command in Chief. Powers of the Lieu- 
 tenant-GeneraL Country between Washington and Richmond. Rule 
 of Advance. Rebel Position, 
 
 THE main army was now rested, and measures were in 
 progress to give it a thorough reorganization. Congress 
 having passed a bill reviving the office of Lieutenant- 
 General, and recommending General Grant for the office, 
 on the 10th of March a general order issued relieving 
 General Halleck from duty as general-in-chief of the 
 army, and assigning General Grant to the command of 
 the armies of the United States, with head-quarters in 
 the field. General Halleck was appointed chief of the 
 staff. The command was assumed on the following 
 general order : 
 
 " HEAD-QUARTERS OF THE ARMIES OP THE UNITED STATES, ) 
 
 "NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE, March 17, 1864. ) 
 
 GENERAL ORDER, NO. 12. 
 
 11 In pursuance of the following order of the President : 
 
 " ' EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, March 10, 1864. 
 " ' Under the authority of the act of Congress to appoint to the grade of 
 lieutenant-general in the army, of February 29, 1864, Lieutenant-General 
 Ulysses S. Grant, United States Army, is appointed to the command of the 
 armies of the United States. 
 
 " ' ABRAHAM LINCOLN.' 
 
 I assume command of the armies of the United States. Head-quarters 
 will be in the field, and, until further orders, will be with the Army of the 
 Potomac. There will be an office head-quarters in Washington, to which 
 all official communications will be sent, except those from the army where 
 the head-quarters are at the date of their address. 
 
 "U. S. GRANT, lieutenant- General." 
 
 Following this order was a new call for a draft of two 
 hundred thousand men, as follows : 
 
 "EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, March 14, 1864. 
 
 GENERAL ORDERS, NO. 100. 
 
 " In order to supply the force required to be drafted for the Navy, and
 
 HISTORY OF THE GEEAT KEBELLION. 829 
 
 to provide an ample reserve force for all contingencies, in addition to the 
 five hundred thousand men called for February 1, 1864, the call is hereby 
 made, and a draft ordered, for two hundred thousand men for the military 
 service, Army, Navy, and Marine Corps of the United States. 
 
 "The proportioned quotas for the different wards, towns, townships, 
 precincts, or election districts or counties, will be made known through the 
 Provost-Marshal-General's Bureau, and accounts will be taken of the 
 credits and deficiencies of former quotas. 
 
 " The 15th day of April, 1864, is designated as the time up to which the 
 numbers required from each ward of a city, town, <fcc., may be raised by 
 voluntary enlistment, and drafts will be made in such wards of a city, 
 town, &c., which shall not have filled the quota assigned to it within the 
 time designated for the number required to fill said quota. 
 
 "The drafts will be commenced as soon after the 15th of April as 
 practicable. 
 
 " The Government bounties, as now paid, continue until April 1, 1864, 
 at which tune the additional bounties cease. On and after that date, one 
 hundred dollars only will be paid, as provided by the act approved July 
 22, 1861. 
 
 (Signed) "ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 "Official: E. D. TOWNSEND, A. A. <?." 
 
 This call, with the two previous ones of October and 
 February, made seven hundred thousand men called for 
 in six months. While the material was thus provided, 
 the Army of the Potomac underwent an entire reorgani- 
 zation, as may be seen by the following order : 
 
 KEOKGANIZATION OF THE AKMT OF THE POTOMAC. 
 
 " HEAD-QUARTERS ARMY OF THE POTOMAC, > 
 " Thursday, March 24, 1864. J 
 
 " GENERAL ORDERS, NO. 10. 
 
 " The following order has been received from the "War Department: 
 
 " 'WAR DEPARTMENT, ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE, ) 
 " ' WASHINGTON, March 23, 1864. f 
 
 " ' GENERAL ORDERS, NO. 415. 
 
 "'First. By direction of the President of the United States, the number 
 of army corps composing the Army of the Potomac will be reduced to 
 three, viz. : the Second, Fifth, and Sixth Corps. The troops of the other 
 two corps, viz., the First and Third Corps, will be temporarily reorganized 
 and distributed among the Second, Fifth, and' Sixth, by the commanding 
 general, who will determine what existing organizations will retain their 
 corps badges and other distinctive marks. The staff officers of the two 
 corps, which are temporarily broken up, will be assigned to vacancies in 
 the other corps, so far as such vacancies may exist. Those for whom there 
 are no vacancies will cease to be considered as officers of the general staff 
 of army corps. 
 
 " ' Second. Major-General G. W. Warren is assigned by the President to 
 the command of the Fifth Corps.
 
 830 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 " ' Third. The following general officers are detached from the Army of 
 the Potomac, and will report for orders to the adjutant of the army, viz.: 
 Major-General George Sykes, U. S. Vols., Major-General "W. II. French, U. 
 S. Vols., Major-General John Newton, U. S. Vols., Brigadier-General J. R. 
 Kenly, U. S. Vols., Brigadier-General F. Spinola, U. S. Vols., Brigadier- 
 General Solomon Meredith, TJ. S. Vols. 
 
 " ' By order of the Secretary of War. 
 
 " ' E. D. TOWNSEXD, A. A. G: 
 
 " Fourth. The following arrangements are made to carry out the provi- 
 sions of the foregoing order : The Second, Fifth, and Sixth Army Corps 
 will be consolidated into two divisions. The first and second divisions of 
 the Third Corps are transferred to the Second Corps, preserving their 
 badges and distinctive marks. The third division of the Third Corps is 
 transferred permanently to the Sixth Corps. The three divisions now 
 forming the First Corps are transferred to the Fifth Corps, preserving their 
 badges and distinctive marks, and on joining the Fifth Corps, they will be 
 consolidated into two divisions. The commander of the division transferred 
 to the Second, Fifth, and Sixth Corps will at once report to the com- 
 manders of those corps for instructions. Brigadier-General J. B. Carr will 
 report to Major-General Hancock, commanding the Second Corps, and Briga- 
 dier-General H. Prince to Major-General Sedgwick, commanding the Sixth 
 Corps. The chief of artillery will assign eight batteries each to the Second, 
 Fifth, and Sixth Corps, these batteries to be taken from those now with 
 the corps, and with the First and Third Corps. The batteries with the 
 several corps in excess of the above allowance will join the artillery reserve. 
 The consolidation of divisions called for in this order will be made by the 
 corps commanders concerned, who are authorized to rearrange the 
 brigades of their respective commands in such manner as they may think 
 best for the service. The reassignment of officers of the staff departments, 
 consequent upon the reorganization of the army, will be made upon the 
 nominations of the chiefs of staff departments at these head-quarters. 
 Special instructions will be given hereafter with respect to staff officers of 
 the two corps temporarily broken up. 
 
 " Fifth. The major-general commanding avails himself of the occasion to 
 say, that in view of the reduced strength of nearly ah" the regiments serving 
 in this army, the temporary reduction of the army corps to three is a measure 
 imperatively demanded by the best interests of the service, and that the rea- 
 sons for attaching the First and Third Corps, for the time being, to other corps, 
 were in no respect founded upon any supposed inferiority of those corps, to 
 the other corps of this army. All the corps have equally proved their valor 
 on many fields, and all have equal claims to the confidence of the Govern- 
 ment and of the country. The First and Third Corps will retain their 
 badges and distinctive marks, and the major-general commanding indulges 
 the hope that the ranks of the army will be filled at an early day, so that 
 those corps can again be reorganized. 
 
 "By command of Major-General Meade. 
 
 (Signed) " S. WILLIAMS, A. A. G." 
 
 The following is a summary of the reorganization of 
 the corps : 
 
 FIFTH ABMT CORPS, 
 i 
 
 Major-General Warren, Commanding. 
 The consolidation of divisions and arrangement of brigades is made as
 
 HISTORY OF THE GKEAT REBELLION. 831 
 
 follows : The Commanding officer of the First Division of the old Fifth 
 Corps is ordered to consolidate the three brigades into two brigades, to be 
 designated as the First and Second Brigades, First Division, Fifth Army 
 Corps. The old Second Division, Fifth Corps, has been consolidated into 
 one brigade, to be designated as the Third Brigade, First Division, Fifth 
 Corps, commanded by Brigadier-General R. B. Ayres. The old Third 
 Division, Fifth Corps, will remain as the new Third Division, Fifth Army 
 Corps. The Second Brigade of the Third Division, First Army Corps, has 
 been transferred to the Second Division, First Army Corps, and this divi- 
 sion will hereafter be designated as the Second Division, Fifth Army Corps. 
 The First Brigade of the Third Division, First Army Corps, has been trans- 
 ferred to the First Division, First Army Corps, and this division will here- 
 after be designated as the Fourth Division, Fifth Army Corps. The desig- 
 nating flags of the old Third Brigade, First Division, Fifth Army Corps ; of 
 the old Second Division, Fifth Army Corps; of the old Second Brigade, 
 Second Division, Fifth Army Corps ; and of Third Division, First Army 
 Corps, are ordered to be turned in to the corps quartermaster. 
 
 The following is the assignment of general officers to commands in the 
 consolidated corps : 
 
 1. Brigadier-General J. S. "Wadsworth, commanding Fourth Division. 
 
 2. Brigadier-General S. "W. Crawford, commanding Third Division. 
 
 3. Brigadier-General J. C. Robinson, commanding Second Division. 
 
 4. Brigadier-General Charles Griffin, commanding First Division. 
 
 6. Brigadier-General R. B. Ayres, commanding Third Brigade, First 
 Division. 
 
 6. Brigadier-General L. Cutter, commanding First Brigade, Fourth Divi- 
 sion. 
 
 7. Brigadier-General Henry Baxter, commanding Second Brigade, 
 Second Division. 
 
 8. Brigadier-General J. J. Bartlett, commanding Second Brigade, First 
 Division. 
 
 9. Brigadier-General James Barnes, commanding First Brigade, First 
 Division. 
 
 10. Brigadier-General J. 0. Rice, commanding Second Brigade, Fourth 
 Division. 
 
 The following is a portion of the corps staff: 
 Lieutenant-Colonel H. C. Bankhead, Inspector-General. 
 Lieutenant-Colonel F. A. Locke, Assistant Adjutant-General. 
 Captain D. L. Smith, Acting Chief Commissary of Subsistence. 
 * Captain W. T. Gentry, Commissary of Musters. 
 The other officers of the staff have not yet been assigned. 
 
 SECOND CORPS. 
 
 
 
 Major-General Hancock, Commanding. 
 
 The original regiments of the Second Corps have been consolidated into 
 two divisions, with a new assignment of division and brigade commanders. 
 
 The division formerly known as the First Division of the Third Corps, 
 commanded by Major-General Birney, has been designated as the Third 
 Division of the Second Corps. The division formerly known as the Second 
 Division of the Third Corps, to which Brigadier-General Carr has been 
 assigned as commander, will hereafter be known as the Fourth Division of 
 the Second Corps. Each of these divisions has been reduced to two 
 brigades. The organization of the staff of the Second Corps has not yet 
 been completed.
 
 832 HISTORY OF THE GEEAT REBELLION. 
 
 The following is the arrangement of divisions and assignment of com- 
 manders ; 
 
 FIRST DIVISION. 
 
 Brigadier-General T. C. Barlow. 
 
 First Brigade Colonel N. A. Niles, Sixty-first New York. 
 Second Brigade Colonel T. A. Smythe, First Delaware Volunteers. 
 Third Brigade Colonel P. Frank, Fifty-second New York. 
 Fourth Brigade Colonel J. R. Brooke, Fifty-fifth Pennsylvania. 
 
 SECOND DIVISION. 
 
 Brigadier-General John Gibbon. 
 
 First Brigade Brigadier-General A. S. "Webb. 
 Second Brigade Brigadier-General J. P. Owens. 
 Third Brigade Colonel S. S. Carroll, Eighth Ohio. 
 
 THIRD DIVISION: 
 Major-General D. B. Birney. 
 
 First Brigade Brigadier-General J. H. Ward. 
 Second Brigade Brigadier-General A. Haye. 
 
 TOURTH DIVISION. 
 
 Brigadier-General J. B. Carr. 
 
 First Brigade Brigadier-General G. Mott. 
 
 Second Brigade Colonel W. R. Brewster, Seventy-third New York. 
 
 Chief of Artillery Colonel Tibball. 
 
 SIXTH CORPS. 
 
 General Sedgwick, Commanding. 
 
 The old Third Division, Sixth Corps, is broken up, one brigade (Shaler's) 
 going to the First Division ; the Second (Wheaton's and Eustis's) going to 
 the Second Division. The Third Division, Third Corps, is transferred to 
 the Sixth Corps, and General Prince is assigned to the command of it. 
 The three brigades of this division are consolidated into two, under Gen- 
 eral Russell and General Morris. 
 
 FIRST DIVISION. 
 
 Brigadier-General H. G. Wright. 
 
 First Brigade Brigadier-General A. T. A. Torbert. 
 Second Brigade Colonel E. Upton, One Hundred and Twenty-first New 
 York. 
 
 Third Brigade Colonel H. Burnham, Fifth Maine Volunteers. 
 Fourth Brigade Brigadier-General A. Shaler.
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 833 
 
 SECOND DIVISION. ^ 
 
 Brigadier-General G-. W. Getty. 
 
 First Brigade Brigadier-General F. Wheaton. 
 
 Second Brigade Colonel L. A. Grant, " Fremont " Brigade. 
 
 Third Brigade Brigadier-General T. H. NeilL 
 
 Fourth Brigade Brigadier-General A. L. Eustis. 
 
 THIRD DIVISION. 
 
 Brigadier-General H. Prince. 
 
 First Brigade Brigadier-General "W. H. Morris. 
 Second Brigade Brigadier-General D. A. Kussell. 
 Colonel C. H. Tompkins, First Ehode Island Artillery, commanding Ar- 
 tillery. 
 
 Each of the generals detached took leave of his troops 
 in a general order.. Major-General P. H. Sheridan was 
 summoned from the West to take command of the 
 cavalry of the Army of the Potomac. 
 
 Lieutenant-General Grant arrived in Washington on 
 Tuesday, April 8, accompanied by General Rawlings 
 and Colonel Comstock. On the afternoon of "Wednesday, 
 the 9th, the President formally presented to him at the 
 Cabinet Chamber, in the presence of the entire Cabinet, 
 his commission as lieutenant-general, and thus addressed 
 him: 
 
 "GENERAL GRANT : The nation's appreciation of what you have done, 
 and its reliance upon you for what remains to be done in the existing great 
 struggle, are now presented with this commission constituting you Lieuten- 
 ant-General in the Army of the United States. With this high honor 
 devolves upon you also a corresponding responsibility. As the country 
 herein trusts you, so, under God, it will sustain you. I scarcely need to 
 add, that with what I here speak for the nation goes my own hearty per- 
 sonal 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 endeavor 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 leada 
 both nations and men." 
 
 General Grant was then introduced to the Cabinet, and 
 some time was Spent in conversation. 
 
 51 

 
 834: HISTORY OF THE GKEAT REBELLION. 
 
 The new general lost little time in commencing his 
 new duties. He issued an order directing all civilians, 
 sutlers, and their employes, to proceed to the rear with 
 all their property, and stopped all furloughs. He person- 
 ally inspected the several Eastern departments, visiting 
 Fortress Monroe, Annapolis, an/1 other points, during the 
 month of April. The weather during the month was 
 adverse to army movements, as incessant rains sufficed to 
 make the roads impassable. The enemy on his side had 
 recruited with great vigor, and was indefatigable in the 
 construction of earthworks. 
 
 In illustration of the ample powers conferred upon 
 General Grant, and of the policy pursued towards him 
 by the President )<r the following correspondence is of 
 interest : 
 
 ' EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, April 30, 1864. 
 "Lieutenant-General GRANT: 
 
 " Not expecting to see you before the spring campaign opens, I wish to 
 express in this way my entire satisfaction with what you have done up to 
 this time, so far 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. 
 While I am very anxious that any great disaster, or capture of our men in 
 great numbers, shall be avoided, I know that these points are less likely 
 to escape your attention than they would be mine. If there be any thing 
 wanting, which is within my power to give, do not fail to let me know it. 
 
 " And now, with a brave army and a just cause, may God sustain you. 
 " Yours, very truly, A. LINCOLN." 
 
 GRANT'S EEPLY. 
 
 t "HEAD-QUARTERS ARMIES OP THE UNITED STATES, 
 
 "CULPEPPER COURT-HOUSE, May I, 1864. 
 " THE PRESIDENT: Your very kind letter of yesterday is just received. 
 The confidence you express for the future, and satisfaction for the past, in 
 my military administration, is acknowledged with pride. It shall be my 
 earnest endeavor that you and the country shall not be disapppointed. 
 From my first entrance into the volunteer service of the country until the 
 present day, I have never had cause of complaint, have never expressed or 
 implied a complaint against the Administration or the Secretary of War, 
 for throwing any embarrassment in the way of my vigorously prosecuting 
 what appeared to be my duty. 
 
 " Indeed, since the promotion which placed me in command of all the 
 armies, and in view of the great responsibility and importance of success, 
 I have been astonished at the readiness with which every thing asked for 
 has been yielded, without even an explanation being asked. Should my 
 success be less than I desire and expect, the least I can say is, the fault is 
 not with you, 
 
 " Very truly, your obedient servant, 
 
 "Q. S. GRANT, Lieutenant- General"
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 835 
 
 With the approach of spring it became necessary to 
 complete the arrangements for another advance on Rich- 
 mond ; and this time it was apparently determined that 
 there should be no lack of force and no diversity of com- 
 mand that should interfere with the directness and effi- 
 ciency of the blows to be struck. A large amount of 
 experience had now been gained in relation to the mode 
 of conducting the campaign. In previous years direct 
 advances upon Richmond had failed in various stages of 
 progress, the army of the invasion generally stopping 
 short at the Rappahannock and the Rapidan. The diffi- 
 culty of passing these lines was beginning to be con- 
 sidered as insuperable. But the Government was deter- 
 mined, by augmented force, more thoroughly to test that 
 problem. The physical character of the country between 
 Washington and Richmond is such as to exert an unex- 
 ampled influence upon military operations. 
 
 On the right of an advancing army are chains of 
 mountains, which enable an opposing force to conceal 
 any flanking movement they may undertake, while the 
 valleys afford to it the means for an easy and uninter- 
 rupted passage to the Potomac above Washington, and 
 one almost entirely secure from attacks in its rear. On 
 the front is a succession of rivers, presenting great natural 
 obstacles to an advance, and at the same time easily 
 defensible ; to make flanking movements by ascending 
 them is to open the rear to attacks from Fredericksburg, 
 and to cross below the enemy's army would leave the 
 railroad a prey to guerrillas. The country is, moreover, 
 masked in every direction by dense forests, rendering any 
 thing like a surprise in force impracticable. A few 
 scouts may at all times easily detect and thwart such 
 a movement. Such are the natural features of the 
 country. 
 
 It is a well-known rule of military operations, that a 
 " base " should neither be too extended nor too limited, 
 and it should be accessible by several routes. The base 
 of the Army of the Potomac was just the width of a 
 railroad track, and that railroad furnished really the only 
 practicable route of communication. With a limited 
 base an army is always exposed to be cut in the rear. 
 This is what had happened to the Army of the Potomac 
 at every advance. Guerrilla bands infested the whole
 
 836 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 country between the Rappahannock and Alexandria 
 (some sixty miles), and it is impossible to protect entirely 
 in a hostile country such an extent of territory. For 
 every mile of advance beyond Fairfax Court-House, five 
 hundred men are required to protect the rear. An entire 
 corps was in March employed by General Meade in doing 
 this from the Kappaliannock to Manassas, and the troops 
 of the Department of Washington protected the track 
 from that locality to Alexandria. Hence the drain of 
 an army for that service can be easily estimated. After 
 passing the Rapidan, if railroad communication is to be 
 relied on for supplies, a strong force must be constantly 
 kept in the rear ; every train will even then be exposed 
 to capture by bands sweeping down from the mountains. 
 
 The rebel leaders fully understood all these circumstan- 
 ces, and were always ready to take advantage of them. 
 They were aware that they could hold in check, with 
 three-fifths of its force, the Army of the Potomac. Mean- 
 time, they pursued the Fabian policy, and were not fool- 
 ish enough to stake every thing on the risk of a battle, 
 except where invulnerably fortified. Their own rear 
 needed no protection ; they had two railroad routes, be- 
 sides all the ordinary roads. Thus they had all the ad- 
 vantage of position on their side. 
 
 There- were several methods by which an army could 
 overcome these obstacles : First, with a sufficient force to 
 cover its flanks, it might compel the enemy to retreat and 
 Richmond to be abandoned. Second, it might be able to 
 bring on an engagement which would prove decisive. 
 Third, by cutting loose from Washington and becoming a 
 movable column, it could go at any time to the rear of 
 the rebel army and open a new base for itself on the Pa- 
 munkey or York River, or by the railroad from Freder- 
 icksburg. It is risking nothing to say that the army could 
 at any time go to Richmond, if relieved from the necessity 
 of protecting its rear. This could have been done when 
 General Meade crossed the Rapidan and was stopped by 
 the rebel works on Mine Run. The army could transport 
 fifteen days' subsistence and forage, and with this be moved 
 to Hanover Court-House, to operate on a new base. Fif- 
 teen days is the period usually assigned in Europe as the 
 length of a march from one base of operations to another, 
 except the country traversed be able to support the army.
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 837 
 
 In Yirginia, our array could derive no advantage from 
 the country. It could not subsist itself for the most lim- 
 ited period. The portion of the State which had been the 
 scene of war was exhausted. Even among the fertile 
 farms of the Peninsula it was difficult to obtain small 
 supplies of forage ; of subsistence for the men there was 
 actually nothing. The necessity of " bases " was there- 
 fore evident. 
 
 The works occupied by Lee's army on the Rapidan ex- 
 tended on the right three miles below Raccoon Ford. 
 Swell's Corps and Hill's lay behind those defences, and 
 stretched out on each side of Orange Court-House, along 
 a line of twenty miles. Longstreet, having returned some 
 time before from Eastern Tennessee, occupied the country 
 around Gordonsville, thirteen miles southwest of the po- 
 sition on the Rapidan. Such had been the disposition of 
 the Army of Northern Virginia during the latter part of 
 April. 
 
 The force with which Grant was about to take the field 
 was magnificent in numbers and equipment. Under his 
 personal observation moved the Army of the Potomac 
 with its three corps, Hancock's (Second), Warren's (Fifth), 
 and Sedgwick's (Sixth), recruited to over forty thousand 
 men each ; in addition to which, the Ninth Corps, under 
 Burnside, of equal strength to any of the others, and 
 comprising a large body of colored troops, was to consti- 
 tute his reserve on the field. In connection with the 
 direct advance of this army by land towards Richmond, 
 there were to be co-operating movements up the James 
 River from Fortress Monroe, and up the Valley of the 
 Shenandoah, towards Lynchburg, the former to be con- 
 ducted by the Army of the James, comprising W. T. 
 ("Baldy") Smith's (Eighteenth) Corps, and Gilmore's 
 (Tenth), the whole under the command of General Butler; 
 and the latter by the Army of the Shenandoah, compris- 
 ing the troops under General Crook, serving in Western 
 Virginia, and somewhat later, Emery's (Nineteenth) Corps. 
 This movement was to be directed by Sigel. These three 
 distinct organizations, converging ultimately toward a 
 single point, had, indeed, a common object, but upon the 
 Army of the Potomac, which far exceeded the others in 
 strength and effectiveness, was to devolve the hardest of 
 the fighting.
 
 838 HISTOEY OF THE GREAT EEBELLION. 
 
 CHAPTER XLVI. 
 
 The Army in Tennessee. Results of Murfreesboro'. Operations in Tennes- 
 see. Minor Expeditions. Advance of Rosecrans. Retreat of Bragg. 
 Burnside's Campaign in East Tennessee. Occupation of Knoxville. 
 Evacuation of Chattanooga. Concentration of the Enemy. Battle of 
 Chickamauga. The Two Generals. Results of the Battle. 
 
 THE battle of Stone River, near Murfreesboro', which 
 closed the operations of the year 1862, in Tennessee, left 
 General Rosecrans established at the latter place with the 
 Army of the Cumberland. The army occupied a position 
 in front of the- town, and a series of extensive earthworks, 
 "completely encircling it, were constructed for the purpose 
 of making it a depot of supplies, and the base of future 
 operations. The railroad track and the bridges in the 
 rear towards Nashville were also repaired. On the 9th 
 of January, the army was divided into three corps, des- 
 ignated the Fourteenth, Twentieth, and Twenty-first, and 
 commanded respectively by Generals Thomas, MeCook, 
 and Crittenden. Active operations, were, however, sus- 
 pended, owing to the rains of the season. Large supplies 
 were collected in consequence of the rise of the Cumber- 
 laud River at Nashville and Murfreesboro'. But the en- 
 emy was not idle. His cavalry overran the country, and 
 men and wagons belonging to General Rosecrans were 
 often captured by him. The object was to cut off the 
 communications between the Army of the Cumberland 
 and its supplies. Thus, also, several of the steamers on 
 the Cumberland River were captured and burned. 
 
 On the 31st of January, 1863, General Jeff. C. Davis, 
 with a division of infantry and two brigades of cavalry, 
 under Colonel Minty, moved from camp on an expedition 
 in the direction of Rover and Franklin. The force was 
 absent thirteen days, during which it scoured the country, 
 making many captures from the enemy. On the Confed- 
 erate side there was much activity under Colonel Forrest, 
 who operated to cut off supplies on the Cumberland. On
 
 HISTORY OF THE GEE AT REBELLION. 839 
 
 the 5th of March, a Federal brigade at Spring Hill was 
 surprised by a large force under V an Dorn. The former 
 consisted of the Thirty-third and Eighty-fifth Indiana, 
 Twenty-second Wisconsin, and Nineteenth Michigan, 
 numbering fifteen hundred and eighty-nine men, together 
 with the One Hundred and Twenty-fourth Ohio and six 
 hundred cavalry, and one battery of six small guns, all 
 under Colonel John Colburn. Of these, thirteen hundred 
 and six men were captured. The cavalry and artillery 
 escaped. The enemy were followed to Duck River by 
 General Sheridan, who succeeded in capturing some 
 prisoners. On the 20th of March, a force of fourteen 
 hundred men, under Colonel A. S. Hall, was attacked by 
 the Confederates, under John Morgan, at Milton, twelve 
 miles northeast of Murfreesboro', and after a sharp con- 
 flict the assailants were driven off'. Many expeditions 
 were sent out by both sides with more or less success. 
 About the 10th of April, Yan Dorn, with a force of 
 about ten thousand men, renewed the attack at Franklin 
 upon General Granger, whose force consisted of the divi- 
 sions of Brigadier-Generals Baird and Gilbert, and six- 
 teen guns, and Brigadier-General Smith's cavalry brigade 
 of eleven hundred and twenty-eight men ; also a cavalry 
 force of sixteen hundred men and two guns, under Colo- 
 nel Stanley. The command of Stanley was severely 
 handled by the enemy, who finally withdrew with the 
 loss of many killed and wounded and two cannon. On 
 the 28th of April, General Reynolds's Division, with a 
 mounted force, moved to attack the enemy at McMinn- 
 ville, whence supplies were sent to Chattanooga. The 
 operation was a success. In the first week of April, a 
 cavalry expedition, consisting of the First Indiana, Eigh- 
 tieth Illinois, and portions of two Ohio regiments, under 
 the command of Colonel A. D. Streight, numbering alto- 
 gether eighteen hundred men, was sent into Northern 
 Georgia, mainly to cut the railroads which supplied the 
 Confederate army by way of Chattanooga. At Eastport 
 he formed a junction with General Dodge's force, then 
 marching upon Tuscumbia, and defeated the Confederate 
 troops stationed there, with considerable loss to them. 
 Thence he moved through Northern Georgia, aiming to 
 reach the important points of Rome and Atlanta. Mean- 
 while, General Dodge, with his force, turned southward,
 
 840 HISTORY OF THE GEEAT REBELLION. 
 
 to make a sweeping raid in Northern Alabama, and return 
 to his head-quarters at Corinth. 
 
 No sooner had Colonel Streight commenced his march 
 than information of his movements was received by 
 General Forrest and Colonel Roddy, who, with a cavalry 
 force, happened to be within striking distance. By a 
 rapid movement they came upon the rear of Colonel 
 Streight, and commenced a running fight, which con- 
 tinued for four days, during which there were two severe 
 battles, and several spirited skirmishes. After the Fed- 
 eral troops had marched over a hundred miles towards the 
 heart of Georgia, the rebel force increased to overwhelm- 
 ing numbers, and Colonel Streight, having expended his 
 ammunition, and his men becoming exhausted, was com- 
 pelled to surrender at a point fifteen miles from Rome. 
 His men, numbering thirteen hundred, were paroled and 
 sent to Virginia, and exchanged about two months after- 
 wards. But his officers were retained and imprisoned, 
 on the demand of the Governor of Georgia, by whom 
 they were claimed as having incurred the penalty fixed 
 by a statute of the State for inciting slaves to rebellion. 
 It was charged, at the time of the surrender, that negroes 
 were found in Colonel Streight's command, uniformed 
 and bearing arms. This was denied by the privates, 
 who asserted that only five or six negroes were with the 
 command, and they had started with it from Nashville. 
 This imprisonment of Colonel Streight caused the Fed- 
 eral Government to suspend the exchange of Confederate 
 officers, and subsequently to imprison General John 
 Morgan and his officers in the penitentiary of Ohio. 
 Colonel Streight was then released from imprisonment 
 as a felon, and subsequently General Morgan escaped. 
 Colonel Streight also effected his escape from the rebel 
 prison in Richmond. 
 
 As the spring wore on without any movement being 
 commenced in Tennessee, the inactivity of Rosecrans 
 produced much dissatisfaction. General Grant was at 
 that time pressing the siege of Vicksburg, watched by 
 Johnston in Mississippi, while Bragg was facing Rose- 
 crans. It was supposed that in consequence of the 
 pressing needs of Pemberton at Vicksburg, Bragg was 
 sending troops to Johnston to enable him to operate upon 
 Grant's rear. Hence, Rosecrans, re-enforced by Burn-
 
 HISTOKY OF THE GEEAT REBELLION. 841 
 
 side, was ordered to attack Bragg while he was thus 
 weakened. Rosecrans replied that his cavalry was not 
 yet mounted, that the enemy was not weakened materi- 
 ally, that the army could not advance with reasonable 
 prpspects of success, and that a decisive movement at 
 that time was not advisable. This opinion was shared by 
 nearly all the commanders in the army. If Bragg was 
 about to aid Johnston, they argued, he could do so only 
 by leaving Rosecrans's front, which would give the op- 
 portunity to advance. On the other hand, if Grant 
 should be defeated, Johnston would join Bragg, and then 
 Rosecrans should be near his base, to receive their attack. 
 Notwithstanding these reasons, Rosecrans commenced on 
 June 25th a series of operations which, without bringing 
 on a general engagement, resulted in the retreat of the 
 enemy, on July 4th, upon Chattanooga. At the same 
 time, General Stanley occupied Shelbyville, and pushed 
 on to Huntsville, while Granger held the former place. 
 
 This retreat of Bragg, by abandoning Middle Tennes- 
 see to the Federal troops, had a demoralizing effect upon 
 his forces, and discouraged the friends of the Confederacy 
 in Tennessee. The Federal losses in these operations 
 were eighty-five killed, four hundred and sixty-two 
 wounded, and thirteen missing. There were captured 
 from the enemy one thousand six hundred and thirty-four 
 prisoners, and six pieces of artillery, many small-arms, 
 much camp equipage, and large quantities of commissary 
 and quartermaster's stores. Bragg, having returned to 
 Chattanooga on the south side of the Tennessee River, 
 now fortified his position, and threw up defensive works at 
 the crossing of the river and as far up as Bly the's Ferry. 
 
 The plan of campaign adopted for the capture of the 
 entire upper mountain region of East Tennessee was an 
 advance in double exterior lines, concentric on the enemy. 
 The main column, under Rosecrans, was to move from 
 the front of operations at Tullahorna and Winchester, on 
 Chattanooga; and a co-operative column, under Burn- 
 side, to move from Lexington, Kentucky, on Knoxville, 
 and thence on Chattanooga. It will be observed that 
 Rosecrans's line of advance was almost due east about 
 eighty miles while Burnside's was almost due south, 
 about two hundred miles. As both aimed at one common 
 objective point, and moved on it from opposite points,-
 
 842 HISTORY OF THE GEEAT REBELLION. 
 
 with the enemy lying between them, the lines of advance 
 were, as we have named them, exterior and concentric 
 towards the enemy. 
 
 The first object of General Rosecrans was to repair the 
 railroad from Nashville to Stevenson in Alabama. At 
 Stevenson the Nashville Railroad unites with the Mem- 
 phis and Charleston road. Stevenson is thirty-seven 
 miles west of Chattanooga on the line of the latter road. 
 Having completed his preparations, he commenced Au- 
 gust loth his movement on Chattanooga and its covering 
 mountain ridges on the southeast. On that day General 
 Thomas moved from Decherd, with the division of Payne 
 in advance, and occupied Stevenson. On the same day 
 McCook's Corps occupied Salem, ten miles from Winches- 
 ter, on the Huntsville road, and moved on to Bellepont, 
 twelve miles east of Stevenson, while Crittenden moved 
 north of Chattanooga. The front of the entire move- 
 ment extended from the head of Sequatchie Valley in 
 East Tennessee to Athens in Alabama, thus threatening 
 the line of the Tennessee River from Whitesburg to 
 Blythe's Ferry, a distance of one hundred and fifty 
 miles. 
 
 A glance at the map will show that the Tennessee 
 River, after running due westward from Chattanooga for 
 twenty miles, turns abruptly, and takes an almost due 
 southerly direction, and the line of advance of Rose- 
 crans's army eastward would meet it almost at right 
 angles. The river was crossed on the last day of August 
 at three points Bridgeport, Stevenson, and Shell Mound 
 the passage being effected by the fords and one pon- 
 toon bridge. While, however, the main body of the 
 army comprising the right (McCook's Corps, the Twen- 
 tieth) and the centre (Thomas's, the Fourth) were 
 thrown over the river at the points indicated, for a flank 
 march on Chattanooga, by the south side of the river, the 
 left wing of the army (Crittenden's Corps, the Twenty- 
 first) was swung round the bend of the river, on the north 
 side, for a direct attack from that side. The task before 
 the two columns of the army, therefore, was, for the first, 
 an advance over an interval of thirty miles, between the 
 points of crossing the Tennessee and Chattanooga (a 
 country exceedingly rugged and mountainous) ; and, for 
 the second, a swinging movement, by way of the Sequat-
 
 HISTOKY OF THE GKEAT BEBELUON. 843 
 
 chie Yalley, on the front of Chattanooga. After effect- 
 ing the passage of the river, on the 31st, Rosecrans halt- 
 ed his columns, for some days, for the purpose of allow- 
 ing part of the programme of combined operations as- 
 signed to General Burnside to be further developed. 
 
 Burnside had assumed the command of the Depart- 
 ment of the Ohio in March. On the 30th of that month, 
 General Gillmore engaged and defeated a large force of 
 the enemy under Pegram, near Somerset, Kentucky. 
 Other operations consisted of an attempted raid in Harri- 
 son County, Indiana, from which the enemy were driven 
 back with a loss of fifty-three made prisoners ; and a 
 movement under Colonel Saunders, with two pieces of 
 artillery, the first Tennessee cavalry, and some detach- 
 ments from General Carter's command, by which the 
 railroad near Knoxville and the bridges at State Creek, 
 Strawberry Plains, and Mossy Creek were destroyed, 
 and ten pieces of artillery, one thousand stand of arms, 
 and five hundred prisoners were captured, with a loss of 
 one killed, two wounded, and a few missing. The depar- 
 ture of the Ninth Army Corps to re-enforce Grant delay- 
 ed somewhat Burnside's preparations for an active cam- 
 paign in East Tennessee. The necessity, however, of his 
 co-operating with the movements of Rosecrans, com- 
 pelled him to take the field without awaiting the return 
 of this corps. 
 
 At this time .Buckner was in command of the Con- 
 federate forces in East Tennessee, with his head-quarters 
 at Knoxville. His force numbered about twenty thou- 
 sand men, which was sufficient to have retarded the 
 progress of Burnside through either the Cumberland, Big 
 Creek, or Wheeler's Gap in the mountains ; but he avoid- 
 ed that route. Concentrating his forces at Crab Orchard, 
 on the southerly edge of Lincoln County, Kentucky, 
 Burnside prepared for the movement over the moun- 
 tains. 
 
 His main column moved on three routes, the objective 
 point being Kingston, which place was reached on Sep- 
 tember 1st. On the same da^y Knoxville was occupied 
 by a force under Colonel Foster, Buckner having pre- 
 viously retreated with his troops to form a junction with 
 Bragg, and General Shackelford immediately pushed for- 
 ward to secure the, costly bridge of the East Tennessee
 
 844: HI8TOKY OF THE GKEAT REBELLION. 
 
 and Georgia Railroad, which crossed the Tennessee at 
 Loudon. But it had already been destroyed by the 
 retiring rebels. Meanwhile, a small column had marched 
 from Kentucky on Cumberland Gap, held by General 
 Frazier, and Burnside, by a rapid flank march from 
 Knoxville, cut off the retreat of the garrison, which sur- 
 rendered unconditionally on September 9th. The fruits 
 of this well-executed manoeuvre were two thousand pris- 
 oners, fourteen pieces of artillery, and a quantity of 
 stores. 
 
 Bnrnside then telegraphed that he held Cumberland 
 Gap and all East Tennessee above Loudon, and also the 
 gaps of the North Carolina mountains. A cavalry force 
 was next sent towards Athens to open a communication 
 witfi Rosecrans. The main body of Burnside's army 
 was now ordered by the general-in-chief to concentrate 
 on the Tennessee River, from Loudon west, so as to con- 
 nect with Rosecrans's army, which reached Chattanooga 
 on the 9th of September. 
 
 Rosecrans now began pushing forward his columns. 
 The roads across the mountain ridges between the Ten- 
 nessee and Chattanooga had to be made practicable, and it 
 was only after prodigious labor that he succeeded in 
 reaching the valley bordering the southern slope of the 
 first ridge on the 7th of September, on which day he estab- 
 lished his head-quarters at Trenton, eight miles south of 
 the river. Meanwhile, the left wing was swung round to- 
 wards Chattanooga, on the north bank of the river. The 
 perilous position of the enemy at Chattanooga was now 
 evident. Their only line of communication with the 
 East was severed, and Rosecrans's main body at Trenton 
 was on the flank of Chattanooga. Their only line of re- 
 treat and of communication, the Western and Atlantic 
 Railroad, was seriously threatened. At the same time, a 
 body powerful enough to take care of itself, threatened 
 Chattanooga in front. Bragg, seeing himself thus in 
 danger of being completely cut off, concluded to abandon 
 Chattanooga ; and the left wing, which had in the mean 
 time moved up close to the city, passed the river into 
 Chattanooga. Bragg retreated towards Cleveland and 
 Dalton, points of the triangle of railroads formed by the 
 two branches of the Western and Atlantic, which 
 diverge at Dalton and strike the Virginia and East Ten-
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 845 
 
 nessee Railroad, the one at Cleveland, the other at Chat- 
 tanooga Junction. At this time the authorities at Wash- 
 ington were led to believe that Lee was receiving re-en- 
 forcements from Bragg. The slight resistance made by 
 the enemy in East Tennessee, and his abandonment with- 
 out defence of such an important position as Chattanooga, 
 rendered plausible the reports of spies and deserters from 
 Lee's army, that re-enforcements were arriving there. 
 Fearing, therefore, that Rosecrans's army might be drawn 
 too far into the mountains of Georgia, where it could not 
 be supplied, and might be attacked before re-enforce- 
 ments could reach it from Burnside, Halleck sent orders 
 to Rosecrans to hold the mountain passes west of Dalton, 
 and to ascertain whether Bragg was re-enforcing Lee. 
 The troops of Hurlbut on Rosecrans's right now crossed 
 the Tennessee River towards Whitesburg to protect Nash- 
 ville, and, if necessary, troops could be drawn from Sher- 
 man, at Vicksburg. 
 
 The occupation of Yicksburg by the Union forces had 
 placed the troops of Johnston at the disposal of the Con- 
 federates, arid part of them, about this time, united with 
 Bragg. Suspecting this, Halleck, on September 13th, 
 telegraphed to Sherman as follows : 
 
 " It is quite possible that Bragg and Johnston will move through. North- 
 ern Alabama, to the Tennessee River, to turn General Rosecrans's right 
 and cut off his communications. All of General Grant's available forces 
 should be sent to Memphis, thence to Corinth and Tuscumbia, to co-operate 
 with Rosecrans, should the rebels attempt that movement" 
 
 
 
 By the occupation of Cumberland Gap and Chatta- 
 nooga, the Federal troops now not only covered the 
 entire States of Tennessee and Kentucky, but secured a 
 base of inland operations against Alabama, Georgia, and 
 South Carolina. Two-thirds of the nitre-beds, and a large 
 proportion of the coal which supplied the rebel founderies, 
 lay in East Tennessee, which, moreover, abounded in the 
 necessaries of life. It is one of the strongest countries in 
 the world, so full of lofty mountains, that it has been 
 called, not unaptly, the Switzerland of America. Its loss 
 was felt to be a severe blow. 
 
 On the 14th of September, the enemy had concen- 
 trated his forces near Lafayette, Georgia, to dispute the 
 further advance of Rosecrans. His threatened movement
 
 846 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 to the right and left proved to be merely cavalry raids to 
 cut Roseerans's lines of supplies, and menace his commu- 
 nication with Burnside. His main army had been re- 
 enforced by troops from Johnston in Mississippi, and by 
 the prisoners captured at Vicksburg and Port Hudson, 
 and released on parole, but who had been declared by the 
 Confederate authorities to be exchanged. 
 
 The line of Rosecrans's army extended at this time from 
 Gordon's Mills to Alpine, a distance of some forty miles, 
 occupying the passes of Lookout Mountain. By Wed- 
 nesday, the 16th of September, the army had been con- 
 centrated on West Chickamauga Creek, about ten or 
 twelve miles northwest of Lafayette, Georgia, head-quar- 
 ters being established at a place named Crawfish Spring. 
 An attempt of our advance to debouch through the passes 
 of Pigeon Mountain, to continue the march southward, 
 showed that the enemy held a strong position in our im- 
 mediate front, beyond the Creek. Rosecrans held the 
 rising ground west of the stream (his left resting on Gor- 
 don's Mills), while the enemy held a similar position east 
 of it. The intervening stream would of course serve the 
 enemy to mask their movements, and it became necessary 
 for Rosecrans to watch with extreme wariness what their 
 designs might be. Reconnoissances on the 17th and 18th 
 showed that Bragg was moving up parallel with the 
 creek, massing his troops in front of Rosecrans's left cen- 
 tre and left, with the manifest purpose of executing a 
 turning movement that would place him between the 
 Union army a*nd Chattanooga. To meet this, the Union 
 
 feneral effected a corresponding movement of his force 
 y the left flank, wheeling the whole army back down 
 the creek. During the night of the 18th, Thomas's Corps 
 (Fourteenth), forming the centre of the army, together 
 with Johnson's Division of McCook's Corps, had moved 
 to the left, past Crittenden's, thus becoming the left wing 
 of the army, and making Crittenden's Corps (the Twenty- 
 first) the centre. The two other divisions of McCook's 
 Corps (Davis's and Sheridan's) were to move into the 
 position abandoned by Thomas's Corps, but had not time 
 to assume it fully before the commencement of the action 
 of Saturday morning, the 19th. 
 
 On the morning of Saturday, the Union line of battle, 
 as formed, ran along the Rossville and Lafayette roads
 
 STORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 847 
 
 due north and south, the right resting at Gordon's Mills, 
 the left at Kelly's House. On the extreme left was Bran- 
 nan, next Baird and Reynolds, with Johnson in reserve 
 in the centre, Palmer on the right of Reynolds, Van 
 Cleve on his, and "Wood at Gordon's Mills. The line, 
 completed by Davis' s and Sheridan's Divisions, faced a 
 little south of east. Negley formed a defensive crotchet 
 at Owen's Ford, higher up the valley. Detached from- 
 this line, covering the Ringgold approach to Rossville, 
 the reserve corps, under General Gordon Granger, was 
 stationed, but, not operating with the main column, can 
 hardly be said to have formed part of the line of battle. 
 
 On the 18th, the Confederate army, which had been 
 marching through stifling beds of dust and crumbling 
 rock since the 14th, crossed West Chickamauga Creek, 
 and upon the morning of the 19th the only accession of 
 strength which Bragg had received from Virginia con- 
 sisted of three brigades under General Hood. The troops 
 of Longstreet had not then arrived. 
 
 At 10 A. M., IjJrannan. on the extreme left, attacked the 
 enemy with the view of driving him over the creek. The 
 battle, although it lasted until nightfall, was little more 
 than a struggle for position, maintained by the Confed- 
 erates with a view to holding the ground where they 
 stood, and by the Federals with a view of driving the 
 enemy across the stream. It resulted in a drawn battle, 
 both armies at the close of the day occupying the same 
 ground they held in the morning. The strength of the 
 encounter fell upon the divisions of Van Cleve and Davis, 
 of Crittenderi's Corps, on the Federal side ; and upon the 
 Confederate side, on the troops of Cleburne, an Irishman 
 by bir.th, and once a private in the English army, who 
 had risen to the rank of major-general in the rebel army. 
 
 During the night of Saturday, General Rosecrans made 
 some changes in the disposition of his forces, by which 
 the line was so far withdrawn that it rested along a cross- 
 road running northeast and southwest, and connecting 
 the Rossville with the Lafayette road. By this change 
 the line was contracted by a mile, and the right wing 
 caused to rest on a strong position at Mission Ridge. As 
 before, Thomas held the left, Crittenden the centre, 
 McCook the right. Upon the right of General Thomas's 
 line, as held by Reynolds and Brannan, was a slight rise
 
 848 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 in the plain, and from the top of this the whole field 
 could be commanded. It was the key to the position. 
 During the night Thomas's troops had built a rude breast- 
 work of logs and rails for their protection. General Lytle 
 held Gordon's Mills. 
 
 At 11 o'clock on the night of the 19th, Longstreet* 
 reached the head-quarters of Bragg, and was immediately 
 put in command of the left wing of the Confederate 
 army. Of his own corps, as it stood in Virginia, he had 
 Benning's, Lane's, and Robertson's Brigades of Hood's 
 Division, and Kershaw's and Humphrey's, of McLaws's 
 Division. There were added, however, to his command 
 the corps of General Buckner, including the divisions of 
 Generals Preston and Stewart, and also, outside of Buck- 
 ner's command, the divisions of Generals Hindman, Wal- 
 ker, and Bushrod Johnston. The right was composed of 
 Hill's Corps, of two divisions, under Cleburne and Breck- 
 inridge ; with the division of Cheatham, of Folk's Corps, 
 and the division of W. H. T. "Walker. The disposition 
 of the whole rebel army from right to left was Breckin- 
 ridge, Cleburne, Cheatham, Stewart, Hood, Hindman, 
 Preston. 
 
 Bragg's plan of battle (the same which he invariably 
 
 * James Longstreet was born in South Carolina about 1820, and gradu- 
 ated at West Point in 1842. He was brevetted captain and major for gal- 
 lant conduct in the Mexican war, and at the outbreak of the rebellion held 
 the position of paymaster, with the rank of major. Having joined the Se- 
 cession movement, he commanded a brigade at the first battle of Bull Run, 
 after which he was commissioned a majcr-general in the rebel army. Early 
 in the spring of 1862 he was ordered to the Peninsula, and from the com- 
 mencement of the siege of Yorktown to the battle of Malvern Hills, he was 
 in almost every action. He commanded the rebel troops at the battle of 
 WilHamsburg, May 5th, 1862. In the second Bull Run cnmpaign, and in 
 the invasion of Maryland, terminating with the battle of Antietarri, ho com- 
 manded a corps, and rendered valuable service. He commanded the rebel 
 left, with the rank of lieutenant-general, at Fredericksburg ; and in Febru- 
 ary, 1863, was sent to besiege Suffolk, Va., from which place he was re- 
 called, after a fruitless campaign, to re-enforce Lee, in May. He commanded 
 one of the three corps of Lee's army which invaded Maryland and Pennsyl- 
 vania in that summer, and had an important part in the battle of Gettys- 
 burg. In September, he was sent to re-enforce Bragg, and greatly con- 
 tributed to the rebel victory at Chickamauga, after which he was detached 
 to capture Knoxville and drive Burnside out of East Tennessee, in which 
 he utterly failed. In April, 1864, he united his troops once more with the 
 army of Lee, and was so severely wounded at the battle of the Wilderness, 
 May 6th, aa to be incapacitated for service until the following October. 
 He held command of his corps during the winter of 1864-'65, and was 
 included in the capitulation of Lee to Grant.
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 849 
 
 pursued, was to attack along his whole line, commencing 
 on his right, and allowing the attack to be taken up suc- 
 cessively by division after division, until it reached the 
 extreme left. Accordingly, Polk was ordered to com- 
 mence the attack at daybreak of the 20th, but, owing to 
 some unforeseen difficulties, this did not take place until 
 nine o'clock, when Breckinridge and Cleburne opened 
 upon Thomas's* command. The battle soon raged furi- 
 ously along this part of the field, but the veteran troops 
 of Thomas held their ground against the utmost efforts 
 of the enemy. Again and again the rebels, advancing 
 en echelon by brigade from the cover of the woods into the 
 open field, charged with impetuous fury and terrific yells 
 towards the breastwork of logs and rails ; but each time 
 the fiery blasts from our batteries and battalions swept 
 over and around them, and their ranks were crumbled 
 and swept away. In the mean time, Longstreet had, at 
 eleven o'clock, commenced his attack on the Union left 
 wing. Steadily advancing, he swept away the head of 
 every formation ; though often checked, and for the mo- 
 ment repulsed, again and again he rode at the head of his 
 troops, and, hat in hand, rising in his stirrups, with voice 
 and gesture animated his men. The Western troops 
 were brave and hardy men, the material of as fine an 
 
 * George Henry Thomas was born in Southampton County, Ya., in 1816, 
 and graduated at West Point in 1840. He entered the service as brevet 
 second lieutenant of the Third Artillery ; served in the Florida war, and 
 was brevetted first lieutenant, and for gallant conduct in the Mexican war 
 was brevetted captain and major. In 1851-'54> he was instructor of artil- 
 lery and cavalry at West Point, and he subsequently saw much active ser- 
 vice in the West. In May, 1861, he was appointed colonel of the Fifth 
 Cavalry, and in August a brigadier-general of volunteers. He defeated 
 Zollicoffer at the battle of Mill Spring, or Somerset, January 19th,. 1862; 
 was appointed major-general of volunteers in the succeeding April, and 
 during the summer commanded a wing of the Army of the Tennessee. He- 
 commanded the centre of the Army of the Cumberland at the battle of 
 Stone Eiver, participated in the advance upon and occupation of Chatta- 
 nooga, and at the battle of Chickamauga saved the Union army from de- 
 struction. In October, he was appointed to the Department of the Cum- 
 berland, and assumed command of the army at Chattanooga, and he had 
 an important share in the victory of November 25th at that place- He- 
 participated in Sherman's campaign, ending in the capture of Atlanta, in 
 September, 1864, and was then ordere<J to Nashville, where, on December 
 15th and 16th, he practically annihilated the army of Hood, in a series of 
 battles, which may be said to have ended the war in the West. He is now 
 a brigadier-general in the regular army, and commands the military division 
 of the Tennessee. 
 
 52
 
 850 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 army as ever shouldered musket, but could not check the 
 attack of Longstreet, who was pressing right on for the 
 possession of Chattanooga. To meet this danger, Eose- 
 crans, having disposed of Polk on his left, commenced to 
 move troops rapidly from left to right. Wood was 
 ordered to go instantly to the relief of Reynolds, who 
 was hard pressed by Longstreet, while Davis and Sheri- 
 dan were to shift over to the left and thus close up the 
 line. Wood, though fiercely assaulted, succeeded in 
 reaching his destination. The Confederate General Wal- 
 ker, observing this march from left to right, sent intelli- 
 gence of it to Longstreet, who immediately ordered for- 
 ward Buckner, with twelve pieces. This force fell 
 heavily upon Davis, who was coming up to fill Wood's 
 place, and who, being thus attacked with great sudden- 
 ness and fury, was pushed to the right in utter disorder, 
 losing many men. 
 
 Meanwhile, Van Cleve and Palmer's Divisions, exposed 
 by the witndrawal of Davis, were attacked with equal 
 vehemence on the right, and forced back in great confu- 
 sion. The rout of the right and centre was now com- 
 plete, and, after that fatal break, the line of battle was 
 not again re-formed during the day. The army was in 
 fact cut in two McCook, with Davis, Sheridan, and 
 Wilder, being thrown off to the right, and Crittenden, 
 except one brigade of Wood's, being broken in pieces. 
 But before the interference of Buckner, Thomas had 
 crossed from left to right, and in the afternoon deter- 
 minedly faced Longstreet, taking his stand upon the bare 
 and bluff termination of Missionary Ridge, upon which he 
 had thrown up breastworks, and which, as being the last 
 stronghold south of the Chattanooga works, he held 
 with indomitable courage against the assaults of the 
 enemy. 
 
 His line was so formed that the left, resting upon the 
 Lafayette road, and the right at the Gap, represented an 
 arc of a circle, and a southeast hill about its centre 
 formed the key to the position. Here were collected the 
 troops who had so successfully repulsed the rebel right in 
 the forenoon, together with fragments of Sheridan's and 
 other divisions, which had been partially rallied. Against 
 this position Longstreet now directed his battalions. 
 That general's onward career had not been checked
 
 HISTORY OF THE GEE AT REBELLION. 851 
 
 during the day. Commencing with his line running 
 northeast and southwest, he had gradually swung round 
 until it ran due east and west, and comprised within its 
 control the main road to Chattanooga ; and at nightfall, 
 having described all but a circle, he found his lines again 
 stretching almost in the same direction as in the morning, 
 but with their backs turned at night towards the point 
 whither their faces looked at daybreak. It was shortly 
 after the troops had gained the Chattanooga road that 
 General Hood, riding in front with his men, was struck 
 by a Minie bullet, which shattered his thigh-bone four 
 inches below the hip. Longstreet ordered Kershaw, of 
 McLaws's Division, to attack Missionary Ridge in front. 
 He came forward with great vehemence, but sustained a 
 terrible repulse. About half-past three p. M. the enemy 
 discovered a gap in the Union right flank, and began pour- 
 ing his columns through the opening. At this crisis 
 Granger reached the field with his reserves, and by great 
 exertions pushed the rebels back from the gap. The 
 fight now raged around the hill with redoubled fury. 
 General Thomas formed his troops in two lines, and as 
 each marched up to the crest and fired a deadly volley 
 at the advancing foe, it fell back a little way, the men 
 lay down upon the ground to load, and the second line ad- 
 vanced to take their place, and so on in succession. An 
 attack by Hindman met the same fate as that of Kershaw. 
 This was 'followed by the division of Preston, a portion 
 of which deployed in line and ascended the hill in 
 face of a fire which caused them to reel and stagger. 
 After a moment's hesitation they again came forward 
 with fixed bayonets, but were again driven back with 
 loss. Finding every effort to carry the Union position 
 of no avail, the rebels fell back at dusk beyond the range 
 of our artillery, and Thomas was left master of the well- 
 fought field. As most of the troops of McCook and Crit- 
 tenden had by this time retired within the defences of 
 Chattanooga, Thomas fell back during the night to Koss- 
 ville, where, during the 21st, he offered battle to the 
 enemy, who, however, declined to renew the contest. 
 Accordingly, on the night of the 21st, he withdrew his 
 troops into Chattanooga. 
 The Union loss in this battle was :
 
 852 
 
 HISTORY OF THE GKEAT REBELLION. 
 
 THOMAS. FOURTEENTH COEPS. 
 
 Officers. 
 
 Killed 36 
 
 Wounded. 206 
 
 Missing 127 
 
 369 
 
 Men. 
 
 635 
 
 3,277 
 
 2,000 
 
 6,932 
 
 M'COOK. SECOND 
 
 Officers. 
 
 Killed 40 
 
 "Wounded. 168 
 
 Missing 77 
 
 285 
 
 Men. 
 
 363 
 
 2,367 
 
 1,503 
 
 4,233 
 
 Total. 
 
 671 
 
 3,503 
 
 2,127 
 
 6,301 
 
 Total. 
 
 403 
 
 2,535 
 
 1,580 
 
 4,518 
 
 CRITTENDEN. TWENTY-FIBST COUPS. 
 
 Officers. 
 
 Killed 39 
 
 Wounded 131 
 
 Missing 22 
 
 192 
 
 Men. 
 
 296 
 
 2,157 
 
 655 
 
 3,108 
 
 GRANGER. RESERVE CORPS. 
 
 Officers. 
 
 Killed. 16 
 
 Wounded 59 
 
 Missing 54 
 
 129 
 
 Officers. 
 
 Killed 131 
 
 Wounded. 564 
 
 Missing 280 
 
 975 
 
 TOTAL. 
 
 Men. 
 219 
 877 
 507 
 
 1,603 
 
 Men. 
 1,513 
 8,698 
 4,665 
 
 14,866 
 
 3,290 
 
 Total 
 235 
 936 
 561 
 
 1,732 
 
 Total 
 1,644 
 9,262 
 4,945 
 
 15,851 
 
 They also lost thirty-six gnus, twenty caissons, and 
 several thousand small-arms and infantry accoutrements, 
 and captured over two thousand prisoners. The rebels 
 suffered even more severely than their opponents, and 
 their total loss, as stated by themselves, exceeded eighteen 
 thousand. 
 
 It is now very well known that the rebels largely out- 
 numbered the Union army in this battle. The following
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 853 
 
 extract from a letter by General Rosecrans shows how 
 great was their advantage in numbers : 
 
 " "We have five independent ways of arriving at the fact that we fought 
 against terrible odds there : 
 
 " 1st. This was the opinion of the corps and division commanders, none 
 of whom were bad judges. 
 
 " 2d. The enemy reports a loss of eighteen thousand seven hundred 
 (18,700) killed and wounded; and admits his loss to have been twenty per 
 cent, of his entire command a very large loss which gave him ninety- 
 three thousand five hundred at Chickamauga. 
 
 " 3d. Bragg had thirty-two thousand troops when driven from his in- 
 trenched camp at Shelbyville and Tallahooma, across the mountains and 
 the Tennessee. Buckner joined him with about ten thousand troops from 
 East Tennessee, Johnston with about twenty-five thousand, and Longstreet 
 with about twenty-five thousand more, giving again ninety-two thousand 
 as his whole force. 
 
 " 4th. General Grant and several of his subordinates estimate the force 
 fought at Mission Ridge at from forty-five thousand to fifty thousand. Add 
 twenty -five thousand for Longstreet's army, which had previously left, and 
 was then in front of Knoxville, and eighteen thousand for those put hors de 
 combat at Chickamauga, and it gives eighty-eight thousand. 
 
 " 5th. A Union merchant of Chattanooga, who was at Marietta when 
 the foe were advancing on us, tried to send me word, and subsequently 
 saw and told me that the enemy had re-enforced Bragg with thirty thousand 
 under Longstreet, and twenty-five thousand under Joe Johnston, in addi- 
 tion to which Governor Brown had fifteen thousand Georgia militia ; and so 
 confident were they of overwhelming us, that the Kentucky and Tennessee 
 rebel refugees at Marietta had hired conveyances and loaded their house- 
 hold goods, expecting to follow their victorious hosts back into Tennessee 
 and Kentucky. 
 
 " I could add much more corroborative evidence to show that the brave 
 and devoted Army of the Cumberland sustained and successfully resisted 
 the utmost power of a veteran rebel army, filled with the spirit of emula- 
 tion and hope, and more than one-half larger than itself; inflicted on it 
 much more damage than we received, and held the coveted objective point, 
 Chattanooga. 
 
 " What we attempted we accomplished. We took Chattanooga from a 
 force nearly as large as our own, and held it after our enemy had been re- 
 enforced by as many men as we had in our whole command. 
 
 " W. S. ROSECRANS, Major- General." 
 
 After Rosecrans's retreat to Chattanooga, the passes 
 of Lookout Mountain, which covered his communication 
 with Bridgeport, and were necessary to secure the trans- 
 portation of supplies to the Union army, were occupied 
 by the enemy, who also sent a force across the Tennessee 
 River, and captured McMinnville, thus almost completely 
 isolating Rosecrans from his base. 
 
 This battle of Chickamauga, as it is called, was one of 
 the most bloody of the war, and, without accomplishing 
 any important results in relation to the great contest, was
 
 854: HISTORY OF THE GEEAT REBELLION. 
 
 fatal to the commanders on both sides. The Federal 
 commander lost a high reputation and the confidence of 
 his Government, by the faulty dispositions which led to a 
 defeat more signal than any other of the war, except the 
 first Bull Eun. The rebel commander lost an influence 
 which had been waning since Murfreesboro, through his 
 inexplicable inactivity on the Monday following his 
 victory, whereby all the fruits of the contest were thrown 
 away. On both sides, the public dissatisfaction caused 
 by their conduct produced, ultimately, a change of com- 
 manders. It may be well, therefore, to look back at the 
 career of each, and the circumstances of the campaign 
 to which Chickamauga formed the termination. 
 
 The origin of the Army of the Cumberland was a small 
 body of Kentucky volunteers, assembled under Colonel, 
 afterwards General, Rousseau, near Louisville, in the 
 spring of 1861. In the succeeding summer, the military 
 Department of the Ohio was organized, and given to 
 General Robert Anderson, of Fort Sumter fame. On the 
 llth of August, it was extended over the whole State of 
 Kentucky and the State of Tennessee, and was designated 
 the Department of the Cumberland. In October, Gen- 
 eral W. T. Sherman took command, Anderson's health 
 failing. In November, Sherman was relieved by Buell, 
 and the limits and title of the Department were again 
 changed to the Department of the Ohio. In November, 
 1862, there was a new arrangement of departments and 
 of commanders. Tennessee, east of Tennessee River, and 
 Northern Alabama and Georgia, were made a depart- 
 ment, under the revived name of the Department of the 
 Cumberland, into which Kentucky was again transferred. 
 The department remained the same under Rosecrans. 
 
 It will be remembered that when Beauregard retreated 
 silently and successfully, some time after the battle of 
 Shiloh, from Corinth, leaving Halleck, who was then 
 facing him, as ignorant of his movements as was the rest 
 of the North, he fell back with what remained of his 
 army to Tupelo, in Mississippi. Shortly afterwards 
 Beauregard's health gave way, and Bragg took his place. 
 Bragg found the army which had at one time been the 
 finest force, numerically, which the Confederates ever 
 had in the field, reduced to forty thousand men, in tho 
 worst possible condition of discipline, decimated by de-
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 855 
 
 sertion consequent upon Beauregard's long inaction at 
 Corinth, and swept by disease. It was an occasion for 
 the display of many of the finest qualities of a general, 
 as a promoter of discipline, and an organizer of imperfect 
 or broken-down army departments; and everybody con- 
 fessed that Bragg was equal to the occasion. He 
 exhibited much of that firmness and indifference to 
 popularity wliich are so rare among republican generals, 
 took upon his own shoulders the odium of causing some 
 twelve or fifteen men to be shot without court-martial ; 
 and finally, by the total expulsion of whiskey from his 
 camp, and by divers other salutary measures, restored 
 his army to a higher degree of discipline and efficiency 
 than it had ever before attained, with this reorganized 
 army he operated with great success against the Army of 
 the Cumberland, under Buell, in the autumn of 1862, 
 up to which time Bragg had not ceased to rise in repu- 
 tation. 
 
 It was then, however, that General Rosecrans, having 
 defeated Van Dorn and Prince at Corinth, was transferred 
 to the command of the Army of the Cumberland. The 
 condition of that army was not unlike that of Beaure- 
 gard's when Bragg succeeded to it. Its ranks had been 
 thinned by disease, battle, and the nameless vicissitudes 
 of war. In every respect it was largely overestimated. 
 Nearly seven thousand of its number had deserted. More 
 than twenty-six thousand were absent by authority. The 
 consolidated semi-rnonthly reports for November 15th, 
 two weeks subsequent to the change of commanders, 
 show that a total of thirty-two thousand nine hundred 
 and sixty-six officers and men at least one-third of the 
 the whole army were absent from their command ! The 
 army was composed in about equal proportions of veteran 
 soldiers and raw recruits. The former were poorly clad 
 and equipped, the latter were inexperienced in drill and 
 discipline, with officers often ignorant, and sometimes in- 
 competent. To sum up, briefly, the spirit of the army 
 was broken, its confidence destroyed, its discipline 
 relaxed, its courage weakened, and its hopes shattered. 
 Such were the peculiar circumstances under which Kose- 
 crans assumed command. The condition to which he 
 soon brought it was well illustrated by its stubborn 
 courage in the hard-fought battle of Stone River.
 
 856 
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 The two generals had been successful in reorganizing 
 their armies, but lost their prestige when those armies 
 were brought into contact. Rosecrans has been blamed 
 for fighting this battle, and a review of the campaign 
 will show that, even if he could not have avoided an en- 
 gagement, he might have fought it under more favorable 
 circumstances. 
 
 "When it was determined to cross the Tennessee River 
 west of Chattanooga, it became necessary for the army, 
 after effecting the passage of the river, to cross the Sand 
 or Raccoon Mountain, which is the first range south of 
 the Tennessee River. Lookout Mountain was then the 
 great barrier between them and Chattanooga. This 
 mountain is some sixteen hundred feet above the level of 
 the surrounding country, is fifty miles in length, and ends 
 abruptly on the Tennessee, three or four miles west of 
 Chattanooga. For forty miles it has but three passes 
 practicable for the passage of an army, and those very 
 difficult; one at the point of the mountain, near Chat- 
 tanooga, one at Stevens's Gap, twenty-five miles south, 
 and one at Winston's, forty miles from Chattanooga. 
 
 The plan of the campaign was to hold the rebels in 
 check at Chattanooga, by a small force, sent for the pur- 
 pose, up the north side of the river, opposite the place 
 where the main body of the army, crossing Lookout 
 Mountain by Stevens's and Winston's Gaps, should get 
 in their rear, destroy their lines of communication, and 
 either besiege them in Chattanooga, or force a battle on 
 advantageous ground. To prevent the rebels from send- 
 ing a force from Chattanooga, by the pass around the 
 point of Lookout Mountain, into Lookout Valley, to in- 
 terrupt or destroy our lines of communication with our 
 depots at Bridgeport and Stevenson, Crittenden's Corps 
 was sent down Lookout Valley, to near the foot of Look- 
 out Mountain, which latter was held by the enemy with 
 infantry and artillery. The corps of Thomas and McCook 
 were moved rapidly up Lookout Valley, and across Look- 
 out Mountain, the former by Cooper's and Stevens's, the 
 latter by Winston's Gap. As soon as this movement was 
 known to Bragg, who, as yet, had not received the bulk 
 of his expected re-enforcements, it became evident to him 
 that if he remained in Chattanooga the army of Rosecrans 
 would get between him and his expected re-enforcements,
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 857 
 
 and whip them in detail, besides taking possession of his 
 lines of communication, without which he could not sub- 
 sist his army a week. 
 
 The evacuation of Chattanooga by the rebels was there- 
 fore a necessity. Bragg fell back rapidly, and evidently 
 with the intention of retreating on Rome. Crittenden, 
 discovering the evacuation, moved his corps into Chatta- 
 nooga by the pass around the point of Lookout, and moved 
 out in pursuit of the enemy. Facts soon began to be dis- 
 covered which led to the belief that the enemy had not 
 retreated far. A cavalry reconnoissance on the extreme 
 right, to Alpine, rendered it certain that they had not 
 retreated on Rome, but were concentrating at Lafayette, 
 and receiving re-enforcements, and that it was their inten- 
 tion to endeavor to retake Chattanooga. 
 
 Crittenden's Corps, at this juncture, holding a position 
 on the Chickamauga, near Gordon's Mill, confronted the 
 entire rebel army. Thomas's Corps was at the eastern 
 foot of Lookout Mountain, and McCook was at Winston's 
 Gap, the distance from Crittenden's position, at Gordon's 
 Mill, to McCook's right, near Winston's, being upward 
 of forty miles, while, from the best information gathered 
 from all sources, it appeared that the enemy were rapidly 
 concentrating, and might attack Crittenden before the 
 remainder of the army could be brought within support- 
 ing distance. It was therefore necessary, in order to 
 cover Chattanooga, for Rosecrans to concentrate his army 
 rapidly, arid in the face of the enemy. It was while this 
 was being done that the rebels attempted to turn his left 
 flank, and obtain possession of the roads in his rear lead- 
 ing to Chattanooga : in the attempt to prevent this the 
 battle was brought on. It was absolutely necessary, 
 under the circumstances, to secure the possession of Chat- 
 tanooga, which, it is very evident, Bragg never intended 
 to permit us to hold. It was a common matter of won- 
 der, when the Union army first occupied the place, why 
 Bragg left so many public buildings standing, all his Hos- 
 pital buildings and depots, and two steamboats at the 
 landing, all of which he would naturally have destroyed 
 in evacuating the place with the intention of leaving it 
 for any considerable time in our possession. 
 
 Could General Rosecrans have concentrated his army 
 at Chattanooga, avoiding a battle meanwhile, the contest
 
 858 HI8TOKY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 would undoubtedly have taken place there, instead of on 
 Chickamauga Creek. "Whether the results of such a 
 battle would have been more advantageous to our arms, 
 or not, is a question difficult to answer.
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 859 
 
 CHAPTER XLYII. 
 
 Inaction of Bragg. His Position. His Indecision. Rosecrans Recruit- 
 ing. Storms. Hooker Arrives. Grant Ordered up. He Supersedes 
 Rosecrans. Thomas in Command of Department. Position of the Ar- 
 my. Movement to open River. Defeat of the Enemy. Sherman's 
 March. Combat. Change of Route. Burnside's Position. Longstreet 
 Detached from Bragg. Siege of Knoxville. Burnside Hard Pressed. 
 Bragg Weakened. Grant Attacks. The Movement Successful. Sher- 
 man Relieves Buruside. Retreat of Longstreet. 
 
 AFTER the battle of Chickamauga the opposing armies 
 remained for a long time inactive. The enemy's forces 
 continued before Chattanooga, where Rosecrans was, re- 
 ceiving re-enforcements. Bragg employed means to cut 
 off supplies coining to the Federal army by the direct 
 route, while his main army, strongly re-enforced on the 
 20th and 21st, held a line from Bridgeport to Cleveland. 
 Longstreet occupied the extreme left on the Tennessee 
 River, from Bridgeport to Trenton, Johnston the centre 
 at Lafayette, holding Lookout Mountain, and Bragg the 
 right at Dalton, with his right at Cleveland. His cavalry, 
 under Wheeler, foraged in Rosecrans's rear, and captured 
 the train of the Fourteenth Corps. Some eight hundred 
 wagons and two thousand mules were captured and de- 
 stroyed. Most of the supplies for the Army of the Cum- 
 berland were carried over the mountains by pack-mules, 
 on account of the difficult transportation. The trains were 
 much annoyed by rebel sharpshooters between Bridgeport 
 and Chattanooga, who daily picked off teamsters, mules, 
 and horses, and so closely was the Union army pressed 
 that rations began to fall short in Chattanooga. 
 
 The long inaction of Bragg greatly demoralized his 
 army. Two days after the battle it was agreed, unani- 
 mously, by a council of war, that the Confederate army 
 should strike en masse in the direction of Knoxville. But 
 scarcely had the division generals commenced the execu- 
 tion of this resolve, when Bragg announced that he had 
 changed his plan, and the army sat down, and continued
 
 860 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 for nearly three weeks enveloping the town of Chattanooga 
 and the treble lines which surrounded it. 
 
 In the mean time, Rosecrans was reorganizing his troops, 
 and working industriously with the spade to strengthen 
 the defences, besides securing his lines of communication 
 and accumulating supplies. These operations were, how- 
 ever, greatly retarded by the storms of an. unusually wet 
 autumn. On the 23d of September, the Eleventh and 
 Twelfth Corps of the Army of the Potomac were detached 
 under Hooker to re-enforce Rosecrans, and were assigned 
 for the protection of the line of communication between 
 Bridgeport and Nashville. 
 
 While these events were occurring, such of the forces of 
 Grant at Vicksburg and elsewhere in the Southwest as were 
 available, were put in motion for Tennessee, and Grant 
 himself, who was then at New Orleans, was ordered to take 
 command of the army in Tennessee. He arrived at Louis- 
 ville October 18th, and issued General Orders, No. 1 : 
 
 "HEAD-QUARTERS MILITARY DIVISION OF THE MISSISSIPPI, ) 
 "LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY, October 18, 1863. f 
 "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." 
 
 On the 19th, Rosecrans took leave of the army, and 
 Major-General George H. Thomas was placed in com- 
 mand of the Department of the Cumberland, and "W. T. 
 Sherman of that of the Tennessee. The two corps of 
 McCook and Crittenden, the Twentieth and Twenty-first, 
 consolidated into one, and designated the Fourth, were 
 assigned to Gordon Granger. 
 
 At this time Sherman was yet on the route from Mem- 
 phis, and Hooker, with his two corps, had just arrived at 
 Bridgeport, opposite the points held by Longstreet. The 
 army occupying Chattanooga had its right at Chatta- 
 nooga Creek, near the base of Lookout Mountain, and 
 the left at Citico Creek. The picket lines followed these 
 two creeks for some distance, and then passed across the 
 low grounds between, which lie also between the foot of
 
 HISTOKY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 861 
 
 Missionary Ridge and the high grounds about the town 
 upon which the defensive works were constructed. These 
 works were connected by a strong line of rifle-pits. Be- 
 hind this line and around the town the greater portion of 
 the army was bivouacked, for very littfe camp equipage 
 was to be had. This was the only point held by a Federal 
 force south of the river, while the north side was occupied 
 with troops stationed to guard the points above. The 
 base of the army at Chattanooga was at Stevenson and 
 Bridgeport, and was supplied from depots at Louisville 
 and Nashville by a single track of railroad. The south 
 side of the river, however, from Lookout Mountain to 
 Bridgeport, was in possession of the en,emy, and the river 
 road on the north side was rendered impassable by their 
 sharpshooters stationed on the opposite bank. It was 
 thus necessary to bring all supplies to the army over a 
 distance of fifty or sixty miles, taking the road from 
 Bridgeport up the Sequatchie Valley, over the mountains 
 into the Anderson road, thence to Chattanooga. The 
 Tennessee was crossed by pontoon bridges, constructed 
 from such materials as the forest and the town could 
 afford. The storms rendered the roads nearly impassable, 
 and the army was in danger of starvation. 
 
 As it was very desirable to open the river and restore 
 the transportation of supplies by that channel, General 
 Thomas devised a plan having this object in view. 
 Hooker, who held the right at Bridgeport, was ordered, 
 on October 27th, to cross the Tennessee at that point, and 
 demonstrate against the enemy's left flank, in Lookout 
 Valley. At the same time a force under General Hazen 
 passed the river at Brown's Ferry, below the city, where 
 pontoons had been skilfully laid by General W. F. Smith, 
 and began ascending Lookout Mountain, which was soon 
 taken, the enemy giving way with very slight opposition. 
 When Hazen passed the river and marched up the point of 
 Lookout Mountain, the retreat of the enemy's forces in that 
 direction was cut off, and they could only retire up the val- 
 ley towards Trenton, Georgia, some twenty miles, thus 
 making a long detour before they could join the main reb- 
 el army. This force consisted of two brigades of infantry 
 and one battery. Hooker crossed the river at Bridgeport 
 and moved up, uniting with the force at Brown's Ferry, 
 This opened the river, the road to Kelly's Ferry, and the
 
 862 HISTORY OF THE GKEAT REBELLION. 
 
 direct road to Bridgeport, as well as the river road on the 
 north side around the bend. This successful movement is 
 thus described by a spectator in the camp of the enemy : 
 
 " The enemy were several miles distant, and the smoke of their bivouac 
 fires, resting above the tree-tops, indicated a halt. Subsequently the 
 column resumed its motion, and during the afternoon the long, dark, 
 thread-like line of troops became visible, slowly wending their way in the 
 direction, of Chattanooga. On Lookout Peak, gazing down upon the singu- 
 lar spectacle a coup d'(eil which embraced in curious contrast the beauties 
 of nature and the achievements of art, the blessings of peace and the hor- 
 rors of war were Generals Bragg, Longstreet, and others, to whom this 
 bold venture of the enemy opened at once new vistas of thought and action. 
 Infantry, artillery, and cavalry, all glided silently by, like a procession of 
 fantocini in a panorama, until, among all the 'sundown's sumptuous pic- 
 tures ' which glowed around us. there was not one like that of the great, 
 fresh, bustling camp, suddenly grown into view, with its thousand twinkling 
 lights, its groups of men and animals, and its lines of white-topped wagons, 
 now strung like a necklace of pearls around the bosom of the hills. The Fed- 
 erals had succeeded in effecting a junction with the Army of Chattanooga. 
 
 " The question which naturally arises is, why did not General Bragg 
 . throw his army in front of the advancing columns and check the movement ? 
 'The answer is in the shape of one of those stolid facts which even strategy 
 cannot always stir. On Monday night, General Thomas or perhaps 
 Grant, for he is now in Chattanooga crossed a force of six thousnnd men. 
 first over the Tennessee at the edge of the town, then over the neck 
 of land known as the Moccasin, and finally over the river again at 
 Brown's Ferry, in rear oi' Chattanooga, where, after a brief skirmish with 
 one of our regiments, they took possession of the hills and commenced the 
 work of fortification. Simultaneously with this movement, a column at 
 Bridgeport, consisting of the Eleventh Corps, General Howard, and the 
 Twelfth Corps, General Slocum, the whole under command of General Joe 
 Hooker, started up the valley. 
 
 " Under these circumstances, an interposition of our forces across the 
 valley would in the first place have required the transfer of a considerable 
 portion of our army from the east to the west side of Lookout Mountain, 
 thereby weakening our line in front of Chattanooga, while the enemy re- 
 served his strength ; secondly, it would have necessitated a fight on both 
 our front and rear, with the flanks of the federals protected by the moun- 
 tains ; and, finally, had we been successful, a victory would only have 
 demoralized two corps of the Yankee army, without at all influencing the 
 direct issue involved in the present investment of Chattanooga." 
 
 This movement resulted in giving Thomas possession 
 of the river to Bridgeport, twenty-eight miles distant 
 from Chattanooga, and the point at which the Nashville 
 Railroad crosses the Tennessee. Several steamboats were 
 immediately employed in bringing up supplies, and the 
 army was soon on full rations again. 
 
 The march of General Sherman's troops from Yicksburg 
 was not unmolested. On the 21st, the advance, under 
 Osterhaus, moving eastward from Corinth, encountered
 
 HISTOKY OF THE GREAT EEBELLIOH. 863 
 
 near Cherokee Station, eighty-nine miles from Tuscumbia, 
 a body of rebel cavalry under Generals S. D. Lee and Lor- 
 ing, estimated at from four to six thousand men. The enemy 
 was discovered at eleven o'clock drawn up in line of bat- 
 tle, with skirmishers advanced. A heavy fog rendered 
 it difficult to find out much about his position, and the 
 fight opened somewhat to our disadvantage. Presently, 
 however, our line was advanced, and the enemy vigor- 
 ously attacked ; and General Osterhaus, having succeeded 
 in getting up his twenty-pounder I'arrotts, the rebels, 
 under their tire, broke in great confusion. The fight, 
 which was very spirited throughout its entire duration, 
 did not last over sixty minutes from the firing of the first 
 gun until the enemy was in full retreat. 
 
 The enemy under Johnston, however, compelled Sher- 
 man to change his route. It had been proposed to bring 
 his column along the south bank of the Tennessee, in or- 
 der that he might open the Memphis and Charleston 
 Railroad from Bear Creek as far east as Decatur, and as 
 much farther towards Huntsville as possible, under inti- 
 mations from the War Department that this would be the 
 main channel of communication with Chattanooga. Work 
 was accordingly commenced, and by the 1st of Novem- 
 ber the road had been opened from Corinth, through luka 
 and across Bear Creek, to Cherokee Station, Alabama. 
 As soon, however, as this intention was apparent to the 
 rebels, a swarm of their cavalry settled on the railroad, 
 harassing the advance and destroying every thing destruc- 
 tible. After enduring this annoyance for some time, the 
 programme was changed, and Sherman, abandoning the 
 attempt to open and guard the railroad line, crossed to 
 the north side of the, Tennessee, where his march would 
 not be interrupted. 
 
 At this time, Burnside was covering Knoxville and an 
 important part of East Tennessee. In the expectation 
 that he could be driven out, Longstreet had been detach- 
 ed from Bragg's army to move on Knoxville, and on the 
 6th of November he captured the garrisons of ten of 
 Burnside's outposts, fifty miles from Knoxville, threaten- 
 ing to compel the Union general to fight at disadvantage 
 or uncover Knoxville. From that point the rebel cavalry 
 advanced towards Knoxville, anol on the 15th captured 
 portions of two or three cavalry regiments, numbering
 
 864: HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 three hundred men, at Marysville, fifteen miles from 
 Knoxville, in the direction of Little Holston, and drove 
 the remainder of the force into Knoxville. 
 
 On learning this result, General Saunders, commanding 
 a cavalry brigade, advanced to give the enemy fight, but 
 finding them too strong for him, he withdrew his force in 
 line of battle three miles from Knoxville. This position, 
 after an ineffectual struggle, was abandoned. From this 
 point, this portion of the enemy's force advanced on Ilock- 
 ville, eight miles from Knoxville, driving the Union out- 
 posts before them close up to the latter place. While these 
 operations were proceeding on the line indicated, the main 
 force of the enemy, under Longstreet, Cheatham, and Peg- 
 ram, advanced by way of Loudon and Lenoir the passage 
 of the river at the former place being made on Saturday, 
 November 14th, and the Union troops falling back before 
 them in good order. During all the 15th brisk skirmish- 
 ing was going on, and on the 16th the enemy was held in 
 check all day at Campbell Station, twelve miles from 
 Knoxville, on the Lenoir road. Burnside was, during 
 this action, personally in command. His loss amounted 
 to two hundred and fifty men ; rebel loss unknown. 
 During the 16th our army fell back on Knoxville, and 
 early on Tuesday morning (ITth) the line of battle was 
 formed around the city. At noon the rebels appeared on 
 the Lenoir road, two miles from the town, and heavy 
 skirmishing immediately commenced Saunders holding 
 the line gallantly and stubbornly until nightfall. Late in 
 the evening our troops charged the rebels, and drove them 
 from their ground, but fell back to the original line. On 
 Wednesday, 18th, heavy skirmishing was resumed, both 
 parties losing severely. General Saunders, a brave and 
 excellent officer, was among the wounded, and died of 
 his wounds the following day. Thursday and Friday, 
 19th and 20th witnessed a continuation of the strug- 
 gle, with the element of heavy artillery firing added, and 
 on the 23d we find the following dispatch from General 
 Bragg : 
 
 " MISSIONARY RIDGE, November 23. 
 " To General COOPEB: 
 
 " We hold all the railroads leading into Knoxville, except the one 
 between Holston and French Broad Rivers. General Jones's cavalrj 
 might close that. The enemy's cavalry is most broken up. Wheeler cut 
 off his train between Cumberland Gap and Knoxville. 
 
 (Signed) * BRAXTON BRAGG."
 
 HISTOKY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 865 
 
 The siege of Knoxville proceeded without any occur- 
 rence of special interest until the 28th, when an attack 
 was made against a small fort mounting six guns, on a 
 hill near the town, and commanding the approaches to it 
 on that side of the river. The fort was occupied by the 
 Twenty-ninth Massachusetts, the. Seventy-ninth New 
 York, and two companies of the Second and one of the 
 Twentieth Michigan. On its front and flanks was once a 
 field of pines, which had been cut down, with the tops 
 falling in all directions, making an almost impassable 
 mass of brush and timber. A space around the fort was 
 cleared. The ditch in front was about ten feet deep, and 
 the parapet nearly twenty feet high. The assault was 
 made near daylight, on the 29th, by the brigades of Bryan 
 and Humphrey, with a party from Wblford's. The ene- 
 my advanced in three lines and made the attack fiercely, 
 but all attempts to scale the sides of the fort failed, and 
 they were finally repulsed with a loss of two hundred 
 killed and wounded, and several hundred made prisoners. 
 Meantime the force of Burnside was closely pressed, and 
 provisions became so scarce that his troops were put on 
 half rations of bread. 
 
 By the movement of Longstreet, however, Bragg was 
 weakened, and Grant therefore determined to attack the 
 the latter, and if possible separate him from Longstreet. 
 The forces of Bragg held Missionary Bidge, the Chatta- 
 nooga Valley, and Lookout Mountain, with their left 
 resting on the latter, and their right on the ridge near the 
 tunnel of the Knoxville and Chattanooga B-ailroad. 
 Their pickets occupied the south bank of the Tennessee 
 Biver lor miles above, and their supplies were brought 
 by the railroad from Atlanta and Dalton. The principal 
 rebel force was in the Chattanooga Valley, between Look- 
 out Mountain and Missionary Ridge, and on that slope 
 of Lookout, thus being very nearly on his centre. The 
 ridge was heavily posted with artillery. 
 
 The movement projected by Grant was promptly exe- 
 cuted. Orders were sent to JBurnside to lure Longstreet 
 as far away as possible, and fall back to a position where 
 he could stand a siege and subsist from the country. A 
 division of Sherman's troops was to be sent to Trenton, 
 threatening the enemy's left flank. Under cover of this 
 movement, Sherman's main body was to march up by 
 
 53
 
 866 HISTORY OF THE GKEAT REBELLION. 
 
 Hooker's lines, crossing the Brown's Ferry bridge mostly 
 at night, thence into a concealed camp on the north side 
 of the river, opposite South Chickamauga Creek. One 
 division was directed to encamp on the North Chicka- 
 mauga.; about one hundred and twenty pontoons were 
 to be taken under cover of hills and woods, and launched 
 into the North Chickamauga ; these were to be filled with 
 men, to be floated out into the Tennessee and down it, 
 until opposite the South Chickamauga (about three miles 
 below), to effect a landing on that bank, and throw up 
 works ; the remainder of the command were to be taken 
 across in the same boats, or a portion of them ; the Ten- 
 nessee and South Chickamauga were to be bridged, and 
 then the artillery crossed and moved at once to seize a 
 foothold on the ridge, taking up a line facing the enemy's 
 right flank near the tunnel. Howard's Corps of Hooker's 
 command was to cross into the town by the two bridges, 
 and fill the gap between Sherman's proposed position and 
 the main body of Thomas's army. Hooker, with the 
 remainder of his force and the division sent to Trenton, 
 was to carry the point of Lookout, and then threaten the 
 enemy's left, which would thus be thrown back, and 
 forced to evacuate the mountain and take position on the 
 ridge ; and then the Federal troops, threatening the ene- 
 my s communications upon one flank, were to advance 
 the whole line or turn the other flank, as the chances 
 might dictate. Then a part of the force was to follow as 
 far as possible, while Sherman destroyed the railroad from 
 Cleveland to Dalton, and then pushed on to relieve Knox- 
 ville, and capture, disperse, or drive off Longstreet from 
 before it. 
 
 General Smith, chief engineer, took personal charge of 
 the preliminaries necessary for the move on the left flank. 
 The pontoons were put in the Chickamauga; the men 
 encamped; the bridge trains ready to debouch at the 
 proper point; and so completely was every thing ar- 
 ranged that no confusion whatever occurred. Artillery 
 was posted on the side of the river to cross fire in front of 
 the point of landing, and force the same, if necessary. 
 
 On Monday, November 24th, an armed reconnoissance 
 was made by Thomas on his left, which developed the 
 enemy's lines and gave the Union general a 1m e of battle 
 in advance of his picket lines, at the same tune allowing
 
 HISTORY OF THE GEEAT REBELLION. 867 
 
 the Eleventh Corps (Howard's) to come into the position 
 assigned it. At midnight the men entered the pontoons, 
 floated down, and effected a landing. At daylight the 
 ppntoniers were at work, and at noon the Tennessee 
 River was bridged by a pontoon bridge fourteen hundred 
 feet long, and the rest of Sherman's troops crossed with 
 his artillery. He then pushed out to the ridge and took 
 up his position, and Howard communicated with him, his 
 force having marched to its place. Hooker's forces 
 formed a line of battle running up and down the side of 
 the mountain and sweeping around the point, and at 
 night of the same day (the 24th) held what he had 
 gained, and communicated with Thomas's right. That 
 night the enemy evacuated Lookout Mountain top, and 
 fell back from his front to the ridge. Thus, on Tuesday 
 night, Bragg was threatened on both flanks, with a heavy 
 line of battle in his front. It was difficult for him to 
 determine what the Federal move would be. His rail- 
 road must be held, at all hazards, from Sherman. The 
 amount of Hooker's force he could distinctly see. He 
 re-enforced his right very heavily, leaving enough to hold 
 his left and front, as he supposed. On the 25th, "Wednes- 
 day, Sherman commenced ,to move. Two hills were 
 taken. From the third he was several times repulsed, 
 and he moved around more force, as if to get in rear of 
 Bragg's line, and the latter then commenced massing 
 against him. The critical moment had now arrived. 
 Hooker moved his columns along the Rossville road 
 towards Bragg's left, and this drew still more force from 
 the latter's centre. 
 
 Grant now ordered Thomas to advance and take the 
 rifle-pits, at the base of the mountain. The Army of the 
 Cumberland, remembering Chickamauga, and impatient 
 by reason of remaining spectators of the operations of 
 Sherman and Hooker for two days, went forward with a 
 will, drove the enemy in disorder from his lower works, 
 and went on, heedless of the heavy artillery and mus- 
 ketry hurled against them from the crest of the ridge. 
 Halfway up they seemed to falter, but it was only for 
 breath. Without returning a shot they kept on, crowned 
 the ridge, captured thirty-hve out of the forty-four pieces 
 of artillery on the hill, turned some of them against the 
 masses in Sherman's front, and the rebel line fell back,
 
 868 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 while the rest of Bragg's army, including Bragg and 
 Hardee, fled, routed and broken, towards Einggold. 
 Thousands of prisoners and small-arms and quantities of 
 munitions of war were taken. Hooker took up the pur- 
 suit, and that night Mission Ridge blazed resplendent 
 with Union camp-fires. The next day, Hooker pushed 
 the enemy to Ringgold, where he made a show of stub- 
 born resistance, but was forced to retire. Sherman and 
 Howard pushed for the railroad, whixjh they smashed 
 completely. The Union loss in this battle, in killed, 
 wounded, and missing, was reported at about four thou- 
 sand. Upwards of six thousand rebel prisoners, not in- 
 cluding wounded, were captured, besides forty-two pieces 
 of artillery, many thousand small-arms, and a large train. 
 The rebel loss is not known. 
 
 Sherman was now re-enforced by the Eleventh Corps, 
 and began his march to relieve Knoxville. Five miles 
 above London, at Davis's Ford, the Eleventh Corps crossed 
 the Little Tennessee, and at Morgantown, seven miles 
 farther up, the Fourth and his own corps crossed. The 
 Eleventh moved on the next day to Louisville, a distance 
 of thirty-one miles. The other troops moved to Marys- 
 ville. All were on the south side of the Holston. On 
 the night of December 3d, the cavalry of Sherman reached 
 Knoxville. This movement turned the flank of Long- 
 street, and he raised the siege and retreated towards Rut- 
 ledge on that night. On the next day, the Fourth Corps 
 arrived at Knoxville, and in conjunction with Burnside's 
 forces immediately commenced a pursuit. Longstreet fell 
 back into the border of Virginia, and took a strong posi- 
 tion. Burnside was subsequently relieved from the com- 
 mand of the Department of the Ohio at his own urgent 
 request, and General Foster assigned to its command. 
 
 When Longstreet reached Rogersville with his main 
 force, he was joined by Yaughan and Ransom, and he 
 here made a stand which relieved Bragg from the press- 
 ure of pursuit, and remained there some time, exposed to 
 many hardships.
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 869 
 
 CHAPTER XLYIII. 
 
 Operations against Charleston. Arrival of Monitors. Montauk. Attack 
 by the Enemy. Iron-clad Attack on Sumter. Capture of the At- 
 lanta. General Gillmore in Command. Assault on Fort Wagner. Bom- 
 bardment of Fort Sumter. Siege and Reduction of Fort "Wagner. Occu- 
 pation of Morris Island. 
 
 THE operations in the Department of the South after 
 the evacuation of James Island were, for a long time, un- 
 important, owing to the employment of troops in other 
 operations. Early in 1863, a naval attack was contem- 
 plated upon Charleston, with which a land force was 
 deemed necessary to co-operate. General Foster was, 
 therefore, sent with a considerable force and a large siege 
 equipage to assist the naval attack. But not proving ac- 
 ceptable to General Hunter, then in command, he return- 
 ed to North Carolina, leaving his troops and siege equi- 
 page. These, in consequence of the failure of the naval 
 attack, were never employed for the purpose intended. 
 The vessels engaged in blockading the coasts of South 
 Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, comprised the South At- 
 lantic Squadron, Rear-Admiral S. J. Dupont command- 
 ing. Early in January, 1863, the first detachment of iron- 
 clads, destined to operate against Charleston, arrived, and 
 the Montauk was ordered to attack Fort McAllister, on 
 the Ogeechee River, with a view of testing her capabili- 
 ties. Accordingly on January 27th, the Montauk, sup- 
 ported by seven gunboats, opened upon the fort with her 
 fifteen and eleven inch guns, and, having expended her 
 shells, retired. She was struck thirteen times, but re- 
 ceived no material injury ; and the fort, a powerful sand- 
 work, mounting several guns, was in no perceptible degree 
 affected by the bombardment. TWs settled the question 
 of the efficiency of this species *f defensive works as 
 against iron-clads. On the morning of the 4th January, 
 the enemy's iron-clad steam rams Palmetto State and 
 Chicora, under Flag-officer Ingraham, ran out of Charles- 
 ton in a thick haze, and attacked the blockading fleet.
 
 870 
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 They disabled the Mercedita and the Keystone State, but 
 retired on the approach of the Housatonic. The enemy 
 claimed that by this operation they had broken up the 
 blockade of Charleston, by temporarily driving off the 
 fleet, and that, by the law of nations, sixty days' notice 
 would be required to restore the blockade. This claim 
 was not allowed, however. 
 
 The preparations that had long been on foot for a com- 
 bined attack by the iron-clads upon the fortifications of 
 Charleston Harbor were finally completed, and on the 
 morning of April 6th, 1863, the fleet passed the bar, and 
 moved to the attack in the following order : "Weehaw- 
 ken, Passaic, Montauk, Patapsco, New Ironsides, Catskill
 
 HISTORY OF THlE GREAT REBELLION. 871 
 
 Kantucket, Nahant, and Keokuk. Admiral Dupont was 
 on board his flag-ship, the New Ironsides. The squadron 
 was ordered to pass up the main channel without return- 
 ing the fire of Morris Island, and to engage Sumter on its 
 northwest face, at a distance of from eight hundred to one 
 thousand yards. At half-past twelve o clock the fleet be- 
 gan to move, the Weehawken, having a raft for clearing 
 obstructions, being in advance. The fleet got within ef- 
 fective range of/Fort Sumter and Sullivan's Island shortly 
 before three o'clock, and at ten minutes to three the bat- 
 teries of Sullivan's Island, Morris Island, and Fort Sum- 
 ter opened upon it. In the channel between Sumter and 
 Sullivan's Island the obstructions proved to be of so for- 
 midable a character that the Weehawken deviated from 
 her course, and the line got into some confusion. The 
 New Ironsides became unmanageable, and was fouled by 
 the Catskill and Nantucket, so that for half an hour the 
 three vessels were at dead-lock. It was four o'clock 
 before the remainder of the fleet got into position on the 
 northeast front of Sumter, at five hundred and fifty to 
 eight hundred yards' distance, beyond which point, owing 
 to floating torpedoes, it was found impossible to pass. 
 Meantime, the enemy had concentrated a fire of three 
 hundred guns upon the fleet, exceeding in rapidity of fire 
 arid weight of metal any previous cannonade known in 
 warfare.. The iron-clads could reply but with sixteen 
 guns, and their officers described the effect of the shot 
 upon the sides of the vessels as like the ticking of a clock. 
 A dense cloud of smoke settled oVer the fleet, which was 
 the focus of this fire, adding to the embarrassment of the 
 occasion. The iron-clads directed their efforts mainly 
 against Sumter, and the Keokuk ran up to within five 
 hundred and fifty feet of the fort, where she remained 
 thirty minutes a special target. In that time she received; 
 ninety shots, three per minute. Of these, nineteen pen~- 
 etrated at and below the water-line, some entering her< 
 turret. She drew off with pumps going to keep her afloat,, 
 having fired but three times. The remaining vessels suf- 
 fered far less than the Keokuk, and none were materially 
 injured. The New Ironsides never got fairly into action,, 
 and discharged but one broadside. At half-past fou;p,.Ad- 
 miral Dupont signalled to withdraw from action. Puring 
 the forty-five minutes that the fleet had been undear fire,,
 
 872 HISTORY OF THE GBEAT REBELLION. 
 
 five had been partially disabled, while the injuries inflicted 
 by them upon the fort had been comparatively slight. 
 Under these circumstances, the whole fleet, with the ex- 
 ception of the New Ironsides, returned on the 12th to 
 Port Koyal. The President telegraphed to Dupont to 
 hold his position inside Charleston Bar, and to permit the 
 enemy to erect no new batteries on Morris Island. This 
 was in view of a second attack upon Fort Sumter and 
 Charleston by the combined military and naval forces. 
 
 The most marked and extraordinary conflict within the 
 limits of this squadron, or indeed in the service during the 
 year, and, in some respects, one of the most significant 
 and instructive naval battles of the war, took place on the 
 17th June, in Warsaw Sound, between the Weehawken, 
 a vessel of the Monitor class, and the formidable armored 
 steamer Atlanta. Like the contest in Hampton Roads, 
 in March, 1862, when the Monitor and Merrimac were 
 engaged, this battle was between armored vessels and of 
 great disparity in size, but the result was vastly more 
 speedy and decisive. The Atlanta was a powerful steamer, 
 had been iron-plated by the rebels, and prepared for war 
 purposes at immense expense. In the confidence of cer- 
 tain victory over her comparatively diminutive antago- 
 nists the Weehawken and Nahant she was accompanied 
 by boats loaded with gay parties to witness her triumph ; 
 but the brave officers and men of our turreted vessels 
 knew their power and sought the encounter. This battle 
 was to test not only the vessels, but the new fifteen-inch 
 ordnance, then for the first time brought into naval war- 
 fare, and concerning which there had been, as well as 
 with respect to the vessels themselves, some variety of 
 opinion. The conflict was so brief and decisive that only 
 one of the two Monitor vessels, though not widely sepa- 
 rated, and each eager for the fight, was able to participate 
 in the engagement. The Nahant, having no pilot, followed 
 in the wake of the "Weehawken, but before she could get 
 into action the contest was over. 
 
 Such was the brevity of the fight that the Weehawken, 
 in about fifteen minutes, and with only five shots from her 
 heavy guns, overpowered and captured her formidable 
 antagonist, before the Nahant, which was hastening to 
 the work, could discharge a single shot at the Atlanta. 
 This remarkable result was an additional testimony in fa-
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 873 
 
 vor of the Monitor class of vessels for harbor defence and 
 coast service against any naval vessels that have been or 
 are likely to be constructed to visit our shores. It appears, 
 also, to have extinguished whatever lingering hopes the 
 rebels may have had of withstanding our naval power by 
 naval means. 
 
 Early in June, General Hunter was succeeded in the 
 command of the Department of the South by General Q. 
 A. Gillmore,* and about the same time, Rear-Admiral 
 Dupont having expressed a willingness to relinquish the 
 position which he had occupied for eighteen months, Rear- 
 Admiral Andrew H. Foote was detailed to relieve him. 
 When on his way to his command, however, he was seized 
 with fatal illness and died in 'New York. His associate 
 and second in command, Rear-Admiral John A. Dahl- 
 gren, proceeded immediately to Port Royal, and, on the 
 6th day of July, assumed command of the squadron. A 
 combined operation of naval and army forces, the latter 
 under General Gillmore, was immediately instituted for 
 the occupation and possession of Morris Island, on the 
 south side of the entrance to Charleston Harbor. Morris 
 Island, the site of Forts "Wagner and Gregg, is a narrow 
 ridge of sand, formed by successive accumulations from 
 the beach, running along the entrance to Charleston Har- 
 bor. This ridge slopes from the shore inward, terminat- 
 ing in a series of salt-water marshes, intersected by narrow 
 
 * Quincy Adams Gillmore was born in Lorain County. Ohio, in 1825, and 
 graduated at West Point, at the head of his class, in 1849. Previous to 
 the breaking out of the war he was much employed on the fortifications, 
 and was also for four years instructor of engineering at West Point. In 
 October, 1861, he was appointed chief-engineer to the Port Royal Expedi- 
 tion, and in the succeeding April he planned and carried out the operations 
 for the capture of Fort Pulaski, in the Savannah Eiver, of which he pub- 
 lished an account in 1863. In April, 1862, he was appointed brigadier-gen- 
 eral of volunteers. Having been transferred to the Department of the Ohio, 
 he defeated a large rebel force near Somerset, Ky., on March 30th, 1863. In 
 June, he assumed command of the Department of the South, and, in the 
 series of operations which led to the occupation of Morris Island, developed 
 a new era in the science of engineering and gunnery. He retained com- 
 mand of the Department of the South until the spring of 1864, when he 
 took the field at the head of the Tenth Army Corps, under Butler, to co-op- 
 erate in the movement against Richmond. Having come into collision with 
 Butler, he was relieved of his command, and in the latter part of the year 
 undertook a tour of inspection among the fortifications in the West. In the 
 spring of 1865, he was reappointed to the Department of the South. He 
 now commands the Department of South Carolina, and is major-general of 
 volunteers and a brigadier-general of the regular army.
 
 874 msTOET OF THE GKEAT REBELLION. 
 
 creeks, which lie to the west of it. The width of the por- 
 tion disposable for the trenches in no point exceeds two 
 hundred and twenty-five yards, while in others it narrows 
 to twenty-five yards at high tide. 
 
 The plan of attack proposed by Gillmore was : First, to 
 effect a lodgment on the soutn side of Morris Island, 
 which it was known that the enemy was then strongly 
 fortifying. Second, to besiege and reduce Fort Wagner, 
 by which all the works on Cummings's Point would ne- 
 cessarily fall. Third, from the positions thus gained, to 
 reduce Fort Sumter. Fourth, the vessels of war to re- 
 move the obstructions at the entrance of the harbor and 
 reach the city by running by the works on Sullivan's 
 Island. 
 
 The first point was effected by a diversion made on the 
 Stono, which drew off half the enemy's forces from Mor- 
 ris Island, and rendered its capture by surprise compara- 
 tively bloodless. This was done July 10th, as appears 
 by the following dispatch : 
 
 " HEAD-QUARTERS DEPARTMENT OP THE SOUTH ) 
 "Iw THE FIELD, MORRIS ISLAND, S. C., July 12, 1863. J 
 " Major-General H. W. HALLECK, General-in-Chief : 
 
 " SIR : I have the honor to report that at five o'clock on the morning 
 of the 10th instant I made an attack upon the enemy's fortified position on 
 the south end of Morris Island, and, after an engagement of three hours 
 and a quarter, captured all his strongholds upon that part of the island, 
 and pushed forward my infantry to within six hundred yards of Fort 
 Wagner. 
 
 "We now hold all the island except about one mile on the north end, 
 which includes Fort Wagner and a battery on Commings's Point, mounting 
 at the present time fourteen or fifteen heavy guns in the aggregate. 
 
 " The assaulting column was gallantly led by Brigadier-General Strong. 
 It landed in small boats under cover of my batteries on Folly Island and 
 four monitors led by Rear-Admiral Dahlgren, which entered the main 
 channel abreast of Morris Island soon after our batteries opened. The 
 monitors continued their fire during the day, mostly on Fort Wagner. 
 
 "On the morning of the llth instant, at daybreak, an effort was made to 
 carry Fort Wagner by assault. The parapet was gained, but the supports 
 recoiled under the fire to which they were exposed, and could not be got 
 up. Our loss in both actions will not vary much from one hundred and 
 fifty in killed, wounded, and prisoners. We have taken eleven pieces of 
 heavy ordnance and a large quantity of camp equipage. 
 
 "The enemy's loss in killed, wounded, and missing, will not fall short 
 of two hundred. 
 
 "Q. A. GILLMORE, Brigadier- General Commanding." 
 
 The failure of two assaults on Fort Wagner led to a 
 modification of the plan. As Fort Sumter kept up an an- 
 noying fire across Fort Wagner upon Gillinore's trenches,
 
 HISTORY OF THE GEEAT REBELLION. 875 
 
 some heavy guns were placed in battery, and, at a dis- 
 tance of from two to two and a half miles, succeeded in 
 silencing the fire. Having effected this important object, 
 the approaches and other works against Fort Wagner 
 were more easily pushed forward. Armed with seventeen 
 heavy guns, well flanked with a wet ditch, a bomb-proof 
 for its garrison that resisted the heaviest shells, approach- 
 able only in front over the sand ridge, which narrows 
 down to twenty-five yards in width just in front of the 
 work, guarded on the east by the sea and on the west by 
 Vincent's Creek and the marsh from surprise, seen in 
 reverse by Battery Gregg and thirty guns on Sullivan's 
 Island, in flank by the batteries on James's Island, while 
 all the ground in advance of it was swept at one point or 
 another by all its guns, a more difficult problem had sel- 
 dom, if ever, been presented for the solution of the engi- 
 neer than its reduction. 
 
 The first parallel and the batteries in it were ready on 
 July 18th, and fire was opened at one thousand three 
 hundred and fifty yards, several hours prior to the assault 
 on that day. It was commenced at noon by General Gill- 
 more's batteries and the frigate Ironsides ; five monitors, 
 two mortar schooners, and three wooden gunboats soon 
 joined in. The enemy replied briskly from Fort Wag- 
 ner, Battery Bee, beyond Cummings's Point, and the guns 
 on the southwestern face of Fort Sumter. The fire was 
 chiefly directed against the vessels, and occasionally a 
 shell was thrown at the batteries. Soon after four o'clock 
 the fire of Fort Wagner ceased. It was known that one 
 gun had been dismounted, and another was supposed to 
 have exploded. Under the impression that the works were 
 evacuated, another attempt to occupy them was deter- 
 mined upon. For this purpose two brigades, consisting 
 of the Seventh Connecticut Regiment, the Third New 
 Hampshire, the Ninth Maine, the Seventy-sixth Pennsyl- 
 vania, and the Forty- eighth New York, under Brigadier- 
 General Strong, and the Seventh New Hampshire, Sixth 
 Connecticut, Sixty-second Ohio,One Hundredth New York, 
 and Fifty-fourth Massachusetts (colored), under Colonel 
 Putnam, were ordered forward from behind the sand-hills. 
 The brigades were formed in line on the beach, with the 
 regiments disposed in columns, the colored regiment 
 being in advance. This movement was observed at Fort
 
 876 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 Sumter, and a fire was opened on the troops, but with- 
 out effect. At dark, the order was given for both bri- 
 gades to advance, General Strong's leading, and Colonel 
 Putnam's within supporting distance. The troops went 
 forward, at quick time and in silence, until the Fifty- 
 fourth Massachusetts, led by Colonel Shaw, was within 
 two hundred yards of the work, when the men gave a 
 fierce yell and rushed up the glacis, closely followed by 
 the other regiments of the brigade. 
 
 The enemy, hitherto silent, opened upon them furiously 
 with grape, canister, and a continuous fusilade of small- 
 arms. The negroes, however, plunged on, and many of 
 them crossed the ditch, although it contained four feet of 
 water, gaining the parapet. They were dislodged, how- 
 ever, in a few minutes, with hand-grenades, and retired, 
 leaving more than one-half of their number, including 
 their colonel, dead upon the field. The Sixth Connecti- 
 cut Regiment, under Lieutenant-Colonel Rodman, was 
 next in support of the Fifty-fourth, and they also suffered 
 terribly, being compelled to retire after a stubborn con- 
 test. The Ninth Maine, which was next in line, was 
 broken up by the passage of the remnant of the repulsed 
 colored regiment through its lines, and retired in confu- 
 sion, excepting three companies which stood their ground. 
 
 It now developed upon the Third New Hampshire 
 Regiment to push forward, and, led by General Strong 
 and Colonel Jackson in person, they dashed up against 
 the fort. Three companies gained the ditch, and, wading 
 through the water, found shelter against the embankment. 
 Here was the critical point of the assault, and the Second 
 Brigade, which should have been up and ready to sup- 
 
 Eort their comrades of the First, were unaccountably de- 
 lyed. Strong then gave the order to fall back and lie 
 down on the glacis, which was obeyed, without confusion. 
 "While waiting here, exposed to the heavy fire, Strong 
 was wounded. Finding that the supports did not come, 
 he gave the order for his brigade to retire, and the men 
 left the field in perfect order. 
 
 Soon afterwards the other brigades came on, and made 
 up for their tardiness by their valor. Rushing impetu- 
 ously up the glacis, undeterred by the fury of the enemy, 
 whose fire was not intermitted, several of the regiments suc- 
 ceeded in crossing the ditch, scaling the parapet, and de-
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 877 
 
 scending into the fort. Here a hand-to-hand conflict ensued. 
 The troops fought with desperation, and were able to 
 drive the enemy from one side of the work to seek shelter 
 between the traverses, while they held possession for 
 something over an hour. This piece of gallantry was un- 
 fortunately of no advantage. The enemy rallied, and, 
 having received re-enforcements, made a charge upon 
 them and expelled them from their position by the force 
 of numbers. One of the regiments engaged in this bril- 
 liant dash was the Forty-eighth New York, Colonel Bar- 
 ton, and it came out almost decimated. The Forty-eighth 
 was among the first to enter the fort, and was fired upon 
 by a regiment that gained the parapet some minutes 
 later, under the supposition that it was the enemy. 
 About midnight the order was given to retire, and the 
 troops fell back to the rifle-pits outside of their own 
 works. The loss in killed, wounded, and missing was 
 fifteen hundred and thirty. 
 
 The second parallel was opened by the flying sap on 
 the 23d July, at seven hundred and fifty yards from the 
 fort. The third parallel, at four hundred and fifty yards, 
 on August 9th ; and beyond this point the trenches were 
 sometimes pushed forward by the flying sap, sometimes 
 by the full sap, as opportunity demanded. The fourth 
 parallel, at about three hundred yards, was made on the 
 22d and 23d August. The fifth parallel at two hundred 
 yards, and a ridge wrested from the enemy, August 26th. 
 Beyond this point the approaches were simply zigzags, 
 making very acute angles with each other, as there waa 
 not front enough for a parallel. 
 
 The bombardment of Fort Sumter had been irregularly 
 opened on the 18th of August, and was continued until 
 August 24th, when Gillmore reported it a shapeless mass 
 of ruins, and that it was no longer necessary to continue 
 the bombardment. Batteries were established within 
 eifective range of Charleston, and notice was given to 
 General Beauregard to evacuate Fort Sumter, and that 
 Charleston would be shelled. Beauregard protested, and 
 threatened retaliation. The bombardment was com- 
 menced, with very little effect, however, on military 
 events. Gillmore now moved to the front all his light 
 mortars, enlarged the positions for his sharpshooters, ob- 
 tained the co-operation of the Ironsides by day, used
 
 878 HISTOKY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 powerful calcium lights to blind the enemy by night, and 
 opened fire with as many heavy guns to his rear as he 
 could without danger to his men in the trenches, thus es- 
 saying to keep the garrison confined to their bomb-proof, 
 and to breach this through a breach in the work. These 
 measures were inaugurated on the morning of September 
 5th, and for forty-two hours the fort was silent. The gar- 
 rison were immured in their bomb-proof, and the work 
 went on in safety except from the batteries on James's 
 Island. The men moved about in the trenches, even sat 
 on their parapets, and hunted torpedoes, at which they 
 had become as skilful as rat-catchers at scenting out rat- 
 holes. The counterscarp of the work was crowned on 
 the night of September 6th, and some formidable obstruc- 
 tions in the ditch removed. All being now ready for an 
 assault, the order for it was given ; but seeing the hope- 
 lessness of their position, the enemy evacuated just in 
 time to avoid the result. 
 
 The evacuation was thus reported by Gillmore : 
 
 " DEPARTMENT OF THE SOUTH, HEAD-QUARTEBS ix ) 
 THE FIELD, September 1, 1863. ) 
 
 " Major-G-eneral H. W. HALLECK, General-in-Chief: 
 
 "GENERAL: I have the honor to report that Fort Wagner and Battery 
 Gregg are ours. Last night our sappers mined the counterscarp of Fort 
 Wagner on its sea point, unmasking all its guns, and an order was issued 
 to carry the place by assault at nine o'clock this morning, that being the 
 hour of low tide. 
 
 "About ten o'clock last night the enemy commenced evacuating the isl- 
 and, and all but seventy-five of them made their escape from Cummings's 
 Point in small boats. 
 
 " Captured dispatches show that Fort Wagner was commanded by Co- 
 lonel Keitt, of South Carolina, and garrisoned by one thousand four hun- 
 dred effective men, and Battery Gregg by between one hundred and two 
 hundred men. 
 
 " Fort Wagner is a work of' the most formidable kind. Its bomb-proof 
 shelter, capable of containing one thousand eight hundred men, remains 
 intact after the most terrific bombardment to which any work was ever 
 subjected. 
 
 " We have captured nineteen pieces of artillery, and a large supply of 
 excellent ammunition. 
 
 " The city and harbor of Charleston are now completely covered by my 
 guns. 
 
 "I have the honor to be, general, very respectfully, your obedient 
 servant, 
 
 "Q. A. GILLMORE, Brigadier- General Commanding.' 11 
 
 The captured forts on Morris Island were enlarged and 
 new batteries erected by General Gillmore, which effectu- 
 ally commanded Fort Sumter, and could aid any naval
 
 HI8TOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 879 
 
 attack on Charleston. But little further progress, how- 
 ever, was made in the siege during the remainder, of the 
 year. The forts of the enemy were occasionally bom- 
 barded severely, and the shelling of Charleston at inter- 
 vals, during day and night, was continued. The portion 
 of the city within the reach of the shells was greatly in- 
 jured, and entirely abandoned by its inhabitants. An 
 attempt was made by the enemy to blow up the frigate 
 Ironsides, with a torpedo, on the night of October 5th. 
 It failed of success, and did no serious damage to the 
 vessel.
 
 HISTORY OF THE GKEAT KEBELL10N. 
 
 CHAPTER XLIX. 
 
 Advance on Richmond. Crossing of the Rapidan. Routes of Corps. 
 The Enemy attempts a Flanking Movement. Meade's Attack. Repulse 
 of Griffin. Hancock Arrives. Concentration of the Army. Burnside 
 ordered Forward. New Dispositions. Advance of Hancock on the 6th. 
 Arrival of Longstreet. Fall of "Wadsworth. Longstreet "Wounded. 
 Attack on the Union Right. Results of the Two Days' Fighting. 
 
 THE advance of the Army of the Potomac against 
 Richmond commenced on the evening of Tuesday, May 
 3d, when the men, provided with six days' rations, broke 
 up camp, and marched for the Rapidan. The Second 
 Corps crossed at Ely's Ford, and the Fifth and Sixth at 
 Germania Ford, the Fifth Corps being four hours in ad- 
 vance of the Sixth. A plankroad, as our readers will re- 
 member, runs from Fredericksburg west, past Chancel- 
 lorsville, the former head-quarters of Hooker, and Old 
 Wilderness Tavern, and across Mine Run to Orange 
 Court-House. Hancock, with the Second Corps, ad- 
 vanced from Ely's Ford to Chancellorsville, the Fifth 
 Corps from Germania Ford to Old Wilderness Tavern, 
 and the Sixth held the road from the ford to the tavern. 
 The Lieutenant-General and General Meade had head- 
 quarters at Germania Ford on Wednesday night, the 4th. 
 At early dawn on Thursday, Hancock was to move by 
 the Pamunkey road in a southwesterly direction to Shady 
 Grove Church ; Warren was to move five miles west to 
 Parker's Store, twenty miles distant from Orange Court- 
 House, and the Sixth Corps was to follow on the Ger- 
 mania Ford plankroad. Sheridan's Cavalry was to scour 
 the country on the left of Hancock. This disposition, 
 if carried out, would have straightened the army in a line 
 facing southwest, with Hancock on the left. These oper- 
 ations were intended to be preserved until the trains 
 could cross the river, when a general advance was to be 
 made towards Orange Court-House, the presumed base 
 of the enemy.
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 881 
 
 These dispositions were, however, not suffered to be 
 completed. The enemy, from his signal station on Clark's 
 Mountain, had observed the whole movement, divined its 
 intent, and made preparations to defeat it. His move- 
 ment began on Wednesday night, while the Second Corps 
 was at Chancellorsville. The corps of Ewell moved 
 along the turnpike from Old Verdierville, on Mine Run, 
 to take the Sixth Corps in flank, while marching along the 
 Germania Ford plankroad, while A. P. Hill moved over 
 the Orange Court-House plankroad, which runs for some 
 distance parallel to the turnpike, and up which Warren 
 was advancing. Thus, as we have said, Grant's army 
 was in a line running northwest and southeast ; Sedgwick 
 at the right in front of Ewell, Warren in the centre in 
 front of Hill, but not yet in line, and Hancock marching 
 to take position on the left. The enemy's design being 
 ascertained, Sedgwick and Warren were hastily formed in 
 line of battle on the Germania plankroad, and Hancock 
 was ordered to diverge upon the Brock road, which would 
 bring him upon the Orange Court-House road in the rear 
 of Warren. The danger was that Hill would force his 
 way down this road and get possession of it before Han- 
 cock could effect a junction, and thus cut the army in 
 two. To guard against this, the Second Division, Getty, 
 of the Sixth Corps, was detached to support Warren's 
 left. Meantime, the enemy pressed heavily in front, and 
 the Fifth New York Cavalry was driven in with con- 
 siderable loss. 
 
 It was supposed that Lee intended by a fierce attack 
 upon the right centre to destroy the army ; and to frus- 
 trate that attempt Warren was ordered to assume the 
 offensive. About noon, Griffin (who had reported the- 
 enemy in his neighborhood, and as having driven in 
 his advance, consisting of the Eighteenth Massachusetts,, 
 with the Eighty-third r ennsylvania, under Colonel Hayes, 
 of the former) was ordered to push his (First) Division of 
 the Fifth Corps out to the right and left of the turnpike, 
 to feel the enemy. Accordingly, he moved Bartlett's 
 Second Brigade to the left of the road, and Ayres's Third 
 Brigade of regulars to the right Barnes's First Brigade 
 (Sweetser in temporary command) being in reserve. 
 Less than a mile's march, stretching across the turnpike, 
 brought them against a part of Ewell's force, well posted 
 64 *
 
 882 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 on a wooded acclivity. A sharp engagement at once 
 ensued for an hour ; but the pressure of the enemy in full 
 strength upon our two brigades, and especially upon 
 Ayres's on the left, could not longer be resisted, and our 
 forces fell back, leaving two pieces of artillery, with nearly 
 all the horses killed, in the enemy's hands. Wadsworth's 
 Fourth Division, and Robinson's Second Division, of the 
 Fifth Corps, at once relieved Griffin's Division, after 
 its well-fought battle, and held the enemy in check. 
 After an hour's firing by infantry and artillery, the enemy 
 moved off to another point in our line. Our loss, princi- 
 pally confined to Ayres's and Bartlett's Brigades, was in 
 the region of one thousand men. 
 
 At eleven o'clock, word was sent to General Sedgwick 
 that skirmishing in front of the Sixth Corps was becom- 
 ing heavy. He accordingly galloped down the Germania 
 plankroad about a mile, dashed into the forest at the 
 head of his staff, and penetrated to the front through the 
 tangled underbrush and knotted trunks and ragged foliage 
 of a thick chapparal. Through, and beyond this, far in 
 front, the deep occasional boom of a gun might be heard 
 amid the quickening rattle of the skirmish firing, but the 
 denseness of the wood prevented any knowledge of what 
 was going on at any distance. There was a volley at 
 last General Griffin's Division of the Fifth Coq)8 had 
 opened the fight. 
 
 "Forward ! In/ the right flank, forward!" rings along 
 the lines. Yonder in front are the gleaming bayonets of 
 our first line of battle; back, just in rear, is. the second 
 line, the anxious eyes of the soldiers peering through the 
 trees. 
 
 And through a thicket blind and almost interminable, 
 over abatis of fallen trees, through swamps and ditches 
 and brush-heaps, and once a glorious breathing-space 
 across a half-acre of open field, the obedient troops move 
 on. The " bizz " of the balls, which had been occasional, 
 now comes thicker and faster, while the crashing volleys 
 are more distinct ; and as the advancing lines approach a 
 forest, a little way ahead, there is heard a crackling, roar- 
 ing tumult, mingled with wild cheers. 
 
 The Fifth Corps has begun the fight in earnest Griffin 
 is pressing on. W adsworth and Robinson and Crawford 
 are going in : the latter, on the left, supported by Getty,
 
 HISTORY OF THE QEEAT REBELLION. 883 
 
 is advancing .towards the enemy at Parker's Store. Be- 
 hind Crawford and Getty, who are on the Orange Court- 
 Ekmse road, is the junction of that and the Brock road, 
 up which, from the direction of Chancellorsville, Hancock 
 is advancing to make connection. That is the vital 
 point that junction ; to be held against all odds unto the 
 death, else the army is severed. To hold the enemy 
 all along the line in check, to prevent his massing any 
 forces in our front upon that point, the Fifth Corps 
 is pressing on, and the Sixth Corps is about to enter. 
 
 It was at this moment that Griffin fell back, and Craw- 
 ford's Division, that had been sent forward to Parker's 
 Store, retreated with loss. Hancock, who, in obedience 
 to orders, had checked his advance, was rapidly marching 
 across to close the gap in the line of battle. He arrived 
 in season but with no time to spare and found the 
 advance of the enemy already inserting themselves in the 
 interval. Getty's Division, of the Sixth Corps, had been 
 temporarily detached and moved to the left, to the right 
 of the Orange Court-House plankroad. The advance, 
 the First Brigade, of Mott's Fourth Division of the Seconjd 
 Corps, had barely formed junction with Getty, when A. 
 P. Hill was upon them with great force. 
 
 Birney formed on Getty's right, Mott and Barlow 
 on the left of the line, and Gibbons's Division was held in 
 reserve. The enemy were checked, but their concentra- 
 tion continued. Troops' were sent to the left from the 
 Fifth Corps, and by four o'clock Hancock was in com- 
 mand of half the army in action. 
 
 And now, from left to right the sound of the shock of 
 battle arises anew. To relieve the pressure upon the 
 Second Corps, an advance of the whole line is necessary. 
 Hancock is advancing, Sedgwick is advancing, Warren is 
 preparing. Like a great engine, dealing death, the Second 
 Corps and its supporters move forward, taking equal 
 death in return. Companies fall, regiments are thinned, 
 brigades melt away. Stricken in the head by a bullet, 
 General Alexander Hayes, commanding the Second Bri- 
 gade of Birney's Division, has rolled from his horse, dead. 
 General Getty is wounded ; Colonel Carroll, commanding 
 the Third Brigade of the Second Division, is wounded ; a 
 host of line officers are stricken low; the enemy fights 
 like a demon, but the fight moves on.
 
 884: HISTORY OF THE GKEAT EEBELLION. 
 
 Sedgwick moves on, breaking the enemy's line for 
 a moment, and taking four or five hundred prisoners. 
 There are ripples of disaster on all the line, but they are 
 quickly repaired. Slowly, for the enemy is stubborn; 
 slower yet on the extreme right towards the river, for the 
 enemy there has massed another force and strives to 
 break our flank. He finds a rock, and, though he checks 
 our advance, though hundreds of soldiers sink in death 
 before him, he does not come on. 
 
 And as the day dies, and the darkness creeps up from 
 the west, although no cheer of victory swells through the 
 Wilderness from either side, we have accomplished this 
 much at least, with much sore loss : the concentration of 
 our army, the holding of the junction of the Orange 
 Court-House and Brock roads, the turning back of the 
 enemy's right flank from our path towards Richmond, and 
 the average gain of a half-mile of ground. 
 
 In some respects, however, we had gained decided ad- 
 vantages. First, General Grant had learned the position 
 and strength of Lee's army a knowledge of the greatest 
 'value. Second, he had been able to gather his troops 
 well in hand, putting them into a more substantial line 
 than at the opening of the engagement. Finally, there 
 was no longer any doubt as to the policy of calling Gen- 
 eral Burnside from the farther side of the river the 
 enemy's force being obviously all in our front. The 
 o^inth Corps, under General Burnside, came to the field 
 of battle on Thursday, after a forced march, and was dis- 
 tributed, as occasion required, on the right, right centre, 
 and left centre. But our line remained substantially 
 as during the day, stretching northwest and southeast 
 over a line nearly parallel to that from Germania Ford to 
 Chancellorsville, and with head-quarters not much in ad- 
 vance of the Wilderness. 
 
 The enemy had intrenched himself in our front On an 
 extended ridge, approachable only through a thickly- 
 wooded swamp of considerable width, protected by a front 
 and flank fire ; and during the night the sound of axes 
 showed that he was engaged upon new defences. 
 
 The Union troops were consolidated and posted anew, 
 the three corps retaining their respective positions War- 
 ren in the centre, Sedgwick on the right, Hancock on the 
 left, the latter still having the lion's share of troops,
 
 HISTORY OF THE GKEAT REBELLION. 885 
 
 gathered from all the corps. On the extreme right 
 of Sedgwick, and nearest the river, was Shaler's Fourth 
 Brigade of the First Division, and in succession to the 
 left came Seymour's, Neill's, Upton's, Russell's, and 
 Smith's. Warren's Corps prolonged the line through the 
 forest and across the Locust Grove road to within half a 
 mile of the Orange Court-House road. Across this road 
 and far to the left the troops led by Hancock were 
 disposed Carroll's and Hayes's (now Crocker's) Bri- 
 gades on the right, and Ward's and Owens's Brigades 
 on the left of the thoroughfare. The three brigades of 
 Getty's Division of the Sixth Corps, commanded by 
 Eustis, Wheaton, and Grant, were in support. Mott's 
 Division of the Second Corps adjoined on the left the 
 whole left of this line being under command of Birney. 
 The divisions of Gibbons and Barlow formed the left 
 of the line, under command of Gibbons. Our cavalry 
 were operating still farther on the left, and the left flank 
 of the army was for the first time in a position strongly 
 supported by artillery. 
 
 The Second Corps had strongly intrenched itself on the 
 Brock road with logs and abatis, and the rest of the line 
 was protected by light earthworks. The weak point 
 in the line was a gap between the centre and left, to stop 
 which a part of Burnside's Corps was sent forward. 
 This was not done without much delay that was nearly 
 fatal to the army. Orders were issued for both Sedgwick 
 on the extreme right and Hancock on the left to attack 
 at five A. M. on the morning of Friday, May 6th. The 
 enemy, however, made an attack twenty minutes earlier, 
 but without much vigor. He was repulsed by the Sixth 
 Corps, which gained a few hundred yards without any 
 material advantage. 
 
 Meantime, Hancock, at five o'clock, moved to the 
 attack with such vigor, that by eleven o'clock he had 
 
 ained a mile of ground from Brock road towards Parker's 
 tore, and had got possession of some of the enemy's rifle- 
 pits. This advance increased the gap between the Second 
 and Fifth Corps, and Burnside's men were still absent. 
 Hancock had in his front the divisions of Heth and Wil- 
 cox, of Hill's Corps, which had suffered greatly on 
 the previous day, and were to have been relieved at night. 
 They stood gallantly for a while ; but at last, shrinking
 
 886 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 before the compact masses hurled upon them, they com- 
 menced a retreat, which from a walk grew into a run, 
 from a run into a demoralized rout. At this moment the 
 corps which Longstreet had so long led advanced along 
 the plankroad. into their leading files dashed at head- 
 long speed and in wild disarray the broken ranks of Heth 
 and Wilcox, mingled with field-pieces, ambulances, cais- 
 sons, runaway horses, and shouting officers striving to 
 bear up against the rout, but whirled along in its resist- 
 less current. Beside the road was General Lee, irritated 
 and excited beyond precedent, eager to stem the torrent of 
 flight by catching hold of any organized body of men and 
 launching them in person against the head of the Federal 
 advance. Upon this hurly-burly of confusion and alarm 
 supervened at the most critical moment Longstreet and 
 his Corps. This fresh body of troops, with Kershaw's 
 Division in advance, came forward upon the exhausted 
 Federal troops in such force, overlapping the left, that the 
 Third Brigade, Colonel Frank, broke and fled back. 
 The pressure was so great along the whole line of the 
 command thus assaulted, that it was also broken in several 
 places. Portions of the front line retreated in disorder. 
 Officers who commanded there, commanded in some 
 instances troops not their own, and of whose fighting 
 qualities they knew nothing. Those officers did their 
 best, but could not stem the panic. General "Wadsworth,* 
 
 galloping, appealing, commanding, fell dead from his 
 orse in the front of the battle, deserted by more than half 
 his troops. 
 
 The line fell back before the advancing rebels, and the 
 ground whence Heth and Wilcox had been forced once 
 
 * James Samuel Wadsworth was born in Geneseo, New York, October 
 30th, 1807, was educated at Harvard and Yale Colleges, and admitted to the 
 bar in 1833. But having inherited an immense landed estate in Western 
 New York, he devoted himself chiefly to its improvement. He was a 
 prominent member of the Republican party from the period of its formation, 
 and a commissioner to the Peace Conference at Washington in 1861. He 
 embarked heartily in the cause of the Union, was appointed brigadier-gen- 
 eral of volunteers, August, 1861, and in March, 1862, became Military Gov- 
 ernor of Washington. In the fall of that year he was the Union candidate 
 for Governor of New York, but was defeated by Horatio Seymour. As 
 commander of a division of the Army of the Potomac he fought with repu- 
 tation at Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg, and fell at the 
 head of the Fourth Division of the Fifth Corps, at the battle of the Wilder- 
 ness, May 6th, 1864, as described in the text.
 
 HISTORY OF THE GEEAT BEEELLION". 887 
 
 more passed into their hands. Hancock's whole force re- 
 tired behind the line intrenched the day before on the 
 Brock road. In this encounter the enemy lost General 
 Jenkins killed, and General Longstreet wounded. The 
 circumstances under which the latter was injured were 
 thus described by a Southern spectator : "At this moment 
 (the retreat of Hancock) Longstreet, after brief consultation 
 with General Lee, suggested a flank movement not dis- 
 similar to that by which, twelvemonths before, the bloody 
 day of Ohancellorsville was decided by Jackson. It was 
 commenced : the promise of the first movement was 
 richly encouraging. Generals Longstreet and Jenkins 
 rode in great glee with their staff along the plankroad, 
 when one of those unforeseen accidents which are insepa- 
 rable from war, and doubly hazardous with undisciplined 
 troops, checked in an instant all laughter and merriment. 
 A volley at short range, issuing from Mahone's Brigade 
 of Confederates as they poured obliquely through the tan- 
 gled undergrowth of the Wilderness, struck Longstreet's 
 little party like a white squall ; General Jenkins sprang 
 high from his saddle and fell dead with a bullet through 
 his brain ; Longstreet himself lay stretched in the road 
 pulseless and inanimate, and, as all thought, with but few 
 minutes of life left in him. Instantly the flank movement 
 was arrested. About an hour later, Longstreet, awaking 
 from his swoon, exclaimed to Dr. Cullen : ' In another 
 half hour, but for my wound, there would not have been 
 a Yankee regiment standing and unbroken on the south 
 of the Kapidan.' " It is somewhat remarkable that this 
 took place very near the spot where " Stonewall " Jack- 
 son, a year previous, lost his life by a similar mistake of 
 his own men. 
 
 A comparative lull occurred at noon, and our forces 
 took the opportunity it afforded to draw up and concen- 
 trate their lines, interposing the greater part of Burnside's 
 Ninth Corps between Hancock and Warren. The left 
 also was brought forward a little from the Brock road, to 
 which it had been driven, towards the centre. Hardly 
 had these fortunate dispositions been made, when again, 
 in the middle of the afternoon, the enemy fell upon our 
 left and centre with great fury, and again pushed them 
 back. At the junction of the left and centre the attack 
 was particularly severe, Crawford's Third Division of the
 
 888 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 Fifth Corps, Carr's Fourth Division of the Second Corps, 
 and Stephenson's Division of the Ninth Corps suffering 
 its brunt. The latter division, on Hancock's right, giving 
 way overpowered, the enemy rushed through the gap. 
 Hancock then dispatched Carroll's Third Brigade, Second 
 Division of the Second Corps, to sweep along the whole 
 line and attack the enemy in flank. The manoeuvre was 
 most gallantly and successfully executed, the enemy re- 
 tiring with much loss, and our troops gradually gaining 
 their old alignment. The left and centre of the army, 
 thus having attacked and been attacked throughout the 
 day, stood firm at last the field and forest floor before 
 it and around it strewn with its and the enemy's dead, 
 and throbbing with its wounded. It had taken in the 
 course of the day many prisoners ; it held a larger part of 
 the field than that occupied in the morning; its losses 
 were severe. 
 
 The resolute and persevering enemy was not yet at rest, 
 however, but now massed his troops for a final rush at the 
 extreme right, where were posted the commands of Shaler 
 and Seymour. On the extreme right, towards the river, 
 a dark column wound its way out of the breastworks of 
 the enemy, through the thick forests towards our right 
 flank, moving with such deliberation that a working par- 
 ty was enabled to throw up a slight earthwork between 
 themselves and our troops. A supporting column formed 
 behind this work. Between six and seven p. M., the 
 attack burst with resistless force upon the troops of 
 Shaler and Seymour, who were mostly captured, with 
 their commanders, a few only escaping to Germania Ford. 
 This disaster on the right exposed the whole army to im- 
 minent peril. Amid the panic, however, are seen Sedg- 
 wick and the officers upon his staff building up order out 
 of the ruin. The grand old commander his hat off, his 
 bridle dropped, a pistol in one hand and a sword in the 
 other is an assurance of safety preventing further panic. 
 The enemy come on, but to no further conquest. For 
 there is a line of steel which cannot be broken Neill's 
 Brigade. Against it, as a billow against a rock, the ex- 
 ultant masses of the enemy fall and break, and are thrown 
 back, and retire. 
 
 The disaster to the extreme right of "the Sixth Corps 
 was of a serious character, and might have proved fatal
 
 HISTORY OF THE GKEAT REBELLION. 889 
 
 had the enemy been in a condition to follow up his ad- 
 vantage. But so dearly was the advantage gained that 
 their effort to thrust themselves between us and the Ger- 
 mania Ford was left unprosecuted, even when it was near- 
 est being successful. Artillery, however, had been posted 
 to command the column of rebels, in case it should burst 
 through and over the right flank of our army. Onr losses 
 in this wing fell little below six thousand, of which four 
 thousand, probably, occurred during the enemy's assault. 
 Our losses in the Second Corps ranged in the neighbor- 
 hood of three thousand. And our total losses in the two 
 days' fighting were not far from fifteen thousand men. 
 Those of the enemy were probably no less severe. In 
 these battles there was an unusual proportion of wounded 
 among the casualties, arising from the fact that so little 
 artillery was used on either side. Among our general 
 officers killed in the two battles were Hayes and Wads- 
 worth ; and on the rebel side, Jones and Jenkins, with 
 Longstreet, Pegram, and Hunter severely wounded. 
 
 It is remarkable that in the official dispatches on both 
 sides, including those of our Secretary of War and of 
 General Lee, each army claimed to have " repelled the 
 fierce attack of the enemy," rather than to have ini- 
 tiated the attack. At all events, it seems clear that both 
 armies designed the attack. On Tuesday our forces un- 
 doubtedly moved out to find the enemy, and discovered 
 him advancing to oppose us. In like manner, it is cer- 
 tain that an attack both on the right and left was ordered 
 for our forces at five A. M. on Friday. " On the left it was 
 made, but on the right it was anticipated by the enemy, 
 who had the same intent, but had set the. time of execu- 
 tion a few minutes earlier than we. The same mutual 
 disposition to attack reappeared more than once during 
 the day, and with marked emphasis in the afternoon, and 
 at the attack on Hancock. It may be added, that this 
 terrific infantry contest of Friday closed on a disputed 
 field, neither army having gained great advantage, and 
 friend and foe lying side by side over a broad stretch of 
 territory in attestation of the equal fortune of the day. 
 General Grant held substantially the same line as on 
 Thursday evening, but he had strengthened it on the 
 left. During the night, preparations were made to 
 strengthen the right also, and to repair the disaster which. 

 
 890 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 
 
 the enemy's last charge had wrought on that flank. Ex- 
 cept for this work, the night was comparatively quiet, 
 our army lying silently along their hasty lines of rifle-pits, 
 and the rebels still keeping their more formidable in- 
 trenchments on the edge of the woods, while the interven- 
 ing space so often fought o\jer was held by the dead and 
 wounded of both combatants.
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 891 
 
 CHAPTEK L. 
 
 Movement upon Spottsylvania. The Enemy on the Alert. Attack of M ay 
 10th. Death of Sedgvvick. Position of the Troops. Grant "to Fight it 
 out on that Line." Assault by the Second Corps on May 12th. Large 
 Captures of Prisoners and Guns. Results of the Struggle. Sheridan's 
 Cavalry Raid. Death of General Stuart. Battle at Meadow Bridge. 
 Sheridan at the James River. 
 
 THE morning of Saturday, May 7th, opened with an 
 interchange of shot and shell. The right wing had been 
 protected and strengthened in view of renewed attack. 
 The morning wore away, however, with nothing of more 
 importance than skirmishing. About noon a rather 
 vigorous demonstration was made against our centre, and 
 repelled by a portion of the Fifth Corps and a battery 
 which obtained position in the woods. E-econnoissances 
 in the afternoon discovered that the main body of the 
 enemy had fallen back some distance. Preparations were 
 at once made for a further advance, but in view of the 
 exertions of the last few days, a brief respite for rest was 
 allowed. The following passage, written by an eye-wit- 
 ness, gives a graphic description of the scene at head- 
 quarters at this moment : " The lieutenant-general here, 
 at the foot of a tree, one leg of his trowsers slipped above 
 his boots, his hands limp, his coat in confusion, his sword 
 equipments sprawling on the ground ; not even the weight 
 of sleep erasing that persistent expression of the lip which 
 held a constant promise of something to be done. And 
 there, at the foot of another tree, is General Meade a 
 military hat, with the rim turned down about his ears, 
 tapping his scabbard with his fingers, and gazing abstract- 
 edly into the depths of the earth through eye-glasses that 
 should become historic. General Humphreys, chief of 
 staff a spectacled, iron-gray, middle-aged officer, of a 
 pleasant smile and manner, who wears his trowsers below, 
 after the manner of leggins, and is in all things independ- 
 ent and serene, paces yonder to and fro. That rather
 
 892 HISTORY OF THE GEEAT REBELLION. 
 
 thick-set officer, with closely-trimmed whiskers, and the 
 kindest of eyes, who never betrays a harsh impatience to 
 any comer, is Adjutant-General Williams. General Hunt, 
 chief of artillery, a hearty-faced, frank-handed man, whose 
 black hair and whiskers have the least touch of time, 
 lounges at the foot of another tree, holding lazy converse 
 with one or two members of his staff. General Ingalls, 
 chief quartermaster of the army, than whom no more im- 
 perturbable, efficient, or courteous presence is here, plays 
 idly and smilingly with a riding-whip, tossing a telling 
 word or two hither and thither. Stan officers and order- 
 lies and horses thickly strew the grove." 
 
 Amid these reposing men drops an occasional shell from 
 the enemy, and as the day draws to a close there are 
 signs of renewed activity. At dusk an order was issued 
 for the whole army to move towards Spottsylvania Court- 
 House, via Todd's Tavern. The Fifth Corps marched in 
 advance, the Sixth Corps next, Hancock and Burnside 
 following. The Sixth Corps marched on the Chancellors- 
 ville road, reaching Piney Branch Church towards the 
 latter part of Sunday forenoon, the 8th. A part of our 
 troops stretched across and occupied Fredericksburg, the 
 Twenty-second New Yerk Cavalry entering that city at 
 eight o'clock on Saturday evening. A depot for our 
 wounded was established there, and a basis for supplies 
 arranged. Hancock's and Burnside's Corps pressed on, 
 on Saturday night, resuming the chase again at daylight 
 on Sunday morning, and camping at noon twenty miles 
 away southerly from the Old W ilderness battle-field. The 
 Fifth Corps, remaining till dark on the battle-ground, 
 marched all Saturday night, though exhausted by the 
 events of the four days and nights preceding, taking the 
 Brock road past Todd's Tavern, towards Spottsylvania. 
 
 Meanwhile the enemy's cavalry was on the alert, and 
 Stuart reported to Lee that Grant had resumed his flank 
 movement, and that under cover of the thick woods he 
 was throwing a force forward in the direction of Spottsyl- 
 vania Court-House, on the direct road to Kichmond. Or- 
 ders were immediately issued for Anderson's Corps (late 
 Longstreet's) to march at eleven o'clock at night for that 
 place, and preparations were immediately made to put 
 the whole army in motion for the same destination on 
 the following day. The distance from the battle-field,
 
 HISTORY OF THE GKEAT REBELLION. 893 
 
 which is near the western boundary of Spottsylvania 
 County, to the Court-House, is fifteen miles. Warren's 
 Corps left the Wilderness Tavern with Bartlett's Brigade 
 in the advance as skirmishers. These pushed forward 
 with confidence, but incautiously advancing, when near 
 Spottsylvania Court-House, beyond the main body, were 
 assailed by a heavy fire and driven back with severe loss. 
 General Robinson fell, wounded in the leg. A line of 
 battle was then formed, with Griffin on the right, Robin- 
 son on the left, and on his left Crawford's and Wads- 
 worth's (now Cutler's) Divisions. The troops in the rear 
 were brought up, and a portion of the Sixth Corps formed 
 on the right. Meantime, Ewell's Corps had joined Long- 
 street's (now Anderson's) at Spottsylvania Court-House, 
 where Lee had succeeded in throwing his army in ad- 
 vance of Grant's movement to the same place. Hill's 
 Corps had not yet arrived, but was hourly expected. 
 
 These events of the 7th were officially given to the 
 public as follows : . 
 
 " WASHINGTON, Monday, May 9 4. p. M. 
 
 "A bearer of dispatches from General Meade's head-quarters has just 
 reached here. He states that Lee's Army commenced falling back on the 
 night of Friday. Our army commenced the pursuit on Saturday. The 
 rebels were in full retreat for Richmond by the direct road. IRmcock 
 passed through Spottsylvania Court-House, at daylight yesterday. Our 
 head-quarters at noon yesterday were twenty miles south of the battle- 
 field. We occupy Fredericksburg. The Twenty-second New York Cav- 
 alry occupied that place at eight o'clock 'last night. The depot for our 
 wounded is established at Fredericksburg. 
 
 "EDWIN M. STANTON, Secretary of War." 
 
 Sunday night, the 8th, found the Union army intrench- 
 ed, facing the enemy northwest of Spottsylvania Court- 
 House in an irregular line. Monday the 9th, was occu- 
 pied by the two armies in getting into position and pre- 
 paring for battle. There was more or less skirmishing 
 throughout the day, and some artillery firing, which be- 
 gan at dawn. There were some changes in the disposi- 
 tion of the troops. The enemy's sharpshooters were very 
 busy, depriving the Union army of many a valuable offi- 
 cer. General W. H. Morris, of the Sixth Corps, and 
 numbers of others were killed or wounded. The most 
 severe loss was that of General Sedgwick,* who, accom- 
 
 * John Sedgwick was born in Connecticut, about 1815, and graduated at 
 "West Point in 1837. He was brevetted captain and major for gallant con-
 
 894 HISTORY OF THE GKEAT BEBELLION. 
 
 panied by his staff, had walked out to the advanced line 
 of breastworks occupied by his men. A constant hum 
 of bullets about this place caused the soldiers in the works 
 to dodge and duck their heads. The general smiled at 
 them good-naturedly. He had a winning smile. Finally, 
 one bullet hummed so near a soldier that he dropped 
 down upon his face. General Sedgwick touched him 
 with his foot in humorous disdain. 
 
 " Pooh, pooh, man ! Who ever heard of a soldier dodg- 
 ing a bullett ? Why, they couldn't hit an elephant at that 
 distance." 
 
 There was a laugh at this, even though the straggling 
 shot yet hummed unpleasantly around. The general 
 was still smiling over the banter, when Colonel McMahon 
 heard the buzz of a bullet culminate in what seemed an 
 explosion close beside him. 
 
 "That must have been an explosive bullet, general." 
 
 No answer. But as the face of General Sedgwick 
 slightly turned towards the officer at his side, a sad smile 
 was upon it. Another moment, and the form of the gen- 
 eral fell helplessly backward. It was caught by Colonel 
 McMahon as it fell. A ball had entered the face, just 
 belmv the left eye, pierced the brain, and passed out at 
 the back of the head. He never spoke afterwards, though 
 he breathed softly for a while. 
 
 On Tuesday, our forces at dawn occupied a line stretch- 
 ing out a length of about six miles on the northern bank 
 
 duct in the Mexican war, and at the outbreak of the rebellion held the 
 position of lieutenant-colonel of the Second United States Cavalry. He 
 was soon after promoted to the colonelcy of the Fourth Cavalry, and on 
 August 31st was commissioned a brigadier-general of volunteers. As com- 
 mander of the Third Division of Sumner'g Corps, he participated in the 
 Peninsular campaign, and particularly distinguished himself at Fair Oaks. 
 He was wounded at Antietam, was promoted in December, 1862, to be a 
 major-general of volunteers, and in February, 1863, took command of the 
 Sixth Army Corps. During the Chancellorsville campaign, he stormed and 
 captured Marye's Heights, in the rear of Fredericksburg, and subsequently, 
 after hard fighting against overwhelming numbers, succeeded in crossing 
 the Rappahanock with his command. He had an honorable share in the 
 Gettysburg campaign, and in November, 1863, was publicly thanked by 
 General Meade for a well-executed manoeuvre on the Rapidan, by which we 
 captured a whole rebel division, with several guns and colors. He died in 
 the manner described in the text, leaving a reputation as a brave, judicious, 
 and accomplished officer, second to that of no man in the army. He sev- 
 eral times held temporary command of the Army of the Potomac, and 
 more than once declined the supreme command.
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 895 
 
 of the Po, and taking the general form of a crescent, the 
 wings being thrown forward ; the Second .Corps held the 
 right wing, and the Sixth the left. The preceding night, 
 Hancock had succeeded in crossing the Po, and now held 
 a line on the right, nearly parallel to the road from Shady 
 Grove Church to the Court-House. "Warren held the 
 centre, being on the east side of the Po ; and Wright, 
 who had succeeded Sedgwick in the command of the Sixth 
 Corps, the left, facing towards the Court-House. Farther 
 out on the left was Burnside's Ninth Corps, which, un- 
 known to himself, and fortunately unknown to the ene- 
 my, was disconnected from its supports, and in a very 
 dangerous position. Arnold's, Rodger's Sleeper's, and 
 other batteries covered our right ; Meade's, Martin's, and 
 others our left centre. In our front was a dense forest. 
 The enemy, still held Spottsylvania and the region north 
 of the Court-House. On the preceding day, his left rested 
 on Glady Run, sweeping northward, and sheltered by 
 strong works. His right curved in a similar direction, 
 and rested on the ~Ny River; and his centre, a little 
 thrown forward from the right centre and left centre, was 
 posted on commanding ground. His position was well 
 supported by breastworks, and along his centre was the 
 forest and underbrush, lining a marsh partially drained 
 by a run. In the morning the conflict opened by a ter- 
 rific cannonade of our artillery against the advancing rebel 
 lines ; and for the first time in the campaign, this arm 
 was brought into full and destructive use 
 
 Mott's Fourth Division of the Second Corps was then 
 transferred to the left, and the advance continued at this 
 point. Orders, however, had been given to attack the 
 rebel centre. Accordingly, Gibbons's Second, and Birney's 
 Third Division of the Second Corps were drawn back 
 from the other side of the Po, to connect with "Warren. 
 The Second and Fourth Divisions of the Fifth Corps com- 
 menced the attack on the centre. The rest of the Fifth 
 Corps and the two divisions of the Second then advanced 
 and fought with great tenacity for several hours, driving 
 the enemy to his rifle-pits, but failing to capture them. 
 Gibbons's gallant Second Division, and especially Car- 
 roll's Brigade, suffered severely in repeated charges. 
 General Rice, of the Second Brigade, Fourth Division, 
 Fifth Corps, was at this time killed. The check of our
 
 896 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 centre threw the remaining division, Barlow's (First), of 
 the Second Corps, on our right, in extreme peril, and 
 orders were given to withdraw it to this side the river. 
 The enemy, however, had already attacked it in great 
 force, and turned it. He pounced so suddenly and fiercely 
 upon the division as to force it back from the flanking 
 position it held, and produce a momentary confusion. 
 This was soon checked, and the division, though pressed 
 by superior numbers, fought its way slowly backward, 
 and, still fighting, retreated across the river and joined 
 the Second Corps, against the right of which the enemy 
 continued to exert his strength, until after nightfall, when 
 he was repulsed. 
 
 Towards evening, a most energetic and gallant assault 
 was made by the whole line. Across the open fields, 
 through reaches of wood, through depths of swamp and 
 mire, the dark lines of our battalions struggled forward 
 against a fearful fire poured down upon them from works 
 that only our artillery could reach effectively. The di- 
 visions of the Fifth Corps, subjected to an enfilading volley 
 of great guns from right and left, suffered greatly. The 
 terrible work set for these men, under such a fire, was 
 not accomplished, when darkness closed around the strug- 
 gling hosts with the repulse of the enemy on the right of 
 the Second Corps. Upton's First Brigade of Wright's 
 First Division of the Sixth Corps, with Russell's Third 
 Brigade of the Third Division, moving steadily forward 
 airfid a raking and murderous fire, without firing a shot, 
 scaled the enemy's works in gallant style, and captured 
 more than one thousand of the very men who had stam- 
 peded the brigades of Shaler and Seymour on Friday 
 night in the Wilderness, and sending a scattering volley 
 after a host of flying rebels. Twelve guns also came into 
 our possession. But Upton, finding himself far in ad- 
 vance of the army, was compelled to fall back with his 
 prisoners from his daring assault. As always before, 
 night closed on a hard-fought but indecisive field. Our 
 losses were perhaps more severe than those of any pre- 
 ious day. The Sixth Corps alone, in the battles up 
 to that night, had lost over five thousand killed and 
 wounded. 
 
 The following bulletin was issued upon the reception 
 of the news of these events in Washington :
 
 HISTORY OF THE GKEAT REBELLION. 897 
 
 ""WASHINGTON, May 11 11.30 A. M. 
 " To Major-General Dix : 
 
 " Dispatches from General Grant, dated at eight o'clock this morning, 
 have just reached this Department. He says: 
 
 " 'We have now ended the sixth day of very heavy fighting. The re- 
 sult to this time is much in our favor. Our losses have been heavy, as 
 well as those of the enemy. I think the loss of the enemy must be greater. 
 We have taken over five thousand prisoners in battle, while he has taken 
 from us but few except stragglers. / propose to fight it out on this line if it 
 takes all summer. 1 
 
 "The Government is sparing no pains to support him. 
 
 " EDWIN M. STANTON, Secretary of War" 
 
 Wednesday, May llth, was a day of no extended oper- 
 ations, and was spent mostly in skirmishing and changing 
 positions on both sides. The enemy shifted his lines to 
 the left, and corresponding movements were made on the 
 Federal side. It had been determined to assault on 
 Thursday morning, and the Second Corps being selected 
 to make the attempt, it was, during the night, which was 
 very stormy, moved from the right to the left of the 
 Sixth, between that and Burnside, so that on Thursday 
 morning the corps were disposed as follows : the Fifth 
 Corps on the right, the Sixth Corps next, the Second 
 Corps next, and Burnside, as before, on the extreme left. 
 It was in front of Hancock's new position that the vital 
 section of the enemy lay a strong salient angle of earth- 
 works, ditched in front, defended by cannon at every 
 point, and held by Johnson's Division of Swell's Corps, 
 Swell's whole Corps adjoining. 
 
 On Thursday, the 12th, Hancock's * Corps, occupying 
 a position exposed to the enemy's guns, moved at dawn 
 
 * "Winfield Scott Hancock was born in Montgomery County, Pennsyl- 
 vania, in 1824, and graduated at West Point in 1844. He was brevetted 
 first lieutenant for gallant conduct in the Mexican war, subsequently saw 
 much service in the West, and at the breaking out of the rebellion held the 
 position of quartermaster. He was appointed brigadier-general of volun- 
 teers in September, 1861, commanded a brigade in the Peninsular campaign, 
 and was highly commended for his conduct at the battle of Williamsburg, 
 May 5th, 1862. After the battle of Antietam, he assumed command of a 
 division in the Second Corps, and distinguished himself, at Fredericksburg, 
 Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg. At the last-named battle he held com- 
 mand of the Second Corps, and was severely wounded. He participated in 
 the campaign of 1864 against Richmond, and organized the assault which 
 led to the capture of Johnson's Division, May 12. In the latter part of the 
 year he resigned the command of the Second Corps to General Humphreys, 
 and was assigned to the First Corps, theu reorganizing. At the close of 
 the war he commanded in the Shenandoah Valley. He is now major-gen- 
 eral of volunteers, and has charge of the Middle Department. 
 55
 
 898 HISTOKT OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 cautiously up to the enemy's lines amidst a dense fog. 
 Barlow's Division Niell's Brigade leading formed in 
 column by battalions, took the advance, while Birney, 
 Mott, and Gibbon, in two lines of battle, supported the 
 attack. 
 
 The storming column advanced silently, and with- 
 out firing a shot, up to the angles of the breastworks, 
 over which it rushed, taking the forces within in flank, 
 surrounding them, capturing nearly the entire division 
 of Johnson, three thousand men, with its commander, and 
 also a brigade or two of other troops, Brigadier-General 
 George H. Stuart in command. Over forty pieces of 
 artillery were also captured. The point of the lines thus 
 carried was at Ewell s right and A. P. Hill's left, and 
 the captured division was a part of Stonewall Jackson's 
 famous old corps. It was an exceedingly important point, 
 Hancock being thus inserted like a wedge between the 
 enemy's centre and right. 
 
 The charge of the Second Corps was followed by a 
 heavy cannonade all along the line, to which the enemy 
 replied with great vigor. Five furious charges were 
 made by the enemy to retake that position. E well's 
 Corps, driven from it in the morning, came down first 
 en masse, and were repulsed. Hill moved down from the 
 right, joined Ewell, and threw his divisions into the 
 struggle. General Wright moved up from the right, sup- 
 porting Hancock to meet the surge. Anderson came on 
 from the extreme left of the enemy's line. Warren sent 
 in troops from the left of ours. The lines of both armies, 
 thus contracted, met in a continual death-grapple in and 
 to the right of the angle taken in the morning. The 
 enemy's columns dashed with unflinching determination 
 against our lines, retiring each time with great loss. At 
 length, towards noon, they ceased their efforts to retake 
 the position. But they had successfully disputed our 
 further advance. Part of the captured cannon remained 
 covered by sharpshooters, so that neither party could 
 carry them off. The only solid advantage gained was 
 the possession of the angle surprised in the morning. 
 The enemy's front remained elsewhere apparently im- 
 pregnable, every avenue of approach being swept by the 
 withering fire of artillery, and their force being strong 
 enough to hold the position against twice the attacking
 
 HISTOBY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 899 
 
 ny heroic attempts to force them, the 
 design was abandoned. 
 
 General Meade began early in the afternoon contract- 
 ing his line and massing the troops on his left, with a 
 view to turn the enemy's right. All the afternoon the 
 battle raged with great fury. The enemy made corre- 
 sponding movements from his left to his right. Every 
 inch of soil, muddy with gore, was fought over with des- 
 peration, and yielded only when it became impossible to 
 hold it. Neither the rain nor the mire of the roads de- 
 layed the rapidity or intensity of the fight. The rival 
 bayonets often interlocked, and a bloody grapple over the 
 intrenchments lasted for hours, the rebel battle-flags now 
 surging up side by side with our own, and anon, torn 
 and riddled, disappearing in the woods. The dead and 
 wounded lay thickly strewn along the ground, and fairly 
 heaped up where the fight was deadliest. 
 
 After fourteen hours' fighting, night fell on a battle 
 unsurpassed in severity in the history of the war. For 
 the first time in the campaign a decided success was 
 achieved. "Warren and "Wright, who moved two hours 
 after Hancock, had not advanced on the enemy's front ; 
 but this was not expected, as his position could not there 
 be carried. On the extreme left, Burnside had severely 
 Buffered ; while on the left centre, Hancock had stormed 
 and held an important angle of the enemy's works, de- 
 spite all their eftorts to repossess it. Official dispatches 
 add that the day's work also gave us more than three thou- 
 sand prisoners, and also two general officers, and eighteen 
 pieces of artillery actually brought into our lines. Be- 
 tween forty and fifty pieces had been at one time captured, 
 but the remainder rested on debatable ground, and were 
 subsequently withdrawn by the enemy. The brilliant 
 dash of the morning had secured a strong grasp on the 
 enemy's left centre, and an advance of a mile in our line 
 in that direction. Five determined assaults were made 
 during the day to expel our troops, but all were fruitless. 
 No more gallant, desperate, or long-continued fighting, 
 on either side, for the possession of intrenchments, had 
 occurred during the war ; while the severity of the 
 wounds gave proof of something more than musketry 
 fighting. 
 
 The foregoing movements were thus described by the
 
 900 HISTORY OF THE GEEAT REBELLION. 
 
 Assistant Secretary of "War, who accompanied the army 
 in its advance : 
 
 " SPOTTSTLVANIA COCRT-HOTTSE, VA., Friday, May 13, 1864 8 A. M. 
 "Hon. E. M. STANTON, Secretary of War: 
 
 " Lee abandoned his position during the night, whether to occupy a new 
 position in the vicinity, or to make a thorough retreat, is not determined. 
 
 " One division of Wright's and one of Hancock's are engaged in settling 
 this question, and at half-past seven A. M. had come up on his rear-guard. 
 Though our army is greatly fatigued from the enormous efforts of yester- 
 day, the news of Lee's departure inspires the men with fresh energy. The 
 whole force will soon be in motion, but the heavy rains of the last thirty- 
 six hours render the roads very difficult for wagons and artillery. The 
 proportion of severely wounded is greater than on either of the previous 
 days' fighting. This was owing to the great use made of artillery. 
 
 "C. A. DANA." 
 
 Meanwhile, on May 9th, a picked body of cavalry, 
 under the immediate command of General Sheridan,* 
 chief of cavalry of the Army of the Potomac, had left the 
 front on an expedition to the rear of Lee's army, the main 
 object of which was to cut off the rebel communications 
 and supplies. Moving rapidly south along the Negro 
 
 * Philip Henry Sheridan was born in Perry County, Ohio, in 1831, and 
 graduated at West Point in 1853. He saw considerable service in the 
 West, and after the outbreak of the rebellion was commissioned a captain 
 in the Thirteenth United States Infantry. For nearly a year he acted as 
 chief quartermaster in the Trans-Mississippi Department, and in May, 1862, 
 was appointed colonel of the Second Michigan Cavalry. In June he was 
 put in command of a cavalry brigade, and for a brilliant victory over the 
 rebel General Chalmers, at Booneville, Mississippi, July 1st, he was pro- 
 moted, on General Grant's recommendation, to be a brigadier-general of 
 volunteers. During the invasion of Kentucky by Bragg, in 1862, he was 
 assigned to the command of a division hi Buell's army, and subsequently 
 fought at Perrysville and Murfreesboro, earning by his valor in the latter 
 engagement his promotion to be major-general of volunteers. He par- 
 ticipated in the campaign of 1863 against Chattanooga, and again distin- 
 guished himself at Chickamauga and the succeeding battle on Missionary 
 Ridge. In the spring of 1864 he was summoned Eastward to assume com- 
 mand of the cavalry of the Army of the Potomac, in which capacity he led 
 several daring expeditions against the enemy's communications. In 
 A.ugust he took charge of the military division of the Shenandoah, gained 
 the brilliant victories of September 19th and 21st over Early, and on Octo- 
 ber 19th won the hard-fought battle of Cedar Creek, changing by his op- 
 portune arrival a Union defeat into a signal victory. In March, 1865, he 
 moved his cavalry to the James River, and in the flanking movement by 
 which Lee was driven out of Petersburg and eventually destroyed, he held 
 the chief command, defeating the rebels with severe loss at the battle of 
 Five Forks. At the conclusion of the war he went to Texas as commander 
 of the military division of the Gulf. He is a major-general of the regular 
 army.
 
 HISTOKY OF THE GREAT EEBELLION. 901 
 
 Foot road towards Childsburg, he crossed the North 
 Anna River at the fords and suddenly pounced upon the 
 Beaver Dam Station of the Virginia Central Railroad, 
 where a rebel provost-guard, having charge of nearly four 
 hundred Union prisoners, was captured. The latter were 
 promptly released. Thence moving towards Richmond, 
 he sent a detachment to Ashland Station, on the Fred- 
 ericksburg Railroad, where the track, station-house, and 
 considerable rolling stock were destroyed. On the llth 
 the command, again concentrated, had reached a point 
 within six miles of Richmond, where the rebel cavalry 
 under General Stuart * was encountered, and, after a sharp 
 fight, defeated, with the loss of several guns, Stuart him- 
 self being mortally wounded. On the succeeding morn- 
 ing a detachment penetrated to the second line of defences 
 of Richmond, but, not being in sufficient force to make a 
 dash at the city, rejoined the main body, which was 
 moving towards Meadow Bridge, on the Chickahominy. 
 The rebels, aware by this time of the intentions of Sheri- 
 dan, were moving rapidly in superior force to surround 
 and cut him off, and upon reaching the river the Union 
 cavalry found Meadow Bridge destroyed and the Freder- 
 icksburg Railroad bridge, which crosses the Chicka- 
 hominy near this place, commanded by defensive works. 
 To add to Sheridan's embarrassment, another rebel force 
 now came up in his rear, cutting off his retreat and seri- 
 ously jeopardizing the command. 
 
 Hemmed in between two fires, with a difficult river to 
 cross, and a vigilant and confident enemy surrounding 
 
 * James E. B. Stuart was bora in Patrick County, Virginia, about 1832, 
 and graduated at West Point in 1854. He served in a cavalry regiment 
 until the outbreak of the rebellion, when he resigned his commission and 
 entered the rebel army, in which, in September, 1861, he was commissioned 
 a brigadier-general. In the ensuing winter he organized the rebel cavalry 
 forces in Virginia, and during the Peninsular campaign distinguished him- 
 self by a raid in McClellan's rear, which was the precursor of that general's 
 change of base to the James Eiver, and of the seven days' fighting which 
 accompanied the movement. He commanded the cavalry during the suc- 
 ceeding invasion of Maryland, and a few weeks after the battle of Antietam 
 again rode around the Union lines, bringing off a considerable amount of 
 spoils. In the Chancellorsville campaign and Lee's second invasion of the 
 North, his cavalry was active, and, after the battle of Gettysburg, effectually 
 covered the rebel retreat. He was mortally wounded in an encounter with 
 the Union cavalry at YeDow Tavern, near Richmond, on the path and 
 died a few hours later. He then held the rank of lieutenant-general
 
 902 HISTORY OF THE GKEAT EEBELLION. 
 
 his tired troopers, Sheridan acted with consummate cool- 
 ness and judgment. The railroad bridge being under 
 the circumstances impracticable, he immediately com- 
 menced to reconstruct Meadow Bridge, though exposed 
 the while to a severe fire, to which his own artillery 
 effectually replied, and obliged to repel the enemy in his 
 rear by frequent counter-attacks. At length the bridge 
 was completed, and preparations were made to pass his 
 ammunition train across. But as this operation, under 
 the hot fire of the enemy, would be attended with no little 
 risk, he gathered his men up for a final charge, and, put- 
 ting himself at their head, sabre in hand, drove the rebels 
 in confusion to the shelter of the neighboring woods, their 
 flight being accelerated by several well-aimed shots from 
 the Union artillery. The trains were now quickly passed 
 across the river, and the rebel force on the farther bank 
 was driven through Mechanicsville to Cold Harbor, with 
 the loss of many prisoners. Sheridan encamped that 
 night at Gaines's Mill, the old battle-ground of June 27th, 
 1862, and on the 14th reached General Butler's head- 
 quarters, near City Point, on the James River. He then 
 opened communications with Yorktown, and thence with 
 Washington.
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 903 
 
 CHAPTEK LI. 
 
 Retrograde Movement of the Enemy. Bad Condition of the Roads. 
 Union Movement to the Left. Relative Position of Armies. Re-enforce- 
 ments. Irruption on the Rear Repulsed. Grant Crossing the North 
 Anna. Impregnable Position of the Enemy. North Anna Recrossed, 
 and Movement to the Left continued. 
 
 FRIDAY, the 13th, continued stormy, but the skirmish- 
 ers were early pushed out, only to discover that the 
 enemy had fallen back to a new position, made necessary 
 by the loss of the angle occupied by Hancock. The 
 roads were in such a condition that rapidity of movement 
 was out of the question, and the day was occupied mostly 
 in burying the dead. General Meade issued a congratu- 
 latory order to the troops. Towards night, new disposi- 
 tions were determined on. The enemy's right being 
 deemed the only practicable point of attack, our lines 
 were to be once more shifted down to the left, in the en- 
 deavor to flank. The Fifth and Sixth Corps were select- 
 ed this time, for an attempt resembling that of the Second 
 and Ninth. The position of Thursday, the 12th, as al- 
 ready indicated, ran thus, from right to left : Warren, 
 Wright, Hancock, Burnside. About nine o'clock, on 
 Friday night, the two right corps were put in motion, 
 and marched all night to their new position. The diffi- 
 culties of the march through the ankle-deep and knee- 
 deep mud, and amid the furious storm, made the move- 
 ment slow and arduous, and only endurable by contrast 
 with the severer experience of constant battle. 
 
 On the morning of Saturday, the 14th, the enemy was 
 found to have fallen back a little, and to have brought 
 his line more to the east, still holding the Court-House 
 and the forked roads. In this neighborhood, the Ny and 
 the Po Rivers, branches of the Mattapony, approach each 
 other to form their junction. The Federal army was in 
 the fork formed by these streams, and at right angles with 
 the road from Fredericksburg to Spottsylvania. The
 
 904 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 several corps were posted as follows : Hancock's Second 
 Corps on the right, Burnside's Ninth on the right centre, 
 Wright's Sixth on the left centre, Warren's Fifth on the 
 left. On Saturday, "Wright had not been able to get im- 
 mediately into position, and was farther to the left, and a 
 little thrown back, as if in reserve. The position was a 
 good one, on the crests of rolling ridges running nearly 
 northwest and southeast, and covering the southerly bank 
 of the Ny River. There was also space for the sweep 
 of the artillery. Unfortunately, the almost indescribably 
 bad condition of the roads had prevented the successful 
 completion of the movement in season to authorize an 
 attack. There was no hope of surprise, and before our 
 artillery trains and infantry masses were in position the 
 enemy was alert and hostile. 
 
 The head-quarters of Grant and Meade were at Gail's 
 House, eight miles from Fredericksburg and two miles 
 from the Court-House. The extremities of the two wings 
 were about equidistant from the house, and the skirmish- 
 ing line a mile in front. The enemy's position was a 
 semicircular line of earthworks, with rifle-pits here and 
 there, well established on commanding heights, and the 
 whole flanked right and left by dense woods. Artillery 
 was already in position, and new intrenchments building. 
 A part of the works appeared to be sodded, showing an 
 old construction, and the utmost activity was manifest in 
 strengthening the position. Our forces soon commenced to 
 throw up field-works, and the great armies, so lately con- 
 tending with bayonet and bullet, were now quietly and 
 sedulously emulating each other with the spade. 
 
 Sunday, the 15th, was the twelfth day since the army 
 had left Culpepper, and was the first of comparative rest 
 that the men had enjoyed. There was but little skir- 
 mishing on either side. On Monday, the 16th, Grant 
 sent word to Washington that operations would be sus- 
 pended until the roads should be passable. Monday and 
 Tuesday passed in welcome rest for the army. The 
 wounded were sent back in long trains of ambulances to 
 Fredericksburg, and the roads were lined with crippled 
 soldiers painfully making their way in the same direction. 
 Mosby's guerrillas scoured the country on both sides of 
 the Rapidan, picking up squads of stragglers. Re-en- 
 forcements had been received to the extent of thirty -five
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 905 
 
 thousand, according to the announcement of the Secretary 
 of War, to fill up the terrible gaps made by the previous 
 ten days' service. The time was similarly employed by 
 the enemy. 
 
 By Tuesday afternoon, the 17th, the ground had be- 
 come somewhat improved, so as to admit of reconnois- 
 sances. Hitherto the constant effort of Grant had been to 
 turn the enemy's right. It was now determined to reverse 
 the operation, and, if possible, to throw the enemy off his 
 guard ; the more so that the ground was more favorable 
 for manoauvring on our right than on our left. In ac- 
 cordance with this determination a new disposition of 
 troops was made during Tuesday night, and the line was 
 formed "Wednesday morning, the 18th, from right to left, 
 as follows : Wright, Hancock, Burnside, Warren. The 
 right and right centre, Wright and Hancock, were to 
 attack. It was hoped by this means to surprise the 
 enemy, as our movements of the past week refusing our 
 right constantly, and massing on the left seemed to in- 
 dicate a fixed purpose on the part of Meade of turning 
 the rebel right. The enemy, however, divined the in- 
 tention, and were already perfectly prepared. When 
 Hancock advanced he found them in an impregnable 
 position. Hancock pushed through two outer lines of 
 rifle-pits, which had been abandoned in apparent haste to 
 draw him on, but presently struck an extremely strong 
 line of breastworks, with abatis in front, and very heavily 
 armed with artillery. The position could only have been 
 carried by an immense loss of life, if it could have been 
 carried at all. The order for assault was, accordingly, at 
 ten o'clock A. M. countermanded. A nearer view of the 
 position it was intended to assail convinced the com- 
 manding general that it could not be carried. If it could 
 be gained by hard fighting, he was not the man to flinch 
 on that account ; but success seemed hopeless. 
 
 General Grant, finding it impossible to force the 
 enemy's front, once more determined to move by his left. 
 On Wednesday night a cavalry force under General Tor- 
 bert entered Guinney's Station, a point on the Richmond, 
 Fredericksburg, and Potomac Railroads, about ten miles 
 in a direct line southeasterly from Spottsylvania, across 
 the Po, and consequently on the right and rear of the 
 enemy's position. The cavalry destroyed the buildings
 
 906 HISTORY OF THE GEEAT REBELLION. 
 
 and supplies, the telegraph apparatus, &c. This was 
 only the precursor of a general movement in that direc- 
 tion. On Thursday a portion of the right began to move 
 towards the left, and dispositions were in progress to carry 
 out the whole movement, when an unexpected interrup- 
 tion took place. Ewel!,* noticing the movement of our 
 troops from the right, moved a part of his corps to thwart 
 it. The division of Rhodes having the advance, crossed 
 the ~Ny River, and reached the Fredericksburg wagon- 
 road in the rear of our right flank, where he captured 
 ambulances and a subsistence train within three-quarters 
 of a mile of the head-quarters of Generals Meade and 
 Grant. The only troops we had on the ground at the 
 time were Tyler's Division of heavy artillery, which had 
 lately been brought from Washington. Three divisions, 
 one each of the Second, Fifth, and Sixth Corps, were sent 
 to his support. Tyler met the attack near the woods, 
 where the enemy had formed in a single line, with skir- 
 mishers in front. He felt some apprehension at the 
 result of the encounter, as his troops were raw and had 
 never been employed in open field-fighting. But when 
 once fairly under fire they showed a degree of courage 
 and audacity which surprised the rebels not less 
 than their commander. No sooner did they see the 
 enemy, than, regardless of the devices which older troops 
 would have taken to screen themselves in a close 
 encounter in the woods, they fired a volley and followed 
 it up by an impetuous charge, which sent the rebels 
 quickly towards their camp. The honors of the repulse 
 of the enemy, whose boldly-conceived movement might, 
 under different circumstances, have produced disastrous 
 
 * Richard Stoddard Ewell was born in the District of Columbia about 
 1820, and graduated at West Point in 1840. He was brevetted captain for 
 gallantry in the Mexican war, subsequently saw considerable service in the 
 West, and at the outbreak of the civil war resigned his commission and 
 entered the rebel army, of which he was appointed a brigadier-general. 
 He was subsequently promoted to be a major-general, and took command 
 of a corps in the Army of Virginia. He lost a leg at the second battle of 
 Bull Run, and did not resume his command until after the battle of Get- 
 tysburg. He participated in the invasion of Maryland and Pennsylvania 
 in 1863, distinguished himself at Gettysburg, and during the campaign of 
 1864-'65, commanded one of the three corps of Lee's army. On April 6tb, 
 1865, his corps was disastrously routed by Sheridan, west of Burkesville, 
 and he himself captured. H,e was subsequently confined in Fort Warren, 
 but after some months released.
 
 HISTORY OF THE GKEAT REBELLION. 907 
 
 results, rested with Tyler's heavy artillery division, and 
 partly also with Birney's Division of the Second Corps, 
 and Crawford's of the Fifth, which formed line, enabling 
 Tyler to withdraw, after driving the enemy for several 
 miles and clearing the valley of the Ny. 
 
 The grand movement, which had been delayed by this 
 attack, recommenced on the night of Friday, the 20th, 
 when Torbert's Cavalry left Guinney's Station, on the 
 Fredericksburg and Richmond Railroad, and pushed on 
 to Bowling Green, fifteen miles southeast of Spottsyl- 
 vania, and thence to Milford Station, hoping to capture 
 Lee's stores; but they had been already removed. At 
 midnight of Friday, the Second Corps followed the 
 cavalry, striking Massaponax Church about four o'clock, 
 Guinney's Station on Saturday morning, and finally 
 Bowling Green reaching the latter point, after a march 
 of about twenty miles, by nightfall of Saturday. The 
 weather was fine but warm, and the roads good. Pro- 
 ceeding from Bowling Green, the Second Corps next 
 struck the Mattapony at Milford Bridge, five miles 
 south, crossed the river, and formed line in a command- 
 ing position about a mile from the bridge. Here, a few 
 hundred rebel cavalry dashed against Barlow's Division 
 while forming, but discovering in season they were about 
 to capture a Tartar, wheeled and escaped with safety. 
 The enemy's infantry was in strong force in front. 
 During the day of Sunday, the 22d, the corps marched 
 forward and held the ground for a mile or two from the 
 Mattapony. Milford Station is about forty miles from 
 Richmond. 
 
 At ten o'clock on Saturday morning, "Warren's Fifth 
 Corps broke camp and followed the Second, encountering 
 cavalry, like its predecessor, near Guinney's. The Sixth 
 and Ninth followed the Fifth, bringing up the rear, ana, 
 on Saturday, the whole army had left Spottsylvania. 
 Our advance found everywhere that the movement had 
 been anticipated; stores had been removed, and Lee's 
 main army taken from our path. All the corps had more 
 or less skirmishing that in the rear being at one time 
 quite lively, but no danger or delay was caused. The 
 advance was conducted in a bold and confident style, the 
 corps striking out, with, occasionally, long gaps interven- 
 ing, causing no little trepidation in some quarters, lest a
 
 908 HISTORY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 
 
 part of our force should be cut off by an attack of the 
 enemy, while it marched by the flank. 
 
 By Sunday the column began to consolidate, and a 
 sort of line was formed, facing westerly, the Second 
 Corps holding the left at Milford Station, and the Fifth 
 the right at Guinney's, with the centre in the direction 
 of Bowling Green. It was already clear to Grant that 
 the enemy was preceding him in the direction of Han- 
 over Court-House, and the whole army on Monday 
 pushed forward at a rapid rate, and reached the North 
 Anna River, in the neighborhood of Jericho Mills. The 
 Second and Fifth Corps were in the advance, the latter 
 at the right of the Second. Hancock rushed at the 
 enemy's strong position, after briefly reconnoitring its 
 strength, his troops gallantly charging the enemy ; while 
 our batteries played into their works. The battle was 
 very severe; but, with a loss of about three hundred 
 men, Hancock succeeded in forcing the position. Mean- 
 while, Warren's Fifth Corps had already crossed higher 
 up, without much difficulty, but were soon attacked with 
 fury and vehemence. Secretary Stanton's dispatch from 
 General Grant says that Warren " was attacked with 
 great vehemence. I have never heard more rapid or 
 massive firing, either of artillery or musketry. The 
 attack resulted in a destructive repulse of the enemy. 
 At the position attacked by Hancock the rebels were 
 intrenched, and in considerable force, between the creek 
 he had crossed and the river, and made a pertinacious 
 resistance to his onset ; but before dark he had forced 
 them from their works and driven them across the 
 stream." By night, the Second and Fifth Corps were 
 both across the river, and the Ninth and Sixth held the 
 thither side. On Tuesday the whole army was across. 
 
 Lee had even on Friday night suspected Grant's move- 
 ment. He knew the impregnability of his own position. 
 He knew that the Federal advance on his works had been 
 abandoned without serious attack, and when Ewell's 
 attack on the Federal lines discovered the absence of 
 Hancock, Grant's plan was demonstrated. At midnight 
 of the 20th two corps of the rebel army were already on 
 the way to head off Grant, while the third remained on 
 the ground and attacked the Federal Sixth on Saturday 
 morning. The route of Lee was much shorter and more
 
 HISTOEY OF THE GKEAT REBELLION. 909 
 
 
 
 direct to the same point than that of Grant. He accord- 
 ingly sent a flying body to harass the troops of Grant, 
 while Ewell and Longstreet passed over the Telegraph 
 road, and A. P. Hill farther to the west, over the Negro 
 Foot road, and when our troops reached the North Anna 
 Eiver, Longstreet and Ewell had been in> position twenty- 
 four hours. 
 
 Tuesday, the 24th, was passed in getting the array into 
 position on the south of the North Anna. Port Royal, 
 on the Rappahannock, became the new base of supplies, 
 and head-quarters were at Jericho Mills. 
 
 On Wednesday noon, the 25th, the line rested as 
 follows, from right to left : "Wright's Sixth Corps, War- 
 ren's Fifth, Burnside's Ninth, Hancock's Second. 
 Wright's Corps was held rather in the rear, covering 
 Jericho Ford. Hancock's extreme left touched on the 
 railroad, and was but very little advanced from the river. 
 Between our right and left the enemy was found in 
 strong force opposite our centre, with his left a little 
 thrown back. Our own line extended about four miles. 
 The reconnoissances of the day showed that the enemy's 
 line lay northwest of Sexton's Junction, in the general 
 form of a V. The apex, or his centre, stretched towards 
 the North Anna, his right wing resting on the formidable 
 marsh known as Bull Swamp, through which the creek 
 of that name empties into the North Anna, and extend- 
 ing across the Fredericksburg Railroad, protecting it and 
 covering the junction. His left wing ran along Little 
 River, crossing the Virginia Central, and protecting it 
 also at Sexton's Junction. The salient, an obtuse angle, 
 was pushed out towards Ox Ford, confronting Burnside. 
 Hancock's Corps lay pretty nearly parallel with the 
 enemy's right. This position, naturally strong, appeared 
 to be fortified with extensive and elaborate intrenchments, 
 to which the enemy was busily adding others. The 
 whole position looked formidable, and the enemy did not 
 yield to the slight pressure of our reconnoissance. 
 
 On Thursday head-quarters were at Quarles's Ford. 
 Reconnoissances again went on, but showed nothing new. 
 The strength of the rebel army, with the morass on the 
 right and the river on the left, with its centre danger- 
 ously inserted between the two fords, and threatening to 
 penetrate our own centre, was again obvious. In case
 
 910 HISTORY OP THE GEEAT REBELLION. 
 
 of a battle, the rapidity with which troops could be 
 thrown back and forth from flank to flank, as occasion 
 required, was no less obvious. The position was skilfully 
 chosen, and, it would seem, threatened our security, as 
 well as provided for its own. 
 
 A glance at the position sufficed to show that it was 
 almost impregnable, and once more the movement to the 
 left commenced. To make this movement, it was neces- 
 sary to recross the North Anna, which was swelling from 
 the recent rain's, and no time was to be lost. With a 
 vigilant enemy on his rear, the task was not easy. To 
 cover the movement, a demonstration was made during 
 Thursday, the 26th, on the enemy's works, and the 
 cavalry set to burning the track of the Virginia Central 
 Hail road. Under cover of this attack, on Thursday 
 evening, the Sixth Corps quietly and swiftly withdrew to 
 the north branch of the river, followed by the other 
 corps in quick succession, and moved out easterly for the 
 Pamunkey. Hancock protected the rear, and, mean- 
 while, a strong skirmish line was left in front, to engage 
 the enemy's attention and disarm suspicion. At 9 
 o'clock on Friday morning, Torbert's First and Gregg's 
 Second Division of Sheridan's Cavalry took possession of 
 Hanover Ferry and Hanovertown, finding there only a 
 rebel vedette. General Torbert captured seventy-five 
 cavalry, including six officers. The First Division of 
 the Sixth Corps arrived at 10 A. M., and the rest of the 
 column closely followed. On the morning of the 27th, 
 while our army moved down the north side of the Pa- 
 munkey, Breckinridge's Division was sent to move down 
 on the south side of the stream, to Hanover Court-House, 
 to act as a corps of observation ; and a brigade of 
 cavalry was sent still farther on, on the Piping Tree road. 
 Hanovertown is on the Pamunkey, fifteen miles north- 
 east of Richmond, nine miles in air line from Hanover 
 Court-House, and sixteen from White House, on the 
 same river. But the exceedingly tortuous nature of the 
 river makes the two latter distances very much greater 
 by river and somewhat greater by road. It was at once 
 evident that the familiar spot known as the White House 
 was henceforth to be our base of supplies. Thirteen 
 miles east of White House is West Point, where the 
 Mattapony and Pamunkey form, by their confluence,
 
 HISTORY OP THE GEEAT KEBELLION. 911 
 
 the York River. The distance by the winding stream is 
 much greater. A railroad connects the two points. 
 
 In the afternoon of Friday, General Meade's head-quar- 
 ters were at Mongohick Church, situated at the cross-roads 
 on Mehixen Creek, in King William County, ten miles 
 north of Hanovertown. On Saturday morning, the 28th, 
 our troops had obtained complete possession of Hanover- 
 town and the neighboring region, having inarched proba- 
 bly twenty-five miles, in the heat and dust, since Thursday 
 night. On Sunday, the 29th, the whole army was suc- 
 cessfully across the Pamunkey, and fronted southwest, 
 about three miles from the river. The corps moved cau- 
 tiously forward, and an attack from Lee was expected. 
 None such was made, however, and the only firing came 
 from reconnoitring parties far in the front. Reconnois- 
 sances were made from each corps, followed up by a grad- 
 ual advance. It appeared that the enemy was in force 
 half a dozen miles distant from our lines, across Tolopa- 
 tomoy Creek, with his extreme right holding Shady Grove 
 and Mechanicsville, his right centre in front of Atler's 
 Station on the Virginia Central, and his left still persist- 
 ently covering Hanover Court-House. Trains now began 
 to run to and from White House, and dispositions were 
 made for battle.
 
 912 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 CHAPTER LII. 
 
 Original Plan of Campaign. Butler's Expedition up the James. Movement 
 on Petersburg. Fort Darling. Repulse of the Union Forces. Attack 
 by Beauregard. Beauregard Re-enforces Lee. Smith sent to support 
 Grant. 
 
 THE campaign of General Grant upon his appointment 
 as Lieutenant-General to the chief command of all the ar- 
 mies of the United States, comprised a simultaneous move- 
 ment by the army under Sherman in Tennessee, by that 
 under Sigel in the Valley of the Shenandoah, and another 
 under Butler, which was to land at City Point on the 
 James River, and destroy the Petersburg Railroad con- 
 nection with Richmond, thus preventing Beauregard, who 
 commanded on the south side of the James, from going to 
 re-enforce Lee. This expedition, consisting of the Eigh : 
 teenth Corps, Major-General "W. F. Smith, known asBal- 
 dy Smith, and the Tenth Corps, Major-General Gillmore, 
 was embarked on transports at Yorktown and Gloucester 
 Point. Demonstrations of an advance up York River 
 were made to deceive the enemy, and then the whole pro- 
 ceeded up the James. This movement, made on the same 
 day as that on which Meade's army crossed the Rapidan, 
 took the enemy somewhat by surprise. There was no at- 
 tempt at City Point or elsewhere to dispute the landing, 
 which was described in the official telegram as follows : 
 
 " OFF CITY POINT, VA., May 5. 
 
 "Lieutenant-General GRANT, Commanding Armies of the United States, 
 Washington, D. C. : 
 
 " "We have seized Wilson's "Wharf Landing. A brigade of Wild's colored 
 troops are tbere. At Fort Powhattan Landing two regiments of the same 
 brigade have landed. At City Point, Hinks's Division, with the remaining 
 troops and battery, have landed. The remainder of both the Eighteenth 
 and Tenth Army Corps are being landed at Bermuda Hundred, above the 
 Appomattox. 
 
 " No opposition experienced thus far. The movement was apparently a 
 complete surprise. Both army corps left Yorktown during last night. The 
 monitors are all over the bar at Harrison's Landing and above City Point. 
 The operations of the fleet have been conducted to-day with energy and
 
 HISTOKY OF THE GBEAT REBELLION. 913 
 
 success. Generals Smith and Gillmore are pushing the landing of the men. 
 General Graham, with the army gunboats, led the advance during the night, 
 capturing the signal-station of the rebels. 
 
 " Colonel "West, with eighteen hundred cavalry, made several demonstra- 
 tions from "Williamsburg yesterday morning. General Kautz left Suffolk 
 this morning with his cavalry, for the service indicated during the confer- 
 ence with the Lieutenant-General. 
 
 " The New York flag-of-truce boat was found lying at the wharf, with 
 four hundred prisoners, whom she had not time to deliver. She went up 
 yesterday morning. 
 
 " We are landing troops during the night a hazardous service in the face 
 of the enemy. BENJ. F. BUTLER, Major- General Commanding. 
 
 "A. F. PUFFER, Captain 0nd A. D. C." 
 
 General Kautz, with three thousand cavalry from Suf- 
 folk, on the same day with the movement up the James Riv- 
 er, had forced the Blackwater, and burnt the railroad bridge 
 at Stony Creek, below Petersburg, but not in time to pre- 
 vent the troops under Hill reaching Petersburg in time to 
 contest the progress of our troops. He also made a dash 
 at Petersburg, but was compelled to retire with loss. 
 On Monday, the 9th, our troops advanced in force against 
 the Richmond and Petersburg Railroad, with the purpose 
 of more effectually disabling this main line of supply for 
 General Lee. Gillmore on the right and Smith on the 
 left, feeling their way cautiously through the thick woods, 
 they advanced in momentary expectation of a fight ; but 
 contrary to expectation, their march was unopposed, and, 
 after doing some damage, the troops occupied the north 
 bank of Swift Creek, three miles above Petersburg. 
 
 While in front of Yicksburg, in conversation with a 
 number of officers, General Grant, without expecting to 
 be ever called to the place, gave his views of the proper 
 plan to capture Richmond. He said that, in his view, 
 two armies should move against the rebel capital one by 
 way of the Rapidan, and the other by way of Petersburg. 
 Either of these columns should be strong enough to fight 
 Lee out of his intrenchments a circumstance which would 
 compel Lee to keep his army together, as a division, with 
 the James River between the sections, must prove fatal. 
 The army on the south was to cut off communications, 
 and threaten the destruction of the rebel capital from the 
 south, and be able to take it, if Lee did not fall back ; if 
 he did fall back, the army from the north could press him, 
 and besiege him in the capital, and by means of gunboats 
 a perfect connection across James River could be kept up. 
 
 56
 
 914 HISTOET OF THE GKEAT EEBELLION. 
 
 The moment the army on the south side occupied Man- 
 chester, Richmond would become untenable ; and under 
 any circumstances, with all communications cut, the city 
 could not stand a long siege; and though a portion of the 
 rebel army might escape, it could only do so in a demor- 
 alized condition. Such being the views of Grant, it is ev- 
 ident what part General Butler was intended to play in 
 the campaign. 
 
 On Friday, May 13th, a cavalry expedition under Kautz 
 went out for the purpose of destroying the railroad com- 
 munications between Richmond and Danville. In sup- 
 port of this movement Gillmore advanced with his corps, 
 on the left, up the railroad towards Chester and Rich- 
 mond, while Smith, with the Eighteenth Corps, moved 
 on the right, up the Richmond and Petersburg turnpike 
 along the James River. Ames's Third Division of the 
 Tenth Corps remained to watch Petersburg. Smith ad- 
 vanced, skirmishing with the enemy, until he reached 
 Proctor's Run, three miles from Fort Darling, and Gill- 
 more, on the left, reached the Halfway House, when the 
 troops rested for the night. In the morning the enemy 
 were discovered behind a line of earthworks, stretching 
 from the James to a quarter of a mile beyond the railroad, 
 and constituting the outer defences of Fort Darling. Brisk 
 skirmishing at once commenced. The Third New Hamp- 
 shire, the One Hundredth New York, and Twenty-fourth 
 Massachusetts were sent to turn the enemy's right flank, 
 while our left, under Gillmore, was ordered to swing round 
 upon the centre and right. The attack of the flanking 
 party was successful, and the enemy withdrew to a strong- 
 er line, three-quarters of a mile beyond. More or less 
 skirmishing was kept up until the 16th, when the enemy, 
 under Beauregard, attacked vigorously. Our line was 
 formed with Smith's Corps on the right, and Gill m ore's 
 on the left. Early Monday morning, the 16th, concealed 
 by a very dense fog, the enemy, under General Ransom, 
 massed his troops against our right wing, which at that 
 time was particularly vulnerable. He burst upon Hick- 
 man's Brigade, of Weitzel's Division, Smith's Corps, and, 
 in the blinding fog and darkness, a terrific conflict ensued. 
 Borne down at last by numbers, the gallant brigade fell 
 to the rear, with loss of some artillery, four stands of col- 
 ors, and about three hundred prisoners. Here Colonel
 
 HISTORY OP THE GKEAT REBELLION. 915 
 
 Drake's Brigade, Weitzel's Division, consisting of the 
 Eighth Maine and One Hundred and Twelfth New York, 
 came to the rescue, and by hard fighting for a time stav- 
 ed the tide of the enemy. Farther to the left, Wistar's 
 and Burnham's Brigades of Weitzel's Division were also 
 set upon with fury. On our left there was a simultaneous 
 attack, Hawley's and Barton's Brigades of Terry's Divi- 
 sion, Tenth Corps, were roughly handled, and the line 
 forced back. Gillmore covered the retreat. A movement 
 of the enemy to cut off the retreat was repulsed by Ames. 
 The two corps then fell back to their intrenchments, the 
 enemy holding the turnpike. Our total loss was nearly 
 four thousand men, a great proportion of them being cap- 
 tured on the right, from Heckman's Brigade, consisting 
 of the Ninth New Jersey, and the Twenty-third, Twenty- 
 fifth, and Twenty-seventh Massachusetts. Ashby's and 
 Belger's batteries lost ten guns. 
 
 A large number of officers, including General Heckman, 
 were also captured by the enemy, who admitted a loss of 
 fifteen hundred. 
 
 The cavalry under General Kautz returned at sundown 
 on Tuesday. The object had been to tap the Richmond 
 and Danville Railroad, and the attempt had more or less 
 annoyed the enemy. 
 
 Thus the prime object of the expedition of General But- 
 ler seems to have failed, although he had succeeded in 
 getting a foothold on the south side of the James. If, 
 after his first landing at the mouth of the Appomattox 
 River, he had shown more vigor, it is difficult to see how 
 Petersburg, distant some ten miles from the James River, 
 could have been saved. As it was, time was given to 
 Beauregard to gather up a force from Charleston and 
 Wilmington, and he had little difficulty in subsequently 
 inflicting a defeat on Butler's forces. Butler was also 
 blamed for not intrenching when he carried the first line 
 of the enemy's works. The movement would then per- 
 haps have proved a success. 
 
 The forces remained inactive until the 19th, when Beau- 
 regard moved in front of the Union lines, and about mid- 
 night attacked Terry's and Ames's Divisions of the Tenth 
 Corps. "With some intermissions the attack was kept up 
 until nine o'clock of Friday, the 20th. A more vigorous 
 assault was then made. In front of General Ames's line
 
 916 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 was a series of rifle-pits, between which and our intrench- 
 ments intervened a field devastated by fire, around which 
 the woods formed an irregular semicircle. The enemy 
 came down upon these rifle-pits in force, capturing them 
 after a desperate fight. In an attempt to retake the rifle- 
 pits, the Ninety-seventh Pennsylvania and Thirteenth Il- 
 linois Regiments were ordered to move through the woods 
 to co-operate with a movement made by another portion 
 of Gillmore's forces. Misunderstanding the order, the 
 troops were moved by the flank along the skirt of the 
 woods. Marching steadily along, they came unexpected- 
 ly upon a battery, which opened a murderous cross-fire, 
 literally mowing them down. It appeared to the looker- 
 on as though the entire force melted away before this ter- 
 rific rain of grape and -canister. The loss is estimated at 
 three hundred. The other movement was successful, and 
 the enemy were driven from their position. The rebel 
 General Walker was dangerously wounded and captured. 
 Butler then ordered the navy gunboats in the Appomat- 
 tox to shell the woods in front of the left and towards the 
 centre. 
 
 Butler was now in a measure shut up in his lines, and 
 Beauregard was enabled to send a portion of his force to 
 the support of Lee. His total force was composed of 
 twelve brigades: Clingman's, Greysie's, and Ransom's 
 Brigades of North Carolina troops ; Hun ton's, Burton's, 
 Terry's, Corse's, and Wise's Virginia Brigades ; Hagood's 
 and Walker's South Carolina Brigades, and Bushrod 
 E. Johnson's Brigade altogether about thirty thousand 
 men. 
 
 On Tuesday, the 24th, some of the enemy's cavalry, 
 under Fitzhugh Lee, attacked the fort at Wilson's Wharf, 
 on the north bank of the James, garrisoned by colored 
 troops, but retired with the loss of twenty-six killed and 
 many wounded. On the 26th, General Martindale made 
 a similar attack upon the enemy's lines at Bakehouse 
 Creek, and retired with the loss of thirty men. 
 
 It was now that Grant, moving by his left, was ap- 
 proaching White House, his new base of supplies, and re- 
 quired re-enforcements over and above what had been 
 sent from the North. General Smith with the Eighteenth 
 Corps was therefore detached on the 29th, for the White 
 House via Fortress Monroe. From the moment of the
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 917 
 
 departure of the Eighteenth Corps, Butler was penned up 
 between a watchful enemy and the river, secured, how- 
 ever, from disaster by the gunboats. The movement of 
 Smith's Corps was promptly known to the enemy, who 
 also detached a force to Lee, which reached him before 
 Smith joined Meade. Butler remained within his lines, 
 against which the enemy made occasional demonstrations, 
 without important results on either side.
 
 918 HISTORY OF THE GEEAT REBELLION. 
 
 CHAPTER LIII. 
 
 Position of Grant's Army. Warren's Advance. Further Development of 
 the Union Left "Wing. Severe Battles around Cold Harbor. New Flank 
 Movement determined upon. Crossing of the James and Junction with 
 Butler. Results of that Campaign. 
 
 THE morning of Monday, May 30th, found Grant's line 
 of battle disposed as follows : Wright's Corps on the ex- 
 treme right, extending in the direction of Hanover Court- 
 House ; Hancock's on the right centre, on the Shady 
 Grove road ; Warren's on the left centre, on the Mechan- 
 icsville road ; Burnside's on the left, and a little in rear, 
 and so disposed as to threaten Richmond. Our right and 
 rear were covered by Wilson's Third Cavalry Division, 
 which had previously been ordered to destroy the rail- 
 road bridges over the Little River and South Anna, and 
 and to break up the roads leading thence toHawe's Shop. 
 Gregg's and Torbert's Divisions were dispatched out on 
 our left flank. The Old Church Tavern cross-roads were 
 held by Torbert's Division, with a picket force of two 
 squadrons along the road leading from Cold Harbor to 
 Old Church Tavern. 
 
 About noon Torbert's pickets were driven in by an 
 apparent attempt to get in our rear. A brisk skirmish 
 was followed by the retreat of the enemy along the Cold 
 Harbor road. Towards five o'clock, Warren began to 
 move slowly towards Mechanicsville. Crawford's Divi- 
 sion, which was in advance, towards Shady Grove, and a 
 little detached, was suddenly assailed by Rhodes's Divi- 
 sion of Early's Corps, with great vigor. The flank of 
 Warren's Corps being thus endangered, General Meade 
 ordered an attack all along the line, in order to relieve 
 him. Hancock was the only one who received the order 
 in time to attack before dark, and he immediately dashed 
 upon the enemy's skirmish line, captured their rifle-pits, 
 and held them all night. The engagement was rapid and 
 brilliant, and the losses not large. Warren held his
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 919 
 
 ground, about seven miles distant from Richmond, and 
 near Mechanicsville. The enemy at once moved down 
 troops to prevent any further dangerous concentration on 
 his right. At midnight, an attack was made upon Han- 
 cock, inflicting more or less loss, but without material 
 success. On Tuesday, the 31j5t, a general advance of our 
 lines began, attended by considerable firing, the enemy 
 being little inclined to be pushed farther back from his 
 position. The army now occupied nearly the same 
 ground that it had two years before, when McClellan 
 was before Richmond. Warren, now in command of the 
 Fifth Corps, was upon the same spot where then he had 
 commanded a brigade of Porter's Corps. The Union 
 army was now re-enforced by the Eighteenth Corps of 
 Smith, while the enemy was joined by Breckinridge and 
 Beauregard. The line of the enemy was disposed so as 
 to cover the Chickahominy, which is the outer line of 
 defence for Richmond, with its right, and the Virginia 
 Central Railroad with its left. Most of the ground be- 
 tween the Chickahominy and the Pamunkey is favorable 
 for manoeuvring, being open and dry. South of the for- 
 mer river are those well-known swamps which were trav- 
 ersed by McClellan. Parallel with the river runs a road 
 from Winston's Bridge, on the north, to Bottom Bridge, 
 on the south, on which are Shady Grove and Mechanics- 
 ville ; and parallel with this road, and north of it, is an- 
 other, which runs through Walnut Grove, Cold Harbor, 
 and Gaines's Mill. Lee's line held this road from Atlee's 
 Station, on the Fredericksburg Railroad, to Gaines's Mill. 
 His cavalry reached Hanover on his left, and Bottom 
 Bridge on the south. This line was not straight, but at 
 the northern part faced east, and at its southern position 
 northeast, and was disposed as follows, left to right : A. 
 P. Hill, Anderson, Ewell. The Federal line, conse- 
 quently, faced westerly and southwesterly, and on Tues- 
 day, May 31st, was disposed as follows, from right to left : 
 Wright, Hancock, Bnrnside, Warren. 
 
 Grant intended on Tuesday to resume his customary 
 movement of massing upon his left. Torbert's Division of 
 cavalry was, therefore, sent to Cold Harbor. This led to 
 some skirmishing, which notified the enemy of what was 
 intended. Meanwhile, Lee, suspecting Grant would at- 
 tempt to repeat what was known among the Confederates
 
 920 HISTORY OF THE GKEAT REBELLION. 
 
 as his " crab movement," began to manoeuvre for posi- 
 tion. Kershaw's and Hoke's Divisions of Anderson's 
 Corps (the latter temporarily attached to the corps) were 
 sent to the right, to the old battle-fields of Gaines's Mill 
 and Cold Harbor, with orders to occupy the eminences in 
 that quarter. A sharp fight ensued, which resulted in 
 Torbert's holding his ground. 
 
 During the night, the Sixth Corps marched across from 
 the right to Cold Harbor, where it was to be joined by 
 the Eighteenth Corps, which had been detached from 
 Butler, and landed at the White House. The latter corps, 
 after losing its way, arrived on the ground at three o'clock 
 in the afternoon of June 1st, having marched twenty-five 
 miles, and took position, on the right of the Sixth, in four 
 lines, the Sixth being in one. The two corps then stood 
 as follows, from right to left : Martindale's, Brooke's, and 
 Devens's Divisions, comprising the Eighteenth Corps, and 
 Ricketts's, Russell's, and Neill's, of the Sixth. In front 
 was a ploughed field, and beyond a strip of pine forest, 
 where the enemy were intrenched. Onr artillery opened 
 on the left, and almost immediately the line moved briskly 
 forward. The two centre divisions^Devens's and Rick- 
 etts's, with a cheer, charged across the ploughed field at 
 a run, receiving a biting fire from artillery and musketry ; 
 and so vigorous was the onset, that they carried the ene- 
 my's first line, with six hundred prisoners. The line thus 
 brilliantly carried, as well as a lodgment secured farther to 
 the right, it was soon found were enfiladed by the enemy's 
 fire. A portion of the Eighteenth Corps made a vigorous 
 effort to silence the fire, and with some success. The 
 position gained was, 'however, commanded by a redoubt 
 in the enemy's second line, and it was relinquished. Dur- 
 ing the night, the enemy made the most persistent efforts 
 to recover their lost line, but without success. The Fed- 
 eral loss was over two thousand ; that of the enemy con- 
 siderably less, as he was covered by his works. The 
 result of the day's fighting was the retention of Cold 
 Harbor by the Umo,n forces. 
 
 The Union line was now eight miles long, extending 
 from Bethesda Church to Cold Harbor, and, by reason of 
 the march of Wright and the accession of Smith, was 
 formed as follows, trom right to left : Hancock, Burnside, 
 Warren, Smith, Wright. Cold Harbor, the left ex-
 
 HISTOEY OF THE GKEAT REBELLION. 921 
 
 tremity, was merely an old house, the tavern at the junc- 
 tion of roads leading to the White House on the east, 
 Dispatch Station and Bottom Bridge on the south, Rich- 
 mond via Gaines's Mill on the west, and Hanovertown 
 and Newcastle on the north. The possession of the road 
 thence to White House was indispensable to Grant. 
 Bethesda Church, the right of the line, was also an old 
 structure, on the road from Hanovertown to Shady 
 Grove, not far from the latter. On the right, in the 
 afternoon of the 1st, there was a forward movement of 
 Gibbon and Potter, with a view to cover an intended 
 withdrawal of the Second Corps from right to left, 
 to follow the footsteps of the Sixth, already gone to 
 extend our flank in that direction. The result was a rally 
 of the rebels in force, and a determined attack, towards 
 evening, on our whole line, as soon as the two divisions 
 had fallen back. 
 
 Grant now determined to make the attempt to push 
 Lee across the Chickahominy, and secure a place to ford 
 the stream, and it was with* this object that the Union 
 left had been prolonged by shifting the Second Corps to 
 that quarter of the held. The new disposition was com- 
 pleted by noon of Thursday, the 2d ; but, owing to a 
 heavy rain-storm, the attack was postponed until the 
 following morning. Heavy skirmishing continued dur- 
 ing the 2d, without material advantage to either side. 
 Lee, suspecting this movement, had posted his troops to 
 meet the anticipated attack. His right was held by 
 Breckinridge's and Mahone's Divisions of Hill's Corps ; 
 his centre by Kershaw's, Field's, and Hoke's Divisions of 
 Anderson's Corps ; and his left by Swell's Corps, all of 
 which were protected by strong intrenchments. The rain 
 having ceased, at four o'clock on the morning of Friday, 
 June 3d, the assault was made. Our line was well 
 massed and compact, moving as follows, from right 
 to left: Burnside, Warren, Smith, Wright, Hancock, 
 reaching from Tolopatomoy Creek to and across the road 
 from Cold Harbor to the Chickahominy. The ground 
 was varied, along the line, with woodlands, swamps, 
 and open, our left being on a position a little elevated, 
 and the rebel line lying in a strip of woods and covering 
 the series of roads parallel to the river, of which particular 
 description has before been given. Promptly at the hour
 
 922 HISTORY OF THE GEEAT REBELLION. 
 
 appointed, the skirmishers advanced, and very quickly 
 the whole line was wrapped in the fire and smoke of ter- 
 rific battle. Although the stmggle lasted five hours, the 
 first ten minutes decided its fate. In that first rush of 
 advance, ten minutes of time carried our whole front 
 close up against a line of works, which we were unable 
 to break through, or, breaking through, were unable to 
 hold. 
 
 In Hancock's Corps, Gibbon had the right, with Bar- 
 low on the left, Birney being in reserve. The two divi- 
 sions of Gibbon and Barlow dashed gallantly forward, 
 across woodlands and underbrush, and, again emerging 
 into an open space swept by shot and shell, passed straight 
 up the acclivity on which the enemy had concentrated 
 their men and artillery, as being the stronghold of their 
 line. The impetuosity of the charge, not checked even 
 by the terrible slaughter, carried the men over the breast- 
 works of a salient on Breckinridge's left, where they 
 captured three guns. But, General Finnegan, re-enfor- 
 cing the enemy at this moment, drove Hancock's troops 
 out, recaptured the guns, and took some prisoners from 
 Owen's Brigade, Gibbon's Division. Not until the 
 splendid attack of Hancock's Corps had been made was 
 he aware of the supreme importance of this position thus 
 carried and lost, which had been the key-point of the 
 battle of Gaines's Mills, two years before. This position 
 is a bald hill, named Watts's Hill, dominating the whole 
 battle-ground, and covering the angle of the Dispatch 
 road. Along this ridge the enemy's works formed a 
 salient, and in front of it was a sunken road. Of this 
 road Hancock got possession, and the brigades of Miles 
 and Brooks actually struck and carried the works directly 
 on the salient. Had the Union troops held this point, 
 they would have had a position whence the entire of the 
 enemy's line might have been enfiladed. The Sixth and 
 Eighteenth Corps at the same time emulated the deter- 
 mined courage of the Second, but with no better results. 
 Charging through the underbrush and across the open, 
 they were received by the murderous enfilading fire with 
 which all our most advanced brigades found their daring 
 repaid. The assault of the Sixth Corps was made with 
 the utmost vigor, and succeeded in carrying the first line 
 of rebel rifle-pits along its entire front, and got up
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 923 
 
 within two hundred and fifty yards of the main works. 
 Smith's Corps, connecting on the right with the Sixth, 
 had advanced in conjunction with it; but the left division, 
 that of Martindale, who led the attack in heavy, deep 
 columns, got disarranged, and was repulsed. Smith 
 made three different attacks to relieve Martindale, 
 but his last supports did not get up in time to 
 allow him to hold on. The effect of this repulse on the 
 left of Smith had a disastrous effect on the position of 
 Wright. It uncovered the right flank of the Sixth and 
 exposed Kicketts's Division, which was stoutly holding 
 the advanced position, to a savage fire on the prolonga- 
 tion of its line. For a long time, these latter hung 
 obstinately to their conquests, which, at length, were 
 wrung from them, and they were forced back with great 
 loss, but here, as on*the left, our men held and intrenched 
 a position considerably in advance of the starting point, 
 close up to the enemy's work. The Fifth and Ninth 
 Corps on the extreme right pushed out their skirmish 
 lines and kept up a cannonade. The weight of the battle 
 was, however, driven against the position of Anderson 
 and Breckinridge's left. 
 
 In many respects the battle was a repetition of that of 
 the 12th of May at Spottsylvania Court-House. While 
 he kept up a threatening attitude along the whole line, 
 Grant massed a very heavy force and hurled it again and 
 again with tremendous violence against a single point. 
 Seven times the persistent valor of the Sixth Corps 
 carried the men with indomitable force against the right 
 centre of the enemy, and seven times the strength of the 
 rebel position defied the efforts of the assaulting columns. 
 Nevertheless, our whole line was advanced close to the 
 enemy within fifty yards for a great portion of it and, 
 on the extreme loft, one brigade was reported to be but 
 fifteen yards from the enemy. Both armies kept close 
 to their breastworks, the exposure of a figure above the 
 intrenchments, at that narrow distance, being fatal. 
 Under such circumstances, when the FederaKtroops ad- 
 vanced, the concealed Confederate marksmen cut them 
 down in wide swathes stretching far across the field. 
 At Spottsylvania and Cold Harbor the Confederates 
 were more completely behind breastworks than at any 
 previous battle of the war. Hence their small compara-
 
 924: HISTOKY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 tive loss. The battle raged with great violence until 
 half-past ten o'clock A. M. just five hours. 
 
 Among the Confederate killed in this battle were 
 Brigadier-General Doles, of Georgia; Colonel L. M. 
 Keitt, of South Carolina, formerly a member of the 
 United States House of Representatives, and Colonel 
 Edwin Willis, of Georgia, a late graduate of West Point. 
 The Union loss in these terrible assaults was estimated 
 at about seven thousand. The enemy reported theirs at 
 one thousand. 
 
 Saturday, the 4th, was spent by the Union troops in 
 intrenching. In exposed positions, this work could only 
 be carried on at night, the enemy's sharpshooters being 
 very busy, and pursuing men and officers with fatal 
 dexterity of fire. Our own marksmen retorted wherever 
 practicable, and desultory skirmishing resounded along 
 the line all through the day. To appreciate the situation 
 of the parties, it must be remembered that the hostile 
 lines were separated, for. long extents, only by distances 
 varying from fifty to one hundred and fifty yards. The 
 position of the corps remained substantially as on Fri- 
 day. During the night of the 5th, Grant retired his 
 right wing about two miles, placing it behind a swamp 
 which protected its front and flank. On the same even- 
 ing he sent a communication to General Lee, proposing 
 that, when the armies were not actually engaged, either 
 party might, upon notification to the other, succor its 
 wounded and bury its dead. Lee replied that he pre- 
 ferred that the party desiring to remove its wounded and 
 inter its dead snould do so through a flag of truce. The 
 care of the wounded and dead was accordingly effected 
 by this means. 
 
 The battle of Friday was one of the most terrible of 
 the war up to that time. The movements of the preced- 
 ing days had drawn our lines close in front of the Chicka- 
 hominy, and reduced the military problem to the forcing 
 of the passage of that river a problem which, if solved 
 in our favor would decide whether Richmond could be 
 carried by a coup de main, if a decisive victory should 
 attend our arms, or whether operations would settle down 
 to a siege in form. The great struggle did not result in a 
 success. Probably no action so important in its character 
 was ever crowded into so brief a space of time ten ter-
 
 HISTORY OF THE GEEAT REBELLION. 925 
 
 rible minutes in the early dawn developed on the part of 
 the enemy such strength both of position and force, as to 
 carry conviction that any victory that could be here 
 achieved would be purchased at too great a cost. All 
 that matchless valor directed by consummate" skill could 
 do, was done, but it was in vain. 
 
 The results of the attack on Cold Harbor made it evi- 
 dent that the rebel position could not be carried by a 
 direct attack in front, and a repetition of the flank move- 
 ment to the left was determined upon ; but as it was 
 necessary to rest the men and to prepare a new base, 
 Grant remained ten days without any further attempt to 
 advance. The time was spent, however, in busy prepara- 
 tion to march for the James and then cross to join But- 
 ler. The enemy was, meanwhile, constantly on the alert, 
 and made repeated attacks on either wing, while he kept 
 pace with the gradual extension of Grant's line, always ap- 
 pearing in force as the Union left crept out towards the east. 
 On Friday, the 10th, the railroad which had just been 
 laid down between the army and White House was taken 
 up, and the rails put on board barges. On Saturday, the 
 enemy roughly handled Mclntosh's Cavalry on our right 
 flank, while the main cavalry force made demonstrations 
 on the route between Eichmond and Washington. On 
 the night of Sunday, June 12th, the army was at length 
 put in motion for the James River, intending to cross the 
 Chickahominy by three bridges, which occur in the fol- 
 lowing order: Bottom Bridge, Long Bridge, six miles 
 farther east, and Jones's Bridge, twelve miles from Bot- 
 tom Bridge. The enemy held the river as far as Bottom 
 Bridge, where he was intrenched. Wright and Burnside, 
 on breaking camp, marched for Jones's Bridge, crossed 
 the river and moved rapidly for Charles City Court- 
 House, nine miles from the bridge and within one of the 
 James. At the same time, Hancock and Warren crossed 
 at Long Bridge and marched for Wilcox's Wharf, on 
 the James, twelve miles due south, and a little west 
 of Charles City. Smith's Corps returned via White 
 House, in transports, to Fortress Monroe and Bermuda 
 Hundred, where Butler was intrenched with the Tenth 
 Corps. General Butler had carefully prepared pontoons 
 for the crossing. At three o'clock on Sunday afternoon, 
 Meade's head-quarters were moved from Cold Harbor
 
 926 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 south of Summit Station, near Long Bridge, and at six 
 the next morning, head-quarters were in the saddle on the 
 march. 
 
 The whole movement was conducted with great suc- 
 cess. The men moved cautiously from their intrench- 
 ments, which, for miles, as we have already said, lay 
 under the enemy's guns. And only a few shells thrown 
 at the rear, as it moved off, betokened that the enemy 
 had taken the alarm. All night and all day Monday, the 
 troops moved forward, with hardly more skirmishing or 
 impediment than that of their first march from Culpepper 
 to Chaneellorsville. On Monday evening, the advance 
 had reached Wilcox's Landing, where also head-quarters 
 were. Before noon of Tuesday, our forces were all up, 
 having made their movement in perfect security, and the 
 only lighting being a little cavalry skirmishing at its 
 close. On Tuesday, the 14th, the crossing was com-, 
 menced, our army was transferred to the south side of 
 the James, and the change in position fully consum- 
 mated. The little opposition made to the movement by 
 Lee was ascribed to the want of stout artillery horses 
 necessary for field service. Of the whole movement, a 
 dispatch from head-quarters to the "War Department says : 
 " Our forces drew out from within fifty yards of the 
 enemy's intrenchments at Cold Harbor, made a flank 
 movement of about fifty-five miles' march, crossing the 
 Chickahominy and James Elvers, the latter two thousand 
 feet wide and eighty-four feet deep at the point of cross- 
 ing, and surprised the enemy's rear at Petersburg." 
 
 Grant was now exactly on the opposite side of Rich- 
 mond from that at which he began his campaign. The 
 Federal gunboats and transports planted Butler at Ber- 
 muda Hundred, at the very outset of the campaign, with 
 the express purpose of effecting a diversion on the south 
 of Richmond, while Grant made the main attack from 
 the north. It is obvious, therefore, that while the army 
 maintained the character it had already acquired for in- 
 domitable perseverance, Grant only resorted to this 
 manoauvre because his original plan had not fulfilled 
 expectations. He began from this moment, to all intents 
 and purposes, a fresh campaign. Few generals and few 
 troops would have persisted in this dogged and deter- 
 mined struggle.
 
 HISTOKY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 927 
 
 CHAPTEE LIV. 
 
 Advance on Petersburg. Position of the City. Assault and Capture of 
 Earthworks and Guns. Assault of Saturday, June 18th. Repulse. 
 Aspect of the Campaign. 
 
 ON the morning of "Wednesday, June 15th, the 
 Eighteenth Corps, which arrived at Bermuda Hundred 
 on the evening of the 14th, from Fortress Monroe, 
 started for Petersburg. A pontoon bridge had been 
 throw across the Appomattox, at Point of Rocks, over 
 which Kautz's Cavalry crossed, followed by Brooks's and 
 Martindale's Infantry Divisions. The skirmishers of the 
 enemy were encountered on the City Point road, along 
 which the advance was made. At Harrison's Creek, the 
 enemy held a line of rifle-trenches with two field-pieces, 
 from which the head of the column suffered a good deal. 
 Brooks's Division coming up, however, they hastily retired 
 behind a temporary line of earthworks, about two miles 
 from Petersburg, leaving their guns in the hands of the 
 Union troops. In front of this new line, the latter were 
 now drawn up in line of battle, Martindale holding the 
 right, Brooks the centre, and Hinks the left. Towards 
 sunset, the line charged with great determination and 
 vigor, in the face of a hot artillery fire, carrying the 
 earthworks with sixteen guns and three hundred prisoners. 
 The Federal loss was about five hundred. After the bat- 
 tle, the Second Corps arrived, too late, however, to ren- 
 der the success decisive, and by the next morning the 
 Ninth Corps was on the ground. Meantime, Kautz had 
 moved to the left and attacked the enemy's works on the 
 Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad, but, finding them too 
 strong, he retired after a smart skirmish. The Federal 
 attack upon Petersburg had been sustained by the local 
 forces, the main rebel army having not yet arrived. On 
 Thursday morning, the 16th, General Butler conceived 
 the idea of advancing in his front, to intercept the move-
 
 928 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 ment of Lee towards Petersburg. He accordingly sent 
 out a portion of the Tenth Corps, which, after destroying 
 a portion of the Richmond and Petersburg Railroad, was 
 compelled, by the approach of overwhelming forces, to 
 retire within the lines. 
 
 The city of Petersburg lies chiefly on the southerly 
 bank of the Appomattox, which thence runs nearly 
 northeast to the James. It was defended by several lines 
 of earthworks, consisting not only of square redoubts, 
 but also of well-established rifle-trenches. It was the 
 outer line of these that had been carried on the 15th, and 
 was now held by Biruey's Corps. The abandonment of 
 the north side of the James by Grant had not been fully 
 credited by the enemy, who left a force under A. P. Hill 
 to guard against any sudden movement in that direction. 
 Now, however, Beanregard's men again filled up so 
 rapidly the trenches in front that it was necessary to 
 hurry up Burnside to hold the ground won. That corps 
 at length coming up, after a forced march from Charles 
 City Court-House, a line of battle was immediately form- 
 ed, Smith on the right, Hancock in the centre, Burn- 
 side on the left. The ground in front was rather open, 
 though rugged, with here and there fields of grain. At 
 six A. M. on the 16th, the attack was made. Barlow's 
 Division and Griffin's Brigade of Potter's Division made 
 a handsome charge under destructive artillery fire, and 
 succeeded in gaining a foothold in the rifle-pits outside of 
 the stronger works. Here our troops were annoyed by 
 the enemy's fire, and Barlow, in connection with Burn- 
 side, determined to try an assault on the main works. 
 But meanwhile the enemy opened so severely on Burn- 
 side as to show there was no hope of surprise. The 
 enemy also cut off the skirmish line in Barlow's front, 
 amounting to three hundred men, with their officers. 
 After a three hours' fight, therefore, the assault was 
 suspended till morning. The right had not taken an 
 important part in the contest, and had lost but a few men. 
 Birney's loss was about five hundred, and Potter's, in his 
 gallant charge, not less. The entire loss was probably 
 from fifteen hundred to two thousand. The enemy's loss 
 was probably much less, from their advantage of posi- 
 tion. 
 
 On Friday the attack was renewed, and some rifle-
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 929 
 
 pits were carried by Burnside's Corps. About nine 
 o'clock on Friday night, the enemy showed himself in 
 force upon Birney's front, but did not advance. A little 
 later, he made a desperate and successful effort to retake 
 from Burnside the works captured during the day. He 
 moved in two columns, one in front, the other in flank. 
 A very sharp fight followed. The enemy succeeded in 
 leaping the works under cover of the darkness, and drove 
 our men out. In the early part of the attack, about two 
 hundred of the enemy were captured by us, and in 
 yielding up the works, a like loss was suffered by us. 
 The enemy's batteries- covered the attack by vigorous 
 shelling. 
 
 Early in the morning of this same day, part of 
 Pickett's and Field's Division of the enemy attacked our 
 lines near the James. Foster's Division of Brooks's 
 Tenth Corps (from which General Gill more had been re- 
 lieved) held a line extending across from near Ware Bot- 
 tom Church towards the Appomattox. The enemy were 
 posted near Hewlett's House, in his front. Our line was 
 pushed back a little. 
 
 It was now determined to make a new and more vigor- 
 ous assault on Saturday morning, the 18th, and the line 
 was formed as follows, from right to left: Martindale's 
 and Hinks's Divisions of the Eighteenth Corps, "Wright's 
 Sixth, Hancock's Second (under Birney), Burnside's Ninth, 
 "Warren's Fifth. At four o'clock A. M. the assault was to 
 be made. But upon sending out skirmishers, the enemy 
 was found to have abandoned the works in our immediate 
 front for an inner series of defences. New combinations 
 were necessary, therefore, for the day. These were com- 
 pleted, and by noon a general advance of the three left 
 corps was ordered. In the Second Corps, Gibbon pushed 
 up an assaulting column of three brigades, the first and 
 second of his own (Second) division, and the Second 
 Brigade of Mott's Division. The remainder of the corps 
 threw out double lines of skirmishers to divert the ene- 
 my's attention. Gibbon's men moved promptly up to the 
 works to be assaulted, which were situated near the Freder- 
 icksburg and City Point Kailroad. As they came out 
 from their cover, they were met by a murderous fire 
 which enfiladed their left. They struggled desperately 
 through it, but their ranks were swept by incessant volleys 
 
 57
 
 930 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 from which even their veteran soldiers recoiled. The 
 breastworks were approached, but not reached, and our 
 men retired, leaving their dead and wounded on the field. 
 
 In the afternoon a second storming party was organized, 
 to commence the attack from General Mott's position. 
 The assaulting column was formed of Mott's Division, 
 with detachments from the other two divisions. A little 
 before five o'clock p. M., Mott moved out his force in two 
 columns, and in gallant style the two leading brigades 
 burst upon the enemy. They were received with a with- 
 ering fire from concentrated batteries and musketry, and, 
 in spite of the most desperate bravery, were forced back, 
 with terrible loss. The charge was worthy of the prover- 
 bial gallantry of the corps, but it failed of success, as the 
 previous charge had also failed. The movements on the 
 left by the Ninth and Fifth Corps were equally energetic 
 and equally unsuccessful. The operations of the day, on 
 the whole, did not repay the very serious loss sustained. 
 The lines remained comparatively quiet during the three 
 following days. 
 
 The first effect of the transfer of the whole Federal ar- 
 my to the south bank of the James was, of course, the 
 withdrawal of the Confederate force which had confined 
 Butler to his intrenchments. It became necessary for Grant 
 to capture Petersburg, and he immediately made the 
 attack, while the enemy were yet unprepared. The at- 
 tack, as we have seen, failed. The enemy, having recov- 
 ered from immediate apprehension for Petersburg, turned 
 his attention in other directions. He intrenched largely 
 on the west side of the Appomattox, as Grant did on the 
 east side of it. Having again driven Butler inside his 
 lines, he reoccupied his works there, put the railroad into 
 repair, and, from their lines as a base, began to make demon- 
 strations in front, and to raid towards the James. On the 
 night of Sunday, the 19th, he destroyed the wharves at 
 
 ilcox and Westover Landings.
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. ' 931 
 
 CHAPTEE LV. 
 
 Kelative Strength of Armies. Grant moves against the Railroad Connections 
 of Richmond Combat of June 21st. Repulsed the 23d. Sheridan's Ex- 
 pedition. Movement of Wilson and Kautz on the Danville Road. Five 
 Hundred Thousand Men called out. Explosion of the Mine in Front of 
 Petersburg. Failure of the Assault. 
 
 THE consolidation of Butler's army with that of the 
 Potomac had not added much to the relative strength of 
 Grant. A similar junction of Beauregard with Lee had 
 been effected, and the works behind which the enemy was 
 intrenched were strong enough to enable him to hold 
 them with inferior numbers, and, as will presently appear, 
 to detach a force up the valley. On Tuesday, the 21st, 
 Grant commenced operations designed to sever the South- 
 ern railroad connections with Petersburg. The road 
 running to ISTorfolk was in his possession, and it was pro- 
 posed to occupy and destroy that leading to Weldon. For 
 this purpose, the Second Corps, on Monday night, moved 
 to the left, and on Tuesday marched rapidly forward in a 
 southerly direction, followed by Griffin's Division of the 
 Fifth Corps, with the Sixth Corps in support. At the 
 Jerusalem plankroad the enemy were encountered in force, 
 and a counter-attack sustained. The troops then fell 
 back into position for the night, during which the Sixth 
 Corps came up, and formed on the left of the Second, di- 
 rectly on the left of the Jerusalem plankroad. The attack 
 was to have been made at daybreak on "Wednesday, the 
 22d, but each corps waited for the other until each got or- 
 ders to advance at once, independently of the other, each 
 being cautioned to protect his flank in case connection was 
 not made by the other. 
 
 No sooner had Barlow struck into the thick woods than 
 he began to open a gap between his left and the right of 
 the Sixth Corps, and accordingly disposed flanking regi- 
 ments so as to protect himself at the break. Mott, mean- 
 while, had moved directly to the position indicated for
 
 932 msTOKY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 Mm, having without difficulty secured it, and had begun 
 to intrench. Gibbon was already in position. Barlow, 
 having moved forward sufficiently, was about to intrench 
 also, when he was suddenly startled by firing on his flank, 
 quickly spreading towards his rear. The enemy, Hill's 
 Corps, advancing to check our movement on the railroad, 
 was swiftly approaching in several solid columns, which 
 followed hard on a dense crowd of skirmishers. At this 
 time, the Sixth Corps was far distant on the left and rear, 
 and a gap occurred in our advancing line, like that be- 
 tween the Fifth and Second Corps in the "Wilderness. 
 With more success in the present case than before, the en- 
 emy took advantage of the error. One entire division, 
 with Mahone's Brigade in advance, came driving through 
 the interval. Barlow's skirmishers were of course quickly 
 overcome, and, with a quick appreciation of his advan- 
 tage, and an impetuous rush, sweeping all before it, the 
 enemy's column glanced diagonally between the two corps, 
 struck Barlow's Bank with great force, and almost instan- 
 taneously rolled it up, capturing several hundred prisoners. 
 The sudden recoil of Barlow's Division under this most 
 dangerous of all attacks, a movement on the flank and 
 rear, quickly uncovered the left flank of Mott, and ex- 
 posed him to the same disadvantage. In his turn, Mott 
 fell back also, with the loss of several hundred prisoners, 
 and thus exposed the left of Gibbon. Meanwhile the 
 other troops from Hill's Corps had joined the assault, and, 
 having captured Mott's entire line of intrenchments, now 
 pressed not only in front, but in the rear. His right 
 brigade was able to repel the comparatively trifling as- 
 sault. But his left brigades were almost encircled by fire. 
 McKnight's four-gun battery of the Twelfth New York 
 Artillery opened, and was briskly and handsomely fought. 
 But the troops in support were driven back, and the enemy 
 had already carried Gibbon's intrenchments. In a word, 
 in the sudden shock and confusion, several whole regi- 
 ments were swept off and captured, without the chance 
 of any thing like stout resistance. McKnight's Battery 
 was then surrounded and captured entire, though most of 
 the horses and caissons, and some of the men, succeeded 
 in escaping to the rear. 
 
 At length, Miles's reserve division, with a New York 
 battery came up, enabling Gibbon's Division to rally on
 
 HISTORY OP THE GKEAT REBELLION. 933 
 
 them, and form a new line. The enemy was now to some 
 extent exhausted by his own exertions, but he repulsed an 
 attempt of Birney to recapture the battery. The newly 
 formed line of the Sixth and Second Corps again advanced, 
 pushing the enemy before it ; and, having proceeded a 
 short distance, halted, and passed the night in strengthen- 
 ing its position. The enemy did the same on the east side 
 of the Weldon road. The Federal loss in the attack was 
 large, and included a number of prisoners. During the 
 day, the cavalry of Wilson and Kautz had proceeded to 
 the left, and cut the railroad about ten miles from Peters- 
 burg. 
 
 On Thursday, the 22d, Wright, finding the enemy weak 
 on the extreme left, sent the Third, Fourth,, and Eleventh 
 Vermont regiments to occupy the railroad. They had not 
 reached it, however, before they were enveloped by An- 
 derson's Division, and severely handled. They lost some 
 prisoners, besides a number killed and wounded. The 
 enemy, flushed with success, pressed our men back to the 
 main body, and then attacked right and left. Our line 
 was withdrawn, towards evening to the cover of breast- 
 works, and operations ceased. Skirmishing continued to 
 the close of June without any important operations. 
 
 Simultaneously with the transference of his own army 
 from the northern bank of the Chickahominy to the south- 
 ern bank of the James, Grant sent forth Sheridan, with a 
 considerable cavalry force, to traverse the country between 
 the Rappahannock and Richmond, and pass near Char- 
 lottesville, in the direction of Lynchburg, with a view of 
 penetrating the. valley, in order to give the hand to Gen- 
 eral Hunter, who was advancing on that point to close up 
 upon Richmond. Sheridan set out on the 9th of June, 
 and on the 1 1th reached Trevillian's Station, on the Vir- 
 ginia Central Railroad, where he inflicted a severe defeat 
 upon a large cavalry force in his front. On the succeed- 
 ing day he thoroughly destroyed the railroad between 
 Trevillian's and Louisa Court-House ; and early on the 
 13th, the rebels under Wade Hampton and Fitzhugh Lee 
 having in the mean time gathered in his front in great 
 numbers, and his ammunition getting low, he moved off 
 towards White House, followed at a respectful distance by 
 Wade Hampton, who did not venture a serious attack 
 until Sheridan had crossed the Pamunkey. Hampton
 
 934 HISTORY OF THE GKEAT REBELLION. 
 
 then made a detour and attacked the trains that Sheridan 
 had left at the White House. General Abercrombie, 
 with three thousand men, maintained his ground until 
 Sheridan came up, when the enemy was driven off with 
 loss. As soon as Sheridan had obtained a little rest, he 
 resumed his march to the James with all his trains and 
 guns. He was again assailed by Hampton, near Jones's 
 Bridge, on the Chickahominy, on the 23d, without much 
 result. As he approached Charles City Court-House, the 
 enemy appeared again on his front, and on Friday, the 
 24th, attacked with vigor the trains protected by Gregg's 
 Division, who succeeded in keeping them at bay. The 
 affair was sharp, and Sheridan's rear-guard was badly 
 handled. A brigade of infantry was sent to his relief. 
 He succeeded in beating the enemy off at length, after the 
 loss of four or five hundred men, saving all his train ; and, 
 on Saturday, the 25th, his whole force crossed the James 
 safely, four or five miles above Fort Powhattan, under 
 cover of the gunboats. 
 
 On the morning of June 22d the combined cavalry force 
 of Wilson and Kautz set out on a raid against the W eldon 
 and Danville Railroads. At Reams's Station, on the Wei- 
 don road, considerable damage was done to the track and 
 buildings ; and at Sutherland^ and Ford's Stations, on the 
 Petersburg and Lynchburg road, which the column next 
 reached, a number of locomotives and cars and about 
 twenty miles of track were destroyed. A part of the 
 column now pushed on to Burkesville, the junction of the 
 Lynchburg and Danville roads, where a similar destruc- 
 tion of property took place, and on the 24th the command 
 bivouacked for the night at Keysville, on the Danville 
 road. On the next day the railroad bridge over the Staun- 
 ton River was reached, but was found to be too well 
 defended by the enemy to attack. The order to return 
 was now given, and so closely was the column harassed 
 and pressed on the route, that it broke up into several 
 bodies, which arrived in camp at various times between 
 July 1st and 3d, exhausted and in wretched plight. The 
 losses in men, guns, and trains combined to render the ex- 
 pedition a costly failure, notwithstanding the damage it 
 inflicted on the enemy. 
 
 Ther"e were no important operations undertaken for 
 some time by the army before Petersburg. The state of
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 935 
 
 affairs in the Valley of the Shenandoah, to which allusion 
 will shortly be made, compelled the movement of troops 
 to protect Washington, and the Sixth Corps was sent 
 thither in the first week of July, a result very different 
 from the anticipated accession of aid from Hunter as the 
 consequence of the hoped-for capture of Lynchburg. The 
 attention of the public was directed to the progress of 
 Sherman in Georgia, from whose campaign against At- 
 lanta most important results were expected. 
 
 Continual skirmishing was kept up in front of Peters- 
 burg, with alternate success, but no great operations were 
 undertaken. The army had need ot rest and recruiting. 
 Nearly three months had elapsed since it crossed the Rapi- 
 dan ; and having fought its way to the northern bank of 
 the James, it was suffering from intense drought and heat, 
 in the presence of an enemy who seemed determined to 
 give it no rest, and disorganization and lassitude inevitably 
 resulted from such continued effort. A contemporary 
 writer thus alluded to the condition of the army in July : 
 " The men, missing the familiar forms and voices that had 
 led them to the charge, would complain that they had not 
 their old officers to follow. On the other hand, more than 
 one leader of a storming party was forced to say, as he 
 came back from an unsuccessful attempt against the out- 
 works of Petersburg, ' My men do not charge as they did 
 thirty days ago.' A few commanders, too, showed the 
 fatiguing effects of the campaign by a lack of health, by a 
 lack of unity and harmony, or of alertness and skill. The 
 attacks on Petersburg of the 22d and 23d of June showed 
 how fatigue was telling on men and officers. On the for- 
 mer occasion, the Second Corps, whose reputation was 
 unexcelled, fell back, division after division, from the 
 enemy's onset, and one of the very finest brigades in the 
 whole army was captured with hardly a shot fired. But 
 when, in addition to this, the Vermont Brigade of the Sixth 
 Corps was badly cut up on the following day, it became 
 clear that the rapidity of the fighting must be checked 
 a while. There was need of rest, recruitment, and some 
 reorganization. It may be added, that the influx of raw 
 troops and of Augur's troops from Washington, with new 
 officers, had temporarily changed the character of brigades, 
 of divisions, and almost of corps." 
 
 The loss of men in the Valley and in Georgia with
 
 936 HISTORY OF THE GEEAT REBELLION. 
 
 Sherman was also very great ; and in view of the neces- 
 sity of filling up the thinned ranks of the army, the 
 President issued the following call for volunteers : 
 
 [Official] 
 "BY THE PRESIDENT OP THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 
 
 "A PROCLAMATION. 
 
 " "Whereas, by the act approved July 4th, 1864, entitled 'An Act further 
 to regulate and provide for the enrolling and calling out of the national 
 forces and for other purposes,' it is provided that the President of the 
 United States may, ' at his discretion, at any time hereafter, call for any 
 number of men, as volunteers, for the respective term of one, two, and 
 three years, for military service,' and ' that in case the quota, or any part 
 thereof, of any town, township, or ward of a city, precinct, or election dis- 
 trict, or of a county not so subdivided, shall not be filled within the space 
 of fifty days after such call, then the President shall instantly order a draft 
 for one year to fill such quota, or any part thereof, which may be unfilled ;' 
 
 "And whereas, the new enrolment heretofore ordered is so far com- 
 pleted as that the aforementioned act of Congress may now be put in opera- 
 tion, for recruiting and keeping up the strength of the armies in the field, 
 for garrisons, aud such military operations as may be required for the pur- 
 pose of suppressing the rebellion and restoring the authority of the United 
 States Government in the insurgent States : 
 
 " Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, do 
 issue this my call for five hundred thousand volunteers for the military ser- 
 vice ; provided, nevertheless, that this call shall be reduced by all credits 
 which may be established under section eight of the aforesaid act, on ac- 
 count of persons who have entered the naval service during the present 
 rebellion, and by credits for men furnished to the military service in excess 
 of calls heretofore made. 
 
 " Volunteers will be accepted under this call for one, two, or three years, 
 as they may elect, and will be entitled to the bounty provided by the law 
 for the period of service for which they enlist. 
 
 " And I hereby proclaim, order, and direct that immediately after the fifth 
 day of September, 1864, being fifty days from the date of this call, a draft 
 for troops to serve for one year shall be had in every town, township, ward 
 of a city, precinct, or election district, or county not so subdivided, to fill 
 the quota which shall be assigned to it under this call, or any part thereof 
 which may be unfilled by volunteers on the said fifth day of September, 
 1864. 
 
 "In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the 
 seal of the United States to be aflfixed. 
 
 "Done at the City of "Washington, this eighteenth day of July, in the 
 r -1 year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, and of 
 L '-I the independence of the United States the eighty-ninth. 
 
 "ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 " By the President : "WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State." 
 
 Meantime, there was in progress a new attempt to carry 
 the Petersburg defences by means of a mine, while a feint 
 on the northern bank of the James should draw off' the 
 defenders of Petersburg. The line of Grant's army was
 
 HISTORY OF THE GBEAT .REBELLION. 937 
 
 twenty miles long, and by ostentatiously threatening the 
 enemy from our right, it was supposed he would weaken 
 his own right at the point where the true assault, after 
 the explosion of the mine, was to take place. The idea 
 of the mine was due to Lieutenant-Colonel Pleasants, of 
 the Forty-eighth Pennsylvania, a regiment recruited 
 mostly among the miners of that State. The point 
 selected was the side of a ravine, surmounted by an 
 earthwork, in front of Burnside's (Ninth) Corps, and the 
 mine was pushed towards a formidable fort of the enemy, 
 situated about two thousand yards from Petersburg. The 
 distance to be mined was about five hundred feet, and 
 the work was difficult. The mine was constructed in the 
 usual method. The surface was carefully measured by 
 triangulation, and the gallery was made in the usual 
 shape, four and a half feet high, and about four feet wide 
 at the bottom, sloping up to the top. A ventilating shaft 
 was sunk near the entrance. The chamber of the mine 
 was about twenty feet below the fort, and wings extended 
 from it right and left, extending under the fort. In these 
 were placed eight tons of powder, connected by a fuse 
 which -led out of the gallery. It required thirty days to 
 complete this work. During its progress the Ninth 
 Corps kept up an incessant skirmishing, for the purpose 
 of concealing the movement. The plan of assault was 
 to explode the mine, and immediately to open a terrific 
 cannonading frm every gun on the line. This concen- 
 trated fire would naturally unnerve the enemy somewhat, 
 and, under its cover, a strong storming party would rush 
 through the gap made by the explosion, and endeavor to 
 carry the enemy's position beyond. In the rear of his 
 first line, a hundred and fifty yards distant, was a very 
 strong crest, which quite commanded the city of Peters- 
 burg. To gain this would gain the battle. But the in- 
 tervening space was difficult and arduous, entanglements 
 and abatis being planted near the fort, and the whole 
 grounds being swept by the enemy's artillery. Our own 
 heavy guns had been brought up after much hard and 
 dangerous labor through six weeks, and with much loss 
 of valuable life among officers and men. They now 
 numbered nearly one hundred pieces, some of which 
 were eight-inch and some even heavier mortars. 
 
 The assault was fixed for the 30th of July, and prepa-
 
 938 HISTOEY OF THE GKEAT EEBELLIOtf. 
 
 rations for it began by a feint on the right. Across the 
 James at Deep Bottom, Foster's Division of the Tenth 
 Corps was intrenched, with a pontoon bridge in his rear, 
 and protected by gunboats. On the 21st a second bridge 
 had been thrown over at Strawberry Plains, and a bri- 
 gade of the Nineteenth Corps crossed to hold it. These, 
 with other demonstrations, induced the enemy to add 
 Kershaw's Division to the other troops in front of Foster. 
 On the 27th, the Second Corps left the extreme left of 
 the army, and, followed by Sheridan and Kautz, crossed 
 the James ; and on the following day a line of battle was 
 formed as follows, from right to left : Sheridan, Hancock, 
 Foster. Foster demonstrated throughout the day, inflict- 
 ing severe loss on the enemy. On Friday, the 29th, the 
 feint was continued, and long trains of empty wagons 
 were sent north of the river for display. These move- 
 ments had the effect of causing Lee to send fifteen thou- 
 sand more men to his left. On Friday evening, however, 
 the Second Corps returned quietly to Petersburg amid an 
 incessant and vindictive fire. 
 
 Soon after midnight of the 29th, the troops were in 
 position. The Ninth Corps had been carefully arranged 
 fronting the mine, to head the assault. The Eighteenth 
 Corps was drawn off from the right of the Ninth, and 
 massed in its rear. Mott's Division of the Second Corps 
 was moved into the vacancy left by the Eighteenth, and 
 the other divisions occupied adjoining positions, after 
 arriving. The Tenth and the fraction of the Nineteenth 
 Corps remained on the James and near Bermuda 
 Hundred. The assaulting column, then, was the Ninth 
 Corps, supported by the Eighteenth, with the Second in 
 reserve on its right and the Fifth on the left. The whole 
 force was closely massed, only the necessary garrisons 
 lining the more distant intrenchments. The Ninth Corps 
 was disposed with Ledlie's (First) Division in advance ; 
 Wilcox's (Second) and Porter's (Third) next k support, 
 and Ferrero's (Fourth), the colored division, in the rear. 
 
 The time for lighting the fuse was halt-past three 
 o'clock on the morning of Saturday, the 30th. At that 
 hour the troops were all prepared, and alive with excite- 
 ment. An hour passed, and there was no explosion. The 
 fuse had gone out in the damp gallery. Again it waa 
 lighted by some bold soldier. The sun had already risen,
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 939 
 
 when, forty minutes past four, a heaving and trembling 
 of the earth was followed by a terrific explosion, and 
 huge clods of earth, with all the contents of the doom- 
 ed fort, guns, caissons, and limbers, and the regiment 
 who manned them, were flung into the air. To the 
 myriad of astonished spectators it resembled a great 
 fountain. Poised for a moment, the mighty column then 
 descended with a resounding thud, and the swaying, 
 quaking, and trembling of the adjacent earth were over. 
 A yawning crater, one hundred feet and more in length, 
 with half as great width, and a depth of twenty feet, 
 with heaps of ruins, was left where once stood a six- 
 gun fort and its camp equipage, and two hundred men. 
 Instantly upon the explosion, a gun broke out from our 
 line, then another, and soon a hundred cannon, from, 
 every eminence along the line, joined in a fire which 
 exceeded in intensity even that of Malvern Hill and 
 Gettysburg. The enemy responded with prompt energy, 
 and their entire line added its thunder of artillery and 
 musketry to our own. The alacrity with which the 
 enemy rallied to his task from the sudden shock, and the 
 steadiness with which he turned his fire to the storming 
 party, in spite of the tremendous shelling with which the 
 LTnion batteries endeavored to disconcert him and dis- 
 tract his attention, showed that he was in a measure 
 prepared for what had happened. 
 
 Meantime, Ledlie's Division was already in front of its 
 intrenchments, with Marshall's (Second) Brigade in ad- 
 vance, and Bartlett's (First) Brigade in the rear. On the 
 left of Ledlie was/ Hartranft's Brigade of Wilcox's Divi- 
 sion, and, on his right, Griffin's Brigade of Potter's 
 Division. The Second Brigade was delayed by some 
 mistake, but soon, with a wild, enthusiastic cheer, leaped 
 to their work, and, rushing across the deadly plain, under 
 hot fire, stumbled down into the horrible breach which 
 the mine had made. The supporting brigades spread 
 out and enveloped the flanking rifle-pits, captured two 
 hundred prisoners, and sent them to the rear. The 
 Fourteenth New York Heavy Artillery were first to enter 
 the gap,_ amid the wreck of the fort and the upturned 
 earth, with the mangled bodies and dissevered limbs of 
 its occupants protruding here and there from the dis- 
 ordered, fallen debris. The dense cloud of dust still
 
 940 HI8TOKY OF THE GBEAT BEBELLION. 
 
 rolled over the place, thickened by the heavy smoke of 
 ,,battle, which had now shrouded the whole field from 
 view. Here an unfortunate delay took place. Instead 
 of pressing right on for the object beyond, some of the 
 men were set at digging out two of the six cannon of the 
 fort ; others threw up hasty breastworks against the 
 tempest of shot and shell which already swept the place 
 from the enemy's second line, and began reversing the 
 slope of the intrenchments and extending them. Others 
 exhumed the struggling garrison, such as were living, 
 and carried back the prisoners to our lines, where now 
 ammunition carts and ambulances were hurrying to 
 and fro. 
 
 The time spent in trying to intrench to protect a storm- 
 ing column, enabled the enemy to get the range with 
 fearful precision from the commanding works, and a 
 most terrific fire was poured in upon men digging among 
 the ruins of the fort. At length, after an anxious and 
 fatal delay, the Ninth Corps was re-formed, and, with 
 Ledlie in the centre, Potter on the right, and Wilcox on 
 the left, under cover of the fire of the two guns, began 
 the charge. On they went with a will, struggling over 
 obstacles, Marshall's Brigade again leading, and Bartlett's 
 pressing on their heels. At every step the fire of the 
 enemy from front and either flank concentrated with 
 greater fury on them, and, from the thickly-studded 
 defences of Cemetery Hill, from redoubt and redan, 
 salient and curtain, ploughed up their ranks with bloody 
 slaughter. The charge was checked on the side of the 
 crest, there was a halt, and finally, the whole line, 
 wavering under terrible odds, recoiled to the fort. 
 
 The colored division of Ferrero, left as a forlorn hope, 
 was then sent forward, but, after a gallant charge, re- 
 coiled, as the others had done, and plunged headlong 
 into the nearest fort for shelter behind the debris. Upon 
 this latter point was now concentrated a very feu tfenfer, 
 disorganizing the shattered remains of the first three 
 divisions of the Ninth, many of whose most gallant 
 officers and men were already stretched on the plain. 
 The influx of the Fourth Division,, driven back in great 
 rout, redoubled the confusion, and to all minds it was 
 evident that the day was lost. 
 
 It was now only the question hoW best to save the
 
 HISTORY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 94:1 
 
 troops. This matter they were left to decide for them- 
 selves. The Fifth and the Eighteenth Corps were under 
 brisk fire, and had suffered considerable loss. A division 
 of the Eighteenth, with Turner's Division of the Tenth, 
 had demonstrated on the right (the latter even gaining 
 the crater, and the slope beyond), in useless attempts to 
 distract the attention of the enemy. He directed his fire 
 straight upon the dismantled fort, now a mere slaughter- 
 pen, in which huddled the fragmentary brigades of the 
 Ninth Corps, hoping for relief from their comrades, who 
 lay two hundred yards diftant in their intrenchments. 
 Now squads of men began the work of retreating. But 
 this was a perilous undertaking. The enemv kept a 
 deadly cross-fire on every rod of the space which inter- 
 vened between the fort and our lines. In spite of this, 
 the disorderly movement was kept up. About noon, a 
 general retreat was ordered. A considerable part of the 
 survivors of the assault had crossed towards the rear. 
 And now the men in the fort, who had preferred the 
 chances of honorable death in repelling the enemy to 
 those of the perilous retreat, had discharged nearly all 
 their ammunition. Left unsupported by the rest of the 
 army, a final charge of the enemy, about two o'clock, 
 captured them. Among the captured were General Bart- 
 lett and most of his staff. By the middle of the afternoon 
 the bloody day was done. C)ur loss was, in round num- 
 bers, about four thousand men, of whom the majority 
 were wounded. The loss of the enemy was about one 
 thousand two hundred men, of whom a fifth were prison- 
 ers. It is conjectured that nearly two hundred men were 
 destroyed by the mine. 
 
 On Sunday, the 31st, a flag of truce was sent for per- 
 mission to bury the dead. This, on account of an in- 
 formality, was not granted until Monday, thirty-six hours 
 after the close of the fight. Immediately on the expira- 
 tion of the time granted, the enemy again opened fiercely 
 with his guns.
 
 942 HISTORY OF THE GEEAT REBELLION. 
 
 CHAPTEK LVI. 
 
 Sigel's Movement in the Valley. Hunter Supersedes Sigel, and Defeats the 
 Rebels near Staunton. Occupation of Lexington. Lynchburg. Early 
 sent to the Valley. Retreat of Hunter through "Western Virginia. 
 Advance of Early down the ValleJOand Invasion of Maryland. Defeat 
 of "Wallace. Washington Threatened. Arrival of Sixth Corps and Re- 
 treat of Early. Various Encounters in the Valley. Hunter Superseded 
 by_Sheridan. 
 
 THAT portion of the grand combined attack on Rich- 
 mond, which consisted of a movement up the Yalley of 
 the Shenandoah upon Lynchburg, was confided to General 
 Sigel. This movement, in connection with that of Grant 
 1 in front, and that of Butler on the south, was designed to 
 close the door of retreat upon Lee, and shut him up 
 in Richmond, with his communications severed. The 
 enemy's force in the valley was composed of the com- 
 mands of Echols, Imboden, and Breckinridge, Imboden 
 having the advance. In the early part of May the latter 
 general was driven up the valley by Sigel, towards New- 
 market, where a concentration of the rebel troops took 
 place. On May 15th, Sigel encountered their combined 
 forces at Reed's Hill, near Mount Jackson, and suffered a 
 severe repulse, losing a number of guns and prisoners. 
 He retreated upon Strasburg, and soon after was relieved 
 by General Hunter. 
 
 Travelling without pause from "Washington to Cedar 
 Creek, General Hunter assumed command of the beaten 
 army, which he found demoralized to a degree that could 
 scarcely be exceeded. Nearly two thousand of its in- 
 fantry were without shoes. About one thousand had 
 thrown away their arms in their flight, and had to be re- 
 armed. He received re-enforcements, and advanced upon 
 Staunton, the enemy falling back before him, and on June 
 6th inflicted a severe defeat upon the rebel General Jones, 
 near Staunton, capturing fifteen hundred prisoners and 
 three guns. On the 8th of June, when Grant was about 
 crossing the James, Hunter occupied Staunton, where he
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 94:3 
 
 was joined by Averill, who had been operating in South- 
 western Virginia, on the line of the Lynchburg and East 
 Tennessee Railroad, and by General Crook, who had also 
 been raiding upon the railroads. A demonstration was 
 made towards "VVaynesboro by a cavalry force, which was 
 repulsed by Imboden. At Staunton several millions' 
 worth of public property was destroyed, and on the 10th 
 the whole force, about sixteen thousand strong, advanced 
 by two roads, forming a junction several miles northeast 
 of Lexington, and forty miles from Lynchburg. Lexing- 
 ton was held by McCausland, with special orders to make 
 the defence good until re-enforcements arrived from Rich- 
 mond. He made the stand accordingly ; but, finding the 
 town directly under the guns of Hunter's infantry ad- 
 vance, and that he was being flanked bv Averill's Cavalry, 
 who had forded the river higher up, IVIcCausland finally 
 fell back. 
 
 Hunter advanced very slowly, throwing cavalry out to 
 the right and left, in demonstrations against the railroad 
 connections of the enemy. Upon reaching Lexington he 
 awaited -the expected co-operation of Sheridan in the 
 direction of Gordonsville, which, as has been previously 
 stated, came to naught. Not hearing from Sheridan, he 
 then pressed on to Lynchburg, destroying railroads and 
 bridges by the way ; but upon arriving before the city, he 
 found it too strongly fortified to be assaulted with any 
 prospect of success. An attempt on the 18th satisfied 
 him of the impossibility of capturing the place with his 
 limited force. Lee now prepared to avail himself of his 
 interior lines to throw an overpowering force into the 
 valley, crush Hunter, and then demonstrate towards 
 Maryland and Washington. His position at Petersburg 
 and Richmond was so well secured that he could easily 
 spare a whole corps for this object, and still from behind 
 his powerful earthworks confront the Army of the Poto- 
 mac. 
 
 Swell's Corps was selected, and with Breckinridge's 
 command and two brigades from Hill's Corps, the whole 
 commanded by Early, proceeded about the middle of 
 June towards the valley. The enemy had signal officers 
 upon every hill around, and knew all Hunter's move- 
 ments, so that Swell's Corps was not dispatched from 
 Richmond until its presence at Lynchburg was needed.-
 
 944 HISTORY OF THE GEEAT BEBELLION. 
 
 The Union troops at this time were fifteen days' march, 
 from regular bases of supplies, and were\ subsisting upon 
 the enemy's country, while the enemy, by means of- the 
 railroad from Lynchburg to Richmond, had at any time 
 the power of concentrating against Hunter just as many 
 troops as General Lee could spare from the Army of 
 Northern Virginia. Hunter was not slow to perceive 
 how critical was his position, and on the 19th commenced 
 his march down the valley. But scarcely had he started 
 when he found the enemy pressing him so hard that he 
 was compelled to leave the valley, abandon part of his 
 trains and guns, and strike across the mountains to the 
 Kanawha, hoping to reach Long's Creek, whence by 
 steamboat down the Kanawha and up the Ohio to Par- 
 kersburg, and thence by railroad, he could regain Martins- 
 burg. This eccentric retreat of Hunter was forced upon 
 him by lack of all supplies, and by the fact that the 
 enemy had a railroad east of the Blue Ridge, from Lynch- 
 burg to Roekfish Gap or Waynesboro, only twelve miles 
 from Staunton, by means of which the whole of Swell's 
 Corps, and as many other troops as Lee might think 
 necessary, could easily have been thrown from sixty to 
 eighty miles in Hunter's rear, while Breckinridge, with 
 the valley troops, held him in front. And as he had but 
 little ammunition, and was utterly out of supplies, while 
 there would be no chance to collect in presence of a 
 superior force of the enemy, it appeared reduced to a 
 mathematical certainty that an attempt to return down 
 the Shenandoah would be equivalent to the annihilation 
 or surrender of our force. Retiring by the Kanawha 
 Valley, he confidently expected abundant supplies of 
 commissary and quartermaster stores at Meadow's Bluff, 
 about five or six days' march from Lynchburg. More 
 than a million rations, about five or six days previous, had 
 been left there by Generals Crook and Averill, under 
 charge of two regiments of Ohio militia. These stores 
 the enemy had destroyed. 
 
 The enemy, in all about twenty-five thousand men, 
 after driving Hunter over the mountains, lost no time in 
 advancing down the valley, and on Saturday, July 2, sud- 
 denly made his appearance at North Mountain, eight 
 miles north of Martinsburg, thus flanking Sigel, who held 
 command there. On the following morning Sigel was
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 94:5 
 
 compelled to fall back upon Harper's Ferry, where he 
 united with General Stahl. The small Union force then 
 evacuated the town, and held Maryland Heights. It now 
 became manifest that another invasion of Pennsylvania 
 was at hand. The enemy's main line of advance was by 
 way of Martinsburg and North Mountain, across the 
 Potomac to Hagerstown. Refugees, farmers, and citizens 
 soon passed east toward Baltimore, and the roads were 
 filled with pedestrians, with droves of cattle, and with 
 wagons of all species of construction, carrying such goods 
 and valuables as the frightened owners had dared to stay 
 to pick up. The terror of the fugitives was extreme, and 
 their stories of what they had seen and heard extravagant. 
 The panic was wide-spread and universal, and the region 
 for miles became depopulated. 
 
 The enemy advanced steadily, and bythe 4th of July 
 the country between Winchester and Williamsport was 
 occupied by him. On that day a part of Mosby's Cavalry 
 crossed at Point of Rocks, while the enemy occupied Har- 
 per's Ferry and the south bank of the Potomac, Sigel 
 holding Maryland Heights. On the 6th, the enemy's 
 cavalry, under McCausland, occupied Hagerstown. In 
 view of the gravity of the situation, requisitions for troops 
 were made upon the States of New York, Pennsylvania, 
 and Massachusetts, and the Sixth Corps was ordered to 
 embark for Washington, which had been nearly stripped 
 of its garrison to re-enforce Grant, and against which the 
 enemy was evidently moving, hoping possibly to capture 
 it by a coup de main. One of the objects of Lee in plan- 
 ning this invasion was to induce Grant to retire from be- 
 fore Richmond, and cover the Federal capital ; and the 
 fact that the latter general thought it necessary to detach 
 no more than a single corps for that purpose, snowed that 
 he took the proper view of the invasion, and was not to 
 be enticed by his wily adversary from relaxing the iron 
 grip which he had fastened upon the approaches to the 
 rebel capital. 
 
 Meanwhile, General Lewis Wallace, commanding the 
 Middle Department, had gathered together such troops as 
 were available (Hunter not havin'g yet returned from 
 Western Virginia), and essayed to retard the progress of 
 the enemy. On Saturday, July 9th, having by this time 
 been joined by Ricketts's Division of the Sixth Corps, he 
 
 58
 
 946 HISTORY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 
 
 encountered the enemy in superior force on the Monocacy, 
 near Frederick, and, after a severe fight, was pushed back 
 with loss on the road to Baltimore. The enemy immedi- 
 ately sent a column of troops down the "Washington and 
 Frederick turnpike. It entered Rockville on Sunday 
 morning, and then moved on towards Washington. Five 
 miles from Georgetown, and two miles beyond the fortifi- 
 cations, it drove in the Federal pickets one mile on Sun- 
 day night. At daybreak on Monday mornirg, skirmish- 
 ing commenced within rifle-shot of Fort Pennsylvania, 
 three miles from Georgetown. 
 
 Simultaneously with the appearance of this force, an- 
 other division of troops appeared on the Seventh street 
 road, four miles from the city, directly north, and imme- 
 diately in front of Forts Stevens and De Ruesey. Here 
 they seemed in larger force. By Monday noon the en- 
 emy had a strong skirmish line, and some sixty were 
 killed and wounded ; but fortunately, by this time the 
 remainder of the Sixth Corps, and a portion of the Nine- 
 teenth from New Orleans, began to arrive in the Poto- 
 mac, and at dusk the veteran troops advanced to the 
 front, where the fighting became severe. The enemy be- 
 gan to use artillery, and Forts Slocum and De Russey 
 opened in reply with their heavy guns. Immense efforts 
 were made to strengthen the Federal lines, and a procla- 
 mation required every able-bodied man to turn out as 
 militia, and be mustered into service for sixty days. 
 Citizens were seen on every hand with guns on their 
 shoulders, while employes of departments and Govern- 
 ment workshops, who had been previously organized and 
 drilled, turned out several thousand strong. Three thou- 
 sand convalescent soldiers were also obtained from the 
 hospitals, in addition to the veteran forces, increasing 
 hourly by fresh arrivals. The telegraph lines and rait 
 roads having been cut, Washington was, for the time 
 being, isolated, and provisions began to rise in price. On 
 Wednesday morning, however, the enemy had disap- 
 peared. Cavalry followed in pursuit, and found him 
 retreating towards Frederick. A small battery had re- 
 mained near Bladensburg, firing at the railroad train, 
 long after the main line had retreated. 
 
 In the mean tune, on the 10th, the enemy's cavalry 
 approached within sixteen miles of Baltimore, and raiding
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 94:7 
 
 parties made their appearance in various directions. One 
 burned the dwelling of Governor Bradford ; another cap- 
 tured a train in which was Major-General Franklin, who 
 managed to make his escape. Other forces busied them- 
 selves in collecting large stores of forage, grain, and army 
 supplies of all sorts, and making forced contributions in 
 money. The affair at Monocacy was the only consistent 
 effort to oppose the raid. That ended in a defeat, and 
 thenceforth the enemy for several days had it all his own 
 way, and was enabled, after his demonstration upon Wash- 
 ington and Baltimore, to retire across the Potomac with 
 large spoils. 
 
 The pursuit was commenced, July 13th, by General 
 "Wright, with the Sixth Corps and one division of Em- 
 ory's Nineteenth Corps. He crossed the Potomac at 
 Edwards's Ferry and moved towards Leesburg, where 
 Bicketts overtook and joined him. The cavalry under 
 Duffle, of Crook's command, captured some of the rebel 
 trains near Snicker's Gap, on the 17th. The remainder 
 of Crook's force then came up, but the enemy commanded 
 the stream they had crossed with two guns, and checked 
 the pursuit. On the succeeding day, Duffle was repulsed 
 by Breckinridge, at Island Ford on the Shenandoah, with 
 1 the loss of three hundred men. The enemy proceeded 
 towards Winchester and Strasburg, followed closely by 
 Averill, who, on the 20th, had a combat near Winchester 
 with Ramseur's Division, which he defeated with the loss 
 of four hundred men and four guns. Crook then joined 
 Averill. On the 23d the enemy advanced in force and 
 drove in the Union cavalry, and on the 24th precipitated 
 himself with so much force upon Crook as to push him 
 back, with considerable loss, upon Martinsburg, whence, 
 on Tuesday, the 26th, he recrossed the Potomac. Early 
 now again held the right bank of the Potomac from 
 Williamsport to Shepardstown. The enemy manoeuvred 
 on the Potomac, effectively concealing their numbers and 
 intentions, until the 30th, when McCausland, with a 
 cavalry force, advanced* upon Chambersburg, and de- 
 manded a ransom of five hundred thousand dollars, which 
 not being paid, he fired the town, inflicting a loss esti- 
 mated at one million, dollars. In the mean time, Averill, 
 who had retreated from Hagerstown towards Carlisle, 
 turned upon McCausland, and on Sunday, August 9th,
 
 948 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 our cavalry again occupied Hagerstown. The same day, 
 Averill overtook the enemy at Moorfield and routed him, 
 capturing all his artillery, consisting of four pieces, and 
 many of his wagons and small-arms, and five hundred 
 prisoners. Our loss was less than fifty men. The pur- 
 suit was kept up for many miles. For this exploit Averill 
 was promoted to the rank of major-general. 
 
 On the 7th of August, Hunter was superseded by Sher- 
 idan, who was assigned to the command of the forces in 
 the Middle Military Division, consisting of the Depart- 
 ment of Washington, the Middle Department, and the 
 Departments of the Susquehanna and Southwest Virginia, 
 which it was now determined to unite under one com- 
 mander.
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 949 
 
 CHAPTER LYII. 
 
 Dutch Gap Canal. Movement North of the James. Expedition of the 
 Fifth Corps to the Weldon Road. Attack by Hill. Severe Fighting 
 near Reams's Station. Losses. Repulse of the Enemy. Subsequent 
 Repulse of Hancock. Renewal of the Movement North of the James 
 and Capture of Fort Harrison. Further Operations on the Weldon Rail- 
 road. 
 
 SHERIDAN having, in the beginning of August, been 
 detached from the Army of the Potomac and sent to 
 supersede Hunter, Gregg assumed command of the cav- 
 alry. The monotony which had crept upon the opera- 
 tions of either army was varied on the 5th of August by 
 the springing of a mine by the enemy in front of the 
 Eighteenth Corps. This was intended to countermine 
 what was supposed to be a new work by the Federal 
 troops. No charge followed, however. On the 9th an 
 ordinance boat at City Point accidentally exploded, in- 
 volving great destruction of life and property. There 
 were seventy killed and one hundred and thirty wounded. 
 
 The James River, a short distance below Fort Darling, 
 makes a great bend, forming a peninsula called Farrar s 
 Island, the neck of which is only half a mile across, while 
 the river winds six miles around the bend. This part of 
 the stream was filled with torpedoes and swept by batte- 
 ries. General Butler proposed to cut a canal across this 
 neck, and thus cause the enemy to prolong his works, 
 while it would bring the Federal troops in close proxim- 
 ity to Fort Darling. From the very outset, the work 
 upon the canal was obstructed by the fire of the enemy 
 from Hewlett House Battery, and, to relieve the working 
 parties, it was determined to create a diversion. Ac- 
 cordingly, a fleet of transports was collected at City Point, 
 and on August 12th the Second Corps was embarked 
 upon them, apparently to go down the river. The Tenth 
 Corps at the same time crossed the river on pontoons 
 and joined Foster's Division on the right. On Saturday 
 night, August 13th, the Second Corps landed from the
 
 950 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 
 
 transports near Deep Bottom, and moved into position 
 along the Newmarket road on the east side of Four Mile 
 Creek, while the Tenth Corps was on the west side of that 
 stream. The gunboats at the same time engaged the 
 enemy's works. Early on Sunday, the 14th, Foster 
 moved out upon Strawberry Plains, and encountered the 
 enemy's skirmishers, who fell back beyond his rifle-pits. 
 The enemy had, however, re-enforced from his right, and 
 the Federal troops had before them D. H. Hill and Long- 
 street's Corps. The cavalry of Gregg covered the right 
 flank, where was the Second Corps, with its left on Four 
 Mile Creek, while the Tenth Corps, resting with its right 
 on the other bank of the creek, had its left on the in- 
 trenched bluff at Deep Bottom. These dispositions con- 
 sumed most of the day, Generals Grant, Butler, Hancock, 
 and Birney being present, and it was not until towards 
 evening that the whole line advanced. The Tenth Corps 
 drove in the picket line of the enemy and captured four 
 guns and a number of prisoners ; but the Second Corps, 
 encountering a very severe artillery fire, gained compar- 
 atively little ground. 
 
 On Monday, August 15th, amidst severe skirmishing, 
 the line was extended to the right, and Malvern Hul 
 threatened. As the right was extended, the enemy made 
 corresponding movements, and the day was spent in 
 manrauvring. On the 16th, the cavalry of Gregg moved 
 on the Charles City road, where, being joined by Miles's 
 Division of the Second Corps, it encountered the enemy 
 under Chambliss, who, after a sharp fight, were routed, 
 with the loss of their leader. The column then pushed on 
 to White's Tavern, in the immediate vicinity of Richmond, 
 but, finding the enemy in strong force, withdrew. Mean- 
 while, in the centre, the Tenth Corps carried a Jine of 
 works and captured two hundred prisoners, but, every- 
 where encountering strongly-manned works, it also with- 
 drew, and the reconnoissance ended. The attack was not 
 intended to be serious at this point, and it remained to be 
 seen what effect it would have on operations on the left. 
 
 At four o'clock on the morning of Thursday, the 18th, 
 the Fifth Corps started from its camp, with four days' 
 rations, for the Weldon Railroad. The column marched 
 towards Reams's Station, driving in easily the enemy's 
 skirmishers, of whom a part were captured. The first
 
 HISTORY OF THE GEEAT REBELLION". 951 
 
 division, Griffin's, reached the railroad, and began to de- 
 stroy it five or six miles from Petersburg ; while the 
 second, Ayres's, the third, Crawford's, and the fourth, 
 Cutler's Marylanders, proceeded along the road towards 
 Petersburg. At Yellow Tavern they encountered the 
 enemy's cavalry under Bearing, who fell back to Davis 
 Farm, two and a half miles from Petersburg. Here Gen- 
 eral A. P. Hill was encountered, with the divisions of 
 Mahone and Heth, Mahone, with his own brigades and 
 those of Clingman and Colquitt, beingeast of the railroad, 
 and Hill, with the brigades of Davis, Walker, and Archer, 
 west of it. The Federal line was halted in an open field. 
 Crawford's Division, comprising the brigades of Lyle, 
 Wheeler, and Hartshorn, were east of the railroad, con- 
 fronting Mahone, and Ayres on the west of the road, oppo- 
 site Heth, who came forward with great vehemence, driv- 
 ing back Ayres about one mile upon his intrenchments, 
 the first'line of which was lost, the enemy pouring in pell- 
 mell with the retreating troops. These, supported by 
 Cutler's Division, gained the main, line, that had been 
 greatly strengthened over night, and against which the 
 advancing tide of rebels beat m vain. 
 
 The Union troops, on Friday, August 19th, occupied an 
 intrenched line, the left being on the Boydtown plankroad, 
 while across the railroad the right held the Jerusalem 
 road, which it was necessary to connect with the main line 
 at Petersburg. The line was formed as follows, from 
 right to left: "Wilcox's Division of the Ninth Corps,, 
 Crawford's, Ayres's, and Griffin's Divisions of the Fifth' 
 Corps. Between Ayres and Crawford ran the railroad,, 
 and between the right of the Fifth Corps and the Jerusa- 
 lem road was a dangerous gap. At four o'clock in the 
 afternoon, in the midst of a heavy rain-storm, Hill burst 
 upon our lines with both divisions. Mahone attacked 
 Bragg's Brigade of Crawford's Division, on our right, with 
 great fury, overwhelming the Nineteenth Indiana, and 
 pressing through the gap like a torrent, thus separating 
 W ilcox and Crawford. The latter was strongly intrenched 
 in a thick wood opposite Davis Farm. Mahone, there- 
 fore, while fiercely engaging him in front with his own 
 troops and the brigade of Clingman, sent Colquitt's 
 Georgians upon his flank, which was so effectually turned 
 that nearly a thousand of Crawford's Division were made
 
 952 HISTORY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 
 
 prisoners. Meanwhile, on the left, the impetuous advance 
 of Heth had carried the intrenchments erected since the 
 morning, besides driving back the line, and enveloping 
 the regular brigade of Hayes. But the First and Second 
 Divisions of the Ninth Corps now arrived to re-enforce the 
 Federals, after an exhausting forced march. They formed 
 quickly, and charged, capturing several hundred prisoners. 
 This charge enabled the hard-pressed troops of the Fifth 
 Corps to rally ; and the rebels, being in turn overlapped, 
 were driven back with loss, and the disaster of the earlier 
 part of the day retrieved. The approach of night stopped 
 the conflict. The Federal loss was one thousand five 
 hundred killed and wounded, and about two thousand 
 prisoners. The loss of the enemy was probably equally 
 severe in killed and wounded. The result of this fight 
 was to give the enemy possession of the Weldon road as 
 far as Yellow Tavern, while our forces still held the posi- 
 tion first taken by Warren. 
 
 On Sunday, the 21st, the Federal line held nearly the 
 same position', and at nine o'clock the enemy again 
 attacked with his usual impetuosity, and, after a conflict 
 of two hours, was repulsed with the loss of over two 
 thousand men, including Generals Saunders and Lamar 
 killed, and Barton, Finnegan, and Andrews wounded. 
 During the night of Sunday the cannonade was heavy in 
 front of the Fifth Corps, But on Monday it was discov- 
 ered that the enemy had retired, and intrenched himself 
 three miles from Petersburg. 
 
 While these events took place, one division of the 
 Second Corps had been withdrawn from Deep Bottom and 
 hurried across to Petersburg in season to take possession 
 of the intrenchments vacated by the Fifth Corps in their 
 mareh to the Weldon Railroad. The other two divisions, 
 Gregg's Cavalry and the Tenth Corps, commenced a simi- 
 lar movement on Saturday night, and soon Foster re- 
 mained, as before, in sole possession of Deep Bottom. In 
 a single night, by a forced march, in which the infantry 
 outmarched the cavalry, the Second Corps crossed the two 
 rivers, and reached the lines of the Ninth Corps on Sun- 
 day morning. On Monday, Barlow's Division (tempo- 
 rarily under Miles) was occupied in tearing up the railroad 
 track from the line of the Fifth Corps down towards 
 Reams's Station. On Monday night, Gibbon's Division
 
 HISTOKT OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 953 
 
 marched towards Reams's, and on Tuesday continued the 
 destruction of the track in the region of that station. 
 The weather continued wet, and the roads very bad. 
 
 On Tuesday, Warren again pushed his line towards 
 Petersburg, and busily intrenched, skirmishing going on 
 between the pickets as on Monday. The Second Corps 
 was equally busy in tearing up the track in his rear. On 
 Tuesday night and Wednesday night the heavy cannon- 
 ading was repeated by the enemy, the greater part being 
 directed against the Eighteenth Corps. On Wednesday 
 the destruction of the railroad was continued, so that 
 by night it was comylete from a point four miles from 
 Petersburg down to two miles below Reams's, towards 
 Weldon. 
 
 Our line of battle in the Fifth Corps, meanwhile, 
 extended clear across the Weldon road, and our skir- 
 mishers lay near the Yaughan road, three and a half 
 miles from Petersburg. 
 
 On Thursday morning, the 25th, Gibbon's Division of 
 the Second Corps moved down the railroad from Reams's 
 Station, to prosecute the destruction of the road. When 
 about a mile below the station, the cavalry advance, 
 which had been skirmishing all the morning, was sudden- 
 ly checked and driven back by the enemy's picket line. 
 The old intrenchments erected by the Sixth Corps still 
 surrounded the station in semicircular form, covering the 
 railroad both above and below it. Miles (now in com- 
 mand of Barlow's Division) had posted his men as follows : 
 Colonel Lynch's (First) Brigade on the right ; next, the 
 Second and Third Brigades, under Major Byron ; next, 
 the Fourth Brigade, under Lieutenant-Colonel Brodie ; 
 finally, on the left, Alcock's Fourth New York heavy 
 artillery regiment. The enemy appeared, soon after noon, 
 in front of Miles, and Hancock at once ordered Gibbon to 
 fall back and form junction with Miles's left, to cover and 
 protect that flank. The cavalry followed, and covered 
 the left flank and rear. Gibbon disposed his troops so as 
 to face down the railroad in a southerly and southeasterly 
 direction, his right joining Miles's left at the railroad, and 
 Miles facing west. Thus the line was somewhat in the 
 form of a horse-shoe. In Gibbon's line, the Third Brig- 
 ade was on the left, the First in the centre, and the Second 
 on the right, joining Miles. About two o'clock the ene-
 
 954: HISTORY OF THE GEEAT REBELLION. 
 
 my's demonstrations culminated in a grand advance of 
 his skirmish line. 
 
 The rebel column of attack, under General A. P. Hill, 
 was composed of three brigades, commanded by Ileth and 
 Connor, with Pegram's Artillery. At half-past three 
 o'clock this column emerged from the woods with fixed 
 bayonets, and advanced at a rapid pace with loud cheers. 
 The column was smitten with a concentrated fire from 
 four batteries and musketry, but penetrated to within 
 twenty paces of the line, when it recoiled. The Federals 
 had suffered severely from a musketry fire from the ene- 
 my's right to cover this charge. The charge was repeated 
 an hour later, with similar results. The enemy then 
 brought up his batteries, which soon opened a very severe 
 concentric fire upon the circular position of the federals. 
 The shot that passed the troops of Miles did considerable 
 execution upon those of Gibbon. This was sustained for 
 twenty minutes, when the fire suddenly ceased, and with 
 loud yells the enemy sprang forward to a fourth assault, 
 charging furiously with fixed bayonets, and without firing 
 a shot. The distance he had to pass over from the woods 
 to the line was not great, and the efficiency of our fire 
 being destroyed by the previous cannonade, he gained the 
 breastworks, and in a hand-to-hand fight broke the line, 
 forcing Miles back, and capturing several guns. To stop 
 this irruption a portion of Gibbon's men were hurried to 
 support Miles across a distance of half a mile, exposed to 
 heavy fire. This had the effect of checking the enemy 
 for a short space, but the dismounted rebel cavalry, under 
 Wade Hampton, seized the moment to charge the defeated 
 line of Gibbon, and carried the works, and once more 
 Gibbon was hurried back to restore the fight in that direc- 
 tion ; but this time in vain. The enemy crowded forward 
 on all sides, inflicting severe losses on the overpowered 
 Unionists. Some regiments were reduced to mere skele- 
 tons ; of the Massachusetts Twentieth, one of the best in 
 the .army, very few remained. As the night approached, 
 Hancock withdrew his troops, leaving Keams's Station in 
 possession of the enemy. The Federal loss was very 
 heavy, including two thousand five hundred prisoners, 
 one thousand killed and wounded, seven colors, and nine 
 guns. 
 
 That the enemy did not accomplish this feat without
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT EEBELLION. 955 
 
 receiving severe punishment, is apparent from the follow- 
 ing dispatches from General Meade : 
 
 "SECOND CORPS 12.30 p. M. August 26, 1864. 
 
 " A safeguard that was left on the battle-field remained there after day- 
 light this morning. 
 
 " At that time the enemy had all disappeared, leaving their dead on the 
 field unburied. This shows how severely they were punished, and, doubt- 
 less hearing of the arrival of re-enforcements, they feared the results to-day 
 if they remained. 
 
 (Signed) "G. G. MEADE, Major- General' 1 
 
 " SECOND ARMY CORPS, August 26, 1864 1 p. M. 
 " To Lieutenant-General GRANT : 
 
 " Since sending my last dispatch, I have conversed with the safeguard 
 referred to. He did not leave the field until after sunrise. At that time 
 nearly all the enemy had left, moving towards Petersburg. He says they 
 abandoned not only their dead, but their wounded also. He conversed 
 with an officer, who said their losses were greater than ever before during 
 the war. 
 
 " The safeguard says he was over the field, and it was covered with the 
 enemy's dead and wounded. He has seen a great many battle-fields, but 
 never such a sight. Nearly all the enemy's and all our wounded were 
 brought off, but our dead were unburied. I have instructed General Gregg 
 to make an effort to send a party to the field and bury our dead. 
 
 " G. G. MEADE. Major- General." 
 
 The results of this battle put the enemy in possession 
 of the Weldon Railroad as far as Yellow Tavern. Reams's 
 is ten miles from Petersburg. The Federal troops still 
 held three or four miles^of railroad. On the same day, 
 Butler's picket lines were driven in, with some loss, but 
 were soon restored. 
 
 The Army of the Potomac now maintained its position 
 for several weeks without attempting any important enter- 
 prise, although each day was marked by some of those 
 events which are unavoidable where two armies are in 
 such close proximity to each other. A persistent shelling 
 was kept up by General Grant. The operations in the 
 valley continued to attract attention, but the movements 
 of Sherman in Georgia were watched with the utmost 
 anxiety. He had operated against Johnston and Hood 
 with more or less success, until, on the 4th of September, 
 the capture of Atlanta was announced to the Army of the 
 Potomac, and a salute of one hundred shotted guns was 
 ordered, to which the enemy briskly responded. On the 
 14th of September a remarkable raid was successfully 
 performed by the enemy. A herd of two thousand five 
 hundred head of cattle, destined for the consumption of
 
 956 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 the Army of the Potomac, was grazing near Coggin's 
 Point, on the James River, guarded by two regiments of 
 Kautz's Cavalry. Wade Hampton, with W. F. H. Lee's 
 Cavalry Division and Rosser's and Dearing's Brigades, 
 moved from Ream's Station entirely around our extreme 
 left, broke Kautz's picket line, overpowered the Union 
 Cavalry, and captured and carried off a number of prison- 
 ers and the whole of the cattle. Gregg's and Kautz's 
 Cavalry Divisions pursued, but without effect. 
 
 In the last week of September preparations were made 
 by General Grant to renew the attack upon Richmond, 
 and he seems to have drawn inspiration from the success 
 of Sherman, in obtaining possession of Atlanta by strat- 
 egy, where force was unavailing. To this end, a simul- 
 taneous attack at both extremities of the line was organ- 
 ized. That on the right, by the Eighteenth and Tenth 
 Corps, with the cavalry of Kautz, was undertaken in the 
 hope of compelling the enemy to send his troops from the 
 defence of Petersburg to his left. The idea of compel- 
 ling the enemy to weaken one point for the defence of 
 another, seems, however, not to have been fruitful of 
 success. The celerity with which troops appeared at the 
 assailed points, indicated great facilities for their trans- 
 portation and rare energy in their movements. 
 
 On the night of Wednesday, September 28th, the two 
 corps of Butler passed the James on muffled pontoons, 
 the Tenth to Deep Bottom, four miles from Dutch Gap, 
 and the Eighteenth to Aiken's Landing, which is half- 
 way between Dutch Gap and Deep Bottom. The Eigh- 
 teenth Corps, General Ord, at aaylight of the 29th, 
 proceeded by the Yarina road towards its junction with 
 the Newmarket road, driving in the enemy's skirmishers, 
 as it advanced toward Chapin's Farm, where a long line 
 of intrenchments runs in a westerly direction to the 
 river, terminating in a strong work known as Battery 
 Harrison. These works did not form part of the de- 
 fences proper of Richmond, but were covered by the fire 
 from works on the other side of the river, and by that of 
 the enemy's gunboats. The line of advance was formed 
 left to right of the brigades of Stannard, Burnham, Rob- 
 erts, and Heckman. The line advanced under a terrible 
 fire of artillery, and the enemy precipitately fled to other 
 works in the rear. The result was the capture of sixteen
 
 HISTOKY OF THE GEEAT REBELLION. 957 
 
 funs and one hundred and fifty prisoners ; but the 
 re from the enemy's guns was so intense that it was 
 found impossible to hold the works; and General 
 Weitzel abandoned them, concentrating his troops on the 
 left. 
 
 Meanwhile the Tenth Corps, now commanded by Bir- 
 ney, proceeded from Deep Bottom towards .Newmarket, 
 encountering the skirmishers of the enemy, but no serious 
 opposition until it reached the point where the Kingsland 
 road crosses the Newmarket road. Here a small force 
 held Newmarket Heights, which were readily carried, 
 though with some loss. The enemy, with the loss of 
 some five hundred, then retired upon Laurel Hill, six 
 miles from Richmond, at the junction of the Varina and 
 Newmarket roads, where was a line of strong earthworks, 
 with a wide and deep ditch in front. The place was at 
 once assaulted, but proved too powerful to be carried 
 with the limited force at Birney's disposal, and at night 
 he withdrew his troops to the intrenchments in his rear, 
 where he remained until two o'clock on the 30th. The 
 Union line was now formed of the Eighteenth and Tenth 
 Corps, and the enemy, having been re-enforced from 
 Richmond under Hoke, fell with great fury on the divi- 
 sion of Stannard. Deploying in three strong lines at the 
 edge of the wood, he charged with great promptitude, 
 under cover of a hot shelling from his iron-clads in the 
 river, and an annoying enfilading fire from the batteries 
 on the bank. A well-directed, rolling musketry fire sent 
 the rebels reeling back to the wood, before they could 
 reach the intrenchments. Again and still a third time 
 they rallied, were re-formed, and made the charge. But, 
 though they got near the works, it was only to be re- 
 pulsed with great slaughter. Our men had been in- 
 structed to lower their pieces, and the musketry fire was 
 at once incessant and murderous. On the breaking of 
 the enemy, General "Weitzel succeeded in cutting off over 
 two hundred prisoners, including twenty officers. The 
 enemy's total loss was probably a thousand men, and ours 
 probably less than five hundred. Among the wounded 
 officers was General Stannard, who lost an a,rm. 
 
 After this movement, little of importance took place 
 until Friday, October 7th. The Federal line was formed 
 of the Eighteenth Corps, on the left, the Tenth on the
 
 958 HISTORY OF THE GEEAT REBELLION. 
 
 centre and right, and the cavalry on the extreme right, on 
 the Darbytown road. The left was intrenched at Battery 
 Harrison, about ten miles from Richmond, and the right 
 about five miles from Richmond, in an air line on the 
 Charles City road. At early dawn on the 7th, Anderson, 
 with Hoke's and Field's Divisions, advanced down the 
 Darbytown and Charles City roads, and attacked Kautz's 
 Division with such suddenness and fury, that the whole 
 broke and fled. This disaster gave the enemy possession? 
 of the Darbytown road, and pressing on in pursuit, they 
 soon encountered our right centre, the right of the Tenth 
 Corps. Meanwhile, the cavalry had gained in their flight 
 Signal Hill and Newmarket Heights. Birney held a 
 strongly intrenched line, with the right flank refused. 
 On the right was Terry's First Division, lying along the 
 refused flank, and covering the Newmarket road. His 
 troops were in rifle-pits, in heavy woods. The ground on 
 the left of the line was open, and here the artillery was 
 posted four six-gun batteries which swept not only its 
 own front, but shelled the ground by which the right 
 could be reached. Proper and skilful dispositions were 
 briskly made on the stampede of the cavalry, and, before 
 the enemy was on him, Terry was ready. 
 
 As the enemy approached, he was greeted with a heavy 
 cross-fire of artillery from our left, in answer to which he 
 got two batteries into position. These, however, were 
 soon overmatched. Meanwhile, Field's Division moved 
 up in excellent order to the assault, dashing over the 
 open at double-quick, and succeeded in gaining the woods 
 on our right. Not only, however, was the open made 
 dangerous by artillery, but the partially felled woods were 
 difficult of penetration. Our infantry remained quiet 
 until the enemy was very close, when all four brigades, 
 rising from their half ambush, poured into him a sudden 
 and destructive fire. 
 
 After a protracted engagement, the enemy, finding his 
 efforts vain, withdrew in great confusion along the cen- 
 tral road, followed closely by Terry. He finally retired 
 upon the Charles City road, thus leaving the central road 
 again in our possession. The troops enjoyed an interval 
 of repose until the 13th, when General Terry, temporarily 
 in command of the Tenth Corps, moved out before dawn 
 upon the Darbytown road to the scene of Kautz's defeat
 
 HISTORY OF THE GEE AT KEBELLION. 959 
 
 on the 7th. The enemy had, in the interval, constructed 
 many new works, one of which was ineffectually assaulted 
 by Pond's Brigade. The enemy in turn made a charge 
 upon our lines. This was succeeded by the return of the 
 Federal troops to their intrenchments.
 
 960 HISTORY OF THE GKEAT REBELLION. 
 
 CHAPTER LVIII. 
 
 Operations in Tennessee. Sherman'a Raid through Mississippi. Failure of 
 Smith's Co-operative Movement. Invasion of Western Tennessee and 
 Kentucky by Forrest. Massacre at Fort Pillow. 
 
 LONGSTKEET, after his retreat upon Rogers ville, con- 
 tinued to remain some time in Eastern Tennessee, appar- 
 ently threatening Kuoxville. His communications with 
 Lee, temporarily interrupted by Averill, in a daring raid 
 into Southwestern Virginia, were soon restored, and Lee 
 had abundant opportunity, during tjie inactivity of the 
 Army of the Potomac in the winter of 1863-4, to re-en- 
 force him, of which, however, he did not take advantage. 
 Longstreet accordingly contented himself with merely 
 threatening Knoxville, while Johnston, who had succeeded 
 Bragg, occupied Dalton, thirty-eight miles south of Chat- 
 tanooga. Longstreet ultimately returned to the rebel 
 army in Virginia, and upon his departure the Ninth 
 Corps was sent to re-enforce the Army of the Potomac. 
 During January, 1864, the enemy sent several expedi- 
 tions into Tennessee. Johnston's Brigade, of Rhoddy's 
 command, crossed the Tennessee River at Bainbridge, 
 three miles below Florence, and at Newport Ferry, six 
 miles from the same point, intending to make a junction 
 with a brigade of infantry which was expected to cross 
 the river at Lamb's and Brown's Ferry, and thence pro- 
 ceed to Alton's, to capture the Union force there. They 
 were engaged, fifteen of them killed, and quite a number 
 wounded and taken prisoners. Our loss was ten wound- 
 ed. The operations of the rebel General Forrest were in 
 no degree more successful. At the close of January, 
 General Rosecrans was assigned to the Department of 
 Missouri, and General Schofield resumed command of the 
 Twenty-third Corps, constituting the Army of the Ohio, 
 and, with it, of the Department of Ohio. 
 
 A combined movement was now formed against the
 
 HISTORY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 961 
 
 enemy in the Southwest. General Sherman was to 
 march east from Yicksburg on the 3d of February into 
 the interior of the Gulf States, and, in co-operation with 
 him, Generals Smith and Grierson, at the head of a 
 cavalry force, were to move south from Memphis. In 
 aid of these operations, Schofield was directed to threaten 
 Longstreet in the neighborhood of Knoxville, and Thomas 
 to press Johnston, while the navy attacked Mobile, and 
 General Banks was to operate against Shreveport, and 
 Kilpatrick conduct a raid on Richmond. In accordance 
 with this plan, on February 3d, a strong column, com- 
 posed of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Army Corps, 
 under command of Sherman, took up an easterly line of 
 march from Yicksburg, following the line of the South- 
 ern Mississippi Railroad. By following the prolongation 
 of this line, the column would strike Meridian (one 
 hundred and forty miles), Selma (two hundred and fifty 
 miles), Montgomery (three hundred miles), and double 
 railroad and double river communications would be 
 opened up with the Gulf. The Pearl, the Tombigbee, 
 and the Alabama rivers leading into the heart of Mis- 
 sissippi and Alabama would thus be thrown open to 
 our gunboats. Jn a word, the great centre of productive 
 force would be seized. At the same time that Sherman's 
 force was pursuing the line indicated, another very 
 powerful cavalry column, twelve thousand strong, under 
 Generals Smith and Grierson, was to set out from Corinth 
 and Holly Springs, to follow the Mobile and Ohio Rail- 
 road southward. On February 5th, the two corps, under 
 Generals McPherson and Hurlbut, were across the Big 
 Black River, and advanced, driving the rebel Greneral 
 Polk before them, and inflicting immense damage upon 
 the enemy. At Meridian, the great rail way centre of 
 the Southwest, which Sherman reached about the middle 
 of the month, he destroyed the arsenal filled with valua- 
 ble stores and machinery, burned a large number of 
 Government warehouses filled with military stores and 
 ammunition, and rendered useless a number of mills. 
 At Meridian he also made, in his own words, " the most 
 complete destruction of railroads ever beheld." Sixty 
 miles of track, besides depots, bridges, and rolling stock, 
 were thoroughly destroyed, and several towns burned or 
 desolated. Having waited at Meridian a week without 
 
 59
 
 962 HISTORY OF THE GEEAT REBELLION. 
 
 news of Smith, he retraced his steps to the Mississippi, 
 carrying with him over eight thousand liberated slaves, 
 and an immense amount of spoils. The resistance 
 offered by the enemy was so trifling that the total Union 
 loss was less than two hundred. 
 
 Meantime weeks had been spent in gathering together 
 and properly organizing all the available cavalry in 
 "Western Tennessee and Northern Mississippi. To supply 
 troops for these movements, Corinth, and the line of the 
 Memphis and Charleston road as far east as General 
 Logan's outposts, had been abandoned, the fortifications 
 blown up, and the public property removed. Common 
 report put the aggregate finally collected at ten thousand 
 horsemen. The number was so large that General 
 Smith felt warranted in writing as follows, to a friend 
 in Buffalo, under date of Colliersville, February 9th : 
 
 " I expect to start to-morrow or next day with* 
 
 thousand cavalry, for the bowels of Dixie. The rebels 
 
 have about thousand in Mississippi, which they can, 
 
 if they like, concentrate to oppose me. The force, it is 
 safe to say, was larger and better equipped than any 
 before collected during this war to execute a similar mis- 
 sion. As it was essential to the complete achievement 
 of General Sherman's plan of campaign that this cavalry 
 column should move forward promptly, every precaution 
 was taken to make it irresistible ; and to render assurance 
 doubly sure, General Smith, General Grant's chief of 
 cavalry, was detailed to supervise operations. All these 
 precautions, however, failed to accomplish the desired 
 end. The column, which was to have left Colliersville 
 February 3d the same day that Sherman got away from 
 Vicksburg was detained until February llth, in order 
 to enable General Waring to bring up his brigade. This 
 delay seems to have been suificient to enable Forrest, 
 Rhoddy, and Chambers to concentrate their forces against 
 him ; it gave General Sherman a whole week the start, 
 and made a junction proportionately more difficult. 
 After the expedition had finally started, various circum- 
 stances conspired to delay and oppose its progress. It 
 was only after the force had been in the saddle seven 
 days that it reached Okalona, one hundred and thirty 
 miles southeast of Memphis, an average of but little 
 more than fifteen miles per day from Colliersville, the
 
 HISTORY OP THE GREAT REBELLION. 963 
 
 point of departure. On the 19th it marched to Egypt, 
 a station about seven miles south of Okalona. Here they 
 destroyed a large quantity of rebel stores The expedi- 
 tion was then divided, one column, under Grierson, going 
 through Aberdeen on the east side of the railroad, the 
 other on the west side, the two concentrating at Prairie 
 Station, about seventeen miles south of Okalona, where 
 large quantities of rebel stores were destroyed. Grierson 
 met with considerable opposition near Aberdeen. On the 
 20th, Forrest was reported in force at "West Point, and on 
 the 21st our forces encountered him at that place. Smith 
 found Forrest, Lee, Bhoddy, and Chambers combined 
 against him, and after a heavy fight he was compelled to 
 fall back, leaving three field-pieces, four-pounder steel 
 guns, on the field. They were spiked. All the ammu- 
 nition was saved. In his retreat Smith burnt every 
 trestle on the Memphis and Ohio Railroad, and destroyed 
 miles of the track and large quantities of corn. There 
 was heavy fighting in the rear throughout the 22d. The 
 rebels moved on each flank with the evident design of 
 reaching the Tallahatchie in advance of our force, and 
 forming a junction to prevent our crossing, and capture 
 the whole command; but by forced marching Smith 
 passed both flanking columns, and, marching all night, 
 crossed safely at New Albany. Skirmishing was kept up 
 all through the 23d and the 24th. On the 25th the 
 expedition arrived at Colliersville, about twenty-five 
 miles east of Memphis, where the greater portion of the 
 men remained. 
 
 The enemy were now becoming more active. Forrest, 
 having succeeded in defeating the expedition of Grierson 
 and Smith, recruited his forces in Mississippi, and ap- 
 peared suddenly, on March 22d, at Bolivar, Tennessee, 
 with a force between six and seven thousand strong. He 
 advanced rapidly against Union City, which was gar- 
 risoned by about four hundred men, under command of 
 Colonel Harkins. The enemy made several ineffectual 
 charges against the slight earthworks which surrounded 
 the town ; but, finding it impossible to carry them by 
 assault, Forrest commanded the surrender of the garrison, 
 threatening to bombard the town unless the command 
 was complied with. Harkius, it is said, against the 
 wishes of the garrison, surrendered on the 24th, just in
 
 964: HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION 
 
 time to anticipate the arrival of a large Union force from 
 Cairo, under command of General Mason Brayrnan, who 
 was marching to his relief. 
 
 From Union City, Forrest marched northward across 
 Kentucky, and on the afternoon of March 25th made an 
 attack on Paducah, having first sent to demand the sur- 
 render of the fort. This was refused by Colonel Hicks, 
 who was in command, and the attack was immediately 
 commenced. It lasted during the whole afternoon, the 
 enemy making four assaults, in each of which they were 
 repulsed with considerable loss. After the first assault 
 had been foiled, Forrest again demanded the surrender 
 of the fort, troops, and public stores, promising that if the 
 demand were complied with, the troops should be treated 
 as prisoners of war, but if he were compelled to storm 
 the fort they might expect no quarters. Hicks declined, 
 and the battle continued. Early in the evening the 
 rebels retired from the town, but reappeared the next 
 morning, when Forrest sent in a request for an exchange 
 of prisoners. This Hicks declined, and the rebels, without 
 making any further demonstrations, retired in the direc- 
 tion of Columbus. Their loss was three hundred killed 
 and one thousand wounded. The latter were taken to 
 Mayfield by rail, and the former were left unburied 
 around the fort. The rebel Brigadier-General A. P. 
 Thompson was among the slain. The rebel General 
 Buford appeared before Columbus early in April, and 
 demanded the surrender of the place, but, upon receiving 
 a peremptory refusal, moved off without attempting an 
 attack. 
 
 At this time occurred an event, unparalleled in the 
 previous or subsequent history of the war, and which 
 caused an almost unanimous outbreak of horror and in- 
 dignation throughout the loyal States. Threats of rais- 
 ing the " black flag," of carrying on a war of extermina- 
 tion, of giving no quarter in case of refusal to surrender, 
 had frequently been made by rebel commanders, but it 
 was reserved for Forrest, a man of unquestioned bravery 
 and skill, but of relentless cruelty, to show that such 
 threats had a deeper significance than the angry, thought- 
 less words of heated and exasperated combatants. Bad 
 as the rebel cause had before seemed to loyal men, it 
 grew immeasurably worse from the crime now associated
 
 HISTORY OP THE GKEAT KEBELLION. 965 
 
 with it, and which, like the rebellion itself, had its origin 
 in the demoralizing influences flowing from the institution 
 of slavery. 
 
 On the 12th of April, Forrest appeared before Fort 
 Pillow, on the Mississippi River, a work of moderate 
 size, mounting six guns, and garrisoned by about five 
 hundred and nfty men, of whom two hundred and sixty 
 were colored troops, the whole being commanded by 
 Major Bradford, of the Thirteenth Tennessee Cavalry. 
 The fort was situated on a high bluff which descended 
 precipitately to the river's edge, the ridge of the bluff on 
 the river side being covered with trees, bushes, and fall- 
 ing timber. Extending back from the river on either 
 side of the fort was a ravine or hollow, the one below 
 the fort containing several private stores and dwellings, 
 and some Government buildings, containing commissary 
 stores. The ravine above the fort forward was known as 
 Cold Bank Ravine, the ridge being covered with trees 
 and bushes. To the right or below and a little to the 
 front of the fort was a level piece of ground, not quite so 
 elevated as the fort itself, on which had been erected 
 some log huts or shanties, which were occupied by the 
 white troops, and also used for hospital and other pur- 
 poses. Within the fort tents had been erected with 
 board floors for the use of the colored troops. At sun- 
 rise the Union pickets were driven in, and from that time 
 until two or three o'clock in the afternoon the rebels 
 vainly endeavored to dislodge the garrison, who made a 
 gallant defence, in which they were aided by the gun- 
 boat New Era, which, from her position in the river, 
 shelled the enemy vigorously. 
 
 The rebels, having thus far failed in their attack, now 
 resorted to their customary flags of truce. The first flag 
 of truce conveyed a demand from Forrest for the uncon- 
 ditional surrender of the fort. To this Major Bradford 
 replied, asking to be allowed one hour with his officers 
 and the officers of the gunboat. In a short time the 
 second flag of truce appeared, with a communication from 
 Forrest that he would allow Major Bradford twenty 
 minutes in which to move his troops out of the fort, and 
 if it was not done in that time an assault would be or- 
 dered. To this Major Bradford replied that he would 
 not surrender. During the time occupied by the com-
 
 966 HISTORY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 
 
 munication between the fort and the attacking party, 
 and while the flag of truce was flying, the rebels, with a 
 bad faith characteristic of their conduct on several pre- 
 vious occasions during the same campaign, gradually 
 crept up to a position from which they could overwhelm 
 the garrison by a sudden assault. Captain Marshall, of 
 the gunboat, saw them advancing into the ravine above 
 the fort, and could easily have checked their progress, 
 but refrained from firing, from a desire not to afford an 
 excuse for subsequent atrocities, should the fort be cap- 
 tured by the enemy. What followed is best told in the 
 report of the Congressional Committee on the Conduct 
 of the War, two of the members of which visited Fort 
 Pillow and took testimony regarding the circumstances 
 of its capture. Their account is as follows : 
 
 " Immediately after the second flag of truce retired, the rebels made a 
 rush from the positions they had so treacherously gained, and obtained 
 possession of the fort, raising the cry of 'No quarter.' But little oppor- 
 tunity was allowed for resistance. Our troops, black and white, threw 
 down their arms, and sought to escape by running down the steep bluff 
 near the fort, and secreting themselves behind trees and logs in the bushes 
 and under the brush ; some even jumping into the river, leaving only their 
 heads above the water as they crouched down under the bank. Then fol- 
 lowed a scene of cruelty and murder without parallel in civilized warfare, 
 which needed but the tomahawk and scalping-knife to exceed the worst 
 atrocities ever committed by savages. The rebels commenced an indis- 
 criminate slaughter, sparing neither age nor sex, white nor black, soldier nor 
 civilian. The officers and men seemed to vie with each other in the devilish 
 work. Men, women, and their children, wherever found, were deliberately shot 
 down, beaten, and hacked with sabres. Some of the children, not more 
 than ten years old, were forced to stand up and face their murderers while 
 being shot. The sick and wounded were butchered without mercy, the 
 rebels even entering the hospital buildings and dragging them out to be 
 shot, or killing them as they lay there unable to offer the least resistance. 
 All over the hillside the work of murder was going on. Numbers of our 
 men were collected together in lines or groups and deliberately shot. Some 
 were shot while in the river, while others on the bank were shot and their 
 bodies kicked into the water ; many of them still living, but unable to make 
 exertions to save themselves from drowning. Some of the rebels stood 
 upon the top of the hill or a short distance from its side and called out to 
 our soldiers to come up to them, and, as they approached, shot them down 
 in cold blood, and if their guns or pistols missed fire, forcing them to stand 
 there until they were again prepared to fire. 
 
 " Ah 1 around were heard theories of 'No quarter!' 'No quarter!' 'Kill 
 the damned niggers!" 'Shoot them downl' All who asked for mercy 
 were answered by the most cruel taunts and sneers. Some were spared 
 for a time, only to be murdered under circumstances of greater cruelty. No 
 cruelty which the most fiendish malignity could devise was omitted by these 
 murderers. One white soldier, who was wounded in the leg so as to be 
 unable to walk, was made to stand up while his tormentors shot him.
 
 HISTORY OF THE GEEAT REBELLION. 967 
 
 Others, who were wounded and unable to stand up, were held up and again 
 shot. One negro, who had been ordered by a rebel officer to hold his horse, 
 was killed by him when he remonstrated. Another, a mere child, whom 
 an officer had taken up behind him on his horse, was seen by Chalmers, 
 who at once ordered him to put him down and shoot him, which was done. 
 The huts and tents in which many of the wounded had sought shelter were 
 set on fire, both that night and the next morning, while the wounded were 
 still in them, those only escaping who were able to get themselves out, or 
 who could prevail on others less injured to help them out, and even some 
 of these thus seeking to escape the flames were met by these ruffians and 
 beastly shot down, or had their brains beaten out. One man was deliber- 
 ately fastened down to the floor of a tent, face upward, by means of nails 
 driven through his clothing and into the boards under him, so that he could 
 not possibly escape, and then the tent was set on fire. Another was nailed 
 to the side of a building outside of the fort, and then the building was set 
 on fire and burned. The charred remains of five or six bodies were after- 
 wards found, all but one so much disfigured and consumed by the flames 
 that they could not be identified, and the identification of that one is not 
 absolutely certain, although there can hardly be a doubt it was the body of 
 Lieutenant Albertson, quartermaster of the Thirteenth Tennessee Cavalry, 
 and a native of Tennessee. Several witnesses who saw the remains, and 
 who were personally acquainted with him while living here, testified that it 
 is their firm belief that it was his body that was thus treated. 
 
 " These deeds of murder and cruelty closed when night came on, only to 
 be renewed the next morning, when the demons carefully sought among the 
 dead lying about in all directions for any other wounded yet alive, and 
 those they found were deliberately shot. Scores of the dead and wounded 
 were found there the day of the massacre by the men from some of our 
 gunboats, who were permitted to go on shore and collect the wounded and 
 bury the dead. The rebels themselves had made a pretence of burying a 
 great number of their victims, but they had merely thrown them, without 
 the least regard to care or decency, into the trenches and ditches about the 
 fort, or the little hollows and ravines on the hillside, covering them but par- 
 tially with earth. Portions of heads and faces, hands and feet were found 
 protruding through the earth in every direction, and even when your com- 
 mittee visited the spot, two weeks afterwards, although parties of men had 
 been sent on there from time to tune to bury the bodies unburied and re- 
 bury the others, and were even then engaged in the same work, we found 
 the evidences of this murder and cruelty still most painfully apparent. 
 
 " "We saw bodies still unburied at some distance from the fort, of some 
 sick men who had been met fleeing from the hospital, and beaten down and 
 brutally murdered, and their bodies left where they had fallen. We could 
 see the faces and hands and feet of men, white and black, protruding out of 
 the ground, whose graves had not been reached by those engaged in reinter- 
 ring the victims of the massacre, and although a great deal of rain had 
 fallen within the preceding two weeks, the ground, more especially on the 
 side and at the foot of the bluff, where the most of the murders had been 
 committed, was still discolored by the blood of our brave but unfortunate 
 men ; and the logs and trees showed but too plainly the evidences of the 
 atrocities perpetrated there. 
 
 ' Many other instances of equally atrocious cruelty might be enumerated. 
 But your committee feel compelled to refrain from giving here more of the 
 heart-sickening details, and refer to the statements contained in the volumi- 
 nous testimony herewith submitted. Those statements were obtained 
 by them from eye-witnesses and sufferers. Many of them, as they were 
 examined by your committee, were lying upon beds of pain and suffering,
 
 968 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 some so feeble that their lips could with difficulty frame the words by which 
 they endeavored to convey some idea of the cruelties which had been in- 
 flicted on them and which they had seen inflicted on others. 
 
 " In reference to the fate of Major Bradford, who was in command of the 
 fort when it was captured, and who had up to that time received no injury, 
 there seems to be no doubt. The general understanding everywhere seemed 
 to be that he had been brutally murdered the day after he was taken 
 prisoner. 
 
 " How many of our troops thus fell victims to the malignity and barbarity 
 of Forrest and his followers cannot be definitely ascertained. Two officers 
 belonging to the garrison were absent at the time of the capture and mas- 
 sacre of the remaining officers ; but two are known to be living, and they 
 are wounded and now in the hospital at Mound City. One of them, Captain 
 Porter, may even now be dead, as the surgeons, when your committee were 
 there, expressed no hope of his recovery. Of the men, from three hundred 
 to four hundred are known to have been killed at Fort Pillow, of whom at 
 least three hundred were murdered in cold blood after the fort was in pos- 
 session of the rebels and our men had thrown down their arms and ceased 
 to offer resistance. Of the surviving, except the wounded in the hospital 
 at Mound City, and the few who succeeded in making their escape unhurt, 
 nothing definite is known, and it is to be feared that many have been mur- 
 dered after being taken away from the fort "When your committee arrived 
 at Memphis, Tennessee, they found and examined a man, Mr. McLagan, who 
 had been conscripted by some of Forrest's forces, but who, with other con- 
 scripts, had succeeded in making his escape. He testifies that while two 
 companies of rebel troops, with Major Bradford and many other prisoners, 
 were on their march from Brownsville to Jackson, Tennessee, Major Brad- 
 ford was taken by five rebels, one an officer, led about fifty yards from the 
 line of march, and deliberately murdered in view of all those assembled. 
 He fell instantly killed by threo musket-balls, even while asking that his 
 life might bo spared, as he had fought them manfully and was deserving of 
 a better fate. The motive for the murder of Major Bradford seems to have 
 been the simple fact that, although a native of the South, ho remained loyal 
 to his Government." 
 
 The rebels admitted the wholesale slaughter at Fort 
 Pillow, and, if ashamed to justify it, at least excuse the 
 occurrence by quoting historical instances where garrisons 
 have been put to the sword ; forgetting that such mas- 
 sacres have been committed, among civilized nations at 
 least, only where the besiegers have suffered heavy losses 
 during a long and trying investment, and are in conse- 
 quence incited to an extraordinary degree of exasperation 
 against the garrison. ISTo such circumstances attended 
 the present case. Fortunately for the reputation of the 
 country and of American civilization, no similar massacre 
 is to be recorded in the subsequent history of the war.
 
 HISTORY OF TIIE GKEAT REBELLION. 969 
 
 CHAPTEE LIX. 
 
 Co-operative Movement on Atlanta. Size and Organization of the Union 
 and Rebel Armies. Commencement of the Campaign by Sherman. 
 Evacuation of Dalton by Johnston. Battle of Resaca and Retreat of the 
 Rebels. Operations at Dallas and Kenesaw. Rebels Planked and 
 driven across the Chattahoochie. 
 
 IN the middle of March, 1864, Grant, then recently 
 appointed lieutenant-general and commander-in-chiei, 
 turned over to Sherman the command of the Military 
 Division of the Mississippi, comprising the Departments 
 of the Cumberland, the Tennessee, and the Ohio. The 
 latter general was succeeded by General McPherson in 
 the command of the Department of the Tennessee. The 
 grand concerted plan of the spring campaign was then 
 matured, the part assigned to. Sherman being to push the 
 enemy steadily back upon Atlanta, and if possible sever 
 his communications between the Atlantic and Gulf 
 States, while all the available strength in the East was to 
 be brought to bear against the main rebel army in Virginia, 
 under Lee. All other movements of the Union forces 
 were to be held subsidiary to these. Sherman at once 
 bent every energy to the perfecting and enlargement of 
 the communications between Nashville and Chattanooga, 
 his primary and secondary bases, and to the accumulation 
 in the latter place of such an amount of subsistence and 
 military stores as would render him independent of Nash- 
 ville, should the railroad connections between the two 
 points be temporarily severed by rebel raiding forces. 
 By the end of April this work was successfully accom- 
 plished, and the great Army of the West was prepared to 
 move from Chattanooga at the precise hour, if necessary, 
 that the Army of the Potomac should cross the Eapidan 
 on its march towards Eichmond. On April 27th, Grant 
 notified Sherman to be ready to move about May 5th. 
 
 The total force under General Sherman's command, for 
 offensive purposes, was as follows :
 
 970 HISTOBY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 AKMT OP THE CUMBERLAND, MAJOR-GENERAL THOMAS COMMANDING. 
 
 Infantry 54,568 
 
 Artillery 2,377 
 
 Cavalry 3,828 
 
 Total 60, 7 73 
 
 Guns 130 
 
 ARMT OP THE TENNESSEE, MAJOR-GENERAL M'PHERSON COMMANDING. 
 
 Infantry 22,437 
 
 Artillery : 1,404 
 
 Cavalry 624 
 
 Total. 24,465 
 
 Guns 96 
 
 ARMY OP THE OHIO, MAJOR-GENERAL SCHOFIELD COMMANDING. 
 
 Infantry 11,183 
 
 Artillery 679 
 
 Cavalry 1,679 
 
 Total 13,541 
 
 Guns 28 
 
 Making a grand aggregate of eighty-eight thousand one 
 hundred and eighty-eight infantry, four thousand four 
 hundred and sixty artillery, and six thousand one hundred 
 and forty-nine cavalry, or ninety-eight thousand seven 
 hundred and ninety-seven men, and two hundred and 
 fifty-four guns. The Army of the Cumberland comprised 
 the Fourth Corps, General Howard, the Fourteenth 
 Corps, General rainier, and the Twentieth Corps, Gen- 
 eral Hooker ; the Army of the Tennessee, the Fifteenth 
 Corps, General Logan, the Sixteenth Corps, General 
 Dodge, and, later in the campaign, the Seventeenth 
 Corps, General Blair ; and the Army of the Ohio, the 
 Twenty-third Corps, General Schofield. These several 
 armies in the beginning of May lay a few miles south of 
 Chattanooga, in supporting distance of each other. 
 
 The rebel army, comprising the corps of Hardee, Polk, 
 and Hood, and the cavalry division of Wheeler, was 
 imder the command of Lieutenant-General J. E. John- 
 ston, whose reputation as a commander in the Confed- 
 eracy was second only to that of Lee. It numbered 
 about fifty thousand infantry and artillery, and ten
 
 HISTORY OF THE GKEAT REBELLION. 971 
 
 thousand cavalry, of whom much the greater part were 
 veteran troops, and lay in and about Dalton, on the rail- 
 road connecting Chattanooga with Atlanta, the advance 
 being at Tunnel Hill, a station thirty miles south of 
 Chattanooga. Directly south of Tunnel Hill is a level 
 valley, three . miles in length and about three-quarters of 
 a mile wide, bounded at its southern extremity by a 
 rugged mountain range, known as Rocky Faced Kidge, 
 which dominates the valley, and is succeeded by a narrow 
 defile called Buzzard's Roost, still farther to the south, 
 through which passes the railroad. Immediately south of 
 Buzzard's Roost is Dalton. This defile had been rendered 
 nearly impregnable to an army advancing directly upon 
 Dalton from the north, and the mountains so enveloped 
 the latter place that to attack an enemy posted there in 
 any other direction than from the front, a wide detour 
 was necessary. A brief reconnoissance satisfied Sherman 
 that Johnston could only be dislodged by a flanking 
 movement to the right. Thomas was therefore directed 
 to amuse the enemy in front of Buzzard's Roost, while 
 McPherson, with the Army of the Tennessee, moved 
 rapidly south through Snake Creek Gap and seized 
 Resaca, a station on the railroad eighteen miles below 
 Dalton. Should this manoauvre be successfully executed, 
 the rebel army would be attacked in flank and rear, and 
 its retreat upon its base, Atlanta, eifectually cut oif. 
 The superior strength of Sherman gave him opportunities 
 for movements of this nature, of which we shall see that 
 he frequently availed himself. 
 
 On the 7th of May, Thomas occupied Tunnel Hill with 
 little resistance, pushing the enemy's cavalry well into the 
 defile below, and on the succeeding day demonstrated 
 with great activity against Johnston's position, while 
 McPherson, on the 8th, surprised the enemy at Snake 
 Creek Gap. On the 9th, Thomas renewed his demonstra- 
 tion on Buzzard's Roost, and a portion of the Fourth 
 Corps, Howard's, carried Rocky Faced Ridge. These 
 movements, though unavailable to force the strong posi- 
 tion of the enemy, occupied him in front and enabled 
 McPherson to march within a mile of Resaca, which he 
 found too strong to be carried by assault. Accordingly 
 he fell back upon Snake Creek Gap to await the arrival 
 of the main army. On the 10th, Thomas was ordered to 
 
 Lkr
 
 972 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELJJON. 
 
 send Hooker's Corps to Snake Creek Gap in support of 
 McPherson, and to follow with another corps, the Four- 
 teenth, Palmer's, leaving Howard with the Fourth Corps 
 to continue to threaten Dalton in front, while the rest of 
 the army moved rapidly through Snake Creek Gap. On 
 the same day, Schofield was ordered to follow by the 
 same route, and on the llth the whole army, excepting 
 Howard's Corps, and. some cavalry left to watch Dalton, 
 was in motion on the west side of Rocky Faced Ridge for 
 Snake Creek Gap and Resaca. The next day the army 
 moved against Resaca, McPherson on the direct road, 
 preceded by Kilpatrick's Cavalry ; Thomas to come up 
 on his left, and Schofield on his. Kilpatrick, while mov- 
 ing in the advance, was disabled by a wound received in 
 a cavalry skirmish. McPherson drove in the enemy's 
 pickets near Resaca on the 13th, and occupied a range 
 of hills in front of the town, with his right on the Oosta- 
 naula River. Thomas on his left faced Camp Creek, a 
 small affluent of the Oostanaula, and Schofield took a 
 position on Thomas's left. The enemy, under Johnston, 
 meantime fell back from Dalton, Howard pressing his 
 rear, to a strong position behind Camp Creek, and, on 
 May 14th, occupied the defensive works at Resaca, with 
 his right on some high chestnut hills to the north of the 
 town. 
 
 The enemy lay here behind a line of rifle-pits and 
 earthworks, which they had thrown across the peninsula 
 formed by the Coosawattie and Conasauga Rivers, which 
 unite near Resaca to form the Oostanaula. Hardee 
 held their right, Polk the left, and Hood the centre. On 
 the 14th of May, Sherman vainly operated to turn the 
 flank of the enemy in order to prevent their retreat. A 
 vigorous attempt by Palmer on the left centre to carry 
 the position in his front resulted in a repulse, with the 
 loss of seven hundred and fifty-five men. A similar 
 attack on the left by a column composed of Judah's 
 Division of Schofield's Corps and Newton's Division of 
 Howard's Corps, assisted finally by Cox's Division of 
 Schofield's Corps, resulted in driving the enemy from an 
 outer line of rifle-pits. The fire was kept up until the 
 close of day, when the enemy, having massed a strong 
 column, fell suddenly upon Stanley's Division of the 
 Fourth Corps, driving it in confusion from the hill where
 
 an o B i JOE
 
 974: HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 it had been posted. The division was saved from rout 
 by the arrival of Hooker's Corps, which had been ordered 
 round from the right centre to support the left wing. 
 Meanwhile, McPherson on the right, taking advantage 
 of the enemy's occupation with this movement, sent 
 Logan's Corps across Camp Creek, where it carried a line 
 of rifle-pits in a position which afforded an enfilading 
 fire upon the rebel works. The approaching night put a 
 stop to active operations, and both parties proceeded to 
 strengthen their positions. 
 
 On the morning of May 15th, heavy skirmishing began 
 on our centre and left centre, under cover of which our 
 troops were formed on the left for an attack upon the ex- 
 treme right of the enemy's line, where an attempt was 
 to be made to secure possession of two fortified hills 
 which commanded each other, compelling a simultaneous 
 attack on both. Hooker directed Butterfield's Division 
 to assault, supported by the divisions of Geary and Wil- 
 liams. Forming under cover of a ravine in the forest, 
 our troops advanced, covered by heavy skirmishing along 
 the whole line of the army, and a heavy artillery fire, 
 taking the enemy at first by surprise, and carrying every 
 thing before them, until, with the help of their supports, 
 they secured a lodgment in front of one of the enemy's 
 strongest positions. Here they found shelter from fire, 
 while the right and left flanks of the work were raked by 
 our fire and their guns silenced. At about four p. M. an 
 assault was made on our new position by Hood's Corps, 
 which was repulsed with heavy slaughter, and night 
 closed with Hooker still in possession of the heights he 
 had carried. On the night of the 15th, the enemy 
 quietly abandoned his works and retreated towards Cal- 
 houn, destroying the bridge across the Oostanaula. Our 
 total loss in this series ot engagements was about eight 
 hundred killed, and something over four thousand wound- 
 ed, of whom some two thousand were so slightly injured 
 that they were fit for duty in two or three weeks. Our 
 captures amounted to one thousand. Besides these, eight 
 guns were captured, four of them fine twelve-pounders. 
 The rebel loss was about two thousand five hundred. 
 
 The army followed in pursuit, on the morning of the 
 16th, Thomas by the direct road, McPherson by Lay's 
 Ferry, and Schofield to the left. The cavalry, under
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 975 
 
 McCook and Stoneman, started in advance of 
 fantry. Hooker crossed the river on pontoons near 
 Resaca, and Schofield in the same way near Pelton, 
 farther to the left. The remainder of our army was 
 afterwards thrown across, and on Wednesday, the 18th, 
 Sherman reached Kingston, twenty-five miles by rail 
 beyond Resaca. Meanwhile, Rome was occupied by 
 Davis's Division of the Fourteenth Corps. A large 
 amount of provisions and seven fine iron-works and 
 machine-shops were secured at Rome, where every thing 
 appears to have been left undisturbed by the rebels. On 
 Monday evening, the 16th, there was some slight skir- 
 mishing with the rebel rear-guard. On Tuesday, the 
 17th, our centre reached and passed Calhoun the capital 
 of Gordon County, eighty miles northwest of Atlanta, 
 and sixty miles beyond Chattanooga. Three miles 
 beyond here, a brisk little fight occurred, the rebels 
 having occupied with their sharpshooters an octagon 
 cement building, called the " Graves House." After a 
 fight of two hours, the skirmishers of Newton's Division 
 ot Howard's Corps (Fourth), aided by artillery, succeeded 
 in dislodging the enemy. Early W ednesday morning 
 (18th), the army was again upon the march, the Fourth 
 Corps leading the way, and before night our troops occu- 
 pied Kingston. The Twentieth and Twenty-third Army 
 Corps advanced on the left by way of Crossville, skirmish- 
 ing heavily by the way. The army here had a few days' 
 rest, while supplies were accumulating for a new forward 
 movement. The enemy, meanwhile, on the 19th, crossed 
 the Etowah, burning the road and railroad bridges near 
 Cartersville, and fell back upon Allatoona Pass, in the 
 Etowali Mountains, a position of vast natural strength, 
 and almost impregnable against a direct advance on 
 Atlanta by railroad. 
 
 Sherman, who had previously ordered away the news- 
 paper reporters, now issued the following circular, which 
 explains its own object, and also the evil which the pre- 
 vious order had been intended to remedy : 
 
 " HEAD-QUARTERS MILITARY DIVISION OF THE MISSISSIPPI, ? 
 "KINGSTON, GA., May 20, 1864. J 
 
 " Inasmuch as an impression ia afloat that the Commanding General has 
 prohibited the mails to and from the army, he takes this method of assuring 
 all officers and men that, on the contrary, he encourages them, by all his
 
 976 HISTORY OF THE GEEAT REBELLION. 
 
 influence and authority, to keep up the most unreserved correspondence 
 with their families and friends. Wherever they may be, army corps, and 
 division commanders should perfect the arrangements to receive and trans- 
 mit mails ; and all chaplains, staff-officers, and captains of companies should 
 assist the soldiers in communicating with their families. 
 
 " What the Commanding General does discourage, is the existence of that 
 class of men who will not take a musket and fight, but who follow an army 
 to pick up news for sale, speculating on a species of information which is 
 dangerous to the army and to our cause, and who are more used to bolster 
 up idle and worthless officers than to notice the hard-working and meritori- 
 ous, whose modesty is generally equal to their courage, and who scorn to 
 seek the flattery of the press. 
 
 "W. T. SHERMA*, Major- General." 
 
 Anticipating that the enemy would make a stand at 
 Allatoona Pass with every chance of success, Sherman 
 resolved to turn it, and for that purpose made full prepa- 
 rations for a flank movement to the right. Accordingly, 
 on May 23d, the army was put in motion in a direction 
 almost due south, Allatoona being more to the east. 
 McPherson crossed the Etowah at the mouth of Conasene 
 Creek, near Kingston, and moved for his position to the 
 south of Dallas via Yan Wert. Davis's Division moved 
 directly from Eome for Dallas by Yan Wert. Thomas 
 took the road via Euharlee and Burnt Hickory, while 
 Schofield moved by other roads more to the east, aiming 
 to come up on General Thomas's left. Thomas's head of 
 column skirmished with the enemy's cavalry about Burnt 
 Hickory, and captured a Courier with a letter written by 
 Johnston, showing he had detected the move and was pre- 
 paring to meet Sherman about Dallas. 
 
 On the 25th May, Thomas was moving from Burnt 
 Hickory for Dallas, his troops on three roads, Hooker 
 having the advance. When he approached the Pumpkin 
 Yine Creek, on the main Dallas road, he encountered the 
 enemy's cavalry at a bridge to his left. He rapidly pushed 
 them across the creek, saving the bridge, and followed 
 out eastward about two miles, where he encountered the 
 enemy's line of battle, and his leading division, Geary's, 
 had a severe combat. It was near 4 o'clock p. M. before 
 Hooker got his whole corps well in hand, when he made 
 a bold push to secure possession of a point known as the 
 "New Hope" Church, where three roads meet from Ac- 
 . worth, Marietta, and Dallas. Here he suffered a repulse, 
 with a total loss of six hundred. On the 26th, the enemy 
 was discovered well intrenched in front of the road lead-
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 977 
 
 ing from Dallas to Marietta. Accordingly, McPherson 
 was moved up to Dallas, Thomas was deployed against 
 New Hope Church, and Schofield was directed towards 
 our left, so as to strike and turn the enemy's right. 
 Garrard's Cavalry operated with McPherson, and Stone- 
 man with Schoiield. McCook looked to our rear. In 
 consequence of the difficult nature of the ground, these 
 movements required several days. On the 28th, the 
 enemy, taking advantage of McPherson's closing on 
 Thomas to his left, assaulted him with great vigor, but 
 the Federal troops, being behind breastworks, repulsed 
 him with ease, and with comparatively little loss. That 
 of the rebels exceeded two thousand. 
 
 Johnston had selected a position of great natural 
 strength near his base of supplies with a rail and three 
 excellent wagon-roads for his lines of supply had re- 
 cruited his army by all the available troops in his depart- 
 ment, and was evidently anxious that Sherman would risk 
 a general engagement, and in his present position he would 
 have received battle if it had been offered. A battle 
 would have involved the whole of both armies. It might 
 have been successful on our part ; but the cost of life and 
 limb would have been immense. Sherman might have 
 achieved a victory ; but he must in all probability have 
 come out of the conflict with a shattered, crippled, weak- 
 ened army. He might be unable for weeks to resume 
 offensive operations. Then, again, the defensive line ex- 
 tending from Dallas northeast to Lost Mountain was not 
 only the best, but almost the only military position of any 
 great natural strength north of the Chattahoochee River. 
 If dislodged from that, Johnston would be compelled to 
 fall back of that river, or fight upon more equal ground. 
 Such being the situation, General Sherman determined 
 not to attack Johnston in his imtrenchments, and to force 
 him to abandon them. 
 
 It being determined to change position so - as to force 
 Johnston into the field, after a few days' delay Sherman 
 renewed orders to McPherson to move to his left about 
 five miles and occupy Thomas's position in front of JSTew 
 Hope Church, and Thomas and Schofield were ordered to 
 move a corresponding distance to their left. This move 
 was effected with ease and safety on the 1st of June, and 
 by pushing the left well around, Sherman occupied all 
 
 60
 
 978 HISTORY OF THE GEEAT KEBELLIOJT. 
 
 the roads leading back to Allatoona and Acworth, after 
 which he pushed Stoneman's Cavalry rapidly into Alla- 
 toona, at the east end of the Pass, and Garrard's Cavalry 
 around by the rear to the west end of the Pass. Both of 
 these commands reached the points designated without 
 trouble, and we thereby accomplished the real purpose of 
 turning the Allatoona Pass. Our line was about seven 
 miles in length. The extreme right, held by the army 
 of the Tennessee, was the longest relatively, and the 
 weakest. 
 
 Contemporaneous with the withdrawal of the right 
 wing, or immediately after its discovery, the rebels changed 
 the position of their left, Hardee's Corps being moved to 
 the centre. About midnight of June 4th, General Logan 
 received information that the enemy in his front were 
 evacuating their works and moving in some direction. 
 The night was rainy and very dark. Logan gave orders 
 to advance his skirmishers so soon as it should be light 
 enough to move. The line moved about four, and found 
 the works in the front of his corps entirely abandoned and 
 his whole force withdrawn, save a few pickets, who were 
 captured. Johnston was too shrewd to be cut off from his 
 base, and on the 4th, discovering the Union troops moving 
 round his right flank, he abandoned his position, and 
 moved eastward to the railroad, to cover Marietta. 
 
 On the 6th the Army of the Tennessee marched at day- 
 light to -Acworth, on the railroad, some fifteen or sixteen 
 miles northwest of Marietta by rail, and two-thirds that dis- 
 tance on a straight line. Thus Johnston was again obliged 
 by General Sherman's strategy to abandon a strong posi- 
 tion, and move out of his carefully and thoroughly pre- 
 pared fortifications. Sherman, having examined Allatoona 
 Pass, resolved to make it a secondary base. 
 
 Here, on the 7th, was Sherman, in sight of the enemy's 
 signal stations at Lost Mountain on the direct road from 
 Dallas to Marietta, seven miles from the latter place and 
 Kenesaw Mountain, ten miles from Lost Mountain, a little 
 east of north from it, on the railroad. These two points 
 were the right and left of the enemy's position, their army 
 stretching along the hills between tne two. They are 
 detached peaks, overlooking the plain beyond, and con- 
 nected by a ridge, or series of low hills. Kenesaw 
 Mountain, the larger of the two, rises to an elevation of
 
 HISTOEY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 979 
 
 one thousand eight hundred and twenty-eight feet above 
 the sea-level, extending some nine hundred yards on its 
 summit from northeast to southwest. It is situated two 
 and a half miles northwest of Marietta, and directly upon 
 the line of the railroad, which here makes a bend to the 
 east, to escape the mountain. Lost Mountain, whose 
 isolated situation explains its name, lies some miles west 
 of southwest of Marietta, directly north of the railroad 
 running from that place to Dallas. Between Kenesaw 
 and Lost Mountain, and half a mile to the north, is Pine 
 Mountain, a lesser elevation, constituting the apex of a 
 triangle, of which the other two may be said to form the 
 base. The three hills and their connecting ridges were 
 fortified, and afforded an admirable defensive position 
 against an attacking army. 
 
 On the 9th of June the army was once more put in 
 motion for Atlanta. By means of the railroad, which was 
 kept in good running order from Chattanooga to the front, 
 supplies of all kinds had come forward in abundance, and 
 on the 8th the Seventeenth Army Corps, General Blair, 
 reached Acworth, and was incorporated with the Army of 
 the Tennessee. It compensated for Union losses in battle 
 and for garrisons left at Home, Kingston, and elsewhere, 
 and Sherman was enabled to renew the attack upon his 
 wary adversary with as strong a force as at the commence- 
 ment of the campaign. The order of advance was now 
 somewhat different from that previously observed during 
 the campaign, McPherson being shifted to the left wing 
 and Schofield to the right, .while Thomas still held the 
 centre. McPherson was ordered to move towards Mariet- 
 ta, his right on the railroad, Thomas on Kenesaw and Pine 
 Mountains, and Schofield off towards Lost Mountain ; 
 Garrard's Cavalry being on the left, Stoneman's on the 
 right, while McCook looked to our rear and communica- 
 tions. Our depot was at Big Shanty. 
 
 By the llth of June our lines were close up, and dispo- 
 sitions were made to break the line between Kenesaw and 
 Pine Mountains. Hooker was on its right and front, 
 Howard on its left and front, and Palmer between it and 
 the railroad. During a sharp cannonading from Howard's 
 right or Hooker's left, the rebel General Polk * was killed 
 
 * Leonidas Polk was born in Raleigh, North Carolina, in 1806, and grad-
 
 980 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 on the 14th, and on the morning of the 15th Pine Moun- 
 tain was found abandoned by the enemy. Thomas and 
 Schofield advanced, and found him again strongly in- 
 trenched along the line of rugged hills connecting Kene- 
 saw and Lost Mountain. At the same time Mcrherson 
 advanced his line, gaining substantial advantages on the 
 left. Pushing our operations on the centre as vigorously 
 as the nature of the ground would permit, an assault was 
 ordered on the centre. On the 17th, the enemy aban- 
 doned Lost Mountain and the long line of admirable breast- 
 works connecting it with Kenesaw, to prevent being 
 flanked by Schofield, who had wheeled around Pine 
 Knob, and was pressing along the Dallas and Marietta 
 road. An additional motive lor this movement was found 
 in the fact that while our forces had been so successfully 
 at work upon their centre and left, McPherson on our left 
 had put them in a dangerous position on their right, press- 
 ing it on that flank beyond Big Shanty and Brush Moun- 
 tain. Sherman continued to press at all points, skirmishing 
 in dense forests of timber and across most difficult ravines, 
 until the enemy was found again strongly posted and in- 
 trenched, with Kenesaw as iris salient, his right wing 
 thrown back to cover Marietta, and his left behind Nose's 
 Creek, covering his railroad back to the Chattahoochee. 
 This enabled him to contract his lines and strengthen 
 them accordingly. 
 
 Our right, meanwhile, forced its way across and two 
 
 uated at West Point in 1827, but resigned his commission in the army in 
 the same year, in order to study for the ministry. In 1830 he was ordained 
 a deacon of the Protestant Episcopal Church ; in 1838 he was consecrated 
 Missionary Bishop of Arkansas and the Indian Territory south of 36 30', 
 and in 1841 he became Bishop of Louisiana. He embraced with ardor the 
 doctrines of secession, was commissioned a major-general in the rebel army, 
 and until the spring of 1862 held command in Tennessee and Kentucky. 
 He commanded a division at Shiloh, and, during the siege of Corinth, par- 
 ticipated in Bragg's invasion of Kentucky hi the autumn of 1862, and dis- 
 tinguished himself at the hard-fought field of Murfreesboro. For alleged 
 disobedience of orders at the battle of Chickamauga, whereby, according to 
 General Bragg, the Union army was alone saved from annihilation, he was 
 placed under temporary arrest. In the early part of 1 864 he regained his 
 prestige by skilful dispositions to prevent the junction of Sherman and Smith 
 in Mississippi, and in consequence was appointed to command a corps in 
 Johnston's army. He was killed by a cannon-shot while reconnoitring on 
 Pine Mountain. At the time of his death he held the rank of lieutenant- 
 general hi the rebel service. He never resigned his diocese, and intended, 
 at the close of the war, to resume his episcopal functions.
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 981 
 
 miles beyond Nose's Creek, on the Dalton and Marietta 
 road. This creek it had been found impossible to cross 
 before, because of the swollen condition of the stream. 
 The stream was to be crossed by a bridge, close beyond 
 which the rebels had a heavy line of skirmishers to repel 
 any attempt to cross. In the face of a raking fire of mus- 
 ketry, four regiments charged over the bridge at a double- 
 quick, driving the enemy before them, and making way 
 for our advance forces. No serious opposition appears, 
 however, to have been made to this advance, the rebel 
 left being already refused. Their position in front of our 
 right to the northeast remained at this time unchanged, 
 their troops resting there behind strong works. Our cen- 
 tre had worked up the base of Kenesaw Mountain, and 
 had carried some knobs west of the mountain, thus secur- 
 ing a position for an annoying enfilading fire upon the 
 mountain. These points, which had been lost by the 
 enemy through negligence, were held by our troops so 
 firmly that all efforts to dislodge them were in vain. 
 
 Kenesaw Mountain is made up of two elevations, joined 
 almost at their summits, one being about eight hundred 
 feet high and the other about one hundred feet higher. 
 Looking at them from the north side, thev have the ap- 
 pearance of two immense mounds, surrounded at the base 
 by gentle irregularities of surface adapted to every depart- 
 ment of agricultural labor. The outline of the mountain 
 rises on the east side rather gradually, describing almost 
 a half-circle, thence falling upon the west, about two hun- 
 dred feet. The other portion joins the first and rises to a 
 still greater height, and being a trifle more irregular. On 
 the west side it then loses itself somewhat abruptlv in 
 a small valley beyond, by which the country is deprived 
 of a mountainous character. The base of the Kenesaw is 
 about four miles from east to west, drawing a straight 
 line, and in breadth is about one mile. Its sides are 
 covered with thick forests, brush, and rock and bowlders 
 of various dimensions. It would be impossible to take it 
 in front. The defences of the mountain consisted of a 
 line of works on the summit, upon which were erected 
 several batteries. Upon the sides, single guns were located 
 at commanding points. The flanks of the mountain were 
 held by heavy bodies of infantry and artillery, and its 
 rear was protected in a similar manner.
 
 982 HISTORY OF THE GEEAT REBELLION. 
 
 It was no longer possible for our wings to make a fur- 
 ther advance without cutting themselves loose from the 
 centre, whose further progress was stayed by the formida- 
 ble defences of Kenesaw Mountain, the enemy on which 
 was watched by McPherson, working his left forward, 
 while Thomas was swinging as it were on a grand left 
 wheel, his left on Kenesaw, connecting with General 
 McPherson, and General Schofield was ail the time work- 
 ing to the south and east along the old Sandtown road. 
 
 On the 22d, as Hooker had advanced his line, with 
 Schofield on his right, the enemy, Hood's Corps, with 
 detachments from the others, suddenly sallied and at- 
 tacked. The blow fell mostly on Williams's Division of 
 Hooker's Corps, and a brigade of Hascall's Division of 
 Schofield's army. The enemy was badly repulsed. This 
 was the affair of " Kulp's house." It was now that 
 Sherman, smarting under the imputation that he would 
 not attack fortified lines, but depended upon overwhelm- 
 ing numbers to outflank, determined to risk an attack. 
 Accordingly, on June 24th, he issued orders for an attack 
 to take place June 27th. The general point selected was 
 the left centre ; because, if a strong column could be 
 pushed through at that point boldly and rapidly two and 
 one-half miles, it would reach the railroad below Marietta, 
 cut off the enemy's right and centre from its line of re- 
 treat, and then either part could be overwhelmed and 
 destroyed. 
 
 Accordingly at the appointed time the Seventeenth 
 Corps (Blair's) circled the eastern point of the mountain 
 and threatened the enemy's right. The Sixteenth Corps 
 (Dodge's), next on the right, assaulted the heights on the 
 northern slope of the mountain ; the Fifteenth (Logan's) 
 the western slope of the mountain. On the centre, 
 Davis's Division of the Fourteenth Corps and Newton's of 
 the Fourth constituted the assaulting column, supported 
 on the right by Geary and Butterfield of Hooker's Corps. 
 On the extreme right of our line was stationed Schofield, 
 who moved forward his whole force, driving the enemy 
 from a line of light works. The position to be attempted 
 offered but a desperate chance of success. On the 
 summit of the rugged mountain peak, covered with a 
 dense growth of underbrush, the enemy had stationed a 
 battery of twelve guns, from which they maintained a
 
 HISTOKY OF THE GKEAT REBELLION. 983 
 
 withering cross-fire on our troops engaged in forcing a 
 passage up the steep sides of the mountain, and over the 
 abatis and rifle-pits behind which the enemy lay sheltered. 
 The utmost efforts of the men could not avoid a repulse. 
 The Union loss, as reported by Logan, was three thousand 
 five hundred and twenty-one. Generals Harker and 
 McCook were among the slain. 
 
 General Sherman did not rest long under this failure, 
 and Schofield was ordered to press strongly on the left, 
 while, on July 1st, McPherson, being relieved by Gar- 
 rard's Cavalry in front of Kenesaw, moved with his 
 whole army by the right, threatening ITickajack Creek 
 and Turner's Ferry on the Chattahoochee. Stoneman 
 was sent to the river below Turner's. The result was the 
 retreat of the enemy on the night of July 2d. At half- 
 past eight A. M., July 3d, Sherman entered Marietta. 
 Logan's Corps of General McPherson's army, which had 
 not moved far, was ordered back into Marietta by the 
 main road, and McPherson and Schofield were instructed 
 to cross JSFickajack and attack the enemy in flank and 
 rear, and, if possible, to catch him in the confusion of 
 crossing the Chattahoochee ; but Johnston had foreseen 
 and provided against all this, and had covered his move- 
 ment well. He had intrenched a strong tete de pont at 
 the Chattahoochee, .with an advanced intrenched line 
 across the road at Smyrna camp-meeting ground, five 
 miles from Marietta. 
 
 Here Thomas found him, his front covered by a good 
 parapet, and his flank behind the Nickajack and Rotten- 
 wood Creeks. Ordering a garrison for Marietta, and 
 Logan to join his own army near the mouth of Nickajack, 
 Sherman overtook Thomas at Smyrna. On the 4th of 
 July he pushed a strong skirmish line down the main 
 road, capturing the entire line of the enemy's pits, and 
 made strong demonstrations along Nickajack Creek and 
 about Turner's Ferry. This had the desired effect, and 
 the next morning the enemy was gone, and the army 
 moved to the Chattahoochee, Thomas's left flank resting 
 on it near Paice's Ferry, McPherson' s right at the moutn 
 of Nickajack, and Schofield- in reserve. The enemy lay 
 behind a line of unusual strength, covering the railroad 
 and pontoon bridges, and beyond the Chattahoochee. 
 
 The operations of General Sherman had been greatly
 
 984 HISTORY OF THE GKEAT REBELLION. 
 
 harassed by the movements of guerrillas, and on his ar- 
 rival in the neighborhood of Marietta he issued the fol- 
 lowing letter to the people of Tennessee and Georgia, 
 living within the limits of the Department of the Cum- 
 berland, for their information, as expressing the senti- 
 ments of the department commander : 
 
 " HEAD-QUARTERS MILITARY DIVISION OP THE 
 " MISSISSIPPI, IN THE FIELD, BIG SHANTY, 
 
 " GEORGIA, June 21, 1864. 
 " General BURBRIDGE, Commanding Division of Kentucky: 
 
 " GENERAL : The recent raid of Morgan, and the concurrent acts of men 
 styling themselves Confederate partisans or guerrillas, calls for determined 
 action on our part. 
 
 " Even on the Southern ' State Rights ' theory, Kentucky has not se- 
 ceded. Her people, by their vote and their actions, have adhered to their 
 allegiance to the National Government, and the South would now coerce 
 her out of the Union and into theirs by the very dogma of ' coercion ' upon 
 which so much stress was laid at the outset of the war, and which carried 
 into rebellion the people of the Middle or Border Slave States. 
 
 " But, politics aside, these acts of the so-called partisans or guerrillas are 
 nothing but simple murder, horse-stealing, arson, and other well-defined 
 crimes, which do not sound as well under their true names as more 
 agreeable ones of warlike meaning. 
 
 " Now, before starting on this campaign, I foresaw, and you remember 
 it, that this very case would arise, and I asked Governor Bramlette to at 
 once organize in each county a small, trustworthy band, under the sheriff, 
 and at one dash arrest every man in the community who was dangerous to 
 it ; and also every fellow hanging about the towns, villages, and cross-roads 
 who had no honest calling, the material out of which guerrillas are made 
 up ; but this sweeping exhibition of power doubtless seemed to the 
 Governor rather arbitrary. 
 
 " The fact is, in our country personal liberty has been so well secured that 
 public safety is lost sight of in our laws and institutions, and the fact is, we 
 are thrown back one hundred years in civilization, law, and every thing 
 else, and will go right straight to anarchy and the devil, if somebody 
 don't arrest our downward progress. 
 
 " "We, the military, must do it, and we have right and law on our side. 
 All governments and communities have a right to guard against real and 
 even supposed danger. The whole people of Kentucky must not be kept 
 in a state of suspense and real danger, lest a few innocent men should be 
 wrongfully accused. 
 
 " 1. You may order all your post and district commanders that guer- 
 rillas are not soldiers, but wild beasts, unknown to the usages of war. To be 
 recognized as soldiers, they must be enlisted, enrolled, officered, uniformed, 
 armed, and equipped, by recognized belligerent power, and must, if detailed 
 from a main army, be of sufficient strength, with written orders from some 
 army commander to do some mDitary thing. Of course we have recognized 
 the Confederate Government as a belligerent power, but deny their right 
 to our lands, territories, rivers, coasts, and nationality admitting the right 
 to rebel and move to some other country, where laws and customs are 
 more in accordance with their own ideas and prejudices. 
 
 " 2. The civil power being insufficient to protect life and property, ex 
 necessitate rei, to prevent anarchy, 'which nature abhors,' the military
 
 HISTORY OF THE GKEAT REBELLION. 985 
 
 steps in, and is rightful, constitutional, and lawful. Under this law every- 
 body can be made to ' stay at home and mind his and her own business, 1 
 and, if they won't do that, can be sent away, where they can't keep their 
 honest neighbors in fear of danger, robbery, and insult. 
 
 " Your military commanders, provost-marshals, and -other agents may 
 arrest all males and females who have encouraged or harbored guerrillas and 
 robbers, and you may cause them to be collected in Louisville, and when 
 you have enough say three or four hundred I will cause them to bo 
 sent down the Mississippi through their guerrilla gauntlet, and by a sailing- 
 ship send them to a land where they may take their negroes and make a 
 colony, with laws and a future of their own. If they won't live in peace 
 in such a garden as Kentucky, why, we will send them to another if not a 
 better land, and surely this would be a kindness to them, and a God's 
 blessing to Kentucky. 
 
 " I wish you to be careful that no personalities are mixed up in this, nor 
 does a full and generous 'love of country,' ' of the South,' of their State or 
 country, form a cause of banishment, but that devilish spirit which will 
 not be satisfied, and that makes war the pretext of murder, arson, theft in 
 all its grades, perjury, and all the crimes of human nature. 
 
 " My own preference was, and is, that the civil authorities in Kentucky 
 would and could do this in that State ; but, if they will not, or cannot, then 
 we must, for it must be done. There must be an 'end to strife,' and the 
 honest, industrious people of Kentucky, and the whole world, will be 
 benefited and rejoiced at the conclusion, however arrived at. 
 
 "I use no concealment in saying that I do not object to men or women 
 having what they call ' Southern feeling,' if confined to love of country, 
 and of peace, honor, and security, and even a little family pride, but these 
 become ' crimes ' when enlarged to mean love of murder, of war, desola- 
 tion, famine, and all the horrid attendants of anarchy. 
 
 "I am, with respect, your friend, 
 
 "W. T. SHERMAN, Major- General."
 
 986 HISTORY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 
 
 CHAPTER LX. 
 
 The New Position of the Enemy. Johnston again Turned and Pushed 
 Back upon Atlanta. Rousseau's Raid. Hood Succeeds Johnston. In- 
 vestment of Atlanta. Battles of July 20th and 22d. Death of McPher- 
 son. Cavalry Raids of Stoneman and McCook. Defeat and Capture of 
 Stoneman. Battle of July 28th. Prolongation of the Union Right 
 "Wing. Changes, of Commanders in Sherman's Army. 
 
 THE oft-recurring difficulty again presented itself to 
 General Sherman of the enemy holding a position too 
 strong to be carried by assault, even with the superior 
 force that the Union general maintained in spite of the 
 continued waste by battle and disease. The position 
 could only be turned by crossing the rapid and deep 
 Chattahoochee on bridges. It was necessary to move 
 promptly, and Schofield was ordered to cross at Soap 
 Creek, eight miles above the railroad bridge. This 
 movement was completed July 7th, and a gun and 
 some prisoners were captured. At the same time Garrard 
 moved with his cavalry upon Roswell, still farther up the 
 river, destroying some cloth factories that displayed the 
 French flag. He was ordered to hold the ford at Ros- 
 well, but was soon relieved in that duty by a division of 
 Thomas, until McPherson's Corps was transferred from 
 the extreme right to the extreme left. By the 9th three 
 good points of passage had been secured over the Chat- 
 tahoochee, above the railroad bridge. Johnston there- 
 upon abandoned his tete de pont on the night of the 9th, 
 leaving Sherman master of the country north and west 
 of Atlanta, and eight miles distant from that place. The 
 Federal army^iad now been advanced from the line of 
 the Tennessee to the line of the Chattahoochee, and in 
 view of the long marching and hard fighting to which 
 they had been subjected, the troops were permitted to 
 enjoy a few days' repose. Meantime a cavalry force 
 under Rousseau had been sent to cut the railroad at 
 Opelika, Alabama, leading from Georgia to Alabama 
 and Mississippi. He started on the 10th of July from
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 987 
 
 Decatur, Alabama, and reached Marietta on the 23d, 
 having accomplished his mission with considerable suc- 
 cess and trifling loss. 
 
 Meantime, the long retreat of Johnston having brought 
 him to the south side of the Chattahoochee, and within 
 eight miles of Atlanta, vehement demands were made 
 at the South that he should be relieved of his command. 
 Accordingly, on July 17th, he was succeeded by General 
 Hood.* The impatience of the Southern people de- 
 manded more vigorous operations than those which had 
 been conducted by Johnston, who, with a force consider- 
 ably less than that of Sherman, had opposed him step by 
 step, as he advanced from Tunnel Hill to the Chattahoo- 
 chee, inflicting much loss, without himself sustaining any 
 serious disaster. The arduous task imposed upon him 
 was overlooked, and the fact only was noticed that Sher- 
 man had been enabled to press steadily on, until Atlanta, 
 under the flanking process, was in danger. A new 
 offensive policy was to be adopted under General Hood, 
 who, however, was provided with no additional means to 
 carry it out. The fact that Johnston's army, after sixty 
 days' retreat, was still considered available for the duty 
 to be imposed upon it, is a sufficient proof of the ability of 
 that commander. 
 
 * John B. Hood was born in Bath County, Kentucky, in 1831, and 
 graduated at West Point in 1853. After Seeing considerable service in 
 the West, he resigned his commission, in April, 1861, and joined the rebel 
 army. He was appointed colonel of a Texas regiment, in September, and 
 in the succeeding spring a brigadier-general, and for gallantry at the battle 
 of Gaines's Mill was promoted to be a major-general. He commanded a 
 division of Longstreet's Corps in the Second Bull Run campaign and in the 
 succeeding battles of Antietam and Fredericksburg, and at the battle of 
 Gettysburg was severely wounded in the arm. He accompanied Long- 
 street to the West, in the autumn of 1863, and lost a leg at the battle of 
 Chickamauga. He was now commissioned a lieutenant-general, and ap- 
 pointed to command one of the three corps of Johnston's army in Georgia. 
 In July, 1864, he superseded that general, and on the 20th, 22d, and 28th 
 of the month had severe encounters with Sherman in front of Atlanta, in 
 which he suffered prodigious losses. On September 1st, being flanked by 
 Sherman, he evacuated Atlanta and retired upon McDonough. In October 
 he moved against Sherman's communications, and, passing through North- 
 ern Alabama, invaded Tennessee in the latter part of November. After 
 the hard-fought battle of Franklin, he moved upon Nashville, in front of 
 which place he was disastrously defeated, on December 15th and 16th, by 
 Thomas, in a series of battles, which broke the rebel strength in the South- 
 west. He retreated into Mississippi with the remnant of his army, and in 
 January, 1865, was relieved of his command.
 
 988 HISTORY OF THE GEEAT REBELLION. 
 
 On the 17th of July, Sherman, having rested and re 
 cruited his army, resumed his forward movement. 
 Thomas was ordered to cross at Powers's and Paice's 
 Ferry bridges, and to march by Buckhead. Schofield, 
 already across at the mouth of Soap Creek, was ordered 
 to march by Cross Keys, and McPherson was to direct his 
 course from Roswell straight against the Augusta road 
 at some point east of Decatur, near Stone Mountain. 
 Garrard's Cavalry acted with McPherson, and Stoneman 
 and McCook watched the river and roads below the rail- 
 road. On the 17th, the whole army advanced from their 
 camps, and formed a general line along the Old Peach- 
 tree road. McPherson reached the Augusta Railroad on 
 the 18th. On Tuesday, July 19th, a reconnoissance was 
 pushed forward as far as Peach-tree' Creek, an insignif- 
 icant stream rising five or six miles northwest of Atlanta, 
 and flowing southwesterly to the Chattahoochee, near 
 the railroad bridge northwest of Atlanta. Behind this 
 stream the rebels lay sheltered and awaiting our ap- 
 proach. They sought by stratagem to take General 
 Sherman at disadvantage. But a show of opposition 
 was made to the passage of Peach-tree Creek, and our 
 whole army were soon across and in line of battle, the 
 Fourteenth Corps, Palmer's, and the Twentieth, Hooker's, 
 on the right ; Newton's Division of the Fourth Corps, 
 Howard's, on the right centre ; the Twenty-third, Scho- 
 field's, on the centre ; t*he Sixteenth, Dodge's, on the left 
 centre ; and in reserve, the Fifteenth, Logan's, and the 
 Seventeenth, Blair's, on the right. Our right was covered 
 by Garrard's Cavalry Division. 
 
 On the 20th, all the armies had closed -in, converging 
 towards Atlanta; but as a gap existed between Schoneld 
 and Thomas, two divisions of Howard's Corps of Thomas's 
 Army were moved to the left to connect with Schofield, 
 leaving Newton's Division of the same corps on the Buck- 
 head road. Meantime, the main body of the enemy lay 
 concealed in the woods in front, prepared to assail our 
 columns while changing position and unprepared. Thev 
 hoped by massing against our weakened centre to break 
 through there, dividing our army in twain, and leaving both 
 wings open to attack. It was a well-laid scheme, and 
 one that seems to have failed as much from fortuitous 
 circumstances as from preparation on our part. At four
 
 HISTORY OP THE GEEAT KEBELLION. 989 
 
 o'clock, their columns emerged from tlie concealment of 
 the woods, advancing without skirmishers against our 
 lines. 
 
 The attack took Newton by surprise, but, being behind 
 a line of hastily-erected rail-piles, his men were almost 
 instantly rallied, and held the enemy in check, with the 
 assistance of twelve guns which they were fortunately 
 able to get into position on the left, where the rebels were 
 pressing to cut oif their retreat. Four guns were also 
 now in position on Newton's right, where they rendered 
 important service. Almost at the instant of the attack 
 on Newton, the advance division of Hooker, under Geary, 
 was struck by the advancing columns of the enemy and 
 hurled back in confusion. But they, too, ultimately 
 rallied and recovered their former position, closing up 
 the gap through which the enemy had entered. On 
 Newton's right, Ward was advancing with his division, 
 when the enemy were discovered charging upon him. 
 With promptitude the order was given to meet the charge 
 with counter-charge, the two columns mingling in battle, 
 and the enemy being finally driven back. Farther to 
 the right, next to Geary, Williams's Division was engaged, 
 and suffered more or less. By nine o'clock in the even- 
 ing, the enemy, thoroughly repulsed in every attack, had 
 fallen back to his intrenchments, leaving many of his dead 
 and wounded and a thousand prisoners in our hands. 
 His total loss was estimated by Sherman at five thousand. 
 Our loss is summed up officially as follows : Williams's 
 Division, six hundred and twenty-seven; Geary's Divi- 
 sion, four hundred and fifty-one ; Ward's Division, five 
 hundred and twenty-seven total, one thousand six hun- 
 dred and five. Newton's Division (official), one hundred 
 and two ; Fourteenth Corps, two hundred total loss, 
 one thousand nine hundred and seven. 
 
 On the night of the 21st, the day succeeding the assault, 
 the enemy's line on Peach-tree Creek was drawn in and 
 shortened, their forces being massed for a second assault, 
 this time on our left wing, our right having defied their 
 stubborn attempt to turn it. Though the noise of their 
 movement was heard in our lines, its full meaning was 
 not discovered, the withdrawal of the enemy from their 
 main line of fortifications, one and a half miles nearer 
 Atlanta, seeming to follow legitimately from the repulse
 
 990 HISTOKY OF THE GKEAT REBELLION. 
 
 they had received on our right. But it was soon evident 
 that Hood, determined on another assault, had sought, by 
 retiring, to drag us oa farther, that he might again attack 
 our lines before they had opportunity to re-form in their 
 new position nearer Atlanta. 
 
 The first impression of General Sherman, when the 
 lines of the enemy were found to be abandoned, on the 
 morning of the 22d, was that it was no longer the inten- 
 tion of Hood to defend Atlanta. Accordingly, our ad- 
 vancing ranks swept across the strong and well-finished 
 parapet of the enemy, aud closed in upon Atlanta, until 
 they occupied a line in the form of a circle of about two 
 miles radius, where the enemy was again found, occupying 
 in -force a line of finished redoubts, which had been pre- 
 pared for more than a year, covering all the roads leading 
 into Atlanta, and busy in connecting these redoubts with 
 curtains strengthened by rifle-trenches, abatis, andchevaux- 
 de-frise. Mcr*herson, who had advanced from Decatur, 
 continued to follow substantially the railroad, with the 
 Fifteenth Corps, Logan, the Seventeenth, Blair, on its 
 left, and the Sixteenth, Dodge, on its right ; but as the 
 general advance of all the armies contracted the circle, 
 the Sixteenth Corps was thrown out of line by the Fif- 
 teenth connecting on the right with Schofield, who held 
 the centre. Meantime, McPherson, on the night of the 
 21st, had gained a high hill to the south and east of the 
 railroad, whence the Seventeenth Corps had, after a severe 
 fight, driven the enemy, which gave him a commanding 
 position within easy view of the very heart of the city. 
 He had thrown out working parties to it, and was making 
 preparations to occupy it in strength with batteries. The 
 Sixteenth Corps, on the morning of the 22d, was ordered 
 from right to left to occupy this position and make it a 
 strong general left flank, and Dodge moved his men by a 
 diagonal path or wagon-track leading from the Decatur 
 road in the direction of Blair's left flank. 
 
 "While this movement of Dodge was going on, the 
 enemy, under Hardee, had issued out of Atlanta, and, 
 making a wide circuit to the east, enveloped Blair's left 
 flank, and struck Dodge's column in motion. Blair's line 
 was substantially along the old line of rebel trench, but 
 it was fashioned to fight outward. A space of wooded 
 ground of near half a mile intervened between the head
 
 HISTORY OP THE GREAT REBELLION. 991 
 
 of Dodge's column and Blair's line, through which the 
 enemy had poured, and to fill which Wangelin's Brigade 
 of the Fifteenth Corps was by General McPnerson ordered 
 across from the railroad. It came across on the double- 
 quick and checked the enemy, though not in time 
 to prevent the capture of Murray's Battery of regular 
 artillery, which was moving past, unsuspicious of danger. 
 While Hardee attacked in flank, Stewart's Corps was to 
 attack in front, directly out of the main works, but for- 
 tunately these two attacks were not simultaneous. The 
 enemy swept across the hill which our men were then 
 fortifying, and captured the pioneer company, its tools, 
 and almost the entire working party, and bore down on 
 our left until he encountered Giles A. Smith's Division 
 of the Seventeenth Corps, who was somewhat " in air," 
 and forced to fight first from one side of the old rifle 
 parapet, and then from the other, gradually withdrawing, 
 regiment by regiment, so as to form a flank to General 
 Leggett's Division, which held the apex of the hill, which 
 was the only part that was deemed essential to hold. The 
 line, thus formed by the connection of Smith by his right 
 with Leggett, was enabled for four hours to meet and 
 repulse all the enemy's attacks, which were numerous and 
 persistent. The obstinacy with which the ground was 
 held discouraged the enemy, and at four o'clock he gave 
 up the attempt. In the mean time, Wheeler's Cavalry 
 fell upon General Sprague at Decatur, where the trains 
 of the Army of the Tennessee were parked. Sprague 
 succeeded in bringing them off, however, w T ith the excep- 
 tion of three wagons. 
 
 Meantime, McPherson,* who at ten o'clock in the morn- 
 
 * James B. McPherson was born in Sandusky County, Ohio, in Novem- 
 ber, 1828, and graduated at West Point in 1853, joining the Engineer Corps 
 as brevet second lieutenant. Until September, 1854, he was assistant in- 
 Btructor of practical engineering at the Military Academy. From that time 
 till August, 1861, he was engaged, first on the defences of New York Har- 
 bor, next in facilitating the navigation of the Hudson, next in constructing 
 Fort Delaware, and finally in fortifying Alcatraz Island, in San Francisco 
 Bay. He became full second lieutenant in December, 1854, and first lieu- 
 tenant in December, 1858. In August, 1861, he was ordered from Califor- 
 nia to attend to the defences of Boston Harbor. Soon after, he got his cap- 
 taincy, dating from August, 1861. In November, 1861, he became aide-de- 
 camp to General Halleck, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel, and was chief 
 engineer of the Army of the Tennessee, under Grant, in the reduction of 
 Forts Henry and Donelson, receiving for his service a nomination as brevet
 
 992 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 ing was in consultation with General Sherman at head- 
 quarters, rode to the front on hearing the firing, and hav- 
 ing sent off his staff with various orders, the last of which 
 was that to Wangelin, to fill the gap between Dodge and 
 Blair's line, turned into a narrow cross-road leading to the 
 rear of Smith's Division. He had not gone far when a 
 volley from the enemy, whose skirmish line had crept 
 up to this road, struck him from his horse. He was shot 
 through the lungs, and fell dead. General John A. Lo- 
 gan, commanding the Fifteenth Corps, then temporarily 
 assumed command of the Army of the Tennessee. 
 
 At four P. M. a pause occurred in the battle, occasioned 
 by Hood's massing troops for an assault on the Fifteenth 
 Corps, which held the right of the Army of the Tennessee 
 behind substantial breastworks. At four p. M., while a 
 feigned attack was maintained against the Union left, a 
 heavy force suddenly appeared in front of the left of the 
 Fifteenth Corps, driving before it a couple of regiments 
 of skirmishers, and capturing two guns. Pushing rapidly 
 on, it forced Lightburn, who held this part of the line, 
 back in disorder, taking from him a twenty-pounder Par- 
 major of engineers, to date February 16th, 1862. He was at Shiloh, and 
 for services there rendered was nominated for a brevet colonelcy of engi- 
 neers, to date April 7th, 1862. He had, as colonel on Halleck's staff, the 
 chief engineering charge of the approaches to Corinth, which ended in its 
 evacuation. On the 15th of May, 1862, he became brigadier-general of vol- 
 unteers, and, the next month, superintended with great skill all the military 
 railroads in General Grant's department. He was at luka, and again at 
 Corinth in October, 1862, acting with so much gallantry as to be promoted 
 to a major-generalcy, to date from October 3d. From that time till the close 
 of the siege of Vicksburg, when his engineering powers came into full play, 
 his career was a course of triumph. At the recommendation of General 
 Grant, he was made a brigadier-general of the regular army, with rank 
 dating from August 1st, 1862. Two months later he conducted a column 
 into Mississippi, and repulsed the enemy at Canton. In February, 1864, he 
 was second in command to Sherman, in the latter's famous movable column, 
 which marched from Vicksburg to Meridian. Finally, in the first Atlanta 
 campaign, his command was the Department of the Tennessee, including 
 the Fifteenth, Sixteenth, and Seventeenth Corps, constituting the flanking 
 force which, moving rapidly on one or the other wing, was employed to 
 force the enemy back to Atlanta. In some respects, the burden of the cam- 
 paign, next under Sherman, fell on him. He fought at Resaca, and the 
 battle near Dallas was wholly his. At Allatoona and Gulp Farm he was 
 again distinguished, was actively though not hotly engaged at Kenesaw, 
 and on the 17th he cut the line between Lee and Johnston by occupying 
 Decatur, on the Augusta Railroad. Three days later he fought a severe 
 battle, from which he came out only to fall, shot through the lungs, early 
 in the day of Friday, July 22d, at the early *ge of thirty-six years.
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 993 
 
 rott and four guns, and separated Wood's and Harrow's 
 Divisions of the Fifteenth Corps. Sherman, being pres- 
 ent, ordered some batteries of Schofield to a position that 
 commanded a flank fire upon the enemy. The Fifteenth 
 Corps was then ordered to regain the lost ground at any 
 cost. This, after a desperate struggle, was successful, and 
 the enemy retired with heavy loss, carrying off only the 
 two guns originally captured. The battle terminated with 
 a Federal loss of three thousand seven hundred and twen- 
 ty-two, killed, wounded, and prisoners, and ten guns. 
 The enemy's loss equalled, if it did not exceed, twelve 
 thousand, including over three thousand killed and three 
 thousand prisoners. They also lost eighteen stands of 
 colors and five thousand stands of arms. 
 
 On the 23d, Garrard, who had been dispatched to Cov- 
 ington, on the Augusta road, forty-two miles east of At- 
 lanta, returned, having succeeded in destroying the bridges 
 at Uleofauhatchee and Yellow Rivers, besides burning a 
 train of cars, a large quantity of cotton (two thousand 
 bales), and the depots of stores at Covington and Conyer's 
 Station. 
 
 Sherman now addressed himself to the task of reaching 
 the Macon road, over which of necessity came the stores 
 and ammunition that alone maintained the Confederate 
 army in Atlanta. For this purpose a new movement by 
 the Army of the Tennessee was ordered. It was to pro- 
 ceed by the right towards East Point, a station on the At- 
 lanta and Macon Railroad, southwest of Atlanta, while- 
 simultaneously the whole of the cavalry was to strike a 
 blow at the Macon road. The leaders of this raid were 
 Stoneman and McCook, of whom the former had a force 
 of five thousand men, comprising his own division and 
 that of Garrard, and the latter a force of four thousand^ 
 comprising his own troopers and the cavalry of Rousseau, 
 just returned from Opelika. Stoneman was to move by 
 the left around Atlanta to McDonough, and McCook by 
 the right on Fayetteville, and both were to meet on the 
 night of July 28th, on the Macon road, near Lovejoy's. 
 It was supposed that this joint force would be equal to 
 any thing that Wheeler could bring against it. 
 
 Previous to starting, Stoneman asked permission to ex- 
 tend his raid to Macon and Andersonville, with a view 
 of releasing the Union prisoners confined there. After 
 
 61
 
 994 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 some hesitation, Sherman consented, on the condition that 
 Wheeler's Cavalry should first be put hors de combat, and 
 the railroad effectually destroyed. On the 27th the two 
 expeditions started forth, but Stoneman almost imme- 
 diately pushed for the neighborhood of Macon, ninety 
 miles distant, where he arrived on the 30th ; Garrard re- 
 maining at Flat Rock to cover the movement. The ene- 
 my appear, however, to have been fully apprised of his 
 design, and had sent all the prisoners from Macon to 
 Charleston. Meanwhile, the rebel General Iverson, who 
 had been on Stoneman's track since the 27th, overtook 
 him on the 28th, at the junction of South and Yellow 
 "Rivers, some sixty miles northwest of Macon. A spirited 
 fight ensued. Kelley's and Hume's rebel cavalry fought 
 the command that Stoneman detached for the purpose of 
 delaying pursuit. Iverson suspected the manoauvre, and 
 left !Kelley and Hume to finish the fight, while he passed 
 around the party and continued the pursuit. Stoueman, 
 when he neared Macon, detached a party to operate on 
 Milledgeville and Eatonton. The country around was 
 very unfavorable for cavalry operations, and it was soon 
 discovered that a brigade of rebel infantry had wheeled 
 from our flank and had taken up position along the main 
 route, thus heading off Stoneman. The rebel Armstrong's 
 Brigade of cavalry, comprising the First and Second 
 Kentucky, had come down on Stoneman's left flank at 
 the same time, thus, with the troops in his rear, com- 
 pletely surrounding him. Here it happened, by a strange 
 coincidence, that the First and Second Kentucky of Ad- 
 ams's Brigade were pitted against their rebel namesakes. 
 Stoneman now discovered Iverson's command above 
 Clinton, disputing his return. He quickly decided that 
 he could not escape on either flank, and determined to 
 fight through the centre. His command numbered nearly 
 twenty-five hundred men, a portion of whom were dis- 
 mounted, and sent forward as skirmishers. The enemy 
 continued to press him more closely, and, after various 
 fruitless attempts to make head against them, orders were 
 given to the commanders of regiments to break through 
 the opposing lines and escape in the readiest manner pos- 
 sible. Stoneman himself, with several hundred men and 
 a section of artillery, remained to occupy the attention of 
 the enemy, but was finally overpowered and obliged to
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 995 
 
 surrender. Of bis three brigades, one returned uninjured, 
 one was somewhat scattered, but eventually found its way 
 back to the Union lines, and the third was captured with 
 him. Garrard's Division proceeded no farther than Cov- 
 ington on the Augusta Railroad. Stoneman's total loss 
 probably exceeded a thousand men, with three guns. 
 
 Meantime, McCook with his force reached the rendez- 
 vous at the appointed time, after having burned five hun- 
 dred wagons and gathered up several hundred prisoners. 
 The enemy collecting around him, however, he moved to 
 Newman upon the Atlanta and West Point road. Here 
 he was hemmed in, and was obliged to drop his captures 
 and cut his way out, with the loss of five hundred men. 
 The whole expedition must be considered a costly failure, 
 as the enemy's communications were only temporarily 
 interrupted. 
 
 On the 26th of July, General Howard * assumed com- 
 mand of the Army of the Tennessee by order of the Pres- 
 ident, while General Logan returned to his own corps, 
 the Fifteenth. About the same time Hooker and Palmer 
 were relieved, at their own request, of their commands, 
 and were succeeded, the former by General Slocuin and 
 the latter by General Jefferson C. Davis. As Slocum 
 was then in Yicksburg, his place was temporarily filled 
 by General H. S. Williams. General D. S. Stanley also 
 succeeded Howard in command of the Fourth Corps. 
 
 * Oliver Otis Howard was born in Leeds, Maine, in 1830, and graduated 
 at Bowdoin College in 1850, and at West Point in 1854. He was appoint- 
 ed instructor of mathematics at the Military Academy in 1857, but resigned 
 his commission in 1861 to take command of a regiment of Maine volunteers. 
 He commanded a brigade at Bull Run, and for gallant conduct in that bat- 
 tle was commissioned a brigadier-general of volunteers. He fought at 
 "Williamsburg, lost an arm at Fair Oaks, and after the battle of Antietam 
 took Sedgwick's Division in Sumner's Corps. Early in 1863 he was as- 
 signed to the command of the Eleventh Corps. He was present at Chan- 
 cellorsville and Gettysburg, and in the autumn accompanied his corps to 
 Chattanooga, participating in the victory of November 25th in front of that 
 place. Soon afterwards he received command of the Fourth Corps, and 
 made the campaign from Chattanooga to Atlanta. He Succeeded McPher- 
 son as commander of the Army of the Tennessee, and in the expedition 
 from Atlanta to Savannah he commanded the right wing of Sherman's army 
 He also commanded a wing in the march northward from Savannah which 
 terminated in the surrender of General Joseph E. Johnston and all the rebel 
 forces under his command. Since the conclusion of the war he has held 
 the office of Commissioner of Freedmen. He is a man of deep religious 
 principles, and has been called the "Havelock of America."
 
 996 HISTOEY OF THE GKEAT KEBELLION. 
 
 Meanwhile the army had been making a movement en 
 echelon from left to right, by which the line was prolong-^ 
 ed due south, facing east. The right was now held by the 
 Army of the Tennessee, Thomas being in the centre and 
 Schofield on the left. To protect the Army of the Ten- 
 nessee from any sudden attack in flank while this move- 
 ment was in progress, Da vis's Division of the Fourteenth 
 Corps was posted so as to be within easy supporting dis- 
 tance of Howard. The enemy, observing the movement, 
 and perceiving that it was Sherman's intent to swing; 
 around so as to hold the Macon Railroad, massed his 
 troops on the 28th in the same direction. About noon 
 Stewart's Corps attacked Logan, who had just got into 
 position on the right, his corps having been the first de- 
 tached from its former position on the left. At first the 
 enemy was successful in his onset, his cavalry turning our 
 flank and inflicting considerable loss. But, by the mid- 
 dle of the afternoon, the fortune of battle had changed, 
 and our men, aided by hastily-built intrenchmenta, re- 
 pulsed every charge of the enemy. An advance was then 
 ordered, and the enemy was forced back to his own works, 
 leaving the field in our possession. The fighting was very 
 severe till nightfall, although there was little artillery 
 firing. Our loss was about six hundred, and the enemy's 
 nearly five thousand. Had Davis's Division come up on 
 the Bell's Ferry road, as had been looked for, at any time 
 before four o'clock, \vhat was simply a complete repulse 
 would have been a disastrous rout to the enemy. 
 
 Meanwhile there was a general advance along the line, 
 but our forces were driven back, the enemy being strongly 
 posted. The Fourth and Fourteenth Corps were hotly 
 engaged, and there was heavy artillery firing in their front 
 all day and night, and on the day succeeding. But night 
 fell upon a divided field. Our right was at one time in 
 danger, but was handsomely rescued.
 
 HISTOET OF THE GREAT EEBELLION. 99Y 
 
 CIIAPTEK LXI. 
 
 Siege of Atlanta. Position of the City. Topography. The Enemy's 
 Strength. Sherman moves to the Right. Wheeler's Raid. Kil- 
 patrick's Raid. Grand Flank Movement of the Army on the Macon 
 Railroad. Defeat of the Enemy at Jonesboro.. Evacuation of 
 Atlanta^ Congratulatory Order of General Sherman. Truce. De- 
 population^of Atlanta. Correspondence between Sherman and Hood. 
 Results of the Campaign. 
 
 WITH the affair which was described at the close of our 
 last chapter, the enemy ceased his efforts to prevent the 
 extension of Sherman's right flank ; but every forward 
 step of the latter was resisted with great force and skill. 
 Sherman was now settled down to the siege of Atlanta, 
 with little hope, however, of either taking it by assault 
 or reducing it while its communications were intact. A 
 description of the locality may not be here misplaced : 
 As seen from Stone Mountain, a vast elevation of granite 
 sixteen miles northeast, Atlanta appears situated upon a 
 large plain, but as the observer descends from this giddy 
 height and travels in the direction of either point of the 
 compass, his progress is obstructed by sharp " pitches " 
 and narrow " ravines," through many of which flow small 
 rivulets. To such an extent is this the character of the 
 surface, that scarcely an acre of level ground can be 
 found in the limits of the city. The soil, where there is 
 any, is light and sandy, with a substratum of red clay. 
 Other portions are gravelly and sterile. The most of the 
 country is still covered with a heavy growth of timber. 
 This description holds good until within a few miles north 
 of Marietta, twenty-one miles north of Atlanta, including 
 Dallas, lying a little northwest of Marietta. 
 
 The city is laid out in a Circle, two miles in diameter, 
 in the centre of which was the passenger depot, since 
 destroyed by fire, from which radiate railroads to every 
 quarter of the South. On the north side of the depot is 
 a park. Opposite the three vacant sides were situated the 
 three principal hotels, and in the business portion of the
 
 998 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 city were many fine blocks of buildings. Before the war 
 these were mostly filled with consignments of goods from 
 the large cities of the North and Northwest for the sup- 
 ply of the cotton regions. But the city had become one 
 vast Government storehouse, containing the machine- 
 shops of the principal railroads, the most extensive rolling 
 mill in the South, founderies, pistol and tent factories, 
 <fec., &c. In addition there were works for casting shot 
 and shell, making gun-carriages, cartridges, caps, shoes, 
 clothing, ifcc., &c. Encircling the city was a line of rifle- 
 pits, nine miles in length and about thirty inches high, upon 
 slight eminences. At nearly regular intervals Jhere were 
 planted twelve or fourteen batteries. The fortifications 
 were constructed as a defence from raids, and for the year 
 previous had been manned with a small force. 
 
 This line of works had now become very strong, and 
 extended round the city, within the lines General Sher- 
 man had drawn about it. Between the two armies 
 stretched a narrow belt of wooded and hilly ground, 
 which was the scene of a constant series of skirmishes. 
 The enemy had a decided advantage in his fortifications, 
 and the greater facility of movement afforded by the in- 
 terior position. The force at the disposal of General 
 Hood was not, however, large, and he was looking 
 earnestly for re-enforcements. The strength of his army 
 was not known. "* Johnston's veterans, by his official re- 
 port, June 25th, 1864, numbered forty-six thousand six 
 hundred and twenty-eight effective men of all arms, 
 Wheeler' s Cavalry included. After that time he received 
 enough veteran troops and Georgia militia to bring his 
 force up to sixty-five or seventy thousand men, from 
 which were to be deducted the losses in subsequent bat- 
 tles. Hood's line of battle extended from Decatur to be- 
 low East Point, a distance of fifteen miles. General 
 Sherman had been re-enforced by convalescents and some 
 new troops, so that his preponderance remained about the 
 same as at the commencement of the campaign. 
 
 Sherman now resorted to a further prolongation of his 
 line to the southward, with a view to getting possession 
 of the Macon road. On the 1st of August, Schofield 
 marched from thejeft to a position below Utoy Creek, 
 where he joined on to Logan's right, and formed the 
 fight wing of the army. The enemy made corresponding
 
 HISTORY OF THE GEEAT REBELLION. 999 
 
 movements. This process of extending by the right was 
 continued from the 2d to the 5th, on which day Cox's 
 Division of Schofield's Corps attacked the enemy's line a 
 mile below Utoy, and was repulsed with the loss of four 
 hundred men. On the next day Schoneld advanced his 
 whole line, in the hope of gaining a foothold on either 
 the West Point or Macon Railroad, but did not succeed. 
 
 This movement convinced Sherman that the whole army 
 would require to be moved to reach the Macon road. On 
 the 10th he shelled the city with four-and-a-half-inch 
 rifled guns as an experiment. On the 16th, orders were 
 issued for a grand flank movement on the 18th to Fair- 
 burn, on the vVest Point road, and thence across to the 
 Macon road at Jonesboro, twenty-two miles south of 
 Atlanta. This march from Fairburn to Jonesboro would 
 traverse the base of a triangle, of which the east side is 
 the Macon road and the west side the West Point Rail- 
 road, both of which meet at East Point, whence they 
 follow a common track six miles to Atlanta. This 
 manoeuvre would cut the only two roads into Atlanta. 
 The 'necessity of moving the whole army grew out of the 
 superiority of the enemy in cavalry, which was manifest- 
 ed in the failure of the Union cavalry raids. At this 
 juncture, however, Hood detached Wheeler with a cavalry 
 force to proceed east and north and fall upon Thomas's 
 communications at Dalton. Accordingly, on the 14th of 
 August, Wheeler appeared before Dalton, demanding 
 its surrender, which was refused. Some damage was 
 done to the lines, but sufficient protection had been pro- 
 vided to preserve them from danger. 
 
 Upon ascertaining this movement, Sherman supposed 
 that the detachment of Wheeler would deplete the enemy 
 in cavalry so far as to give the Union army the prepon- 
 derance. Hence he suspended the general movement he had 
 contemplated, and ordered Kilpatrick, who had recently 
 returned to duty, to proceed with five thousand cavalry on 
 a raid against the two railroads. He was partially suc- 
 cessful, and returned to camp on the 22d. The damage 
 he had done, however, was nearly all repaired by that 
 time, and the original grand movement became necessary. 
 General Sherman therefore renewed the order for a gen- 
 eral movement on his right on the night of the 25th, when, 
 all things being ready, the Fourth Corps, Stanley, drew
 
 1000 HISTOEY OF THE GKEAT EEBELLION. 
 
 out of its lines on the extreme left, and marched to a 
 position below Proctor's Creek. The Twentieth Corps, 
 Williams, moved back to the Chattahoochee. During the 
 night of the 26th the Army of the Tennessee continued 
 drawing out and moving rapidly by a circuit well towards 
 Sandtown and across Camp Creek, the Army of ,the 
 Cumberland below Utoy Creek, Schofield remaining in 
 position. The third move brought the Army of the Ten- 
 nessee on the West Point Railroad, above Fairburn, the 
 Army of the Cumberland about Red Oak, while Schofield 
 closed in near Digs and Minis. Twelve and one-half 
 miles of railroad were here destroyed, the ties burned, <and 
 the iron rails twisted. The whole army moved, the 29th, 
 eastward by several roads : Howard on the right, towards 
 Jonesboro ; Thomas in the centre, by Shoal Creek ; 
 Church to Couch'sj on the Decatur and Fayetteville road ; 
 and Schofield on the left, about Morrow's Mills. 
 
 The movement proceeded with signal success, and 
 Howard, on the evening of the 30th, passed Flint River 
 and halted within half a mile of Jonesboro. Hood now 
 began to understand the object of Sherman's movement ; 
 but still ignorant, apparently, that nearly the whole 
 Union army was moving upon his communications, he con- 
 tented himself with sending Hardee's and Lee's Corps to 
 Jonesboro, where they intrenched, while he remained in 
 Atlanta with Stewart's Corps and the militia. On the 
 morning of August 31st, Howard finding himself in the 
 presence of a heavy force of the enemy, he deployed the 
 Fifteenth Corps and disposed the Sixteenth and Seven- 
 teenth on its flanks. The men covered their front with 
 the usual parapet, and were soon prepared to act offensive- 
 ly or defensively, as the case called for. On the morning 
 of the 31st, Kilpatrick took a strong position on a hill in 
 front of the Fifteenth Corps, which the rebels had occu- 
 pied with a picket line and a few skirmishers. During 
 the forenoon Kilpatrick ascertained that the enemy were 
 massing infantry and cavalry in his front and on his left 
 flank. To meet and check this movement, two regiments 
 of infantry were sent from Osterhaus's command, First 
 Division, Fifteenth Corps, and three regiments of in- 
 fantry from the Third Division, Seventeenth Corps, as 
 supports ; and at the same time a brigade from the Seven- 
 teenth Corps was ordered to take a position in the rear of
 
 HISTOET OF THE GKEAT REBELLION. 1001 
 
 the Sixteenth Corps as reserves, in case of an attack from 
 the enemy. During the forenoon our artillery kept up a 
 ceaseless cannonade upon the rebel lines for the purpose 
 of provoking an assault. The enemy's batteries respond- 
 ed, after a few hours' silence, most vigorously. At three 
 o'clock on the afternoon of the 31st, S. D. Lee's Corps 
 assaulted the Fifteenth Corps and a portion of the Six- 
 teenth Corps, advancing boldly up to our works in three 
 columns, with colors flying. The first line approached 
 within twenty or thirty yards of Hazen's Second Division, 
 Fifteenth Corps; but the deadly fire from our breast- 
 works caused it to waver badly, and in fifteen minutes it 
 was broken and irrevocably lost for that moment. The 
 second line of rebels came to the rescue, and with yells 
 dashed on to destruction, for they, too, were swept away 
 before they reached the impenetrable abatis and deadly 
 palisades that strengthened our works and rendered a 
 successful charge an utter impossibility, unless attempted 
 with vastly superior numbers. The officers endeavored 
 to re-form their lines, with the shattered fragments of the 
 first and' second lines, and a final desperate attempt was 
 made to oust the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Corps from their 
 strong position, but the last assault was the most abortive 
 of all, and the most disastrous. 
 
 The enemy lost several , general officers, including 
 Major-General Anderson, mortally wounded; Colonel 
 "Williams and Major Barton, killed ; five colonels, majors, 
 &c., wounded or taken prisoners ; besides rank and file, 
 killed, wounded, and captured. Our loss was slight, as we 
 fought behind our works. The brunt of the fight fell on 
 Hazen's Division, which captured two flags.' 
 
 While the battle was in progress, orders were sent to 
 'push the other movements, and the success of Howard at 
 Jonesboro was simultaneous with the occupation of the 
 railroad below Bough and Keady by Schofield, and with 
 the occupation of the road lower down by Stanley. The 
 whole army was then ordered to close down upon Jones- 
 boro on September 1st. The Fourteenth Corps marched 
 along the Macon line, destroyed the track for several 
 * miles, and about four o'clock took up position on the left of 
 the Fourth Corps, which had now formed in line of battle. 
 
 Orders having been given for the Fourteenth Corps to 
 attack, the First Division, Carlin commanding, in ad-
 
 1002 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 vance, soon came upon the enemy's skirmishers, who 
 >were driven inside their main line of works. Carlin's 
 Division formed the left of the Fourteenth Corps, sup- 
 ported by the Third Division, Baird's, while tha Second 
 Division, J. D. Morgan, also advanced across a small 
 creek, a branch of Flint River. While this movement 
 was in progress, the enemy evidently divined our inten- 
 tions, and opened some twenty guns on Morgan's lines, 
 scattering shells among his men at a terrible rate. Mor- 
 gan now ordered up the Fifth Wisconsin Battery, and 
 very soon quito an artillery duel was in progress, which 
 lasted nearly half an hour ; the firing being greatly aug- 
 mented in its destructiveness by the guns of an Illinois 
 battery, which enfiladed almost the entire length of the 
 rebel works. So hot was the fire from these two batteries 
 that in less than thirty minutes the rebel artillerists, with 
 their infantry support, were driven from their guns in 
 haste, but not until a number of the officers were either 
 wounded or killed. In the mean time the whole of the 
 Fourteenth Corps was posted in strong positions,.with the 
 Second Division op the right, First Division on the left, 
 with the left resting on the Macon Railroad, and the 
 Third Division in reserve. At half-past three o'clock 
 p. M., Carlin attacked the enemy's works, situated on a 
 rising knoll in the edge of a piece of dense woods, but 
 was repulsed. Major Edith, commanding a brigade of 
 regulars, was next ordered to attack, supported by Carlin's 
 Division. This brigade moved up to the rebel works in 
 gallant style, eliciting commendation from all; but the 
 enemy suddenly hurled a superior force of fresh troops 
 upon them, and they were obliged to retire or be cap- 
 tured. At four o'clock the entire Fourteenth Corps 
 attacked with great impetuosity the rebel works in two 
 lines. One brigade of the Third Division went into the 
 fight, while the balance of the division supported the 
 movement. Carlin, with the First Division and the Third 
 Brigade of the Second Division, struck the enemy's works 
 first, followed by Morgan's troops, and with such im- 
 petuosity was the attack delivered that a portion of the 
 line was carried, and two batteries one Loomis's cele- 
 brated battery, taken from us at Chickamanga, of five 
 guns, and another of four guns fell into our hands. 
 Among . the prisoners captured was Brigadier-General
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 1003 
 
 Govan of Cleburne's Division, with eight hundred and 
 eighty commissioned and non-commissioned officers and 
 privates. Upon the approach of night, Hardes gathered 
 up the shattered remnants of his own and Lee's Corps, 
 and fell back seven miles to Lovejoy's, where he in- 
 trenched and awaited the arrival of Hood, who, after the 
 success of Sherman's movement was ascertained, could no 
 longer hope to hold Atlanta. 
 
 At the break ot day, on September 2d, Sherman find- 
 ing the enemy had retreated, put his whole army in mo- 
 tion and followed in pursuit, his object being to get 
 between Hood and Hardee, and thus cut off either party. 
 Thomas followed to the left of the railroad, Howard on 
 its right, and Schofield kept off about two miles to the 
 east. The enemy was overtaken again near Lovejoy's 
 Station, in a strong intrenched position, with his flanks 
 well protected behind a branch of Walnut Creek to the 
 right, and a confluent to the Flint River to his left. The 
 position appeared to Sherman too strong to carry without 
 immense loss, and as the news now reached him that 
 Hood had evacuated Atlanta on the 1st, he desisted from 
 further attack, and, on the 4th, moved the army by easy 
 marches back to the neighborhood of its former camping 
 grounds. The grand objective point of the campaign 
 having been secured, he determined to give the troops a 
 few weeks of rest. Hood, at Atlanta, became aware of 
 the result of the battle at Jonesboro' early on the morn- 
 ing of the 1st instant, and at once gave the order for 
 evacuating the city, as his only remaining line of railroad 
 communication was severed, and he was in a precarious 
 condition. Meantime, Slocum, with the Twentieth Corps, 
 which had remained to guard the bridge over the Chatta- 
 hoochee, seven miles distant, heard the explosion of ammu- 
 nition in Atlanta, and rightly conceived the cause. He 
 gave orders for reconnoissances on the morning of the 2d, 
 and at five o'clock the advance was made by detachments 
 from "Ward's, Geary's, and William's Divisions. They 
 advanced to the city, which they found evacuated, and 
 entered about eleven o'clock on the morning of the 2d 
 of September. They were at once met by a deputation, 
 comprising the mayor, high sheriff, and citizens, who 
 made a formal surrender of the town to General Ward, 
 as follows :
 
 1004: HISTORY OF THE GBEAT REBELLION. 
 
 " CAPITULATION OF ATLANTA, GEORGIA, September 2, 1864. 
 "Brigadier-General WARD, Third Division, Twentieth Army Corps: 
 
 " SIR: The fortune of war has placed the city of Atlanta in your hands. 
 As Mayor of this city, I ask protection for non-combatants and private 
 property. 
 
 "JAMES M. CALHOUN, Mayor of Atlanta." 
 
 The required protection was freely granted. At the 
 same time a detachment from Wilder's Division, the 
 Eleventh Pennsylvania and Sixtieth New York, of Gen- 
 eral Geary's Division, which had entered theiown simul- 
 taneously with "Ward's, hoisted the stars and stripes upon 
 the court-house. General Slocuin arrived soon after, and 
 took formal possession of the town. Much rebel govern- 
 ment property, including four engines, and fourteen 
 pieces of artillery, chiefly sixty-four pounders, which the 
 enemy abandoned, was secured. 
 
 The news of the capture of Atlanta caused universal 
 rejoicing, and elicited from the President a special con- 
 gratulatory order, and a recommendation that the llth 
 of September should be observed as a day of solemn 
 thanksgiving for this signal success. The following is 
 General Sherman's address to his troops on the termina- 
 tion of their arduous and brilliant campaign : 
 
 " HEAD-QUARTERS MILITARY DIVISION OP MISSISSIPPI, ) 
 " IN THE FIELD, ATLANTA, GA., September 8, 1864. ) 
 
 " SPECIAL FIELD ORDERS, NO. 68. 
 
 " The officers and soldiers of the Armies of the Cumberland, Ohio, and 
 Tennessee have already received the thanks of the nation, through its 
 President and Commander-in-Chief, and it now remains only for him who 
 has been with you from the beginning, and who intends to stay all the 
 time, to thank the officers and men for their intelligence, fidelity, and cour- 
 age displayed in the campaign of Atlanta. 
 
 " On the first of May, our armies were lying in garrison, seemingly quiet, 
 from Knoxville to Huntsville, and our enemy lay behind his rocky-faced 
 barrier at Dalton, proud, defiant, and exulting. He had had time since 
 Christmas to recover from his discomfiture on the Mission Ridge, with his 
 ranks filled, and a new commander-in-chief, second to none in the Confed- 
 eracy in reputation for skill, sagacity, and extreme popularity. All at once 
 our armies assumed life and action, and appeared before Dalton ; threaten- 
 ing Rocky Face, we threw ourselves upon Resaca, and the rebel army only 
 escaped by the rapidity of its retreat, aided by the numerous roads with 
 which he was familiar, and which were strange to us. Again he took po- 
 sition in Allatoona, but we gave him no rest, and by a circuit towards Dal- 
 las, and subsequent movement to Acworth. we gamed the Allatoona Pass. 
 Then followed the eventful battles about Kenesaw, and the escape of the 
 enemy across Chattahoochee River. 
 
 " The crossing of the Chattahoochee and breaking of the Augusta road 
 was most handsomely executed by us, and will be studied as an example in
 
 HISTORY OF THE GEEAT REBELLION. 1005 
 
 the art of war. At this stage of the game our enemies became dissatisfied 
 with their old and skilful commander, and selected one more bold and 
 rash. New tactics were adopted. Hood first boldly and rapidly, on the 
 20th of July, fell on onr right, at Peach-tree Creek, and lost. Again, on 
 the 22d, he struck our extreme left, and was severely punished; and finally, 
 again on the 28tb, ho repeated the attempt on our right, and that time 
 must have been satisfied; for since that date he has remained on the 'de- 
 fensive. We slowly and gradually drew our lines about Atlanta, feeling 
 for the railroads which supplied the rebel army and made Atlanta a place 
 of importance. We must concede to our enemy that he met these efforts 
 patiently and skilfully, but at last he made the mistake we had waited for 
 so long, and sent his cavalry to our rear, far beyond the reach of recall. 
 Instantly our cavalry was on his only remaining road, and we followed 
 quickly with our principal army, and Atlanta fell into our possession as the 
 fruit of well-concerted measures, backed by a brave and confident army. 
 This completed the grand task which had been assigned us by our Govern- 
 ment, and your general again repeats his personal and official thanks to all 
 the officers and men composing this army, for the indomitable courage and 
 perseverance which alone could give success. 
 
 " We have beaten our enemy on every ground he has chosen, and have 
 wrested from him his own Gate City, where were located his founderies, 
 arsenals, and workshops, deemed secure on account of their distance from 
 our base, and the seemingly impregnable obstacles intervening. Nothing 
 is impossible to an army like this, determined to vindicate a Government 
 which has rights wherever our flag has once floated, and is resolved to 
 maintain them at any and all costs. 
 
 " In our campaign many, yea, very many of our noble and gallant com- 
 rades have preceded us to our common destination, the grave ; but they 
 have left the memory of deeds on which a nation can build a proud history. 
 McPherson, Harker, McCook, and others dear to us all, are now the bind- 
 ing links in our minds that should attach more closely together the living, 
 who have to complete the task which still lays before us in the dim future. 
 I ask all to continue, as they have so well begun, the cultivation of the 
 soldierly virtues that have ennobled our own and other countries. Courage, 
 patience, obedience to the laws and constituted authorities of our Govern- 
 ment ; fidelity to our trusts, and good feeling among each other, each try- 
 ing to excel the other in the practice of those high qualities, and it will then 
 require no prophet to foretell that our country will in time emerge from 
 this war, purified by the fires of war, and worthy its great founder Wash- 
 ington. 
 
 "W. T. SHERMAN, Major- General Commanding.'" 
 
 Upon establishing himself in Atlanta, Sherman decided 
 that the exigencies of the service would require the place 
 to be held for the present exclusively as a military post, 
 and orders were at once issued for the departure of all 
 civilians except those in the employment of the Govern- 
 ment. For the purpose of expediting the depopulation 
 of the city, without needless inconvenience or suffering 
 to the inhabitants, the number of whom had greatly di- 
 minished during the progress of the siege, he proposed 
 to Hood a truce of ten days. The reply of Hood was as 
 follows :
 
 1006 HISTOBY OF THE GEEAT REBELLION. 
 
 " HEAD-QUAETERS ARMY OF THE TENNESSEE, ) 
 "OFFICE CHIEF OF STAFF. Si-pt. 9, 1864. J 
 " Major-General SHEBMAN, Commanding United States Forces in Georgia : 
 
 " GENERAL : Your letter of yesterday's date, borne by James W. Ball 
 and James R. Crew, citizens of Atlanta, is received. You say therein, '1 
 deem it to be to the interest of the United States that the citizens now 
 residing in Atlanta should remove,' &c. I do not consider that I have any 
 alternative in the matter. I therefore accept your proposition to declare a 
 truce of ten days, or such time as may be necessary to accomplish the pur- 
 pose mentioned, and shall render all the assistance in my power to expedite 
 the transportation of citizens in this direction. I suggest that a staff officer 
 be appointed by you to superintend the removal from the city to Rough 
 and Ready, while I appoint a like officer to control their removal farther 
 south : that a guard of one hundred men be sent by either party, as you 
 propose, to maintain order at that place, and that the removal begin on 
 Monday next. 
 
 " And now, sir, permit mo to say, that the unprecedented measure you 
 propose, transcends, in studied and ingenious cruelty, all acts ever before 
 brought to my attention in the dark history of war. 
 
 " In the name of God and humanity I protest, believing that you will find 
 that you are expelling from their homes and firesides the wives and chil- 
 dren of a brave people. 
 
 "I am, General, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 " J. B. HOOD, General." 
 
 Accompanying this letter was the following to James 
 M. Calhoun, mayor of Atlanta : 
 
 " HEAD-QUAETEES AEMTOF THE TENNESSEE, September 9, 1864. 
 " Hon. JAMES M. CALHOUN, Mayor : 
 
 "SiR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter 
 touching the removal of the citizens of Atlanta, as ordered by General 
 Sherman. Please find enclosed my reply to General Sherman's letter. I 
 shall do all in my power to mitigate the terrible hardship and misery that 
 must be brought upon your people by this extraordinary order of the 
 Federal commander. Transportation will be sent to Rough and Ready to 
 carry the people and their effects farther south. 
 
 . " You have my deepest sympathy in tliis unlooked-for and unprecedented 
 afBiction. 
 
 " I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 "J. B. HOOD, General." 
 
 The following is the characteristic reply of General 
 Sherman : 
 
 " HEAD-QUAETEES MILITAEY DIVISION OF THE MISSISSIPPI, ) 
 "AND IN THE FIELD, ATLANTA, GA., September 10, 18G4. ) 
 " General J. B. HOOD, commanding Army of the Tennessee, Confederate 
 
 Army: 
 
 " GENERAL: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter 
 of this date, at the hands of Messrs. Ball and Crew, consenting to the ar- 
 rangements I had proposed, to facilitate the removal south,of the people of 
 Atlanta, who prefer to go in that direction. I enclose you a copy of my 
 orders, which will, I am satisfied, accomplish my purpose perfectly. You 
 style the measure proposed ' unprecedented.' and appeal to the dark history
 
 HISTORY OF THE GEEAT REBELLION. 1007 
 
 of war for a parallel as an act of ' studied and ingenious cruelty.' It is not 
 unprecedented, for General Johnston himself very wisely and properly re- 
 moved the families all the way from Dalton down, and I see no reason why 
 Atlanta should be excepted. Nor Is it necessary to appeal to the dark his- 
 tory of war, when recent and modern examples are so handy. You your- 
 self burned dwelling-houses along your parapet, and I have seen to-day 
 fifty houses that you have rendered uninhabitable because they stood in 
 the way of your forts and men. You defended Atlanta on a line so close 
 to the town that every cannon-shot and many musket-shots from our line 
 of investments that overshot their mark, went into the habitations of women 
 and children. General Hardee did the same at Jonesboro', and General 
 Johnston did the same last summer at Jackson, Miss. I have not accused 
 you of heartless cruelty, but merely instance these cases of very recent 
 occurrence, and could go on and enumerate hundreds of others, and chal- 
 lenge any fair man to judge which of us has the heart of pity for the fami- 
 lies of ' a brave people.' I say it is a kindness to these families of Atlanta 
 to remove them now at once from scenes that women and children should 
 not be exposed to ; and the brave people should scorn to commit their 
 wives and children to the rude barbarians who thus, as you say, violate the 
 laws of war, as illustrated in the pages of its dark history. In the name 
 of common sense, I ask you not to appeal to a just God in such a sacrile- 
 gious manner you, who, in the midst of peace and prosperity, have plunged 
 a nation into civil war, 'dark and cruel war;' who dared and badgered us 
 to battle, insulted our flag, seized our arsenals and forts that were left in 
 the honorable custody of a peaceful ordnance sergeant ; seized and made 
 prisoners of war the very garrisons sent to protect your people against 
 negroes and Indians, long before any overt act was committed by the (to 
 you) hateful Lincoln Government ; tried to force Kentucky and Missouri 
 into the rebellion in spite of themselves; falsified the vote of Louisiana, 
 turned loose your privateers to plunder unarmed ships, expelled Union 
 families by the thousand, burned their houses, and declared by act of your 
 Congress the confiscation of all debts due Northern men for goods had and 
 received. Talk thus to the marines, but not to me, who have seen these 
 things, and who will this day make as much sacrifice for the peace and 
 honor of the South as the best-born Southerner among you. If we must be 
 enemies, let us be men, and fight it out, as we propose to-day, and not deal 
 in such hypocritical appeals to God and humanity. God will judge us in 
 due time, and He will pronounce whether it be more humane to fight with 
 a town full of women and the families of a ' brave people ' at our back, or 
 to remove them in time to places of safety among their own friends and 
 people. 
 
 " I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 (Signed) "W. T. SHERMAN, Major- General Commanding. 
 
 " Official copy: Signed, L. M. DAYTON, A. D. C." 
 
 The campaign of Sherman against Atlanta had a re- 
 sult different from that of Rosecrans against Chattanooga. 
 But the relative conditions of the two armies were also 
 entirely different. Bragg had been promptly re-enforced, 
 and when Rosecrans threatened to flank his position at 
 Chattanooga, he retired with his whole army concen- 
 trated. Subsequently, when joined by Longstreet, he 
 was much stronger than Rosecrans, who had not been
 
 1008 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 supplied with either men or material in proportion to 
 his wants. He was therefore exposed to the blows of a 
 superior enemy, and his defeat was only rendered nuga- 
 tory through the inaction of Bragg. Sherman had the 
 benefit of the recent conscription, made with much vigor 
 by the Government, and under the orders of the Lieuten- 
 ant-General, of whose combination his movement was a 
 part. Johnston's army fell back before the weight of 
 numbers, until Hood, succeeding to the command, wasted 
 his men in fruitless attacks, and then, from his weakened 
 force, detached Wheeler to the North, where he was of 
 no use whatever. Sherman was thus enabled to leave 
 the Twentieth Corps before Atlanta, and move the re- 
 mainder of his army, still superior to that of Hood, round 
 to Jonesboro. Here he did not meet, as did Rosecrans 
 at Chickamauga, the entire force of a superior army, but 
 a portion of a divided inferior army, to which he deliver- 
 ed the final blow. 
 
 The campaign of Sherman commenced in the first week 
 of' May, simultaneously with that of Grant. His force 
 was, as we have seen, in round numbers, one hundred 
 thousand men and two hundred and fifty-four guns. The 
 system of Johnston was the same as that of Lee ; with an 
 inferior force he resisted the advance of his enemy at every 
 point. Sherman reached the Chattahoochee on the 28th 
 July. The country through which he marched was much 
 more open than the scene of war in Virginia. Of this, 
 and his great superiority in infantry and artillery, Sher- 
 man most skilfully availed himself. He did not make a 
 flank march of his whole force, nor extend one end of his 
 line round Johnston's wing, as ordinary precedent would 
 have bade ; but, holding his enemy in check with a part 
 of his army, detached one or two of his corps by a dis- 
 tant line to seize and intrench themselves on some point 
 which should threaten the Confederate communications. 
 Not all Johnston's energy nor the exertions of Wheeler 
 (whose cavalry outnumbered that of the invaders) could 
 prevent this manoeuvre being repeated again and again. 
 The Federal generals carried out faithfully their com- 
 mander's orders to keep to the use of field-works and guns 
 wherever practicable; and Johnston continually found 
 himself with separate armies established in front and 
 flank, and was thus forced to a new retreat. As Sherman
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 1009 
 
 advanced the railroad was completely repaired, and its 
 use for the future systematically secured. Intrencliments 
 were thrown up at every station or bridge, and a small 
 garrison left with provisions, ammunition, and the means 
 of repairing any sudden damage to the adjacent parts of 
 the line, while .almost equal care was used to cover the 
 trains which supplied the flanks. Such an elaborate sys- 
 tem involved much delay; and Johnston was enabled 
 to detain the Federals seventy days on heir approach 
 to Atlanta. 
 
 The advance was none the less unbroken ; and when 
 Sherman was preparing elaborately for his passage of the 
 Chattahoochee, he was relieved of great part of his diffi- 
 culties by the removal of the formidable opponent whose 
 personal ability he fully appreciated. Jefferson Davis, 
 who had since the days of Vicksburg been on but indif- 
 ferent terms with Johnston, had yielded to the clamor 
 raised against the latter for so repeatedly giving ground, 
 and now superseded him in favor of Hood, known hither- 
 to as a gallant soldier and bold general of division, but in 
 no way marked for the higher qualities of command. This 
 step, so fatal to the Confederate interests in that quarter, 
 was the more inexcusable, in that Johnston's policy of 
 retreating when liable to be thoroughly outflanked was 
 just what Lee had used in Virginia, without a word of 
 blame from any quarter. 
 
 62
 
 1010 HISTORY OF THE GEEAT REBELLION. 
 
 CHAPTER LXII. *K 
 
 The Gulf Department. Sabine Pass Expedition. McPherson moves from 
 Vicksburg. Expedition to the Rio Grande, and Occupation of Browns- 
 ville. Banks' a Red River Expedition. Capture of Fort De Russey. 
 Occupation of Alexandria. Battle of Mansfield. Retreat of the Army. 
 Repulse of the Enemy at Pleasant Hill. Operations of the Fleet. The 
 Dam at Alexandria. Arrival of the Army and Fleet in the Mississippi. 
 Co-operative Movement of Steele in Arkansas. Causes of its Failure. 
 
 THE Department of the Gulf remained for some time 
 quiet after the fall of Vicksburg and Port Hudson, in the 
 summer of 1863, which events left the Mississippi River 
 nominally in the hands of the Federal troops. General 
 Banks returned to New Orleans, and the large army with 
 which General Grant operated in the rear of Vicksburg 
 was dispersed to various points. The Thirteenth and 
 Eighteenth Corps, under Generals Herron and Ord, went 
 to New Orleans; Ransom's command occupied Natchez; 
 the force which Burnside sent out to aid Grant mainly 
 returned to him, and other smaller bodies were located at 
 various points engaged in keeping down guerrillas. The 
 Mississippi being now in possession of the Union forces, it 
 was divided into districts, each under command of a divi- 
 sion officer, with orders to prevent the passage of the 
 enemy's troops across the river. 
 
 Early in September, 1863, the troops that had concen- 
 trated at New Orleans were formed into an expedition of 
 four thousand men, under Major-General Franklin, to ef- 
 fect a landing at Sabine Pass for military occupation, with 
 the co-operation of the navy. Commodore Bell assigned 
 the command of the naval force to Lieutenant Crocker, 
 commanding the steamer Clifton, accompanied by the 
 steamers Sachem, Arizona, and Granite City. The de- 
 fences at the Pass, it was estimated, consisted of two 
 thirty-two-pounders en barbette, and a battery of field- 
 pieces, and two bay boats converted into rams. It was 
 concerted with General Franklin that the squadron of 
 four gunboats should make the attack alone, assisted by
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 1011 
 
 about one hundred and eighty sharpshooters from the 
 army, divided among his vessels ; and after driving the 
 enemy from his defences and destroying or driving off 
 the rams, the transports were to advance and land their 
 troops. The attack was made on the 8th of September, 
 at six A. M., when the Clifton stood in the bay and opened 
 fire on the fort, to which no reply was made. At nine 
 A. M., the Sachem, Arizona, and Granite City, followed 
 by the transports, stood over the bar, and with much dif- 
 ficulty (owing to the shallowness of the water) reached 
 anchorage two miles from the fort at eleven A. M., the gun- 
 boats covering the transports. 
 
 At three-thirty P. M., the Sachem, followed by the Ari- 
 zona, advanced up the eastern channel to draw the fire 
 of the forts, while the Clifton advanced up the western 
 channel ; the Granite City to cover the landing of a divi- 
 sion of troops under General Weitzel ; no reply to the fire 
 of the gunboats being made until they were abreast of the 
 forts, when they opened with eight guns, three of which 
 were rifled. Almost at the same moment the Clifton and 
 Sachem were struck in their boilers, enveloping the ves- 
 sels in steam. There not being room to pass the Sachem, 
 the Arizona was backed down the channel. Soon after, 
 the latter grounded by the stern ; the ebb tide caught her 
 bows and swung her across the channel ; she was, with 
 much difficulty, extricated from this position owing to 
 the engine becoming heated by the collection of mud in 
 the boilers. The flags of the Clifton and Sachem were 
 now run down, and white flags were flying at the fore. 
 As all the transports were now moving out of the bay, 
 the Arizona remained covering their movements, until she 
 
 f rounded and remained until midnight, when she was 
 edged off, as no assistance could be had from any of the 
 tugs of the expedition. The expedition therefore returned 
 to Brashear City. General Franklin held his head-quar- 
 ters at New Iberia, which was made the base of opera- 
 tions, being at the head of navigation for ordinary steam- 
 ers and fifty -two miles from Brashear City. The Nine- 
 teenth Army Corps, under the immediate command of Gen- 
 eral "Weitzel, had crossed and camped at Bewick. The 
 Thirteenth Army Corps followed, leaving sufficient force 
 to hold the base at Brashear. 
 
 General McPherson, with the Seventeenth Corps, re-
 
 1012 HIBTOKY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 mained at Vicksburg, and nothing of general interest oc- 
 curred until early in October, when a rebel force, consist- 
 ing of about two thousand five hundred mounted men, 
 appeared on the east side of the Black River, at times ap- 
 proaching quite near the Federal lines, and keeping up a 
 continued series of feints and demonstrations along our 
 front. McPherson came to the conclusion that they had 
 been thrown forward as a curtain to hide movements and 
 operations going on farther back in the country. He 
 therefore organized a force composed of Logan's and Tut- 
 tle's Divisions, with other detached portions of the Seven- 
 teenth Corps, which, leaving Vicksburg early on the morn- 
 ing of the 14th October, marched sixteen miles and ren- 
 dezvoused at Big Black River, where it encamped for the 
 night. By daylight on the 15th the cavalry advance 
 crossed the river at Messenger's Ferry, closely followed 
 by Logan, with Tuttle bringing up the rear, the crossing 
 being effected on a double truss bridge built by Sherman 
 during his Jackson campaign. At three P. M. they reach- 
 ed Brownsville, the place having been occupied by our 
 advance cavalry at noon, and on the following day the ad- 
 vance of Logan's Division met a portion of Wirt Adams's 
 rebel cavalry, supported by a battery of artillery, well 
 posted in a piece of timber to the right of the road. 
 McPherson immediately sent forward a portion of Logan's 
 Division, consisting of Maltby's Brigade and two pieces 
 of artillery, to dislodge them, our cavalry having dis- 
 mounted and advanced through the woods, deployed as 
 skirmishers. No sooner did our battery open than they 
 were replied to by the rebel artillery with excellent 
 ellect. 
 
 While this was going on the remainder of Logan's Di- 
 vision advanced by the Canton road, where they met an- 
 other portion of the enemy, consisting of Whitfield's Bri- 
 gade of cavalry and artillery, composed principally of 
 Texans, occupying a strong position on the crest of a hill 
 completely commanding the road. The artillery was sent 
 forward, and amused them until Ford's Brigade came up, 
 and formed in line of battle on either side of the road, 
 with two regiments in advance deployed as skirmishers ; 
 darkness coming on, the men rested in their positions. 
 Shortly after daylight the enemy again opened on us with 
 artillery, having been re-enforced during the night. The
 
 HISTOEY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 1013 
 
 force then returned to Vicksburg, where they arrived on 
 the 20th. 
 
 There was little activity at New Orleans after the fail- 
 ure of the Sabine Pass expedition. The expiration of the 
 term of the nine-months men produced some changes, and 
 until new troops arrived but little was done. There was, 
 however, an immense contraband trade between the South- 
 ern States and Mexico. The sealing up of Charleston and 
 the stricter watch at Wilmington before the two chief 
 inlets of trade caused Matamoras to become the great 
 entrepot of contraband commerce. Not less than twenty- 
 five or thirty blockade-runners were sometimes there at 
 one time. General Banks devised an expedition to break 
 up this trade. The enemy had then only a few troops 
 under Magruder scattered between Galveston and Sabine 
 Pass. The expedition was fitted out at New Orleans, un- 
 der the command of Major-General Dana, General Banks 
 and staff accompanying it. After a stormy passage, the 
 troops were on the 4th of November safely transferred 
 from the transports, and landed on the Texan shore of the 
 Bio Grande. Upon seeing our troops landing, the enemy 
 destroyed the Government works at Fort Brown, and the 
 town of Brownsville was set on fire by their cavalry. The 
 Union men in the town resisted them, and a bloody street 
 fight ensued between the two factions, while the houses 
 were burning around them. The Fifteenth. Maine regi- 
 ment was ordered up to Brownsville to support the Union- 
 ists, and the rebels were routed. The place was then 
 occupied by the Federal troops. Subsequently Corpus 
 Christi and the coast of Texas to within one hundred miles 
 of Galveston were occupied. 
 
 But little else was done in this department until the 
 commencement of 1864, when a new expedition was or- 
 ganized by General Banks, having for its object the pos- 
 session of Western Louisiana and the capture of cotton. 
 The enemy at this time had various forces in the field. 
 General Dick Taylor commanded in Louisiana, with about 
 twenty thousand men; Magruder in Texas; and Price 
 resumed the command in Arkansas. It was proposed by 
 Banks to ascend the Ked River to Shreveport, aided by 
 the fleet of Admiral Porter, while a force under General 
 Steele should descend from Little Rock, Arkansas, to form 
 a junction with the troops on the Red River. At the
 
 1014 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 same time a demonstration was to be made by the Fed- 
 eral force from Brownsville, on the Rio Grande. 
 
 The expedition embarked at Vicksburg on the 10th of 
 March, and proceeded down the Mississippi to the mouth 
 of the Red River, which it ascended as far as the Old 
 River, at which point it turned into the Atchafalaya, 
 which flows southward into Lake Chetimaches. On the 
 13th a landing was effected at Simmsport, whence our 
 forces marched to Bayou Glace, where a rebel force, es- 
 timated at about two thousand, had been encamped in a 
 strongly fortified position. On reaching this point it was 
 found deserted by the enemy, who had set fire to the 
 bridge leading across the river at that point. The earth- 
 works, still incomplete, were laid out on an extensive 
 plan, and indicated an intention on the part of the rebels 
 to use the Atchafalaya as their principal line of defence, 
 depending on the shallowness of the river during most of 
 the year to protect them against the attack of our gun- 
 boats. The unexpected appearance of our formidable 
 fleet, consisting of three monitors, seven iron-clads, three 
 rams, and four lighter gunboats, caused them to abandon 
 the strong but unfinished works, and to hasten to the de- 
 fence of Fort De Russey. 
 
 Fort De Russey was a formidable quadrangular work, 
 with bastions and bomb-proofs, covered with railroad 
 /iron. Connected with the fort was a strong water-bat- 
 tery, the casemates of which appeared to be capable of 
 resisting the heaviest shot and shell. The guns were 
 admirably placed to command the river for a considerable 
 distance up and down. General Dick Taylor occupied it 
 with a large force. General Franklin* landed from 
 
 * William Buell Franklin was born in York, Penn., in 1823, and gradu- 
 ated at West Point in 1843, first in his 'class. He was appointed to the 
 Topographical Engineers, served in the Mexican war as aide to General 
 Taylor, was assistant professor of natural and experimental philosophy at 
 "West Point, 1848-52, and until the outbreak of the rebellion was actively 
 employed by the Government in military engineering, the coast survey, 
 the inspection of light-houses, the construction of public buildings, aud 
 similar duties. In May, 1861, he was commissioned colonel of the Twelfth 
 Eegiment of regular infantry, and soon after brigadier-general of volun- 
 teers. He commanded a brigade at Bull Eun, was subsequently appointed 
 to a division of the Army of the Potomac, and in the Peninsular campaign 
 commanded the Sixth Provisional Army Corps, with the rank of major- 
 general. He participated with credit in the seven days' fighting before 
 Richmond, defeated the enemy at Crampton's Gap, in South Mountain, and
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 1015 
 
 transports early in March, a few miles below this fort, to 
 co-operate with the gunboats in an attack upon it. Tay- 
 lor determined to attack him before the rest of the Union 
 force should come up, and marched out of his works for 
 that purpose. But he committed the fatal mistake of 
 attacking his foe in the rear. Franklin, quick to avail 
 himself of his enemy's blunder, abandoned his communi- 
 cations, refused battle, and marched straight for the now 
 vacant fort. Taylor saw his error too late to retrieve it, 
 and hastened after his antagonist in vain. The Union 
 army entered the fort, three hours in advance of the 
 rebels, unopposed, capturing, without a battle, three hun- 
 dred and twenty-five prisoners, ten guns, a lot of small- 
 arms, and large stores of ammunition. Thus, by a mili- 
 tary blunder, the rebels lost the entire advantage of their 
 year's engineering labor. The fleet passed up the river 
 without opposition, and occupied Alexandria on the 15th 
 of March, the army entering it the day following. The 
 rebel army fell back farther up the river, and was soon 
 increased by timely re-enforcements. Magruder joined 
 it with two thousand five hundred Texans, and Price 
 with seven thousand infantry from Missouri and Arkan- 
 sas. The entire force was commanded by General Kirby 
 Smith. ' ; 7 
 
 Alexandria, which is about one hundred and fifty miles 
 above Fort De Russey, having surrendered, the army was 
 pushed forward, overland, against Shreveport, where the 
 rebels, under command of General Taylor, were concen- 
 trating. Several rebel gunboats, which had been sta- 
 tioned at Alexandria, had steamed up the river to assist 
 in the defence of the former place. Shreveport is near 
 the southwest boundary of Louisiana, and as the enemy 
 inferred that it was the objective of Banks's campaign, 
 strong fortifications had been erected, formidable obstruc- 
 
 s^stained the advance of the Onion right wing at the succeeding battle of 
 Antietam. In November, 1862, he was placed in command of the left 
 grand division of the Army of the Potomac, and in the succeeding January 
 was relieved from duty. In the summer of 1863 he assumed command 
 of the Nineteenth Corps, and subsequently took part in the Sabine Pass 
 expedition, and in the Red River expedition of 1864. After the termina- 
 tion of the latter he was relieved of his command, and returned to the- 
 North. On July llth, while travelling in a railroad train between Phila- 
 delphia and Baltimore, he was captured by a rebel cavalry force, but a day 
 or two afterwards effected his escape. He subsequently officiated as. 
 President of the Military Retiring Board.
 
 1016 niSTOEY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 
 
 tions placed in the river, and provision sufficient for a 
 six months' siege accumulated. After a delay of ten 
 days at Alexandria, in order to concentrate his forces and 
 organize further movements, Banks resumed his march. 
 About thirty miles above Alexandria the Federal advance 
 met the rebels strongly posted at Cane River. Their 
 force was considerable, and their position advantageous ; 
 but after a short engagement with artillery and skir- 
 mishers, a general charge was ordered, and the rebels 
 beat a hasty retreat, with the loss of two hundred and 
 fifty killed and wounded, and five hundred to six hundred 
 prisoners. This was on the 28th of March. The Union 
 army pressed rapidly forward. The rebels as rapidly re- 
 treated. Grand Ecore was passed. Natchitoches, capi- 
 tal of the parish of that name, was occupied without 
 opposition ; and on the 6th of April the army continued 
 its advance towards Shreveport. At Grand Ecore the 
 road leaves the river-bank, and, passing through Nat- 
 chitoches, four miles from Grand Ecore, enters heavy 
 pine woods. A single road conducts through this un- 
 cleared forest, aifording excellent opportunities for am- 
 buscade. 
 
 The Union army no longer enjoyed the formidable 
 protection of the gunboats. The cavalry, five thousand 
 strong, constituted the advance, commanded by General 
 Lee. They were followed by their wagon train. Several 
 miles in the rear was the nearest infantry force. This 
 was the Thirteenth Ajmy Corps. The Nineteenth was 
 still farther in the rear. On the 7th the cavalry found 
 its progress somewhat resisted by the increased strength 
 of the enemy's skirmishers in front. The enemy had 
 skilfully drawn on General Banks, who, with false confi- 
 dence, advanced with cavalry and artillery, without ade- 
 quate infantry support, some eight miles. On the 8th 
 of April he sent word to hurry forward the infantry, and 
 General Ransom, with two divisions, was directed to go 
 his assistance. Nothing like a general engagement was 
 expected or prepared for. Ransom, indeed, urged await- 
 ing the arrival of the rest of the army, but he was over- 
 ruled. 
 
 An order to charge upon the enemy was given, and the 
 issue proved the greatness of the mistake. The enemy, 
 under cover of the trees, had formed an ambuscade in
 
 HISTORY OP THE GREAT REBELLION. 1017 
 
 the shape of an enormous Y. The devoted soldiers, 
 entering the open wedge at its base, charged upon the 
 apex. The wings then closed upon them. They were 
 mowed down by a terrific fire botli from front and either 
 flank. The cavalry was thrown into disorder, and began 
 to retreat down the road filled with infantry. The 
 wounded and dying were trodden under the horses' feet. 
 The infantry, surprised by the murderous fire from a 
 concealed foe, were thrown into confusion by the retreat- 
 ing cavalry, who cantered in disorder through their lines. 
 An attempt was made to withdraw and meet re-enforce- 
 ments from the Nineteenth Corps, farther back ; but the 
 single narrow road was effectually blockaded by the 
 cavalry wagon-train. An orderly retreat was impossible. 
 Soon all was in the utmost confusion. " Let every man 
 take care of himself!" became the universal cry. Ran- 
 som made the most heroic efforts to rally his men, but in 
 vain. 
 
 The wagon train was abandoned to the enemy, and 
 twenty guns fell into the rebels' hands. Among these 
 captures was the Chicago Mercantile Battery. The army 
 was saved from demolition by the timely arrival of re- 
 enforcements from the Nineteenth Corps and the dark- 
 ness of approaching night. This engagement is known 
 by the name of the Battle of Mansfield. Banks's loss 
 was estimated at two thousand out of eight thousand 
 men on the field. He was largely outnumbered by the 
 enemy. The army retreated during the night, and at 
 dawn of the 9th succeeded in gaining Pleasant Hill, 
 where it was concentrated. General A. J. Smith, with 
 the Sixteenth Army Corps, held the right ; Franklin, 
 with the Nineteenth Corps, held the left. The Thirteenth 
 Corps, exhausted and almost destroyed by the previous 
 day's fighting, was unable to participate in the antici- 
 pated battle. 
 
 At four P. M. in the afternoon of the 9th, the enemy 
 arriveM in pursuit, and immediately advanced in over- 
 whelming numbers against the division of General 
 Emory of the Nineteenth Corps, which, after an obstinate 
 resistance, retreated slowly up a hill, on the slopes of 
 which it had been formed. Behind the crest of this hill 
 the Sixteenth Corps lay in reserve, and as the rebels 
 rushed on with every expectation of an easy victory,
 
 1018 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 they were met by a withering fire of artillery and mus- 
 ketry, from which they recoiled in confusion. At this 
 moment the Sixteenth Corps charged with fixed bayonets, 
 driving the enemy in utter rout into the neighboring 
 woods, and recapturing eight of the guns lost on the pre- 
 vious day, besides five hundred prisoners. Early on the 
 10th, Banks, leaving his dead unburied, continued his 
 retreat to Grand Ecore. By this timely victory the 
 enemy suffered severely, and were compelled to abate 
 somewhat the ardor of their pursuit. 
 
 Meantime the fleet under Porter,* comprising the 
 Cricket, Eastport, Mound City, Chillicothe, Carondelet, 
 Pittsburg, Ozark, Neosho, Osage, Lexington, Fort Hind- 
 man, and Louisville, and a fleet of thirty transports, 
 ascended the river to Grand Ecore. On the 7th of April, 
 the river rising very slowly, the admiral sent up the 
 Cricket, Fort Hindman, Lexington, Osage, Neosho, and 
 Chillicothe, with the hope of getting the" rest of the 
 vessels along when the usual rise came. Twenty trans- 
 ports were sent along filled with army stores, and with a 
 portion of General A. J. Smith's Division on board. It 
 was intended* that the fleet should reach Springfield 
 Landing on the third day, and then communicate with 
 the army, a portion of which expected to be at Spring- 
 field at that time. 
 
 At Springfield, serious obstacles were encountered in 
 the river ; but before they could be removed, news came 
 to Porter that Banks was defeated, and the army falling 
 back to Pleasant Hill, sixty miles in the rear of the fleet. 
 The prompt return of the fleet was imperative, as the 
 
 * David D. Porter was born in Philadelphia about 1815. He is the 
 youngest son of Commodore David Porter, distinguished as a naval officer 
 in the last war with England, and was appointed a midshipman in 1829. 
 In 1861 he was promoted to be a commander, and put in command of the 
 steam sloop Powhattan, one of the Gulf Blockading Squadron. In the 
 spring of 1862 he received qommand of the mortar flotilla^ which po-oper- 
 ated in the reduction of the forts on the Lower Mississippi and the capture 
 of Xew Orleans. He subsequently repaired with his fleet to the James 
 River, and in October, 1862, was placed in command of the Mississippi 
 gunboat flotilla, which he retained for two years, participating in the most 
 important operation occurring during that interval on the Western waters. 
 In October, 1864, having been previously promoted to be a full rear-admiral, 
 he was appointed to command the North Atlantic Squadron, in which 
 capacity he conducted the two memorable bombardments of Fort Fisher, 
 N. C., in December, 1864, and January, 1865.
 
 HISTORY OP THE GREAT REBELLION. 1019 
 
 high banks of the river swarmed with enemies, who. 
 could not be reached by the guns of the fleet. On the 
 12th, a portion of the enemy who had defeated Banks 
 opened fire from the right bank on the Osage, Lieutenant- 
 Commander F. O. Selfridge (iron-clad), she being hard 
 aground at the time, with a transport (the Black Hawk) 
 alongside of her, towing her off. The rebels opened 
 with two thousand muskets, and soon drove every one 
 out of the Black Hawk to the safe casemates of the 
 monitor. Lieutenant Bache had just come from 'his 
 vessel (the Lexington) and fortunately was enabled to 
 pull up to her again, keeping close under the bank, while 
 the Osage opened a destructive fire on the enemy, whose 
 efforts were vain against an iron vessel. Meantime, some 
 troops were sent up from Grand Ecore to clear the river 
 from guerrillas. The river now began to fall rapidly, 
 and above the bar at Alexandria the fleet was caught by 
 the low water, and for a time considerably imperilled. It 
 was rescued from this position by a series of dams across 
 the rocks at the falls, w T hich raised the water high enough 
 to let the vessels pass over. These were designed and 
 superintended by Lieutenant-Colonel Bailey, acting en- 
 gineer of the Nineteenth Army Corps. 
 
 The work was commenced on May 1st by running out 
 from the left bank of the river a tree dam, made of the 
 bodies of very large trees, brush, brick, and stone, cross- 
 tied with other heavy timber, and strengthened in every 
 way which ingenuity could devise. This was run out 
 about three hundred feet into the river*; four large coal- 
 barges were then filled with brick and sunk at the end of 
 it. From the right bank of the river cribs filled with 
 stone were built out to meet the barges. All of which 
 was successfully accomplished, notwithstanding there was 
 a current running of nine miles an hour, which threatened 
 to sweep every thing before it. The dam had nearly 
 reached completion in eight days' working time, and the 
 water had risen sufficiently on the upper falls to allow 
 the Fort Hindman, Osage, and Nedsho to get down and 
 be ready to pass the dam. Unfortunately, on the morning 
 of the 9th, the pressure of water became so great that 
 it swept away two of the stone barges, which swung in 
 below the dam on one side. 
 
 The Lexington, however, succeeded in getting over the
 
 1020 HISTORY OF THE GBEAT REBELLION. 
 
 upper falls just in time the water rapidly falling as she 
 was passing over. She then steered directly for the open- 
 ing in the dam, through which the water was rushing so 
 furiously that it seemed as if nothing but destruction 
 awaited her. Thousands of beating hearts looked on 
 anxious for the result. The silence was so great as the 
 Lexington approached the dam that a pin might almost 
 be heard to fall. She entered the gap with a full head of 
 steam on, pitched down the roaring torrent, made two or 
 three spasmodic rolls, hung for a moment on the rocks 
 below, was then swept into deep water by the current, 
 and rounded to safely into the bank. Thirty thousand 
 voices rose in one deafening cheer, and universal joy 
 seemed to pervade the face of every man present. The 
 Neoshb followed next, all her hatches battened down, and 
 every precaution taken against accident. She did not fare 
 so well as the Lexington, her -pilot having become fright- 
 ened as he approached the abyss, and stopped her engine ; 
 the result was that for a moment her hull disappeared 
 from sight under the water. Every one thought she was 
 lost. She rose, however, swept along over the rocks with 
 the current, and fortunately escaped with only one hole 
 in her bottom, which was stopped in the course of an hour. 
 The Hindman and Osage both came through beautifully, 
 without touching a thing. 
 
 The damage done the dam was repaired, aud the whole 
 fleet brought off. On the 14th of May, the army re- 
 treated from Alexandria under protection of the gun- 
 boats, and the city was consumed by fire. On the 16th, 
 the enemy, who escorted the army a long way, and har- 
 assed its rear, attacked in force at Avovelles Prairie, but, 
 after a severe fight, were driven off. On the 18th, under 
 Polignac, they attacked again at Yellow Bayou, but were 
 repulsed with a loss of three hundred prisoners, besides as 
 many killed and wounded. This final check was admin- 
 istered by General Mower, under the command of Gen- 
 eral A. J. Smith. Yellow Bayou unites with the Bayou 
 de la Glaise, and empties into the Atchafalaya a short 
 distance above Semmesport. On the 19th, the army 
 reached and pontooned the Atchafalaya. On the 20th, 
 it crossed at Semmesport, and moved towards the Missis- 
 sippi. The next evening it reached Morganzia. 
 
 " "le these operations were going on upon the Red
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 1021 
 
 River, a strong auxiliary expedition, under General Steele, 
 had set out from Little Rock, Arkansas, with the design 
 of uniting with Banks's column at Shreveport. On ap- 
 proaching Camden, the enemy were encountered behind a 
 series of breastworks to dispute the passage of Tate's 
 Ferry. General Steele, however, moved his column for- 
 ward, as if designing to strike directly for Washington, 
 and leave Camden on his left. Arriving within ten 
 miles of the Ferry, still keeping the military road, he 
 continued a small body of troops on that road, while a 
 detachment of cavalry was hastened forward to seize and 
 secure Elkin's Ferry, and headed the main column to the 
 southward, breaking off almost at right angles with the 
 former course. 
 
 This detachment encountered Marmaduke and Shelby 
 in force, and the latter attacked the rear of the army, 
 under Brigadier-General Rice, who repulsed him. On 
 the 3d of April both banks of the Little Missouri were in 
 our possession, and the army crossed at Elkin's Ferry, 
 McLean's Brigade in advance. On the 4th, Marmaduke 
 and Cabell, with between four and five thousand men, 
 made an attack upon our column, but were repulsed after 
 some further skirmishes. Steele's army entered Camden 
 on the 15th of April. The enemy, largely re-enforced by 
 Kirby Smith,* now began to swarm upon Steele, and on 
 the 18th a Union forage train was captured. On the 
 20th a supply train arrived from Pine Bluff, and on the 
 22d the empty train was sent back, escorted by a brigade 
 
 * Edmund Kirby Smith was born in Florida, of Connecticut parentage, 
 about 1824, and graduated at "West Point in 1845. He was brevetted first 
 lieutenant and captain for gallantry in the Mexican war, was subsequently 
 assistant professor of mathematics at West Point, and saw active service in 
 the Indian Wars in the West. He resigned his commission at the com- 
 mencement of the rebellion, and was commissioned a colonel in the rebel 
 army. He was wounded at Bull Run, where his timely arrival turned the 
 scale against the national troops, and soon afterwards was appointed a 
 brigadier-general. In February, 1862, he was promoted to be a major- 
 general, and sent to take command in East Tennessee. He participated in 
 Bragg's invasion of Kentucky in the same year, fought at Murfreesboro, 
 and early in 1863 was appointed to command the Department west of the 
 Mississippi, which he retained until the close of the war. He conducted 
 the military operations in Louisiana in the campaigns of 1863 and 1864, 
 and had the credit of defeating Banks's costly and nufortunate Red River 
 Expedition. He was the last of the rebel generals holding important com- 
 mands to surrender to the United States authorities. At that time he held 
 the rank of lieutenant-general
 
 1022 HISTOKY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 of infantry, four pieces of artillery, and a proper propor- 
 tion of cavalry. On the 25th news was received that the 
 train had been captured, and Lieutenant-Colonel Drake, 
 of the Thirty-sixth Iowa, who was in command, mortally 
 wounded. The loss was nearly two thousand prisoners, 
 four guns, and two hundred and forty wagons. 
 
 The defeat of Banks enabled the enemy to strongly re- 
 enforce Kirby Smith. Information reached Steele that Kir- 
 by Smith in person, with eight thousand re-enforcements, 
 had made a junction with Price, and that the combined 
 armies were advancing to attack him. Hence, retreat 
 was imperative. He, therefore, moved for Little Rock, 
 his retreat being greatly harassed by the enemy, and his 
 main column compelled to destroy trains and bridges. 
 On the 30th of April, while crossing the Saline River, he 
 was attacked by a body of the enemy under General 
 Fagan ; but the assault was repulsed. A portion of the 
 enemy's cavalry, however, crossed the river above, and 
 hurried on towards Little Rock, hoping to take it by 
 surprise while the Union forces were at a distance ; the 
 movement was, however, unsuccessful.
 
 HISTOET OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 1023 
 
 CHAPTER LXIII. 
 
 "War in Missouri. Execution of Guerrillas. Marmaduke's Movements. 
 Helena. Successful Campaign of General Steele in Arkansas. Capture 
 of Little Rock. General Gautt. Sacking of Lawrence by Quantrell. 
 Price's Last Invasion of Missouri. His Disastrous Defeat and Retreat 
 into Arkansas. 
 
 AFTER the withdrawal of General Halleck from com- 
 mand in Missouri in 1862, many operations of minor 
 character took place, and the State was greatly disturbed 
 by guerrillas under Quantrell, Poindexter, Porter, Cobb, 
 and other partisan leaders, aided by more regular organ- 
 izations. In September, 1862, the States of Missouri, 
 Kansas, and Arkansas were erected into a military dis- 
 trict, under the command of General Curtis, and General 
 Schofield* assumed the command of the "Army of the 
 Frontier " in Southern Missouri. In September a party 
 of guerrillas under Colonel Porter made a raid upon Pal- 
 myra, and captured among other persons an old and re- 
 spected citizen named Andrew Allsman, who had been of 
 
 * John McADister Schofield was born in Chatauqua County, New York, 
 in 1831, and graduated at West Point in 1853. He served for five years as 
 instructor in natural philosophy at West Point, and at the outbreak of the 
 rebellion was filling the chair of moral philosophy at Washington Uni- 
 versity, St. Louis. He was employed in organizing troops in the West in 
 the early part of 1861, was subsequently General Lyon's chief of staff, and 
 in November, 1861, was commissioned a brigadier-general of volunteers. 
 In June, 1862, he was appointed to the military district of Missouri, and a 
 few months later received command of the Army of the Frontier, with 
 which he drove the rebel invading force under Hindman into Arkansas. 
 He retained this command until the early part of 1864, when he was sent to 
 East Tennessee to relieve General Foster. As commander of the Twenty- 
 third Corps, constituting the Army of the Ohio, he participated in Sher- 
 man's campaign from Chattanooga to Atlanta, after which he was dis- 
 patched to Tennessee, under the orders of Thomas, to oppose the invasion 
 of Hood. He checked the advance of the latter at the hard-fought battle 
 of Franklin, November 30th, 1864, and in the succeeding month partici- 
 pated in the series of brilliant victories in front of Nashville. Early in 
 1865 he accompanied his corps to North Carolina, and co-operated with 
 Sherman in the final overthrow of Johnston. At the close of the war he 
 received command of the Department of North Carolina.
 
 1021 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 great service to scouting parties sent out to arrest disloyal 
 persons. As lie was not again heard of, the belief gained 
 ground that he had been murdered, particularly as the 
 iraerrillas had been recently guilty of several similar acts. 
 Accordingly, General McNeil gave public notice that,' 
 unless Allsman should be surrendered within a given 
 time, ten rebel prisoners should be shot. The ten days 
 having elapsed without tidings of Allsman, ten pris- 
 oners were shot, in literal conformity with McNeil's 
 notice. 
 
 Early in 1863, the rebel General Marmaduke, with a 
 force of six thousand men, proceeded down the Arkansas 
 River to Spadry's Bluff, near Clarkesville, Arkansas, and 
 thence marched rapidly *iorth towards Springfield, Mis- 
 souri, with the intention of seizing the large amount 
 of Federal commissary stores accumulated there. The 
 design of Marmaduke in proceeding so far eastward be- 
 fore making a movement northward into Missouri was to 
 avoid all chance of collision or interference with his plans 
 by Generals Blunt and Herron. He hoped to reach 
 Springfield and accomplish his purpose before they could 
 obtain intelligence of his approach, and this once accom- 
 plished, these generals and their army, deprived of all 
 supplies, would, almost of necessity, be compelled either to 
 surrender to General Hindman or fly from Northwestern 
 Arkansas. 
 
 As Marmaduke approached Springfield, Generals Brown 
 and Holland, who were in command there, collected a 
 force of about twelve hundred men, sent the stores north 
 towards Bolivar, and succeeded in repulsing the enemy, 
 who retreated with the loss of forty-one killed and one 
 hundred and sixty wounded. Meantime, General Porter, 
 who had been detached by Marmaduke with three thou- 
 sand men to capture Hartsville, reached that point on the 
 9th of January, 1863, and moved towards Marshfield. 
 General Fitz-Henry Warren, in command of that Federal 
 military district, sent from Houston, on the 9th of Janu- 
 ary, Colonel Merrill, with eight hundred and fifty men, 
 to Springfield, to re-enforce the Federal garrison there. 
 They reached Hartsville on Saturday, the 10th, and 
 learned that Porter had been there the day previous. 
 Leaving Hartsville at 3 p. M., they marched to Wood's 
 Forks, on the road towards Springfield, by nightfall, and
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 1025 
 
 encamped in line of battle. The next morning, (January 
 llth), at daybreak, they encountered Marmaduke's forces 
 marching from Springfield, and inflicted a defeat upon 
 him. Marmaduke, however, formed a junction with 
 Porter, and marched for Hartsville. Colonel Merrill 
 reached the place in time to put himself in defence. The 
 Confederate attack was repulsed, and the rebels fell back 
 upon Houston, and thence to Little Rock, where Marma- 
 duke remained some two months. On the 17th of April, 
 the Confederate General Cabell left Ozark, Arkansas, with 
 a force of two thousand men, to attack Fayetteville, 
 Arkansas, then garrisoned by two regiments of Federal 
 troops (the First Arkansas Infantry and the First Arkan- 
 sas Cavalry), under the command of Colonel M. La Rue 
 Harrison. The attack was made on the 18th about sun- 
 rise, and resulted in the retreat of the enemy upon 
 Ozark. 
 
 In April, General Price, in connection with Marma- 
 duke, collected a force, mostly Texans, with the view of 
 capturing. General Grant's depot of stores at Cape Girar- 
 deau, on the Mississippi. This force, numbering ten 
 thousand men, under Marmaduke, left Little Rock about 
 the middle of April, and on the 20th had crossed the State 
 line, and, following the course of the St. Francis River, 
 reached Fredericktown, Missouri, about the 22d. From 
 this point they marched upon Cape Girardeau, and came 
 before the town on the 25th. The garrison there was 
 under the command of General John McNeil, and con- 
 sisted of one thousand seven hundred men, mostly militia. 
 McNeil had reached Cape Girardeau on the night of the 
 23d, and had taken immediate measures for the removal 
 of the Government stores into Illinois, and had sent to St. 
 Louis for re-enforcements. The attack was made April 
 26th and was repulsed, the enemy retreating into Arkansas 
 on May 2d. Many minor engagements took place. In 
 July, General Blunt crossed the Arkansas River, near 
 Henry Springs, in that Territory, and after, on the 16th, 
 defeating a force of Confederates under General Cooper, 
 descended the Arkansas River, and on the 1st of Septem- 
 ber occupied Fort Smith, Arkansas. The Army of the 
 Frontier having been greatly depleted to furnish re- 
 enforcements to Grant, while he was engaged in the siege 
 of Yicksburg, Price and Marmaduke made an attempt on 
 
 63
 
 1026 HISTORY OF THE GKEAT REBELLION. 
 
 Helena, Arkansas, held by General Prentiss with four 
 thousand troops. The rebels were disastrously defeated, 
 with the loss of eleven hundred prisoners and many killed 
 and wounded. 
 
 After the fall of Yicksburg, the preparations for which 
 had drawn troops out of Arkansas, General Steele was 
 sent, in August, to join General Davidson, who was 
 moving south from Missouri, at Helena, with orders to 
 drive the enemy south of Arkansas River* Having 
 effected this junction and established his depot and hospi- 
 tals at Duvall's Bluff, on the White River, Steele, on the 
 1st of August, advanced against the Confederate army, 
 which fell back towards Little Rock. After several suc- 
 cessful skirmishes, he reached the Arkansas River, and 
 threw part of his force on the south side, to threaten 
 the Confederate communications with Arkadelphia, their 
 depot of supplies, and flank their position at Little Rock. 
 Marmaduke was sent out with a cavalry force to beat the 
 Federals back, but was completely routed. Seeing what 
 must be the inevitable result of this movement of Steele, 
 the Confederate General Holmes destroyed what property 
 he could, and, after a slight resistance, retreated with his 
 army in great disorder, pursued by the Federal cavalry ; 
 and on the 10th of September, Steele entered the capital 
 of Arkansas. His entire loss in killed, wounded, and 
 missing, in this whole movement, did not exceed one 
 hundred. He captured one thousand prisoners, and such 
 public property as the Confederates had not time to 
 destroy. The Federal cavalry continued to press the re- 
 treating Confederates southward ; but a small force, 
 which had eluded pursuit, and moved eastward, attacked 
 the Federal garrison at Pine Bluff, on the Arkansas, south 
 of Little Rock, hoping to recapture it, and thus cripple 
 the Federals, by breaking their communications. The 
 attempt, which was made on the 28th of October, was 
 repulsed with decided loss on the part of the Confed- 
 erates. The same day the Federal cavalry occupied Ark- 
 adelphia, the Confederates retreating towards the Red 
 River. This operation completely restored Arkansas to 
 the Federal authority, except a small district in the ex- 
 treme southwest, and the region of Northwest Arkansas, 
 over which the guerrilla and other irregular troops of the 
 Confederates continued to roam.
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 1027 
 
 At this time the rebel cause experienced the first defec- 
 tion of a prominent man, in the person of the Hon. E. 
 W. Gantt, a well-known citizen of Arkansas, who had 
 held positions of influence in the Confederacy, having 
 served with their armies in the field as a general, and 
 been twice taken prisoner by our forces. He issued an 
 address to the people of his State, in which he presented 
 with great force the reasons for his abandonment of his 
 comrades. The chief of these was the thorough convic- 
 tion, to which he had been brought by the stern logic of 
 events, that the rebels were fairly beaten, and might as 
 well end the contest at once. " Our armies," he said, 
 " are melting, and ruin approaches us. The last man is 
 in the field, half our territory overrun, our cities gone to 
 wreck peopled alone by the aged, the lame and halt, 
 and women and children ; while deserted towns, and 
 smoking ruins, and plantations abandoned and laid waste, 
 meet us on all sides, and anarchy and ruin, disappoint- 
 ment and discontent lower over all the land." He accord- 
 ingly advised submission, on the ground that the sooner 
 the South laid down their arms and quitted the strug- 
 gle, the sooner would the days of prosperity return. 
 
 The most atrocious outrage of the war up to this time 
 was the attack of the guerrilla chief Quantrell upon the 
 town of Lawrence, Kansas, on August 21st. The citi- 
 zens, taken wholly by surprise, were shot down in the 
 streets in cold blood, and even women were fired at. 
 Two hundred and five persons were killed and many 
 wounded. Numerous houses and churches were burned, 
 and property valued at two million dollars was destroyed. 
 A hastily organized force followed in pursuit of the 
 guerrillas, and succeeded in killing about forty of them, 
 but the greater part of the band escaped with their 
 booty. 
 
 Late in September, the Confederate General Cabell 
 collected a force of some eight thousand men, crossed the 
 Arkansas River east of Fort Smith, and on the 1st of 
 October, a detachment of his troops, under General 
 Shelby, joined Coffey at Crooked Prairie, Missouri, in- 
 tending to make a raid into Southwestern Missouri. This 
 combined force, numbering two thousand or two thousand 
 five hundred men, penetrated as far as the Missouri River, 
 at Booneville, where the Missouri State Militia and the
 
 1028 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 Enrolled Missouri Militia met him, October 12th, under 
 the command of General Brown. Shelby was here 
 routed, his artillery taken from him, his forces scattered. 
 After Brown gave up the chase, it was taken up by Gen- 
 eral Ewing, the commanding general of the Missouri 
 border, who followed him to the battle-field of Pea 
 Ridge, where he abandoned the chase, and General John 
 McNeil, commanding the District of Southwest Missouri, 
 took it up and ran him across the Boston Mountain in 
 Arkansas. General Blunt, commanding the District of 
 the Frontier, having been relieved by General McNeil, 
 he at once started to assume the command of Blunt's 
 army. With these last convulsive throes, the active 
 existence of the Confederate authority in Arkansas died 
 out. On the 12th of November, a meeting was held at 
 .Little Rock, to consult on measures for the restoration of 
 the State to the Union, and was succeeded by others in 
 different parts of the State. 
 
 General Rosecrans succeeded General Schofield in the 
 command in Missouri. Early in 1864, he found it pru- 
 dent to concentrate his forces in the vicinity of St. Louis, 
 and the country south of the Maramec River was a prey 
 to anarchy. The towns in that vicinity had suffered 
 great injury, and some of them been burnt, the crops 
 destroyed, and the inhabitants conscripted or driven from 
 their homes. Small guerrilla forces, under Shelby and 
 others, committed great depredations. In May, 1864, a 
 company of Missouri cavalry, escorting a train, were de- 
 feated, and the tram burned near Rolla. Yague rumors 
 and threats -of a new invasion of Missouri by Price began 
 now to spread with growing strength, and about the 21st 
 of September information was received at head-quarters 
 that Price, crossing the Arkansas with two divisions of 
 cavalry and three batteries of artillery, had joined Shelby 
 near Batesville, sixty miles south of the State line, to 
 invade Missouri witn about fourteen thousand veteran 
 mounted men. 
 
 The Federal force there consisted of six thousand five 
 hundred mounted men for field duty in the department, 
 scattered over a country four hundred miles long and 
 three hundred broad, which, with the partially organized 
 new infantry regiments and dismounted men, constituted 
 the entire force to cover our great depots at St. Louis,
 
 HISTORY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 1029 
 
 Jefferson City, St. Joseph, Macon, Springfield, Holla, and 
 Pilot Knob, guard railroad bridges against invasion, and 
 protect, as far as possible, the lives and property of citi- 
 t zens from the guerrillas who swarmed over the whole 
 country bordering on the Missouri River. 
 
 After the defeat of Banks's expedition, General A. J. 
 Smith, with the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Army Corps, 
 returned to Yicksburg, where they were destined to rejoin 
 the Army of the Cumberland under Sherman, of which 
 force they really constituted a part. Meantime, however, 
 Marmaduke, with a force of about six thousand infantry 
 and cavalry and three batteries, occupied Lake Village, 
 whence he interrupted the traffic of the Missouri River. 
 General Smith therefore proceeded in quest of Marma- 
 duke. On the 5th of June, Smith's force, comprising 
 General Mower's Division of the Sixteenth Corps and 
 one brigade of the Seventeenth Corps, disembarked at 
 Sunny Side. After a march of thirty miles they encoun- 
 tered Marmaduke, and defeated him. On the 7th, Smith's 
 forces re-embarked for Memphis. 
 
 No sooner had Price commenced his march than Steele 
 followed, re-enforced by Mower's Infantry and "Winslow's 
 Cavalry, sent from Memphis ; and A. J. Smith's troops, 
 passing Cairo towards ^Nashville, at the earnest solicita- 
 tions of the general commanding were ordered to halt 
 and return to oppose Price, who was aiming for Jefferson 
 City, the State capital. Crossing the "Wmte River at 
 Salina, Arkansas, on the 14th of September, with a force 
 estimated at eight or ten thousand, and several pieces of 
 artillery, Price entered Missouri from the southeast. On 
 the 23d, his advance, under Shelby, occupied Bloomfield, 
 Stoddard County, which place was evacuated by our 
 forces on the night of the 21st. On Monday, the 26th 
 of September, Price advanced against Pilot Knob, St. 
 Francois County, which had fortunately been occupied 
 on Sunday by Ewing, with a brigade of the Sixteenth 
 Army Corps, General A. J. Smith. With this force, 
 strengthened bv the garrisons of Pilot Knob and outly- 
 ing posts, Ewmg was able to repulse the rebels, who, 
 without delay, undertook to carry the place by assault. 
 Our forces occupied a fort in the neighborhood of Iron- 
 ton, which was commanded, however, by adjacent hills. 
 Confident of their ability to capture the place by a direct
 
 1030 HISTOEY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 assault, the enemy advanced against it, but were driven 
 back with severe loss by a well-directed fire of artillery 
 and musketry at easy range. The fort was a strong one, 
 mounting four twenty-four pounders, four thirty-twos, 
 and four six-pound Parrotts, besides two six-pound Par-- 
 rotts mounted outside ; but the occupation by the enemy 
 of Shepherd Mountain, a hill commanding the place, 
 compelled Ewing to evacuate. After blowing up his 
 magazine, he fell back to Harrison Station on the South- 
 west Branch Railroad, where he made a stand, behind 
 breastworks left by a party of militia who had previously 
 occupied the town. The enemy followed him sharply, 
 and cut the railroad on both sides of him, severing com- 
 munication both with St. Louis and Rolla. Ewing 
 reached Holla with the main body of his troops. 
 
 Meantime, Springfield having been placed in a state of 
 defence, General Sanborn moved with all his available 
 cavalry to re-enforce General McNeil at Rolla ; while the 
 infantry of Smith, aided by the militia and citizens, put 
 St. Louis in a state of defence, where General Pleasonton 
 had relieved General Frank Blair. The militia were 
 placed by Kosecrans under the direction of Senator B. 
 Gratz Brown. 
 
 Brown concentrated at Jefferson City the troops of the 
 Central District, and, re-enforced by General Fisk with 
 all available troops north of the Missouri, prepared for 
 the defence of the capital of the State, the citizens of 
 which vied with the military in their enthusiastic exertions 
 to repel the invasion. The enemy, after awaiting at 
 Rich wood's for a day or two, and threatening St. Louis, 
 started for the State capital. McNeil and Sanborn, mov- 
 ing with all their available cavalry, by forced marches 
 reached the point of danger a few miles in advance of 
 him, and, uniting with Fisk and Brown, saved Jefferson 
 City. Price then retreated upon Booneville, and Pleas- 
 onton, having assumed command at Jefferson City, sent 
 a mounted force, under Sanborn, in pursuit. This force, 
 on the 19th of October, united with the brigade of Wins- 
 low, which had been dispatched by General Mower to 
 follow the enemy from Arkansas. The united force, 
 now six thousand five hundred strong, under Pleasonton, 
 pursued the enemy to Independence, where the rebel 
 rear-guard was overtaken and routed. Curtis, who held
 
 HISTOBY OF THE GKEAT KEBELLION. 1031 
 
 "Westport, was driven out by Shelby, who in his turn was 
 defeated by Pleasonton. The retreat and pursuit were 
 kept up with vigor, and, Curtis having united with Pleas- 
 onton, the enemy were overtaken at Little Osage Crossing, 
 where two advanced brigades, under Benteen and Phillips, 
 charged two rebel divisions, routed them, captured eight 
 pieces of artillery, and near one thousand prisoners, in- 
 cluding Grenerals Marmaduke and Cabell. Sanborn's 
 Brigade again led in pursuit, overtook the rebels, and 
 made two more brilliant charges, driving every thing 
 before them across the Marmiton, whence the enemy 
 fled, under cover of night, towards the Arkansas. After 
 thus marching two hundred and four miles in six days, 
 and beating the 1 enemy, his flying columns were pursued 
 towards the Arkansas by the Kansas troops and Benteen's 
 Brigade, while Sanborn, following, marched one hundred 
 and four miles in thirty-six hours, and on the 28th reached 
 Newtonia, where the enemy made his last stand, in time 
 to turn the tide of battle, which was going against Gen- 
 eral Blunt, again routing the enemy. The gains claimed 
 by Price in this invasion were far more than neutralized 
 by his losses. These amounted to ten pieces of artillery, 
 a large number of small-arms, nearly all his trains and 
 plunder, and, besides his killed, wounded, and deserters, 
 upwards of two thousand prisoners. The total Union loss 
 was less than a thousand. "With this abortive attempt to 
 rival the early successes of the rebellion in this quarter, 
 ended the rebel attempts to conquer Missouri. Price 
 retired with a depleted and demoralized army into South- 
 ern Arkansas, and thenceforth Missouri enjoyed a greater 
 degree of tranquillity than she had known since the out- 
 break of the war.
 
 1032 HISTORY OF THE GKEAT REBELLION. 
 
 CHAPTEE LXIV. 
 
 Mobile. Its Defences. Concentration of Troops. Combined Operations. 
 Landing on Dauphine Island. Order of Battle. Tecumseh blown up. 
 Tennessee Attacks. Desperate Battle. Mode of Attack. Fort Powell 
 blown up. Fort Gaines Surrenders. Siege of Fort Morgan. Surrender. 
 Minor Expeditions. 
 
 As a part of the concerted plan of campaign, an attack 
 upon Mobile was projected by Grant, with the object of 
 weakening Johnston in Georgia, by inducing him to send 
 troops for the defence of that city. After the return of 
 Banks's army from the Red River, and the appointment 
 of General Canby to the command of the West Mississippi 
 Military Division, an expedition against Mobile began to 
 be organized. The land defences of Mobile consisted of 
 three lines of strong earthworks, extending five or six 
 miles to the rear of the city. Along the east coast of 
 Mobile Bay were Pintow's Battery, Batteries Choctaw, 
 Cedar Plain, Grand Spell, and Light-House Battery, each 
 of which consisted of thirty-two-pound rifle cannon 
 mounted in earthworks. The land is, however, level 
 and low, and presents no natural advantages for a defence. 
 Forts Morgan and Gaines, commanding the entrance to 
 Mobile Bay, are the first obstacles that a fleet encounters 
 in attempting to enter from the Gulf. The former is 
 situated on the southwestern extremity of a long spur of 
 land, that separates Bon Socour Bay from the Mexican Gulf, 
 and commanded the two easterly channels of entrance, 
 while the western one, and Grant's Pass, are immediately 
 under the guns of Fort Gaines, a casern ated fortification. 
 Between the forts and the city, the channels were ob- 
 structed by lines of stout piles driven in the mud, and a 
 eloop loaded with stone was stationed immediately in the 
 centre of the channel that runs through Dog River Bar, 
 ready to be sunk on the passage of the forts. In the 
 Mobile River, considerably above the city, an iron-clad 
 ram, the Tennessee, and four wooden gunboats, were
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 1033 
 
 afloat. The harbor of Mobile is generally shallow, and 
 it was customary for heavy shipping to anchor just inside 
 of Dauphine's Island, near the entrance to the bay, and 
 some twenty-eight miles from the city. Steamers, how- 
 ever, being more easily managed, were admitted under 
 the guidance of skilful pilots, and even sailing vessels of 
 six or seven hundred tons could approach the city. 
 Preparatory to an expedition for the capture of Mobile, 
 the Federal troops in Louisiana were concentrated in 
 New Orleans. 
 
 In July, the fleet of Admiral Farragut, accompanied by 
 a land force under Generals Canby and Granger, arrived 
 off Mobile Bay. A consultation was held between Gen-
 
 1034: HISTORY OF THE GREAT EEBEIXION. 
 
 erals Granger and Canby with the admiral, on July 8th, 
 when it was determined that Fort Gaines should be first 
 invested. The fleet was to cover the landing of a force 
 on Dauphine's Island for that purpose, and the 4th of 
 August was, after some unavoidable delays, fixed upon 
 as the time for landing. Meanwhile, the enemy, under 
 General Page, were busy throwing troops and supplies 
 into Fort Gaines, which was commanded by Colonel An- 
 derson, of the Twenty-first Alabama. 
 
 Early on the 4th 01 August, the Federal fleet, twenty- 
 six sail, including two double and one single turreted 
 monitor and an iron-clad double-ender, commenced closing 
 in their line southeast of Fort Morgan, as with a view to 
 concentrate their efforts on Fort Gaines, having during the 
 preceding nights landed a force of from three to five 
 thousand men, under General Granger, on Dauphine 
 Island. During the early part of the day they kept up 
 an irregular and desultory fire on the fort, as if designing 
 to make against that point a combined attack by land and 
 sea. 
 
 The real intention of the admiral, however, was to 
 effect the passage of the forts with his fleet, and the ves- 
 sels outside the bar which were designed to participate in 
 the engagement were all under way by forty minutes past 
 five in the morning of August 5th, in the following order, 
 two abreast and lashed. together: 
 
 Brooklyn, Captain James Alden, with the Octorara, 
 Lieutenant-Commander C. H. Green, on the port side ; 
 Hartford, Captain Percival Drayton, with the Metacomet,' 
 Lieutenant-Commander J. E. Jouett ; Richmond, Captain 
 T. A. Jenkins, with the Port Royal, Lieutenant-Comman- 
 der B. Gherardi ; Lackawanna, Captain J. B. Marchand, 
 with the Seminole, Commander E. Donaldson ; Monon- 
 
 Eahela, Commander J. H. Strong, with the Kennebec, 
 ieutenant-Commander "W. P. McCann ; Ossipee, Com- 
 mander W. E. Le Roy, with the Itasca, Lieutenant-Com- 
 mander George Brown ; Oneida, Commander J. R. M. 
 Mullany, with the Galena, Lieutenant-Commander C. H. 
 Wells. 
 
 The iron-clads Tecumseh, Commander T. A. M. Craven, 
 the Manhattan, Commander J. W. A. Nicholson, the 
 "Winnebago, Commander T. H. Stevens, and the Chicka- 
 saw, Lieutenant-Commander T. H. Perkins, were already
 
 HISTORY OP THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 1035 
 
 ahead inside the bar, and had been ordered to take up 
 their positions on the starboard side of the wooden ships, 
 or between them and Fort Morgan, for the double pur- 
 pose of keeping down the fire from the water-battery 
 and the parapet guns of the fort, as well as to attack the 
 ram Tennessee as soon as the fort was passed. 
 
 The attacking fleet steamed steadily up the main ship- 
 channel, the Tecumseh firing the first shot at forty-seven 
 minutes past six. At six minutes past seven the fort 
 opened upon the fleet, and was replied to by a gun from 
 the Brooklyn, and, immediately after, the action became 
 general. The guns of the fort played with effect upon 
 the Brooklyn and Hartford, and soon after the firing be- 
 came hot. The Tecumseh careened suddenly, and sank, 
 destroyed by a torpedo, nearly all hands being lost. The 
 Hartford, flag-ship, then took the lead, and the fleet, 
 pushing steadily forward, and maintaining a constant fire, 
 passed the fort shortly before eight o'clock. As the 
 Hartford passed up she was attacked by the Tennessee, 
 but without effect. The rebel gunboats Morgan, Gaines, 
 and Selma, which had kept up an annoying fire, were then 
 attacked. The Selma was captured by the Metacomet, 
 while the Morgan and Gaines drew off under the guns of 
 Fort Morgan. The former escaped to Mobile, and the 
 latter was run ashore and destroyed. The Tennessee then 
 stood down for the flag-ship. The monitors were imme- 
 diately ordered to attack her. The Monongahela, Com- 
 mander Strong, was the first vessel that struck her, and in 
 doing so carried away his own iron prow, together with 
 the cut-water, without apparently doing his adversary 
 much injury. The Lackawanna, Uaptain Marchand, was 
 the next vessel to strike her, which she did at full speed ; 
 but though her stern was cut and crushed to the plank 
 ends for the distance of three feet above the water's edge 
 to five feet below, the only perceptible effect on the ram 
 was to give her a heavy lift. The Hartford was the third 
 vessel which struck her, but as the Tennessee quickly 
 shifted her helm, the blow was a glancing one, and as she 
 rasped along the side of the Hartford, that vessel poured 
 her whole port broadside of nine-inch solid shot within 
 ten feet of her casemate. The monitors worked slowly, 
 but delivered their fife as opportunity offered. The 
 Chickasaw succeeded in getting under her stern, and a
 
 1036 HISTORY OP THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 fifteen-inch shot from the Manhattan broke through her 
 iron plating and heavy wooden backing, though the mis- 
 sile itself did not enter the vessel. 
 
 The Hartford again bore down upon the ram at full 
 speed, when, unfortunately, the Lackawanna ran into the 
 Hartford just forward of trie mizzenmast, cutting her down 
 to within two feet of the water's edge. They soon got 
 clear again, however, and again bore down for the enemy. 
 The Tennessee was now in a desperate strait. The Chicka- 
 saw was pounding away at her stern, the Osipee was 
 approaching her at full speed, and the Monongahela, 
 Lackawanna, and Hartford were bearing down upon her, 
 determined upon her destruction. Her smoke-stack had 
 been shot away, her steering chains were gone, compelling 
 a resort to her relieving tackles, and several of the port- 
 shutters were jammed. Indeed, from the time the Hart- 
 ford struck her until her surrender, she never fired a gun. 
 As the Osipee, Commander Leroy, was about to strike ner, 
 she hoisted the white flag, and that vessel immediately 
 stopped her engine, though not in time to avoid a glan- 
 cing blow. During the contest with the rebel gunboats 
 and the ram Tennessee, and which terminated by her sur- 
 render at ten o'clock, the fleet lost many more men than 
 from the fire of the batteries of Fort Morgan. Admiral 
 Buchanan, commanding the Tennessee, was wounded in 
 the leg, two or three of his men were killed, and five or 
 six wounded. Commander Johnston, formerly of the 
 United States Navy, came on board the flag-ship to sur- 
 render his sword and that of Admiral Buchanan. 
 
 Thus ended one of the fiercest naval combats on record, 
 in which the defence made by the Tennessee illustrated 
 the power of that class of vessels. After all the terrible 
 attacks to which she was exposed, her hull was but little 
 injured. Her commander was in charge of the Merrimac 
 during her famous attack upon the Federal fleet in Hamp- 
 ton Roads. It had been imagined that as the ship channel 
 led so very close to the powerful Fort Morgan, no ships 
 would dare attempt the passage ; or, if the attempt were 
 made, none would succeed. But in Farragut's hands this 
 peculiarity of the channel became an advantage to the at- 
 tacking, and a weakness to the defending side. The 
 novel and ingenious expedient of lashing his vessels toge- 
 ther, two and two, showed how thoroughly the rear-adini-
 
 HISTORY OF THE GKEAT REBELLION. 1037 
 
 ral had considered the dangers in his way, and how suc- 
 cessfully he met them. 1st. If the exposed half of his fleet 
 had been disabled, the other half would still have gone in, 
 with but little injury. 2d. His battle line was not liable 
 to disorganization, by any vessel dropping out, and per- 
 haps fouling another ; the Oneida was disabled, but her 
 consort pulled her through, and the Oneida's men did not 
 even leave their guns. 3d. If any vessel had been sunk, 
 her consort would have surely and quickly saved the crew. 
 4th. His battle-line was shortened by half, and the passage 
 of course robbed of half its risks to the fleet. These were 
 the chief points gained by Farragut's admirable and novel 
 disposition of his force. 
 
 On the night of the 7th of August, Fort Powell having 
 surrendered, the commander of Fort Gaines, Colonel An- 
 derson, intimated a desire to surrender ; and for that 
 purpose went on board the fleet and made terms. General 
 Page, having some intimation of what was going on, tele- 
 
 f'aphed repeatedly to Anderson to hold on to his post, 
 he fort, however, was surrendered, and by this means 
 the western channel was now under the control of the 
 Federal fleet. The -surrender of Fort Morgan could not 
 after this be long delayed. Accordingly, after some days 
 spent in preparations, on August 21st, General Granger 
 notified Admiral Farragut that he would be ready to open 
 the siege next morning at daylight. That night the ad- 
 miral with his fleet took position in line of battle, and 
 Monday morning, the 22d, at five o'clock, opened upon 
 Morgan with thirty guns of various caliber, and sixteen 
 eight and ten inch mortars. In a short time three moni- 
 tors and several wooden vessels opened, the former with 
 eleven and fifteen inch shells, and the latter with rifled 
 thirty-two pounders. The firing continued with great 
 vigor and extraordinary accuracy until dark, when the 
 fleet withdrew, and the firing was continued only at inter- 
 vals by the shore batteries. During the shelling the 
 citadel of the fort took fire, and the enemy, after vain 
 efforts to extinguish the flames, flooded the magazine and 
 threw a large quantity of powder into the wells. ISTo 
 sooner was this light discovered, than General Bailey or- 
 dered all our batteries to commence firing, in order to 
 prevent the extinguishment of the flames. 
 
 At twenty minutes to seven o'clock on Tuesday morn-
 
 1038 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 ing, the 23d, Captain Taylor, bearing a white flag, and 
 accompanied by about forty men, carrying a small sail- 
 boat, marched out at the main sallyport, facing Fort 
 Gaines, with the intention of pushing off to the flag-ship, 
 three or four miles distant, with a note from General Page, 
 proposing to surrender the fort, and asking what terms 
 would be granted. General Granger now arrived at the 
 wharf, in front of Fort Morgan, and the note of General 
 Page was handed to him. Granger replied that he would 
 communicate the contents of the note to the admiral, and 
 when his answer was received the terms of surrender 
 would be dictated. In a short time thereafter Granger 
 sent General Arnold, chief of artillery, Captain Drayton, 
 of the Hartford, and another officer, with a demand for 
 the immediate and unconditional surrender of Fort Mor- 
 gan, with its garrison and all public property, to the army 
 and navy of the United States. With these terms Page 
 was fain to comply, though he disgraced himself by de- 
 stroying and injuring theproperty surrendered after he 
 had accepted the terms. With Forts Morgan and Gaines 
 eighty-six guns and fifteen hundred men fell into the pos- 
 session of the Union troops, and Mobile was permanently 
 sealed against blockade runners. 
 
 On the return of the troops to New Orleans, after 
 leaving sufficient garrisons in the Mobile forts, a num- 
 ber of expeditions were undertaken by General Canby's 
 troops, of which the most important was one into West 
 Florida, under command of General Asboth, which 
 reached Marianna on the afternoon of the 27th of Sep- 
 tember, capturing that place after a stubborn resistance 
 of several hours. The result was the capture of eighty- 
 one prisoners of war (among them a brigadier-general 
 and a colonel), ninety-five stand of arms, and large quan- 
 tities of quartermaster's and commissary stores. Our 
 loss in killed and wounded amounted to thirty-two, in- 
 cluding General Asboth himself, who had his left cheek- 
 bone broken and his left arm fractured in two places. 
 
 An expedition, sent by General Dana from Rodney, 
 Mississippi, reached Fayette on the 2d of October, en- 
 countering no enemy. They captured some cattle, horses, 
 mules, and several prisoners. Another expedition sent 
 by General Dana attacked the enemy at Woodville at 
 seven o'clock on October 7th, capturing three guns, one
 
 HISTOKT OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 1039 
 
 captain, one lieutenant, fifty-four enlisted men, and killing 
 forty of the enemy. 
 
 A cavalry expedition, under General A. L. Lee, reached 
 Clinton October 7th, at seven o'clock, capturing forty- 
 seven prisoners, the mails, telegraph office, &c., and a 
 considerable quantity of stores and ammunition. Among 
 the prisoners captured was Lieutenant-Colonel Pinckney, 
 provost-marshal-general of the district (installed in his 
 office a few hours before the arrival of our troops), one 
 captain, and two lieutenants. From there the expedition 
 moved to Greensburg, and, finding no enemy, destroyed 
 a tannery and some stores, and returned with a number 
 of blacks.
 
 1040 HISTORY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 
 
 CHAPTER LXY. 
 
 Expedition to Florida. Occupation of Jacksonville. Advance of General 
 Seymour. Battle of Olustee, and Retreat of the Union Army. Demon- 
 stration against Newbern. -Capture of Plymouth. The Albemarle. 
 Her fight with Union Gunboats. Her Destruction. Rebel Privateers. 
 Combat between the Kearsarge and Alabama. Capture of the Florida 
 and Georgia. 
 
 THE early part of 1864 witnessed a series of disasters 
 to the Union arras along the Atlantic coast, which, though 
 involving the loss of no essential points, and having no 
 direct influence upon the issue of the war, were yet, in 
 the aggregate, so considerable as to cause a wide-spread 
 uneasiness. The great aggressive campaigns of Grant and 
 Sherman had not then commenced, and these temporary 
 successes of the rebels, taken in connection with the 
 practical failure of the joint expedition into Southern 
 Mississippi, with the Fort Pillow massacre and the un- 
 fortunate termination of the Red River expedition, per- 
 plexed and irritated the public mind, while they infused 
 no little heart into the rebel cause. 
 
 In December, 1863, in accordance with his request, 
 authority was given to General Gillmore, commanding 
 the Department of the South, to undertake such opera- 
 tions, within his department, as he might deem best, on 
 consultation with Admiral Dahlgren, then in command 
 of the South Atlantic blockading squadron. He accord- 
 ingly intimated to the War Department that in February, 
 1864, he proposed to occupy the west bank of the St. 
 John's River, and establish small depots there, preparatory 
 to an advance at an early day. Under date of June 13th, 
 1864, the President wrote to Gillmore that, understanding 
 that certain persons were endeavoring to construct a legal 
 government in Florida, which formed part of the Depart- 
 ment of the South, and that Gillmore might possibly be 
 there in person, he had dispatched Mr. Hay, one of his 
 private secretaries, to aid in the proposed construction.
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 104:1 
 
 " It is desirable," he said, " for all to co-operate ; but if 
 irreconcilable differences of opinion shall arise, you are 
 master. 1 wish the thing done in the most speedy way 
 possible, so that when done it be within the range of the 
 late proclamation on the subject. The detail labor will 
 of course have to be done by others, but I shall be greatly 
 obliged if you will give it such general supervision as 
 you can find consistent with your more strictly military 
 duties." By the close of January, Gillmore's plans seem 
 to have been perfected, and in a letter to General Halleck, 
 the general-in-chief, he stated that the objects to be at 
 tained by his proposed operations were : 
 
 1. To procure an outlet for cotton, lumber, timber, &c. 
 
 2. To cut off one of the enemy's sources of commis- 
 sary supplies, &c. 
 
 3. To obtain recruits for any colored regiment. 
 
 4. To inaugurate measures for the speedy restoration 
 of Florida to her allegiance, in accordance with instruc- 
 tions received from the President by the hands of Major 
 John II. Hay, assistant adjutant-general. 
 
 Orders were issued by Gillmore to General Truman 
 Seymour, on February 5th, to proceed with a force of six 
 thousand men t'o Jacksonville, and, after effecting a land- 
 ing, to push on to Baldwin, twenty miles farther, with 
 his mounted troops. The command of Seymour, con- 
 voyed by the gunboat Norwich, Captain Merriam, 
 ascended the St. John's River on the Tth, and landed at 
 Jacksonville on the afternoon of the same day. The ad- 
 vance, under Colonel Guy Y. Henry, pushed forward 
 into the interior on the night of the 8th, passed by the 
 enemy, drawn up in line of battle at Camp Vinegar, 
 seven miles from Jacksonville, surprised and captured a 
 battery three miles in the rear of the camp about mid- 
 night, and reached Baldwin about sunrise. At the ap- 
 proach of the Union troops, the enemy fled, sunk the 
 steamer St. Mary's, and burned two hundred and seventy 
 bales of cotton, a few miles above Jacksonville. Our 
 forces captured, without the loss of a man, about one 
 hundred prisoners, eight pieces of artillery in serviceable 
 condition, and a large amount of other valuable property. 
 On the 9th, Gillmore reached Baldwin. At that time 
 the enemy had no force in East Florida, except the scat- 
 tered fragments of General Finnegan's command : we 
 
 64
 
 1042 HISTOKY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 had taken all his artillery. On the 10th, a portion of our 
 force was sent towards Sanderson, and Gillmore returned 
 to Jacksonville. Telegraphic communication was estab- 
 lished between Baldwin and Jacksonville on the llth, 
 and Seymour was directed by Gillmore not to risk a re- 
 pulse by advancing on Lake City, but to hold Sanderson, 
 unless there were reasons for falling back ; and also, in 
 case his advance met with any serious opposition, to con- 
 centrate at Sanderson and the south fork of the St. 
 Mary's, and, if necessary, to bring back Colonel Henry 
 to the latter place. Having subsequently directed Sey- 
 mour to make no further advance, without instructions, 
 but to put Jacksonville in a complete state of defence, 
 Gillmore returned on the 16th to Hilton Head. . 
 
 On Thursday, February 18th, Seymour left his camp 
 at Jacksonville, with ten days' rations, for the purpose 
 of destroying the railroad near the Suwannee River, one 
 hundred miles distant from Jacksonville. He had re- 
 ceived no directions from Gillmore to undertake this 
 movement, and the latter immediately sent positive 
 orders to him to remain where he was ; but these, unfor- 
 tunately, arrived too late to avert the disaster which sub- 
 sequently occurred. On the 19th, the column, numbering 
 about five thousand men, reached Barber's Station, on 
 the Florida Central Railroad, about thirty miles from 
 Jacksonville. Here it was the intention of Seymour to 
 remain several days ; but during the night of the 19th, 
 he received information of the enemy's whereabouts and 
 plans, which led him to believe that by pushing rapidly 
 forward his column, he would be able to defeat the 
 enemy's designs, and secure important military advan- 
 tages. At seven A. M. on the 20th, the march was re- 
 sumed along the line of the railroad, in the direction of 
 Lake City, and at noon the troops passed through Sander- 
 son. At this place they did not halt, but pushed forward 
 towards Olustee, nine miles distant, the point at which 
 Seymour believed he should meet the enemy. But 
 instead of coming in contact with the enemy at Olustee, 
 the meeting took place three miles east of that place, and 
 six miles west of Sanderson, so that the troops were not 
 BO well prepared for battle as they would have been if 
 Olustee had been the battle-field. The column moved 
 forward in regular order, the cavalry in the advance, and
 
 OP THE GREAT REBELLION. 1043 
 
 the artillery distributed along the line of infantry ; but, 
 with singular negligence, considering the march was 
 through an enemy's country, no flanking parties had 
 been thrown out. 
 
 At two P> M., as the head of the column reached a 
 point where a country road crosses the railroad, the 
 enemy's skirmishers were encountered. After some brisk 
 firing, the rebels fell back on a second line $ skirmish- 
 ers, and ultimately upon their main forces, which were 
 strongly posted between swamps, about six miles beyond 
 Sanderson. The rebel position was admirably chosen. 
 On the right their line rested upon a low and rather 
 slight earthwork, protected by rifle-pits, their centre was 
 defended by an impassable swamp, while on the left their 
 cavalry was drawn up on a small elevation behind the 
 shelter of a grove of pines. Their camp was intersected 
 by the railroad, on which was placed a battery capable 
 of operating against our left or our centre, while a rifled 
 gun, mounted on a truck, commanded the road. In 
 order to attack this strong position, our troops were com- 
 pelled to take a stand between two swamps, one in the 
 front, the other in the rear. The artillery was posted 
 within one hundred yards of the enemy's line of battle, a 
 position in which they were exposed to the deadly fire of 
 the rebel sharpshooters. 
 
 The Seventh New Hampshire Regiment, in connection 
 with the Seventh Connecticut, was sent forward to the 
 right, to break through the enemy's line. This move- 
 ment brought on hot firing, and it was evident that an 
 engagement was near at hand. At this time, the Union 
 force on the field consisted of the Seventh 'New Hamp- 
 shire, the Seventh Connecticut, the Independent Batta- 
 lion of Massachusetts Cavalry, the Fortieth Massachu- 
 setts Mounted Infantry, the Eighth United States Colored, 
 Elder's Battery of four, and Hamilton's of six pieces. The 
 remainder of the column was.halted on the road. While 
 the movement on the right was in progress, Colonel 
 Henry, in person, went over to the left to reconnoitre, 
 and discovered that the enemy's right lapped on our left. 
 This was reported to General Seymour, who immediately 
 gave orders for the advance troops and batteries to come 
 into position. The fact that the enemy had a force far 
 superior in point of numbers to our own was now beyond
 
 1044: HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 all dispute ; but to retreat at that time was impossible, 
 as the road was filled with troops coming, up, and the 
 woods on either side would not admit of passage on the 
 flank. Soon Langdon, on the extreme left, and Hamilton 
 on the right, succeeded in getting their batteries at work, 
 but the guns being within one hundred yards of the 
 enemy's front, the loss of life among the artillerists was 
 too great to enable them to maintain an efficient fire. In 
 twenty minutes' time, Hamilton lost forty-four men and 
 forty horses. The Eighth Colored Regiment, which 
 formed his support, also suffered considerably, and, after 
 the death of the commander, Colonel Fribley, retired in 
 disorder. Nevertheless, Hamilton kept his pieces at 
 work until it was evident it would be sure loss to fire 
 1 another round, and then gave orders to withdraw them. 
 Horses were attached to only four pieces the horses to 
 the other two had been shot ; consequently two guns fell 
 into possession of the enemy. On the right of Hamilton, 
 the Seventh Connecticut and the Seventh New Hamp- 
 shire were doing fearful execution. The Seventh Con- 
 necticut especially were standing their ground with 
 marked valor, and every volley from their guns told on 
 the rebel line. But the rebels outnumbered them five to 
 one, and, after losing one-fourth of their number, the 
 two regiments were compelled to retire to the rear. At 
 the same moment, Colonel Barton's Brigade, the Forty- 
 seventh, Forty-eighth, and One Hundred and Fifteenth 
 New York regiments, took the field, coming up in line 
 en echelon. They fought with great resolution, but, like 
 the other troops, could not make head against the over- 
 whelming force opposed to them. 
 
 The unequal contest was sustained until it became evi- 
 dent that the numerical superiority of the enemy was too 
 great to be successfully opposed. Our line was gradually 
 drawn back, leaving the dead and many of the seriously 
 wounded in the hands of the enemy. This movement 
 was covered by Colonel Montgomery's Brigade, the 
 Fifty-fourth Massachusetts and the First North Carolina. 
 When Barton's Brigade began to waver, in consequence 
 of their ammunition running low, the First North 
 Carolina was sent into line in front, and succeeded in 
 holding the enemy in check. As our troops retired, the 
 rebels attempted to flank us on both sides, a movement
 
 HISTOKY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 1045 
 
 which was checked by the judicious dispositions of Colo- 
 nel Henry. The centre held its ground under a heavy 
 fire from front and flank, until the formation of a new 
 position, about a hundred yards to the rear. Soon af- 
 ter the changes of line, the enemy made a desperate 
 charge on the centre, but were driven back by Elder's 
 Battery. 
 
 At sunset the firing slackened on both sides, and the 
 Union troops, though exhausted by a fatiguing march 
 and three hours' severe fighting, retired without confusion 
 from the field. Seymour was by this time satisfied that 
 the odds against him were too great to risk a repetition 
 of the day's fighting. He was moreover out of ammuni- 
 tion, and was fifty niiles distant from his base. Every 
 consideration prompted him to march his shattered force 
 back to Jacksonville before the enemy should encompass 
 it. The order to retreat was given, and, with hardly a 
 pause, the troops commenced to retrace their weary route 
 to Barber's. The retreat was conducted with perfect 
 order, Colonel Henry, with his cavalry, bringing up the 
 rear. At three o'clock, Sunday morning, the troops were 
 at Barber's. The enemy followed closely, but did not 
 press. A few of their cavalry only kept well up to the 
 rear of Henry's column. At Barber's the column rested 
 until nine A. M., and then took up the line of retreat, 
 reaching Baldwin at about three P. M. They halted here a 
 short time, and then went on towards Jacksonville, arriv- 
 ing at the camping-ground, six miles out, Monday after- 
 noon, the 22d. 
 
 The Union loss in this battle was not far from twelve 
 hundred, or about a fourth part of the force engaged. Five 
 guns were also abandoned upon the field, two of Hamil- 
 ton's and three of Langdon's Battery, from want of 
 horses to drag them away. The enemy's loss must have 
 been quite as severe, as he was inferior in artillery, and 
 the Union batteries were for the most part fired at very 
 short range. That he was considerably crippled was 
 evident from the fact that he made no effort at vigorous 
 pursuit. When finally he approached the neighborhood 
 of Jackson, he found the Union army protected by strong 
 works, with gunboats to support it in case of need. No 
 further attempt was made to penetrate into Florida, and 
 no movement was initiated for reorganizing the State.
 
 1046 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 The troops on both sides were a few months later called 
 away for more important work in Virginia. 
 
 For two years subsequent to the landing of Burnside 
 on the North Carolina coast, the Union troops had re- 
 tained uninterrupted possession of those places on the 
 inland waters which were then occupied and fortified, 
 and of which the most important were Plymouth, on the 
 south bank of the Roanoke River, near its entrance into 
 Albemarle Sound ; "Washington, on the Famlico River, 
 and Newbern, on the Neuse. Rebel demonstrations 
 against these towns in the spring of 1863 had proved 
 abortive, and public interest was soon absorbed by the 
 great campaigns in Virginia and the Valley of the Mis- 
 sissippi. JBut previous to the renewal of active opera- 
 tions between the main contending armies, the rebel 
 authorities determined, in the etfrly part of 1864, to make 
 another attempt to expel the Union troops from North 
 Carolina. To harass the Federal Government, and to 
 divert its attention from more important objects, was un- 
 doubtedly one of their motives. Another was to give 
 greater security to the lines of railroad traversing North 
 Carolina, which might become of vital importance to the 
 Confederacy in the event of the success of Sherman's 
 campaign against Atlanta, and which were always more 
 or less endangered by the proximity of Union garrisons 
 on the coast. In aid of the projected movement, a large 
 and powerful armored ram, called the Albemarle, which 
 had been a long time building up the Roanoke River, 
 was rapidly pushed to completion. 
 
 The first demonstration was against Newbern, and was 
 evidently intended as a feint. On February 1st, the 
 rebel General Picket, with the brigades of Hoke, Corse, 
 and Clingman, carried by assault a small Union outpost 
 within eight miles of the town, capturing two guns and a 
 few prisoners ; but satisfied, apparently, by a nearer re- 
 connoissdnce, that the defences of Newbern were too 
 strong to be attacked with any prospect of success, he 
 withdrew his troops to Kinston on the succeeding day. 
 
 The next movement was of a more serious character, 
 and was directed against Plymouth, which had been 
 strongly fortified, and commanded the entrance to the 
 Roanoke River. The main defences comprised a breast- 
 work with strong forts at different points along the line.
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 1047 
 
 A mile farther up the river was another strong work, 
 called Fort Gray, opposite to which a triple row of piles 
 had been driven, with torpedoes attached, to serve as a 
 protection to the Union war vessels anchored in front of 
 the town. Still farther up was another row of piles with 
 torpedoes, near which a picket boat was stationed to give 
 warning of the approach of the Albeinarle. In the 
 middle of April the garrison consisted of about two 
 thousand five hundred men, under command of General 
 Wessells, and the gunboats Southfield, Miami, Bomb- 
 shell, Whitehead, and Ceres were at anchor in the river. 
 On Sunday, April 17th, Iloke, with a force estimated at 
 from ten to fifteen thousand men, and a heavy artillery 
 train, appeared before the town, and, late in the after- 
 noon, Fort Gray was attacked from a battery of six pieces 
 planted on a sand-bank on Pope's Island, a thousand 
 yards up the river. Two desperate charges were made 
 on the fort at early dawn of Monday, and both gallantly 
 repulsed with severe slaughter to the enemy. The Bomb- 
 shell, a small gunboat, steaming up to the aid of the fort, 
 was sunk by. the battery. At sunset the enemy desper- 
 ately assaulted Forts Williams and Wessells, forming 
 part of the main line of defences, and were repulsed 
 three times, the gunboats aiding the forts by hurling 
 shell among the rebel columns. 
 
 At three A. M. of Tuesday, the 19th, the much-dreaded 
 Albemarle, passing through the obstructions unharmed, 
 silently ran down the river, eluding our battery, and, 
 obliquely crossing, struck her prow into the starboard bow 
 of the Southfield, which sank in ten minutes. The South- 
 field was formerly a ferry-boat plying between New York 
 and Staten Island, side-wheel, eleven hundred and sixty- 
 five tons and seven guns. Some of her officers and crew 
 were picked up by the Miami, some captured, and a few 
 lost. Both the Southfield and Miami had been lashed 
 together to oppose a joint resistance to the ram, but the 
 shock of the collision separated them. The Miami, and 
 the Southfield as long as she could keep above water, main- 
 tained a brisk fire upon the Albemarle, which proved 
 utterly ineffective. In firing on the ram, Lieutenant- 
 Commander Flusser, commanding the Miami, a gallant 
 and skilful sailor, was instantly Killed by the rebound of 
 a shell from the impenetrable side of the enemy. His
 
 1048 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 death was especially disastrous at that time, when, most 
 of all, his skill and courage were needed. The ram, hav- 
 ing driven off the gunboats, began to shell the town and 
 forts, briskly aided by the rebel batteries. The attack 
 was violently conducted on Tuesday, the rebel lines 
 drawing nearer, and our force evacuating Fort Wessells, 
 after a brave defence. At nine A. M., on Wednesday, 
 Fort "Williams was assaulted and the enemy handsomely 
 repulsed in several distinct charges, with great slaughter. 
 At half-past ten A. M., General Wessells capitulated, and 
 pulled the flag down from Forts Williams and Comfort. 
 The garrison at Fort Gray persisted in holding out some- 
 what longer, but finally surrendered. The enemy took 
 about two thousand five hundred prisoners, thirty pieces 
 of artillery, several hundred horses, a large amount of 
 provisions and stores, and the garrison outfit. The non- 
 combatants of the town and some negroes had been pru- 
 dently removed, before the main attack, to Roanoke Island. 
 Our loss in killed and wounded was about one hundred 
 andxfifty the enemy's probably upward of a thousand. 
 The enemy seemed satisfied with this success, and made 
 no further attempt upon Newbern or Washington. 
 Warned, however, of the danger of leaving isolated gar- 
 risons to be overpowered after the fashion of Plymouth, 
 Government ordered the evacuation of Washington in the 
 latter part of April, so that by the 1st of May the only 
 place on the mainland near the North Carolina sounds 
 occupied by the Union forces was Newbern, which from 
 its great strength might well defy attack. Operations by 
 land forces ended, however, with the capture of Ply- 
 mouth, and the troops on both sides were soon after, for 
 the most part, sent North, to participate in the campaign 
 against Richmond. 
 
 As the presence of the Albemarle in the North Caro- 
 lina waters threatened to destroy the uninterrupted su- 
 premacy which the Federal fleets had maintained there, 
 the squadron was increased, and Captain Melancthon 
 Smith, an experienced officer, placed in command. On 
 May 5th, the Union fleet being collected near the mouth 
 of the Roanoke River, the Albemarle sallied forth, 
 accompanied by the Bombshell as a tender, and at half- 
 past four r. M. proceeded to attack the gunboats. The 
 latter were mostly small craft, built expressly to navigate
 
 HISTORY OF THE OKEAT REBELLION. 1049 
 
 the shallow waters of the sounds and the rivers flowing 
 into them, but manfully accepted the unequal battle. 
 Soon after five o'clock the Sassacus, a " double-ender " 
 (that is, a vessel capable of sailing equally well in either 
 direction), watching her opportunity, struck the ram 
 fairly abaft her starboard beam, causing her to careen 
 until the water washed over her deck and casemates. In 
 this position the two vessels remained for about ten min- 
 utes, the crew of the Sassacus vainly endeavoring to 
 throw hand-grenades down the hatch of the Albemarle, 
 and to get powder into her smoke-stack. At length they 
 separated, and at the moment of parting the ram sent a 
 hundred-pound shot clean through the starboard boiler of 
 her antagonist, filling her with steam and causing her to 
 retire for a while from the fight. No further casualty oc- 
 curred to the Union fleet, and about half-past seven the 
 ram retired up the Roanoke River. Her tender, the 
 Bombshell, was captured early in the action. From re- 
 ports of refugees, it appeared that the Albemarle had 
 suffered considerably in the encounter. None of the 
 gunboats were much injured except the Sassacus, and the 
 battle, considering the relative strength of the contending 
 parties, was justly claimed to have been creditable to the 
 courage and skill of American seamen. 
 
 The Albemarle did not venture outside of the river 
 again, but, under the apprehension that she might at any 
 time make her appearance, various plans were devised for 
 her destruction. Of these, the only successful one was 
 that suggested and undertaken by Lieutenant W. B. 
 Gushing, a young officer who had gained an enviable 
 reputation for coolness and intrepidity in hazardous en- 
 terprises. On the night of October 27th he started up 
 the Roanoke in a steam-launch equipped as a torpedo- 
 boat, having on board a crew of thirteen officers and 
 men. The distance from the mouth of the river to 
 where the ram lay was about eight miles, and the banks, 
 which are about two hundred yards apart, were lined with 
 rebel pickets. About a mile below the town was the 
 wreck of the Southfield, surrounded by some river craft. 
 The result of the attempt is thus related by Lieutenant 
 Gushing : 
 
 " Our boat succeeded in passing the picket, and even the Southfield
 
 1050 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 within twenty yards, without discovery, and we were not hailed until by 
 the lookouts on the ram. The cutter was then cast off and ordered below, 
 while we made for our enemy under a full head of steam. The rebels 
 sprang their rattles, rang the bell, and commenced firing, at the same time 
 repeating their hail, and seeming much confused. The light of a fire 
 ashore showed mo the iron-clad, made fast to the wharf, with a pen of logs 
 around her about thirty feet from her side. Passing her closely, we made 
 a complete circle, so as to strike her fairly, and went into her bows on. 
 By this time the enemy's fire was very severe, but a dose of canister, at 
 short range, served to moderate their zeal and disturb their aim. Pay- 
 master Swan, of the Otsego, was wounded near me, but how many more I 
 know not. Three bullets struck my clothing, and the air seemed full of 
 them. In a moment we had struck the logs, just abreast of the quarter- 
 port, breasting them in some feet, and our bows resting on them. The 
 torpedo-boom was then lowered, and, by a vigorous pull, I succeeded in 
 driving the torpedo under the overhang, and exploded it at the same time 
 that the Albemarle's gun was fired. .A shot seemed to go crashing 
 through my boat, and a dense mass of water rushed in from the torpedo, 
 filling the launch and completely disabling her. The enemy then con- 
 tinued his fire at fifteen feet range, and demanded our surrender, which I 
 twice refused, ordering the men to save themselves, and removing my own 
 coat and shoes. Springing into the river, I swam, with others, into the 
 middle of the stream, the rebels failing to hit us. The most of our party 
 were captured, some drowned, and only one escaped besides myself, and 
 he in a different direction. Acting Master's Mate Woodman, of the Com- 
 modore Hull, I met in the water half a mile below the town, and assisted 
 him as best I could, but failed to get him ashore. Completely exhausted, 
 I managed to reach the shore, but was too weak to crawl out of the water 
 untiljust at daylight, when I managed to creep into the swamp, close to 
 the fort. "While hiding a few foet from the path, two of the Albemarle's 
 officers passed, and I judged from their conversation that the ship was des- 
 troyed. Some hours' travelling in the swamp served to bring me out well 
 below the town, when I sent a negro in to gain information, and found 
 that the ram was truly sunk. Proceeding through another swamp, I 
 came to a creek and captured a skiff belonging to a picket of the enemy, 
 and with this, by eleven o'clock the next night, had made my way out to 
 the Valley City." 
 
 Only one other of the party succeeded in escaping, the 
 rest being either killed, captured, or drowned. A detach- 
 ment of naval vessels occupied Plymouth a few days later, 
 and found the Albemarle lying near her wharf, completely 
 submerged. In the succeeding year, however, she was 
 raised and converted into a useful war-vessel. With this 
 event military operations were practically ended in tjie 
 inland waters of North Carolina. 
 
 During the year 1864, the three English-built, equip- 
 ped, and manned cruisers, the Alabama, Georgia, and 
 Florida, whose depredations upon unarmed merchantmen 
 had almost paralyzed the American carrying trade, ter- 
 minated their piratical career. Early in June, the Ala- 
 bama, Captain Raphael Semmes, after an unusually pros-
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 1051 
 
 perous career in the Southern Atlantic and Indian Oceans, 
 arrived in the harbor of Cherbourg. At that time the 
 United States corvette Kearsarge, Captain John A. "Wins- 
 low, was lying at Flushing, and her commander, upon 
 hearing of the return of the Alabama to Northern waters, 
 at once repaired to Cherbourg to watch her movements. 
 Semines, ashamed possibly of his inglorious career against 
 defenceless vessels, and desirous td show that he was not 
 afraid to meet an antagonist of equal strength with his 
 own ship, immediately sent word to Captain Winslow 
 that he was desirous of meeting him in combat outside the 
 harbor of Cherbourg, and would feel obliged if the Union 
 commander would wait until the Alabama was put in 
 fighting trim. This proposition was willingly accepted 
 by Captain Winslow, and the Kearsarge was held in readi- 
 ness for the expected fight. The two vessels thus about 
 to measure their strength were as nearly equally matched 
 as any ocean combatants could be, their relative propor- 
 tions being as follows: 
 
 Alabama. Kearsarge. 
 
 Length over all 220 feet 214J- feet. 
 
 Length on water-line 210 " 198 " 
 
 Beam 32 " '33 " 
 
 Depth 17 " 16 " 
 
 Horse-power, two engines of 300 each. 400 h. p. 
 
 Tonnage 1,150 1,031 
 
 The Alabama was a bark-rigged screw propeller, and 
 the heaviness of her rig, and, above all, the greater size 
 and height of her masts, gave her the appearance of a 
 much larger vessel than her antagonist. The masts of the 
 latter were disproportionately low and small ; she never 
 carried more than topsail yards, and depended for her 
 speed upon her machinery alone. Ships of war, however, 
 whatever may be their tonnage, are nothing more than 
 platforms for carrying artillery. The only mode by which 
 to judge of the strength of two vessels is in comparing 
 their armaments ; and herein we find the equality of the 
 antagonists as fully exemplified as in the respective pro- 
 portions of their hulls and steam power. The armaments 
 of the Alabama and Kearsarge were as follows : 
 
 Armament of the Alabama. One 7-inch Blakely rifle; 
 one 8-inch smooth-bore 68-pounder; six 32-pounders.
 
 1052 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 Armament of the Kearsarge. Two 11-inch smooth- 
 bore guns ; one 30-pounder rifle ; four 32-pounders. 
 
 It will, therefore, be seen that the Alabama had the 
 advantage of the Kearsarge at all events, in the number 
 of her guns while the weight of the latter's broadside 
 was only some twenty per cent, greater than her own. 
 
 To protect the boilers of the Kearsarge, Captain Wins- 
 low had adopted the simple expedient of hanging her 
 spare anchor cable over tne midship section on either 
 side. This had first been adopted by Farragut, in run- 
 ning with his fleet past Forts Jackson and St. Philip, on 
 the Mississippi. The operation took just three days, 
 without other assistance than the crew could afford ; and 
 in order to make the addition less unsightly, the chains 
 were boxed over with inch deal boards, forming a case or 
 box, which stood out at right angles with the vessel's 
 sides. This was the whole foundation for the absurd sto- 
 ries circulated by rebel sympathizers, and which Semmes 
 himself gave publicity to, that the Kearsarge was a for- 
 midable iron-clad, and consequently of vastly greater 
 strength than her opponent. This method of employing 
 the anchor cable was perfectly well known to the rebel 
 commander. He, however, preferred to protect his own 
 boilers by taking on board one hundred and fifty tons of 
 coal, which, in addition to two hundred tons already in 
 his bunkers, brought his vessel pretty low in the water, 
 while the Kearsarge, on the contrary, was deficient in 
 coal, having taken on board barely sufficient for her im- 
 mediate wants. 
 
 Five days sufficed to complete Semmes's preparations, 
 and on Sunday morning, June 19th, the Alabama, in 
 "prime condition," according to his own statement, sal- 
 lied forth to meet the Union cruiser. So much publicity 
 had been given to the announcement that the Uni<5n and 
 rebel war steamers were about to contend in sight of the 
 French coast, that the appointed day found the shores 
 thronged with spectators, to whom a genuine sea-fight 
 was a thing rather of the past than the present day. Fifty 
 years had elapsed since the navies of England and France 
 had contended in the same waters. Special excursion 
 trains brought thousands of persons from Paris, and many 
 had even come over from England. The efficiency of 
 modern ordnance was now about to be tested by skilful
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 1053 
 
 hands, and the gunners of the Alabama, who had mostly 
 been trained on the British practice-ship Excellent, were 
 expected to show the superiority of the Blakely guns over 
 those carried by the Kearsarge. The latter depended 
 principally upon her eleven -inch Dahlgrens, and her gun- 
 ners, taken mostly from the merchantmen, were without 
 other instruction than that acquired during the year or 
 two they had been in the National service. Singularly 
 enough, too, although the greater part of European ships 
 of war were steam propelled, no single combat between 
 vessels of this class, similar to those so often recorded in 
 naval history, had ever taken place in European waters, 
 and curiosity was greatly excited as to the probable result 
 of such a contest. The day was clear and beautiful, just 
 enough of a breeze prevailing to ruffle the surface of the 
 water, and as the Alabama weighed and stood out of 
 Cherbourg harbor on her mission of death and destruction, 
 the church bells on either coast were summoning worship- 
 pers to the house of God. 
 
 Shortly after ten o'clock, the officers of the Kearsarge 
 descried their antagonist coming out of the western en- 
 trance of the harbor, accompanied by the French iron- 
 clad frigate Couronne, which had been ordered to convoy 
 her outside the limits of French waters. No sooner was 
 the limit of jurisdiction reached than the Couronne put 
 down her helm, and steamed back into port. Imme- 
 diately preceding the Alabama was a three-masted steam 
 yacht, the Deerhound, belonging to a Mr. Lancaster, an 
 Englishman, who was on board with his family, ostensibly 
 to witness the contest, but really, as it afterwards proved, 
 to act the part of a tender to the rebel steamer. For the 
 purpose of avoiding any infraction of French jurisdiction, 
 and also of drawing the Alabama so far ofi' from shore 
 that, if disabled, she could not return to port, Captain 
 Winslow put out to sea, and at once cleared for action. 
 Having reached a point seven miles from shore, he turn- 
 ed the head of his ship short around, and steered for the 
 Alabama, intending to run her down, or, if that were not 
 practicable, to close in with her. The following is his 
 graphic account of the action which followed : 
 
 " Hardly had the Kearsarge come round before the Alabama sheered, 
 presented her starboard battery, and slowed her engines. On approaching 
 her at long range of about a mile, she opened her Ml broadside, the shot
 
 1054 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 cutting some of our rigging, and going over and alongside of us. Imme- 
 diately I ordered more speed ; but in two minutes the Alabama had loaded 
 and again fired another broadside, and followed it with a third, without 
 damaging us except in rigging. We had now arrived within about nina 
 hundred yards of her, and I was apprehensive that another broadside 
 nearly ralpng as it was would prove disastrous. Accordingly I ordered 
 the Kearsarge sheered, and opened on the Alabama. The position of the 
 vessels was now broadside and broadside ; but it was soon apparent that 
 Captain Semmes did not seek close action. I became then fearful lest, after 
 some fighting, that he would again make for the shore. To defeat this, I 
 determined to keep full speed on, and with a port helm to run under the 
 stern of the Alabama and rake her, if he did not prevent it by sheering and 
 keeping his broadside to us. He adopted this mode as a preventive, and as 
 a consequence the Alabama was forced, with a full head of steam, into a 
 circular track during the engagement. The effect of this manoeuvre was 
 such that, at the last of the action, when the Alabama would have made 
 off, she was near five miles from the shore ; and, had the action continued 
 from the first in parallel lines, with her head in shore, the line of jurisdic- 
 tion would no doubt have been reached. The firing of the Alabama from 
 the first was rapid and wild ; towards the close of the action her firing be- 
 came better. Our men, who had been cautioned against rapid firing with- 
 out direct aim, were much more deliberate ; and the instructions given to 
 point the heavy guns below rather than above the waterline, and clear the 
 deck with the lighter ones, was fully observed. 
 
 "I had endeavored, with a port helm, to close in with the Alabama, but 
 it was not until just before the close of the action that we were in position 
 to use grape. This was avoided, however, by her surrender. The effect of 
 the training of our men was evident; nearly every shot from our guns was 
 telling fearfully on the Alabama, and on the seventh rotation on the circu- 
 lar track she winded, setting foretrysail and two jibs, with head in shore. 
 Her speed was now retarded, and by winding, her port broadside was pre- 
 sented to us, with only two guns bearing, not having been able, as I learn- 
 ed afterwards, to shift over but one. I saw now that she was at our mer- 
 cy, and a few more guns, well directed, brought down her flag. I was un- 
 able to ascertain whether it had been hauled down or shot away ; but a 
 white flag having been displayed over the stern, our fire was reserved. Two 
 minutes had not more than elapsed before she again opened on us with two 
 guns on the port side. This drew our fire again, and the Kearsarge was 
 immediately steamed ahead, and laid across her bows for raking. The white 
 flag was still flying, and our fire was again reserved. Shortly after this 
 her boats were seen to be lowering, and an officer in one of them came 
 alongside, and informed us the ship had surrendered, and was fast sinking. 
 In twenty minutes from this time the Alabama went down, her mainmast, 
 which had been shot, breaking near the head as she sank, and her bow 
 rising high out of the water as her stern rapidly settled." 
 
 In allusion to what occurred after the surrender of the 
 Alabama, Captain Winslow reports as follows : 
 
 " It was seen shortly afterwards that the Alabama was lowering her 
 boats, and an officer came alongside in one of them, to say that they had 
 surrendered, and were fast sinking, and begging that boats would be dis- 
 patched immediately for saving of life. The two boats not disabled were 
 at once lowered, and, as it was apparent the Alabama was settling, this offi- 
 cer was permitted to leave in his boat to afford assistance. An English
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 1055 
 
 yacht, the Deerhound, had approached near the Kearsarge at this time, when 
 I hailed and begged the commander to run down to the Alabama, as she 
 was fast sinking, and we had but two boats, and assist in picking up the 
 men. He answered affirmatively, and steamed towards the Alabama, but 
 the latter sank almost immediately. The Deerhound, however, sent her 
 boats, and was actively engaged, aided by several others, which had come 
 from shore. These boats were busy in bringing the wounded and others to 
 the Kearsarge, whom we were trying to make as comfortable as possible, 
 when it was reported to me that the Deerhound was moving off. I could 
 not believe that the commander of that vessel could be guilty of so dis- 
 graceful an act as taking our prisoners off, and therefore took no means to 
 prevent it, but continued to keep our boats at work rescuing the men in 
 the water. I am sorry to say that I was mistaken; the D"eerhound made 
 off with Captain Semrnes and others, and also the vory officer who had 
 come on board to surrender. I learnt subsequently that .the Deerhound 
 was a consort of the Alabama, and that she received on board all the valu- 
 able personal effects of Captain Semmes the night before the engagement." 
 
 The Alabama, which fought seven guns to the Kear- 
 sarge's five, is reported to have discharged three hundred 
 and seventy or more shot and shell in this engagement, 
 but inflicted no serious damage on the Kearsarge. Thir- 
 teen or fourteen took effect in and about the hull of the 
 latter, and sixteen or seventeen about the masts and rig- 
 ging. The Kearsarge fired one hundred and seventy-three 
 projectiles, of which one alone killed and wounded eigh- 
 teen of the crew of the Alabama, and disabled one of her 
 guns. Three persons were wounded on the Kearsarge. 
 The number of killed and wounded on the Alabama is 
 unknown. Seventeen of the wounded, two of them in a 
 dying condition, were brought on board the Kearsarge. 
 One hundred and fifteen officers and men of the Alabama's 
 crew reached the shores of England and France, of whom 
 six officers and sixty-four men were taken on board the 
 Kearsarge. The Deerhound carried off fifteen officers, 
 including Semmes, who was sliglitly wounded, and twen- 
 ty-seven men. The total ship's company of the Alabama, 
 so far as can be ascertaine'd, amounted to about one hun- 
 dred and fifty, the majority being British subjects, of whom 
 probably more than thirty were killed or drowned. The 
 officers and crew of the Kearsarge numbered one hundred 
 and sixty-three. The conduct of Semmes in throwing 
 overboard his sword after surrendering, and allowing him- 
 self to be conveyed to England, was severely commented 
 upon, and it was directed by the United States Govern- 
 ment that he should be considered a prisoner of war until 
 properly exchanged.
 
 1056 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 The Florida originally sailed from England under the 
 name of Oreto, and under that name she was, on reaching 
 Nassau, brought before the court through the efforts of 
 the American consul, who was satisfied that she was in 
 the rebel interest and intended as a rebel cruiser. The 
 neutral authorities decided in favor of the vessel, which 
 was permitted to proceed. Leaving Nassau, she went to 
 Green Cay, where she received on board the armament 
 sent out for her from England, ran into Mobile, changed 
 her name into Florida, and subsequently, fleeing from all 
 naval vessels, carried on predatory war on American 
 commerce, capturing and destroying unarmed merchant- 
 men, without ever sending in a vessel for adjudication. 
 In February, 1864, availing herself of a dark night, she 
 escaped from Brest, eluding the Kearsarge, which was off 
 that port. In June she visited the neutral port of St. 
 George's, Bermuda, and remained there nine days, re- 
 ceiving all the coal and supplies necessary for a long 
 piratical cruise. Leaving St. George's on the 27th of 
 that month, she remained outside, but in sight, for three 
 or four days, boarding all vessels that approached the 
 island. On the 10th of July she captured the Electric 
 Spark, near our coast, while several vessels were cruising 
 for lier f but she escaped, and was next heard from at 
 Teneriffe, on the 4th of August. Subsequently, entering 
 the bay of San Salvador, Brazil, she encountered the 
 steamer "Wachusett, commanded by Commander Collins, 
 who, taking advantage of the absence of Captain Morris 
 and about half the crew of the Florida on shore, quietly 
 raised anchor and drove his ship straight into the rebel, 
 who at once surrendered. A hawser was then attached 
 to the captured vessel, and the Wachusett steamed out of 
 the harbor at full speed, having her prize in tow. The 
 harbor fortifications opened upon her as she passed out, 
 and she was followed by two Brazilian men-of-war, which, 
 however, failed to overtake her. The Florida was finally 
 brought in a leaky and dilapidated condition to Hamp- 
 ton Roads. Here, while at anchor, and pending the 
 settlement of the questions of international law which 
 her capture in a neutral port involved, an army trans- 
 port came in collision with the shattered vessel, which 
 sank a few days after, near the wreck of the Cumberland. 
 
 The Georgia, another English-built naval vessel which
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 1057 
 
 cruised under the rebel flag, repaired to Cherbourg in 
 February, 1864, and thence proceeded to the Mersey, 
 where she changed owners. Her armament was removed 
 from her, and she left Liverpool for Lisbon. On the 15th 
 of August, Commodore T. T. Craven, of the Niagara, fel? 
 in with her in latitude 39 16' north, longitude 9 39 
 west, sailing under the English flag. Commodore Craven 
 took possession of the vessel as a lawful prize, and, putting 
 a prize crew on board of her, he sent her to the United 
 States. 
 
 65
 
 1058 HISTORY OF THE GBEAT REBELLION". 
 
 CHAPTER LXVI. 
 
 Depopulation of Atlanta. Correspondence between General Sherman and 
 Mayor Calhoun. Flank Movement by Hood. Attack on AUatoona. 
 Hood Severs Sherman's Communications. Marches into Alabama and 
 Enters Tennessee. Sherman's New Plan of Campaign. Invasion of 
 Tennessee. Battle of Franklin. Affair at Murfreesboro. Battles of 
 December 15th and 16th before Nashville. Retreat of Hood into 
 Alabama. Close of the Campaign. 
 
 THE order for the depopulation of Atlanta which 
 General Sherman, for military reasons, deemed it proper 
 to issue and enforce, met with no little opposition from 
 the small remnant of the inhabitants of that once nourish- 
 ing place who had remained there during all the rigors 
 of the siege. We have seen how Sherman replied to 
 Hood's remonstrance. The following correspondence 
 between him and the major of Atlanta conveys in as 
 clear and forcible terms, perhaps, as were ever employed 
 for the purpose, the harships which the people of the re- 
 bellious States brought upon themselves in attempting 
 to sever their relations with the Union, and plunge the 
 country in the horrors of civil war : 
 
 LETTER OF MAYOR CALHOUN. 
 
 "ATLANTA, GEORGIA, September 11, 1864. 
 " Major-General "W. T. SHERMAN : 
 
 " SIB : The undersigned, Mayor and two members of Council for the 
 city of Atlanta, for the time being the only legal organ of the people of 
 the said city to express their wants and wishes, ask leave most earnestly, 
 but respectfully, to petition you to reconsider the order requiring them to 
 leave Atlanta. At first view it struck us that the measure would involve 
 extraordinary hardship and loss; but since we have seen the practical 
 execution of it, so far as it has progressed, and the individual condition of 
 many of the people, and heard the statements as to the inconveniencies, 
 loss, and suffering attending it, we are satisfied that the amount of it will 
 involve in the aggregate consequences appalling and heart-rending. 
 
 " Many poor women are in the advanced state of pregnancy ; others hav- 
 ing young children, whose husbands, for the greater part, are either in the 
 army, prisoners, or dead. Some say : ' I have such a one sick at my 
 house ; who will wait on them when I am gone ? ' Others say : ' What are 
 we to do? we have no houses to go to, and no means to buy, build, or rent 
 any ; no parents, relatives, or friends to go to.' Another says : ' I will
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 1059 
 
 try and take this or that article of property ; but such and such things I 
 must leave behind, though I need them much.' We reply to them : 
 ' General Sherman will carry your property to Rough and Ready, and then 
 General Hood will take it thence on." And they will reply to that : 'But 
 I want to leave the railroad at such a place, and cannot get conveyance 
 from thence on.' 
 
 "We only refer to a few facts to illustrate in part how this measure will 
 operate in practice. As you advanced, the people north of us fell back, 
 and before your arrival here a large portion of the people here had retired 
 south ; so that the country south of this is already crowded, and without 
 sufficient houses to accommodate the people, and we are informed that 
 many are now staying in churches and other outbuildings. This being so, 
 how is it possible for the people still here (mostly women and children) to 
 find shelter, and how can they live through the winter in the woods no 
 shelter or subsistence in the midst of strangers, who know them not, and 
 without the power to assist them much, if they were willing to do so ? 
 
 l> This is but a feeble picture of the consequences of this measure. You 
 know the woe, the horror, and the suffering cannot be described by words. 
 Imagination can only conceive of it ; and we ask you to take these things 
 into consideration. We know your mind and time are continually occupied 
 with the duties of your command, which almost deters us from asking 
 your attention to the matter ; but thought it might be that you had not 
 considered the subject in all of its awful consequences, and that, on reflec- 
 tion, you, we hope, would not make this people an exception to all man- 
 kind ; for we know of no such instance ever having occurred surely not 
 in the United States. And what has this helpless people done, that they 
 should be driven from their homes, to wander as strangers, outcasts, and 
 exiles, and to subsist on charity ? 
 
 " We do not know as yet the number of people still here. Of those who 
 aro here, a respectable number, if allowed to remain at home, could sub- 
 sist for several months without assistance ; and a respectable number, for 
 a much longer time, and who. might not need assistance at any tune. 
 
 " In conclusion, we most earnestly and solemnly petition you to recon- 
 sider this order, or modify it, and suffer this unfortunate people to remain 
 at home and enjoy what little means they have. 
 
 " Respectfully submitted. JAMES M. CALHOUN, Mayor. 
 
 GENERAL SHERMAN'S REPLY. 
 
 "HEAD-QUARTERS MILITARY DIVISION OF THE MISSISSIPPI, } 
 
 "!N THE FIELD, 
 
 "ATLANTA, GEORGIA, September 12, 1864. ) 
 " JAMES M. CALHOUN, Mayor ; E. E. RAWSON and S. C. WELLS, representing 
 
 City Council of Atlanta : 
 
 "GENTLEMEN: I have your letter of the llth, in the nature of a peti- 
 tion to revoke my orders removing all the inhabitants from Atlanta. I 
 have read it carefully, and give full credit to your statements of the dis- 
 tress that will be occasioned by it, and yet shall not revoke my order, 
 simply because my orders are not designed to meet the humanities of the 
 case, but to prepare for the future struggles, in which millions, yea, hun- 
 dreds of millions of good people outside of Atlanta, have a deep interest. 
 We must have peace, not only at Atlanta, but in ah 1 America. To secure 
 this, we must stop the war that now desolates our once happy and favored 
 country. To stop war, we must defeat the rebel armies that are arrayed
 
 1060 HISTORY OF THE GKEAT REBELLION. 
 
 against the laws and Constitution, which all must respect and obey. To 
 defeat these armies, we must prepare the way to reach them in their 
 recesses, provided with the arms and instruments which enable us to ac- 
 complish our purpose. 
 
 " Now, I know the vindictive nature of our enemy, and that we may 
 have many years of military operations from this quarter, and therefore 
 deem it wise and prudent to prepare in tune. The use of Atlanta for war- 
 like purposes is inconsistent with its character as a home for families. 
 There will be no manufactures, commerce, or agriculture here for tlie 
 maintenance of families, and sooner or later want will compel the inhabit- 
 ants to go. Why not go now, when all the arrangements are completed 
 for the transfer, instead of waiting till the plunging shot of contending 
 armies will renew the scene of the past month ? Of course I do not ap- 
 prehend any such thing at this moment ; but you do not suppose that this 
 army will be here till the war is over? I cannot discuss this subject with 
 you fairly, because I cannot impart to you what I propose to do ; but I as- 
 sert that my military plans make it necessary for the inhabitants to go 
 away, and I can only renew my offer of services to make their exodus in 
 any direction as easy and comfortable as possible. You cannot qualify war 
 in harsher terms than I will. War is cruelty, and you cannot define it ; 
 and those who brought war on our country deserve all the curses and 
 maledictions a people can pour out. I know I had no hand in making this 
 war, and I know I will make more sacrifices to-day than any of you to se- 
 cure peace. But you cannot have peace and a division of our country. If 
 the United States submits to a division now, it will not stop, but will go on 
 till we reap the fate of Mexico, which is eternal war. The United States 
 does and must assert its authority wherever it has power ; if it relaxes one 
 bit to pressure, it is gone, and I know that such is not the national feeling. 
 This feeling assumes various shapes, but always comes back to that of 
 Union. Once admit the Union, once more acknowledge the authority of 
 the National Government, and instead of devoting your houses and streets 
 and roads to the dread uses of war, I and this army become at once your 
 protectors and supporters, shielding-you from danger, let it come from what 
 quarter it may. I know that a few individuals cannot resist a torrent of 
 error and passion, such as has swept the South into rebellion ; but you can 
 point out, so that we may know those who desire a Government, and those 
 who insist upon war and its desolation. 
 
 " You might as well appeal against the thunder-storm as against these 
 terrible hardships of war. They are inevitable ; and the only way the peo- 
 ple of Atlanta can hope once more to live in peace and quiet at home, is to 
 stop this war which can alone be done by admitting that it began in error, 
 and is perpetuated in pride. We don't want your negroes, or your horses, or 
 your houses, or your land, or any thing you have ; but we do want and will 
 have a just obedience to the laws of the United States. That we will 
 have ; and if it involves the destruction of your improvements, we cannot 
 help it. You have heretofore read public sentiment in your newspapers, 
 that live by falsehood and excitement, and the quicker you seek for truth 
 in other quarters, the better for you. 
 
 " I repeat, then, that by the original compact of government, the United 
 States had certain rights in Georgia, which have never been relinquished, 
 and never will be ; that the South began war by seizing forts, arsenals, 
 mints, custom-houses, &c., &c., long before Mr. Lincoln was installed, and 
 before the South had one jot or tittle of provocation. I myself have seen 
 in Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, and part of Mississippi, hundreds and 
 thousands of women and children fleeing from your armies and despera- 
 does, hungry and with bleeding feet. In Memphis, Vicksburg, and
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 1061 
 
 Mississippi, we fed thousands upon thousands of the families of rebel sol- 
 diers left on our hands, and whom we could not see starve. Now that war 
 comes home to you, you feel very different ; you deprecate its horrors, but 
 did not feel them when you sent car-loads of soldiers and ammunition, and 
 moulded shell and shot, to carry war into Kentucky and Tennessee, and 
 desolate the homes of hundreds and thousands of good people, who only 
 ask to live in peace at their old homes, and under the Government of their 
 inheritance. But these comparisons are idle. I want peace, and believe 
 it only can be reached through Union and war, and I will ever conduct war 
 purely with a view to perfect and early success. 
 
 " But, my dear sirs, when that peace does come, you may call on me for 
 any thing. Then I will share with you the last cracker, and watch with 
 you to shield your homes and families against danger from every quarter. 
 Now, you must go, and take with you the old and feeble ; feed and nurse 
 them, and build for them in more quiet places proper habitations to shield 
 them against the weather, until the mad passions of men cool down, and 
 allow the Union and peace once more to settle on your old homes at 
 Atlanta. 
 
 "Tours, in haste, "W. T. SHERMAN, Major- General." 
 
 From the date of the surrender of Atlanta, up to the 
 22d of September, an armistice remained in force between 
 the forces under Sherman and the army of Hood. This 
 period of time on the part of Sherman was occupied in 
 recruiting, refitting, and reorganizing. The railroad was 
 employed in transporting stores, and in bringing new men 
 to fill up the wasted ranks of the army, the trains return- 
 ing with soldiers, going home to enjoy for a brief season 
 their well-earned furloughs. Bakeries were established in 
 all the camps to furnish the men with fresh bread, and 
 they were supplied as rapidly as possible with new cloth- 
 ing and equipments. Meanwhile, the main body of Hood's 
 army reposed near Jonesboro, twenty miles south of At- 
 lanta, while his cavalry, under Forrest and other leaders, 
 were raiding upon Sherman's communications in North- 
 ern Alabama and Georgia and Southern Tennessee. To 
 meet these movements, General Thomas was ordered to 
 Nashville to direct operations in that section, a small force 
 being sent at the same time by General Sherman to 
 Chattanooga. On the 20th September the cavalry of 
 Forrest crossed the Tennessee, and, having destroyed the 
 railroad between Decatur and Athens, appeared before 
 the latter place, which was garrisoned by a small body of 
 colored troops under Colonel Campbell. These sur- 
 rendered, together with portions of the Nineteenth 
 Michigan and One Hundred and Second Ohio, which had 
 come to the succor of the garrison. Forrest then moved 
 upon Sulphur Branch Trestle, and, having captured the
 
 1062 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 garrison, attacked, on the 27th, the garrison of Pulaski, 
 where General Rousseau commanded. On the 29th he 
 cut the'Nashville Eailroad near Tullahoma, but was soon 
 driven off by Rousseau. At the same time General 
 Steedman collected a force of five thousand men to keep 
 open the rail communication with Chattanooga. On the 
 26th, Newton's Division of the Fourth Corps, Army of 
 the Cumberland, and Morgan's of the Fifteenth, were 
 ordered from Atlanta to Chattanooga to replace Steed- 
 man. General Thomas, by order of Sherman, accom- 
 panied this force to take charge of affairs in Tennessee, 
 and reached Nashville October 3d. General Granger, 
 commanding the Northern District of Alabama, was 
 ordered to occupy Athens when Forrest's troops with- 
 drew, and moved off with his command in two columns 
 towards Columbia. Morgan's Division occupied Athens 
 October 2d, and had orders to move upon Bainbridge 
 with a view to intercept the enemy, while Rousseau, with 
 four thousand cavalry, was to press his rear through 
 Mount Pleasant. At the same time, as General Wash- 
 burn, with four thousand five hundred men, was moving 
 up the Tennessee in pursuit of Forrest, orders were sent 
 to him to unite his cavalry with those of Rousseau at 
 Clifton. The enemy, however, escaped across the Ten- 
 nessee, and Morgan returned to Athens. 
 
 Hood, meanwhile, had kept his forces in the neighbor- 
 hood of Jonesboro, and was sufficiently occupied lor the 
 time being in simply watching the movements of his ad- 
 versary in Atlanta. To allow their principal Southern 
 army to remain inactive was, however, no part of the 
 programme of the rebel leaders, and in an intemperate 
 and passionate speech delivered at Macon, on September , 
 23d, Jefferson Davis announced that Sherman should find 
 Atlanta but another Moscow, and that his retreat to the 
 North would prove even more disastrous and ignominious 
 than that of Napoleon from his barren Russian conquests. 
 These remarks foreshadowed a new military policy in the 
 South, of which the principal feature was to be the com- 
 mencement of an aggressive campaign upon Sherman's 
 communications by the whole rebel army under Hood, 
 very much after the fashion of Sherman's final and suc- 
 cessful movement against Atlanta. In aid of this move- 
 ment, Forrest, by far the ablest cavalry officer in the rebel
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 1063 
 
 army, was already operating against the communications 
 between Chattanooga and Nashvillfe, and it was supposed 
 that if the railroad between Chattanooga and Atlanta 
 could be well broken up by Hood, Sherman, cut off from 
 his primary and secondary bases, would be compelled to 
 retreat into Tennessee. The plan had the merit of bold- 
 ness, and, had it been intrusted to abler hands than those 
 of Hood, or devised against a less skilful general than 
 Sherman, might have proved successful. It will be seen 
 that Sherman was in this emergency master of the situa- 
 tion, and completely outwitted his brave, but rash and 
 incapable, antagonist. 
 
 By the 2d of October, Hood's army was across the 
 Chattahoochee, and moving upon Dallas, whence it could 
 threaten Chattanooga and the railroad, and, if hard push- 
 ed, retreat into Southwestern Alabama. On the 4th, the 
 rebels reached the railroad north of Marietta, and destroyed 
 the track between Big Shanty and Acworth, and on the 
 morning of the 5th a detachment of seven thousand men, 
 under General French, approached the fort at Allatoona 
 Pass, and demanded its surrender. By this time, Sherman's 
 troops, with the exception of the Twentieth Corps, left to 
 garrison Atlanta, were also across the Chattahoochee, and 
 moving rapidly upon Hood. The latter, however, had 
 the start by at least two days, and sought to avail himself 
 of that advantage to overwhelm the small garrison at Al- 
 latoona, the capture of which place would have given him 
 immense stores and an almost impregnable position. 
 Sherman was also aware of the importance of Allatoona, 
 and with wise foresight had on the previous day thrown 
 into the place a re-enforcement of nine hundred men un- 
 der General Corse, drawn from the garrison of Rome. To 
 French's demand for a surrender, " in order to save the 
 unnecessary effusion of blood," Corse returned the curt 
 .reply, " I shall not surrender, and you can commence the 
 unnecessary effusion of blood whenever you please." The 
 attack opened at eight A. M., and was maintained with 
 great pertinacity until two P. M., when the enemy, wearied 
 and completely baffled, retired, with a loss of over a thou- 
 sand men. During the heat of the contest, Sherman 
 arrived on the summit of Kenesaw Mountain and opened 
 telegraphic communication with the garrison, djfec-ting 
 them to hold out resolutely, as succor was fast approach-
 
 1064: HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 ing. The fresh courage which this assurance gave to the 
 beleaguered troops enabled them, doubtless, to maintain 
 their heroic resistance. 
 
 The rebels now inarched northward along the railroad. 
 North of Resaca they recommenced to destroy the track, 
 and continued the work as far as Tunnel Hill, a distance 
 of twenty miles, capturing on the 14th the colored garri- 
 son at Dalton. Sherman was a comparatively quiet but 
 vigilant spectator of these operations, and, to those ignor- 
 ant of his plans, seemed to have relaxed from the energy 
 of movement which had previously characterized him. 
 "When finally, on the 15tn, he marched from Resaca 
 against Hood, compelling the latter to retire in a south- 
 westerly direction towards Lafayette, his movements were 
 unaccountably slow. The rebel army, without, apparent- 
 ly, any unusual effort, escaped into Northern Alabama, 
 whence on the 1st of November it inarched for Warren ton, 
 on the Tennessee River, Sherman being then at Gayles- 
 ville, Alabama, near the Georgia line. The object of 
 Sherman's strategy was now apparent. Hood had been 
 pushed far away from the Chattahoochee into Northern 
 Alabama, and tempted into another invasion of Tennessee. 
 His raid on the railroad between Chattanooga and Atlanta 
 had been of so little detriment that by the 28th of October 
 it was again in running order, and Sherman, having got 
 rid of a troublesome enemy in his front, was now prepared 
 to penetrate with a large force into the heart of Georgia, 
 and march for the coast, with the almost positive certainty 
 that no enemy of importance could oppose him. It was 
 necessary, however, to provide first for the safety of Ten- 
 nessee, thus threatened by a rebel army, and for that rea- 
 son Thomas had been detached to Nashville. The Fourth 
 Corps, Stanley, and the Twenty-third, Schofield, were sent 
 to his support, giving him, with the troops already in 
 Tennessee, and the command of A. J. Smith, then on the 
 march thither from Missouri, an ample force to withstand 
 Hood ; and he was directed to continue to entice Hood 
 northward and fight him in the neighborhood of Nash- 
 ville, if possible. But if the rebel general should take the 
 alarm and follow Sherman, then Thomas was to follow 
 Hood, who, placed between two large armies, would be 
 in no enviable position. The new campaign projected by
 
 HISTORY OF THE GKEAT REBELLION. 1065 
 
 Sherman will be hereafter related ; at present we have to 
 do exclusively with events in Tennessee. 
 
 Upon its arrival at the Tennessee, the array of Hood was 
 re-enforced by twelve thousand mounted troops under 
 Forrest, who, on his way thither from Corinth, had cap- . 
 tured two Union transports and a-small gunboat at Johns- 
 ville, an important depot of supplies. With needless 
 precipitancy the garrison destroyed public property esti- 
 mated to be worth several millions of dollars. Hood re- 
 mained for some time on the south side of the river, send- 
 ing over only Lee's Corps with some cavalry, and it was 
 not until the 17th of November that he removed his re- 
 maining troops across, timing his advance with that of 
 Breckinridge, who was operating in Eastern Tennessee. 
 On the 19th he commenced his march northward from 
 Florence on parallel roads, and on the 23d a portion of his 
 force took possession of Pulaski. Thomas and Schofield, 
 who were directly in the way of Hood's march, covering 
 the approaches to Nashville, retreated slowly in the direc- 
 tion of .that place. The whole Union force was not yet 
 concentrated, and Thomas wisely determined to fight the 
 decisive battle of the campaign with all the troops hie 
 department could furnish, and as near as possible to his 
 base. On the 26th, the enemy occupied Columbia, Scho- 
 field, who commanded the Union rear-guard, retiring 
 across Duck River towards Franklin, twenty miles south 
 of Nashville, where he arrived on the 30th. Here he 
 formed his line of battle on the southern edge of the town, 
 to await the coming of the enemy, and, in the meanwhile, 
 hastened the crossing of the trains to the north side of the 
 Harpeth River. 
 
 The enemy meantime pressed closely upon Schofield's 
 rear-guard. At noon of November 30th, the main body 
 of our army, consisting of the Fourth and Twenty- third 
 Corps, and the detachments which had been collected from 
 various points, was concentrated at Franklin. At that 
 hour several bodies of Forrest's Cavalry were discovered 
 hovering on the flanks, and reconnoitoring the position 
 which Schofield had taken close to the town. Between 
 three and four p. M., Hood approached rapidly, and, form- 
 ing his column with the quickness for which he was 
 famous, hurled them at once against the centre of the line, 
 which was held by portions of the two corps of Stanley 
 and Schofield. The assaulting columns consisted of divi-
 
 1066 HISTORY OF THE GKEAT REBELLION. 
 
 sions belonging to the corps commanded by Generals 
 Cheatharn and Stewart, and the impetuosity of the charge 
 carried these troops over the breastworks and into the 
 heart of Schofield's position. The first blow fell upon the 
 centre of the line, breaking it and driving the defenders 
 back in disorder. Through the gap thus made the Con- 
 federates swarmed fiercely, and for upwards of an hour 
 the fight raged with terrible fury. Hood's troops pressed 
 vigorously against the lines of Generals "Wagner, Huyer, 
 and Cox, and, driving the command of the former back 
 from their breastworks, threw the other lines into wild, 
 but, fortunately, temporary confusion. 
 
 By the first charge the Confederates obtained possession 
 of the first line of defences, and, shortly after four o'clock, 
 they advanced against the second. By this time some of 
 the reserves were brought to the front, which enabled Cox 
 and Wagner to re-form their broken lines. As the Con- 
 federates moved against the second line of breastworks, 
 they were met and checked by the reserves and such of 
 the other troops as had been rallied. Again they essayed 
 to charge, but were again checked by Cox, Wagner, and 
 Opdyke, the latter commanding a reserve brigade of Stan- 
 ley's Corps. When order was fully restored at the second 
 line and the troops rallied to the front, a charge was or- 
 dered to expel the Confederates from the line which they 
 had captured. In the mean tune, however, Hood made 
 several successive attempts to follow up the advantage 
 gained by the first assault, but without success. 
 
 About five P. M. the greatest struggle took place. When 
 Cox and Stanley attempted to drive back the enemy, they 
 met the most stubborn resistance. The men on both sides 
 were within arm's length of each other, fighting like de- 
 mons with the bayonet and with clubbed muskets. At 
 the same time batteries were pouring storms of shot and 
 shell into the enemy's ranks, but this was almost unheeded. 
 Finally, when it was too dark to continue the battle, and 
 when Hood found that it was impossible to obtain all that 
 he desired, he retired from the line captured at the open- 
 ing of the action. 
 
 The Federal loss was about fifteen hundred. The loss 
 of the enemy amounted to six thousand two hundred and 
 fifty, viz. : buried upon the field, one thousand seven hun- 
 dred and fifty ; disabled and placed in hospital at Franklin,
 
 HISTORY OF THE GEEAT REBELLION. 1067 
 
 three thousand eight hundred, and seven hundred prison- 
 ers. Among their casualties were six general officers 
 killed, six wounded, and one captured. This repulse of 
 the enemy gave Schofield time to remove his troops and 
 trains to Nashville, where on the same day arrived the 
 advance of A. J. Smith's army from St. Louis by trans- 
 ports, and also General Steedman, with a command num- 
 bering five thousand men, composed of detachments be- 
 longing to Sherman's column, left behind at Chattanooga, 
 and also a brigade of colored troops. 
 
 Hood followed closely upon the retiring troops of Scho- 
 field, and by noon of the 1st of December the Union line 
 of battle was formed on the heights immediately surround- 
 ing Nashville, with A. J. Smith's command occupying 
 the right, his right resting on the Cumberland River, be- 
 low the city ; the Fourth Corps (Brigadier-General Wood 
 temporarily in command) in the centre ; and General 
 Schofield's troops (Twenty-third Army Corps) on the left, 
 extendingto the Nolensville pike. The cavalry under 
 General Wilson was directed to take post on the left of 
 General Schofield, which would make secure the interval 
 between his left and the river above the city. Steedman's 
 troops took up a position about a mile in advance of the 
 left centre of the main line, and on the left of the Nolens- 
 ville pike. This position, being regarded as too much ex- 
 posed, was changed on the 3d, when, the cavalry having 
 been directed to take post^on the north side of the river 
 at Edgefield, General Steeclman occupied the space on the 
 left of the line vacated by its withdrawal: 
 
 On the 4th the enemy established his line with his 
 salient on the summit of Montgomery Hill, within six 
 hundred yards of our centre, his main line occupying the 
 high ground on the southeast side of Brown's Creek, 
 and extending from the Nolensville pike his extreme 
 right across the Franklin and Granny White's pikes in a 
 westerly direction to the hills south and southwest of 
 Eichland Creek, and down that creek to the Hillsboro 
 pike, with cavalry extending from both his flanks to the 
 river. Artillery was opened on him from several points on 
 the line, without eliciting any response. 
 
 Hood seemed to have learned nothing from his mistake 
 at Atlanta, whence he sent Wheeler's Cavalry to operate 
 upon Sherman's rear, at the very moment he most wanted
 
 1068 HISTOEY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 them to protect his own flanks, thus enabling Sherman to 
 surprise his lines at Jonesboro. This same mistake he 
 now repeated. At the moment Thomas was preparing 
 to move against him, and was only waiting a remount of 
 cavalry, Hood sent Forrest and Bates to support a column 
 of Cleburne's old troops, in an attack upon Murfreesboro, 
 held by Rousseau, who was prepared for them. The 
 block-house, five miles north of Murfreesboro, was at- 
 tacked by Bates's Division of Cheatham's Corps on the 
 4th, but held, out until three regiments of infantry, four 
 companies of the Thirteenth Indiana Cavalry, and a sec- 
 tion of artillery, under command of General Milroy, came 
 up from Murfreesboro, attacked the enemy, and drove 
 him off. During the 5th, 6th, and 7th, Bates's Division, 
 re-enforced by a division from Lee's Corps, and twc 
 thousand five hundred of Forrest's Cavalry, demonstrated 
 heavily against Fortress Rosecrans, at Murfreesboro, gar- 
 risoned by a considerable force, under command of Gen 
 eral Rousseau. The enemy showing an unwillingness t( 
 make a direct assault, Milroy, with seven regiments of 
 infantry, was sent out on the 8th to engage him. He was 
 found a short distance from the place on the Wilkersor 
 pike, posted behind rail breastworks, was attacked anc 
 routed, our troops capturing two hundred and seven pris 
 oners and two guns, with a loss of thirty killed and om 
 hundred and seventy-five wounded. On the same daj 
 Buford's Cavalry entered the town of Murfreesboro, aftei 
 having shelled it vigorously, but he was epeedily driver 
 Dut by a regiment of infantry and a section of artillery. 
 
 On retiring from before Murfreesboro the enemy's 
 cavalry moved northward to Lebanon and along the bank 
 of the Cumberland in that vicinity, threatening to cross 
 to the north side of the river and interrupt our railroad 
 communication with Louisville, at that time our only 
 source of supplies, the enemy having blockaded the river 
 below Nashville by batteries along the shore. The Navy 
 Department was requested to patrol the Cumberland 
 above and below Nashville with the gunboats then in the 
 river, to prevent the enemy from crossing, which was 
 cordially and effectually complied with by Lieutenant- 
 Commander Le Roy Fitch, commanding Eleventh Divi- 
 sion Mississippi squadron. At the same time General
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 1069 
 
 "Wilson sent a cavalry force to Gallatin to guard the 
 country in that vicinity. 
 
 Meantime, Hood's main army occupied the position 
 before Nashville, with little change up to the 15th, both 
 armies having been ice-bound for the last week of that 
 time. Thomas employed the interval in remounting his 
 cavalry and accumulating transportation. Being pre- 
 pared at length to move, he called a meeting of the corps 
 commanders on the afternoon of December 14th, and, 
 having discussed the plan of 'attack until it was thorough- 
 ly understood, he issued the following special field order: 
 
 " As soon as the state of the weather will admit of offensive operations 
 the troops will move against the enemy's position in the following order : 
 
 " Major-General A. J. Smith, commanding detachment of the Army of 
 the Tennessee, after forming his troops on arid near the Harding pike, in 
 front of his present position, will make a vigorous assault on the enemy'a 
 left. 
 
 " Major-General Wilson, commanding the cavalry corps, Military Divi- 
 sion of Mississippi, with three divisions, will move on and support General 
 Smith's right, assisting as far as possible in carrying the left of the enemy'! 
 position, and be in readiness to throw his force upon the enemy the moment 
 a favorable opportunity occurs. Major-General Wilson will also send one 
 division on the Charlottee pike to clear that road of the enemy, and observe 
 in the direction of Bell's Landing to protect our right rear until the enemy'i 
 position is fairly turned, when it will rejoin the main force. 
 
 " Brigadier-General T. J. Wood, commanding Fourth Army Corps, aftei 
 leaving a strong skirmish line in his works from Lauren's Hill to his 
 extreme right, will form the remainder of the Fourth Corps on the Hills- 
 boro pike to support General Smith's left, and operate on the left and real 
 of the enemy's advanced position on the Montgomery Hill. 
 
 " Major-General Schofield, commanding Twenty-third Army Corps, will 
 replace Brigadier-General Kimball's Division of the Fourtu Corps, with his 
 troops, and occupy the trenches from Fort Negley to Lauren's Hill with s> 
 strong skirmish* line. He will move with the remainder of his force ii 
 front of the works and co-operate with General Wood, protecting the 
 latter's left flank against an attack by the enemy. 
 
 "Major-General Steedman, commanding District of the Etowah, wil 
 occupy the interior line in rear of his present position, stretching from the 
 Reservoir on the Cumberland River to Fort Negley. with a strong skirmish 
 line, and mass the remainder of his force in its present position, to act ac- 
 cording to the exigencies which may arise during these operations. 
 
 " Brigadier-General Miller, with his troops forming the garrison of Nash- 
 ville, will occupy the exterior line from the battery on hill 210 to the 
 extreme right, including the enclosed work on the Hyde's Ferry road. 
 
 " The quartermaster's troops, under command of Brigadier-General 
 Donaldson, will, if necessary, be posted on the interior line from Fort Mor- 
 ton to the battery on hill 210. 
 
 " The troops occupying the interior line will be under the direction of 
 Major-General Stecdrnan, who is charged with the immediate defence of 
 Nashville during the operations around the city. 
 
 " Should the weather permit, the troops will be formed to commence 
 operations, at 6 A. M. on the 15th, or as soon thereafter as practicable."
 
 1070 HISTOET OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 
 
 The enemy's line was formed with Cheatham on the 
 left, Stewart in the centre, and S. D. Lee on the right. 
 His most advanced position, from which he annoyed our 
 lines, was a commanding eminence on the Granny White 
 pike. On the crest of this stood the house of a Mrs. Mont- 
 gomery. On the morning of the 15th December, the 
 weather being favorable, the Union army was formed 
 and ready at an early hour to carry out the plan of 
 battle. The formation of the troops was partially con- 
 cealed from the enemy by the broken nature of the 
 ground, as also by a dense fog, which only lifted towards 
 noon. The enemy, was apparently totally unaware of 
 any intention on our part to attack his position, and more 
 especially did lie seem not to expect any movement 
 against his left flank. To diver this attention still fur- 
 ther from our real intentions, Steedman had orders to 
 demonstrate on the enemy's right". As soon as the 
 enemy's attention was attracted in that direction, Smith 
 and Wilson moved out on the Harding pike, and, wheel- 
 ing to the left, advanced against his position across the 
 Harding and Hillsboro pikes. Johnson's Division of 
 Cavalry at the same time was sent eight miles below 
 Nashville to attack a battery of the enemy at Bell's 
 Landing. The remainder of Wilson's command, Hatch's 
 Division leading, and Knipe in reserve, moving on the 
 right of A. J. Smith's troops, first struck the enemy along 
 Richmond Creek, near Harding's house, and drove him 
 back rapidly, .capturing a number -of prisoners, wagons, 
 &c., and, continuing to advance, while slightly swinging 
 to the left, came upon a redoubt containing four guns, 
 which was splendidly carried by assault at one p. M. by 
 a portion of Hatch's Division, dismounted, and the 
 captured guns turned upon the enemy. A second re- 
 doubt, stronger than the first, was next assailed and 
 carried by the same troops that captured the first posi- 
 tion, taking four more guns and about three hundred 
 prisoners. 
 
 General Thomas, finding that Smith had not taken 
 sufficient distance to the right, directed Schofield to move 
 his command (the Twenty-third Corps) from the position 
 in reserve to which it had been assigned over to the right 
 of Smith, enabling the cavalry thereby to operate more 
 freely in the enemy's rear. The Fourth Corps, Wood
 
 HISTORY OF THE GKEAT KEBELLION. 1071 
 
 commanding, formed on the left of Smith's command, 
 and as soon as the latter had struck the enemy's flank, 
 moved against Montgomery Hill, Hood's most advanced 
 position, at 1 p. M. The attack was gallantly made, and, 
 after a brief resistance, the rebels abandoned their works, 
 leaving the crest of the hill in the hands of the Union 
 troops. 
 
 Connecting with Garrard's Division, which formed the 
 left of Smith's troops, the Fourth Corps continued to ad- 
 vance. The First and Second Brigades of Beatty's Di- 
 vision occupied the left, formed in single line, while 
 E.imball's and Elliot's Divisions were formed into column 
 by brigade. The advance of this long line of battle was 
 very fine. In their front lay a long slope of open coun- 
 try bounded by belts of wood. An increasing slope ran 
 to the woods now occupied by the rebels. Over this the 
 line moved in one steady, imposing column. The crest 
 of the hill in front partly sheltered it from the enemy's 
 artillery. A dense volume of smoke rose from the valley, 
 shrouding the hills and rebel lines in our front. The 
 roar of the rebel artillery was becoming fainter, while the 
 sound of our guns rang nearer and nearer. The Fourth 
 Corps for a moment halted and lay down to enable 
 Smith to connect, when suddenly the enemy could be 
 seen breaking pell-mell from their works, while infantry, 
 cavalry, and artillery were sweeping across the plain. A 
 wild cheer rang from our lines, and the batteries re- 
 doubled their iron storm. Soon a column was seen 
 emerging from the woods on the rebel flanks, the stars 
 and stripes floating proudly in their front. This was our 
 right, which had swung around their flank. The air re- 
 sounded with cheers as the Fourth Corps jumped to their 
 feet and pressed forward after the flying enemy, until the 
 shades of night put an end to the combat. 
 
 At the close of the day the enemy had been driven out 
 of his original line of works, and forced back to a new 
 position along the base of Harpeth Hills, still holding his 
 line of retreat to Franklin by the main pike through 
 Brentwood and by the Granny "White pike. Our line at 
 nightfall was readjusted, running parallel to and east of 
 the Hillsboro pike Schofield's command on the right, 
 Smith's in the centre, and Wood's on the left, with the 
 cavalry on the right of Schofield ; Steedman holding the
 
 1072 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 position he had gained early in the morning. The total 
 result of the day's operations was the capture of sixteen 
 pieces of artillery and twelve hundred prisoners, besides 
 several hundred stands of small-arms, and u'uout forty 
 wagons. The enemy had been forced back ; r nil point's 
 with heavy loss, and our casualties were unusually light. 
 The whole command bivouacked in line of b;.;tle during 
 the night on the ground occupied at dark, while prepara- 
 tions were made to renew the Battle at an early hour on 
 the morrow. 
 
 Between the Granny White and Franklin pikes is a 
 kind of plateau, sloping towards the range of bluffs which 
 seem to be bounded by Little Harper and Mill Creeks. 
 Fine residences and well -cultivated plantations cover the 
 landscape back to Nashville. Here the city M as shut out 
 from view by the hills, crowned with forts and bat- 
 teries, their sides dotted over with white tents, and the 
 dark forms of citizens crowding to see the b;itlle, or at 
 least hear its din. Behind these rose the houses and 
 steeples of the city. The cupola of the capitol was 
 crowded with anxious spectators. 
 
 At six A. M., on the 16th, Wood's Corps pressed back 
 the enemy's skirmishes across the Franklin pike to the 
 eastward of it, and then, swinging slightly to the right, 
 advanced due south from Nashville, driving the enemy 
 before him until he came upon his new main line of 
 works, constructed Muring the night, on what is called 
 Overton's Hill, about five miles south of the city, and 
 east of the Franklin pike. Steedman moved outjft-om 
 Nashville by the Nolensville pike, and formed his com- 
 mand on the left of Wood, effectually securing the latter's 
 left flank, and made preparations to co-operate in the 
 operations of the day. Smith's command moved on the 
 right of the Fourth Corps (Wood's), and establishing con- 
 nection with Wood's right, completed the new line of bat- 
 tle. Schofield's troops remained in the position taken up 
 by them at dark on the day previous, facing eastward and 
 towards the enemy's left flank, the line of the corps run- 
 ning perpendicular to Smith's troops. Wilson's Cavalry, 
 whicn had rested for the night at the six-mile post on the 
 Hillsboro pike, was dismounted and formed on the right 
 of Schofield's command, and by noon of the IGth had 
 succeeded in gaining the enemy's rear, and stretched
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 1073 
 
 across the Granny "White pike, one of his two outlets to- 
 wards Franklin. 
 
 As soon as the above dispositions were completed, 
 Thomas, having visited the different commands, gave di- 
 rections that tke movement against the enemy's left flank 
 should be continued. Our entire line approached to with- 
 in six hundred yards of the enemy's at all points. His 
 centre was weak as compared with either his right, at 
 Overton's Hill, or his left, on the hills bordering the 
 Granny White pike ; still there were hopes of gaining his 
 rear and cutting oif his retreat from Franklin. 
 
 In front of the rebel lines, commanding the Franklin 
 pike, was a strong fort, occupying the crest of the hill, 
 with strongly intrenched works all round, and slashed 
 trees in front. This hill is the first important one of the 
 Overton range the extreme western spur of the Cumber- 
 land range of mountains and is about one mile in front 
 of Thompson's house, where S. D. Lee had his head-quar- 
 ters, and about five miles from Nashville. From this 
 position the rebels not only checked the advance of 
 Beatty's Division, but also commanded a salient fire on 
 our advancing columns. 
 
 About three P. M., Post's Brigade of "Wood's Corps, 
 supported by Streight's Brigade of the same command, 
 was ordered by General Wood to assault that position. 
 This intention was communicated to Steedman, who or- 
 dered the brigade of colored troops, commanded by 
 Colonel Morgan, to co-operate in the movement. The 
 ground on which the two assaulting columns formed be- 
 ing open and exposed to the enemy^s view, he, readily per- 
 ceiving our intention, drew re-enforcements from his left 
 and centre to the threatened point. This movement of 
 troops on the part of the enemy was communicated along 
 the line from left to right. At this time a gentle rain was 
 falling ; not a breeze was stirring, and the calm was 
 ominous. As the troops began to move, our batteries 
 opened. As they rose the slope the enemy received them 
 with a tremendous fire of grape, canister, and musketry, 
 our men moving steadily onward up the hill until near 
 the crest, when the reserves of the enemy rose and poured 
 into the assaulting column a most destructive fire. 
 
 Unfortunately, at this moment the lines that were 
 joined below lapped, and the negro troops became min- 
 
 66
 
 1074: HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 gled with the left of Post's Brigade, creating disorder. 
 The slaughter of our troops here was awful. Post, far 
 ahead of the line, was waving his sword and calling his 
 men to follow, when a discharge of grape and canister 
 from the rebel battery mortally wounded Jjim. Our line 
 was at this time within twenty steps of the works. The 
 rebels rose from their works and poured in another ter- 
 rific volley that seriously staggered the line, causing the 
 men first to waver and then to fall back, leaving their 
 dead and wounded black and white indiscriminately 
 mingled lying amid the abatis. General Wood readily 
 re-formed his command in the position it had previously 
 occupied, preparatory to a renewal of the assault. 
 
 Meanwhile, at four p. M., Schofield and Smith scaled 
 the bald hill in their front, where were captured eight 
 guns, and the enemy's line was broken. Schofield, who 
 had kept Cox's Division of his corps up to this hour 
 rather in reserve, now swung him rapidly around at a 
 charge. Two batteries were encountered, but the enemy, 
 finding his line broken to his right, only opened one to 
 cover the retreat of the other. As though the obstacle 
 were one of no consequence at all, Cox pushed vigorously 
 forward, captured the battery playing on him, and fol- 
 lowed rapidly in pursuit of the other, capturing it also, 
 and with it several hundred prisoners. Simultaneous 
 with the advance of Cox, Wilson's Cavalry dismounted 
 and attacked the enemy, striking him in reverse, getting 
 firm possession of the Granny White pike, and cutting 
 off his retreat by that route. On the ridge he met witn 
 very stubborn resistance, but drove the enemy at every 
 point. East of the ridge the enemy fought with little 
 energy, but allowed their left to be enveloped with com- 
 parative ease. 
 
 Wood's and Steedman's troops, hearing the shouts of 
 victory coming from the right, now renewed the assault 
 upon Overton Hill with great impetuosity, and in face 
 of a terrible fire carried the position, capturing nine 
 pieces of artillery and many prisoners. The enemy re- 
 tired through the Brentwood Pass. The cavalry and a 
 portion of the Fourth Corps overtook the rebel rear-guard 
 posted across the road behind barricades near Chalmers. 
 This was defeated, and the rebel General Rucker captured. 
 The captures during the two days embraced four thou-
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT KEBELLION. 1075 
 
 sand four hundred and sixty-two prisoners, including two 
 hundred and eighty ; seven officers, fifty-three pieces of 
 artillery, and many small-arms, and the enemy also lost 
 three thousand killed and wmmded. The total Union 
 loss did not exceed three thousand. 
 
 At daylight on the 17th, the Fourth Corps continued 
 the pursuit towards Franklin by the direct route, while 
 the cavalry moved on the Granny White pike and its in- 
 tersection with the Franklin Dike, and took the lead. 
 The enerny fell back to the Harpeth River. His rear- 
 guard posted at Hollow Tree Gap, four miles north of 
 Franklin, was defeated with the loss of four hundred and 
 twenty prisoners. An attempt of the enemy to defend 
 the crossing or the Harpeth River at Franklin was de- 
 feated by Johnson's Division, which had been sent by 
 Wilson on the Hillsboro pike direct to Harpeth River. 
 Wilson now pressed the pursuit to Columbia, the enemy 
 retiring before him slowly to a point five miles south of 
 Franklin. There an attempt to make a stand was de- 
 feated, and the retreat was continued. On the night of 
 the 19th, the enemy crossed the Duck River and removed 
 the bridge. The swollen stream caused a delay of a day. 
 General Thomas in his report states : " The pontoon train 
 coining up to Rutherford's Creek about noon of the 21st, 
 a bridge was laid during the afternoon, and General 
 Smith's troops were enabled to cross. The weather had 
 changed from dismal rain to bitter cold, very materially 
 retarding the work in laying the bridge, as the regiment 
 of colored troops, to whom the duty was intrusted, seem- 
 ed unmanned by the cold, and totally unequal to the oc- 
 casion." Wilson's Cavalry and Wood's Infantry pressed 
 the pursuit. Forrest's Cavalry, which Hood had so fool- 
 ishly detached from his main army while he was besieg- 
 ing Nashville, rejoined him at Columbia, and a slrong 
 rear-guard was formed, which did good service in cover- 
 ing the retreat. On the 24th, Wilson overtook the enemy 
 at Buford's Station, inflicting some punishment ; and on 
 the 25th the enemy evacuated Pulaski. At Lamb's Ferry 
 he made a stand, and, as the pursuing force under Colonel 
 Harrison came up, charged, drove him back, and captured 
 a gun. The Fourth Corps was within six miles of Pulaski . 
 December 26th, and reached Lexington on the 28th. The
 
 1076 HISTORY OF THE GKEAT REBELLION. 
 
 enemy being now across the Tennessee, General Thomas 
 ceased the pursnit. 
 
 On the 30th December, the end o'f the campaign was 
 announced to the army, and the following disposition was 
 made of the command: Smith's Corps to take post at 
 Eastport, Mississippi ; "Wood's Corps to be concentrated 
 at Huntsville and Athens, Alabama ; Schofield's Corps 
 to proceed to Dalton, Georgia ; and Wilson's Cavalry, 
 after sending one division to Eastport, Mississippi, to con- 
 centrate the balance at or near Huntsville. On reaching 
 the several positions assigned to them, the different com- 
 mands were to go into winter-quarters and recuperate for 
 the spring campaign. These dispositions not meeting the 
 views of the general-in-chief, orders were issued on the 
 31st of December for Generals Schofield, Smith, and Wil- 
 son to concentrate their commands at Eastport, Missis- 
 sippi, and that of General Wood at Huntsville. Alabama 
 preparatory to a renewal of the campaign against the 
 enemy in Mississippi and Alabama. 
 
 A number of mjnor operations by cavalry occurred in 
 the pursuit of Hood's army. The results of the opera- 
 tions under Thomas were : thirteen thousand one hun- 
 dred and eighty-nine prisoners of war, including general 
 officers and nearly one thousand other officers of all 
 grades, and seventy-two pieces of serviceable artillery. 
 During the same period over two thousand deserters from 
 the enemy were received, and to whom the oath was ad- 
 ministered. Our own losses did not exceed ten thousand 
 in killed, wounded, and missing. 
 
 Thus ended the career of Hood as an active com- 
 mander in the field. Receiving from Johnston a compact 
 and unbroken army, which had made a good fight against 
 the superior forces of Sherman, he wasted its numbers 
 in three foolhardy attempts to defeat his wary opponent 
 in a pitched battle, and finally, in consequence of sending 
 away his cavalry, the only arm in which he was superior 
 to Sherman, he enabled the latter to completely flank him 
 and drive him out of Atlanta. Dispatched by Davis on 
 a hazardous attempt to drive Sherman out of Georgia 
 and regain Tennessee, he permitted himself to be enticed 
 by Thomas into the neighborhood of Nashville, when 
 that general, abundantly re-enforced and supplied, sallied
 
 HISTORY OF THE GEEAT REBELLION. 1077 
 
 forth at his leisure and dealt the rebel army such a blow 
 as drove it, a beaten and demoralized mass of fugitives, 
 into Northern Alabama, and rendered it powerless for 
 further offensive purposes.
 
 1078 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 CHAPTER LXYII. 
 
 Sheridan in Command of the Middle Military Division. Manoeuvring in 
 the Valley. Object of the Movements. Battles of Opequan Creek 
 and Fisher's Hill. Rout and Retreat of the Rebels. Their new 
 Position at Brown's Gap. Movements of Sheridan. 
 
 ON August jTth, General Sheridan assumed command 
 of the Middle' Military Division, comprising the Middle 
 Department, and the Departments of Washington, the 
 Susquehanna, and "West Virginia. On the same day he 
 fixed his head-quarters at Harper's Ferry, and at once 
 commenced to concentrate his troops along the Potomac 
 in the vicinity of the Shenandoah. Valley. Sheridan's 
 troops consisted now chiefly of the Sixth, Eighth, and Nine- 
 teenth Corps of Infantry, and the infantry of the old Army 
 of the Kanawha, under Crook. A part of the Nineteenth 
 Corps, however, was still in Louisiana. His cavalry com- 
 prised Torbert's First Division, of Potomac Cavalry, 
 Averill's Division, Kelly's command, and Lowell's Brig- 
 ade. Wilson's Second Cavalry Division arrived on the 
 13th from City Point. Against this strong and compact 
 army, General Early was now able to muster about 
 eighteen thousand men. His army consisted, first, of two 
 infantry corps, under. Rhodes and Breekinridge. Rhodes 
 had his own old division and Ramseur's, and various re- 
 serves in the Valley, the whole estimated at about seven 
 thousand men. Ramseur's Division comprised the brig- 
 ades of Lillie (formerly of Pegram), Evans, and John-son. 
 Breckinridge had the divisions of Wharton and Gordon, 
 four thousand five hundred or five thousand strong, the 
 former having two brigades, and the latter (like Rhodes's 
 old division) consisting of four. Ransom's Cavalry con^ 
 sisted of about five thousand five hundred troops, divided 
 into four brigades, under Imboden, McCausland, Jackson, 
 and Vaughan. The artillery, under Long, consisted of 
 three battalions, and not far from fifty guns. The men 
 were, to a considerable extent, employed threshing wheat 
 in the Valley and sending it to Richmond.
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 1079 
 
 At sunrise on "Wednesday morning, the 10th of August, 
 Sheridan began to move out his forces from Hall town, 
 for the repossession of the Valley. The force reached 
 Charlestown in two hours, where the Nineteenth Corps 
 struck oft' to the left for Berry ville, preceded by the 
 cavalry brigades of Ouster and Gibbs. Still farther to 
 the left marched Crook's Infantry, with mounted men in 
 advance. Finally, on the right, the Sixth Corps, pre- 
 ceded by the brigades of Devin and Lowell, kept on the 
 Winchester road a few miles, and then turned off towards 
 Smithsfield, and towards the Nineteenth. The army ad- 
 vanced, skirmishing occasionally with the enemy, who 
 retired up the Valley, along the Strasburg road. At 
 Front Royal a rebel force, consisting of Jones's Tennessee 
 Brigade of. mounted infantry, with three field-pieces, held 
 a strong position. This was assailed by Cesnola's Fourth 
 New "i ork Cavalry, which was repulsed. The Fourth, 
 Sixth, and Ninth New York and Seventeenth Pennsyl- 
 vania then advanced, dismounted, supported 'by Pierce's 
 Battery. The fight lasted from eleven till two, with no 
 decisive result, though the enemy detained the pursuit 
 some hours and inflicted loss on the Federal troops. 
 
 The enemy then drew off in the direction of Newtown, 
 where he made a further stand, covering the passage of 
 his trains, and repulsing an attack by the Union cavalry. 
 The advance now passed beyond Winchester and ~Md\l- 
 wood, which were evacuated by the enemy, and camped, 
 on the night of the llth, six miles to the southeast of the 
 former place. Early, thinking it was the design of 
 Sheridan to flank him, had begun his withdrawal from 
 Winchester to Newtown on the 10th, and continued it un- 
 til the llth. About ten o'clock of the latter day, Lowell's 
 Cavalry charged through the town, but effected nothing, 
 for the rear-guard had already moved out at the other end. 
 The fighting of the day was entirely conducted by Early's 
 rear-guard. On the 12th, the enemy having again fallen 
 back, the column resumed the advance, and on the fol- 
 lowing day reached Cedar Creek, three miles north of 
 Strasburg. Here they remained during the 13th and 
 14th inactive. Sheridan's head-quarters were now at the 
 spot that had been used for the same purpose successively 
 by Fremont, Sigel, and Hunter. On the 15th the enemy
 
 1080 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 withdrew his skirmishers from Strasburg, but held Fish- 
 er's Hill beyond, which commanded the town. 
 
 The enemy now suddenly resumed the offensive. Sheri- 
 dan, in this advance to Strasburg, had passed on his lei't 
 flank several gaps in the mountains, which had so often 
 given passage to the enemy in previous campaigns. The 
 most important of these are Snicker's Gap and Island 
 Ford. None of these gaps were guarded. Mosby, with 
 his light troops, was too vigilant to allow such an oppor- 
 tunity to pass, and on the 13th he rode through Snicker's 
 Gap and pounced upon the supply train at Berryville. 
 The train was guarded by Kenly's Brigade of one- 
 hundred-days men. At Mosby 's charge, a part of the 
 guard were panic-stricken. A few brave men fought as 
 long as possible, while the rest took to their heels. The 
 teams were unhitched, the wagons fired, and all the 
 property taken off to the Ferry. The chief loss was in 
 the cavalry baggage. Mosby captured and destroyed 
 seventy-five wagons, secured over two hundred prisoners, 
 five or six hundred horses and mules, two hundred beef 
 cattle, and some stores. His loss was two killed and 
 three wounded. 
 
 This disaster, greatly exaggerated by reports, caused 
 the whole army to retrograde. On the same day the 
 enemy captured a signal party, with their apparatus. On 
 the night of Monday, the 15th, the Nineteenth Army 
 Corps began to retreat on Winchester, followed by the 
 Eighth Corps, while the Sixth brought up the rear. On 
 the 16th, a force of the enemy, composed of Lomax and 
 Wickham's Brigades, with a part of Kershaw's Division, 
 which had come by rail from Malvern Hill after taking 
 part in the actions there, proceeded down the Winchester 
 and Front Royal pike to cross the Shenandoah and attack 
 the Federal troops in flank. These encountered at Crook- 
 ed Run the brigades of Caster and Devin, under General 
 Merritt, and were repulsed. The retreat was prosecuted 
 with vigor, and orders were given for the destruction of 
 every thing that could afford sustenance to the enemy. 
 That these were strictly executed may be seen from the 
 .following extract from a Richmond paper : 
 
 " The enemy, as they retired from Strasburg, literally destroyed every 
 thing in the way of food for man or beast. With their immense cavalry, 
 they extended their lines from Front Royal, in "Warren County, to the
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 1081 
 
 North Mountains, west of Strafeburg, and burned every bushel of wheat, 
 in stack, barn, or mill, in Frederick, "Warren, and Clark, as well as 
 oats and hay ; they have really left absolutely nothing in these three 
 counties. They drove before them every horse, cow, sheep, hog, calf, and 
 living animal from the country." 
 
 The enemy followed close on Sheridan's heels, and oc- 
 cupied Winchester on the night of Wednesday, the 17th, 
 capturing three hundred men of Penrose's infantry bri- 
 gade, which had been left to cover the Union rear, and 
 had been abandoned by its cavalry supports. 
 
 During the retreat, Mosby's gang had followed the 
 army, treacherously killing or capturing where the op- 
 portunity oifered. In retaliation, General Ouster ordered 
 the Fifth Michigan to destroy the houses of some of these 
 half-guerrillas, half-farmers, who had committed gross 
 outrages near Snicker's Gap. While thus engaged, the 
 Union cavalrymen were attacked by a superior force of 
 Mosby's men, and brutally murdered after surrendering. 
 Many neighboring houses were destroyed in retaliation 
 for this butchery. On the 21st, the army occupied a 
 position about two miles out from Charlestown, near 
 Summit Point, from the Smithfield to the Berryville 
 pike, with the Sixth Corps on the right, the Eighth in the 
 centre, and the Nineteenth on the left, the latter overlap- 
 ping the Berryville pike. About eight o'clock, Early 
 came up, on his road to Martinsburg, and, with a part of 
 his columns, attacked our advanced cavalry skirmishers, 
 on the right, and left, easily driving them in. His main 
 body moved off across our right ; but with a small force 
 he drove back Wilson's cavalry division from its position 
 on Summit Point, with very great loss. He then attack- 
 ed the Sixth Corps, and the combat lasted, without 
 material advantage to either side, from ten A. M. until 
 nightfall, when the corps fell back to Bolivar Heights. 
 Sheridan then posted his army on the first of the ranges 
 called Bolivar Heights, near Harper's Ferry, the right 
 on the Potomac, and the left on the Shenandoah. Head- 
 quarters were at Halltown. The cavalry was sent up to 
 the neighborhood of Charlestown early on Monday, the 
 22d, and had sharp skirmishing with the enemy until 
 nine A. M., and at intervals during the day. The cavalry 
 of the enemy then scoured the country in all directions. 
 Several reconnoissances took place on the 24th and 25th,
 
 1082 HISTORY OF THE GEEAT REBELLION. 
 
 in which the First and Third Divisions of Cavalry were 
 badly handled. 
 
 The two armies remained confronting each other for 
 some days, at the end of which time Early again fell back 
 up the Valley. This fact being ascertained, Sheridan 
 issued orders on the -evening of the 27th for the army to 
 move at daylight. About seven o'clock of the 28th, the 
 entire force got into motion, moving out from behind 
 their formidable breastworks in columns of brigades by 
 the right flank, each corps preserving its relative position 
 in the line of battle, and moving in the direction of 
 Charlestown. The cavalry, which had proceeded in the 
 direction of Shepherdstown, moved to the front and led 
 the advance. By ten o'clock, the Nineteenth Corps 
 reached Charlestown, and the army pushed on until they 
 reached their old line of battle during the recent engage- 
 ment a week before. The Sixth Corps, General "Wright, 
 held the right, the Nineteenth Corps, General Emory, the 
 centre, and General Crook's command the left. The 
 army was then formed in line of battle, and awaited the 
 result of the cavalry advance. At dusk, orders were 
 issued for an advance at daylight on the 29th. On the 
 following morning, the enemy were found near Smith- 
 field, by General Merritt, who attacked the rebel cavalry 
 vigorously, driving them through the town and beyond 
 Opequan Creek, where he came in contact with infantry. 
 Custer's Cavalry, with Ransom's Battery, were moved 
 across the creek, for the purpose of making a reconnois- 
 sance towards Bunker Hill. But after an encounter with 
 the enemy's skirmish line, they retired across the stream, 
 followed by infantry, who attempted to outflank them. 
 Our cavalry accordingly fell back upon Smithfield, in 
 season to escape the movement. Here they were met by 
 Kicketts's Division of Infantry, before whose advance the 
 enemy found it prudent rapidly to withdraw. Our loss 
 in this affair was less than one hundred. The troops then 
 fell back upon Charlestown, where ' they remained quiet 
 for several days. 
 
 On the morning of September 3d, the whole army was 
 again put" in motion in a southerly direction, Crook's 
 command occupying the left, the Nineteenth Corps the 
 centre, and the Sixth the right. At noon, Crook reached 
 the vicinity of Berryville, where, a few hours later, he
 
 HISTOKY OF THE GEEAT REBELLION. 1083 
 
 was fiercely attacked by a heavy rebel force approaching 
 from the direction 01 Winchester, which lies directly 
 west. The enemy were handsomely repulsed ; and during 
 the succeeding night the whole army was engaged in 
 throwing up substantial breastworks, as if for the purpose 
 of making their position a permanent one. Thus affairs 
 remained for nearly two weeks, Early being, according to 
 reports, at Bunker Hill in force, and Sheridan showing no 
 disposition to leave his intrenched lines near Berryville. 
 The cavalry on both sides were active in reconnoissances. 
 
 The campaign in the Shenandoah, since the appoint- 
 ment of Sheridan to the command of the Middle Division, 
 had hitherto been one of manosuvres rather than of de- 
 cisive fighting, and the marchings and counter-marchings, 
 advances and retreats of the Union general were to the 
 public mind a source of no little perplexity. To compre- 
 hend his motives, it must be remembered that the pos- 
 session of Lynchburg was indispensable to Lee if he 
 wished to remain in Richmond, and that the large force 
 detached under Early, to drive away Hunter and demon- 
 strate against "Washington, was still in the Yalley. Under 
 . these circumstances, Grant placed Sheridan at the mouth 
 of the Valley first, to detach a force from Lee ; second, 
 to employ that force in the Valley, so that no portion of 
 it might be sent to Hood at Atlanta ; third, to guard 
 Washington and the border from the attacks of this 
 force. For about five or six weeks, Sheridan's incessant 
 moving backward and forward kept Early so busy that 
 Hood could not get a man from- Lee, and was forced to 
 suffer defeat at Jonesboro, and to evacuate Atlanta for 
 lack of re-enforcements. . Meantime, Early and Sheridan 
 were living off the Valley farms, and together destroying 
 much food and forage precious to Lee, and all this time 
 Early did no essential damage to Sheridan. 
 
 With the fall of Atlanta, one of the prime motives for 
 pursuing this Fabian policy was removed, and 1 to a general 
 of so energetic and impetuous a temperament as Sheridan, 
 the opportunity now afforded to fight a pitched battle 
 with the enemy for the possession of the Valley was 
 seized* with avidity. About the middle of 'September 
 the lieutenant-general paid a hasty visit to the Upper 
 Potomac, and, after learning from Sheridan that the 
 enemy was still in force in the Valley, released him from
 
 1084 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 the irksome task of manoeuvring, and bade him strike 
 when he found the opportunity. Keconnoissanees under- 
 taken on the 13th and 16th rendered it evident that the 
 main body of the enemy had advanced to the vicinity 
 of Bunker Hill and Stephenson's Depot, and General 
 .Sheridan resolved to take advantage of this opportunity, 
 and by a rapid movement fall on Early's rear from the 
 direction of Berry ville towards Winchester. Accordingly, 
 on Monday, the 19th, pursuant to orders, the Sixth and 
 Nineteenth Corps were ordered to march at three o'clock, 
 and the Army of Western Yirginia, under Crook, at five 
 o'clock. The Sixth Corps was directed to move out on 
 the Winchester and Berry ville pike, marching in parallel 
 columns on each side of the road, with the artillery, 
 ammunition, and supply trains on the road the Nine- 
 teenth Corps to follow on the same road in similar order. 
 Crook was ordered to move from his position in the 
 vicinity of Summit Point across the country in a south- 
 westerly direction, and form a junction at the crossing of 
 the Opequan, on the Berryville and Winchester pike. 
 The cavalry, under Torbert and Averill, were meanwhile 
 to divert the enemy's attention by heavy demonstrations 
 on his left. Shortly after daylight, Wilson's Division of 
 cavalry crossed the Opequan, and skirmished with the 
 enemy, who were discovered in force on the west bank 
 of the Opequan. Early immediately recalled his forces 
 from Bunker Hill, and when the Sixth and Nineteenth 
 Corps advanced across the Opequan, they were met and 
 repulsed by a fire from the enemy's guns. Being re- 
 enforced by our batteries, they again advanced and retook 
 the position. At three o'clock, Crook's First Division 
 came into position on the right, the Second Division in 
 the rear, supporting a division of the Nineteenth Corps. 
 At about the 'same time, General Torbert arrived on the 
 extreme right with Averill's and Merritt's Divisions of 
 cavalry. With his forces thus consolidated, General 
 Sheridan ordered an advance along the entire line. Our 
 infantry were soon hotly engaged with the enemy, who 
 stubbornly maintained their ground until our cavalry 
 joined in the charge, when they gave way in utter con- 
 fusion, never pausing in their flight until they reached 
 Fisher's Hill, thirty miles south of Winchester, where 
 they took refuge behind some previously erected earth-
 
 HISTORY OF THE GKEAT REBELLION. 1085 
 
 works. The following is Sheridan's dispatch announcing 
 his success: 
 
 ""We fought Early from daylight till between six and seven p. M. We 
 drove him from Opequan Creek through Winchester and beyond the town. 
 We captured two thousand five hundred to three thousand prisoners, five 
 pieces of artillery, nine battle-flags, and all the rebel wounded and dead. 
 
 " Their wounded in Winchester amounted to some three thousand. We 
 lost in killed General David Russell, commanding a division of the Sixth 
 Army Corps, and wounded Generals Chapman. Mclntosh, and Upton. The 
 rebels lost in killed the following general officers: 
 
 "General Rhodes, General Wharton, General Gordon, and General 
 Ramseur. 
 
 " We have just sent them whirling through Winchester,, and we are after 
 them to-morrow. This army behaved splendidly. I am sending forward 
 all the medical supplies, subsistence stores, and ambulances." 
 
 Sheridan lost no time in following the retreating rebels, 
 and the 21st found his army confronting their new posi- 
 tion. The enemy was posted with his right on the North 
 Fork of the Shenandoah, and his left on the North 
 Mountain. His line, running westerly, extended across 
 the Strasburg Valley. There was considerable manoeu- 
 vring for position till after midday. Crook's command 
 was on our right, "Wright's Sixth Corps in the centre, and 
 Emory's Nineteenth on the left. While . Emory demon- 
 strated on the left, Bicketts's Division of the Sixth Corps 
 advanced directly in front, and Averill drove in the 
 enemy's skirmishers. Under cover of these demonstra- 
 tions, Crook moved out to the extreme right, and, after 
 an arduous march, swept about, and flanked the enemy's 
 left. 
 
 At four or five o'clock in the evening, a successful 
 charge was made by Crook, who carried the enemy before 
 him. At the same time, Wright attacked in the centre, 
 Emory on the left, and Averill skirted atong the base of 
 the South Mountain. With great rapidity, the Sixth 
 Corps broke in the enemy's centre, separating his two 
 wings, when he retreated towards Woodstock in great 
 confusion. Artillery, horses, wagons, rifles, knapsacks, 
 and - canteens were abandoned in the flight, and eleven 
 hundred prisoners and sixteen pieces of artillery captured. 
 In the battles of the 19th and 21st the rebels lost, in 
 killed, wounded, prisoners, and missing, not less than ten 
 thousand men. 
 
 Sheridan continued the pursuit on the night after the
 
 1086 ^BISTORT OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 battle to "Woodstock, and there halted next morning, for 
 rest and rations. Averill, pushing on in advance, drove 
 the enemy on to Mount Jackson, twenty-five miles south 
 of Strasburg, where he halted and made a stand, check- 
 ing our advance with infantry and artillery. From Wood- 
 stock, Sheridan moved rapidly up the Valley to Mount 
 Jackson. About a mile from the town the "North 
 Fork" of the Shenandoah crosses the pike. A good 
 wooden bridge still spanned the stream. After some 
 sharp skirmishing on our left, Devin's Cavalry drove the 
 enemy before him, whereupon our batteries, posted near 
 the bridge, opened on the opposite crest, over which the 
 enemy finally retired. Skirmish lines were immediately 
 moved across the stream, and, covering the fronts of their 
 respective corps, pushed forward. In the advance, the 
 Nineteenth Corps marched in column on the right of the 
 pike, and the Sixth in like formation on the left, ready at 
 any moment to form line. The batteries had the pike. 
 The cavalry was thrown forward in advance of the in- 
 fantry skirmish line. At every favorable position the 
 enemy would halt and contest our advance ; but the bat- 
 teries, being brought forward, would, after a few rounds, 
 cause them to resume their march in retreat. No stop, 
 was made at Newmarket, the scene of Sigel's fight and 
 defeat in May. 
 
 On Sunday, September 25th, Sheridan's head-quarters 
 were in Harrisonburg, and on Monday morning, Torbert, 
 with his troopers, pushed out to Staunton, twenty-five 
 miles away. Meantime, Early retired upon Brown's 
 Gap, in the Blue Ridge, eight miles southeast o Port 
 Republic, twenty miles east of Staunton, and fifteen 
 northeast of Waynesboro. Sheridan pursued to Port 
 Republic, destroying seventy-five wagons and four cais- 
 sons. From Harrisonburg, Torbert, with "Wilson's cav- 
 alry division and one brigade of Merritt's, marched to 
 Staunton, which he entered at eight A. M. of Monday, the 
 26th, and there destroyed a large quantity of the enemy's 
 property of various kinds. Thence he marched south- 
 easterly to Waynesboro, threw the iron bridge over the 
 South River at that point into the river, and destroyed the 
 bridge over Christiana Creek, and the railroad from 
 Staunton to Waynesboro. At Waynesboro other gov- 
 ernment property was destroyed. But finding the tun-
 
 HISTORY OF THE GKEAT REBELLION. 1087 
 
 nel defended by troops, Torbert retired to Harrisonburg 
 by way of Staunton. 
 
 On the 27th, offensive demonstrations were resumed. 
 But before they were fairly opened, the enemy suddenly 
 burst upon Powell's flank with great force, and was with 
 difficulty repulsed. The effect of this engagement was 
 to cause our cavalry to fall back from J*ort Republic to 
 Cross Keys. Brown's Gap remained in the enemy's pos- 
 session. 
 
 The position of Early at Brown's Gap was a very 
 strong one. It had the advantage of covering Gordons- 
 ville and Charlottesville, and of threatening Sheridan's 
 flank and rear should he attempt to move from Lynch- 
 burg. It possessed also unusual facilities for defence.. 
 North of it are Swift Run and Semon's Gaps ; outh of 
 it, Rockfish Gap and Jaman's Gaps. All of these are 
 so near together that Early easily held them under his 
 control, posting his main force at Brown's Gap, and throw- 
 ing his flanks out as far as Rockn'sh Gap and Swift Run 
 Gap. These are the gateways to Gordonsville and Char- 
 lottesville from Staunton and Harrisonburg. He held them 
 firmly, and was disposed not to surrender them without a 
 decisive battle. One or two assaults had resulted in such 
 stout resistance from Early 's troops that it was very evi- 
 dent that the enemy had recovered his equilibrium, and 
 was disposed to contest every rod of the way. It was 
 also discovered that Early was too strongly posted in the 
 Gap to be assaulted. Two courses, therefore, remained 
 for Sheridan : either to prosecute his advance towards 
 Lynchburg, or to retire down the Yalley. To reach 
 Lynchburg had been a prime object with Sigel and Hun- 
 ter, as it was now with Sheridan. But to move, with 
 Early upon his flank and rear, would have been hazard- 
 ous in the extreme. There remained, then, nothing but 
 to fall back. Mosby also was on Sheridan's flank, and 
 the army supplies on the way up the Yalley were in 
 danger, as before, when Mosby captured the train. 
 
 On the 6th October, Sheridan retreated to Woodstock, 
 whence he sent the following dispatch : 
 
 "WOODSTOCK, VIRGINIA, October 1, 1864 9 P. M. 
 " Lieutenant-G-eneral U. S. GRANT : 
 
 "I have the honor to report my command at this point to-night. I com- 
 menced moving back from Port Republic, Mount Crawford, Bridgewater,
 
 1088 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 and Harrisonburg yesterday morning. The grain and forage in advance 
 of these points had previously been destroyed. In moving back to this 
 point the whole country from the Blue Ridge to the North Mountain has 
 been made entirely untenable for a rebel army. I have destroyed over two 
 thousand barns filled with wheat and hay and farming implements, over 
 seventy mills filled with flour and wheat ; have driven in front of the army 
 over four thousand head of stock, and have killed and issued to the troops 
 not less than three thousand sheep. This destruction embraces the Luray 
 Valley and Little Fort^ Valley, as well as the main Valley. A large num- 
 ber of horses have been obtained, a proper estimate of which I cannot now 
 make. Lieutenant John R. Meigs, my engineer officer, was murdered be- 
 yond Harrisonburg near Dayton. For this atrocious act all the houses 
 within an area of five miles were burned. Since I came into the Valley 
 from Harper's Ferry, every train, every small party, and every straggler 
 has been bushwhacked by the people, many of whom have protection 
 passes from commanders who have been hitherto in that Valley. The 
 people here are getting sick of the war. Heretofore they have had no 
 reason to complain, because they have been living in great abundance. I 
 have not been followed by the enemy to this point, with the exception of 
 a small fofte of the rebel cavalry that showed themselves some distance 
 behind my rear-guard to-day. A party of one hundred of the Eighth Ohio 
 Cavalry, which I had stationed at the bridge over the North Shenandoah, 
 near Mount Jackson, was attacked by McNeil with seventeen men, while 
 they were asleep, and the whole party dispersed or captured. I think 
 they will all turn up. I learn that fifty-six of them had reached Win- 
 chester. McNeil was mortally wounded, and fell into our hands. This 
 was fortunate, as he was the most daring and dangerous of all the bush- 
 whackers in this section of the country. 
 
 (Signed) "P. H. SHERIDAN, Major- General." 
 
 During his pursuit of Early, and on his retreat down 
 the Valley, Sheridan effected an immense destruction of 
 public property, and, in accordance with orders from 
 Government, destroyed all the grain, hay, and forage to 
 be found, except what was necessary for his own army. 
 The Valley had been the great storehouse and granary of 
 the rebel armies in Virginia, and in order to cripple Lee 
 it was deemed indispensable to carry out this harsh but 
 necessary policy. It had also harbored perhaps the worst 
 class of guerrillas to be found in the country men who 
 were farmers by day and robbers by night ; who, under 
 the guise of loyalty, entrapped and murdered unsuspect- 
 ing Union soldiers, and had from the outset of the war 
 been systematic and successful spies over the Union 
 armies. To strike terror into this class of men and those 
 who sympathized with or harbored them, and put a stop 
 to their excesses, was the prime object of the Government, 
 and a wholesale system of devastation was inaugurated 
 by Sheridan, which, while it sometimes struck friend as 
 well as foe, undoubtedly had on the whole a beneficial
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 1089 
 
 influence in restraining the operations of the guerrillas 
 and bushwackers, and driving them to parts of the 
 country where it would be less dangerous for the inhabit- 
 ants to harbor them. This duty was efficiently performed 
 by Torbert's Cavalry. On the 8th of October the rebel 
 General Eosser, while harassing Sheridan's rear, was 
 suddenly encountered by the Union cavalry and soundly 
 beaten, losing three hundred prisoners, eleven pieces of 
 artillery, and a number of caissons and wagons. He was 
 then pursued a distance of twenty-six miles. 
 
 67 J
 
 1090 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 CHAPTER LXYIII. 
 
 Position of Armies. Early .Advances. Battle of Cedar Creek. Opportune 
 Arrival of Sheridau. Disastrous Defeat of the Enemy. Sheridan's 
 Troops leave for the Potomac Devastation. 
 
 EARLY promptly renewed his advance movement on the 
 retirement of Sheridan to Cedar Creek. The losses in- 
 flicted upon him were soon made up by re-enforcements, 
 and a few days of repose in the fastnesses of Brown's Gap 
 enabled him to recuperate his forces, and to take the field 
 with twenty-eight thousand men, comprising the five 
 divisions of infantry under Ramseur, Gordon, Pegram, 
 Wharton, and Kershaw. While Early was advancing, 
 the* Federal commander had quietly occupied the north 
 bank of Cedar Creek. The Army of Western Yirginia, 
 General Crook, held the left, its right resting on the 
 pike ; the Nineteenth Corps, General Emory the centre, 
 its left resting on the pike ; and the Sixth Corps, General 
 Wright, the right, connecting with the Nineteenth Corps. 
 The First and Second Cavalry Divisions were on the ex- 
 treme right, Custer being in advance in front of the Sixth 
 Corps, Merritt in rear of Custer, his left flank just over- 
 lapping the right of the Sixth Corps. Thus the Sixth 
 Corps was rendered partially a reserve. The line was 
 formed from right to left across the entire Valley, thus : 
 Custer, Merritt, Wright, Emory, Crook, Powell. The 
 cavalry of the latter picketed the whole North Fork to 
 Front Royal. Crook and Emory had artillery in posi- 
 tion to command the rising ground on the opposite bank 
 of Cedar Creek. Just in the rear of Crook, on the left, 
 what was called the Provisional Division, under Colonel 
 Kitchin, was encamped. Sheridan's head-quarters were 
 fixed at a stone house about half a mile in rear of the 
 centre. Sheridan himself had been absent on a journey 
 to Washington .since Sunday, October 16th. On Tues- 
 day night he slept at Winchester on his return. Wright, 
 therefore, commanded the army on the morning of the
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 1091 
 
 19th, Bicketts being in command of the Sixth Corps. 
 Against this strong position, which was considered by 
 the Union generals almost impregnable, Early, with a 
 boldness commendable in one who had recently suffered 
 two severe defeats, determined to make a night attack, 
 and, if possible, retrieve his reputation and drive Sheridan 
 from the Valley. He was prompted to undertake the 
 movement from a belief that the Sixth Corps had been 
 withdrawn, and from a report that Sheridan was absent 
 from the army. How nearly he succeeded, and how op- 
 portunely he was frustrated, are among the most remark- 
 able facts of the war. 
 
 Just before daybreak on the morning of 19th, Early 
 began his movement to surprise the Union army. An 
 impenetrable fog enveloped the whole region, favoring 
 his designs. The three divisions with which he began 
 his assault were massed at Fisher's Hill, and the troops 
 were disencumbered of every accoutrement except their 
 arms and ammunition. They were not even permitted 
 to carry their canteens, lest their clanking should advise 
 Sheridan of their approach. Just as the first gleam of 
 day began to mingle with the dim moonlight, the sharp 
 rattle of musketry on the extreme right gave notice of 
 what was an unimportant and feint attack. As this 
 attack began, the sentinels of the enemy along the whole 
 line fired signal muskets from right to left. Immediately 
 afterwards the three divisions, under Pegram, Ramseur, 
 and Gordon, advanced in solid columns down the turn- 
 pike from Strasburg, without skirmishers, and assaulted 
 Crook's position in front and flank. The surprise was 
 complete, and the rebels, advancing by column of 
 regiments, and firing rapid and terrific volleys of mus- 
 ketry, swept over the works almost without opposition. 
 Crook's whole line gradually giving way, of seven guns in 
 the breastworks, six were captured, but one being saved. 
 The enemy pressed on with fierce shouts, keeping up a 
 deadly fire of musketry, which prevented Crook's men 
 from rallying in the thick fog which bewildered both men 
 and officers. The smoke, the fog, the wild shouts, and 
 the deadly fire from an unseen foe, who poured into the 
 encampments, capturing camp equipage and barely 
 aroused soldiers, were powerful agents in promoting con- 
 fusion. General Crook and his division commanders did
 
 1092 HISTORY OF THE GBEAT REBELLION. 
 
 their best, under the circumstances, to meet the shock, 
 and constantly opposed a half-organized front against the 
 enemy. The latter, pushing up beyond and around our 
 left, entered the encampments of the provisional division 
 under Colonel Kitchin, routing it also, and driving those 
 and Crook's troops on towards the pike. 
 
 Meanwhile Kershaw's Division, which had left Ear- 
 ly's position in a southeasterly direction, and had turned 
 north and crossed the North Fork before dawn of Wednes- 
 day, was now closing on the intrenchments of the Eighth 
 Corps, capturing prisoners in large numbers and seizing 
 the batteries. The left division of Crook's Corps and 
 Kitchin's Division were now thoroughly broken up. At 
 the same time Early, with his remaining division, had 
 moved on up the pike towards our centre, bringing artil- 
 lery, and opening with it on the lines of the Nineteenth 
 Corps. Their opening fire was vigorous, and was follow- 
 ed up by an advance of their infantry across the creek, 
 joining in the assault made by their comrades on the left, 
 and directing itself against the lines of the Nineteenth 
 Corps. Emory's left flank was wholly exposed by the 
 retreat of Crook, and the attack upon it was, therefore, 
 overwhelming. Colonel McAuley, commanding the 
 Third Brigade of Grover's Division on the left, was 
 ordered to swing out of his position in front and meet the 
 flank fire of the rebels. He did so, making a gallant but 
 ineffectual opposition; and he had scarcely left the breast- 
 works to perform the movement, when trie enemy swept 
 up into them against the unavailing fire of Grover's 
 Division, forcing the whole division back, with the loss 
 of eleven guns captured and left upon the field. 
 
 It was now daylight, and the enemy, having rolled up 
 the left of the line and captured eighteen guns, which 
 were turned on our retreating columns, was now driving 
 in the centre. Nearly all of his force was over the creek, 
 and his flanking column, leaving the pursuit of the Eighth 
 Corps, was closing in on Emory^s left, who, being flanked 
 in his turn, gave way to the rear. The Sixth Corps, 
 which was in line on the. right of the Nineteenth Corps 
 (the cavalry being in front of its right), partially in re- 
 serve, was ordered to change front, swing round what 
 had been its left before being the pivot meet the ad- 
 vance of the enemy in the centre, and check it. Another
 
 HISTORY OF THE GEEAT REBELLION. 1093 
 
 order was sent to the cavalry on the extreme right, under 
 Torbert, to move rapidly across in rear, from right to 
 left, and check the advance of the enemy in the direc- 
 tion of the pike toward Middletown. The Sixth Corps, 
 moving by the left flank, came up a. short distance in 
 rear of what had been General Sheridan's head-quarters, 
 opened the right of its line to permit the stragglers from 
 the left of the Nineteenth Corps to pass through, and 
 then, in conjunction with the remainder of the Nineteenth 
 Corps, which finally rallied and formed on its right, re- 
 pulsed a tremendous charge of the enemy and held them 
 at bay. 
 
 This served to cover the general retreat which was ' 
 ordered. The enemy were steadily gaining ground on 
 the pike towards Middletown. Great efforts were made 
 to get away the trains of the two left corps, and most of 
 those of the Nineteenth were saved. Most of the ambu- 
 lance train of the Eighth Corps was captured during the 
 first hour of the engagement. In the retreat, and in the 
 effort to cover our trains, our troops suffered severely 
 from the fire of the enemy, who pursued closely and with 
 great vigor. The Sixth Corps was steadily covering the 
 retreat, however, and, by resisting the enemy's advance, 
 gave opportunity to re-form the Eighth and Nineteenth 
 Corps, with the Nineteenth on the right, the Sixth in the 
 centre, and the Eighth on the left. During the retreat, 
 General Bicketts, commanding the Sixth Corps, was 
 severely wounded in the breast. The enemy now in- 
 creased both his artillery and musketry fire to its utmost 
 capacity, till the roar and carnage became terrific. He 
 still pressed our left flank, as if determined to drive us 
 away from the turnpike, that he mjght seize our trains 
 and insert himself between us and Winchester. His pro- 
 jects were aided somewhat by the necessity forced upon 
 us to spend much time in manoeuvring to re-form the line, 
 while he employed himself only in advancing and pour- 
 ing in his destructive fire. As he pressed our left so 
 much more hotly than the right, the cavalry divisions of 
 Merritt and Custer were sent across thither from the 
 right, and now a severe contest took place near Middle- 
 town, in the thickly wooded and rough country in which 
 our left had found itself. 
 
 It was now about nine o'clock, and our troops, having
 
 1094 HISTORY OF THE GBEAT REBELLION. 
 
 got into line of battle again, were for the first time 
 making desperate efforts to check the enemy. The 
 Eighth Corps, on the left, and the Sixth, in the centre, 
 were receiving the brunt of the fierce onset. Merritt and 
 Ouster had also taken part in the thick of the battle. 
 Both sides were using artillery as well as musketry, but 
 the enemy brought to bear the greater weight of metal, 
 having re-enforced their own batteries with our captured 
 pieces. As the enemy's troops closed in on our own, it 
 was clear that the momentum he had acquired was 
 swinging him again past our flank. The flanking column 
 of the enemy pressed severely upon Thorburn's Division 
 and other parts of Crook's Corps, and once more forced it 
 back. The Sixth Corps held its ground well, but the 
 whole line was giving way, and the enemy gained Mid- 
 dletown. He continued to press us back towards Ste- 
 phensburg or Newtown, which lies next below Middle- 
 town, on the turnpike, and about five miles distant there- 
 from. His artillery was served with great accuracy from 
 the heights north of Middletown, which we had just 
 vacated. Our principal aim henceforth was to success- 
 fully cover our trains and to draw away the army with as 
 little loss as possible to Newtown, when another stand 
 might be made. 
 
 Where all this time was Sheridan ? He had arrived, 
 as has been mentioned, at Winchester, twenty miles 
 from his camp, on the night of the 18th, intending to 
 proceed to Cedar Creek on the next morning. Unsus- 
 picious of danger ahead, he started at about eight A. M. 
 on the 19th, with his escort, at a leisurely pace. JBut soon 
 the distant thunder of artillery in the direction of Mid- 
 dletown caused him to quicken his pace. Thinking that 
 Early had possibly ventured to attack the position at 
 Cedar Creek, he was desirous of witnessing the punish- 
 ment which the rebel general, by all the chances of war, 
 should receive for his temerity. Gradually the sound of 
 the artillery swelled into a continuous roar, and seemed to 
 roll towards him, until the conviction became too strong 
 for doubt that a heavy battle was raging in the front, 
 and that the defeated party were being rapidly pushed 
 northward. He put spurs to his horse and rode at full 
 speed towards the firing, fearing, yet unwilling to believe, 
 that any disaster could have overtaken the army which
 
 HISTORY OF THE GEEAT REBELLION. 1095 
 
 he had twice led to signal victory. But soon the first 
 troup of fugitives and camp-followers streaming north- 
 ward told him that his army was beaten and in full re- 
 treat. Galloping along far ahead of his escort, he dashed 
 up to the front soon after ten o'clock, his charger reeking 
 with foam, and by his voice and presence infused con- 
 fidence and new courage into the disheartened troops. 
 Even wounded men by the roadside greeted him with 
 cheers. At once he directed every effort to stopping 
 the retreat and re-forming the men. This was favored 
 by a pause in the pursuit on the part of the enemy, 
 which enabled the army to fall back out of range. The 
 provost-marshals of the several corps succeeded in form- 
 ing a line of guards in the rear, which was gradually 
 effective in preventing desertion. In a short time the 
 stragglers were partially organized and moving towards 
 the front. The Army of Western Virginia, which had 
 been so completely broken up and scattered in the morn- 
 ing, was thus re-formed in a measure and put in position. 
 Sheridan ordered all retreat to be stopped at once, and at 
 one P. M. had got his army established in line of battle, 
 as follows : the Sixth Corps in the centre, Nineteenth 
 Corps on the right, Crook's command on the left, Custer's 
 cavalry division on the extreme right, and Merritt's cav- 
 alry division on the extreme left. 
 
 The enemy meantime had moved up his guns in range 
 of the new position, and having again got his troops in 
 hand, once more came on to the charge, but was severely 
 repulsed by the Nineteenth Corps. General Bidwell was 
 killed and Grover wounded during this attack. It now 
 became evident that Early had relinquished offensive 
 movements for the day. Tne enemy began throwing up 
 breastworks. Their wagons and ambulances were brought 
 across Cedar Run, and every thing indicated their inten- 
 tion to retain the position during the night. Having now 
 become somewhat prepared to take the offensive, Sher- 
 idan at three p. M. ordered an attack with a view of re- 
 gaining the position at Cedar Creek. The Sixth Corps 
 was drawn up in the centre, along the pike, with Getty's- 
 Second Division in advance, and the other divisions sup- 
 porting. Between three and Tour o'clock Getty dashed 
 forward on the charge, and the remainder of the line fol- 
 lowed. A tremendous fire of artillery and musketry
 
 1096 HISTOKY OF THE GKEAT REBELLION. 
 
 greeted our troops as they burst out of the woods. For a 
 time it seemed impossible to withstand it. Our lines 
 once fell back, broken, but were again re-formed, and 
 while such of our own batteries as remained answered the 
 enemy with vigor and effect, the troops again pressed on. 
 Despite determined and bloody resistance, they carried 
 the town, and drove the discomfited enemy through it. 
 This was the crisis of the day, and from that moment 
 victory was ours. On through Middletown, and beyond, 
 the enemy hurried, and the army of the Shenandoah pur- 
 sued. Caster and Merritt, charging in on right and left, 
 doubled up the flanks of the foe, taking prisoners, slash- 
 ing, killing, driving as they went. The march of the in- 
 fantry, though more slow, was more effective. 
 
 The retreat of the enemy was continued back to Fisher's 
 Hill. At Cedar Creek he attempted to hold us in check, 
 and planted his batteries on the opposite banks, to hold 
 the bridge and fords. But our forces pressed on, carried 
 the fords and bridge, and drove him from the creek 
 through Strasburg to Fisher's Hill. A part of our in- 
 fantry reached Strasburg, but the main army bivouacked 
 in the old camp along Cedar Creek. The cavalry dashed 
 through Strasburg to Fisher's Hill, and there the victori- 
 ous march terminated. The enemy subsequently retired 
 upon Newmarket, abandoning almost every thing in their 
 flight. The total losses, exclusive of recaptures, were as 
 follows : Early's loss in killed, wounded, and prisoners 
 was stated by the enemy to be less than twelve hundred, 
 but was in reality far greater. He lost in prisoners alone 
 over sixteen hundred men. He also lost twenty-three 
 cannon, besides all those captured by him in the morning, 
 and a few caissons. The other losses, wagons, &c., ex- 
 clusive of recaptures, were small. A part of the medical 
 stores of each side was captured by the other. Our losses 
 were about six thousand five hundred men, including 
 over fifteen hundred prisoners. The official statement of 
 losses in the Sixth and Nineteenth Corps made them 
 about five thousand five hundred in all. The official es- 
 timates of those in the Eighth Corps put them at about 
 eight hundred and fifty. Among the rebel dead was 
 General Ramseur. 
 
 Early, having retired upon Newmarket and intrenched 
 there, began to recuperate with that energy for which he
 
 niSTOKY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 1097 
 
 was conspicuous. His cavalry began at once to scour the 
 Luray Valley, under Lomax, whence Sheridan's Cavalry 
 failed to draw him. By the 20th of October he again 
 showed signs of an advance, by throwing forward a strong 
 cavalry force, while Breckinridge, having relieved Echols 
 in Southwestern Virginia, was reorganizing a force there 
 with a view to support Early. Sheridan was also drill- 
 ing, clothing, and organizing his men, while Mosby and 
 Imboden's troopers were so busy on his flanks that it re- 
 quired a strong force along the lines to protect the com- 
 munications. . 
 
 In the first week of November the enemy's demonstra- 
 tions were more marked, and his cavalry under Rosser 
 threatened Sheridan's communications north of Winches- 
 ter. On the morning of the 7th, Sheridan broke up his 
 camp and fell back to Newtown, four and one-half miles 
 distant on the turnpike, and about nine miles south of 
 Winchester. The Nineteenth Corps was on the right of 
 the pike in advance, the Sixth on the left, and the wagon 
 trains between them on the road. The artillery followed, 
 and the Eighth Corps brought up the rear. The cavalry 
 covered the flanks and rear. The retrograde movement 
 continued next day along the pike from Newtown to 
 Kearnstown, four miles south of Winchester. On the after- 
 noon of Friday, the llth, Lomax's Cavalry, who had been 
 following us, pressed severely against the cavalry divisions 
 of Custer and Merritt, in reconnoitring, and drove them in. 
 Our army was then in line at Kearnstown. After a sharp 
 skirmish the enemy was forced to retire. Next morning, 
 the 12th, Lomax again attacked our cavalry, driving in 
 our pickets. On reaching our main force, he was repulsed 
 after a protracted engagement. Powell's Division then 
 pursued him to Front Royal, and captured two guns and 
 one hundred and fifty men. The fighting was spirited, 
 and our losses were considerable. Early subsequently 
 advanced his army and again occupied Fisher's Hill with 
 about fifteen thousand men. On the 21st of November 
 he occupied Mount Jackson and Newmarket with his in- 
 fantry, with his cavalry thrown forward from his right. 
 In the first week in December the Sixth Corps left the 
 Valley to re-enforce Grant, as did also a considerable por- 
 tion of Sheridan's infantry. In the same way Lee was
 
 1098 
 
 HISTORY OF THE GKEAT EEBELLION. 
 
 re-enforced by Kershaw and other troops from Early, leav- 
 ing but a few thousand men at Newmarket. Both armies 
 thenceforth remained quiet for some months. 
 
 During the first week in December, Merritt's (First) 
 Cavalry Division crossed the Blue Ridge, and made a 
 grand raid through the upper parts of Loudon and Fau- 
 quier Counties, which were the chief haunts of Mosby 
 and his men. Every thing was laid waste barns, houses, 
 farms, and mills ; many cattle were captured, and others 
 slaughtered and burned. Unfortunately, not a few Union 
 citizens suffered the loss of every thing in the general 
 destruction. The raid was in accordance with the policj 7 
 initiated by Grant and Sheridan, and its results, officially 
 reported, are as follows : 
 
 PROPERTY CAPTURED. 
 
 First Second Reserve 
 
 Brigade. Brigade. Brigade. 
 
 Horses 147 235 86 
 
 Mules 4 4 .... 
 
 Cattle 2,563 2,483 474 
 
 Sheep 3,607 2,130 100 
 
 Swine 1,033 110 
 
 PROPERTY DESTROYED. 
 
 Barns 474 464 230 
 
 Mills 19 22 8 
 
 Factories 2 .... 
 
 Distilleries.... 141 
 
 Tons of Hay 17,620 10,000 
 
 Bushels of Wheat 26,500 25,000 
 
 Bushels of Corn 5,400 57,500 
 
 Bushels of Oats 2,000 
 
 Haystacks 990 131 
 
 TV'heatstacks 57 
 
 Tanneries 1 .... 
 
 Stacks of Grain 104 .... 
 
 Estimated value of property destroyed and captured 
 
 the First Bi igade, Colonel Stagg 
 
 Second Brigade, General Devin 
 
 Eeserve Brigade 
 
 Total. 
 
 388 
 8 
 
 5,520 
 5,837 
 1,141 
 
 1,168 
 
 49 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 
 27,620 
 
 51,500 
 
 62,900 
 
 2,000 
 
 .1,121 
 
 57 
 
 1 
 
 104 
 
 .$857,716 
 .1,239,520 
 . 411,520 
 
 Total $2,508,756 
 
 Perhaps the statement of a rebel commissioner of the 
 revenue in Shenandoah County, made about the same 
 time, will give a clearer idea of Sheridan's previous 
 cavalry operations in that county alone. He says : 
 
 "I will now try and give you some idea of the damage done in part of
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 1099 
 
 this county by the Yankees, in the way of burning of barns, mills, &c. I 
 have been over nearly the whole of my district, comprising all the upper 
 end of the county, from Narrow Passage Creek to Rockingham County 
 line, and I find there have been burned by Sheridan's army two hundred 
 and fifteen barns, eighteen dwellings, eleven grist mills, nine water saw- 
 mills, two steam sawmills, one furnace two forges, one fulling mill, one 
 carding machine, besides a number of smaller buildings, such as stables, &c. 
 The quantity of grain destroyed is immense. I cannot give you any idea 
 of the amount of grain, hay, fodder, &c.. destroyed, but the quantity is very 
 large."
 
 1100 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 CHAPTEE LXIX. 
 
 Political Parties. Elections of 1862. Organization and Strength of the 
 Peace Party. Banishment of Vallancligham. Ohio Election. Political 
 Reaction in Favor of the Administration. Thirty-eighth Congress. 
 President's Plan of Reconstruction. Amendment to the Constitution. - 
 Presidential Canvass of 1864. Conventions at Baltimore and Chicago. 
 Nomination of Lincoln and McClellan. Result of the Election. Peace 
 Negotiations. Colonel Jaques. The Niagara Falls Correspondence. 
 
 THE failure of the Peninsular campaign of 1862, fol- 
 lowed by the defeat of Pope in the second Bull Hun 
 campaign, the invasion of Maryland by Lee, and the in- 
 decisive battle of Antietam, together with the aggressive 
 strength exhibited by the rebels in the West by the inva- 
 sion of Kentucky under Bragg, all conspired to bring the 
 Administration into temporary disfavor; and in the fall 
 elections of 1862, several of the States, including New 
 York, which had given large majorities for Lincoln two 
 years previous, were carried by the opposition. The 
 gains of Congressmen made by the latter in these elec- 
 tions threatened to neutralize, and perhaps considerably 
 overcome, the Administration majority in Congress. In- 
 capacity, wastefulness, corruption, and imbecility were 
 freely charged upon the President and his constitutional 
 advisers ; but the most serious objection urged against 
 the Administration was its alleged unconstitutional me- 
 thod of conducting the war. Confiscation, arbitrary 
 arrests, conscription, the emancipation of slaves belonging 
 to rebels, and similar forcible measures initiated by Gov- 
 ernment, for which it was insisted there was no warrant 
 afforded in the Constitution, were alike condemned by 
 the opposition, who contended that the war could be car- 
 ried to a successful completion without resort to so radical 
 a policy, and that in point of fact it had better be termi- 
 nated at once than conducted unconstitutionally. The 
 political contest of 1862 may, therefore, be considered to 
 nave shown in some degree a public dissatisfaction with the 
 course of the Administration during the year, though it can-
 
 HISTORY OF THE GKEAT REBELLION. 1101 
 
 not be doubted also that military reverses had much to do 
 in causing that dissatisfaction. With those who claimed to 
 be superior to such accidental influences as success or de- 
 feat, the emancipation proclamation of September was a 
 sufficient reason for trying to overthrow the Administra- 
 tion in Congress, and at the close of the year it looked as 
 if their efforts might be rewarded with success. It is 
 worthy of note, however, that in those States in which 
 the soldiers were allowed to vote, the Republican suprem- 
 acy was easily maintained. This was notably the *case 
 in Iowa, where the soldiers' vote enabled the Republicans 
 to return their full delegation to Congress. 
 
 The year 1863 opened with no favorable prospects for 
 the National cause, and the repulses before Fredericks- 
 burg and Charleston, and the defeat at Chancellorsville, 
 followed by the second invasion of Maryland, seemed to 
 presage further losses for the Administration. The op- 
 position had meanwhile been busy in other ways. Un- 
 deterred by the assertions of Government that its action 
 in arresting suspected persons, at a time when the country 
 swarmed with spies and secret traitors, was utterly dis- 
 interested, and by its efforts to release all prisoners against 
 whom no evidence of treasonable intent could be brought ; 
 regardless also of the act of Congress sanctioning the action 
 of the President in suspending the writ of habeas corpus, 
 and clothing him with full authority to check and punish 
 all attempts to defeat the efforts of the Government in 
 the prosecution of the war, the leaders of the opposition 
 busied themselves with promoting public dissatisfaction 
 and demanding that the war should be brought to a close. 
 While many were sincere in believing that the evils which 
 sprang from a vigorous prosecution of the war were worse 
 than secession itself, it cannot be doubted that many- 
 were also influenced by a factious, partisan spirit, which 
 prompted them to rejoice in the humiliation of their 
 country, provided the overthrow of their political oppo- 
 nents could be thereby secured. The latter branch of 
 the opposition formed the nucleus around which rallied 
 a party whose watchword was " Peace on any Terms," 
 and whose numbers were swelled by the whole disloyal 
 element in the North, and by various secret organizations 
 formed to promote the independence of the " Southern 
 Confederacy," of which the K. G. C.'s, or " Knights of
 
 1102 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 the Golden Circle," were the most conspicuous. One of 
 the most active advocates of peace with the rebel Confed- 
 eracy was Clement L. Vallandigham, a Democratic mem- 
 ber of Congress from Ohio, who, after the adjournment 
 of the Thirty-seventh Congress, made public speeches in 
 his congressional district, denouncing and counselling 
 resistance to the draft, which was about to be enforced. 
 He charged the Government at Washington with aiming, 
 under the pretext of restoring the Union, to crush out 
 liberty and establish a despotism, and with deliberately 
 rejecting propositions by which the Southern States could 
 have been brought back to the Union. He also de- 
 nounced Order No, 38, issued by General Burnside, then 
 commanding the Department of the Ohio, forbidding 
 certain disloyal practices, and announced his intention to 
 disobey it, at the same time calling upon the people who 
 heard him to resist and defeat its execution, lor this 
 conduct he was tried before a court-martial, in May, 1863, 
 and sentenced to beplaced in close confinement within 
 some fortress of the United States. The President modi- 
 fied this sentence by directing that, instead of being im- 
 prisoned, Vallandigham should be sent within the rebel 
 lines, and should not return to the United States until 
 after the termination of the war. This sentence was at 
 once carried into execution. 
 
 Vallandigham, after passing some time in Richmond, 
 escaped in a blockade-runner to British America, where 
 he remained some tune, finding abundant sympathy from 
 the rebel refugees in Canada. His trial and banishment 
 caused no little excitement throughout the country, and 
 by his party he was regarded as a martyr. Meetings 
 were held to protest against the action of the Govern- 
 ment, and the Democratic State Convention of Ohio 
 finally capped the climax by nominating him as its can- 
 didate for Governor in the ensuing State election. The 
 Republican, or Union party, as it was now called, nomi- 
 nated for the same office John Brough, a former Demo- 
 crat, but a man pledged in the most emphatic manner to 
 support the Government in its efforts to suppress the 
 rebellion. Thus the issue was joined between the oppo- 
 nents of the Administration and those who, believing that 
 its measures were proper and effective, lent it their hearty 
 support, and, in consequence, the Ohio election was
 
 HISTORY OF THE GKEAT REBELLION. 1103 
 
 watched with absorbing interest by the whole country. 
 By a special law of the State its citizens, absent in the 
 military service of the. country, were permitted to vote 
 for State officers, and the soldiers' vote, it was claimed, 
 would be cast almost unanimously for Brough. 
 
 Meanwhile, with the commencement of July occurred 
 another turn in the tide of the war. The battle of 
 Gettysburg and the ignominious ending of Lee's inva- 
 sion of the North, and the capture of Yicksburg and 
 Port Hudson, followed by the opening of the Mississippi 
 to commerce, restored the prestige of the Union arms, 
 and the prospect of subduing the Confederacy seemed 
 more hopeful than ever before. With this happy change 
 in military prospects, the friends of the Administration, 
 and all those persons in favor of a vigorous prosecution 
 of the war, shook off their despondency, and began to 
 gather energy for the political contest of the year. The 
 riotous proceedings in New York, Boston, and elsewhere, 
 against the enforcement of the draft, by repealing the 
 existence of a powerful secession element at work to op- 
 pose the Government, strengthened the Administration 
 party, and the fall elections of 1863 witnessed a complete 
 reversal of the popular verdict declared a year previous. 
 Yallandigham was defeated in Ohio by the unprecedented 
 majority of one hundred thousand in favor of Brough, 
 the soldiers' vote being almost unanimous for the latter, 
 and the great States of New York and Pennsylvania 
 elected the Union candidates for office by large majorities. 
 Such was the reaction in favor of the Administration that 
 it secured enough of the remaining members of Congress 
 to be elected to give it- a majority of about twenty in the 
 next House of Representatives. The result of the can- 
 vass was that every State, except New Jersey, voted to 
 sustain the Administration. The ground taken by its 
 friends was that held by the President from the beginning 
 that the rebellion must be suppressed, and the Union 
 preserved at whatever cost that this could only be done 
 by force, and that it was both the right and the duty of 
 the Government to use all the means at its command, 
 which were commonly exercised in time of war, to accom- 
 plish this object. The result was, therefore, justly claimed 
 as a decided verdict in favor of the Administration, and 
 thenceforth the determination of the vast majority of the
 
 1104: HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 people to prosecute the 'war to a successful completion 
 remained unshaken, in spite of reverses which caused 
 temporary depression, of conscriptions which drew fear- 
 fully upon the able-bodied industrial population of the 
 country, and of taxation which surpassed the wildest pre- 
 dictions made by alarmists at the commencement of the 
 struggle. 
 
 The Thirty-eighth Congress convened at Washington, 
 December, 1863, and was organized by the election of 
 Schuyler Colfax, a Republican member from Indiana, as 
 Speaker of the House of Representatives. In his annual 
 message, President Lincoln proposed a plan of reconstruc- 
 tion for the revolted States, which is fully set forth in the 
 following proclamation : 
 
 PROCLAMATION. 
 
 " Wiereas, In and by the Constitution of the United States, it is provided 
 that the President shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for of- 
 fences against the United States, except in cases of impeachment and 
 whereas, a rebellion now exists, whereby the loyal State Governments of 
 several States have for a long time been subverted, and many persons have 
 committed and arc now guilty of treason against the United States ; and 
 
 " Whereas, With reference to said rebellion and treason, laws have been 
 enacted by Congress, declaring forfeitures and confiscation of property and 
 liberation of slaves, all upon terms and conditions therein stated, and also 
 declaring that the President was thereby authorized at any time thereafter, 
 by proclamation, to extend to persons who may have participated in the ex- 
 isting rebellion in any State or part thereof, pardon and amnesty, with such 
 exceptions and at such times and on such conditions as he may deem expe- 
 dient for the public welfare ; and 
 
 " Whereas, The Congressional declaration for limited and conditional par- 
 don accords with the well-established judicial exposition of the pardoning 
 power; and 
 
 " Whereas, With reference to the said rebellion, the President of the 
 United States has issued several proclamations with provisions in regard to 
 the liberation of slaves ; and 
 
 " Whereas, It is now desired by some persons heretofore engaged in said 
 rebellion to resume their allegiance to the United States, and to reinaugu- 
 rate loyal State Governments within and for their respective States: there- 
 fore, 
 
 "I, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, President of the United States, do proclaim, de- 
 clare, and make known to all persons who have directly or by implication 
 participated in the existing rebellion, except as hereinafter excepted, that a 
 full pardon is hereby granted to them and each of them, with restoration of 
 all rights of property, except as to slaves, and in property cases where rights 
 of third parties shall have intervened, and upon condition that every such 
 person shall take and subscribe an oath and thenceforward keep and main- 
 tain said oath inviolate, an oath which shall be registered for permanent 
 preservation, and shall be of the tenor and effect following, to wit : 
 
 ^ f do solemnly swear, in presence of Almighty God, that
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION". 1105 
 
 / 
 
 Twill henceforth faithfully support, protect, and defend the Constitution of 
 the United States, and the Union of the States thereunder; and that in like 
 manner I will abide by and faithfully support all acts of Congress passed 
 during the existing rebellion with reference to slaves, so long and so far as 
 not repealed, modified, or held void by Congress or by decision of the Su- 
 preme Court ; and that I will in like manner 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 help me God.' 
 
 " The persons excepted from the benefits of the foregoing provisions are : 
 all who are, or shall have been civil or diplomatic officers or agents of the 
 so-called Confederate Government ; all who have left judicial stations under 
 the United State* to aid the rebellion ; all who are, or shall have been mili- 
 tary or naval officers of said so-called Confederate Government, above the 
 rank of colonel in the army, or of lieutenant in the navy ; all who left seats 
 in the United States Congress to aid the rebellion ; all who resigned com- 
 missions in the army or navy of the United States, and afterwards aided 
 the rebellion ; and all who have engaged in any way in treating colored 
 persons, or white persons in charge of such, otherwise than lawfully as 
 prisoners of war, and which persons may have been found in the United 
 States service as soldiers, seamen, or any other capacity ; and I do further 
 proclaim, declare, and make known that, whenever, in any of the States of 
 Arkansas, T^as, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, 
 Florida, SoU^^Carolina, and North Carolina, a number of persons not less 
 than one-tenth in number of the votes cast in such States at the Presiden- 
 tial election of the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty, 
 each having taken the oath aforesaid, and not having since violated it, and 
 being a qualified voter by the election law of the State existing immediately 
 before the so-called act of secession, and excluding all others, shall re- 
 establish a State Government which shall be republican, and in nowise 
 contravening said oath, such shall be recognized as the true government 
 of the State, and the State shall receive thereunder the benefits of the 
 constitutional provision which declares that 
 
 " ' The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a re- 
 publican form of government, and shall protect each of them against inva- 
 sion, and on application of the Legislature, or the Executive, when tha 
 Legislature cannot be convened, against domestic violence.' 
 
 "And I do further proclaim and make known that any provision which 
 may be adopted by such State Government in relation to the freed people- 
 of such State, which shall recognize and declare their permanent freedom, 
 provide for their education, and which may yet be consistent, as a tempo- 
 rary arrangement, with their present condition as a laboring, landless, and 
 homeless class, will not be objected to by the National Executive. 
 
 " And it is suggested as not improper that, in constructing a loyal State 
 Government in any State, the name of the State, the boundary, the subdi- 
 visions, the Constitution, and the general code of laws, as before the rebel- 
 lion, be maintained, subject only to the modifications made necessary by the 
 conditions herein before stated, and such others, if any, not contravening 
 said conditions, and which may be deemed expedient by those framing the 
 new State Government. To avoid misunderstanding, it may be proper to 
 say that tliis proclamation, so far as it relates to State Governments, has no 
 reference to States wherein loyal State Governments have all the while 
 been maintained; and for the same reason it may be proper to further say, 
 that whether members sent to Congress from any State, shall be admitted^ 
 to seats, constitutionally rests exclusively with the respective Houses, and. 
 not to any extent with the Executive. And still further; that this procla- 
 68
 
 1106 HISTORY OF THE GKEAT REBELLION. 
 
 mation is intended to present the people of the States wherein the national 
 authority has been suspended, and loyal State Governments have been sub- 
 verted, a mode in and by which the national authority and loyal State Gov- 
 ernments may be re-established within said States, or in any of them. 
 And, while the mode presented is the best the Executive can suggest with 
 his- present impressions, it must not be understood that no other possible 
 mode would be acceptable. 
 
 " Given under my hand at the City of "Washington, the eighth day of 
 December, A. D. one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of 
 the independence of the United States of America the eighty -eighth. 
 " By the President : ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 " WM. H. SEWAED, Secretary of State." 
 
 
 
 In two States only, Louisiana and Arkansas, was the 
 experiment of reconstruction on the basis here proposed 
 tested, and in neither of them can it be said to have had 
 entire success. The project proved distasteful to radical 
 members of the Administration party, and circumstances 
 prevented its being applied in more instances than those 
 cited. Just before the adjournment of Congress in July, 
 a bill was passed to " guarantee to certain Sfctfes whose 
 governments have been usurped or overthrow^ a repub- 
 lican form of government." This bill provided for the 
 :8|ppointment of a provisional governor in each State, and, 
 :as soon as military resistance had ceased and the people 
 .returned to obedience, an enrolment to be made of all 
 white male citizens, designating those who take and those 
 \tfho refuse the oath of allegiance. If those who take the 
 oath ;are a majority, the governor shall invite the people 
 to eleet a convention to re-establish their State Govern- 
 mentim conformity with the Constitution of the United 
 ; States. The bill provided the mode of electing and as- 
 sembling such conventions, and enacted the following 
 restrictions upon their action : " That the convention 
 : shall declare, on behalf of the people of the State,, their 
 ; submission to the Constitution and laws of the United 
 :States v and shall adopt the following provisions, hereby 
 ^prescribed by the United States in the execution of the 
 .constitutional -duty to guarantee a republican form of 
 -government to every State, and incorporate them in the 
 .constitution of the State, that is to say : First No per- 
 ,son who has : held or exercised any office, civil or military, 
 ^except offices merely ministerial, and military offices below 
 the grade of colonel, State or Confederate, under the 
 usurping power, shall vote for or be a member of the leg- 
 islature, or governor. Second Involuntary servitude is
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 1107 
 
 forever prohibited, and the freedom of all persons is guar- 
 anteed in said State. Third No debt, State or Confed- 
 erate, created by or under the sanction of the usurping 
 power, shall Be recognized or paid by the State." Con- 
 stitutions made or amended by these conventions were to 
 be submitted to the people, " and if a majority of the votes 
 cast shall be for the constitution and form of government, 
 he shall certify the same, with a copy thereof, to the 
 President of the United States, who, after obtaining the 
 assent of Congress, shall, by proclamation, recognize the 
 government so established, and none other, as the consti- 
 tutional government of the State, and from the date of 
 such recognition, and not before, Senators and Repre- 
 sentatives, and electors for President and Vice-President, 
 may be elected in such State, according to the laws of 
 the State and the United States." In case the conven- 
 tions refused to establish governments in accordance with 
 this act, the governors were to dissolve them and order 
 new elections. It was also enacted that until the United 
 States shall have recognized a republican form of State 
 Government, the provisional governor in each of said 
 States shall see that this act, and the laws of the United 
 States, and the laws of the State in force when the State 
 Government was overthrown by the rebellion, are faith- 
 fully executed within the State; but no law or usage 
 whereby any person was heretofore held in involuntary 
 servitude shall be recognized or enforced by any court or 
 officer in such State, and the laws for the trial and pun- 
 ishment of white persons shall extend to all persons, and 
 jurors shall have the qualifications of voters under this law 
 for delegates to the convention. That until the recogni- 
 tion of a State Government the provisional government 
 shall cause to be assessed, levied, and collected, for the 
 year 1864, and every year thereafter, the taxes provided 
 by the laws of such State, to be levied during the fiscal 
 year preceding the overthrow of the -State Government. 
 That all persons held to involuntary servitude or labor in 
 the States aforesaid are hereby emancipated and discharged 
 therefrom, and they and their posterity shall be forever 
 free. And if any such persons or their posterity shall be 
 restrained of liberty, under pretence of any claim to such 
 service or labor, the courts of the United States shall, on 
 habeas corpus, discharge them. That if any person de-
 
 1108 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 clared free by this act, or any law of the United States, or 
 any proclamation by the President, be restrained of liber- 
 ty, with intent to be held in or reduced to involuntary 
 servitude or labor, the person convicted before a court of 
 competent jurisdiction of such act shall be punished by 
 fine of not less than fifteen hundred dollars, and be im- 
 prisoned not less than five nor more than twenty years. 
 That every person who shall hereafter hold or exercise any 
 office, civil or military, except offices merely ministerial, 
 and military offices below the grade of colonel, in the rebel 
 service, State or Confederate, is hereby declared not to be 
 a citizen of the United States. 
 
 This act the President did not sign, but gave it publi- 
 cation by a proclamation, in which he said : " That while 
 I am (as I was in December last, when by proclamation 
 I propounded a plan for restoration) unprepared, by a 
 formal approval of this bill, to be inflexibly committed to 
 any single plan of restoration ; and, while I am also un- 
 prepared to declare that the free State constitutions and 
 governments already adopted and installed in Arkansas 
 and Louisiana shall be set aside and held for naught, 
 thereby repelling and discouraging the loyal citizens who 
 have set up the same as to further effort, or to declare a 
 constitutional competency in Congress to abolish slavery 
 in States, but am at the same time sincerely hoping and 
 expecting that a constitutional amendment, abolishing 
 slavery throughout the nation, may be adopted, neverthe- 
 less I am fully satisfied with the system for restoration 
 contained in the bill as one very proper plan for the loyal 
 people of any State choosing to adopt it, and that I am and 
 at all times shall be, prepared to give the Executive aid 
 and assistance to any such people, so soon as the military 
 resistance to the United States shall have been suppressed 
 in^any such State, and the people thereof shall have suf- 
 ficiently returned to their obedience to the Constitution 
 and laws of the United States, in which cases military 
 governors will be appointed, with, directions to proceed 
 according to the bill. 
 
 The enrolment and conscription bill was amended by 
 this Congress in several particulars, and that clause in the, 
 original bill which permitted drafted persons to be ex- 
 empted from service by the payment o'f three hundred 
 dollars into the national treasury was repealed. JSTegro
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 1109 
 
 soldiers, of whom one hundred thousand were enlisted in 
 1864, were placed on an equal footing with white soldiers 
 in respect to pay and other matters, and a Bureau of 
 Freedmen's Affairs was established, which should deter- 
 mine all questions relating to persons of African descent, 
 and make regulations for their employment and proper 
 treatment on abandoned plantations. Finally, to silence 
 the cavillings of those persons who denounced the Presi- 
 dent's emancipation proclamation as unconstitutional, a 
 resolution was adopted to submit to the action of the seve- 
 ral States an amendment to the Constitution of the United 
 States, prohibiting the existence of slavery within the 
 States and Territories of the Union forever. This met 
 with much opposition from members of the border Slave 
 States, who declared it was a palpable violation of State 
 rights for the people thus to interfere with any thing 
 which State laws declare to be property. But the objec- 
 tion was met by Senator Reverdy Johnson, of Maryland, 
 who argued that when the Constitution was originally 
 framed this prohibition might have been embodied in it, 
 and that it was competent for the States to do now what- 
 ever they might have done then. To secure an amend- 
 ment to the Constitution, it is necessary, after it has been 
 adopted by a two-thirds vote in both houses of Congress, 
 that it should be ratified by the legislatures of two-thirds 
 of the States ; and the question was seriously agitated 
 whether two-thirds of the loyal States would not be suf- 
 ficient in the present instance. In order, however, to be 
 within the strict letter of the law, it was determined to 
 follow the constitutional provision literally. The amend- 
 ment has since been ratified by the requisite number of 
 States ; and, proclamation to that effect having been duly 
 made by the Secretary of State, it is therefore now a part 
 of the Constitution. 
 
 The spring of 1864, which witnessed the commence- 
 ment and progress of the momentous campaigns of Grant 
 and Sherman, was destined also to witness a political 
 struggle of more than usual acerbity. The peace party 
 had now become fully organized, and, despite its over- 
 whelming defeat in the previous autumn, hoped through 
 the apparent failure of the military plans of the year, and 
 the undoubted and wide-spread desire for peace, to insure 
 the election of their candidate for the Presidency. It was
 
 1110 HISTORY OF THE GKEAT EEBELLIOX. 
 
 
 
 deemed peculiarly unfortunate that the country should be 
 involved at such a crisis in the excitement and confusion 
 ordinarily attending a Presidential election, and the opin- 
 ion prevailed among a large portion of the people, that 
 the canvass, which had usually commenced after the nom- 
 ination of candidates in May or June, should be post- 
 poned until the autumn. Strong efforts were made to 
 have the Republican nominating convention adjourned to 
 September or October ; but popular impatience could not 
 endure so long a delay, and on June 7th the Convention 
 met at Baltimore. On the first ballot Abraham Lincoln 
 was unanimously renominated for President, amid unmis- 
 takable demonstrations of enthusiasm, and subsequently 
 Andrew Johnson, of Tennesse, formerly a United States 
 Senator from that State, and since 1862 its military gov- 
 ernor, was nominated for Vice-President. The following 
 is the platform adopted by the convention : 
 
 " Resolved, That it is the highest duty of every American citizen to 
 maintain against all their enemies the integrity of the Union, and the 
 paramount authority of the Constitution and laws of the United States, 
 and that, laying aside all differences aad political opinions, we pledge our- 
 selves as Union men, animated by a common sentiment, and aiming at a 
 common object, to do every thing in our power to aid the Government in 
 quelling by force of arms the rebellion now raging against its authority, 
 and in bringing to the punishment due to their crimes the rebels and 
 traitors arrayed against it. (Prolonged applause.) 
 
 " Resolved, That we approve the determination of the Government of 
 the United States not to compromise with rebels, or to offer any terms of 
 peace except such as may be based upon an " unconditional surrender " of 
 their hostility and a return to their just allegiance to the Constitution and 
 laws of the United States ; and that we call upon the Government to 
 maintain this position, and to prosecute the war with the utmost possible 
 vigor to the complete suppression of the rebellion, in full reliance upon the 
 self-sacrifices, the patriotism, the heroic valor, and the undying devotion 
 of the American people to their country and its free institutions. (Ap- 
 plause.) 
 
 "Resolved, That as Slavery was the cause, and now constitutes the 
 strength, of this rebellion, and as it must be always and everywhere hostile 
 to the principles 'of republican government, justice and the national safety 
 demand its utter and complete extirpation! from the soil of the republic 
 (applause) ; and that we uphold and maintain the acts and proclamations 
 by which the Government, in its own defence, has aimed a death-blow at 
 this gigantic evil. We are in favor, furthermore, of such an amendment 
 to the Constitution, to be made by the people in conformity with its provis- 
 ions, as shall terminate and forever prohibit the existence of Slavery within 
 the limits or the jurisdiction of the United States. (Applause.) 
 
 " Resolved, That the thanks of the American people are due to the soldiers 
 and sailors of the army and the navy (applause), who have perilled their 
 lives in defence of their country, and in vindication of the honor of the 
 flag ; that the nation owes to them some permanent recognition of their
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 1111 
 
 patriotism and their valor, and ample and permanent provision for those 
 of their survivors who have received disabling and honorable wounds in 
 the service of the country ; and that the memories of those who have 
 fallen in its defence shall be held in grateful and everlasting remembrance. 
 (Loud applause.) 
 
 " Resolved, That we approve and applaud the practical wisdom, the 
 unselfish patriotism, and unswerving fidelity to the Constitution and the 
 principles of American liberty, with which Abraham Lincoln has discharged, 
 under circumstances of unparalleled difficulty, the great duties and respon- 
 sibilities of the Presidential office ; that we approve and indorse, as de- 
 manded by the emergency and essential to the preservation of the nation, 
 and as within the Constitution, the measures and acts which he has adopted 
 to defend the nation against its open and secret foes ; thai we approve 
 especially the proclamation of emancipation and the employment as Union 
 soldiers of men heretofore held in slavery (applause) ; and that we have 
 full confidence in his determination to carry these and all other constitu- 
 tional measures essential to the salvation of the country into full and 
 complete effect. 
 
 " Resolved, That we deem it essential to the general welfare that harmony 
 should prevail in the national councils, and we regard as worthy of public 
 confidence and official trust those only who cordially indorse the principles 
 proclaimed in these resolutions, and which should characterize the adminis- 
 tration of the Government. (Applause.) 
 
 " Resolved, That the Government owes to all men employed in its armies, 
 without regard to distinction of color, the full protection of the laws of 
 war (applause), and that any violations of these laws, or of the usages of 
 civilized nations in the time of war, by the rebels, now in arms, should be 
 made the subject of full and prompt redress. (Prolonged applause.) 
 
 " Resolved, That the foreign immigration which in the past has added so 
 much to the wealth and development of resources and increase of power 
 to this nation the asylum of the oppressed of all nations should be 
 fostered and encouraged by a liberal and just policy. 
 
 " Resolved, That we are in favor of the speedy construction of the rail- 
 road to the Pacific. 
 
 " Resolved, That the national faith pledged for the redemption of the 
 public debt must be kept inviolate, and that for this purpose we recommend 
 economy and rigid responsibility in the public expenditures, and a vigorous 
 and just system of taxation ; that it is the duty of every loyal State to 
 sustain the credit and promote the use of the national currency. (Applause.) 
 
 " Resolred, That we approve the position taken by the Government, that 
 the people of the United States can never regard with indifference the 
 attempt of any European Power to overthrow by force, or to supplant by 
 fraud, the institutions of any republican government on the Western Con- 
 tinent (prolonged applause) ; and that they will view with extreme jealousy, 
 as menacing to the peace and independence of this our country, the 
 efforts of any such Power to obtain new footholds for monarchical govern- 
 ments, sustained by a foreign military force in near proximity to the United 
 States. (Long-continued applause.)" 
 
 The nominations were generally received with satisfac- 
 tion by the Republican party, though a radical section of 
 it had expressed a preference for Secretary Chase as a 
 candidate for the Presidency. The name of Mr. Johnson, 
 who was of Southern birth, but had been from the com-
 
 1112 HISTOKY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 menceuient of the war thoroughly identified with the 
 Union cause, was considered to give great strength to the 
 ticket. 
 
 The opposition, with a view of adding to the strength 
 of their party, postponed their convention to the 29th of 
 August. In the interval between the meeting of the Re- 
 publican Convention and that date, many events, they 
 supposed, might occur to increase the public craving for 
 peace and compromise, and to bring into discredit the 
 acts and policy of the Administration. The move was a 
 sagacious one, for up to the 29th of August the progress 
 of the National arms had not been in accordance with 
 public expectation, considering the enormous scale on 
 which preparations were made, and many of that numer- 
 ous class who invariably side with the successful party 
 were beginning to grow lukewarm or to waver in their 
 support of Mr. Lincoln. So powerful, in such a crisis as 
 the country was then passing through, is the influence of 
 military success to sustain a party, be its cause ever so 
 just a one, that if a long train of reverses had followed 
 the commencement of the autumn, it is not improbable 
 that the contest between the Republican and opposition 
 candidates for the Presidency might have been close and 
 exciting. But September brought the fall of Atlanta and 
 the victories of Sheridan in the Valley, and it was seen 
 that Grant, while apparently making slight progress, was 
 in reality holding Lee by an iron grip within his intrench- 
 ments at Petersburg, and preventing him from sending a 
 single man to re-enforce the rebel armies in the West. 
 As this conviction dawned upon the public mind, confi- 
 dence was restored, the faint-hearted plucked up courage, 
 and the crisis was past. This change of opinion, how- 
 ever, could not be foreseen by the leaders of the opposi- 
 tion, and therefore their postponement of their convention 
 was on the whole a clever stroke of policy, the failure of 
 which was through no fault of its advisers. 
 
 For months before the meeting of the convention, 
 which took place in Chicago, but one prominent name 
 was in the mouths of Democratic politicians in connection 
 with the Presidency, and that was- General McClellan's. 
 We have stated how he was taken up by these men in 
 the first flush of his military reputation, and how the 
 political ideas which he then imbibed, by arraying him in
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 1113 
 
 opposition to the Administration, and prompting him to 
 go beyond the line of his proper duty, impaired his use- 
 fulness as a soldier. Since his removal from the command 
 of the Army of the Potomac, in November, 1862, he had 
 relinquished no one of those political views, and his long 
 retirement from active duty was regarded by his friends 
 as a species of martyrdom, prompted by the fears and 
 hatred of the Government. The popularity which he had 
 once possessed, both in and out of the army, it was be- 
 lieved, had experienced no diminution. A man of un- 
 doubted ability, of many accomplishments, having- the 
 appearance and address of a polished gentleman, and of 
 unblemished private character, he formed in some re- 
 spects a marked contrast to the Republican candidate, 
 and was decided to combine in himself more elements of 
 success than any other man in the ranks of the opposition. 
 Under these circumstances his nomination was a foregone 
 conclusion, and was secured on the first ballot, the only 
 competitor against him having any show of strength be- 
 ing Governor Seymour, of New York. This result was, 
 nevertheless, unpalatable to that wing of the Democratic 
 party of which men like Vallandigham were the expo- 
 nents, because McClellan was professedly in favor of pros- 
 ecuting the war against the rebellion ; and for the purpose 
 of securing their support, George II. Pendleton, a member 
 of the Thirty-seventh Congress, from Ohio, and one of their 
 ablest men, was nominated for the Vice-Presidency. The 
 ticket thus comprised a candidate for President in favor 
 of war, and a candidate for Yice-President pledged in the 
 strongest terms to oppose it. 
 
 The year 1864 was marked by two indirect attempts to 
 commence negotiations for peace, which resulted in noth- 
 ing. In the middle of July, Colonel James F. Jaques, 
 of the Seventy-third Illinois Volunteers, accompanied by 
 Mr. Edward Kirke, was permitted to enter the rebel lines 
 in front of Petersburg, and proceed to Richmond, where 
 he obtained an interview with Jefferson Davis. Though 
 clothed with no authority to speak for either President 
 Lincoln or the Government, and much less to act for 
 them, he was nevertheless received with cordiality by 
 Davis, to whom he explained the basis on which, in all 
 probability, the United States Government would consent 
 to treat for peace. Davis having intimated very de-
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 cidedly that no peace could be contemplated by him or 
 his Government, without the recognition of the inde- 
 pendence of the " Southern Confederacy " by the United 
 States, Colonel Jaques and his companion took their 
 departure, no wiser than when they reached Richmond. 
 
 The next attempt at peace negotiations was conducted 
 through more practised hands, but resulted none the 
 more favorably for the peace party. Early in July, Mr. 
 Horace Greeley, editor of the New York Tribune, re- 
 ceived from "W. Cornell Jewett, a political adventurer of 
 some notoriety, information that certain prominent rebel 
 refugees in Canada were desirous of holding an interview 
 with him at Niagara Falls. The following letter from 
 Mr. Greeley to the President in reference to this matter 
 formed the prelude to the attempted negotiations : 
 
 "NEW YORK, July 7, 1864. 
 
 " MY DEAR SIR : I venture to enclose you a letter and telegraphic dis- 
 patch that I received yesterday from our irrepressible friend, Colorado 
 Jewett, at Niagara Falls. I think they deserve attention. Of course I do 
 not indorse Jewett'a positive averment that his friends at the Falls havo 
 'full powers ' from J. D., though I do not doubt that ho thinks they have. 
 I let that statement stand as simply evidencing the anxiety of the Confeder- 
 ates everywhere for peace. So much is beyond doubt. 
 
 " And therefore I venture to remind you that our bleeding, bankrupt, 
 almost dying country also longs for peace shudders at the prospect of 
 fresh conscriptions, of further wholesale devastations, and of new rivers 
 of human blood; and a wide-spread conviction that the Government and 
 its prominent supporters are not anxious for peace and do not improve 
 proffered opportunities to achieve it, is doing great harm now, and is 
 morally certain, unless removed, to do far greater in the approaching 
 elections. 
 
 " It is not enough that we anxiously desire a true and lasting peace. 
 We ought to demonstrate and establish the truth beyond cavil. The fact 
 that A. H. Stephens was not permitted a year ago to visit and confer with 
 the authorities at Washington has done harm, which the tone of the late 
 National Convention at Baltimore is not calculated to counteract. 
 ' " I entreat you, in your own time and manner, to submit overtures for 
 pacification to the Southern insurgents, which the impartial must pro- 
 nounce frank and generous. 
 
 "If only with a view to the momentous election soon to occur in North 
 Carolina, and of the draft to be enforced in the Free States, this should be 
 done at onpe. I would give the safe-conduct required by the rebel en- 
 voys at Niagara, upon their parole to avoid observation, and to refrain 
 from all communication with their sympathizers in the loyal States ; but 
 you may see reasons for declining it. But whether through them or other- 
 wise, do not, I entreat you, fail to make the Southern people comprehend 
 that you and all of us are anxious for peace, and prepared to grant liberal 
 terms. I venture to suggest the following 
 
 "PLAN OP ADJUSTMENT. 
 " 1. The Union is restored, and declared perpetual.
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 1115 
 
 " 2. Slavery is utterly and forever abolished throughout the same. 
 
 " 3. A complete amnesty for all political offences, with a restoration of 
 all the inhabitants pf each State to all the privileges of citizens of the United 
 States. 
 
 "4. The Union to pay four hundred million dollars ($400,000,000), in 
 five per cent. United States stock, to the late Slave States, loyal and seces- 
 sion alike, to be apportioned pro rata, according to their slave population 
 respectively, by the census of 1860, in compensation for the losses of their 
 loyal citizens by the abolition of slavery. Each State to be entitled to its 
 quota upon the ratification by its legislature of this adjustment. The bonds 
 to be at the absolute disposal of the legislature aforesaid. 
 
 "5. The said Slave States to be entitled henceforth to representation in 
 the House on the basis of their total, instead of their Federal population, 
 the whole now being free. 
 
 "6. A national convention, to be assembled as soon as may be, to ratify 
 this adjustment, and make such changes in the Constitution as maybe 
 deemed advisable. 
 
 " Mr. President, I fear you do not realize how intently the people desire 
 any peace consistent with the national integrity and honor, and how joy- 
 ously they would hail its achievement, and bless its authors. With 
 United States stock worth about forty cents in gold per dollar, and drafting 
 about to commence on the third million of Union soldiers, can this be 
 wondered at ? 
 
 " I do not say that a just peace is now attainable, though I believe it to 
 be so. But I do say that a frank offer by you to the insurgents of terms 
 which the impartial say ought to be accepted, will, at the worst, prove an 
 immense and sorely needed advantage to the National cause. It may save 
 us from a Northern insurrection. 
 
 "Yours truly, HORACE GREELEY. 
 
 " Hon. A. LINCOLN, President, Washington, D. C. 
 
 "P. S. Even though it should be deemed unadvisable to make an offer 
 of terms to the rebels, I insist that in any possible case it is desirable that 
 any offer they may be disposed to make should be received, and either 
 accepted or rejected. I beg you to invite those now at Niagara to ex- 
 hibit their credentials and submit their ultimatum. 
 
 "H. G." 
 
 A few days later, Mr. Greeley was informed by 
 George N. Sanders, a noted rebel agent in Canada, that 
 Clement C. Clay, of Alabama, Professor J. P. Holcombe, 
 of Virginia, and himself, were willing to go at once to 
 Washington, provided they could be assured of their per- 
 sonal safety. To this Mr. Greeley replied as follows : 
 
 ' "NIAGARA PALLS, N. Y., July 17, 1864. 
 
 "GENTLEMEN: I am informed that you are duly accredited from Eich- 
 mond as the bearers of propositions looking to the establishment of peace, 
 that you desire to visit Washington in the fulfilment of your mission, 
 and that you further desire that Mr. George N. Slanders shall accompany 
 you. If my information be thus far substantially correct, I am authorized 
 by the President of the United States to tender you his safe-conduct on
 
 1116 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 the journey proposed, and to accompany you at the earliest time that will 
 be agreeable to you. 
 
 "I have the honor to be, gentlemen, yours, HORACE GEEELET. 
 " To Messrs. CLEMENT C. CLAY, JACOB THOMPSON, JAMES P. 
 
 HOLCOMBE, Clifton House, C. W." 
 
 Clay and Holcombe replied on the succeeding day that 
 the safe-conduct of the JPresident had been tendered to 
 them under some misapprehensions of facts, since they 
 had not been accredited to him from Richmond as the 
 bearers of propositions looking to the establishment of 
 peace. "We are, however," they added, " in the confi- 
 dential employment of our Government, and are entirely 
 familiar with its wishes and opinions on that subject ; 
 and we feel authorized to declare that if the circumstances 
 disclosed in this correspondence were communicated to 
 Richmond, we would be at once invested with the authority 
 to which your letter refers ; or other gentlemen, clothed 
 with full powers, would be immediately sent to Washing- 
 ton, with a view of hastening a consummation so much to 
 be desired, and terminating at the earliest possible moment 
 the calamities of the war. Under these circumstances, 
 Mr. Greeley telegraphed to Washington for furtherin- 
 structions, and received on the same day the following 
 memorandum : 
 
 " EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, July 18, 1864. 
 To whom it may concern : 
 
 " Any proposition which embraces the restoration of peace, the integrity 
 of the whole Union, and the abandonment of slavery, and which comes by 
 and with an authority that can control the armies now at war against the 
 United States, will be received and considered by the Executive Govern- 
 ment of the United States, and will be met by liberal terms, on substantial 
 and collateral points, and the bearer or bearers thereof shall have safe- 
 conduct both ways. 
 
 (Signed) "ABRAHAM LINCOLN." 
 
 This, in view of the temper and pretensions of the 
 South, was practically a bar to further proceedings, and 
 was so considered by the rebel agents. In their final 
 reply to Mr. Greeley, after quoting the President's memo- 
 randum, they proceed as follows : 
 
 " The application to which we refer was elicited by your letter of the 
 17th instant, in which you inform MA?. Jacob Thompson and ourselves that 
 you were authorized by tho President of the United States to tender us his 
 safe-conduct on the hypothesis that we were ' duly accredited from Rich- 
 mond as bearers of propositions looking to the establishment of peace,' 
 and desired a visit to Washington in the fulfilment of this mission. This
 
 IIISTOKY OF THE GKEAT .REBELLION. 1117 
 
 assertion, to which we then gave, and still do, entire credence, was accepted 
 by us as the evidence of an unexpected but most gratifying change in' the 
 policy of the President, a change which we felt authorized to hope might 
 terminate in the conclusion of a peace mutually just, honorable, and advan- 
 tageous to the North and to the South, exacting no condition but that we 
 should be 'duly accredited from Richmond as bearers of propositions 
 looking to the establishment of peace.' Thus proffering a basis for con- 
 ference as comprehensive as we could desire, it seemed to us that the 
 President opened a door which had previously been closed against the 
 Confederate States for a full interchange of sentiments, free discussion of 
 conflicting opinions, and untrammelled effort to remove all causes of contro- 
 versy by liberal negotiations. We, indeed, could not claim the benefit of a 
 safe-conduct which had been extended to us in a character we had no right 
 to assume, and had never affected to possess; but the uniform declarations 
 of our Executive and Congress, and their thrice-repeated, and as often 
 repulsed, attempts to open negotiations, furnish a sufficient pledge to assure 
 us that this conciliatory manifestation on the part of the President of the 
 United States would be met by them in a temper of equal magnanimity. 
 We had, therefore, no hesitation in declaring that if this correspondence 
 was communicated to the President of the Confederate States, he would 
 promptly embrace the opportunity presented for seeking a peaceful solution 
 of this unhappy strife. We feel confident that you must share our pro- 
 found regret that the spirit which dictated the first step towards peace had 
 not continued to animate the counsels of your President. Had the repre- 
 sentatives of the two Governments met to consider this question, the most 
 momentous ever submitted to human statesmanship, in a temper of be- 
 coming moderation and equity, followed as their deliberations would have 
 been by the prayers and benedictions of every patriot and Christian on the 
 habitable globe, who is there so bold as to pronounce that the frightful 
 waste of individual happiness and public prosperity which is daily sadden- 
 ing the universal heart, might not have been terminated ; or if the desola- 
 tion and carnage of war must still be endured through weary years of 
 blood and suffering, that there might not at least have been infused into 
 its conduct something more of the spirit which softens and partially 
 redeems its brutalities ? Instead of the safe-conduct which we solicited, 
 and which your first letter gave us every reason to suppose would be 
 extended for the purpose of initiating a negotiation in which neither Gov- 
 ernment would compromise its rights or its dignity, a document has been 
 presented which provokes as much indignation as surprise. It bears no 
 feature of resemblance to that which was originally offered, and is unlike 
 any paper which ever before emanated from the constitutional Executive of 
 a free people. Addressed ' to whom it may concern,' it precludes negotia- 
 tion, %nd prescribes in advance the terms and conditions of peace. It 
 returns to the original policy of ' No bargaining, no negotiations, no truces 
 with rebels except to bury their dead, until every man shall have laid down 
 his arms, submitted to the Government, and sued for mercy.' What may 
 be the explanation of this sudden and entire change in the views of the 
 President, of this rude withdrawal of a courteous overture for negotiation 
 at the moment it was likely to be accepted, of this emphatic recall of words 
 of peace just uttered, and fresh blasts of war to the bitter end, we leave 
 for the speculation of those who have the means or inclination to penetrate 
 the mysteries- of his Cabinet, or fathom the caprice of his imperial will. It 
 is enough for us to say that we have no use whatever for the paper which 
 has been placed in our hands. We could not transmit it to the President 
 of the Confederate States without offering him an indignity, dishonoring 
 ourselves, and incurring the well-merited scorn of our countrymen.
 
 1118 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 " While an ardent desire for peace pervades the people of the Confed- 
 erate States, we rejoice to believe that there are few, if any, among them, 
 who would purchase it at the expense of liberty, honor, and self-respect. 
 If it can be secured only by their submission to terms of conquest, tho 
 generation is yet unborn which wil! witness its restitution. If there be 
 any military autocrat in the North who is entitled to profler the conditions 
 of this manifesto, there is none in the South authorized to entertain them. 
 Those who control our armies are the servants of the people, not their 
 masters : and they have no more inclination than they have fight to sub- 
 vert the social institutions of the sovereign States, to overthrow their estab- 
 lished Constitutions, and to barter away their priceless heritage of self- 
 ' government. This correspondence will not, however, we trust, prove 
 wholly barren of good results. 
 
 "If there is any citizen of the Confederate States who has clung to 
 a hope that peace was possible with this Administration of the Federal 
 Government, it will strip from his eyes the last film of such a delusion. 
 Or, if there be any whose hearts have grown faint under the suffering and 
 agony of this bloody struggle, it will inspire them with fresh energy to 
 endure and brave whatever may yet be requisite to preserve to themselves 
 and their children all that gives dignity and value to life, or hope and con- 
 solation to death. And if there be any patriots or Christians in your land, 
 who shrink appalled from the illimitable vista of private misery and pub- 
 lic calamity which stretches before them, we pray that in their bosoms 
 a resolution may be quickened to recall the abused authority and vindicate 
 the outraged civilization of their country. For the solicitude you have 
 manifested to inaugurate a movement which contemplates results the most 
 noble and humane, we return our sincere thanks, and are, most respectfully 
 and truly, your obedient servants, 
 
 "C. C. CLAY, JR. 
 "JAMES P. HOLCOMBE." 
 
 CHAPTER LXX. 
 
 Finances of 1863. Revenue. Sales of Bonds. Effect of Paper Money. 
 Policy of Mr. Chase. Gold Law, and its Effects. Finances of 1864. 
 Sales of Bonds in Europe. National Banks. 
 
 THE financial resources of the Government were deyel- 
 oped with the most extraordinary power and effect as 
 the war proceeded. The immense pressure of continual 
 paper issues upon the markets, in discharge of the vast 
 claims upon Government, could have no other effect than 
 a continual depreciation of the value of that paper. In a 
 previous chapter the finances of the Government were 
 brought down to the close of the fiscal year 1863, at 
 which time the debt had accumulated to $1,098,793,181. 
 The receipts of the fiscal year, ending June 30, 1863,
 
 HISTORY OF THE GKEAT REBELLION. 1119 
 
 comprised $69,059,642 from customs, and $42,340,124 
 from taxes, making together $111,399,766 from revenue. 
 There was borrowed in that year $776,682,361, making 
 together $8^8,082,128, to meet an expenditure of $895,- 
 796,630. The fiscal year 1864 opened with $411,190,065 
 legal-tender money outstanding, and gold at a premium 
 of 150. The internal revenue and customs taxes were so 
 modified as, it was hoped, to increase the revenue of the 
 year at least fifty per cent. The depreciation of paper 
 had, however, greatly increased the expenses of the Gov- 
 ernment, by enhancing the cost of most articles of which 
 the Government was the purchaser, and making it requi- 
 site to increase the pay of the troops, as well as to swell 
 the sum of the bounties offered. It was very clear that, 
 no matter how near to the estimates the receipts from 
 taxes might come, the increased expense caused by the 
 depreciation of paper would' more than absorb the sum of 
 the taxes, and that the dependence of the Government 
 must be upon borrowing. In pursuing this course, the 
 Government varied the form of the bonds offered in the 
 market. Up to the close of May, 1863, the gold bonds 
 of the Government had not met with much sale, because 
 of their high price as compared with the value of other 
 comrnodites upon the market. The property of the peo- 
 ple had been locked up in goods and merchandise that 
 were not readily salable when the war broke out. It was 
 not until the issue of Government paper, in exchange for 
 commodities at very high prices, had transmuted goods 
 into Government paper, that the people had money or 
 paper to invest in the bonds of the Government. In the 
 spring of 1863 very active sales of goods had taken place 
 for paper, which had depreciated to forty-two cents per 
 dollar. High prices had been obtained in this paper for 
 merchandise, and when gold began to decline in May, the 
 desire to convert the paper money into the gold bonds 
 enabled the Government to negotiate a considerable 
 amount of the 5-20 bonds. In the first quarter of the 
 fiscal year, 1864, $109,631,250 of those bonds were sold. 
 In addition, $15,000,000 more legal-tender notes were 
 issued. The sales of the 5-20 bonds continued up to the 
 middle of January, 1864, the rate of gold remaining at 
 about 152. The Secretary of the Treasury was then 
 induced to stop the sale of the gold bonds, and to issue
 
 1120 HISTORY OF THE GKEAT REBELLION. 
 
 a new form of legal-tender notes, bearing interest, to the 
 extent of $150,000,000. The effect of this was to send 
 the price of gold up a little, and this tendency was 
 enhanced by the attempts of Congress to check the rise, 
 by interfering with the freedom of individual action. 
 The issues of legal tender then became necessary, because 
 the sales of the Government bonds were less free. 
 
 Meantime the customs revenues were very large, ex- 
 ceeding the estimates to a considerable extent. The law 
 guaranteeing that the public interest should be paid in 
 gold, had required that the customs receipts should be 
 applied, first, to the payment of interest on the public 
 debt, and secondly, to the purchase annually of one per 
 cent, of the entire public debt, as a sinking fund. In 
 March, 1864, gold was at a premium of 160, and a bill 
 was brought into Congress to allow the Secretary to sell 
 in the open market the gold not required for the interest. 
 This was refused ; nevertheless, the Secretary caused to 
 be issued the following notice : 
 
 " UNITED STATES TREASURY, NEW YORK, March 23, 18G4. 
 " By direction of the Secretary of the Treasury, notice is hereby given 
 that until further orders I will issue to importers, for payment of duties on 
 goods imported by them, certificates of deposit of gold coin, to the credit of 
 the collector of any port, as desired in exchange for notes, at a quarter of 
 one per centum below the current market value of gold. 
 
 " These certificates are not assignable, but will bo receivable by the col- 
 lector from the party to whom they are issued. 
 
 "J. J. Cisco, 
 " Assistant Treasurer of the United States. 
 
 "No. United States Treasury, New York, ,1864. 
 
 "I certify that has this day deposited to the credit of 
 
 the Collector of the Port of New York $ in gold coin. This cer- 
 tificate is receivable only for duties on imports from the party to whom 
 it is issued, and upon his indorsement. 
 
 "$ . , Assistant Treasurer" 
 
 The gold certificates thus sold were used for the pay- 
 ment of customs, in the view of checking the demand for 
 gold. A considerable quantity of gold was also sent to Lon- 
 don, and exchange drawn against it was sold for paper in 
 the same manner. Congress now passed a resolution 
 increasing the duty on imported goods fifty per cent, for 
 sixty days, to take effect on April 29th. The effect of 
 this was to cause very large entries of goods for duties in 
 April, and consequently to draw gold into the Treasury,
 
 HISTORY OF THE GEEAT REBELLION. 1121 
 
 and a further rise in gold resulted. Congress now took 
 measures to stop dealing in gold, by passing a law which 
 forbade sales of exchange for specie at more than ten 
 days' time, at any place except the individual office of 
 the banker, and in point of fact greatly embarrassed the 
 business operations of bankers, since they could not tell in 
 how far they might be exposed, not simply to the danger 
 of infringing on the law, but to the complaints of inform- 
 ers, called into being by the enactment, which bestowed 
 upon them half the fine. The law also, by limiting the 
 time within which a contract for exchange might run, 
 cut off a large amount of ordinary shipping business done 
 in New York for Western account, and which, in the 
 usual course of business, required at least fifteen days to 
 perfect arrangements between Chicago and New York. 
 These difficulties, of course, caused a rise in both ex- 
 change and gold. The latter rose to 285 and 290 on July 
 1st. 
 
 The bill had, as we have stated, caused a dead-lock in 
 the foreign exchange business, on account of the provi- 
 sions above referred to. It is well known that a very 
 large proportion of the ordinary business payments of the 
 people of this country, and of every civilized commercial 
 community, are, in modern times, settled by certified 
 checks, and similar financial expedients. To forbid the 
 use of these certified checks, in any important department 
 of legitimate business, would be attended with the most 
 disastrous results, both to the enterprise of private indi- 
 viduals and to the credit of the public Treasury. 
 
 An important revolution had been effected in the bank- 
 ing system of the country by the introduction of Mr. 
 Chase's National Banking scheme, which authorized the 
 establishment of three hundred million dollars of bank 
 capital, to issue three hundred million dollars of bank 
 notes not convertible into specie, but redeemable in legal- 
 tender notes; the bank notes to be a legal tender for all 
 Government dues except customs, and secured upon 
 United States bonds. The advantages held out by thia 
 law were not at first appreciated, but in 1864, National 
 banks began to be rapidly organized, and by the close of 
 the first Administration of Mr. Lincoln the whole amount 
 of capital authorized was nearly engaged, and one hun- 
 dred and eleven million dollars of the notes issued. A 
 
 69
 
 1122 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 law taxing State-bank notes ten per cent, was intended to 
 induce State banks to convert themselves into National 
 banks, and thus simplify and consolidate the whole bank- 
 ing system of the country. The tendency has accordingly 
 been in that direction. 
 
 Mr. Chase was succeeded by Mr. William Pitt Fessen- 
 den, Senator from Maine, and chairman of the Senate 
 Finance Committee. The Government paper was worth 
 thirty-five cents per dollar, and the revenues were not 
 large from taxes ; but the revised law coining then into 
 operation promised to increase the amount. There was 
 also a five per cent, extra income tax levied in October 
 on the incomes of 1863. The customs had begun to de- 
 cline, but the low price of the Federal six per cent, bonds, 
 selling then in London at thirty-five cents per dollar, 
 and therefore giving seventeen per cent, interest on the 
 investment, was beginning to attract the attention of 
 capitalists in Europe, and sales became large, thereby 
 checking the drain for gold in the payment of goods im- 
 ported. 
 
 By the laws in force on the day Mr. Fessenden as- 
 sumed office, he had authority to borrow on the credit of 
 the United States the amounts following, to wit : 
 
 First. Under the act of March 3d, 1863, so much of 
 $75,000,000 advertised previously to June 30th, 1864, as 
 had not been awarded to bidders, $32,459,700. 
 
 Second. Under the act of March 3d, 1864, so much as 
 had not been subscribed for and paid into the treasury, 
 viz.: $127,603,520. 
 
 Third. Under the act of June 30th, 1864, $400,- 
 000,000. 
 
 Fourth. Amount of Treasury notes issued under 
 former acts which had been redeemed and cancelled, 
 and which the Secretary was authorized to replace 
 by notes issued under the act of June 30th, 1864, 
 $62,191,400. 
 
 Total available resources under laws authorizing loans, 
 $622,284,625. To this may be added the actual balance 
 in the treasury, July 1st, 1864, $18,842,588 71. Total, 
 $641,127,213 71. Thus provfded with funds, he did not 
 attempt any change from the course pursued by Mr. 
 Chase. 
 
 The policy of the department was, as far as practicable,
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 1123 
 
 to avoid the issues of legal tender by substituting for 
 them bonds. The sales of the latter abroad facilitated 
 this movement. Mr. Fesseriden retained power to the close 
 of March, 1805, in which term the debt had increased 
 from $1,733,810,119 to $2,423,437,001, or 689,626,882, be- 
 ing at the rate of $2,500,000 per day. Of this increase, 
 $74,000,000 was legal tender, $260,000,000 gold bonds, 
 $64,000,000 arrears to creditors, and the remainder paper 
 interest bonds. 
 
 CHAPTER LXXI. 
 
 Sherman Prepares to Cross Georgia. Composition of Army. Combat at 
 Griswoldville. Appeal to the People of Georgia. Milledgeville Reached. 
 Army at Louisville. Combat with Wheeler. March to Savannah. 
 Communicates with the Fleet. Fort McAllister. Evacuation of Sa- 
 vannah. Sherman's Dispatch. "Wilmington Expedition. Fort Fisher. 
 Powder Ship. Bombardment. Failure. Return to Hampton Roads. 
 Co-operation from Plymouth. 
 
 WHEN Sherman paused in his pursuit of Hood, he re- 
 mained several days at Gaylesville, in Northern Alabama, 
 and then, with the Fourteenth, Fifteenth, Sixteenth, and 
 Seventeenth Corps, the Fourth and Twenty-third having 
 been sent to Tennessee, returned to Atlanta, to commence 
 preparations for a march through Georgia to the sea-coast. 
 Hood had made the mistake of going north into Tennes- 
 see, without any very definite object, and there was no 
 force south of Atlanta to present any opposition to the 
 proposed march of Sherman. Beauregard was indeed at 
 Corinth, but with little prospect of being able to make 
 head against the well-appointed army under the control 
 of the Union leader. The, army with which Sherman left 
 Atlanta was composed of four corps of infantry, one di- 
 vision of cavalry, four brigades of artillery, and two horse- 
 batteries. The infantry consisted of the Fourteenth 
 Corps, General Jeff. C. Davis; the Fifteenth, General 
 Osterhaus (Logan being absent) ; the Seventeenth, Gen- 
 eral Blair ; and the Twentieth, General Slocum. The 
 cavalry was commanded by Kilpatrick. Finally, there 
 was a full brigade of artillery for each corps, and one
 
 1124: HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 battery of horse artillery for the cavalry, numbering in 
 all about sixty-five thousand men. The two divisions of 
 the Sixteenth Corps were divided between the Fifteenth 
 and Seventeenth. The corps were quite full, many had 
 new regiments added, and the men, under the recent calls 
 for troops, had come in to restore the old regiments to 
 their maximum. The artillery arm was organized into 
 an independent brigade for each corps, commanded by a 
 field officer, with his own adjutant-general, quartermas- 
 ter-general, quartermaster, commissary, ordnance officer, 
 &c. Sherman, in his special field order No. 120, an- 
 nounced the division of his forces, for the purpose of 
 military operations, into two wings : " The right wing, 
 Major-General O. O. Howard commanding, the Fifteenth, 
 and Seventeenth Corps; the left wing, Major-General 
 H. W. Slocum commanding, the Fourteenth and Twen- 
 tieth Corps." Each wing had- its due proportion of in- 
 fantry, cavalry, and artillery. The men on commencing 
 the march had in haversacks two days' rations salt meat, 
 two days' hard bread, ten days' coflee and salt, and five 
 days' sugar. Each infantry soldier carried sixty rounds 
 of ammunition on his person. 
 
 Thus prepared, between the 12th and 15th of Novem- 
 ber, the troops began to concentrate around Atlanta. 
 From Rome and Kingston southward the railroad was 
 thoroughly broken up, and no property or buildings that 
 could aid the enemy were spared. A general conflagra- 
 tion in Atlanta consumed over two million dollars of 
 property, and the defensive works were levelled to the 
 ground. On November 16th the great march commenced, 
 and the army, thus cut loose from its base, moved in four 
 columns on two general lines. The right wing, under 
 Howard, marched through East Point, and, driving be- 
 fore it the enemy's mounted troops under Iverson, arrived 
 at Jonesboro on the 16th. Leaving Jonesboro, it moved 
 west, through McDonough and Jackson, to Monticello 
 and Hillsboro, after crossing the Ocmulgee River, at 
 Planter's Factory, on the 19th ult. On the 21st and 22d, 
 the column struck the Georgia Central, east of Macon 
 and between Gordon and Griswoldville, and immediately 
 began to destroy the track. 
 
 On the 20th, a body of Kilpatrick's Cavalry made a 
 demonstration in the neighborhood of Macon, to deceive
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 1125 
 
 the enemy, and on the 23d Walcott's Brigade, on the ex- 
 treme right of the column, had a sharp encounter at Gris- 
 woldville with a body of Georgia troops, under General 
 Phillips, whom they defeated with the loss of a thousand 
 or upwards. On the 23d the column reached the Oconee 
 River, having destroyed the railroad to thatpoint. The 
 opposite bank was protected by Generals Wheeler and 
 Wayne with a cavalry force, and Howard's Cavalry made 
 several ineffectual attempts to cross. But by a march 
 down the river, our forces flanked the enemy, crossed, and 
 dispersed all opposition. On Friday, the 25th, a part of 
 our cavalry entered Sandersville, a town twenty-two miles 
 east of Milledgeville and of the Oconee, and five miles 
 north of the Central Railroad. This flanking move 
 forced the abandonment of the Oconee River, and com- 
 pelled Wayne to retire to Davisboro'. 
 
 Meanwhile, Slocum's column, passing along the Augusta 
 Railroad, and destroying it as far as Madison, moved 
 thence in a southerly direction upon Milledgeville, the 
 capital of the State, which place it reached on the 2"lst 
 and 22d. The Georgia Legislature and Governor Brown 
 decamped at its approach in unseemly haste. On the 
 26th, Slocum was at Sandersville, east of the Oconee, and 
 on the 27th and 28th both wings of the expeditionary 
 army were temporarily encamped between Sandersville 
 and Irwin's Cross Roads, in the neighborhood of the 
 Georgia Central Railroad. Four large rivers lay origin- 
 ally in the line of Sherman's march, all tending south- 
 easterly the Ocmulgee, Oconee, Ogeechee, and Savan- 
 nah. The former is the most westerly, and unites lower 
 down with the Oconee, to form the Altamaha. Macon is 
 on the Ocmulgee, Milledgeville on the Oconee, Millen on 
 the Ogeechee, and Augusta on the Savannah. There 
 were also many less considerable streams to cross, and 
 much marshy country, especially between the Ogeechee 
 and the Savannah. The Oconee had been passed by the 
 right wing below the Oconee Bridge, and by the left at 
 Milledgeville. The Ogeechee was passed by our troops 
 at Fen s Bridge in the march from Sandersville, and the 
 next main stopping-place was Louisville, fifteen miles 
 from Fen's Bridge, in the centre of Jefferson County, 
 which was reached by the Fourteenth Corps on the 29th. 
 Thence the cavalry pushed out northeasterly in force to
 
 1126 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 Waynesboro', a station on the Augusta and Savannah 
 road, thirty-two miles south of Augusta. 
 
 The main army remained around Louisville to Decem- 
 ber 1st. The time was employed in foraging and captur- 
 ing mules and horses, and thoroughly breaking up the 
 railroad. On the 2d the Seventeenth Corps reached 
 Millen, eighty miles from Savannah and fifty-three from 
 Augusta. The route from Millen to Savannah was well 
 defended by natural obstacles on both flanks. On the 
 night of Saturday, the 3d, a combat occurred, near 
 Waynesboro, between the cavalry of Kilpatrick and 
 "Wheeler, the latter being the attacking party, and being 
 decidedly repulsed. The next morning, Sunday, our 
 cavalry and a portion of the Fourteenth Corps attacked 
 Wheeler in his breastworks, and drove him out of his 
 works, capturing them, and forcing him to retreat. 
 
 From Millen the army pursued the direct route to 
 Savannah, the Fifteenth Corps keeping on the west side 
 of the Ogeechee, and the others on the east side. The 
 march was almost entirely unobstructed, and on the llth, 
 Captain Duncan, dispatched by Sherman, after a hazard- 
 ous passage down the Ogeechee, entered Ossabaw Sound, 
 and reached the flag-ship of Admiral Dahlgren, thus 
 opening up communication between Sherman's army and 
 the fleet before Savannah. When, on the 10th, Sherman 
 reached Bloomingdale, fifteen miles north of Savannah, 
 his line stretched across the peninsula formed by the 
 Ogeechee and Savannah Rivers. The next day, the left, 
 under Slocum, moved down to where the Charleston Rail- 
 road crosses the Savannah River, ten miles from the city, 
 and then pressed forward five miles nearer Savannah. 
 The right, under Howard, meanwhile also marched to- 
 wards the city, and passed to the west of it, skirting 
 Rockingham, a station on the Savannah, Albany, and 
 Gulf Railroad, on the 12th. The same evening the army 
 had reached the neighborhood of Fort 'McAllister, and 
 made a careful reconnoissance of it, before nightfall. 
 This is a very strong earthwork on the Ogeechee River, 
 about six miles from Ossabaw Sound. It completely 
 protected the rear of Savannah from the attack of our 
 
 funboats on the Ogeechee. Two severe engagements 
 etween the fort and our monitor fleet, one on the 27th 
 of January, 1863, the other on the 3d of March, 1863,
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 1127 
 
 had left it uninjured and defiant. It mounted about ten 
 heavy guns, but had only about two hundred and fifty 
 men in garrison. 
 
 As the possession of this work was essential in order to 
 open communication with the fleet, Sherman ordered 
 Hazen's Division of the Fifteenth Corps to carry it by 
 assault. At half-past four o'clock on the afternoon of the 
 13th, the division went forward to the attack. The abatis 
 and ditch were passed under a heavy fire from the fort, 
 the parapets, ten feet high, scaled by our troops, and the 
 fort carried by a regular assault. At five o'clock it was 
 ours. "We gained the strong fort, its garrison of over two 
 hundred men, and its stores of ordnance and subsistence, 
 with all its guns. 
 
 On the fall of Fort McAllister, Sherman turned his at- 
 tention to the reduction of Savannah, which was held by 
 General Hardee. The north, west, and south sides were 
 invested, but on the east side of the city the enemy had 
 command of the river, which was so obstructed with piles 
 and sunken vessels that the fleet could not reach within 
 supporting distance. The forts, Jackson, Lee, and Bar- 
 tow, also swept the east side, which was the more unap- 
 proachable by reason of a wide stretch of swamps and ricer- 
 fields, which, being flooded, doubly increased the diffi- 
 culties of approach. On the 16th, General Sherman sent 
 a formal demand for the surrender of the city, to which 
 Hardee replied that, as his communications were yet 
 open, and as he was fully supplied with subsistence stores, 
 he was able to withstand a long siege, and was deter- 
 mined to hold the city to the last. 
 
 Sherman proceeded vigorously with the siege. By the 
 19th, his base at Kingsbridge, twenty-eight miles from 
 Ossabaw Sound, on the right, was well established, and 
 supplies came up freely from the fleet over a substantial 
 corduroy road, built rapidly through the almost impass- 
 able swamp which intervened. Heavy siege-guns were 
 thus transported and fixed on the lines, and the whole 
 city was soon in great danger. The line was said to be, 
 by practicable roads, thirty miles long. Slocum's column 
 held the left, as always, on the Savannah, and Howard 
 the right, on the Ogeechee. The Twentieth Corps was 
 on the extreme left, with the Fourteenth on its right. 
 The Fifteenth Corps was on the extreme right, with the
 
 1128 HI8TOKY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 Seventeentli on its left. Between the Seventeenth and 
 Fourteenth was a wide gap of swamps, and flooded rice- 
 fields extended along a portion of our front. In the Savan- 
 nah River the upper part of Hutchinson's Island had in- 
 stantly been seized by Slocum on our reaching the city. 
 But a canal divided its upper from its lower half, and the 
 latter the enemy held. Below the island was the Union 
 Causeway, running towards Charleston. 
 
 The heavy guns taken from Fort McAllister were now 
 in position, and our lines were closing in on the left. On 
 the afternoon of the 20th, the enemy's iron-clads moved 
 up the river and opened a furious fire on our left, sup- 
 ported by many of his batteries. Under cover of their 
 fire, continued all night, Hardee crossed his troops by 
 steamboats, smaller boats, and rafts to Union Causeway. 
 The Kavy Yard had been previously partially burned, 
 and such stores as he could not take with him destroyed. 
 The two formidable rams, Georgia and Savannah, were 
 blown up at night. Early next morning, the 21st, Sher- 
 man entered the city, and received its surrender from the 
 mayor. It was uninjured, the cannon never having been 
 opened upon it. 
 
 More than a thousand prisoners were taken from the 
 enemy, many having been left on the lines till too late. 
 The captures included one hundred and fifty guns, thirteen 
 locomotives in good order, one hundred and ninety cars, 
 a large supply of ammunition and materials of war, three 
 steamers, and thirty-three thousand bales of cotton safely 
 stored in warehouses. All these valuable fruits of an al- 
 most bloodless victory had been, like Atlanta, "fairly 
 won." On the 21st, General Foster, commanding the 
 Department of the South, opened communications with 
 the city with his steamers, taking np what torpedoes could 
 be seen, and passing safely over others. Arrangements 
 were also made to clear the channel of all obstructions. 
 On the 22d, General Sherman sent the following dispatch 
 to Washington : 
 
 "SAVANNAH, GEORGIA, December 22. 
 " To His Excellency President LINCOLN : 
 
 " I beg to present you, as a Christmas gift, the city of Savannah, with 
 one hundred and fifty heavy guns, and plenty of ammunition, and also 
 about twenty-five thousand bales of cotton. 
 
 (Signed) "W. T. SHERMAN, Major- General"
 
 HISTORY OF THE GKEAT REBELLION. 1129 
 
 With the capture of Savannah ended the great march 
 of Sherman to the sea, just five weeks from the day he had 
 left Atlanta. Within that time the army had traversed a 
 tract of country three hundred miles in length, and had 
 destroyed over two hundred miles of railway, breaking up 
 the track in such a way that immediate repair was out of 
 the question. The Confederacy was practically cut in 
 twain, and, with a victorious and admirably organized 
 army prepared soon to move northward, while Grant's 
 
 f'eat Army of the Potomac still held Lee at bay before 
 etersburg, it was no difficult matter to foresee the speedy 
 collapse of the rebellion. Hood's army had been rendered 
 useless for offensive purposes, and at the commencement 
 of 1865 the only efficient forces of the Confederacy, com- 
 prising the army of Lee and various scattered bodies of 
 troops in the Carolinas and Southern Virginia, lay between 
 Grant and Sherman. The march of the latter to the coast 
 revealed the utterly exhausted condition of the South. 
 Not only was the body of organized troops opposed to 
 him utterly insignificant in point of numbers, but the in- 
 habitants exhibited a remarkable degree of apathy and 
 in difference. Their early enthusiasm for the rebel cause 
 had by this time departed, and their sole desire seemed to 
 be for peace and submission. Immense destruction of 
 public property and cotton marked the track of the expe- 
 ditionary army, and the troops fared sumptuously on the 
 products of a well-stocked country. In spite of the orders 
 of Sherman, there were many instances of the plunder of 
 private property, the hiding-places of which were revealed 
 to the soldiers by the negroes, many thousands of whom 
 joined the army on its march. 
 
 While these events were happening in Georgia, an at- 
 tempt was made on Wilmington, N". C., which had been 
 the great centre of blockade-running during the year, and 
 which, from the enormous difficulties attending the en- 
 forcement of the blockade in its vicinity, seemed to bid 
 defiance to any effort to abridge the immunity which it 
 enjoyed. The extent of the trade carried on there, in spite 
 of the blockade of the coast, may be estimated by the fact 
 that the amount of ships and cargoes sent in by English 
 capitalists, from January, 1863, to December, 1864, nearly 
 two years, was sixty-six millions of dollars. A joint na- 
 val and military expedition, having for its object the clos-
 
 1130 H1STOBY OF THE GEE AT REBELLION. 
 
 ing of this port by capturing its outer defences, was or- 
 ganized early in August, under Admiral Porter; but ow- 
 ing to the difficulty of obtaining a co-operating land force, 
 the squadron remained in Hampton Roads until Decem- 
 ber 12th, when, in connection with a force of six thousand 
 five hundred men under General Butler, it sailed for its 
 destination. The transports and war vessels numbered 
 seventy-five in all. The latter, which included the New 
 Ironsides and five monitors, were arranged in five divi- 
 sions, as follows : 
 
 First Division 16 ships. 164 guns. 
 
 Second " 14 
 
 Third " 11 
 
 Fourth " 16 
 
 Iron-clad 6 
 
 Flag-ships 2 
 
 Tugs for general service . . 7 
 Tender to flag-ship 1 
 
 152 
 
 119 
 
 165 
 
 30 
 
 9 
 
 14 
 2 
 
 73 655 
 
 Commodore Porter's flag-ship was the Malvern, five 
 guns. 
 
 On the 15th of December, the fleet arrived off "Wil- 
 mington and prepared for its work, but it was several 
 days before wind and weather would allow the vessels to 
 get into position, or the troops to be landed. Finally, at 
 noon of Saturday, the 24th, the fleet got into position 
 and opened a furious fire until night on Fort Fisher, the 
 strong earthworks on the north side of New Inlet, twenty 
 miles below Wilmington, firing an average of thirty shots 
 per minute. 
 
 Previous to making the attack, a torpedo vessel on a 
 large scale, with an amount of powder on board supposed 
 to be sufficient to explode the powder-magazines of the 
 fort, was prepared with great care, and placed under the 
 command of Commander A. C. Rhind, who had asso- 
 ciated with him on this perilous service Lieutenant S. W. 
 Preston, Second Assistant Engineer A. T. E. Mullan, of 
 the United States steamer Agawam, and Acting Master's 
 Mate Paul Boyden, and seven men. This vessel, the 
 Louisiana, disguised as a blockade-runner, was towed in 
 on the 23d until within two hundred yards from the 
 beach, and about four hundred from Fort Fisher. Com- 
 mander Rhind anchored her securely there, and coolly
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 1131 
 
 went to work to make all his arrangements to blow her 
 up. This he was enabled to do, owing to a blockade- 
 runner going in right ahead of him, the forts making the 
 blockade-runner signals, which they also did to the Louis- 
 iana. The gallant party, on leaving the vessel, set her on 
 fire under the cabin. Then, taking to their boats, they 
 made their escape off to the Wilderness, which put off 
 shore with good speed, to avoid the explosion. At forty- 
 five minutes past one on the morning of the 24th the ex- 
 plosion took place, but the shock was nothing like so 
 severe as was expected. It shook the vessel some, and 
 broke one or two glasses, but nothing more. 
 
 At daylight on the 24th, the fleet got under way, and 
 stood in, in line of battle. At half-past eleven A. M., the 
 signal was made to engage the forts, the Ironsides lead- 
 ing, and the Monadnock, Canonicus, and Mahopac fol- 
 lowing. The other divisions of the fleet followed, opening 
 fire as they got into position, and the whole throwing a 
 shower of missiles upon the fort, which drove the defend- 
 ers to their casemates. 
 
 It was not until the 25th that the transports, which 
 had been obliged, on account of a storm, to put into 
 Beaufort, arrived, and it was then arranged that the 
 troops should land under cover of a fresh attack by 
 seventeen gunboats. While the attack was going on, 
 about three thousand men landed five miles east of the 
 fleet. A reconnoissance was then made by General 
 Weitzel, second in command under Butler, who reported 
 the place so strong that, under the circumstances, it would 
 be " butchery to order an assault." As this opinion co- 
 incided with that already formed by General Butler, 
 orders were given to re-embark the troops, and the trans- 
 ports thereupon returned to Hampton Roads. 
 
 While the expedition was operating against Wilming- 
 ton, General Palmer made a co-operative move from 
 Plymouth, North Carolina. He sent, on the 9th, an ex- 
 pedition, under command of Colonel Frankle, which pro- 
 ceeded to Gardner's Bridge, beyond Jamestown, on the 
 Roanoke River. The Ninth New Jersey charged the 
 bridge in column of platoons, and soon swept a\vay the 
 small force which held it. At Spring Green Church, the 
 Ninth New Jersey and Twenty-seventh Massachusetts 
 again fell upon the enemy, inflicting considerable loss,
 
 1132 HISTORY OF THE GBEAT REBELLION. 
 
 and capturing five officers and thirty men. On the 19th, 
 our forces proceeded to Rainbow Bluff on the Roanoke, 
 and found the enemy in force. Unfortunately, the gun- 
 boats, which were to have co-operated, could not do so 
 on account of the torpedoes in the river. Colonel Fraukle's 
 expedition, therefore, returned to Plymouth. 
 
 CHAPTER LXXII. 
 
 Affairs at Petersburg. Renewed Attempt to Flank the Rebel Right. 
 Battle at Hatcher's Run. Fighting on the North Side of the James. 
 Review of the Year. Importance of Sherman's Operations. Calls for 
 Troops. Relative Strength of Armies. Second Attack on Fort Fisher. 
 Capture of Fort and Garrison. 
 
 THE Army of the Potomac, under General Grant, re- 
 mained before Petersburg, occasionally operating in the 
 front, while Sherman was pursuing his way across Georgia, 
 and Sheridan was penetrating up the Shenandoah Valley. 
 It was very evident that Lee was determined not to leave 
 Richmond, and also that he could not be driven out of it 
 by a direct attack on his front. The lieutenant-general 
 was therefore compelled to wait until the operations of 
 Sheridan and Sherman should bring those generals within 
 striking distance of Lee's rear, and thus compel the 
 evacuation of Richmond. As it was certain that Lee 
 would not commit the mistake of Hood at Atlanta, but 
 would follow the system of defence by which Johnston 
 had so long delayed the advance of Sherman, it remained 
 for Grant to hold his enemy within his fortifications, and 
 to make occasional attempts to penetrate the extended 
 line of works which Lee opposed to him, in the hope of 
 being able sooner or later to reach the available point. 
 Accordingly, soon after the victory of Cedar Creek by 
 Sheridan, and when Sherman was following Hood into 
 Northern Alabama, Grant determined on a renewal of 
 the grand movement by his left. Several days were 
 consumed in preparation, and, with profound secrecy, 
 all the sick, baggage, and encumbrances, commissary 
 stores, &c., were sent to City Point under protection of 
 the gunboats. Three days' rations and forage were issued 
 to the cavalry, and four days' rations to the infantry.
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 1133 
 
 The long line of intrenchments was divested of men, ex- 
 cept a sufficient rear- guard. 
 
 The troops north, of the James were to make an attack, 
 while those south of the river were to form a combined 
 movement upon Hatcher's Run. In accordance with this 
 design, the Tenth and Eighteenth Corps, on Thursday, 
 the 27th of October, began operations on the right. The 
 Tenth Corps early occupied the ground between the Dar- 
 by town and Charles City roads, the First Division, under 
 Ames (late Terry), holding the right, the Second, Porter 
 (late Turner), the centre, and the Third, Hawley (late 
 Birney), the left. The centre having been pushed on to 
 Darbytown, four and a half miles from Richmond, a sharp 
 encounter with the enemy's skirmishers soon took place, 
 the latter falling back upon a line of intrenchments, from 
 which a galling fire caused the Union troops to recoil with 
 severe loss. Towards evening the attack was renewed, 
 with the same results. Meanwhile the Eighteenth Corps, 
 General Weitzel commanding, took up a position on the 
 Darbytown road, in the rear of the Tenth Corps, and then 
 continued its route northerly to the Williamsburg road, in 
 the neighborhood of the old Seven Pines or Fair Oaks 
 battle-ground. At four o'clock Weitzel was across the 
 "Williamsburg road, which the enemy's works commanded. 
 Still's Pennsylvania Battery moved up the road and en- 
 gaged the enemy's batteries, while a brigade of Marston's 
 Division, on the right of the road, and one of Heckman's, 
 on the left, advanced, supported by the remainder of the 
 divisions. The enemy made but feeble resistance until 
 the troops reached the focus of his fire, when a terrible 
 discharge decimated them and broke the organization. 
 To retire was as fatal as to advance, and the enemy com- 
 pleted the disaster by sallying out and capturing portions 
 of the two advanced brigades, and driving back Still's bat- 
 tery. Dusk approaching, the remainder of the troops 
 drew back out of range. Holman's colored division mean- 
 while had gallantly carried a two- gun redoubt, but the 
 approach of night compelled him to abandon it. The 
 whole force then returned to camp under orders from Gen- 
 eral Grant. The Federal loss was from twelve hundred 
 to fifteen hundred men, and that of the enemy, according 
 to his own account, about two hundred men. Thus ended 
 the feint on the right.
 
 1134 HISTORY OP THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 The attack on the left was undertaken by the Second 
 Corps, aided by Gregg's Cavalry, which was to march 
 round the enemy's right flank, turn it, and seize his line 
 of defences on Hatcher's Run, at the same moment that 
 the Fifth and Ninth Corps by direct approach should at- 
 tack these works in front. Accordingly, the Second Corps, 
 on Wednesday evening, the 26th, marched across to the 
 Church road, and at three and a half o'clock Thursday 
 morning reached the Vaughan road, along which they pro- 
 ceeded, reaching Hatcher's Run at half-past seven A. M. 
 The crossing was disputed by a small body of men, who 
 were soon dispersed. The corps then proceeded on the 
 west side of the run to the Boydton plankroad, which they 
 reached at a quarter past eleven A. M. Here Gregg's 
 Cavalry connected on the left, about the same time that 
 Generals Grant and Meade arrived on the ground. Egan's 
 Division was deployed on the right of the Boydton plank- 
 road, facing up towards the bridge over Hatcher's Run, 
 and Mott's was deployed on the left of the road. De 
 Trobriand's Brigade connected with Gregg, who held the 
 extreme left. One brigade was left to take care of the 
 enemy in our rear. In Egan's advance was Rugg's Bri- 
 gade, and hi sskirmishers, at the command, rushed forward 
 to Hatcher's Run, seized the bridge, and crossed the creek. 
 
 The next movement was to carry the enemy's works 
 beyond Hatcher's Run. Egan's Division was accordingly 
 disposed with Rugg's Brigade on the left, Price in the 
 centre, and Smyth on the right, Beck's Battery co-opera- 
 ting as before. McAllister's Brigade of Mott's Division 
 was in support of Egan. The Fifth Corps was now heard 
 firing rapidly on the right, and it was expected that they 
 would sweep about and effect a junction with the Second. 
 But, owing to the exceedingly perplexing character of the 
 country, and the uncertainty as to the roads, they were 
 unable to do so. Of course, the enemy was prompt to 
 seize this advantage ; and about four o'clock, while we were 
 preparing to advance, Mahone's Division, of Hill's Corps, 
 broke in on the right flank of Hancock, and instantly 
 swept oif Metcalfs section of Beck's Battery, which was 
 there posted. Continuing his attack, he got across the 
 Boydton road and bore down upon Egan's Division. 
 With commendable energy and promptitude, Egan 
 changed front with his own brigades and McAllister's, and,
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 1135 
 
 with the aid of* the three batteries, Beck's and Roder's 
 Fifth and Fourth regular, and Sleeper's Tenth Massachu- 
 setts (under Granger), succeeded in repulsing the enemy, 
 after a hard and prolonged fight. In the fury of his first 
 onset against Smyth's Brigade, it was driven back, several 
 hundred prisoners captured, and our line so disordered as 
 to allow the enemy to get upon the plankroad. A part of 
 these prisoners were recaptured by being conducted by 
 mistake into the Fifth Corps' lines. Hancock's prompt 
 dispositions, and the firmness of Egan's troops, soon ar- 
 rested the disaster likely to follow. In his turn falling 
 upon the enemy's flank, Egan drove him back, Smyth's 
 and McAllister's Brigades behaving handsomely, while 
 Mott promptly co-operated with De Trobriand's Brigade. 
 *The enemy abandoned Metcalf s guns and began to re- 
 treat. But he left three flags and five or six hundred 
 prisoners those who had come over on the plankroad 
 in our possession. 
 
 The Federal loss in this affair was nine hundred killed 
 and wounded and four hundred prisoners. This repulse 
 placed the column in a precarious position, as the ammuni- 
 tion and rations were growing scarce, notwithstanding 
 that sufficient for four days had been served out. The 
 rain fell in torrents, and the troops retraced their weary 
 steps to camp, leaving some of the wounded on the field. 
 
 Meantime the Fifth and Ninth Corps left camp at day- 
 light on the 27th, and during the forenoon got into posi- 
 tion with the Ninth on the right, and the Fifth on the 
 left, confronting the enemy's works at Hatcher's Run. 
 Here they made demonstrations and skirmished sharply 
 during the day, returning to camp at night. The losses 
 of the two corps were about four hundred. Thus the 
 whole movement, which was to have had important results, 
 terminated in a return to camp, with a loss on both sides 
 of the James of about three thousand men. The main 
 attack was Hancock's, and in case of success the Fifth and 
 Ninth were to join him in a general advance of the whole 
 line. It appeared that the enemy were accurately in- 
 formed of the whole enterprise, and no surprise was ef- 
 fected. 
 
 Skirmishing and small encounters were frequent after 
 after this along the lines. On the night of the 30th, the 
 Sixty-ninth and Hundred-and-fourth New York were
 
 1136 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 picketed before Fort Daqis, being mostly raw troops. 
 The enemy, in some force, passed into the rear, and the 
 word having been given to the Federal troops to " fall 
 in," as if they were to be relieved, the entire line was 
 captured. Enterprises of this nature, interspersed with 
 attacks of greater or lesser magnitude continued up to 
 the Jirst week in November, at which time Sherman 
 started on his grand march. On the night of November 
 5th, a rebel brigade which occupied a portion of the ene- 
 my's line on the plankroad, and running northeasterly 
 therefrom, secretly advanced, and threw itself upon the 
 picket line of McAllister's Brigade, Mott's Division, Second 
 Corps, which held our . intrenchments opposite the same 
 point. The plan was so well devised and vigorously 
 executed as to secure our entire intrenched picket line 
 for half a mile, with the capture of thirty prisoners. The 
 enemy immediately began to reverse our works, and to 
 intrench himself with tools brought for that purpose. At 
 the same time, the Holcomb Legion of Wallace's Brigade 
 carried our picket line opposite the Crater, as the ruins 
 of the fort exploded by the mine are called. The men 
 soon rallied in force and recaptured the line of works. 
 
 Early in December, most of Sheridan's force from the 
 Yalley joined the Army of the Potomac the six corps 
 arriving between the 2d and 5th of December. Early 's 
 troops also joined Lee in great numbers, and affairs in the 
 Yalley were once more quiet, Sheridan remaining at Win- 
 chester. The negro troops were now consolidated in one 
 corps, the Twenty-fifth, under the command of General 
 Weitzel, and sent north of the James. 
 
 The year 1864 had now reached its close, and, after a 
 series of brilliant campaigns, the prospect for the future 
 was full of hope, notwithstanding a temporary lull in 
 military operations. The only active movement then in 
 progress was Sherman's campaign, on the results of which 
 the success of the other operations seemed to depend. In 
 the course of the year, the Army of the Potomac had, 
 under Grant, fought its way to the banks of the James, 
 where it held the main rebel army as if in a vice. The 
 Union troops had, under Sheridan, driven the enemy far 
 up the Shenandoah, and Hood had been forced out of 
 Tennessee by Thomas with the miserable wreck of an 
 army. The enemy had abandoned Missouri and most of
 
 HISTORY OF THE GKEAT REBELLION. 1137 
 
 
 
 Arkansas, and only held good his grasp upon Western 
 Louisiana and Texas. We iiad also captured the defences 
 of Mobile Bay. The enemy confronted us in force chiefly 
 in Virginia, and the only problem yet remaining to be 
 solved was how long he would be able to maintain the 
 defence. This was decided by the march of Sherman 
 through Georgia to Savannah, which demonstrated that 
 the people were \inable or unwilling to resist, and that the 
 rebel government had exhausted its powers. There was 
 no force to appose the free movement of Sherman on the 
 rear of Lee, and the Army of the Potomac, which had 
 done most of the fighting, and to the public eye achieved 
 the least success, continued to occupy Lee, thus giving 
 to others the opportunity to win the laurels of the year. 
 
 Meantime, the President made a new call for three 
 hundred thousand men. The whole number of troops 
 hitherto called for, whether for temporary purposes merely, 
 or for the war, amounted in round numbers to two mil- 
 lions and a half ; though how large a number of these 
 rendered actual service it is not now and may never be 
 possible to determine. It is very certain, however, that 
 the men called for were all needed, and had they been 
 obtained to as a great an extent as the above figures would 
 seem to indicate, there can be little doubt that the rebel- 
 lion would have terminated much sooner than it actually 
 did. The casualties of war, diseases inherent to a military 
 life, and the necessity of garrisoning almost countless out- 
 posts and forts, as well as of guarding long lines of com- 
 munications, drew largely upon each successive levy, so. 
 that the large armies, intended for active operations in the- 
 field, were barely kept up to their necessary strength, and 
 often fell below it. 
 
 The 'armies in the field, in the spring of 1864, numbered' 
 nearly six hundred thousand men ; and so great were the 
 losses during the year, that at its close, notwithstanding 
 nine hundred thousand men had been called for, the 
 numbers remained about the same. The military supplies, 
 produced during the year included one thousand seven 
 hundred and fifty pieces of ordnance, two thousand three- 
 hundred and sixty-one artillery carriages and caissons, 
 eight hundred and two thousand five hundred and twenty- 
 five small-arms, seven hundred and ninety-four thousand 
 and fifty-five sets of accoutrements and harness,, one mil- 
 
 70
 
 1138 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 t > 
 
 lion six hundred and seventy-four thousand two hundred 
 and forty-four projectiles for cannon, twelve million seven 
 hundred and forty thousand one hundred and forty-six 
 pounds of bullets and lead, eight million four hundred 
 and nine thousand four hundred pounds of gunpowder, 
 one hundred and sixty-nine millions four hundred and 
 ninety thousand and twenty-nine cartridges for small- 
 arms. These were complete articles, in addition to large 
 quantities of the same kinds of supplies partially made up 
 at the arsenals. The ordnance supplies furnished to the 
 military service during the year included one thousand 
 one hundred and forty-one pieces of ordnance, one thou- 
 sand eight hundred and ninety-six artillery carriages and 
 caissons, four hundred and fifty-five thousand nine hun- 
 dred and ten small-arms, five hundred and two thousand 
 and forty-four sets of accoutrements and harness, one mil- 
 lion nine hundred and thirteen thousand seven hundred 
 and fifty-three projectiles for cannon, seven million six 
 hundred and twenty-four thousand six hundred and 
 eighty-five pounds of bullets and lead, four hundred and 
 sixty-four thousand five hundred and forty-nine pounds of 
 artillery ammunition, one hundred and twenty-five thou- 
 sand and sixty-seven sets of horse equipments, one hun- 
 dred and twelve million eighty-seven thousand five hun- 
 dred and fifty-three cartridges for small-arms, seven 
 million five hundred and forty-four thousand and forty- 
 four pounds of gunpowder. These supplies were in addi- 
 tion to large quantities of parts provided for repairs in 
 the field. 
 
 The forces of the rebels at the commencement of 1864 
 did not much exceed three hundred and fifty thousand 
 men, of whom they lost during the year probably two 
 hundred thousand. In the same period they were enabled, 
 by strenuous exertions, to recruit one hundred thousand 
 men. Of these probably one hundred thousand were 
 with Lee at Eichmond, and the others detached undei 
 Hood, Beauregard, and other generals. Under these 
 circumstances, the necessity of arming the negroes or em- 
 ploying them as soldiers was apparent, and the head of 
 the rebel government recommended that course with the 
 advice of General Lee, but the measure was not promptly 
 acted upon, and never had any practical result. The year 
 1864, therefore, for the rebels, approached its close with-
 
 HISTORY OF THE GEEAT REBELLION. 1139 
 
 out any apparent means of raising more men to offset the 
 new levies called for by President Lincoln to invigorate 
 the movements of Thomas, Sherman, and Grant. 
 
 The troops that had returned from the Fort Fisher expe- 
 dition were re-enforced at Fortress Monroe, and, as the 
 Government was by no means satisfied with the first 
 attempt, almost immediately prepared for a renewal of 
 the movement. General Butler was, early in January, 
 relieved from the command of the Army of the James, and 
 General Terry succeeded to the command of the expedi- 
 tionary force, numbering somewhat over eight thousand 
 men, and comprising Ames's Second Division of the 
 Twenty-fourth Corps, and Hawley's Second Brigade (now 
 under Abbott) of Terry's First Division, and Paine's Di- 
 vision of the Twenty-fifth (colored) Corps, with Myrick's 
 and Lee's Batteries. These went on board transports, 
 and, on the night of the 6th and the morning of the 6th 
 of January, left Fortress Monroe to co-operate with Ad- 
 miral Porter's fleet, then off Beaufort. After some de- 
 tentions, occasioned by the weather, the fleet, on the 13th, 
 moved upon Fort Fisner in five divisions. 
 
 Admiral Porter opened the bombardment by sending 
 the iron-clad column, with the New Ironsides at its head, 
 directly upon Fort Fisher. At half-past seven A. M. the 
 forts opened on them as they approached, but they quietly 
 took up their old positions within one thousand yards of 
 Fort Fisher, and began to fire about half-past eight. The 
 landing of the troops commenced at nine o'clock, from 
 all the transports, some of the men eagerly jumping into 
 the water, waist deep. In about an hour, enough troops 
 were landed to push out a skirmish line, and all the force 
 designed for the attack was ashore before three P. M., 
 when they took possession of Half Moon Battery. 
 
 Before four, the troops started down the beach towards 
 Fort Fisher, with skirmishers out. At dusk, they had 
 paused, out of range of Fort Fisher. Under cover of 
 the darkness, however, they moved on again, and at ten 
 p. M. their camp-fires showed the long bivouac line 
 across the sand-spit, about two miles from the fort. 
 Their right flank seemed to be well covered by a sort of 
 lagoon, running between it and the woods beyond. The 
 enemy's two gunboats, the Tallahassee and the Chicka- 
 mauga, shelled our lines from Cape Fear River. During
 
 1140 HISTORY OF THE GKEAT REBELLION. 
 
 the eight-hours' action, the iron-clads showered shells 
 upon the devoted fort at the rate of four per minute. 
 The whole number of shells thrown by iron-clads and 
 wooden vessels was computed at four per second. 
 
 During the night, the enemy was re-enforced and the 
 place strengthened. The 14th was occupied by the 
 Union troops in building breastworks between the Cape 
 Fear Biver and the sea, and the 15th was fixed for the 
 assault. As a force of the enemy, about five thousand 
 * strong, under Hoke, was threatening to relieve the place 
 from Wilmington, Abbott's Brigade was placed in the 
 intrenchments facing that direction. Ames's Division 
 was drawn up to assault the west end of the fort, the 
 most difficult and arduous point. A column of fourteen
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 1141 
 
 hundred sailors and marines, under Captain Breese, was 
 detailed from the fleet to assault the sea front, which had 
 been so terribly demolished by the bombardment that it 
 was thought a lodgment might more easily be effected 
 there. At daybreak, the iron vessels, the Brooklyn, and 
 the eleven-inch gunboats commenced a terrible fire, under 
 cover of which, Ames moved his men up to within one 
 hundred and fifty yards of the fort. At ten, all the rest of 
 the fleet joined in the tremendous cannonade, which was 
 kept up, almost without intercession, until three P. M., 
 when the ships changed their fire from the path of the 
 assaulting columns to other works. At half-past three 
 p. M. the signal for the assault was made. The gallant 
 column from the fleet dashed at the sea front with des- 
 perate energy, and gained the parapet. But after a 
 short conflict and heavy loss it was checked and driven 
 back in disorder. When re-formed, it was sent to the 
 defensive or Wilmington line, to take the place of Ab- 
 bott's Brigade, which had joined Ames. The attack on 
 the sea front, though a failure, diverted a part of the 
 enemy's attention, and made the attack of the main 
 storming column by so much the easier. 
 
 Promptly at the word of command, our gallant column 
 of between three thousand and four thousand men, prin- 
 cipally of the old Tenth Corps, rushed upon the works. 
 The enemy's force in the fort was over two thousand two 
 hundred strong. Colonel Curtis led the attack, and, after 
 a splendid assault, effected a lodgment on the west 
 end of the land front. Pennypacker instantly followed 
 with his brigade, and then Bell with his. Every one of 
 these leaders fell wounded, the former severely, the second 
 dangerously, and Bell mortally. At five o'clock, after 
 the most desperate fighting, foot by foot, and with the 
 severest loss, we got possession of about half the land 
 front. Then Abbott came up from the defensive line, the 
 marines taking his place. Once more the attack went 
 on. At ten o'clock, after six and a half hours of splen- 
 did fighting, the last trenches were cleared of the enemy, 
 and Fort Fisher was ours. 
 
 General Whitney and Colonel Lamb, the commanders 
 of the fort, with their officers and men over eighteen 
 hundred in all surrendered unconditionally about twelve 
 at night. All the works south of Fort Fisher fell also
 
 1142 HISTORY OF THE QKEAT REBELLION. 
 
 into our hands. The enemy's loss was, first, Fort Fisher 
 and all its chain of outworks, with all their contents 
 seventy-two guns, Borne of large calibre and rifled, and 
 one Armstrong gun and the camp and garrison equipage 
 and stores, including sixteen days' rations ; second, the 
 loss of Cape Fear River and its facilities for running the 
 blockade ; third, a garrison of two thousand two hundred 
 men, of whom four hundred were killed and wounded, 
 *and eighteen hundred captured. General Whitney and 
 Colonel Lamb were wounded. On our side, not a ship 
 nor a transport was lost, and but little damage was done 
 to the fleet. Our loss in officers and men was very large 
 something over one thousand in all, of w T hich about 
 nine hundred fell upon the army, and two hundred on 
 the fleet. Among these were Colonels Bell and Moore, 
 and Lieutenant-Colonel Lyman, killed, and Colonels Cur- 
 tis, Pennypacker, and Lieutenant-Colonel Coaii, badly 
 wounded. In the fleet, Lieutenants Preston and Porter 
 were killed, and Lieutenants Lamson, Bache, and others 
 wounded. By some mismanagement the magazine blew 
 up, killing about three hundred of the garrison. 
 
 CHAPTEE LXXIII. 
 
 Capture of Remaining Defences on Cape Fear River. Schofield Ordered 
 from Tennessee. Fort Anderson Taken. Occupation of Wilmington. 
 Movement on Kinston. Goldsboro. Gillmore before Charleston. 
 Evacuation of the City by Hardee. Flag Restored to Fort Sumter. 
 Sheridan in the Valley. His Raid. Great Destruction of Rebel Prop- 
 erty. Joins Meade. 
 
 THE holding of the forts on the Cape Fear River was 
 regarded by General Lee as of vital consequence to his 
 position at Richmond ; nevertheless, on the fall of Fort 
 Fisher it became apparent that the other places could not 
 be defended. On the 16th of January, the enemy blew 
 up Forts Caswell and Campbell, and abandoned them 
 and the works on Smith's Island, also those at Smithville 
 and Reeves's Point, which were occupied by the navy. 
 The whole number of guns captured exceeded one hun- 
 dred and fifty. A large number of small-arms also fell 
 into our hands, besides quantities of ordnance and com- 
 missary stores.
 
 HISTOEY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 1143 
 
 On the 18th, General Paine reconnoitred in force 
 towards Wilmington, and found the enemy about two 
 miles distant. After a slight skirmish he fell back to his 
 intrenchmeuts. On the 19th, one of our dispatch boats 
 was severely handled by the guns of Fort St. Philip, on 
 the south bank of the river, and forced to return. The 
 same day, General Paine made another reconnoissance, 
 found the enemy as before, two miles distant, had another 
 severe skirmish, and retired. 
 
 The forts which fell into the hands of the navy, up to 
 January 21st, and subsequently to the fall of Fisher, were 
 officially reported as follows : 
 
 lieeves's Point Two ten-inch guns. 
 
 Above Smithville Two ten-inch guns. 
 
 Srnithville Four ten-inch guns. 
 
 Fort Caswell Ten ten-inch guns, two nine-inch, one 
 Armstrong, and four thirty-twos (rifled), two thirty-twos 
 (smooth), three eight-inch, one Parrott (twenty-pounder), 
 three rifled field-pieces, three guns (bored) twenty-nine 
 guns. 
 
 Forts Campbell and Shaw Six ten-inch, six thirty- 
 twos (smooth), one thirty-two (rifled), one eight-inch, six 
 field-pieces, two mortars twenty-two guns. 
 
 Smith's Island Three ten-inch, six thirty-twos 
 (smooth), two thirty-twos (rifled), four field-pieces, two 
 mortars seventeen guns. Keported at the other end of 
 Smith's Island, six guns. 
 
 Total captured, eighty-three guns. 
 
 Wilmington, to which the enemy had gradually fallen 
 back, as the force accumulated in their front,- was de- 
 fended by General Bragg. 
 
 While these events were occurring, General Schofield, 
 who, with the twenty-third Army Corps, was on his way 
 to Eastport, Mississippi, received orders to proceed with 
 his troops to North Carolina. At that time the De- 
 partment of North Carolina was created, and Scho- 
 field assigned to its command, with orders to occupy 
 Goldsboro and open up communication with the coast, 
 and unite with Sherman. In pursuance of this plan, he 
 landed at the mouth of Cape Fear River, February 9th, 
 with the Third Division, Cox, near Fort Fisher. At that 
 time, General Terry, with eight thousand men, held a 
 line across the peninsula formed by the ocean and the
 
 1144 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 Cape Fear River, occupying Smithville and Fort Cas- 
 well, with his flanks covered by the fleet, under Admiral 
 Porter. The enemy occupied Fort Anderson, on the west 
 bank of the river, with a collateral line running to a 
 large swamp about three-fourths of a mile distant, and a 
 line opposite Fort Anderson, running across the peninsula 
 from Cape Fear River to Masonboro Sound. His posi- 
 tion was impregnable against direct attack, and could be 
 turned only by crossing Masonboro Sound above his left, 
 or passing around the swamp which covered his right. 
 On the llth of February, Schofield pushed forward 
 Terry's line, supported by Cox's Division, drove in the 
 enemy's pickets, and intrenched in a new position, close 
 enough to the enemy's line to compel him to hold the lat- 
 ter in force. 
 
 The weather presented many obstacles to a combined 
 movement with boats on the enemy's left. Hence Gen- 
 eral Schofield directed his attention to the enemy's right, 
 where he would not have to contend with the difficul- 
 ties of both land and sea. Cox's and Ames's Divisions 
 were crossed over to Smithville, where they were joined 
 by Moore's Brigade of Couch's Division, which had just 
 debarked, and advanced along the main Wilmington 
 road until they encountered the enemy's position at Fort 
 Anderson and adjacent works. Here two brigades were 
 intrenched to occupy the enemy, while Cox, with his 
 other two brigades and Ames's Division, started around 
 the swamp, covering the enemv's right, to strike the Wil- 
 mington road in rear of Fort Anderson. The distance to 
 be travelled was about fifteen miles. The enemy, warned 
 by his cavalry of Cox's movement, hastily abandoned his 
 works on both sides of the river, during the night of Feb- 
 ruary 19th, and fell back behind Town Creek on the 
 west, and to a corresponding position, covered by swamps, 
 on the east. Possession was thus gained of the main 
 defences of Cape Fear River and of Wilmington, with 
 ten pieces of heavy ordnance and a large amount of 
 ammunition. Our loss was but trifling. 
 
 On the following day, Cox pursued the enemy to Town 
 Creek, behind which he was found intrenched, having 
 destroyed the only bridge. Terry also encountered the 
 enemy in superior force in his new position, and, in con- 
 sequence, Ames's Division was brought over to the east
 
 HI8TOET OF THE GEEAT REBELLION. 1145 
 
 bank during the night of the 19th. On the 20th, Cox 
 crossed Town Creek below the enemy's position, and, 
 reaching the enemy's flank and rear, attacked and routed 
 him, capturing two pieces of artillery and three hundred 
 and seventy-live prisoners. The next morning he pushed 
 on towards Wilmington without opposition. Terry was 
 unable to make any further advance, but occupied the 
 attention of all of Hoke's force, so that he could not send 
 any to replace that which Cox had destroyed. On the 
 21st, Cox secured a portion of the enemy's pontoon 
 bridge across Brunswick River, which he had attempted 
 to destroy, put a portion of his troops on to Eagle 
 Island, and threatened to cross the Cape Fear above Wil- 
 mington. The enemy at once set fire to his steamers, 
 cotton, and military and naval stores, and abandoned the 
 town. Our troops entered without opposition early in 
 the morning of February 22d, and Terry pursued the 
 enemy across Northeast River. Our total loss in the 
 operations from February llth to the capture of Wil- 
 mington was about two hundred officers and men killed 
 and wounded. That of the enemy was not less than one 
 thousand killed, wounded, and prisoners ; fifty-one pieces 
 of heavy ordnance, fifteen light pieces, and a large 
 amount of ammunition fell into our hands. 
 
 Meantime a force of five thousand troops had been 
 ordered forward from Newbern, under General Palmer, to 
 occupy Kinston, with the view of moving thence upon 
 Goldsboro and tapping the main railway line between 
 Richmond and Savannah. As soon as Wilmington was 
 secured, Schofield sent Ruger's Division, Twenty-third 
 Army Corps, which was then arriving at Cape Fear Inlet, 
 by sea to Morehead City, to re-enforce the column moving 
 from Newbern. On the 25th, finding that Palmer had 
 not moved, as was expected, he sent Cox to take command 
 at Newbern and push forward at once. The divisions of 
 Couch and Cox were also sent thither, but, owing to great 
 difficulty of transportation, it was March 6th before the 
 movement upon Kinston was commenced. On that day, 
 Couch marched from Newbern with the Second and Third 
 Divisions of the Twenty-third Corps, and on the 8th, 
 General Cox advanced to Wise's Forks, where he was 
 joined by Schofield in person. The force in front of the 
 Union troops, consisting of Hoke's Division and a small
 
 1146 HISTOET OF THE GEEAT REBELLION. 
 
 body of reserves, had fallen back behind Southwest Creek, 
 and General Cox had sent two regiments, under Colonel 
 TJpham, Fifteenth Connecticut Infantry, to secure the 
 crossing of the creek on the Dover road. The enemy, 
 having been re-enforced by a portion of the old Army of 
 Tennessee, recrossed the creek some distance above the 
 Dover road, came down in rear of Colonel Upham's posi- 
 tion, and surprised and captured nearly his entire com- 
 mand, about seven hundred men. The enemy then ad- 
 vanced and endeavored to penetrate between Carter's and 
 Palmer's Divisions, occupying the Dover road and the 
 railroad respectively, but was checked by Ruger's Divi- 
 sion, which was just arriving upon the field. 
 
 On the 9th the enemy pressed our lines strongly, and 
 felt for its flanks. Heavy skirmishing was kept up dur- 
 ing the day, but no assault was made. On the 10th, the 
 enemy, having been largely re-enforced, and, doubtless, 
 learning of the approach of Couch's column, made a heavy 
 attack upon Cox's left and centre, but was decisively re- 
 pulsed, and with heavy loss. Both attacks were met 
 mainly by Ruger's Division, a portion of that division 
 having been rapidly transferred from the centre to the 
 left, to meet the attack there, and then returned to the 
 centre in time to repel the attack on that portion of the 
 line. The enemy retreated, leaving his killed and wound- 
 ed, and, during the night, fell back across the Neuse, and 
 burned the bridge. Our loss in this engagement was 
 about three hundred killed and wounded ; that of the 
 enemy probably about fifteen hundred in killed, wounded, 
 and missing. Couch effected his junction with Cox on 
 the following day. 
 
 Having no pontoon train, Schofield could not cross the 
 !N"euse until the 14th, when the enemy, having abandoned 
 Kinston, moved rapidly towards Smithfield to join the 
 force under Johnston, which was concentrating to oppose 
 the advance of Sherman from Fayetteville. Immediately 
 upon the occupation of Kinston, Schofield put a large 
 force of troops to work upon the railroad, in aid of the 
 Construction Corps under Colonel Wright, rebuilt the 
 wagon bridge over the Neuse, and brought forward sup- 
 plies preparatory to a further advance. He moved from 
 Kinston on the morning of the 20th, and entered Golds- 
 boro', with but slight opposition, on the evening of the
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT KEBELLION. 114:7 
 
 21st. The portion of the command which had remained 
 at Wilmington, under Terry, moved from that point 
 March 15th, reached Faison's Depot on the 20th, and, in 
 compliance with Sherman's orders, moved from that point 
 to Cox's Bridge, and secured a crossing of the Neuse 
 on the 22d. 
 
 On the 8th of February, General Gillmore succeeded to 
 the command of the Department of the South, with head- 
 quarters at Hilton Head. The city of Charleston was 
 then held by General Hardee with a force of twelve thou- 
 sand to fifteen thousand men, comprising the regular gar- 
 rison and the troops which had retreated from Savannah. 
 The city had withstood during nearly three years all 
 attempts to reduce it. This, on account of its enormously 
 strong natural position, had been comparatively easy. 
 But now it became exposed to a series of operations of an 
 entirely different nature from those which had formerly 
 been undertaken against it. Sherman, from Savannah, 
 w T as penetrating into North Carolina, and was, on Febru- 
 ary llth, at Branchville, on the South Carolina Eailroad, 
 thus cutting Charleston off from communication with the 
 interior. The defences of Cape Fear River below Fort 
 Anderson had fallen into the hands of the Federals, and 
 although General Bragg professed himself able to hold 
 Wilmington, grave doubts of his ability to do so were en- 
 tertained, and with the fall of Wilmington, communica- 
 tion with the North would be threatened. Under these 
 circumstances, General Gillmore was no sooner in com- 
 mand than he landed a considerable force upon James 
 Island, and after some sharp fighting established himself 
 within two miles of the city. With Savannah and 
 its communications in the hands of the Union troops, with 
 Sherman and his large force holding the North Carolina 
 Railroad at Branchville, with Wilmington virtually in 
 the hands of Schofield, and Gillmore established within 
 two miles of the city on James Island, it became very 
 evident that Hardee had no alternative but to leave. If 
 he could carry off his garrison it would be, under the cir- 
 cumstances, as much as he could hope for. This he suc- 
 ceeded in doing. The evacuation commenced on the 16th, 
 and by the next night the last of the troops had left. 
 About midnight the enemy fired the upper part of the 
 city, burning up the railroad buildings and several thou-
 
 1148 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 sand bales of cotton. The buildings contained, besides 
 the cotton, a large quantity of rice and two hundred kegs 
 of powder. About half-past three o'clock the powder 
 blew up, with a terrific explosion, killing or mutilating 
 about one hundred of the poor people who were getting 
 the rice. At daylight, the rebel rams in the harbor, near 
 the city, were blown up. 
 
 On the morning of the 18th, the mayor of the city sent 
 a note to General Gillmore stating that the Confederate 
 military authorities had departed, and at nine A. M. the 
 city of Charleston, with Fort Sumter, Fort Moultrie, Castle 
 Pinckney, and all its defensive works, and all its contents, 
 were surrendered to us. Nearly all the rebel troops had 
 gone, and only a few men remained. Our forces were 
 promptly moved up to the city, and, amid deafening cheers, 
 the national flag once more streamed from the parapet of 
 Fort Sumter. In the fort were nine guns four columbiads 
 and five howitzers. The cruel firing of the city by the en- 
 emy, and the explosion of its magazines, spread devastation 
 far and wide. Our troops were at once set to work to quell 
 the flames, but probably two-thirds of the place were de- 
 stroyed. The lower part of the city within reach of our 
 guns was in eifect a ruin, and was almost uninhabited. Com- 
 paratively few persons dared to remain there. Some of the 
 houses were knocked down. Bricks and timbers were lying 
 everywhere, and the streets in particular were strewn with 
 the fragments, in many places entirely obstructing travel. 
 Shells were lying among the ruins. T^he appearance of the 
 city, the lower part uninhabited and the upper part in 
 flames, is described as dreary and desolate in the extreme. 
 Among our captures were over two hundred pieces of good 
 artillery and a supply of fine ammunition. The enemy 
 burned his cotton warehouses, arsenals, quartermaster 
 stores, railroad bridges, two iron-clads, and some vessels in 
 the ship-yards. Some of the enemy's troops remained to 
 plunder, and succeeded in their object. Several hundred 
 deserters were concealed in the houses in Charleston, and 
 when our troops entered they surrendered. The main 
 army moved on northward, in numbers conjectured to be 
 about fourteen thousand strong. There remained in the 
 city only about ten thousand persons of the poorer classes, 
 who had had no means of making their escape, and who 
 were now suffering from want of food.
 
 HISTORY OP THE GREAT REBELLION. 1149 
 
 The surrender of Charleston took place on the fourth an- 
 niversary of the inauguration of Jefferson Davis as presi- 
 dent of the " Southern Confederacy." The actual siege of 
 the city was commenced July 10th, 1863, when Gillmore 
 landed on Morris Island, and had thus lasted five hundred 
 and eighty-five days. The city had actually been under 
 fire five hundred and forty-two days. 
 
 As the surrender of Sumter had produced an impression 
 on the public mind too deep to be readily forgotten, the 
 President, with a view of commemorating its restoration 
 to the national authority, directed Major-Gen eral Robert 
 Anderson to raise the stars and stripes on the battlements 
 of Fort Sumter on the 13th of April, 1865, the anniversary 
 of the day he consented to evacuate it, after a protracted 
 and gallant resistance, when his ammunition and provi- 
 sions were exhausted. 
 
 The next seaport destined to fall was Mobile, which was, 
 early in March, occupied by the Confederate General Dick 
 Taylor, with Maury commanding the defences of the city, 
 and F. H. Gardner in the field. His forces numbered 
 about fifteen thousand men. The defences of Mobile were 
 strong. Beauregard and Taylor had been at work upon 
 them for months, employing thousands of negroes in in- 
 trenching. The garrison, however, was inadequate to man 
 the elaborate works intended to protect the place. Xot 
 only had the operations of Lee and Johnston heavily 
 drained the old army of Hood, but a cavalry demonstra- 
 tion of Wilson through Alabama and Mississippi, then in 
 progress, distracted the attention of the force which re- 
 mained. Few but raw Alabama troops were around Mo- 
 bile. Among the harbor defences was Spanish Fort, an 
 irregular bastioned work, with fortifications five miles in 
 length, commencing at D'Olive's Creek and running to 
 Minetta Bay. It was built by De Soto in 1540. The guns 
 were in embrasures. The main defence of Mobile was at 
 this point. From the land side, on the right of Spanish 
 Fort, were two bastions, encircled with rifle pits, chevaux- 
 de-frise, trenches, and torpedoes. The fortifications on 
 the extreme right were covered by the works on the left 
 of Blakeley. Pinto Island, to the right, covers Spanish 
 Kiver, and commands Christian Pass. Mobile Bay, be- 
 yond Blakeley River, was filled with torpedoes. A large 
 number of torpedoes were also buried in the earth in front
 
 1150 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 of Spanish Fort, near the rebel rifle-pits. Forts linger, 
 Bradley, Tracy, Battery Gladden, Spanish River Battery, 
 Blakeley, and other rebel strongholds, were in front and to 
 the left.' 
 
 Preparations for attack had been in progress some time. 
 Granger's Thirteenth Corps had long been concentrated 
 on Mobile Point. A. J. Smith's Sixteenth Corps was sent 
 by transport from New Orleans to Dauphin Island, oppo- 
 site Mobile Point, the greater part arriving at Fort Gaines 
 on the 12th of March. All the cavalry were under Grier- 
 son, and recently largely re-enforced from the Army of the 
 Cumberland had left for Mobile Point, crossing Pont- 
 chartrain. General Steele's negro division was near Pen- 
 sacola. On the 18th of March, Moore's First Brigade of 
 Carr's THird Division of the Sixteenth Corps, about two 
 thousand strong, left Dauphin Island to effect a landing on 
 Cedar Point, above Fort Powell, and to clear the way for 
 the rest of the corps. On the day previous, Bertram's 
 Brigade of the Second Division of the Thirteenth Corps, 
 which had been transported across from Dauphin Island to 
 Mobile Point, the mainland, forthat purpose, advanced on 
 Mobile along that side of the bay. In order to make the 
 movement of all three columns simultaneous, on the 18th, 
 General Steele's column started from Pensacola and Bar- 
 rancas, on a march to Blakeley Landing, at which point 
 they were to unite with Granger's column starting from 
 Fort Morgan, and marching up the east side of the bay. 
 Granger's whole corps followed the advance brigade, 
 marcliing by land along the shore of Bon Secour JBay, 
 which forms the southeastern corner of Mobile Bay. 
 
 The rendezvous for the army was on Fish River, at 
 Donnelly's (or Danby's) Mills, situated about six or eight 
 miles up the river, twenty or more from Fort Gaines, and 
 thirty from Mobile. The next day Smith's Corps moved 
 on transports to the same point, Me Arthur's First Division 
 in advance, Garrard's Second following, and Carr's Third 
 in the rear. On the 20th the corps began to arrive at the 
 appointed place, and were all disembarked by night of the 
 21st. On the 22d and 23d, Granger's Corps got in. The 
 roads were wretched, and the troops often forced to great 
 labor in extricating the artillery and trains from the mire. 
 Bertram's advance easily drove away the enemy's cavalry 
 vedettes.
 
 HISTORY OF THE GEEAT REBELLION. 1151 
 
 On the 25th, the advance through the pine forests was 
 commenced, from Fish River towards Blakeley, McArthur's 
 Division skirmishing, and Colonel Marshall, commanding 
 its Third Brigade, being amongst the wounded. On the 
 26th, the forces advanced from Fish River, the Sixteenth 
 Corps moving on the right, towards Blakeley, and the Thir- 
 teenth on the left, towards Spanish Fort, which commands 
 Minetta Bay. The Thirteenth drove the enemy's cavalry 
 back to the fort. The Sixteenth compelled the force in its 
 front, also, to fall back, until Sibley's Mills was reached. 
 On the 27th, the enemy in front of Spanish Fort attempt- 
 ed to surprise the pickets of the Thirteenth Corps. After 
 a few moments, brisk firingthe rebels were repulsed. We 
 lost four men wounded. Both corps now marched into 
 position, to invest Spanish Fort, the enemy falling back to 
 Blakeley. The Sixteenth formed the right, and the Thir- 
 teenth the left, the divisions being posted in the line as 
 follows, from right to left : Carr, McArthur, Yeach, Ben- 
 ton, Bertram's Brigade. Garrard was in the rear, guard- 
 ing the trains. The artillery was brought to within five 
 hundred yards of the fort, and opened a heavy fire. About 
 eleven o'clock the fleet got under way, and proceeded up 
 the bay as far as Newport and Howard's Landings, below 
 Spanish Fort, on the same, i. e., the easterly shore of the 
 bay. The Metacomet, Stockdale, Milwaukee, Cincinnati, 
 Albatross, Winnebago, and Genesee opened fire at a quar- 
 ter to one P. M., doing considerable damage. They ceased 
 firing at twenty minutes past five p. M., and returned to 
 Great Point Clear to anchor for the night. 
 
 It was necessary that the fleet should attack Spanish 
 Fort on the water side, while the army invested it on the 
 land side. On the 28th the Milwaukee exploded a torpe- 
 do, and instantly filled and sank. Only one man was 
 injured, however, and as the water was but eleven feet 
 deep, the crew were all saved. Next day, the 29th, the 
 Chickasaw, Kickapoo, Winnebago, and the Octorara, be- 
 ing in line, the Osage, which was a short distance astern, 
 struck a torpedo on the starboard bow, and instantly sank. 
 Six men were killed or mortally wounded, and four others 
 wounded. The rest of the officers and crew were saved 
 unhurt. 
 
 Bombardment and skirmishes continued, with more or 
 less loss, until April 3d, when the place, by the arrival of
 
 1152 HISTOKY OF THE GREAT EEBELLION. 
 
 Steele's force, which was to have joined Granger on the 
 22d, was finally invested. Just before midnight of the 
 8th, the final preparations were completed, Within half 
 a mile of the fort over thirty heavy Parrott guns and mor- 
 tars had been mounted, and three light batteries were 
 thrown forward several hundred yards nearer. The en- 
 tire artillery, siege-guns and field-pieces, then opened a 
 terrific fire on the fort, which was completely hemmed in 
 by our lines, while the gunboats, which had done the same 
 office by water, cutting off communication with Mobile, 
 added their contribution to the general roar and flame. 
 Simultaneously, the skirmishers crept forward from trench 
 to trench and ridge to ridge, until they had soon got with- 
 in a hundred yards of the fort, and prevented, by the 
 accuracy of their fire, the rebel artillerists from managing 
 the unsheltered guns. The enemy responded briskly and 
 heavily at first to our bombardment ; but, as the battle 
 went on, he was gradually driven from his guns by the hot 
 fire, and replied more and more feebly, until at midnight, 
 lie was silenced. An hour afterwards the enemy surren- 
 dered, our troops pressing upon his intrenchments, and 
 entering them about two ex clock on the morning of the 9th. 
 
 The capture of Mobile was now assured. The enemy 
 commenced evacuating it on the 10th, and continued to do 
 so on the llth, at which time the work was complete. At 
 half-past ten o'clock on the 12th, our troops planted their 
 colors on batteries Porter and Mclntosh, and, four hours 
 later, in -Mobile, the second seaport of the Confederacy. 
 General Granger's forces occupied the city. The tugboat 
 Allena was blown up by torpedoes on the same day. The 
 total loss of our fleet was said to have been two iron-clads, 
 two tin-clads, and one transport, all, or nearly all, blown 
 up by torpedoes. The loss of men in the fleet was less than 
 fifty. That of the army about two thousand five hundred. 
 
 While these events were culminating at the South, 
 Sheridan was once more in motion at the North. That 
 general, who had retained his headquarters at Winchester 
 with a moderate force, was contemplating a renewed 
 movement up the Valley. The concentration of the ene- 
 my's troops around Lee had left but a small rebel force in 
 the Valley. Accordingly, towards the close of February, 
 preparations were made for an extensive cavalry raid, and 
 General Hancock was installed in command of the Middle
 
 HISTORY OF THE GKEAT KEBELLION. 1153 
 
 Military Division, as General Thomas had been in Ten- 
 nessee, on the departure of Sherman. The enemy, under 
 Rosser, were scattered at various places in the Valley, viz., 
 Waynesboro', Woodstock, Edenburg, and Staunton ; the 
 main body was at the latter-named place, Neal's and Wood- 
 son's guerrillas in Hardy County, Gilmor's Battalion in 
 Pendleton County, Imboden's command in Bath and ad- 
 jacent counties. 
 
 At eight A. M., on February 27th, the troops began their 
 march from Winchester, reaching Woodstock, thirty-three 
 miles distant, by dark. The enemy were not encountered 
 in any force until the command reached Lacy's Springs, 
 March 1st, where about four hundred men, under Rosser, 
 made some show of resistance, but soon retired. The 
 same day the bridge over Middle River was secured, Ros- 
 ser's men falling back before the Union advance to Waynes- 
 boro', where Early had concentrated his men, about one 
 thousand four hundred in number, to give battle. A 
 portion of his command had fallen back the day before 
 from Fishersville, to strengthen the post there. The posi- 
 tion was on commanding ground a ridge of hills skirting 
 the front of the town and was protected by breastworks 
 made of earth and rails. 
 
 The advance of Sheridan's force arrived in front of the 
 position at noon on the 2d of March, and, after a brief 
 reconnoissance by General Custer, an attack w r as ordered, 
 and the place carried by a flank movement, which in- 
 duced the enemy to give way. The greater part of the 
 force were captured, including Generals Long and Lilly. 
 Sheridan's force pushed on, and reached Charlottesville 
 on March 4th ; thence on the 6th it again moved in two- 
 columns, one of which, under General Devin,, took the 
 direct southern route to Scottsville, destroying all mills, 
 merchandise, and property on the line of inarch along th& 
 Rivanna River to Columbia. 
 
 The other column proceeded down the railroad to 
 Lynchburg, destroying it for the distance of forty miles 
 to Amherst. From Scottsville, Devin's Division pro- 
 ceeded westward along the James to Dugaldsville, twenty 
 miles from Lynchburg. On the 10th of March, Sheridan 
 was at Columbia, and, not being able to cross the Jamea 
 on account of high water, he moved, with a view of ulti- 
 mately joining the army before Petersburg, in anortherlj 
 71
 
 1154 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 direction from Columbia to the Central Railroad, striking 
 it at the same time at several different points between 
 Louisa Court-House and Beaver Dam Station. 
 
 A portion of two days was consumed in the thorough 
 destruction of the Central road between Saxton's Junction 
 and Gordonsville. The next move was to points on the 
 Fredericksburg road, below the junction. General Devin 
 marched his column to the bridges on both roads across 
 the South Anna, one of which was defended by a detach- 
 ment of infantry, posted behind earthworks, with three 
 pieces of artillery. The Fifth Cavalry, under Devin and 
 Cook, charged the position, supported by the Second 
 Massachusetts, capturing a number of prisoners, and the 
 three guns. The only man killed on our side was a scout, 
 and there were only three wounded. Custer, at the same 
 time, moved towards Ashland Station. 
 
 By this time it was known in Richmond that the 
 northern defences of that city were threatened. Long- 
 street, with the whole of Pickett's Division and some 
 other troops, moved up to within five miles of Ashland. 
 On the following morning, when a detachment of the 
 Fifteenth New York entered Ashland as an advance- 
 guard, the advance of Longstreet's column was encoun- 
 tered, and drove them back. Subsequent!}', Sheridan 
 moved eastward, crossing the Fredericksburg Railroad at 
 Chesterfield Station, and on the 19th his entire command 
 arrived at the "White House, whence it crossed the James, 
 and joined Meade on the 25th. Sheridan's operations 
 resulted in the destruction of the James River Canal, 
 which was the main dependence for the support of Rich- 
 mond, and also of all railroads and other means of com- 
 munication with the Southwest. Thus gradually was the 
 metaphor, so often employed in the early history of the 
 war, and so greatly ridiculed, of the Union armies press- 
 ing around the rebel capital, as the anaconda tightens its 
 folds about the body of its victim, beginning to have 
 force .and significance.
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 1155 
 
 CHAPTER LXXIY. 
 
 General Sherman at Savannah. The Advance Northward. Pocotaligo. 
 iSalkehatchie. Movement on Columbia. Conflagration in Columbia, and 
 its Origin. Beauregard at Charlotte. Lee placed in Chief Command of 
 the Rebel Armies. Johnston Reinstated. Fayetteville. Rebel 
 Strength. Averysboro.' Bentonville. Goldsboro.' Junction of Three 
 Union Armies. Objective of the Campaign Gained. 
 
 AT Savannah, General Sherman had not merely to 
 recuperate his forces and prepare a new base for further 
 operations into the interior, preparatory to a concentration 
 upon Richmond, but he was also compelled to provide for 
 the local government, and to arrange the means of feed- 
 ing the people. 
 
 Having employed several weeks in refitting his army 
 at Savannah, Sherman was, by the 15th of January, 1865, 
 ready to resume operations. On that day Fort Fisher 
 was captured and the road to Wilmington opened. The 
 Twenty -third Corps, Schoh'eld, was also on its way from* 
 Tennessee to co-operate with Generals Terry and Palmer 
 in North Carolina, and prepare the way for Sherman's 
 coming, and to enable Sherman to move in full strength. 
 Grant had sent Grover's Division of the Nineteenth Corps 
 to garrison Savannah. As Sherman proposed to march 
 directly upon Goldsboro, Colonel Wright was sent to 
 New b era to be ready by the middle of March to open 
 the railroad to the former place. On the 18th January 
 the command of Savannah was transferred to Foster, 
 with instructions to co-operate on the coast, in conjunction 
 with the fleet, with the interior movement. 
 
 On January 15th, Howard, commanding Sherman's 
 right wing, composed of the Fifteenth and Seventeenth 
 Corps, and other troops, numbering forty-five thousand in 
 all, had effected a lodgment on the Charleston Railroad, 
 near Pocotaligo, with the view of demonstrating against 
 Charleston, and opening communications with fiilton 
 Head. The left wing, under Slocum, was ordered to 
 rendezvous at Robertsville and Coosawattie, South Caro- 
 lina, but was prevented for weeks by the flooded state of 
 the adjoining country from moving. Finally, on the 
 29th January, finding that the roads were so far improved 
 as to admit of the movement of the left wing, Sherman
 
 1156 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 ordered the Seventeenth Corps to River's Bridge, on the 
 Salkehatchie, and the Fifteenth Corps to Beaufort's 
 Bridge. On the 2d February the two corps reached their 
 destinations. Here General Sherman admonished Slocum, 
 still struggling with the floods of the Savannah River, to 
 hurry his crossing at Sister's Ferry and overtake the right 
 wing on the South Carolina Railroad at or near Midway. 
 The enemy held the line of the Salkehatchie in force, 
 with artillery, at River's and Beaufort's Bridges. The 
 Seventeenth Corps was ordered to carry the former, 
 which was promptly done by Mower's and Smith's Divi- 
 sions on the 3d February. The weather was bitter cold, 
 and Generals Mower and Smith led their divisions in per- 
 son, on foot, waded the swamp, made a lodgment below 
 the bridge, and turned on the brigade which guarded it, 
 driving it in confusion and disorder towards Branchville. 
 Our casualties were one officer and seventeen men killed, 
 and seven men wounded, who were sent to Pocotaligo. 
 The line of the Salkehatchie being thus broken, the 
 enemy retreated at once behind the Edisto, at Branch- 
 ville, and the whole army was pushed rapidly to the 
 South Carolina Railroad at Midway, Hamburg (or 
 Lowry's Station), and Graham's Station. The Seven- 
 teenth Corps, by threatening Branchville, forced the 
 enemy to burn the railroad bridge, and Walker's bridge 
 below, across the Edisto. 
 
 General Kilpatrick had, meanwhile, come up with his 
 cavalry, and proceeded to threaten Augusta, skirmishing 
 sharply with Wheeler's Cavalry. General Slocum reach- 
 ed Blackville on the 10th. I'he rebels at this time oc- 
 cupied Augusta, Aiken, Branchville, and Charleston. 
 When, therefore, the army on the llth was on the rail- 
 road from Midway to Johnson's Station, the enemy's 
 forces were divided, and he could no longer hold Charles- 
 ton. The Seventeenth Corps now pusned for Orange- 
 burg, while the Fifteenth Corps, in support, proceeded to 
 Poplar Springs. The left wing had orders to move to 
 the Edgefield road, and there await the result of the 
 movement upon Orangeburg. That point was occupied, 
 with little opposition, at four o'clock on the 12th. Branch- 
 ville, the point of junction of the South Carolina and Co- 
 lumbia Railroad, being turned, like Charleston, it fell of 
 itself, and Sherman marched direct upon Columbia,
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 1157 
 
 which was held by Beauregard. The Seventeenth Corps 
 moved by the State road, and the Fifteenth Corps by a 
 road which united with the State road at Zeigler's. The 
 enemy were encountered at Little Congaree Bridge on 
 the loth, but retired after a brief encounter, burning the 
 bridge behind them, so that the column was delayed, and 
 did not reach the Congaree Bridge, in front of Columbia, 
 until early on the 16th, too late to save the fine structure 
 which there spans the river. Howard was accordingly 
 directed to cross the Saluda, which joins the Congaree at 
 Columbia, three miles above, so as to approach Columbia 
 from the north, while Slocum was ordered to march 
 direct upon Winnsboro, twenty-five miles north of Co- 
 lumbia. On the 17th, while Howard was preparing to 
 cross, the mayor of Columbia came out and made a formal 
 surrender of the city. 
 
 In anticipation of the occupation of the city, orders had 
 been given to Howard to destroy absolutely all arsenals 
 and public property not needed for the use of the army, 
 as well as all railroads, depots, and machinery useful in 
 war to the enemy, but to spare all dwellings and harm- 
 less property, whether of a public or private character. 
 General Wade Hampton, who commanded the rebel rear- 
 guard, had, in anticipation of the capture of the place, 
 ordered all the cotton to be moved into the streets and 
 fired. A violent gale was blowing as the advance of the 
 Union army entered Columbia, and, before a single 
 building had been fired by Sherman's order, the smould- 
 ering fires, set by Hampton's order, and which soldiers 
 and citizens had labored hard to extinguish, were re- 
 kindled by the wind, and communicated to the buildings 
 around. A whole division of troops was called out to 
 stay the progress of the conflagration, but the flames had 
 now become unmanageable, and until four A. M. of the 
 lth, they pursued their devouring course, laying a large 
 portion of the city in ashes. It was not until the wind 
 began to subside that the fire could be controlled. Sher- 
 man, with many of his generals, was up all night labor- 
 ing to save houses and protect families thus suddenly 
 deprived of shelter and home. " I disclaim," he said in 
 his official report, " on the part of my army, any agency 
 in the fire, but, on the contrary, claim that we saved 
 what of Columbia remains uuconsumed. And without
 
 1158 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 hesitation I charge "Wade Hampton with having burned 
 his own city of Columbia, not with malicious intent, or 
 as the manifestation of a silly 'Roman stoicism,' but from 
 folly and want of sense in tilling it with lint, cotton, 
 and tinder. Our officers and men on duty worked well 
 to extinguish the flames ; but others not on duty, includ- 
 ing the officers who had long been imprisoned there, 
 rescued by us, may have assisted in spreading the tire 
 after it had once begun, and may have indulged in un- 
 concealed joy to see the ruin of the capital of South 
 Carolina." This may be taken as a final and complete 
 refutation of the many mendacious reports, originating 
 chiefly in the South, that the city of Columbia was 
 wantonly fired by Sherman's troops. 
 
 General Slocum reached Winnsboro on the 21st, de- 
 stroyed the railroad, and reached Rocky Mount on the 
 23d, on which day he was joined by the Twentieth 
 Corps. Kilpatrick followed and demonstrated on Char- 
 lotte, to which point Beauregard had retreated from 
 Columbia, and where he was expecting to be joined by 
 Cheatham's Corps of Hood's old army. The rains con- 
 tinued very heavy until the 26th, when the Twentieth 
 Corps was at Catawba waiting for the Fourteenth Corps 
 to cross the Catawba. In the mean time the right wing 
 had destroyed the railroad to Winnsboro, and thence 
 moved upon Cheraw, whence a force was sent to burn 
 the bridge over the Wateree, at Camden, and another to 
 Florence, with a view of breaking up the railroad between 
 that place and Charleston. The latter was beaten back 
 by the enemy's horse. On the 3d of March the Sev- 
 teenth Corps entered Cheraw, the enemy retreating 
 across the Pedee. 
 
 While these events were occurring, the proceedings of 
 the rebel Congress had begun to give signs of the speedy 
 dissolution of the "Confederacy." The want of men 
 was urgent, and the question of arming slaves was 
 warmly discussed. Much dissatisfaction with the Govern- 
 ment and the leading generals had sprung up, and the 
 finances were in a deplorable condition. Continued 
 disaster had at last brought the Executive into a degree 
 of despair from which nothing seemed likely to rescue it. 
 In accordance with a resolution of the rebel Congress, 
 and as a last means of making head against the rapidly
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 1159 
 
 advancing armies of the Union, Jefferson Davis had ap- 
 pointed General Lee to the chief command of the entire 
 military force. Lee's order announcing that he assumed 
 this post is dated February 9th. General Joseph E. 
 Johnston, between whom and Jefferson Davis a deep 
 animosity had long existed, had been virtually retired 
 from the army after the fall of Atlanta. Public opinion 
 so strongly demanded his restoration that Davis was 
 forced to yield, and he was reinstated, and placed in im- 
 mediate command of the forces opposed to Sherman, in 
 the place of Beauregard,who wrote to the rebel President 
 that the general sentiment of the public, and particularly 
 that of the Army of the Tennessee, was so urgent for 
 Johnston's restoration to command that he was induced 
 to join his wish to theirs; but he did not wish to be re- 
 moved from his present field of operations, but preferred 
 to serve under his old comrade. Johnston's order assum- 
 ing the command of the " Army of the Tennessee, and 
 all the troops in the Departments of South Carolina, 
 Georgia, and Florida," is dated at Charlotte, North 
 Carolina, February 25th, when it was too late for him, or 
 perhaps any general living, with the means then at his 
 disposal, to oppose the progress of Sherman. 
 
 The movement of Sherman was continued without 
 delay upon Fayetteville, North Carolina, on the Cape 
 Fear River, which point was reached March llth by the 
 Fourteenth and Seventeenth Corps, after skirmishing with 
 Wade Hampton's Cavalry, that covered the rear of 
 Hardee's retreating army, which had crossed Cape Fear 
 River, burning the bridge. During the march from the 
 Pedee, Kilpatrick had kept his cavalry well on the left 
 and exposed flank. During the night of the 9th of 
 March, his three brigades were divided to picket the 
 roads. Hampton, detecting this, dashed in at daylight, 
 and gained possession of the camp of Colonel Spencer's 
 Brigade, and the house in which Kilpatrick and Spencer 
 had their quarters. The surprise was complete, but Kil- 
 patrick quickly succeeded in rallying his men, on foot, in 
 a swamp near by, and, by a prompt attack, well followed 
 up, regained his artillery, horses, camp, and every thing 
 save some prisoners whom the enemy carried off, leaving 
 their dead on the ground. Several days were spent 
 in Fayetteville destroying property. The army tug
 
 1160 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 Davidson here came up the river from Wilmington, and 
 carried back dispatches from Sherman to Terry and 
 Schofield. The gunboat yEolus also arrived at Fayette- 
 ville. 
 
 At this time Johnston, the old antagonist of Sherman, 
 had begun to get his forces well in hand, and to concen- 
 trate them at Kaleigh, on Sherman's flank. Beauregard, 
 falling back from Columbia, had been re-enforced by 
 Cheatham's Corps from the West, and the garrison of 
 Augusta, and ample time had been given to ; move these 
 troops to Raleigh. Hardee had also succeeded in getting 
 across Cape Fear River, and could therefore complete the 
 junction with the other rebel troops in North Carolina. 
 The whole, under the command of the skilful and ex- 
 perienced Johnston, made up an army superior to Sher- 
 man's in cavalry, and formidable enough in artillery and 
 infantry to justify him in extreme caution in making the 
 last step necessary to complete the march he had under- 
 taken. He could no longer move at will with an over- 
 whelming force, regardless of the enemy. . 
 
 Kilpatrick was ordered to move up the plankroad to 
 and beyond Averysboro', to be followed by four divisions 
 of the left wing. In like manner, Howard was ordered 
 to hold four divisions ready to go to the aid of the left 
 wing if attacked while in motion. The columns moved 
 out from Cape Fear River on Wednesday, the 15th 
 of March. Slocum, preceded by^ Kilpatrick's Cavalry, 
 moved to Kyle's Landing, Kilpatrick skirmishing heavily 
 with the enemy's rear-guard about three miles beyond, 
 near Taylor's Hole Creek. At Kilpatrick's request, 
 Slocurn sent forward a brigade of infantry to hold a 
 line of barricades. Next morning the column advanced 
 in the same order, and developed the enemy, with artil- 
 lery, infantry, and cavalry, in an intrenched position, in 
 front of the point where the road branches off towards 
 Groldsboro', through Bentonville. 
 
 Hardee, with twelve thousand men, in retreating from 
 Fayetteville, halted in the narrow swampy neck between 
 Cape Fear and South Rivers, in hopes, by checking Sher- 
 man, to save time for the concentration of Johnston's 
 armies at some point to his rear, namely, Raleigh, Smith- 
 field, or Goldsboro'. It was necessary to dislodge him, that 
 we might have the use of the Goldsboro' road. Slocuia
 
 HISTOKY OP THE GREAT REBELLION. 1161 
 
 was therefore ordered to press and carry the position, 
 only difficult by reason of the nature of the ground, 
 which was so soft that horses would sink everywhere, and 
 even men could hardly make their way over the common 
 pine barren. 
 
 The Twentieth Corps, Williams, had the lead, and 
 "Ward's Division the advance. This was deployed, and 
 the skirmish line developed the position of a brigade of 
 Charleston heavy artillery, armed as infantry (Khett's), 
 posted across the road behind a light parapet, with a 
 battery of guns enfilading the approach across a cleared 
 field. Williams sent a brigade (Case's) by a circuit to his 
 left, that turned this line, and by a quick charge broke 
 the brigade, which rapidly retreated back to a second line, 
 better built and more strongly held. A battery of artil- 
 lery (Winnigers), well posted, under the immediate direc- 
 tion of Major Reynolds, Chief of Artillery of the Twen- 
 tieth Corps, did good execution on the retreating brigade, 
 and, on advancing Ward's Division over this ground, 
 Williams captured three guns and two hundred and 
 seventeen prisoners. As Ward's Division advanced, he 
 developed a second and stronger line, when Jackson's 
 Division was deployed forward on the right of Ward, and 
 the two divisions of Jeff. C. Davis's (Fourteenth) Corps 
 on the left, well towards the Cape Fear. At the same 
 time, Kilpatrick, who was acting in concert with Wil- 
 liams, was ordered to draw back his cavalry and mass it 
 on the extreme right, and, in concert with Jackson's right, 
 to feel forward for the Goldsboro' road. He got a brigade 
 on the road, but it was attacked by McLaws's rebel division 
 furiously, and was driven back to the flank of the infantry. 
 The whole line advanced late in the afternoon, drove the 
 enemy well within his intrenched line, and pressed him 
 so hard that he retreated during the night to Smithfield. 
 Slocum reported his aggregate loss in this affair, known 
 as that of Averysboro', at twelve officers and sixty-five 
 men killed, and four hundred and seventy-seven wounded. 
 Leaving Ward's Division to keep up a show of pursuit, 
 Slocum's column was turned to the right, built a bridge 
 across the swollen South Eiver, and took the Goldsboro' 
 road. 
 
 In the mean time, Howard's column was moving to- 
 wards Goldsboro', via Bentonville, and on the night of
 
 1162 HISTOKT OF THE GREAT 
 
 the 18th was at Lee's Store, ten miles south of Slocum, 
 who was on the road, five miles from Bentonville, and 
 twenty-seven miles from Goldsboro', at a point crossed by 
 the road from Clinton to Smithfield. General Sherman, 
 anticipating no further opposition from the enemy, 
 directed Howard to move his right wing; by the new 
 Goldsboro' road, which goes by way of Falling Creek 
 Church. General Slocum's head of column had advanced 
 from its camp of March 18th, and first encountered Dib- 
 brell's Cavalry, but soon found his progress impeded by 
 infantry and artillery. Johnston had moved by night 
 from Smithfield, with great rapidity, and without un- 
 necessary wheels, intending to overwhelm the left flank 
 before it could be relieved by its co-operating columns. 
 
 The enemy attacked the head of the Union column, 
 gaining a temporary advantage, and took three guns and 
 caissons of Carlin's Division, driving the two leading 
 brigades back on the main body. Slocum promptly de- 
 ployed the two divisions of the Fourteenth Corps, and 
 rapidly brought up on their left the two divisions of the 
 Twentieth Corps. These he arranged on the defensive, 
 and hastily prepared a line of barricades. Kilpatrick also 
 came up at the sound of artillery, .and massed on the left. 
 In this position the left wing received six distinct assaults 
 by the combined forces of Hoke, Hardee, and Cheatham, 
 under the immediate command of General Johnston him- 
 self, without giving an inch of ground, and doing good 
 execution on the enemy's ranks, especially with artillery, 
 the enemy having little or none. 
 
 General Sherman, immediately on receipt of a dispatch 
 from Slocum, sent him orders to call up the two divisions 
 guarding his wagon trains, and Hazen's Division of the 
 Fifteenth Corps, still back near Lee's Store, to fight 
 defensively until he could draw up Blair's Corps, then 
 near Mount Olive Station, and with the three remaining 
 divisions of the Fifteenth Corps come upon Johnston's 
 left rear from the direction of Cox's Bridge. At the same 
 time he received couriers from both Schofield and Terry. 
 The former reported himself in possession of Kinston, de- 
 layed somewhat by want of provisions, but able to march 
 so as to make Goldsboro' on the 21st, and Terry was at or 
 near Faison's Depot. Orders were at once dispatched to 
 Schofield to push for Goldsboro,' and to make dispositions
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT KEBELLIOtf. 1163 
 
 to cross Little Kiver, in the direction of Smithfield, as far 
 as Millard ; to Terry to move to Cox's Bridge, lay a pon- 
 toon bridge, and establish a crossing ; and to Blair to 
 make a night-march to Falling Creek Church ; and at 
 daylight, the right wing, Howard, less the necessary 
 wagon guards, was put in rapid motion on Bentonville. 
 
 At daybreak on the morning of the 20th, Hazen's 
 Division of the Fifteenth Corps, Geary's of the Twentieth 
 Corps, and Baird's of the Fourteenth Corps, reported on 
 the field, having marched all night, from the new Golds- 
 boro' road, where the trains were moving. Howard, 
 with Logan's and Blair's Corps, came up on the right, by 
 way of Cox's Bridge, and on moving forward the Fifteenth 
 Corps, General Logan, found that the enemy had thrown 
 back his left flank, and had constructed a line of parapet 
 connecting with that towards Slocum, in the form of a 
 bastion, its salient on the main Goldsboro' road, interpos- 
 ing between Slocum on the west and Howard on the east, 
 while the flanks rested on Mill Creek, covering the road 
 back to Smithfield. Howard was instructed to proceed 
 with due caution until he had made strong connection on 
 his left with Slocum. This he soon accomplished, and, 
 by four p. M. of the 20th, a complete and strong line 
 of battle confronted the enemy in his intrenched position. 
 Sherman ordered all empty wagons to be sent at once to 
 Kinston for supplies, and all other impediments to be 
 grouped near the ^N"euse, south of Goldsboro', holding the 
 army in close contact with the enemy, ready to fight 
 him if he ventured outside his parapets and swampy 
 obstructions. 
 
 Thus matters stood about Bentonville on the 21st of 
 March. On the same day, General Schofield entered 
 Goldsboro' with little or no opposition, and Terry had got 
 possession of the Neuse River at Cox's Bridge, ten miles 
 above, with a pontoon bridge laid and a brigade across, 
 so that the three armies were in actual connection, and 
 the great object of the campaign was accomplished. 
 
 On the 21st, a steady rain prevailed, during which 
 Mower's Division of the Seventeenth Corps, on the 
 extreme right, had worked well to the right around the 
 enemy's flank, and had nearly reached the bridge across 
 Mill Creek, the only line of retreat open to the enemy. 
 Of course, there was extreme danger that the enemy
 
 1164: HI8TOEY OF THE-GEEAT EEBELLION. 
 
 would turn on him all his reserves, and, it might be, let go 
 his parapets to overwhelm Mower. Accordingly. Sherman 
 ordered at once a general attack hy the skirmish line from 
 left to right. Quite a noisy battle ensued, during which 
 Mower was enabled to regain his connection with his own 
 corps, by moving to his left rear. That night the enemy 
 retreated on Smithfield. 
 
 The losses of the left wing about Bentonville were nine 
 officers and one hundred and forty-five men killed, fifty- 
 one officers and eight hundred and sixteen men wounded, 
 and three officers and two hundred and twenty-three men 
 missing, taken prisoners by the enemy ; total, one thou- 
 sand two hundred and forty-seven. Slocum buried on the 
 field one hundred and sixty-seven rebel dead, and took 
 three hundred and thirty-eight prisoners! 
 
 General Howard reported the losses of the right wing 
 at two officers and thirty-five men killed, twelve officers 
 and two hundred and eighty-nine men wounded, and one 
 officer and sixty men missing ; total, three hundred and 
 ninety-nine. He also buried one hundred dead of the 
 enemy, and took one thousand two hundred and eighty- 
 seven prisoners. The cavalry of Kilpatrick was held in 
 reserve, and lost but few, if any. Our aggregate loss 
 at Bentonville was one thousand six hundred and forty-six. 
 
 Thus the 21st of March found Sherman in virtual pos- 
 session of Goldsboro', the real objective of the campaign, 
 together with its two railroads to Wilmington and Beau- 
 fort, which large working parties were then putting in 
 complete repair. In spite of a desperate enemy in his 
 front, and of roads rendered nearly impassable by an 
 almost unprecedentedly wet season, the army had, with 
 inconsiderable loss, moved, in two months' time, through 
 the heart of the Confederacy, thoroughly destroying 
 the railroads between Goldsboro' and Savannah, and 
 were now prepared to enjoy, in the camps assigned to 
 them around Goldsboro', a period of much-needed rest, 
 and an opportunity to replenish their wornout clothing 
 and equipments.
 
 HISTORY OF THE GEEAT KEBELLION. 1165 
 
 CHAPTEE LXXY. 
 
 Grant's Preparations for a Final Movement. Eebel Attack on Fort Stead- 
 man. Disastrous Repulse. Object of Lee. Movement on the Left 
 Commenced. Affair of Quaker Road. Heavy Fighting on Boydton 
 Road. Decisive Battle of Five Forks. Rebel Left turned. Assault on 
 Petersburg. Evacuation of Petersburg and Richmond. Pursuit of 
 Lee. His Surrender to Grant. End of Campaign. 
 
 As March approached its close, preparations began to 
 be made by Grant, for that grand movement on the 
 enemy's right, his chief vulnerable point, which was to 
 give us possession of Petersburg and Richmond, capture 
 or destroy the army of Lee, and end the war by a single 
 blow. The sorely tried Army of the Potomac, so often 
 defeated and disappointed, but never dishonored, was 
 about at last to reap the fruit of all its exertions, and 
 to redeem the promise of its early prime. Anticipating 
 that the decisive moment was at hand, and dreading the 
 battle which Grant with superior forces was about to 
 offer him, Lee had already commenced preparations 
 to evacuate Petersburg and Richmond, and move south- 
 ward to effect a junction with Johnston. To cover this 
 movement he organized a night attack upon the Union 
 lines in front of Petersburg a desperate expedient, cer- 
 tainly, considering their strength, but the only one which 
 under the circumstances was practicable. Grant had 
 anticipated the evacuation, and had taken means to 
 prevent the escape of the rebel army. Meanwhile the 
 busy note of preparation was heard along the Union 
 lines, and frequent reviews of corps and sub-divisions, 
 which were witnessed by President Lincoln and a distin- 
 guished party of visitors, gave the camps a festive 
 appearance. 
 
 At daylight on the 25th of March, Gordon's rebel 
 Corps, consisting of three divisions, was massed for a 
 charge against our lines, in front of Fort Steadman, 
 a square fort, covering about an acre of ground, and car- 
 rying nine guns, and supported by mortar batteries, on 
 the right and left. It was the second regular fort in our 
 line running from the river, the first being Fort McGil- 
 vrey. Just beyond Fort Steadman, and about three- 
 eighths of a mile distant, was Fort Haskell ; and between
 
 116(K HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 the two were mortar batteries 11 and 12. Simultaneously 
 with this disposition of Gordon's Corps, the rest of Lee's 
 army was arranged to co-operate in an attack farther 
 down towards our left. Our lines at this time extended 
 over the enormous distance of thirty miles, from right to 
 left. The extreme right was terminated by Fort Harri- 
 son, north of the James, on Chapin's Farm, and by the 
 outposts of Kautz's Cavalry. Thence it crossed the James, 
 and, passing in front of Bermuda Hundred, crossed the 
 Appomattox, and so extended around Petersburg as far 
 southwest as the hither bank of Hatcher's Run, on which 
 the left rested. The Army of the Potomac occupied the 
 whole of the ground south of the Appomattox, and that 
 of the James, under Ord, the remainder of the lines. 
 Besides covering his retreat by a sudden and strong 
 attack, Lee had an additional object to gain, which was 
 to break through our lines at Hare's Hill, on which Fort 
 Steadman was situated, by a bold dash, to turn the guns 
 he should capture upon us, to wheel his troops to the right 
 and march down the line, taking Forts Haskell, Morton, 
 Meikle, and the rest in reverse, stripping oft' the guns and 
 garrisons from the forts and batteries, and threatening the 
 whole line. While one column should accomplish this 
 work, another in its rear, crossing through the gap, would 
 get upon our military railroad and destroy it, and perhaps 
 march to City Point and burn our depots and supplies at 
 that point. The seizure of our base would have effectu- 
 ally cut off the army of Ord from the army of Meade ; 
 and, in short, if successful, the move might have entirely 
 broken up the famous campaign against Richmond, and 
 have thrown a new aspect over the war. 
 At daybreak, Gordon's troops rushed to the attack. 
 The space between the opposing lines was but one hun- 
 dred and fifty yards wide, and once having cleared his 
 own abatis, he charged across the interval and up the 
 acclivity to Fort Steadman, worked his way through our 
 abatis, and carried the fort almost instantly. Our line 
 here was guarded by McLaughlin's Brigade of Willcox's 
 (First) Division of the Ninth Corps. In the fort were the 
 Fourteenth New York heavy artillery, and so skilfully 
 and boldly was this assault executed, that the garrison, 
 numbering about five hundred men, was captured with 
 scarcely a show of resistance. The enemy at once turned
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 1167 
 
 the captured guns against the rest of the line, and speedi- 
 ly occupied mortar batteries 9, 10, and 11, adjoining Fort 
 Steadman. His onward rush, however, was now checked 
 by Fort Ilaskell, and the rest of Willcox's Division having 
 been rallied, a stubborn resistance began to be offered to 
 him. At this juncture Hartranft's Third Division of the 
 Ninth Corps came up to the support of Willcox, and our 
 batteries from all quarters were massed upon Fort Stead- 
 man. A tremendous cannonade burst from our artillery, 
 to which the enemy replied briskly from the guns he had 
 captured. Under the terrific fire, Hartranft's Division 
 pressed up towards the captured fort to retake it. The 
 enemy at first resisted obstinately, and checked Hartranft's 
 
 Progress, inflicting on the latter a loss of nearly two hun- 
 red men killed and wounded. But soon the concentra- 
 ted fire of our artillery, and the determined advance 
 of Hartranft on all sides, were too much for him. He fell 
 back into the fort, and then beyond the fort, down the 
 hill, leaving all the guns he had captured, and endeavored 
 to regain his own lines. But our own guns opened upon 
 him with such severity as to prevent a large part of the 
 retreating force from escaping from the fort, and seven- 
 teen hundred and fifty-eight prisoners fell into our hands. 
 The enemy's total loss at this point could not have been 
 less than two thousand five hundred. Our own loss was 
 a little over nine hundred. The enemy did not fight with 
 his accustomed fierceness. Many of the rebel soldiers 
 were only too glad to be captured, and many, breaking 
 through all rules of discipline, began to plunder the offi- 
 cers' quarters in the captured fort, thus preventing such a 
 following up of their first success as was essential to a 
 final victory. 
 
 By ten A. M. the fighting in front of Fort Steadman 
 was over, but the Second and Sixth Corps were now 
 under arms, in anticipation of an attack upon our left; 
 and with a view of reaping some advantages from the 
 enemy's signal repulse by Hartranft, they were at eleven 
 o'clock pushed out against the rebel intrenched picket 
 lines, which extended some distance beyond their main 
 line of works. The movement was entirely successful, 
 and although the enemy made desperate efforts in the 
 afternoon to drive our troops from the captured intrench- 
 ments, night closed upon our lines still advanced.
 
 1168 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 The total loss of the enemy in the several encounters 
 of the 25th must have reached five thousand ; that of the 
 Union army was officially stated at two thousand three 
 hundred and ninety. 
 
 The design of Lee to evacuate Petersburg and Rich- 
 mond was now so apparent, that Sheridan was hurried 
 forward to the left of our lines, where he arrived on the 
 26th. It was Grant's object to strike the enemy before 
 he should succeed in getting away from his capital. On 
 the morning of the 29th, the army was at last in motion, 
 the movement which it was about to undertake being a 
 simple repetition of what it had many times before fruit- 
 lessly attempted, viz., to turn the enemy's right by over- 
 lapping it, and to seize the Southside Railroad. The 
 Second and Fifth Corps with the cavalry under Sheridan 
 were selected for the flanking movement, the Sixth and 
 Ninth Corps remaining in their works until the time 
 should come for them to co-operate ; and in order to pre- 
 serve the lines in front of Petersburg intact, the works 
 evacuated by the Second and Fifth Corps were immedi- 
 ately filled by detachments from the Twenty-fourth and 
 Twenty-fifth Corps, comprising the Army of the James, 
 under General Ord, drawn from the extreme right of our 
 lines. 
 
 At six A. M. of the 29th, Sheridan, with his command 
 divided into two wings, 'the right under Crook and the 
 left under Merritt, proceeded by the Jerusalem plankroad 
 to Reams's Station, on the Weldon road, and thence to 
 Dinwiddie, which was reached on the same day. Mean- 
 while, the advance by the Second and Fifth Corps was 
 progressing favorably. The Sixth Corps had its left on 
 Hatcher's Run. The Second Corps, extending down the 
 run from the left of the Sixth, formed a line nearly at 
 right angles with it to the crossing of the Yaughan road. 
 The Fifth Corps was in reserve, extending in rear of the 
 Sixth, at a right angle from the left of the Second. At 
 three o'clock on the morning of the 29th, the Fifth and 
 Second advanced towards Dinwiddie. The Fifth Corps 
 crossed Hatcher's Run without opposition, and moved 
 along the old stage-road towards Dinwiddie until the 
 Quaker road was reached, when it turned to the right. 
 At about nine o'clock, a connection was formed between 
 the left of Hiles's Division of the Second Corps and the
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 1169 
 
 right of the Fifth Corps, the line of the latter extending 
 across the Quaker road and within two or three miles of 
 Dinwiddie Court-House. At Gravelly Kun, the Fifth, 
 Corps encountered opposition for the first time. Yery 
 soon our troops were drawn up in position awaiting at- 
 tack. The preparations were soon completed, and, at about 
 half-past three o'clock in the afternoon, Bushrod Johnson's 
 Division of Anderson's Corps came down and attacked 
 our skirmishers, Sickles's Brigade of Griffin's Division. 
 
 The Fifth Corps was now on the Quaker road. The 
 enemy soon drove in our skirmishers and burst with great 
 fury upon Griffin's Division, threatening to overwhelm 
 it, but Crawford and Ayres coming into position, he with- 
 drew, after a sharp skirmish, with a loss of about five 
 hundred. That of the Fifth Corps was not less. On the 
 morning of March 30th, the Fifth occupied a position 
 near the junction of the Quaker and Boydton roads. The 
 Second Corps, on the right of the Fifth, had rested its 
 right on Hatcher's Run. A portion of the Twenty-fourth 
 Corps was on its right, with the two divisions of the 
 Twenty-fifth on the right of the latter. The Sixth and 
 Ninth Corps were to the right of the Twenty-fifth. Early 
 in the morning, Sheridan connected his right with War- 
 ren's left, near the Boydton plankroad. The enemy was 
 found to have a very strong line of intrenchments already 
 erected to cover the position known as Five Forks. His 
 right was commanded by Anderson, and Pickett's Division 
 of Anderson's Corps held the extreme right. His intrench- 
 ments completely covered the White Oak: road, which runs 
 from the Boydton road to the Southside Railroad. From 
 the White Oak road up towards Hatcher's Run the en- 
 emy's troops were in strong force. He baffled all our at- 
 tempts on Thursday, the 30th, to turn him by cavalry, as 
 his works, manned by infantry, checked us at all points. 
 
 During the day the Fifth Corps pushed on nearly due 
 west about three-fourths of a mile, and lay fronting north- 
 ward, with the pickets of Ayres's Division within five 
 hundred yards of the White Oak road, at a point between 
 two and three miles west of its intersection with the* 
 Boydton road. On the rigjht of the Fifth Corps lay the' 
 Second, which now had its right near Hatcher's Run,, 
 while its left rested on the Boydton plankroad, near 
 Burgess's Tavern, about one mile south of the bridge 
 
 72
 
 1170 HISTORY OF THE GBEAT REBELLION. 
 
 across Hatcher's Eun. Sheridan continued to cover our 
 left flank, and remained at Dinwiddie. 
 
 On Friday, the 31st, began a movement having for its 
 object the possession of the strategic position known as 
 Five Forks. The success of the movement would involve 
 the turning of the enemy's flank. At this point five 
 roads meet in the woods, and as three of them lead back 
 to the Southside Railroad, the carrying of the junction 
 would give us a choice of advance towards the railroad. 
 The White Oak road at this point was thoroughly fortified 
 with logs and earth, its approaches blocked by felled trees, 
 and sharpshooters stationed to contest any advance. Early 
 on Friday morning, the Fifth Corps began, by a left flank 
 movement, to advance upon the "White Oak road, Ayres 
 having the advance. The enemy fell back skirmishing, 
 upon his main works, a mile and a half below White Oak 
 road, whence he delivered a fire which compelled Ayres's 
 Division to break and fall to the rear. The enemy imme- 
 diately rallied from his works and charged Ayres's Division 
 with all his old elan. Our troops resisted stubbornly, and 
 suffered severe losses before they would yield. But no- 
 thing could resist the impetuous onset of the enemy's 
 columns, which, handled with great skill, swept the field. 
 Crawford, next attacked, followed the fate of Ayres, and 
 Griffin followed the fate of Crawford. The whole Fifth 
 Corps was driven back to the Boydton road, and anxiety 
 was at once thrown over the grand movement. 
 
 Meanwhile, the enemy, having driven back our infantry 
 advance so far, turned his forces towards the task of 
 cutting off the cavalry. The failure of the Fifth Corps 
 to advance greatly exposed the cavalry, and checked the 
 intended movement on Five Forks. About noon the ene- 
 my attacked the cavalry, and by five o'clock had driven 
 them also back several miles to the Boydton road. 
 
 But now he had encountered our entire force. Merritt's 
 troops were re-formed, and Custer's Division, with Cape- 
 hart on the left and Pennington on the right, held a firm 
 position. The enemy, who had been re-enforced with a 
 part of Pickett's and Johnson's Divisions the troops 
 employed against the Fifth Corps came down with a 
 furious charge, cheering and gallantly advancing. Yerv 
 hard fighting took place here. But our artillery in posi- 
 tion and our very large force of cavalry now rallied, and
 
 HISTORY OF THE GKEAT REBELLION. 1171 
 
 eventually forced him to desist. A few desperate charges 
 left our men immovable, and the enemy, well content 
 with his day's work, drew oif to the woods. Our forces 
 immediately intrenched. 
 
 Meantime the Fifth Corps, having re-formed again, 
 advanced as the enemy retired. Following up the advance, 
 they carried an earthwork, and took position on the 
 White Oak road, east of Five Forks. Simultaneous with 
 this movement, the Second Corps swung forward in 
 support, followed by the Twenty-fourth Corps, the troops 
 making a general advance of about three-fourths of a 
 mile. The results of the day were, upon the whole, a 
 success to the enemy. He had driven us back from our 
 advanced positions and had foiled our plans. Thanks, 
 however, to our well-served batteries and preponderance 
 in numbers, he had been checked in turn. The Federal 
 losses were about three thousand. The enemy's loss 
 was less severe, and included several hundred prisoners. 
 The left flank of the Federal army was now at Dabney's, 
 on the White Oak road, three-fourths of a mile from Five 
 Forks, and held the road one mile eastward, from which 
 point the line ran in an irregular semicircle to the Second 
 Corps near Burgess's Farm. The troops were busy all 
 night erecting works, and at four o'clock on the morning 
 of Saturday, the 1st of April, three brigades of Hill's 
 Corps charged the Twenty-fourth Corps, which, being 
 taken by surprise, immediately broke to the rear, and the 
 enemy planted his colors on the works. The men were, how- 
 ever, soon rallied, and drove the enemy out. Heavy skir- 
 mishing ensued for several hours. Our loss was small. Soon 
 afterwards the grand movements of the day commenced. 
 
 Upon hearing of the disaster of Friday, Grant had 
 placed Sheridan in command of all the cavalry and also 
 of the Fifth Corps, so that he now controlled upwards of 
 thirty thousand men. This large force was superior to 
 any thing the enemy could oppose to it at Five Forks from 
 his long line, reaching from Petersburg to Dinwiddie. 
 The plan of Sheridan was to penetrate the enemy's lines 
 so as to envelop Five Forks and capture it. The cav- 
 alry started for their appointed positions at daybreak 
 of Saturday, Custer and Devin slowly driving the ene- 
 my towards the left of their works on the White Oak 
 road. These divisions now dismounted, and fought with
 
 1172 HISTORY OF THE GKEAT REBELLION. 
 
 carbines. The brigades of Gregg and Mackenzie were 
 kept in the saddle, so as to move rapidly on the flank of 
 the enemy. In this way Sheridan worked his men stead- 
 ily up to the enemy's intrenchments on all sides. The 
 enemy fell slowly back through the broken country to 
 his main position, delivering a terrific fire upon our men, 
 who. fell in great numbers. Still, however, Sheridan kept 
 his men up to their work, and gradually got all his forces 
 well into position, with a division or more upon the ene- 
 my's flank and rear, and the rest of his troops pressing 
 slowly and with much loss upon the front of the works. 
 At three o'clock the Fifth Corps, which was on the road 
 towards Ford's Station, was ordered to advance on the 
 right and support the cavalry. The enemy fell back 
 stubbornly for some distance, and then made a decisive 
 stand. Strongly intrenched, and with a battery in posi- 
 tion, they raked the advancing columns of Griffin, War- 
 ren being superseded by order of Sheridan, leading the 
 Fifth Corps on the right and the cavalry on the left. 
 Several times the blinding sheets of fire which poured 
 from the rebel works were too much for the men, and 
 they staggered back appalled. Their high courage, how- 
 ever, did not fail to tell in the long run. Encouraged by 
 Sheridan, who was by turns in all parts of the field, 
 cheering and exhorting, they rushed on again and again, 
 until the enemy, surrounded and exhausted, could no 
 longer drive back the assailants that swarmed over his 
 works. He finally gave away, and Sheridan's forces 
 rushed in. After another fierce struggle the position was 
 ours, and Sheridan stood, at half-past one o clock, p. M., 
 upon the blood-stained works, master of from four thou- 
 sand to six thousand prisoners, eight guns, and several 
 thousand muskets, having sustained a loss of about thirty- 
 five hundred dead and wounded. 
 
 Sheridan being thus in possession of the works on the 
 enemy's right, at four o'clock on the morning of Sunday, 
 April 2d, orders for the assault of Petersburg were issued. 
 The troops had been held in readiness for the movement 
 since Sheridan's first advance on the left. The loss of 
 his position on the extreme right had forced upon the 
 rebel general the necessity of abandoning Petersburg. It 
 also enabled General Grant to shorten and greatly re-en- 
 force his lines, so that the environment of Petersburg
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 1173 
 
 upon the south side was perfect, and so strong as to repel 
 any attempt of the enemy to break through. The exten- 
 sion of the left across the Southside road sealed the fate 
 of Petersburg, and rendered it valuable to the enemy 
 only as an outpost to Richmond. Lee consequently pre- 
 pared to withdraw his army from Petersburg. At four 
 o'clock, however, on Sunday morning, the Second, Sixth, 
 and Ninth Corps were formed for the attack-the Sixth 
 being in front of Forts Welch and Fisher. "Hie Second 
 Corps was in advance, with its three divisions arranged 
 in numerical order from right to left. A portion of the 
 Twenty-fourth Corps was brought up in support of the 
 Sixth. While the formation was going on, a terrific can- 
 nonade showered missiles upon the columns. It was 
 early dawn when the troops pushed forward. Getty and 
 Wheaton, of the Sixth Corps, after being once checked 
 by the terrific fire of the enemy, rushed forward again, 
 and carried the two forts in their front, while Seymour, 
 after a sharp fight, broke through to the Southside Bail- 
 road, and commenced tearing it up. Here he found the 
 Twenty-fourth Corps, which, between the Sixth and 
 Second, had been equally fortunate. The right division 
 of the Second Corps and the two divisions of the 
 Twenty-fourth had captured about one thousand prisoners 
 and many guns, and carried the works up to the railroad. 
 The whole line was now swung in towards Petersburg, 
 the Twenty-fourth marching in to the support of the 
 Sixth, and W heaton pressing over to the aid of the Ninth. 
 The enemy, from a strong position in the rear of the cap- 
 tured forts, opened a hot and destructive fire upon our 
 men, but, after a hard struggle, succumbed, their leader, 
 A. P. Hill, being killed, with many of his officers. By 
 eleven o'clock the hardest fighting was done, and, with 
 brief pause, our lines were once more gathered up, and 
 the Twenty-fourth, Second, and Sixth Corps once more 
 formed for a final attack on Petersburg. The battle 
 raged through the'afternoon. At night, the Sixth Corps 
 rested its lett close to the Appomattox, south of^the city. 
 It had captured about two thousand prisoners, and about 
 twenty guns. 
 
 During the attack of the Sixth Corps, the Ninth, on the 
 right, advanced against Fort Mahone, one of the strong- 
 est positions on the enemy's lines, which had been weak-
 
 HISTORY OF THE QKEAT EEBELLION. 
 
 ened, however, in order to resist the advance of Sheridan. 
 After a desperate struggle, Fort Mahone and neighboring 
 works, carrying fourteen guns, were taken. But the posi- 
 tion was too important to be BO sacrificed. Commanding 
 Fort Mahone was an interior work, from which the enemy 
 opened a murderous fire on our troops. The latter ad- 
 vanced to carry the new position, but were repeatedly 
 driven back with great loss. Hill's troops then charged 
 in turn to retake Fort Mahone, and, by the desperate 
 valor of his few troops, nearly succeeded in doing so. 
 But, fortunately, the Sixth Corps now coming up on the 
 left, once more the enemy were driven back, and the 
 Ninth Corps held the position. At the close of the fight, 
 the enemy had lost, perhaps, not more than half as many 
 as we in killed and wounded, as our troops had charged 
 elaborate breastworks under a galling fire works so 
 strong that, had not their garrisons been fatally weakened 
 by the necessity of sending troops against Sheridan, they 
 might never have been carried by storm. 
 
 The results of the conflict had been anticipated by Lee, 
 who on Sunday afternoon began transporting troops to 
 Richmond, and thence beyond. On Monday morning 
 both cities were found to be evacuated. General Weitzel, 
 temporarily commanding the Army of the James, learned 
 at three A. M. that Richmond was being evacuated, and 
 at daylight moved forward, first taking care to give his 
 men breakfast, in the expectation that they might have to 
 fight. He met no opposition, and on entering the city 
 was greeted with hearty welcome from the mass of the 
 people. The mayor went out to meet him and to surren- 
 der the city, but missed him on the road. General Weit- 
 zel found much suffering and poverty aniong the popula- 
 tion, who numbered only about twenty thousand, half of 
 them of African descent. Previous to evacuating the 
 city the enemy fired it. All the business part of Main 
 street was destroyed, and also the bridges over the river. 
 
 Weitzel took one thousand prisoners, besides the 
 wounded, who numbered five thousand, in nine hospitals. 
 He captured cannon to the number of at least five hun- 
 dred pieces. Five thousand muskets were found in one 
 lot, also thirty locomotives and three hundred cars. All 
 the rebel vessels had been destroyed except an unfinished 
 ram. The Tredegar works were unharmed, and the
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 1175 
 
 machinery was taken under General Weitzel's orders. 
 Libby Prison and Castle Thunder, which had escaped the 
 fire, were immediately filled with rebel prisoners of war. 
 
 Meantime, on the morning of the 3d, Sheridan pressed 
 the pursuit. Lee, in retreating from Richmond, reached 
 Amelia Court-House on the 4th, and on the 5th Sheridan 
 was at Jettersville, whence he sent word to Grant that he 
 could see no escape for Lee. The cavalry and the Fifth 
 Corps lay across the railroad, and in the rear was the Sec- 
 ond Corps, with the Sixth supporting. The two last 
 were under General Meade. On the 4th, two divisions 
 of the Ninth Corps marched from Petersburg to Ford's 
 Station, on the Southside road, about twenty miles west 
 of Petersburg. On the 5th it started again, and, still 
 moving on the Cox road, towards Burkesville, along the 
 railroad, camped at night at Wellesville, twenty-one miles 
 distant from the latter point. The next day, the 6th, it 
 pressed on along the same road, and encamped at night 
 about ten miles from Burkesville, with one brigade of the 
 Second Division thrown forward to the junction. 
 
 Thus on the night of the 5th the army lay in line of 
 battle, stretching across three or four miles of country, 
 and facing substantially northward. Custer's Division of 
 cavalry lay on the right flank, and McKenzie's on the 
 left. The infantry line was formed with the Sixth Corps 
 on the right, the Fifth in the centre, and the Second on 
 the left. On the 6th began our final manoeuvres. The 
 Sixth Corps was transferred from the right to the left, 
 and the whole army had, before noon, marched about five 
 miles in the direction of Amelia Court-House. Soon 
 after moving, trustworthy intelligence was received that 
 the enemy was moving towards Farmville. 
 
 The direction of the Second and Fifth Corps was 
 immediately changed from a northerly to a northwesterly 
 direction, the directing corps, the Second, moving on 
 Deatonville, while the Fifth, heretofore in the centre, 
 moved on the right of the Second, and the Sixth, facing 
 about and moving by the left flank, took position on the 
 left of the Second. The cavalry were directed to operate 
 on the extreme left.' The changes were promptly made, 
 the Second Corps soon becoming engaged with the enemy 
 near Deatonville, driving him across Sailor's Creek to the 
 Appomattox. The Fifth Corps made a long march, but
 
 1176 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 its position prevented its striking the enemy's column 
 before it had passed. The Sixth Corps came up with the 
 enemy about four P. M., and, in conjunction with the 
 Second on its right, and cavalry on its left, attacked and 
 routed the enemy, capturing many prisoners, among 
 them Lieutenant-General Ewell and General Custis Lee. 
 
 After this defeat, Lee retired upon Barnesville, sixteen 
 miles west of Burkesville. Here he was sharply engaged, 
 on the 7th, by the Second Corps, and, after inflicting 
 some loss, again retired across the Appomattox at High 
 Bridge, where he captured some troops stationed there 
 to hold the bridge, which he destroyed, and retreated 
 upon Lynchburg. The position of Lee was now hope- 
 less. His army nad dwindled to a small force, and this 
 was now almost surrounded by troops greatly superior in 
 numbers and flushed with victory. Hancock's column 
 had left Winchester on the 4th, for a inarch up the Shen- 
 andoah -Valley, well equipped and in good spirits, and 
 ready to seize Lynchburg ; but their services were not 
 required. Stoneman's column had already reached 
 Boone, North Carolina, and would have aided in the 
 capture of Lee's army, were not Sherman's grand army 
 already advancing in overwhelming numbers upon John- 
 ston's army, and the hour of surrender had struck. 
 
 On Sunday, the 9th of April, 1865 a date which will 
 ever hereafter be memorable in American annals in a 
 farm-house near Appomattox Court-House, the capitula- 
 tion was signed, by which the remnant of the once famous 
 army, so often led by Lee to victory or invasion, passed 
 out of existence. In the ecclesiastical calendar for the 
 year, this Sunday was known as Palm Sunday the day 
 which commemorates the triumphal entry of Christ into 
 Jerusalem. Hereafter it is destined to be a patriotic as 
 well as a pious anniversary. The result was hailed with 
 unbounded delight by the Union soldiers, and, for half an 
 hour or more, the air resounded with their cheers, although 
 many expressed their dissatisfaction, not only at the un- 
 precedented liberality granted to the rebels, but at the. 
 manner in which they were paroled and allowed to go 
 their way, without our men being permitted to enjoy the 
 results of their long struggle in the passage through the 
 lines of Lee and his armv. But it was urged that this 
 would have been humiliating to General Lee and his offi-
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 1177 
 
 cers, and that it was not the wish or desire of the Govern- 
 ment or the Union commanders to act towards them in 
 any way that would tend to irritate their feelings, or 
 make their position more intolerable than it actually was. 
 During Sunday night and Monday, large numbers of 
 the rebels, officers as well as privates, made their escape 
 from the lines, and scattered through the woods, many of 
 whom returned at once to their homes. Although Lee 
 probably had upwards of fifty thousand men when our 
 forward movement began, not above eighteen thousand, 
 including teamsters, hospital men, and camp-followers of 
 all descriptions, were surrendered by him. As only ten 
 thousand muskets and about thirty pieces of artillery 
 were surrendered, it is fair to presume that the available 
 rebel force on April 9th did not exceed fourteen thousand 
 men. Upwards of ten thousand had been killed and 
 wounded in battle, and considerably over twenty thou- 
 sand had been taken prisoners or had deserted. Our to- 
 tal captures of artillery, during the battles and pursuit, 
 and at the surrender, amounted to one hundred and sev- 
 enty pieces. 
 
 The surrender of Lee was followed by the voluntary 
 surrender of most of the regular troops of the enemy in 
 the Shenandoah. On the 15th, Lieutenant-Colonel Far- 
 rel, of Mosby's command, came, under flag of truce, to 
 our picket lines on the Kernstown road, and arranged 
 with General Hancock to surrender the forces of Mosby 
 on the terms accorded to General Lee, his troops being 
 recognized as a part of the Army of Northern Virginia. 
 On the 17th, at noon, Mosby surrendered his forces to 
 General Chapman, at Berryville, receiving the terms 
 granted to Lee. General Bosser was also permitted to 
 have his command included in the cartel. The exact num- 
 ber of men in Mosby's command did not vary much from 
 seven hundred. 
 
 With the announcement of the fall of Richmond and 
 Petersburg, and the capitulation of Lee, the loyal popu- 
 lation of the country surrendered itself to rejoicing, and it 
 seemed as if one universal jubilee was being held. Those 
 who had been from the outset in favor of a vigorous 
 prosecution of the war were not less thankful for the 
 speedy approach of peace than those who had sincerely 
 deprecated hostilities and advocated peace on principle.
 
 1178 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION". 
 
 Both, parties had gained their end, and botli, disregarding 
 for the time the manner in which it had been gained, 
 were brought into close sympathy. The war party, how- 
 ever, by the very extravagance of its delight, showed how 
 severe had been the effort to remain true to its often 
 avowed purpose of conquering a peace. During the ad- 
 vance movement of Grant, President Lincoln remained 
 at the head-quarters of the latter before Petersburg, a 
 deeply interested spectator of the closing act of the great 
 drama, which had been protracted through four years of 
 varying fortunes. A few miles only separated the two 
 presidents. On Saturday, the 1st of April, was fought 
 the decisive battle of Five Forks ; and on the succeeding 
 morning, while Davis was attending service at the Mon- 
 umental Church in Richmond, an orderly, splashed from 
 head to foot with mire, entered the building, strode hastily 
 up the aisle, and handed him a dispatch from Lee: It 
 announced that all was over, and counselled the rebel 
 chief to take his immediate departure from the city. A 
 few hours later found Davis a fugitive on his way to 
 Danville, leaving behind him the capital he had so fre- 
 quently boasted his ability to hold against the utmost 
 power of the Union, and two days afterwards, Mr. Lin- 
 coln entered Richmond in triumph, amid the acclamations 
 of thousands, and held a levee in the rebel presidential 
 mansion. This incident formed a significant and fitting 
 close to the great campaign against Richmond. 
 
 CHAPTER LXXYI. 
 
 Eaids in Kentucky and East Tennessee. Defeat and Death of Morgan. - 
 Successes of Stoneman and Burhridge. Destruction of Works at Salt- 
 ville. Stoneman's Last Raid. Capture of Salisbury. Negotiations 
 between Sherman and Johnston. Agreement for Surrender by Johnston 
 disavowed at Washington. Reasons Assigned. Final Surrender of 
 Johnston. Wilson's great Raid in Alabama and Georgia. Capture of 
 Selma, Montgomery, and Macon. Exchanges of Prisoners. Cruel Treat- 
 ment by Rebels of Union Prisoners. Horrors of Andersonville. Rebel 
 Plots in Canada. The St. Albans Raid. Execution of Beall and Ken- 
 nedy. Attempts to Fire American Cities and Introduce Pestilence. 
 
 IT is now necessary to go back a few months, and notice 
 briefly several events which had an indirect, though not 
 unimportant, bearing on the grand result related in the
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 1179 
 
 previous chapter. It had long been a favorite theory 
 with many experienced military men, that, in the event 
 of disaster before Richmond, Lee would retire with his 
 army into Southwestern Yirginia, and thence pass into 
 East and Middle Tennessee, where the remaining forces 
 of the Confederacy would be concentrated. He would 
 then be in a position to threaten Chattanooga. Nashville, 
 or Louisville, and it was predicted that the decisive bat- 
 tle of the war would be fought somewhere in Tennessee. 
 Accordingly, as long as the rebels kept any considerable 
 force in East Tennessee, which forms the doorway to the 
 Yalley of the Mississippi, a Union army of corresponding 
 strength was retained there. Knoxville was rendered 
 doubly strong, and outlying bodies of infantry and 
 cavalry were pushed well up the railroad and the Ilolston 
 River Valley, towards the Yirginia , line. But by May, 
 1864, both sides were so much occupied with the great 
 Richmond and Atlanta campaigns, that affairs in East 
 Tennessee lost nearly all their interest. Nevertheless, 
 the presence of scattered bodies of irregular rebel cavalry 
 in Southwestern Virginia proved a source of constant 
 alarm to the comparatively unprotected inhabitants of 
 Eastern Kentucky. Darting unexpectedly through the 
 gaps of the Cumberland Mountains, these rough riders 
 would occasionally fall upon some isolated post, capture 
 its garrison, and, after killing, burning, and robbing 
 through the adjoining country, would be back in their 
 mountain fastnesses before pursuit could overtake them. 
 Early in June, 1864, the noted guerrilla chief, John Mor- 
 gan, entered Kentucky through Pound Gap, at the head 
 of two thousand five hundred mounted men, and pushed 
 directly towards Lexington, plundering and destroying on 
 the way, and spreading consternation on every side. On 
 the 8th, Paris was captured and plundered by a portion 
 of his forces. The next day, however, General JBurbridge, 
 who had been on Morgan's track from Virginia, came up 
 with him near Mount Sterling, having marched ninety 
 miles in twenty-four hours, and defeated him. By mount- 
 ing his troopers on stolen horses, Morgan got rapidly 
 away from Burbridge, and on the 10th entered Lexington, 
 where he burned the railroad station, and plundered the 
 stores and private dwellings. The Union garrison, how- 
 ever, held the fort. Thence be proceeded to Cynthiana,
 
 1180 HISTORY OF THE GKEAT REBELLION". 
 
 attacked and defeated two Ohio regiments under General 
 Hobson, and captured the entire force, besides burning a 
 considerable portion of the town. On the 12th, Bur- 
 bridge, following hard on Morgan's traces, overtook him 
 at Cynthiana, and attacked him at daylight. After an 
 hour's hard fighting, the enemy were completely routed, 
 losing three hundred killed, about as many wounded, 
 nearly four hundred prisoners, and one thousand horses. 
 Burbridge also recaptured one hundred of Hobson's men. 
 The total Union loss did not exceed one hundred and 
 fifty. A few days later, Hobson and his staff were re- 
 captured. By this defeat, the enemy were so completely 
 broken up and demoralized, that they were glad to make 
 their escape, in small scattered parties, into Virginia. 
 
 Morgan subsequently rallied the remnant of his force, 
 but for some time no enterprise of consequence was un- 
 dertaken by either side. The restless guerrilla could 
 not, however, remain long unoccupied, and by the 
 beginning of September his band was again in motion, 
 with the view of striking at the town of Greenville, East 
 Tennessee, on the line of railroad connecting Lynchburg 
 with Knoxville. He occupied the place on September 
 3d, and on the same night was surprised and killed by a 
 Union force, under General Gillem, which had made a 
 forced march thither from Bull Gap, sixteen miles distant. 
 The death of Morgan was followed by another compara- 
 tive cessation of hostilities in East Tennessee, both sides 
 merely watching each other. Public attention at that 
 time was concentrated on the operations around Atlanta. 
 
 About the 1st of October, however, an attempt was 
 made by General Burbridge to capture Saltville, in 
 Southwestern Virginia, and destroy the large salt-works 
 there, which were of great importance to the rebels. He 
 found himself confronted by a superior force under Breck- 
 inridge, who had been placed in command of the rebel 
 troops in that quarter, and, after pushing the enemy in- 
 side of his defensive works, was compelled, through the 
 failure of his ammunition, to retire, with the loss of three 
 hundred and fifty men. 
 
 On October 28th, Gillem suddenly attacked the rebel 
 brigades of Vaughan and Palmer, at Morristown, near 
 Bull Gap, defeating them with a loss of three or four 
 hundred men, and four pieces of artillery. Soon after
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 1181 
 
 this affair, Breckinridge, re-enforced by the return of ab- 
 sentees and the arrival of new recruits, attacked Gillem 
 on the night of the 13th, near Bull Gap, and defeated 
 him. Our cavalry gave way in the greatest confusion, a 
 large number throwing away their arms in their flight. 
 Gillem lost all his artillery (one battery), and his trains 
 and baggage. Owing to the darkness his casualties were 
 small, two hundred and twenty being the total reported. 
 Subsequently, Gillem retreated to Knoxville, where he 
 arrived on the 20th. The repulse of Gillem excited some 
 apprehension for the safety of Eastern Kentucky, and 
 Burb ridge began to concentrate troops beyond Lexing- 
 ton. Breckin ridge assumed the air of a conqueror in 
 East Tennessee, issuing a proclamation granting protec- 
 tion to all who might wish to lay down their arms and 
 become peaceable and quiet citizens. His appointment 
 to the command in this part of the country was identical, 
 it will be remembered, with the invasion of Tennessee 
 by Hood, and it was expected by the rebel authorities 
 that the two generals would form a junction somewhere 
 between Knoxville and Nashville. Had this been effected, 
 serious consequences might have ensued, and the con- 
 summation of the well-laid plans for the overthrow of the 
 rebel power been delayed, or possibly prevented. 
 
 "With a view of stopping the progress of Breckinridge, 
 General Stoneman was early in December appointed to 
 command in East Tennessee. On the 10th he left Knox- 
 ville, with three cavalry brigades, under Burbridge and 
 Gillem, and moved with great rapidity upon Bristol, one 
 hundred and thirty miles from Knoxville, where he ar- 
 rived on the 14th, having severed communication between 
 the rebel brigades of Yaughan and Duke, and left the 
 former far in the rear. At Bristol, three hundred prison- 
 ers and several railroad trains laden with supplies were 
 captured. Fifteen miles more brought the command to 
 Abingdon, where many supplies and quartermaster and 
 ordnance stores were destroyed. By very heavy forced 
 marching, Yaughan had succeeded in getting on the pike 
 to the left of Bristol. One of our columns had preceded 
 him, and burned the depots at Marion and Thomas's Fur- 
 nace, but had then turned off to the right. Yaughan, on 
 reaching Marion, set his brigade at work intrenching; 
 but in a few hours, Gillem, who had pursued in a hard
 
 1182 HI8TOEY OF THE CHEAT REBELLION. 
 
 march of twenty-nine miles, came upon him, attacked 
 him instantly, and, after a very hot and hard fight, drove 
 him back to Wytheville, thirty miles, killing twenty men, 
 wounding a proportionate number, and capturing three 
 hundred and nine prisoners, and eight pieces of artillery. 
 This running, fight was conducted with the greatest vigor. 
 Vaughan was attacked once more fifteen miles east of 
 Wytheville at the great lead mines, the most important 
 works of the kind in the Confederacy, where our forces 
 destroyed all the buildings and machinery. Up to this 
 time, Gillern had captured, besides what has been re- 
 corded, several extra caissons, with large quantities of 
 pack-saddles, ammunition, wagons, and other property, 
 worth over a million of dollars. A large wagon-train 
 was captured at Wytheville. Our forces remained in 
 Wytheville but a few hours, and then retired towards 
 Seven-Mile Ford, one hundred and sixty-seven miles from 
 Knoxville. Gillem, however, pushed on to Max Meadows, 
 destroying railroad bridges and tracks, and other species 
 of public property to a large amount. 
 
 Meanwhile, Burbridge's forces, retiring from Wythe- 
 ville, were encountered near Marion and repulsed by 
 Breckinridge, who had moved his troops out from Salt- 
 ville for that purpose on hearing of our withdrawal from 
 Wytheville. But, fortunately, Gillem came up with his 
 brigade, on returning from Max Meadows, just as our 
 troops were giving way, restored the fortunes of the day, 
 captured eleven pieces of artillery, two hundred prisoners, 
 one hundred and fifty negroes, and ninety-three wagons, 
 and Breckinridge's own head-quarters, and drove that 
 general back on Mount Airy. The whole action of the 
 18th at Marion, which was the principal battle of the 
 campaign, lasted more than a day. Our loss was between 
 fifty and one hundred, and that of the rebels quite as 
 great, besides the prisoners we captured. On the morn- 
 ing of the 19th, Breckinridge pushed over towards North 
 Carolina. One detachment of our troops, meanwhile, had 
 moved on Glade Springs, one hundred and fifty-eight 
 miles from Knoxville, and Saltville, nine miles beyond. 
 At three o'clock p. M. of the 20th, our troops entered 
 Saltville with a mere show of resistance. Soon after, the 
 public buildings and all the machinery and works were 
 fired and totally destroyed. Great quantities of salt were
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 1183 
 
 destroyed by trampling it in the mud. The immense 
 works, which could turn out, it was said, over live thou- 
 sand bushels a day, and are among the largest in the 
 world, were very seriously injured. Nearly all the ket- 
 tles were destroyed by punching out their heavy bottoms, 
 and the vats, engines, and boilers demolished. With the 
 defeat of Breckinridge ended his attempt to threaten East 
 Tennessee. The disaster to Hood's army before Nashville 
 destroyed the well-devised scheme of the rebels to create 
 a diversion in that quarter, and thenceforth they had 
 quite enough to do to act on the defensive in Virginia and 
 the Carolinas. 
 
 Matters remained quiet in East Tennessee for a number 
 of weeks after the events just described, but when the 
 march of Sherman northward gave the signal to the other 
 Union generals to close in upon Lee, Stoneman was 
 directed to equip a heavy cavalry column at Knoxville 
 for a co-operative movement into Virginia and North 
 Carolina. Starting on March 10th, he moved rapidly to 
 Boone, North Carolina, and thence passing into the Yad- 
 kin River valley, pushed northward for the Virginia and 
 Tennessee Railroad, which he destroyed between Wythe- 
 ville and Salem, Virginia. On April 6th he moved via 
 Jacksonville and Danbury into North Carolina again, 
 and on the 12th reached the vicinity of Salisbury, where 
 about three thousand troops, under the command of Gen- 
 eral Gardiner, and fourteen pieces of artillery, under 
 command of Colonel (late Lieutenant-General) Member- 
 ton, were drawn up to oppose him. The whole formed 
 behind Grant's Creek, about two miles and a half from 
 Salisbury. As soon as a proper disposition could be 
 made, Stoneman ordered a general charge upon the entire 
 line, and the result was the capture of the whole fourteen 
 pieces of artillery, and one thousand three hundred and 
 sixty-four prisoners, including fifty-five officers. The re- 
 mainder of the force was chased through and several miles 
 beyond the town, but scattered and escaped into the woods. 
 
 Finally, on April 10th, Sherman started his road-worn 
 veterans once more on the track of his old antagonist, 
 Johnston. On that day, Kilpatrick moved his cavalry 
 out on the road to Raleigh, and next day, the llth, the 
 infantry started in light marching order. The march 
 was, however, quite deliberate and easy, as the railroad,
 
 1184: HISTORY OF THE GEEAT REBELLION. 
 
 broken up by the enemy between Raleigh and Goldsboro', 
 was to be repaired. The troops were well supplied with 
 provisions. On the 13th, Raleigh was reached and occu- 
 pied, with only a slight skirmisn on the outskirts, John- 
 ston falling back upon Hillsboro'. On the following day 
 a conference with Sherman was asked for by Johnston, 
 through a flag of truce, with a request for an armistice 
 and a statement of the best terms on which Johnston 
 would be permitted to surrender the army under his com- 
 mand. General Sherman answered immediately that if 
 the surrender of the rebel army was the object of such 
 a truce as was requested, he would accede to it, but if any 
 thing else was desired, he wished to know it, in order to 
 decide whether or not it would be necessary to send 
 for the Lieuten ant-General. He stated his readiness 
 to meet Johnston at any time to confer on the subject 
 of his wants. This offer was promptly accepted, and, 
 through Wade Hampton, the point of meeting was agreed 
 upon. At Mr. James Bennett's, a little hut on the 
 left of the Chapel Hill road, five miles from Durham's 
 Station, and thirty from Raleigh, the meeting took place. 
 Sherman was accompanied by nis chief-engineer, Colonel 
 O. M. Poe, and General Barry, with others of his staff, 
 and met General Johnston, with Major Johnston and 
 Captain Hampton, of his staff. Both generals were 
 accompanied by their cavalry generals, Kilpatrick and 
 Wade Hampton. 
 
 At the first meeting between the generals no arrange- 
 ment was perfected, but at a subsequent meeting on the 
 18th, at which Breckinridge, then holding the office 
 of Secretary of War in the Confederacy, was present, an 
 agreement for a suspension of hostilities, together with a 
 memorandum for a basis of peace, was signed in the fol- 
 lowing terms : 
 
 "Memorandum or basis of agreement, made this 18th day of April, A. D. 
 1865, near Durham's Station, and in the State of North Carolina, by and 
 between general Joseph E. Johnston, commanding the Confederate 
 Army, ancTMajor-General William T. Sherman, commanding the Army 
 of the United States in North Carolina, both present. 
 " First. The contending armies now in the field to maintain their statu 
 quo, until notice is given by the commanding general of either one to its 
 opponent, and reasonable time say forty-eight hours allowed. 
 
 "Second. The Confederate armies now in existence to be disbanded 
 and conducted to their several State capitals, there to deposit their arms 
 and public property in the State arsenals, and each officer and man to exe-
 
 BI8TOEY OF THE GEEAT REBELLION. 1185 
 
 cute and file an agreement to cease from acts of war, and abide action of 
 "both State and Federal authority. The number of arms and munitions of 
 war to be reported to the Chief of Ordnance at "Washington City, subject 
 to future action of the Congress of the United States ; in the mean time, 
 to be used solely to maintain peace and order within the borders of the 
 States respectively. 
 
 " Third. The recognition by the Executive of the United States of the sev- 
 eral State Governments, in their officers and legislatures, taking oath pre- 
 scribed by the Constitution of the United States ; and where conflicting 
 State Governments have resulted from the war, the legitimacy of all shall 
 be submitted to the Supreme Court of the United States. 
 
 " Fourth. The re-establishment of all Federal Courts in the several 
 States, with powers as denned by the Constitution and laws of Congress. 
 
 "Fifth. The people and inhabitants of 'all States to be guaranteed, so far' 
 as the Executive can, their political rights and franchise, as well as their 
 rights of person and property, as denned by the Constitution of the United 
 States and of States respectively. 
 
 " Sixth. The Executive authority of the Government of the United States 
 not to disturb any of the people by reason of the late war, so long as they 
 live in peace and quiet, and abstain from acts of armed hostility, and obey 
 laws in existence at any place of their residence. 
 
 " In general terms, war to cease ; a general amnesty, so far as the Exec- 
 utive power of the United States can command, or on condition of disband- 
 ment of the Confederate armies, and the distribution of arms and resump- 
 tion of peaceful pursuits by officers and men as hitherto composing the 
 said armies, not being fully empowered by our respective principals to ful- 
 fil these terms, we individually and officially pledge ourselves to promptly 
 obtain necessary authority, and to carry out the above programme. 
 
 " W. T. SHERMAN, Major- General, 
 l; Commanding the Army of the United States in North Carolina. 
 
 " J. E. JOHNSTON, General, 
 " Commanding Confederate States Army in North Carolina." 
 
 Upon the reception of this memorandum in Washing- 
 ton, on April 21st, a Cabinet meeting was held, at which 
 the action of General Sherman was disapproved by the 
 President, by the Secretary of War, by General Grant, 
 and by every member of the Cabinet. General Sherman 
 was ordered to resume hostilities immediately, and was- 
 directed that the instructions given in the following tele- 
 gram, which was penned by Mr. Lincoln himself, at the 
 Capitol, on the night of the 3d of March, should govern 
 his action: 
 
 "WASHINGTON, March 3, 186512 p. M. 
 " Lieutenant-General GRANT : 
 
 " The President directs me to say to you that he wishes you to have no- 
 conference with General Lee unless it be for the capitulation of General 
 Lee's army, or on some minor and purely military matter. He instructs me 
 to say that you are not to decide, discuss, or confer upon any political 
 question. Such questions the President holds in his own hands, and will 
 submit them to no military conferences or conventions. Meantime, you 
 are to press to the utmost your military advantages. 
 
 , " EDWIN M. STANTON, Secretary o 
 
 73
 
 1186 HISTORY OF THE GKEAT EEBELLIOJT. 
 
 The following are the reasons given by Secretary Stan- 
 ton for disapproving the proceeding of Sherman : 
 
 "First. It was an exercise of authority not vested in General Sherman, 
 and on its face shows that both he and Johnston knew that he (General 
 Sherman) had no authority to enter into any such arrangement. 
 
 " Second. It was a practical acknowledgment of the rebel govern- 
 ment. 
 
 l - Third. It undertook to re-establish the rebel State Governments, that 
 had been overthrown at the sacrifice of many thousand loyal lives, and an 
 immense treasure, and placed arms and munitions of war in the hands of 
 the rebels at their respective capitals, which might be used as soon as the 
 armies of the United States were disbanded, and used to conquer and sub- 
 due the loyal States. 
 
 " Fourth. By the restoration of the rebel authority in their respective 
 States, they would be enabled to re-establish slavery. 
 
 "Fifth. It might furnish a ground of responsibility by the Federal 
 Government to pay the rebel debt, and certainly subjects loyal citizens of 
 the rebel States to the debt consummated by the rebels in the name of the 
 State. 
 
 "Sixth. It put in dispute the existence of loyal State Governments, 
 and the new State of Western Virginia, which had been recognized by 
 every department of the United States Government. 
 
 " Seventh. It practically abolished the confiscation laws, and relieved 
 rebels of every degree, who had slaughtered our people, from all pains and 
 penalties for their crimes. 
 
 "Eighth. It gave terms that had been deliberately, repeatedly, and 
 solemnly rejected by President Lincoln, and better terms than the rebels 
 had ever asked in their most prosperous condition. 
 
 " Ninth. It formed /no basis of true and lasting peace, buf relieved 
 rebels from the pressure of our victories, and left them in condition to 
 renew their efforts to overthrow the United States Government, and subdue 
 the loyal States, whenever their strength was recruited, and any opportu- 
 nity should offer." 
 
 General Grant immediately started for Raleigh, Sher- 
 man's head-quarters, where he arrived on the 24th. From 
 that point, he sent a dispatch dated at nine o'clock on the 
 same night, stating that he had delivered to General 
 Sherman the reply to his dispatch announcing his terms of 
 negotiation with the rebel General Johnston, and that 
 Johnston was immediately informed by Sherman that 
 the truce was terminated, that civil matters could not be 
 discussed in any convention between military command- 
 ers, and that the terms accorded to General Lee were the 
 only ones that would be entertained by the United States 
 Government. On the 25th, Johnston replied, and, on 
 the 26th, the surrender of the rebel army was made in an 
 interview between Sherman and Johnston at Durham 
 Station. It included every thing east of the Chatta- 
 hoochee River not previously surrendered by Lee, Then,
 
 HISTOBY OF THE GEEAT REBELLION. 1187 
 
 the articles being signed, the Lieutenant-General inter- 
 vened to put his approval upon them. Over fifty miles 
 of territory lay between the two main armies, the picket 
 lines, however, closely approaching. Johnston's force 
 was collected nearly as far back as Greensboro', and at 
 this latter point, therefore, the paroling took place. The 
 number of men surrendered and paroled was in the 
 neighborhood of twenty-five thousand. One hundred 
 and eight pieces of artillery were parked, with limbers, 
 caissons, &c., complete ; little ammunition was captured. 
 About fifteen thousand small-arms were given up. More 
 than ten thousand men strayed off with their guns and 
 horses, mules, or wagons. There was no discipline in the 
 army at the end, and Johnston was said not to have 
 been responsible for the marching away of his men with- 
 out parole. The same thing happened, also, in the parol- 
 ing of Lee's army. 
 
 In the latter part of 1864, General James H. "Wilson, 
 who had gained a reputation in the Army of the Potomac 
 as an able cavalry officer, was dispatched to Nashville to 
 reorganize that branch of the service in the West. Hav- 
 ing accomplished this duty, he was directed to concen- 
 trate a force at Waterloo and Gravelly Springs, on the 
 Tennessee, in the northwestern corner of Alabama, with 
 the view of undertaking in the spring an expedition 
 through Alabama and Southern Georgia, a region never 
 yet penetrated by Union troops, and which furnished 
 large quantities of food and munitions to the rebel armies. 
 This was intended as an auxiliary movement in support 
 of the operations against Lee and Johnston in the East. 
 On the 22d of March, Wilson broke up his camp, and, at 
 the head of twelve thousand cavalry, accompanied by 
 three horse-batteries and a pontoon train, took up his 
 march for Elytown, in Central Alabama. The general 
 command of the rebel troops in Alabama and Mississippi 
 was then held by General Dick Taylor, who, however, 
 being needed at Mobile, had left Forrest at Tupelo with 
 a body of cavalry to guard against such raids as Wilson 
 was about to undertake. Forrest finally assumed com- 
 mand of all Northern and Middle Mississippi and Ala- 
 bama, and set vigorously to work to reorganize the cav- 
 alry in his department. But it was beyond the power of 
 even so energetic a commander as he to infuse life into
 
 1188 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 the torpid body of the rebellion ; and notwithstanding he 
 issued orders declaring that illegal organizations of cav- 
 alry must be placed regularly in the service or leave the 
 country, the border swarmed with roving bands of desert- 
 ers, stragglers, horse-thieves, and robbers, whose acts of 
 lawlessness and crime put a stop to travel, and made life 
 and property alike insecure. 
 
 Wilson proceeded without interruption as far as Ely- 
 town, whence he moved due south upon Selma, where he 
 arrived on April 2d. Between Elytown and Selma there 
 had been considerable skirmishing with Roddy's rebel 
 cavalry, which fell back towards the latter place, where 
 Taylor and Forrest had concentrated all their available 
 troops behind substantial works. These consisted of a 
 heavy line of earthworks, eight to twelve feet in height, 
 and fifteen feet thick at base, with a ditch in front, partly 
 filled with water, four feet in width and five feet deep, 
 and in front of this a stockade, or pickets of heavy posts, 
 planted firmly in the ground, five feet high, and sharp- 
 ened at the top. Four heavy forts, with artillery in 
 position, also covered the ground over which the men 
 were to advance ; the ground was rough, and a deep 
 ravine had to be passed before the works could be reached. 
 After a brief reconnoissance, one division, under General 
 Long, was directed to attack on the right of the Summer- 
 ville road, while another, under General Upton, was to 
 move to the Plantersville road, penetrate a swamp at a 
 point regarded impassable by the enemy, and attack just 
 after dark. But before Upton could get into position, 
 the rebel General Chalmers having attacked Long's 
 picket, posted on the creek to cover his rear, Long, with- 
 out waiting for the signal designated, immediately began 
 the attack with two dismounted regiments from each bri- 
 gade, numbering in all but one thousand one hundred and 
 sixty men ; Long himself, together with his brigade com- 
 manders, gallantly leading the charge. Rushing over 
 five hundred yards of open field, swept by musketry and 
 ' artillery, the intrepid assailants, leaping and tearing up 
 the stockade, pushed through the ditch, and over the 
 parapet, in a sudden and irresistible tide. The foe, 
 though outnumbering the assailants, everywhere suc- 
 cumbed, or fled. Nothing seemed able to stand before an 
 onset of such swift and determined vigor. On parts of
 
 HISTOEY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 1189 
 
 the line, indeed, and for a moment, the enemy fought 
 ^stubbornly, with clubbed guns, but in vain. Upton's 
 Division, finding the works carried by Long's Division, 
 immediately advanced from its position on the Planters- 
 yille road, the skirmish line, driving the enemy and cap- 
 turing five guns. Winslow's Brigade then charged into 
 the city in various directions, capturing several pieces of 
 artillery and several hundred prisoners. In vain did the 
 enemy attempt to rally behind an inner line of works ; 
 they were overpowered and captured by hundreds, and 
 night alone enabled Forrest, with about half his force, 
 to make a precipitate retreat. General Taylor had left at 
 three P. M. by the railroad for Mobile. Two thousand 
 seven hundred prisoners, including one hundred and fifty 
 officers, twenty-six field-guns and one thirty-pound Par- 
 rott in position, and about seventy heavy guns, besides 
 large quantities of military stores in the arsenal and 
 foundery, fell into Wilson's hands at Selma. Immedi- 
 ately the work of destruction commenced, and in a brief 
 time all the immense government works, arsenal, rolling- 
 mills, founderies, factories, munitions of war, ordnance 
 and subsistence stores, and other material, were in ruins. 
 On the 10th, "Wilson resumed his march, and on the 
 14th occupied Montgomery without resistance. This, it 
 will be remembered, was the capital of the now fast- 
 crumbling " Confederacy," in the early days of the rebel- 
 lion. On the 16th, West Point, on the Chattahoochee, 
 was captured by Lagrange's Brigade, after a desperate 
 resistance by the small rebel garrison, and on the same 
 day the main body reached the important city of Colum- 
 bus, Georgia, situated on the east bank of the Chatta- 
 hoochee, and defended by two thousand seven hundred 
 infantry, behind .strong earthworks. The onset of the 
 Union troops was irresistible,' and by ten p. M. the city, 
 with its vast munitions of war, one thousand five hun- 
 dred prisoners, and twenty-four pieces of artillery, was in 
 our possession. This victory was the closing conflict of 
 the war, and was gained with a Union loss of not above 
 thirty. Long's Division, under Colonel Minty, now took 
 the advance, and moved towards Macon, within a short 
 distance of which place he was met by a flag of truce, 
 with a dispatch from General Howell Cobb, in command 
 there, announcing an armistice between Sherman and
 
 1190 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 Johnston. Suspecting, from the manner of the rebels, 
 that this was only an expedient to gain time, Minty 
 pushed rapidly forward, and reached Macon just in time 
 to save the fine bridge across the Ocmulgee, which the 
 rebels were about to fire. The city and defences were at 
 once surrendered by Cobb. The captures comprised five 
 general officers, viz., Major-Generals Cobb and Gustavus 
 W. Smith, and Brigadier-Generals Mackall, Robertson, 
 and Mercer, together with forty-five other officers, and 
 one thousand eight hundred and forty-three enlisted men, 
 and sixty pieces of artillery. 
 
 Thus, in thirty days, Wilson's command had marched 
 five hundred miles, part of the distance over an exceed- 
 ingly difficult country, had captured two hundred and 
 forty pieces of artillery, of all calibers, and six thousand 
 three hundred prisoners, and destroyed cotton and public 
 property to the value of hundreds of millions of dollars. 
 It was undoubtedly the most brilliant and important raid 
 of the war. 
 
 In the foregoing pages we have related the history of 
 the attempts which the rebels made, by force of arms, in 
 the open field, to resist and overthrow the power of the 
 General Government. It now becomes necessary to al- 
 lude to other means employed by them to effect the same 
 end, which were directly sanctioned by the rebel govern- 
 ment, and over which humanity would wish to drop the 
 veil of oblivion. But as an impartial narrator of events, 
 the writer of these pages could no more avoid an allusion 
 to this subject than he could omit any of the prominent 
 occurrences of the war previously related. Without such 
 allusion the History of the Great Rebellion would be in- 
 complete. If acts like the destruction of unarmed mer- 
 chantmen on the high seas, or the massacre of the garrison 
 of Fort Pillow, may be excused as necessarily growing 
 out of a state of warfare, it will scarcely be pretended 
 that the deliberate destruction of prisoners by starvation, 
 neglect, or ill treatment, the burning of peaceful cities 
 far removed from the seat of war, by disguised emissaries, 
 the introduction of pestilence, or the piratical seizure of 
 vessels and the murder of their officers, are legitimate 
 means of conducting war. They were, however, each 
 and all resorted to by the rebel authorities, as we shall 
 briefly narrate.
 
 HISTOKY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 1191 
 
 For upwards of a year after the commencement of the 
 war, there was no regular system in operation for the 
 
 feneral exchange of the prisoners captured on either side, 
 'inally, in the summer of 1862, a cartel was signed for 
 the equitable exchange of prisoners, man for man, and 
 officer for officer, and for the paroling of prisoners within 
 ten days after their capture. This remained in force until 
 the succeeding summer, when difficulties occurred, in con- 
 sequence of the loose manner in which the rebel authori- 
 ties interpreted the cartel, which threatened its permanent 
 interruption. By this time the colored regiments of the 
 National Army had begun to participate in the war, and 
 the officers and privates of these regiments captured by 
 the enemy were, in accordance with a resolution of the 
 rebel Congress, withheld from exchange, and reserved 
 for special punishment. After much acrimonious corre- 
 spondence, the rebel Commissioner of Exchanges, Mr. 
 Ould, proposed in the latter part of October, that all 
 officers and men, on both sides, should be released, in con- 
 formity with the provisions of the cartel, the excess on 
 the one side or the other to be on parole. This proposi- 
 tion was rejected by General Meredith, the Union Com- 
 missioner, for the reason, among others, that the officers 
 and privates of the colored regiments, not being recog- 
 nized by the rebels as prisoners of war, would not be 
 delivered by them with the other prisoners. The rebels 
 had also shown bad faith in declaring exchanged, before 
 the right to do so in accordance with the terms of the 
 cartel had accrued to them, most of the prisoners paroled 
 by Grant and Banks at Vicksburg and Port Hudson. 
 And as at the close of the year we had in our possession 
 about forty thousand rebel prisoners against thirteen 
 thousand of our men in rebel prisons, it was justly con- 
 sidered hazardous to permit the rebels to have the control 
 of so large an excess as twenty-seven thousand men. 
 Thenceforth exchanges ceased, except in a few special 
 instances, and prisoners began to accumulate in large 
 numbers on either side. 
 
 In the latter part of 1863 complaints began to be made 
 of the treatment to which Union prisoners were subjected 
 in rebel prisons. In those at Richmond, the mortality 
 at certain periods reached fifty a day a rate which, in 
 the opinion of exchanged Union surgeons, was altogether
 
 1192 HISTORY OF THE GEEAT REBELLION. 
 
 unprecedented, and arose from neglect, insufficient food 
 and clothing, and similar causes. In reply the rebels 
 alleged that Union prisoners were placed on an equality, 
 in respect to rations and clothing, with their own men, 
 and that they did not receive the comforts which might 
 reasonably have been expected, simply because it was not 
 in the power of the Confederate government to give them. 
 But this excuse, urged strenuously by the rebels and their 
 friends, and half accepted by every one disposed to be 
 moderate and just, accounted for only a small part of the 
 conduct of the rebels to their captives. The latter were 
 crowded in city warehouses of far too limited dimensions 
 to lodge them with any approximation to comfort, or 
 compelled to endure the rigors of winter in open encamp- 
 ments. They were almost invariably stripped of their 
 private property, even to the clothing on their backs at 
 the time of their capture, and the supplies of food and 
 clothing, which, after much negotiation, they were per- 
 mitted to receive from the North, were, in many in- 
 stances, stolen or withheld. The rations issued to them 
 were frequently of the moBt execrable description, and 
 barely sufficient to sustain life. On the other hand, the 
 rebels captured in war were, in nine cases out of ten, men 
 in fine physical condition, well clad, and giving abundant 
 evidence of having been well fed ; while the few Union 
 prisoners from time to time exchanged, exhibited s,uch 
 frightful evidences of suffering and privation, that photo- 
 graphic representations of their appearance were taken, 
 in order that the accounts of their condition might not 
 Beem overdrawn. The allegation of the rebel govern- 
 ment, that it was embarrassed for want of supplies, that 
 its own soldiers were naked and hungry, and that even 
 the prison-guards shared the privations of the prisoners, 
 must therefore be dismissed as utterly unfounded. 
 
 A few months later the rebels threw off even this tnin 
 disguise, and in terms too plain to be mistaken announced 
 by their acts their intention to systematically destroy 
 their prisoners, for the purpose, apparently, of relieving 
 themselves of the charge of such persons, and of thereby 
 lessening the number of their enemies. As if the Libby 
 Prison and Belle Isle at Richmond were not sufficient, 
 refinements in cruelty were attempted, and at Charlotte 
 and Salisbury in North Carolina, and Millen and Ander-
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 1193 
 
 sonville in Georgia, prison-pens were erected, in which 
 tens of thousands of Union prisoners were deliberately 
 starved to death or destroyed by neglect and ill usage. 
 The last-named place, in particular, has obtained a hide- 
 ous reputation, and to the wretches who entered its pre- 
 cincts must have occurred the idea contained in Dante's 
 inscription over the gates of Hell, "Who enters here 
 must leave all hope behind." It comprised an open space 
 of about twenty-nve acres, and was surrounded by a high 
 stockade, and by earthworks mounted with cannon. 
 About one quarter of the enclosure was occupied by a 
 swamp, through which crept a shallow muddy stream, or 
 rather sewer, which had previously received the filth and 
 refuse of a rebel camp beyond, and which formed the 
 only supply of water to the prisoners. Here, in a country 
 BO covered with woods as to be nearly a forest, were fre- 
 quently crowded thirty thousand men, with not so much 
 as a simple shed to protect them from the rain, or the 
 heat, or the cold. The unfortunate prisoners found a 
 partial shelter by burrowing in the earth like wild ani- 
 mals, and upon the occupation of the place by the Union 
 forces, the ground was discovered to be completely honey- 
 combed by their digging. The details of the life which 
 prisoners passed in this place would prove too sickening 
 to our readers, and we willingly omit them. Probably 
 more of the men admitted there died than left the 
 prison, and of the latter class most will bear about them 
 for life the marks of the privations which they there en- 
 dured. In a memorial addressed to President Lincoln in 
 August, 1864, by Union officers confined in Charleston, 
 occurs the following passage with reference to the Ander- 
 son ville prisoners : " They are fast losing hope and be- 
 coming utterly reckless of life. Numbers, crazed by their 
 sufferings, wander about in a state of idiocy. Others 
 deliberately cross the ' Dead Line ' and are remorselessly 
 shot down. 
 
 As accounts of the atrocities practised upon Union 
 prisoners at Andersonville were made public by those 
 persons who were fortunate to escape from the prison 
 alive, a feeling of horror pervaded the North, and in the 
 opinion of many persons their statements were too dread- 
 ful to believe. It was assumed that they must be greatly 
 exaggerated, and that the rebel authorities were ignorant
 
 1194 HISTORY OF THE GEEAT EEBELLION. 
 
 of the atrocities alleged to be committed there. Fortu- 
 nately we are enabled to verify by rebel evidence the 
 condition of things at Andersonville and the infamous 
 purpose of General J. H. Winder, the commanding officer 
 in charge of the post. Some months after the termina- 
 tion of the war, Captain Henry Wirz, a subordinate, 
 having immediate command of the prison, was arraigned 
 before a military court in*Washington for wanton and un- 
 necessary cruelty to his prisoners. The facts we have 
 stated above were corroborated by many Union soldiers, 
 summoned as witnesses; but more valuable testimony, 
 considering the source from which it emanated, was given 
 by Colonel D. T. Chandler, formerly an inspector-general 
 in the rebel service. The following is an extract from 
 an official report from this officer, addressed to Colonel 
 Chilton at Richmond, under date of August 5, 1864 : 
 
 "My duty requires me respectfully to recommend a change in tlie officer 
 in command of the post, Brigadier-General J. H. Winder, and the substitu- 
 tion in his place of some one who unites both energy and good judgment 
 with some feelings of humanity and consideration for the welfare and com- 
 fort (so far as is consistent with their safe keeping) of the vast number of 
 unfortunates placed under his control ; some one who, at least, does not ad- 
 vocate deliberately and in cold blood the propriety of leaving them in their 
 present condition until their number has been sufficiently reduced by death 
 to make the present arrangements suffice for their accommodation ; who 
 will not consider it a matter of self-laudation, boasting that he has never 
 been inside the stockade a place the horrors of which it is difficult to de- 
 scribe, and which is a disgrace to civilization the condition of which he 
 might, by the exercise of a little energy and judgment, even w^th the 
 limited means at his command, have considerably improved." 
 
 Colonel Chandler, upon being called to the stand, veri- 
 > fied the foregoing report, adding that he had % nothing to 
 retract ; and stating that during his inspection he had a 
 conversation with General Winder, who seemed very in- 
 different to the welfare of the prisoners, and was indis- 
 posed to do any thing. He remonstrated with General 
 Winder as 'well as he could. He spoke to him "of the 
 great mortality, and suggested that, as the sickly season 
 was coming on, the swamp should be drained, better food 
 famished, and other sanitary measures adopted. Winder 
 replied to him that he thought it would be better to let 
 one-half die, so they could take care of the remainder. 
 His (Chandler's) assistant, Major Hall, had previously 
 reported that Winder had made a similar expression to
 
 HISTOKY OF THE GEEAT KEBELLION. 1195 
 
 him ; and upon Chandler's remarking that he thought this 
 incredible, Hall said Winder had repeated that expression 
 to him several times. 
 
 This certainly shows that the rebel government in 
 Richmond was made officially cognizant of the barbarities 
 committed at Andersonville ; and as the condition of the 
 prisoners at Belle Isle had been so immediately under 
 their eyes that ignorance could not possibly be pleaded, 
 the conclusion seems inevitable that they deliberately 
 approved of the measures adopted by the commanding 
 officers at both places. Finally, in November, 1864, the 
 general exchange, interrupted in the previous year, was 
 resumed, and the survivors of the rebel prison-pens re- 
 leased from their sufferings. In contrast with the treat- 
 ment of Union prisoners was that accorded to captured 
 rebels. They were comfortably housed and clad, drew 
 abundant rations, and, when sick or wounded, received 
 no less kind treatment than our own soldiers. To both 
 Union men and rebels were also extended the beneficent 
 offices of the Sanitary Commission and the Christian 
 Commission, two noble private philanthropic associations, 
 whose expenditures amounted to many millions, and 
 whose agents were found in every camp and hospital, 
 and on every battle-field of the war, supplying to the sick 
 and wounded the numberless little delicacies and com- 
 forts which the Government, amid the multiplicity of 
 cares, could not well furnish, and affording by their acts 
 a proof of the humanizing influences of free institutions. 
 In contrast with this, the conduct of the rebels to their 
 prisoners illustrates once more the barbarizing influences 
 of slavery! 
 
 Soon after the commencement of hostilities in 1861 the 
 Canadian provinces began to be a resort for rebel refugees, 
 who gradually accumulated in Quebec, Montreal, and 
 other cities, in large numbers. Among these men were 
 some of the most wily and determined enemies of the 
 Union whom secession had begotten, and their presence 
 so near our Northern frontier was felt to be full of danger, 
 as it was known they were prepared for any desperate 
 enterprise. Their leaders, George N. Sanders, Beverly 
 Tucker, Jacob Thompson, and men of like proclivities, 
 spared no efforts to organize plots against the United 
 States, in defiance of the neutrality of the country in
 
 1196 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 which they resided, and, strange to say, the local authori- 
 ties seemed indifferent to these attempts to abuse the 
 right of asylum. In the latter part of 1863 a plot was 
 set on foot by Sanders and his associates, under instruc- 
 tions from the government at Richmond, to release 
 twenty-five hundred rebel officers imprisoned on John- 
 son's Island, in Lake Erie, who, in conjunction with a 
 body of rebels in Canada, were to attack and destroy Buf- 
 falo and other lake cities. The American Consul-General 
 at Montreal, having received timely notice of this plot, laid 
 the details before the Governor-General of Canada, by 
 whom they were communicated on November llth to 
 the United States Government. The prompt measures 
 taken by the latter td guard against the danger prevented 
 th execution of the plot. The British Government, 
 however, seems to have taken no measures to arrest and 
 punish the participators in this transaction. Bat though 
 baffled in this attempt, the secessionists in Canada relaxed 
 in no degree their efforts to harass the border towns of 
 the United States. On the afternoon of October 19, 
 1864, a body of forty well-armed men, headed by one 
 Young, suddenly attacked the village of St. Albans, in 
 Yermont, fifteen miles from the Canadian frontier, and, 
 after robbing the banks of over two hundred thousand 
 dollars, and firing upon the defenceless and thoroughly 
 astounded inhabitants, one of whom was mortally 
 wounded, rode off to Canada, where nearly the whole 
 gang was subsequently arrested. They were brought 
 before the Court of Quarter Sessions at Montreal, and 
 discharged by Justice Coursol on the ground of a want 
 of jurisdiction. Subsequently, on being tried before the 
 Superior Court of Lower Canada, they were all dis- 
 charged. The St. Albans banks recovered a portion of 
 the money stolen from them, but the United States 
 Government received no reparation for this incursion 
 upon their territory from a friendly state. 
 
 In September, 1864, John Y. Beall, an officer in the 
 rebel army, organized in Canada a force for the purpose 
 of a raid on the lakes, and succeeded in capturing and 
 destroying two steamboats owned by citizens of the United 
 States. In the succeeding December he was arrested near 
 the suspension bridge over the Niagara River, in the State 
 of New York, for attempting to tnrow a passenger train
 
 HISTOKY OF THE GKEAT REBELLION. 1197 
 
 from Buffalo off the railroad track, which act he claimed 
 to have perpetrated by virtue of his commission from the 
 rebel government. He was tried and executed as a pirate, 
 spy, and murderer, on Governor's Island, New York, on 
 February 24th, 1865. 
 
 As if the attempt to rob defenceless towns, and murder 
 their inhabitants, or to throw railroad trains off the track, 
 were not sufficiently infamous, the Canadian refugees now 
 organized- a plot to fire the principal hotels of the city of 
 New York. The attempt was made on the night of No- 
 vember 25th, and, if successful, might have resulted in a 
 frightful sacrifice of property and life ; but, fortunately, it 
 was committed to timid and unskilful hands, and the fires 
 kindled by them were soon extinguished. Captain Robert 
 C. Kennedy, of the rebel service, was subsequently arrest- 
 ed in Detroit for complicity in this plot, and was tried and 
 executed at Fort Lafayette, in New York Harbor, on March 
 24th, 1865. 
 
 Similar to the exploit of Beall on the lakes was that of 
 a party of disguised rebels, who, embarking on the pas- 
 senger steamer Chesapeake, at New York, on December 
 19th, 1863, murdered one of the officers, and carried the 
 vessel into a Nova Scotian port. She was subsequently 
 restored to her owners, but her piratical captors, like so 
 many of their associates in British America, went un- 
 whipped of justice. Finally, to cap the climax of horrors, 
 we have to record the attempt, fortunately abortive, of a 
 Dr. Blackburn, to introduce into the United States the 
 yellow fever, by means of infected clothing brought from 
 Bermuda. This, like the other acts just related, was done 
 in the interest of the rebel Confederacy, by men claiming 
 to act as Confederate soldiers, and indicated a lack of 
 moral principle, which, for the sake of civilization, it is to 
 be hoped was rare among the inhabitants of the seceded 
 States, or their sympathizers.
 
 1198 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 
 
 CHAPTER LXXYII. 
 
 Peace Negotiations at Foftress Monroe. Their Fruitless Issue. Second 
 Inauguration of Lincoln. His Address. Rejoicings at the Prospect of 
 Peace. Assassination of Lincoln. The Public Mourning. Funeral Pro- 
 cession. Character of Lincoln. Booth, the Murderer, Pursued and Shot. 
 Trial and Execution of his Accomplices. Inauguration of Andrew 
 Johnson as President. Amnesty Proclamation. Plan for Reconstruction. 
 Pursuit and Capture of Davis. Capitulation of Generals Taylor and 
 Kirby Smith. Termination of the War and Disbanding of the Armies. 
 The National Debt. Concluding Reflections. 
 
 WITH the opening of 1865, the air was filled, as it had 
 been often before, with rumors that the rebels were anxious 
 to negotiate for peace, and in order that no opportunity 
 might be lost to effect a consummation so devoutly wished 
 for by all classes of the people, Mr. Lincoln authorized 
 Secretary Seward to proceed to Fortress Monroe, and there 
 confer with Alexander H. Stephens, of Georgia, the rebel 
 Vice-President, R. M. T. Hunter, of Virginia, and J. A. 
 Campbell, of Alabama, who had been designated by Jeffer- 
 son Davis as commissioners to act in behalf of the Con- 
 federacy. The Presi4ent's instructions were conveyed to 
 Mr. Seward in the following terms : 
 
 " EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, ) 
 i January 31, 1865. J 
 
 " Hon. WILLIAJIH. SEWARD, Secretary of State : 
 
 " You will proce'ed to Fortress Monroe, Virginia, there to meet and infor- 
 mally confer with Messrs. Stephens, Hunter, and Campbell, on the basis of 
 my letter to F. P. Blair, Esq., of January 18, 1865, a copy of which you 
 have. You will make known to them that three things are indispensable, 
 to wit : First, the restoration of the national authority throughout all the 
 States. Second, no receding by the Executive of the United States, on the 
 slavery question, from the position assumed thereon in the late annual mes- 
 sage to Congress, and in the preceding documents. Third, no cessation of 
 hostilities short of an end of the war, and the disbanding of all the forces hos- 
 tile to the Government. You will inform them that all propositions of theirs 
 not inconsistent with the above, will be considered and passed upon in a spirit 
 of sincere liberality. You will hear all they may choose to say, and report it to 
 me. You will not assume to definitely consummate any thing. Yours, &c., 
 
 "ABRAHAM LINCOLN." 
 
 On February 2d, the President himself left for Fortress 
 Monroe, and on the succeeding day had an interview of 
 several hours' duration with the rebel commissioners on 
 board of a steamer anchored in Hampton Roads. The
 
 HISTORY OF THE GKEAT REBELLION. 1199 
 
 conference was altogether informal, but enough was de- 
 veloped to show that the rebels would enter into no nego- 
 tiations for peace, without first obtaining a recognition 
 of their independence. "What the insurgent party 
 seemed chiefly to favor," said Mr. Seward in a dispatch 
 to the American minister in London, " was a postpone- 
 ment of the question of separation upon which the war is 
 waged, and a mutual direction of the efforts of the Gov- 
 ernment, as well as those of the insurgents, to some ex- 
 trinsic policy or scheme for a season, during which pas- 
 sions might be expected to subside, and the armies be re- 
 duced, and trade and intercourse between the people of 
 both sections be resumed." This was immediately reject- 
 ed by the President, who further declared that " the com- 
 plete restoration of the national authority everywhere, 
 was an indispensable condition of any assent, on our part, 
 to whatever form of peace might be proposed." The 
 conference, accordingly, came to an end by mutual agree- 
 ment, without accomplishing any thing. 
 
 In February, 1865, the electoral vote for President was 
 officially announced to be, for Lincoln, two hundred and 
 twelve, for McClellan, twenty-one. Andrew Johnson 
 was also announced to have received two hundred and 
 twelve votes for Yice-President. On March 4th, Mr. 
 Lincoln was, for the second time, inaugurated President, 
 receiving the oath of office from Chief-Justice Chase, the 
 late Secretary of the Treasury, who had been appointed 
 to succeed Taney on the bench of the Supreme Court. 
 
 The new cabinet was almost identical with the old, the 
 only important change being the substitution of Hugh 
 McCulloch as Secretary of the Treasury for Mr. Fessen- 
 den, who resumed his place in the Senate. 
 
 On the evening of April 14th (Good-Friday), Mr. Lin- 
 coln, in compliance with the request of the proprietor, 
 visited Ford's Theatre in "Washington. Preocupied as he 
 was with public duties and questions of future policy, he 
 felt little inclination to go; but as the announcement 
 that he would be present had been made public, he deter- 
 mined, rather then disappoint the audience, to conquer 
 his reluctance and give an hour or two to relaxation. In 
 the midst of the performance, while sitting in the Presi- 
 dential box, which adjoins the stage, in company with 
 his wife and two friends, he was attacked by an assassin,
 
 1200 HISTORY OF THE GREAT EEBELLION. 
 
 who, bursting suddenly upon him, shot him in the back 
 of the head with a pistol, and then, leaping upon the 
 stage and brandishing a dagge?, shouted, "Sic semper 
 tyrannis the South is avenged," and disappeared into 
 the street. There, mounting a fleet horse which was 
 in readiness, he effected his escape almost before the 
 astounded audience were aware of the tragedy that had 
 happened. Between the deed of blood and the escape of 
 the assassin there was not the lapse of a minute. Mr. 
 Lincoln was conveyed in an unconscious state to a neigh- 
 boring house, where he expired the next morning, April 
 15th, at twenty -two minutes past seven o'clock, surround- 
 ed by his Cabinet and friends. The murderer was recog- 
 nized, by several persons in the audience, to be John 
 Wilkes Booth, a member of a distinguished family of 
 actors, and himself an actor of some reputation. On the 
 same night, Secretary Seward, who was then confined to 
 his bed in a crippled condition, in consequence of hav- 
 ing been thrown from his carriage a few days previous, 
 was attacked by an assassin, who forced his way into the 
 house, overcame the resistance of the attendants, and, 
 after inflicting dangerous, though fortunately not mortal 
 wounds with a knife on Mr. Seward and his son Fred- 
 erick, effected his escape into the street. 
 
 The horror and alarm with which these acts filled the 
 community cannot be adequately described ; and, indeed, 
 the impression caused by them is too recent to render de- 
 scription necessary. The revulsion from unbounded de- 
 light at the prospect of returning peace, to despair and 
 distrust of what the future might bring forth, was sudden 
 and terrible. Almost with one accord the people realized 
 that they had lost a friend and a father, one who, through 
 good report and through evil report, amidst cares and 
 embarrassments such as have seldom rested upon any 
 ruler, had borne himself with a meekness and patience, a 
 dignity and rectitude, and had exhibited withal an ability 
 which challenged the admiration of the world. Stricken 
 down by an assassin's hand at the moment when his pa- 
 tient forbearance and unswerving trust in the result of the 
 war for the Union were about to meet their reward from 
 a people whose confidence he had already largely re- 
 ceived, he passed more deeply into the affections of his 
 countrymen than ever before. At once the idea came
 
 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 1201 
 
 uppermost to every mind that the Southern rebels, in 
 whose behalf Booth had professed to commit his mad act, 
 had lost in Abraham Lincoln the man who, of all others, 
 would have dealt most tenderly with them. His large 
 and generous nature could harbor ill-will to no one not 
 even to those political opponents who, throughout his 
 Administration, had spared no efforts to denounce and 
 misrepresent him, and who had even ridiculed his rugged 
 features and ungainly form ; nor to the rebels, who had 
 exhausted the vocabulary for coarse terms of abuse to ap- 
 ply to him; and at the moment when the fatal bullet 
 lodged in his brain, he stood before the world, to use his 
 own noble words, "with malice towards none, with 
 charity for all." A kindly, humble, simple-hearted, and 
 upright man, without learning, with little training in 
 statesmanship, and with no great intellectual endowments, 
 he had succeeded in fulfilling a great public trust, partly 
 by the exercise of a natural sagacity, but chiefly by his 
 moral rectitude and abiding trust in the providence of 
 God. As the recollection of all that he had done and 
 suffered in behalf of that Union he had sworn to maintain 
 and defend, of his endearing private traits, and even of 
 that quaint humor which he assumed to drive away, for 
 the moment, the harassing cares of state, rose in the pub- 
 lic mind, the nation bowed itself and wept. Such a uni- 
 versal mourning had not been known in the memory of 
 living men : the land seemed clad in the habiliments of 
 woe. 
 
 At noon, on the 19th of April, his obsequies were cele- 
 brated in the Executive Mansion at Washington, in the 
 presence of the chief civil and military authorities of the 
 nation ; and at the same hour throughout the country the 
 tolling of church-bells and the booming of minute-guns 
 announced that the people were participating in the 
 solemn ceaemony. An imposing procession then escorted 
 the body to the Capitol, where it lay in state until the 
 21st. It was then conducted in one long funeral proces- 
 sion, occupying several weeks, through the chief cities of 
 the Union, to its final resting-place in the cemetery 
 at Springfield, Illinois. It may be added, that the un- 
 timely end of Mr. Lincoln called forth in Europe express- 
 ions of horror not less vehement than those uttered by 
 his own countrymen ; and from all parts of the civilized 
 
 74
 
 1202 HISTOEY OF THE GEEAT REBELLION. 
 
 world went up unfeigned tributes of respect for his virtues 
 and ability. 
 
 Meanwhile the Government was on the alert to ar- 
 rest the assassin and his accomplices. Booth was finally 
 tracked to a farm-house, near Port Royal, on the Rappa- 
 hannock, where, refusing to be arrested, and fighting with 
 the desperation of a wild beast brought to bay, he was 
 mortally wounded on the 27th, dying a few hours after- 
 wards. Harrold, an accomplice, was captured with him. 
 A few days later a man named Payne was arrested and 
 identified as the assassin who had attempted the life of 
 Mr. Seward. Other arrests followed, and on May 10th, 
 David E. Harrold, George A. Atzeroth, Lewjs Payne, 
 Michael O'Laughlin, Edward Spangler, Samuel Arnold, 
 Mary E. Surratt, and Samuel A. Mudd were arraigned 
 before a military tribunal, presided over by General David 
 Hunter, as principals or accessories to the murder. After 
 a trial, lasting nearly two months, in the course of which 
 the existence of a plot to murder not only Mr. Lincoln 
 and Mr. Seward, but Yice-President Johnson, General 
 Grant, and others, was made manifest, Harrold, Payne, 
 Mrs. Surratt, and Atzeroth were found guilty of murder, 
 and were hung in Washington on the 7th of July ; Mudd, 
 Arnold, and O'Laughlin were sentenced to imprisonment 
 for life, and Spangler to six years' imprisonment at hard 
 labor. 
 
 By the Constitution of the United States, the office of 
 President, in the event of the death of the incumbent, ole- 
 volves upon the person holding the office of Yice-Presi- 
 dent. Accordingly, a few hours after Mr. Lincoln had 
 breathed his last, the oath of office was administered by 
 Chief-Justice Chase to Yice-President Andrew Johnson, 
 in the presence of the Cabinet. 
 
 Of the new chief magistrate, thus unexpectedly induct- 
 ed into office, it scarcely falls within our province to 
 speak. His Administration belongs rather to the new 
 era now dawning upon the country than to that which 
 witnessed the rise, the progress, and the overthrow of the 
 Great Rebellion, and of which we have assumed to give 
 the narrative. He was known to be a man of ability, 
 energy, and integrity, who, from the commencement of 
 the rebellion, had pronounced unmistakably for the Union. 
 It was hoped and believed that he would pursue the course
 
 HISTORY OF THE GKEAT EEBELLION. 1203 
 
 already marked out by his predecessor, and although he 
 was popularly supposed to have less of the mild clemency 
 for which President Lincoln was noted, that circumstance 
 rather accorded than otherwise with the prevailing temper 
 of the people, whose hearts, for the time, were turned 
 away from clemency, and who demanded that stern and 
 exact justice should be meted out to the rebels. This 
 sentiment gradually passed away, and the President and 
 his Cabinet, the same whom Mr. Lincoln had selected, set 
 themselves seriously to work to reconstruct loyal govern- 
 ments in the States which had attempted to form a new 
 confederacy. 
 
 In a former chapter we have described how Davis, at 
 the approach of danger, hurried southward, leaving to Lee 
 and his remnant of an army the task of defending the State 
 of Virginia. On the 3d of April he arrived in Danville, 
 and assumed, with such of his cabinet and officials as he 
 could gather around him, to establish the fiction of a gov- 
 ernment. He also issued a proclamation, announcing his 
 intention to hold on to Virginia. But the capitulation of 
 Lee and the threatening aspect of Sherman and Stoneman 
 counselled him to move farther southward, while escape 
 was possible. With his fugitive government fast crum- 
 bling to pieces around him, he still maintained an appear- 
 ance of confidence and a degree of assurance which deceived 
 no one ; and at Charlotte, North Carolina, where he re- 
 mained several days, he made a public speech, promising 
 soon to have a larger army than ever before in the field. 
 About the 25th of April he left Charlotte, alarmed by the 
 approach of Stoneman's Cavalry, who now became aware 
 that the great head of the rebellion was in their neighbor- 
 hood. Passing through Yorkville, South Carolina, with 
 a train of several ambulances and a small mounted escort, 
 he entered Georgia in the beginning of May, and on the 
 4th reached Washington, a small town northwest of Au- 
 gusta. Thence he moved rapidly southward, hoping, 
 possibly, to reach the Gulf and there find a vessel to con- 
 vey him to Cuba. Meanwhile, rumors of the flight of 
 Davis through Georgia reached General Wilson at Macon, 
 who &nt out parties of cavalry to scour the neighboring 
 country. At Irwinsville, about seventy miles south ot 
 Macon, the Fourth Michigan Cavalry, Colonel Pritchard, 
 came upon the traces of the rebel ex-president, and at day-
 
 1204 HISTOKT OF THE GKEAT BEBELLION. 
 
 break on the 9th of May his encampment, two miles outside 
 of the town, was completely surprised and the whole party 
 of fugitives captured, includingMrs. Davis and her sister, 
 the rebel Postmaster-General Keagan, and others. 
 
 Davis was conveyed to Macon, and thence to Fortress 
 Monroe, where he arrived in the latter part of May, and 
 where he has since been incarcerated, awaiting his trial 
 for high treason. Stephens, the rebel vice-president, was 
 captured about the same time, together with others, who 
 had held high civil and military positions in the rebel gov- 
 ernment. 
 
 A few words will suffice to relate the formal closing of 
 the rebellion. On May 4th the forces under General Tay- 
 lor, comprising all those troops east of the Mississippi who 
 had not yet succumbed, were surrendered to General Can- 
 by on the same terms as those accepted by General Lee ; 
 and a few weeks later the whole of Kirby Smith's trans- 
 Mississippi command was surrendered on similar terms. 
 On June 1st, 1865, there was not an organized body of 
 men east of the Rio Grande who defied the authority of 
 the National Government. Long before this final act was 
 effected, measures had been taken to reduce and disperse 
 the immense forces which had been converging upon Kich- 
 mond. On May 23d and 24th the armies of Grant and 
 Sherman were reviewed in Washington in the presence of 
 President Johnson and a vast concourse of people, and 
 soon these famous organizations remained such only in 
 name. To all parts of the country poured a steady stream 
 of disbanded regiments, and by the 1st of September half 
 a million of men had been discharged from the National 
 service, leaving less than two hundred thousand for duty 
 in the recently revolted States. Over the whole country 
 settled a profound peace. The South, from sheer exhaus- 
 tion alone, was incapable of offering further resistance, and 
 acquiesced in the, result of the great struggle. To such a 
 pitch of misery had it been brought during four 'years of 
 war that peace was welcome on any terms, and numbers 
 of recent rebels, including some who had held high civil 
 and military office, became applicants for pardon at the 
 hands of the Executive. Although the emancipation of 
 the slaves was generally accepted as a settled fact, preju- 
 dice and habit could not at once succumb to the force of 
 circumstances, and the reciprocal relations and duties
 
 HISTORY OF THE GEEAT REBELLION. 1205 
 
 of those who had recently been masters and slaves were 
 not immediately recognized. In order to protect the in- 
 terests of the latter class, a Freedman's Bureau was organ- 
 ized by the Government, of which General Howard was 
 appointed superintendent, with agents distributed over 
 every portion of the late insurgent States. The close of 
 the war necessarily found the Government saddled with 
 an enormous debt, but with its credit unimpaired at home 
 or abroad. So popular, indeed, was the 7.30 loan among 
 all classes of the community, that during the spring and 
 summer of 1865 the subscriptions, principally in small 
 sums, to the authorized issues, sometimes reached the enor- 
 mous amount of twenty-five or thirty millions a day. On 
 the 31st of May the Secretary of the Treasury published 
 an official statement of the public debt, from which it ap- 
 peared that the amount outstanding, bearing interest in 
 coin, was $1,108,113,842 ; the interest being $64,480,489.- 
 50. The debt, bearing interest in lawful money, was $1,- 
 053,476,371 ; the interest being $60,158,384.52. The debt 
 on which interest has ceased was $786,270. The debt 
 bearing no interest was $472,829,270.57. The totaL in- 
 debtedness was $2,635,205,753.50 ; the interest, both in 
 gold and paper, being $124,638,874. The amount of le- 
 gal-tender notes in circulation was $659,160,569. These 
 included $432,687,966 of the new issue, and $160,143,620 
 of the compound-interest notes under the act of June 30, 
 1864. The uncalled-for pay requisitions were $40,000,000, 
 and the amount in treasury notes over $25,000,000. The 
 amount of fractional currency was $24,667,000. 
 
 Here we may fitly close our History of the Great Rebel- 
 lion. During four years of trial such as few people have 
 lived through, of unequalled financial pressure, and of 
 ceaseless warfare with a foe of our own blood and birth, 
 the nation had struggled on to final victory. The aristo- 
 cratic governments of the Old World, pleased at the idea 
 of seeing the great republic of the "West dismembered and 
 displaced from among the family of nations, stood appalled 
 at the prodigious energy and vitality which she displayed 
 in her hour of trial. At the call of the President armies 
 had sprung up as if by a magician's wand, swarming in 
 numbers that recalled the hordes which penetrated from 
 the remote East into Europe ; arms in abundance were put 
 into their hands, and great generals were found to lead
 
 1206 HISTORY OF THE GEEAT REBELLION. 
 
 them in the field. Within two years a petty navy, not 
 
 freater than a third-rate European power would maintain, 
 ad swollen to a size rivalling those of Great Britain or 
 France ; and two years later it contained vessels which 
 could bid defiance to any foreign ship afloat. These ar- 
 mies had been raised and maintained, this navy built and 
 manned, without so much as one dollar obtained by loans 
 from Europe ; the men, the ships, and the money were fur- 
 nished by our own people. Such a result was certainly 
 astounding to those who could not appreciate the patriot- 
 ism and the unconquerable will of a free people ; such a 
 command of resources, even to those who thought they 
 knew the capacity of the country, seemed inexplicable. 
 They had looked for weakness, and they witnessed a 
 strength which, if it aroused their apprehensions, increased 
 also their respect. The war had developed the overgrown 
 boy, despised for his awkwardness and unconscious of his 
 powers, into a very giant. The United States at once, 
 took its place among the great powers of the world, more 
 than ever before the bulwark of freedom, the hope of strug- 
 gling democracies in the Old World, and the exemplar of 
 progress. That all this was accomplished without years 
 of sorrow and misery such as, it is to be hoped, we may 
 never endure again, it would be useless to deny ; but in 
 the nobler manhood, the self-sacrificing spirit, and the pur,e 
 patriotism which the struggle called forth, and, above all, 
 perhaps, in the overthrow of the institution of slavery, the 
 war furnished some compensating advantages. The chas- 
 tening hand of God was heavy upon ns, as many a deso- 
 lated hearth-stone will attest, but in His providence He 
 permitted us also to 
 
 11 Grain in moral height, 
 Nor lose the wrestling thews that throw the world." 
 
 THE END.

 
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