History of the Great Rebellion by Thomas Prentice Kettell
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Title: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 Confederate government, the concentration of the military and financial resources of the federal government … together with sketches of the lives of all the eminent statesmen and military and naval commanders, with a full and complete index. From official sources. By Thomas P. Kettell.

Author:Kettell, Thomas Prentice.

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Print Source: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 Confederate government, the concentration of the military and financial resources of the federal government … together with sketches of the lives of all the eminent statesmen and military and naval commanders, with a full and complete index. From official sources. By Thomas P. Kettell.

Kettell, Thomas Prentice.

iv, [5]-778, [4] p. incl. maps. front., pl., port. 22 cm.

Hartford, Conn.,

L. Stebbins;

Cincinnati,

F. A. Howe,

1866.

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT’REBELLION, , ~ r.-I FROM ITS COMMENCEMENT TO ITS

CLOSE, GIVING AN ACCOUNT OF ITS ORIGIN, THE SECESSION OF THE SOUTHERN

STATES, AND THE FORMATION OF THIE CONFEDERATE GOVERNMENT, THE

CONCENTRATION OF THE MILITARY AND FINANCIAL RESOURCES OF THE FEDERAL

GOVERNMENT, DEVELOPMENT OF ITS VAST POWER, THE RAISING, ORGANIZING, AND

EQUIPPING OF OON TENDING ARMIES AND NAVIES; LUCID, VIVID, AND ACCURATE

DESCRIPTIONS OF BATTL]8 AND BOMBARDMENTS, SIEGES AND SURRENDER OF FORTS, CAPTURED BATTERIES, ETC., ETC.; THE IMMENSE FINANCIAL RESOURCES AND

COMPREHENSIVE MEASURES OF TIHE GOVERNMENT, THE ENTHUSIASM AND PATRI OTIC

CONTRIBUTIONS OF TIIE PEOPLE, TOGETIHER WITH SKETCHES OF TIHE LIVES OF ALL

THE EMINENT STATESMEN AND MILITARY AND NAVAL COMMANDERS, WITH A FULL AND

COMPLETE INDEX. FROM OFFICIAL SOURCES. By THOMAS P. KETTE:LL, AUTHOR OF

EIGHTY YEARS PROGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES, LATE EDITOR OF THE MEROHCA MAGAZINE, LATE EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR OF THE ARMY AND NAVY JOURNAL, BANKERS

CIRCULAR, ETC., ETC EMBELLISHED WITH NUMEROUS AND BEAUTIFUL STEEL PLATE

ENGRAVINGS, AN VALUABLE MAPS, SIHO0WING ALL THE IMPORTANT MILITARY POINTS.

COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME. FURNISHED TO SUBSCRIBERS ONLY. HARTFORD, CONN.: STEBBINS. OHIO, No. 111 MAIN STREET: F. A. HOWE, CESSOR TO HENRY HOWE.

1866. L. CINCINNATI,

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ntered according to Act of Congress, in the year 186, BY L. STEBBINS, In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the United States for the District of Connecticut. a 0

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PREFACE. IN the following pages it has been attempted to give a succinct and authentic narrative of the war against the American Union, which, commencing practically with the secession of South Carolina in the autumn of 1860, in consequence of the election of Mr. Lincoln, terminated a few weeks after the second inauguration of the same chief magistrate. Although the period embraced within these limits comprises less than four and a half years, yet so prolific were these years of great events and great ideas, so radical were the social and political changes which they involved, so numerous the civil and military chiefs they brought into public notice, that a single volume may appear inadequate to describe the History of the Great Rebellion. Undoubtedly to another age and to another generation of writers belongs the elaborate treatment of special episodes of the struggle. Passion must also become cool, prejudices be softened, and the light of truth illumine many passages, at present obscure, before effects can be traced to their proper causes, and such a history be written as will bear the unmistakable imprint of accuracy and impartiality; and fe, probably, who read these pages, will live to see that titme. Our materials at present are like the direct evidence educed at a trial-the cross-examination has not yet been had. Meanwhile, however, a work which shall refresh and re-enfvrce the memory, bewildered by the rapid march of events, and give a clear outline of what these 27-,3-‘,-17
t; Ii!’ i

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PREFACE. wonderful four years and a half have brought forth, to be filled out by materials which the future alone can furnish, may not be undesirable. Such the present volume assumes to be; and it is confidently believed that no important civil or military event will be found to have been omitted from its pages. To the writer of contemporaneous history little opportunity is presented for philosophic generalization, and the author has gladly avoided-speculations, which, from the necessity of the case, could only be crude and premature, contenting himself for the most part with recording facts, and leaving the reader to draw his own inferences. That his narrative has been written from a Union point of view will be sufficiently apparent, and for that circumstance he neither desires to apologize nor expects that an apology will be required. The sources of his information have been, wherever obtainable, official documents, and particularly the reports of generals who have conducted active operations in ftle field, or whose position has enabled them to describe such operations with accuracy. WThere materials of this nature were not to be obtained, free use has been made of the voluminous and often graphic narratives of the army correspondents of the daily press-a branch of literature to which the war has given a surprising development, and which must be largely referred to by future historians. 6 iv a

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C ONT ENTS. PAGI

INTIRODUCTION………………………………………………………………………

1X CHAPTER I. Secession determined upon by Southern Leaders.-Treachery of Cabinet Officers.-Division of the Democratic Party.-Election of Mr.

Lincoln.-The John Brown taid.-” The Impeniding Crisis and the’

Compendiumtn.”-Movements for Secession in the Cotton States…………..

81 CHAPTER II. South Carolina Convention.-Ordinance of Secession and Declaration of Causes.-Resolutlons for C’onvention of Seceded States.-Mississippi Convention.-Alabama Convention.-Flori(lda Ordi nance.-Seizure of Forts.-Georgia’s Pesolution in response to New York.-Ordinance of Seces sion.-Louisiana Convention.-Texas Convention.-Vote of the People.-General Houston. Yirginia Resolutions.-Oidinance of Secession.-Convention with the Confederacy.-Arkansas. -Secession defeated.-North Carolina Ordinance passedl.-Tennessee Act of Independence. Military League.-Maryland Resolutions.-Confederate Congress.-Constitution.-Jefferson D)avis, President-Address………………………………………………………..

35 CHAPTER III. Meeting of Congress.-President’s Message.-Resignation of Secretaries Cobb, Cass, Floyd, and Thompson.-Defalcations.-Special Message of the President.-Co)ilimittee of Thirtythree. Crittenden Iesolutions.-Border States’ Plan.-Virginia Resolutions.-Peace Convention.

Close of C(onress.-New Territories.-Finance.-Constitutional Amendment.

Mr. Lincoln’s Arrival at Washingtot.-Inaugural; its Effects.-Southern Commissioners.-Supplies to Fort Sumter.-Policy of the Government.-Charleston Ilarbor.-Events at the South.-Bombard ment and Surrender of Fort Sumter.-Fort Pickens

Le-cnforced………………………… 50 CHAPTER IV. Effect of the Fall of Sumter.-Call for Seventy-five Thousand Troops, and Replies of States.-Con gress Convened.-Destruction of Property at Norfolk.-Effect of the Proclamation at the North. -Baltimore RItiot.-March of Troops to Washington.-The Position of Maryland.-Proceedings of her Legislature.-Pacification of

Baltimore……………………………………….. 78 CHAPTER V.

Confederate Congress.-Davis’s Message.-YVirginia.-Beauregard’s Proclamation.-Border States’ Convention.-Western Virginia.-StatiReorganization……………………………….. 83

CHAPTER VI. Troops concentrated at Washington.-Popular Impatience.-Occupation of Alexandria.-Opera tions in Virginia……………………………………………………….

89 CHAPTER VII. Occupation of Fortress Monroe.-Engagement at Big Bethel.-Increase of Army.-Army Organi zation.-Want of Arms.-Advance to Centreville.-Bull Run…………………………… 91

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CONTENTS. CHAPTER VIII. PA.l Missouri.-Capture of State Troops.-Booneville.-Carthage.-Shenandoah Valley.-Patterson Crosses the Potomac-Bunker Hill.-Campaign in Western Virginia.-Philippi.-Laurel ill.

-Rich Mountain.-Beverly.-Western Virginia cleared of Rebels.-McClellan transferred to the

Potomac…………………………………………………………………….

104 CHAPTER IX. Effect of the Battle of Bull Run.-Confederate Congress.-Davis’s Message.-Privateering.-Affairs in Missouri.-Commissioners to Europe.-Southern Armies and Finances………………… 118 CHAPTER X. Meeting of Congress.-President’s Message.-Naval and Military Affairs-Estimates for Year. Senators expelled.-Acts passed.-Conflscation.-Operations of the Treasury.-The Different Loans Authorized.-Difficulties of the Government.-Habeas Corpus.-The Press.-Newspapers Suppressed………………………………………………………………………

121 CHAPTER XI. Modern Art of War.-Great Wars of Europe.-New Principles.-“

Strategy.”-” Tactics.”-Forma tion of Soldiers.-Education of Officers.-Scientific Aspect of the Present War.-McClellan’s Order.-Restoration of Discipline.-Army Organization.-Inactivity of the Enemy.-His Pro jects.- Hatteras Occupied.-General Fremont in Missouri.-Battle of Dug Springs.-Battle of Wilson’s Creek.-Death of Lyon.-Retreat of the Army under Sigel.-Martial Law.-Position of Forces.-Colonel Blair’s Charges.-Freinont’s

Proclamation.-Manumnission.-Capture of Lexington.-Advance of Fremont.-Retreat of Price.-Major Zagonyi.-Fremont Relieved…. 134 CHAPTER

XII. Kentucky.-Vote of the State.-Meeting of Legislature.-Messae of Governor.-Kentucky for the Union.-Breckinridge’s Proclamation.-Military Movements.-Cairo.-Columbus, its Position and Strength.-Paducah.-Concentration of Troops.-Mill Spring.-Defeat and Death of Zolli coffer.-Construction of Gunboats.-Cal,ture of Fort Ilenry.-Bowling Green Evacuated.-Fort Donelson.-Escape of Pillow and Floyd.-Fall of Nashville.-Columbus Evacuated.-Missouri under General Halleck…………………………………………………………….

160 CHAPTER XIII. Affairs in Western Virginia.-General Rosecrans.-Oppression by General Wise.-Population of Western Virginia.-The Confederate Troops.-Gauley Bridge.-Kanawha Expedition.-Rose crans’s Command.-Proclamation.-General Lee.-Elk River.-Cheat Mountain.-General Rey nolds.-His Command.-CCarnifex Ferny.-The Battle.-General Benhamin.-Retreat of the Enemy.-Dogwood Gap.-Big Sewall.-General Floyd.-General Reynolds.-Green River. Enemy’s Loss.-Chapmanville.-Gauley Bridge.-Guyandotte.-Romney.-Camp Alleghany… 180 CHAPTER XIV. Strength of the Navy.-Blockade.-Captures by the Navy.-Large Increase of Ships of War.-Right of Blockade.-Propositions of the American Government.-Action of England and France. Privateers. The Sumter.-The Nashville.-Trial of Privatecrs.-Laws of Piracy.-Retaliation of the Confederates.-Exchange of Prisoners………………………………………… 188 CHAPTER XV.

Improved Efficiency of the Navy.-Expedions.-Port Royal.-The Fleet-The Assault.-Troops Landed.-Proclamation.-Stone Fleet.-Ship Island.-General Butler.-Proclamation of Gen eral Phelps.-Burnside’s Expedition. Fort Pickens.-Galveston.-Combat on the Mississippi -Effectiveness of the Blockade…………………………………………………… 197

CHAPTER XVI. Army of the Potomac.-Volunteers.-Unlon Advance.-Lewinsville.-Ball’s Bluff.-General Scott ,etires.-McClellan in Command.-Dranesville.-Programme of Movement.-President’s poclamniation………………………………………………………

210 6

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CONTENTS. CHAPTER XVII. ,PAG Foreign Mission of the Confederates.-Mr.

Seward’s Letter of Instructions-Earl Russell and the Confederates-France Recognizes d,facto Governments.-Foreign Recognition of the Bellig erent Rights of the South.-Mr. Seward’s Reply.-Spain.-Mexico.-Monroe Doctrine.-The Trent

Affair…………………………………………………….. 216

CHAPTER XVIII. 4 Age of Invention.-Change in Arms.-Springfield Rifle.-Enfleld Rifle.-Repeating Arms.-The Rodman Gun.-Columbiads.-Parrott Gun.-Dahlgrens.-Table of Guns in Service.-Proje tiles.-Batteries………………………………………………………………….

228 CHAPTER XIX The Situation.-Army of the Potomac.-General McClellan.-The Retreat of the Enemy from Manassas.-The Peiinsular Campaign.-Yorktown.-McDowell’s Corps Withdrawn.-Siege of Yorktown………………………………………………………………………

2 CHAPTER XX. Iron-plated Ships.-Merrimac.-Federal Fleet.-Hampton Roads.-Destruction of the Cumberland and Congress.-Monitor.-Ironclad Duel.-Repulse of the Merrimac……………………. 245 CHAPTER XXI.

Evacuation of Yorktown.-Retreat of the Enemy.-Pursuit.-Battle of Williamsburg.-West Point.-Advance of McClellan.-Fort Darling.-Repulse of the Gunboats………………… 251 CHAPTER XXII. Taking of Norfolk.-Chickahominy.-Position of Enemy.-IHanover CourtHouse.-Battle of Fair Oaks.-Advance of the Reserves.-Retreat of the Enemy……………………………… 256 CHAPTER XXIII. General Jackson’s Movement-Battle at Winchester.-Advance o0 Banks.-Shields ordered to join McDowell.-Retreat of Banks.-Front Royal.-Banks driven across the Potomac.-Moun tain Department.-Fremont supersedes Rosecrans.-Battle at McDowell.-Fremont’s Corps ordered to support Banks.-The Object of Jackson’s Raid.-Fremont’s Movement.-Retreat of the Enemy.-Harrisonburg.-Cross Keys.-Escape of Jackson.-McDowell concentrates at Fredericksburg.-Formation of the Army of Virginia under Pope………………………. 265 CHAPTER XXIV. Continued Operations against Richmond.-Combat of June 25th.-McClellan’s Dispatch.-Me chanicsville.-Gaines’s Mills.-Change of Base to the James River.-White Oak Swamp.-Mal vern Hill.-McClellan Addresses the Troops.Jefferson Davis’s Address.-Close of Campaign. -Causes of

Failure………………………………………………………………

279 CHAPTER XXV. Department of Missouri.eneral Halleck.-Negotiations with Price.-Van Dorn, Curtis, and ~igel. Pea Ridge.,……………… *.. 995

Sigel.-Pea

Ridge……………………………………………………5 CHAPTER

XXVI. Island No. Ten.-Beauregard at Corinth-Battle of Pittsburg Landing.-HuntsvilUe.-Fort Wright. 802 CHAPTER XXVIL Halleck at Pittsburg Landing.-Fall of Corinth.-Pursuit.-Memphis Occupied.-eneral Grant End of Campaign.-Halleck at Washington……………………………. 818 7

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CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXVIII. PAGI Ovmtions of the Army of Virginia under General Pope.-New Policy of Conducting the War. edar Mountain.-Line of the Rappahannock.-Flanking Movement of Stonewall Jackson. o d Battle of Bull Rua.-Chantilly.-Death of Kearnty.-Evacuation of the Peninsula…… $19

CHAPTER XXIX. The Expedition of Burnside.-Capture of Newbern.-Beaufort Captured.-Operations on the outhern Coast.-Siege of Fort Pulaski.-James Island……………………………….. CHAPTER XXX. Financial Situation.-Legal Tender.-Interest in Coln.-Duties in Specie.-Gold Notes at a Pre mium.-Deposits.-Ways and Means.-Debt.-Excise Loan.-Income Tax.-Paper Circulation. -Effect of Paper Money.-Rise in i’rice.-Premium on Gold.-Commerce.-Government Ex penses.Growth of Debt.-Immense Means…………………………………………..$48 CHAPTER XXXI.

Thirty-Seventh Congress.-Foreign Relations.-Public Anxiety.-Surrender of Commissioners. War Conduct.-Executive Action.-President’s Message.-Cooperation.-Hunter’s Order. Border State Delegation.-Kentucky Legislattre.-President’s Letter.-llis Position.-West ern Delegation.-Emancipation Action of Congress.-No more Slave Territory.-District of Columbia.-Cooperation Resolution.-Military not to Surrender Fugitives.-Troops Author lzed.-Conscription.-Work of the Thirty-Seventh Congress……………………………. 354 CHAPTER

XXXILI. Expedition of General Butler.-New Orleans.-Its Defences.-Passage of the Forts by Farragut. Capture of City.-Butler’s Administration.-Baton Rlouge.-Vicksburg.-1Ram Arkansas.-Her i

Destruction…………………………………………………………………….

363 i. CHAPTER XXXIII. Privateers.-Confederate Navy.-Oreto: Her Operations.-The Alabama: Her Movements.-Dip lomatic Correspondence.-Capture-.-Hatteras

Captured……………………………. 3T71 CHAPTER XXXIV. General Pope’s Army.-Its Condition.-McClellan’s Army.-Enemy Cross the Petomac.-McClel lan in Command.-Halleck refuses Troops.-South Mountain.-Harper’s Ferry.-Antietarn. Hooker.-Sumner.-Burnside.-P,etreat of the Enemy.-Advance of the Army.-McClellan
superseded………………………………………………………………………

376 CHAPTER XXXV. Burnside in Command.-Change of Plan.-Pontoons Delayed(.-Plans of Crossing.-Two Attacks. -Franklin’s Movcments.-Seizure of Frederickslur-g. Sutmner.-Terrible Slaughter.-Reputlse on the Right.-Inaction.-Withdrawal of the Army.-End of Campaign.-Intrigues.-Order No. &-Buruside

Relieved…………………………………………………………….

391 IAPTER XXXVI. . Situation in Kentucky.-Bragg’s Invasion.-Mumfordsville.-Buell’s Advance.-Perrysville. re treat of the Enemy.-Features of

Campaign………………………………………… 399 CHAPTER

XXXVII. Cumberland Gap.-Morgan’s Escape.-Iuka.-Price Retreats.-Corinth.-Repulse of the Enemy. -Vicksburg Expedition.-Reorganization of the Ohio Army by Rosecrans.-His Advance.

Battle of Stone River.-Defeat of the

Enemy……………………………………… 408 8

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CONTEXTS. 9 CHAPTER XXXVIII. PAGE Turn of the Tide of War.-New Combinations.-Vicksburg.-Sherman’s Attack.-Arkansas Post. -Renewal of Attempt upon Vicksburg.-Passage of Batteries by the Fleet.-Flanking March of

Grant…………………………………………………………………………

41 CHAPTER XXXIX. The Flank Movement against Vicksburg.-Battles of raymond. Jackson, and Champion Hills. Investment of the City.-Obstinate Defence.-Surrender.-Chronology of Events.-Grierson’s Paid……………………………………………………………………………

423 CHAPTER XL. Expedition of General Banks.-Investment of Port Hudson.-Unsuccessful Assaults.-Brashear City.-apitulation of Port Hudson.-Chronqlogy of Events……………………………. 435 CHAPTER

XLI. New Movement-against Richmond.-Lee’s Flank Turned.-Battle of Chancellorsville.-Retreat of looker.-Operations by Sedgwick………………………………………………… 448

CHAPTER XLILI. Beeond Invasion of Maryland.-Defeat of Milroy at Winchester.-Meade appointed to command the Army of the Potomac.-Battle of Gettysburg.-PRetreat of Lee……………………… 450 CHAPTER XLIII.

Lee’s Retreat from Gettysbtrg.-Peace Mission.-Conscription.-Meade Reenforced.-Draft Riots.-Lee crosses the Rapidan.-His Advance and Subsequent Retreat…………………. 464 CHAPTER XLIV. Meade’s Advance across the Rapidan.-Recrosses.-WinterQuarters.-Draft for Three Hundred Thousand Men.-Reconnoissance.-Kilpatrick’s Raid upon Richmond-Death of Dahlgren…. 470 CHAPTER XLV. Creation of the Office of LieutenantGeneral.-General Grant Appointed.-Army Reorganization. -Draft for Two IHundred Thousand Men.-General Grant assumes Commrand in Chief.

Powers of the LieutenantGeneral.-Country between Washington and Richmond.-Rule of Advauce.-Rebel

Position………………………………………………………….

473 CHAPTER XLVI. The Army in Tennessee.-Resuilts of Murfreesboro’.-Operations in Tennessee.-Minor Expedi tions.-Advance of Rosecrans.-PRetreat of Bragg.-Btrnside’s Campaign in East Tennessee.

Occupation of Knoxville.-Evacuation of Chattanooga-Concentration of the Enemy.-Battle of Chickamauga.-The Two Generals. esults of the Battle…………………………… 480 CHAPTER XLVII. Inaction of Brag.-His Position.-His Indeecision.-Rosecrans Recruiting.-Storms.-Tfooker Ar rives.-Grant Ordered up.-He Supersedes Aosectans.-Thomas in (Comnmand of Department. -Position of the Army.-Movement to open River.-Defeat of the Enemv.-Sherrnan’s March. -Combat.-Change of Route.-Burntide’s Position.-Longstreet Detached from Bragg.-Siego of Knoxville.-Burnside IBard Pressed.-Bragg Weakene(1.-Grant Attacks.-The Movement Successful.-Sherman Relieves Burnside.-Retreat of Longstreet……………………….. 494 CHAPTEt XLVIII. Operations against Charleston.-Arrival of Monitors.-Montank.-Attack by the Enemy.-Iron Clad Attack on Sumter.-Capture of the Atlanta-General Gillmore in Command.-Assault on Fort Wagner.-Bombardment of Fort Sumter. -Siege and Reduction of Fort Wagner.-Occupa tlon of Morris Island………………………………………………….. 501 I II , 11 I-I””-“

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~109 CONTENTS. CHAPTER XLIX. PA.GB 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………………………………………….. 508 CHAPTER L.

Movement upon Spottsylvania.-The Enemy on the Alert.-Attack of May 10th.-Death of Sedg wick.-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 Struggile.-Sheri dan’s Cavalry Raid.-Death of General Stuart.-Battle at Meadow Bridge.-Sheridan at the James

River……………………………………………………………………

515 CHAPTER LI. Retrograde Movement of the Enemy.-Bad Condition of the Roads.-Union Movement to the Let-Relative Position of Armies.-Reenforcements.-Irruption on the Rear Repulsed. Grant Crossing the North Anna.-Impregnable Position of the Enemy.-North Anna Re crossed, and Movement to the Left
continued………………………………………… 528 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 Reenforces Lee. -Smith sent to Support Grant……………………………………………………… 529

CHAPTER LIII. Position of Grant’s Army.-Warren’s Advance.-Further Development of the Union Left Wing. Severe Battles around Cold Harbor.-Now Flank Movement determined upon.-Crossing of the James and Junction with Butler.-Results of that Campaign…………………………… 533

CHAPTER LIV. Advance on Petersburg.-Position of the City.-Assault and Capture of Earthworks and Guns. Assault of Saturday, June 1Sth.-Repulse.-Aspect of the Camnpaign……………………. 589

CHAPTER LV. Relative Strength of Armies.-Grant Moves against the Railroad Connections of Richmond. Combat of June 2lst.-Repulsed the 23d. heridan’s Expedition.-Movement of Wilson and Kautz on the Danville Road.-Five HIundred Thousand Men called out.-Explosion of the Mined in Front of Petersburg.-Failure of the

Assault……………………………………….. CHAPTER LVL Sigel’s Movement in the Valley.-Hunter Supersedes Sigel, and Defeats the Rebels near Staun ton. Occupation of Lexington.-Lynchburg.-Early sent to the Valley.-Retreat of Hunter through Western Xir-inia.-Advance of Early down the Valley and Invasion of Maryland. Defeat of Wallace.-Washington Threatened.-Arrival of Sixth Corps and Retreat of Early. Various Encounters in the Valley.-Hunter Superseded by Sheridan…………………….. 59 CHAPTER LVII. Dutch Gap Canal.-MovemenrA North of the James. Expedition of the Fifth Corps to the Weldeo Road.-Attack by Hill.-Severe Fighting near Reamns’s Station.-Losses.-Repulse of the Ene my.-Subsequent Repulse of Hancock.-Renewal of Movement North of the James and Cap ture of Fort Harrison.-Further Operatioli on the Weldon

Railroad…………………….. 554 CHAPTER LVIII. Operations in Tennessee.-Sherman’s Raid Through Mississippi.-Failure of Smith’s Cooperative Movement.-Invasion of Western Tennessee and Kentucky by Forrest.-Massacre at Fort Pil
low………………………………………………………………………..

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CONTETS. CHAPTER LIX. PAGN Cooperative 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 Flanked and Driven Across the

Chattahoochee………………………………………………….. 7

CHAPTER; The New Position of the Enemy.-Johnston again Turned and Pushed Back upon Atlanta-Ros seau’s Raid.-Hood Succeeds Johnston.-Investment of Atlanta.-Battles of July 20th and 22d -Death of McPherson.-Cavalry Raids of Stoneman and McCook.-Defeat and Capture of Stoneman.-Battle of July 2Sth.-Prolongation of the Union Right Wing.-Changes of Com manders in Sherman’s

Army………………………………………………………. 579

CHAPTER LXL Siege cf Atlanta.-Position of the City.-Topography.-The Enemy’s Strength.-Sherman Moves to the Right.-Wheeler’s Raid.-Kilpatrick’s Raid.-Grand Flank Movement of the Army on the Macon Railroad.-Defeat of the Enemy at Jonesboro’.-Evacuation of Atlanta.-Congratula tory Order of General Sherman.-Truce.-Depopulation of Atlanta-Correspondence between Sherman and Hood.-Results of the

Campaign………………………………………. 87 CHAPTER LXIL The Gulf Department-Sabine Pass Expedition.-McPherson Moves from Vicksburg.-Expedi tion to the Rio Grande and Occupation of Brownsville.-Banks’s Red River Expedition.-Cap ture 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 Damln at Alexandria. Arrivalof the Army and Fleet in the Missi,ssippi.

Cooperative Movement of Steele in Ar kansas.-Causes of its Failure…………………………………………………….. 596

CHAPTER LXIII. War in Missouri.-Execution of Guerrillas.-Marmaduke’s Movements.-Helena.-Successful Cam pain of General Steele in Arkansas.-Capture of Little Rock.-General Gantt.-Sacking of Lawrence by Quantrell.-Price’i Last Invasion of Missouri.-His Disastrous Defeat and Retreat into

Arkansas……………………………………………………………………

60 CHAPTER 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……………………………………………………

610 CHAPTER LXV. Expedition to Floridaeecnpation ef Jacksonville.-Advance of General Seymour.-Battle of Olustee, and Retreat of the Union Army.-Demonstration against Newbern.-Capture of Ply mouth.-The Albemarle.-Her Fight with Union Gunboats.-Iter Destruction.-Rebel?riva teers.-Combat between the Kearsarge and Alabama.-Capture of the Florida und (Georgia….. 615 4 CHAPTER LXVL Depopulation of Atlanta-Correspondence betw”h General Sherman and Mayor Calhoun.-Flank Movement by Hood.-Attack on A/latoona.-Hood Severs Sherman’s Communications. Marches into Alabama and Enters TeY’nessee,-Sherman’s New Plan of Campaign.-Invasion of Tennessee.-Battle of Franklin.-Affair at Murfreesb()ro’.-Battles of December 15th and 16th before Nashville.-PRetreat of Hood into Alabama.-Close of the Campaign…………….. 628 l CHAPTER LXVII. Sheridan in Command of the Middle Military Division.-Manceuvring in the Valley.-Object of the Movements.-Battles of Opequan Credk and Fisher’s Hill. Rout and Retreat of the Rebels -Their New Position at Brown’s Gap.-Movements of Sheridan…………………. 641

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1 ~2 ~~CONTENTS. CHAPTER LXVIII. Position of Armies.-Early Advances.-Battle of Cedar Creek.-Opportune Arrival of Sheridan. Disastrous Defeat of the Enemy.-Sheridan’s Troops Leave for the Potoma.-Devastation…. 649 CHAPTER LXIX. Political Parties.-Elections of 1862.-Organization and Strength of the Peace Party.-Banishment of Vallandigham.-Ohio Election.-Politieal Reaction in Favor of the Administration.-Thirlty Eighth Congress.-President’s Plan of Reconstruction.-Amendment to the Constitution. Presidential Canvass of 1864.-Conventions at Baltimore and Chieago.-Noqmination of Lincoln and McClellan.-Result of the Election.-Peace Negotiations.-Colonel Jaques.-The Niagara Falls

Correspondence……………………………………………………………..

6 CHAPTER LXX. Finances of 1863.-Revenue.-Sales of Bonds.-Effect of Paper Money.-Policy of Mr. Chase. Gold Law and its Effects.-Mr. Chase Resigns.-Finances of 1864.-Sales of Bonds in Europe. Statement of Debt.-National Banks.-Prices of Gol
d…………………………………. CHAPTER T,LXXI. Sherman Proposes to Cross Georgia.-Composition of Army.-Marching Orders.-Combat at Gris woldville.-Appeal to the People of Georgia.-Milledgevi’le Reached.-Army at Louisville. Combat with Wheeler.-March to Savannah.-Communicates with the Fleet.-Fort McAllister. -Evacuation of Savannah.-Sherman’s Dispatches.-Wilmington Expedition.-Fort Fisher.

Powder-Ship.-Bombardment.-Failure.-Return to Hampton Roads.-Cooperation from Ply m o u
th………………………………………………………………………….

679 CHAPTER LXXIL Affairs at Petersburg.-Renewed Attempt to Flank the Rebel Right.-Battle at Hatcher’s Run. F.ghting 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………………………………………………………

CHAPTER LXXIII. Capture of Remaining Defences on Cape Fear River.-Schofield’s Order from Tennessee.-Fort Anderson Taken.-Occupation of Wilmington.-Movement on Kinston.-Goldsboro’.-Gill more before Charleston.-Evacuation of the City by Hardee.-Flag Restored to Fort Sumter. Sheridan in the Valley.-His Raid.-Great Dcstruction of Rebel Property.-Joins Meade…… 699 CHAPTER LXXIV. General Sherman at Savannah.-The Advance Northward.-Pocotaligo.-Salkehatchie.-Move ment 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’.-unction of Three Union Armies.-Ob jective of the Campaign

Gained……………………………………………………. 03

CHAPTER LXXV. Grant’s Prepa,rations for a Final Movement.-Rebel Attack on Fort Steadman.-Disastrons Re pulse.-Object of Lee.-Movement on the Left Commenced.-Affair ef Quaker Road.-Heavy Fighting on Boydton Road.-Decisive Battle of Five Forks.-Rebel Left Turned.-Assault on Petersburg.-Evacuation of &tersburg and Richmond. Pursuit of Lee.-His Surrender to Grant.-End of Campaign………………………………………………………….

717 CHAPTER LXXVI. Raids in Kentucky and East Tennessee.-Defeat and Death of Morgan.-Successes of Stoneman and Bu,bridge.-Destruction of Woks at Saltville.-Stoncman’s Last Paid.-Capture of Salis bury.-Negotiations between Sherman and Johnston.-Agreemnent for Surrender by Johnston disavowed at Washington.-Reasons Assigned(.-Final Surrender of Johnston.-Wilson’s Great Raid in Alabama and Georgia.-Captire of Selma, Montgomery, and Macon.-Exchanges of Prisoners.-Cruel Treatment by Rebels of Union Prisoners-IIorrors of Andersonville.-Rebel Plots in Canada.-The St. Albans Raid.-Execution of Beall and Kennedy.-Attempts to Fire Auerican Cities and Introduce

Pestilence………………………………………….. _~,

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13 CHAPTER LXXVIL Peace Negotiations at Fortress Monroe.-Their Fruitless Issue.-Second Inauguration of Lincoln. -His Address.-Recjoicings at the Prospect of Peace.-Assassination of Lincoln.-The Public Mourning.-Funeral Procession.-Character of Lincoln.-Booth, the Murderer, Pursued and Shot.-Trial and Execution of his Accomplices.-Inauguration of Andrew Johnson as IPresi dent.-Amnesty Proclamation.-Plan for Reconstruction.-Pursuit and Capture of Davis. Capitulation of Generals Taylor and Kirby Smnith.-Termination of the War and Disbanding of the Armies.-The National Debt.-Concluding

Refiection,…………………………….. 744 p a CONTETS.

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a

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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS, All of which were En_-raved expressly for this Work. STEEL PLATES. Page. A. LINCOLN, LATE PRESIPDENT OF THE UNITED

STATES,.. FRONTISPIECE. JEFFERSON

DAVIS………………………………….. 48 HON. GIDEON WELLES, SECRETARY OP THE NAVY………….. 65 BO3IBARDMIENT OF FORT

SUMTER,………………………. 72 HON. WILLIAMI H. SEWARD, SECRETARY

OF STATE…………. 81 3IAJ. GEN. G. B.

MCCLELLAN,…………………………. 112 MAJ. GEN. A. E.

BU]-RNSIDE,…………………………… 200 COM-IODORE D. D.

PORTER,…………………………… 249 COMMODORE

DAILGREN,……………………………… 249 COI.MODORE A. H.

FOOTE,……………………………. 249 LIEUT. J. L.

WORDEN,……………………………….. 249 MAJT. GEN. B. F.

BUTLER,………………………… 289 MAJ. GEN. JOSEPH

HOOKER,…………………………… 289 MAJ. GEN. NV. S.

HANCOCK,…………………………… 289 MIAJ. GEN. GEO. G.

MIEADE………………………….. 289 MIAJ. GEN-. G. H.

TIOMiAS,…………………………… 289 MIAJ. GEN. P. H.

SHERIDAN,…………………………… 289 LIEUT. GEN. P. G. T.

BEAUREGARD……………………… 304 LIEUT. GEN. BRAXTON

BRAGG,………………………. 304 GEN T. J. (STONEWALL) JACKSON,………………………. 304 GEN. STFLIXNG

PRICE,……………………………… 304 GEN. JA.IMES

LONGSTREET,………………………..304 GEN. JOHN C.

PEMBERTON,…………………………… 304 MIAJ. GEN.

HALLECK,……………………………….. 312 VICE ADMIRAL

FARRAGUT,……………………….. 369 ChARGE ON THE

BATTERY,……………………………. 457 LIEUT. GEN.

GRANT………………………………… 472 CAVALRY

CHARGE…………………………………. 480 MAJ. GEN. J. A.

LOGAN……………………………… 488

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LIST 0O ILLUSTRATIONS. 3fAJ. GEN. W. S.

RPOSECRANS,…………………………. 488 M1AJ. GEN. W. T.

SHER.AN,………………………….. 488 MAJ. GEN. JOHN

SEDGWICK,…………………………. 488 MAJ GEN. A. H.

TERRY,……………………………… 488 BRIG. GEN. N.

LyON,…………………………………… 488 GUNBOATS AND MONITORS

BOMBARDING THE DEFENCES OF

CHARLESTON…………………………………. 504 HON. E MI. STANTON, SECRETARY OF WAR,……………….. 512 BATTLE OF THE

WILDERNESS………………………… 520 LIEUT. GEN. R. E.

LEE,………………………………. 544 FUNERAL CEREMONY OF THE LATE

PRESIDENT LINCOLN AT TIHE WHITE

HOUSE,………………………………….. 745 A.NDREW JOIINSON, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES………. 752 MALPS. SOUTH

CAROLINA…………………………………..

VIRGINIA,………………………………………….

MISSOURI…………………………………………. NORThI CAROLINA,……………………………………

ALABAMA,……………………………………….. FREDERICKSBURG TO

PETERSBURG,……………………… GETTYSBURG TO

FREDERICKSBURG,……………………… TENNESSEE AND

KENTUCKY,……………………………

MISSISSIPPIr……………………………………… CHARLESTON

HARBOR,……………………………….. CHATTANOOGA TO

ATLANTA,…………………………… MOBILE

HARBOR…………………………………… WILLINGTON

HARBOR………………………………. 0 71 81 107 203 205 259 332

400 424 502 571 611 697 a

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INTRODUCTION. THE attempt to describe the progress of a contest, in which the existence of a great nation has been involved, may fitly be preceded by a rapid review of thle origin of thie organic law of that nation, and of the previous efforts of discontented individuals, parties, or States, to resist, divide, or overthrow its government. The thirteen colonies which united in the effort to throw off the British yok, in 1775, had some points of agreement, but more of diffornce. Their agreement arose firom the purpose, common to them all, of iresisting oppression; their differences were the result of diverse origin, different modes of life, and divergent views of the essential characteristics of a free goveinment.

The Articles of Confederation or alliance of these colonies, adopted by most of them in 1778, proved a very weak and imperfect compact. Under it, the thirteen independent sovereignties were bound together rather by the moral attraction of a common pull-pose, than by that tliorough affiliation wlicl-i alone could make theiii a united nation. The collection of taxes, the adoption and enforc(,ment of national measures, and that unity of action which would command the reslj)e(.t of foreign powers, were difficult, if not impossible, under such a compact; and the use of force for the accomplishment of any one of these objects contravened the cardinal principle,,of tli, Revolution, that governments derive their just powers firom the consent of the governe(l. It was felt, in all quarters, that a constitution or compact of greater stringency, and which should engage more thoroughly the confidence and consent of the people, was needed; but so diverse were the views of the different States and of the leading statesmen, that it se~,mcd hardly possible that an instrument coulil be framed which would receive general approval. Yet the att(vmpt was made; the intiiti:tive being taken by Virginia, whose legislature, in 1786, recommended the calling of a convention at Annapolis, to endeavor to adopt some articles of agreeent providing for a more efficient taxation, the prosecution of commerce, &c. In this convention but eight States were represented, and the delegates, fully convinced of the magnitude and radical character of the changes required, contented themselves with calling a Convention to meet in the ensuing spring (1787), to recommend such alterations in and additions to the Articles of Confederation as they might deem necessary. In that Convention, to which were sent the most eminent statesmen of each State, and to which we owe our Federal Constitution, there was a 2

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INTRODUCTION. great diversity of views. Two extreme parties appeared in the Conventiofin -the advocates of a strong government, in whicti the States should surrender a greater part of their rights to the nation, and which should be governed by a president, with almost regal powers, elected for life; and the supporters of a mere Confederation of States, somewhat stronger than that already existing, yet carefully guarded against any tendencies to centraliza.tion-in other words, the Federal an(l the State Rights parties. To the foirmer belonged, with some exceptions, the delegates from New Engl:ind, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and North Caiolina; to the latter, most of those firom the other States, though the great name of Washington was onI the side of a strong government. Neither party were entirely successful. But early in the session of the Convention one thing was decided: that the Constitution wtas to bi)ed the whole people, aed not to be a mere State compact; that the people of the United States were to be one nation, and nzot an aygregation of sovereiq/n States. This point settlek, there were still many others on which the delegates differed; and when the Constitution was completed aid submitted to the people for ratification, n ither Washington, Jefferson, nor Franklin concealed the fact that there were portions of it which were not wholly satisfaletory to them. In the course of its ratification by the people of the different States, many amendments were suggested, and when, at last, after some slight changes, it became the bond of union of the nation, there were mnany, both in this and foieign countries, who predicted a brief existence to the nation thus consolidated. It has proved, however, a bond of greater strength than even its friends dared to hope, and though some needful modifications have been made by the concurrent vote of the people who first adopted it, it has with each successive decade, and wve might say. inde,ed, with each successive year, won a higher place in the love and admliration of the nation. There have been, it is true, occasional efforts to transcend its provisions, to violate its obligations, or to subvert its spirit, but these have been the acts of a few restless and misguided individuals, or at most of a portion only of the citizens of two or three States, until the commencement of the Great Rebellion. A brietf notice of these manifestations of hostility to the national authority may not be inappropriate. The first in the order of time was the WVhiskey Rebellion of 1794, in Western Pennsylvania. The Federal Government, after its organization under the Constitution, had assumed the debts inqrred by the several States in the war for independence, and in order to provide for the payment of the interest and the eventu:l liquidation of the principal of thit debt, it became necessary to adopt a rigorous system of taxation.

Heavy duties were laid on imported liquors, anct the manufacture of whiskey, rum, gin, &c., which was verv extensive in several of the Stat(,s, was made to bear a part of the burden, in the way of an excise duty. The chief crop of Western Pennsylvania at that period was rye, which was almost entirely manufactured into whiskey, and sent east for the purchase 18

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INTRODUCTION. of other needed commodities. The enhancement of the price of this liquor, in consequence of the exise duty, created intense excitement, and led to active resistance of the collectors and inspectors of the stills appointed by the Government, some of whom were subjected to personal indignities and violence, in their attempts to perform their duties. The law was modified, at the instance of the class who are always desirous of a compromise in such cases; but the malcontents would accept no terms short of its entire repeal, and resisted the collection of the tax till July, 1794. At that time the United States marshal was ordered to take a posse of armed men an serve warrants upon thirty offending distillers. He was successful in the service of the writs except in the case of one person, who made an armed resistance, compelled the officers to fly for their lives, and burned the house of the district inspector.

Encouraged by this success, the insurgents now called out a force of seven thousand men, stopped and robbed the mail, under pretext of ascertaining who were in complicity with the government, and proceeded to array themselves in open opposition to the national authority. General Washington, then President, issued his proclamation commanding the insurgents to disperse, and this provinig ineffectual, he called out a force of fifteen thousand men fromn Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania to suppress the rebellion. It being understood that every man found in arms would be arrested and hung, the insurgents became appalled, and, calling a convention at Parkinson’s Ferry, adopted resolutions of entire submission. General Lee, with the Federal force, proceeded to the insurgent district, and, the excise officers performing their duties with very little opposition, proclaimed an amnesty. In 1798, the efforts of certain French revolutionists and their sympathizers to involve this country in a war with England, and the violence of their denunciations of President Adams, who opposed their policy, led to the passage by Congress of the alien acts and the sedition law. The former gave the President power for two years to order all such aliens as he might deem dangerous to the peace and safety of the United States to leave the country, and made provision also for registering the names and residences of aliens. These laws were never enforced, the President not deeming it necessary. The sedition law punished, by heavy fines, any attempt to excite insurrecetion or to conspire against the Government, also the publication of any false, scandalous, or malicious writings against the President, or other officers of Government or Congriess. The operation of this act was also limited to two years. The Anti-Federalists, who were then in opposition, saw in the passge of these laws the opportunity of defeating the Federal party, and attaining to power. They accordingly denounced them with great severity, and introduced resolutions taking strong ground in favor of State rights, into the legislatures of. Virginia and Kentucky; those ir the former State being drawn by James Madison, and those in the latter drafted originally by Thomas Jefferson, though subsequently modified, and stripped of some of their objectionable passages by George Nicholas. Mr. Madison’s resolutions, though avowing the doctrine that the Federal Government 19

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INTRODUCTION. is a compact between the States as States, a doctrine utterly repudiated elsewhere, proposed no nullification of the laws of Congress, and Mr. Madison himself subsequently explained that no extra-constitutional measures were intended. The original draft of Jeffersoni’s resolutions was more objectionable. The eighth resolution declared, that when Congress assumes powers not delegated by the people (the States themselves being the sole judges), “a nullification of the act is the right remedy, and that every State has a natural righlt, in cases not within-the compact, to nullify, of their own authority, all assumptions of power by others within their limits.” These resolutions passed the two legislatures, with the more objectionable passages altered, and were sent to the legislatures of the other States for their concurrence, but?tot one concurred. The object of their authors was, never theless, accomplished; the ensuing presidential election resulted in the success of the Anti-Federalists, and Thomas Jefferson was chosen President. But the poisonous seeds, thus carelessly sown, in due time sprang up and bore fruit which their author would have repudiated as heartily as any other patriot of his time. The doctrine that a State has the power and right to nullify the acts of the National Government, when she may deem them unconstitional or injurious to her interests, is one of the prime heresies of secession. The conspiracy of Aaron Burr, to found an empire in the West, was rather the mad scheme of an ambitious and reckless adventurer, than a serious attempt at the overthrow of our Government, and it is unnecessary to speak of it particularly here. The next manifestation of a spirit hostile to the Governlment came from New England. The commerce of the New England States, after the Revolution and in the early years of the present century, had become very extensive. Salem, Boston, Newburyport, and other seaports of Massachusetts, were largely engaged in the East India trade; New Bedford, Gloucester and Marblehead in the fisheries; and the fleets of Providence and Newport, Rhode Island, were found in almost equal numbers on the coasts of continental Europe, Asia, and Afiica. The ship-owners of Portland, in the district of Maine, and of the Connecticut ports, nearly monopolized the trade with the West Indies and South America. The embargo act of 1807, follow ing, as it did, the Berlin and Milan decrees, and the orders in council, proved the ruin of this commerce, and excited deep and bitter feeling against the Government in those States. An emissary from Great Britain, one John Henry, who visited them at this time, is said to have done something toward fostering this dissatisfaction. The declaration of wargin 1812, was regarded by the commercial class in MIassaehusetts and Connecticut as an added wrong, and a strong “peace party” was organized, which caused the support given to the war to be feeble and inefficient. The militia from thpse States, nevertheless, did good servile during the first two years of the war$ but the Government having called them to the defence of other sect tions, the ports of New England were unprotected against the rav. ages of the enemy.

Meanwhile the Government had, firom want of resources, been compelled to impose upon these States the duty of 20

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INTRODUCTION. looking after their own defence, while it refused to allow them to furnish State officers to command their troops. This excited further complaint, and the entire New England States became strongly dissatisfied with the Government, and with the Southern and Central States, which favored the war. On the 15th of December, 1814, a convention of delegates from the five States (Maine was as yet a distrIict of Massachusetts) met in secret session at Hartford, Connecticut. They remained in session till January 5th, 1815, and two weeks later published a report and series of resolutions adopted by them. The first of these recommended the legislatures of the New England States to protect their citizens from the operation of acts passed by Congress, subjecting them to forcible drafts, conscriptions, or impressme.its, not authorized by the Conlstitition; the second recommended that the States be empowered to defend themselves, and that they should have for this purpose their prol)ortion of the taxes collected; the third advised each State to defend itself against foreign foes; the fouith suggested several a-enindments to the Fedleral Constitution, making the white population the basis of the apportionment of taxation and representation, requiring a vote of twothirds of both Houses for the admission of new States, for the interdiction of foreign trade, and for making wiar, except in defence of territory actually invaded, the restriction of the power of Congress in laying an embargo to a period of sixty dlays, making naturalized citizens ineligible to civil office, and prohibiting the election of President for two successive terms, or of two successive Presidents, from the same State. They also recommended, in case these resolutions, when submitted to the General Government through the several States, should not receive attention, if peace should not be concluded, and the interests of the New England States were still neglected, that another convention should be called at Boston, with such powers and instructions as the exigencies of the case mighit require. The report aicot.ipanying these resolutions, though moderate in tone and expressing attachment to the Union, contained views harmonizing to some extent with the State Rights doctrine of Mir.

Jefierson’s resolutions of 1I 98. Here was, it will be seen, no proposed violation of the Constitution, no insurrectionary movement, but simply the carrying out to its ultimate results of the State Rights he’esy. But, moderate as were the measures proposed ly this Hartford Convention, compared with those which have since been propound(led in other parts of the Union, they met with no general approval firom the people of the New England States. The people of Connecticut were stimulated by them to more active loyalty, and the only exlpession of opinion they called forth in the other States was one of decided disapprobation. The close of the war, very soon after, may have had its effect in prod(lucing this result; but it is certain that nearly every member of that convention was, in consequence of his connection with it, consigned to political oblivion.

The excitement consequent upon the application of Missouri for admission into the Union Pith a constitution recognizing slavery, again imperilled for a time the existence of our national Governmnent. 21

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INTRODUCTION. The previous admissions of Slave States, like Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Mississippi, had been from territory belonging to, and peopled by, the citizens of Slave States; and in the single case of Louisiana, a populous district, possessing large numbers of slaves while trauder the sway of another power, had been transferred into the Union without change of its institutions or loc:al laws. In the case of Missouri, there was a new issue. The ordinance of 1l87, by which slavery was excluded firom all territory northwest of the Ohio, expressed the opposition of the people to the extension of slavery over the territories which might subsequently become States; and it was urged that the admission of Missouri (which was divided only by the Mississippi River firom that territory) with slavery, would virtually annul that expression of the popular will. The advocates of the admission of the State, on the other hand, urged that as slavery had existed in Louisiana Territoiy, of which Missouri formed a part at the time of the purchase of the latter, it would be a violation of the treaty, by which the United States had pledged itself to maintain the rights and privileges of the inhabitants of that territory on the same footing with those of its other citizens, to refuse to admit her with such social institutions as she preferred. The question was discussed with great ability dui,ing the greater part of three sessions of Congress, and produced an extraordinary excitement throughout the country. A resolution prohibiting slavery, and providing for the gradual emancipation of the slaves then in the State, passed the House, but was lost in the Senate. A compromise measure, proposed by Henry Cl;ay, finally ended the cont,‘oversy. Miissouri was admitted as a Slave State; but slavery was prohibited in all territory north of the line of 36~ 30’, and south of that line the United States held no territories at that time except Arkansas and Florida, both of which from their position would necessarily be Slave States. The adherence to this compromise was solemnly guaranteed, and it was regarded as a final settlement of the question of the territorial extension of slavery. The vote on the admission of the State into the Union was taken in August, 1821, and in the Senate stood 28
yeas to 14 nays; in the I-ouse, 3d yeas to 82 nays. The next attempt at nullifying or resisting the authority of the government of the United States, occurred in Georgia and Alabama il 1825. The Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Cherokee Indians, held large tracts of lands in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida, which had been secured to them as “reservations” by the United States Government. They had been the origin)al proprietors of the soil of the entire (klf States, but by treaty had relinquished to the United States all except nine and a half millions of acres in Georgia, seven and a half millions in Alabama, fifteen and threefourths millions in Mississippi, and four millions in Florida. They were considerably advanced’in civilization, and had houses, farms, and herds of cattle on their reservations. But the rapid settlement of the Gulf States cause~d the white population to look with a greedy eye on these lands, and their State legislatures began to demand that the general Government should remove the whole body of Indians to 22

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INTRODUCTION. the region west of the Mississippi, about the head-waters of the Ar kansas. So peremptory were the demands of Georgia to this effect she having stipulated in her cession of Mississippi Territory, that the ndian titles to land in that State should be extinguished “whenever it could be accomplished peaceably and on reasonable terms”), that just before the close of MIr. MAonroe’s administration, commissioners wvere appointed to make a treaty with the Creeks for the purchase of their lands by the United States Government. A treaty was nego tiated (as it afterward appeared, firaudulently) on the 12th of Febru ary, 1825, between the Creek chief, General William Mcintosh, and MIr. Crowell, the United States agent, by which anl the Ci,eek reser vations in Georgia, and a large tract in Alabama, were ceded to the Government. On learning of this treaty, the Creeks were greatly excited, and refilsed to accept it. On the 30th of April a party of them assassinated McIntosh and another chief who had signed the treaty with him, and burned his house. The State authorities of Georgia prepared to take possession of the territory by force, and called out troops for the purpose. As the United States Government had, by treaty, stipulated to protect the Indians in their just rights, President Adams sent a force of Federal troops to the confines of the reservation for that purpose. Georgia called on the adjacent States, and troops and money were raised to assist her “against the Govern ment and the Indians.”

In this emergency President Adams gath ered at W,ashington the head men and principal chiefs of the Creeks, and negotiated a new treaty with them, by which all the lands in Georgia, but none of those in Alabama, were ceded to the Government. This treaty was ratified by Congress, though opposed by the Georgia delegation, and was faithfiully observed by the Indians. As there was no excuse for further hostilities, the Georgia troops were disbanded. The tariiff act of 1828 was the occasion of another rebellious outbreak, and this time South Carolina was the chief actor, though encouraged by several of the other Southern States. The war of 1812
had greatly developed the manufacturing interest of the country, and for the protection of that interest against the formidable rivalry of British manufacturers, Congress had, firom time to time, laid heavy duties on such imported products, woollens, coarse cottons, sugars, &c., as competed with our manufactures-as they had, in the infancy of the cotton production, laid a heavy impost on the importation of raw cotton. The woollen manufacture was carried on in many of the States-New York, Massachusetts, Georgia, and Pennsylvania being most largely engaged in it. But when, in 1828, a higher duty was proposed on several classes of Moods, including woollens, Mr. Hayne, of South Carolina, then a’ member of the United States Senate, took occasion to denounce the act as unconstitutional, a Northern exaction, a tribute which the South was to be compelled to pay to the North, and to assert the right atd duty of his State to nullify the law, by refusing to pay the duties. Mr. Webster replied to Mr. Hayne, in that great speech,in defence of the powers of the Constitution which has become historical, and so completely annihilated the 23

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2INTRODUCTION. doctrine of nullification that its resurrection seemed impossible. Events proved, however, that the speech of iMr. Hayiie was only tho first step ill the development of a plan to give the planting States the control of the Government, or to take them out of the Union.

The State Rights heresy was already a favorite doctrine in Virginia and South Carolina, and was gaining ground in other Southern States; and to the piopagation of this doctrine, as also to the defence and support of nullification, Mr. IHayIe, and SMr. Calhoun, then VicePresident of the United States, lent their great powers. An open rupture between the United States and South Carolina seemed immine(nt, and, as usual, the timid recommended conciliation and the modification of the offensive tariff, and succeeded in procuring a reduction of some of the duties; but this only encouraged the conspirators to further demands. Congress, they urged, }lad been terrified into concessions by the threats of Soutth Carolina; let those threats be in(re’eased, and every thing woutl(l be yielded. The legislature of that State nmet in the autumn of 1832, and appointed a Committee on the Relations of the State with the Federal Government. That committee reported in almost the la(nguage of Jeffelson’s resolutions, and of the Harltford Convention, declaring the Federil Constitution a mere compact between independent and sovereign States; that when any violation of the spirit of that compact took place, it was the right of the State to remonstrate against it; and tlhat, though there was a tribunal ap pointed uinder the Constitution to decide controversies iwhere the United States was a party, yet in some questions which miight occur between the Government and the-State, it woul(d )e unsfe to submit to any judicial tribunal, and it was proper for the State legislature to decide such questions for itself. A convention of delegates met on the 19thl of Novemnber,. to act for the State in the crisis, and Governor (late United States Senator) Hayne was elected its president. Resolutions were passed, declaring the tariffs of 1828 and 1832 null aind void, and not linding upon the citizens of the States; and tlhat in case the genei,‘al Government should attempt their enforceme(nt by n:aval or mnilit.iry power, the union between South Carolina an-i the United States slhould( be considered dissolved, and a convention called to form a government for the State. It was also resolved that no appeal should( be permitted to be taken to the Supreme Court of the United States in respect to the validity of the ordinances of the convention, or of the lawvs passed to give effect thereto. A special session of the legislature was called on the adjournment of the convention, and acts passed authorizing the Governor to call out til militia to resist any attenmpt of the Unite([ States Government to enforce the laws, and ordering the purchase of ten thousand stand of aims and the necessary nmunitions of war. This was followed by MIr. C-lhoun’s resignation of the VicePresidency, and his election to the United States Senate. It had been the intention of Presickdent Jackson to order him to be arrested onl his arrival at Washington, and tried for high treason, and-, in case of conviction, to execute him. ]Iessrs. Webster, Clay, and others, disisuaded him from this step; but, to his dying day, the stern old man 24

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INTTRODUCTIO-,. insisted that his failure to do this was the one creat error of his ad ministration. On the 10th of December the President issued his proclamation against nullification, in which he stated plainly the nature of the Federal Government, denied emphatically the dogma that the Constitution was a mere compact between the States, de clared its supremacy, and exhorted the citizens of South Carolina not to persist in a course which must bring upon their State the whole military force of the Republic, and expose the Union to the hazard of dissolution. While thus expostulating with South Carolinn, the President did not forget that the exhibition of power sufficient to enforce his authority was the surest means of securing attention to his remonstrances. A considerable military force was ordered to Charleston, and a s’oop of war sent to that port to protect the Federal officers in the discharge of their duties; and, befobre the South Caroliniins were aware, General Scott, with a strong garrison, was in Fort 3Ioultrie, preparce, if necessary, to use its cannon in the collection of the revenule. In his message to ConDress, President Jackson recommended a peaceful settlement, if possible, but avowed his determination, if Congress did not deem it best to modify or repeal the law, to force South Carolina to submission. He declared nullification rebellion against the Government, and such rebellion he deemed it his duty to suppress. The determined position of the Presi(lernt and the formidablle lI)reparations of General Scott had a sensible effect in cooling the ardor of the SouLth Cirolinians. The revenues were collected at the Charleston Custom-ljouse, under the provisions of the hated tariffs, and all was quiet. The State Convention met, and resolved that it would wait until February 1st before ordering any hostile action. On the 21st of January, 1833, a bill was introduced into the United States Senate by iIr. Wilkins, of Pennsylvania, authorizing the President to summon, if necessary, the entire military power of the United States to put down the opposition to the collection of the revenue. In the course of the discussion on this bill, SIr. Calhoun, in a speech of great casuistry and adroitness, defended the State Rights interpretation of the Constitution; and SIr. Webster replied in an argument showing most conclusively that the Constitution was a bond of union of the people, and not a compact between sovereign States, and that there was no place nor room for State action to nullify national laws. The bill of SIr. Wilkins passed by an almost unanimouis vote. The right and power of the Government having been thus maintained, Henry Clay proposed and carried through both Hlouses a measure of com)promi and concession, p)roviding for a gradual reduction of the tariff dtities to a minimum rate, to be reached in December, 1841. The 1st of February had come, buit no resistance had been offered to the collection of the revenue; and on the 11lth of AIarch, Governor Hayne summoned the Convention to “accept the highly satisfactory settlement of the difficulty afforded by the compromise of tIr. Clay, and to declare the great principle of State sovereignty established.” This partial triumph was the source of subsequent mischief. South Carolina had, substantially, gained her demands, and her 25

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INTRODUCTIO1N. leading men believed that they had only to watch their opportunity, and, under a less iresolute executive, put forth their demlands, accom panying them with threats, and they would be granted. In the next thirty years the experiment was tried more than once, and always with success. The policy of the Government at the adoption of the Constitution, and for some years after, had been to repress slavery. It was the belief of the framers of the Constitution that it would die out in a few years, and all of them regarded such a result as one to be desired.

But the invention of the cotton-gin gave such an impulse to the cultivation of cotton, and the rapid extension of the cotton manufacture rendered it so profitable and important a crop, that the demand for slaves to cultivate it increased beyond the supply, and the price was greatly enhanced. But the system of cultivation by slave labor wore out the lands of the cotton planters in a few years, and they were compelled to move to new lands in order to obtain good crops. This, and the desire to secure to their section the political ascendancy in the United States Government, led the statesmen of the South to seek con stantly for the addition of new territory which could be made into Slave States. This motive had great weight in inducing the purchase of Louisiana in 1803, without warrant from the Constitution; in the purchase of Florida from Spain in 1819; and in the struggle for the admission of Missouri as a Slave State in 1820, in which, as we have seen, they were successful. With this increase of slavery, however, there had been gradually springing up in the minds of the people of the non-slaveholding tates a dislike of the system, and about the time of the nullification movement this feeling began to find public expression in newspapers, lectures, &c. At first the interests of the great body of the Northern people, especially the manufacturing, mercantile, and commercial classes, were so fully identified with the South, that they were little inclined to tolerate any condemnation of slavery; and many of those who wrote against or spoke against it were mobbed and maltreated. The Southern leaders were enraged at the agitation of the subject of slavery. There was some reason to fear that their slaves might learn that there were those who desired their freedomn, and thus be tempted to rise in insurrection; there was more reason to dread that if the opposition to slavery assumed an organized iform, it might eventually curtail their power in the Government, and, since the North increased in population much more rapidly than the South, prevent the consummatio of their plans for the extension of slave territory, and their c ntrol of the national administration. For these reasons they adopted measures of severe repression whenever any attempt was made to oppose or condemn the institution. The reception of petitions by Congres on any subject connected with emancipation was prohibited; an attempt was nmade to expel John Quincy Adams, a former President of the United States, from the House of Representatives, for offering such a petition; laws were passed author4aing the seizure of anti-slavery pamphlets or papers passing through 26

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INTROD)UCTION. the mails, and postmasters were made the judges of their incendiary character; for years respectable newspapers, published in New York, were not permitted to reach subscribers in the Southern States by mail. Colored seamen, citizens of Massachusetts, were, under State laws, seized and kept in jail at Charleston, Savannah, and New Orleans, whilo their vessels were in port, and occasionally sold to pay the jail fees; and when that State sent an agent, one of her most distinguished and honored citizens, to South Carolina, to test the constitutionality of these laws, he was treated with great indignity, and threatened with being mobbed unless he left the State within twenty-four hours. A citizen of Kentucky, of one of her most eminent families, who dared to advocate gradual emancipation, and set the example by fieeing his own slaves, was set upon by assassins, and though he defended himself with great bravery, was wounded nigh unto death; and when subse quently he established a paper to set forth his views, his press was destroyed and his type thrown into the Ohio River, and his life threat ened. The support of No)rthern men was demanded for whatever meas ures were deemed necessary to maintain and strengthen slavery; and if any reluctance was shown, the threat to dissolve the Union, unless Southern demands were granted, was always ready. In 1844, the statesmen of the South saw an opportunity of mate rially increasing the area of slave territory by the annexation of Texas, which would give them the preponderance in Congress which they were otherwise likely to lose in the next decade. John Tyler, then President by the deatth of General Harrison, was favorable to their purpose. The annexation was consummated, with a proviso allowing four more States to be set off from its territory when the opulation should be sufficient, to be Slave or Free States, as their in habitants should elect. This annexation led to the war with Mexico, which was very popular in the South, from the belief that it would still further increase the territory to be devoted to slavery. When the war closed, and California, Utah, and New Mexico were added to our domain, and the discovery of gold sent a vast body of emigrants to California, who soon claimed its admission to the Union with a Free State Constitution, the Southern leaders were greatly dissappointed and vexed. They opposed its admission with great violence, and only consented after a further compromise, by which a new fugitive slave law, denying the fugitive a trial by jury, and compelling all citizens, under a penalty of one thousand dollars’ fine, and six months’ or a year’s imprisonment, to aid in the surrender of an alleged slave, was passed, and the Government was required to pay to Texas the sum of ten milliontof dollars (in addition to the previous assumption of her debts), for the Gadsden tract, a barren, worthless strip of land, to which her claim was, to say the least, doubtful. It is not a matter of wonder that, some of the Northern States, to all of which the surrender of fugitive slaves had always been an irksome duty, should have been provoked by the passage of this fugitive slave law into the enactment 6f such State laws as should render it difficult of execution, and only capable of enforcement in cases where 27

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INTRODUCTION. there was no possibility of question of the status of the alleged fiugi tive. Some of the States passed “personal liberty bills,”

securing a jury trial before surrender, forbidding the use of the county jails or other prisons for the detention of fugitives, &c. Some of these laws probably conflicted with the provisions of the Constitution of the United States, and thus were void; but others kept within the letter of that instrument. In several of the States they were repealed, as a conciliatory measure, in 1861. Thwarted in their expectation of adding territory for new Slave States by the Mexican war, the leaders of the Southern party turned their attention in a new direction. In the heart of the continent lay a broad tract of excellent land, directly west of Missouri, but all of it above the parallel of 36~ 30’. Toward this rich and fertile region the attention of emigrants was now directed, as one of the most desirable for agricultural purposes. It was proposed to erect it into two teritorries, Kansas and Nebraska. By the terms of the Missouri compromise, it must be free territory, but the South had already realized all it could hope for of profit firom that compromise; Missouri, Arkansas, and Florida had all been admitted as Slave States; and they had also acquired Texas, which would in time, they hoped, make four more Slave States. The North had received five free States, Maine, Michigan, Iowa, Wisconsin, and California; and two more, Minnesota and Oregon, would, before long, ask for admission. The advantage was yet, apparently, on the Southern side; but they were resolved to have Kansas also, and therefore the Missouri Compromise mnust be repealed. Alexander 11. Stephens, then a member of Congress fronm Georgia, and subsequently VicePresident of the “Southern Confederacy,” was selected to engineer the repeal, and thus to throw open the whole of the territories to slavery, and he did it with great adyoitness. He caused the proposition for repeal both in the Senate and in the House to emanate from Northcrn men -Mir. Douglas, of Illinois, bringing in a bill to that effect in the Senate, and Gir. Richardson, of the same State, in the House. After a long and exciting discussion the measure was forced through, and received the sanction of President Pierce, in 1854. The pretext for thus violating a solemn compact, which, in the North at least, had acquired the binding efficacy of a constitutional provision, was that it wias a viola.tion of the Constitution. It is a curious exemplification of the gIrowing arrogance of the slave power that a compromise which had proved satisfactory to Southern leaders in 1820, should, thirtyfour years later, be scouted with scorn by some of these very men. a A case of considerable interest, in relation to an alleged fugitive slave named Dred Scott, coming before the Supreme Court of the United States about this time, the chief-justice, Roger B. Taney, took occasion, after rendein_ his opinion in the case, to declare that negroes could not be citizens of the United States, and to promulgate the doctrine “that they had no rights which a white man was bound to respect.” He’also gave it as his individual opinion that the slaveholder had a right to take and hold his slaves in any of the 28

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INTRODUCTION. Territories. A part of the associate justices of the Supreme Court coincided in this opinion, but others, and among them Justices McLea and Curtis, dissented. The obstacle to making Kansas a Slave State, which had been interposed by the Missouri Compromise, having now been removed, fireat efforts were made to send slaveholding emigrants thither, and to secure its admission with a slave Constitution. This was found, however, a matter of greater difficulty than had been at first expected In Massachusetts and New York, Kansas Aid Societies had been organized, with branches throughout most of the Northern States, by which funds were raised, land purchased, steam saw and fiouring mills set up, hotels and dwelling-houses erected, and emigrants fur nished with the means of removal to Kansas, and necessary assistance after their arrival, to maintain free institutions and oppose the estab lishment of slavery. The Southern emigrants, aided by organized bands of lawless Missourians, known as “border ruffians,” prominent among whom was David Atchison, formerly United States Senator from Missouri, soon came in collision with the Northern settlers, and sought in many instances to drive them from their settlements. Serious outrages, robbery, and often bloodshed, were the results. Arms were sent from the Eastern States to the Northern emicrants, and in several instances bloodcly battles were fought. The United States Government interposed, but without much effect, its policy being vacillating and uncertain. After about three years of anarchy and dis turbance, the border ruffians found the Northern settlers too strong for them, and left the Territory. The settlers met in convention repeatedly, and adopted a State Constitution; but on one pretext or another they were refused admission into the Union until the second session of the thirty-sixth Congress (1860-61). Foiled in this attempt to increase the area of slave territory, the Soiiuthern leaders turned their attention to regions outside of the United States. The annexation of Cuba, peaceably or by force, had long been one of their favorite schemes, which MAr. Buchanan did all in his pover to accomplish by purchase; but the decided refusal of Spain to listen to any proposition for parting with it put an end to that negotiation. The possession of Nicaragua, or some other of the Cenitial American States, to be accomplished by an armed irruption and revolution, was another measure looking to the same end. An adventurer, named William Walker, fitted out several successive expe dlitions from Southern ports for this purpose, and prominent men in the South aided him with money and men, while the Government made some feeble efforts to prevent the departure of the piratical expeditions. These enterprises failed, and, at he last, Walker was taken prisoner and executed by the Costa Iticau Government. One of the results of the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, and of those desperate attempts to seize upon Kansas, and to acquire new regions to devote to slavery, was the organization of the Republican party, whose motto was, “No more slave territory.” This party originated in the autumn of 1855, aqd in 1856 nominated John C. Fremont for the Presidency. The Democratic party in the same campaign nom 29

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INTRODUCTION. inated James Buchanan. The contest was a very bitter one, but resuited in Mr. Buchanan’s election. At one time the result was regarded as doubtful, and preparations were made by the political lIcaders in Virginia and South Carolina, as well as in some of the other Southern States, for precipitating the secession of their several States in the event of Mr. Fremont’s election. 0 30

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. CHAPTER I. Secession determined upon by Southern Leaders. Treachery of Cabinet Officers. Division of the Democratic Party.-Election of Mr. Lincoln.-The John Brown Raid.-” The Imnpending Crisis” and the “Compendium.”-Movements for Seces sion in the Cotton States. MR. BUCHANAN was inaugurated President Mar(h 4th, 1857; and it was not long before the leaders of the South began to discover that all their schemes for the extension of the area of slavery were destined to prove futile. K.ansas, amid strife and bloodshed, was struggling on toward the position of a Free State, and was certain in the end to secure it; Cuba could neither be bought nor conquered, and Walker’s expeditions not only lacked respectability, but were unsuccessful. There was then no resource for them but to attempt thle desperate measure which their great Southern statesman had advised thirty years before-sF,CESSIOx. They might reasonably hope to carry with them, they believed, a portion of the Northwest, to which the navigation of the Mississippi was indispensable; and the great States of Pennsylvania and New York had such large commercial interests in slavery, that little doubt was entertained that they too would unite with the South. New England, Northern New York, the northern portions of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota they did not care for. In order to accomplish this change several things were necessary. The minds of the prominent men in the South must be prepared for it, without creating excitement or apprehension on the part of the North. For this purpose a secret society, the “Knights of the Golden Circle,” having for its primary object the extension and defence of slavery, was organized, and several degrees, in the Masonic order, were open to the aspirant for high rank in it. To the initiated of the highest rank only was the whole plot revealed, and the others, with but an imperfect idea of its purposes, were employed to-further its designs. Among theL officers and members of the higher degrees of the order were, it was said, cabinet and other officers of the Government, and prominent citizens of all the Southern and of some of the Northern States.

The conspirators also sought to procure arms and money in aid of the secession movement, which they had resolved should take plate I

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HISTORY OF T’IE GREAT REBELLION. immediately after tilhe next presidential election. Tisi piavS(; a comparatively easy tak. Three of the members of’

Ir. Bnuch’liiiii’s Cabinet were their fri’n ils anil at their service.

These were 3h1. Cobhb, the Secretary of the Treasury, Mr. Floyd, Secretary of War, and 3Ir. Thompson, Sccre a,v of the Interior. Mr. Cobb aided them, both directly and indirectly, vithl money and credit. Mr. Floyd, in addition to his other frauds, elsewhere detailed, sent loyal officers to remote and secluded posts, dismantled Northern forts, and stripped Northern arsenals of arms and munitions of war.‘Mr. Thompson contented himself with advocating treason. Ai. Toucey, Secretary of the Navy, contrary to rumor, had in the Itome Squadron twelve ships of war, against three when hlie entered the Cabinet, four in Northern waters and eight in Southern. It was necessary, moreover, to their success in the accomplishment of the act of secession, that they should have adecent and plausible pretext. If the Government at the next presidlential election could be thrown into the hands of the Republicin party, which could not poll any considerable vote in the Slave States, an ol)portuinity would be afforded to assaiil the new administration on the ground that it represented only a section of the United States. To accomplish this, and yet hide their real object, was a somewhat difficult task; but it was finally perlormed.‘ir. Douglas was a fivorite with a large portion of the Demiociatic p)arty in the North; but, although he had brought forward th,, repeal of the Missouri Compromise, he had, on account of his subsequent opposition to some of their most extreme measures, but little strength in the South. His friends had urged him strongly for the Presidency in 1856, and there was a general lunderstanding, that he would have the nomination in 1860. The Southern leadtes now put forward Mr. Breckitridge, then Vice.

President, as a candidate, and, having packed the Democratic National Conventtion at Chairleston, prevented a nomination, but secured an adjournment to Ba-ltiimore, where they divided, one party nominating 3Il.

Breckinridle and the other Mr. Douglis. This was just what they desired.

The Repul)lican party, though it had increased rapidly within four years, was still numerically so inferior to the Democratic party, that could the votes of the latter be concentrated on one candidate, he would be elected; but with two candidates iii the field opposed to him, and dividing, the Democratic vote, the Repulblican candidate woulacl certainly lie elected, and a pretext for secession afbforded. The RIepublicans nominated AbrahamTn Lincoln, of Illinois, and, unsuspicious of’tho tactics of the Southern leaders, adopted a moderate and conciliatory platform. Thle canvass was still further complicated by the nomination of a Union ticket, at the I,ad of which was placed John Bell of Tennessee, and Edward Evere’t of Massachusetts, as candidates for Presi, dent and VicePresident. The canvass was conducted with more than usual bitterness, and the Southern conspirators threw out constant threats, that in the event of MIr.

Lincoln’s election the Union shotuld be dissolved. These threats were but little regarded at the North. Seeing the election conducted under a strict observance of all the forms of the Constitution, and participated in by all the States, Northern men could not 32

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HISTORY OF TVE GREAT REBELLION. be induced to believe that the Southern States would repudiate a result to which, by voting, they had IImade themselves parties. Such a breach of faith had never occurred in the lhistory of the country, and the threats uttered were regarded as but a repetition of the faminiliar braggadocio of Southern politicians. Tile populiar vote was as follows - For Abraham Lincoln, Republican candidate……………. 1,866.452 Stephen A. Douglas, Northern Democrat…………… 1,375,157 “John C. Breckinridge, Southern Democrat………….. 847,953 “John Bell,

Union……………………………… 590,631

Total……………………………. 4,680,193 Had the Democratic vote been united on one candidate, that can didate would have had a plurality of more than three hundred and fifty thousand over Sir. Lincoln. The electoral vote stood: for Mr. Lincoln, one hundred and eighty; for Mr.

Douglas, twelve; for Mr. Breckinridge, seventytwo; for Mlr. Bell, thirty-nine; giving Mr. Lincoln a clear majority of fifty-seven electoral votes over all his competitors He had received the entire vote of seventeen of the thirtythree States, besides a part of that of New Jersey; and inasmuch as there had been a popular vote for him in twentythree States, his election could not be said to be a sectional one.

IHere it may not be inappropriate to refer to one or two events of earlier date, wlichl proved significant forerunners of the crisis which was approaching. In October, 1859, the country being then in a state of profound tranquillity, an incident occurred which showed that, under the seeming calmn, lay concealed a smouldering volcano, which might at any moment blaze forth and upheave the whole framework of society Amongl the early emigrants from the North to K.ansa.s was John Brown, formerly a citizen of the State of New York, who had rendered himself peculiarly obnoxious to the Southern emigrants by his courage in (ldefence of his settlement at Ossawatomie against the “bord(ler ruffians,” whlo had endeavored, more than once, to murder him and ilas fiamily. This old man, a stern Puritan in ha:bits and turlr of niniid, had been goaded by great and oft-repeated wrongs to a frenzied hatred of slavery, and had finally come to believe himnself raised ui) of God as a leader to effect its overthrow in this country. He brooded upoii tlhis idea till it became a monomania with him. He addressed letters to prominent citizens at the North askiig pecuniary aid, butt never dlevelopinlg his plans. Somle, deeming him il,sane.refised; others, siupposilg tl.hat he was onlintent upon plans for koeping slavery out of Kansas, sent him monev. Suddenly, on the night of October 16th, with sixteen white and five black followers, he made a descent upon the United States Arsenal, at Harper’s Ferry, Va., captured it without bloodshled, and took several prominent citizens prisoners. He evidently believed that the slaves of the vicinity would, without further effort on his part, rally to his standard, and it was a part of his design to declare them free, without, if he’could avoid it, shedding any blood. The intelligence of this raid produced almost unparalleled excite 33, z

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. ment in Virginia. Henry A. Wise, then Governor of the State, called out a force of several thousand militia, and increased the panic by violent proclamations. Meantime, Brown remained in possession of the arsenal, and though fifteeh hundred of the Virginia militia had gathered in the vicinity, it was not until a coml)pany of marinies, with artillery, sent by the President, attacked the arselal, that he surrendered. The old man and five of his companions, and two others subsequently captured, were delivered up to Virginia, tried for treasonii and murder, found guilty, and sentenced to be hung. Efforts were made to induce Governor Wise to extend executive clemency to them, on the ground that Brown was undoubtedly insane, and that his compaiiions had been led to follow him without any treasonable intent; but the Governor was inexorable, and the sentences were strictly carried out. In many parts of the North, Brown was regarded rathei as a martyr than a criminaln, under the belief that he was of unsound mn(l, the wrong he had committed was forgotten in the punishment lie sutfired. About two years previous to this event, Hinton Rowan Helper, a native of North Carolina, who had been till tiie prime of manhood a citizen of that State, published a work eititlcd,“Tile Impending Crisis,” in which, drawing his statistics fiom the United States census and other sources, he had attempted to demonst!ate the degrading influence of slavery on the non-slavehol(‘ig whites of the South, and urged them to exert themselves in their sev~.r:l States for its overthrow. The book possessed small literary merit,‘ad was characteiized in passages by a bitter spirit, which nimaried its value; but the statistics which it contained illustrated for(ibly the effect of slavery upon the white population. The worko did not meet with a large sale, although it had attracted some atte(ntion. In the summer of 1859 a proposition was made to compile f. ), it a “Compendium,” contsliniiig the statistical portion and some (); as of explanation, but without the denunciatory passages, to be cir el,ated as a camnpaign document by the Republican party, prep’aratory to the next Presidential campaign. A circular was pr(parekl, and the object appearing unobjectionable, it was signed by many of the leading men of that I)arty, without ever having seen the book. Thl( preparation of this compendium was delayed, and when Coyigiecs: assemlbled, in De cember, 1859, after the John Brown raid, mc(lIlb)l x f’ Congress from the Slave States, who had secured copies of the o(riginal work, accused the members who had signed the circular of designs ag:tinst the Union and igainst the South in commending the work.

John Sherman of Ohio, the Republican candidate for Speaker, w:s def(.-:ted, though the Republican and Atlericariparties together h:ld a majority in the House of Representatives, because his name was apl)eTi(lel to the circular; and a consi(lerab)le part of the session was coiinsniced in vi,olent denuncia tion and recrimination on the part of the meinters fi’om the slavehold ing States. One result of this denunciation was to secure for the book thousauds of readers who would not otherwise have seen it. The Presidential election took place on the 6th of November, and upon the announcement of the success of the Republican candidates, the conspirators went eagerly to work to consummate their designs 34

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mISTORY OF TIHE GREAT REBEILLION. against the Union. On the o10th of the same month, a bill was introdtice(e into the South Carolina leg,islhture for the calling out and equipment of ten thousand volunteers, and an election was or’dered to be held on the 6th of Decembei’, for the choice of delegates to a convention to take action on tl)e question of secession.

lIessr. Chestnut and Hammond, senators from South Carolina, resigned their seats on the 10th and 11th of November. Meetings in favor of diuniicn were held within a week firomn the election in all the p-incipal towns of the Cotton States. Robert Toomb%, then and for two months later a member of the United States Senate, made a violent speech in favor of secession at Milledgeville, Georgia. On the 10th of December, Howell Cobb, Secretary of the Treasury, resigned, having previously declared himself unable to extricate the United States treasuly fiom the condition of bankruptcy to which he had reduced it by his mismanagement. On the 15th of December, two days before the meeting of her secession convention, South Carolina drew her quota of United States arms for the year 1861, John B. Floyd, Secretary of War, accepting the requisition of her Goveinor; and on the 29th of the same month Floyd resig,ned, after having delivered to all the seceding States their full quota of arms for the next year as well as for the current one, and ordered the greater part of the regular army to parts so distant as to render it impossible to bring them to the Atlantic coast in season to meet any emergency. So rapid was the development of the conspiracy, within the two months that elapsed between the Presidential election and the new year. CHAPTER II. South Carolina Convention.-Ordinance of Secession and Declaration of Causes. Resolutions for Convention of Seceded States.-Mississippi Convention.-Alabam Convention.- Florida Ordinance. -Seizure of Forts. -Georgia’s Resolution in response to New York.-Ordinance of Secession.-Louisiana Convention.-Texas Convention.-Vote of the People.-CGeneral Houston.-Virginia Resolutions.-Ordi nance of Secession.-Convention with the Confederacy.-Arkansas.-Secession de feated.-Nortli Carolina Ordinance passed.-Tennessee Act of Independence. Military League.-Maryland Resolhtions.-Confederate Congress.-Constitution Jefferson Davis, President.-Address. Os the 17th December, 1860, the South Carolinia Convention met at Columbia, but on account offhe small-pox, which prevailed there, adjourned to Charleston., On the 20th, the ordinance of secession was taken up. It was textually as follows: SECESSION ORDINANCE

OF SOUTH CAROLINA. “An Ordinance to dissolve the Union between the State of South Carolina and oter Staes united with her under the Compact, entitled the Constitution of the United States of America: “We, the people of the State of South Carolina, in convention assembled, do declare and ordain, and it is hereby declared and ordained, that the ordinance adopted by Un 35,

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IlSTORY OF THIE GREAT REBELLION. in convention, on the 23d day of May, in the year of our Lord 1788, whereby the Con, stitution of the United States of America was ratified, and also all acts and parts of auts of the General Assembly of this State ratifying the amendments of the said Constitution, are hereby repealed, and that the union now subsisting between South Careo. lina and other States under the name of the United States of America is hereby dissolved.” The ordinance passed by a unanimous vote of one hundred and sixtynine members, at a quarter past one o’clock in the afternoon. As the news spread through the streets of Charleston, it was greeted with immense cheering, and in the evening, in the presence of a crowd of over three thousand people, the instrument was duly signed and sealed. The convention also adopted a declaration of the causes that led-to secession, the leading allegations of which were: the frequent violations of the Constitution by the State Governments; the nullification of acts of Congress by citizens of those States; the personal liberty laws of some of the Northern States; the triumph of a sectional party at the North; the elevation of colored persons to citizenship in some of the States; and the probability that under the ihncoming administration the South would be excluded from the common territories, and the judiciary made sectional, thus taking awvay all hope of remedy for wrong. Governor Pickens immediately issued a proclamation that South Carolina is a separate, free, sovereign, and indlependent State, and upon this event being telegraphed to Washington, 3lessrs.

MlcQueen, Boyd, Bonham and Ashmore, members for South Carolina, withdrew on the same day from Congress. The letter of resignation of the South Carolina members to the Speaker of the House, was laid on the table, and the speaker directed that their names be retained on the roll, thus not recognizing the act of the State. Thus was consummated the act of secession, on the part of that unruly State, which nearly thirty years before had attempted to nullify the laws of the IUnion. The persevering efforts of a few misguided and unprincipled men, continued throug(h a period of thirty years, had finally culminated in an actual attempt to destroy what the people with reason considered the best government ever devised by man. The ambition and crimes of a faction had apparently destroyed the power and welfare of a nation and dashed the hopes of humanity throughout the world. The work of breaking up the old Union and attempting to construct a new government, was now actively pushed by the Southern leaders, whose intention was to have their new Confederacy in operation, and in a posture of defence, Ibfore the accession of MIr.

Lincoln to office, on the 4th of MIarch, 1861. Accordingly, the South Carolina Convention, after passing the ordinance of secession, adopted the following resolutions fbr a convention of the seceded States: “First.-That the conventions of the seceding Slaveholding States of the United States unite with South Carolina, and hold a convention at Montgomery, Alabama, for the purpose of forming a Southern Confederacy. “Sec(ond.-That the said seceding States appoint, by their respective conventions or legislatures, as many delegates as they have representatives in the present Con 36 0 I

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IlSTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. gress of the United States, to the said convention to be held at Montgomery; and that, on the adoption of the constitution of the Southern Confederacy, the vote shall be by States. ‘

Third.-That whenever the terms of the constitution shall be agreed upon by the said convention, the same shall be submitted at as early a day as practicable to the convention and legislature of each State, respectively, so as to enable them to ratify or reject the said constitution.

“Fourth.-That in the opinion of South Carolina, the Constitution of the United States will form a suitable basis for the Confederacy of the Southern States withdrawing. ‘ Fftih.-That the South Carolina Convention appoint by ballot eight delegates to represent South Carolina in the convention for the formation of a Southern Confederacy. “Lt,tlty.-That one commissioner in each State be elected to call the attention of the people to this ordinance.” In the midst of her exhilaration South Carolina remembered that for the tine being she was alone in the world, and that it behooved her to find shelter and friends. AIr. Calhoun, in the convention, remarked: ” W\e have pulled a temple down that has been built threequarters of a century; we must clear the rubbish away to reconstruct another. We are now\v houseless anid homeless, and we must secure ourselves against storis.” These expressions betray, perhaps, the desolation of feeling the seceders must have experienced on looking back upon the security and glosies of that temple which tl)ey had so ruthlessly demolished. The tr,‘litions of the past, the fame of ancestors, the respect of nations, tlhe glor-of the present, almost the hope of the future, lay buried in that mass of rubbish, and in place of the stately structure which for eighty years had been growing in proportions, and whose rising dome was alwvays gilded by the sun of liberty, they were preparing to erect a building whose corner-stone was slavery. They, however, delibe-itely turned their backs upon the past, and recklessly pushed into the unknown, dim, and dangerous future. Commissioners were sent to thie other State conventions, which were called to follow the lead of South Carolina. On the 9th of January, the Alabama and Mississippi delegations at Washington telegraphed to the conventions of their irespective States, advising immediate secession, as they coneidered that there was no prospect of a satisfactory adjustment, and about the same time a caucus of Southern senators at Washington advoc.ated separate and immediate secession.. The 3Iississippi Convention organized January 7th, 1861, A. J. Barry, of Lowvdes, in the chair. It was resolved that a committee of fifteen be appointed by the president, with instructions to prepare and report, as speedily as possible, an ordinance of secession, providing for the immediate withdrawal of Iis.ssippi from the Federal Union, with a view of establishing a neV Confederacy, to be composed of the seceding States. Delegations from South Carolina and Alabama were invited to seats in the convention, amidst much applause. All effoibrts to postpone action were voted down, and the ordinance was adopted, January 9th, by eighty-four yeas to fifteen nays. The opponents of the ordinance, however, signed, on the following day, and the vote was then unanimous. 37

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. Fireworks were displayed at the capitol in Jackson in the evening. The excitement was intense. The ordinance is as follows: “The people of Mississippi, in convention assembled, do ordain and declare, and it is hereby ordained and declared, as follows, to wit: “That all the laws and ordinances by which the said State of Mississippi became a member of the Federal Union of the United States of America be, and the same are hereby repealed; and that all obligations on the part of said State, or the people thereof, to observe the same, be witlhdrawn; and that the said State shall hereby resume the rights, functions, and powers, which by any of said laws and ordinances were conveyed to the Government of the said United States, and is dissolved from all the obligations, restraints, and duties incurred to the said Federal Union, and shall henceforth be a free, sovereign, and independent State.” The passage of this ordinance was followed by the withdrawal of the Ho:;orable Jefferson Davis firomr the United States Senate on the 21st of January, in company with the senators from Alaban:ma and Florida. The Mississippi delegation in the House of Representatives withdrew a few days previous. The Alabama Convention met January 8th, and on the 11 th passed, by a vote ot sixty-one ayes to thirty-nine nays, the following ordinance of secession: “An Ordinance to dissolve the Union between the State of Alabama, and other States, united under the Compact and Style of the United States of Amnerica. ” W7ereas, The election of Abraham Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin to the offices of President and VicePresident of the United States of America, by a sectional party, avowedly hostile to the domestic institutions, and the peace and security of the people of the State of Alabama, following upon the heels of many and dangerous infractions of the Constitution of the United States. by many of the States and people of the Northern section, is a political wrong of so insulting and menacing a character, as to justify the people of the State of Alabama in the adoption of prompt and decided measures for their future peace and security. “Therefore, be it declared and ordained by the people of the State of Alabama, in convention assembled, that the State of Alabama now witlhdraws from the Union, known as the United States of America, and henceforth ceases to be one of the said United States, and is, and of right ought to be, a sovereign independent State. “SEC. 2. And be it further declared and ordained by the people of the State of Alabama, in convention assembled, that all powers over the territories of said State and over the people thereof, heretofore delegated to the Government of the United States of America, be, and they are hereby, withdrawn from the said Government, and are hereby resumed and vested in the people of the State of Alabama. “And as it is the desire and purpose of the people of Alabama to meet the Slaveholding States of the South who approve of such a purpose, in order to frame a provisional or a permanent government, upon the principles of the Government of the United States, be it also resolved by the people of Alabama, in convention assembled, that the people of the States of Delaware, MAaryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Missouri, be, ad they are hereby invited to meet the people of the State of Alabama, by their delegates in convention, on the 4th day of February next, in Montgomery, in thle State of Alabama, for the purpose of consultation with eachl other, as to the most effectual mode of securing concerted, harmonious action in whatever measures may be deemed most desirable for the common peace and security. “And be it further resolved, That the President of this convention be, and he is hereby, instructed to transmit forthwith a copy of the foregoing preamble, ordinanoe; and resolutions to the governors of the several States named in the said resol,utions. ” Done by the people of Alabama, in convention assembled, at Montgomery, thi Ilth day of January, 1861.” 38 I

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REB}ELLION. Some of the nays indicated opposition to separation from the North, others to action independent of other States. A proposition to submit the ordinance to the peopl.e was lost by yeas forty-seven, nays fifty-three. The poplulilr vote of Alab-ima: at the Presidentital election hald numbered ninety thotlsan(l three hundred and fifty-seven. Ill (hoosing delegates for the con ve.)tion, the question was mainly that of unconditional secession, or of co-oper:tion with other States. The result of the vote was tw(ontv-s.x thoiis.n(i two hundred and eighty-six for cooperation, and tliirty-fi e thousand seven hundred and sevxenty-six for immediate secession. Total, sixty-two thousand and sixty-two, or twentyeight thousand two 0thn(lrcd and ninety-five less than were cast at the Presidential election. When tlhe ordinance was passed, seven cooperation members voted for it,,,nil the rest expressed themselves in favor of it, althouoh un(dei ilstlructions to vote against it. A comnmittee of fifteen, one to e.cli Sla\ ehlolding State, was appointed to promote cooperation. The pass:sge of this ol(rdin.nce was celebrated in Mobile by a military pai.de, illuminations, processions, and public meetings, amid the most intense popular excitement. The Floi’id:i Convention was even more emphatic than that of Alab:ma, in its vote for immediate secession, the ordinance having passed, January 10th, by a vote of sixty-two to seven, as follows: FLORIDA ORDINANCE OF SECESSION. ‘

Wzere~c, All hope of preserving the Union upon terms consistent with the safety and honor of the Slaveholding States, has been finally dissipated by the recent indications of the strength of the anti-slavery sentiment of the Free States; therefore. “Be it,‘esolve( b)y the PIeoplj of Fl,rid(a, il convention asseoibled, That it is und ubtedly the right of the several States of the Union, at such time, and for such cause as in the opinion of the people of suclli State, acting in their sovereign capacity, may be just and proper; and, in the opinion of this convention, the existing causes are such as to compel Florida to proceed to exercise that right.

“We, the people of the State of Florida, in convention assembled, do solemnly ordain, publish, and declare. thlat the State of Florida hereby withdraws herself from the Confedera:cy of States existing under the name of the United States of America, and front the existing Government of the said States; and that all political connection between her and the Government of said States ought to be, and the same is hereby totally annulled, and said Union of States dissolved; and the State of Florida is hereby declared a sovereign and indel)endent nation; and that all ordinances heretofore adopted, in so fi.r as they create or recognize said Union, are rescinded; and all laws, or parts of laws, in force in this State, in so far as they recognize or assent to said Union, be, and they are hereby repealed.” Immediately on the passage of this ordinance, the Navy Yard, fo)rts and other property of t!ie United States, at Pensacola, were seized by the State autihorities, with the exception of Fo:t Pickens, which was held by Lieuteniant Slemmer, Pith a small garrison of re,gulars.

An act passed by thl Flo,-ida legislature d’clar(-d, ia the event of any actual collision between the troops of the late Federal Union and those in the employ of the State of Florida, it shall be the duty of the Governor of the State to Fake public proclamation of the fact; and thereafter the act of holding office under the Federal Government shall be declared treason, and the person convicted shall suf?er death. 39

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LIISTORY OF THE GREAT REiBELLION. On the 3dl of January, Governor Brown, of Georgia, seized Forts Pulaski and Jackson, near Savannah. The State of New York had, January 4th, passed a resolution tendering to the President the mili tary services of the State, to be used as he might think proper, for the support of the Constitution. These resolutions caused much excitement in the South generally, and the Georgia Convention passed the follow ing resolution unanimously: “As a response to the resolutions of the legislature of the State of New York, that this convention highly approves of the energetic and patriotic conduct of the Governor of Georgia in taking possession of Fort Pulaski by the Georgia troops; that this conven tion request him to hold possessfion of said fort until the relations of Georgia with the Federal Government shall be determined, and that a copy of this resolution be trans mitted to the Governor of the State of New York.” On the 19th of January, the secession ordinance was passed, two hundred and eight to eightynine; the Hlon. A. II. Stephens voting against it: “An Ordinance to dissolve the Union between the State of Georgia and other States united with her under the Compact of Government entitled the Constitution of the United Stales. “We, the people of the State of Georgia, in convention assembled, do declare and ordain, and it is hereby declared and ordained, that the ordinances adopted by the people of the State of Georgia in convention in 1788, whereby the Constitution of the United States was assented to, ratified, and adopted, and also all acts and parts of acts of the General Assembly ratifying and adopting amendments to the said Constitution, are hereby repealed, rescinded, and abrogated. “And we do further declare and ordain, that the union now subsisting between the State of Georgia and other States, under the name of the United States, is hereby dissolved, and that the State of’

Georgia is in full possession and exercise of all therose rights of sovereignty which belong and appertain to a free and independent State.”

The United States Arsenal at Augusta, Georgia, was soon after taken possession of by the State authorities. The Louisiana State Convention took up the question of secession with great enthusiasm, and an ordinance to that effect asas passed January 26th, by one hundred and thirteen to seventeen votes. The convention refused by a vote of eighty-four to forty-five to subl)mit their’act to a popular vote. The following is the ordinance: An Ordinance to dissolve the Union between the State of Louisiana and the other States united with her uiider the Coinpact entitled the Caostitztion of the United States oJ Aimerica. “We, the people of the State of Louisiana, in convention assembled, do declare and ordain, and it is hereby declared and ordained, that the ordinance passed by the State of 22d November, 1807, whereby the Constitution of the United States of America and the amendments of said Constitution were adopted, and all the laws and ordinances by which Louisiana became a member of the Federal Union be, and the same are hereby repealed and abrogated, and the union now subsisting between Louisiana and the other States, under the name of the Unitfd States of America, is hereby dissolved. “We further declare an& ordain, that the State of Louisiana hereby resumes the rights and powers heretofore delegated to the Government of the United States of America, and its citizens are absolved from allegiance to the said Government, and she is in full possession of all the rights and sovereignty that appertain to a firee and independent State. “We further declare and ordain, that all rights acquired and vested under the Constitution of the United States, or any act of Congress, or treaty, or under laws of this State, not incompatible with thi ordinance, shall remain in force, and have the same efct as though this ordinance had not passed.” 40 I

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. A resolution was reported to the convention that the following be added to the ordinance; “We, the people of Louisiana, recognize the right of free navigation of the Mississippi River and tributaries by all friendly States bordering thereon; we also recognize the right of the ingress and egress of the mouths of the Mississippi by all friendly States and Powers, and hereby declare our willingness to enter into stipulations to guarantee the exercise of those rights.” The popular vote in Louisiana was twenty thousand four hun dred and fortyeight for secession, seventeen thousand two hundred and ninetysix against it. The Convention of the State of Texas, by one hundred and sixtysix yeas against seven nays, passed an ordinance of secession February 1st, to be voted on February 23d, by the people, and if adopted by them, to take effect iMarch 1st. The vote of ratification was thirtyfour thousand seven hundred and ninety-four yeas to eleven thousand two hundred and thirtyfive nays. The ordinance was as follows: An Ordina72ce to dissolve the Union between the State of Texas and the other States under thle Copl)act styled the Constitution of the United States of Anerica. “SEC. 1 Whereas, The Federal Government has failed to accomplish the purposes of thle compact of union between these States, in giving protection either to the persons of our people upon an exposed frontier, or to the property of our citizens; and whereas, the action of the Northern Sta+es is violative of the compact between thle States and the guarantees of the Constitution; and whereas, the recent developments in Federal affairs make it evident that the power of the Federal Government is sought to be made a weapon with w ligh to strike down the interests and property of the people of Texas, and her sister Slaveliho’ding States, instead of permitting it to be, as was intended-our shield against outrage and aggression-therefore, We. the people of the State of Texas, by deleg,ates in convention assembled, do declare and ordain that the ordinance adopted by our convention of dclelegates on the fourth (4th) day of July, A. D. 1845, and afterwards ratified by us, under which the Republic of Texas was admitted into the Union with other States, and became a party to the compact styled’The Constitution of the United States of America,’ be, and is hereby repealed and annulled. “That all the powers which, by the said compact, were delegated by Texas to the Federal Goverlment are resumed. That Texas is of right absolved from all restraints and obligations incurred by said compact, and is a separate sovereign State, and that her citizens and people are absolved from all allegiance to the United States, or the government thereof. “SEC. 2. The ordinance shall be submitted to the people of Texas for their ratifica.tion or rejection, by the qualified voters, on the 23d day of February, 1861; and unless rejected by a m;ijority of the votes cast, shall take effect and be in force on and after the 2d day of March, A. D.

1861. Provided that in the representative District of E1 Paso said election may be held on the 18th day of February, 1861. “Done by the people of the State of Texas, in Convention assembled, at Austin, the 1st day of February, A. D. 1861.” After the passage of the ordinance, the convention passed another forming the foundation of a Soutlhrn Confederacy, and appointed dele gates to the Montgomery Cp)ngress. It also passed an ordinance requiring all State officers to take the oath of allegiance to support the new government, and appointing a day for the governor and other rincipdl o(fficeris to appear for tha purpose before the convention. The venerable Governor Houston, who had so long led the destinies of Texas, feebly attempted to stem the current. He issued an address protesting against the entire action of the convention, and refused to take the oath. His life-long popularity seemed now to desert hir 41

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. The legislature framed a resolution approving of the convention, ana deposirg the Governor if hle refused the oath. The United States prop. erty in the State was seized by the authorities. On the 10th of May General Houston made a speech in which lie said that having opposed secession earnestly, he had, now that the Federal Government adopted armed coercions no recourse but to stand by his State in resistance to subjugation. In stich a juncture a man’s section was his country. That the Cotton States should with almost common consent follow the lead of South Carolina, was regarded almost as a matter of coutrses but even that was not accomplished without some (dissent to the dictation of South Caroliiia. The interests of the Border States were, however, not so identical, and the line of policy they might pursue not so well defined; in one respect they seemed to be agreed(, viz.: that they would not countenance armed coercion of the South, and their relations with the North seemed to hang upon the quetion of coercion, or conciliation. The most influential of them was Vir,ginia. The leaders in the State seemed earnestly bent on preserving the Union, and early in January the legislature sent invitations to all the States to meet in a conference, in order to devise means of comp’omise. The State Convention, which assembled February 13th, was many weeks in session, and in its proceedings exhibited no little vacillation of opinion; the old-faslioned conservatives being reluctant to cut adrift firomn the Union, while the more advanced politicians could not repress a hankering after the glories of a new slave confederacy. Commissioners were appointed to wait on the President and ascertain the policy that he intended to pursue. A resolution was adopted expressiig a willingness that the indepondence of the seceding States should be acknowledged. On the other handt, resolutions expressive of a desire for conciliation and compromise were passed. When, however, the commissioners were not satisfactorily received at Washington and the President is sued his call for troops, the tone of the Convention changed; it immediately went into secret session, and passed, by yeas eighty-eight, nays fiftyfive, the follo wving ordinance: ” An Ordinance to repeal the Ratification of the Constitution of the United states of Amerioa by the State of Virginia, and to resume acU the Rights and Powers granted under said Contitution. “The people of Virginia, in their ratification of the Constitution of the United States of America, adopted by them in convention on the 25th day of June, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-eight, having declared that the powers granted under said Conrstitution were derived from the people of the United States. and might be resumed whensoever ie same should be perverted to tl’.eir injury and oppression, and the Federal Government having perverted said powers, not only to the injury of the people of Virginia, but to the oppression of the Soutlhern Slavehlolding States: ” Now, therefore, we, the people of Virginia, do declare and ordain that the ordinance adopted by the people of this State in convention, on the 25th d.ry of June, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-eight, whereby the Constitution of the United States of America was ratified, and all acts of the General Assembly of this State, rat. ifying or adopting amendments to said Constitution, are hereby repealed and abrogated, that the union between the State of Virginia and the other Sta,tes under the Constitution aforesaid is hereby dissolved, and that the State of Virginia is in the full possession and “orcise of all the rights of sovereignty which belong and appertain to a free and ing 42 I

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HISTORY OF I GREAT REBELLION.0. pendent State. And they do further declare that the said Constitution of the United States of America is no longcr binding on any of the citizens of this State. “This ordinance shall take effect and be an act of this day when ratified by a majority of the votes of the people of this State, cast at a poll to be taken thereon on the fourth Thursday in May next, in pursuance of a schedule to be hereafter enacted. “Done in Convention, in the city of Richmond, on the 17th day of April, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, and in the eighty-fifth year of the Commonwealth of Virginia. ” JOHN L.

EUBANK, Secretary of Convention.” “An Ordinance for the Adoption of the Constitution of the Provisional Governmmat of th Confederute St(ites of America. “We, the delegates of the people of Virginia, in convention assembled, solemnly im pressed by the perils which surround the commonwealth, and appealing to the Searcher of Hearts for the rectitude of out intentions in assuming the great responsibility of this act, do, by this ordinance, adopt and ratify the Constitution of the Provisional Covernment of the Confederate States of America, ordained and established at Mlontgomery, Alabama, on the eighth day of February, eighteen hundred and sixty-one; provided that this ordinance shall cease to have any legal operation or effect, if the people of this commonwealth, upon the vote directed to be taken on the ordinance of secession passed by this convention on the 17th day of April, eighteen hundred and sixty-one, shall reject the same. “A true copy. “JOHN L. EUBANK, Secretary.” The passage of these ordinances was telegraphed to the South, and SIr. Stephens, Vice-Piesident of the Confederite States, at once set out for Virginia, and on April 24th foirmed a convention b)etween that State and the Coniedera,cy. Th( secession ordinance was in the latter part of June anuounced to have been ratified!-)y a vote of one liun(di(rd and twentyfive thousand nine hundred and fifty, to twenty thousand three hundred and seventyv-three; but this did not include the vote of a large portion of Western Virginia. In the State of Arkansas the Convention met on the 4th of M]Narch, and an ordinance of secession was, after elaborate (liscussion, r(jected by a vote of tlirty-nine to thirtyfive. On the 18th of April was passed an act submitting the question of secession to the people on the 3d of Auttist. Thie effect ot’ the Presidetut’s call for troops was the same here as elsewhere in the South. When it was received, April 22d, the authorities seized the pi’operty of the Fedei,a] Government in thle State; the convention immediately reassembled, and on the 6th of Mlay passed the following ordinance, by yeas sixtynine, nays one:“An Ordinance to dissolre the Union now existing between the State of Arkansas and tO other States united with her under thie Compact entitled’ The Constitution of the United S~ttes of Anmerica.’ 11” l’hereas, In addition to the weil-founded cause of complaint set forth by this con* vention in resolutions adopted on the 11th March, A. D. 1861, against the sectional party now in power at Washington City, eaded by Abraham Lincoln, he has, in the face of the resolutions passed by this convention, pledging the State of Arkansas to resist to the last extremity any attempt on the part of such power to coerce any State that seceded from the old Union, proclaimed to the world that war should be waged against such States, until they should be compelled to submit to their rule, and large forces to accomplish this have by the same power been called out, and are now being marshalled to carry out this inhuman design, and longer to submit to such rule or remain in the old Union of the United States would be disgraceful and ruinous to the State of Arkansas: “Therefore, we, the people of the state of Arkansas, in convention assembled, do hereby declare and ordain, and it is hereby declared and ordained, that the’

ordinaa 43

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. and acceptance of compact,’ passed and approved by the General Assembly of the State of Arkansas on the 18th of October. A. D. 1836, whereby it was by said Genera Assembly ordained that, by virtue of the authority vested in said General Assembly, by the provisions of the ordinance adopted by the convention of delegates assembled at Little Rock, for the purpose of forming a constitution and system of government for said State, the propositions set forth in’an act supplementary to an act entitled an act for the admission of the State of Arkansas into the Union, and to provide for the due executtion of the 1
vws of the United States within the same, and for other purposes, were freely accepted, ratified, and irrevocably confirmed articles of compact and union between the State of Arkansas and the United States,’ and all other laws, and every other law and ordinance, whereby the State of Arkansas became a member of the Federal Union, be, anrid the same are hereby, in all respects, and for every purpose herewith consistent.

repealed, abrogated, and fully set aside; and the Union now subsisting between the State of Arkansas and the other States under the name of the United States of America, is hereby forever dissolved. “And we do further hereby declare anrid ordain that the State of Arkansas hereby resumes to herself all rights and powers heretofore delegated to the Government of the United States of America-that her citizens are absolved from all allegiance to said Government of the United States, and that she is in full possession and exercise of all the rights and sovereignty which appertain to a free and independent State. “We do further ordain and declare that all rights acquired and vested under the Constitution of the United States of America, or of any act or acts of Congress, or treaty, or iunder any law of this State, and not incompatible with this ordinance, shall remain in fuill force and effect, in nowise altered or impaired, and have the same effect as if this ordinance had not been passed. “Adopted and passed in open convention on the 6th day of May, Anno Domini 1861.

“ELIAS C. BOUDINOT, “Secretary of the Arkansas State Conveaition.” The disposition of North Carolina was on the whole fi’iendly to the Union. The legislature, December 20th, gave audience to Messrs. Smith and Garrett, commissioners from Alabama, and also received a communicition from the Hon. Jacob Thompson, a member of the Federal cabinet, and also commissioner from Mississippi, to ur(-ge cooperation in favor of the proposed Confederacy. This fact happening at a time wihen a large amount of bonds had been abstracted from his department, produced an influence in North Carolina not favorable to the Southern cause. As late as January 31st, the legislature elected Thomas L. Clingiman United States Senator.

On the previous day the people had voted by forty-six thousand six hundred and seventytwo yeas to forty-seven thousand three hundred and twentythree nays, not to call a convention. When the Confederate Congress met, February 4th, North Carolina was invited to send delegates. She replied that, as one of the Federal States, she had no right to do so; but she sent commissioners for the purpose of attempting to bring about an arrangement on the basis of the Crittendlen resolution as modified by the Virginia legislature. Those commissioners were invited to occupy seats.

The North Carolina legislature then passed unanimously a resolutio,, that, if reconciliation should fail, North Carolina would go with the other Slave States. But.though really reluctant to leave the Union, the State could not withstand the impulse given to secession by the events succeedinig the surrender of Fort Sumter, and on the receipt of the President’s call fox troops, the legislature was ordered to convene on the 1st of May. It proceeded at once to call a convention, which 44 I

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. on the 20th passed the ordinance, by a unanimous vote, after a proposition to submit the matter to the people had been defeated by seventythree to thirtyfour. The following is the ordinance adopted:  ” \e, the people of the State of North Carolina, in convention assembled, do declare and ordain, and it is hereby declared and ordained, that the ordinance adopted by the State of North Carolina, in the Convention of 1789, whereby the Constitution of the United States was ratified and adopted, and also all acts and parts of acts of the General Assembly, ratifying and adopting amendments to the said Constitution, are hereby repealed, rescinded, and abrogated. “Ae do further declare and ordain that the Union now subsisting between the State of North Carolina and the other States, under the title of the United States of America, is hereby dissolved, and that the State of North Carolina is in the full possession and exercise of all those rights of sovereignty which belong and appertain to a free and independent State. “Done at Raleigh, 20th day of May, in the year of our Lord 1861.” The following ordinance, ratifying the Confederate Constitution, was also passed:. ‘ We, the people of North Carolina, in Convention assembled, do declare and ordain, and it is hereby declared and ordained, that the State of North Carolina does hereby assent to and ratify the’ Constitution for the Provisional Government of the Confederate States of America,’ adopted at Montgomery, in the State of Alabama, on the 8th of February, 1861, by the Convention of Delegates from the States of South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana, and that North Carolina will enter into the Federal Association of States upon the terms therein proposed, when admitted by the Congress or any competent authority of the Confederate States. “Done at Raleigh, 20th day of Mlay, in the year of our Lord 1861.” Thie State of Tennessee long held out against secession, and on Februarv 8th, by a vote of sixty-seven thousand three hundred and sixty to fifty-four thousand one hundred and fifty-six, decided not to call a convention. But under the influences which had impelled other States to secede, its legislature, on May 7th, adopted a declaration of independence and ordinance, dissolving the Federal relations between Tennessee and the United States, and an ordinance ratifying the Confederate Constitution, the two latter to be voted for by the people on June Sth; on May 8th, amilitary league was formed withthe Coufederate States, in virtue of which the forces of Tennessee were to act in aid of the Confederates. On June 24th, Governor Isham G. IIarris declared Tennessee out of the Union, the vote for separation being one hundred and four thousand and nineteen against forty-seven thousand two hundre(d and thirty-eilght. The latter was mostly thrown in East Tennessee. The State of Kentucky passed no acts of secession, but adopted a neiitisal policy. On the 20th of Mlay, Governor MIagoffin issued a procllmation, solemnly forbidding any movement of troops upon Keiituclkv soil. On the receipt of the President’s requisition, the Governor issued a proclamation calling the legislature together, to place the State in a defensive position*. Early in December, a commissioner, appointed by a resolution of the legislature of Mississippi, visited Maryland to askl her coopera,tion in the formation of a new government. Governor Hicks replied that, “when he was convinced that the power of the Federal Government was to be perverted for the destruction, instead of being used for the protection of their rights, then, and not till then, could hlie consent so to exercise any power with which he was invested, as to afford even 45

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HISTORY OF’IE GREAT REBELLION. the opportunity for such a proceeding.” The Maryland legislature met at Fi’ederick in extra session on April 27th, and, notwithstanding the feveiish excitement in which the secessionists had plunged the country, refiused by a very decided maLjority to call a convention. The membeis, howevei, seemed to have acted from policy rather than love of the Uiiion, and clung to the delusion of peace at any price, and neutrality between the Federal Government and the seceded States. They passed the follo wing preamble and resolutions, May 10th, 1861: ” Whereas, The war against the Confederate States is unconstitutional and repugnant to civilization, and will result in a bloody and shameful overthrow of our institutions; and whilst recognizing the obligations of Maryland to the Union, we sympathize with the South in the struggle for their rights-for the sake of humanity, we are for peace and reconciliation, and solemnly protest against this war, and will take no part in it: “,solve(d, That MIaryl,nd implores the President, in the name of God, to cease this unholy war, at least until Congress assembles; that Maryland desires and consents to the recognition of the independence of the Confederate States. The military occupa tion of Maryland is unconstitutional, and she protests against it, though the violent interference with the transit of Federal troops is discountenanced; that the vindication of her rights be left to time and reason, and that a convention, under existing circum stances, is inexpedient.” We have here given the acts of secession of the several Slave States, in succession, before giving an account of the convelntion which met at Montg(omery, in Fe)ruiary, to form the Confederate Government of seven Cotton States, in order that the reader may see under what cir cumstances each State prepared to participate in the proceedings of that body. The Border States, it will be observed, did not secede un til aftei the C)otlifederacy was formed, and the new Administration had adopted a decided coercive policy. On) the 4th of February, the Confedera.te Congress, composed of deleg:ttes from the States of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, 3lississippi, and South Carolina, met at Montgomery, Alabama. On the same daiy, a convention, composed of commissioners from twenty one States, ap)pointed at the instance and solicitation of the legislature of Virginia, met in Washington, District of ColtlImnbit, to endeavor to devise some plan of retaining the Border States in the Union, and winnigr back those which had already seceded. The purpose was a praiseworthy one, but it was soon evident that the task they had undertaken was impracticable. The resolutions of compromise, which they finally passed l,y a bare majority, composed almost entirely of members from the Border States, failed to satisfy either party in the controversy; the Northern States felt that they were asked to yield what they ought not, and the seceded States were unwilling to come back under any circumstances. On the meeting of the ddeegates to the Southern Convention, Howell Cobb, Esq., late Secretary of the Treasury for the United States, was elected chairman. In his address he said, that they had met as the representatives of sovereign ana independent States, which had dissolved all political connection with the Government of the United States. The separation was complete and perpetual, and their duty was now to provide for,future security and protection. The following were the 46 I

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HISTORY OF’H GREAT REBELLION. DELEGATES TO THE MONTGOMERY CONENTIO N, ALABAMA, FEBRUARY 4TH. ALABAMfA.-Robert 11. Smith, Colin J. McRae, W. R.

Clilton, David P. Lewis, Ricliard W. Walker, John Gill, S. F. Hale, Thomas Fearn, J. L. M. Curry. FLORaDA.-Jackson Morton, J. Patton Anderson, James Powers. GEORGIA,-Robert Toombs, Francis Barton, Martin Crawford, Judge Nesbitt, Benjamin Hill, Howell Cobb, Augustus R. Wright, Thomas R. R.

Cobb, Augustus Keenan, A. oi. Stephens. LOuIS1AN-A.-John Perkins, Jr., C.

M. Conrad, Duncan F. Kenner, A. Declouet, E. Sparrow, Henry Marsll.L.

MBISSTsIPPI.L-‘iley P. Harris, W. S. Wilson, A. M. Clayton, Walker Brooke, W. S. Barry,.T. T. Harrison, J. A. P. Campbell. SOUTII CAROLINA.-T. J.

ARithers, R. B. Rhett, Jr., L. M. Keitt, W. W. Boyce, James Chestnut, Jr., R. W. Barnwell, G. G. Memminger. Three commissioners fromn North Carolina, sent to “effect an honorable and amicable adjustment of all the difficulties that disturb the country, upon the basis of the Crittenden Resolutions,” were admitted to seats in the convention. After some discussion the convention adopted provisionally the Constitution of the United States, with some important changes, adapted to the alteredl circumstances and peculiar views of t} seceding States. The preamble reads as follows: “We, the deputies of the sovereign and independent States of South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana, invoking the favor of Almighty God, do hereby, in behalf of these States, ordain and establish this constitution fo, the provisional government of the same, to continue cue year from the inauguration of the President, or until a permanent constitution or confederation between the said States shall be put in operation, whichsoever shall first occur.” The seventh section, first article, is as follows: The importation of African negroes from any foreign country other than the Slave. holding States of the United States, is hereby forbidden, and Congress is required to pass such laVws as shall effectually prevent the same. ” Article second-Congress shall also have power to prohibit the introduction of slaves from any State not a member of this Confederacy.” Article fourth, of the tlhird clause, of the second section, says: “‘A slave in one State escaping to another, shall be delivered up on the claim of the party, to wvhomn said slave nmay belong, by the executive authority of the State in which such slave rmay be found; anid in case of any abduction or forcible rescue, frill compensation, inclutding the value of the slave, and all costs and expenses, shall be made to the party by the State in which such abduction or rescue shall take place.” Article sixth, of the second clause, says: “The government hereby instituted shall take immediate steps for the settlement of all matters between thie States formning it, and their late confederates of the United States, in relation to the public property 4d public debt at the time of their withdrawal from them; these StaItes hereby (eclaring it to be their wish and earnest desire to ad. just every thing pertaining to the common property, common liabilities, and common obligations of that uinion, upon principles of right, justice, equity, and good faith.” The tariff clause )ro.vides that- “The Congress sliill have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and cexrises for revenue necessary to pay the debts and carry on the government of the Confederacy, anrid all duties, imposts, andcexcises shall be uniform throughout the Confederacy.” 47

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. This was adopted on February 9th.

Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi, was elected President, and Alexander H.

Stephens, of Georgia, Vice President, by unanimous votes. The inauguration of iMr. Davis took place February 18th. In his inaugural address, he stated that the change of the government illus trates the American idea of the consent of the governed, elaborated at great length and with considerable tact the popular State-rights views of the secession leaders, and defined the prospects anId policy of the new confederation. On the 21st, he nominated the following members of his cabinet: Secretary of St((te-Robert Toombs; Secretar?y qf thle Treasitr C. J. Memminger; Secretary qf IVar-L. Pope Walker; Secretary of tle Na(vy-Stephen RP.

Mallory; Attory?cy-General Judah P. Benja min; Posta),tsteei -

Ge)ier,ctl-John H. Reagan; all of whom were con firmed. Acts were adopted by the Congress, taking chlarg,e of all questions with the United States in relation to public property; continuing in force aill laws of the United States, not inconsistent with the new con stitution, and continuing in office all incumbents with the same duties and salaries; levying duties on goods coming( from the United States, unless shipped before March 28th; and authoriziig, a loan of fifteen million dollars, secured by an export duty on cotton. On the 11th of Maich a permanent constitution was unanimously adopted, which was substantially a copy of the Federal Constitution. The preamble reads, “We, the people of the Confederate States, each State acting in its sovereign and independent character,”

&-c.; the President and VicePresident were to be chosen for six years, and to be ineligible for re-election while in office; cabinet ministers were allowed seats in Congress, with the privilege of debating; the term slave was studiously paraded where, in the Federal Constitution, it is expressed by a paraphrase; and the instrument provided that the vote of five States should suffice for its ratification. The first measures of the Confederate Congress were evidently intended to exhibit to the world moderation and a disposition to conciliate. The renewed condemnation of the slave-trade was almost unanimously conceded, no doubt to set the Confederacy morally right before society-. The next important measure was evidently for the benefit of the Western States; it declared the navigation of the Mississippi free to any State on its borders, or the borders of its navigable tributaries. This einactmnent was a necessity, even in the event of success attending the Southern movement. It is impossible to imagine that the W’cstern States 4ould ever permit their chief outlet to the ocean to be closed by tie Tourniquet of a foreign custom-house. Even in Europe, the Danube, which passes through the tcrritories of various and often hostile ra.ces, has been made free. The people living on the head-waters of the MAississipli, on the Ohio, the Missouri, and even the Arkansas, would be most indignant if any attempt were made to interfere with the traffic between the Gulf and the heart of the American continenlt. Hence the Confederate Congress enacted that all ships and boats which may enter the waters of the Mississippi, within the limits 48

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IIISTORY OF T GREAT RBELLION.0 of the Confederacy, from any port or place beyond the said limits, may fireely pass with their cargoes to any other place beyond the said limits, without let or hindrance, on paying pilotage and other charges. Reg ulations were made to prevent the disposing of any part of the cargoes without payment of the customs due to the Confederate States. This the Southerners probably thought was all that the Western people could desire, or, at least, justly claim. Ilaving thus extended one hand, as they supposed, to the Western navigation, they extended the other to Great Britain, by mnodifying the navigation laws. The act, which was ready for the President’s assent on the 26th of February, was “to modify the navigation laws, and to repeal all discriminating duties on ships and vessels;” and enacted that “all laws which forbid the employment in the coastingtrade of ships or vessels not enrolled or licensed, and also all laws which forbid the importation of goods, wares, or merchandise from one port of the Confederate States to another, or fiom any foreign port or place in a vessel belonging wholly or in part to a subject or citizen of any foreign State or power, are hereby repealed.” Discriminating (luties on foreign ships were also repealed. Thus, the coastingtrade fromn Charleston to Galveston was now thrown open to the British flag. Tlhis was certainly a tempting bait to Great Britain, who had so long sought from the Federal Government to be admitted to the coasting-tracle of the United States in return for the right to trade between her colonies. As the South owns no shipping, but supplies an immense fireight annually in cotton, rice, and tobacco, it was equivalent to offcring ier carrying-trade to Great Britain. ThIe act for the suppression of the sIave-tirade was in the usual terms, but cointained a provision for dealing with the negroes found on board the captured vessels, which is somewhat amusing. If the vessel is clearedl from any port in the United States, the President shall commuinicate with the Governor of that State, and “shall offer to deliver such negroes to the said State on receiving a guarantee that the said egr, oes shall enjoy the rights and privileges of freemen in such State, or in iany other State of the United States, or that they shall be transportedl to Africa, and there set at liberty, without expense to the (Government.”

The notion of the Confederate States bargaining with latsslchusetts or Pennsylvania that a negro shall “have all the rights anid p)rinvile(,Cs of a freeman,” might imply a doubt as to the sincerity of tleiir professions in behalf of the negro. In default of the foreign State accepting this offer, the President was empowered to receive any propositions made for the transport of the negroes to Africa by private ])e:‘sons, an(l, should no such philanthropist offer himself, “the President shall cause the said negroes to be sold at public auction to the highest biklder.” This, it must be confessed, is a descent firom the lefty morality of the earlier part of the clause. All these acts were passed with great unanimity. * On the 6th of February, an act placing at the disposition of Congress five hundred thousand,dollars for the placing of the seceded States in a better condition of defence was passed by the legislature of Alabama. This offer was accepted by the,Confederate Congress. 4 49

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50 I IISTORY OF THE GREAT’ REBELLION. On the 9th of Febriuary, a committee of one from each State was appointed, to report upon a fiAg. The Government assumed, February 12th, chl,rge of the questions pending between the several States of the Confederacy and the Gove. nnlelit of the UIIit(ed States, relatiln to the occupation of fort<, arsenlals, dock-yards, and other public eslt:blishments, and directed that act to be comIIlilnicated to the several States; and again, on the 15th of Miarch, 1861, the Congress recommended the respective States to cede the forts, arsenals, dock-yards, and other publie establishments within their respective limits., to the Corlfe(delate States; and, in case of suchl cession, authorized and empowered the President to take charge of thle said property. It was also provided by act of February 28th, that the Iresi,lent be directed to alsstime control of all milit:ary operations of the Confederate States; and he was authorized to ieceive the arms acquired fiom the United States and then in the forts, arsena!s, and inavyyards of the several States, and all other arms and munitions which they might desire to turn over and make chargeable to the Confederate Govertnellt. On the 9th of IMarch, the Confederate Congress passed an act for the organization of the artlly, to be composed of one corps of engineers, one co!ps of artillery, one regiment of cavalry, and six reginments of infantry, and to niumber ten thousand seven hundred and thirty-seven officers and men. CHAPTER III. Meeting of Congress.-President’s Message.-Resignation of Secretaries Cobb, Cass, Floyd, and Thompson.-Defalcations.-Special Message of the President.-Conimit tee of Thirtythree.-Crittenden Resolutions.-Border States’ Plan.-Virginia Reso lutions.-Peace Convention -Close of Congress.-New Territories.-Finance.

Constitutional Amendment.-Mr. Lincoln’s Arrival at Washington.-Inaugllral; its Effects.-Southern Commissioners.-Suipplies to Fort Sumter.-Policy of the Govern ment.-Charleston Harbor.-Events at the South.-Bombardment and Surrender of Fort Sumter.-Fort Pickens Reinforced. WHILE preparations for conventions of the Southern States were on foot, with the view of bi-iiging about disunion, the Cong(ress of lhe United States met at Washington, as usual, on December 3(l. The South Carolina representatives w-ere present, but the Senators having resigned November 11 thl, were absent. The other Southern representations were generally filll. The message of th2 President was largely occupied with a discussion of the state of the country. He declured that the lotg-c()ntinuted and intemperate interference of the Northern lI-eople with Southern interests had at length produced its natural effects in sectional discord; and that the true c.luse of the Southern disquiet was neither the personal liberty bills of the Northern States, nor the claim to excl tide slavery from the national territory, but the fact that continual agitation was inspiring the slaves with the hope of fi’eedorti, and thus daily undermining the security of the Southern people. The apprehensions i

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. from this cause, he alleged, would make disunion inevitable. The kresident stated that, with the possible exception of the Missouri Com promise, no act had ever passed Congress impairing in the slightest degree the rights of the South to their property in slaves; no act had passed, or was likely to pass Congress, excluding slavery from the Ter ritoiies; that the Supreme Court lhad(l decided that slavets are p)rol)erty, and that the owners have a right to take them into the Territories un der the protection of the Constitution; and that no territorial legisla ture possesses the power to exclude slavery firom the Territories. The power belo(ngs nowhere except to the whole people when forming a State Constitution. That neither Congress nor the President are re sponsible for the State personal liberty laws, which, he said, have all been declared unconstitutional and void, by all courts before which the question has been brought, with the exception of a single State court in Wisconsin, and there the decision had been reversed before the propler tribunal. He argued strongly against the right of secession, de claiitig it to be simply revolution. He then summe(i up the powers of the executive under the constitution, and the laws of 1795 and 1807; ” but these,” he said, “do not apply in a State where there are no Federal officers through whose agency the laws can be executed. The proper ty (,f the United States in Clarleston had, with the consent of the State, been purchased by the Federal Government, and Congress has the ex(-lusive power to legislate theiein; hence there were no obstac,lts to the collection of the duities in Charleston.” ” It i. not l)elieved,” he added, “that any attempt will be made to expel the United States from t,he property. The officer in charge has orders to act on the defensive, and if he should be assailed, the responsibility would rest rightfully on the heads of the as!ail:ints.” The President, in relati(,n to the power of coer(‘ing a State that attempts to withdraw from the Confederacy, helal that the power to do so “was exp,essly refused by the convelntion which frame(] the Con, stitution.” The President advised an explanatory amendment to the constitution on the subject of slavery. Oni De(-emlier 10th, the Secretary of the Treasury, Howell Cobb, of Georgia, resigned. In his letter of lesignation, he stated that he agreed with the President in the policy and measures of the Administratiotr, although he differed from some of the theoretical doctrines exp)ressed in the message, as well as from the hope expressed in it, that the Union could 3 et be preserved. Mir. Thomas, of Malrylanid, was appointed to slicce~.d Mir. Cobb as Sece’etary of the Treasuriy. The resignation of MIr. Cobb was followed by that q the Hon.

Lewis Cass, Secretary of State, on the ground that the President had refilsed to reinforce the garrison at Foit Moultrie. This work, situated on Su’livan’s Island, in Charleston harbor, was one of the few fortifications in Southern ports in which the Government mailrtained an armed force, and was watched with great jealousy by the authorities of South Carolina. He was succeeded by Attorney-General Black, and Mr.

Stanton, of Pennsylvania, succeeded Mr. Black as Attorney-General. While General Cass resigled because the President would not strengthen Major Anderson’s command, John B. Floyd, Secretary of War, resigned on the 51 1

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT -REBELLION. * ground that he had, with the assent of the President, assured the au thorities of Southl Carolina that, pending the adoption of some decided line of policy, there should be no change in the position of forces in Charleston harbor. On the evening of December 26th, the garrison was transferred from Fort Moultrie to Fort Sumter, which he claimed was a violation of that pledge, and on the refusal of the President to redeem it, by withdrawing the troops, he declared he could not remain in the cabinet. His resignation was at once accepted, and Mr.

Holt, PostmasterGeneral, appointed to the War Department ad interim. Mr.

Horatio Ring was appointed PostmasterGeneral. The position of Mlajor Anderson at Fort Sumter was not much im proved from what it had been at Fort Moultrie. lie was safe from immediate attack, but his supplies were becoming exhausted, and it became necessary to succor him. An attempt was made to extort a pledge from the President that no reinforcements should be sent; but no such pl)edge was given, and the Star of the West left New Yoirk, January 5th, with supplies and two hundred and fifty men, to be thrown into the fort. In consequence of this, MIr. Thompson resigned as Secretary of the Interior, January 8th. On the 1lIth, Mr. Thomas, who had succeeded Mr. Cobb in the Treasury Department, also resigned for a similar reason. General John A. Dix was appointed.in his place. At thisjuncture, when the frequent changes in the cabinet were causing universal uneasiness, the country was startled with accounts of immense frauds in the War Department. It appeared that there had been out standing large contracts with Russell, Majors & Co., to convey army supplies across the plains to Utah, during the Mormon war. The cap ital required to conduct these was very great, and it had been custom ary for the contractors to give drafts on the Government at three and four months. These were officially accepted by Mr. Floyd, the amount to be charged at maturity upon the sum then due to the con tractors. In consequence of the growing commercial difficulties, Rusell & Co. found it no longer possible to raise money on the drafts. Under these circumstances, Mr. Russell induced Godard Bailey, a clerk in the Department of the Interior, to abstract fi-om the departmenit eight hun dred and seventy one thousand dollars of stocks belonging to the Indian Fund, and loan them to him for the purpose of raising money to meet his contracts. The discovery of these facts produced immense excitement. There is no douibt but that this incident had a powerful infiuence upon the course of events. The policy of the President seemed to be in some degree strengthened by the changes that had taken place in the cabinet. The immediate difficulty was the position of Major Anderson at Charleston, and the departure of the Star of the West from New York, January 5th, with men and stores for that point, under a clearance for havana, had given the President renewed confidence. On the 8thl of January, therefore, the day on which the Star of the West should have succeeded in her mission, the President sent to Congress a speoial message upon the state of the country, re iterating his opinion previously expressed, in opposition to the right of secession, and his iews in relation to his own duty and that of Con, 52

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. gress. He suggested that the questions at issue be “removed from political assemblies to the ballot-box, and the people themselves would speedily redress the serious grievances that the South have suffered.” He intimated that the proposition to let the North have exclusive control above a certain geographical line, and to protect Southern institutions below that line, ought to receive universal approbation. In this message, the President reasserted the sentiment that “the Union must and shall be preserved,” declaring his purpose to use the military power against all who resisted the Federal authority. If this energetic announcement had been accompanied, as no doubt wvas intended, by the news of a successful reinforcement of Fort Sumter, it might have produced a salutary effect, and perhaps have changed the course of events.

Unfortunately, the news came of the failure of the attempt, and of an insult to the flag. That event caused much alarm, and aroused fears of the actual approach of war. Such of the Northern State legislatures as were iii session-anld all were so, except those of New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Illinois, and Indiana, some of which meet onily once in two years, and the others either in spring or autumn-received the message of the President with favor, and tendered prompt assistance in support of the Government. In the legislature of New York were passed the following resolutions: “Whereas, The insurgent State of South Carolina, after seizing \he post-offices, custom-house, moneys, and fortifications of tlhe Federal Government, has, by firing into a vessel ordered by the Government to convey troops and provisions to Fort Sumter, virtually declared war; and whereas, The forts and property of the United States Government in Georgia, Alabama, and Louisiana, have been unlawfully seized, with hostile intentions; and whereas, Their Senators in Congress avow and maintain their treasonable acts; therefore, “Resolved, That the legislature of New York is profoundly impressed with the value of the Union, and determined to preserve it unimpaired; that it greets with joy the recent firm, dignified, and patriotic special message of the President of the United States, and that we tender to him. through the chief magistrate of our own State, whatever aid in men and money may be required to enable him to enforce the laws and uphold the authority of the Federal Government; and that, in the defence of the Union, which has conferred prosperity and happiness upon the American people, renevwing the pledge given and redeemed by our fathers, we are ready to devote our fortunes, our lives, and our sacred honor.” These resolutions were communicated by Governor Mforgan of New York to the President, and also to the Governor of each State. The action of other States was similar, and illustrates the extent to which zeal outran ability. When New York passed her resolution, she had not military resources to equip thirteen thousand men.

AMassachusetts had been more active. For when, early in December, she tendered her volunteers to che Government, she had five thousand men under drill; but of these only three thousand were armed with Springfield muskets. When the call at a lafer date actually came for troops, both New York and Massachusetts were obliged to send agents to Europe to purchase arms. The views of the President, as expressed in his annual message, were received with various manifestations of dissent or approval, according to the light in which they were viewed. The importance of 0 53,

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. some mode of adjustment early impressed itself upon Congress, and on the 10th of Decemb)er, the day on which Mr.

Cobb resigned from the Treasury Department, a House Committee of thirtythree, or one from each State, was appointed, and also a Senate Committee of thir teen, on the State of the Union. A variety of propositions were dis cussed by the latter Committee, without uniting a majority. A plan proposed by Mr. Crittenden, of Kentucky, met with considerable favor. It practically reestablished the Missouri Compromise, declared that Congress shall not interfere with slavery where it exists, and pro vided for the faithful execution of the fugitive slave law. This did not, however, meet the views of either side. The Republicans were willing to recommend an amendment to the Constitution declaring that Congress shall have no power to interfere with slavery in the States, but refused the demand of the Southerners that slave property should be recognized in the Territories under the decisions of the Supreme Court.

The Southerners contended that an amendment to the Constitution, declaring that the Federal Government had no right to interfere with slavery, was only declaring what was nowhere dis puted, forgetting apparently that the leading secessionists had directly charged the Republicans with asserting the existence of such a right, and with preparing to exercise it. The judiciary of the United States had, however, they said, declared that under the Constitution the South had a right to the protection of the Federal Government for their slave property in the Territories. They wanted assent to that decision. This the Republicans were not prepared to give. The following is the Crittenden plan of adjustment, offered in’m the form of immutable amendments to the Constitution: “First. In all territories north of 36 deg. 30 min. slavery is prohibited; in all terri tory south of that latitude, slavery is recognized as existing, and shall be protected as property during its continuance. All the territory north or south of said line shall’oe admitted into the Union with or without slavery, as the Constitution of the State shall prescribe. “Second.

Congress shall have no power to abolish slavery in the States permitting slavery. “Thirid. Congress shall have no power to abolish slavery in the District of Colum bia while it exists in Virginia and Maryland, or either.

“Fourth. Congress to have no power to hinder the transportation of slaves from one State to another. “Fifth. Congress to have power to pay for a slave when the marshal is prevented from discharging his duty, the owner to sue the county in which the rescue was made, and the county have the right to sue the individuals who committed the wrong. “Sixth. No further amendment or amendments shall affect the preceding articles, and Congress shall never have power to interfere with slavery in the States where it is now permitted.” The last resolution declares th! “the Southern States have a right to the faithful execution of the law for tlf recovery of slaves; and such laws ought not to be repealed or modified so as to impair their efficiency. All laws in conflict with the fugitive slave law, it shall not be deemed improper for Congress to ask the repeal of. The fugitive slave law ought to be so altered as tp make the fee of the commissioner equal, whether he decides for or against the claimant; and the clause authorizing the person holding the warrant to summon a posse comitatus to be so as to restrict it to cases where vio lence or rescue is attempted. The laws for the suppression of the African slave-trade ought to be effectually executed.” Another proposition was framed by a Committee of the Border 54

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,[tSTORY OF THE GREAT REBFLLION. 9 States, including Delaware, Virginia, Maryland, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas. Missouri, and North Carolina; and New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, In(liana, Illinois, and Iowa. This c(-ontained nearly the suggestions of the Crittenden resolutions, with the addition of an amendment to the Constitution that no territory shall be,cquiied/ by the United States without the consent of ” threefourths of thl)e members of the Senate;” and also a resolution that an act be passed diiecting that the demand for the surrender of a fugitive slave should be m’ade before the United States judge of the district in which the fugitive might be found. Neither the Crittenden resolutions nor the Border State propositions were, however, destined to pass Congress, notwithstanding that a considerable body of the Northern people, in their anxiety to avoid civil war, were loud in their demands that one or both of these propositions should be adopted. New York city, the great commercial metropolis of the country, showed an unfeigned anxiety to put off the evil day, which it required no prophiet’s eye to see, was now rapidly approaching. Two memorials, the one signed by her capitalists and leading men, and the other, which emanated fiomn the Chamber of Commerce, having upward of forty-five thousand signatures, were laid before Congress. They both suggested renewed guarantees to the Slave States, that no interference should be attempted in their domestic institutions, and advised a general policy of conciliation and compromise. The country had been for so many years in a state of profound peace, that men, who afterwards afforded noble examples of self-sacrificinig patriotism in defence of the integrity of the Union, were now prepared to concede almost every thing, in the hope of averting civil war. Fortunately for their country, and for free institutions all over the world, this enervation of spir-it was more apparent than real. In Boston, meetings were held in favor of the Crittenden compromise, and a petition, more than one hundred feet long, bearing, it was stated, mo,‘e than forty thousand names, was carried to Washington by Messrs. Everett, Winthrop, Lawrence, C. L.

Woodbury, and Foley, asking for the passage of the resolutions of Mr.

Crittenden by Congress. In many other parts of the North a like energy was manifested, and petitions were signed by great numbers of voters for the Crittenden resolutions, or for any resolution that would restore harmony.

Neither this delegation nor those fiom New York had, however, much influence upon Congress. Those who opposed the passage of the resolutions argued, that nothing had been actually done to need compromise; that the constitutional election of a President was not a matter for compromise and that, until Southern rights had been actually assailed, there was no need of volunteering amends. Moreover, tlheIe was no evidence that the South wanted any compromise, or would be satisfied with those resented. In the mean tittie, the Border States were apparently very earnest to bring about some mode of settlement. On the 17th of January, the legislature of Virginia passed resolutions, inviting all States, “whether slaveholding or non-slaveholding, who are willing to anite 55

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBE,LLION. with Virginia in an earnest effort to adjust the present unhappy con troversy, to appoint commissioners, to meet at Washington, February 4th.” They stated that “the resolutions of Mr.

Crittenden embr:aced the basis of an adjustment that would be acceptable to this commonwealth.” The President, in a message to Congress, January 28th, communicating these resolutionst warmly seconded them, and urged Congress to abstain from passing any law that might tend to bring on hostilities. The Virginia resolutions were forwarded to all the States, and memr bers were appointed from twentyone of them to attend. The States represented in the Convention were Maine, New Hamnpshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, ald Ohio, each of which sent fi’om three to twelve delegates. The Convention met on February 4th, chose John Tyler, of Virginia, President, and sat until March lst; and having thetn adopted a plan satisfactory to the Border States, adjourned. Section 1, divided the Territories by the line 36~ 30’; north of which there were to be no slaves; south of it, slaves or no slaves, according to the people’s wish; Cougress and the legislature to have no power of prohibition. Sec. 2. No territories to be acquired without the assent of a majority of the senators North and of those South, and of twothirds the whole Senate. Sec. 3. Congress to have no power to interfere with slavery in any State, nor to abolish it in the District of Columbia without the consent ol the owners and that of Maryland; nor to abolish it ill any place under Federal jurisdiction; nor to prevent transportation of blacks fi’om one State to another; nor to tax them higher than land. It provided, also, that certain clauses of the Constitution should not be altered without the consent of all the States; that Congress should pay for slaves not remanded according to law; and that the citizens of each State should have the privileges and immunities of citizens of the several States. The various propositions looking to conciliation or compromise continned to be discussed in Congress, without any very satisfactory results. Several State legislatures meanwhile volunteered conciliatory action. Rhode Island repealed her personal liberty bill, and the legislature of Ohio, and those of some other States, made modifications in their respective personal liberty bills, tending to soften asperities. Mr. Stanton, of Ohio, February 19th, introduced a bill into the House, to authorize the President to accept the services of volunteers, but it was not passed. On the blame day, Mr. Fenton, of New York, offered a resolution for a convention of the States, and this was also defeated. The Thirtysixth Congress was now drawing rapidly to a close, and nothing had been done either to sustain the authority of the Government, or to promote a settlement of the difficulties. A notable element of irritation was the occupation of Fort Sumter, which could not much longer hold out without supplies. The expiring Administration would not take the responsibility of withdrawing the troops, and were averse to assuming the risk of collision by reinforcing them. In 56

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HISTORY OF TIE GREAT REBFLLION. a military point of view, the holding of the fort was of little moment, and in a political sense still less so, since the great question to be settled was separation, or continued union.

It the fort should be abandoned, and union should ultimately triumph, it would be reoccupied. If separation should be determined upon, it would be settled for in the general terms of peace. The duty of the Executive was, however, very clear. He had no power to give up possession of the property he was sworn to defend. The whole question, therefore, passed over to the incoming Administration. The most important action of the Thirtysixth Congress was in suspending the postal service in the seceded States; in erecting three new Territoires, viz.: Coloraclo, made up of parts of Kansas, Nebrask.n, and Ut.lh, having an area of one hundred thousand square miles, and a population of twentyfive thousand, including Pike’s Peak gold region; N’evadct, from Utah and California, including the fertile Carsontalley; and.Dacotah, formerly part of Minnesota, with an area of seventy thousand square miles. Congress passed several loan bills, and also the tariff bill. The finances of the Federal Government had been in a very disordered condition owing to the revulsion in business, which resulted from political disturbances, and which, by reducing the imports of goods, had cut off the customs, the chief source of revenue, from the Treasury. In June, 1860, a loan of twenty million dollars had been authorized; of this ten million was offered in October in a five per cent.

stock, and it had been taken at a small premium. Beforie the installments wvere paid up, however, the panic that attended the election had affected credit, and many bids were withdrawn. This so serioutsly affected the means of the department, that as the 1st of January approached, it seemed likely there would be no funds with which to meet the interest on the National debt. By the act of December 17th, 1860, an issue of ten million dollars, in treasury notes, was authorized, to bear such a rate of interest as might be offered by the lowest bidders, but so shaken was credit, that but few bids were made, and some of themn at a rate of thirty-six per cent. interest, per annum. The capitalists interested in the Government credit finally took one million five hundred thousand dollars of one-year treasury notes, at twelve per cent. per annum (the amount was subsequently raised to five million dollars), on condition that the money should be applied to paying the interest on the debt. This was certainly a dark day in the Republic, when the Federal Government, which had earned the honor of being the only nation that had ever paid its debts in full-principal andintere.,t-and which in 1856, with an overflowing trsury, had paid twentytwo per cent. premium for its own six per cent.

stock, to get it out of the market, was now reduced to give twelve per cent. interest, for a few millions, and to engage to protect its credit with the money. In January the rest of the authorized treasury notes were issued, at rates of interest ranging from eight to twelve per cent. In February, Congress authorized a loan of twentyfive million dollars in six per cent. stock, a portion of which was negotiated at sixteen per cent.

discount. The question of raising the tariff duties in order to provide more reve 57,

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT -REBELLION. nue now came up, and a bill was reported, not onlv increasing the rates, but changing them from ad valorem to specific duties; and in some cases, charging both on the same article. The provisions of the bill were complicated, and it was passed,:March 2d, to go into operation April 1st. This tariff bill also provided for a new six per cent. loan of ten million dollars, or, in case it could not be negotiated, for the issue of ten million dollars more treasury notes at a like interest, and also for the emission of about fourteen million dollars remaining unissued of an amount authorized by the act of June, 1860. This tariff caused much discontent, and was regarded as very injudicious at that julncture, since it revived the policy which had in former years been so distasteful to the South, and which therefore could not now be regarded as conciliating. The average duties of the foi’mer tariff had been nine teen and a half per cent. on all importations, while those of the new one were about thirtyfour per cent. This return to protective duties had also an adverse effect upon the Union interests in England, whei-e it was regarded as hostile to British trade. Nevertheless, there is no doubt but that the Government revenues were in want of succor, and it was an open question how far the changes aided or defeated that object. In the last hours of Congress was decided the fate of the several measu,‘es of conciliation which had occupied the attention of that body, and of the Peace Conference. The report of the Committee of thirtythree, in addition to several propositions for amending the fugitive slave law, settling the vexed question of slavery in the Territories, &c., embodied the following amendment to the Constitution, which was passed by both houses by a twothirds vote: “N\o amendment shall be made to the Constitution which shall authorize or give Congress power to abolish, or interfere within any State, with the domestic institutions thereof, including persons held to labor or servitude by the laws of said State.” This, if it had been passed by threefourths of the State legislatures, would have become valid as a new article to the Constitution, but subsequent events prevented the necessity of such action. Many Southern members hadl by this time departed, leaving the Republicans in a majority both in the Senate and the House, and with their departure Northern men grew firmer in their resolve not to be intimidated by threats of secession into unworthy or insufficient compromises. Mr. Crittenden’s resolutions, after having been once rejected and the vote reconsidered in the Senate, were finally lost by nineteen yeas to twenty nays. Six Southern senators, with the deliberate intention of destroying all hope of compromise, refrained -om voting. The resolutions of the Peace Confeirence were never acted upon, except on a motion by Mr. Crittenden, to substitute them for his own, which was lost by twenty-eighlt nays to seven yeas. Congress finally’adjourned amidst great excitement. While Congress was draving towards its close, the anxiety of the public had been divided between the action of that body and the movements of the incoming Administration.

There had probably never in the history of the country been so much interest expressed in the views of a newly-elected magistrate, as in the case of Mr. Lincoln. The old 58

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. Adnministration had been so severely denounced for its do-nothing policy, that by inference some energetic action was expected or feared, according to the views of individuals, from the new chief magistrate. Every indication of what his course might be, was eagerly caught at and cainv:,ssed. On the 11th of February Mr. Lincoln left his home, at Springfie’d, Illinois, with the intention pf making the journey by special trains, through Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Buffalo, Albaiiy, New York, Philadel)phia, Harrisburg, and Baltimore. On his way, Mr. Lincoln made brief sl)eeches at all the larger places, without, however, giving any explicit statements of the proposed p)olicy of his administration, beyond the gener:l affirmation that it would be one of justice to every part of the country. He probably did not hold the opinion expressed by Mr. Seward at a public dinner in the Astor House in New York, that the difficulties were not serious, and were gradually d(ying out. The programme of the journey was cai’ried out until on the ifternoon of the 22d of February, Mit. Lincoln, on reaching Harrisburg, received, durinn, the evening, inte.ligence that induced him to chauge his plans. As his journey approaclihd its end, threats of assassination, which had been made even before his depirture from his home in Illinois, began to assume more definite form. RMuiors of a conspiracy to effect this object at Baltimore reached General Scott, who, upon inquiry, found such presumptive evidence of its existence that he set at special messenger to Mr. Lincoln at Hairrisburg, to advise him not to carry out the public programme alnounced, but pass through Baltimore at an early and unexpected hour. This suggestion was acc()mpa.nied by such proofs of its necessity, as satisfied Mr. Lincoll of’ the propriety of the change; and he accordingly left Harrisburg on the night of February 23d, with the slight disguise of a military cloak and a Scotch plaid cap, and arrived safely in Washington the following morning the telegraph wirers at Halrisburg having been cut to prevent the transmission of the intellig,elce of his departure His family passed through Baltimore the next morning, and Nwere met at the railiho:il station by a riotous assemblage, which showed itself ready for mischief; and appeared exasperated on discovering that Mr. Lincoln was not present. There had been threats in circulation that the new President would never be inaugurated, and many fears were entertained that those threats were iiot without foundation. General Scott had, however, taken every precaution, and the military under his orders were under arms on the 4th of March: a sorrowful and unaccustomed sight to those who prided thlemselves on a Government sustained by law and order, and who had never thought to witness troops assisting on such an occasion, except as pax of a holiday pageant. The President, with his cabinet-W. H. Seward, of New York, Secretary of State; Simon Cameron, of Penisylvania, Secretary of War; Gideon Welles, of Connecticut, Secretary of the Navy; Montgomery Blair, of Maryland,’ PostmasterGeneral; Edward Bates, of Missouri, Attorniey-General; and Caleb B. Smith, of Indiana, Secretary of the Intel’ior-proceeded to the Capitol, and the in’auguration took place amid the acclama, tions of the people. The inaugural address gave general satisfaction, 59

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MISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. though some of its positions were differently interpreted by different parties. It began by declaring that the election of a Republican President afforded no ground to the Southern States for apprehending aiiy invasioni of their rights. “I have,” said he, “no purpose, directly or indiiectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so.” He explicitly recognized the obligation of enfoi-cing the provision for the delivery of fugitive slaves. He then proceeded to argue against the right of secession under the Constitution, declaring that all resolves and ordinances to the effect of secessionI are null and void. He continued as follows: “I shall take care that the laws of the Union be faithfully executed in all the States.

I shall perfectly perform it as far as is practicable, utless my rightful masters, the American people, shall withhold the requisite means, or in some authoritative manner direct the contrary.” “The power confided to me will be used to hold, occupy, and possess the property and places belonging to the Government, and collect the duties and imposts, but beyond what may be necessary for these objects there will be no invasion, no using of force against or among the people any where. “Where hostility to the United States shall be so great and so universal as to prevent competent resident citizens from holding the Federal offices, there will be no attempt to force obnoxious strangers among the people that object.

While the strict legal right may exist in the Government to enforce the exercise of these offices, the attempt to do so would be so irritating, and so nearly impracticable withal, that I deem it better to forego for the time the uses of such offices. “Thle mails, unless repelled, will continue to be furnished in all parts of the Union. “Suppose you go to war; you cannot fight always, and when, after much loss on both sides, and no gain on either, you cease fighting, the identical questions as to the terms of intercourse are again upon you. This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing Government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending, or their revolutionary right to dismember or overthrow it. I cannot be ignorant of the fact that many worthy and patriotic citizens are desirous of having the national Constitution amended. While I make no recommendation of amendment, I freely recognize the full authority of the people over the whole subject, to be exercised in either of the modes prescribed in the instrument itself; and I should, under existing circumstances, favor rather than oppose a fair opportunity being afforded the people to act upon it. I will venture to add that to me the convention mode seems preferable, in that it allows amendments to originate with the people themselves, instead of only permitting them to take or reject propositions originated by others not specially chosen for the purpose, and which might not be precisely such as they would wish themselves to accept or refuse. I understand a proposed amendment to the Constitution-which amendment, however, I have not seen-has passed Congress, to the effect that the Federal Government shall never interfere with the domestic institutions of States, including that of persons held to service. To avoid misconstruction of most I have said, I depart from my purpose, not to speak of particular amendments, so far as to say that holding such a provision to now be implied cdititutional law, I have no objection to its beiing made express and irrevocable.”.

President Buchanan and ChiefJustice Taney listened with the utmost attention to every word of the address, and at its conclusion the latter admiiiistered the usua oath, in taking which, Mr. Lincoln was loudly cheered. The inauguration was the ninth ceremony of the kind at which Chief Justice Taney haia officiated, he having administered the oath of office successively to Presidents Van Buren, Harrison, Tyler, Polk, 60

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. Taylor, Fillmore, Pierce, Buchanan, and Lincoln. The cerlemony was exceedingly impressive. The Sottli at once received the message as a declaration of war, while at the North opinion was greatly divided. Senator D)ouglas, in his place in the Senate, hailed it as the harbinger of peace, an(l the same viewy was entertained by many infiuential men at the North, where the hope of ultimate peace was strengthened. In the seceded States, however, intense excitement followed the reception of the address, except among those few who hoped for a restoration of union and harmony; and these strove to consider the document as opposed to coercion. The Senate remained in session until the 28th of Marc(h, mostly occupied with the confirmation of persons appointed to office by the President. The Administration, for the first month, gave no open demonstration of its future line of policy, but after making the necessary changes in the subordinate officers of the different departments, and becoming familiar with the new and onerous duties it had undertaken, prepared itself, as well as its circumstances allowed, for the coming emergency, and awaited the development of events. The restless spirits in the Border States, who sympathized with secession, were not satisfied with this course, as it prevented them from hurryiniig forward their States into acts of treason; while some sympathizers with the South at thle North advised the recognition of the Southern Confederacy as the only practicable and satisfactory settlement of the momentouis question which agitated the country. “Erring sisters, go in peace,” was the remark of a once poputlar New York politician, and the words found an echo in the hearts of many timid people, whomrn the threatened approach of civil war deprived of what little manhood or resolution they possessed. But the Government, though silent, was not idle, and evidences of its activity became apparent in the navyyards at the North. An expedition was fitted out at New York, having for its object’co reinforce Fort Pickens, in Pensacola haibor, and to throw supplies into Fort Sumter, the position of which had not ceased to be a matter of the greatest public concern. The Southern Coifederacy and State authorities were kept informed, through their agents in Washington, occupying official positions, of all the movenments of the Government, and were continually on the alert to collect and transmit the earliest intelligence. John Forsyth and Martin J.

Crawford, Southern commissioners, had, on the 13th of March, addressed the Hon. W. H. Sewaird, Secretary of State, on behalf of the seven States forming the Southern ConfedeiIcy, which now included Texas, and asked for an audience of the President, with a view of opening negotiatiois for a settlement or difficulties. Mr. Seward, in a paper dated March 15th, though, with the assent of the commissioners, not delivered till April 8th, declined the request He said: “The official duties of the Secretary of State are confined to the conducting of the foreign relations of the country, and do not embrace domestic questions, or questions arising between the several States, and the Federal Government is unable to oomply with the request of Messrs. Forsyth and Crawford to appoint a day on which they may present the evidences of their authority and the objects of their visit to the 61.,

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HISTORY OF TIE GREAT REBELLION. President of the United States. On the contrary, he is obliged to state to Messrs Forsyth and Crawford, that he has no authority, nor is he at liberty to recognize them as diplomatic agents, or hold correspondence or other communication with them.” An attempt was subsequently made to convict the Secretary of State of duplicity in relation to the matter of the attempted reinforcement of Fort Sumteir, and his reply to the commissioners of the Southern Confe(lera(y.

The charge was made on the authority of Johii A. Campbell, formerly one of the associate judges of the Suipreme Court of the United States, who, by his own acknowledgment, was at that time in full sympathy with the leaders of the rebellion, and acting the art of a spy on the United States Government, by communicating all he could learn to the Confederate Government. Such a man’s statements, if unsupported as these were, are not entitled to full credence, and the uise of them made by Jefferson Davis, the President of the Confederate States, showed a desire to make capital by a perversion of facts. Judge Campbell stated that Mr. Seward informed him that Fort Sumter would soon be evacuated. But that statement is unsupported )by any corroborative evidence, and coming firom a secret enemy of the Union, is justly open to suspicion. He also charged that Mr.

Sewar,l informed him that Fort Sumter would not be reinforced without notice being given to Governor Pickeus. Such notice was given, as Governor Pickens himself informed the Confederate President. When Judge Campbell still reiterated his inquiirie.s, Mr. Seward replied, “Faith as to Sumter fully kept-wait and see.” Governor Pickens was notified of the intention of the Goverinment to “reinforce Fort Sumter peaceably, or otherwise by force,” onl the 8th of April; the attempt to do so was not made till the night of the 12th of April. Under these circumstances, the final letter of the commissioners of the Soiith,rn Contederacy to Mr. Seward can only be regarded as a piece of unnecessary impertinence. It was as follows: 

“Your refusal to entertain these overtures for a peaceful solution, the active naval and military preparation of this Government, and a formal notice to the commanding general of the Confederate forces in the harbor of Charleston, that the Ilresidenlt intends to provision Fort Sumter by forcible means, if necessary, are viewed by the undersigned,- and can only be received by the world, as a declaration of wa.r against the Confederate States; for the President of the United States knowvs that Fort Sumter cannot be provisioned without the effusion of blood. The undersigned, in behalf of their government and people, accept the gage of battle thus thrown down to them; and appealing to God and the judgment of miiinkind for the riglhteousness of their cause, the people of the Confederate States will defend their liberties to the last against this flagrant and open attempt at their subjugation to sectional power.” -Ir. Seward madt(
no reply beyond a simple acknowledgment. These coltini,siofiers then left Washiiigton, anti on April 13th, the commission appointed by the Virginia: Convention to ascertain the policy whlichi the Fe(leral Executive initendled to pursue towards the Confederate States, was received lay the President. Hle replie(l: “In answer I have to say, that having, at the beginning of my official term, expressed my intended policy astplainly as I was able, it is with deep regret and mortification I now learn there is great and injurious uncertainty in tle pulbli;c mind as to ,vhat that policy, and what course I intend l pursue. Not haig Da ayet seen G2

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HISTORY OF TIHE GREAT REBELLION occasion to change, it is now my purpose to pursue the course marked out in the inaugural address. I commend a careful consideration of the whole document as the best expression I can give to my purposes. As I then and therein said. I now repeat: The power confided in me will be used to hold, occupy, and possess property and places belonging to the Government, and to collect the duties and imposts; but beyond what is necessary for these objects there will be no invasion.

no using of force against or among the people any where.’ By the words’property and places ielonging to tie Government,’ I chiefly allude to the nilitary posts and property which were in possession of the Government when it came into my hands. But if, as now appears to be true, in pursuit of a purpose to drive the United States authority from these places, an unprovoked assault has been made upon Fort Sumter, 1 shall hold myself at liberty to repossess it, if I can, like places which had been seized before tho Government was devolved upon me: and, in any event, I shall, to the best of my ability, repel force by force. In case it proves true that Fort Sumter has been as saulted, as is reported, I shall, perhaps, cause the United States mails to be withdrawn from all the States which claim to have seceded, believing that the commencement of actual war against the Government justifies, and possibly demands it. I scarcely need to say that I consider the military posts and property situated within the States which claim to have seceded, as yet belonging to the Government of the United States as much as they did before the supposed secession.

Whatever else I may do for the purpose, I shall not attempt to collect the duties and imposts by any armed invasion of any part of the country; not meaning by this, however, that I may not land a force deemed necessary to relieve a fotrt upon the border of the country. From the fact that I have quoted a part of the inaugural address, it must not be inferred that I repudiate any other part, the whole of which I reaffirm, except so far as what I now say of the mails may be regarded as a modification.” This reply was made on the 13th, the day after that on which the batteries. at Charleston opened on Fort Sumter. The military power of the United States had never been large in respet-t of men; more particularly, the National Capital h’id ever been free from soldiers; although, since the formation of the Government, large s ims had been annually expended both for the navy and the armyn. 1fy this means a considerable number of forts anrid coast defences had been built, and a large amount of munitions of war co}leeted in the arsenals aTid dep6ts of the several States. These were mostly precautions against enemies from without. The policy of the Govenument, harmonizing with the spirit of its institutions, had ever been iverse to the keei)ing up of a standing army in time of peace; and, although the country was possessed of a great number of welledtca:ed officers, graduated, annually, during the previous fifty years at West Point, few of these were in actual service, and a large number of them resigned for the Southern service. The whole aiuthorized stren(,tli of the army was eighteen thousand one hundred and sixtyfive men. Of these, the whole force available for active service in the field, was eleven thousand men. This little force was scattered over an area of three millions of squa* miles, occupying one hundred and thirty piermanent garri.orm, posts, and camps, many of which were so exposed to Indian hostilities, that not a man could be spared from any frontier. The Department of the East had a force of one thousand and twentyseven, under General John li.Wool.* Of this force, six companies * John E.Wool, captain in the Thirteentht Infan-the Twenty-ninth Infantry, and in December, try. A rilt. 1812. and on the 18th of Octoblr. 1812, 1814. was brevetted lieutenant-colonel for gallant distinguished at Queenstown Heights, when he conductat the battleof Plattsburg. In May, 181, wabt severely wounded. In April, 1818, major of he was retained in the Sixth Infantry. In ~ 63 -1 I

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT, REBELLION. of artillery, under Colonel Brown, were at Fortress Monroe, constituting all the troops within reach of Washington. Soon after the result of the election was known in December, rumors began to multiply of the organization and drilling of companies, in MIaryland and Virginia, for an attack upon Washington. On the 2d of January General Scott, who was very active in the defence of the city, recommended Captain Charles Stone* to have charge of the organization of the district militia. On thle 8th of January a company of marines was sent to Fort Washington, on tihe Potomac, fourteen miles below Washington. The forts, arsenals and property of the General Government south of the Potomac, with the exception of Fortress Monroe, Fort Sumter, Fort Pickens and the Tortugas, were successively seized by the authorities of the States within which they were situated. The fort in Charleston Harbor, gallantly held, was destined to bring on the crisis of the w:r. The three forts that then defended Charleston Harbor were Fort -ioultrie, of Revolutionary fame, on Sullivan’s Island; Castle Pinckney, near the city; and Fort Sumter, a new structure on an island in the channel, commandmg all the approaches to the city. It had been erected.by the Federal Government, at considerable cost, and was not yet so far complete as to receive a garrison. The place was calculated for one hum dred and forty-six guns, and a war garrison of six hundred and fifty men. The only force that the Federal Government had for these three forts was a sing!e company of artillery in Fort Moultrie, under command of M.ijor Robert Anderson.t Fort Moultrie, although formidable to an enemy entering the harbor, had never been designed to withstand an attack from the city of Charleston, the authorities of which now expressed a determination to possess it. Against such an attack Major Anderson could with difficulty maiitain himself. Hle had, under date of 11th December, the day on which the tember, 1816, inspector-general, with the rank of colonel. lie was made lieutenant-colonel of infantry in February, 1I8s; brevet brigadiergeneral in April, 1826, for “ten years’ faithful service;” and full brigadiergeneral in June, 1841. He led the central division of the army which united with that of General Taylor in February, 1847; May, 1S48, brevet majorgeneral, for gallant conducet at Buena Vista;- 1861, appointed to command p at Fortress Monroe; 1862, took Norfolk, and made full majorgeneral; 1863, retired. * Charles P. Stone, a native of Massachusetts. entered West Point in 1841; second lieutenant of ordlnance in 18X. From August, 1845, to January, 1846, he was assistant professor of eics, &c., at the United States Military Academy. Me was brevetted first-lieutenant in September, 1847, for gallantry at Molino del Hey, and captain the same month fior iiieretorious conduct at (Chapultepec. In February, 184, he became first-lieutenant,.and resigned Noveniber, 1856.

In May, 1561, he was coimimuissioned colonel of the Fourteenth United States Intantrv, and in August briigad(liergeneral, with command of a division uinder Majur-Gerteral Banks. In consequence of the severe defeat of a portion of his tro(ps at Ball’s Bhiff, he was arrested and confined for several months in Fort Lafayette, althurgh no specific charges were ever made against lIlin. le subsequently participated in Banks’s Red River campaign, and in 1S64 retired from the service, t Robert Anderson was born in Kentucky, in 1805, entered the West Point Academy in 1821, and, on graduating in lS25,was made brevet secondlieutentant in the Third Artillery. During the Black Hlawk war he acted as inspector-general of the Illinois Yolunteers. In June, 1d 8., he was promoted to a first-lieutenancy. From Septem er to December, 1835, he was assistant instructor of artillery at the United States Military Academy; and fromn the last.mentioned date to November, 1837, instructor. Ile was appointed aide-decamip to MajorGeneral Scott in 1838; wans brevetted captain for gallant conduct during the Florida war, in April, 18835; was made assistant adjutantgeneral, with the rank of captain. the camo year, and captain in lS4!. In September, 1847, he was appointe(d brevet major and acting malnjor o,f his b.attalon for gallantry at Molino del-I y, where he was severely wounded. At the c,)iiiusencement of the present war he was pla)Ied in comniand of the orts in Charleston Harbor, by General Scott, and there became famous i the defender *f Sumter. lie was made a briga(liergeneral in the regular army May 15th, 1861, but on accouint of feeble health has not been of late yeas in active service. As an author, General Anderson has published two maauals of artillery tactics. 64

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HISTORY OF TIE GREAT REBELLION. South Carolina senators withdrew from Washington, received fronm John B. Floyd,* Secretary of War, instructions “to hold the forts in the harbor, and, if attacked, to defend himtself to the last extremity.” MIoultrie was difficult to strengthen, and the bearing of the authorities of Charleston became daily more threatening.

They had secured a pledge from Floyd, that while negotiations were pending between the South Carolina commissioners and the Washington authorities, there should be no movement on either side, and that Major Anderson should not change his position. It does not appear that the latter was aware of this pledge; but on the 26th of December, while the commissioners were on their way to Washington, he, on his own responsibility, removed his command to Fort Sumter, where the whole force disembarked, at ten o’clock P. M., from row-boats. A few men were left at Aloultrie, under Captain Foster, to cut down the flagstaff, spike the guns, burn the carriages, and dismantle the place. The flames notified the people of Charleston of what had happened, and the news, as it spread through the country, caused great excitement. At the North the name of Major Anderson was every where honored, as that of a bold, decided, and loyal leader. At the South his action was denounced as a breach of faith, which impaired all confidence in the Government; and it stimulated the war preparations. Four days later Floyd resigned, and was succeeded in office by PostmasterGeneral Holt.

Major Anderson’s position was not much improved by the change. Hie, indeed, could not be captured by surprise; but neither could he be succored, all communications being cut off; and, unless relief should be sent, he would be soon starved out. Meanwhile preparations for repelling any attempt of the Federal Government to reinforce Fort Sumter went on in Charleston. Fort Mloultrie was repaired and garrisoned, and new batteries were erected on Suilivan’s and Morris Islands. The revenue-cutter William Aiken was surrendered by its commander, N. L. Costa, and the crew volunteered to remain under the State authorities. At the same time troops were tendered to the Governor by the States of Georgia, Alabama, and North Carolina. The palmetto or South Carolina flag was raised over the post-office and custom-house at Charleston, and the Collector notified that all vessels from and for ports outside of South Carolina must enter and clear at Charleston. While these movements were being made, the streets of Charleston were patrolled by the military, and a censorship was established over the telegraph. The attention of the authorities was earnestly directed to the getting possession of Fort Sumter, occupied by the gallant Anderson and his small but dauntless band, who steia y employed themselves in strengthening the defences of the place, although they saw the batteries of their assailants rapidly iog around them, closing the hope of succor; while their little stock of supplies 1 J,hn Buchanan Flord, son of Governor Johlb came a brigadiergeneral in. tlhe Confederate army; Floyd, of Virginia. He was born in Virginia, ilP
suffered reverses iR Western Virginia, and es1835, and succeeded, in 1850, to the governorship ciped from Fort Donelson, Tennessee, when it of the State, like his father and grandfather. was surrendered. He saw but little active erviaa From 1856 to lS61, he was Secretary of War under after this, and died in 1868. Buchanan; resigned December 29th, 1860; be-, 5 ; 65 I

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. dwindled rapidly away, notwithstanding the utmost economy antt diminishing allowances. As previously related, on the 5th of January, the steamship Star of the West cleared for Havana, and left New York, with stores, for Fort Sumter. In the lower bay she took on board two hundred men with their arms and munitions, and arrived off ‘Charleston Bar at halfpast one o’clock A. M. Qf the 9th. The lights on shore had been removed, and those of the steamer were extinguished, to avoid being seen. A steamboat was on the watch, however, and as the Star of the West passed over the bar, she made signals in shore. The buoys having been removed, the Star of the West made her way with great difficulty. She had the Stars and Stripes floating from her Staff; but, when within half a mile of Morris Island, a shore battery opened upon her.

She then hoisted a large United States flag at the fore, and continued on, the shot flying over her, until the range seemed to have been got, and one took effect forward, and one amid-ships. It is necessary, in entering Charleston Harbor, to run close to Fort Moultrie, before making Fort Sumter. As the Star of the West proceeded, two steamers near Fort Moultrie got under way, towing an armed schooner, with the evident intention of cutting her off. To reach Sumter, whl)ose guns kept silent, it was necessary to encounter that force, and capture or destruction seemed inevitable. The Star of the West therefore put about and returned to New York. During this attempt of the Star of the West to run in, her course had been watched by Major Anderson from Fort Sumter. He did not open his guns upon the batteries, because he could not belieV’esthe act authorized by the South Carolina authorities, and he was not aware that the vessel fired upon was coming to his relief. He immediately, January 9th, dispatched a message to Governor Pickens, denouncing the act as one of war, and threatening that, unless it was disavowed, he would not permit any vessel to pass within range of the gun of his fort. Governor Pickens, in reply, stated that an attempt, on the part of the United States, to send troops into Charleston Harbor was an act of war, and that special agents had been sent to warn off vessels. Major Anderson ref. rred the matter to his Government, and requested that Lieutenart 1I. Talbot, bearer of dispatches, might have facilities extended to him for his departure.

Subsequent to the firing upon the Star of the West, many military events occurred in each of the seceded States. In Florida, Fort Pickens, which had long been unoccupied, was garrisoned by Federal troops, and the garrison, as well as the fleet off that place, supplied with food from time to time by citizens of Pensacola, near which the fort is situated, on Santa Rosa Island. General Bragg, formerly of the United States army, and cpspicuous at Buena Vista., but now in command of the Confederate forces at that point, therefore forbade all further communication withthe fort or fleet. In Louisiana, the cutter M’Clelland and the cutter Lewiston were both seized. General Dix, on succeeding to the Treasuly Department, January 15th, dispatched Mr. Jones, a clerk in the department, to New Orleans to save the cutters if possible. On his arrival,‘Mr. Jones telegraphed to the departmnent that Captain Breshlwood refused to obey any instructions of the ‘6 6

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HISTORY OF TubE GREAT REBELLION. department The famous order of General Dix* in reply, “If any one attempts to haul down the American flag, shoot him on the spot,” thrilled every loyal breast, and gave a stamp of energy to the feeble Government, which had apparently been falling to pieces. In Texas, where General David E. Twiggs held command, the entire military force, comprising about half the army of the United States, all the military posts, and public property to the amount of one million two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, were, February 18th, surrendered to the State authorities. For this shameful act of treason, he was, March 1st, by order of the Secretary of War, dismissed from the service. The revenue-cutter Dodge also surrendered to the State authorities. In Georgia, the arsenal at Augusta, with its contents, was seized; and a quantity of arms on the way from the North for the State having been detained by the New York police, the Government of Georgia, in retaliation, seized a number of New York vessels, which were subsequently released. In addition to these treasonable anots, the following forts were seized by the authorities of the several States iii which they were situated: Fort Macon, Beaufort. N. C.; Fort Pulaski, Savannah; Fort Morgan, Mobile Bay; Fort M’Rae, Pensacola; and Forts Jackson, St. Philip, and Pike, near New Orleans; also the arsenals at Fayetteville, N. C., Mobile, Mount Vernon, Ala., and Little Rock, Ark., besides the NavyYard at Pensacola. The general attention was, however, fixed upon Charleston, where General Beauregard had been placed by President Davis in command, and where the troops and batteries that surrounded the devoted Anderson continued to multiply. Rumors of the most contradictory character in regard to Fort Sumter continued to circulate; at one time it was asserted that it would be supplied, at another that the order for evacuation was actually signed. The crisis was evidently at hand. An expedition had meanwhile been fitting out at New York, conposed of the steamer Powhattan, eleven guns, several steam-traports and steam4ugs, with about thirty launches; also, tile Pawnee, eleven guns, left Washington April 6th, and the Har, iet Lalte, five guns. These vessels, carrying thirteen hundred and eighty men, under the command of Colonel Harvey Brown, Second Artillery, sailed with sealed orders April 7th. On the following day General Beauregardt telegraphed the Confederate Secretary of War First Artillery, was transferred to the Corps of Engineers, and bmade first-lieutenant in 1a9. bIe was brevetted capttain in. August, 184T, fear gallant cosnduct at C,,ntreras and Churubusco. and(I inaijca in September the saimie year for servies at Ciarultepec. At the assault on the city of Mexico, Major Beauregard was wounded. Ktibsequently he was pl.acedl il charge of the construiction of the init an(d cutstomni-lhouse at New Orleans, and of th4 fortifica,tions at the niouth of the Mississippi. At the breaking olit of the present wfsr he was about to be arppointed(l sliperintenmlent of the West Point Aca-tdemy by President ]Btiehan.n.

Beau,egan! is in the prince of lif,,, being about fortysthree iears of age. ie was Ina eotmimiand of Charleston arbor. brigadier-genoral comnmrianding at the battle of Bull Run, and commanded at the battle d4

Pittsburg Lauding, or Shiloh, Iio iubsequcattly John Adams Dix, born in New Itampshire. 1798; ensign in the war of 1812; aide to General Brown in 1828. an(l a lawver in Cooperstown, New York; 1880. adjutantgeneral of Newv York; January, 1833. Secretary or State of New Y ork; 1y, memiber of Assembly; 145, United States sena~;,A introduced a bill for reoiprocal tradle wi the British Provinces: 1S53, assistant Utnited( States Te asurer New York City; 1859, postmaster of New York; January, 1861.

Secretary of the Treasurv; 1861, major general (f volunteers; June. 1861,.

commander of the military department of Maryland; 1862-63 a commandler or the Department of Virgintia; and 186365 of the North, with headquarters in New York’ t P. G. Toutant Benregard was born onhis father’s plantation near New Orleans, Louisiana. He raduated at West Point in 1838, second-lieutenant 41 67

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. that a messenger from President Lincoln had notified him that Fort Sumter was to be provisioned peaceably or by force. In reply, General Beauregard was ordered to demand the immediate evacuation of the place. On the 10th the fleet appeared off Charleston Harbor. At two o’clock, April 11th, General Beauregard made the demand on Ma jor Anderson to evacuate with arms and personal property. This Major Anderson promptly refused. On the same day, by order of the Confederate Secretary of War, General Beauregard demanded on what day Major Anderson would leave, if unmolested. He replied that he would do so on the 15th, unless he should receive, prior to that time, positive instructions from Government or additional supplies. While it remained uncertain whether the fort would be defended by its garrison in case of an attack, a limited supply of fresh food had been sent to it daily from Charleston; but in the beginning of April this was cut off, and unless speedy relief could be sent, evacuation became only a question of time. General Beauregard replied, April 12th, at halfpast three o’clock, A. M., that he should open his batteries on Fort Sumter in one hour. Accordingly, on Friday, April 12th, at halfpast four o’clock, A. m., a day and hour ever to be remembered in the history of the American Continent, a battery of heavy Columbiads on Sullivan’s Island opened upon the fort, from which floated the Stars and Stripes of the Union, and was quickly followed by all the surrounding forts and batteries. The force in the fort comprised the following officers, axd men: Regiment or Original entry Names. Rank.

Corps. into Service. Born in R. Anderson…………,Major……….1st Artillery…..July 1, 1825……. Kentucky. S. W. Crawford………Asst.

Surgeon.. Medica l Staff…. March 10, lf…. Pennsylvania Abner Doubleday…… Captain……..1st Artillery…. July 1,1842……. New York. Truman Seymour…… Captain……..1st Artillery…..

1846……..Vermont. Theodore-Talbot………1st Lieutenant.. 1st Artillery…. May 22, 1847……Dis. Columbia. Jeff. C.

Davis…………1st Lieutenant.. 1st Artillery….June 17, 1845…….

Indiana. J. N. Hall……………2d Lieutenant.. 1st Artillery…. July 1, 1859…….New York. J. G. Foster………….captain……..

Engineer…….. July 1, 1846…….. N. liampshire. G. W.

Snyder………1st Lieutenant.. Engineers…..July 1, 1856……New York.

R. K. Meade……….. 2d Lieutenant.. Engineers……July 1, 1857…….

Virginia. Officers, 9. Band, 15. Artillerists, 55. Laborers, 80. Total, 109. When Major Anderson, at halfpast three o’clock, received notice that the fire would be opened upon him in an hour, he removed the sentinels from the parapets, closed the posterns, ran up the National ensign, and ordered the troops not to leave the bomb-proofs until summoned by the drums. At halfpast four, a bomb from Sullivan’s Island burst over the fort, and in a few moments a circle of fire opened upon the devoted band from four large batteries and many smaller ones. One, on Cummings’s Point, one thousand six hundred yards distant, on the south, commanded the gorge or rear of the fort. On Sullivan’s Island were Fort Moultrie and a new battery of heavy Colulnbiads and ten-inch mortars, and an iron floating battery of immense strength was anchored between Sumter and Oharleston, at a distance of one thousand eight hundred yards. Fronmall these the fire converged upon the fort held command in South Carolina End Georgia, and I year to oppose Sherman in the Southwest. At id the ca“‘paigy of 1864 was stationed at Peters-the close of the rebellion he commanded in North burg, whence he went in the latter part of the same Carolina. 68

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HISTORY OF TIE GREAT REBELLION. with great power and accuracy. Before making any response to the rebel attack, Major Anderson directed his men to get their breakfasts, after which they were divided into three reliefs, to change every four hours. The first, under Captain Doubleday and Lieutenant Snyder, at halfpast seven, opened the fire upon all points simultaneously, and with great rapidity. The enthusiasm of the men was so great that all kept at the guns until relieved. The fire from Fort Moultrie soon disabled one ten-inch Columbiad, one eightinch Columbiad, one forty two-pounder, and two eightinch sea howitzers, on the parapet, where the firing became so accurate and so intense that Major Anderson withdrew his men to the casemates. The explosion of shells and the quantity of missiles rained upon the fort from every quarter during the day, made it impossible to work the barbette, or upper uncovered guns.

While this work of destruction was going on, the fleet beyond the bar Ivas seen to dip its flags by way of signal. That of the fort was dipped in return. It was subsequently asceitained that a plan had been perfected to throw two hundred and fifty men and supl)ies into the fort, by boats, at daylight on the 13th, which was frustrated by the Baltic running aground on Rattlesnake Shoal, on the night of the 12th; so that the fleet was of no assistance to the fort. By noon, the cartridges were exhausted,. and a party was sent into the magazine to manufacture more, for which purpose blankets and shirts were used; but as there were no means of weighing the powder, accurate firing became impossible. The fire of the enemy, meanwhile, continually increased in violence and accuracy, and the’e was scarcely a moment in which the whizzing of balls and crash of shells ceased. An English rifled gun on Cummings’s Point was served with great precision, every shot knocking out lar,ge quantities of masonry about the embrasures, and bruising the men with the flying concrete rubbish.

Sergeant Rearnan, a Mexican veteran, was knocked down, but soon revived, and went to work, remarking, that ihe “was only lmocked down temporarily.”

As no immediate hostilities were contemplated by the original builders of the fort, they constructed wooden houses inside for the officers’

barracks, which now offered a tempting mark to the enemy’s hot-shiot batteries, and were set on fire three times during the day, calling upon the men for renewed efforts to extinguish the flames under a most galling fire. The meals of the garrison were served at the guns, the cannoneers eating as they worked. Tlhe enthusiasmn was not confined to the soldiers, but the workmen engaged with zeal at the guns. A party took possession of a gun that hlad been abandoned because of the close fe made upon it, and worked it with great effect. In this manner the day drew to a close. The small force varied their work in making cartridges, extinguishing the fire, and serving the guns, until nightfall, when, it being, no longer possible to see the effect of the shot, the exhausted men ate their last biscuit, closed the port-holes, nailed the old flag to the mast, and retired to their casemates, to get what rest they co’uld amidst the iron storm that did not cease to thunder about their devoted heads during the night. 69.1 .1

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HISTORY OF I GREAT’RA.LFLIO. With the dawn of Saturday, the 13th, the guns of Sumter again replied to the enemy, but it became very soon apparent that the latter were throwing hot shot with the greatest rapidity. The barracks were fired, and the flames got such headway that they could not be mastered. The whole garrison was then called to remove the powder from the magazine; and ninety o6dd barrels were rolled out by these intrepid men through the falling shot and bursting shells. The heat being then too great to allow the men any longer to approach the magazine, thb doors were closed and locked. The fire soon spread to every portion of the wood-work, while the wind drove the smoke into the fort with stifling effect. The men, no longer able to see each other, could breathe only by means of a wet cloth over the face. The cartridges were once more exhausted, and none could be made on account of the sparks falling in all directions. The upper service magazines now took fire, and the shells and ammunition exploded with terrific force, demolishing the tower, and scattering the upper portions of the building in all directions. The powder removed from the ma,gazine had hitherto been protected by wet blankets, but the spread of the flames made it necessary to throw all but four barrels out of the port-holes into the sea. Hour after hour that resolute little band, amidst the stifling heat, the blinding smoke, and the crumblinag walls, stood to their guns without thought of surrender, looking aloft only occasionally to see that the Stars still floated above the din, for nine times had the flagstaff been hit and the lanyards shot away. The staff was finally cut off and planted on the ramparts, with the flag pierced with shot-holes nailed to it, a mark for a circle of batteries. At this juncture General Wigfall, formerly a United States senator from Texas, but now a rebel officer, reached the fort in a skiff and made his appearance at an embrasure, with a white flag tied to his sword. Hle said he came from General Beauregard, the flag of Sumter being down; Lieutenant Davis replied, “It is up again.” General Wigfal then said, “You are on fire, let us stop this; there is a white flag, will any one wave it from the embrasure? One of the officers replied, “That is for you to do if you wish your batteries to stop..” General Wigfall then held out the flag, when Corporal Bringhurst was directed to hold it for him. The corporal did so, but the shot continued to strike around him. Lieutenant Davis then said, “If you request that a white flag be shown there, while you hold a conference with Major Anderson, it may be done.” General Wigfall, then addressing Major Anderson, said, “I am from General Beauregard. You have defended your flag nobly, sir; on hat terms will you evacuate the fort?”

Major Anderson inm. reply said, “General Beauregard is already acquainted with my only terms.” “Do I understand that you will evacuate upon the terms proposed the other day?” “Yes, sir, and on those conditions only,”

was the reply. “Then, sir,” said Wigfall, “I understand, Major Anderson, that tho fort is to be ours?”, “On those conditions only, I repeat.” “Very well,” said Wigfall, and he retired. TO

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“ISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. A short time afterwards a deputation, consisting of Senator Chesnut, Roger A. Pryor, Captain Lee, and W. Porcher Miles, came from General Beauregard, and had an interview with Major Anderson. They agreed, substantially, to the terms proposed by Wigfall, which were that the garrison should take all their individual and company property, that they should march out with their side and other arms with all the honors, in their own way, and at their own time; that they should salute their flag, and take it with them. This was at a quarter before two P. m., April 13th. When the baggage of the garrison was all on board of the transport, the soldiers remaining inside under arms, a portion were told off as gunners to serve in saluting the American flag. When the last gun was fired, the flag was lowered, the men cheering. At the fiftieth discharge there was a premature explosion, which killed one man instantly, seriously wounded another, and two more not so badly. The men were then formed and marched out, at nine A. M., April 14th, the band playing “Yankee Doodle” and ” Hail to the Chief” Thus fell Sumter, at the fratricidal hands of our “Southern brethren,” not, however, while there was a cartridge to fire or powder enough left to make one. Never did famished men work with greater determination, in the full knowledge of the fact that if they continued to hold the place there was not a biscuit to eat. It was a remarkable fact that no life was lost on either side during this terrible cannonade. This, on the part of the fort, must be attributed to the small number of men, all of whom could fild shelter in the casemates. A larger number would only have suffered great havoc. Major Anderson and his men, on their arrival North, were received with every honor due to their great merits. The fleet which left New York, January 7th, under sealed orders, was supposed to be destined for Fort Sumter, and that belief, no doubt, stimulated the attack by the Charleston forces. It seems, however, that the larger portion was for Fort Pickens, which was occupied by a small garrison, and threatened by the enemy. On the 16th and 17th the steamers Atlantic and Powbattan landed a considerable number of troops and a horse battery on Santa Rosa Island, and, at midnight on the 19th, the Illinois arrived with three hundred and fifty additional troops, under command of brevet Colonel Brooks, who were landed next morning. The force on the island then numbered over one thousand men, commanded by Colonel Harvey Brown, of the Second Artillery. This successful operation insured the safety of Fort Pickens against any attack of the rebels, who, under the command of General Bragg,* Shiloh; was promoted to be a general, and in the autumn of 1862 invaded Kentucky; was beaten at Murfreetboro’, and in the summer of 1863 driven beyond Chattanooga, but defeated Rosecrans in turn at Chickamatuga. In November, 1868, he lost the important battle of Missionary Ridge, and was soon after remiioved fioIn active command, but being a favorite with Davis, he was intrusted with the general supervision of the rebel armies. Subsequently he was ordered to Wilmington, and held commnand nunder Johnaton at the surrender of the latter in 1865. * Braxton Bragg, a native of North Carolina, entered West Point in 1882. Ile~graduated in 1837, wcond-lieutenant in the third infantry; assistant commissary of subsistence in November, 1837; adjutant in December, 1S37; first-lieutenant Jygly, 1838; brevet capl)tain, for gallant conduct t’Yort Brown, May, 1646; captain, June, 1846, brevet major. for gallant conduct at Monterey, Septemher, 1846: and brevet lieutenant-colonrel at Buena Vista. He resigned his place in the army in Jannary. 1S86, and in 1861 was appointed brigadiergeneral of the Confederate army, and took command at Pensacola. Subsequently he fought at .72 4 r

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HISTORY OF T’E GREAT REBELLION. of Buena Vista fame, were assembling in large force in the neighborhood. CHAPTER IV. Effect of the Fall of Sumter-. Call for Seventy-five Thousand Troops, and Replies of States.-Congress Convened.-Destruction of Property at Norfolk.-Effect of the Proclamation at the North.-Baltimore Riot.-March of Troops to Washington. The Position of Maryland.-Proceedings of her Legislature.-Pacification of Balti more. THE fall of Sumter produced a startling effect throughout the country. The fact that armed resistance to the power of the Government was actually organized, on a large scale, seemed to burst upon the astonished North like a thunder-clap. Party lines at once disappeared, private interests and the pursuit of business were dropped as with one accord, and the people rallied to the support of that Government, the jeopardy of which they had not previously realized. When the news reached Washington, the President immediately issued a proclamation calling out seventy-five thousand of the mrilitia of the several States of the Union, to “repossess the forts, places, and property which had been seized.” The persons resisting the operation of the laws were called upon to disperse within twenty days, and Congress was, by the same document, convened for the 4th of July. The President thus assumed the power of calling out troops, relying upon the exigencies of the case for justification. The assembling of Congress, however, although the Government was much emnbarrassedcl for means, was delayed for ten weeks.

The effect of the proclamation at the South was at once to consolidate the Confederacy. The dispatches from the War Department, addressed to the Governors of the several States, designated the quotas assigned to each State. The Executives of the slaveholding States, with the exception of Maryland and Delaware, peremptorily refiused to comply with the requisition, and Virginia, North Carolina, Arkansas, and Tennessee seceded, the first immediately, and the others some weeks later, and joined the Southern Confederacy, turning over their arms to it, and acceding to the new Constitution. In response to the call, Governor lMagoffin, of Kentucky, replied, that “Kentucky would furnish no troops for the wicked purpose of subduing her sister Southeirn States.” Governor Letcher, of Virginia, Replied, that “the militia of Virginia will not be furnished to the powers at Washington to subjugate the South;” Governor Ellis, of North Carolina, “that he could not respond to the call for troops, as he doubts the legality of the call;” Governor Harris, of Tennessee, tiLt “Tennessee wvill furnish not a single man for coercion, but fifty thousand, if necessary, for the defence of our rights, or those of our Southern brothers;” Governor Jackson, of Missouri, that ” thle requisition is illegal, unconstitutional, revolutionary, inhuman, diabolical, and cannot be complied with.” 73

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ISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. The Government of the Southern Confederacy issued a call for thirtytwo thousand men, five thousand from each of the Confederate States except Florida, which was to furnish two thousand; and Jefferson Davis, on the 17th of April, issued a proclamation offering to grant letters of marque and reprisal to aid the Southern Confederacy “in resisting the wanton and wicked aggressions” of the Federal Government.

This was immediately responded to by President Lincoln, ill a proclamation, dated April 19th, declaring the Southern ports in a state of blockade. Jefferson Davis then convened the Southern Congress for the 1 st of May. The State of Virginia, as we have seen, immediately abandoned her doubtful policy, and cast in her lot with the Confederacy, in accordance with the convention signed April 24th. The United States armory at Harper’s Ferry, which had been the scene of John Brown’s raid, contained fifteen thousand stand of arms, and was held by Lieutenant Jones, of the United States Army, with a force of forty men. On the 18th of April the place was seized by two or three thousand Virginia militia, after Lieutenant Jones had destroyed by fire what he could, and retreated with his men across Maryland into Pennsylvania, having lost two men, killed.

The Gosport Navy Yard, at Norfolk, Virginia, was the largest depo6t of ordnance in the United States, containing many first-class ships, some two thousand cannon, and arms and munitions which had originally cost over ten million dollaris, but which at this crisis were of almost incalculable value. The conspirators who had hurried Virginia out of the Union saw the importance of getting possession of this place, and sent thither General Taliaferro to obstruct the channel leading from Norfolk to Hampton Roads, and prevent the ingress or egress of National vessels. The Navy Yard was then in charge of Commander McCauley, an old and irresolute officer, who appears, under the apprehension of a rebel attack, to have so far lost his presence of mind, as to consent to a useless and shameful destruction of the National property. Notwithstanding he had received orders from Washington to send the powerful steam-frigate Merrimac -to Philadelphia, he refrained, through fear of exasperating the rebels, from doing so, and on the 20th, ordered all the ships in the Yard, except the sailing corvette Cumberland, to be scuttled. When it is considered that he then had several hundred trusty men at his disposal, the act seems almost like treason. Aware, possibly, of the inefficiency of McCauley, the Government, on the 19th, had dispatched Commodore Hiram Paulding in the steam-frigate Pawnee to assume command at Norfolk. Taking on board a reinforcement of four hundred and ifty Massachusets volunteers at Fortress Monroe, he proceeded safely throughl the obstructions to the Navy Yard, which he reached at halfpast eight P. xm. on the 20th. Commodore Paulding, however, arrived too late to save the ships or the guns. The former had Been scuttled and the latter spiked by his predecessor in command, and it was determined with what, now, appears needless precipitancy, to complete the destruction already commenced and abandon the Yard. Accordingly, the books and papers of the establishment were transferred to the Pawnee.

Every 74

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HISTORY OF TH GERAT IBEBLLION. 5 thing of interest to the Government, which it was possible to preserve, was transferred to the Cumberland.

Every thing in the Yard, that might be of immediate use to the Confederates, was destroyed, including many thousand stands of arms.

Carbines had their stocks broken by a blow from the barrels, and were thrown overboard. A large lot of revolvers shared the like fate. Shot and shell by thousands went to the bottom. The work of destruction was unweariedly continued from nine o’clock until about midnight, during which time the moon gave light to direct the operations. But when the moon set, the barracks near the centre of the Yard were fired, in order that by the illumination the work might be continued. But time was not left to complete the work. Four o’clock of Sunday morning came, and the Pawnee was passing down from Gosport harbor with the Cumberland in tow-every soul from the other ships and the Yard being aboard of them, save two. Just as they left their moorings, a rocket was sent up from the deck of the Pawnee, and as it burst, the well-set trains at the ship-houses and on the decks of the fated vessels left behind, went off as if lit simultaneously by the rocket. One of the ship-houses contained the old New York, thirty years on the stocks, and yet unfinished. The other was vacant; but both houses and the New York burnt like tinder. Within thirty minutes from the time the trains were fired, the conflagration roared like a hurricane, and the crackling, soaring flames seemed, by their motion, to sympathize with the work of destruction beneath. In all this magnificent scene, the old ship of the line, Pennsylvania, enveloped in towering masses of flame, was the central figure. She was a very giant in death, as she had been in life. Several of her guns were left loaded, but not shotted, and as the fire reached them they exploded with a roar which shook the surrounding country. As soon as the Pawnee and Cumberland were known to be gone, the gathering crowds of Portsmouth and Norfolk rebels burst open the gates of the Navy Yard, and rushed in. As early as six o’clock, a volunteer company took formal possession in the name of Virginia, and ran up her flag. In another hour, several companies were at work unspiking cannon, and by nine o’clock they were moving them to the dock, whence they were transferred to points below, where sandbatteries were to be built. In April, the Star of the West, which had been fired upon on entering Charleston Harbor, in the unsuccessful attempt to supply Fort Sumter, was sent to Indianola, Texas, to bring off the United States troops that had vacated the fob seized by the Texans. On-the 17th, the rebel Colonel Van I)brn, with eighty Texan troops, went on board the steamer General Rusk and steamed down to the Star of the West, as she lay off the bar. As they approached, Van Dorn’s vessel was hailed, and he replied, “The Gdheral Rusk with troops.” The captain of the Star of the West took it for granted that they were the troops he was expecting. Iut in a few moments his vessel was seized and sent into Galveston. The effect of the President’s proclamation calling for troops in the 75,

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HISTORY OF TiE GREAT REBELLION. loyal North was electric. The citizens every where formed themselves into relief and vigilance committees, the young and ardent rushed to arnms, and the older and richer organized meetings, and subscribed with a liberal hand for equipping troops to aid the Government. The au thorities of the several cities voted means, and the State Executives convened the legislatures to provide for the exigencies of the nation. Governor Yates, of Illinois, convened the legislature for April 23d, to adopt such laws as were necessary for the more perfect equipment of the militia, and to render efficient assistance to the General Govern ment. Governor Buckingham, of Connecticut, issued a proclamation for troops to rendezvous at Hartford. New Hampshire promptly mustered her troops, and subscriptions of money from citizens and corporations were tendered on all hands. All the States set themselves eagerly to the work, and the troops first ready immediately started for Washington. The call of the President was for seveinty-five thousand of the State militia, which, under the laws of Congress, could not be required to serve more than three months in the year. As Congress was not in session and the Government was almost without means, it was evident that the troops must be equipped and forwarded at the States’ expense.

Accordingly most of the States immediately voted loans. The quota of New York was thirteen thousand, but a bill passed the legislature in a few hours, authorizing thirty thousand volunteers for two years, and creating a military board to organize them. On the 24th of April an agent was sent to England to buy twentyfive thousand Enfield rifles. A loan was authorized for three million dollars, which was soon taken. The common council of New York voted one million dollars, which was promptly advanced by the banks, and various public associations subscribed funds to equip the troops that were promptly mustering, and to aid their families. In all, twentythree regiments of three months’ troops, comprising a force of more-than fifteen thousand men, were put into the field by the State, in compliance with the President’s proclamation. Among these were a number of well-equipped and disciplined organizations from the cities of New York and Brooklyn. In Massachusetts, Governor Andrew, in anticipation of a collision between the rebels and Federal authorities, had previously equipped two thousand militia, who were mostly ready to move. The call for troops was received April 15th, and two regiments mustered on the 16th.

The Third Regiment of State Militia, Colonel Wardrop, departed on the 17th for Fortress Monroe, where it arrived in time for the expedition to Gosport Nayy Yard on the 20th. The Fourth and Sixth Regiments were alsoordered forward at once, the former to Fortress Monroe, and the Sixth to Washington via New York and Baltimore. The excitement in the latter city was great. On the 18th the Governor of Maryland issued a proclamation, exhorting the people to keep the peace, and assuring them that no troops would be sent from Maryland unless to defend the National capital. On the same day the Mayor of Baltimore issued a proclamation concurring with the Governer. The rumors of approaching troops from other States began, 76

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HISTORY OF TME GREAT REBELLION. however, to inflame the disaffected, and preparations commenced to resist the Sixth Massachusetts Regiment, which started on the 17th, passed through New York on the 18th, in a sort of triumphal march, and on the morning of the 19th arrived at Camden Station in Baltimore, together with a portion of the Seventh Pennsylvania. Several of the cars containing the troops pushed through the city with horses to the Washington Dep6t, *ut the remainder, from want of horses, were unable to proceed. Meanwhile an excited and angry crowd gathered in the vicinity of the Camden Station, and while a portion tore up the rails and otherwise obstructed the track, others began to make threatening demonstrations against the remaining Massachusetts and Pennsylvania troops. These remained quiet for a short time, when the infuriated mob assailed them with stones, bricks, and other missiles, wounding several of the soldiers.

The men then alighted, formed a solid square, with fixed bayonets, and with the Mayor of Baltimore and a body of police at their head, started through the city. The mbb rapidly increased in numbers and ferocity, and the shower of missiles upon the troops momentarily thickened, interspersed with shots of revolvers and discharges from the muskets taken from the soldiers. As the wounded soldiers dropped they were taken into the centre, sustained by their comrades, and the column pushed on. Two were now dead and several wounded, when some of the exasperated soldiers returned the fire by single shots. After a severe and protracted struggle, the men finally gained the Washington Dep6t, and immediately embarked, having sustained a loss of three killed and eight wounded. Eleven of the rioters were killed and an unknown number wounded. The Pennsylvanians were also attacked and many injured; as they were unarmed, they were sent back whence they came. The mob now ruled supreme. The gun-shops were plundered, other stores closed, and a public meeting summoned for the afternoon. The lavor and Governor both notified the President that no more troops could pass through Baltimore, and also advised the President of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad that the troops then in the city should be sent back, which was done. The mob then waited at Canton for the train coming-from Philadelphia, compelled the passengers to alight, and went back in the train to Gunpowder Bridge, which they burned, after which they burned Cushman Bridge and Canton Bridge. The news of this conflict, as it flew North, caused’ great excitement. The Northern blood boiled with indignation, and all were eager to save the capital of the Nation. Troops hastened their preparations to press forward and force a passage to the seat of Government. The fact did not fail to impress itself on the public mind, that this first conflict, in this great strife, was the anniversary of the day, the 19th of April, 1775, when the massachusetts yeomen drewv the first blood, from the invading English, at Lexington. The lineal representatives of these men, after a lapse of eighty-six years, were the first to open the war on the soil of Maryland. The deep movement of the popular passions was manifest in many wayS. The National flag, which had gone down before the guns of the enemy, became at once the emblem of patriotism and of decided purpose. It fluttered from every build i7

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IISTORY OF TIE GREAT REBELLIOTN. ing, and was borne by every’person. The stopping of the highway to the capital served to give point to the public purpose, and “through Baltimore” became a rallying-cry. General Scott, at Washington, immediately took measures to open the communication on that side. The news had no sooner reached him than he issued a general order, adding Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania to the military department of Washington, and placing MajorGeneral Patterson, of the Pennsylvania volunteers, in command, with orders to post Pennsylvania troops all along the line, from Wilmington, Delaware, to Washington City. The enthusiasm in New York was very demonstrative, showing a great contrast to the apparent apathy that had prevailed, since its longcontinued efforts to effect some compromise had ceased to be of any avail The political sentiment as well as the material interests of New York were ever eminently conservative.

Her geographical position had made her the commercial centre of the Union, and her acquired wealth had made her its financial head. The capital of the whole country came to her for investment. Her own vast capital moved the crops of the West, and the exchanges, based-on Southern productions, were negotiated in her market. She was the factor for every producer, the banker for every merchant; she was, so to speak, the negotiator between every section of the Union and foreign nations. She had debtors in every town and hamlet of the country, and every producer, even of the most remote region, was directly or indirectly her customer. In every harbor her shipping was to be found, and her capital insured the merchandise on every lake and river. She could not, therefore, but regard the approach of hostilities with dissatisfaction and dread. She knew that she held thepurse-strings of the Nation; that, whatever Congress might plan, or President execute, nothing could be effected without her aid, and that the first burden of every struggle must fall upon her. She therefore strove earnestly to avoid the difficulty; but when once it burst upon the country, she offered her vast means upon the altar of the Nation, and frankly accepted the situation. Her troops at once assembled in imposing force. Every armory and drill-room was busy with active officers, mustering, organizing, and preparing for the march. The Seventh militia regiment, long the pride of the city, was the first ready, and its departure was a day of triumph long to be remembered. It marched at four P. M. of the 19th, amidst unparalleled demonstrations of enthusiasm from the dense multitudes who thronged the streets; and on the same day the Rhode Island artillery, Colonel Tompkins, and the Massachusetts Eighth, Colonel Monroe, with General B. F. Butler, went though New York. The troops now began to move in crowds -frdn all quarters. “Through Baltimore,” was the rallying-cry, and the hurrying tread of departing regiments of determined men was drowned amid the cheers and acclamations of the throngs, which peopled houe-top, street, and wharf, alive with flags and banners, and vocal with patriotic strains. Every Northern State and every condition ot life sent its enthusiastic patriots to meet the Kational foes, and defend the old Stars and Stripes, that, bom of inde 18

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HISTORY OF TE GREAT REBELLION. endence, has so often been flung to the breeze in the strife of liberty. Massachusetts, in six days from the date of the President’s call, had six regiments on the way, including a battalion of riflemen and a bat tery of artillery. Rhode Island had sent two under Governor Sprague, New York had sent seven. This Northern “avant-garde,” as they passed on, were joined by the troops of Ohio and Pennsylvania. In Indiana, six regimhents were raised and Mustered into service in a week after the call was made. All the other States were prompt and effect ive in their aid. The living stream poured on by rail and flood, and Baltimore, which had, under the bad impulse of the moment, attempted to stay its course, only caused by its resistance an accumulation of force that threatened to sweep the city from existence.

The New York Seventh arrived in Philadelphia at four o’clock A. M. of the 20th. The universal desire of the regiment was to push through, and emulate the gallant Massachusetts men, if it did not avenge them. The difficulties that presented themselves were how ever, very grave. The bridges were burned in many places, the rails torn up forty miles from Baltimore, and the road was commanded by the mob, to quell which was no part of the business in hand.’ The great object was to throw a force into Washington, which should pro tect the Government; that, once safe, the riot would be taken in hand in its turn. To effect that object, it was necessary to go round Balti more, and accordingly the regiment proceeded by water to Annapolis, where it arrived on the afternoon of the 22d, in company with the Eighth Massachusetts, under General Butler. The regiment was quartered in the Naval School. Onl the 23d, General Butler took mili tary possession of the Annapolis and Elkridge Railroad; and on the same day, the Seventy-first New York arrived. On the morning of the 24th, the troops began their march to Washington. The track had been torn up between Annapolis and the junction with the Baltimore and Washington Railroad, and here it was that the wondeiful qualities of the Massachusetts Eighth regiment caine out. The locomotives had been taken to pieces by the inhabitants, in order to prevent the march. A Massachusetts volunteer stepped up, and looking at a piecemeal engine, remarked, “I helped make this engine, and I can put it together again.” Engineers were wanted when the engine was ready; nineteen stepped out of the ranks. The rails were torn up; practical railroad-makers out of the regiment laid them again; and all this without care or food. These brave men were nearly starving while they were doing this good work. As they marched along the track that they had laid, they greeted the New York Seventh with ranks of smiling but hungry faces. One boy said, with a laugh on his young lips, “that he had not eatendny thing for thirty hours.” There was not a haversack in the S%venth regiment that was not emptied into the hands of these illtreated heroes, nor a flask that was not at their disposal. The march continued until the nea morning, with a short halt here and there. There were two roads to Washington; one by the railtrack, and the other the common country road. The commander had information that the latter was’beset by parties of cavalry, intending 79

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. to cut off the march, which was therefore directed by the railroad. The sleepers made the march terribly fatiguing, and as the road required to be explored inch by inch, exceedingly slow.

But the troops finally reached Washington on the 25th, and succeeding regiments following by the same route, soon insured the safety of the capital. The position of Maryland had been fiom the first very critical.

She had sympathized strongly with tie Southern States, yet she had a large conservative element, which was manifested in her vote at the Presidential election. The total vote cast in the State was ninety-two thousand five hundred and two. Of these, forty-twQ thousand four hundred and eighty-two were cast for Breckenridge, forty-one thousand seven hundred and sixty for Bell, and five thousand nine hundred and sixtysix for Douglas. Of the remainder, Mr. Lincoln received two thousand two hundred and ninety-four.

When the difficulties thickened, it be-, came evident that, in ease of a conflict, Maryland, with her small resources and exposed situation, would suffer greatly. Her Governor, Hicks, strongly opposed secession in an address to the people, in January. He refused to convene the legislature, saying: “I firmly believe that a division of this Government would inevitably produce civil war. The secession leaders in South Carolina, and the fanatical demagogues of the North, have alike proclaimed that such would be the result, and no man of sense, in my opinion, can question it.

What could the legislature do in this crisis, if convened, to romove the present troubles which beset the Union? * That Maryland is a conservative Southern State, all know who know any thing of her people or her history. The business and agricultural classes, planters, merchants, mechanics, and laboring men; those who have a real stake in the community, who would be forced to pay the taxes and do the fighting, are the persons who should be heard in preference to excited politicians, many of whom, having nothing to lose from the destruction of the Government, may.hope to derive some gain from the ruin of the State.

Such men will naturally urge you to pull down the pillars of this’

accursed Union,’ which their allies at the North have denominated a’

covenant with hell.’ The people of Maryland, if left to themselves, would decide, with scarcely an exception, that there is nothing in the present causes of complaint to justify immediate secession.” Notwithstanding that the legislature did not meet, the excitement in the State, particularly in Baltimore, continued very great. Upon the receipt of the first call for troops, the Governor wrote to the Secretary of War to be informed if the troops were to be used solely in the limits of the State, and for the protection of the National capital. He was informed that the troops were only for the defence of the capital. The Secretary of War, also, April 18th, notified him that fears were entertained that the passage of the troops through Baltimore would be obstructed, and hoped the State authorities would prevent it. The Governor on the 20th relied, that the mob had control, that the military fraternized with them, therefore he declined sending troops, and insisted that no more should be sent through Mlaryland. The Government replied, that the troops would be sent round Baltimore. On the 22d, the Governor repeate4 his request in respect to troops, and suggested that Lord Lyons “should be requested to act as mediator between the contending parties of our conntry.” The Secretary of State replied, declining foreignmedihtion, and affirmed the right to send troops through 80

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HISTORY OF’I GREAT REBELLION. Maryland. The Governor repeatedly protested against landing troops at Annapolis, the capital of the State, and the military occupation of the railroad which connects that city with Washington, inasmach as he had convened the legislature to meet, and the.occupancy of the road would prevent the members from arriving. On the 25th of April a new military department was forned, called the Department of Annap olis, with headquarters in that city. It included twenty miles on each side of the railroad to Washington, as far as Bladensburgh; BrigadierGenerat Benjamin F. Butler in command. The General replied to the protest of the Governor, that his troops were in Maryland to maintain the laws and preserve peace; and that he had taken possession of the road because threats had been made to destroy it, in case troops passed over it. He said, also, that there were rumored apprehensions of a negro insurrection, and offered his services to suppress it. The Governor replied, that the citizens. could take care of themselves. The occupation, of Annapolis by the troops induced the legislature to meet at Frederick, on the 26th of April. The Governor, in his message, advised neutrality, so that Maryland might not be the scene of war. The action of the legislature was less moderate, however; although it decided by a unanimous vote in the Senate, and by fifty-three to thirteen in the House, not to secede. A bill was introduced in the-Senate -investing the military power of the State in a board of public safety, of ‘which the majority were in favor Qf secession. This movement not being entirely popular, the bill was recommitted. A committee of the legislature was also appointed to visit the President, and a series of resolutions was adopted by the House of Delegates, protesting against the war onbehalf of the State, imploring the President to make peace with the seceded States, and affirming that the “State of Maryland desires the peaceful and immediate recognition of the Confeierate States.” To cap the climax of their folly, the legislature sent a committee to,Jefferson Davis to assure him of the sympathy of the people’of Maryland with the Confederate States. The Federal Governmeit, scarcely able to look after its own security, was for the present powerless to repress these treasonable demonstrations. Events, however, made rapid progress, and ais sober second thoughts began to replace the recent mad excitement, the tone of Baltimore grew more conservative, while at Frederick, Hagerstown, and elsewhere the Union element became decidedly uppermnost. 3e:-inwhile troops fi-om all quarters continued to accumulate at Annapolis, under General Butler. On the 5th of May, he advanced and occupied the Relay House, nine miles from Baltimore, planting eight howitzers on the viaduct, and investing the entire neighbqhood. This being the point of junctiodof the Baltimore and Obio Railroad with the Washington branch, it commands the road to the West. On the 9th transports arrived at Locust Point fiorm Perryville with Sherman’s battery, six pieces; and twelve hundred men, who were played in the cars, and went off without disturbance. On the following day, an attempt was made to send a steamgun, by Mr. Ross Winans, of Baltimore, to Harper’s Ferry; but the gun, and those in charge of it, were arrested by order of General Butler.

Order was’now so far restored, that travel was resumed 82 4

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VISTOK OF TIIE.GR]AT RBELLION. through Baltimore. On Monday, May 13th, a train from Philadelphia passed through with the National flag displayed, and numbers were hung out from stores and dwellings. On the following day, the First Pennsylvania regiment passed through Baltimore fully equipped.

In the afternoon of the same day, a train from the Relay House arrive’d with the Sixth Massachussettse and the Eighth New York regiments, with a battery. They marthed through South Baltimore and took possession of Federal Hill, a high point commanding both the city and Fort MllcHenry, which is east of it, one mile distant. Here General Butler fixed his headquarters, and issued a proclamation intended to soothe the conquered citizens of Baltimore.’ He also demanded the delivery of a quantity of arms stored in the city, which was acceded to, and the Federal authority became fully established. On the 15th of May, the Star-spangled banner was raised once more over the post-office’and custom-house. CHAPTER V. I Confederate Congress.-Davis’s Message. -Virginia.,-Beauregard’s Proclamation. Border States’ Convention.-Western Virginia. State Re-orgaization. ACCORDING to the proclamation of Jefferson Davis, the Confederate Congress met at Montgomery, Alabama, April 29th, and Mir.

Davis delivered a message, which opened with assurances that the constitution framed for the establishment of a permanent government for the Confederate States had been ratified by conventions in each of those States to which it was referred.’ To inaugurate the Government in its.

full proportions and upon its own substantial basis of the popular will, it only remained that elections should be held for the designation of the officers to administer it. He stated that the declaration of war against the Confederacy by the President of the United States, in his proclamation of April 15th, made it necessary to convene the Congress at the earliest possible moment. He reviewed the events that, from the formation of the Government, had been gradually producing the present state of affairs, and recounted the circumstances that attended the mission of commission ers to Washington. The reply of the Federal Government, rendered only on April 8th, although dated March 15th, had, he said, been withheld, while assurances calolated to inspire hope in the success of the mission had been made That these assurances were given, has been virtually confessed by the Government of the United States by its sending a messenger to Charleston to give notice of its purpose to use force, if opposed in its intention of supplying Fort Sumter. No more striking proof of the absence of good faith ir the conduct of the Government of the United States towards this Confederacy can be required, than is contained in the circumstances which accompanied this notice. According to the usual course of navigation, the vessels composing the expedition designed for.the relief of Fort Sumter, might be 83 6 I

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLIOX. expected to reach Charleston Harbor on the 9th of April; yet with our commissioners actually in Washington, detained under assurances that notice should be given of any military movement, the notice was not addressed to them, but a messenger was sent to Charleston, to give notice to the Governor of South Carolina, and the notice was so given at a late hour on the 8th of April, the eve of the very day on which the fleet might be expected to arrive. That this manceuvre failed in its purpose was not the fault of those who contrived it. A heavy tempest delayed the arrival of the expedition, and gave time to the commander of our forces at Charleston to ask and receive the instructions of this Government. Even then, under all the provocation incident to the contemptuous refusal to listen to our commissioners, and the tortuous course of the Government of the United States, I was sincerely anxious to avoid the effusion of blood, and directed a proposal to be made to the commander of Fort Sumter, whio had avowed himself to be nearly out of provisions, that we would abstain from directing our fire on Fort Sumter, if’he would promise not to fire upon our forces unless first attacked.

This proposal he refused, and the conclusion was reached that the design of the United States was to place the besieging force of Charleston between the simultaneous fire of the fleet and the fort. There remained, therefore, no alternative but to direct that the fort should at once be reduced.” Mr. Davis then proceeded to recount the contents of the proclamation of President Lincoln, and the mandates of that document were received with,” shouts of laughter.” “Apparently contradictory,” said Mr.

Davis, “as are the terms of this singular document, one point was unmistakably evident. The President of the United. States called for an army of seventy-five thousand men, whose first service was to be the capture of our forts. It was a plain declaration of war which I was not at liberty to disregard, because of my knowledge that under the Constitution of the United States, the President was usurping a power granted exclusively to Congress” lie advised the immediate passage of a law authorizing the acceptapee of proposals for privateers. He denounced the proclamation of the United States in relation to Southern ports, as a mere paper blockade. He stated, that under the law authorizing a loan of five million dollars, a call was promptly answered by offers of more than eight million dollars at par, and the whole was accepted. Mr. Davis saia that a much larger amount was now become necessary to defry the expenses of the war. “There are now in the field at Charleston, Pensacola, Forts Morgan, Jackson, St Philip, and Pulaski, nineteen thousand men. and sixteen thlousan( are now en rout* forVirginia. It is proposed to organize and hold in readiness for instant action, in view of the present exigenciesof the country, an army of one hundred thousand men.” In the Confederate army there was but one grade of general-that of brigadiergeneral, but in the State organization there were majorgenerals, and Mr. Davis advised the equalizing the rank. lie concluded “We feel that our cause is just and holy; we protest solemnly in the face of mankind that we desire peace at any sacrifi*, save that of honor and independence; we seek no conquest, no aggrandizement, no concession of any kind from ti.e States with which we were lately confederated; all we’ ask is to be left alone; that those who never held power over us shall not now attempt ouc’subjugation by arms.‘lhis we will, this we must resist to the direst extremity. The moment that this pretension is abandoned, the sword will drop from oui grasp, andove shall be ready to enter into treaties of amity and commerce that cannot but be mutually beneficial So long as this pretension is maintained, with a firm reliance on that Divine Power which covers with its protection the just cause, we will continue to struggle for our inherent right to freedom, ire pandence, and selfgovernment.” 84 0 I’ll

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HISTORY OF TIE GREAT REBELLION. The military resources of the Confederacy were mostly those which had been derived from the Federal Government. Each State had seized the forts, arsenals, and munitions of war that were within its limits. The forts situated within the limtnits of the slave States were as follows: War Garrison, No. of Where located. Cost. No. of Men. Guns *Fort McHfenry, Baltimore………………………. $ 146,000

350 74 *Fort Carroll, Baltimore………………………….. 135,000

800 159 *Fort Delaware, Delaware River, Del………………… 539,000

750 151 *Fort Madison, Annapolis, Md……………………… 15,000 150

31 *Fort Severn, Maryland…………………………… 6,000 60 14

*Fort Washington, Potomac River, Md………………. 575,000 400 88

*Fortress Monroe, Old Point Comfort, Va………………2,400,000 2,450

371 Fort Calhoun, Hampton Roads, Norfolk, Va…………….1,664,000

1,120 224 Fort Macon, Beaufort, N. C……………………… 460,000

300 61 Fort Johnson, Cape Fear, Wilmington, N……………. 5,000 60 10

Fort Caswell, Oak Island, N. C……………………… 571l,000 400 81

Fort Sumter, Charleston, S. C……………………….. 677,000 650 146

Castle Pinckney, Charleston, S. C…………………… 43,000 100 25

Fort Moultrie, Charleston, S. C……………………… 75,000 300 54

Fort Pnlaski, Savannah, Ga……………………….. 923,000 800 150

Fort Jackson, Savannah, Ga……………………….. 80,000 70 14 Fort Marion, St. Augustine, Fla…………………….. 51,000 100 25 *Fort Taylor, Key West………………………….. 1,000 185 *Fort Jefferson, Tortuigas………………………………… 1,500 298 Fort Barrancaos, Pensacola………………………… 315,000 250 49

RPedoubt, Pensacola………………………………. 109,000 - 26

*Fort Pickens, Pensacola………………………… 759,000 1,260 212

Fort McRae, Pensacola………………………….. 384,000 650 151 Fort Morgan, Mobile……………………………..1,212,000 700 132 -Fort St. Philip, Mississippi Riv,r…………………… 143,000 600 124 Fort Jackson, Mississippi River…………………….. 817,000 600 150 Fort Pike, Rigolets, La……………………………. 472,000 300 49 Fort MIacomb, Chef Menlteur, La……………………. 447,000 300 49 Fort Livingston, Barataria Bayv, La………………….. 342,000 300 52 In addition to these were incomplete works at Ship Island, Mississippi Sound; Georgetown, Soltth Carolina; Port Royal Roads, South Carolina; Tybee Island, Savannah; Galveston, Brazos Santiago, and 3latagorda Bay, Texas.

Hamnpton Roads is the great naval dep6t station and rendezvous of the Southern coasts, ahd the only good toadstead on the Atlantic, south of the Delaware. Pensacola is very strong, and the only good harbor for. vessels of war, and( the only naval d6pot, on the gulf. The fortresses at Key West and Tortugas, on the southern point of Florida, are among the most pgwerfil in the world; and every vessel that crosses the gulf passes in stght of both. WAith the exception of Fort IMecHenry, Fort Pickens, and others marked, (*) all these had passed intothe possession of the Confederates. Eiclch State in succession, by ordinance, turned over to the Confederate Goverinment the fortifieations within its limits. The Confederate Government had thus at its disposal all that in those States had belonged to the United States. After the proclamation of President Lincoln, calling for troops, an effort was made to force thb BorderStates into 85 “I ik 

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HISTORY OF TI-E GREAT REBELLION. secession, and the rebel leaders began to send troops into thQse States On the 6th of May an act was passed by the Confederate Congress, recognizing the existence of war with the United States, and authorizing the President of the Confederate States to use the whole land and naval forces, and to issue letters of marque, and prescribing regulations for the conduct of privateers. Another act prohibited the export of cotton or cotton yarn from any of the Confederate States except through their seaports, under penalty of a forfeiture of the cotton, a fine of $5,000, and six months’ imprisonment. This did not apply to exports through Mexico. The act was to continue in force as long as the blockade should last. This Congress also proposed that the planters should be invited to put their crops into the hands of the Government, receiving bonds for their value. Meantime the’ Confederate troops continued to pour into Virginia, until in May considerably more than 50,000 had been collected at various points. Of these General Robert E. Lee* was on May 10th placed in command. On the other hand, the Federal troops were not idle, and an advance into Virginia, which took place on the 23d of May, caused an immense excitement at the South. In Virginia, particularly, the influx of troops was hastened in consequence, and from all quarters they began to concentrate to defend MIanassas Junction and the other approaches to Richmond. BrigadierGeneral Beauregard assumed command in the Department of Alexandria, and on the 1st of June issued the following remarkable proclamation A PROCLAMATION TO THE PEOPLE OF THE COUNTIES OF

LOUDON, FAIRFAX, AND PRINCE WILLIAM. “HEADQUARTERS, DEPARTMENT OF

ALEXANDRIA, ” CAMP PICKENS, June 18t, 1861. “A reckless and unprincipled tyrant has invaded your soil. Abraham Lincoln, re. gardless of all moral, legal, and constitutional restraints, has thrown his abolition hosts among you, who are murdering and imprisoning your citizens, confiscating and destroying your property, and committing other acts of violence and outrage too shocking and revolting to humanity to be enumerated. “All rules of civilized warfare are abandoned, and they proclaim by their acts, if not on their banners, that their war-cry is “Beauty and Booty.’ All that is dear to manyour honor; and that of your wives and daughters-your fortunes and your lives, are involved in this momentous contest. “In the name, therefore, 6f the constituted authorities of the Confederate States-in the sacred cause of constitutional liberty and selfgovernment, for which we are contending-in behalf of civilization itself, I, G. T.

Beauregard, BrigadierGeneral of the Confederate States, commanding at Camp Pickens, Manassas Junction, do make this my proclamation, and invite and enjoin you by every consideration dear to the hearts of freemen and patriots, by the name and memory of your revolutionary fathers, and by the purity and sanctity of your domestic firesides, to rally to the standard of your State April 25, 1S61, andl joined the Southern Confederacy; was made general, and after holling commands in Western Virginia, an d on the co ast, succeeded General Johnson ia command of the rebel army in lPichmond, June, 1862; led the invasion into Maryland, and was defeated at Antietam, September, 1662, comumander-in-chief in the campaigns of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg Petersburg, and Richmond, 1862-65; appointed generalin-chief of the rebel army, January 81, 18w5; capitulated to General Grant April 9,1865 * Robert Edmund Lee is ttlo soniof General MIarry Lee, of revolutionary fame, and wavs born in VirginiN, about 1808. Hle was gra(duated _at West Point, second in his class,’ in 1829, entered the Engineer Corps, became captain in 18, and served in the Mexican war as chief engineer; was brevetted major, lieutenant-colonel and colonel for gallant conduct at Cerro Gordo, Contreras, Churubusco, and Chapultepec; superintendent of West Point Academy 185255; lieutenant-colonol of Second Cavalry 1855, and colonel of First Cav  alry, March 16th, 1861; resigned his commission 86 lp

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IIISTORy OF FIE GREAT REBELLION. and country, and by every means in your power compatible with honorable warfare, to drive back and expel the invaders from your land. “I (conjure you to be true and loyal to your country and her legal and constitutional authorities, and especially to be vigilant of the movements and acts of the enemy, so as to enable you to give the earliest authentic information at these headquarters, or to the officers under this command. “I desire to assure you that the utmost protection in my power will be given to you all. “G. T. BEAUREGARD, “BrigadierGeneral Comrnmanding. ” TiIOMAS JORDAN, Acting Ass’t Adj’tGeneral.” This mendacious and vindictive proclamation found ready believers and hearty sympathizers in the misguided masses, who were then gathering at Manassas Junction. The course adopted by Virginia, North Carolina, Arkansas, and Tennessee, after thle President’s call for troops, has been elsewhere related. In all these States the leaders of the rebellion showed a determination to hurry the people out of the Union, without regard to a fair expression of opinion at the polls. A Border States’ convention was summoned at Frankfort, Kentucky, but Virginia, North Carolina, and Arkansas, having joined the Confederacy, did not send delegates, neither did Maryland. One appeared from Tennessee and four from Missouri, to meet those of Kentucky. The convention met on Mlay 2 7th, and Senator Crittenden was chosen president. Two addresses were adopted-one to the people of the United States, and the other to the people of Kentucky.

The first proposed such amendments to the Constitution as should secure the rights of slaveholders, or on the failure of that, to call a convention of all the States to devise means of peaceable adjustment. The other address defended the course of the Executive in refusing troops to the United States, professed strong attachment to the Union,, but urged the necessity of neutrality. It condemned the course of the Southern States in withdrawing from the Union, and expressed the determination of Kentucky to adhere to it. Notwithstanding this “conditional loyalty,” as it was called, Kentucky, thanks to her proximity to the Free States, was sound to the core, and it her election for members of Congress, held in June, returned nine Unionists to one secessionist, by a vote of 92,365.to 36,995; showing a majority of 55,37( for the Union. In Missouri, Governor Jackson and the legislature endeavored to take the State out of the Union; but the State Convention called to promote secession proved loyal, and deposed both the Gov.ernor and the legislature. The Southern Confederacy now began to concentrate its power, and the new machinery of its Government came daily more decidedly: into action in )lace of the Federal authority. The Congress, having made all necessary provisions, adjourted on the 20th of May, to meeti at Richmond, the proposed Tuture seat of Government, on the 20th of July. The finances and military forces had been provided for as,.far as possible, and the new PostmasterGeneral, John H.

Reag>n. took charge of thet ransmission of mails on June 1st, the PostmasterGeneral of the United States, having announced that on that day postal communication would close with the seceding States, with the.exception. of some counties in Western Virginia. I 87

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MISTORY OF’E GREAT REBELLION. The action of Western Virginia forms a remarkable episode in the course of events. On the vote upon secession, the western counties gave a majority against it. In the northwestern part of the State, or “pan-handle,” a narrow strip which runs up between Pennsylvania and Ohio, the vote was largely for the Union. A convention of these western counties, thirtyfive in number, was held at Wheeling oni the 13th of Mlay, at which resolutior’s were passed pronouncing the ordi nance of secession null and void, and a provisional convention sum moned to meet June 11th. When it assembled on that day, Arthur J. Boreman was chosen permanent chairman, and a resolution, declaring a division of the State of Virginia, and the organization of the counties represented into a new State, to be a paramount object, was carried by a vote of fifty-seven to seventeen. There vwas subsequently passed a declaration and ordinance for reorganizing the governmlent of the State. The declaration set forth that the Richmond Convention was unconstitutional, and its proceedings void. The ordinance provided that the delegates elected in May, which was the regular time of election of such officers iii Virginia, and the senators who should appear and qualify, should constitute the legislature of the State. An oath of allegiance to the United States was prescribed, and all offices held-by persons who failed to take that oath were declared vacant. Francis H. Pierpont was elected Governor, and Daniel Paisley Lieutenant-Governor. Governor Pierpont, oln taking the oath olf office, delivered a speech, in which he thus defined the position of the western counties: “We have been driven into the position we occupy to-day by thie usurpers at the South, who have inaugurated this war upon the soil of Virginia, and have made it the great Crimea of this contest. We, representing the loyal citizens of Virginia, have been bound’to assume the position we have assumed to-day, for the protection of ourselves, our wives, our children, hnd our property. We, I repeat, lhave been driven to assume this position, and now we are but recurring to the great ]Lindamehtal principle of our fathers, that to the loyal people of a State belongs the law-makcing power of that State. The loyal people are entitled to the government and governmental authority of the State. And, fellow-citizens, it is the assumption of that authority upon which we are now about to enter.” To this speech, and the action of the western counties, the rebel Governor, Letcher, replied in a proclamation und(ler date of June 14th, 1861, in which he urged the inherent right of the Commonwealth of Virginia to separate itself from the United States, institute a new government, and ally itself to the Confederate States. The people of Western Virginia, he contended, had united ia the vote on the question’of secession, and being overborne by the majority in the other counties, it was their duty to submit to the will of the majority without factious oppositiW. lie announced his intention of mnaintaining the position of Virginia as a member of the Confederacy by force of arms, and then -proceeded to adduce as re:asons why the western counties should unite with the eastern in figlhting aIga.inst the Union, the intermnixture of the blood of the east and the west, and the friendships hallowed by a thousand cherished recollections and memories of the past, and of the great men of other days. He appealed also to their pecuniary interests, remninding them that tlhe unequal taxation from which they had so long siffered had been 88

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. modified in their favor, and that this magnanimity on the part of the eastern counties ought to awakeln their gratitude and secure their attachment. The appeals, threats, and blandishments of Governor Letcher proved alike unavailing. The western counties remained loyal, and at the extra session of Congress two senators, Messrs. Carlile and Willey, appointed by their legislature, were admitted to seats in the Senate of the United States. CHAPTER VI. Troops concentrated at Washington.-Popular Impatience.-Occupation of Alexandria.

-Operations in Virginia. WHILE the Southern States had been thus musterifigo forces and consolidating their Government, the North had displayed the most extraordinary vigor; and troops from all quarters concentrated at Washington and other designated points, where they were to be formed into separate armies, each to take a part in the extensive plan of operations projected by LieutenantGeneral Scott. The old cadets bred in the army, who had in prosperous times sought peaceful pursuits, now crowded back to organize, drill, fortify, instruct, and lead against the enemy, whose officers were also of high scientific attainments and great skill, and one of whom was now organizing rebellion, almnost within sight of the Federal Capital. The troops directed upon Washington continued to arrive in great numbers, until by the first of June upward of forty thousand men, including volunteers, militia of the District of Columbia, and regulars, had concentrated for the defence of the Capital. These troops were for the most part well armed and well provided, although the military resources of the Government at the time were of the most meagre description. The arms purchased in England by ]lassachusetts and New York had not arrived, and the Government was compelled to use extraordinary efforts as well to procure arms as to conceal its great weakness in that respet. Great numbers of contracts were given out for the manufacture of arms, and agents were sent to Europe to purchase. Nevertheless, the arming went on very slowly amidst impatient clamors for a forward movement. The men were confessedly the best material in the world for troops, but they were destitute of the habits or instructionl of the soldier. To drill and organize them was a work of time, to say nothing of inuring them to the hardships of the camp. The public mind was, howeversfar too excited to make allowance for such difficulties. The desire for action, though the troops were as yet undisciplined, was intense, and the pressure exerted on the Government caused some hasty and ill-considered movements. A sufficient force being now concentrated in Washington, it became possibleto make an advance into Virginia. The City of Alexandria, which was strongly secession, was at this time occupied by the Confederates, and with a view of driving these out, as also of occupying the heights that command the Capital, at midnight, on the 23d of May, a 89 t.

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. small force was pushed across the long bridge which connects Wash ington with Virginia. Various bodies of infantry, cavalry, and artillery followed, some of which held the tete ch6
pont on the Virginia side, while others occupied Arlington Heights, opposite the city, cr marched to Alexandria, six miles distant. Meantime the New York Fire Zouaves, under Colonel Ephraim En Ellsworth, had left their camp, onf two steamers, and landed at Alexan dria at four A. Mr.. of the 24th, at the same moment that a Michigan regiment, comingil from the Long Bridge, entered the place. The town was occupied with scarcely any resistance; the d6.p6t of the Orange and Alexandria railroad, with the rolling stock, seized, and a company (thirtyfive men) of rebel cavalry captured. During the night, Sherman’s and Ricketts’s batteries of regular artil lery crossed tihe bridge, with a working force to throw up fortifications on Arlington Heights, and by noon of the 24th the territory west of the Potomac, which had formerly firmed part of the District of Columbia, but which hald been retroceded to Virginia, was without loss occupied by Federal forces. One melancholy catastrophe marred the complete success of these operations. Colonel Ellsworth, with a rashness characteristic of a brave and enthusiastic, but inexperienced officer, ascertaining that a rebel flag was flying conspicuously from the Marshall House, a hotel kept by one Jackson, a violent secessionist, proceeded with the chaplain of his regiment and a single private, to the roof of the’

house, hauled down thQ flag, and while descending the stairs to regain the street, was shot dead by Jackson. The latter was instantly killed by the private accompanying Ellsworth. The event caused much regret, Ellsworth Ixeing considered a young officer of unusual promise, and of approved loyalty. Had he remained by his regiment, as he should have done, and deputed another to perform what was, after all, a duty too trivial to devolve upon an officer of rank, he might have lived to render important services to his country. The Federal troops being in possession of the western bank of’the Potomac, it was erected into a department, and MIajor-General Sandford, of the New York ilitia, was placed in commantd.

His headquarters were the elegant mansion of General Lee, on Arlington Heights. On the 28th he was succeeded by-General McDowell* of the regular army, recently appointed a brigadier, while General Mansfieldf was placed in command of the troops at Washington. The strengthening of the positions in Virginia, and the organization Haven, Conn., in 1808, graduated at West Point in 1822, second in his class, and was -for several years actively engaged in engineer duties; captain, 18381
brevettedlmajor,lieuteniant-colonel and colonel for distinguished services in the Mexican war, 1846; Inspector-General, with rank of colonel, 185;.

brigadiergeneral of the regular army, May 14th, 1861, and commander of I)epartmnent of Washington; subsequently stationed at Newport News and Suffolk, Va.; commanded Banks’s corps at Antietam, and mortally woun1ded, September, 1862. * Irvin AMcDowell was born in Ohtia 1818, graduated at West Point, 1838, and brevetted captain for gallant conduct at the b(ttle of Buena Vista, 1847; major, 1856, and brigadiergeneral in the regular army, May 14th, S1861; commanded at the first battle of Bull Run; nmanjor-general of voltinteers, March, 1862, and appointed to comnand( of Second Army CoaT-ps, Department of the RapTrshannock; took part in second Bull Run campaign; tried by Court of Inquiry for his conduct and acquitted, 1863; president of retiring board 1863‘64; commander of Department of Pacifie, 1864-‘V5. t Joseph King Fenno Mansfield was born in New 90

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* ISTORY. Of THE GREAT REBELLION. of the troops as they continued daily to arrive, were prosecuted with great Yigor by General McDowell. The enemy in front were not very enterprisilg, although the threats and evident desire to captire Washington by no means abated. On June 1st, the Federal steamers Freeborn and Anacostia engaged the rebel batteries at Acquia Creek, emptying into the Potomac fiftyfive miles below Washington; and the terminus of the Richmond and Potomac Railroad. After two hours’ firing the batteries-were silenced, with the loss of one man. On the same night Company B, Second Cavalry, seventy-five men, under Lieutenant Tompkins, made a dash into the village of Fairfax CourtHouse, where they encountered a large cavalry force of the enemy. After a sharp skirmish, in which the Union loss was one killed and four wounded, the Federal cavalry retired. A number of the enemy were killed, and five taken prisoners. On the following day detachments of Ellsworth’s Zouaves and Wilcox’s Mlichigan Reg,iment skirmished with the enemy in the vicinity of Alexandria. On the 17 th of June, General McDowell, learning that a force of the enemy fromn Centreville were at Vienna, a few miles from Washington, ordered Brigadier-Geieral R. C. Schenok, a newly appointed officer, to disliodgre them. He took the First Ohio Volunteers, Colonel IcCook, arid proceeded by the Alexandria Railroad slowly towards Vienna.

When within a quarter of a mile of the place, on turning tho curve, in a deep cut, the train received a discharge of shells and grape from a battery of three guns, which killed and wounded several men. The party then left the cars and retired into the woods right, and left. The enemy’s force appeared to be about fifteen hundred South Carolinian troops.

General Schenck withdrew his men slowly along the track, about four miles, until they met the First and Second Connecticut Regiments coming to their support. The engineer had meantime gone back with all speed to Alexandria.

The loss was five killed and six wounded. CHAPTER VII. Occupation of Fortress Monroe.-Engagement at Big Bethel.-Increase of Army. -Army Organization.-Want of Arms.-Advance to Centreville.-Bull Run. THE
occupation of Fortress Monroe was rendered complete by the arrival of the Massachusetts Fourth, on thie 20th of April, and subsequently the force was graduallyncreased, without attracting much attention. On the 22d of MAly, General Butler, who had been appointed majorgeneral of volunteers on the 16th, took command of the Department of the South, with head-quarterfs at Fortress Monroe, and proceeded to organize the troops there.k The question of what to do with the slaves in this department was becoming every day one of Pore serious magnitude. Considerable numbers of blacks, escaping from or abandoned by their masters, 91

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SITORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. sought the Federal lines, and had to be provided for. General Butler, therefore; on May 27th, issued an order dealaring them ” contraband of war,” and ordered the able-bodied to be employed at a fixed rate of pay, against which was to be charged the expense of keeping them. Hence arose the familiar phrase by which the colored population of the South were designated during the war, and which will in all probability cling to them for many years to come. The Federal forces at this time were concentrated to the number of about-ten thousand in and about Fortress Monroe. A1 the adjoining region of the peninsula formed by the York and James Rivers was controlled by the Confederates, who had strong works at Yorktown, and outlying posts at Big Bethel, Little Bethel, and uther places. Finding his position uncomfortably cramped, General Butler soon after his arrival sent a force to occupy Newport News, a point of land on the left bank of the James River, near its mouth; and on the 9th of June ordered a reconnoissance in force towards Little Bethel, about six miles distant from Fortress Monroe, where the enemy were supposed to be fortifying. The expedition was put in command of General Pierce, a Massachusetts brigadier of militia, and comprised three regiments and one battalion of infantry and a detachment of light artillery, under Lieutenant Greble of the regular army. General Pierce was ordered to send Duryea’s New York Zouaves, at one o’clock A. 3M. of the 10th, to the rear of the enemy, or between Little and Big Bethel, to be followed an hour later by Townsend’s Third New York Regiment, with twoamounted howitzers. Colonel Phelps, at Newport News, was directed to send forward a battalion under LieutenantColonel Washburn, aided by Lientenant Greble with two howitzers, to make a demonstration at Little Bethel, with Bendix’s Seventh New York Regiment and two fieldpieces as a reserve. The two supporting regiments coming from Fortress Monroe an(d Newport News, were to eflect a junction at the cross-roads near Little Bethel. The attack was to be made at daybreak, and if the enemy retreated, Duryea was to follow and attack the works at Big Bethel. For a while all worked well. Duryea’s Zouaves reached the appointed position in rear of Little Bethel, and Colonel Washburn was in position in firont, while Bendix ,was posted at the cross-roads to hold it. At daybreak Townsend’s regiment, with General Pierce and staff at its head, approached to form the appointed junction, when Bendix, supposing the troops to be rebels, opened on them with artillery and musketry, by which Townsend’s men were thrown into temporary confusion, and a number of them killed and wounded.

Colonel Washburn, in advance, hearing the firing, and supposing his commuication-threatened, fell back, as did also Duryea; and Genera Pierce, supposing he had been attacked by the enemy, sent to General Butler for reenforcements. All hope of a surprise at Little Bethel was destroyed by,this mishap, and when the advance was resumed it was fund that the rebels had fallen back upon the works at Big Bethel, which were attacked by General Pierce at halfpast nine o’clock. Notwithstanding his force had been strengthened by the arrival of two more regiments, the commanding general handled his’roops with little skill. The men, though displaying no I 92 t

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HtISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. lack of bravery, were for the most part deficient in discipline; while their officers, bewildered by being brought for the first time under fire, committed all kinds of blunders. Finally, after an engagement of several hours, in which, although the infantry had partial shelter, the artillery were posted in an open field to batter harmlessly at the rebel earthworks, a retreat was ordered, and the force brought off in good condition. This was the first battle of the war, and for that reason excited a degree of interest throughout the country far beyond its actual importalhce. Thie enemyhad ten guns and about eighteen hundred men in position, under Colonel Magruder,* who was attended by Colonel de Russy and other late officers of the United States Army, and sustained but a trivial loss. That of the Federal troops amounted to about a hundred, including the casualties resulting from the unfortunate collision between the two New York regiments. Among the killed were Lieutenant Greble and IMajor Winthrop t of General Butler’s staff. The latter, in the act-of leading a body of troops to the charge, mounted a log, waved his sword, and shouted to his men to come on, when a North Carolina drummer-boy leaped upon the battery and shot him in the breast.

The body was recovered by a flag sent from Fortress Monroe. The water communication between Washington and Fortress Monroe was now more or less threatened by the enemy, who had lined the Virginia side of the Potomac with batteries, which the Federal gunboats sought frequent opportunities of attacking. On the 27th of June, an engagement took place at lMathias Point, Virginia, between the gunboats Pawnee and Freeborn, and a nu-mber of rebels on shore. The loss of the enemy was not known, but the Union force had to deplore the death of Captain James H. Wardt, United States Navy, in commaand of the Freeborn. Several sailors belonging to the Freeborn were wounded. It was very soon manifest that the militia, called out under the proclamation of April the 15th, could not be efiiently armed and organized before their time of service would expire, and that, consequently, other and more permanent measures must be adopted.

Accordingly, on the 3d of May, a second proclamation called for forty-two thousand additional volunteers, to serve during the war, besides providing for an increase of the regular army. This was to consist of a regiment of time of his death he was military secretary to Gen e r al Butler, with the rank of ihajor. Several novels and magazine tatles by him of great literary pronise were published posthumotusly. : He was the ehlest son of the late Colonel Jamxies Ward, a prominent citizen of Hartford, Connecticut, and wts born in that city in the year 1S05. He entered the navy March 4th, 1&23. and made his first cruise as a imidshi pmiian in the Con. stitution, under Commodore McDonough, with whom he sailed for four years in succession. He wascone of the best educated enici in the navy.

Before his appointment as a midshipman, he was ‘or two years a student in the Norwieh, Vermont, Uniyersity (Captain Partridge’s Militarv School), and after he entered the navy, he pxas.ed a year of leave in Washington (now Trinity) College. He was an indefatigable student all his llfe, and a most exemplary officer. JhIn Bankhead Mfa,ru(ler was born in Vir’ ginia, about 1SIll, raduated at West Point in 1 ern and was brevetted major and lieutenant-colonel for gallantrv at Cerro Gor(do and C(,hapl)ultepec, resigned his cotnission and entered the rebel army Ali)r-il. lS61; comiiinand(d at Yorktown, 1861-‘62; niajor-general, 1S62: commanded( rebel troops battle of Malvern Itills, July, 1862, and subsequently transferred to the Departmentaf Tex as, where he held command until superseded by Geieral Kirby Smith. At the surrender of the latter to General Canby in May. 1S65. General Magruder conmmanded the Department of Arkansas. t Theodore. Winthrop was born in New Haren, Conn., in 1825, and graduated at Yale College in 1S48. After several years oftravel and adventure he settled in New York, and at the outbreak of the rebellion, accompanied the Seventh’New York militia regiment to WashingtoL At the 193

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HISTORY OF TIE GREAT REBELLIONI. cavalry, twelve companies, numbering eleven hundred and e]i,htyseven officers and men; one regiment of artillery of twelve batteries, six pieces each, nnmbering nineteen hundred and nine officers and men; nine regiments of infantry, each regiment to contain three battalions of eight companies each, numbering two thousand four hundred and fifty-two officers and men-making a total increase of twentytwo thousand and sixty-eight infantry, officers and men; and an addition to. the stre,,gth of the regular army of twentyfive thousand one hundred and sixty-iour men, infantry, artillery, and cavalry. The small army of the United States hitherto had borne in numbers no proportion to the officers who graduate annually from West Point, and it required very few general officers. The exigencies of the Government now demanded an army on the scale of those of Europe, and a new system of organization was deemed advisable. On the organization of an army depends much of its efficiency in the field; and such has been the progress of modern military science, that a well-organized, Arille(l, and equipped army is, at the present day, a machine of immense power, and withal of the most costly description. The company is generally considered the unit of military organization, and is supposed to average, on the war basis, one hundred men, officers included. The ordinary rule for the organization of such a company gives to it one captain, two lieutenants, from four to six sergeants, as maniy corporals, and eighlty-five men. The first sergeant is called the orderly sergeant, and has charge of the books of the company, and the calling of the roll morning and evening. The company is formed, when in line, into two platoons and four sections, each platoon comnanded by a lieutenant, and each section by a sergeant. A regiment is composed of several battalions, each containing from four to ten companies, the battalion being the tactical unity. In the United States service, ten companies, divided into two battalions, have usually constituted a regiment. The officers of a regiment, independent of company officers, are a colonel, lieutenant-colonel, one major, adjutant, quartermaster, and commissary. Each separate body of troops must have a commissary and quartermaster, but in a’large army they are appointed to regiments or brigades. A full regiment will be formed thus: one colonel, one lieutenant-colonel, one adjutant, one quartermaster, one commissary, one major, ten captains, ten first and ten second lieutenants, fifty sergeants, forty corporals, and eight hundred and fifty priyate men; making nine hundred and seventysix, but in reality there are some others; each company has regularly a drummer and fifer, which make a regimental band of twenty besides the drum-major. Thus the regiment, wvhen full, is made up rularly to one thousand men. When the volunteer force wan called out by the President, a newv organization for the regiments to be added to the regular army was suggested. This question was fully considered by officers of the army, and it was determined to adopt the Frnch regimental system of three battalions, of eight companies each, to a regiment. Each battalion is commanded by a major, with a colonel and lieuteniant-colonel for the general commuand of the regiment.’ This, it is believed, is the best organization 94 -a “I! I

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. now existing. The number of field officers is less for the same number of men than under the old plan, and, therefore, the expense is greatly reduced. This change of organization, however, did not apply to the old regiments of the regular army, nor to the volunteers. A brigade should be composed of two or three regiments of infantry, several squadrons of cavalry, and one or two batteries of field artillery. If these were all full, a complete brigade, operating alone, would in the American service number about three thousand fivne hundred men. A division is composed of two or more brigades, with a proportional addition of cavalry and artillery, making, with the whole staff and music, about seven thousand men. Duiring the first year of the rebellion this was the highest element of organization in the service. The corps is composed of two or more divisions, firequently of four or five, and is, in the French service, properly commanded by a field marshal-an officer unklnown to our country; and the corps is properly a complete army in itself. In the American service, a majorgeneral commands such an organization. In the field, all orders and operations are carried on through the staff of the army,.which consists of the aides, the adjutantgeneral, the engineer, the quartermaster and commissary-generals, and some other officers, varying in size and in its component parts with the importance of the organization to which it is attached. Through the adj itant-general orders are conveyed to each particular post. By the quartermaster-general all transportations, and vehicles, and horses, are furnished; by the commissary, all supplies; by the engineer the topography of the country is examined, the practicability of passes determined(, and fortifications built or attacked. The warlike ardor of the people manifested itself so promptly in response to the call for troops, that by the 1st of July more than two hundred regiments had been accepted. All of these were infantry and rfiflnen, with the exception of two battalions of artillery and four regiments of cavalry. Of the whole number, upwards of one hundred and fifty regiments were in active service on the 1st of July, by which time it was estimated that seventythree thousand men were eollected in Washingcrton and its vicinity principally froinom the Eastern and Middle States, and the remainder were in readiness before the close of the month.

The troops moved rapidly forward to the various depots and camps. The Government was sufficiently rich in men, but in a very distressed condition for arms to give them. An old law of Congress required the Secretary of War to deliver to each State, on the requisition of the Governor, its quota of arms in &roportion to its militia. These requisitions had long been negected but while preparations for secession were making, each Southern State drew its armns, and great numbers were transferred from the North to the South, by the order of Mr. Floyd, Secretary of War, thus stripping the Northern arsenals for the benefit of the South. In addition, great numbers of frms had been purchased on account of the Southein States. Some of them were seized on their way thither, but, as already stated, were in many instances restored to their owaners. J 95

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HIISTOR’ OF TILE GREAT REBELLION. Previous to the early part of 1860, the Government had a supply o f arms and munitions of war sufficient for any emergency; but, in the words of Secretary Cameron, “through the bad faith of those intrusted with their guardianship, they were taken firom their proper depositories and distributed through portions of the country expected to take part ‘il the contemplated rebellion.” In consequence of the seriious loss thus sustained, there was available, at the commencement of the out break, a mach smaller supply than usual of all kinds. Some_
patriotic American citizens, resident in Europe, fearing that the country might not have a sufficient supply, purchased on their own responsibility, through cooperation with the United States ministers to England and France, a number of improved cannon and muskets, and the War Department accepted the drafts drawn to defray the out lay thus assumed. A complete battery of six Whitworth twelvepounder rifled cannon, with three thousand rounds of ammunition, the munifi cent doniation of sympathizing friends in Europe, was also received from England. The chief dependence had been upon the Springfield Armory, the capacity of which was, at the outbreak of the rebellion, twentyfive thousand muskets per annum. The Northern armories had, to a con siderable extent, been stripped to supply the Southern States.’.The pri vate armories were able to furnish only a few thousand annually, and Harper’s Ferry had been captured with a loss of fifteen thousand muskets. IHence, until arms could be procured from Europe, many regiments were detained in camp. The Springfield Armory was worked to its fullest extent, and with the help of outside machine-shops, before the close of the year, could produce eight thousand per month, and can now supply twentyfive thousand per month. On the morning of the 27thl of June, the report of General Ilansfield, commanding at Washington, gave the number of troops in the city at twentytwo thousand eight hundred and forty-six men present for duty. The force of General Patterson,*
commanding on the Potomac, at Williamrsport and MIartinsburg, above Washington, was seventeen thousand one hundred and eighty-eight, of whom five hundred and forty-two were sick. The force in Virginia, beyond the Potomac, under McDowell, was fifteen thousand seven hundred and sixtysix men, with the colors. The left of McDowell occupied Alexandria, while his right was pushed some distance up the Potomac, mostly on the Maryland side, towards Patterson’s left. The Confederate general having adopted, for the present, a defensive policy, had so disposed his troops as to prevent an advance of the Federal force into Virginia. This had finally been determined upon. Populailmpatience could no longer endure the idea of a large army lyinoapparently idle about Washington, and firom all parts of the country came the demand for an aggressive movement, * Robert Patterson was born in Tyrone, leland, command the Pennsylvania three!molths’ volunin 1792; emigrated early to the United States; teers, 1861, and was stationed on the Upper Poto. served as an officer in the war of 1812; afterwards mac; discharged fromn the service July 27th; engaged in commercial pursuits in Philadelphia, was severely criticised for neglecting to preand was a majorgeneral of volfunteers in the vent the rebel General Johnston from re-enMexican war; appointed by Governor Curtin to forcing Beauregard at the battle of Bull un. 96 t

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HISTORY OF THlE GREAT REBELLION. which should end the wvar in a single campaign. The utter lack of dis cipline in the troops; the brief period, now almnost expired, for which most of themn had enlisted; the inexperience of the officers, and the general ignorance which prevailed respecting the numbers or positions of the enenmy, were all overlooked; and the Government was urged at once to order an advance upon Richmond. At the commencement of all great wars the opposing parties acquire experience at a bitter cost, and it will be seen that the Federal troops paid dearly for theirs; although, viewed by the light of subsequent events, what seemed mis fortunes at the time, were of unmistakable benefit in eCffecting the final overthrow of the rebellion. The physical formation of Virginia is such that there are but few practicable routes for an invading force coming from the North. A line drawn from Georgetown, through Fredericksburg, Richmond, and Petersburg to Weldon, North Carolina, would mark the western limit of what is called the lower country or tide-water section. It is a low plain, wihbout any considerable elevation, but scooped out by the action of water into deep ravines, through which flow broad, sluggish rivers. To the west of this line is the middle country, an undulating district extending. to the Blue Ridge, which forms a continuous chain, except where pierced by the Potomac, James, and Staunton Rivers, of about two hundred and fiftv miles,running northeast and southwest. To the west of this lies the great ridge, which is a prolongation of the Penn sylvania, Kittatinny Mountain, and which, running parallel with the Blue Ridge, rises two thousand one hundred to two thousand five hundred feet in height. The Shenandoah River flows northerly into the Potomac through the great valley that lies between the two ridges, and gives its name to it.

West of the great ridge runs the line of Alleghanies, separating Western Virginia from the eastern part of the State. This region is somewhat hilly, but contains no considerable elevation. Such being the configuration of the country, an invading force, destined to operate against Richmond, would choose one of four routes: from Alexandria vid Culpepper and Gordonsville, overland;; from Aquia Creek vidt Fredericksburg; from the Chesapeake vic( theYork River and the Peninsula; or from Harper’s Ferry or the Point oP Rocks, down the Valley of the -Shenardoah, vii Staunton, Charlottes ville, and Lynchburg. From Harper’s Ferry to Richmond, by the last route, the distance is about two hundred and fifty miles, the road lying through a fertile and beautiful val!ey for the first half of the way. It was fi’om this valley thl)at Morgan derived a large portion of his famous riflemen in the Revolution; and its chief county Au(gusta-” Old F.ederal Augusta”-is still celebrated’fr the proficiency of her citizens ir this imnportant arm of military service.

The counties of Rockingham, Shenandoah, and Page, which also-border it, are inhabited by a sturdy race of farmers, descendants of German emigrants from Pennsylvania. Of these several routes, General MIe)owellpr6posed to take the first. To oppose this movement, General Beauregard was in force at Manassas Junction, a station on the Orange and Alexandria Railroad,twentyx five miles southwest of Washington, whence diverges the Manassas Gap Railroad, connecting the upper middle region of Virginiawith the 7 97

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HISTORY OF Tl’E GREAT REBELLION. Valley. Being in easy communication with Gordonsville, Richmond, Lynchburg, and the Valley, it was particularly adapted for purposes of concentration; while its natural strength, greatly increased by a series of elaborate earthworks, together with the rugged and wooded country surrounding it, rendered it a formidable obstacle ill the path of an army advancing on Richmond. General Johnston,* with about eighteen thousand men, was at WinShestei, in the Shenandoah Valley, watching General Patterson. Tilere wvere also troops in Richmond, Gordonsville, and elsewhere, within easy supporting distance of both Beauregard and Johnston; and the increasing force of the rebels and their threatening attitude, combined with, perhaps, an undue confidence in the skill and bravery of the Federal troops, notwithstanding the latter had never been exercised in movenments in brigade, and few of them knew their superior officers by sight, caused the 8th of July to be finally fixed upon for a forward movement by McDowell. The plan of operations, and the estimate of force required, were made with the understanding that Johnston should be held in checs by Patterson. It was impossible, however, to get the horses for the wagons and trains of artillery for more than a week after the appointed time, and tile 1 5th still.found the expeditionary army incomplete, notwithstanding the most strenuous exertions. The movement was, nevertheless, ordered to take place, and numbers of Congressmen and civilians accompanied the march as spectators. On Tuesday, July 16th, McDowell broke up his camp and marched for Manassas, with an army of about thirtyfive thousand men, all of whom, with the exception of less than a thous:and regulars of the old army, were raw troops, who not only had never smielt powder, but were scarcely grounded in the simplest exercises of the nimanual Of tactical evolutions they knew next to nothing. The best of themn were militia regiments, whose term of service would expire within four or five days, but who were nevertheless launched itito the campaign, under a sort of vague idea that they “had long enough to serve for the purpose of the expedition.” This undisciplined and instable mass was divided. into five divisions, each consisting of two or more brigades, and was commanded by tile following officers: First Division-Brigadier-General D. Tyler, Connecticut Militia. Second ” Colonel David Hunter, Third U.S. Cavalry. Third ” Colonel S. P. Heintzelman, Seventeenth U. S. Infantry. Fourth ” BrigadierGeneral T. Runyon, New Jersey Militia. Fifth ” Colonel Dixon S. Mills, Second U. S. Infantry.

quently commanded at Pichmond in the early I)art of the Peninisulatr campaign, and was severely woundedi at F,ti (Oal;ks. after whiich he w as assigned to the Tmns-Mis.sitsil)lpi Deltai-tnient. He conducted, the campaign of 1564, against General Sherman, with great skill; but after his retreat aQross the C(,bhttah,o(chee, was superseded by General Hood, in ol)ediienee to a popuilar clamor against what was called his ” Fabian policy of retreat.” In the early part of 1865 he was reassigned to the command of the troops operating against t3herman,- to whom he capitulated in May. * Joseph Eccleston Johnbton was born in Virginia, about S1810; graduated at West Point in 1829; brevetted captain for gallant cond ct in the Florida woar, 1842, and appointed lieutenantcoionel of Voltigeurs in 1847; brevetted colonel for gallantry in Mexico; lieutenant)olonel of First Cavalry, 18555; quartermaster-general. 1860; resigned April, 1861, and appointed generalin the Confederate army. His first command was on the Upper Potomac, whence lbe brought off the greater part of his troops to Bull Run in time to %urn the scale against the Federals& He nubsea 98 0

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HISTORY OF THE G-REAT REBELLION. Accompanying the army were fiftyfive pieces of artillery, and an unnecessarily large train. Owing to the inexperience of the troops in marching, and the obstructions placed in the way by the retiring rebels, the progress of the army was slow,. and it was not until noon of the 18th that the division of General Tyler, forming the advance, entered Centreville, a small village about seven miles northeast firom Manassas Junction, and separated from it by All Run, which is a fordable stream flowing in a southeasterly direction into the Potomac.

From Centreville two roads diverge towards -Bull Run, of which the more easterly and direct strikes the stream at Blackburn’s Ford, not far from the Junction; while the other, known as the Warrenton Turnpike, follows a westerly course and crosses Bull Run at the Stone Bridge, four miles higher up. The village itself lies on the west side of an elevated ridge, and is capable of being strongly fortified. Without waiting for the main body to come up, General Tyler immediately pushed forward a reconnoissance to Blackburn’s Ford, where, rather unexpectedly, the rebels were found in large force. A heavy skirmish ensued, with considerable artillery firing; but the enemy’s position, sheltered by dense woods, being considered too strong to be carried without developing a general enga ement, the Federal troops were ordered back to Centreville, having experienced a loss of about one hundred. That of the enemy was somewhat less. DuI)ring the 18th and l9th, McDowell’s army, with the exception of Runyon’s division, which was left at Fairfax CourtHouse, seven miles in the rear, to protect the Federal communications, was concentrated in and around Centreville, with a view of attacking the rebels along Bull Run, and between the stream and Manassas Junction, on Saturday, the 20th. Here again the dilatoriness, which seemed to be inseparable from the movements of this army, manifested itself. The subsistence, which should have been ready on the evening of the 18th, did not arrive until twenty-four hours later, so that the forward movement was postponed to Sunday, the 21st. The intervening time was occupied in reconnoitring Bull Run above and below the Stone Bridge.

By the evening of the 20th McDowell had arranged his plan of battle, which in general terms contemplated a flanking movement in force against the enemy’s left wing, wiith feints on his right and centre. As it was found impracticable to cross the stream at Blackburn’s Ford or the Stone Bridge, on account of the steepness of the opposite bank and the obstructions accumulated by the enemy, he decided that Hunter’s and Heintzelman’s divisions should make the passage at Sudley Spring, two miles above the Stone Bridge, while Tyler demonstrated at the latter place and Blackburn’s Ford, in readiness to cross and support the main attcking column when occasion should offer. MIiles’s division was to be stationed as a reserve at Centreville. The rebel forces, on the 20th, were distributed along the rightbank of Bull Run firom Union Hill, two miles below Blackburn’s Ford, to the Stone Bridge, and on that day comprisedmprobably not far from twentyfive thousand men, under the command of General Beauregard. By the culpable, if not criminal, negligence of GeneralPatterson, Johnston’s troops had been permitted to slip away from Winchester in the Valley, and a considerable portion of them had already arrived with their commander. _
o ~,. 99

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IISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. Although the latter ranked Beauregard, he waived his privilege of assuming the chief direction of the rebel army, upon seeing the dispo sitions imade by his associate. As an.illustration of the widespread treachery then pervading the Federal War Department, it may be stated that the rebel generals were not only thoroughly informed of the strength of McDowell’s army and of his plan of attack, but had even obtained possession of a map of the region west of Washington, which was completed only two days before the advance reached Centreville. This sort of thing was of frequent occurrence during the first year of the war; but notorious as it was, no clue to the perpetrators of the acts has ever been discovered, or at least made public. Every thing being now prepared for an advance, the Federal troops, supplied with three days’ rations, were ordered to move at 2 A. M. of the 21st. Butneither officers nor men seemed aware ofthe importance of adhering to the strict letter of their orders, and so muich valuable time was wasted in getting ready to march, and in the march itself, that it was nearly 10 o’clock before the head of the flanking column reached Sudley Spring, a distance of not above nine miles, whereas it should have been there, according to General McDowell’s calculation, three or four hours earlier. Arriving at the stream, the men halted to fill their canteens, which caused another delay; so that when the leading brigade of Hunter’s division, commanded by Colonel Burnside, marching down the right bank of Bull Run towards the Stone Bridge, debouched from the shelter of the woods into a rollifing plain, which skirted the Warrenton Turnpike, it was well upon noon. The slowness with which the flanking movement was executed afforded an excellent opportunity to Beauregard to bring up to the neighborhood of the Stone Bridge that portion of his forces which was stationed below Blackburn’s Ford. He judged wisely that the Federal troops left in front of both places were not intended to make a serious attack, and the heavy clouds of dust arising in the direction of Sudley Spring seemed to indicate beyond doubt that thither the main body of the opposing army was marching. He even projected a flank movement of his own from Blackburn’s Ford against Centreville, which failed through a miscarriage of the order. Since the preceding day further instalments of Johnston’s troops had arrived, so that more than thirty thousand rebels were now concentrated nearthe Junction. Shortly before noon the action commenced by an attack of the rebel batteries, well protected by woods, upon Biurnside’s brigade, which for a few minutes was subjected to a severe fire. But Porter’s brigade, with Griffin’s battery and the battalion of regulars, coming up to its support, the rebels were puked back beyond the Warrenton Turnpike, thus enabling Sherman’s and Keyes’s brigades of Tyler’s division to cross Bull Run a short distance above the Stone Bridge’and take part in the engagement. This division, in accordance with the plan oi the battle, had been demonstrating during the morning,against the Stone Bridge, and one of its brigades, Schenk’s, still remained in position on the left bank of the stream. The remaining brigade, under Colonel Richardson, conducted the feint at Blackburn’s Ford. Heintzelman’s division, which crossed at Sudley Spring in the rear of Hunter’s, now *:,.’.::.,. * 4 100

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. came up, and the united Federal force on the right bank of Bull Run, amounting to about eighteen thousand men, pressed the rebels fiercely up the slopes of a hill beyond the WarrentonTurnpike, whence some wellposted batteries played with effect upon the advancing columns. The contest for the possession of this hill soon waxed exceedingly hot, and the raw Federal troops, though fighting on unknown ground against an enemy for the most part protected by woods-and other natural cover, showed unqutestionable pluck, and considerable steadiness, notwithstaniling sore regiments failed to keep their order under heavy firing. Colone(l IHunter, who led the flanking column, having been seveely wounded early in the action, the command devolved upon Colonel Heiiitzelman. Inch by inch the enemy was pushed back, making many gallant attempts to rally, and aiming particularly to disable or capture Ricketts’s and Griffin’s batteries of the regular army, which had boldly advanced to within a few hundred yards of his line of battle. Three desperate charges were made upon the former, the horses of which had been killed or disabled, and as often repelled, and at their third repulse the rebels were driven completely out of sight within the shelter of the adjoining woods. The brigade of Keyes had meilanwhile made a detour of the hill to take the enemy on his right flank, aid operations hafd commenced to clear the obstructions in front of the Stone Bridge, so as to allow the remaining brigade of Tyler’s divisioni to cross and co-operate with the main body. It wsas now three P. M., and victory had thus far attended the Federal arms. The enemy had been driven upwards of a mile and a half firom his original position, and his final disappearance gave his opponents a few moments of much needed rest. But the latter were scarcely in a condition to reap the fruits of victory, and considering that for twelve hours they had been on the march or in line of battle, it is not to be wonslered that they were exhausted. “They had been ulp,” says General IMcDowell in his official report, “since two o’clock in the morning, ind had made, what to those unused to such things, seemed a long march, before coming into action, though the longest distance gone over was not more than nine and a half miles; and though they had three days’ provisions served out to them the day beforie, many, no doubt, either did not eat them or threw them away on the march or during the battle, and were therefore without food. They had done much severe fighting. Some of the regiments which had been driven from the hill in the first two attempts of the enemy to regain possession of it, had become shaken, were unsteady, and had many men out of the ranks.” On the other hand, the rebels had marched a comparatively short distance, and were still tolerably steady, although, as was the case with the FederaIs, sich of their troops as had been under hot fire were considerable shaken. But they fought under the advantage of knowing that every hour would add to their strength, and would correspondingly weaken their enemy. With every train from the Valley came, by regiments of brigades, portions of Johnston’s army, while no reenforcements had -been sent by’ McDowell to his weary troops, and none seedned likely to be sent. Hence the position of the rebels, even after they had been driven into the woods, 101

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. was really less critical than that of the Federals, for relief was at hand. Their line of battle, in fact, had scarcely disappeared from the open field, when dense clouds of dust, rising from the direction of the rail road, indicated the arrival of fresh troops, and from their position on the hill the exhausted Union soldiers could perceive long and well ordered infantry columns hurryirg up in the rebel rear. Instantly it was surmised that Patterson had come to their assistance, and as the word passed from mouth to mouth, the men gave vent to cheering. Their surprise and consternation can be imagined, when they heard still louder cheers breaking out along the whole rebel front, followed by a sharp fire from the woods on their right, which ra.pidly extended to their rear. So far from Patterson coming to aid themn, that General had never budged from his position, and the troops, whose appearance had called forth such demonstrations of enthusiasm, were the remain ing brigade of Johnston, under General Kirby Smith, which arrived in time to turn the scale of battle in favor of the Confederates. The effect upon the Federal troops was disastrous in the extreme. The first line recoiled before the fire of the enemy, and, confused by the shots and shouts issuing from the woods, and by vague apprehensions of untold numbers environing them and cutting off escape, became panic-stricken, and fell into disorder. The example was contagious. Regiment after regiment broke and retired in confusion down the hill, the panic momentarily increasing, until the greater part of thle but recently victorious army had become a mass of fugitives, rushing pellmell across the Warrenton Turnpike to the fords at which they had crossed in the morning, and deaf or indifferent to the commands of their officers. The battalion of regulars, of all the organizations on the field, alone retreated in good order. The best of the militia or volunteer regiments showed more or less confusion, though not all of them exhibited the same unseemly haste in getting away. As the fugitives approached Bull Run, the miscellaneous crowd of teamsters and civilians on the other side, who had not crossed the stream, caught the infection and started in the direction of Washington, notwithstanding the enemy was several miles distant, and full ten thousand fresh Federal troops, who had not participated in the battle, were in readiness to withstand his attack. But the enemy, whetlher too much exhausted himself, or intimidated by what General Johnston called the “apparent firmness’ of the Federal reserves, wade no attemnpt to pursue his advantage, and beyond the sending of a few squadrons of cavalry to harass the retreat, contented himself with driving the Federal troops from the field. By nightfall the latter had all regained their encampments at Centreville, although a steady stieam of fugitives poured onward’duringthe night through Fairfax CourtHouse to the Potomac. After a few hours’ rest, the retreat was continued, and on the evening of the 23d the beaten army had regained the shelter of the fortifications of Washington. Such was the lax discipline then prevalent, that for several days afterwards the city was filled with stragglers, who were o!ly by degrees gathered up and sent to their commands. 102 f

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. The Federal loss, according to the official reports, was four hundred and ei,ghty-one killed, one thousand and eleven wounded, and twelve hundred and sixteen missing; the casualties being almost exclusively confined to the tlro(ps which crossed Bull Bun.

Twentythree pieces of artillery were abandoned during the retreat, including the batteries of Ricketts and Griffin, which, through loss of horses, fell into the enemy’s hands at the commencement of the panic. But so inefficient was the putrsuit, that several pieces abandoned on the north side of BulLRun iwere on the succeeding day brought safely off the field. Avast amount of material of war was also left on the field. It is worthy of notice, as an exceptional occurrence during the war,, that the Fourth Pennsylvania Regiment of volunteers, and a battery attached to the Eighth New York militia, demanded their discharge, to which they were entitled, on the eve of the battle, and moved away, in the scornful language of General McDowell, “to the sound of the enemy’s cannon.” Other regiments, whose terms of service had also expired, cheerfully volinteered to remain until the issue of the battle should be dete,rmined. The rebel loss, as stated by General Johnston, was three hundred and seventy-eight killed,. fourteen hundred and eightynine wounded, and thirty missing. On the Federal side, Colonel Cameron, of the Seventy-ninth New York Volunteers, a brother of the Seciretary of War, was killed, Colonels Hunter and Heintzelman wounded, and Colonels Corcoran and Wilcox, and Captain RIticketts, of Ricketts’s battery, were taken prisoners. The rebel Generals Bee and Bartow were killed, and Kirby Smnith wounded. Having’

recovered firom the exhaustion of the conflict, the rebels followed the retreating army at a respectful distance, and thenceforth, for many months, practically invested the southern side of the National Capital.

Sutch was the famous battle of Bull Run, of which more absurd misstatements have been circulated than of almost any other conflict of modern times, and the result of which filled the rebels with an idea of their invincibility and a contempt for their enemy, for which they were subsequently destined to pay dear. Abroad it was considered to have settled the superiority of Southern over Northern soldiers, and at once the Confederacy acquired a prestige of no little value, besides gaining hosts of aristocratic admirers. That the defeat was more the result of an untoward and disgraceful accident than of any special skill or bravery of the enemy, must have been sufficiently apparent from our description. The Federal troops, fighting under many disadvantages, were uniformly successful until demoralized by their sudden pmnic; and the vigor with which they pushed the enemy may be seen in the rebel lists of killed and wounded, and iii the utter failure of the latter to pursuethe beaten army.

Too many instances are on record of causeles panics among veteran troops to sing,le out this occurrence for special opprobriumn, and criticism may better deal with those causes which paved the vay for a disastrous defeat of our arms. Two of these only need be mentioned here: the numerous delays experienced from the inception of the campaign to its close, and the failure of Patterson to prevent Johnston’from going to the assistance of Beauregard. Had the battle been fought a day or even a few 103

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HIISTORY OF TIlE GREAT REBELLION hours earlier, it might have had a very different issue, and the war, which was protracted through four years, have been ended practically in a single campaign. Or, on the other hand, the Federals, elated by a first success, might have precipitated themselves upon Richmond, and been overwhelmed by superior forces, too far from their Capital to receive succor. The lessons derived from the defeat were salutary, though bitter. It was perceived that short terms of enlistment, imperfect organization or discipline, and hastily formed and ill-digested plans of campaign were sources of weakness rather than of strength, and from that hour commenced that systematic organization of the army which has recently brought the American Union before the world as a military power of the first importance. This may be claimed as the legitimate result of the defeat of Bull Run, the completeness and unexpectedness of which created a degree of consternation never to be forgotten by those who witnessed its effects. CHAPTER VIII.

Missouri.-Capture of State Troops.-Booneville.-Carthage.-Shenandoah Valley. Patterson Crosses the Potomac.-Bunker Hill. L-Campaign in Western Virginia. Philippi.-Laurel Hill.-Rich Mountain.-Beverly.-Western Virginia cleared of Rebels.-McClellan transferred to the Potomac. THE reply of Governor Jackson, of Missouri, to the requisition of the Secretary of War upon the States for troops, was, that the “requisi tion is illegal, unconstitutional, revolutionary, inhuman, diabolical, and cannot be complied with.” The Governer, however, assembled, April 25th, a force of eight hundred men, under General Frost, at -Camp Jackson, on the outskirts of St. Louis, ostensibly to preserve order in the State. Under these circumstances, the arsenal at St. Louis was conceived to be in danger; and, with a view of saving the public property, Governor Yates, of Illinois, who held a requisition from the Secrietary of War for ten thousand stand of arms which it was difficult to serve, put it in the hands of Captain John HI. Stokes, of the army, who, by a daring operation, carried off the arms described in the order, and a large stock besides, and landed them at Springfield, Illinois. On the 10th of May, Captain Lyon, in command of the Union forces, with F. P. Blair, Jr., Colonel of the First Missouri Volunteers, and a member of Congress, marched to attack Frost’s force with six thousand men. Captain LIon summoned General Frost to surrender. his force, “as hostile to the Government of the United States.” Finding himself overpowered, Frost surrendered, and, having refused a release on the terms offered them;, on the ground that they had already taken the oath of allegiance, eand to repeat it would be to admit that they had been in rebellion, the whole force, consisting of fifty officers and six hundred and thirty-nine privates, were marohed as prisoners to the arsenal. On their wAy, a mob pressed upon the guard, who were. 104

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IISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. mostly Germans, using the most opprobrious epithets, striking them, attacking them with stones, and finally firing at them. A few of the soldiers returned the fire, at first without injuring any one; but the provocations being increased, the captain of one of the companies gave the order to fire, and twentyfive of the by-standers were killed or wounded, some of them women and children. The next day, a large body of the German Home Guard passing up Walnut Street, were hooted and fired upon, and one soldier was killed. The head of the column turned and fired among the crowd, killing six men axd wounding several others.

Several of the killed were members of the regiment. These events caused an intense excitement in St. Louis, as well as at the capital of the State, where the legislature, which was in session, immediately passed a bill creating a military fuind, by seizing all the money in the State treasury, including the educational funds, making a forced loan from the banks of five hundred thousand dollars, and issuing one million dollars in bonds, payable in one, two, and three years. The militia of the State, embracing every able-bodied man, were placed under the command of the Governor, and were required to take an oath to obey him alone. General Harney, who had been appointed commander of the Western Department, issued a proclamation the next dclay, declaring this bill a nullity. The General was, however, soon after, induced by Sterling Price, then in command of the State (rebel) forces, to enter into a delusive agreement for the maintenance of peace in the State. On the 30th of May, General Harney was relieved of his command, and Captain Lyon,- who for his efficiency on the 10th had been commissioned a brigadiergeneral of volunteers, appointed his successor.

On the 12th of June, Governor Jackson issued a proclamation, violently denouncing the United States Governmnent, and calling for fifty thousand men to “repel invasion, and protect the lives, liberty, and property of the citizens of Missouri.” On the 13th, General Lyon left St. Louis, on a steamer, with fifteen hundred men, for Jefferson City. Governor Jackson fled, burning the bridges behind him to obstruct pursuit. General Lyon took possession of the capital and of the Government, and on the 17th issued a proclamation to the people of the State, assuring them of his intention to protect their liberties, persons, and property, to arrest and punish those who were traitors, and to uphold the United States Government in that State. Leaving Colonel Henry Boerustein in command, he departed for Booneville, in pursuit of Jackson. The troops in Illinois and Missouri had gradually increased in numbers to about twenty thousand men, of whom, at this time, about eight thousand were stationed at Cairo, under the command of BrigadierGeneral B. MI. Prentiss, and the 4bmainder were at St.

Louis and other points in Northern and Central Missouri. Of these tloops, General Lyon took Colonel Blair’s regiment (First Missouri Volunteers), two sections of Totten’s battery (regulars), and a detachment of pioneers, in all about fifteen hundred mes and the necessary camp equipage, provisions, &c., for a long march. The rebels, under Governor Jackson and General Price, were at Booneville, where they had organized resistance.

General Lyon landed four miles below the town, and 105

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HISTORY OF‘1’ GREAT REBE,LLION. opened a cannonade upon the rebels, who, under cover of the wood, kept up a brisk fire upon the Federal troops. In order to draw them out, General Lyon ordered a hasty retreat. The rutse succeeded. The rebels ran out into a wheat-field, when General Lyon halted, faced about, and poured in such a fire of grape and musketry, that they dropped their arms and fled in all directions. A large number of’

prisoners, besides arms, ammunition, &c., were taken. It does not appear that the rebels had any commander. Price, being sick; left before thd arrival of the Federal troops, and Governor Jackson was not inathe field.

Colonel Boernstein issued a proclamation establishing a Provisional Government in Missouri, and called upon Union nieii to assist him.

General Lyon, fiom his camp in Booneville, June 19th, also issued a proclamation for the people to return to their duty. The enemy now concentrated in Southwestern Missouri, under Governor Jackson and Generals Rains and Pric(, to the number of several thousands; and on July 3d, at Brier Forks, seven miles from Carthage, they were met by Colonel Sigel with fiftten hundred men, who immediately gave them battle. The first onset resulted in the State troops being driven back some distance, and the officers ordered a retreat. The centre gave way, but, the order not being heai’d on the flanks, the advancing United States troops were in danger of being surrounded themselves, and fell back. They retreated slowly, keeping up the fight, and making fearful havoc with their artillery among the enemy’s ranks. At the crossing of Dry Fork our lines were very near being broken, when, by the timely arrival of two hundred Union men, they crossed, with a loss of but five killed and two mortally wounded. The battle continued, the United States.troops alternately fighting and retreating until dark, when they reached Carthage, having crossed Buck Branch and Spring River. On the way, the fighting was all done with the artillery, Colonel Sigel retreating as soon as the enemy got into position, and playing ot his advancing ranks. The retreat of the Federal forces, which were outnumbered about three to one, was conducted in a style worthy of veteran troops, and with as much coolness as if on a parade-ground, instead of a field of battle. The loss of the Federal troops was thirteen killed and thirtyone wounded; that of the Confederates was estimated at two hundred killed and wounded. Colonel Sigel retreated in the direction of Springfield, where he met reenforcements under Lyon, who assumed command. Meanwhile, by the following order, General Fremont had been assigned to an extensive command, of which Missouri formed apart: e ” WAR DEPARTMENT, ADJUTANTGENERAL’S OFFIcE “WASMglBGTON, July 3d, 1861. “The State of Illinois, and the States and Territories west of the Mississippi River, and on this side of the Rocky Moftains, including New Mexio, will in future constitute a separate military command, to be known as the’Western Department,’ under the command of MajorGeneral Fremont, of the United States Arniy. Headquarters at St. Louis., By order. “~ L. THOMAS, Adjutant-Gmenal.” 106 t

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IR S S N CITY oil Ca LoTdx SOIL 3Mes so so 40.

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ISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. The operations in Maryland were, meantime, progressing. On the 16th of May, General Banks was appointed majorgeneral of volun teers, and on the o10th of June assumed command at Annapolis, in place of Genieral Butler, transferred to Fortress Monroe. The seces sionists continued busy in this department with various schemes of resistance, but did not escape the vigilance of the commanding officer, who, on the 27th of June, issued’ proclamation announcing the arrest and confinement in Fort MIcHenry of George P. Kane, chief of police, and appointing Colonel Kenly provost-marshal. On the 1st of July, in pursuance of the policy of weeding out treason in his district, Gen eral Banks caused the members of the board of police to be arrested and confined in Fort MecHenry. The strength of the department at this time was about ten thousand men. On the 19th of July, Mlajor General Dix was appointed to the Annapolis Department, thenceforth called that of Maryland, headquarters Baltimore; and General Banks, transferred to the Valley of Virginia, vice Patterson, whose term of service expired July 27th. While the troops from the East had been pouring into Washington v to defend the capital, and had gradually developed the advance move ment into Virginia, the Pennsylvania troops were assembling at Cham bersburg, to operate in the Valley of Virginia, near Harper’s Ferry, and at tihe close of May numbered some twenty thousand men, under the conmmand of General Patterson. In addition to these, there were between Washington and Harper’s Ferry about six thousand troops, under Miajor-General Cadwalader. MAuch impatience manifested itself on the part of the public for Pat terson to make a demonstration, which was by no means appeased by the excuse that it required time to perfect the necessary preparations. Finally, on June’

17th, Colonel Thomas, in comnmand of his first bri gade, crossed the Potomac at Williamsport, but returned into Maryland on the succeeding day, and for two weeks longer Patterson remained inactive at Hagerstown. The enemy, under General J. E. Johnston, held Hlar1er’s Ferry, and the line of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad to Cumberland, until the 14th, and was also in force at the Point of Rocks on the Potomac. Influenced by rumors of the approach of Patter, son, the rebels then burnedthe costly railroad-bridge at Harper’s Ferry, and having destroyed whatever public property they could, retreated to Winchester and Leesburg. On the 29th they made another dash at the place, and inflicted additional damage. On the 1st of July orders were issued to cross the Potomac at two points under cover of the night, the main body directly under the command of General Patter son, at a ford a mile and abalf above Shepardstown, and about three miles from Sharpsburg; wVile five regiments, under the command of General Cadwalader, were to cross at the ford opposite Williamsport.

The troops were to march without knapsacks, taking five days’ rations in their haversacks, and with forty rounds of cartridges. The baggage wagons were to follow on as quickly as possible. The enemy, in greatly inferi6r force, posted on a large bend of the river, opposite Williamsport, were encamped mainly in the vicinity of Falling Waters.. By Cadwalader’s advance in front, it was hoped to 108 6

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. occupy the attention of the enemy, while by the flank attack he would be cut off in the rear and thus captured. The attempt to cross at the lower ford was, however, frustrated by unusual depth of water, and the original plan, lhaving thus failed, it was ordered that the troops should cross at Williamsport. The crossing was safely accomplished on the 2d of July. The ad vance pushed boldly into the stream, butqhe remaining regiments took the matter less inipetutously.

They marched leisurely into a field on the.margin of the river, removed their boots, stockings, trowsers, and drawers, wound these articles around their necks, and thus, with the whole lower portion of their bodies nude, and their white muslin shirts flying in the wind, preceded by a full band in similar undress, they plunged into the stream and reached the opposite shore. Here they readjusted their drhess, thus avoiding the wet garments and soaking shoes of their predecessors. Such acts were of not unfrequent occurrence in the early stages of the war on both sides. A small force of the enemy was encountered, which, after a sharp skirmish, retreated three miles to Hainesville, and again fell back before the vigorous attack of the advancing column. The rebels were stated to be three thousand five hundred Virginians, under Colonel Jackson. The Union loss was three killed and fifteen wounded. The enemy left eight dead on the field, and it was reported there were sixty killed. On the 8th of July, General Patterson was established in Martinsburg, and had before him the enemy’s force under General Johnston. That day was the one fixed for the advance of General McDowell upon Manassas; but as we have seen, in describing his operations, he was delayed, and had his forces diminished also by sending re-enforcemecnts to Patterson. The latter was also at this time joined by Colonel Stone’s command, under General Sandford, of the New York militia,.

wflio left Washington July 7th with his staff, and a complete military equipment of howitzers, grape and canister, &c. On July 13th, General Patterson’s column left Martinsburg’ for Winchester. At Bunker Hill, on the 15th, his advance encountered an advance-guard of six hundred rebel cavalry, belonging to Johnston’s command, who were speedily routed. On the same day Johnston fell back to Winchester. On the 18th he was five miles beyond Winchester, and near Strasburg, the terminus of the railroad leading to Manassas. After the fight at Bunker Hill, Patterson, most unaccountably,as it seemed, retrograded to Charleston, where he was on the 17th, the day he was telegraphed by General Scott to follow Johnston closely; but Johnston was t!en beyond his reach, and on his way to reenforce Beauregard at Manassas, which he reached by rail in time to turn the tide of battle at Bull Run. Patterson, in reply to the strictures on his remissness in not followinog up Johnston, in a private letter, Sated Harper’s Ferry, 22d of July, said: General Johnston retreated to Winchester, where he had thrown up extensive intrenchlments, and had a large number bf heavy guns. I could have turned his position and attacked him in the rear, but he had received large reenforcements from Missis 109

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. sippi, Alabama, aud Georgia, a total force of over thirtyfive thousand rebel troops, and five thousand Virginia militia. My force is less than twenty thousand men. Nineteen regiments, whose teim of service was up, or would be within a week, all refused to stay an hour over their time but four, viz.: two Indiana regiments, Frank Jarrett’s (the Eleventh Pennsylvania), and Owens’s (the Twentyfourth Pennsylvania). Five regiments have gone home. Two more go to-day, and three more tomorrow. To avoid being cut off with the remainder, I fell back and occupied this place.” * ~.t The excuse is utterly inadmissible.

There is no evidence that such reenforcements as hlie alludes to ever reached Johnston; but on the contrary, every thing went to show that the latter was only too anxious to get away from the valley. He also admits that he had his command unbroken by departures of three months’ regiments at, the very time he should have been pushing Johnston. The question of how long his troops had to serve, he had nothing to do with. Ihad he performed his allotted duty and obeyed the particular instructions given to himt, his troops would have rendered invaluable services down to the hour of their discharge. As it was, they proved to be worse than useless.

These events closed the operations of the army in the Valley of Virginia.

The movements in the Department of the Ohio come next in order. On the 10th of May, by general order, the States of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois were constituted a Fourth Military Department, under the command of Majo rGeneral G. B. McClellan, of the Ohio Volunteers, headquarters Cincinnati. The army of this department was imme. diately organized and disposed for active service, and at the close of May the force in the department numbered over twenty thousand men, who were intended to operate against the rebels in Western Virginia. On the morning of the 2d of June a movement was made by the troops under General Morris, forming a part of the force of this de partment, to dislodge the rebels under Colonel Porterfield, who held Plilippi in Barbour County, Virginia, with fifteen hundred to two thousand troops. The command was divided into two divisions under Colonels Kelley and Lander, and the plan was to attack the place at four o’clock in the morning; Colonel Kelley in the rear, and Colonel Lander in front. Storm and darkness, however, caused the combination to fail. As Lander approached Philippi a woman fired twice, and sent her little boy across the mountains to give Porterfield notice. Kelley missed his’ point, and instead of coming in on the Beverly road above the town to cut off the rebel retreat, did so below the town, and much behind time.

Thus the enemy were applsed of the movement, and were enabled to escape with slight loIss, leaving their camp equipage and a number of small arms behind. While leading a charge, Colonel Kelley received a shot and ~ell.

He way carried to the rear, and received prompt attention. The enemy retired to.Leedsville, two miles distant, where they were again vigorously attacked and repulsed. In acknowledgment of his bravery on this occasion, Colonel Kelley was appointed brigadiergeneral of the WestermVirginia troops. The rebels, falling back upon Beverly, received large reenforcements, 110

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JIISTORY. OF THE GREAT REBELLION. and again advanced towards Philippi, taking post under General Garnett, at Laurel Hill. On the 11 th of June, Colonel Wallace, with the Eleventh Indiana Zou.aves, left Cumberland, Maryland, for Romney, Hampshire County, Virginia, twenty miles distant, where were stationed five hundred secession troops. After a sharp conflict he completely routed them, seized a quantity of stores and ammunition, andtreturned to Cumberland. The rebels retreated towards Winchester. The rebels were now concentrated in considerable numbers in Western Virginia.

The Alleghany Mountains, running in a southwesterly coulrse from Cumberland to Covington, Virrinia, present a wall through which the rebel forces could escape into Eastern Virginia only at the Cheat Mountain Pass.

- This was held, at the close of June, by a consideral)le force under General Jackson. From Cheat.Mountain the road proceeds northerly, and parallel to the mountain range, through Huttonville to Rich Mountain, which was held by the rebel Colonel Peg.ram’vwith three thousand men and some five or six guns, and was strongly intrenched. From Rich Mountain the road passes through Beverly to Laurel Hill, held by BrigadierGeneral Garnett. Thus the enemy held three strong positions, and had, in all, probably fourteen thousand men. On the 6th of July, General Morris received orders to move his whole force to within a mile of the enemy’s fortifications at Laurel Hill. On the 10th sharp skirmishes took place between his advance, composed of the Ninth Indiana, Milroy, and the Fourteenth Ohio, Steedman, and some Georgia troops belonging to Garnett’s force. The enemy’s cavalry att:icked, and weue repulsed with a few rounds of shell, and General Morris-so disposed his troops as to guard every outlet from Laurel Hill, except that which leads to Beverly. In the mean time the column under McClellan pursued a route more to the west, and arrived near Rich Mountain on the Ioth of July. On the 11th BrigadierGeneral Rosecr.ans,* who had been promoted firom the colonelcy’

of the Twentythird Ohio, advanced with his column, composed of the Eigrhth, Tenth, andi Thirteenth Indiana, and Nineteenth Ohio, and by a forced march of eight miles through the mountain reached the turnpike, three miles in the rear of the enemy at Rich Mountain, defeated tis advance-guard, and capturedtwoguns. General McClellan, advancing in front, completed the defeat of the enemy, who lost all his guns, wagons, &c.

Rosecrans immediately pushed on to Beverly, following months later assumed command of the Army of the Mississippi, and on October3d and 4th inflicted a signal defeat on Van Dorn and Price at Corinth. In November of the same year he took charge of the Department of the Cumberland(l, and at the close of the year gained the haird-fotught battle of Murfreesboro’, over Bragg. In the steceeding summer he Prove Bratty into Northern Georgia and ocIilpied Chattanooga: but ha.vin. been routed by Bragg at Chickamauga, September 20, he was re]tevkd from his command. In the early part of 1S64
he was assigned to the Department of Missouri, which he commanded until the close of the year, without however, participating actively in military operation& * William S. Rosecrans was born in Ohio in 1819, graduated at West Point in 1S42 as second t lieutenant of engineers, was:tcting assistant prof e f sor of engineers at West Po,it’t until 18, and of natural and experimental philosophy to 147. Ile received a commission as first lieutenant in March, 1S, and retired to civil lifetin X854. On the breakIng out of the rebellion he was made brigadier-generl in the regular army and appointed to a command utinder General AMcClellan. He’served with distinction in We,stern virginia. and succeeded McClellan in the chief commnand there, of which he was relieved by General Fremont in 1862_ ie succeeded General Pope in command of a corps in the army under General Grant, June, 1862, a few ill

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. the flying enemy. The loss on the Union side was twenty killed and forty wounded. On the 12th Colonel Pegram,-“with six hundred rebel soldiers, surrendered unconditionally to General McClellan. While these events were taking place, General Garnett at Laurel Hill, hearing of the approach of McClellan to Beverly, left Laurel Hill in great haste for Che’at’Monntain Pass, in hopes to pass Beverly before McClellan should reach it. On tle morning of the 12th, the evacuation was discovered, and the Ninth Indiana of Morris’s division immediately advanced in pursuit. The rebels, when within three miles of Beverly, met fiugitives from Rich 3Mountain, and returned toward Laurel Hill, whence Morris’s force was approaching, thus putting them between two fires. They therefore took the road to the right, which goes through Leedsville to the Cheat River. General Morris, who had been in front of Laurel Hill, pursued a mile or two beyond Leedsville, and then, 11
o’clock, P. or., halted until 3 o’clock, A. x., when the pursuit was resumed, amid incessant rain. The enemy, meantime, struck the Cheat River, and pursued the mountain road down the valley. Our advance, composed Of the Fourteenth Ohio, and the Seventh and Ninth Indiana regiments, about two thousand men,- pushed on, guided through the mountain gullies by the tents, camp-furniture, provisions, and knapsacks thrown from the wagons of the rebels to facilitate their flight. Our troops forded Cheat River four times, and finally, about one o’clock, came up with the enemy’s rearguard. The Fourteenth Ohio advanced rapidly to the ford in which the enemy’s wagons were standing, when, suddenly, the rebels, about four thousand strong, opened a furious fire on them with small arms and two rifled cannon firom the bluff on the opposite side of the river, about two hundred yards distant, where they had been concealed. The firing was too high, cutting the trees above the heads of the men. The Fourteenth returned it with spirit, Meanwhile, twQ pieces of the Federal artillery came up and opened on the rebels. The Ninth Indiana then advanced to support the Fourteenth Ohio’s left, while the Seventh Indiana crossed the river between the two fires, and came in on the enemy’s right flank. The latter soon fled in great disorder, leaving-their finest piece of artillery. On the 13th of July, at the next ford (Carricksford), a quarter of a mile further on, General Garnett attempted to rally his forces, when the Seventh Indiana came up in hot pursuit, and another brisk engagement ensued. General Garnett was finally shot dead, when his army fled in confusion towards St. George, to escape into Northern Virginia. The Seventh Indiana regiment pursued them a mile or two, but as the men were much exhausted with their forced march of twenty miles, with but littlerest f’oi the march of the previous day, General Morris refused to let them pursue further. Among the fruits of the victory was the capture of the rebel camp at Laurel Hill, with a large amount of tent,’- camp equiage, baggage-wagons, a field camp-chest, supposed to contain all their money, two regimental flags, and a large number of rebel prisoners. The losses in these four engagements were as follows: 112 4

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~~~jj>j;\;~-\~ \\~~~~~; j~~~\ j ~4

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j ~, 4\L 3

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. CONFEDERATE. Wounded. Prisoner 40 15 100

110 600 140-. 300 Laurel Hill…………42 4 Rich Mountain…….20

Beverly…………. — St. George………. 13 Total……. 37 135 280

1,025 These energetic and able movements cleared Western Virginia of Confederate forces, anid exposed Johnston, who was then in front of Patterson. They closed General McClellan’s career in the Department of the Oliio, within a few days of the disastrous events which disorganized the Army of the Potomac, and the prestige which he thus acquired seeming to indicate his ability to reorganize and consolidate the Army of the North, he was transferred to the command of the Army of the Potomac. CIIAPTER IX.

Effect of the Battle of Bull Run.-Confederate Congress.-Davis’s Message.-Pri. vateering.-Affairs in Missouri.-Commissioners to Europe.-Southern Armies and Finances. WE have now brought our history to the close of its first period when the impatience of the people, and the imperfect preparation and training of the troops, hitherto unskilled in the art of war, led to the disastrous battle of Bull Run. From the humiliation which followed that defeat, the North emerged with a purer patriotism, a courage and zeal which rose above defeat, and a determination to put forth all her energies to crush out the rebellion.

The work of enlistment went on with great rapidity, and before the Confederate forces had recovered from the terrible havoc made in their ranks, the danger which for a few days after the battle had threatened the Federal capital was past, and new regiments were stretching their lines of defence in every direction around it. At the South the effect was different; it seemed to sustain the views there held, that the Northern troops could not withstand the shock of arms when opposed to the South.

This impression, it has been alleged, was of great detriment to the Southern cause, since it prevented that persevering and energetic preparation which was indispensable even to a densive policy, and which the North undertook with vigorous determination and patient perseverance.

The Confederate Congress, which had adjourned May 20th, at Montgomery, to meet in Richmond, assembled July 20th, in the hall of the House of Delegates. The names of the executive, cabinet, and members of Congress of all the States except Tennessee, Texas, and Arkansas, are embraced in the following list: 8 113 UNION. Killed. Wounded. lolled. 25 60 60 7 40 40 87

I

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N(l/I6(t)olina.-Geo. D,-vis, W. W. Avery, W. N. IT. Smith, Thom,,s Ruffin, T. D. McDowell, A. WY. Venable, J. iN. Aloi-ehead, i C. Pui-Ne,,r, Burton Craige, El. A. Davidson. Al(bU((~.R.W. Walket-, R. HI. Smlith, J. L. 3T.

Curry, W. P. Chiltron, S. F. hlale, Colin J. McRae, Johin Gill Shortei-, David P. Lewis, Thoma~s Feai’n. Fioili(I(a. Jacl,,on Morton-, J. P.

Anderson,-J. Powers. ,c* Jeffs rsIlii Davis was born June 3ld, 1808, in be was indicted for treason by the grandl jury, of bhri,ti.,ii (‘(,untv, Kentucky, but remroved vith the District of luiba bis raillilv in chiilbloodI to Missisippi lie &0-t Alexander H. Stelifhens wan horn in Geergta. ter,(d Ti-ans3-1,,ani~i flniversity,“L”e~xltnpgton, Ken-on the 11thl of F~elru’.irv, 1812. As,sistedi by tuckv, in IS‘12 or 1523,,n(i in 1824~ left the Uiii-friends, he entered theliniveris,iity (If’ Ge(.,rgia ina ‘vrlv toine the. Military Acitelein,it West 1828,,ln-i in lq32
grI-tlia-teli -it the lica~i l ],it 1 Point A-‘.,ere lie graIlui,te~I in‘152S. lei-eremain~ed class. In 18-34 lie CIiiIeeItli(‘stuLIly of the i n the i iiny scver. years, was )roinoted! te a law, an,] soo0 nte 111)),I IletII,- I. *ete first-li ii~tenOACv, rerv( d in the Blactk hlawk Fillitn IS3.7 to 18401 he was at inl’Triber (If the Geor,,%,a r aniI in i-~
esi,7ied his comfiiussion anli cla Legilsature. In 184-2 he we leelto the retire d II ti, It ilnttion in Mississippi. In 1 t to Senate,ii193wn, (iccie to C1..i)b e,as o)ne of tho Demcr,-ti,, Presi(](,nti,,t t-lec grs a Whi!- r-etijoiinL, his se,it until, t o n I S545 lie was elected a I ep~res,intatiV’e 1859. In lS5, h,e vas Cli uniri,~a of the Conti i tn ni nl in Joiil, 1846 1 rest)ne) I)I set iiite(nail tpaIII an (),,niiroan( of the First I-‘egiiiietit of eof tlie I~usl Nthie i Mi~nn~’li~ I~lil~l 5)1in the Mexican Is - l was it ltIriit it str(-ntiI,iis Io,poneeit,,,, tinguisb, I ii~ I at Monter,, y and at 101 on,- se(-esnion, b u t nevertheIle ovssoa VisL”,,iii( in the i,ittter battlo wast severeIv N-ireclresidcent (If t’ie C,iif,iIe’i,,itte tiites in eb ,woun,l(-d. le naplyiinttd rnnaic Ctrl ruvi 1861, and iiin iviil’ ie(1Io ie ovoutrs by Ilresident Polk. hbt dtecliitiei on 1r-lin.In Mty IS-5 li in St-,te 1,ighits oInls le was iel(cte,(l to) the Gei”iiaud iiliprinoned iii 1 oiit I’itii-i i, Buoa’cin Ullited S ente in Jaiary, 154S, to fill an‘0ie unexpil el tiiiie, 001 in 1850 re-cect,(Id II,, 1,Iobert Toomlin %v,-t born in W.,sliin,,ton, resiene-Il in 1,~l t1111,isi e5,ndiiiate fitr Golverii,i V~le ontv, Georgi,,t July 25(1 ISlI) i’-Udu-it,,i Of.Nissi,silipi. but’(as defeateli by Ileii.- S. -t Ulliln CINI, belYene k. ill Foote, tlt 17ioad~ae In S53 lie ” n 1823 anil studieil I w tit tlit tofi iit I Vircalledit, Pi-eiul nt Pi~e, c.-b t,i&(ce gaiiii In 1556 lie serve]-s c’i nmllt iii ols later in,ry of Wai-,,n(d in 1857 Leturned snion to the iiiider G,~nrt Sc1tt, in h lie wits Sienate. lt etini his Feat in the Senate oil electeil to the St’ito ~~‘iii CI3 to C,)nthe 21st of Jn nv1861, on the oc~,isio,n or the grins in, 1S4.5, toth I Secesi inso pNl i nd in l’obrun,rX i uI litdiil9 1 h electedl Piiii1ii Prenlenit of tlie Corife~ierite Senate Januay 2!,i, 1861 (III tlie scessioin (If States. Iii the sne-ceedilin Novembeg~ h e Ai IloilclSe-t,ivof “, t t, the selectell fli-,t pe~riane,nt Presiden tinder thCe C(iife terate Stati’s, 2 itray st,, 1111I in Juily, alai constituti. n. and retaineil that (Iflce until rsge and was on 5111ift(-r appin~Iteil a biaizacaptured at lIrwinsville, Ge,,r,7ia, iII Mty, 186, leir-general In the Coiifed,ei’att Irny. l thi.3

,Lnd conveyed to Fortre HoitrV On May 2Gth, ICaliaCity he never rose aboveniilrty

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IIISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. Georqia.-Robert Toombs, Howell Col)b, Pres’t, Francis S. Bartow, Martin J. Crawford, Eingenius A. Nisbett, Bcjtiamin II. IHill, A. B. Wright, Thomas R. R. Cobb, Augustus H. keenan, Alex. H. Stet)phens. -oltisia?a.- John Perkins, Jr., A. Declouet, Charles Al. Conrad, D. F. IKenner, Edward Sparirow, Henry MIarshall. .,si~‘s ~i.

WillieI P. Harris, WValker Brooke, W. S. Wilson, A. 3I. Clayton, V. S.

Bairy, James T. Harrison, J. A. P. C-impbell. So,otht Ca; olilia. R. B.

Phett, Sr., R. W. Barnwell, L. M. Keitt, James Chesnut, Jr., C. G.

Memminger, W. Porcher Miles, Thomas J. Withlers, W. WV,. Boyce. Mlr. Davis sent in a miessage, in which he congratulated the Congress on the accession of newv members from North Carolina, Tennessee, rand Arkansas.

He ciiticised with great sevelity the message of l’Piesident Lincoln recently communicated to Congress, andt charged that the acts of the Fedeial authorities inmplied a recognition of the Coiife1,iee;ate Governiment; also that the war was waged with a savage ferocity unknown in modern civilization; that grain crops and private hlou-e-, deserted by peaceable citizens flying from the outrages of a brutal s(oldiery, weire consumned by the torch; and that property respected by l1}iiti.h and Hessians in 1 81, was pillaged( and destroyed by p)eople pretending to be fellow-citiz ns. “Mankind,” he said, “will shudder at the t.iles of outrages comnmitted on defenceless families by soldiers of tlJe United State;” anid h-e complained thatt special war was made upon the sick women and children by seeking to deprive them of mediciles. IIe referred to the Border States atid their sympathies with the Sotithl; to thie’suspenrsion of the /habeas corputs by the Federal executive, and other measures. “e may wsell rejoice,” said he, “that we have forever severed our connection with a Governmnent that thius tramples on all principles of constitutional liberty, and with a people in whose presence such avowals could be hazarded.” He alludled to the additional force required; to the abundance of the cro)ps; and stated that fifty millionis had been subscribed in cotton. The p)roceediigs of the Conigress were mostly conducted in secret sessi-)i,, and amon,~ its first acts was thle ratification of the convention of Paris in 1856 in respect to maritime law. The interpolations of the’airis convention into maritime law had been a subject of discuission betwneen the foieign powers and MIr. Piei-ce’s cabinet. The propositioii had been made that enemies’ goods should be respectedl iii netltral ships, and that neuitral s}lips and goods should be tiee from the belli,‘ei-ent right of search. To this wv:is added the abolition of privatereing in time of war. MIr. Marcy, then Secretary of State, replied that the United States Governmet would acceplt the proposition in all respects except in relaitionrto privateers. He stated that it wEis not the policy of the United States to maintain large standing armies or navies, which were opposed to the genius of our institutions; that the ULiiitel States del)endled in time of *ar upon militia for protection; that m,erchant vessels or privateers wei,e our “militia of thle seas,” and we could not be expected to deprive ourselves of that arm. Never 115

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ISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. theless, if the governments would consent that all private property should be exempt from capture in time of war, he would consent to abolish privateering. Whenmen-of-war are empowered to capture and destroy merchant vessels, they only do what privateers are commissioned for, and there was no justice in doing away with the latter, unless the former were restricted to public ships in their operations. To this proposition Great Britain and France refused their assent, and the matter remained in abeyance. Soon after Mr. Seward entered upon his duties as Secretary of State, he renewed the proposition, but it was again rejected. He then proposed to accede to the principles laid down by the Paris convention, including privateering. Earl Russell signified hi willingness to sign the convention when the Emperor of the French had consented to it; but on the 29th of July, he stated to Mr. Adams, the American minister, that “on the part of Great Britain the en gagement would be prospective, and would not invalidate any thing al ready done.”

An explanation of this statement being sought, he gave it in the form of a declaration, that her majesty did-not intend tihere by to undertake any engagement which should have a bearing, direc or indirect, on the internal differences now prevailing in the Uiiitec States. As this left Southern privateering untouched, Mr. Seward rc fused to assent to the convention.

In Missouri, Governor Jackson demanded that no United State. troops should be quartered in or marched through the State; bu General Lyon asserted the right of the Government to send troor.. into any part of the State, and his forces continued to gather strength On the 13th of June, Jackson fled from the capital, and gatherer what secession force he could in the southwest part of the State. Th. State convention reassembled at the capital on the 25th of July, an.( on the 30th, by a vote of fifty-six to twentyfive, passed a resolution vacating the State offices, and appointed a new election to be held i. November. Hamilton R. Gamble was appointed Provisional Gov ernor. He issued a proclamation enjoining all citizens to enroll them selves for the defence of the State, and ordering Confederate troop to quit it. The Confederate Congress now passed a law to admit Missouri int. the Confederacy, on condition that she should duly ratify the constitu tion of the Southern Confederacy through her legally constitute, authority, which authority was declared to be the government of Gov ernor Jackson, who was deposed by the State convention. MIr. Davi.

was also authorized to muster into the Confederate service, in Mis souri, such troops as should volunteer to serve in the Southern army The bill likewise emlbwered the President of the Confederate States at his discretion, at any time prior to the admission of Missouri as member of the Confederacy, to perfect and proclaim an alliance, offer. sive and defensive, with the said government,’ limited to the period oi the existing war between the Confederacy and the United States; th. said treaty or alliance to be in force from the date thereof, and unti the same should be disaffirmed or rejected by the Congress. Early in the year there had been appointed two Commissioners t. Europe, Mr. Rost and Mr. Yancey, to negotiate a recognition of th 1116,

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HISTORY OF TIIE GREAT REBELLION. ;outhern Confederacy, and also, if practicable, treaties oI commerce. \s these persons did not meet with the desired success, the Confedrate Congress empowered the President to appoint two more, with ull powers. The arrest at a subsequent period of these agents upon the i,rh seas gave rise to very serious complications.

The Confederate Congress now passed another act of great imporance, ordering all citizens of the United States to depart the country ithin forty days. The essential part of it was as follows: “SEC. 3. Immediately after the passage of this act, the President of the Confederate .tates shall, by proclamation, require all citizens of the United States, being sales of )urteen years and upward, within the Confederate States, and adhering to theGovern,eat of the United States. to depart from the Confederate States, within forty hours -om the date of such proclamation; and such persons remaining within the Confederte States after that time shall become liable to He treated as alien enemies.” This law fell with particular hardship upon many Northerners, and uch of themi as had ventured into the Confederate States to secure .roperty were arrested. It was of the same nature as the alien and cdi;.lion law enacted by the Adams Administration in!798, which had .xcited( the ire of the State-rights men of that time, and it invested he executive with discretionary power to order aliens whom he might ;eem dangerous out of the country. With the same scope and intent s this act was the “Sequestration Act,” passed August 30th, of which he title was as follows: “A Bill to be entitled an Act for the sequesration of the estacte, property, ard effects of alien enem2ies, candfor nodennity of citizens of the Confed(lerate States, and persons aiding he samnte in the existing octr with the United States.” The bill recited in its piea’nble the departure of the Government nd the people of the United States from the usages of civilized warare, in confiscating and destroying the property of the people of the :oimfederate States, of all kinds, wlhether used for military purposes ,r not; and the necessity of retaliation to restrain the wanton excesses -f the enemy, and proceeded as follows: “Be it enacted by the Congress of the Confederate States, that all lands, goods, ights, and credits within these Confederate States, owned by any alien enemy since ‘e 21st day of May, 1861, be sequestrated by the Confederate States of America,  d shall be held for the fill indemniity of any citizen and a resident of these Conderate States, or other person aiding said Confederate States in the prosecution of he present war, and for which he may stffer any loss or injury under the act of the jrited States to which this act is retaliatory, aithorizing the seizure or confiscation of [ie property of citizens or residents of the Confederate States, and the same shall be :ized and disposed of as provided for in this act.” This law was meant to inldemnify such persons as suffered through .hie confiscations made by the UnitedMtates under the law of August -ith. The military legislation was actively pushed. The Secretary of War had reported that the number of troops raised amounted to iinety-fotir regiments and thirtyfour battalions, with some additional ,avalry tioops, and he advised the further raising of the number to three hundred regiments. The Southern forces consisted of two disillet armies-the provisional and the regular Confederate armies. 117

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HISTORY OF TH-iiE GREAT REBELLION. The provisionals were enlisted for the space of twelve months, to go wherever ordered. Miost of the forces b)elon(ged to this class, which was generally made up of volunteer Sate militia. TlIeir unform varied like thalt of the Northlern State militia, and tlhe.r pay was eleven dollars per month. The services of all volunteers whlo offered themselves w-ere accepted, if they passed inspection. Tl)e regulars were enlisted for three yea-s. These were composed of the lowes,t class of,he wl-hite population, gathered up firom the levees of New OIrleans, MIobile, and other seaports. Placards, announcin)g large bounties in advance, were extensively circulated in the different cities thrioughout the whole Soutl)elrn country, and recruiting offices were established inl Iobile, Iontgoonei-y, New Orleans, and othler towns in the Southwest. -Their pay was oluly seven dollars per month. The number of men raised was very large for the population. This was the more practical,le because, the l)lacks being einployed in all domestic labor, tlhe whites were left free to enlist, and the ex(citement was so great that almost all the able-bodied white population was drawn off to the army in the Border States. The )roject(d i,,crease required a proportionately large number of generals. Mti. T,ombs resigned as Secretary of State, andcl received the appointment of b,,igadiergeneral, retaining his seat in the Congress. Tllis was permitted )by the constitution, which allowed meembers to hold appointmenlts fiom the Confederate Government. IJ this the provisional constitlution differed fiom the old Uiiited States Constitution, which forbids members to hold offices of emolument. From the month of September, 1861, the favorable aspect of affiirs in the Confede’ate States l)egan to decline. Their currenlcy rapid(ly depreciated, and it became difficult to sul,plv their soldiers with the necessary equipments atld rations. Extraordinary exertions were made, and, in many instances,,is remarkable sacrifices, to fulrnish what was needed; but under the discomfobrts whlich were the lot of tlhe private soldier, volunteers were not readily procured, and the Confederate leaders began to talk of drafting earlv in the autumn. The army in the field did not at any time before January, 1862, exceed two hlunded and ninety thousand men. The Confederate Senate confirmed General Beauregard full general, the highest grade in the Confederate service, with cotiimissio. dating firom July 21st, 1861, the date of the Bull Run victory. B,igadierGeneral Robert E.

Lee, formerly of the United States army, was about the same time commissioned a genleral, and B. F. Cheatham, of \Nasliville, and( Felix 1

Zollicoffer of Nashville, formerly member of Coigress, brigadiergenerals in thle Confederate armv. The finances of the Confe(derate Coigress were by no means in a flourisliingi condition. The -seeding States had, for many years past, exported by far the gre.ter part of their agrg4ultural produc(ts, their exports of cotton, rice, sugai, and tobacco amounting, ainnially, on ai aver.agle of the five years ending June 30th. 1860, to about $213,000,000, out of a total expo’t from the UItiite(d States of about f,400,000,000. The greater part of this amount.was expended either in the Northern cities, for manufactured goods, or in travel at the North or in Europe. 118

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HISTORY OF TIE GREAT REBELLION. The goods bou,ght at the North were usually purchased on a year’s credit, s) thant the proceeds of the produce exported vwere anticipated. The Iblockade, I)y preventing the shipiment of the cotton, rice, sugar, &c., renderied these products almnost vilrlCeess, and speedily induced a fiilancial panic. The banks of the seceded States held, (on the 1st of Januariy, 1861, $25,821.993 in specie, nd had an ontstan(ling circula, tion of $55,223,960. This amoul,t of specie was considerably increased lduring the neo:t five months by their d, awing whatever b::l.nccs stood to their cre-it from tle New Y ork ba,ks, and by a passae of an act of the Co:‘felr;rte Congress, 1ahy 21st, 1861, prohibi;iiig all debtors owiing ii oney to Northein eredilors from paying them, ind requiring *the pa-cent of the amount into tlle Contederate tr:sury eithler in specie or tre’ sAry notes, bfor wlhic they ere to receive a certificate of the paymc t, bea:ing interest,:and redeemable at the cl)se of the war. Tie o)a fe’it of tlhe inte;est on the bond(s of the several States was also ord L ed to )e male only in the Co:liederate States, and the strictest srut:nyiv wa.s instituted to prevent the paymient of such interest to any per.on or the a-geit of any person who was not a (citizen of thle Su tiieri Confe(leracy, or it’ an alien, at least a wel-wilher to that Coziifedle’ay. The banks of the seceding States he,ll a con ention ait Atl;:nti, Ge(org.a, on the 3d of June, 1861, at which they rseolved to issue the.r liotes to the Cofiederite Government on the (,,el)osit (f its eilght per ceint. t\enty-yec.tir bonds, of lwhich(
the issue of I100O,0o0,000 had beeni aitto.ized, ad( recommunded the takin,g of CoIi,fe’olerate treasu:‘y not( s by railroad (omp:iiiies, tax collectors, &C. The bInks l)a, beC;l aut hor;.z’d to suispend specie p.lyiyients, l)y tle severi’l S,ates, in the \winter previous, andc the tieastiry notes, whicll were ])ay:iJle six montl.s fic’i the ratificatiori of a trei-ty of p,,a(e with ihe United States,:;s Nwe-l as tihe b-ank note%, soon began to depreciate scriously. In Au.i,tst, g()!l a:;d silvIer -ere at fifteenr per cent. l)rnllluin, a;nd befo:e Janitoriy 1st, ]0)2, two p:‘per dollars would oi,ly l,iiy one in specie, wilie the te;idency of the currency was still d,wuw:ld. In soie o)f the States tlih Coiifederalte scrip stood ve:‘y f:.r below the ba:k Inoteo. and wis r’.vt, red as:,l.i)Ost valueless; but the’.triugent 3aws!,’:‘sod by t!le Coneibera e Goveinment, punislhing tlle relisal to receive it with impri.onmient, and if pesi-sIste(l in, wi’ li death, led to its general rebeu.ti()n, but occasioned ani e:iornious infi:tion of thec prices of everv article of inerchandis. Boots, shoes, cl)tliin, cof:11 kinds thze:,l, needles, cotton and woollen (0oods, te.a, coffee, s,gar, molasses, salt, c., -wer.e hleld:t froii tenl to filty ti,mes theii ordili;‘y-value. The Goveninent had formed sweral pl2.ns of fin.ilce; tl.e fii’st by taxation. The Sec-etary of’ he Treasury issued the f’ollowini circular. to the States’

oflicers: ‘ CON-=)ERATE STATES or A3.ERICA, TREASURY DI)EPArT MENT e “RICIIMOND, Juit, 2Gth, 1S61. ‘liHon. F. WA. CAVE, Treas7retr of State of Texas, A17etin, Texas: ‘Sirt: I have as yet been unable to obtain firom your State the information required by Congrvss. with a view to its legislation at the ensning session. lermit itc to solici any irnformnation in youlr possession upon the following points as to!v(,iir St,ite: “1.‘he assessed value of real estate, and whether assessed at thle market value; 119

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HIISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. “2. The same information as to nersonal estate, and what general items constitute the personal estate. “3. The amount of money at interest. “4. The amount of banking and railroad and other stock. “5. The number of slaves, and the value per head. “6. The amount and rate of the last tax in your State. ” 7. The population. “C. G.

MEMMINGEIR, “Secretary of the Treasury.” A war tax was then levied upon real estate, including all lands and estates iherein, with ferries, bridges, and mines; slaves of all ages; merchandise of all kinds for sale, except agricultural products of the country; bank stock, except such as may be retained by the banks; railroad and other stock; money at interest, including bills, and all notes and securities bearing interest, except Confederate bonds; cash on hand or deposit, in bank or elsewhere; cattle, horses, mules, raised or held for sale; gold watches; gold and silver plate, pianos, and pleasure carriages. The plan of a produce loan was projected, and met with some success. The mode seemed complicated, but was, in fact, simply a loan of money to the Government. It was called a produce loan, because the sales of produce form the only means of the planter. When he sent his produce to his factor for sale, he sent an order with it to pay over to the Government, in exchange for its bonds, bearing eight per cent. interest in specie, a certain portion of it, such as he might deem expedient. The difficulty of selling the crop cramped both parties, the Government as well as the planters, and produced great distress. The treasury notes of the Government that ha(l become the general currency weie greatly depreciated, although receivable for the war taxes. They were also fundable in eight per cent. bonds. There was also paper money issued, not only by the Confederate Government, but by the States, cities, and individuals. The merchants and others. early foreseeing the difficulties, sold their goods for coin, and hoarded it.

Hence the whole metallic currency speedily disap peared. Its price, therefore, rose in the double ratio of the flood of paper money and the disappearance of gold. The currency was speedily rulined(, and the most fi’i(-htful evils followed in its train. he supplies of produce and food were large because the crops were fair, and a much greater breadth of land than usual was put into crops. The difficulties suffered by the South in this emergency were very similar to those encountered by the colonies in the Revolutionary war, an(dl also by the United States in 1812, from a deficiency of home manufactures. The great distress of the Northern States fiom 1809 to 1814 had been productive of great good, however, since it called into being( manufactures, which took root and subsequently floirished, but which might not, perhaps, in many years have been un(lertaken, had the capital of the country continued peacefully eiiiployed in agriculture and in commerce. The South had hitherto eniployed all its capital in the prdduction of tobacco, sugar, and rawv materials. The blockade compelled attention to other pursuits, and the Slave States began to develop a manufacturing industry. The production 120

” Very respectfully,

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IIISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. of cotton, however, has probably been but momentarily checked, even if the di,eam which has occupied the English imagination for sixty years, of raising cotton in India, should prove true, since the wants of the civilized world in that particular fari outrun the capacity of the South to supl)l-y. The development of manufactures in the Southern States will serve to keep at home an immense capital, to reproduce itself through the labor of that portion of the white race which has hitherto not added much to the Southern wealth.

CHAPTER X. Meeting of Congress.-President’s Message.-Naval and Military Affairs.-Estimatel for Year.-Senators Expelled.-Acts passed.-Confiscation.-Operations of the Treasury.-The Different Loans authliorized.-Difficulties of the Government. Habeas Corpus.-The Press.-Newspapers Suppressed. THE Tljirty-seventh Federal Congress assembled at Washington in extra session, July 4th, pursuant to the call of the President. There were plresent forty-three senators at the opening of the session; of whom nine represented Boider States: Delaware, Messrs.

Bayard and Saulsbury; Kentucky, Blessrs. Breckinridge and Powell; Maliyland, MIessrs. Kennedy and Pearce; Missouri, Messrs. Polk and Johnson; Tennessee, Mir. Johnson. The senators from Kansas also appeared: IMr. Pomeroy, for the long term, and Lane, for the shoit terni; from California, Mr. McDougall; and from Illinois, Sir. Browning, in place of Senator Douglas, deceased. In the course of the session appeared also Messrs. W. S. Willey and J. S. Ca.rlile, from the loyal legislature of Virginia, and were admitted to seals as senators. In the IHouse of Representatives, there were present one hundred and fifty-nine members, includin)g five who were elected firom Western Virginai, andI were admitted as memlbers. The clerk of the House called the roll for all the States, inceluding the Southein seceded States, but of course fioin them none were present. Mr. G. A. Grow, of Pennsylvania, was elected speaker, and Hon. Emerson Etheridge, late member firom Tennessee, was elected clerk. Thie message of the President was brief, and confined mrostly to the public exigency fobr the consideration of which Congress was assembled. The President restated the position of affairs En his accession to the Government, the functions of which had been suspended inl six States, -where a new government had been organized, which was seekiing f(o)Ieign recoglnition. It was incumibent upon the newv Administration to prevent a dissolution. The inaugural address had iidicated the policy to be pursued. The proceedings relating to Fort Sllmter were allutided to, and the desine of the Government to maintaiin possession of it. The ejection of the United States troops left no recourse but to call out the war power of the Government lie thought that lie had done nothing 121

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IIOIOY OF TIIE GIEA T IM/BELLIOX. whicl-i it was beyond thi power of Congress to sanction; andhe anticil1ateld itill endorsement of liis acts.

Hle then asked for four hundied thou-,aill men, and four lhundred mnillion dollars in morley, to “make the contest a shlore and decisive one.” The mesage also argue,l iagainst the ight of a Stat9 to secede, atnd stated what was to be t!le course of the Goverimne:it towards the Southern States after the rebellion shall have been suppressed. Tll i.a f,ssag,e met with al))robation from the loya.l citizens of the Union, who s’iw in it evidence of the determination of the I’resident to takle (are, as l.is oath had bound him to d, “that the laws were faitlif:illv executecl,” and that the Rlepublic suffered no detirient firom anlly hesitation or hlf-neasures ona his part. The exi-encies of his po.ition were w ithout a precedent in the history of the country, and lwhile h, liad callhd Congiress together for an extra session at as early a date as it could be coinvened, owing to the fict that in SOone of the States the celection of members of Congress d(id not take place till June, he h’ld in the mean time been cormipelled to take upoii }tiniself great responsibilities, which his iiessage, as w-ell as his own character for integrity, demonstrated that hle had used wisely aid well. The peo)p’e ftlt that his aets, committed un,der such necessity, slhould be cor(ially sanctioned by Congress, wherever there was a-iy dloubt as to their vuidity, which only existed in regat’d to the enrolling of volunteeis lor tC:e wat, since the tilitia act of 1795 fully authorized his course in calling out the militia. The Secretary of War in his report reconntea the seizures of public pr)operty that ha4 tlaken pl:ce ol tlhe part of the Confederates pro-ious to the inaugtura.tion of MAr. Li.ieoln, and stated the -esults of the procla:m:ition calling for troop%, as follows: Regl,,ars and volunteers for three months, and for the war…….. 235 000 Fuii’ty-tive regimients of volunteers for the war, accepted…… 50.000 New regular regiments……………………………. 25,000 75,000 Total,orce called out by Government to July 4th…………….. 310,000 )educt tliree-monthis men………………………………. 80,000 Authorized force…………….. 230,000 For the maintenance of this force, andcl supplying of thl necessary ordinance, a,rias, and reserve stores, in addition to tilc or(-Ilinary appropri:tion, $185,296,397 wvas required.

The Secretary stated that the new regul,r regiments would be officered one-lhalf ft’om tl)e regular armyv, and oiie-i;alf firom civil fe. Tlhe civilians aplpointed to -egimenrtal comn.ands were all eitler est Poillt grtdu:tes, or h;i,.l b.ifore served with distitnction in the ficld, and many of t’he second-lieutei.tarits were created by the promotion of meritorious se’ge:nts fromi the regular ser-viIe. le llutded, also, to the large d(isaf-ection o(f a,‘ny officers with whl)om State allegiance was paramount to Federal duty. The report of the Secretary of tlhe Navy furnished a complete abstract oft}ie coidition of the navy. Oo the 4th of 3ilarch, tile total number of vessels ofall classes wNas ninety, de.igncd to carry two thousand four hundred and fifteen guns. Of these, the available force wias sixt. 122

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IISTOF~Y OF TlIE GiREAT PEBELLION. nine vessels, with one thousand three hundred and forty-six guns, of which forty-two, carryiing five htindied and filfty-six guns, were in commission. Of the sixtynine available vessels, the Levant wa.s lost in the Pacific, the steamer Fulton was seized at Pensacola,.and one frigate, two sloops, and a brig were I)urned at Norfolk. The other vessels destroyed there were considered worthless.

Tlhere ien’ained sixty-three(, of which fifty-nine wvere put in commission. In addition to which, nine steamers were chartered, and twelve steamers and( three sailing vessels were ptlrchased, making an entire f)rce of eiglit)-two vessels and elevei) hundred guns. On the Atlantic coast, ihe blockad’ng squadron, twentytwo vessels, with two hundred and nin(-ty guln.s and tf)ree thousand three hund:‘ed men, was under the commmand of fl.a, officer Strin(gham. The Gulf squadron, consisting of twentyone vessels, with two hundred and eigh.ty-two guns and three thousand five hundred men, was under flag-officer Iervine. The E:ist Indian, IMediterianeain, Biazil, and African squadrons were recalled, a(l(iing two hund,ed guns and two thousand five hundrecd mcn fol home servNice. Since the accession of iIr. Lincoln, two hlundred(.1(l lifty-.line naval o4i:q(,ers lad resigned. The department, he ad(led, had (con,tra,cted for the building of twenty-thiee steam gunboats of five hund:e’d tons each, to )e followed( by lairg,er and fleeter vessels. The eilght vessels ordere(l by the preceding Congiess were being rapid!y pushe(dl to com)letion. The S, cretary of the TreasuLy put forth.a statement of tlhe financial wants of ti)e Governmnent. Hle st:tted that the estimates of the year requireTl $31),000,000; that $80,000,000 of this, or the amouint required for tl~e o di,al.-y exl,)eus(s, should be raised by taxati(n, atid that $240,000,000 must be borrowed. lie propoe(l an inr-ease of the duties, whli(.l he estimated would raise the customs to $57,000,000, and lie estima.ted that the )public lands would give $3,000,000. He advised: tax oi real and pe.:so(nal estate, to make up the remnaining $20,000,000; also a reduction of ftorty per cent. on a’l salaries. To rase the $240,000,000 which must l)e l)oriowed, he proposed a national loan of’$100,(JOO,000, in small bonds, bearing 7.30 per cent.

interest per aniiu!ii, and Ie(leemable after tliree years; a loan of $100,000,000, at seven per cent. in stolck, pa,‘able after thirty years, in Lonldon; and the issue of’$50,00(0,)000 in $10 and $20 notes, bearing 3.65 1)er cent. int erest, payable in one year, or without interest payable iii coin on demn,iid. ThlrougIh tnese reports the military and financial con(itioni of the country w:vs laid l)efore Con_Lre.s. The leading measures of the sessioIn were promptly broug’f()rward. In the Sena!-e, tlhe ch:irman of the ml t iiy comatittle int:‘oduced six bills.

The first was -le:.-igned to ratify what the Presideit htd done on his own respo,sibility; the second, “to a:ithorize tl-he emrployment of volunteers to aid in clforcing the laws;” tthe third, to “inc:‘efe the present military e(stalishllnent of the U, ited States; the fourth, “for the better organ zation o t’ the muilitary establishnment of the liiited States; the fifth, “‘for tlhe orginiz:ition of a volunteer militia force, to be cailed the National Guard of the;, United States;” and the sixth to promote the efficie.cy of the army. 123

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MISTORY OF TiE GREAT REBELLION. These bills were discussed at considerable length in both houses. The opposition to them in the Senate came principally from MIessrs. Breckitliridge, of Kentucky, and Polk, of Missoutri, both of whom, in the autumn of 1861, went over to the rebels, and accepted military cornmands i.nder thl)em; and in the House from MIr.

Burnett, of Kentucky, who also seceded to the rebels a short time after the close of the session, and his friend, Mr. Vallandigfiam, of Ohio. The approval of the action of the President, which it was first proposed to make in the form of a resolution, was finally passed as a clause of one of the military bills, and Congress showed its hearty concurrence in his views in regard to the prosecution of the war by voting almost unanimously 500,000, instead of 400,000 men. On the 22d of July, Mi’. Crittenden, of Kentucky, in the House, and, on the 26th, Mr. Johnson, of Tennessee, in the Senate, moved the following resolution: Resolved, That the present deplorable civil war has been forced upon the country by the disunionists of the Southern States, now in revolt against the constitutional Governmcnt, and in arms around the capital; that in this national emergency, Congress, banishing all feelings of mere passion or resentment, will recollect only its duty to the whole country; that this war is not waged on their part in any spirit of oppression, or for any purpose of conquest or subjugation, or purpose of overthrowing oi interfering wMith the rights or established institutions of those States, but to defend and maintain the supremacy of the Constitution, and to preserve the Union with all the dignity, equality, and rights of the several States unimpaired and that as soon as these objects are accomplished, the war ought to cease.”

This resolution passed the Senate by yeas thirty, nays five, and the Hlouse by yeas one hundred and seventeen, nays two. This declaration of the objects for which the war was prosecuted, offered by loyal citizens of the Border States, was cheerfully accorded by Coigress, the great body of the members of which still clung to the idea that within a few nmonths the people of the seceded States would gladly return to their al!egi,tcee. The duration of the war beyond the close of the year was not deemed possible.

The Senate, on the 11th of July, expelled the senators James P. Masonr anal R. M. T. Hunter, of Virginia; Thomas L. Clinginan and Thomas Brag(g, of North Carolina; Louis T. WVigfdll and J. W. Hemphill, of Texas; Charles B. Mitchell and William K. Seb,stian, of Arkansas; and A. O. P. Nicholson, of Tennessee, all of whom were absent, lihvingr withdrawn on the secession of their respective States. The propriety of this course was so obvious that there was belt very slight opposition to it. Mr. Bayard, of Delaware, and Mr. L:itham, of California, uiged the substitution of a resolution declaring their seats vacant, instead of expelling them, on the ground that they ought not personally to suffer for’what was the result of the action of their States. But the fact of their fuill sympathy with and cooperation in the work of secession was so patent, that this view met with little support from the other senitors. BIessrs. Breckinridge and Polk voted against the resolution. The vote stood ayes thirtytwo, noes ten. On the 13th of July, Mr. Johnson, of Tennessee, presented the credentials of Messrs. W.’. Willey and J. S. Carlile, elected senators of Vir 124

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. ginia by the loyal legislature of that State, then in session at Wheeling. Their admission was objected to by Messrs. Bayard, of Delaware, and Powell, of Kentucky, but was defended by Mr. Johnson, of Tennessee, and others, and they were admitted by a vote of thirtyfive yeas to five n.ys. Congress adjourned on the 6th of August, having been in session thirtythree days. In that period it passed sixty-one public acts, of which the most important were: 1st. To borrow $250,000,000 by the issue of bonds bearing interest at a rate not exceeding seven per cent., and irredeemable for twenty years; to issue seven and three-tenths per cent. treasury notes, payable in three years, and United States notes, without interest, p’tyal)le on demand, whence they were called demand notes, to the amount of $50,000,000; to levy a direct tax of $20,000,000; a tax upon incomes over $800; to increase the duties. 2d. To provide for collecting duties in disaffected States, and authorizing an embargo. 3d. To authorize the enlistment of five hundred thousand volunteers. 4th. To increase the pay of volunteers to $13 per month for privates; in lieu of clothing, $3 50 per month; rations, $9 per month. A bounty of $30 to soldiers who reenlist for the war. If a company reenlist, $50 each; if a whole regiment, $75. 5th. To increase the regular army for the entire war; and within a year after the restoration of peace the number of men to be reduced to twentyfive thousand men, unless otherwise ordered by Congress. 6th. To authorize the President to call out the militia to execute the laws, when necessary. 7th. Appropriating $180,000,000 for the army, for the year 1862; $30,000,000 for the service of the navy; $3,000,000 to hire and purchase vessels. 8th. To define and punish conspiracies. If two or more persons in any State or Territory combine to overthrow the Government, or obstruct the execution of its laws, they shall be punished with fine and imprisonment. There was also passed at this session of Congress an act to confiscate property used for insurrectionary purposes, which provided that, in the present or any future insurrection, any property given to aid such insurrection, or used for that purpose with the k,owledge and consent of the owner, should be subject to seizure and confiscation; that actions for the condemnation of such property might be brought in circuit, district, or admiralty courts having jurisdiction of the amount, and tlat the Attoiney-General or any district attorney might institute proceedings,~which in such case should be wholly for the benefit of the United States; or any person might file an information with such attorney, in which case he should receive an equal slhare of the proceeds with the United Staies. In regard to slaves held by persons engaged in aiding the rebellion, the provisions of the bill were as follows: ” That wheneve; hereafter, during the present insurrection against the Government of tbhe Tiited States, any person claimed to be 125

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MISTORY OF TIHE GPIEAT REBELLION. held to l1 bor or service, under the law-s of any State, shall be requlirQd or permitted by the person to whom such labor or service is clained( to be due, or by the lawful agent of such person, to take lip arms against the United St:ates, or shall be required or permitted by the person to whlom such se;.vice or labor is due, or by his 4.hwful agent, to wor-k or to be c(mlloyed in or upon any fort, niavy-yard, dock, arimory, sl)ip, or intrenacliimeit, or in any military or naval service wlhatever, against the Goveinment and lawful authority of the United States, then, and in every such case, the person to whom such service is claimed to be dlue, shall forfeit his claim to such labor, any law of the State or of the ULnited States to the contrary notwithstanding; and whenever thereafter the person claiming such labor or service shall seek to enforce his claini, it shall be a full and sufficient answer to such claim, that the pei,son whose service or labor is claimed had been employed in hostile service against the Government of the United States, contrary to the provisions of this act.” This bill passed both branches of Congress in the HIouse the vote was-ayes, sixty; noes, fortyeight. The bill, it will be seen, limnited within narrow bounds the confiscation of rebel property; it would have been more comprehensive (though probably not so sweeping as the confiscation law of’

1862, for neither Congress nor the people were then ripe for thlat measure), but for the scruples whlich were entertained by some of the members in regard to the constitutionality of tle confiscation of property for treason, without a previous trial and conviction of the traitor. These scrul)les, though honestly entertained, arose from the error of confoundi,ig the action against persons w”ith the action against property, as was very clearly shown sonme months later by Hon. Henry Winter Davis, of Maryland, in a very elaborate published opinion on the subs ject. The action of Congress in making provision for a vigorous prosecuntionI of the war, had greatly encouraged the people, and the enlist ments were made with rapi(iity, and iesulted in securing a very superioi class of soldiers. There w:s, lhowever, a pressing necessity for a large amount of financial resources to meet the hieavy drain which the war was making on the national treasury. For’tunately for the nation, al accoilf)lis.hed and skitful filnaicicr was at the head of the trea ury, a man capable of comprehec,ding and providing for the emergen cy. In Decembe-, 1860, when very few supposed war probable, Hon. Howell Cobb, iMr. Buchanan’s Se,t’:et:iry of thle Treasury, h:id offered $5,000,000 of UnLited States treasury notes, p,yable one year from date, ani(l had olily received bids for $500,000 at twelve per cent. interest, and this when New Yoik seven per cent. stocks we e selling at 101. Secretary Chase needal to borrow by liundi,eds of milions, and that in the l)egit-ning of a great war of uncertain duration; but the capitalists had confidence in him an(l in the Government for which he acted, and thcugh he had been bound very closely l)y Congriess in regaid to the te:‘ms on which’the loans were to be made, and the amount to be derived from taxation (lid not promise to yield e,,ough to pay the interest on the,loans, he succeeded in negotiating for all the 126

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fIISTORY OF TIIE GREAT R:ELLLION. money he needed at an interest not exceeding an average of seven pdr cent. The loans at this time authorized by Congress were: Interest Limit. per cent. 7 7 $100,000,000 6 6

20,000,000 7.30 8.65 ,None. 50,000,000 1. Bonds, Coiipons, or Refgistered*.. After 20 years..sold not less than rar… 2. 1l,n(1s, C(o)tp,,ns. or l,egiste,e(l.. After 20 years, t(ohl in lurole, (1o…….

8. Bondls, ~l,,s or Re-cistered… Afteli 21 yeia-s, equial t(o 7 er cent…… 4. Bnlds. C(,ot!,,ns. or Pegistered… AWVithin 1
year…………………… 5.”reaisitry Nt,,ts……………At 3
yes…………………………. 6. Treasury N(otes…………..At 1
year………………………. T. Treasury Notes…………… In cuil on demnand, not less than $5…. No eflort was made to negotiate a loan abroad, as the English cap italists were niot ijclined to i,vest in American securities. At a. later date they pturchased the bonds and treastury notes eaget’ly, and a-t a premiumn. Until he cotld makle arrangements for tlie iisste of his treasturv notes at seven and thiree-tetiths per cent., the Secre.ary ob taitted a loan for sixty days, on his tIi eilty-y er bonds a cllater:,l, of $5,000,000. This sum was taken up in a single half-id.aiy in New Yolrk. lhaving visited Philadelphia, New York, and Boston, he succeet,(led in efftctiiin an a.rrangement with the 1ans of’ the three cities, by which they tool, 850,000,000 of the seven-thiity notes at par, New Yotk tak ing $35,000,000, Boston, $10,C00,000, and Philadelphia, 5,000,000, the paymenlts to ba made about ten l’er cent. weekly, wlilc itnterest wvas p.iyable firomn tthe date of issue. The Secretarv iticeantime was to open agetncies throutghoiit tle co,,ntry for stIbs:c’ptions to the loan, and the money so received was to be p:i,d over to the banks, for whose account these sales were made. The b,nkls were to have the option of takinig on s’milar terms two s.bseqlent issues of the treastttry notes, each of $50,000,000. The amounrt of stlbscriptions on thle first isstce, bearinc d(ate August 19th, 1861, was $38,C00,000, leaving b,it $12,000,000 on the hands of the lmalks w’hien tl}ey lhad paid in I’till for the first issue.

Ti)ey tlicn took tile se(ond $50,000,0CO, which bore date Octoler 1st, 1861; but tl,c circulation of demand notes, and the great number of State loans in the i,arklet, Calsing for the time a f.illingL off in the s.i.l)<sc,iptions for ittvestment, they declined t.lking the third issue, and( took in pre’erence the twenty-year six per cent. stock at 89.322, wvlich was eqlivalent to a seven 1,)e cent. stock,t pa.. Tlhe wh)ole su.l)-c,iption outside of bat,ks and mnoneyed institutio,;s for the sceven-tlhirty treastury notes uip to Janu:.rv 1st, 1S02, somewhat exceeded $50,000,000. About $24,000,000 of demand notes ha.d been issued uip to that time, a,id.$50,000,000 of twenty-year stock, from which there was realized $45,795,478 48. The:e had also been issuled two-year note..

(six per cents.) to the amounit of $14,019,034 66, atid bor(-)rowedl on sixty-day six per cent. not(s $12,877,750, m.king an aggregate cf $197,242,588 14. Otthbe subsequent financial measures of *The differencebetweena registered( stock and delivery. like a bank note. It has attached to it n cotipon bon(I is, that the former is inscribed b tl-stil.l li(,n(s. one( fior e.ch six months’ interest unon the b(h,sks,,f the Gov,rnminent, in the n.rne of.til the man, trity of the bontd itself.

The holder the owne,r. is;d i’s l.nsferred( on thle bo(,ks!,v the c,its off the one (ldue, an(d presents it for pay nent. owner to the )iarty to whom he sells. 1The inte  These are called “coupons,” from thio rench est is isaidl to h,im in whose namrne the stock stiands. couper, to cut. The bond is not inscribed, but is transferreed by 127 P,,iyitble. 0

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IIISTORY OF TIIE GREAT REBELLION. the Governn-elit, the new loans, and the fax and tariff bills prescribed at the second (first regular) session of the thirty-seventh Congress, and the steady rise in the value of Governmeut securities, notwithstanding the large amounts issued, we shall have more to say further on. The tax of $20,000,000 on real and personal estate was apportioned to the several States; that portion due from the seceded States was only collectable by means of a law subsequently passed, authoriz ing the seizure of real estate to liquidate those taxes. That due from loyal States was assumed by them, they accounting for it, less fifteen per cent. discount for cost of collection; and as nearly all of them had advanced sums for the equipment of their troops, which the Government had agreed to reflnd, the tax w,as generally set off against these sums, and thus, while the money did not come into the United States treasury, the Government debts were liquidated by it. The energy, determination, and resources of the people of the North, which for a little time lhad seemed paralyzed at the idea of such a war, were now developed in all their grandeur, and showed that so soon as they realized the magnitude of the strugtgle they were ready for it. The shock of war had disturbed the usual flow of capital, and deprived the North of more than $200,000,000 due to it firom the Southern merchants. Had this large sum been recovered, it would have been subscribed to the Federal loan; on the other hand, the Confederacy took prompt measures to turn it into its own coffers by the act of MAlay 21st already alluded to, directing that money due Northern citizens be paid into the Confederate treasury, andl bonds bearing eight per cent. interest be issued therefor. This, in point of fact, compelled Northern creditors to subscribe to the Southern loans.

The rebel States were now beginning to appreciate the financial difficulties and personal hardships which beset the path to independence.

Stringent laws punished bv banishment and confiscation of property all who did not give in their adhesion to the new government. Those who remained, as well as the Southern citizens, were not exempt firom severe assessments in support of the armies in the field. The contributions levied were very onerous in most districts, and the mode of their assessment is indicated in the following notice of General Beauregard’s course: “All classes of citizens of Virginia are called upon to contribute their quota of forage for Beauregard’s army, and with those who are forgetful of their obligations, the general says that’constraint must be employed.’ The ranks of the rebel army were filled by means quite as peremptory, as may be seen by the following official notice of the Mayor of lemphis: “To THE CITIZENS

OF MEWJIIS:-Applications have repeatedly been made to me, as executive officer of the city, for protection against indiscreet parties, who are sent out to impress citizens into service against their will on steanmboats. Many of these men have been dragged from their beds, wives, and children, but never has there been a man taken who had on a clean-shirt. I hereby notify any citizen who may wish a pass within the city of Memplis to call on me, and I will furnish the same, and will see he will be protected. One poor man being shot yesterday by one of these outlaws, as they may be called, causes me to give the above notice. JoHN

PARK, Mayor. “August 16th.” 128

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. The following notice issued in Virginia, is also significant: ” All the militia belonging to the Eighty-ninth Regiment Volunteer Militia are ordered to meet at Oakland, on Monday next, as early as they can, in order to march to headquarters, Winchester, forthwith; and I would make a friendly request of those men that failed to go before, for them to turn out now, like true-hearted Virginians, and what they have done will be looked over, but if they do not regard this call, they will work their own ruin. They can never be citizens of Virginia, and their property will be confiscated. The General will send a troop of horse to Morgan as soon as we leave, and all those men that fail to do their duty will be hunted up, and what the consequence will be I am unable to say. SAMIUEL JOHNSTON, Col. 89th Pegi?nent, V. A. ” Judy 24th, 1861.” As an indication of the temper of the times, the following, from a Southern paper, expresses a degree of ferocity somewhat startling: “We unhesitatingly say that the cause of justice, and the cause of humanity itself, demands that the black flag shall be unfurled on every field-that extermination and death shall be proclaimed against the hellish miscreants who persist in pollutirng our soil with their crimes. We will stop the effusion of blood, we will arrest the horrors of war, by terrific slaughter of the foe, by examples of overwhelming and unsparing vengeance.

When Oliver Cromwell massacred the garrison of Drogheda, suffering not a man to escape, he justified it on the ground that his object was to bring the war to a close-to stop the effusion of blood-and that it was, therefore, a merciful act on his pant. The South can afford no longer to trifle-she must strike the most fearful blows-the war-cry of extermination must be raised.” That this was not mere idle newspaper bluster, numerous occurrences in different parts of the country fillly demonstrate. An instance may suffice. The Nashville (Tenn.) Courier says: “We learn that a squad of twelve men were sent to Franklin yesterday, to arrest some Lincolnites. They had collected to the number of twelve or fifteen at the hourse of one of their number, one Bell; and defying the party, fired at them, killing one man, said to be Lee, of Louisville, and wounding one or two more. Our men theR charged the house, and set fire to it, burning it and all of the men in it, it is believed, but two, who escaped.” John Beman, a watchman employed on a Southern steamboat, who had a family in Boston, was arrested by a committee, for opinions expressed against the Confederacy. The committee proposed to forgive him if hlie would take an oath to support the Southern States. He indignantly repelled the proposition, anid said he would die first, when they inlme(liately hung him. Volumes would not suffice to relate the acts of cl’uelty perpetrated on unoffending Tnen in what was claimed to be the interests of Southern independence. Such proceedings, vigorously pfssed, stifled all open expression of opinions oppl)osed to the South, and, as a matter of course, no news papers were tolerated that did not support the Confederate Government. Attempts were made to overawe or purchase the Louisville (Kentucky) Joer)(cl, but without stucess. The Knoxville (Tennessee) TV7i,7, was edited by W. G. Browinlow, who steadily advocated the Union cause. He was forced to suspend its publication, and, in his farewell address to his readers, said, that he would neither give a bond to keep the peace, nor take an oath to support the Jeff. Davis 9 129.

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IHISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. Confederacy. He was indicted by the grand jury for treason, because, as he said, he refiused to publish garbled accounts of skirmishes in Kentucky, and other.arti(les, the insertion of which in his sheet was insisted upon by the rebels. This gentleman, known as Parson Browilow, after a long imprisonment, was allowed to visit the Northern States, where he:ddrcsse’i large audiences, giving an account of the criuelties inflicted on Union men, and published a narrative of his own sufferings. Not only were Northern citizens deprived of their property and of all legal redress, but they were banished( from the States, and forbid(len to ret(urn even to look after their rights, under penalty of ariest. Me:asures were taken also to prevent any further immigration here afte: from the North, in order to prevent the growthl of anti-secession sentiments; an(d not only was no divnersity of opinion tolerated among the Southern people, but their personal liberty an)d property were all at the disposal of the Government to carry on the war for disunion. The advent of civil war, under the extraordinary circumnstances that marked the access.ion of MIr. Lincoln to power, involved the Federal Exetcutive in prioceedings whichl called up lively dis(cussions in relation to his power’, under the C(onstitution. No Goverinment ever before occupied so singular and trying a position as was force,l upon that which came into power Marci 4th, 1861. The process of breaking up the Union had be(en going on for many years, and had culminated under the Administration of Mr. Buchanan, whose cabinet contained at least three members who were only waiting the signal to leave the Government of the Union and join the ranks of the Southern Confederacy. Mr. Thompson, Sec:‘etai’y of the Interior, was known to have acted as a secession envoy to North Carolina, even while he held a seat as a member of the Federal Cabinet. Mr. Cobb, Secretary of the Treasury, resigned to assume his seat as a memiber of the Southern Convention; and Mr. Floyd, Secretary of War, followed in the same direction, after having plundered the Northern armies and arsenals to furnish arms to the South for the anticipated strife. Under the gradual development of the plan of secession, the whole Federal patronage had been designedly so bestowed as to fill the important subordinate offices with men who favored the Southern movement, and who had nothing to expect from the incoming Administration. A large number of the officers of the army and navy were waiting to resigili at the signal of secession, and range themselves in opposition to the Government. The patronage of the Government under such an Administration, it was evident, had been used in furthering the views of the leading aw active members. The diplomatic corps abroad and the incumbents of office at the North were most of them inclined to thwart the action of the new Administration, and in their train was a large number of active men on whom the Government could not depend, if it had no open opposition to encounter. The new Administration found itself thus completely in the power of the secession party, and all its secrets, from the Cabinet debates to the details of orders, were known to the South. The bureaus of the departments, the judiciary, the army and navy, and the public officec 130

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HIISTORY OF THE GREAT REBEILLION. were fillei with persons who were eagerly watching to catch up and transmit tevery i em of information that might aid the Confederates, or thwart the Governtnent. Under such circuii,tances, the Executive was driven to,)loceedings very different fron those which were reo ognized in time of peace. The prompt and vigorous arrest of all susl)eected persons was, un,dor these circumstances, necessary for present safety, and as a means of intimidating those disposed to oppose the Gover,iment. In some of these proceedings it was admitted that he had oversttpped his authority; but it was believed that the exigencies of the case, and the support of public opinion at the North, fully justified such possible infractions of the organic law of the country, an necessary t,e the public safety. Dui-ing the year a number of citizens were arrested and imprisoned, by order of the Federal Government, for alleged treasonable conduct, without the usual process of law, aid whenever the bodies of these prisoners were demanded undler a writ of habeas corpus, their delivery was retise,l. The writ was suspendedl by the President, and the question was raised, whether, tiniler the Constitution, the power to suspend it pertained to the President or to Cong(ress. In the case of Joha Merryman, a citizen of MaIryland, arresteJ
on the 25th of Ma, the application for a writ of habeas corpus was made to Roger B. Tariey, ChiefJustice of the United States, who issuted it.

GeTieral Cadl wallader, to wshom the writ was directed, refused to obey, alleging that the Predid(nt had authorized him in s,uch cases to suspend the writ. The Chi,,f-Juistice then ordlered an attachment to issue ag:iinst Gene!-al Cadwallader, but the officer who went to Fort MceHenrv to scrv’e it was riot admitted. The Chief-Jiusti(ce then prepared an(]

sent to the President an opinion, in which hlie took ground adverse t,o his power to suspend the writ. The Presille,it referred the question to the Att()rney-General, Hon. Edwiard Bates, as the constitutional adviser and law officer (of the Government. M. Bate:<, on the 5th of July, rende!ed an elabo ate opinion on the questions at issue, which were whether the President had the right to arrest p(:rsons on suspicion of intercourse with the insurgents, antl if he was justified in refusing to obey a writ of habeas corpus, sued out to ascertain whether the alleg,ed suspicions were just. The aiiswer was in the affirinative. The opinion of the Attorntey-General was: Unity of power is the great principle recognized in Europe; but a plan of’ chere and balances,’ forming separate departmnents of Government, aind giving to each depart merit separate and limited powers, has been adopted here. These departments are co ordinate and coequal; that is, neither being sovereign, each is independent in its sphere, and not subordinate to the other, either of them or both of them together. If one of the three is allowed to determine the extent of its own powers, and that of the other two, that one can, in fact, control the whole Government, and has become sovereign. The same identical question may come up legitimately before each one of the three departments, and be determined in three different ways, and each decision stand irrevocably, binding upon thie parties toeach case, for the simple reason that tih departments are co-ordinate, and there is no ordained legal superior with power to re vise and reverse their decision. To say that the departments of our Government a; co-ordinate, is to say that the judgment of one of them is not binding upon the other two, as to the arguments and principles involved in the judgment. This independenqt of the departments being proved, and the Executive being the active one, bound i 131

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. oath to perform certain duties, he must be therefore of necessity the sole judge both of the exigency which requires him to act, and of the manner in which it is most pru. dent for him to employ the powers intrusted to him, to enable him to discharge his constitutional and legal duties.” HIon. Reverdy Johnson, of Maryland, a constitutional lawyer of note, also published an opinion on the subject, in which he reviewed the opinion of’ChiefJustice Taney, and demonstrated its error. The power of the suspension of the writ he showed to have been intended, by the very terms in which it was authorized in the Constitution, to inhere in the Executive and the Executive only, and that the ChiefJustice had himself so decided in the case of Luther and Borden, in 7 Howard, 1. He also showed that Alexander Hamilton, one of the framers of the Constitution, had, in his essays on that document, expressly assigned the power to the President, to which Mr. Madison, another of the framers, in his review of those essays, had tacitly assented; and that President Jackson had exercised it without objection. The persons thus arrested and imprisoned by the Executive being for themost part those who had sought to overthrow the Government, little public sympathy was manifested in their behalf; and even if mistakes were made in individual cases, it was considered that these weie inevitable under such complicated circumstances. The Judges of the United States Courts expressed their opinions very decidedly in regard to these aiders and abettors of treason.

Judge Betts, of the United States District Court at New York, in a charge to the Grand Jury, thus defined treasonable acts, and pointed out what constituted misprision of treason: ” Giving aid or comfort to the enemies of the country consists in furnishing them military supplies, food, clothing, harbor or concealment, or communicating information to them, helping their hostilities against the country and its Government. “It is most probable that complaints will be laid before you under this branch and definition of the crime. Within it will be included acts of building, manning, or in any way fitting out or victualling vessels to aid the hostilities of our enemies; sending provisions, arms, or other supplies to them; raising funds, or obtaining credit for their service; indeed, every traitorous purposo manifested by acts, committed in this district by persons owing allegiance to the country, will be acts of treason. It is not necessary that the accused should have raised or created war by his own acts; he levies war by acting with those who have set it on foot, or by seizing or holding ports, or like acts of hostile aggression. The kindred crime of misprision of treason is this: If any person owing allegiance to the Government, has knowledge of acts of treason, committed by others within the jurisdiction of the court, and does not make it known to the President of the United States. or one of the judges of the United States, or the Governor of the State, or a jutide or magistrate thereof, he becomes guilty of misprision of treason, and subject to sev4 years’

imprisonment, and a fine of one thousand dollars for the offence; and it4s the duty of the Grand Jury to present for trial therefor such offender, whatever may be his individual connection or relationship with the offender.” In the Circuit Court of tle United States for New York, Judge Nelson, at a later day, thut defined the overt act of treason: “There is more difficulty in determining what constitutes the overt act under the second clause of the Constitution-namely, adhering to the enemy, giving him aid and comfort. Questions arising under this clause must depend very much upon the facts and circumstances of each particular case. There are some acts of the citizen, in his relations with the enemy, which leave no room for doubt-such as giving intelligence 132

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HISTORY OF TE GREAT REBELLIION. with intent to aid him in his act of hostility; sending him provisions or money; furnishing arms, or troops, or munitions of war; surrendering a military post, &c., all with a like intent. These and kindred facts are overt acts of treason, by adhlering to the enemy. Words, oral, written, or printed, however treasonable, seditious, or criminal of themselves, do not constitute an overt act of treason within the definition of the crime. When spoken, written, or printed in relation to an act or acts which, if committed with a treasonable design, might constitute such overt act, they are admissible as evidence, tending to characterize it, and show the intent with which the aet was committed. They may also furnish some evidence of the act itself against the accused. This is the extent to which such publications may be used, either in finding a bill of indictment or on the trial of it.” The sympathy of the masses of the people with the Government, and their hostility to those who advocated treason or sought to justify the acts of the conspirators against the Union, was manifested in the very commencement of the rebellion. In New York City the offices of the rerald, Journal of Conmmerce, -Daily News, -Day Book, and Exprcess, were visited, on the 16th and 17th of April, 1861, by excited crowvds, and compelled to raise the American flag. Some of these papers required onlv this hint to lead them to change their course, which had been opposed to the suppression of rebellion by force of arms; others, and among them the Journal of Commerce, the Vew8, the -Day Book, and the Freemn?an’s Journal, continued to attack the Government, and were at length seized and forbidden to be circulated in the mails or by express. The Journal of Commerce changed editors, and was then allowed to circulate through the mails. The News and -Day Book were stopped, and the Freeman’s Journal appeared under a new name and with moderated tone. In several instances grand juries presented papers of this description, and this generally proved sufficient to lead them to change their course. In six instances, the offices were assailed and destroyed by mobs, vig.: the Demnocratic Standard of Concord, N. H.; the Democrat of Bangor, Me.; the Essex Coutnty.Democrat, at Haverhill, Mass.; the Bridgeport _F(irmer, at Bridgeport, Conn.; the Jeffersonian, at West Chester, Penn.; and the Senitinel, at Easton, Penn.; and in one instance only, that of the Essex (County -Democrat, the editor was taken from his house and subjected to personal indignities. The rioters in this case were arrested and punished.

This exercise of mob authority was opposed by good citizens, and was speedily repressed. At the same time the feeling was very general that the authority of Government should be exercised to control, and if needful suppress those public prints which thus openly aided the rebellion. In a few instances of the most aggravated character, not exceeding ten, the Government did interfere for the suppression of sth papers; and singularly enough, in four instances these were pitfessedly religious periodicals.

The papers thus suppressed were the Christian Observer of Philadelphia, which was principally owned in Richmond, Va.; the Chlristian Advocate of St. Louis; the True Presbyterian aill the Western Recorder of Louisville, which were suffered to go on -again after a short period on promise of better behavior a promise which was subsequently violated; the War Bulletin, rvissourian, and Evenizg Netes, of St. Louis; the True American, of Trenton, N. J.; the Franklin Gazette) 133,

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HISTORY OF THIE GREAT REBELLION. of Franklin, N. Y.; and possibly one or two other papers of small circulation. Thlie repeated and determined efforts of the Confederate Government to send agents and ministers to the European courts to advo,‘ate their cause, a ineasure difficult of execution ili consequence of the blockade; as also the frequent arrival of those who had been engaged in political or financial negotiations abroad for the benefit of the Southern Confederacy, led the Government to keep a watchful eye on the movements of passengers, and finally to organize a passport system for those who desired to visit Europe, as well as for those returning thence to this country. This at first occasioned some uneasiness, as it had always been our boast that there were no restrictions upon the freedom of transit to or from the United States; but the good effect of the nmeisure was apparent in the arrest by its means of persons who would othlerwise have been of great service to the Southern Confederacy. The confiscation act of Congress having authorized the seizure of the property of those who were in rebellion against the Government, when that property was found within the loyal States, money and other personal property, and vessels, belonging to persons identified withi the rebellion, were seized to a considerable amount. Ultimately, it having appared to the Government that in many cases the information on which seizures were based was the result of personal hostility or greed, and that in some cases the seizures had done injustice to parties really loyal, they were discontinued. In no case were money, bonds, or promissory notes retained by Government where it was not evident that they were intended to be used directly fer the rebellion; a course of conduct in marked contrast with that of the Confederate leaders, which we have already exhibited. CHAPTER XI. Modern Art of War.-Great Wars of Europe.-New Prineliples.  Strategy.” “Tacties.”-Formation of Soldiers.-Education of Officers.-Scientific Aspect of the Present War.-McClellan’s Order.-Restoration of Discipline.-Army Organization.

-Inactivity of the Enemy.-His Projects.-Hatteras Oceupied.-General Fremont in Missouri.-Battle of Dug Springs.-Battle of Wilson’s Creek.-Death of Lyon. Retreat of the Army under SigeL-Martial Law.-Position of Forees.

Colonel Blair’s Charges.-Fremont’s Proclamation.-Manumission.-Capture of Lexington. Advance of Fremont.-Retrea,of Price.-Major Zagonyi.-Fremont Relieved. THE modern art of war, as perfected by the great captain of the present century, may be said never to have been practisel upon this continent previous to the present contest. The old colonies developed their independence after a Protracted struggle, under the defensive military genius of the father of his country, operating with r.re judgment on the old maxim~ of the art. The determined v:ll-r, endurance, and devotion of the men of the Revolutionary armies were important elements of success, and in the course of the struggle, much native 134

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. practical military capacity was evolved.

Happily for the country, with the close of the struggle, peace brought with it other pursuits, and the mi’iitary art fell, it’ iiot into disrepute, at least into disuse. The United States were too distant from the powers of Europe to be involved in those cabals, intrigues, and coalitions, which had there prolonged the struggle against Rlepublican France through twenty years (,f bloodshed, and wihich were fatal to Poland, and to the iiidependent action of most small powers. So completely isolated was the Americ:in Union, that, iii accordance with the farewell advice of Washlington, it had no “foreign policy.” If the Academy at West Point educated a certain number of young men in the theory of war, there was never any field of action for the fruits of those studies to develop themselves. In Europe, on the other hand, during the quarter of a century which followed American independence, war on a grand scale was conducted under the greatest military genius of any age. That he was a graduate of a military academy may, in some degree, have aided his progress. But hlie was certainly not indebted to the teachliigs of professors for his wonderful success. On the contrary, they haid failed to discover any thing remarkable in the student. The general principles then taught may be said to have been by him reversed. Thus the broad rule that an army occupying a central position between two o*, f,.S would necessarily be defeated, because exposed to simultaneous att’acks on each flank, he demonstrated was only relatively true, and that in fact such a central army occupied the strongest position, if nroperly handled; concentrating a strong force at the decisive point, it could meet and assail one army, in time to return and overwhelm the othler. Following the same principle, Fi.ance, holding a central position in regard to Europe, instead of being weak in consequence, was strong, so long as her internal connections were open, and her force con(eltitrated. A revolution was also produced is the old maxins in relation to fortified places. Their Value fell immensely before the active movements of the French. It was ascertained that they were of theniselves not formidable, unless they were the key or gateway to some important district. A mere fort that comma’bded no necessary rioute was found to be of little value, and the powerful combination of columns was much more effective than spadework, in the hands of an able commander.

These ideas were novel, and he conquered Europe in illustrating them. When the Austrian power held Italy, and hle, with forty thousand ill-clad, ill-armed, atnd ill-provi(led, but veteran troops, turned the AlpIs and made his attack at Monteiiotte, the chances were very far firomn being in his favor; but genius in conception, power of Ambination, rapidity of movement, and unparalleled vigor in execution soon did their work upon the legions of Austria, and the veteran marshals, retiring beforie the blows of the “smans culotte,” exclaimed in disgust, ”’ Who ever saw such tactics!” Up to that time the differencesbetween “strategy” and “tactics”

was ill defined. The latter had been as old as the art of war itself The former was the consequence of dealing in war on a large scale. The master-mind on the broad field of Europe, with numerous armies to move, deduced broader principles from more numerous and ex 135

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT -REBELLION. tended facts. “Tactics” pertains to handling an army in the field; “strategy” projects the campaign, and directs the movement of the armies. “Tactics” fights the battle; “strategy” teaches when and where to fight it, and under what conditions.

It remained for the master-mind of Napoleon to apply the doctrine of “long chances” to war; that is, so to arrange and plan his campaign that if of ten battles he should lose seven, yet the results of the three gained would be such as to give him the campaign. The campaign ending at Mairengo is an instance in point. While Napoleon was preparing to cross the Alps, Massena held Genoa with an obstinate valor that immortalized his name, with the view of detaining the Austrians in that corner of Italy, until the Grand Army should have gained their rear. This was accomplished, and the French troops were so disposed along the only route between the Alps and the Apennines by which Melas could retreat, that he would require to win six battles to get through, whereas the loss of one was ruin. That one he lost at 3larengo. Therefore, when the English historian, Alison, wrote that the charge of Kellermann at.Marengo “placed the crown on Napoleon’s head,” he showed a want of appreciation of the military situation, since the gain of that battle and four others would not have saved Mlelas from destruction if he had lost the sixth. It is a remarkable fact that in the history of the world there have been but about fifteen battles which drew after them such consequences as decided a war. Such a battle was Austerlitz, which was the result of masterly “strategic” movements which brought the Allies to fight at that place, and of consummate “tactical”

skill which utterly destroyed them in the field. When Napoleon sat on his horse that misty morning, surrounded by his generals, with his cold gray eyes fixed with grim satisfaction on the movements of the Allied generals, as with presumnptuous fatuity they marched their troops by the flank, from left to ri,ght, he quietly restrained the ardor of his lieutenants by admonishing them “never to interrupt an enemy while he was making a ?&stake.” “If,” said he, “you stop him now, it will be an ordinary battle; let him complete his movement, and we shall destroy him.” The result was, that before the glorious “sun of Austerlitz” had set, the Allied centre was taken, and the victory won. This was but a repetition of what had occurred years before on a smaller scale, on the plateau of Rivoli. An Austrian force had there passed to the left and rear of the French, who looked uneasily over their shoulders at what they thought a danger. “Those people are ours,” said the young commander; “we will take them at our leisure.” The uneirring sagacity with which the required blow was discerned, and the celerity and vigor with whichlt was delivered, astounded alike friend and foe. When shut up in Mantua, with the immense Austrian armies approaching, Napoleon did not dig and‘“work i’ the earth,”

but sallied out, chose his battlefield, made fthe bridge of Arcole famous while the world stands, destroyed his enemies, aid returned in triumph.

Nevertheless, the ablest generajs said he had no plan, and was fighting by hazard. Thus, when the army invaded Spain, and was stopped before the pass of the Somosierra, a steep acclivity, at the top of which the 136

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IMSTORY OF THIE GREAT REB]LLION. guns of thirteen thousand Spanish troops were in position, the French generals reported the place impassable.

Napoleon reconnoitred in person, ordered the Polish legion to charge up the pass, and take the guns. They did so, and the army proceeded. Such a movement was out of all rule, and was pronounced foolhardy. But genius is above all rules. The prompt application of comnmon sense to the exigencies of the moment is a mark of genius. Thus an obvious want of prompt conveyance for men, where the necessity exists, of combining the strongest force on a given point, as well in the “strategy” of a cam paign as in the “tactics ” of the battlefield, produced continual changes. For this end Napoleon organized the voltigeurs, or regi ments of infantry, acting with regiments of cavalry. When required at certain points on the battlefield, the infantry man vaults behind the horseman, and a double force is thus transported with celerity to a given point. This innovation produced great discussion among military martinets and theorists-as to whether an infantry soldier was any better for being taught cavalry exercise. A pamphlet war raged fiercely on the subject, while the real motive of the master-mind that directed the organization was not at all comprehended.

The vast strategic abilities of the great captain were not shared by his lieutenants, great as they were as “tacticians.” The battle once arranged, each fulfilled his duties in a masterly manner. Thus of Lannes, the emperor remarked, that he found him a “pigmy, and left him a giant,”

referring to the ability with which, as a tactician, he could handle twenty thousand men on the battlefield. Soult, he said, was the “only military head” in Spain, under Joseph. He could bring his army into the field, and properly place it, but could go no further. When Napoleon himself was in Spain, driving the English, under Sir John Moore, befoie him, he heard of the approach of the Archduke Charles, the first general of the Allies, upon Ratisbon, with two hundred thousand Austrians; he hastened to the spot, arid found his own immense army so misplaced that he said to Bessie.res, “If I did not lnow your friendship, I should think you were betraying me.” He spent the night receiving reports, and issuing his orders to the various corps, and thus brought about those marvellous results on the following day which caused Wellington to exclaim, “The art of war was never perfected until now.” The same strategic combination directed his armies with fatal effect upon the Allies at Lutzeii and Bautzen, when, after the Russian campaign, he was struggling.galinst combined Europe. The several corps fulfilled their orders withl the usual vigor, and on the field of Bautzen all that saved the Allies from annihilation, was the hesitation d Ney to follow up his advantage, from a misunderstanding of. the “strategical” combination, although Jomini, present with him in the field, advised him to develop his blow. The Allied generals were slow to learn, and unable to compete with the great captain.

When prolonged war had weakened the resources of France, and Europe was banded in vast numbers against h-im, their theory was not to fight, but to elude his grasp. The conquest of Europe under such a leader was effected by lieutenants, each of whom ill his own person represented the highest order of some species of 13-7,

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. military talent, and these talents had been drawn out in a lifetime of camp duty; l,ut very few, if any, of the lieutenants ever alrivede at the neces:.try ability to manage an independent cotrps of fifty thousand men in the field. Witl)out the master-mind, the vast powrer of France ceased to be formidi(-.ble to the overwhelming numbers brought against her. In the early days of the French Revolution, vast niumbers of men were sent to the fiontiers to defend the country, and these gradually bec(ame veteran soldiers of the best description. From their ranks rose the celebrated marshals who were the instruments of Napo’,eon’s glory. But the draft was too great uponi the male population of France, and as the struggle was prolonged throu,,h the life of a gen(.ration, although the genius of the emperor remaired, the material of execution began to fail, and disaster closed the wars of the empire. The United States have now reached] a position where not only have armit,s and military abi’ity become necessary to the safety of the nation in its inte.grity, but Europe has been I)rouglit nearer to us by steam, and other etlilires are becoming consolidated to the conitinent, in such a maInner as to make a foreign policy necessary, as Fe’l in regard to C.nada, Mexi(o, and South America, as to Europe. The reat conflict betwejen the North and the South, like the revolution of rance, has had the effect of calling over a million of men frtolni peaceful pursuits to the camps, and exl)erienr(ed foreigners ag,‘ee th:tt no nation ever presented, finer material for soldiers. The difficulty at the outset was not a want of officers wlho had studied the miliaty theory, but of those who lhad so constantly applied the principles of science to actual.warfare, as to have thetm all at comma:nd to apply with lIromnpt energy at the ceitical moment. It is evident that a man wlo, twenty years ago, read medicine for a few months otly, and then went into some other pursuit, is not a physician to be compared to him who has employed his life in continual practice at the bedside. The military science, eqiually with all olliers, requires practical experien(ce. The greatest writers on the science in Euiope were very indifferent commanders in tlhe field. It is for these reasons that with such tinequalleil material for troops, and stich lavish resources, patience became the chiefest of public virtues.

General Scott, it is tile, performed a brilliant, short, and effective campaign in Mexico, b-it it wVill be rememl)(red that he was a life-lo)g commander, of cojisidei.ble natural skill, and that his command, composed of ilegu!ar troops mostly, was, after all, but a trifle in numbers as compared with any of the corps nowv in the field. In relation to the “tactical aspf)ects” of the contest, it will be observed that the Union troops at the comeiii(ncement of the was,r oc(&.Spied an immense line, runlling from the Potomao to the Mississippi, and another running on the Atlantic coast down to the Gulf of MIexico; while the-enemv held thie centre of the legion enclosed by these lines, w-hich, as we have seen of France in respect to Eu;.ope, is the strong position. The law oft strategy in this case requirex the party occupying the circumference to close his cilicle, and gradually contract it. 13ut no commander or nation ever before had so vast a circle to close. The enemy, in accordanuce with the same 138

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139 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. -s, wns required to concentrate his force, remain on the defensive at all po, Ils, keeping his internal communications always clear, and prepared to direct his condensed colu:mns against the first opposing army that s,I,oIld:approach. He held what is known in military parlance as “inte: ior lines;” that is to say, a greater number of Confederate troops couldi reach:L given point at a given tihe than of Federal troops, unles.s the latter shotild bt)e so enormously superior it] nnmbei-s a.s to make any resistance to them hopeless. This, however wis by no means the case et that staze of the war of which we are now writinig, and it will be seen ill the.(.ourse of this narrative how the rebels, by a skilful lse of their interior lines, for years ba:ffled the efforts of the best Federal genera.ls to penetrate to the heart of the revolted teriito:‘y. In the f,ollowing I,ages we slha’l observe expeditions sent to hold each of tile Atlantic cities, thus forming a chain on that line; and on the northern litie a su(.cession of armies, which have to perform a leftwheel nmovement, t,irning on the army of McClellan in front of Wasington. The whole, in so moving, must preserve tile line like the simple leftwheel of a single platoon, because the a,mniy which outs marches the other s so as to lose their suppol’t, will be crushed by a vigila.net eneimy. The whole line will then be briokeni.

In resumingr the thread of military events from the deftat of Manass.as, it m:ty be considered that preparations for thle war were but fairlv conim(nced with the reco’ ery of the public itiid irom the’tffects of thfiat dIisaster. The whole mo-ement, from the attempt to reenforce Fort Surt)ter in the beginning of April, had been irregulhr and spasmodec. It was impelled by the first impatient burst of po)ul:ir enthusiasm, and had not been prepared or directed by tlie saagaciou. foresight which imnport:rnt movements requrite. If the secession movement at the Souitlil hlad been long planned and deliberately considered, with all the contingencies foreseen and the necessities of the case provided for, such had not I)eeti the case at the North. The last session of the thirty-seventh Congrress had passed away amidst v-tin att,empts at cornpromise on the part of the mino!ity, to which the majority only op posed(i a “niasterly inictivity,” while the impression was disseminated th’ft no outbreak would take place. The fall of Sumiter, the sudden activity of the Executive, the c:lling out of the mnilitia, the hasty assembling of troops, the hurried marches, and the premature attacks, were all app)arently impulsive, without any deliberat ely consi lered policy, and, as was but natural, the result was by no mi-eaits eicouraging. All the armies that were forming, and which composed the aggregate of two hundred and forty thousand men reported l)y the Secretary of War on the meeting of Congre, felt the paralyzing influience of the defeat at Bull Run. The force at Fortress Monroe, under General Butler, was diminished in ordier hastily to reenforce Washiiigton. General Banks evacuated Harrper’s Ferry, and co:ncentrated nearer to Washin.gton, at Point of Rocks,ewhere he was anxiously watching Western Maryland. Thle Army of the Potomac was now massed for the protection of Wash:ngton, and Getieral W’ool, appointed on the 20th o(f August to the command of Fortress Monroe, found little beside Newport Newi

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HISTORY OF T’IE GREAT REBELLION. and the fortress itself in his possession. In Western Virginia, Rosecrans, the successor of McClellan, held his position and conmmanded the key of the mountain passes. The seventy-five thousand militia, or what was left of them, who had been called out for three months, had returned to their homes, and their places were more than filled by a body of stalwart volunteers, who had enlisted for three years or the war, but who, though furnishing the best material for soldiers in the world, were as yet utterly undisciplined. The Confederate force was scarcely so strong as ours; had it been, the Capital would have been in serious danger. The brilliant victories of Rich Mountain and Beverly had given a prestige to the name of General McClellan, which seemed to justify the Government in calling him to the work of organizing this rapidly increasing mass of volunteers into a well-ordered, well-disciplined armv. There was no lack of money, and the munitions of war were becoming abundant; but the formation of an army required time and patience, and the people, convinced of this by the sad disaster of Bull Run, were disposed to grant both. They felt that henceforth it was no holiday work in which they were engaged. The Southern volunteers, inflamed to hate of the North by the artfill proclamations and appeals of their leaders, were a more formidable foe than they had been silupposed, and though not the equals of the Northern soldiery in steady, persistent valor, they were brave, and under able and efficient leaders.

It was felt, indeed, that there was some danger of European interference, which the desire for cotton, the eagerness for free trade, and the misrep)resentations of the agents of the Confederacy, combined with the disaster of Bull Run, seemed likely to provoke. Such an interference the aristocratic element in Great Britain and the friends of despotism ill France would have rejoiced to see; but, fortunately, the scanty and insufficient crops of England and France, and the necessity of procuring breadstuffs firom us, bound these two great powers to keep the peace; and thus, enormous as was the expenditure, there was time for the needful delay. When the Army of the Potomac retired upon Washington, many regiments were in a state of demoralization. Mlilitary duties wAere, to a considerable extent, abandoned, and disorderly troops, with the remains of their equipments, crowded the streets. The bars and hotels were filled with officers whose commands were scattered and disorganized. The citizens were uneasy, and the small shop-keepers trembled f o r their little stores. There was no efficient head to enforce obedience or restore order.

In the midst of this condition of affairs, General McClellan was called fronoWestern Virginia to take command, the extent of which was designated in the following order: ” WAR ICMPARTMENT, ADJUTANTGENERAL’S OFFICE, “WASHINGTON, July 25th, 1861. “There will be added to the Department of the Shenandoah the counties of Washington, Alleghany, in Maryland, and such other parts. of Virginia as may be covered by the army in its operations., And there will be added to the Department of Washin,gton the counties of Prince George, Montgomery, and Frederick. The remainder of Maryland, and of all Pennsylvania and Delaware, will constitute the Department of 140

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HISTORY OF T’HE GREAT REBBLLION. Pennsylvania; headquarters, Baltimore.

The Department of Washington and the Department of Northeastern Virginia will constitute a geographical division under MajorGeneral McClellan, United States Army, headquarters, Washington.” On the following day, July 26th, General McClellan arrived in Washington, and immediately set about the work of refbrm. On the 30th of July, amidst the prevailing coifusion, the followi)g order ap. peared: “HIEAD-QUARTERS, DIVISION OF THE POTOMAC, “WASHINGTON, July 30th, 1861. “The General commanding the division has with much regret observed that large numbers of officers and men stationed in the vicinity of Washington are in the habit of frequeniiting the streets and hotels of the city. This practice is eminently prejudicial to good order and military discipline, and must at once be discontinued. “The time and services of all persons connected with this division should be devoted to their appropriate duties with their respective commands. It is therefore directed that hereafter no officer or soldier be allowed to absent himself from his camp and visit Washington, except for the performance of some public duty, or the transaction of important private business, for which purposes written permits will be given by the commanders of brigades. The permit will state the object of the visit.

Brigade commanders will be held responsible for the strict execution of this order. “Colonel Andrew Porter, of the Sixteenth United States Infantry, is detailed for temporary duty as provost-marshal in Washington, and will be obeyed and respected accordingly. Colonel Porter will report in person at these headquarters for instructions. By command of “MAJ.-GEN. M]CLELLk “S. WILLAMS, Assistant AdjutantGeneral.” Colonel Porter, an active officer of the regular army, and a man of great determination and vigor, at once organized his patrols, and, while the guard-houses were speedily filled, the streets were emptied. Washingtoi, which went to bed in very poor spirits one night, found that the evil had vanished in twenty-four hours, and that the next night she could sleep in peace. Another order, issued in support of the former, followed, by which the evil was entirely remedied, and the troops, confined to their quarters, began to bend to the force of disciplinue. The insubordination had previously reached to the extent of open mutiny in a part of one or two regiments. The enforcement of rigid discipline was as first distasteful to numbers, but the great intelligence of the men came in aid of the efforts of the General, and they were not slow in acknowledging the necessity and in submitting to it cheerfully. Some discontented spirits required rooting out, but the whole came gradually to feel the master’s hand. The Spanish General Lana, who had been at Washington on a visit, thus describes the state of affairs in a letter ofthe same date as the order of General MlcClellan, to an Havana journal: “It is necessary to see this place to be convinced of what is occurring, and to form an idea of what an army is, composed of mren without any military habits, and led by officers-chiefs and generals-who a* for the most part devoid of the necessary knowledge. Excepting the war material in, the transportation department, such as wagons, gun-carriages, ambulances, &c., &c., which is magnificent, all else is a confusion of ill-clad men without anp military instruction, and, what is worse, without trying to acquire it, according to appearances, since during the time I remained there I have seen them pass days and nights ia the camps without doing any thing, with 141

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. the exception of battalion drill for a short while in the morning and again in the evening.” 3/ortifying to our national pride as was such a state of things, announced lay a foreigner, it was nevertheless not exaggerated, and afford,,d evidence of the task that was to be accomplished. The new general exerted himself to the utmost in urging forward troops, and in one case a sen;itor was so much impressed by his statements, that he telegiraphed, on his own responsibility, to the Governor of his State, to send at once every regiment he could nmuster to Washington. These exe:‘tions, added to those of the Administration, were soon followed by a stream of military setting into Washington to replace the three-mouths’ men departed, and the broken bands that had fallen back froti Manass.Ls. These new troops were untainted by the demoralization tha~t marked the old ones. The material of some of the Northern regiments could not be excelled. Splendid men, young, tall, robust, intelligent, and accustomed to adventure, filled the rank& These, as they arrived, were sent over the river and put to incessant drilling and the construction of field-works. At first they were employed in the construction of a great abattis from Fort Ellsworth, at Alexandria, across the front of the position, and gradually in the formation of nunmerous camps. By tile 1st of Septenlber there were upwards of seventy-five thousand troops of all arms in the neighborhood of Washilngton, not including Banks’s column at IIaIi)er’s Ferry, or the command of General Dix, at Baltimore. General McDowell remained in command of the troops at Arlington. The headquarters of General McClellan were in Washiiiaton. Thus gradually, an army was foimed(, and Washington encircled with defences. The men were drilletl and inured( to camp duties, while the Government was using every exe’tion to supply them with arms. The laws which had passed Congress provided for two branches of service-the volunteer and the regular army. The number of volunteers waas to be five hundred thousand, though, l)vy the passage of two bills, autliority was inadvertently given for raising one million.

They were to serve for three years or during the war, and to lie organized into regiments of ten companies, e:tch having from seventy-,even to one hundred an,l one men, the maxitlum number of officers and men in thie r,.giment being one thousand a,tl forty-six. From thiee to five regiments formed a brigade, under a bilgadier-general, and two or more brigades a division, under a majorgeneral. At first the most experienced colonels served as actilig brigadiers, and in some instances as acting majorgenerals; but very soon a considerable number of l)i ig:id;er-g,-net’als and tl* requisite numl)er of major-g,.nei,als were nominated ly th.e PreSident, and tuost of them confirmed by Congress. The whole num)er of brigadiergenera.ls thus confirmeil, to tie close of the session of Cotigress in Jury, 1862, was one hundred and eighty. In some instariices these appoltm( rits were made as a reward for services rendered in raising recruits, &c., but for the mostpart the officersi appointed p.oxe,el skilful iand efficientit commanders. The pay of the volunteers was the same as that of the regular army, but in order to encourage the reenlistment of the three-mnonths’ men, 142

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. and to fill up the ranks speedily, most of the States and many of the towng anl, counties added to the emoluments of the men, by laws miking extra.tllowance of pay, and of monthly provision for su(th as hal families. These swelled the pay of volunteers to twenty dollars, and il some cases more, per month. There were many complaints amongi the. volunteers in regard to foodt, but these seernme(l not on the whole to be wAell founded, but arose fiom the (hainge from home comforts to camp life. No army in the world had better rations than the troops of the Un ted States, yet there was much dissatisfa(-tion. Some mutiieers aweie sent to the Tortugas, and some organizations were disl):Jn~led and others punished. At Fortress Monroe, General Butler had to, b ming (li guns to bear upon some mutinous men. Notwittistanding the increase authorized in the regular army, the inducements offered( to volunt(e: s were so much greater that not one of the new regiments was filledl iup. It was believed that, as it would unldotibedly be necessary, at the close of the war, to maintain a consider:-by l.rg(er army than before, a sufficient nunll)er could at that time be rea(lily enlisted from the volunteers, and 11o special efforts were iiiad to recruit the new regiments to their maximum. The question of increasing the number of cadets in the Military Acalemy at \West Point w:is discussed for a long time in Congress; but t]le c(untry had suffered so severely from the treason of a large numb.r of the grad nates of that institution, whch had furnished a Pre.itleiit anl a’l its ablest military leaders to the Southern Confederacy, that theire was a strong opposition to any enlargement of tile institution,::nd the cadets in attendance were required to take an oath of a’l.(hi:mIice in a new form, l)y which they bound themselves to mai:itain and defend the sovereignty of the United States, paramount to arly and:ill allegi:ince or fealty which they might owe to anly State or country whatsoever.

Cong,riess also invested the President, as comman(der-in-clhief of the arnmy:ind ntvy of tli United States, with the indispensable power of dismissing or removing officers at pleasure, without a court of inquiry, as well as of assigning them positions of higher or lower rank,:as he might deem for the good of the service, and the successful prosecution of the wa-r. By the month of September the Federal front on the Virginia side of the Potomnac, with a breadth of five miles from the river, had its left a shiort distance below Alexandria, and its right near Lewirisville, a distanice of twenty-four miles, following the lines. The Potomac forms a half-circle from Great Fall<, eight miles above the chain brid(ge, to Mount Vernon, eight miles wlow Alexandria. Tihus the Federal troops f,rInked a crescent ou the western side of the riv,er, with WVashington as its convex side, and tthe Confederate troops touc,-hing the river above and below, enclosed this half-circle. At Lewinsville the Unioti right flank was on the easibank of the river, under General Ba.iks whose headquarters were at Poolesville. Hle there faced the left flank of the Confederates, who held Leesburg, six or eight miles west of the river. The whole Virginia side of the Potomarn:c in that region is rough and mountainous, and mostly covered with a dense 143 I

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HSTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. growth of small timber, thickets, and underbrush. The roads into the interior form a gradually ascending grade over steep and wooded hills, a comparativ ely small portion of which had been cleared. Nearly all the roads leading out from Alexandria to Georgetown terminate at or before reaching the Leesburg Turnpike, which runs parallel with the river, within a few miles of it, and all that is valuable of this road was held by the enemy. From thence south and westward the roads diminish in number, gradually converging towards Fairfax and Manassas, and enabling an army to concentrate as it falls back, should it be compelled to do so. The rebel lines now crossed all these roads at no point over five miles from the river, with the Leesburg Turnpike-the only road of any size or length-just in the rear, and affording the enemy the greatest facilities in shifting his force from one point to .another. To attempt to cut other roads through such a country would be a work of the greatest difficulty, if not an impossibility, and could be easily met and thwarted by the enemy. The aggressive campaign of the North against Richmond had ended unsulcessfullv, but in instituting a system of defence a degree of skill was ex)endedl which was destined to have very favorable results. The utmost energy was displayed by the Union generally in taking advantage of every natural facility for strengthening the position in front of Washington, and within a few weeks every variety of works-ranging from the most elaborate earthen forts to simple lines of intrenchments and riflepits-constituted a chain of apparently impregnable defences. Whole forests were also cut down to give an unobstructed and wider range from the various positions. Nor was this all. On the Maryland side the city was almost surrounded with works of an equally formidable character. These extensive intrenchments required a considerable force to defend and cover them, and in and around them the grand army of the United States was destined to remain many months, immedi,ately defending the Capital, which thus, in the eyes of the world, underwent a long siege. The necessity of remaining in this position for a few weeks, until the army was thoroughly organized and disciplined, though at first view it seemed humiliating, was very apparent. The accumulating force on the Potomac did not attain strength or coherency until September, and each successive regiment, as it came into camp, required education in all the duties of the soldier-the officers no less than the men; and when educated to regimental duties and drill, they still required a training for movements in larger bodies, as brigades, divisions, and corps dai-irmee. They were not like the standing armies of Europe, which receive in time of pAce instruction and training qualifying them to move at short notice on the enemy. There was indeed around Washington the material for something greatly better than those armies, in intilligence, muscular power, and a consciousness of a just cause; but it was only to be developed by culture.

The question of how long a time was required to do this was precisely that on which the public began presently to show a difference of opinion. There is no doubt that early in the autumn General McClellan was in command c&
an available body of nearly one hundred thousand men for offensive 144

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. purposes, who were equal in discipline to their opponents and far superilor in numbers, and as these facts transpired a forward movement begun to be urged. The Confederaite forces which confronted Washington were not in a condition particullarly favorable to an offensive movemrnent. They had suffered a heavy loss in killed and wounded at Bull Run, and their resources, whether in money, men, or munitions of wai, were less thaln those possessed by the Federal Government. Availilg them selves of the p:nic which followed the battle, they might have pressed on, aid possibly have taken, though they could not have held, the Federal Cal1ital; but as time passed their strength did not increase in a ratio at a:ll corresponding with that of the Federal forces, and the repeated and successful attacks made upon the Southern coast during the summer and autumn distracted their attention, and riendered them cautious and fearful. The policy of their leading commander, General Beauiregard, whom the Confederate President had raised to the highest rank in their army on the field of Bull Run, was one of defensive rather than offensive warfare. The want of means of transportation was one of the alleged causes of the inactivitv of the Confederates, but both Ge,ei.al Lana and Prince Napoleon, the latter of whom visited both the Union and rebel lines in July, expressed the utmost admiration of the quality of the mules and horses which are so abundant at the South. Wibho,it the power to make a d(ecided movement, the rebel troops acted in a manner to keep up the profound and unnecessary anxiety whirli o(cupieet the mind of the new Union commander, and their lines gi’ad,,allv advanced on the right to within two and a half miles of Alexandria, while their left accumiulated’strength towards the Upper Potoma.c. Winchester, connected by railroad with HIarper’s Ferry; Strasburg,:,n important town of the Shenandoah Valley, and communicating bv the MIanassas Gap R:ilroaId with Manassas Junction; and Leesburg, already mentioned, the terminus of the Alexandria, Loudon and II:Impslire( Railro,id, were each occupied by bodies of their troops. They had salso a force between Fairfax CourtHouse and Alexandria. As this di,positio. was supposed to threaten Banks at Harper’s Ferry, Geiner,l 5IcCle’lan ordered that general to concentrate his forces nearer to Point of Rocks. Likewise, by collecting boats in the creeks of the Pot(r mac, below \Washiagtonr, and erecting batteries at Aquia Creek, -where the railroad to Richmond commences, and also at MIatthias Point, they were supposed to be aiming to cross the Potomac to Poirt Tobacco, whence a march of twentyfive miles would bring them in the rear of Washington. The time, however, passed away, and the Confederates made no attempt, while every dayahe Union position was becoming more impregnable and the afny more perfect, either for defence or of fence. On the 12th of September, General Smith made a successful reconnoissance with twao thousand men -to Lewinsville, which GeneraI AMc(lellan noticed in a special report, remarking at the close,‘1Wb shall have no more Bull Run affairs.” The following general order was issued in the first week in September: 10~~~~~~~~~~ 10 145 i

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HISTORY OF THUE GREAT REBELLION. “HHEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE POTOMAC, “WASHINGTON, September 6th, 1861. “The MajorGeneral Commanding desires and requests that in future there may be a more perfect respect for the Sabbath on the part of his command. We are fighting in a holy cause, and should endeavor to deserve the benign favor of the Creator. Unless in case of attack by the enemy, or some other extreme military necessity, it is commended to the commanding officers that all work shall be suspended on the Sabbath; that no unnecessary movements shall be made on that day; that the men shall, as far as possible, be permitted to rest from their labors; that they shall attend Divine service after the customary Sunday morning inspection; and that officers and men alike use their influence to insure the utmost decorum and quiet on that day. “The General Commanding regards this as no idle form. One day’s rest in seven is necessary for men and animals. More than this, the observance of the holy day of the God of mercy and of battles is our sacred duty. “GEORGE B. MCCLELLAN, [Official.]

“S. WILLIA.MS, Assistant AdjutantGeneral.” On the 26th of August, the first of a series of naval expeditions, designed to occupy the seacoast, in accordance with what was fiamiliarly known as the “Anaconda Plan,” by which the Confederates wele to be encircled and their power of resistance crushed, as in the folds of an anaconda, left Fortress Mionroe. Hatteras Illet, on the coast of North Carolina, had formed a convenient refilge for privwateers, and a number of steamers issued therefrom to prey on the Northern commerce. It is an opening in the long sand-bank which encloses the shallow sheets of water known as Albemarle and Pamlico Sounds, the former of which receives the waters of the Roanoke and Chowan Rivers, and the latter those of the Neuse and Paiulico. At this point the Confederates had erected two works, Forts ClI;rk and Hatteras, mounting fifteen heavy guns, which it was deterlimined to seize. The naval force consisted of the Minnesota, flagship, with the steamers Wabash, Monticello, Pawnee, and Harriet Lane, accompanying which were eight hundred troops, under General Butler, in transports. On the morning of the 28th, the fleet opened fire upon the forts, which was returned by them with considerable activity, but with little effect. At the close of the day the enemy still held out, and during the night they were reenforced. This proved, however, of little avail, as the bombardment, which was renewed in the morning, was even more destructive than on the previous day. General Btitler also landed several hundred men to attack the forts in the rear. Seeang that further resistance was hopeless, the commander of Fort Itatteras, Samuel Barron, of the Confeder:ite navy, offered to surrender both works the officers to go out with side-arms, and the nmen to retire. This was refused, and an unconditional surrender demand(ied by General Butler, with which Comiaodore Barron was fain to comply. This person, as a former officer of the United States navy, found in arms against his Governmeit, had forfeited his life, and was justly amenable to the penalty dt treason in the first degree; but it was one of the many exemplifi6ations of the leniency which the United States Government has exercised towards prominent traitors when taken prisoners, that he only suffered the imprisonment due to ordinary 146

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. prisoners of war. He was, at the time of his capture, assistant secre of the Confederate navy. The prisoners numbered seven hundred and fifteen, officei-s and tnen. Two fo(rts, thirtyone cannon, only half of which were mounted, one thousand stand of arms, and some ammunition, were also captured. The losses in the forts were eight killed and a few wounded. None of the United States forces were injured. The prisoners were brought to New York. The interest of the war now turned once more to the West, where General Fremont had assumed command, July 26th, of the Depart ment of the West, embracing Illinois, and the States and Territories between the Mississippi and the Rocky Mountains. He established his headquarters at St. Louis, and made that the point for the gathering of troops. He also located a camp at Jefferson City, for the reception of Illinois and other volunteers, and placed it under the command of General Pope,* who, on the 19th of July, issued a proclamation to the people of North Missouri, stating that he had come to maintain the authority of the Government. Immediately on his arrival, General Fremont exerted himself to raise and ailm a force for the rescue of the State from the secessionists, who were determined to possess it.

Regiments of undisciplined troops soon began to pour in, but there were neither arms nor equipments sufficient for them, and the condition of things was critical. Cairo and St. Lotis were threatened by the large Confederate force at Columbus, and below; while in Southwestern Missouri the gallant Lyon, who had pushed on to Springfield, wvis in peril from the greatly superior force of McCulloch and Rains, who were advancing to meet lhim, his own little army being reduced meanwhile by the expiration of the termn of service of the Iowa three-months’ regiments. He was, however, receiving a considerable number of new recruits. General Fremont was placed in a difficult position. His force at St. Louis, undisciplined aind poorly armed as it was, was hardly sufficient to resist an attack with such force as the enemy could bring against it; and Cairo, a point of the utmost strategical importance, was only defended by a handful of disorganized troops. If he sent any reenforcements to General Lyon, they could hardly reach him in time, while their withdrawal would seriously imperil St. Louis and Cairo. Forced to decide between camp at Shawnee Mound. On tfle 18th he surprisel another camp near Milford, and took sonle 1,300 priisoners.”hi.s campaign cleared this d(listrict On the 14th of March. 1862, he captured New Ma(r’d, and on April 7th the rebel garrison of Island Nio. Ten, amounting to nearly 7,000 men, [i,r which services he was made a majorgeneral. lie Mwas next appointed commander of a corps d’a7menee to co-operate with Halleck in the reltduction of Corinth. In June, 1862, he was assigl!el to the command of the Army of Virginia. over Frenoionlt, Bangs, and McDowell. and on July 14th w’vs pmmissioned a brigadiergeneral in the regular ctmy. At the conclusion of the second Bull Rtun campaign, September 8, he was relievedi at his own request, and was assigned to the command( of the Department of the Northwest, whence, ia the spring of 1865, he was transferred to that of Missouri. *John Pope 1 at s born in Illinois in 1823, and graduated at West Point in 1842. at which time he was commissioned second-|.ieutentant of engineers. lie w,on his brevet as fir-st-lieuitenant at Monterev in 1846, and:s captain at Buena Vista. in 1847. In ]849 he condlucted the MinnesoLt exploring expedition, having accomplished which, he acted ad topo)gral)hical engineer in New Mexico, until 1S53, when he was assigned to the corrmahnd of one of the expeditions to survey the route of the Pacific Railroad.

From 154 to 1859 he was engaged in this work, during which time-viz., on the 1st of July, 185-he was promoted to a caphliucy il the chirps of topographical engineers. On the 1ith of May, 1S61, he was appointed a brigadiergene-al of volunteers, and assigned to a command in North Missouri. In December he served in Central Miss)uri, under General Halleck. On the 17th of that month he scattered the rebel 147 4

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HIISTORY OF TiE GREAT REBELLION. such alternatives, he felt himself compelled to retain the force at his command in a position to repel the expected assau’ on Cairo and St. Louis. lIe was further led to adopt this course by the kiowledge that General Lyon’s little army was composed of brave and disciplined troops, well armed, and with a superior paik of artillery, which could be well handled by his experienced artillerists. At the most, if the Federal troops were d(riven back from Springfield, the ground could soon be regained, while the capture of Cairo or St. Louis would be disastrous to the Union cause. Meantime General Lyon occupied Springfield with al)out six thousand men, and eighteen guns. The Confederate Generals lMcCulloch, Rains,. Price, and Parsons were at Maiysville, Arkansas, not far from the M]issouri line, drilling aind organizilg their troops. In the last days of July they moved northward in two columnis to Sarcoxie and Cassville, and on the 1st of August comnnenced an advance towards Springfield. Their force at this time was from twenty thousand to twentyfive thousand. On the 1st of August, General Lyon ordered his troops to rendezvous at Crane Creek, tenl miles south of Springfield, with a view of mioving thence rapidly upon one of the rebel columns, and overwhtlminig it before it could be joined by the other. With his reduced force he s-as obliged either to do this or retreat. The whole cotluimn was under the immediaite command of MajorCeneril Lyon, while acting BrigadierGenerals Sweeny and Sigel, and i,Iaj()r Sturgis, were intrusted with the most important subsidiary charilges. The march commenced at five o’clock on the afternoon of August Ist. The baggage-wagons, one hundred and eiglihty in number, were scattered over a distance of three miles. The ca:mp at Crane Creek was reached about ten o’clock, the men marchiig slowly, and making firequent halts to get the benefit of shade or water. On the following d,ty the march was coxtiiued to Dug Springs, where one of the enemy’s columns, under General Ben MIcCulloch, ap)peared in sight. By fi,ingi a retreat, Lyon enticed the enemy to advance, when he sudllenly turned upon them, and by a few well-directed shots drove them away in confusion. He immediately occupied the battleground, and found upon the field the bodies of forty killed, and forty-four wounded, of the invaders. On the side of the Union troops, the loss was eight or ten killed, and thirty wounded. MIcCulloch then marched rapiilly westward, and joined the main rebel column, under General SLei’l.ng Pi-ice, which was moving from Sarcoxie upon Springfield, and Lyon, finding their combined forces stronger than his own, fell back’

upon the latter place, foltwed slowly by the enemy. General Lyon, laving rested his men, determined, on the 9th, to attack the enemy in his camp at Wilson’s Creek, ten miles south of’ Springfield. Accordingly, his force was formed in two columns: the main body under himself;,he second under Colonel Sigel.* The first * Firnz Sizel was born in th$ Grand Duchy of artillerist in Germany. In the revolution of 1848 Baden. in 1824. and was educated in the military he was commander-in-chief of the revolutionary school of Carlsruhe. He became chief adjutant army, and being defeated by an immense force, t the Baden army in 1847, and was called the best migrated to this country in 1850. He was for 148

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBE]LION. marched at five r. M. on the 9th, making a detour to the right, to strike the northerin point or left of the enemy’s camp. They came within sight of the enemy’s files at one o’clock, A. M., and halted until dawn. A line of battle was then formed, and advanced until the outposts of the enemy were driven in. The rebel camp extended in a valley along Wilson’s Creek for three miles, and followed the bends of the stream to the north at its western extremity, and to the south at the eastern. Sigel’s column was to make an attack at the latter point, the flank and rear of the enemy, while Lyon pushed the line in front. At five A. a. the line of Lyon advanced with great energy, taking the enemy by surprise and driving him in. IIe soon bronght up fresh troops, and the battle raged with great fury. Now, however, it became apparent that the struggle was a most uneqllu.al one. Although repeatedly driven back in coinfusion, the rebels, in con seqlnence of their great I)rel)onderance in numbers, were enabled to return again and again to the charge. Several hours of this sort of work continued, when General Lyon, who had been in the thickest of the fight, received two wounds, one in the head and one in the leg, his hoilse b,in, killed at the same time. He walked slowly to the rear, saying, “I fear the day is lost.” He then procured another horse, and, swincgincr his hat in the air, called tile tiroops nearest him to follow. The Secocnd Kans:is gallantly rallied around him, headed by Colonel Mitchell. In a few moments the colonel fell, severely wNounded; il)bont the sa.ue tine a fatal ball was lodged in the Genei-aI’s breast, and he was carried from the field a corpse. “Thus gloriously fell as brave a soldier as ever drew a sword-a man whose honesty of purpose was proverl)ial-a noble patlriot, and one who held his life as nothing when his country demanded it of him.” The battle was sustained some time after the fall of Lyon, when about noon the order to retire was given, the enemy having been temporarily driven from the field, and the retreat upon Spriiigfield commtence(d. This was rendered a vital necessity from the fict that Sig,el’s column, which numbered only twelve hundred men, had been defeated(, with the loss of five guns and a stand of colors. The disaster was attributed by General Sigel to the tllree-months’ men. The loss of his brigade was eiglt hutindred ald ninety-two men. The whole Union loss was two hundred and twentythree killed, including General Lyon and a number of officers, seven hundred and twentyone wounded, and two hundred and ninety-two missing, out of somewhat more than five thousand men engaged. The rebel loss, according to their own account, was two hundred and sixtyfive killed, eight hundred wounded, and thirty mising.

When the retiring Union several months major of the Fifth New York Diilitia regiment, suibsequenitly 1,rofessor of miilitary science at St.

Louis, and at the outbreak of the iebellion became colonel of the Third Missouiri Voltunteers, and acting brigadlier tinder General Lvon. Ile was made abrigadlier-eneral in Augnst, 1861, his comninission (dating fiom May 17th. He made a famous retreat from Wilson’s Creek; *as present at the battle of Pea PIid(ge, February, 162, for his skill in which battle he was made m.ajorgeneral, and received a comnhand in West. ern i V orzinia. le served thr(,lol1,I’es virginii ctnpaigo,m took a proimoin i nent alt i the s co battie of Iull Run, and in September. 1S6‘2, was apl)ointedl to commtiianid the Eleventh Alrtly Corpa He was relieved early in the followin,7 year. IA the spring of 1864 he commnanded in the valley of the Shenandoah, bult having been twice badly defeated, was relieved in SMay.

In May, 1865, he resigned his commission in the army. 149,

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RISTORY OF THE GREAT-REL, BELLION. troops reached Springfield, the command devolved upont Sigrel, who gave orders for coitinuing the retreat towards Rolla, where it arrived unmolested with its train on the 19th.

Meantime, the Confederates, under MIcCulloch, occupied Springfield, and on the 12tli the General issued an order congratulating the troops on their victories, and enjOining the most scrupulous respect for pivate property.

Hie also issued a proclamation to the people of iissouri, calling upon Unionists to return to their homes, and assuring them of protection, and avowing his intention to release Union prisoners. Hle called uponi them to choose their own destiny-to side either with the North or the South. Ozl the next day, General Pope, in XNorthern MIissouri, issued a proclamation regtilatingr the free navigation of the Missourii River. The defeat at Springfield left the most considerable interior points of the State in the hands of the Confederates. The most important military line south of the Missouri River, and west of Jefferson City, is the Osage River. This line was now almost completely in the possession of the enemy. Bodies of their troops held Warsaw, Tuscumbia, and Osceola; and the most important, strategical points on the Missouri River, north of this line, viz., Kansas City, Lexington, and Booneville, were unoccupied by the Unionists, and were exposed to capture by the advance of either Hardee’s or Price’s forces fi’om the south, and thle whole efforts of the Unionists were now directed to the security of St. Louis and Jefferson City. For this purpose the most essential strategical points against an attack from the south were Rolla, Ironton, and Cape Girardeau. Ironton was easy of defence from its superb natural advantages, to which a few juidiciously erected batteries had added material, strength. Cape Gir;ardeau was much exposed, and its possession by the enemy would have given him control of the Mississippi, and enabled him to send troops by boats to St. Louis. There was, however, no force to send there. Rolla was the most exposed. It was held by the remains of Lyon’s army, which, owing to the departure of the three-months’ men, consisted of little more than six thousand men. General Sigel immediately went to St. Louis to arrange plans for future operations with MajorGeneral Fremont. His chief want was artillery and cavalry, which the department was unable to supply. Jefferson City was garrisoned by five thousand troops, under the command of General Grant.*

Fortifications were ordered to be Cairo. He occupied Paducah, Ky., on the 6th of S,.ptember; fought the Coinfederates at,elnont on the 7th of November; commanded at the capture of Fort Donelson in Febrtuary, 1862, and at the severe battle of Shiloh in March; and in September was appointed commander of the Army of West Tennessee, with headquarters at Jackson, Tennessee. On February 4th,’ 1863, he assumed c,,mmand of the land sbqforces bcfore Vicksburg; in the succeeding May defeated the enemy. at Champion Ilills and Big Bla,tck River bridge, and on the 18th occupied Haines’s liluff, and completed the investment of Vicksburg. On July 4th he received the surrender of the place from General I’emberton.

la October he was appointod * Ulysses S. Grant is a native of4Ohio, aid w as born in 1S22. lie gradluated at West Point in IS3. se rved in the Mlexicartwar, and was secon(lileutenant and actiing regimental’quartermiast.er of the Fourth Infautry-. For gailant conduct at M,lino (Il lhey aud Chap)ulcepec he was bre’etted first-lietitenant and captain. In 184s e was promote(d to a first-lieutenancy, and in 852 made captain. Ilaving resigned in 1, he settled in mercantile business in St.

Louis and subsequently in Galena; but at the outbreak of the rebellion wns madle colonel of the Twentf-first Reeiment of Illinois Volunteers, and hbavinq been appoiiite(d brigad(liergeneral, August, 1861, took commr.md of $outheast Missouri, withl his headquarters at 150

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HISTORY OF THE GPEAT PXBFLION. erected, and home guards organized, as had been done in St. Louis, with a view to secure proper defences for the Capital at the least possible expense of men. The forces of McCulloch and Price* were meanwhile slowlv advancing towards the niorth. After having issued the proclamation at Springfield, McCulloeh, who was profuse in pratestations of mild treatment, released most of his plisoners unconditionally, and sent them home. This was supposed to have been intended to affect the State election for a convention, then about to take place. MIeantime, the newNs of the defeat at Springfield had produced great excitement in St. Louis, and many with Southern sympathies did not conceal theii joy at the fall of Lyon. Apprehensions of disorder were excited, and it was judged expedient to take steps towards declaring martial law. Still other urgent considerations, such as the known antecedents and sympathies of ce’tain police officials, suggested the propriety of such a course. The proclamation declaring martial law was as follows: 4” HEADQUARTERS, WESTERN DEPARTMENT, ” ST. LOUIS, August 14th.

“I hereby declare and establish martial law in the city and county of St.

Louis. Major J. MAcKinstry, United States Army, is appointed provost-mairslhal. All orders and regulations issued by him will be respected and obeyed accordingly. ” J. C. FREMIONT, “MajorGeneral Commanding.” ProvostMarshal MeKinstry thereupon issued a proclamation calling upon all.good citizens to obey the rules it had been deemed necessary to establish, in order to insure and preserve thle public p)eace, and statiingcr that the civil law would remain in force, and the military authority only be used when civil law piroved inadequate to maintain the public saftety. All persons were forbidden bearing arms, and no’ arms were allowed to be sold or given away fiom the date of the proc!amation. On the 15th of August, ProvostMarshal 3IcKihstry suppressed the tie was Governor of Missouri fi(omn 1S53 to 1857. ant ba,lnlv cpemrminissioner in lS61. lIe w.is resident of tlhe St’tte Convention in February ot that year, and stltsequently couiimaiider-in-elief of the State Militi. in which ciltatcity he el(eavoied to take -liss,,urIIi out of the Uni(on; foutght at the b.:ttle ofWilson s Creek, tan(I on Sel)tetibcr 1ith tcapture(i Lexington, Mo., with two llhousnd(l flie hundlred prisoniers. In the suieceedinig winter he was appr ointed re,tijor-g7eneral in the Confi,derate anary, fotug t at I’ta lid,-e in Mllarchl. 186‘2. at luka and Corinth in the succeding auituirmin. After servinr in Mississippi, und(ler l’i’mbltol. he w-as abaii sent to the taans-.soi ssissil,l)ti l)I)Irtinlnt, pearticipatedi in the rebcl dle/b,,t nt l l clezma. A’ss I.lSI, Julyr4th, 1S83. Thenceforth. until thle close of ilie.-war, hlie served( in that cp:itrt tthe c,ntlry. In t( ptember, 1S864, he invadeld Mlissiliri with a larre foice, but was rel)peated(ly defeate i, ail finally driven, in October, into Arkinsas. lie accomplished nothing else of importatcee. Hlie was included in the capitulatuion of General Kirby Smith to General Canby. to the military departmnent of the Mississippi, with plenarv powers, and issumzie(d command or troops t Chattanooa, wlheiie. orn Novevinber 24th and 25th. he gained an impi,ortant victory over General Brmzg. In MIarc, l64, he was commis,io,)iled lieutenant-geneil., atIt assumed( coimmand of all t.lhe armies of the Uniited States, and on May 4th he comne d the camlpaign against richmond by m -lerinz the Airim of the Potomac acIross the l(‘-pitIe. On Apil 9th, lS65, he received the Stlrr:,nder of the rebel army unde Generil Lee, w:ich l l,r.iti(;llv enlt(eI the war. *$t~telimt Plice wls b<,:‘n i’n Vir,_-iiia,r,hence be eniirat.e(I to Miss(,tm’i.;nd he(e:tine a membek of Con(‘-ress in 1S45. lIe first Lteaioe plrollminent as a militay cha( actel during tle Mexican war, in which h’e,ipe:tred as c{,1oncl of a volunteer regimcnit of Mlissou.i cavalry. On the 20tlh of JulB’. 147, lie -as made brizadier-general of the United St.ttes V(oluinteers. Ie c()lim,,nmn ed in an en,-.gemcnnt it Canadt,]L New Mtexico, January 24th, 1l4. and at the b,attle of Santa (C’ruz (le RoAles, March 16th, 1S48; in tlte fi,rtier he was wounded. His troops were disbanded iu November, 1848. I II II 151 f

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HISTORY OF TIIE GREAT, REBELLION. publication of the TVar Btulleti2 and the Jlkissouriant, two newspapers which hb-d exhibited marked secession sympathies. On the 20th of August, the Confederate general, Price, at Springfield, issued another proclaination, stating that the army under his command had been organized under State laws, and that it hld gained a glorious victory over the invaders. He invited all good citizens to return to their homes, promising them protection, and added: “I, at the same time, warn-all evil-disposed persons who may support the usurpations of any one claiming to be provisional or temporary Governor of Missouri, or who shall in any other way give aid or comfort to the enemy, that they will be held as enemies, and treated accordingly.” On the 24th of August, H. R. Gamble, who, on July 30th, had been appointed by the Missouri Convention provisional Governor, issued a proclamation calling out forty-two thousand troops for six months, unless peace in the State was sooner restored, and stating that it mnighlt become necessary to resort to a draft if there should be a deficiency. Meantime, the Confederates had steadily pushed forward their advanced corps. They occupied Warsaw and Lime Cireek, and advanced on the 29th of August to Lexington, which they surrounded and attempted to capture, but were repulsed with a loss of eight killed and twenty wounded, and left the vicinity. The Federals still held Ironton, RIolla, and Cape Girardeau, and on the 19th of August five hundred men were sent from the latter place to relieve Commerce, forty miles below Cairo, Ill., the caipturie of which by the Confederates would have suspended river communication with Cairo. General Pillow* occupied(

New Madrid, General Hardee f occupied Greenville, General Jeff. Thompson, Pikestown. On the other!land, General Prentiss commanded the Union forces firom Ironton to Cairo, and operatedl in the direction of Hardee; and Grant was still at Jefferson City. On the 19th of August an engagement took place at Charlestown,:Mo., bietween the National forces, about two hundred and fifty strong, under command of Colonel Dougherty, and the Confederate August, 184T, lieuitenant-colonel fi,r services at St.

Augustir. In 1853 hle was eml )loyed by the War Department to superintend the publishing of “Rifle and Light infantry’I’actics.” In 1S56 he was apiointe,l c rml;rt-der of the corps of cadets, and instructor of casah’lv, artillery, i(d infantry tactics. At the cominniinceiii,nt (of the war he offered his services to the Confederates, and was made a brigai(liergeneral by tt h e, and Fent to Missouri to co-operalte with IeCn als Alice anid yatains. In 1S6’ he corimnmilld a divis tion in Generial Polkl’s C’ps., and(i particilpated in the invasion of Kentucky by Ilragg. In Oetotber he was inade a lieutenantgeneral. Suilsequetitly he had comnmandl )f a copls in Brazg’ts atiriyv fimtight at lMurtfreesboro’, Cnhickaiaga, nd Chittanttiooga, find in the campaign ol 1864 heldi a hih colmaud in Johnstoti’s arlmly. When Siiterman aldvanced upon iavannah ho octcllied( the city with fifteen thittits.a(d men, but retired into South (Carolina s!ef,re the capittilation. Ile subsequently held commanid under Joihnston in North (Carolina, and was included in the surrender of that general in .,ay, 1865. Gideon J. Pllo was born in Williatmson County, Tenn., in 1S06. lie c(omnmenced his miilitary career in 1546, -hen he was aplpointe(d brigadier general of volunteers. tie was mna(ld majorgeneral in the ariny April 13th, 1847, and during al caol, lga i n lMexico commanded a division under Gent~ral Sctt. Ile was wounded at Cerro Gordo.

In July, 14S, his trool)s were disbandedl. lie b,cclrie a general in the Confederate forces. anid wtas in commiiiiand at Ce’otibus, and subsequlently at Fowt Doil,ison, andesland No. Ten. Ile served thl ou-trhout Be war in the Southwestern it.atei, but never acquired much distinction. Ile was included in the surrender of General TavilI s fo,-c,-s in May, 1S65. t William.nJ. -Jr.ec was born in Georgita about 119. lie enitered the Mtilitary Acadeniyiat West Point in 1834: alnd in IS3S 3was commiissioned as second-lietutena.,nt of dragoons. In Alpril, tS39, he was ap;,-iitcd assistant commissary (of suibsistence, and in D)eeema.ber of th,4same year wars I)romote(d to a filrst-lieutenancy.

During the Mexican war he wvas b,revetted mjrfor gallantry at Medelin,ncearVera Cruz, and en the 20th of 152

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. force, estimated at six to seven hundred, commanded by Colonel Hunt-r, of Jeff. Thompson’s army. The National force was victorious, compl(htely routing the enemy, killintr forty, and taking sevenrteen prisoners. The National loss was one killed and eighlt wounded, among, liwhomn was Colonel Douglherty, slightly. Captain Noleman, with fifty mounted men, left Bird’s Point at about six o’clock, August 20th, for Charlestown, to join the forces under C1olonel Dougherty, but failed to form a junction with them. They met a party of Confederates, about one hundred strong, and gave them battle, killing two, and taking thirtythree prisoners, also capturing thirtyfive horses, without the loss of a man.

Towards the close of August, troops began to collect in considerable numbers in St. Louis, and the necessary contracts for all descriptions of arm,y supplies gave a stimulus to business, which was also increased by the construction of fortifications around St. Louis, which consisted of palisades, block-houses, and earthiworks, on the west and south sides, so dlistribluted that a small force could hold it, and the gi’eater part of the troops be spaired for other operations in the State. On the 16th of August, a train on the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad was fired into near Palmyra, and some soldiers killed. In consequence, General Pope sent Bi igadierGeneral Hurlbut into the county, with orders to levy contributions to the extent of fifteen thousand dollars. Guerrilla parties scoured the country west of Jefferson City, and a train with two hundred and fifty United States soldiers was fired into near that city, with loss of lifeb. riThe boldness of the Confederate forces, and the number of recruits they were obtaining for guerrilla and army service in the western part of the State, evidently required severe measures of repression.

During the month of August a considerable number of volunteers had arrived at St. Louis, and as fast as they could be armed and drilled for service, they wvere employed either in garrison duty at St. Louis, or, if they were sufficiently disciplined for service, in protecting the line of the Mlissouri River,‘ind the northern part of the State, which was threatened by mnaraudiiig bands of secessionists. Notwithstanding the extraordinary efforts miade by the commanding general to procure arms, there was yet less than half a supply for the force already collected. Believing that the proclamation of martial law against those concer red in ) romoting the rebellion, the confiscation of their property, and tthe freeing of their slaves, would be the most effectual blow he could then strike at secessionism in the State, since it would compel th e secessionists to desist from their forays upon the property of Union men, in order to preserve their Awn, General Fremont issued, on the 31 st of August, the following proclamation: - “HEADQUARTERS OF THE WESTERN DEPARTMENT, S?.

LOUis, August 31st, 1861. Circumstances, in my judgment, of suwcient urgency, render it necessary that the commanding general of this department should assume the administrative powers of the State. Its disorganized condition, the helplessness of the civil authority, the total insecurity of life, and the devastations of property by bands of murderers and marani ders, who infest nearly every country of the State, atid avail themselves of the public misfortunes and the vicinity of a hostile force to gratify private and neighborhood veon 153

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. geance, and who find an enemy wherever they find plunder, finally demand the severest measures to repress the daily increasing crimes and outrages which are driving off the inhabitants and ruining the State. “In this condition the public safety and the success of our arms require unity of pur pose, witlhouit let or hindrance, to the prompt administration of affairs. “In order, therefore, to suppress disorder, to maintain as far as now practicable the public peace, and to give security and protection to the persons and property of loyal citizens, I do hereby extend and declare established martial law throughout the State of Missouri. “The lines of the army of occupation in the State are for the present declared to extend from Leavenworth, by way of the posts of Jefferson City, Rolla, and Ironton, to Cape Girardeau on the Mississippi River. “All persons who shall be taken with arms in their hands, within these lines, shall be tried by court-martial, and if found guilty, will be shot. “The property, real and personal, of all persons in the State of Missouri who shall take up arms against the United States, or who shall be directly proven to have taken an active part with their enemies in the field, is declared to be confiscated to the puLlie use, and their slaves, if any they have, are hereby declared free men. “All persons who shall be proven to have destroyed, after the publication of this order, railroad tracks, bridges, or telegraphs, shall suffer the extreme penalty of the law. “All persons engaged in treasonable correspondence, in giving or procuring aid to the enemies of the United States, in fomenting tumults, in disturbing the public tranquillity by creating and circulating false reports or incendiary documents, are in their own interests warned that they are exposing themselves to sudden and severe punishment. “All persons who have been led away from their allegiance are required to return to their homes forthwith: any such absence, without sufficient cause, will be held to be presumptive evidence against them. “The object of this declaration is to place in the hands of the military authorities the power to give instantaneous effect to existing laws, and to supply such deficiencies as the conditions of war demand. But it is not intended to suspend the ordinary tri, bunals of the country, where the law will be administered by the civil officers in the usual manner, and with their customary authority, while the same can be peaceably exercised. ” The commanding general will labor vigilantly for the public welfare, and in his efforts for their safety hopes to obtain not only the acquiescence, but the active support of the loyal people of the country. J. C. FREMONT, ” MajorGeneral Commanding.” On the day previous to the publication of this proclamation, but with direct reference to it, General Fremont had issued a special military order to the soldiers of the department, in which he rebuked the laxity and irregularities in discipline which had grown up with the progress of enlistment, and, referring to his forthcoming proclamation, reminded themtn that the exercise of martial law over the people would require the enforcement of strict discipline among themselves, lest they should inflict the severities of that law on those who did not merit its penalties. Hle also enjoined R1 officers to use the utmost prudence and circumspection in the discharge of their duties, to protect and avoid harassing innocent persons, &c. The pr’omulgation of this proclamation produced great excitement throughout the country, thliou4 much more in other States than in Missouri, where but slight objection was made to it, even by those who were personally hostile to the General. It was an advance in the direction of emancipation upon the Confiscation Act, approved by the President on the 6th of August previous, inasmuch as that act provided 154

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. only for the forfeiture and emancipation of the slaves of rebels, when such slaves had been actually employed in hostile service of atiy kind against the Government of the United States.

The Piresident. therefore, addressed a letter to General Fremont, requesting him to modify the proclamation so as to make it correspond with the Confiscation Act, to which the General replied, expressing his preference that the President should himself make the modification.

Accordi!lgly, on the 11th of September, a letter from Mir. Lincoln to Major-G iei-eral Fiemont was P)ublished, in which, after stating the above facts, he concludes as follows: “It is therefore ordered that the said clause of said proclamation [the clause in relation to the confiscation of property and the liberation of slaves] be so modified, held, and construed as to conform with, and not to transcend, the provisions on the same subject contained in the act of Congress, entitled’ An Act to confiscate property used for insurrectionary purposes,’ approved August 6th, 1861; and that the said act be published at length with this order.” Previous to the reception of this order, General Fremont had granted deeds of manumission to two slaves of Thomas L. Snead, an active and prominent rebel of St. Louis. An incident, having no connection with this proclamation, occurred at this juncture to increase the feeling against General Fremont. Montgoinery Blair, Postmnaster-General of the United States, and his brother, the Hon. Francis P. Blair, Jr., a member of Congress from St. Loomis, had been friends of the General, and had requested from the President his assigannient to the Western Department, and Francis P. Blair, Jr., ha:d taken command of a volunteei regiment raised in St. Louis. Disapproving, however, of his commander’s managemnent, Colonel PBlair wiote to his brother on the 1st of September (after the promulgati(on of the order above cited), complaining of want of disciline il the army which General Fremont was collecting, and closed his letter thus: “My decided opinion is, that he should be relieved of his command, and a man of ability put in his place. The sooner it is done the better.” On hearing of this letter, General Fremont, in accordance with the articles of war, caused the arrest of Colonel Blair, and asked firom the President a copy of the letter. The Postmastei’-Genieral replied, forwarding a copy of the letter, and requesting his brother’s release from arrest. General Fremont complied with his request, releasing Colonel Blair, and directing him to resume the command of his reginieot. This he refused to do, but early in October addressed a series of charLes n,;ginst the Genieral to ijutant-General Thomas. Atnong the specific tions of these chages were, that General Fremont had failed to repair promptly to St.

Louis and enter upon his duties; that he had neglected to re-enfoibrce Lyon and MItlUigan; that he suffered BiigadierGeneral Hurlburt, “a common drunkard,” to continue in command; that he refused to see people who sought his presence on matteis of urgent business; that he had violated the President’s orders in the matter of his proclamation of August 31st; that he had made efforts to procure commendation from his o.fficers; that he persisted in 155

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HISTORY OF TIIE GREAT REBELLION. keeping disreputable persons in his employ; and that he had unjustly suppressed the St. Louis FBvening N.ews.

Other parties, about the same time, ma(le complaints through the public prints of his extrava gance in Iiis purchases, of his unnecessarily fortifying St. Louis, of his having given contracts to California speculators, and of his wasting the public money in the construction of gunboats. No trial was x had on these charges, although they were the subject of two special ex parte investigations; and it may be rem’urked that subsequent developments, the course of his successor, Generil Halleck, and his own appointment to another important independent command, appear to have exonerated him at least from those which were most insisted upon. We will now proceed with the narrative of events. The Federal garrison of Lexington, which, on the 29th of August, had repulsed a greatly superior force of rebel troops, consisted of only four hundred and thiirty men. There was reason to suppose that General Piice intendedl to attack the place so soon as his forces, which were collecting at Spriii’fielMl, should become sufficiently large to enable him to do so.

Accor,liiigly, on the I st of September, General Firemont ordered Colonel Mlulligan, then at Jefferson City, in command of the Irish brigade, to reenforce the garrison at Lexington, which, though intrenched, needed a larger b)ody of troops. Colonel M1ulligan at-rived at t!he town on the 9th of September. It lies on the south side of the iMissouri River (which her.e flows from west to east), one hundred and twenty mniles west of Jefferson City, and contained at that time not far fi’om five thlousand inhabitants. It is situated on a high rocky bluff, which slopes alnmost precipitously directly down to the be(d of the river, making a very steep ascent from the landing up into the city. Old Lexington was the early settlement, situated back on the hill. It has been superseded by New Lexington, farther tp the rives, where the steambo.-t laidclingr now is, and which is the principal vill:,(e. There are seatteritfg houses along the bluff between the two, and both are now iiiited under the name of Lexington. From the rear of the city the and e recedes slightly in alternate successions of beautiful prairie and choice timlber, and is well occupied by finely-cultivated fairms, yieldin( a iic support to this hitherto thriving place. The i e-enforcenments brought by Colo nel Mulligan raised the whole streng(th of the garrison to about eighteen hundred men, including several hindred home guards. HIis artillery consisted of five brass pieces and twxo miortars, but the mortars were valueless, as he had no shells. Hle at once commenced increasilng and streiigthening( the f)rtifications, which were placed on Masonic Iill, between the old and new towns,:l,n consisted of earthworks ten feet in height, with a ditch eighthl fteet in width.* Within these fortifications was a solid brick building, eiected for a college, which was used as quarters for the Union soldiers, and had been strengthened to resist an artillery attack. The lines of the fortifications vere extensive, and were capable of containing a force of teii thousand nlen. On the 7tli of Septeniler a deta,chmeniit of thie Feldeial troops went from Lexington to Warrensburg, twenty miles distant, and took a 156

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. quantity of coin from the bank there, but were pursued b’oy the Confederate forces under General Price, who was in the vicinity of Warrensburg. They reached Lexington on the 11th, and on the 12th the Federal pickets were driven in by skirmishers friom the advance-guard of the Confederates, under command of General Rains, who atta.cked them-with nine pieces of artillery, but was repulsed.

Skirmnishes occurred every day after this, and meantime the Confederate forice was constantly increasincr. Colonel Mulligan dispatched nmessenlgers to Jefferson City for reenforcements, but they were captured. General Fremont had, however, learned of his critical position, andi made efforts to relieve him, but unsuccessfully. The Coirfederates had surrounded the town, and their force was so large that they could repel the troops sent to the relief of the beleaguered town. Fifteen hundred Iowa troops, who had arrived within sixteen miles of the river, were met by a grieatly superior force and compelled to retire. Ialjor Stutrgis, withll four thousand more, reached the north bank of the river a few miles below, but the Confederates had destroyed or captured all the ferryboats for miles above and below, and they could not cross in time.

General Lane, from the southwest, near the Kansas River, and Colonel )avis, from the southeast, had both been sent forwarld, and their united forces amounted to eleven thousand men; but they could not reach the scene of action till it was too late. Affuirs, meantime, were getting desperate with the besieged. On the 17tti the water gave out, and the Confederates had cut them off firom the river, while the shells, falling into the intrenchments, where their cattle, horses, and mules were picketed, and their train was placed, prcdiuced great havoc. Rations also began to grow short, and the home guard were becoming discouraged anid mutinous. On the 18tt, GeIneral Pice sent a summons to Colonel Mulligan to surrender, to which that gallant commiander replied: “If you want us, you must take us.”

Tile sufferings of the Federal troops for water were very severe. A shower of rain falling, they spread out their blankets, and, absorbing what they could of it, wrung it out and drank it. The moon through th)e nights shone brightly, and the firing night and day was incess:rnt. It was evident, however, to the gallant Colonel, that his little force could not hold out longer, andl, after several desperate charges of the enemy had been repulsed, he sent out a flag of truce for a parley on the afternoon of the 20thi September. The only terms Geneiral Price would grant were unconditional surrender, the officers to be retained as prisoners of war, the men to be allowed to depart with their personal property, surrendering their arms and accoutrements. Reluctantly this was acceded to, and the surrender took place. At four P. tM. on Saturday, the 21st, the Federal forces, having la:id down their arias, were marchde out of the intrenchments to the tune of “Dixie,” played by the rebel band. They left behind them their arms and accoutrements, reserving only thleir clothing.

The prisoners were first malde to take the oath not toserve against the Confederate States, when they were sent across the river, and, in charge of General Rains, marchecl to Richmlrond, sixteen miles; from there they were marbched to II:trville and released. 107

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HISTORY OF THIE GREAT REBELLION. The Con-ederate General Price, in his official report, stated the resuits as follows: “Our entire loss in this series of engagements amounts to twentyfive killed and seventytwo wounded. The enemy’s loss was much greater. The visible fruits of this almost bloodless victory are great. About three thousand five hundred prisoners, among whom are Colonels Mulligan, Marshall, Peabody, and Whitigrover, Major Van Horn and one hundred and eighteen other commissioned officers, five pieces of artillery, and two mortars, over thirtythree thousand stand of infantry arms, a large number of sabres, about seven hundred and fifty horses, many sets of cavalry equipments, wagons, teams, ammunition, more than one hundred thousand dollars worth of commissary stores, and a large amount of other property. In addition to all this, I obtained the restoration of the great seal of the State and the public records, which had been stolen from their proper custodian, and about nine hundred thousand dollars in money, of which the bank at this place had been robbed, and which I have caused to be returned to it.”

There is good reason to believe that Price’s return of killed and wounded was much greater than he has stated. His return of prisoners captured is grossly inaccurate. The force of Colonel Mulligan had been weakened by the desertion of many of the home guard, and at the time of his surrender the number of officers and men was actually only two tholusand six hundred and forty. The Confederate force was about twentyone thousand five hundred.

The loss of men snstained on the Federal sidle, in the course of the siege, was forty-two killed and one hundred and eight wounded. General Fremont learned of the surrender on the 23d, and immediately forwarded to Washington the following dispatch: “HEADQUARTERS WESTERN DEPARTMENT, “ST.

LOUIS, September 23d, 1861. “Colonel E. D. TOWNSEND, A djutantGeneral: “I have a dispatch from Brookfield that Lexington has fallen into Price’s hands, he having cut off Mulligan’s supply of water. Reenforcements, four thousand strong, under Sturgis, by the capture of ferryboats, had no means of crossing the river in time. Lane’s forces, from the southwest, and Davis’s, from the southeast, upwards of eleven thousand in all, could also not get there in time. I am taking the field myself, and hope to destroy the enemy either before or after the junction of the forces under McCulloch. Please notify the President immediately. “J. C. FREMONT, “3fajor-General Comnianding.” There was considerable excitement throughout the country at the intelligence of General Mulligan’s surrrender, and there were not wanting those who bestowed severe censure upon General Fremont for not reenforcing him; but when the circumstances were fully understood, it appeared that these censures were unjust.

Colonel Mu]li(gan himself declared that GenQal Fremont was not in fault.

The troops he ha,d ordiered to Laxington to aid the besieged were more than threefourths of his entire available force at this time. Pursuant to his telegraphic-dispatch to the Government, under date of September 23d, Gperal Fremont, on the 27th of September, left St. Louis for Jefferson-City, and soon concentrated there twenty thousand men, preparatory to an advance on Lexington. Price, at Lexington, had meantime been preparing for an offensive 158

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. movement. His effective force was about twenty thousand. One September Pth he crossed over the river at Lexington, with four thousand mounted men. This force took up its line of march for the railroad, with the v-iew of its total destruction, after which sad havoc was to have been made with all the Government forces in Northwest Misso,iri. But intelligence received from some of his spies at St. Louis and Jefferson City, led him to change his plans; Fremont w’is approaching and might cut him offirom his base in Southwestern Missouri. He therefore counternmanded his order for sending troops to the railroad, and a messenger hlaving been immediately dispatched after those already started, they recrossed the river on Sunday morning. Tllat!iirht Price issued orders for a movement south. In the mean time General Sturgis, who h.id been holding St. Joseph’s, came down fi’omi the noith in time to shell the rearguard of Price fi’om across the river, as they left Lexington; and General Hllnter approached withl his troops from Rolla. Price and all his force left OD the 30th in the dire’ction of Popinsville, but returned to Greenfield on the road to Spriniifield. General Fremont, who had followed westwardl as far,s WVSarsaw, crossed the Osago River there after a short delay to brid(ge it, and moved towards Sp)ringfield by forced marches.

Gener.‘l Sigel, leaving lEo’.ivar, also pushlied for Spi’ingfield(. On the 25th ot’ October, a iearl-g,uard of two thousind Co.ife(-le;‘ates, who he ld S)rii)gfit.ld, was (charged by three hbundred of the body-guard of Getieial Frernont, ull(ler Major Zagonyi, and routed, with a loss of ninety killed and wounded, the Federals lositig fifteen kille(d, twentyseven wounded, and teli missing. On the 27th, General Fremont occul)ied Springfield, after fo,Icec(I marches, in which his troops had suffered tei’ribly. Meanwhile Lexington had been reoccupied by a Federal foice. While Pu’.ce was retreating, McCtllochi was advancing firom the south, an,tl thes.e two formed a junction, with which they again menaced Sl)ringfield. The chlarges against General Firemont had led the Secretary of War, IHon. Simon Cameton, to visit Missouni in person, taklinz’with himn AdjutantGeneral Thomas. They m:ide a rapid visit to St. Louis, and to the caiinp of the geneial at Tipton, an(l on their return to St. Louis transmitted to General Friemont the following order: “ST. Louis, Mo., October 14th, 1861. GENERAL:-The Secretary of War directs me to communicate the following, as his instructions for your government. “In view of the heavy sumns due, especially in the quartermaster’s departmer.nt in this city, amounting to some $4,500,000, it is important that the money whichli may now be in the hands of the disbursing officers, or be received by them, bie applied to the current expenses of your army in missouri, and these debts to remain unpaiid until they can be properly examined, and set to Washington for settlement: the disbursing officers of the army to disbursethe funds, and not transfer theii to irresponsible agents -in other words, those who do not hold commissions from the President, and are not under bonds. All contracts necessary to be m’de, to be made by the disbursing officers. The senior quartermaster here has been verbally instructed by thle Secretary as above. “It is deemed unnecessary to erect fielt-works around this city, and you will direct their discontinuance; also those, if any, in course ol’ construcetion at Jeflerson City. In this connection it is seen that a number of commissions have been given by you. No payments will bo made to such officers, except to those whose appointments have been 159

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. approved by the President. This, of course, does not apply to the officers with “Volunteer troops. Colonel Andrews has been verbally so instructed by the Secretary; also, not to make transfers of fiunds except for the purpose of paying the trtops. “The erection of barracks near your quarters in this city to be at once discontinued. “The Sec: etarv has been informed that the troops of General Lane’s command are committing depredations on our friends in Western Missouri. Your attention is directed to this, in the expectation that you will apply the corrective “Major Allen desires the services of Captain Turnley for a short time, and the Secretary hopes 3oyou imay find it proper to accede thieretq. I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant, “L. ThIOMAS, A(Ijutan.tGeneral. “MajorGeneral J. C.

FnEfMO.-T. ‘Comrmaitdinj De2e)ar!a,ieIft of the lltest, Lipton, ro.” This order indicated tlhat hlis removal was intended, but he still pushed on after the eiemy, resolved, if possible, to achieve a victory before layiing down his conlnanil. On the 2d of November, hownever, he ireceived at Spr)iingfield ani ordei to l ransfer his conmmand to INajorGener.-ll Ilutlt(r, with whi,. h he lio!.l,tly complied, and after isstiing a fatewell o. der, taking lIcave of 1-.s troops, he left for St. Loulis, his staff’nrI bodiy-gua’d it(companyilig hiin. On the day 1)revious to his remo.al, l ie hai( enite.ed in-to an agreemienit w-ith the ConfeCderate General Piice, by which both parties bound themselves to break up the practice of ai i ests for the ineire entertainment o)r expflression of po0itiaIl opinio,s,:ind to protect I:eaceable citizens in llir houses.

TIiis aGYeenenat Generial Hunter repudiated on the 7th of fovemnber The Fed r;al oituce in MIissouri at that time wvas estir.mated at twentyseven thousand miell, of whomn five thousand were under tl)e immediate co,mnimand of Ge,eral Hunter, four thousand under General Sigel, lour thousand five lhundred under General Asboth, five tlhousind five hundred iiunder General AIcKintstiy-, four thousand under Genleral P)pe, two thousand five h.undred under General Lane, and one thousand five hundred tindcr General Sturgis. It was understood that General Price was at Cassville with twentyfive thousand men, and that MIcCulloch, with ten thlous.ani(l more, was advancing’with tle intention of offerin,g battle at Wilson’s Creek; the scene of their former victory. The Union ai,my was concentrating. Generals Lanle, Stulrgis, Pope, and MIcIc.nstry reached Springfield November 2d, and General Asboth, who accompanied General Fremont to St. Louis, left his division in charge of General Carr. CHAPTER

XII. Kentucky.-Vote of the Stat-Meeting of Legislatiire.-M3essage of Governor. Kentucky’ for the Ution.-Breckinridge’s Proclamation.-Military Movemerts. Cairo.-Columbus, its Position anrd Strengtli.-Paducali.-Concentration of Troops. Mill Sprig. Defeat and Death of Zoilicoffer.-Constriiction of Glniboats.-Capture of Fort Ilentry.-Bowling Green Evactiated.-Fort Donelson.-Escape of Pillow and Floyd.-Fall of Nasliville.-Colulbus Evaceated.-Missouri under General HIalleck. THE State of Kentucky attemnpte(l to maintain he,’ neutrality for sex al nionths -after heli Goverinor, Ia:goffln, had peremptorily refused I 160

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ISTORY OF TE GREAT REBELLION. to supply troops at the call of the President, when the fall of Sumter hlad arouse,1 tile North. The address already alluded to, which was issued itn Iay, to the people of Kentucky, wvhile adyisng that slhe shouldi lemain true to the Constitution and the Union, and insist upon her constilutional lights in the Union, defended neutrality in the folowing language: Your State, on a deliberate consideration of her responsibilities-moral, political, atid social-has determined that the proper course for her to pursue is to take no h,ait in the controversy between the Government and the seceded States but that of?ned(lia/or and intercessor. She is unwilling to take up arms against her brethren residing either north or southl of the geographical line by which tlhey are unhappily divided into Nwarring sections. This course was commended to her by every consideration of patriotism, and by a proper regard for her own security. It does not result from timidity; on the contrary, it could only have been adopted by a brave peopleso brave that the least imputation on their courage would be branded as false by their written and traditional history. “Kentucky was right in taking this position-because, from the commencement of this deplorable controversy.

her voice was for reconciliation, compromise, and peace. She had no cause for complaint against the General Government, and made none.‘rThe injuries she sustained in her property from a failure to execute laws passed for its protection, in conseultence of illegal interference by wicked and deludedl citizens of the Free States, she considered as wholly insufficient to justify a dismemberinent of the Union. That she regardled as no remedy for existing evils, but an aggravation of them all. She witnessed, it is true, with deep concern, the growth of a wild and frenzied fanaticism in one section, and a reckless and defiant spirit in another, both equally threatening destruction to the country, and tried earnestly to arrest them, blut in vain. We will not stop to trace the causes of the unhappy condition in which wie are now placed, or to criminate either of the sections to the dishonor of the other, but can say that we believed both to have been wrong, and, in their madness and lollv, to have inaugurated a war that the Christian world looks upon with amazement and sorrow; and that lil)berty, Christianity, and civilization stand appalled at the horrors to which it will give rise.” Tile address was signed by J. J. Crittenden, President; Janmes Guthrie, RI. 1I.

Wllli,tns, Archibald Dixon, F. MI. Bristov, Joshua F. Bell, C. A. W ick iffe, G. W. Dunlap, C. S. IMoreliead,* J. F. Robinson, John B. I-uston, lobert Richardson. Ex-Governor Moirehead, who signed this doe,inii.nt, was subsequently arrested and confined in Fort Lafayette on a cha,ge of treason. So restricted hadt the intercourse between the North and South now become, that c,)mmuntieation was to a great extent closed, except by the Louisville ind Nashville Railroad. It had beeni long mi;inifest that the l)loclkade of the South could not be complete until the transit of supplies by this rotite was cut cot The doubtfuli position of IKentaucky, howev-cer, made this interference with her internal tirade a delicate matter. The road in question is one hundred ind eighty-five mniles long, of wliicli only forty-seen miles are in the State (;f Tennessee; and the greater part of the cost of building and equil)ping it had been sustained by citizens of Kentucky. On the 1st of July, a Tennessee general, Andel(rson, ordered the company to keep moree rolling * Mr. Si orthea d appende4 to the adt(iress the fol-Geieral Governinent to I)rosecite the civil war lowing explanation: 1 haIve sined the roregoing n,ow M()ing on.

and( the lj,iry of nitutatiy withaddress, because I approve of the policy therein out cnsidering iiyself c(niiiiittedl t, all that is indicated, of refusing to fulirnish troops to the said upon other matters. C.S.

MSOP.MIAD.” 11 161

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HISTORY OF TIlE GREKAT REBELLION. stock in Nashville. To this James Guthrie, of Kentucky, president of the road, replied that he was not under the military orders of Ten nessee. General Anderson consequently seized two trains going out of Nashville, and one that came in, and then demanded a fair division of the rolling stock. AIr. Guthrie, in response, implied assent, if he could have a guarantee against further interference. This brought out Governor Harris, of Tennessee, as the real mover in the matter. SIr. Guthrie then refused assent, whereupon Governor Harris immediately closed the road; an act of great folly, since it stopped supplies, of which the South was much in need, coming from Louisville, and not only effected that completion of the blockade which the Fe(-deral Government sought, but decided Kentucky in favor of the Unrlionl, by placing the Confederates clearly in the wrong. All further questions in relation to the blockade were thus disposed of. There were, indeed, other routes for supplies through Kentucky, but the closing of that road gave such a turn to affairs as to decide the awhole question. Towards the close of the summer a small encampment of Union troops, called “Camp Dick Robinson,” was formed in Garrard County, which was complained of as an infringement of neutrality. It was stated, however, in reply, that the troops were assembled at the call of the Union men of Kentucky to defend the State in case of invasion. Commissioners were sent to President Lin!coln in August to remonstrate against the presence of the force and demalnd its removal from the State, in order that peace might be preserved. The President refused to comply with this demand, stating that citizens of Kentucky had(l requested the troops to remain. A similar letter was sent to Jefferson Davis, in consequence of the invasion of Kentucky by a Tennessee force, and the fact that the Confed(rate Congress had, August 18th, passed an act authorizing thte enlistment of troops in Kentucky. Davis replied, to the effect that neutrality, to be entitled to respect, must be strictly maintained towards both parties. The Legislature of Kentuckly met September 3d, and a laige barbecue was held on the 5th.

These events caused great al:irm among Unionists, the more so that the State Guard was invited to attend. They were about fifteen thousand strong, and under the control of the secessionists of the State. Their fears, however, proved to be groundless. The Legislature stood-Senate, twentyseven Union, eleven se(cession; House, seventysix Union, twenty four secession. The message of the Governor asserted the right of Kentucky to a neutral position, and that slhe had( not approved of the sectional party in the Free States, or of the secession of the Southernri States. HIe complained that Kentuckly had suffered outrages from both sides; that a Federal camp had been organize& in the State without the State authorities bein!: consulted, and declared that troops in Kentucky should be obtained under autlhority of its constitution only. He therefore advised the passage of resolutions requesting the disbandii)g of the military bodies not under St.te, authority. About the same time a body of Confederate troops, uinder General Leonidas Polkl, entered the State, and intrenched themselves at Hickman and Columbus. Governor IMagoffin immediately’ received a dispatch from General Grant, com. 162

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HISTORY OF THE GRE AT REBELLIO1N. manding at Cairo, stating that Tennessee troops hlad entered Columbus Governor Magoffin telegraphed to Governor Harris, protesting against this, to which Governor hIarris replied, that he would request President Davis to withdraw the troops at once. General Polk issued the following proclamation at Columbus, Kentucky, September 14th:  “The Federal Government having, in defiance of the wishes of the people of Kentucky, disregarded their neutrality by establishing camp dep6ts of armies, and by organizing military companies within her territory, andtby constructing military works on the Missouri shore, immediately opposite and commanding Columbus, evidently intended to cover the landing of troops for the seizure of that town, it has become a military necessity, for the defence of the territory of the Confederate States, that the Confederates occupy Columbus in advance. The majorgeneral commanding has, there fore, not felt himself at liberty to risk the loss of so important a position, but has decided to occupy it in pursuance of this decision. He has thrown sufficient force into the town, and ordered to fortify it. It is gratifying to know that the presence of his troops is acceptable to the people of Columbus, and on this occasion he assures them that every precaution shall be taken to insure their quiet, protection to their property, withl personal and corporate rights.”

In consequence of this movement of General Polk, General Grant left Cairo on the 6th with two regiments of inlantry, one company of light artiliery, and two gunboats, and took possession of Paducah, Kentucky, near the mouth of the Tennessee River. He found secession flags flying in different parts of the city, in expectation of the arrival of the Southern army, which w as reported three thousand eight hundred sti-ong, sixteen miles distant.

The loyal citizens tore down the secession flags on the arrival of the Federal troops. Geneial Grant took possession of the telegraph office, railroad d6p6t, and imarine hospital. He found large quantities of complete rations and leather for the Southern army. He then issued the following prolamation: “I have come among you, not as an enemy, but as your fellow-citizen. Not to maltreat or annoy you, but to respect and enforce the rights of all loyal citizens. “An enemy in rebellion against our common Government has taken possession of and planted his guns on the soil of Kentucky and fiRed upon you. Columbus and Hickman are in his hands. Ye is moving upon your city. I am here to defend you against thlis enemy, to assist the authority and sovereignty of your Government. “I Ilave nothing to do with opinions, and shall deal only with armed rebellion and its alders and -bettors. You can pursue your usual avocations without fear. The strong arm of the Government is here to protect its friends and punish its enemies. “Whenever it is manifest that you are able to defend yourselves, and maintain the authority of the Government, and protect the rights of loyal citizens, I shall withdraw the forces under my command. “U. S. GRAX-T, Prigadier-General Commanding.” On the 9th, the following statement by four commissioners, appointed from Tennessee to maintain friendly relations with Kentucky, was communicated by Governor 3goffin to the Legislature: “The undersigned yesterday received a verbal message, through a messenger, from Governor Harris. The message was-that he (Governor Harris) had, by telegraph dispatch, requested General Polk to withdraw he Confederae troops from Kentucky, and that General Polk had declined to do so; that Governor Harris then telegraphed to Secretary Walker, at Richmond, requesting that General Polk be ordered to wits draw his troops from Kentucky, and that such order was issued from the War Departmeat of the Confederacy; that General Polk replied to the War Department that the 163

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HIISTORY OF TIlE GREAT REBELLION. retention of the post was a military necessity, and that the retiring from it would bo attended by the loss of many lives.” On the same day a dispatch from General Polk to Governor Magoflin was laid betore the Legislature, the substance of which was, that hle h.-d occupied Columbus and Hickman, on account of reliable information that the Federal forces were about to occupyv these points; that he considered the safety of Western Tennessee arid of the Confederate army in the vicinity of Hickman and Columbus dem:lnded their occupation by the Confederate forces; and that, in corroboration of these statements, the Federal troops had been drawn lup in line on the river opposite to Columbus prior to its occupation by the Coufedlerate forces, causing many of the citizens of Columbus to flee from their homes, for fear of the entrance of the Federal troops. General Polk proposed substantially, that the Federal and CoI)federate forces shouldbe simultaneously withldrawvn from Kenttucky, and-l enter into recognizances and stipulations to respect the neutrality of that State. It was so evident that the purpose of this proposal was to place Kentucky in a condition favorable to her being dragg(ed into secession, that the loyal Legislature had no hesitation in regard to the course to be pursued. On the 11th of September the House of RIepresentatives adopted a series of resolutions directing the Governor to call out the military of the State to expel the Confederate troops, encamped on the soil of IKentucky. The vote on the passage of the resolutions stood seventyone in favor to twenty-six againist. The House then refused to amend the resolutions, in order to require both the Federal and Confederate troops to evacuate the St:ite. Thie Governor vetoed the resolutions passed. Both houses, however, immediately passed them over his veto. Mea,itime, General Felix Zollicoffer, of Tennessee, had, with a large body of rebel troops, marched through Cumberland Gap into Kentucky. He telegraphed to Gover,or Magoffin on September 14th that thie safety of Tennessee demunded the occupation of Cumberland Gal) and the tiree long m(-)untainis in Kentucky, and that he should hold them until the Union forces were withdrawn. This was laid before the Legislature. The decision expressed by the resolutions above mentioned was hailed( with great satisfaction by the friends of Union. It is difficult to exag(,eraite the importance of this act on the part of tlhe State.

Whether viewed in its relation to the material or moral aspects of the civil strife in the land, the active adhesion of Kentlicky to the Union cause was a momentous event. But it was specially valuable for the testimony it bore to the rightfulness and thie necessity of the belligerent issue which the National Goveinment had been coinl)elled to accept. Colonel Thomas L. Crittenden, of the Sixth Indiana Regiment, was the first to brinn ti’oops in aid of the State; and Governor ilagoffin issued his proclaia:ition, ordering him to execute the objects col;templated by the resolutions of the Kentucky Legislature in reference to the expulsiqn of the invaders. General Crittendlei ordered the military to muster forthwith into service. Hamilton Pope, Briga 164

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. dierGeneral of the Home Guard, also called on the people of each waid to meet in the evening, and organize into companies for the protection of the city. General Robert Anderson, the hero of Fort Sumter, by order of the Fedeial Governinent, assumed comnmand of the State and National forces on September 20th, and issued the following proclamation, September 21st: “KE.\TUCIKIAXS:-Called by the Legislature of this my native State, I hereby assume command o’f this department. I come to enforce, not to make laws, and, God willing, to protect your property and lives. The enemies of the country have dared to invade our soil. Kentucky is in danger. She has vainly striven to keep peace with her neighbors. Oatr State is now invaded by those who professed to be her friends, but wcIo now seek to conquer her. No true son of Kentucky can longer hesitate as to his duty to his State and country.‘he invaders must, and, God willing, will be expelled. The leader of the hostile forces [General Buckner] who now approaches is, I regret to say, a Kentuckian, making war on Kentucky and Kentuckians. Let all past difilren’es of opinion be overlooked. Every one wiho now rallies to the support of our Unioll and onr State is a firiend. Rally, then, my countrymen, around the flag our fathers lo,e(d, and wliich has shielded us so long. I call you to arms for self-de’elice, and for the protection of all that is dear to freemen. Let us trust in God, and do our duty as did our fathers. ROBERT ANDERSON, “BrigadierGeneral U. S. A.”

Brig:rd(lierGeneral Crittenden also issued a proclamation calling for troops,:tiad directing the State Guard to rendezvous at Louisville.

Immedliately upon the appearance of these documents, General A. S.

Johlnstoi,, general and commander of the Western Department of the ni’my of the Confederate States, headquarters at Memphlis, issued a countei-procla.mation, to the effect that his troops were present to aid the people of Kentucky in maintaining their neutrality, by helping thlen to (diivNe out the Federal invaders. Thus was Kentucky launched into the contest for the maintenance of the Government and the preservatioli of the Union. On the 23d of September, a bill was passed by hi(r Legisl.ature, authorizing a loan of one million dollars, for the defence of the State, in addition to a like sum authorized May 24th, in State l)ond.s, payal)le in ten years, and levying a tax to pay the b)onds and interest. A bill calling out foity thousand volunteers was also passed-sixty-seven to thirteen in the House, twentyone to five in the Sena-te-to serve one to three years; and one declaring that Kentucki,tiis voluiitarily taking service with the Confederate States should be inc:pl):tl)le of acquiring real estate in Kentucky, unless they returned to theiu allegiance within sixty days. Thanks were returned to Ohio, Illinois, and In(liaria, for forwardin tl’oops to the State’s aid. On the 1st of October, a resolution was posed-twenty to five in the Senate, fiftyfive to thirtyone in the IIouse-requesting John C. Breekinridge and L. W. Powell to resign their seats as senators in Congress Should tlhey f il to comply, Congress was requested to investigate their condtct, and if it was found to be in opposition to the Government, to expel tlhem. The banks of Kentucky promised to fiurnish their quota of the two loans of a million d(4lal’s each, which had been authorized in i:ay and September. Under these laws, the State was brought fully into the field, with arms and money, for the cause of the Union. 165 .

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MISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. The Legislature then adjourned until November 27th, having issued an address to the people of the State, in which it was declared that the neutral attitude of Kentucky had been admitted by the United States, but violated by the Confederates, leaving the State no choice but to exert its authority and drive out the invaders.

In the mean time, the Confederates continued to pour across the border, and gradually concentrated to the number of thirteen riegiments of infantry, six field batteries, three battalions of cavalry, with three steaml)oats on the MIi.sissippi River, at Columbus under Generals Polk anwd Pillow, and at Cumberland Gap under General Zollicoffer. General Buckner, formerly commander of the State forces, to whose treachery the Legislature charged the demo,‘alization of the State troops, appeared within twentyfive miles of Louisville. He had advanced under assurances of large reenforcements, but as these were not forthcoming, he fell back upon Bowling Green. The different recruiting stations and points occupied by the Confederates for offensive operations in Kentucky, at the beginuing of October, were estimated to contain forces numbering as follows: Hickman, under General Polk……………………………. 10,000

Bowling Greenr, under General Buckner……………………… 7,000

Cumberland,Gap, under General Zollicoffer………………….. 5,000

Owen County, under Humphrey Marshall…………………… 600

Warsaw……………………………………………… 400 Near Hazel Green, under J. C. Breckinridge………………….. 800 Near West Point………………………………………. 300

Bloomfield…………………………………………… 200 Total rebel forces in Kentucky………………………… 24,300 The Union forces near Louisville numbered twenty thousand. Considerable bodies of troops also continued to pour in from Ohio and Indiana, centring at Covington and other points. There had been numerous organizations, under the name of home guards, in the State, for drill and elementary instruction. These embraced many troops who ultimately left the State, the larger portion joining the Confederates, though some were incorporated with Federal troops. The force under Zollicoffer had,a slight skirmish at Barbourville, September 18th, with the home guards at that place. The Confederates had been scouting the country to Winchester, committing more or less depredations, and onI October 1st retreated to Cumberland Ford, which they fortified. This is fifteen miles within the Kentucky line, and thus commanded Cumberland Gap in their rear, a point very essential to communicaObn between Kentucky and Western Viig,inia. A Federal force ~f Ohio and Indiana’ troops, with some Kentucky volunteers, under the command of General Schoepf, was about this time assembled at Camp AViM Cat, in Southeastern Kentucky; and on the 21st of October, Colonel Coburn, of tl-he Thirty-third Indiana, pursuant to orders, took three hundred and fifty men, with a portion of Colonel Woolford’s Kentucky Cavalryv, and advanced to take pos.session of an eminence, half a mile to the east of the camp. This force was attacked by two regiments of Zollicoffer’s troops, who, shouting 166

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HISTORY OF TTIE GREAT REBELLION. that they were Union men, approached within a short distance, and took deliberate aim bof,re the falsehood was discovered. The Indiana trool)s, not relishing tl)is cowardly trick, returned a well-directed and steady fire, and tl)e enemy precipitately retired. During the engagement C(olonel Coburn was twi,ie reenforced, and repelled two successive attacks made by Zollioffier’s troops, who finally retired to Barbourville. The Federal loss waas six killed and twenty wounded. The rebel loss was mtuch moire considerable. General Schioepf’s headquarters were soon after established at Somerset, thirty miles east of London, where he had command of about seven thousand men, or, with the force at Camp Ca!vert, ten thousand. General George B. Crittenden colnmande(l the Confederate troops in East Tennessee and( East Kentucky, and was at Cumberland with a large force, threatening East Kentuckly.

There were also a number of Union troops at London and Wild Cat, on the Lexington and Cumberland road. General Buc’kner, on occupying Bowling Green, issued a proclamation to the l)e)ple of Kentucky, dated Scptember 18th. He charged the Legislature with having been faithless to the will of the peel)le, and asserted that it was only after the State had, under the proclamation of Pres’,dent Lincolin, been occupied by United States troops, that the Confederates entered the State; also, that the Confederate troops, on the invitation of the citizens of Kentucky, entered the State to assume a defensive position only. ” We do not,”’ said he, “come to molest any citizen, whatever may be his political opinions.

Unlikle the agent of the Northern despotism, whlo seek to reduce us to the condition of dependent vassals, we believe that the recognition of the civil rights of citizens is the foundation of constitutional liberty, and that the claim of the President of the United States to declare martial law, to suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corp-ts, and to convert every barrack and prison in the land into a Bastile, is nothing but the claim which other tyrants have assumed to subjugate a free people.

The Confederate States occupy Bowling Green as a defensive position.” The southern portion of Kentucky was now in complete possession of the Confederates. The reenforcements that Buckner expected on his advance to Louisville he did not get; but the news of the surrender of Mulligan at Lexington, Missouri, caused great numbers to rally round him, and all opposition to the Southern invaders seemed to be extiinguished in Southern Kentucky. Bowling Green was fortified and held, and Buckner sent troops from town to town, expelling the refractory, receiving the submission of the weak and mercenary, and bringing the whole country under Confederate sway. On the 24th of September General Anderson issued the following order: “iHEA/-QUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE CUMBa3ERLAND, “LO.UISVILLE, KY., S)te);zb)er 24th, Sl1861. ‘The commanding general, understanding that apprehension is entertained by citizens of this State who have hitherto been in opposition to the policy now adopted by the State, hereby gives not-ice that no Kqptuekian shall be arrested who remains at home, attending to his business, and does not takes part, eiLther by action or speech, against the authority of the General or State Government, or does not hold correspondence with, or give aid or assistance to, those who have chosen to array themselves against us as our enemies. ROBERT ANDERSON, “BrigadierGeneral U. S. A., Commanding.” 167

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HISTORY OF TIE GREAT REBELLION. The health of General Anderson soon failed him, and he was compelled to re;ii3iquish his command on the 8th of October, wlichl he did by the following order: “HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT

OF TIIE CUMBERLAND, } “LOUISVILLE, KY., October Sth, 1861. “The following telegraphic order was received yesterday at these hlead-quarters: ”’

BrigadierGeneral ANDERSON: ”’ To give -yol riest necessary to restoration of health, call BrigadierGeneral Sherman to command the Department of the Cumberland. Turn over to hiim your ilnstructions, and report lhete in person as soon as you may without retarding your recovery. ”’ WVINFIELD

SCOTT. “‘WASHINGTON, D. C., October 6th, 1861.’ “In obedience to the above order, I hereby relinquish the command of this department to BrigadierGeneral Sherman. Regretting deeply the necessity vwhichl renders this step proper, I do it with less reluctance because my successor, Br igadierGeneral Sherman, is the man I had selected for that purpose. God grant that lie Irlay be the means of delivering this department from the marauding bands who, under t]he guise of relieving anid befiiending Kentucky, are doing all the injury they can to those who will not join them in their accursed warfare. ” ROBERT ANDERSON, BrigadierGeneral U. S.

A., C’omnntunding.” BrigadierGeneral W. T. Sherman, of Ohio, who succeeded to the command, was himself disabled by ill health in a few weeks, and on the 8th of November General Don Carlos Buell* was appointed in his place. On the 8th of October, J. C. Breckinridge issued an address to the people of Kentucky, resigning his senatorship. He said: “I exclhange, with proud satisfaction, a term of six years in the United States Senate, for the musket of a soldier……. There is no oner a Senate of the United States within the meaning and spirit of the Constitution-the United States no longer exists-the Union is dissolved.”

Mr. Breckinridge was occupied at Prestonburg raising troops for the Confederate army. In the beg(inning of November, a small Federal force w-as collected in Eastern Kientucky under the command of General Nelson, a lieutenant in the navy, wiho h-id bteen detached from hiis n.-tval duties and sent to his native State, Kentucky. having occip)ied Prestonburg, Noveml)er 2o(l, without resistance from the enemy, who fell back about six miles, he issued the following proclamation: majorgeneral of vwinnteers in Larch. 1S62. ITl took pa rt in the secvIlLri ay’s fhilt at tihe battle of Shiloh, an(I in Jtunie, 18(;2, atssutlled command ofthe military disi,t,i l o eccupied tie fortified posts in Nortlheirn Ai sissippi all Alabama, until Bm’agg>‘s invasion,t KentuXl;, wheire lie essayed to pursiue hiii. IIe r eahe(d,ouisville, lwithout ovettakini-

(IDag on S,I,teii-,bcr 2-4. alg(l,is soon after relievedI of lhis comnd.ii Bu(lt h’l in..t been temporarily tre^store(l, he ali( n f,,ll,)we( the-rebel ariny on its reti:t into Toenniessee. but too sl(owly to overtake it. On O(tober‘30tli, lbe was, permanenitly relieved. A co1rt of inquiryv at(,quitted him of blame in this baml tai~n. bit he held no further command, and in i864 resigned. * Don Carlos Biuell was born in Ohio about 1S1, entered West’Point in 1ST, gAlnatd(l in 1S4l. aid ia.s l)pomoted to a first-lieuitenancy in 14SIS. lie ic(civedl the brevet rank o(f cpt mptin for gallant c(,,nl.,,t at Monterey in 1S6, anal stibsequently thiat of ilajo, for ireriitorioutis l)eha rior at C,,nitrcrs a nd Chlirubusce,, where he A-as wounde(l. lie serve(l as assistant adjutapt-general in IS48:S fIr several years afterwalls, and a in lS51 Ielinqtolished his rank in the line. In August, lS61. he,as appointed brigadiergeneral of volunteers, andl assigned to a command on the Potoiiiae. lie sceeded General W. T. Shrmnan in comiiann(I of the Dicpartment of the Ohio on the 5th Lf November, 1861, and was confilrmed as 168

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tISTOPRY OF TIIE GREAT REBELLION. “HEADQUARTERS, CAMP AT PRESTONBURG, I “

Noevebemr 5ta. 1861. “Having this day occupied the town of Prestonburg with the forces under my comnmald. I declare to all whom it may concern: That the jurisdiction of the State of Kentutcky is restored in this section of the State, and that the regular fall terms of the courts will be held in those counties in whilch the time for holding thle same has not )passed. All tile civil officers are ordered to attend at the times and places of holding said courts, and attend to the duties of their respective offices. “Given under my hand, this 5th day of November, 1861.

“W. NELSON. ‘By command of BrigadierGeneral NELSON, ‘ JNO. M. DUKE, Aide-de-Camp.” A Confederate force at this time occupied Piketon, the capital of Pike County, on the west fork of the Big Sandy River, under Colonel John S. Williamns. It numbered about one thousand men, but was expe(.ting to be re-eljforced by artillery, and had in charge a large amount of public prioperty. On the 8th of November, General Nelson sent a considcrable force, by way of John’s Creek, to turn the left of the Coafi(ldeiate position, while with three Ohio regiments, a battalion of Kentucky volunteers, and two sections of artillery, he himself proceeded on the direct road to Piketon. B,lt Colonel Williams, by ski]ful manceuvi’ing, delayed the Federal advance until the p,‘operty in his charge could be hurried off, when he retreated rapidly with slight loss.

On the 1 7th of December, four companies of the Thirty-secocl Indian,, thrown cut in advance of Muaifordsville, on the Louisville and Nashville Raiiroad, forty-two miles north of Bowling Green, encountered a party of Texan Rangers, who charged them, and were received with a slha’l1) fire.

The infantry were then ordered to rally upon an adjoining wood. In the act they were charged by the Texan horsemen, -ind a desperate hand-to-hand encounter ensued, the Indianians making use of their sword-bayonets. They soon gained the woods, and were re-enoaced by two other regiments, when the Texans fled, leaving manv deadl, including their colonel, lupon the field. The Federal loss was thirteen killed and as many wounded. The main operations of this season were in Western Kentucky, where the Noi tliei n ti oops were being organized with the view of opening and defenidin the navigation of the Mississippi. The State of Illinois furnished a lai-re portion of the men who fought in Missouii and Kentucky, and in September had already sent into the field over fifty thousanid infintry, four thousand cavalry, and ten batteries of artillery, besides over ten thousand men in quads and companies, who had enlisted in other States. It had aso furnished the following general officers to the army: Major-G(eneral David Hunter. BrigadierGeneral John A. McClernand.

BrigadierGeneral John Pope. ]lrigadier-General Benjamin M. Prentiss, BrigadierGeneral U. S. Grant. BrigadierGeneral E. A. Paine.

BrigadierGeneral S. A. Iturlbut. Two of these generals, Pope’ and Hunter, were in command in Misouri, and General Grant at Cairo, where Illinois troops had assembled 169

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. in April. This city, situated in Southern Illinois, at the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, is surrounded with lev6es forty-two feet above low water, to protect it firom the overflow of the rivers, which rise, at ordinary floods, thirtyfive feet, and is entirely com manded by J)ird’s Point, Missouri. Troops can cross from Kentucky to Miss(ouri fi’oin old Fort Jefferson, four miles below Cairo, and hlave easy access to Biid’s Point without being( seen from Cairo. On the Kentucky shore there is a ridge which also commands Cairo. The width of the Mississippi and the Ohio at this point is about three quarters of a mile each. Cairo, on its occupation, became an impor tant point of concentration for men and gunboats in the expedition against the Confederates in Kentucky and Tennessee. In August the railroads in Western Tennessee were taken possession of by the State authorities, as was alleged, for the purpose of coniveying tioop)s towards Cairo. This movement had caused the difficulty I)etweeii Tennessee and Kentucky. About eight thousand troops, howeive, crossed the river to New Madrid, in Southeastern Missouri, where they were joined by others friom Tennessee, Arkansas, and Missollri, the whole of whom, it wvas asserted, were about to at’tack Cairo. It was tlhis intended expedition which engaged General Fremont’s attention soon after his arrival at St. Louis, in July, 1861.

The troops sent by Fry mont raised the Union force at Cairo to eight thousand men, and Illinois troops were subsequently added, under the command of General Grant. The Confederates, upon taking possession of Columbus, September 4th, immediately commenced to fortify it with all the nmeans at their disposal, the position being regarded in thl)e Confederacy as the northern key to the mouth of the Mississippi. It is situated in Kentucky, on the Mississippi River, eighteen miles below Cairo by water, forty seven miles from Paducah, and forty-five miles above Island No. 10, in the Mississippi River, and is the terminus of the Mobile and( Ohio Railroad. Nine miles below, at Hickman, the Nashville and Northwiestern Railro.ld terminates. The town lies on the slope of a thigh bluff on the Mlississi-))i bank, and commands the stream for five miles. Here were placed in battery three one hundred and twventy-ei,ight Ipound guns, seventy-five feet above the water. Farther up were fourteen rifled guns; on the northern slope of the bluff were two light batteries, and a riflepit one mile in length. These were designed to protect t he place against a land attack fi’om the north. On the summit of the hill wXas a s-ronglyintrenched work commanding the position in all directions, and arme,[ with eight guns on the south side; anid to protect the town fi’om a rear attac, was a small battery of eig])t cunis. The guns in position were, estimated at over one hundred. On the ixiver was a floating I)attery of twenty guns, capable of being moved to the most exposed points. The number of troops occupying and manning these batt(eIXies was probably not fq from thirty thousand, under Gecei-al Lb onid;,s Polk. While these movements were in progiress, P.idu(:ah was seized by the Union troops under General Grant, barely in time to anticipate General Polk? who ha(l already moved with the same initen. tion. It is a place of considerable military importance, and its position 170

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. near the mouth of the Tennessee River, fifty miles firom Cairo, made it a d(,sir;lble rendezvous to the Unionists for expeditions dow-vn the Mis sissi1]lji; while by the Confederate general it was consi(lered( necessary to the defence of his rear on the Mississippi. By the 6th of St1)tember about five thousand Federal troops were concentrated at Paduc:h, who could thJus assail the Confederate position in the southwest, by a line shorter and less exposed than from Missouri. The olosing of the iail road also stopped the departure of large supplies of provisions and military stores, which for months previous had been going to the South. As the place commands the Tennessee River, tlhe commerce of that strea,qm was also stopped. The surface of the country presented no means of defence against expeditions either on the line of the railroad or up the river. On both sides great accumulations of troops continued to be made through the month of November. On the 1st of Deccn)ber, the Federal troops in Kentucky wvere estimated at over fifty th-ous,ind, consisting chiefly of Western regiments. At the same time, accoirding to the official retnrns of the State military board at Frankfort, Kentucky, the number of recruits from that State in the United States ailmy was upward of twentyfive thousand. These large preparations were crowned with such success, that by March 1st, 1862, every Confederate soldier had left the State. When, about the middle of November, General Zollicoffcr madle his camp at Mill Spring, on the southern bank of the Cumberland, he deteirmined also to occupy the opposite, or northern bank, at Citmp Beach Grove. This he fortified with earthwoiks, and placed there five regimen:s of infantry, twelve guns, and several hundred cavalry keeping at Mill Spring two regiments of infantry, and a fewv hundred horse. About the first of January General George B. Crittenden arrived and took command, and soon after the l)rigade of General C’,rr(oll came from Knloxville. On the 6th of January General Crittenden issued a pr(ocl’amltion calling upon the people to join the Southern standard and repel the invaders, and denouncing in strong terms what he called the (lduplicity and falsehood of the Federal Executive. Ihis address does not appe’ar to have been followed by any very important restilts. Jie seems to have been, at this very timie, far more in want of food than of men. At the same time a Union force was at Columbia, twentyfive miles northwest of Beach Grove Camp, and Schoepf held Somerset, fifteen miles east.

Between these twvo positions runs Fishing Creek, then so much swollen by rain that it could not be crossed. On the 17th of January, pursuant to orders *om General Buell, General Tlhomras advanced and occupied Iogaii’s Cross-Roads, ten miles north of the Beach Grove camp. The enemy were in a position which was untenable, for want of provisions. They were on short allowalnce, and the neiglhboring country had been eh.aisted. The Uniiion troops at Columbi:l commanded the Cumberland River, by whi(ch supplies might have been drawn firom Nashlville. In every direction the roadcls were so bad that wagons could not be serviceable. In this state of affairs it was determined to attack the Union troops at Cross-RIoads before 171.

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HISTORY OF TliE GREAT REBELLION. the force at Somerset should be able to join them, and, if possible, be. fore the reserve at Columbia could be brought up. Accordingly, on the 19th the brigade of Zollicoffer moved in advance, followed by that of Carroll and the reserve, and about two miles fiom their camp en couitered and drove in the Federial cavalry. The enemy advanced rapidly up the road, Zollicoffer leading, with two MIississippi companies deployed as skirmi-hers, one on each side of it, and soon encountered the main body of the Federal troops, with whom was commenced a sharp) engagement. Tile Confederate general, surrounded by his staff, was leading his men, when Colonel Fry, of the Fourth Kentticky, shot him dead with a pistol. This circumstance lhad a very depressing effect upon the enemiy, and a correspondingly favorable one upon the Fed erals. In t!:e confuision of the moment the Ninth Ohio charged with the ba-yoniet, turnini(g the enemy’s flank, and driving him from the field. The enemy then fell back to his intrenchmnents on the Cumberland, where lie was c:innoiiaded until dark. Iii the evening General Sclioepf came tip with additional regiments, and on the following morning the cannonading was recomnmenced, with Parrott guns, which were also directed upon the feriy across Fishing Creek, to pievent the enemy from crossing. Upon approaching the intreitchments, it was found that the enemy haid retired (luling the night, abandoning every thlinfg-twelve guns, with caissons filled, one hundred and fifty wagons, one thousand horses, and many stores. After crossing, they had burned the ferryboats, so that pursuit was impossible.

As they could not hold the camp, there was no alternative but to abandon every thing, save the army, and( retreat to the most accessible point of supply. The Unionit loss in the battle was thirty-nine killed, and two hundred and seveli wounded. The enemy lost Generals Zollicoffer and Baillie Peyton, a(nd one hundt’ed and ninety killed, sixty-two wounded, and eightynine prisoners, besides a large number drowned in crossing the Cumberland. Thle enemy at the same time sustained another loss. Early in January, Humphrey Marshall, with four regiments and four gulls, held an intrencled lposition five miles south of Paintsville, in Eastern Kentucky.

A movenent was made, January 7th, to dislodge hlim. For this purpose, Colonel G.arfield, with two thousand five hundred men, ad(vanced upon hin firom 5Iuddy Creek, while a snmaller force approached by way of Paint Creek. Learning of the approach of these two bodies, Marshall burnt large quantities of grain, broke up his camp, and retired to the heights of Mi,ldle Creek, two miles fi’om Prestonbuig, leaving some tiools at the mouth of Jennis Creek. These being attacked vigorously by Federal cavalry retired upon the main body. Thle Union loss was one killed ard thirteen wounded; that of the Confederates was st:ited at twe(ntyseven killed, sixty wounded, and twentyfive prisoner’s. )faish.all retreated towards Abingdon,Virginia, and Colonel Gaifield occupied Prestonbur~ Thus two Confederate forces were driven out of Kentucky at nearly the( same time.

Tbh euen y, however, still held four formidable positions in Kentucky, viz.: Fort Henry, on the”Tennessee, and Fort Donelson, on the Cumberland, about seventy miles from the mouths of those rivers, and 172

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. closing the way by water into Tennessee and Alabama; Bowling Green, neai the middle of the State; an(l Columbus, onl the Mississippi. The Union forces held Mumfordsville, between Mill Spring ind Bowling Green, and various less important points. The two Ir(-cat riivers, the Tennessee and the Cumberland, both falll into the Ohio near the western corner of IKentucky, an(], for a distance of seventy miles fi’om their mouths, run nearly parallel, about ten miles al)art.

Otherwise, however, their courses are difleirent; the Cumberland rising in Keltucky, and flowing through that State and Northern Tennessee, while the Tournessee rises in Eastern Tennessee, and, after passing througlh Northern Alabama, flows for the last three hundred miles nearly due north.

The Cuinberland is navigable for steam to Nashville, two ihundre.l miles, and for boats three hundred miles farther. The Tennessee is llavigable for ste:im tw-o hundred and seventy-five miles, to Florence, Alabama, and for boats two hundred and fifty miles farther. These tw-o greait arteries al.tot(ded the means of not only penetrating into the interior of Kentucky, Tennessee, and Alabama, but also of causing the rebels to abandon the defences of the Mississippi, which had been’,o elaborately prepare(l by the enemy. Early in the summer the necessity of preparil)g a fleet of gunboats at Cairo, for the purpose of commanding the iiavigal)le wate.‘s of the West, became apparent, and beio:‘c the succeeding sp)ring the Government had in readiness twelve gunboats, to carry, in all, a hundred and twenty-six guns, viz.: the Benton, sixteen guns; Mound City, Cincinnati, Louisville, Ca:ondelet, St. Louis, Cairo, a,.d Pittsburg, each thirteen guns; the Lexiilgt(o), Essex, Conestoga, and Tyler, each nine guns. They were for the most part river st,.a-inboats converted into war vessels. and several were iiron-clads. The guns, many of them rifled, were thirtytwo-pounders, forty-twopountl,rs, sixty-four-pounders, and the Essex thlrew a shell of one hundred ad( twentyeight pounds. Thirtyeight mortar boats, each sixty feet lonlg aind twventy feet wide, surrounded by iron-plate bulwarks, seven feet high, were also ordered, but only a part were built. Tiuis fleet was pl.Lced under the command of Flag-Officer A.

II. Foote.*The co,il)letion of the fleet and the organization of the land force (Iclayed th’e expedition until February, 1862. On tihe 20th of January, the Conestoga, Captain Phelps, felt its w:ty up tlhe Tennessee and slhelled a battery just below Foi’t HIenry, but receiviing no response, withdrew. This work, situated on tlhe right banlk ci’ the river, near the boundary-line between Tennessee and Kentackyv, iiiointed seventeen guns and a number of mnortars,.nd wv:-is speciat.ly intended by the relbels to defend the railroad commtnicati()lns between Mlemphis and Bowling Green. On the 6thl of February the fleet, under Flag,-Officer Foote, 1oceeded up the river, to the fort, which * Aind(w It1. Foote, son of the late Governor superintent(led the buiildling an eqllilrnent of thie Foote. l),,n in C(onnecticuit. in 1806, entered( the Governimient gunboats: c:liturc(l lort lleery navy. as lidlshipim.ii, in 12‘2. ie servedin th wvas wonnded( at thebolil)arliinltof 1’rt l)oniellast Iniii.s aa.Linst the pirates-on the Africaif SoIln; conll(luet(ed tlhe nival itt:Lck.‘aillst islLand( coast. to l)rceiit the slave-trad(le-andI at Canton No. 10, but atter its eld tion w,. (,IIiged to rein 1 e”, iheter lie greatly distinguiished himself linqui,sh his ec,mmandl in ei sne nei e of his bv the ctalt, e of tlie Barrier F’(orts, an(lin Aliril, wouiin(l.

lie was sbl)seqt(.ntlv ai,it’,iited rear161, commnandled at the Brooklyn NavyYar(l. In admiral and chief’ of the( lurectii of,liil)inent and the fall of lt61, h. was assigned to the Mississippi; recruiting; au(l died in New York, J Une 26, 186G8. 173

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. was then occupied by a number of men hardly sufficient to work the guns, although ai force of some five thousand Confederates was encamped outside, commandled by General Lloyd Tilghman, of Kentucky, a graduate of West Point. The naval part of thle expedition consisted of the ironclad gunboats Cincinnati, flagship, Captain Stembel; Essex, Commiandei-Poiter; Carondelet, Commander Walker; and St. Louis, Lieutenant Paulding; and the wooden gunboats Conesto(a, Lieutenant Phelps; Tyler, Lieutenant Gunn; and Lexington, Lieutenant Shirk. Accom)panying the gunboats was a fleet of transports conveying a land force of ten thousand men, under General Grant, who were to co-operate in the attack upion the fort. When within a few miles of the fort the troops were landed, and sent to attack the land side, while the gunboats moved agiinst the water firont. They did not, however, reach the fort until it had surrendered to the gunboats. On arriving within one thousand seven hundred yards of the fort, the flagship, the Cincinnati, opened fire, followed by the rest of the fleet, and as the distance was gradually lessened, the fire both from the gunboats and the fort increased in rapidity and accuracy of ran,e. The fort was soon wrapped in a cloud of smoke, which rose lazily up and floated away over the hills, and through it the flashes of her guns broke like gleams of lightning. For nearly an hour this fierce conflict continued, the boats gradually approaching nearer and nearer, until within a few hundred yards of the fort, when the rebels’ fire slac(kened, and suddenly a white flag was raised on the ramparts; but the dense smoke prevented its being seen by the boats, and the firing still continued. In a few moments more the ilebel flag, which had been proudly flaunting from a tall pole in the centre of the fort, wvas hauled down, and Fort Henry was won. Captain Phelps was ordered to land and take possession. Only sixty-three risoners, withl General Tilghman, surrendered to Foote, the force that had surrounded the fort having dispersed, without firing a shot. Among the guns of the fort was a sixty-pound rifled gun, which had sent a shot through the boiler of the Essex, causing an explosion that wounded twenty-nine officers and men, including Captain Porter, and compelling the Essex to drop astern, out of the fight. It burst, however, before the surrender. The capture of Fort Henry caused much rejoicing. It proved the value of the gunboats, and opened the navigation of the river, as was shown by the successful voyage of three gunboats to Florence, Alabama, where two steamers and a gunboat were captured; and six-others, loaded with stores, were burnt by the enemy to prevent their falling into the hands of the Federals. The railroad bridge over the Tennessee, ten miles south of Fort Henry, was also destroyed. Much Un’Pn feeling manifested itself in Northern Alabama. The success of the attack on Fort Hienry was followed by other inmportant results, among which Was the uncovering of the enemy’s positions at Columbus and Bovling Green. The latter place ha(l been ordered to l)e occupied by General A. S. Johnston, when he assumed the command of the Confederates in that Department of the West. He doeemed it then necessary, because of the action of the Kentucky Legis 174 I

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HIISTORY OF TIIE GREAT REBELLION. lature against the Confederates. Towards the close of the year the foi(ce un(ler General Buckner ha.d, with difficulty, preserved its strength, although great (ffoIts had been made to concentrate men anld arms. Januairy 16th a notice was published in Barren County, requiring all gans belonging to persons who ” will not volunteer,” to be delivered to the inspector of arms, at Glasgow; and all persons between eighteeii and forty-five, who were possessed of taxable property to the value of five htindred dollars, and had no gun, were to pay twenty dollars, for which an evidence of debt against the Confederate Government would be issued delinquents to be fined fifty dollars and imprisoned. The results of this measure were not remarkable, and while the Union troopls continued to increase in numbers and strength, Bowling Green becam.,e no stronger, andl the utmost efforts of General Johnston brought little aid from the South. The capture of Fort Henry and( tlhe gathering strength of the Federal forces in Kentucky finally rendere(l tlhe longer occupation of the place impracticable, and the troops there were ordered to move south. Bowling Green was occupied immediately, on thle 15th, by a Federal force under General Mitchel. Prepa,rations nowv commenced for the attack upon Fort )Donelson, which lies directly east of Fort Ihenry, on the left bank of the Cutnberland River, and( adjoining the town of Dover.

It occupied the summit of a high bluff, enclosed an area of about one hundred acres, and was protected on the river side by two formidable waterbatteries, a,d on its land front by outlying riflepits, batteries, and abatis, as also il, a great measure by the rugged and imp,‘acticable character of the su:-rounfling country. Th~ work completely commanded the navigation of the Cumberland River, andl was re,garded of such enormous stie,,gtli that over sixteen tlhousand troops under Generals Buckner and Pillow were concenti’ated there, awaiting with apparent unconcern the approach of the Federal army and fleet. On February 13th, General F’loyd, formeily of Luchanan’s Cabinet, arrived and assumed command. For the reduction of the fort, General Grant, who was now stationed(l at Fort Ilenry, relied upon the considerable force which had coince(itrated there, upon reenforcements expected from Buell’s army, arid fi’om St. Louis, Cairo, Cincinnati, and elsewhere, and also very considerably upon the fleet which had done such gallant service at Fort Henry. The gunboats, it is true, were in need of repairs after their ieceiit eng,agenment, but as it was deemed of great importance to follow up the first success at once by another blow, they proceeded, after a brief delay at Cairo, to the Cumberland River. On the 12th, General Grant marched fi’om Fort Henry with about fifteen thousand men, laving, first sent a portion of his force in transports to Padncalh, whenllce, ill company with his re-enforceements,nd conveyed by the gu,,boats, they were to sail for Fort Donelson. His land force ther’efore comprised two sepl)arate bodies of about equal strength one of which marched overland with lhimself, while the other went by water. On the aifternoon of the ] 2th the toops from Fort Henry arrived in front of the rebel outposts, and on the succeeding night the column which waent l’y water disembarked about three miles north of the fort. Delays of various kinds prevented the junction of the two columns 175

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HISTORY OF TILE GREAT REBELLION. until the evening of the 14th. The interval was improved by the troops first on the ground in driving in the rebel skirmnishers and commencing iegtilar lines of investment. The weather waas bitterly cold, and the troops, inadequately supplied with shelter or fo(ed, suffered severely; btlt not a itmurmur was heard, and the men cheerfiully bivouacked at night on t!he snow-clad ground, in the co-ffi(lent expectation that in a day or two the rebel stronghold would be theirs. As at Fort Henry in the previous week, Flagofficer Foote, without waiting for the cooperation of the land forces, proceeded on the afternoon of the 14th to ()pen fire upon th:e river batteries of Fort Donelson. For an hour and a half the gunboats poured a steady stream of shot and shell into the batteries, which, being fully manned, replied with vigor and effect. Gra(dually, howsever, their fire began to slaclken, and the prospect of capturing or completely silencing the works seetedl fla:ttering, when two shots, dischlar,ged with fatal accuracy, disabled the steering apparatus of the fli:-slhip St. Louis, and the Louis’ille, which in consequence became unmaniageable, and drifted out of fire. The enemy immediately returned to their guns, and the remaini)g vessels, deprived of the services of their two most powerful con)sorts, were obliged to haul oft; considerably shattered by the hard p)ounding they had received. In this action Foote was severely injure(l in the ankle by the firagment of a sixty-four pounder shot, and his ship was struck sixty-one timres. The moining of the 15th dawned cold and dull, and so soon as sufficient light was afforded for the movement, the rebels, without a moment’s notice, threw out a heavy column of infkatry, supported by two batteries, upon the Federal right, commran(led( by General McClernand. The onset at first was irresistible, and the regiments which attempted to withstand it were broken and routed. For several hours thle rebels continued to gain ground, but finally, as fresh Federal regiments and batteries were brought up, the tide wais turne(l, and the enemy pushed back towaids their intrenchments. Und(lisimayed by the repulse of the gunboats and the vigor which the rebels showed by this sally, General Grant soon after nooii ordered his left, under command of General C. F.

Smith, to make a general assault upon the rebel intrenchments, which, in consequence of the enemy having massed on the Fedleral rilght, he wisely judged would be the more easily carried. At three P. -r., Smith moved forward at the head of ten regimrents, and sending his main body somewhat to the right, to diveit attte,,tion f, om the real point of attack, detailed the Second and Seventh Iowa and the Fifty-Second Indiana regiments to storm a line of riflepits on the cilest of a steepl) hill, about l)alf a mile distant firom the fort. The storniig column, headed by himself, pressed impetuously up) the hill in te teeth of a severe fire, and never pausing, burst over thie intrenchments, from which the enemy fle(d in confusion. Federal re-enforcenients arriving soon after, the gI’ound thls gallantly won was secured beyond thv possibility of ieccnpt,.re. A[eanwlhile on the righit and centre a division under General Wallace, encoilaged by the success on the left, advanced against the rebel iflie-pits in that quarter, and after a stubborn resistance drove the enemy completely 176

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HISTORY OF TILE GREAT REBELLION. within his works. So favorable did the prospect now seem that the troops clamored to be led to the final assault; but as day was closing, it was deemed prudent to postpone this until the next day. Another bivouac on the frozen ground had little effect in weakening the enthusiasm of the troops, who at dawn of the 16th sprang to their arms, in the expectation of being led at once against the fort. But before hostilities could be resumed a flag of truce arrived proposing an armistice until noon, and the appointment of commissioners to agree upon terms of capitulation. By the departure of Generals Floyd and Pillow during the night with two thousand five hundred men, the fort had been left in command of General Buckner, the former commander of the Kentucky State Guard. To this officer General Grant returned the following reply: “

EADQUARTERS ON THE FIELD, FORT DONELSON, “February 16, 1862. ” TO GENERAL

S. B. BUCEKNER “SIR:-Yours of this date, proposing an armistice and the appointment of commissioners to settle on the terms of capitulation, is just received. ” No terms, except unconditional and immediate surrender, call be acceptable. “I propose to move immediately on your works. “I am very respectfully your obedient servant “U. S. GRANT, BrigadierGeneral Comnanding.” To this General Buckner replied as follows: ‘I HEADQUARTERS, DOVER (TENNESSEE), ” February 16, 1862. BRIGADIERGENERAL U. S. GRANT, U.

S. ARMY: “SIR: The distribution of forces under my command, incident to an unexpected change of commanders, and the overwhelming force under sour command, compel me, notwithstanding the brilliant success of the Confederate arms, to accept the ungenerous and unchivalrous terms which you propose. “I am, sir, your servant, ” S B. BUCKNER, BrigadierGeneral C. S. Army.” The fort was accordingly at once given up to the Federal commander, and the rebel garrison, numbering nearly fourteen thousand men, marched out as prisoners of war. Their loss in killed and wounded was one thousand two hundred and thirtyeight, and that of the Federal troops two thousand one hundred and eighty-one, besides one hundred and fifty taken prisoners. Among the spoils were seventeen heavy guns, over forty fieldpieces, many thousand stand of arms, horses, commissary stores, &c.

This first important success of the Federal arms since the commencement of the war infused universal joy into the loyal people of thrNorth, and laid the foundation of General Grant’s fame. IIi, reply to Buckner has become historical, while the latter’s rejoinder affoirded an amusing illustration of that spurious chivalry which the Southern leaders were wont to cultivate. The blow was a most disastrous one to the enemy, not only in its material, but in its moral results. The city of Nashville was incapable of defence, and strong forces were advancing from Bowling Green and up the Cumberland. Nashville was therefore ordered to be abandoned, and at Murfreesborough, the broken columns of Critten 12 177

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HISTORY OF TIHE GREAT REBELLION. den comning from Mill Spring, and the fugitives from Donelson ar-.’ Bowling Green, were formed on the main body brought firom Nashville, and the whole ultimately united with Bragg’s corps at Corinth, in Northli-eastern Mississippi, by a very hazardous march, to co-operate with Beaureg(rard for the defence of the MIississippi. Meantime, the UTnion forces poured on. Commodore Foote, with two gunboats, reached Clarksville, the last defensible place before Nashville. Hlie found it evacuated, the enemy having burned the railroad bi’idge. General Buell with his army advanced on Nashville from Bowling Green, and General Nelson proceeded by the way of the Cumberland River. On the 16th, the troops that had evacuated Bowlinig Green passed through the city, and on the same d,y Floyd arrived from Donelson, when, for the first time, the inhabitants learned the fall of that place. The Governor and Legislature at once departed for Memphis, carrying off the public archives; gunboats in process of construction were burned, railroad bridges destroyed, and the public stores were distributed to those who wished them. On the 19th, Governor Harris issued a proclamation announcing the fall of Donelson, and calling upon every abl-)e-bodied(l man to enlist in the army. On the morning of the 23d, qiuell’s advance guard appeared at Edgehill, opposite Nashville. General Nelson also arrived up the river, and on the 25th the city was surren(-dered by the mayor, on assurances that persons and property would be respected. On the 26th the mayor issued a proclamation assuring citizens of protection from the National forces, and urging them to resume their usual occupations. Afer the occupation of the capital of Tennessee, and the flight of its Government, a new one was organized, and Senator Andrew Johnson was appointed military governor, with the rank of biigadier-general. These events in the interior of the State made the lounger occupation of Columbus by the Confederate troops useless, and it was evacuated on the 27thl of February. On the 2d of M1archI, a reconnoitring party, sent by Flagofficer Foote from Cairo, discovered thle evacuation, and, on their report, a force was sent to take possession, but a party of Illinois cavalry sent from Paducah by General Sherman had already occupied it. The enemy fell beck to Island No. 10, fortv miles below Columbus. Thus, during the two months ending with February, the enemy had been driven from their positions in Kentucky and Tennessee. The army of Marshall took refuge in Virgiiiia; and the shattered remains of all the others were combining to make a new stand at Corinth. After General Hunter, in November, assumed command in Missouri, and repudiated the treatyof General Fremont with Price, the Union army began slowly to retire from Springfield, and was followed step by step by the Confederates under Price, in three divisions, with the apparent intention of moving upon Kansas. On the 30th of November, his right wing, five thousand troops, held Stockton; his left, four thousand, under General Itains, was at Nevada; and the centre, five thousand, under Price, at Monticello. Early in November, the Confederates held Belmont, Missouri, opposite Columbus, with a small force, and it was determined to make a demonstration in that direction, 178

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. for the purpose of preventing them fiom sending troops to Price onl the one hand, or to Bowli,ig Green on the otielr. Accorling(ly,; on No vember 6thl, Generals Grint an(l AIcClernand left Cairo foi B)elmoint, with the Twentyse(.ond, Twentyseventh, Tliirtieth, and Tiiirtv-first Illinois, and the Sevenith Iowa, togrether with a batteiy anld s()me; cavalry-in all, two thousand eight huidred arid fifty meli, who were embarked on several steamboats, and convoyed by the gunboats Lex-I ingiton and Tvle.’. Ti}e Federal forces landed a short distance above Belmont, at 8 A. M. on the 7th, were forme(l in line of battle, anil immnediately attacked the rebel vwo’ks. They were met by the rel)els uniler Genel’al Chle(atha:m, whom tlhey drove throug], their camp, capturing a I)attery of twelve guns, burning their camp, and taking thle rebel bar,a,,e, h()oses, and many prisonetl’s. Lairge bodies of r-ebels, meanwhile, crossed from Coltimbus and re-etifoi,’(ed those at Belmo,it, lwhen:inothler severe fight took place, and tile National forces witihdrew to tlilc’ boats. Their retreat was well cove-ed( lv the gunboats. The whole actioii lasted sevei’:tl hliours. The loss onl the Confe(lerate side was betwe( ti six hundredl and o,,e thousandl; on that of tl-he Union, ei1ht -foUr killed,:ind al)out three hutldred wou,ided andc Inissing. The Unio)nists also carriel away two guIs, a.d destroyed two. This operation ltad the desired effect of l),‘eveiitii,g tlie movemlent of troops to aid Pie(.. On the 18tl} of Novenuber, Genera.l 1I. W. II:lle(k arrive,(l:It St. Louis, an(l to,ok comm:indl( of’ the WVestecr Department. The division of General Hunier aned th:at of General Pope were o:, the line of the Pa(.ific Railroad, awaiting orders. G(.nei,‘als Si(el a,d Asbotlh with theiri divisions, arrived at St. Lotiis. General Hllunter was transfei,red to the Del)ai,tment of Iansas. Tlhe plait ot General Pice, wlose chief difficulty was \ant of arm%, was to ],rocure thet froin the bo’(les of :Kansas; but being u,isucce sfiil in this, lie was ol)]iged to retreat south of tlle ()Os,ge. Geie,‘al Ililleck soon after issued a series of military orders, which declaredl that activ-e rebels and spies had forfeited their righ’s as citizens, anl were liable to capital punishiile:t; all per,sons in alias a(,,titist the Governme’eit, oC’

aiditng the eteiny, should be arrested,’,iid their property seized; all persons i\ill information to the ene,,y)v be shot as spies, and u:i,nlistid mnarauders tre:te(l 1s critnitals; ofmces were required to ceiforce the law coitfiscatitig slavec property used lor insurrectionary )pulposes; citizens whlo hlid been robbed by insuirectionists were to be quartered at the expense of insunli’ectionists; prisoners of war or slaves to be employed on iiilt.iry defences; and ill municiptl officers were re[uiied to take the o:itli of a’lle,ianlce Tiese orde-:s hadl.n implorta,tit iinluence in supi-)ressing tle disorders that had existed, and iii rec{ucing the number of guerrillas, very many of whom were arrested at ditlereit p)Oi,ts in thie State. General Pope was assi(gned to the contnand ot’ all the Natioi:tl forces between the Ilissouri and Osagce Rivers, which Constittte(l the laigest part of the army which General Fremnont took to Springfieldl. He immediately took active me:isures to clear that )art of the State. Price was on the Osage, and witlI him about five thousand men, watiting recruits and supplies from the North. General Pope, December 15th, left Sedalia 179 -

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION with two brigades, one under Colonel J. C.

Davis, of Indianan, and the second under Colonel F. Steele. On the 16th his adv.lTce-guard fell in with a part of General Rains’s force, between Warrensburg and Rose Hill, and captured sixteen wagons and one hundred and fifty prisoners; and the pursuit continued under LieutenantColonel Brown, the main body moving towards Warrensburg. The scouts having reported on the 18th a large force of the enemy coming firom Waverley and Arrow Rock, Colonel Davis went forward with eight companies of cavalry and a section of artillery towards Milford, to turn his left and rear, while Major Marshall was sent with ten companies of horse to turn his right and rear.

The movement was successful. The enemy, finding himself in presence of a large force, surrendered, to the number of thirteen hundred men, including three colonels and fifty-one officers, with seventythree wagons loaded with powder and stores, five hundred horses, and one thousand stand of arms. This was a heavy blow to Price, who had been anxiously expecting these supplies. Meantime General Prentiss, with some companies of the ThirdMissouri cavalry and of Bildge’s sharpshooters, attacked and defeated a Confederate force at Mount Zion, Boone County, December 27th and 28th.

The Union loss was three killed and ten wounded. The Confederate power in Missouri was soon after much weakened by the withdrawal of MIcCulloch’s force; and a few stringent measures of General Halleck settled affairs there. CHAPTER Xm. Affairs in Western Virginia.-General Rosecrans.-Oppression by General Wise. Population of Western Virginia.-Tho Confederate Troops.-Gauley Bridge.-Ka nawha Expedition.-Rosecrans’s Command. -Proclamation. - General Lee.-Elk River.-Cheat Mountain.-General Reynolds.-His Command.-Carnifex Ferry. The Battle.-General Benham.-Retreat of the Enemy.-Dogwood Gap.-Big Sew all.-General Floyd.-General Reynolds.-Green River.-Enemy’s Loss.-Chapman ville.Gauley Bridge.-Guyandotte.-Romney.-Camp Alleghany. THE state of affairs in Western Virginia when General McClellan was ordered to the command of the Potomac Department was favorable for the National cause. BrigadierGeneral Rosecrans had succeeded to the command of the Department of the Ohio.

General Wise was in command of the Confederates, occupying the line of the Kanawha, and had conducted his o erations in such a manner as greatly to aid the development of the union sentiment of that section, the population of which, as per census of 1860, was as follows: - Blacks Western Virginia, thirty-nine couities…. 10,101 o Rest of Virginia, one hundred and nine counties……………………… 470,786 & 490,887 8 11,627

1,083,312 For weeks General Wise kept his guerrillas scouring the counties iso White& 271,685 Total. 281,786 1,282,413 .1,673,199

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. of IKanawha and Jackson, seizing all the cattle and horses of Un)ion men, and pietenlding to buy them of disunion men. These cattle and horses he sent to the east, until there were very few good animals left. Other counties fared but little better. He burned nearly every biridge in the valley except the fine suspension bridge across Elk River, which he ordered to be cut down and fired. These and simnilar pro(ceedings had produced great dissatisfaction even among those who regalided secession favorably. In this state of affEirs, General Cox advalced against Wise, at Gauley Bridge, July 26th. As soon as the Ulion scouts were seen, intelligence was conveyed to Wise, who beat a precipitate retreat, leavinrg behind one thousand five Ihuindred muskets, a large lot of ammunition, tents, and other camp equil)age(. In his retreat lie burned all the biidges on the road, and fell back on a l-)osition at White Sulphur Sp)rings, eighteetl miles al)ove Gauley Rivei.

His force was about three thousnni(l five hundred badly-equipl)ped( men.

Co’onel Tyler, of the Seventhl Ohio, joined Cox ol the same day. and the two corps were united. ~ leiantiliie General Rosecrans was at Grafton, on his way to take comma.id of the Kanawha expedition. Cheat iMountain Pass., beyond Huttoiiville, and the route at “Red House,” by which the reurnant of Garnett’s division escaped, were strongly fortified and occupied; a detacliment was left at Cheat River Pass, on the Baltimore and Ohio Ratilioad; the two railroads were gunlidedl,:,d the remainder of ihe available force in Western Virg,‘inia was concentrated and plrecil)itated on the rebels in the IKanawlha region. On the 12th of Septeml)e:, tlle enemy, nine thousand stron, with eight to twelve pieces of artilery, under comrman(1 ot’ Geiieral II. E. Lee, advatnced by the Itlinteisville l)ike, on Elk A,ater, hel(l by a brigade of Indiana troops, under General Josep.l J. I’eynolds. Our advanced pickets gradually fell beck to our main picklet st:ation, two companies of the Sevent(&eIlh Indiana, un(der C(olonel Hascall, cl)ecking the enemy’s advance at the Point MIount:tin tuinpikle, and1 thei filling back on tlie regiment, which ocllpieCtl a very.idvai,ced -)poition on our right front, aiid whi(ch was now ordered in. The enemy threwv into the woo(ls o0, our left firont three regiments, which made tlieir way to the right and iear of Ch(at Al()untain, too’, a positon on the road leading to Huttonville, t)roke thlle teleg(raph wir(e, aiid cut off I’eynolds’s conliluiiicatioil withl a reg(iment of Indiana cavalry onl Cheat Summit. Simultaneously another lorce of the enemy, of about equal sirength, advanced by t’he Staunton pike in fiont of Cheat I(ountaiII, and threw two regiments to the right and rear of Cheat AIoun:,‘in, which united with tlIe thiee regiments fiomni tloother coluinn of the enemy.

(The two post.s, Cheat Summit an Elk Water, aire seven miles apart by a bridle-path over the mountains, and eighteen by the w.agon-i’oad vid Hiuttotivile; Cheat lIotltaiii l)ss, the former l}ead.-qiua,ters of the brig,ade, being at the foot of the mnountain, ten miles fiom thle surnnit.) The e(nemny, advancing towai’ds the pass, by which hle might possibly have obtainted the rear or left of Elk Water, was met there lby thr(ec companties of the Tjiriteenlth Irfdina, ordered up for that purpose, and by one company of the Fourteeihth Indiana, from the summit.

These 181

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IIHISTORY OF THE GREAT. REBELLION. four companies engaged and gallantly held in check greatly superior numbers of the enemy, foiled hiiii in his attempt to obtain the rear or left of Elk Water, and threw him into the rear and light of Cheat Mountain-the companies retiring to the pass at the foot of the mountains. The enemy, about five thotustmd strong, were closed in on Cheat Sutimmit. So matters rested at dark on the 12tlh, with heavy forces in front, and in plain sight of both posts, communicati n cut off, and the supply traini for the iiiountain, loa(led with provisions, which were needed, waitilig for an opportunity to pass up the road. Under such circulmstances, General Rteynol(ls, wesolving to force a communication with Cheat ~Mountain, orde’ed the Thirteenth Indiana to cut their way, if necessary, by the mail-roa.d, and the greater part of the Third Ohio and S(econd Virginia to do the same by the path, the two commands stariting at three o’clock. This was effected, and conimunication opened. Meantime General Lee advanced on Elk Water, when one rifled ten-pound P.ariott gun, from Loomis’s battery, was run to the front threefourths of a mile, and delivered a few shots at the enemy, which caused him to retire. He renewed the attack e:;tIly on the 1 tth, and was met by the Filteent! Indiana with such vigor that he withdrew ten miles. The result of these affairs wus t loss of one hundred of the enemy killeld, including Colonel John A.

Washington, aide-de-(camp to General Lee (the same who was arrested by John Brown at the capture of Harper’s Ferry, in 1859), and about twenty p)risoners. The Uli()nists lost nine killed. Eaily in September General Wise w-as encamped at Dogwood Gap, a few miies fi’om Carnifex Ferry, onil the Gauley River, which was held by G,(nerdl Floyd, with five thlous.and men a,n(i sixteen guns, intrenclhed in a very strong position on the top of the mountain, around ithe southern base of which win(ls the Gauley Riveci, forming a semicirc.le, in the centre of which is Gauley Bridge.

His rear and both flanks were thus perfectly protected. The fiont was maske(d by a thick wood and jungle. General Rosecrans, on the 10thl of September, after a march of seventeen and a half miles with Benham’s brigade, reached the front of this position. The Ohio Tenth Regiment, of General Beiiham’s brigade, was in advance, and drove a strong detachment of the enemy out of camp east of the position, the site of which was unknown. Shortly afterwards his scouts, consisting of four companies, suddenly discovered themselves in the face of a parapet battery, and a loug. line of palisades for riflemen. wh(n the battle opened fiercely. The remainder of the Tenth aft Thirteenth Ohio were brought into action successively by Gen&al Benliam, and the Twelfth afterwards by Captain Iailtsuff, whose obl)ject was an armed reconnoissance. The enemy played upon the National forces with musketry, rifles, canister, and shell, causing some casualtide. Co’oiiel Lytle led several companies against the batteiry, when hlie was brought down by a shot in the leg. Colonel Smith’s Thirteenth Ohio engaged the rebels on the left, and Colonel Lowe’s Twelfth Ohio directly in the front. Lowe fbll dead at the head of his regitilezit iu the bottes+ fire, by a ball in the forehead. 182

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MSTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. A howitzer battery and two fieldpieces, meantime, were got into the best position possible under the circurnstances, and soon silenced two of the rebel guns. The fire slackened at intervals, but grew more furious as niight approached, when a German brigade was le,,l gallantly into the action by Colonel McCook; but after a furious fight of three hours the troops were recalled, and the men lay on their arms within a short distance of the enemy all night. General Floyd retreated during the night. In doing so he sank the boats in the river, and destroyed the temporary bridge which he had made when he first occupied the position. The turbulence and depth of the river, and the exhaustion of the troops, made it impossible to follow him. lie left his camp equipage, wagons, horses, large quantities of ammunition, and fifty head of cattle. The National troops lost fifteen kiuled, an(! about seventy wounded, generally flesh wounds. Floyd’s personal ba_Lgage, with that of his officers, was also taken by General Benham’s brigade, which suffered miost. The Confederate general, who had been wounded in the arm, retired with his men fifteen miles on the main Charleston road, whence the retreat was continued towards Greenbrier River. On September 14th General Floyd and his forces encamped on the summit of the Big, Sewall M]ountain, and General Wise took a position east of him, on the western slope of the Big Sewall, which he called Camp Detiance. Thiiking his position not tenable aga:inst a large force, Floyd fell ba(k on the 1lth to Meadow Bluff, under the impression that Rosecraii,, was lefo, e himn with fifteen thousand men. lie ordered Genera.l Wise to follow, covering his rear; bnt the lhttter conclude(1 that his p)osition was strong enough to make a good defence against large nnmbers, and decided to hold the place at all hazards, as the best means of covering Floyd’s army. On the 20th, General Lee arrived at Fioyd’s camp, and, subsequelntly inspecting Wise’s position, ordered himn to hold it until further orders. General Wise had one thousand seven hundred men, but on the 24th General Lee moved( forward with a force which raised the number to five thousand five hundred men, with eleven guns, at a point where the Stlunton turnpike ascends the Alleghany Mountains. General Floyd remiained at Meadow Bluff withi one thousand five hundred men. On the arrival of General Lee, General Wise was ordered to report in person to the Secretary of War, at RIichmond. This being the position of the enemy, General Reynolds, on the night of October 2d, started from the summit of Cheat Mountain, twelve miles from Greenbrier, with about five thousand men, to conduct a reconnoissance in force. The Confederate camp wss located on a high, steep elevation, known as Buffilo I-ill, at a sharp turn of the road, and so situated that an attacking force had to come directly under the guns and intrenchments of the right of the camp to obtain even a view of the left. The fornation of tilhe ground is p)articularly favorable for the construction of terraces, and the enemy had made good use of its advantages. Their defences rose one above the other, far up the hill. extending even into the forest above the ca,mp. The sole attack contemplated was directly in front, with artillery, the in 183.

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. fantry to be used merely to protect the batteries. A vigorous attack of the Indiana regiments in front soon drove the enemy firom their lower intrenchments, but the fresh troops sent forward restored the fight, and it was maintained with great vigor during four hours. The artillery, having finally exhausted their ammunition, General Reynolds ordered an end to the engagement. The army retired in order to their camp, having lost eight killed and thirtytwo wounded, and having brought away thirteen prisoners The enemy’s loss was somewhat greater. MIeantime a party of Confederates held Chapmansville, on the Guyandotte, where, on September 21st, they were surrounded, an(], after a short engagement, completely routed, with a loss of sixty killed and seventy prisoners. The rebels, in escaping, were intercepted by Colonel Piatt, who killed forty and took a large number of prisoners. The country between Charles ton and Guyandotte River was thus freed from secession forces. The enemy remained in considerable force in the neighborhood of Gauley Bridge, to the close of October. At the point where the Gauley and New Rivers come together, forming the Great Kanawha, is Gauley Bridge, or rather the remains of the bridge burned by Wise in his retreat in July. It spans the Gauley River about two hundred yards abve its confluence with the New. The country is very mount ainous, the hills on all sides looming up fully five hundred feet, and the watercourses almost entirely covering the valleys, so that there is not room in many places for even a wagon-road. The Union forces were encamped at the bridge, and at several points on the east bank of New River, extending up that stream twelve or fifteen miles. On the 1st of November a detachment of scouts retarned to General Rosecrans’s headquarters, and reported the rebels in considerable force on the west side of New River. Shortly afterwards two batteries were opened upon our troops in the vicinity of Gauley Bridge, fi’om the hills on the opposite side of the river-on.e directly opposite the bridge, and the other two miles lower down, at the falls of the Kanawha, op posite a large brick house in which our commissary supplies were stored. The upper battery, after wasting a good deal of amnmuniiition, succeeded in driving tl)e Eleventh Ohio from their cam) onl the hillside opposite, and in sinking a flat-boat, which served the aIlmy as a ferry. The flat-boat was raised again the same evening, and made to do good service. It was not till the day was far advanced that the Union artillery could be brought to bear upon the enemy’s batteries, but when they were once placed in position the rebel batteries were soon silenced. On the 10th of Novembe, General Benhlam, with his brigade, crossed the Kanawha River near the mouth of Loup Creek, and marched forward on the road to Fayetteville Court-hlouse, to get in the rear of the rebel army under Floyd, on Cotton Hill, at the junction of the New, Gauley, and KanawhafRivers. Part of Geneial Cox’s brigade, at the same time, crossed the New River near Gauley, and attacked Floyd’s force in front. After a slight skirmish, the rebels fell back four miles, and at night’retreated towards Raleigffh. On the same night a body of nearly one hundred and fifty Union troops, occupying Guy 184

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. andotte, on the Ohio River, were attacked by a superior force of Confederates. The Union soldiers were invited to the houses of the citizens by previous arrangement, and when the Confederates made the attack, signals were displayed from the hou,ses where the Federal troops were quartered, in consequence of which ten or twelve were killed and twenty or thirty wounded; although, in the attempt to execute this inhuman massacre, the rebels lost nearly or quite as many as they killed of the Union soldiers. In retaliation, on the arrival of Colonel Zeigler with a Union force, a part of the town was burned.

Meantimne BrigadierGeneral Kelley, withl twentyfive hundred men, of Virginiia and Ohio volunteers, left New Creekl, Virginia, on the night of the 26th of October, on an expedition against l)omnney. At 3Mill Creek, five miles firom Romney, he came upon the outposts of the enemy, which weie driven in, and advanced to the Indian Mlound Cemetery, to the west of the town, where the enemy made a stand and opened fire with a twelvepound rifled gun, placed in a commanding position, and a mountain howitzer. One twelvepound’er and two six-pounders responded to the artillery on Kelley’s part, until the gerieral was enabled to fully comprehend the enemy’s position, when he soon gave the commanid to charge upon their batteries and iltrenchmeiits. The cavalry dashed across the river (which was fordable at this point), while the infantry ruslhecd orver the bridge to encounter the foe at the very muzzles of his guns. No sooner did tlhe enemy perceive this movement, than they immediately abandoned their positions, and commenced a precipitate retreat, rushing l)ellmell through the town, and directing their flight towards Winchester. General Kelley captured.- sixty prisoners, among whom was Colonel E. MI. Armstrong, late a member of the Richmond Convention, two hundred horses, three wagon-loads of new rifles, two cannon, a large quantity of corn, tents, and inany other stores. The loss on either side was slight. On the 12th of December about fourteen hundred Union troops, under command of General R. H.

MIilroy, marched towards the ellnemly’s camp, on the top of the Alleghany Mountains, eight a,nd a half miles beyond Ca, up Bartow, on the Greenbrier River. The coluim)n reached Camp Bartow about eight o’clo(k P. hI., where it halted and rested. At this point the force was marslhalled into two divisions, each about seven hundred strong, one of whichl marched on what is kinownl as the old “Greenbank roald,” to attack the enemy on the left, while the other, accompanied by BrigadierGeneral R. II. Muilroy and his statff, took tlhe Staunton turnpike. Tlhe latter reachedl the vicinity of the Confederate camp about daylight; but owing to the badness of the roads, and obstructions fro,ii felled(i trees, the i’st division could not reach thle field in season to co-operate, ant the little force contended single-handed for about three hours with an enemy of three or four times their number, driving the rebels back to their camp repeatedly; but as they were largely re-en’olbreed, Colonel Jones,who was in conmmand, fell back in good order to the headquarters of General Milroy. Just after it retired, the othl)er division came up and engaged the enemy for six hours, when it, too, fell back in order, bringintg off all its wounded andl most of its dead. The Union loss in bothi actions was twenty killed, one 185,

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HISTORY OF TIIE GPREAT IEBELLION. hundred and( seven wounded, and ten nmissing. The Confederate loss was reported as twentyfive killed, ninety-seven woun(led, and thirty prisoners, among them a major and several other officers. At Iluiitersville, about forty miles from Staunton, the Confeiderates had a dtl)ot of nmunitions and stores, which General Alilroy, on the 31st of Decembei, sent a force of seven hunl)dred and fifty men to breakl up. On the 3d of January the advancing force encountered the Confederate pickets at (reenbrier River, six miles from Iluntersville. The rebels fell back upon the main body four miles in tlhe rear, when the whole retreated, leaving the Union troops in p)ossession of the stores, wvhich were destroyed to the amount of $25,000 or $30,000. On the 4th of January, 1862, the Confederate General Jackson made a recolnnoissance in force towards Hlancock, 3Id., where Geier:.il Lander was in c()iman(l. After tearing up a portion of the Baltimore and Ohio R:iilroad in the neighborhood of this place, and partly destroying the Litte Cacapon bridge, he sent a flag of truce over to Ilancock, demandiing its surrender within an hour, under threat of bombardment. General Lander replied by planting his cannon on a hill, and bombardgig Jackson’s camp, which led to lis speedy withdlrawal. On the 7th of January a detachment of General Kelley’s forces, commana(lded l)y Colonel Dunning, Fifth Olhio, left Romney, and attclcked the Confederates, two thousand sti’ong, at Blue Gap, Va., east of Romney. The enemy were completely routed, with a loss of fifteen killed, two pieces of cannon, their vwagrons, tents, &c., with twenty prisolners, including one commissioned officer. The operations of the Ceifederates became less energetic in that section of the State until February 13th, when their force having( (oncentrated at Bloomiag Gap, it avas surprised iand dispersed by General Lander, witl a loss of thirteen killed and seventy-five prisoniers. General Laid(ler then reported the department entirely clear of Confederates, an(l asked to be relieved of his command on the groond of illhealtlh, he iavino never recovered fiom the wound received at Edwar(ls’s Ferrv. fle died on the 2d of March, 1862, of congestion of the brain, induced by over-exertion while still suffering from his wound. CHAPTER XIV. Strength of the Navy.-BlockAe.-Captures by the Navy.-Large Increase of Ships of W\ar.-Right of Blockade.-Propositions of tile American Government.-Action of England and France.-Privateers.-The Sumter.-The Nashville.-Trial of Pri. vateers.-Laws of Piracy.-Retaliation of the Confederatcs.-Exclhange of Prisoners TIiE navy of the United Sates, like tlie army, had never previous to the rebellion been kept up on a scale in any degree proportionled to the commercial interests, or the rank of the nation, as compared with other Governm(,nts. the commercial marine was of itself; however, regarded as the main portion of our naval power, since in it were nur 186

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HISTORY OF TIIE GREAT REBELLION. tured and t’ained those hardy seamen who, in time of war, man the national s-ips, or, as privateers, form the “militia of tlhe seas.” Any nation which has a lai’ge and tl,rivilg,, commerce is necessarily a naval power: on the other land, those Goveinments whicil lhave not a well deve!o)ped commnerce cannot become great naval powe’rs, no matter what m:i.,y be their resources in other resl)ects; at least, this has heretofo:‘e leen the exlperience of the world. The immense changes wrotught by steaml in naval science, hlowever, render a comparatively smaller nullbller of trainedl seame(n necessary to vwoi-k powerfil steam batterie;, and may therefore alter the relative naval strengtll of natiolls. The United States had made but little progress in this direction, and on the outb’eak of the war, vessels, whether steam or sail, weeC l,y no means in s;fii(ient numbers for the exigencies of the Governiinernt. On the 16th of January, 1861, the whole lnaval stren,(th of the United States, available for thle defeitce of the entire iAtlailtio co:,st,,( ecordi,,g to a report of the Congressional Committee, was the ste,amer Brooklynii, of twentyfive guns, and the stoire-shlip Relief, of two guils. The committee called attenti(ln to the extra:lordinary defence.less -tate in which thle coast w.is thlts left, stating that the nmlliber of ships ly.)ing in port dismantle(l and unfit for service wa.s twentyeight, nmoulting eigilt hundred and seve,ity-foi,r guns, and tlhat fiom six weeks’ to s:x months’ time would be required to make them serviceable. Tl,e,radual arrival of vessels from abroad soon impairted more s’renr,th to tIje co:ist delenc. In lIarch, tlhe Clmlbei’land, flagship of Comiiio, lcrc Peiidero’rast, arrived at Aorfolk, and was d(etaijed there. Comli,odoi c lc eC’auley, in command of the Norfolk navyyard(l, was cauti, ncld in t’e begtiiining of Aprl to put tile public property there in a cotiditicn to bh moved, but to act so cautiously as not excite alarm at thle South. The r( sults we have s0en in a previous clapter, where the loss of the Gosport n:avy-yaid was recounted. The Government, on learniung the:,ggr-e.sions of the Confecderates, exerted itself to hasten at once thie (conil)lction of all pubic armed vessels, and issued orders in Boston, i’Ililadelplia, and New Yoik to purchlase, charter arm, and eq,ii) all such ste:imers as cotld be found suitable lor the public service. The whole naval 1orce was required to cary into effect the proelamatiols ldeclaring an embargo or blockade of the Southein ports. On account (,f the great extent of coast, three thousand miles, the force -was divided iiito two squadrons, o0ne for the Gulf of llexico and one for the Atlantic. At I-lampton Roads notice was given of this blockade l)y Flag-oflicer Penderg(rast, and on the 13th of MIay, Flagofficer StL’in gham, tiaving arrived in [itlml)ton Roads withl tlle Mlintiesota, proceeded to carly it into effect. Mleantime the President had issued the foliowing, proclamationr; ”’ ]T TU!S PRESIPSNT Or THEII UITED) STATES OF AMIERICA. “Whereas, for the rensons assigned il n my proclamation of tlle 19th instant, a blockade of the ports of the States of Southl Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, ald Texas, was ordered to be established; and whlereas, since that date piublic property of tlhe Urited States has been seized, thle collection of the revenue obstructed, and duly comtnissioned officers of thle United States, while engag,ed in executing the orders of their superiors, have been arrested and held in cu. 187.

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IHISTORY OF TIHE GREAT REBELLION. tody as prisoners, or have been impeded in the discharge of their official duties, without due legal process, by persons claiming to act under authority of the States of Virginia and North Carolina, an efficient blockade of the ports of these States will therefore also be established. “In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal of the Uni ted States to be affixed. “Done at the City of Washington, this 27th day of April, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, and of the independence of the United States the eighty-fifth. “By the President: ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

“WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Setarry of State.” As the Government vessels returned from foreign stations, they were immediately employed in carrying out the blockade. The Niagara arrived at Boston, f-om Japan, April 24th, and immediately proceeded to Charleston Harbor, and thence to the Gulf of Mexico, to intercept the shipment of arms and munitions from Europe to the Gulf States. Flagofficer Mlervine arrived in the Gulf, June 8th, with the steamer Mississippi, in advance of his flagship, the Colorado. The blockade of Mobile (Ala.) harbor was commenced May 27,tl, and Fort Morgan, which guards its entrance, welcomed the blockadii,g fleet by disp)laying the United States flag, with the Union down, below the Confederate flag, on the same staff. The Cumberlan(l, Pawnee, Montice,llo, and Yankee were enolrcing the bllockade off Fortress Monroe. The steamers Philad’elph.a, Baltimore, Powhatan, and Mount Vei-non, of the Aquia Creek line, recently taken possessionl of by the Federal Government, were crtising on the Potonac, al heavily armed. In Chapter IX. we have given the condition of the navy as stated in the report of the Secretary, July 4th, to Congress.

According to that report, from Ma.rch 4th to Jily, two hundrt, i and fifty-mine officers had resigned from the navy. This number, with those that previously gave up th-ir commissions, made three hundred andl thirty that left the service after Noveinber, 1860. For this reason, many vessels were without a full complement of officers. There were, however, numbers who, having in times past left the service for civil pursuits, came promptly forward to offer their service%, and many masters and mas ters’

mates wei-e taken from the mercantile service. So promptly did stamen present themselves, that only two or three vessels expt’-iencedcl any detention for want of crews. The navy underwent a most rapid increase, as well in men as vessels. Thile aggregate of the purchases up to January, 1862, was as follows: No. Gun. Ton. Total Cost. Co.t Eah. Steamers, side-wheel………………….. 36 160 26.680 $2.418.103 $12,000 to $200,000 screw 4………………………42 170 19,9S5 2,1S7,537 5.000
to 172,500 BShips………………………….. 13 52 9,998 313.503

7,000 to 4).000O Barks……………………………….. 17 78 8.136

343.400 11,500 to 32,000 Schooners………………………..25… 25 50

5,458 241.790 6.000 to 18.000 Barges……………………………… 2

4 460 19,000 9,000 to 10,000 The sile-wheel vessels carried from one to ten guns each, the screws from one to nine, the ships Qne to eight. Of the side-whe(,l steamers, nine were first-class ships. Among the steamers were eighteen ferryboats, bought from the Brooklyn and New Jersey ferry companies. The armed vessels, in the operation of enf)rcin( the blockade, captured a considerable number of vessels, from April to November. iss

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HISTORY OF T GREAT REBLLION The vessels purchased were, however, few of them suitable for the blockading service, which required continuous duty off the coast in all weathers. The department therefore contracted for the construction of twentythree gunboats, of five hundred tons each, and made arrangements for larger and fleeter vessels, in addition to taking steps towards carrying out the order of Congress of the preceding session, for th e construction of seven sloops-of-war. Of these latter, two were directed to be built at each navyyard-Portsmouth, Boston, New York, and Philadelphia-making eight. The following table gives the names, character, and cost of the vessels built: 1URTEEN SCREW BLOOPS, 1,200 TONS EACI GOARRYING SEVEN GUNlS. Buil(er of Price of Name. Place built. Builder of hull. machinery. machiner.

Kearsarge……Portsmouth………Government………………….Woodruff & Beach,.. $104,000 Ossipee………………………..eli..

n…………..e i 93,000 Co., Mystic, lSacramento.

U………………………..I.Tauntois Locomo-117,000 tire Co,.

Wachliusett……Boston……………………………..Geo. W.

Quintard…. 104,000 }lousatonic…..

“……………………………… J. C)orly & C)……. 110,000

Canandtgaiua…. “……………………………Atlaitic Works……

110,000 Adirondack…..New York……… “………………….Novelty Works…… 12.5,000 Ticondleroga….

“,…………………………..Allaire Works…… 110,(00

Oneidta…………………………………. Mui phy & Co……..

102,000 Lackawanna………………………………Geo. W.

Qiiintard…. 110,000 Juniata…….

Philadelphia…………………………..Pusey, Jones& Co… 95,000

Tuscasora…… “…….. “…………………Merrick &Sons……

102,000 Monongahela… “……………………….. “…… 110,000

Shenandoah…. “…….. “…………………. ” “….. 110.O00

TWENTYTHREE SCREW GUNBOATS, 500 TONS EACH, CARRYING FOUR O]sUl Price Builder of Price of Name. Place built Builder of hull. of hall. machinery.

machinery Tahoma……..Wilmington, l)el….W. & A.

Thatcher……$53,.500… Reany & Archbold…. $46,500 Wissahickon…

Philadelphia…….Jobhn Lynn………….. 58,500… Merrick & Sons……

45,000 Sciota………. “…….Jacob Birely………… 52,000..J. 1’.

Morris & Co…. 44,000 Itasca………. “……..Hillman & Str-eaker…..

53,000……. 45,000 Unalilla……. New York…….. John Englis……….. 56 500… Novelty Works……. 81,500 Ottawa………”

“………. J. A. Westrvelt…….. 56,500.. ” “……. 31.500

Pembina…….. ” “……….Thomas Stack……….. 56,500.. ” “…….

81,500 Seneca……… ” “……….J. Simonson………… 56,500.. “

“……. 81,500 Chippewa……. ” “……….Webb & Bell…………

55,000… Morgan Works……. 46,000 Winona……..” “…………& R.

Poillon………. 55,000… Alltire Works…….. 46.000 Owasco………M
ystic River…….Maxon, Fish & Co…… 53,01)00.. Novelty Works…….

46,000 Kanawha…….East HIaddam……E.G. & W. lI. Goo(lspeed.

52,0100…Pcific W,-ks…….. 45,500 Cayuga………Portlan(l, Conn…..Gildersleeve & Son…… 52,0100… Woodruff & Beach…. 45,500

Huron……… Boston…………. Patil Curtis…………. 55,000.. II.

Loiing… 46,000 Chocira……. “……….. Ctitis & Tilden………

53,000… 45,000 Sagamore……… A. &G. Sampson……. 55,000…Atlantic Works 46,000 Marblehetad…Newbuir)y )ort….. W. J ackman, Jr…..

52,000..llighland Works… 43,000 Kennel)ec…….T’oinasto,mn, -G. W.

Lawrence……… 52.000.. Novelty Woiks.., 45.500

Aro)ostook….Kennebec………..N W. Thompson……. 53,000… “. 47,500

Kineo…….. Portland……..J. W. Dyer………….. 52,000.. Morgan Works……. 4f,500 Katahdin…….B..th……Larrabee & Allen…….

52,000………. 45,500 Penobscot….. Belfastst…….. C. P

Carter……….. 52,000..Allaire Works……. 42,000 Pinola……..

Baltimore……….J. J Abrahams……… 52,000…C. teedr………..

46,000 TWELVE SIDE-WHEEL STEAMERS, 7‘00 TONS EACIIT CARRIYING FOUR GUN*S.

40S ~ HBuilderof Price of Name. Place built. Builder of hull.

machinery. machinery. Bebago……. Portsmouth……..

tovernment……………….. Novelty Works., $50,000 Mohaska…….

“…………………………..Morgan Works……. 50,000

Sonoma…………… “….Noveltf Woik3…… 50,000

Conemaugh…………….’ “…….. 50,000 Maratanza….

Boston…………………………..H. Loritr………… 48.000

Tioga…………………………………. Morgian Works……. b0,000

Genesee………………..,Neptune Works……48,000 Octorara…..New Yorik………………………………. 48,000 Port Royal…. “

“………Thomas Staclk……………..‘Vessl complete…. 100,000

Miami……. Philadelphia……. Govgrnment……………,..Merrick &
ons….48,000 Cimerone……Bordentown, N.J… D..

Merchon…………….,. Complete…………100.000 Psul JoneI s…..Baltimore……….J. J. Abrahams………….,,.Reany &

Archbold…. 50,000 189,

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT:EBELLION. THREE IRONCLAD STEAMERS, 1.500 TONS EACIr, CARRYING TWO, TWELVF, AND EICGIITEEN GUNS. Price of Wame Place built Builder of hull. a(hinery. Galena,………ystic………….. tishnll, t Co………………..Complete for…….. $2.5..000 Monitor…… New York……….J,,hn Ericsson………………………. 2S().000

Ironsides…… Philadelphia……..Merrieck & Sons……………… “

“…….. 80,000 The names of most of this new fleet are of Indian origin, imparting at least “an odor of nationality,” if they are not easily borne in mind. The first of the gunboats launched was the Unadilla, August 17th, and thirty days later she made a very satisfactory trial tril). A description of her construction will serve for that of all. Her length is one hundred and sixty-eight feet, width twentyeight feet, and depth of hold twelve feet. Sle is schooner rilrged, aid has two engines, 1firnished by the Novelty Works, each complete in itself. They fire wmhat is termed back action; the cylinders are thirty inches iln diameter, with an eighteen-inch stroke; the boilers are of the vertical tubular form; there are fifty-two feet of grate surface, and two thousand feet of heating surface. The propeller is nine feet in diameter, with a mean pitch of twelve feet; the shaft is sixty-four feet long. There is accommodation for over one hullndred and fifty tons of coal on board. She averaged nine miles per hour, the boiler showing twentyeight pounds of steam, and the propeller making seventy-five to eiglity Revolutions per minute. Withli the aid of canvas, her speed was estimated at fifteen miles per hour. As the strength of the Federal navy increased, greater effect was given to those proclamations of the President by wlIi(h a blockade of the Southern coast was est:iblished. Out of this right of blockade, however, grew niany interesting questions, particularly in respect to the effectiveness of the blockade. The authority of the PIresident to institute a blockade at all ls, in some quarters, doliied. It was insiste(l thi:t this power, undler the Constitution, could exist onvly in the le(rgislature. The Circuit Court of Wasliington, however, held that the President was commander-in-eliief of the army and navy, and, as such, had a right to employ them in the minner he deemed most effectual to subdue the enemy; as chief of the navy, he had an undoubted right to orl(er a ship to c:apture an enemy’s vessel, and to shut up his port is only another mode of attack.

The facts set forthi in the proclamation show that civil war exists.

Blockade is a belligerent riiglt, and can only legally have place in a state of war. A soxvereig,n nation, eingaged in the duty of suppressing an insurrection of its citizens, may tict in the twofold c.apacity of sovereign and belligerent. By inflicting through the judiciary the penalty wihich the law affixes to the cliimes of treason and piracy upoithose found guilty of those offences, it acts in its capacity of soverieign. By instituting a bl’(clade of the ports of its rebellious subjects, anwl enfo,)rcing that meastire by Captuiug its vessels atd cargoes, and capturing the vessels of any or all Itations that shall attempt to violate be l)lockade, it is exercising a bellige(rent right, and the courts in adju(]ication of prizes are organized as prizecourt s. The question was als6 raised whether a nation could block.ade its own ports and collect duties, since the Constitution declares that no .190

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IIISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. preference shall be given to one port over another, and treaties with foreign powers gave them the right of visiting ou0’ ports. The old law of blockade, introduced by Holland as fir back as 1580, consisted simply in a diplomatic notice that such or such) a place was blockaded, without much effort to make it real. When England suc ceeded to the supremacy of the seas, she greatly developed and ex tended this system, so that, whenever she was at war, tile interests of neutral nations became morie precarious than even those of the enemy. In the waIrs with Nap)oleon the whole French coast was declared under blockade by Great Britain. The proclamation was notified to all neutral nations, wh9 were thenceforth to abstain fi’om all intcrcourse with the interdicted territory. Allied to this belligerent right, a!so, was that of seizing enemies’ goods on board neutral vessels; also, neutral goods found in enemie,s’ vessels. In the progress of civilization these remains of barbarism came to l)e modified, and in 1854, onI the occasion of the war with -tussia, tile variotis l)powers agreed that block-‘ ades, to be binding, must be effective; that is to say, mnairtained by forces sufficient re:illy to prevent access to the coast of the enemy. The same convention abo)lishel privateel-ing in time of wai’. Onl tho return of peace, in 1856(, these princil)les’ere agreed to, in the declara. tion of Paris, by Aust’i:i, France, Great Bi’itaii, Sardinia, Prussia, Russia, and Turkey, and were then sutbmitted( to the United( Statcs. Mr. MIarcy, then Secretary of State, in MAl. Pierce’s A(dministration, objected to the clause which abolished privateering. “It is,” sid he, “not the policy of the United States to maint,ain vast sta,diitg) aimiea and navies. WVhen, unfortunately, we go to war, we depend lupon our people to protect us on the land(l, and on our ship-owners to deoend us on the water. If yout will make all private p)roperity exempt fromn capture at sea, we will cease privateering; but why ask us to abolish it, while yoll maintain and send out your great ships of wvar, which are neither more nor less than privateers? They’go forth to do exactly the same thlings as the sltips we license in time of wvar to burn, plunder, and destroy. Mtake all private property exempt froiti capture at sea, and thetn we will agree that privateet’iag shall cease.” T’he English Government wouldcl not agtee to tilis, although the view ]iad miany advocates in England. The discussion was continued, and it was pro pose(-, by MIr. BLuchlanan, that the law of blockade should also be modified in so far that it should be confined to national vessels, naud naval arsenals and towns which were at the saine time invested by an army on the land; that all merchant -essels, with their cargoes, should be free to pass in and out. In 1859 M1r. Cass sent a circuLlar to this effect to the rcpresc.ntatives of the Uni4d States at all the European capitals. The British Government replied that ” the system of commercial bl’ockade is essential to our naval supremacy.” It is somewhat remarkable, howevet, that in the case of the Russian war the allies acted on tl)he principle proposed by MIr. Bucha.nan. That war was declared in MIarch, 1854, but the ports of Southern Russia were not declared in a state of blockade until MLIarchl, 1855. The allies temporized for a year with their right and power to close the commercial ports of the Black Sea, whilst oarrying on the most sanguinary struggle before the naval arsenal of 191

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MISTORY OF TIIE GREAT rEBELLION. Sebastopol, in order to allow the exportation of food from Russia, to make good the deficient harvests of England and France. Upward of half a million quarters of grain reached England fiom that region in 1854. IHere, at least, is a precedent for the policy of restricting blockades to fortified places, and leaving commercial ports unmolested. Had the proposition of Mr. Marcy, in relation to private property and privateers, and MIr. Cass’s proposition in relation to blockade, been accepted by England and the other powers, they would have suffered no inconvenience firom the present war, since their vessels would have had access to the Southern ports, whence, also, no privateers would have issued. When the blockade was instituted, the British Government recognized it as a belligerent right, and the Q,,een issued a proclamation enjoining the strictest neutrality. The British minister, in reply to some merchants of Liverpool who proposed fitting out vessels to trade to New Orleans, in the belief that under the treaty they had a right to enter any port of the United States, and that the attempt to enforce the blockade against British ships was an infringement of national law, stated: “The United States and the socalled Confederate States are engaged in a civil war, and her Majesty’s Government has recognized that state of things, and has taken up a position of neutrality between the contending parties. Under these circumstances, if any British ship, being a neutral, knowingly attempts to break an effective blockade, she is liable to capture and condemnatiou.” In France, application was also made to the minister, and he replied more at length to the same effect as the English minister. Complaint was made that no notification was given to the ministers of the several powers that the blockade was instituted, but this was not considered essential to its validity, if it was effective. Fifteen days were allowed, after the establishment of the blockade, for vessels to come out of the ports. It appears that whether they weire loaded or not at the time the blockade was established, provided they came out within fifteen days, their passage was allowved. On the other hand, the United States Government declined to permit vessels to be sent to ports which were blockaded for the purpose of bringing away the property of British subjects, or the vessels or property of other nations.

An application for such permission was made, to which the Secretary of State replied that if such a facility were granted it would be used by American citizens wishing to bring away property. The chief object of the Government, in the prompt announcement of the blockade, was to prevent the earess of privateers that might prey upon the Northern cornmerce. The proclamatico of Jefferson Davis to grant “letters of marque,” had been followed, May 6th, by the act of the Confederate Congress recognizing the existence of war between the United States and the Confederate States, and authorizing privateers. The act gave effect to the proclamation of.Davis, and regulated the action of privateers and established prizecourts for the adjudication of prizes. The announcement of this privateering policy produced a great sensationii at the North, there there was so much at risk. There were, nevertheless, two great difficulties in the way of privateers. One was 192

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ILSTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. the want of vessels, and the other the want of some place where prizes could be carried for condemnation. It was soon ascertained, however, that a nnumber of v(-ssels, mostly those taken from the G(ovcrllment, and others l)elon{Aing to Northern owners, which happened to be in Soutlherll 1)orts at the outbreak of the riebellion, were at the command of the Con,tederate,, and were being fitted for cruising. A nlumber of them ran the blockade and proceeded to prey upon coinmmerce. Among these was the Aiken, a revenue cutter, which had been surrender’ed by its comrm;mtnlei to the Charleston authorities, just previouls to the fall of Sumnter. She was refitted, and, under the nanme of Petrel, ran the blockade in July, and, mistaking the frigate St.

Lawrence f)r a merchant vessel, r:in towards her, and when within range was crushed by a single broadside. The Calhoun was a side-wheel steamer of one thousand and fifty-ei(ght tons, carrying one twenty-four-pound guln and two eightcen-pou,ud D:thl,rens. She was commanded by George N.

Hollins, forincmerly of the United States navy, and made numerous captures. Tile steamer W. H. Webb, ftrmerly a New York towboat of six hundred and fifty tons, and the Dixie, a schooner of one hundred and fiftv tons, were also busy. The Jeff. Davis, Captain Coxsetter, ran north as far as the Nantucket Shoals, makling pirizes on her way, but was soon afte, lost at St. Alug,ustine, Florida. The B’onita, a New York brig, the Sallie, a schooner, forme,ly the Virginia, of Brookhaven, and others, comniitted serious depredations upon Northern commerce. 3iany of the prizes captured by these vessels were carried into Southern ports and condemned in the plize-courts. When the Co-nfed(lerate authorities had pr’oposed to issue letters of marque, little attention was paid to the matter, under the sui,position that they had neithler the facilities to equip vessels nor the power to breakl the blockade. The prompt appearance of the ves..els on the oce:n compelled the European powel’s immediately to define their positions inii relation to them. The ground taken was, as in the case of recognizing the blockade, to regard both parties as belligerents, and to apply the same rules to the vessels of eich. Oil the 1st of June the EilglisI-Goveiiiment issued a proclamation containing the following cl,iue: “In order to give fill effect to this principle (neutrality), her MNajesty has beene pleased to interdict the armed ships, and also tile privateers of both parties, from carryilg prizes made by them into the ports, harbors, and roadsteads, or waters of the United Kii,dom, or,an, of her -Majesty’s colonies or possessions abroad.” The Firenth G(overnment decreed that no vessel of war or privateer of either )party should be allowed to remain il a Freieli port more than twenty-fo)ur liours, and forbidding any sale of good(s belonging.to prizes. The Spanish Governmet issuedi a similar decree. ThI)ese regu,l!:itions mutchcircumscribed the Confederate action;: but at H.lvana it wals notified: ‘ Vessels bearing the Confederate flag are allowed to enter Cuban ports utinder their own flags, to disclarge and take away crgoes, and do all other things of business nlecessity, withi the same privileges as favored nations, but without recognition of the new nationality. The two most important 6f the Confederate war-vessels were the 13 193

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. Sumter and the Nashville, because of the extent of their operations and their lobg-continued impunity. The former was originally called the 3iarquis (le la Habana, and had belonged to the alexicani General Miramoi. She had been captured off Vera Cruz, Marlch 5t’li, 1860, by the United States sloop-of-war Saratoga, for reftising, to sho0w her colors and firing into the latter when h)ailed; and bl’ing carried to New Orleans, she was subsequently taken possession of l)y the Coilfederate Gover,ment, and fitted for sea under comllllna,Ld of I’:ll)hael Semmes. Her appearance, when her smoke-stack was l(iw,‘ec, which was often the case for the purpose of disguiise, w-as tlhat of a cluminsily rigged bark. On the morning of the 30th of June slie left tlhe Mississippi, vainly )ursued by the United States steamier r()okllyn. She made a lnumber of prizes and sent them in to Cienf i(S,os, t)lt tli(y wvere not allowed to remain. The Sumter coaled -at tilat 1)ort, however, and sailed on July 7tih. She continued in the West IndCes making l)rizes, and coaliug in the different ports, pursued l)y the Ui;,itld States steamer Powh,itan from port to port, until November, whl n sl.e ran into MIartinique for supplies, which the Governnmeit r(fiis(cd, I)itt permitted her to buy them of the English merclha,,ts ot St. Pierre. While she lay there the United States gunboat Iroquois, Captaiti Palmer, made her appearancee. The local government, however, interp)o(sed, to prevent any inlfiaction of belligerent rights, and detainedi tlie Iroquois until twenty-four hours after the departure of the Sumte?. She then crossed the ocean, and ultimately arrived at Tilngiers, Africa, where some of her officers were seized by the Ami.,ican (.oistil, a,id sent home. The Nashville ran the blockade on the nig,lt of Oeto,ber 26th, and excited much atteittion by the rumor th’,t s-le carrie I,,,it MIessrs. Slidell and MIason, the Confederate commissione,s to Europ)e. This rumor was, ho\wev’er, a blind to cover the actual de!)ai’t:ite of the commissioners in thle Theodora. The Nashville wvas a s:de-vwh,el steamer of one thousIanIl twno hundred and twenty tons, belon:illg to the New York and Charleston line of steamers, and w.as of great sp,,ed. She had a crew of eighty men, and carried two ]ton, twdv(i-po itd ifled cannon, and was commanded by Captain Pegram, formerly of the LTnite(Il States navy. She arrived at Bermuda. ini tl,:ee: tml a It’.f days, where she coaled from private sources, the Gov(rnnme,tt refutsing supblies. On the 5th of November she sailed for Eng,l-at(l. Oil the 19th of Novenihbe’ sile fell in with and capturel] tlto ship) lI:,vey Birch, Captain Neson, from Havre for New York, t rce (t:s (,ut. The captain and crewv were taken as prisoncrs of wr, im(l tie sllip, a vessel of oiie thousai)d four hungred tons, was destroyed by Ii e. She then proeeeled to Southlampton, where the priso:ers were set it liberty with all their effeets.? The Nashville remained a loii timc in the LEnglish poit to refit, being pursued thither aiid watchled b; ti() United States ste:ima,r Tuscarora. They were both utltimately ordered to leav e tlhe li)ort, to prevent arinfraction of the neutrality l1tws, the Tuscarora be,itg compelled to give the Nashville ai start of tvweuty-four hours. As the Federl navy increased in strength, the numl)er of privateers 194

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HISTORY OF TIE GREAT REBELLION. became less, and their depredations almnost altogether ceased. There remained, however, thie question of t!ie niode of treatment for those captured. Oii the 3d of June, the crew (twenty men) of the scliooncr S:ivannah were captired by the United States brig Perry, and carried into New York, in irons, to await tri Ll for piracy. William Smith, one of the crew of the Jeff. Davis privateer, had also been captured and sent to Philadelphia for trial. These two trials took place on tho amnc day, viz., October 22d. Soon after their capture, July 6th, Jefferson Davis sent a, dispatch to President Lincoln, stating, that should any of those prisoners be execute(l, he would retaliate, man for mnian, and he propo.ed to exchange these prisoiers. The seaman of the Jefi Davis was tried before Judges Grier and Cadwallader, who charged the jiiiy to the efie(t, that ” he could not be regarded as a privateer, because he acted under a government that had not been reco(gnized.” The law iul relation to piracy had b(Len laid down in Boston, MIay 16th, by JLudge SpiTague in a charge to the grand-jury. He cited the laws of Congress of 1790, 1820, 1825, 1846, and 1847, as to what constitutes tl)e general crime of piracy. These laws were based on the power of Congriess to define and punish piracy. But lie was of opinion that the power to regrulate commerce afforded basis for additional penal en:actments. These laws, beirng constitutionally made by Congress, cannot be impaired by the acts of’ any State or States. No man breaking these laws under State authoiity can escape the consequences. But if States band together and make war, their authority to commence privateering cannot be recognized by the judiciary, until the Government has conceded to them belligerent right.. As long as the Goveinmient refiuses to dlo this, the judiciary c:a only re,g:lird the acts of the individuals as piracy. The judge held further, that if a citizen of the United States should commit depredations upon its commerce, under a commnission even firom France or Engl.and, he would be dealt with as a pirate under the act of 1790; and citizens of foreign countries which have treaties with the United States, such as are alludled to by the law of 1847, m:y be deemed pirates, if they, under a commission fiom any foreign Goveirnment, cruise against the United States.

The clhiarge of Judge Grier sustained these views, and Smith was convicted of piracy. The trial of the Savannah crew, of whom eight were foreigners, was had before Judges Nelson.an(l Shipman, in Newv York. Judge Nelson chlarged, that a pirate, by the law of nations, wvas one that cruised against the vessels of all nations; as the prisoners only cruised against one, the United States, their cribne fell short of piracy; but still, under the act of 1820, they were pirates. The commission of Jefferson Davis could not be t up) or defended, because the Unitel States did not recognize such authority. Again, a pirate was one who dep)redated for private gain; if this motive was wanting, in respect to the prisoners, their crimne was not piracy. The jury could not agree, and a new trial was ordered. Tht views of all the judges seemed to centre in one point, viz., that the judiciary had no recourse but to condlemn them under the acts inasmuch as their acts were piracy under existing laws, and the authority on which the men acted was not 195 I

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. recognized by the Government. Meantime, pending these trials, the Confe(ledate Government ordered the sel(ction of a number of menii fiom the Richmonid prisons, by lot, to be dealt with in the same manner as the privateers should be dealt with. The choice fell on Colonel Corcoran, of the New York Sixty-ninth regiment, and others captured at Bull Run. The Federal Government, under these circumstances, delayed the execution of these prisoners. While these events were taking place, R. B. Forbes and others, of Boston, applied for authority to arm the propella Pembroke, about to sail for China, as a privateer. The Sec’etary replied, that the power to do so might be found under the act of August 5th, 1861, empowering the President to authorize “commanders of any suitable vessels to subdue, seize,” &c. It does not appear, however, that any vessels were armed under that authority. The proclamation of the President in relation to treating privateers as pirates created much sensation in En(gland, and on May 16th a debate on the question took place in the house of Lords. The Earl of Derby said that privateers wvere not pirates by the law of nations, and no one nation could make it so. ” Ile knewv the United States treated the privateers as mere riebel>, and liable to the penalties of treason. That wvas not the doctrine in this countly, because we have dectared that they have belligerent rights. The Noitlieri States could not claim belligerent riohts for themselves, and deal with the other paities as rebels.” Lord Bioutgham said, “it was very cleai that pi,ivateering was not piracy.” Lord Kingsdown said the United States dealt with the privateers as rebels. “Hle believed the enforcement of that doctrine would be an act of barbarity which wouid produce an outcry throughout the civilized world.” The English Government, IHowever, took no active steps in the matter, and the question soon resolved itself into one respecting the exchlange of prisoners. The question of exchange of prisoners early forced itself upon the notice of the Government, which had the undoub)ted right to punish those captured as traitors, taken in the act of levying war upon the Government. To pursue this course, however, would provoke retribution, and would cause the war to degenerate into a savage contest On the other hand, the Government hesitated to systematize the exchange of prisoners according to the laws of war, lest it might be construed into an acknowledgment of the belligerent rights of the CoInfbderate States. The necessity of exchange became, however, urgent.

The friends of those who swere languislin-in Soutliern prisons were kept anxious by the rumors of bii-barities there comminitted, and were clarnoroq that something should be done for their relief: By effecting. an exchange of prisoners, no rights of sovereignty are conceded. There is a well-defined distinction recognized by the United States Courts, I)etAveen necessary intercourse and -idruission of rights. By exchanging prisoners nothing is concee(led but what is patent to the world, viz., that active war exists, and that it should be conducted by a Christian people according to the usages of eivilized nations. Previous to the battle of IBull Run, the number of prisoners on 196

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ISTORY OF T’E GREAT REBFLLION. either side was not large. By that disaster a large number of Northern troops became prisoners. It was then that the threat of retaliation was held out in respect to thie privateers. In view of this-fact, the question of punishment could no longer be entertained.

The Confederates bad, fi’om time to time, released prisoners on parole, and, in an informal manner, numbers were from time to time discharged on either sides On the 3d of September, a formal interchange of prisoners took place between General Pillow and Colonel Wallace. This was followed, on the 12th of October, by a proposition from General Polk, commanding at Columbus, Kentucky, to General Grant, to exchange prisoners aocording to the terms of the exchange between General Pillow and Colonel Wallace.

General Grant did not think proper to comply, on the gi.ounl that lie recognized no “Southern Confederacy.” On the 23d of October, General AIcClernand, understanding the necessities of the case, sent Colonel Buford to General Polk, offering to release three Con!bleeiate prisoners.

General Polk wished to make a general arrangcement, but Colonel Buford having no authority, General Polk relealsed, unconditionally, sixteen Union prisoners on this occasion. The treaty m:.de by Fremont with Price, on the first of November, provided for the exchange of prisoners, in terms as follows: “And the partes so named are hereby authorized, whenever applied to for that purpose, to negotiate for the exchange of any and all persons who may hereafter be taken prisconers of war and released on parole; such exchanges to be made upon the plan heretofore approved and acted upon, to wit, grade for grade, or two officers of lower grade as an equivalent in rank for one of a higher grade, as shall be thought just and equitable.” This was repudiated by General Hunter on the 7th of November.

Early in 1862 commissioners were appointed by the Federal Government to proceed to the Confederate Staites, and examine into the condition of the Union prisoners. They were refused admission, but sueceeded in entering upon negotiations which ultimately led to the adoption of a regular cartel. CHAPTER XV. Improved Efficiency of the Navy.-Expeditions.-Port Royal.-The Fleet.-The Assault.-Troops Landed.-Proclamation.-Stone Fleet.-Ship Island.-General Butler.-Proclamation of General Phelps.-Burnside’s Expedition.-Fort Pickena& -Galveston.-Combat on the Mississippi.-Effectiveness of the BIockade. aD WE have seen in a former chapter, in relation to the tactical aspect of the present war, that the South, occupying a central position, and the North the circumference of the theatire of operations, it was necessary to close the circle by occupying the leading points of the seacoast with strong detachments. This operation was long delayed through the want of a sufficient number of available vessels in the navy, at a time when a large’number were required to maintain as efficient blockade over an extended coast line. As soon, however, as a 197 1

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. moderate blockading squadron was supplied, attention was turned to the organization of a series of expeditions, having for their object the capture of the best harbors on the coast, and the occupation of extended tracts of country in their vicinity. When General Wool tookl command at Fortress Monroe, August 13th, he found p,‘eparations in )irogress for the expedition to Ilatteras Inlet, of whichl the details are given in Chapter XI., and the results of whicls were the occupation of that point by the Union fortes, on the 29th of August. A fortification called Fort Oregon, at Ocracoke Inlet, fifteen miles below H,ltteras, was abandoned by the Confederates, and destroyed by the Union troops. On the 1st of October, the steam-tug Fanny, with her two brass guns, and thirtyfive of the New York Ninth Volunteers, togt(ther with a considerable quantity of stores, was captured by the Coiifcderates.

On the 4th, the Twelntieth Indiana, stationed at Chicamaconlico, thirty miles above Ihatteras, were attacked, and a considerable number of themn made prisoners. The next day, the Monticello and Susquehanna ran down anid shelled the Confederates, killing a number, and driving the remainder to their boats. The Hatteras expedition having proved successful, the Unite/l States Government undertook a larger and more foimidable one. The finest harbor on the Southern coast is that of Port Royal, South Carolinaa broad estuary, formed by the junction of Broad and Polt Royal Rivers, and Archer’s Creek, and their debouchure into the Atlantic. The 1ltelrlacing of these and other rivers has foi-med a large group of islands, of which Hilton Head, HIunting, St. Helena, Paris, and Port Royal are the principal. This harbor is nearly equidistant from Charileston on the north and Savannah on tlhe south, with both of which cities it has an interior water communication for small vessels. The parish of which these islands form a part is the richest cotton district in South Carolina. Tile population was about forty thousand, of whom thirtytwo thousand were blacks. The chief production is the long-staple cotton, known as sea island, used for the first class o’f cotton goods, and produced only along the coasts of South Carolina, Georgia, and Texas. Rice is also largely cultivated. The village of Beaufort, on Poirt Royal Island, and the adjacent islands, formed the summer residence of many of the wealthy planters of South Carolina. This hlarbor, after consultation with Ciptain Dupont,* of the navy, was fixed upon as the best point for a basis of operations on the Southern coast, and preparations on a very extensive scale for an expedition thither were at once commenced. After many delays the expedition finally took its departure from fortress Monroe, October 29th. It consisted of fifty vessels, including thirtythree transports; the naval command being under Flagofficer DuI)ont. The military commander was Philadelphia navyyard(l, and in the ensuiing stimmer was puit in comimand of the Soutith Atlantic blockading squadro(n. On October 7th, after a gallant action, he captuire(l the rebel forts in Port RItoyal tarbor, for which service he w.s, in August, 1862, commissioned a rear-adiial. He commanded the irol-clads in the attack on Fort BSumter, April 7, 1863, aid in June was relieved 198 * Samuel F. Dupont was,%
native of’Kew J,-.rsey, where he was born in IS03. He entei-c,l the mmvy in 1815, and in 1848 served under Comiiiod,ure Shubrick in Calif,,rDia, where with ne hu,id.red men he atiltcke,l and rot*ed five hundred ]Rexicans. Ile was apt,ointe(i capltin in 18,)6, e,nd coininan(ted the Minnesota on the China ftut in l9. In 1861 he took charge of the

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MISTORY OF GREAT REBELLION. M~ajorGeneral T. W. Slerman,* and the troops comnprised three bri gades, nuiabei-in. fifteen thousand men, under BrigadierGenerals Egbert L. Viel6, Isaac I. Stevens, and Horatio G.

WVright. These wNere accompanied hy Hamilton’s (late Shelrnan’s) battery of six rifled giin,, and a )attalion of vo!unteer engineers. Soon after the fleet left HaIinptot Roads, the weather became utisettled, and the wind increased iii viole!ice until on Friday, November 1st, it blew almost a hurricane from thle southeast, scattering the ships so widely, that on Satuidyiv msrnitii b:it one of the whole fleet was in sight from the deck of the f.iig-sliip, the Wabash. On Sunday, the wind havii)g mod erated, the vessels l)ezan to reappear. During tte g:ile the Governor and Pee,less, ti,:nsport,, sank, and the Isaac Smith tlhrew her arma ment overboard to sa’e tlhe vessel. Only seven lives, however, were lost. Oti the 4tl, twventy-five vessels anchored off Port IoyNal ba:r, the channel through which was immediately sound(ed, and buoyed out. For the f)rote(tioti cf tlhe harbor the rebels ha(l ee(etedl at Hilton Head, orl its Southern side, Fort Walker, a strong earthlwork, mounting twentythree gurts of tle heaviest calibre, sonme of them rifled, and several of tie,m itnp irted from Eng!and during the war. On the north side of the haltbor, and distant albout two and a half niiles from Fort Walker, was Fort ]Be.uregard, at Bay Point, mountint twenty guns, and slupported by a,i outwork half’a mile distant. About two miles above the forts, whlere Port Royal River joins the Broaid, was a fleet of six or sev(n rebel glinloats, under Commodore Tatriall. There was also a str’ong land f rce in the forts, under Generil Drayton. Under the circtmsta.tes it was determited to reduce Fort Walker first, and on the 7~h of Novembei-, at nine o’clock, the Walt.ashl sinalled to the fleet to forni in order of battle in two columns. The flaig-ship led the main column, and the Bienville the starboard column, having her position on the Susquehanna’s starboard quarter, and mnaintainiig it during the entire action. The ships were drawn up in the following order: Main Column. Wat)ash, Susquelianna, ,Iohican, Seminole, Pawnee, Unadilla,i Pembina. As the fleet moved up towards Fort Beauregard the rebel batteries on both sides of the river ol)ened fire on the head of the column, with heavy glni ot long range. At ten minutes past ten tlhe Wabash fired simtltaneously onl both Foits’Walker and Beallle(rar(, sending a broadsi,le’!t e:lch. Each -olley fell in front of thle bitteries, and plougli(led deep lurrows in the sand.

Followed by her cozisorts, the * Thomas W. Sherman w,s b, rn in rhode Isl-6n Mayv, 1861; led a hri,-ale in thlle fi-st batitl of and. 1816; grditiat,(l,t West. oinit ini 186 as lull IRun, and in tli stc(ceedi,O.

()ctol,er took second lieutenilnt Tlir-l Artilhlr:.; first-lienten-command of the tr,oop,s in the l’o,rt Loytal Eixpeant, 183S; cllitati in Mavy 146: served in Mexi-dition. In March, 18S;2, lie was stipeiseIed and eo, ant w.,-s made m.aj,,ir in Fel)ruary, 1847, for ordered to the Siutlihwest. lie took hart in tho gallant mconl(ict at I3Biena Vista. le was al)- Port IHudson cainliaign. undr (Genera l 3atnks, pointed lieutenant-colonel of the Fifth Artillery and lost a leg in the assault of May 27th. 199 Starboar(I Column. Bienville, Seneca, Curlew Penguin, Ottawa, Vandalia.

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ISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. Wabash then turned southward, and, sailing in an ellipse, delivered her fire as sie passed slowly down within six liundre(l yarl(ls of Fort Walker, deliberately, and without losing thle range. She also ap proached the shore as closely as the soundings iw()ud admit. These were given regularly, as upon an ordinary occasion; signals wvere made continually, and the fire fell upon the fort withi all tlhe cool pre cision of target practice. The second coliumn, mneaiiv,,hile, had also passed up on the left side of the channel, pouring b.oadsi,les into Fort Beauregaid, and then taking a station to cut off Ta;-nall’s fleet from any participation in the fight, and at the same time to keep up a flanking fire on Fort Walker. Three circuits of the c’hannel vweie t-iken by the main column, at each of which a broadside wa.s opened upon the fort opposite. In this wa.y thle whole force of the fleet was b)rought to bear upon the enemy with irresistible effect, each ve.ss(l delivering its shot as it came in front of the fort, and each, by const.antly shifting its position, baffling the ellemy’s aim. The enemy was by no means inactive, and offered a stubborn resistance, but at the, e”,d of the third circuit the guns of the foirts were mostly disabled. The flag-officer almost simultaneously received tidings to that effect from several sources, and about 3 P. M. the rebels struck their flig. Thie signal to cease firing was at once hoisted, at precisely a quarter to three o’clock, the bombardment having been nearly five hours in progress. The flagship lowered a boat and sent it ashore, carrying a flag of truce in the bow, to inquire if the enemy had surrendered. Con mander John Rodgers, a p)assenger on the Wabash, who hid come down to join his vessel, the Flag, off Charleston, and ha(d been acting during the fight as aide to Commodore Dupont, was assigned the duty of taking the flag ashore. He planted the American ensign upon the deserted ramparts, and another and larger flag was afterwar,ds displayed upon the flagstaff of a building a few rods to the left, wAhere the rebel standard h}ad waved during the combat, and whence it had just been taken down. The troops were immediately landed, and( took possession of the forts. The Federal loss was ei(lght killed and twentythree wounded. The Confederate loss was not ascertained. Forty.

eight c:nnon were taken. The village of Beaufort was soon after taken possession of by the Federal forces without opposition, the ini habitants mostly retiring at their approach. After landing and taking possession of the forts, General Sherman issued the following proclamation: “TO THE

PEOPLE OF SOUTH CAROLINA: “In obedience to the orderwsf the President of the United States of America, I have landed on your shores with a small force of National troops. The dictates of a duty whichl under the Constitution I owe to a great sovereign State, and to a proud and hospitable people among whom I have passed some of the pleasantest days of my life, prompt me to proclaim that we have come among you with no feelings of personal animosity; no desire to harm your citienis, destroy your property, or interfere with any of your lawful laws, rights, or your social and local institutions, beyond what the causes herein briefly alluded to may render unavoidable. “Citizens of South Carolin: The civilized world stands appalled at the course yon are pursuing I-appalled at the crime y.-ou are committing against your own mother; the best, the most enlightened, and heretoforo the most prosperous of nations. You 200

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HISTORY OF T’E GREAT REBELLION. are in a state of active rebellion against the laws of your country. You have lawlessly seized upon the tforts, arsenals, and other property belonging to our common coutntry, and a itliln your borders, with this property, you are in arms and waging a iruthless war against your constitutional Government, and thus threatening the existence of a Governriment which you are bound, by the terms of the solemn conmpact, to live under and faithfflly support. In doing this, you are not only undermining and preparing the w-ay for totally ignoring your own political and social existence, but you are tlireatenin~ the civilized world with the odious sentiment that selfgovernment is impossible X itll civilized men. “Fecllow-citizens: I implore you to pause and reflect upon the tenor and consequences of -our acts. If the awful sacrifices made by the devastation of our property, the shedding of fraternal blood in battle, the mourning and wailing of widows and orphans thirolughout our land, are insufficient to deter yout from further pursuing this unholy war, than ponder, I beseech you, upon the ultimate, but not less certain result, which its further progress must-necessarily and naturally entail upon your once happy and prosperous State. Indeed, can you pursue this fratricidal war, andcontiiiue to imbrue your hlands in the loyal blood of your countrymen, your friends, your kinsmen, for no othier object than to unlawfully disrupt the confederacy of a great people, a confederacy established by your owvn hands, in order to set up, were it possible, an independent government, uinder which ycu can never live in peace, prosperity, or quietness? ” Carolinians: M’e have come among you as loyal men, fully impressed with our constitutional obligations to the citizens of your State; those obligations shall be performed is far as in our power. But be not deceived; the obligation of suppressing armed colmbinations against the constitutional authorities is paramount to all others. If, in the performance of this duty, other minor but important obligations lshould be in any way neglected, it must be attributed to the necessities of the case, because rights dependent on the laws of the State must be necessarily subordinate to military exigencies, created by insurrection and rebellion. “T. W. SIIHERMAN “Brigadier General Commanding. ~“IEAD-QUARTERS, PORT ROYAL, S. C., ” Noveimber 8, 1861.” On the 30th of November AdjutantGeneral Thomas sent instruotions to General Sherman, in Beaufort, to take possession of all the crol)s on the island-cotton, corn, iice, &c.- on niilitai’y account, and ship the cotton, and such other crops as were not wanted for the army, to New York, to be sold there for account of the United States; also, to use negro slaves to gather and secure the crops of cotton and corn, and to erect defences at Port Royal and other places on the adjoining islands. General Sherman proceeded to appoint an agent to collect the cotton, employing the blacks for the purpose, and allowing tlhen pay, and the cotton was shipped North on Government aceount. In most cases the Confederate commanders on the exposed points of the coast received positive instructions to burn or destroy all property on the approach of the Union troops. The capture of the tforts was son followed by the occupation of the islands. That of Port Royal, although taken possession of by the Unionl forces November 6th, was not fully occupiud until the 8tlh, when a reconnois.sa,ice in force, under Generl: Stevens, d:ove the ecemy completely from the island. They crossed Port Royal Ferry, and look up a p)ositiol on the mainland. Tht Union pickets wevre imnmediately exte,,de(l so as to defend the town of Beaufort and the entire island of Port Royal.

lIeanrtime the United States gunboats Flag, Augusta, Pocahoutas, and Seneca went from Port Royal to Tybee Island, at the 201

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. mouth of the Savannah River. The fortifications were found to be de serted, and formal possession was taken of the islatid. Reconnois sances ill other directions demonstrated the Ashepo, the Coosaw, and other rivers to be clear of the enemy. On the (capture of the islands the white population retired inland, after destroying mutch cotton, and did not return in ]lumbers. About ten thousand blacks, bei,ig nearly a third of the slaves, came within the Federal lines, and were employed in the culture of the soil and in the requisite labor of the ships and forts. A formidable plan to make the blockade more efficient was put in execution in November. Its purpose was to seal up the ch:nliels in the SouLthern harbors by sinking vessels loaded with stoie. The first attempt of thlis kind was on the North Carolina coast, where the nu merous i:lets to Pamlico and Albemarle Sounds gave great feicilities for evading the blockading vessels. A nuniber of s!iail-.ized vessels were purchased in Baltimore and sunk in Ocracoke Inlet. Two other fleets were then prepared, one for each of the lharbors of Savannahl and Charleston. The first consisted of twentyfive vessels, and the latter of twenty. They waere mostly old whalers, no longer seaworothy, and of frotn three hundred to five hundred tons burden. Th)ey were bought for about ten dollars per ton, chiefly in the ports of Newr London nid New Bedford, the forty-five ships costing about two hundred thousand dollars. They were stripped of copper and othler fittings and loaded with picked stones, as deep as possible. The Charleston fleet sailed Nover,iber 20th, with sealed orders, and on the 17th of December the first fleet was sunk across the principal entrance to the harbor. They were l)laced in three or four rows across the clhannel in a checkered order. The second fleet was sunk in MIaffet’s Channel Charleston Hlarbor.

The usual effect of sunken vessels upon the channel of a hairbor is to gradually destroy it, by causing an accumulation of the alluvium which the ilveis bear down, and of the sands which the tides carry back. This operation was denounced by the English as a crime against humanity at lairge, by destroying one of the world’s lharbors. But Mr. Seward replied, that the United States Government, upon the return of peace, hleld itself bound to restore the harbor. The operation, owing to the shifting character of the channels off Ch:irleston, and the prevalence of westerly winds at certain periods, which carry all obstructions out to sea, does not seem to have been very effective, and vessels continued to run the blockade in and out of Charl(,ston. Another expedition was projected to occupy Ship Island, on the coast of Mlississippi, shortly after the return of General Butler from Hatteras Inlet in September. The island, which is sixty miles from New Orleans, is about seven miles in length, arid one-eightll to threequarters of a mile wide. It is mostly a bank of clear wlite sand, without trees or shrubs, but good water can be obtained by sinking a barrel anywhere on its surr,ce. This, with Horn, Petit, Bois, and Dauphine Islands, forms the southern barrier of Mississippi Sound, which, with a width of ten to twelve miles, extends from Mobile Bay to Lake Borgne, in Louisiana, forming an interior communication be 202

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HISTORY OF Ta E GREAT REBELION. tween Mobile and New Orleans. On the mainland, opposite Ship Island, are the towns of Biloxi, Mississippi City, and Pascagoula. On the west end of the island are a fort anti a light-house. The fort was built by the United States in 1859, and was burned by fhe Confederates in JuIe, 1861. The United States steamer Massachusetts found the island llnoccul)ied at the end of June. On the 8th of July, the same steamer found a considerable force there, which had thrown up in trenchments,,n,l had mounted several guns. An attempt to dislodge them filedl, and they ret:iined possession until September 16th, when, appireiending the approach of a large force, they abandoned the island, taking most of their guns. In the mean time they had rebuilt the fort and named it Fort Twiggs. The Ma,ssachusetts landed a force Se tember 17th, which continued to hold it. Thiey received reenforce ments, and strengthened the place, mounting( several Dahlgren nineinch shell gins an,l rifled cannon. On the 19th of October, Commodore IIollins, commander of the Conifederate steamer Floiida, challenged the LIassachusetts, and, after a combat of forty-five minuites, the rebel ship drew off in a sinking condition, with four of her crew killed. The Miassacliusetts was hit by a one-hundred-pounrd shot, doing much injury to the hlull, but she had only one man wounded. On the 21st of November, the gunboat New London arrived iii the sound, and in the course of a fortnight captured five Confederate vessels. General Butler was authorized to enlist troops for this expedition in New England, and in doing so he came in collision with the Governor of M;issa’.huse ts, who objected to the raising of troops independent of his authority in the State, and to t’he appointment of field officers by Generil Butler. A sharp controversy sprang up on the subject, and the expedition was loag delayed. Finally the first installnent, a part of the Midtlesex brigade, consisting of the Massachusetts Twelitysixth andi ConnectieLIt Ninth volunteers, with Captain Manning’s battery of artillery, numbering in all one thousand nine hundred and eight men, arrived off Fortress Monroe, Virginia, on board the steam tralsport Constitution, on the 26th of November. In compliance with previous orders andl commands, General J. W. Pheips * relieved Colonel Jores, of the Massachusetts Twenty-sixth, in command, and the ship stood out to sea on the afternoon of the 27th. They arrived at Ship Island December 3d. Hlaving completed the landing of his troops, and before his commanding officer, General Butleri, arrived, Phelps issued an address to the people of the Southwest, containing the following passages: “We believe that every State that has been admitted as a slave State into the Union since the adoption of the Con*jtution, has been admitted in direct violation of that Constitution. “The Church, by being endowed with political power, with its convents, its schocis, * John W. Phelps w.s born in Vermont in 1813, and soon after brigadiergeneral o(f v(lunteers&
gradoateil at West lPoint in 1836, as secd(l lieu-lie took part in the Ship Isian(I expedition and in tenant of artillery, aoid became first lieutenant the exiedlitihn agfainst Now Orleans, in the spring in 13S. ItI coiiinanilded(i his company in Mexi-of 1862, but liliving become irnvolvd iii a d(lispute eo w,ith distinction at the battles of (A)ntreras and with General Btler. with regard to the lispoi,sition Chui-bihse,), was made captain ip 1S50, and re-to be made of the negroes who sitight the prosigned in 1859. When the war broke out he was teetion of the United States flag, he resignod his made colonel of the First Vermont volalteers, commision July 81, 1865, 204

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MIISTORY OF ttE GREAT REBELLION. its immense landed wealth, its associations, secret and open, became the ruling power of the State, and thus occasioned a war of more strife and bloodshed, probably, than any otaer war which has desolated the earth. “Slavery is still less susceptible of political character than was the Church. It is as fit at this mo-nett for the lurnber-room of the past as were, in 1793, the landed wealth, the exclusive privilege, &c., of the Catholic Church in France.

“It behooves us to consider, as a selfgoverning people, bred and reared and practised in the habits of self-goverament, whether we cannot, whlether we ought not, revolutionize slavery out of existence, without the necessity of a conflict of arms like that of the French Revolution.” *

“Tlhat it (free labor) is the right, the capital the inheritance, the hope of the poor man everywhere; that it is especially the right of five millions of our fellow-countrymen in the Slave States, as well as of the four millions of Africans there, and all outr efforts, therefore, however small or great, whether directed against the interference of Governments from abroad, or against rebellious combinations at home, shall be for free labor.” This document was not circulated on the mainland to anv considerable extent, and was promptly disavowed by General Butler, then in Massachusetts. While these expeditions were in progress another was organized, with as milch secrecy as piossible in respect to its destination, under General Buiinside. The preparations commenced early in September, and about eleven thousand troops concentrated at Annapolis in October, for drill anil preparation. The great difficulties necessarily attendant upon combined expeditions caused such delays, that General Buinside was Inot read(iy for sea until January 12th, when the combined land an(l iiav;il forces sailed from Fortress Monroe in one hundred and twenity vessels The destination was kept secret until the expedition appeared off HIatteras. It was theni announced to be Roanoke Island, which, lying between Albemarle and Pamlico Sounds, and separated l)y Croatan Solind firom the mainland, completely commani-Is the navigation of the inland seas of North Carolina. Scarcely had the fleet d(ptrted, when it was overtaken by one of those violent storms common to the coast at that seasoni, und suffered much damage. The steamer New York, with a quantity of arms and stores, was lost. The Pocahontas went ashore and was lost, with seventy-five the battle of Antietam. Soon afterwards he was placed in comerrand of one of the three grand divisions of the Army uf the Potomac; and, on Noveml)er 7th, he succeeded General McClellan in command of the whole Army of the Potomac; fought the unsuccessful battle before Fredericksburg, December 13th, and was relieved of his commtatnd January 26th, 1S63. t.)n March 26th, he. was alppoiiited to command the Department of Ohio, and in the fall conducted the campaign in Eastern Tenne ssee, capturing Cuml)erlan-l Gap, Knoxville, and other places. In Novemiber, he snccessfully held Knoxville against Longstreet’s besieging-armxiy, and on December 14th was relieved by General Foster. In command of the Ninth Corps he participated in the campaigii of 1S64 a4,inst Richmond, but having been censured foir the failure of the assault, after the explosion of the mine it front of Petersburg, he was relieved t,-wards the close of the year by, General Parke, and i May, 1865, resigned bip commission. *

Ambrose E. Burnside was born in In,liann, May 2:3(, 1824; gr,(luated at West Point in 184T; serv,‘d in the Mlexic:n war with credit, and afterwards on tile Mexican frontier, where lie was quartcrnaster of the bolundaiy commnission. In 1851 he travelled twelve hundred miles thr o ugh the Indian country in seventeen days. He was subsequentlv stationed at Newport, but resigned his commission in 1S53, to eng age in the manufacture of a breech-oleadin rifle of his own inventioii. Ile then enteredl the svice of the Illinois Central Railroad. Governor Sprague, on the oLutbrealk of the w,, madle him colonel of a Rho(.e Island regiment, an(f he served as actile brigadier at Bull Stun; On the 6th of August he was made lI)i-igalier-general of -olunteers. A few months later, hlie took charge of the exl,edition to Roanoke Island, andl after? the occiipatioli of that place, captured Newbern., Fort ltac,,n. and other irnmportant points in North Carolina. After the disaster oi the Peninsula in 1862. he was ordered North with the greater part af his army, and commanded the left wing at 206

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. horses; and several other vessels were wrecked, with more or less loss in stores and iiimnitions. Mluch diflictulty was encountere,l in passing over the bar at Hatteras Inlet into Pamlico Sound, in consequence of mis(alculations iii regard to draft of water, and it was not until February that ttis was effected. The eneiny held Roanoke I,laiid, with a force of three thousand men. The place was strongly intrenched, and was supposed capable of resisting any force that utight be sent inlto the soundl. On the 7th of February, the diy after the surrender of’ Foit Hent’y to the gunboats of Fla:g-offi(cer Foote, an attack was commenced. The gunboats, under Flagofficer Goldsboroulgh, having cleired an entrance into Croatan SounIl, and driven off the rebel fleet, consisting of seven gunboats, the Federal tr)ops, under Generals Foster, Rleno, and P.arks, effected a landing at night, beyond the reach of thle rebel guns, and advanced at diybre:tk on the 8th of Fehruaiy, thr,)ughl a dense swamp, upon the principal ititrenchments, which extended across the only road lea,.ding thlrough the island, and were protected on eitther flank by swamps and artificial obstructions of a formid:lble character. The main Fe(leral column skirmished in fiont of these, until the rebel wings were simultaneously attacked by flanking pa.rties, when with a determined rush it carried the works by storm.‘1T‘1e enemy forthwith abandoned the I)lace, and fled towards the ul)per end of thle island, closely pursued. There were, however, no means of escape, and the whole force of nearly three thousand men suirrendeied at discretion. Among the killed oli the side cf the Con, federates was Captain 0. J. Wise, a son of Ex-Governor Henry A. Wise, who was shot while attempting to escape in a boat. H. A. Wise had been in command of the islanid, but had left it a few days before on iccounlt of illness. With this island fell the defences of’ tl-,e enemy in that region. On the 9th a portion of the’fleet passed into Albemalre Souid and attacked the ColIfe(ler’ite flotilla near Elizabeth City, capturing one and( destroying four vesse’s. The troops, without encountering tfurther resistance, took possession of Eiizabet’h, Edenton, and o’her towns, and the Union occupation of the C:lrolin:a sounds became well established. Thus almost simultaneously with the )eiietrafion of’ Kentucky and Tennessee, in the northwestern part of the p’oposed Confederacy, by the gunboats, the defeuces of North Carolina fell by the same means. The interior of tllat State and the rear of Norfolk were thus opened to the Union force. Little of interest occuTrred at Fort Picklens until September 13th, when Lieutenanit, Russell, with five launches, containing each thirty men, p)ulled across f om Santa Rosa Island to the n:tvy-yard, two miles dist-tnt, and, witll singular audacity andl aiddres, buined the sch(iooner Judith, fittitig, out as a privateer dfblockad-erunn r, under the guns of the yat’d. At midnight on tl?e 8th of October, about tvwelve huiidred of the enemy, undei command of General An(leirson, landed on Santa Rosa Island, aud suip.ised the camp of the Sixth New Yo!k Zouaves, who were driven out in conllfusion. A pirty of’

regulars al’riving firom Fort Picke:is, and the Zoniaves partially rallying, the rlbels were in turn driven off, ilheer departure being liasteied by a he:ivy fire ol-)eIled upon themni at short range after they had embarked. The loss was not large on either side. 207

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JOISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. In November, the force on the island was thirteen hundred men, under Colonel Brown. The enemy’s force was rated at eight thousandcl men, occupying the navyyard, with four long Dahlgren thirtytwos; Fort McRea, with four columbiads and a number of heavy guns; and Fort Barraincas, wiith twentyfive Dahlgren thirtytwos. There were also fourteen batte’ies between these points, with one to four columbiads each. Colonel Brown determined to open upon them, and he invited Flagofficer McKean to co-operate. On the morniiig of November 22d, Colonel Brown began h.s fire. The encenly’s batteries formed a segment of a circle, all nearly equidistant from Pickens. The steatim frigates Niagara and Richmnond( drew in as near to Fort IcRea as soundings would permit. ThIe fire of Pickens was incessant until dark. By noon the guns of McRea were silenced, and several other batteries ceased firing( before sundown. The next morning Fort Pickens opened agan, but many of the enemy’s guns were silent, andl at noon the village of Warrington and the na.vy-yard took fire, when the cannonade was brought to an e,ld. Fort Pickens lost one gun, and six men wounded. The report of Colonel Brown dwelt at length upon the (flicien(cy of rifled guns, and particularly of Parrott guns. The de,en(,es of the city of Galveston (Texas) were aban(loned in the month of November, as inot being available against the long range and hleavy calibre of the blockading force. It is the most populous seaport of Texas, and had in 1860 a population of eight thousand one hundred and sevnenty-seven. It is situated on an i-land at the mouth of Galveston B:iy, about four hundred and fifty miles west by south of New Oi’leans, and two hundred and thirty miles southeast of Austin City. The island, which separates the bay from the Gulf of Mexico, is about thirty miles long from east to west, and about a mile and a half wide. The distance from the island across the bay by the railroad bridge to the mainland is about two miles. For the defence of the city, gulis were placed duiing the year at the east end of the island, at Bolivar Point, and at Pelican Spit Island, commnanding the bay. Its commerce under the blocklade ceased entirely. The cause of the South was ardently espoused by the inhabitants, and numbers entered the army. No imlportant occurrence of a hostile nature, however, took place here until August 3d, when a few shots were fired from the blockadcing schooner Dart at the batteries on Galveston Island. This was intended as a sort of a reconnoissance. Again, on the 5th, the steamer North Carolina opened her fire upon the batteries, and threw some shells into the city. A large number of persons having collected on the sand-hills, a little eastward of the batteries, a shell fell among them, killing one man and wounding three others. This led to a protest by the foreign consls resident in the city, addressed to Captain Alden, commanding the blockading squadron, against bonibarding without notice given. He, in reply, disclaimed thle intention, but stated that he had been fired upon by the batteries first. Nothing further of importance toolt place until November 20th, when, after consultation of the citizens, it was thought impossil)le to defend the town, all public and private property of a movable kind was sent to Houston, and a line of signals established which should cause the 208

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. concentration of troops on the first approach of an enemy; no further events, however, occurred. At New Orleans, Captain G. N. Hollins, of the Confederate navy, formerly of the United States navy, and who directed the bombard ment of Greyton, Nicaragua, under the administration of A1r. Pierce, was engaged during the summer in fitting out a fleet, and among other ves sels constructed a steam ram, called the AIanassas, which was the hull of a steamboat, plated with railroad iron, and having a projection from her bonv beneath the waterline, sufficient to punch a hole in the hull of a wooden vessel if striking her with force. The Federal blockad ing force in the Llississippi, in October, consisted of the steamship Richmond, Captain John Pope, the sloops-of-war Preble and Vin cennes, and the small steamer Water Witch. The Richmond, Octo ber 12th, was lying at the Southwest Pass, taking in coal from a schooner, when, at four o’clock A. Mr., the ram was discovered close to the ship. It struck her abreast of the fore channels, making a breach in,her side and tearing loose the schooner. Five planks were stove in the ship’s side, two feet below the waterline. Passing aft, the ram made an attempt to breach the stern of the ship. As she passed, the Richmond delivered her fire with all her port guns, but with what effect is not known. The sloops of war were at anchor a short distance below, and were signalled to get under way. When the ram struck she sent up a rocket, and soon three large fire-rafts, stretching across the river, were seen rapidly approaching, towed by a propeller and some steamers. The squadron immediately got under way and drifted down the river. The Richmond, Preble, and Vincennes got ashore on the bar,I and while there were attacked by the rebels, but without receiving any damage. But one shot took effect, and that struck the Richmond on the quarter. They were beaten off by the Vincennes with two guns, she having thrown overboard the rest of her armament, with her chains, anchors, &c., to lighten her, as she was very much exposed to the fire of the enemy. The fire-rafts soon grounded and burnt up. The Union vessels escaped with no damage except to the Richmond, and no one was killed or wounded on the Federal fleet. The operations of the navy in blockading and in aid of the expedition were now very effective, and the complaints that had, at the commencement of the war, been more or less just, in relation to the effectiveness of the blockade, subsided. It was generally admitted that the blockade was as effective as any had ever been, while successive occupation of important points on the coast encouraged the hope that the South, cut off from intercourv with the outer world, would sooa be reduced to submit. 1l 209 0

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. CHAPTER XVI. Army of the Potomac.-Volunteers.-Union Advance.-Lewinsville.-Ball’s Bluff. Gereral Scott Retires.-McClellan in Command.-Dranesville.-Programme of Movement.-President’s Proclamation. IN Chapter XI. we left the Army of the Potomac graidually acquiring discipline and consolidation under the command of General LMcClellan-. The materiel and discipline of the army meantime irnp’oved, and became more permanently effective. The three-months’ meni had all retired, and the new troops were learning those duties and becoming inured to those hardships that they had voluntarily undertaken for the war. The difference between three-montlis men, or the militia, and volunteers for the war was a distinction that had grown out of our long peace. In 1795, soon after the formation of the Government, when the hardships of war were yet firesh in the minds of the people, Congress had, in consequence of the whiskey rebellion, authorized the President to call forth the militia to suppress insurrections, and to use such militia until thirty days after the next meeting of Congress, no man to be compelled to serve longer than three months after his arrival at the place of rendezvous in any one year. In 1812-15 the law was amended so as to require the men to serve six months, but the amendment applied only to that war. Under the law as it stood, therefore, the troops called our by MIr. Lincoln could only serve three months. The volunteers who so eagerly filled up the ranks for three years or the war could now devote the necessary time to acquiring the ti-ade of war; and this they were doing under the continued supervision of General McClellan. While being constantly exercised in the drill and in the use of arms, the troops were employed in strengthening and increasing the numerous works around the city. The enemy meantime made no active demonstration. He was in no force to do so, and the fact that he was permitted with an army, probably scarcely more than one-third so great as McClellan’s, to coop up the Federal troops within the defences of Washington, was to many loyal people a source of mortification. The majority, however, had unbounded confidence in McClellan, and yielded up their scruples to what they considered his better judgment. Hence the rebel outposts were pushed slowly towards the Potomac, anddn the middle of September occupied MAunson’s Hill, in sigh*
of the Capitol. Skirmishes continued along the line, of more or less importance. Towards the clQse of September the enemy fell back along his whole line towards Fairfax CourtHouse, hi main body occupying nearly the same position as at Bull Run. On September 28th the Union troops pushed forward and occupied Munson’s and Upton’s Hills, and Fall’s Church village. Two advance bodies of the Union troops came into collision by mistaking each other for the enemy, near Fall’s Church. An attack was made and answered, 210

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HISTORY OF THIE GREAT REBELLION. and before the error was discovered ten men were killed and about twenty wounded. On the 9th of October General Smith’s division of the Union troops, firom the chain bridge, occupied Lewinsville. A portion of the troops under BrigadierGeneral Porter also advanced and occupied Miner’s Hill, to the right of Fall’s Church, and conmanding that village and Barr-el’s Hill, which latter was in possession of rebel pickets. On October 16th Vienna was occupied by the Union forces, and on the 1 th Fairfax CourtHouse, the enemy retiring upon Centreville and Mlanassas. On the 30th of Septemnber, General McClellan issued an order of the day, containing regulations for the troops, and affixiln names to the thirtytwo fortifications that had been erected around Washington. This was followed by the following regulation, which carries on its face the necessity for its issue: “GENERAL ORDER, NO. 19.

“IEAD-QUARTERS ARMfY OF THE POTOMAC, “w ASHINGTON, ()ctober 1, 18G1 “The attention of the general commanding has recently been directed to depredations of anl atrocious character that have been committed upon the persons and propertv of citizens in Virginia, by the troops under his command. The property of inoffensive people has been lawlessly arid violently taken from them, their houses broken open, and in some instances burned to the ground. The general is perfectly aware of the fact that these outrages are perpetrated by a few bad men, and do not receive the sanction of the mass of the army. He feels confident, therefore, that all officers and soldiers who have the interest of the service at heart will cordially unite their efforts with his in endeavoring to suppress practices which disgrace the name of a soldier. “The general commanding direct that in future all persons connected with this army who are detected ii depredating upon the property of citizens shall be arrested and brought to trial; and he assures all concerned, that crimes of such enormity will admit of no remission of tihe death penalty which the military law attaches to offences of this nature. When depredations are committed on property in charge of a guard, the conimander, as well as the other members of the guard, will be held responsible for the same as principals, and punished accordingly. “By command of MajorGeneral McCLELLAN. “S. WILLIMis, AssistL,t td’utant-Gieeral “RICHARD B. IRIVIx, A ici-de-Caina).” Colonel John W. Geary, of the Pennsylvania Twenty-eighth Regiment, wzith detachments fiom his own, the Thirteenth Massachusetts, and Third Wisconsin Regiments, in all four hundred men, crossed the Potomac at Harper’s Ferry, October 8th, and captured twentyone thousand bushels of wheat. While uponi his return and on the eC.arleston road, near Bolivar Heights, midway betwieen-the Potomac and the Shenandoah Rivers, he was attacked, October 13th, by a large Confederate force with infantry, artillery, and cavalry. Rebel batteries upon London and Bolivar Heights participated in the action, as did also a National battery upon the Maryland side. After several hours of intermittent fighting, the rebels wei* driven off, with considerable loss. The National loss was four killed and seven wounded, and two prisoners. Colonel Geary took from the rebels one thirtytwo-pounder. The Union troops subsequently fell back from the Virginia side of the Potomac. I .211

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ISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. An event now took place which cast profound gloom over the. country, not only because of the defeat of the Federal forces and the death of a gallant officer, but because of the disappointment which it caused to the hopes that had been excited throughi the growth and improvement of the army. Ball’s Bluff is the name of a part of the bank of the Potomac on the Virginia side, east of Leesburg.

Opposite the Bluff and about one hundred yards distant is Harrison’s Island, a long tract containing about four hundred acres, and about one hundred and fifty yards broad. Between this and the Virginia shore the river runs with a rapid current. Between the island and the Maryland shore the river is about two hundred yards broad, and not so rapid. A short distance above the upper end of the island is a ferry across the Potomac, called Conrad’s Ferry, and about an equal distance below the island is Edwards’s Ferry. The two hostile armies had for many months held the opposite banks of the river at this point. It was here that the Confederates had contemplated an irruption into Maryland to attack Washington. General Banks held the Maryland side of the river, from Great Falls to Edwards’s Ferry; from that point to Conrad’s Ferry was stationed the division of General Stone, with headquarters at Poolesville; next was the force of Colonel Lander, and then that of Colonel Geary. On the Virginia side the principal Confederate posts were Dranesville and Leesburg. As it was important to ascertain the strength of the enemy at Dranesville, General McClellan ordered General McCall to make a reconnoissance in that direction. This was executed October 19th, and McCall returned to his former position on the 20th, according to previous orders, reporting so enemy in I)ranesville, nor within four miles of Leesburg. In consequence of this information, the following dispatch was sent by General McClellan to General Stone at Poolesville: To B3RIGADIER-GENERAL STONE, Poolesville: “General McClellan desires me to inform you that General McCall occupied Dranesville yesterday, and is still there. Will send out reconnoissances to-day in all directions from that point. The general desires that you keep a good lookout from Leesburg, to see if the movement has the effect to drive them away.

Perhaps a slight demonstration on your part would have the effect to move them. “A. V. COLBURN, “Assistant Adjuta General.” On the receipt of these instructions, General Stone sent Gorman’s Brigade to Edwards’s Ferry; detachments of the Fifteenth and Twentieth Massachusetts to Harrison’s Island; and a section of a Rhode Island battery, and the California and Tammany (New York) Regiments, under Colone]lX. D. Baker, to Conrad’s Ferry. A feint to cross the river wq then made by Gorman’s Corps in view of the enemy. Soon after 1 A. M. of the 21st, Colonel Devens, with. five companies of the Fifteenth Massachus etts, accompanied by Colonel Lee, with a detachment of the Twentietli Massachusetts, crossed from Harrison’s Island to the Virginia side, and took position on the top of Ball’s Bluff, which here rises. abruptly some one hundred and fifty feet from the river.

At the same time, in order to attract attention from 212

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IIISTORY OF TIlE GREAT REBELLION. Devens, General Stone directed Gorman to send two companies of the First Minnesota across the river, and throw out a party of horse on the Leesburg road. Meantime, General Stone, having received a report from Colonel Devens that no enemy was to be seen, ordered a battalion of the Massachusetts Fifteenth to cross and protect the flank of Colonel Devens, and Colonel Baker to be ready with his brigade to act as a reenforcement, if necessary. At about 7 A. M. of the 21st, Colonel Devens, who had pushed reconnoissances towards Leesburg, encountered bodies of rebel infantry and cavalry, and fell back in good order to the bluff. As he had only about six hundred and fifty men under his command, he reported for further orders. Ile was directed by Stone to remain where he was, and was promised reenforcements. While waiting for these, he was attacked about noon by the enemy, who fired from the surrounding woods upon the small Federal force drawn up in an open field of about six acres. Some portions of the First California, the Massachusetts Twentieth, with some companies of the Tammany Regiment, and four guns, had now crossed the river, and at halfpast two P. I. the firing in front became very brisk. At four o’clock, Colonel Baker, who had now assumed command, formed his line for action-the Fifteenth and Twentieth Massachusetts on the right, the California on the left, and the Tammany Regiment and the artillery in the centre. Signs of a large force of the enemy now became apparent, although none were visible. This force, numbering probably four thousand men, pressing upon the one thousand nine hundred men under Colonel Baker with increasing visor and more effective fire, induced a consultation among the Federal officers, which resulted in the determination to stand. A retrograde movement would bring the force to the steep brink of the river, where the rapid descent only led to a small boat and a scow as a means of transport over a swift channel. The only hope was to maintain the ground until troops could cross at Edwards’s Ferry and force a way to their aid. Two companies were now pushed forward to feel the enemy in the woods on the left, and were met by a murderous fire, which was followed along the whole line of the enemy, who, feeling their strength, closed in on both sides of the field with overwhelming force. The gallant Baker, in the act of cheering his men, fell dead. The command then devolved upon Colonel Cogswell, of the Tammany Regiment. Hie had now no recourse but to attempt to regain the Maryland shore. The men retired in an orderly manner, closely pressed by the enemy. The small boat had disappeared, however, and the’larger one was swamped at the second time crossing. There was then no alternative but to swim or surrender.

They chose the former, and, throwing their arms into the river, dispersed, some up and downthe bank, and others on logs, and sought to cross to Harrison’s Island by swimming. In this attempt many were shot and more were drowned. - The pieces of artillery were tumbled down the bank, but wer taken by the enemy, with some cases of shot. Out of the total Federal force engaged, barely nine hundred returned to their camps, about half the missing having been taken prisoners on the river shore. The rebels, who were corn 213

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. manded by General Evans, reported their loss at one hundred and fiftyfive. While these events were taking place, General Stone was preparing to cross at Edwards’s Ferry, but desisted on news arriving of the death of Colonel Baker, and the retreat of his troops. Orders were then received from General McClellan to hold the island and Virginia shore at Edwards’s Ferry at all hazards. General Gorman proceeded to strengthen his position, and reenforcements came forward until there were four thousand infanty, with RIicketts’s battery, and a detachment of cavalry, on the Virginia shore, behind five hundred feet of intrenchments. Further information caused a change of purpose, and the whole returned to the Maryland shore. The main causes of this disaster were a badly-chosen spot to cross, insufficient means of transportation, and want of a definite object in venturing into a position where retreat was nearly impossible, without positive knowledge of the enemy to be contended with. The Confederates now extended their batteries down the Potomac, the success at Ball’s Bluff having caused a great increase of activity among them, as well as among their sympathizers in and about Washington; for which reason, on the 23d of October, the President suspended the writ of haIbe(s cor)pses in the District of Columbia. The greatly advanced age and increasing infirmities of General Scott, and the growing complications of the war, led to his retirement on the first of November from the position of commander-inchief, when he was placed on the retired list, without reduction of pay and emoluments. Mlajor-General George B. McClellan assumed command of the armies of the United States in his place by direction of the President. On the 2d of November McClellan was presented with a sword by the City Council of Philadelplhia, and in the course of his reply remarked: “It is for the future to determine whether I shall realize the expectations and hopes that have been centred in me. I trust and feel that the day is not far distant when I shall return to the place dearest of all others to me, there to spend the balance of my life among the people from whom I have received this beautiful gift. The war cannot last lonlg. It may be desperate. I ask in the future, forbearance, patience, and confidence. With these we can accomplish all.” At the same time the Confederate army in Virginia was reorganized. The State was constituted a department, comprising the three armies of the Potomac, the Valley, and Aquia, under the chief command of General Johnston. General Beauregard commanded the Army of the Potomac, General Thomas J. Jackson that of the Valley, and General HolmeI that of Aquia. With these new dispositions, the Union army being under command of General McClellan, and the Confederate army more efficiently organized, the opposing forces continued to face each other during many months of comparative inaction. On the 20th of December, however, quite a sharp action was fought at Dranesville.’ General McCall having ordered General Ord to proceed on the Leesburg pike, in the direction of Dranesville, to drive in the pickes of the enemy and procure forage, t] Federal forces, numbering about four thousand men, encountered a some 214

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“ISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. what smaller body of rebels under General J. E. B. Stuart, whom they drove in confusion through Dranesville. The rebel loss was two hundred and thirty, that of the Federals sixtynine.

The winter passed away without the occurrence of any thing else of importance, in a military point of view, in that department. It had been the intention, when all the armies and expeditions were organized, and at their respective positions, that the whole should make a simultaneous movement upon the enemy. The President, with this view, issued the following proclamation: THE PRESIDEX’T’S GENERAL WAR ORDER, No. 1. “

EXECUTIVE MANSION, WAVASHINGTON, January 27, 1862. ” Ordered, That the 22d day of February, 1862, be the day for a general movement of the land and naval forces of the United States against the insurgent forces. “That especially, “The army at and about Fortress Monroe, “The Army of the Potomac, “Thie Army of Western Virginia, The army near Mutnfordsville, Ky., “The armrnyand flotilla at Cairo, “And a naval force in the Gulf of Mexico, be ready for a movemen(t on that day. “That all other forces, -Ioth land and naval, with their respective commanders, obey existing orders for the time, and be ready to obey additional orders when duly given. “That thie heads of departments, and especially the Secretaries of War and of the Navy, with all their subordinates, and the Generel-in-Chief, with all other commanders and subordinates of the land and naval forces, will severally be held to their strict and full responsibilities for the prompt execution of this order. ” ABRAIIAM

LINCOLN.” The effects of these orders in Tennessee and Kentucky, as well as in 3Essouri, were apparent in the successes which, during the latter part of February, virtually restored those States to the Union. The Army of the Potomac was not, however, in the opinion of its commander, in a condition to move, not so much by reason of its own want of eicieincy, as in consequence of the state of the roads in Virginia. The mnd, it was said, was so deep, that it was impossible to pass a large army in face of an active and strongly intrenched enemy. There were days, indeed, in which the frost hardened the ground, and made it passable for artillery, but the continuance of this fi’ost could not be depended upon. A sudden thaw might leave the army in an exposed condition. Such were’the arguments which, in the early days of the war, were employed to excuse the “masterly inactivity” deemed essential to success. Grant had just demonstrated that troops could march and bivouac and fight in the most inclement season of the year. But McClellan, with forces far outnumbering those of his adversary,4hmgered in his camps, and the winter wore away without anylmovement undertaken by the Army of the Potomac. On January 14th, 1862, Simon Cameron resigned the office of Sec retary of War, and was succeeded by Edwin M. Stanton, who had held the office of United States Attorney-General during the last fer months of Mr. Buchanan’s Administration, and in that capacity had exhibited ability and uncompromising loyalty. 215

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. CHAPTER XVIL Foreign Mission of the Confederates.-Mr. Seward’s Letter of Instructions.-Earl Russell and the Confederates.-France Recognizes de facto Governments.-Foreign Recognition of the Belligerent Rights of the Soutth.-Mr. Seward’s Reply.-Spain.

-Mexico.-M-onroe Doctrine.-The Trent Affair. WHEN, early in 1861, it had become apparent that the attempted formation of a Southern Confederacy was inevitable, it was obvious that the first efforts of the leaders in the movement would be directed towards obtaining the aid and countenance of foreign nations, and that those efforts would be based upon the advantages which the South might have to offer to those who might first come forward to their assistance. To counteract these probable attempts, MAr. Black, Secretary of State under Mr. Buchanan, addressed, February 28th, a circular to all the ministers of the United States abroad. In this circular he stated that the election of the precedicng November resulted in the choice of MIr. Abraham Lincoln, lwho was the candidate of the Republican or anti-slavery party; that every Northern State cast its whole electoral vote (except three in New Jersey) for Mr. Lincoln, while in the whole South the popular sentiment against him was almost absolutely universal. Some of the Southern States immediately after the election took measures for separating themselves from the Union, and others soon followed their example. The result of the movement was the formation of what was styled the “Confederate States of America.” HIe then proceeded to say that it was not improbable that persons claiming to represent those States would seek a recognition of foreign powers, and enjoined the ministers to exert themselves to the utmost to prevent the success of the application. “The reasons,” he continues, “set forth in the President’s message at the opening of the present session of Congress, in support of his opinion that the States have no constitutional power to secede from the Union, are yet unanswered, and are believed to be unanswerable. The grounds upon which they have attempted to justify the revolutionary act of severing the bonds which connect them with their sister States, are regarded as wholly insufficient. This Government has not relinquished its constitutional jurisdiction within the territory of those States, and does not desire to do so.” On the 4th of March, thetew Administration came into power with a new President and’a new cabinet, none of the members of which had ever before held such positions. Almost simultaneously with their advent to power the Confederate commissioners, Messrs. Yancey, Mann, and Rest, delegated to”England, France, Russia, and Belgium, were appointed, and sailed for their destinations, to ask the recognition of the Confederate states as a member of the family of nations, and to make with each of those powers treaties of amity and corn 216

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HIIISTORY OF TIE GREAT REBELLION. merce. They at once proceeded on their mission by way of lHavana On the 9th of March, Mr. Seward addressed a circular to all the foreign ministers, in which he alluded to the instructions of his pred ecessor, and stated that the President renewed those injunctions, and relied upon the exercise of the greatest possible diligence and fidelity on their part to counteract the designs of those who would invoke foreign intervention to embarrass or overthrow the Republic. They were instructed to urge upon the Governments to which they were accredited that “the present disturbances had their origin only in popular passions excited under novel circumstances of a very transient character; and that while not one person of well-balanced mind has attempted to show that dismemberment of the Union would be permanently conducive to the safety and welfare of even his own State or section, much less of all the States and sections of our country, the people themselves still retain and cherish a profound confidence in our happy Constitution, together with a veneration and affection for it such as no other form of government ever received at the hands of those for whom it was established.” Mr. Dallas, the American minister, having submitted to Lord John Russell the representations contained in Mr. Seward’s general circular, the minister replied, that the Queen’s Government would he highly gratified if the difficulties could be settled, and that the time was not ripe for a decision in respect to doing any thing to encourage the hopes of the Confederates, whose commissioners were in London. On the 2d of May Mr. Dallas writes that Lord John Russell had remarked that although he had not seen the commissioners, he was not unwilling to do so unofficially. The fact that the English minister was willing under any circumstances to grant an interview to the Confederate commissioners was very distasteful to the American Government, since intercourse of any kind with these men was liable to be construed as a recognition; and, moreover, unofficial intercourse was the most injurious, since it left no means of information to the Government as to the points discussed. MIr. Adams, who replaced Mr. Dallas in May, was therefore instructed to desist from any intercourse whatever with the British Government as long as it should hold communications with the domestic enemies of this country. The negotiations with France tended to the same point. Mr. Faulkner, the American minister in Paris, in replying to the letter of Mr. Black, of February 28th, stated, that the French Government fully sympathized with the North, and regarded the proposed dismemberment with no pleasure, and was not prepared to look favorably upon the Confederacy. The French minister, M. Thouvenel, stated that the French Government would Itt act hastily in the matter, that the maintenance of the Uniof was required by the best interests of France, but, at the same time, the practice and usage of the present century was to recognize a cle facto Government when a proper case was made out. The minister, in cdbnversation with Mr. Dayton, who succeeded Mr. Faulkner, stated, “that historical precedents were in favor of treating Southern vessels as those of a belligerent, and of applying the same doctrine to them as had always been upheld by

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IIIS?-O~T OF TIIE GPEAT’rEDELLION. the United States.” He dwelt upon the fact that during the American Revolution Great Britain did not treat the privateers as pirates. Ile stated that an effective blockade would be fully recognized. On the 30th of May Mr. Seward instructed Mr. Dayton to protest against any communication, official or otherwise, between the French Government and the Southern commissioners, and to declare that the United States would not rest content to have the Confederate States recognized as a belligerent power by any foreign state or states; also, that measures were preparing which “will terminate the unhappy contest at an early day, and be followed by benefits to ourselves and to all nations, greater and better assured than those which have hitherto attended our national progress.” Meantime, Earl Russell, the British Foreign Secretary, had, on the 4th of May, held an interview with the Confederate agents.

They urged that the ground of the present difficulty with the North was not slavery, but the high tariffs the South was compelled to pay mon imported goods as a protection to New England interests, to the impoverishment of the South; that the new Confederate Government had abolished the slave-trade forever, and had reduced all import duties, while the North had greatly increased the duties on imported goods. The Governments of France and England meanwhile came to an understanding that they would act together in regard to American affairs, and the other European States, being apprised of the agreement, were expected to concur in it. Following these events, on the 13th of May the Queen’s proclamation appeared. This was on the day of the arrival of MIr. Adams, the new American minister, in London, and the proclamation was made without a previous interview with him. That document, in proclaiming the neutrality of the British Government, recognized the South as a belligerent power, and as consequently having the right to issue letters of marque and to authorize privateers. The other powers took the same course. On the 15th of June, the British and French ministers at Washington had an interview with Mr. Seward, and proposed to read to him the instructions which they had received from their Governments. Mr. Seward declined to listen to them officially, until he should first know the nature of their contents. They were left for his perusal, when it appeared that they contained a decision, at which the British Government had arrived, to the effect that the country is divided into two belligerent parties, of which the United States Government is one, and that Great Britain assumes the attitude of a neutral power between them. Mr. Seward, consequently, declined to receive the papers officially, and in writing to Mr. Adams on the sub, ject, remarked, in effect, Mat the Government held that although a state of internal conrotion existed, such as had frequently been the )case in other nations, the United States were still solely and exclu. sively sovereign within their own territories; that the law of nations and existing treaties have the same force now as before; that Great Britain could neither rightfully.qualify the sovereignty of the United States, nor concede nor recognize any rights, or interests, or power of any party, State, or section, in contravention to the unbroken sover 218 I

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MISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. eignty of the Federal Union; that although the Government was obliged to employ force to execute its laws, that fact did not justify other powers in intervening or acting as neutrals between the loyal and disobedient citizens. Earl Russell, on the other hand, observed, in conversation with MIr. Adams, that the great jfact of a war of two sides existed. A number of States and several millions of people were in a state of actual war, their cruisers were on the sea, and their agents abroad. The fact was undeniable, and the embarrass meit unavoidable. The only duty of the British Government in this, as in all preceding cases, he said, was to remain entirely neutral, and that was all that was contemplated by the Queen’s proclamation. On the 17th of June, MIr. Seward addressed Mr. Dayton on the subject of the visit of the French and English ministers, to lay before him the views of their respective Governments, giving his reasons for not receiving the document, and trusting that fact need not disturb the good relations between the two countries. MIr. Seward said: “It is erroneous, so far as foreign nations are concerned, to suppose that any war exists in the United States.

Certainly there cannot be two belligerent powers where there is no war….

There is, indeed, an armed sedition seeking to overthrow the Government, and the Government employs military and naval force to repress it. But these facts do not constitute a war presenting two belligerent powers, and modifying the national character, rights, and responsibilities, or the character, rights, and responsibilities of foreign nations. The American people will consent to no intervention. Down deep in the heart of the American people-deeper than the love of trade, or of freedom-deeper than the attachments to any local or sectional interest, or partisan pride, or individual ambition-deeper than any other sen.timenlt, is that one out of which the Constitution of this Union arose, namely, independence of all foreign control, alliance, or influenfice.” Mir. Wright continued to represent the Government at the court of Prussia, until the arrival of his successor, MIr. Judd. Ir. Seward, in his letter of instructions to Mir.

Judd, called his attention to the general circular, and stated: “This Government not only wisely, but necessarily, hesitates to resort to coercion and compulsion to secure a return of the disaffected portion of the people to their accustomed allegiance. The Union was formed upon the popular consent, and must always practically stand upon the same basis.

The temporary causes of alienation must pass away. But to this end. it is of the greatest importance that the disaffected States shall not succeed in obtaining favor or recognition from foreign nations.” MIr. Wright wrote, May 8th, that Baron Von Schleinitz gave the most positive assurances that the Prussian Government, from the principle of unrelenting opposition to all revolutionary movements, would be one of the last t) recognize any de facto government of the disaffected States of the American Union. 3Ir. Sanford, who represented theGovernment at Belgium, wrote, .)fay 26th, that the foreign minister had assured him that no application from the Southern commissioners would be entertained if made, but complained bitterly of the new United States taniff as very prejuv dicial to Belgian interests.’ 219 f ‘ 1,i!It I”’ F.’ Fl F,’ r-‘ 11 F-1,”,: Fl Pr’ I”

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. The interview of the United States ambassador with the Russian Government produced a very remarkable letter from Prince Gortcha koff to the Minister De Stoeckl, at Washington, which he was directed to read to Mr. Seward. In it the Emperor’s Government deplored the dangers that threatened the Union, and earnestly advised its maintenance. “In any event, the sacrifices which they might impose upon themselves to maintain it are beyond comparison with those which dissolution would bring after it. United, they perfect themselves.

Isolated, they are paralyzed. The struggle which unhap pily has just arisen can neither be indefinitely prolonged, nor lead to the total destruc tion of one of the parties; sooner or later, it will be necessary to come to some set tlement, whatever it may be, which may cause the divergent interests now actually in conflict to coexist.” On the 14th of August, after the news of the battle of Bull Run had arrived in Europe, the Southern Commissioners addressed a lengthy document to Earl Russell, in which, recurring to their inter view of the 4th of May, they endeavored to give satisfactory evidence of the justice of their cause, and to show that the people of the South had violated no principle of allegiance in the act of secession. They then discussed the neutrality of the British Government, regretting that prizes were not allowed to be carried into British ports. They set forth the productive powers of the South, its great wealth, and the advantages of commerce that they offer. They stated that the object of the war was “to secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity; that the party in power had proposed to guarantee slavery forever, if the South would submit to the will of the majority-in other words, to the will of the North.” They further stated, that it was the design of the North to resort to servile war by arming the negroes. Earl Russell replied, August 24th, simply reiterating the neutral position of Great Britain, stating that Her Majesty could not undertake to determine by anticipation the issue of the civil war, “nor can she acknowledge the independence of the nine States which are now combined against the President and Congress of the United States, until the fortune of arms, or the more peaceful mode of negotiation, shall more clearly determine the respective positions of the two belligerents.” The Spanish Government seemed inclined to favor the Southern cause, but was apparently held in check by the attitude of France and England. The following proclamation, issued in August, by the Captain-General of Cuba, in some degree indicates her policy: “In virtue of the proclamation by Her Majesty the Queen, I have determined, under date of August 7th, that all vessels occupied in legitimate commerce, proceeding from ports in the Confederate Staas, shall be entered and cleared under the Confederate flag, and shall be duly protec’ed by.the authority of the island. Foreign consuls will be notified that no interference on their part will be tolerated.” This disposition on the part of Spain grew, to some extent, out of her relations with Mexico, which were becoming daily more complicated, and which, if the United States should adhere to their established policy in relation to the intrigues of foreign nations on this continent, would be likely to involve the two powers. The Government of Mexico had been, since 1860, in the hands of 220

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. President Juarez, representing the Constitutional party, as opposed to the Church party, so called, because it included most of the priests, in whose hands was the greater part of the property of the nation, and who bitterly opposed all progress and freedom. To this Government Thomas Corwin was by the new Administration sent as minister, in 1861. In his letter of instructions to Mr. Corwin, Mr. Seward enjoined him to impress upon the Mexican Government that Mexico could not be benefited by the prostration of the Federal Union. “On the other hand, a condition of anarchy in Mexico must necessarily operate as a seduction to those who are conspiring against the integrity of the Union to seek aggrandizement for themselves by conquests in Mexico and other parts of Spanish America.”.. “You may possibly meetagents of thisprojectedConfederacybusyin preparing some further revolution in Mexico. You will not fail to assure the Government of Mexico that the President never has, nor can ever have, any sympathy with such designs, in whatever quarter they may arise, or whatever character they may take on.”

Mr. Corwin wrote, May 29th, “that Mexico was unwilling to enter into engagements that might result in war with the South, unless protected by aid from the United States.” Again, “Mexico regards the United States as its only true and reliable friend in any war which may involve her national existence.” Meantime, General Miiramon, the leader of the Church party, was at Madrid, seeking Spanish aid to restore his party to power in Mexico. These efforts ripened into the convention between France, Great Britain, and Spain, entered into October 31st, 1861, for intervention in the affairs of Mexico, and to claim redress of wrongs. The fourth article of the convention provided that a copy of it should be laid before the United States Government, which should be invited to accede to it. This was done, and Mr. Lincoln objected to the measures of the convention; but owing to the existence of civil war the United States Government was unable to make, with effect, such an energetic protest as the occasion would otherwise have demanded. The Monroe doctrine, which had proclaimed that the United States would not view any European intervention, seeking to control the destinies of any American nation, otherwise than as dangerous to its own peace and safety, was still the sentiment of the American people. Mr. Seward, in a letter on the subject, remarked that the President relied upon the good faith of the allies in respect to their not seeking any permanent aggrandizement in that country, and argued that the establishment of a monarchy in Mexico could not be permanently successful or prevent continued revolutions. The results of the national diplomacy thus far were, that the foreign nations, while expressing hope for a restoration of the Union, had first acknowledged the belligerent rights of the South; secondly, had refuised to accede to the United States’

proposition to consider their privateers as pirates; thirdly, had intimated that the recognition of the South, as a nation, was only %
question of time, and of proof of a certain degree of consistency on the part of the Southern Government; fourthly, they perfected against Mexico a coalition, which many years before had failed through respect to the United States. These acts became apparent and fixed towards the close of September, when 221

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ISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. negotiations in relation to them were suspended. It was then that, under date of October 14th, Mr. Seward issued a circular to the Governors of all the States, stating that the disloyal citizens were making every effort to involve the country in a foreign war, and that every precaution was necessary to guard against it, and appealing to the individual States to perfect their defences with their own resources, the expenses to be a subject of future consideration with the Federal Government. This was speedily followed by an occurrence which renewed in the most earnest and threatening manner the correspondence with foreign governments. The appointment of 1[essrs. Mason and Slidell by the Confederate States as ambassadors, the first to England, and the second to France, had been a source of some anxiety to the Federal Government. It was rumored that they had sailed in the ship Nashville, which ran the blockade from Charleston October 11th, and vessels were sent in pursuit.

It seems, however, that the rumor was a feint, since the commissioners, with their families, embarked on board the Theodora, which left Charleston at nearly the same time as the Nashville, bound for Cardenas, it being their intention to take the British mail steamer from Havana. Accordingly, on the morning of the 7th of November, they went on board the steamer Trent, which runs between Vera Cruz and St. Thomas vid Havana. On the morning of the 8th, when the Trent was in the old Bahama Channel, the United States steamer San Jacinto, Captain Wilkes, approached, and when within a furlong’s length, fired a shot across her bow, at the same time hoisting the American flag. The Trent continued her route, when the San Jacinto, with her men at quarters and guns run out, fired a shell, which, bursting within one hundred yards of the Trent, brought her to. Captain Wilkes, on his own responsibility, then sent a boat on board with two officers and twenty armed men, and demanded the surrender of Messrs. Mason and Slidell, with Messrs. Eustis and McFarland, their secretaries. Captain Moir, of the Trent, and the navy agent, Commander Williams, R. N., protested against the capture. The commissioners claimed the protection of the British flag, but the officer of the San Jacinto said they were the men he sought, and he would take them at all hazards. Commander Williams denounced the proceeding as an act of “wanton piracy.” Three other boats then came up from the San Jacinto, with thirty marines and sixty sailors, who leaped on deck, sword in hand. The commissioners were then taken into.

the boats with as much show of force as was necessary, their families being left on board, and the Trent proceeded on her way. When the comrissioners were on board the San Jacinto they drew up a protest against the proceedings of Captain Wilkes The San Jacinto arrived at Boston a few days afterwards with the prisoners, who were transferred to Fort Warren.

The public mind was greatly excited by the event. Congress voted thanks to Captain Wilkes, the Secretary of the Navy indorsed the proceeding, with the qualification that Captain Wilkes had not gone far enough, but should have captured the Trenti and a banquet was given to him in Boston. The capture caused the most earnest discussion in the United States, 222

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IHISTORY OF TIIE GREAT REBELLION. and a number of the leading authorities, Theophilus Parsons, professor of law in Harvard University, Edward Everett, and many others, volunteered opinions publicly upon the right of the United States to make the capture, urging, however, that the Trent should have been brought into port in order that the case might be adjudicated by the proper authorities. In England the news was received with the most intense excitement. Immediate preparations for war were undertaken on a large scale, and a demand for the release of the prisonera was made through the British minister, Lord Lyons. The event caused as much excitement in Europe as in England, and the French minister, M.

Thouvenel, immediately addressed a letter to this Government, in which he strongly advised the prompt restoration of tho men to British protection, and added: “If to our deep regret the cabinet at Washington approve the conduct of the com. mander of the San Jacinto, there would be a forgetfulness, extremely annoying, of principles upon which we have always found the United States in agreement with us.” On the presentation by Lord Lyons of the British demand to the Government at Washington, it was assented to, for the reason, as stated in a coinmunicatioii from MIr.

Seward, that Captain Wilkes’s proceedings were irregular, in not capturing the vessel and bringing her into port for adjudication; and instructions were sent to Boston to deliver the prisoners to the representatives of the British Government. They were consequently sent on board an English steamer lying off Cape Cod, and in her coniveyedl to St. Thomas, whence they went to England, bv the mail steamer, and arrived at Southampton January 30th. Thus passed away a danger, whichl at one time threatened the most serious consequences, and the effect of which had been heightened in England by the circular of Air. Seward, before mentioned, addressed to the Governors of all the States, urging the importance of perfecting the defences of the States, in view of the possibility of a foreign war. This result of the affair produced the greatest disappointment in the Southern States, since it had been supposed that war would inevitably grow out of the capture between the United States and Great Britain; the more so, that Congress, an(d one member of the cabinet, in his official report, had fully indorsed the capture. When, therefore, the men were promptly surrendered, and the chance of war ceased, great despondency overtook the Confederates, which was increased by the fact that this occurred at a time when the victorious armies of the North were in motion to drive them out of the Border States. The year 1862 thus set in most auspiciously for the Federal arms and prospects. CHAPTER XVMf. Age of Invention.-Change in Arms.-S8ringfield Rifle.-Enfield Rifle. Repeating Arms.-The Rodman Gun.-Columbiads. Parrott Gun.-Dah]grens.-Table of Guns in Service.-Projectiles.-Batteries. Iw this age of invention thescience of arms has made great progress In fact, the most remarkable inventions have been made since the pro 223 -A —

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MIISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. longed wars of Europe in the early part of the century, and the short Italian campaign of France in 1859 served to illustrate how great a ower the engines of destruction can exert. The improvement has een alike in small arms and in ordnance. In small arms the rifle has almost entirely superseded the old smooth-bore musket. This arm was one of the first forms of manufacture for fire-arms in the sixteenth century; but the musket was preferred, on account of its more speedy loading. The great skill of the American colonists in the use of the rifle during the Revolution brought the weapon again into notice, and when the percussion-cap was added, it gained much in public favor. Recently it has become so much improved, as to supplant not only the old musket, but to affect artillery also, thus changing the tactics of the battlefield.

Since the ” Wars of the Roses” in England, nine-tenths of all the battles in the world have been decided by artillery and musketry, without crossing a bayonet or drawing a sword. The cavalry, as an arm, has gradually lost ground, except in a defeat, when it can follow up a flying enemy. It never could break an infantry square even when the latter was armed only with pikes, and recent events have shown it cannot reach infantry in line.

Artillery, however, played a more important part, until the great improvements in rifles and rifle practice made it easy to silence guns by picking off the gunniers. In the text-book of the St. Cyr military school it is directed, that the fire of artillery should cease when the enemy is distant twelve hundred yards. At Waterloo, the opposing armies were nearly that distance apart, and, as a consequence, were out of reach of all but solid shot from field-guns as they were then served. The improved small arms are now effective at a mile, and troops can shoot each other at two thousand yards. From this it is manifest that the small arms which could kill gunners out of reach of cannon-shot had acquired the superiority, until guns were, in their turn, so improved as to restore their importance. The improvements in rifles are mostly in the ball, which is of conical shape, hollow at the base, and intended to expand so as to fill the grooves of the piece as it passes out. The Minie6 rifle, the invention of Colonel Minie6, of the French army, was made on this principle, and it is said that it can be made effective at a mile distance. The arm mostly used by the United States infantry is the Springfield rifle. This piece is forty inches long in the barrel. The bore is 0.58 inch in diameter, and the ball is a conical cylinder, hollow at the base, and weighs five hundred grains. The service charge of powder is sixty grains. The barrel has three grooves, which make one half, turn in the whole length. These guns including bayonet, ramrod, &c., are composed of eighty-four piece, of which twenty-six are of steel, and two of wood. All are made by machinery, each piece separately, and all so exactly alike that they may be used indiscriminately; a number of injured guns may be taken apart, and a perfect rifle constructed from them. The immense advantge of uniformity is thus attained. This mode of manipulation is purely American, and similar machines were made in New England and sent to England for the manufacture of the weapon, which is there called the Enfield rifle, because made at the -024

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. Government armory at Enfield. The cost of the Springfield rifle is thirteen dollars and fifty cents for each gun, and fourteen dollars and ninety-three cents complete with the appendages.

A great number of inventions of breech-loading and other weapons have been patented, but the American War Department has finally fixed upon the muzzle loading piece with percussion lock. The inventions of repeating arms have been many, of which Colt’s is the most famous. The principle is a revolving breech of six chambers, which are brought, in turn, in a line with the barrel by each successive movement of the lock. Sharpe’s rifle is a breech-loading and self-priming piece, invented in 1852. The barrel is made of cast steel bored out. As a carbine it is used in the cavalry arm.

These revolving rifles, both Colt’s and Sharpe’s, of superior construction, have been fitted with telescopic sights adapted for execution at long distances. The carbine is a weapon between the rifle and the pistol in weight and length; it is usually breech-loading, and is sometimes furnished with a bayonet in the form of a sword, which may also be used as a side-arm. There are three of these favorably reported upon by the board of offlcers-Burnside’s, Sharpe’s, and Maynard’s. The first was invented by General Burnside, and was by him manufactured at one time in Provideuce. The chamber of this piece opens by turning on a hinge, and the cartridge is introduced in a case of brass, which, on the explosion, packs the joint and prevents the escape of gas. The objection is the difficulty in obtaining the cartridges. Sharpe’s carbine is like the rifle.

MIaynard’s has a fixed chamber with the joint closed by a metallic cartridge case. There are a great number of repeating pistols issued to the cavalry and light artillery. When the war took place the scarcity of arms called into action numbers of private armories. The imported and other breech-loading, self-priming, and other weapons were altered to conform to the Springfield pattern, which are alone furnished to the infantry, with cartridges prepared for service at the armories. The improvements in small arms were soon followed by attempts to perfect cannon, which, from being effective a long way beyond musket range, had come to be ineffective at a less distance than a practicable rifleshot.

The military maxini that “he who would live long must enlist in the artillery,” found itself reversed, and great efforts were made to restore the efficiency-of the guns. The metal used for casting guns of large calibre is cast-iron, but the strength of iron varies greatly. The metal was formerly not so well made as it is at present. The difference in tenacity is very great in proportion to the uniformity with which the metal cools, and to effect this object great efforts have been made. The first guns made were of wrought bars cased in hoops of the same mnetal; one of thlese burst in 1460, and killed James II., of/ Scotland. In 1845, Commodore Stockton constructed a similar piece, which exploded, killing Mr. Upshur and Mr. Gilmer, members of the cabinet under Mr. Tyler, and wouhding some others. The next step in making guns was to cast them hollow. The great difficulty in this was to cause them to cool upiformly, and it was abandoned in 1729, for the process of casting solid and boring out the piece. This was continued down to a recent date, when Captain T.

J. Rodman, of the 15 225.

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HEISTORY OF THE GREAT’ REBELLION. UInited States Ordnance Corps, conceived the design of cooling the piece cast hollow by the introduction of a current of water flowing through the core, thus securing a uniform texture and maxinmunm strength throughout. In proof of the efficiency of this mode, a pair of 8-inch’uns was made in the best manner, one by the old method bored out, which burst at the seventy-third discharge, and the other by the new method, which did not fail with fifteen hundred discharges. A number of experiments were made with similar results. The gun known as the Union or Rodman gun is a 15-inch columbiad, and was east in the new manner, under the direction of Captain Rodman-lhence its name.

This gun is at Fortress Monroe. Its length is 190 inches; length of bore, 165 inches; thickness of metal at juliction of boie with chamber, 25
inches; thickness at muzzle, 5 inches; diameter of shell, 14.9 inches; weight of shells 320 pounds; charge, 17 pounds; solid shot weighs 450
pounds. COLUMBIADS were invented by Colonel Bomford, United States army.

Their peculiarity is, that they uniformly decrease in size from the breech of the muzzle, as in the case of the Rodman gun. They are used for throwing solid shot or shells. They were originally chambered, but are now made with a uniform bore, ordinarily of eightinch and ten-inch. Larger guns have been made for trial, one of twelve-inch and one of fifteen-inch.

The latter is the Rodman gun. A small difference in the size of the bore of a gull, or, in other words, the diameter of the shot, makes a very great difference in the weight of the shot. The rule is, that the weight increases in proportion to the cube of the diameter. Thus, a shot eight inches in diameter, supposing it to be a perfect sphere, will weigh sixtynine pounds; a tenmch shot will weigh one hundred and thi-ty-six pounds; a twentyinch shot would weigh ten hundred and ninety pounds.

Hence, a little increase in diameter causes an immense difference in the size of the gun. PARROIT GUN. This is named after its maker, Mr. Parrott, of West Point, who is, however, not the inventor. The piece is cast, and then upon the breech is driven a wro1xght-iron ring of four-inch thickness. This is put over hot, and shrinks upon the gun. By this device, the gun, which is rifled, will weigh less than a columbiad or Dahlgren of the same calibre, in the proportion of eleven hundred to fifteen hundred pounds. This for a fieldpiece is of great advantage. The DAHLGREN GUN was invented by Captain Dahlgren, of the navy. Its peculiarity is, that the thickness of the gun diminishes very rapidly fiom the breech, ~ which means a larger calibre weighs much less than by the old lan.

WHITWORTH’GUN. A number of batteries of these guns were received from England when the war broke out. They are loaded at the breech, but instead of being rifled the bore is hexagonal, with a twist of one turn to five feet, to give the effect of rifling. They are made of wrought iron melted and cast in moulds. The projectile is hexagonal, made to fituthe bore. It is of cast iron, but sometimes of wrought iron. The range of the gun is four thousand yards. STEEL CANON were introduced in the United States in 1861. Their 226

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HISTORY OF TIHE GREAT REIiELLI01O. chief advantage is their comparative lightness for field service, requiring a less power of draft, and being more manageable in heavy roads. They are foriged under heavy steam hammers from puddled steel made especially for this purpose. The six-pounders are of 2.6 inches bore, and the twelve-pounders, 3.67 inches~,bore. The latter weigh twelve hundred pounds each. They are rifled, one turn in twelve feet. MORTARS are used for siege and naval service. The heavy siege mortar weighs seventeen thousand five hundred pounds, is fifty-three inches long, and thirteen inches depth of chamber. The shell weighs two hundred pounds, and with twenty pounds of powder may be thrown four thousand three hundred and twentyfive yards. HIIOWITZERS are short guns, or mortars chambered and mounted on gun-cairiages. They are used for throwing shells. The difference between a mortar and( a howitzer is, that the trunnions of the former are at the end, and of the latter in the middle for mounting on a carriage. The United States “Ordnance Manual” gives the following kinds and calibres of guns used in the United States armies: Weight of shot.

Weight of shells 6.10 12.25 12.25 8.34 18.30 13.45 24.30 16.80 32.40 22.50

42.50 31.30 12.25 12.25 24.30 32.40 6 5.00 24.30 Calibre. Field guns……… 6 lbs. s……….. 1 1 75 12.2 ” “1………12” Siege “……… 12 ” *……… 18 ……… 24 Seacoast guns 3…..32”

…………..42”J fMountain howitzer..12” Field “..12 2 ” “…24” ” “..

32” Siege “.. 8 inch. ” “. 24 lbs. Seacoast “.. 8 inch. ” “.. 10 “

Columbiads…….. 8 ” ” I……..10 ” Mortars, light…… 8 ” ……10 “
heavy……10 ” The greatest change in weapons is in the projectiles. That for the Parrott gun is a cast-iron body, around the base of which is fitted loosely a brass ring, which, by the explosion, is forced into the grooves, causing the projectile to folloothe curves of the piece. The Whitworth gun has a hexagonal projectile, which follows the turn of the bore into which it is fitted. The three-pounder, with eight ounces of powder, has been known to throw five and a half miles. This range is obtained by the great twist gien to the grooves, equal to one turn in five feet, or one and a half turnskin the length of the gun. The HOTCHKISS
projectile is composed of three pieces, of which the conical head and base are made of cast iron, between which there is lead. The effect of the explosion is to cause the lead to bulge out, and thus effectually take the grooves of the gun. The SAWYER projectile is a 227’ 3faterial. bronze it iron It :1 it bronze It 99 it iron .44 11 it It 11 11 SI WeighL 884 1,757

3,590 4,913 5,790 7,200 8,465 220 788 1,318 1,920 2,614 1,476 5,740 9,500

9,240 15,400 930 1,852 5,775 49.75 . 101.67 49.75 101.67 44.12 88.42

197.30

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. conical shell of cast-iron, with a brass cap screwed into the apex of the cone. By this the powder, fourteen ounces for a twelvepound shell, is introduced. The percussion powder is under the brass cap. This shell has a coating of lead to take the grooves. The ScHENKL projectile is a cast-iron bullet, in length about three times the diameter. Its posterior portion has a covering of papier-machb, which takes the grooves. The JArES projectile is a cast-iron cylinder with a conical head. It may be used either solid or as a shell. The middle of the cylinder is about threefourths of an inch in diameter less than the two ends. In this portion there are openings to a cavity extending to the rear. The cylinder being enclosed in tin, with a canvas covering, hot lead poured into the cavity fills in under the tin. On the discharge, the lead, being driven forward, bulges out the tin, and forces the canvas into the grooves. Owing to the disposition of the tin covering to peel of, these projectiles are not to be depended upon. Ordinary shells are hollowv shot of cast-iron, filled with bullets and sulphur, and are fired by a fuse formed by boring into the filling, and charging the cavity thus formed with mealed powder of peculiar composition, which is covered with a leaden or soft metal cap; when it is to be discharged a portion of this cap is removed, so as to form a greater or smaller aperture to the fuse, according to the distance it is to be thrown before exploding. These fuses are graduated for five, ten, fifteen, or twenty seconds. The spherical-case shot is a thin shell of cast-iron, containing powder and miusket-balls embedded in melted sulphur. Its shape is round for mortars and smooth bores, but elongated for rifle guns. It is intended to burst fifty to one hundred and fifty yards in fi’ont of, and fifteen to twenty feet above the object fired at. The time-fuse is a hollow cylinder of paper, wood, or metal, enclosing a composition graduated to the required time. The fuse is fired by the explosion of the piece. A field battery consists of six pieces, viz., four twelve-pounders and two twenty-four-pounders, or two twelvepounder howitzers; or four six-pounders and two twenty-four-pounders. CHAPTER XIX. The Situation.-Army of the Potomac.-General McClellan.-The Retreat of the Enemy from Manasss.-The Peninsular Campaign.-Yorktown.-McDowell’s Corps Withdrawn.-Slege of Yorktown. TiE year 1861 had closed with gloomy prospects for the Federal arms. On all sides of the vlst field of action, our armies had suffered reverses, and the enemy had triumphed in many a hard-fought field. If there was a shade of disappointment on the public mind, there waa no sign of despondency, nor any diminution of determination. But scarcely had the new year opened, when from every point of the com, pass came notes of success, and the advancing Union troops were vic, 228

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BISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. torious in every conflict. Although the winter was unusually stormy, sixty days of vigorous effort sufficed to woik an entire change in the aspect of affairs, and impress the prestige of victory upon the Union flag. On the 1st of January, General Price was in triumphal possession of Southwestern Missouri; by the close of February he was a fugitive in Western Arkansas, with his army greatly reduced by ca]ptiure and demoralization, and Missouri was free from armed Confederates. On the 1st of January the enemy held a large portion of Kentucky, and confronted the Union forces on a line drawn from Columbus, on the western border of the State, through Bowling Green to the Virginia line on the east. Zollicoffer and Crittenden commanded Cumberland Gap, the gateway into Virginia and Tennessee; Johnston and Buckner at Bowling Green covered Nashville and threatened Louisville. General Polk, at Columbus, watched St. Louis and Cairo, and commanded the Mississippi. These threatening clouds were soon dispersed when the Union troops resumed action. Withini sixty days Kentucky was clear of Confederates. The immense line of hostile troops had been swept back into Alabama and Mississippi.

Every strong place had been taken, the rebel armies dispersed, Nashville occupied, and Union authority was once more supreme in Tennessee and Kentucky. On the 1st of January, Burnside’s Expedition still lingered in Northern harbors, while the enemy, warned by spies of its destination, were preparing to receive it. Within sixty days it had crowned its triumph at Roanoke Island, and loyal North Carolinians were be lieved to have rallied once more around the stars and stripes. All these successes had aroused the public enthusiasm, and strengthened confidence in a speedy peace, as a consequence of the advance of the Grand Army of the Potomac, which had during many months been in the hands of General McClellan, gathering force and consistency to deliver the final blow at rebellion.

That immense army had been the chief result of Northern efforts and resources, and it was regarded in the public mind almost as the Old Guard had been in the imperial armies of France. Its advance was looked for as the crownin movement. iThen the Army of the Potomac had, in July, 1861, been compelled t o fall back upon W ashington in a state of disorganization, the Admainistration, dreadin g an assault upon the capital, summoned General McClellan to rally a nd r e-f orm the broken columns. The undertaking was one demanding the abilities of an experienced commander. The yo ung chief was compa ratively an untried man, but his reputation, although resting only on the ctmpaign of Western Virginia, had the prestige of success, which pronmised to retrieve the disasters of the Potomac. General lMcClellan * had been prominent among the gradu a *

Geq,rge B. McClellan is the son of an eminent sappers and miners, Captain Swift. just organized physician of Philadelphia, and was born in that by a special act of Congress; of this cmpa))ny the city on the 3d of December, 1826. He entered the first - lieutenant was Gustavus W. Smith, late West P(,int Acaldemy in1842. graduated second in Street Conmmnissioner of New York, and now a his class in IS46, and was immediately caTled into major general In th Confederate army. The active service as second-lieutenant of a company of sappers and miners, seventyone strong, sailed 1iq p 1’ 229

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. ates of a distinguished class at the Military Academy, had earned promotion under Scott in Mexico, and had enjoyed a commission of trust from the Government in relation to Cuba. He was fond of his profession, and had the advantage of youth on his side. In civil life he had earned reputation as an engineer of good administrative abilities; and at the breaking out of the war held the the position of General Superintendent of the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad, having previously served on the Illinois Central Railroad with fair reputation.

Such was the man who, by the force of circumstances, had been called to the head of the army at a time of great national peril, and at whose disposal the Government placed the whole resources of the nation. The extent of these resources may be estimated from the official reports of the departments. The Secretary of War had reported the army at two hundred and thirty thousand men under arms; in his report of December, the figures were raised to seven hundred and thirty thousand men in the pay of the Government. In other words, five hundredi thousand men had, in six months, freely and eagerly rallied around the national standard. In July, 1861, the national debt was reported to Congress by the Secretary, at ninety millions of dollars. In December, the amount had swollen to two hundred and fifty millions of dollars, showing that one hundred and sixty millions of dollars had been freely poured into the national treasury to concentrate, arm, equip, and feed the half million of men who were crowding into the ranks of the army under McClellan. The people and the public press willingly gave him credit for all that they hoped he would accomplish. Every element of success was at his command. There were gathered around him crowds of eager volunteers, of the best physical from West Point on the 24th of September, to take part iii the Mexican war, with orders to repolt to General Taylor. At th’e battle of Contreias, Lieutenant McClellan managed the howitzers ot Magrulers battery Xith great ability. On the 20th )f August he distinguished himself at the battle of Ch irubusco, for which he was pronoted to a flist-l’ieutenancy. At Molino del ney and Chepultepec. his gallantry secured him the nank of captain bv brevet. The lollowing year, 184S, he a:sImlced comniand of the sappers and miners a position which he held until ISo1. It was diiiing this period th it Captain McClellan translited his text-book for the army, and intiroduced the bavon et exercise in the United States. I the all o 11 he was appointed to superintend the biilding of Fort Delaware. In the spring of 1852 he joined Captain Maicy in an expedition to explore 1Ied Iiver; and was afterwards ordered to Texas as a general engineer on the st.lf of Genera! Persifer F. Smith, and siirveyel the river nd harbois of that State. Next year he aided ilsutrveying the northern route for a Pacifi railroad, and fobr his work *as highly complimented by Jeff. Davis, then Secretary of War. Shortly after. McClellan was sent on secret service to the West Indie&, connected with the Cuban expedition, and on his return received a commission in the U. S. caalry. The war in the Crimea being at that time an absorbing subject of interest, the U. S. Government sent a cnmmission of three officers there to watch its progress and perfect themselves in the art; of these officers McClellan was one, and the ability *f his report when he returned added much to his reputation. In 1857 he resigne d his comm ission, and became VicePresident and Engineer of the Illinois Central Railroad. Th,ee years later we find him General Superintendent of the Ohio and Mlis,issipl)pi Railroad, and lie was thus engaged when civil war came upon us. Ohio immediately made him majorgeneral of her State f,rccs. and shortly after, Pennsylvania offered flim’ asimilar position. He organized the militia of Ohio qiiiekly and thorou,ghly. On the 14th of May, the F eder-al Governmeint tendered him the position of majorgeneral in the U. S. Army, and assigned him to the Del)artment of Ohio. Then followed his campaign in Western Virini. After the disaster at Bull Run, he was called to Washington, to command the Army of the Potomac. On the 81st of October, General Scott resigned, and General McClellan was al,pointed to succeed him as generalin-chief of the armies of the United States, lte organized the army with great ability, and when the advance took place, March 8th, he was restricted to the command of the Army of the Potomiac. He subsequently conducted the campaign of the Peninsula, and in the middle of August conducted the Army of the Potomac back toWashingtoii, and for several davs held command of the fortifications of. Washington. At the close of Pope’s Virginia campaign, he resiumed his o)ld command, and f,)iight the battle of Antietal. Oft November 7th, 1S62, he was relieved by Burnside. He was the Democratic candidate for President in 1864, and resigned his commission in the fall of that year. 230

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IIISTORY OF THE GRE.AIT REBELLION. development; unbounded supplies; the largest possible transportation, railway conveyance, telegra)phic communication, and unicontrolled direction. Seven months had been spent in the organization and combination of these elements of success. As the recruits successively arrived, they were organized and employed upon the extensive works that continued to rise around the national capital, thus becoming inured to the hardships of the camp, while they were learning the duties of a soldier; and gradually, as the army increased in stre,ngtb, it improved in military knowledge and efficiency. The great merit of Genera]

MicClellan as an organizer was conspicuous to all who had witnessed the condition of the army in July, and compared it with the vast array that had since been instilled with the principles of soldierly life anid discipline. The winter finally drew to a close, and the roads had become once more practicable for artillery and wagons. The right and left wings of the g,reat National advance had successfully driven the enemy before them, and the moment had arrived to crush the chief rebel army, which for seven months had with impunity assumed to besiege the Federal capital. The people were fully convinced that a new battle of Bull Run would result in such signal discomfiture of the enemy as would not only obliterate the former defeat, but open the way to Richmond. The political situation at home required a victory to sustain the Government, and the aspect of our foreign relations demanded some military progress to sustain the position of the American diplomatist:. In a military view, it was of importance that the enemy should be crushed at Manassas, because the difficulties of following an unbroken army beyond that point were formidable. The country had been devastated, the railways torn up, and the army could be supplied only by slow-moving wagons, bringing daily supplies from Washington. The position of the enemy had not been materially changed since the day of the battle of Bull Run. His strength varied from forty thousand to seventy thousand men, the main body of whom held the positions of Manassas and Centreville, which were connected by a temporary railroad laid on the surface of the ground, without grading. The works at Ilanassas were skilfully laid out, but had been constructed in a superficial manner, being simply dirt, trenches, and sand-forts, and were more formidable in appearance than in reality. The embrasures were intended for field-guns, but were destitute of floors. Five of them commanded the road to Centreville, extending on a line one and a half miles, and connected by riflepits deep enough to allow artillery to move behind them. There were substantial huts constructed for winter-quarterl, sufficient to accommodate forty thousand men. The position of Centreville was naturally much stronger than that of Manassas, and the works were more numerous and better built. They consisted of eight or dine forts of a capacity of from four to twelve guns each, extending On a line and surrounded by riflepits. There were never any guns regularly mounted, and when the place was evacuated, wooden guys, or “Quakers,” as they were called, were found in the embrasures. Much scientific skill was displayed in the 231

I.,,,‘I., -1

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLIO. design of all these works, and to a superficial eye they appeared to form a complete system of defence, commanding the approaches for many miles round. An ordinary reconnoissance would have shown that they were intended to deceive rather than to be defended; and it must be confessed they fuilly answered the purpose of their constructors. In February, Generals Johnston, Smith, and Stuart held Centreville, having parties thrown forward to Fairfax and Leesburg. All these places were connected by telegraph with Manassas, which drew its supplies by two lines of railroads, one leading south to Gordonsville, and the other leading to the rich valley of the Shenandoah, held by General Jackson, whose main force at Winchester, with his advance at Martinsburg, held Banks in check, and covered the railroad to Manassas. On the other hand, General T. I. Holmes commanded the Lower Potomac batteries, and General Walker, with a considerable force, held Fredericksburg. The whole force was estimated by General McClellan, at the beginning of March, at eighty thousand men, including some Virginia regiments, whose term of service was about to expire, but who had reenlisted. The President’s war order of January 27th, for a general movement of all the armies, was followed on the 31st by the following, having special reference to the Army of the Potomac: PRESIDENT’S SPECIAL WAR ORDER, No. 1. “EXECUTIVE

MANSION, WASHINGTON, January 31, ]1862. “Ordered, That all the disposable force of the Army of the Potomac, after providing safely for the defence of Washington, be formed into an expedition for the immediate object of seizing and occupying a point upon the railroad southwest of what is known as Manassas Junction-all details to be in the discretion of the Commander-in-Chief, and the expedition to move before or on the 22d day of January next. “ABRAHAMIIA LINCOLN.” To this order General MIcClellan promptly objected, embodying his reasons in an elaborate communication to the War Departmient, under date of February 3d. He admitted that, by attacking the enemy’s right flank by the line of the Occoquan, it would be possible to “prevent the junction of the enemy’s right with his centre,”

to “remove the obstructions to the navigation of the Potomac, reduce the length of the wagon transportation,” “and strike more directly his main railroad communication.” But he objected to the plan generally, as involving “the error of dividing our army by -a very difficult obstacle (the Occoquan), and by a distance too great to enable the two parts to support each other, should either be attacked by the masses of the enemy, while the oier is held in check.” And even should the execution of the plan prove successful, he thought the results “would be confined to the possession of the field of battle, the evacuation of the line of the Upper Potomac by the enemy, and the moral effect of the victory-important results, it is true; but not decisive of the war, nor securing the~lestruction of the enemy’s main army, for he could fall back upon other positions, and fight us again and again, should the condition of his troops permit.” On the other hand, he urged that the Lower Chesapeake Bay would afford the most avail) 232

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HISTORY OF TUE GREAT REBELLION. able base of operations, and that Urbana, on the Lower Rappahan nock, was the point of landing which seemed to promise the most brilliant results. It was accessible by vessels of heavy draught, was but three marches from Richmond, and was neither occupied nor ob served by the enemy. A rapid movement from Urbana would prob ably cut off Magruder at Yorktown, and enable the Federal army to enter Richmond, before it could be reenforced. Should Urbana not prove practicable as a base, he proposed Fortress Monroe. An ad vance from either point he considered preferable to the flank move ment ordered by the President, and “certain by all the chances of war.” This remonstrance had the effect of inducing the President to re linquish his plan, and accept that of General MIcClellan. An addi tional inducement was probably afforded by the decision of a council of war held shortly afterwards, in which eight generals expressed themselves in favor of the advance on Richmond by way of Urbana, and four were opposed to it. In the latter part of February, a movement was commenced on the Upper Potomac, having for its object the recovery of that part of the track of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad in Virginia then in pos session of the rebels. On the 24th, Harper’s Ferry was occu pied by a detachment from General Banks’s force; and early in March, Charlestown, Martinsburg, Leesburg, and other important points were in the possession of the Federal troops. These movements had, it will be seen, an important influence upon subsequent operations. The reconstruction of the railroad was at once commenced, and the work was rapidly and successfully pushed to its completion. The obstructions to the navigation of the Potomac caused by the rebel batteries erected at Cockpit Point, Mathias Point, and other places on the right bank of the river, had for months proved a source of mortification to the Government, as also of positive inconvenience and danger to the National Capital. Transports conveying stores for MAcClellan’s vast army could not ascend to Washington without great danger; even the passage of vessels of war was attended with risk. The city was, in fact, compelled to rely principally upon the single track of the railroad to Baltimore for communication with the outside world; and in removing his army to Urbana, McClellan had, as a matter of course, determined to convey them first by rail to Annapolis, and thence transport them by water to their new base. To the President’s urgent request that he would drive the enemy from these batteries, General McClellan had interpose various objections, the chief one being that such an operation wou d require the movement of the entire army, which would derange the plan of campaign he had already conceived. He was satisfied that the enemy would resist with his whole strength, and that the proposed movement to the Lower Chesapeake would compel him to abando% all his positions along the Potomac and in front of Washington. But ih the opinion of the President, backed by that of competent military authorities, there was no reason why an army, closely approximating in numbers to two hundred thou 233

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. sand men, should be longer hampered by such seemingly trifling obstacles as the Potomac batteries, and on Mlarch 8th the following order was issued: PRESIDENT’S GENERAL WAR ORDER, No. 3.

“EXECUTIVE MANSION, March 8, 1862. Ordered, That no change of base of operations of the Army of the Potomac shall be made w itlhout leaving in and about Washington such a force as, lri the opinion of the Generalin-Clicf and the commanders of all the army corps, shall leave the said city entirely secure. / ” Tiat no more than two army corps (about fifty thousand troops) of said Armyof the Potomac sall be moved en route for a new base of operations, until the navigation of the Potomac, from AZWashington to the Chesapeake Bay, shall be freed from the enemy’s batterits, and from other obstructions, or until the President shall hereafter give express permiision. “iTl;,t aiiv movement aforesaid en route for a new base of operations, which may be ordered by the Generalin-Chief, and whlic]i may be intended to move upon the Chesapeake 3Bay, shall begin to move upon the Bayas early as the 18thll March inst., and the Generalin-Chief shall be responsible that it so moves as early as that day. “Ordered, That the army and navy co-operate in an immediate effort to capture the enemy’s batteries upon the Potomac between Washington and the Chesapeake Bay. “L. TIOMAxs, Adj’t~titt-Generel.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.” Of the same date with this order was another, directing the Army of the Potomac to be organized into four corps, the first to be cominan(led by General 31cDowell, the second by General E. V. Sumner, the third by General UIeintzelman, and the fourth by General Keyes. A fifth corps, under General Banks, was directed to be formed from his own and General Shields’s Divisions. General James I. WTadsworth was at the samle time appointed commander of the forces left in the defenses of AVashlington, and Alilitary Governor of the District of Columbia. On 3Iarchl 9th, while these orders and preparations for drivingr the rebels fromn the Potomac and moving the army to the Lower Chesapeake were occupying the attention of the authorities at Washing,ton, there suddenly came a rumor that the enemy had done of their own accord whlat McClellan had doubted his ability to make them do. In the eveninrg, positive information reached headquarters, that the enemy had retired in succession from Fairfax CourtHouse, Centreville, and MATanassas, destroying their camps and the bridges in their rear as they departed. The news was felt to be that of a disaster. WNashilngton was immediately in commotion. The telegraph from the headquarters of General McClellan conveyed prompt orders to each division for immediate advance. Generals left at once to assume their commands, mnd before dawn a long line of wagons, officers, orderlies, cavalry, and infantry, began, amid a driving storm, to file across the Potomac to overtake the divisions already in motion. McDowell’s advance-guard, under General Philip Kearny,* surprised *Philip Kearny was born in New York City, ited Aftrica, and became attached to the Chas. June 2, 1815. On the 5th of March. 18S37, he re-severs cd’Afrique. lie gained distinction during ceived a commission as second-lieutenant in the campaign of l3S-40, anI wa,s decorated with his uncle’s (Cohlonel S. W. Keattny’s) regiment, the cross of the Legion of Ilonor. nuring his the First U. S. Dragoons. Being sent to Eui-absence he was promoted to first-lieutenukt, rope to study French cavalry tactics, he vis-, July, 1639, and on his return was app)ointl 234

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IIISTOPY OF THE GPREAT REBELLION. a body of Confederate cavalry at Sawpits Station, on the Orange ancl Alexandria Railroad, and on iMonday, the 10th, at noon, entered Centreville, which had been deserted by the enemy on the previous night. On the same day, General LMcClellani and staff left Washington, and established his headquarters at Fairfax CourtHouse.

Simultaneously, Colonel Averill, with the Third Pennsylvania Cavalry, entered 3ianassas, Stuart’s rebel cavalry retiring towards Strasburg, by way of the 3Ianassas Railroad, to join Jackson. On the same day, Banks occu pied WVinchester, and General Hooker, commanding on the Lower otomiac, sent troops to occupy Shippinsport, Evansport, and Cockpit Point.

The aspect of affairs had tillis r.apidly changed. The advance of Genec,al l’anks, threateninic the Coifederate communications with the vallcv, had caused the position of iIannIssas to be no loiger tenable. All the b-)tteries on tlhe Peotoieh’c were ibandoned, and the enemy fell back to Gordonsviile. This poinlt has as much strategic importance as 31anas-as, since it commands the passage which connects the great and fertile valley of the Shenandoah by railroad with llRichniond. The loss of that point would involve the cutting off a large portion of the slpplie fbor Etstern Virginiia. It is also the point of intersection of the nlost ilmlportant railroad(l conllections south and southwest. The reCg,io0n lo,nd Gordonsviile is thickly wooded and broken, nd(l perhaps better calculated for deftnce than that aroun(l AIanassas. To this ])oint the enemy fell backl, having Iiis advance on the line of the Rapidaii, tw,-elve Iiilcs in fronit. The Noitli Aina and South Anna Rivers unite an. form the P:imuntkey in the neighborhood of Hanover CourtiIo~lte, in a c(iuntry much broken, andl adlnirably calculated for def,:cc. Il tlhis neighborliood also the Central Virginia Railroad, whilch rmlus froin Gordonsville to Ilanovei-Junction, forms a junction with the Firdecricksbu:g and P’otomac Railroad, in a position of great strength. It was on tlis line firom Gordonlsville to Hanover Junction, cove-rel by the R-:ipid:tn and the tributaries of the 3tattapony and I’amunllkey, tllat the Conteb(lerates had their new position, and on the 10th (if 3Iacelli General Lee was nominated to command in Virginia, alld rcolrgaliz a new system of d(efence. Thle Union force which penetrated to Centreville and Alanassas consstectl only of a small advance-guard. The greater part of the alrlny w-eint llo further thlan Fait-fax CourtHouse, where pursuit was ftoppeod.

Tlte object of Genera.l IcClellan in marching -is troops so f,,r wile his mfjild was still busily occulpied with the plojedt for transpo-ting tlhemr to the Lower Chesapeake, was, as he has stated in his the Italian campaign of 1S59, he served as volunteer aide to General Morris, a French (flieer, was again presented with the cross of the Legion of Honor, and when the rebelli)n bioke out in this cotintry, he immediately returned home and tender,ed his services. He was al)p)oinited the commanrder of a New Jersey brigade, subseq uently cormissioned a brigadiergeneral of volunteers, with ranlk from May 17, 1861, an(I during the operations on the Peninsula, an(i in the campaign under Pope, headed a division. Ile,as made a imiaijor-general on the 4th of July,‘lS62, and was killed in the battle of Chantlly, September!, 18621 ie to Genera l 5t acerob, November lS40, anud to Gener’ S(cott fromii l) cenliber, 184I’, to April, 1S4. In I)ecenl)er, 1846, he -as promoted to captain. and commiinanded tlhe First Dragoons in the Valley of MNIxi o. lis bravery during the whole e’ I,i{;pigi gained him special praise from General Sc ott. He was, in August, 184S, brevetted major, with ratk from August20, 184T, for gallantry, &c., t (ontreras and Churubusco, where he lost his left armi in a charge near San Antonio gate.

lie resigned, October 9, 151, after lttving served sCme tine in California, and wen t to Europe to resume his military studies. During I 235.

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. official re(-port, to afford them an opportunity “to gain some experience on the march and bivouac preparatory to the campaign.” On the 11th he sent orders for the transports which had been assembling at Annapolis to come to Annapolis, to embark the army from there for Fortress Monroe, which had now definitively been fixed upon as a base of operations against Richmond. Ever since tlhe inception of the plan of going to the Lower Chesapeake the President had striven to impress upon General McClellan the importance of leaving Washington well protected. The city, as a commercial centre or as a strategic point, possessed little importance; but it was the capital of the nation, it contained the public offices and archives of the Government, and was the residence of the chief officials fiom the President downwards. During all the winter and far into the succeeding summer Congress was in session there. Hence to allown such a city to fall, through negligence, into the hands of the enemy, would have produced a moral effect far beyond the intrinsic import:ance of the place. It would in all probability have insured to the Southern Confederacy that recognition abroad for which they were so eagerly striving, and might have induced the North to relax her efforts to carry the war to a successful completion. It is not, therefore, to be wondered that MIr. Lincoln, feeling the responsibility reposed in himn as the guardian of this important trust, was determined that the safety of the city should rest on no uncertain basis. He demanded an adequate force of men, not merely to garrison the forts surrounding Washington, but to cover the approaches to it on the Virginia side; and he was the more inclined to insist upon this, as General McClellan seemed disposed to convey the bulk of the army to a distant base, leaving the road from Richmond to the Potomac com rativelv open to an invading force. It might be true, as General cClellan urged, that while Richmond was threatened fi’om the line of the James or the York Rivers, the rebels would never demonstrate in force against Washington; but, in the opinion of the President, such a contingency was possible, and he was not disposed to risk the capture of the city by a sudden movement of the whole rebel army towards it, even if thereby the Confederate capital should fall into our hands. In other words, he declined to exchange capitals. But though the President had insisted that the national capital should be properly defended during the absence of the Army of the Potomac, he did not himself decide the numbers or quality of the troops who should perform that duty. His general war order of March 8th called for “such a force as, in the opinion of the General-inChief and the commandeeof all the army corps,” would leave the city entirely secure. Oa the 13th, as soon as practicable after the promulgation of the order, ai council of war, consisting of four of the five corps commanders (General Banks being absent), was convened by General McClellan at Faifax CourtHouse, at which the plan of movement fiom Fortress Monroe by way of the York or James Rivers was formally approved, on certain specific conditions, which were: First, that the enemf’s vessel, the Merrimac, can be neutralized; iecond, that the means of transportation sufficient for an immediate 236

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ISTORY OF TiM GREAT REBELLLIO N. transfer of the force to its new base can be ready at Washington and Alexandria to move down the Potomac; third, that a naval auxiliary force can be had to silence, or aid in silencing, the enemy’s batteries on York River; and fourth, that the force to be left to cover Washington shall be such as to give an entire feeling of security for its safety from menace. To the document embodying these conditions was appended the following “note,” or memorandum, with refeience to the number of troops required to make Washington secure: “That with the forts on the right bank of the Potomac fully garrisoned, and those onthe left bank occupied, a covering force in front of the Virginia line of twentyfive thousand men would suffice (Keyes, HIeintzclman, and McDowell). A total of forty thousand men for the defence of the city would suflice (Sumner).”

The Meirimac, which the first of the above conditions required to be neutralized, was a powerful ironclad rebel ram, which, a few days previous to the meeting of corps commanders, had made a dashing and successful raid upon the Federal war vessels in Hampton Roads. Though she was ultimately driven off by the timely arrival of the Ericsson ironclad Monitor, she was still sufficiently formidable to occ:asion anxiety to the Federal authorities. Her career will be found elsewhere described. On the same day that the plan was decided upon, it was communicated to the Secretary of War, who urged its immediate execution. The President also approved of it, and gave the following directions for its execution: “First.-Leave such force at Manassas Junction as shall make it entirely certain that the enemy shall not repossess himself of that position and line of communications ” Second.-LeaveWashington secure. “Third.-Mlove the remainder of the force down the Potomac, choosing a new base at Fortress Monroe, or anywhere between here and there; or, at all events, move such remainder of the army at once, in pursuit of the enemy, by some route.” On the 1st of March official reports showed that the troops in and around Washington, including those in Maryland and Delaware, comprised an aggregate of two hundred and twentyone thousand nine hundred and eightyseven men, of whom one hundred and ninety-three thousand one hundred and forty-two were present for duty. Of this force, General McClellan designed to take with him to Fortress Monroe the corps of McDowell, Heintzelman, Sumner, and Keyes, forming the Army of the Potomac proper, and representing about one hundred and forty thousand men. This would leave a little more than fifty thousand for the defence of Wshington and the occupation of the lower Shenandoah Valley.and other points in Virginia, and the cities and strategic positions in Maryland. Banks’s Corps, estimated at thirtyfive thousand strong, and then stationed along the Virginia side of the Upper Potomac, it was pr(posed to employ, in part, in holding the positlion at Manassas, in accordance with the Presidenrt’s directions. The remainder of the corps was to maintain its present position, and, if circumstances should favor the movement, to advance up the Shenandoah Valley and occupy Lynchburg and other important places. The following order, limiting McClellan’s command to the Army of 237.

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HISTORY OF THE GREAF REBELLION. the Potomac, besides creating two new departments, was issued before his return from Fairfax CourtHouse to Washington: PRESIDENT’S WAR ORDER, No. 3. “EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, March 11, 1862. “MajorGeneral M]cClellan having personally taken the field at the head of the Army of the Potomac, until otherwise ordered he is relieved from the command of the other military departments, he retaining command of the Department of the Potomac. “Ordered, further, that the two departments now under the respective commands of Generals Hlalleck and Hunter, together with so much of that under General Buell as lies west of a north and southl line indefinitely drawn through Knoxville, Tennessee, be consolidated and designated the Department of the Mississippi, and that until otherwise ordered, MajorGeneral Halleck have command of said department. “Ordered, also, that the country west of the Department of the Potomac, and east of the Department of the Mississippi, be a department to be called the Mountain Department, and that the same be commanded by MajorGeneral Fremont; and that all the commanders of departments, after the receipt of this order by them, respectively report severally and directly to the Secretary of War, and that prompt, full, and frequent reports will be expected of all and each of them. “(Signed) ABRAHAM LINCOLN.” In view of the momentous campaign upon which the army was about to embark, its commander issued, on March 15th, the following address as an order of the day: “SOLDIERS OF THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC, “For a long time I have kept you inactive, but not without a purpose. You were to be disciplined, armed, and instructed. The formidable artillery you now have had to be created. Other armies were to move and accomplish certain results. I have field you back that you might give the death-blow to the rebellion that has distracted our once happy country. “The patience you have shown, and your confidence in your general, are worth a dozen victories. These preliminary results are now accomplished. I feel that the patient labors of many months have produced their fruit. The Army of the Potomac is now a real army, magnificent in material, admirable in discipline and instruction, and excellently equipped and armed. Your commanders are all that I could wish. The moment for action has arrived, and I know that I can trust in you to save our country. As I ride through your ranks I see in your faces the sure prestige of victory. I feel that yeou will do whatever I ask of you. Tile period of inaction has passed. I will bring you now face to face with the rebels, and only pray that God may defend the right. “In whatever direction you may move, however strange my actions may appear to you, ever bear in mind that my fate is linked with yours, and that all I do is to bring youll where I know you wish to be-on the decisive battlefield. It is my business to place you there. I am to watch over you as a parent over his children, and you know that your general loves you from the depths of his heart. It shall be my care-it has ever been-to gain success with the least possible loss. But I know, that if it is necessary, you will willingly fopw me to our graves for our righteous cause. “God smiles upon us Victory attends us I Yet I would not have you thnk that our aim is to be obtained without a manly struggle. I will not disguise it from you that you have brave foes to encounter-foemen well worthy of the steel that you will use so well. I shall demand of you great, heroic exertions, rapid and long marches, desperate combats-privations, perhws. We will share all these together, and when this sad war is over we will return to our homes, and feel that we can ask no higher honor than the proud consciousness that we belonged to the Army of the Potomac. “GEO. B. MCCLELLAN, ” MajorGeneral Commanding.” The army, with the exception of one of Sumner’s divisions, left 238

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBE]LLION. temporarily at lanassas, was now moved back to the Potomac and concentrated in the neighborhood of Alexandria, awaiting transportation, which did not arrive so rapidly as was anticipated. Heintzelman’s Corps got off first, followed by those of Keyes and Sumner, and on April 1st, McClellan left with h’s headquarters.

McDowell’s Corps, to which was assigned the advance of the expedition, owing to a difficulty in embarking its divisions at once, remained in its encampment after the departure of the rest of the army. Just previous to leaving, the General sent the following coimmunicationl to the adjutantgeneral: GENERIAL M’CLELLAN’S ORDIERS TO ADJUTANT-GENERTAL

THOIfAS. ” tIEAD-QUARTERS, ARMY OF TIlE POTOMAC, STEAMER COMMODORE, April 1, 1862. To BrigadierGeneral L. THOMAS, AdjutantGeneral U. S. A.: “GEN’ERAIL:-I have to request that you will lay the following eommunication b)efore the Honorable Secretary of War. The approximate numbers and positions of the troops left near and in rear of the Potomac are about as follows “General Dix has, after guarding the railroads under his charge, sufficicnt troops to give him five thousand men for the defence of Baltimore, and nineteen hundred and eighty-eighlt available for the Eastern Shore, Annapolis, &c. Fort Delaware is very well garrisoned by about four hundred men. The garrisons of the forts around Wash ington amount to ten thousand men, other disposable troops now with General Wadsworth being about eleven thousand four hundred Mnen. The troops employed in guarding the various railroads in Maryland amount to some three thousand three hundred and fifty-nine men. These it is designed to relieve, being old regiments, by dismounted cavalry, and to send them forward to Manassas. General Abercrombie occupies Warrenton with a force which, including General Geary’s at White Plains, and the cavalry to be at their disposal, will amount to some seven thousand seven hundred and eighty men, with twelve pieces of artillery. ; I have the honor to request that all the troops organized for service in Pennsylvania and New York, and in any of the Eastern States, may be ordered to Washington. This force I should be glad to have sent at once to Manassas-four thousand men from General Wadsworth to be ordered to Manassas. These troops, with the railroad guards above alluded to, will make up a force under the command of General Abercrombie to something like eighteen thousand six hundred and thlirty-nine men. It is my design to push General Blenker from Warrenton upon Strasburg. He should remain at Strasburg long enough to allow matters to assume a definite form in that region before proceeding to his ultimate destination. The troops in the Valley of tho Shenandoah will thus-including Blenker’s Division, ten thousand and twentyeight strong, with twenty-four pieces of artillery, Banks’s Fifth Corps, which embraces the command of General Shields, nineteen thousand six hundred and eilghty-seven strong, with forty-one guns, some three thousand six hundred and fifty-three disposable cavalry, and the railroad guard, about two thousand one hundred men-amolunt to about thirtyfive thousand four hundred and sixty-seven men. “It is designed to relieve General Hooker by one regiment-say eight hundred and fifty men-being, with five hundred cavalry, thirteen hundred and fifty men on the Lower Potomac. To recapitulate; At Warrenton there are to be seven thotusanads even hundlred and eighty; at Manassas, say ten thousand eight hundred and fifty-niine; in the Shenandoah Valley, thirtyfive thousand four hundred and sixty-seveln; on the Lower Potomac, thirteen hundred and fifty-in Mll, fiftyfive thousand four lhundred and fifty-six. There would then be left for the garrisons in front of Washington and under General Wadsworth, some eighteen thousand men, exclusive of the batteries untler instructions. The troops organizing or-ready for service in New York, I learn, will probably number more than four thousand. These should be assembled at Washington, subject to disposition where their services may be most needed. I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, GEo. B. MCCLELLAN

“Jfajor-General Comand/.” 239

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HISTORY OF TE GREAT REBELLION. Upon learning the dispositions of troops proposed by General McClellan, General Wadsworth, who, on March 15th, had assumed command of the defences of Washington, sent the following communication to the War Department I “aTEAD-QUARTERS MILITARY DISTRICT OF

WASHINGTON, WASHINGTON, D. C., April 2, 1862. SIRn:-I have the honor to submit the following condensed statements of the forces left under my command for the defence of

Washington:Infantry…………………………………………………

15,335

Artillery………………………………………………………

4,294 Cavalry, six companies only
mounted……………………………… 848

Total…………………………………………………………20,477

Deduct sick and in arre anand confinement…………………………..

1,455 Total present for
duty…………………………………………19,022 ‘I have no mounted light artillery under my command. Several companies of the reserve artillery of the Army of the Potomac are still here, but not under my command or fit for service. “From this force I am ordered by General McClellan to detail two regiments (good ones) to join Richardson’s Division (Sumner’s Corps) as it passes through Alexandria; one regiment to’eplace the Thirty-seventh New -York Volunteers in Ileintzelman’s old division; one regiment to relieve a regiment of Hooker’s Division at Budd’s Ferry-total, four regiments. ‘I am further ordered this morning by telegraph to send four thousand men to relieve General Sumner at Manassas and Warrenton, that he may embark forthwith. “In regard to tile character and efficiency of the troops under my command, I have to state that nearly all the force is new, and imperfectly disciplined; that several of the regiments are in a very disorganized condition from various causes which it is not necessary to state here; several regiments having been relieved from my b)rigades which have gone into the field, in consequence of their unfitness for service-the best regiments remaining having been selected to take their place. “Two heavy artillery regiments and one infantry regiment, which had been drilled for some months in artillery service, have been withdrawn from the forts on the south side of the Potomac, and I have only been able to fill their places with very new infantry regiments, entirely unacquainted with the duties of that arm, and of little or no value in their present position. “I am not informed as to the position which MajorGeneral Banks is directed to take; but at this time he is, as I understand, on the other side of the Bull Run Mountains, leaving my command to cover the front, from the Manassas Gap (about 20 miles beyond Manassas) to Aquia Creek. “I deem it my duty to state that, looking at the numerical strength and character of the force under my command, it is in my judgment entirely inadequate to, and unfit for, the important duty to which it is assigned. I regard it very improbable that the enemy will assail us at this point, but this belief is based upon the hope that they may be promptly engaged elsewhere, and may not learn the number and the character of the force left here. I have the howr to be your obedient servant, “JAMES S. WADSWORTH ‘t~~~ “I~Brig.-Gen. and Military Goverr.

“Hon. SECRETARY OF WAR.” This was referred by th% President to the AdjutantGeneral of the Army and MajorGeneral E. A. Hitchcock, with instructions to report whether the orders of the President, requiring the safety of the capital to be guaranteed,’ had been complied with. These officers, though declining to express an opinion whether the corps of General Banks, operating in the Shenandoah Valley, should be regarded as a part of 240

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STORY OF GREAT REBELLION M{STORY OF’? GREAT REBELLION. the force available for the protection of the immediate front of Wash ington, decided “that the requirements of the President, that the city shall be left’entirely secure,’ not only in the opinion of the General inChief, but that of the’commanders of the army corps’ also, had not fully been complied with.”

This report was made on April 2d, and on the succeeding day orders were sent to General McDowell, whose corps had not yet embarked, to remain in front of Washington until further orders. Meanwhile, on the 2d, McClellan arrived at Fortress Monroe, where were now concentrated the corps of Heintzelman and Keyes, and part of that of Sumner. Owing to insufficient transportation, the troops arrived slowly, but a sufficient number having arrived on the 4th to enable General McClellan to commence his movement, on that day an advance towards Richmond was ordered. A week pre vious General Heintzelman had made a reconnoissance towards York town, which, he was informed, was defended by less than ten thou sand men. But McClellan, upon hearing of the movement, ordered the troops to remain in the vicinity of Fortress Monroe. At daylight of the 4th, the army struck its tents and took up the march for Richmond, Heintzelman having the advance, and Keyes keeping along the James River road. At noon the advance, being about twelve miles from Yorktown, surprised a Confederate camp, called “Camp Misery,” occupied by cavalry, where the Union troops encamped for the night. Resuming the march at dawn of the 5th, they reached the enemy’s works at Yorktown at ten o’clock, from which the guns immediately opened fire. As the troops arrived they took ground, General Porter in the centre, General Sedgwick the extreme right, Generals Hamilton and Smith the extreme left. The batteries of Griffin, Third and Fourth Rhode Island, and Fifth Massachusetts were got into position to reply to the enemy, and the cannonading continued until dark, with little loss on either side. On the following day much time was employed in reconnoitring the position of the enemy, and it was found to be one of considerable strength. Yorktown has been famous in American history as the scene of the crowning exploit of Washington in the war of the Revolution. It was there that the British commander, Lord Cornwallis, with seven thousand troops, surrendered to Washington, and it was now once more about to sustain a siege unfortunate to the besieged party. The peninsula of Yorktown projects into Chesapeake Bay, and is washed on either side by the two great rivers of Virginia, the York on the nothern side and the James on the south. It runs in a northwesterly direction, is of irregular shape, and is indented with numerous bayso The York River is formed of the Pamunkey and Mattapony Rivers, which unite at West Point, about fifty miles above Yorktown. It flows in a broad, deep stream, until, opposite Yorktown, it narrows suddenly, bringing Gloucester on the northern shore within one-fourth of a mile of Yorktown, directly opposite on the southern shore. The river then spreads out into Chesapeake Bay. Gloucester being strongly fortified, any vessels that should attempt to pass cvould have to encounter the powerful 16 241 ,., I,’ 1,!r 1,;I -

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. batteries of rifled guns on both shores, at little more than one-fourth of a mile distant. The batteries at Yorktown and Gloucester Point were erected on the very lines held by the opposing armies in the Revolution. At this time, as appears from the report of the rebel commander, General Magruder, the combined garrisons of Yorktown and Gloucester did not exceed eleven thousand men, although, before the close of the siege, it was very largely reenforced. It had formed part of the plan of the campaign for General MIcDowell, with his thirtyfive thousand men, to follow McClellan down the Potomac, and, landing on SeVern, north of Gloucester, to storm that place. He was then to ascend the river, cross the Pamunkey near West Point, and coming in between the enemy and PRichmond, shut them up in the Peninsula. At this point in the operations the President, acting on the report of Generals Thomas and Hitchcock, above referred to, withdrew the corps of McDowell from his command, and also detached from it the command of General Wool, which had been promised to McClellan. The latter, though fully aware of the decision of the council of corps commanders, and of the duty devolving upon him of leaving a sufficient force to garrison and cover Washington, professed to be much surprised at this action of the President; and the urgency with which he now telegraphed for reenforcements, drew from Mr.

Lincoln the following letter: ” WAStIINGTON, April 9, 1862. “To Mlajor-General MCCLELLAN: “MY DEAR SIR:-Your dispatches complaining that you are not properly sustained, while they do not offend me, pain me very much. Blenker’s Division was withdrawn before you left here, and you know the pressure under which I did it, and, as I thought, acquiesced in it, certainly not without reluctance. After you left, I ascertained that less than twenty thousand unorganized men, without a field-battery, were anill you designed to be left for the defence of Washington and Manassas Junction. and part of this even was to go to General Hooker’s old position. General Banks’s Corps, once designed for Manassas Junction, was divided and tied up on the line of the Winchester and Strasburg, and could not leave it without again exposing the Upper Potomac and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. This presented, or would present, when McDowell and Sumner should be gone, a great temptation for the enemy to turn back firom the Rappahannock and sack Washington. My explicit directions, that Washington should, by the judgment of all the commanders of corps, be left secure, had been entirely neglected. It was precisely this that drove me to detain McDowell. I do not forget that I was satisfied with his arrangements to leave Banks at Manassas Junction. But when that arrangement was broken up, and nothing was substituted for it, of course r was not satisfied. I was constrained to substitute something for it myself. And now allow me to ask you, do you really think I could permit the line from Richmondl vid Manasass Junction to this city to be entirely open, except what resistance could be presented by less than twenty thousand unorganized troops? This is a question which the country will not allow me to evade. There is a curious mystery about the number of troops now withqou. “I telegraphed you on the 6th, saying that you had over one hundred thousand men with you. I had just obtained from the Secretary of War a statement, taken, as he said, from your own returns, making one hundred and eight thousand then with you and en route to you. You now say you will have but eilghty-five thousand when all those en route to you shall haveeached you. How can this discrepancy of thirtyfive thousand be accounted for? As to General Wool’s command, I understand that it is doing precisely what a like number of your own would have to do if that command was away. I suppose the whole force which has gone forward to you is with you by this time, and if so, I think it is the precise time for you to strike a blow. By 242

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLIO.NS delay the enemy will readily gain on you; that is, he will gain faster by fortiflcations and re enforcements than you can by reenforcements alone. And once more, let me tell you, it is indispensable to you that you strike a blow. I am powerless to help. “This you will do me the justice to remember: I always insisted that going down the bay in search of a field, instead of fighting at or near Manassas, was only shifting and not surmounting a difficulty; tlhat we w ould find the same enemy and the same or equal intrenclhments at either place. The country will not fail to note-is noting now-that the present hesitation to move upon an intrenched enemy is but the story of Manassas repeated. I beg to assure you that I have never written or spoken to you in greater kindness of feeling than now, nor with a fuller purpose to sustain you so far as in my most anxious judgment I consistently can. But you must act.

“Yours, very truly, ABRAIIAM LINCOLN.” Franklin’s Division of eleven thousand men, belonging to McDowell’s Corps, was, however, sent him, but was nearly fourteen days in reaching him. The distance between the York and James Rivers at Yorktown is about six miles, and the country is of a soft, marshy character, impassable for artillery in rainy weather, and in the hot season very unhealthy from the malaria of the swamps. The land is very fertile, and the people most wealthy. The city of Yorktown itself is composed of about thirty old-fashioned wood and brick houses, and the remains of the ancient fortifications are visible around it. After the battle of Big Bethel the Confederates set themselves to strengthen this position. The passag,e of the York River was regarded as very difficult, and such advantage was taken of the nature of the ground as to make the advance by land up the Peninsula a hazardous operation. General J. B.

Maglruder had been in command nearly a year, and some two thousand blacks had been employed at Yorktown and Gloucester, with a force of about seven thousand men. An immense connected fortification, with numerous salient angles, mounted with heavy guns, with a lofty parapet difficult to scale, and a deep, dry ditch commanded the river, where was also a formidable waterbattery. Runniinr towards the right of the lines there was a long breastwork, not pierced for guns, but having in firont a ditch of the same depth as that before the fort. This breastwork connected a redoubt of considerable magnitude, and another breastwork of the same description connected another redoubt beyond, still further to the left. On this redoubt there had been mounted a number of columbiads and Dahlgren naval guns, with one siege howitzer. In front of these works there is an immense area of open ground, which was completely commanded by the rebel guns.

Trees which were of large growth had been cut down by the Confederates to give free range to their artillery. Deepgorges and ravines were inside and about these fortifications, furnishing good cover for the besieged against artillery fire, and rendering the position difficult to assault. To the left of the Yorktown road-the enemy’s rightas the town is approached, other fortifications h~l been constructed. The position was deemed impregnable by its commander, and after reconnoitring, General McClellan set down before it to besiege it. in form. There were crossing the Peninsula three main lines of defensive 243

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IIISTORY OF TIE GREAT REBELLION. works. The first of these commenced at a point on the York River, and extended south until it met the head of Warwick River, which, running about four miles south, empties into the James. In the rear of this was another line of detached works, and still further in the rear a third line, extending in front of Williamsburg. In front of the first line of defence there were numerous detached works, from which the enemy were successively driven. The army gradually approached this line. Several skirmishes occurred, but nothing serious until the 16th of April, when it was ascertained that the enemy had thrown up a new battery on the Warwick, about one mile above Lee’s Mills. This was the left of the Union lines held by General Keyes. General Brooks’s brigade with Mott’s battery moved forward to within twelve hundred yards of the new work. The ground on the Union side front of the work was open, but with woods on either flank. The batteries of Ayers, Wheeler, Mott, and Kennedy advanced to this open space in front of the enemy, and began a terrific fire at eight hundred yards distant. The Sixth Vermont, Colonel Lord, the Fourth, Colonel Stoughton, and the Third, Colonel Hyde, approached both flanks of the enemy through the woods to reconnoitre. They were received with a telling fire of musketry, which drove them back. Four companies of the Third Vermont then made a rush at the stream, and attempted to ford, the water being waist deep; but the fire of the enemy overpowered them. The Sixth Vermont left the woods on the right, in support of the Third, dashed across the stream, and actually entered the work; but, not being properly supported, they were subjected to a murderous fire from the riflepits, which drove them back with heavy loss.

This action produced much sensation in consequence of the dauntless bravery displayed by the men, and the apparently useless nature of the sacrifice of life, and in the opinion of competent officers might, if properly conducted, have secured the Federal troops a lodgment on the right bank of the Warwick River. It has been mentioned how weak the rebel garrison was at the arrival of the Federal army. It may now be added that evidence of that fact was presented to the commandcler-in-chief, but had no effect upon his determination to conduct regular siege operations. The idea of forcing the enemy’s lines seems after this to have been abandoned, and the siege progressed very steadily with the immense resources at the command of General McClellan. The transports on the Chesapeake Bay brought supplies freely to either flank of his army on the York or James River, and to Ship’s Point, which, after it was abandoned by the enemy, became an important d6pot. Lines of approach were commenced against the place on a large scale, and batteries established to c’nmand important points. The enemy showed activity in his attempts to impede and destroy these works, and frequent encounters along the line tested the courage and address of the men. The front of our lines was occupied by sharpshooters, who were very efficient in piking off the enemy’s gunners, in some cases silencing the guns that most annoyed the trenchers. As suitable positions were reached, siee-guns were placed in battery. On the 25th of April, General Grover sent a portion of the First Massachu 244

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HISTORY OF THIE GREAT REBELLION. setts to carry a lunette, wiich the Confederates had constructed on the east side of the Warwick, near its head. This work, having a strong parapet and ditch six feet deep, was manned by two companies of infantry, who deserted the place before the vigorous charge of the Massachusetts men. These operations were continued as the works progressed, aided by the occasional shelling of Yorktown and Gloucester by the gunboats. The enemy, in the mean time, continually strengthened his works, constructing batteries to answer those erected by the Union troops, and on both sides the most formidable preparations were made for the final struggle which was now approaching. By the close of April, there had been constructed fourteen powerful batteries and three redoubts within breaching distance of the enemy’s works. These contained ninetysix heavy guns in osition ready to thunder against the opposing walls. Of the number there were two 200-pounders, three 100-pounders, ten 13-inch mortars, forty-three 10-inch mortars, and twentyfive Parrott guns of different calibre. These were well supplied, and nearly ready for the attack on May 1st. On the other hand, the enemy had so strengthened his position as to deem it impregnable against any assaults from without, and re.enforcements were within reach from Richmond, to supply his three lines of defence. He had so fortified Yorktown and Gloucester, opposite, with the heaviest description of guns, commanding the narrow passage up the York River, that it was deemed impossible for any vessels to pass. The naval officers decided the position too strong. If the York River could be forced, the position of Yorktown could not be held; on the other hand, as long as the passage between Yorktown and Gloucester could be commanded, the works of Yorktown were good against any assaults of the besiegers. The Confederates therefore continued the defence with a confidence that had been strengthened by the results of the naval combat of March 8th, when the ironclad Merrimac made havoc with the wooden ships in Hampton Roads, an event which not only created a great sensation in the North, but startled all Europe. CHAPTER XX. Iron-plated Ships. Merrimac.-Federal Fleet.-Hampton Roads.-Destrlction of the Cumberland and Congress.-Monitor.-Ironclad Duel.-Repulse of the Merrimac. a THE mode of constructing wood vessels by plating them with iron had long engaged the attention of the maritime nations of Europe, and great expense had been incurred in constructing such vessels in France and England. The Confedcrate States were the first to employ one in actual war. When Norfblk was abandoned in April, 1861, it will be remembered that among the steamers left behind was the Merrimac, which was scuttled and sunk. The Confederates, however, raised her, cut her down to the water’s edge, and plated her 245 ,.. 1, “.,,I,, I

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HISTORY OF TIE GREAT REBELLION. with interlapped railroad iron, placed sloping in such a nanner that all shot must strike her at angles. She was provided with an iron beak for the purpose of crushing the sides of an enemy’s vessel when run into. Her armament consisted of four eleven-inch gunls on each s’de, and two one hundred-pounders at bow and stern. Nine months were spent in equipping her, and on the 8th of March, with a picked crew, under the command of Captain Buchanan,* formerly of the ‘United States service, she left Norfolk, and made her appearance in Hampton Roads. The National fleet then in the Roads embraced the Congress, fifty guns; the Cumberland, twentytwo guns; the Minnesota, forty guns; the Roanoke, forty guns; the St. Lawrence, fifty guns; the gunboats Zouave, Dragon, and Whitehall, and some smaller vessels. These were all wooden vessels, very efficient of their class, and ably commanded. Of the larger vessels, only the Mlinnesota and Roanoke were propelled by steam. The Cumberland and the Congress lay off Newport News, covering the entrance of the Nansemond and James Rivers, and blockading in the latter the Confederate steamers the Jamestown and the Yorktown, or Patrick Henry, as she was called. These two vessels had been packetsteamers, running to New York, and were seized and converted into war-steamers at the outbreak of the war. The MIinnesota, the St. Lawrence, and the Roanoke were at anchor near the Rip Raps, just without the range of the large rifled guns on Sewell’s Point. Rumors in relation to the Merrimac and her state of forwardness had long been rife, when on the 8th, at 1 P. Mr., she was descried from the deck of the Minnesota, rounding Sewell’s Point. Signal was immediately made from the Roanoke, Captain Marston, for the vessels to engage. The Minnesota slipped her cables, and made sail for the stranger.

In passing Sewell’s Point, her mast was injured by a rifleshot, and the vessel grounded within one and a half miles of Newport News. The Merrimac, meantime, passed the Congress, and made directly for the Cumberland, which had promptly cleared for action, and which had opened fire upon her as she neared. The steamer did not reply till she struck the Cumberland under the starboard forechannels, staving in her side, and pouring in her shot at the same moment.’ The guns of the Cumberland played upon her with great vigor and rapidity, but with’ no apparent effect. In ten minutes the water had risen to the main hatchway, in spite of the pumps, drowning out the powder-magazines. The ship then canted to port, and all hands sprang to save the wounded. The rapidly sinking ship how ington-a post of honor, and one which he had held for a length of time. Upon finding that Maryland did not sece(le fom the Union, he asked to be restored to his commission, and, his request being refused, he entered the rebel naval service. Ile comnandle(d the Merrimac in the action of March 8th, in which he was severely wounded; and, upon the evacuation of Norfolk, blew up the vessel.

Subsequently, be was nmade admiral. and commnandedl the rebel fleet in the action in Mobile Bay, August 5,1864, where he was captured in his flagship. the ramn Tennes8(ee, so severely wounded that his leg had to be amputated. * Franklin Buchanan, the first commander of the MIerrimnac, was a native of Maryla4, but w. h appointed to the United S-aLes Navy from Pennsylvania lio entered tohe seryice on the 2Sth of January. ISI5, and steadily advanced through the various gradations of promotion, lntil, at the corlnmencemenet of 1SG6. his natne w,u No. 4T on the list of captains.

While in the Union service. he receive(l his captain’s commission on the 14th September, 1855. Hiis total seaservice had bet n about sixteen years and a half. and his total service under the UTnited States Government over forty-six years. When he resigned, b was Commandant of the NavyYard at Wash 246

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IIISTOPRY OF TUE GREAT REBELLION. ever, cut short their efforts, carrying down a number of helpless heroes, and her guns delivered their last fire as the water closed over them, her flag still flying in defiance of her foe. The loss in men was about one hundred. A1IT the papers having gone down with the frigate, it was difficult to ascertain the actual loss. The utmost gallantry was displayed by Lieutenant Morris and his officers, who earned imperishable renown. The whole affair lasted fifteen minutes. The .Ierrimac then attacked the Congress, Captain W. Smith, throwing shot and shell into her with terrific effect. The Congress returned the fire with the utmost energy and alacrity, but the missiles glanced from the iron plates like hailstones, while the heavy shot of the steamer completely riddled the Congress. On seeing the fate of the Cumberland, the Congress, with the assistance of the Zouave, was run ashore. The Patrick Ilenry and the Jamestown then came down the river and took part in the fight, firing, into the Congress with great precision. The Congress could only bring to bear her two stern guns, which were soon1 disabled, amid frig(rhtfirl slaughter. There being no prospect of any relief, her colors were hauled down at lalf-past three o’clock. Lieutenant Parker was then sent on board )by Captain Buchanan, to take possession, remove the wounded, and fire the ship. While these events were taking place, the shore batteries at Newp)ort Newvs were not idle. General Mansfield, in command, had been notified of the approach of the M’errimac, and made preparations to receive her.. WVhen she ran into the Cumberland, she was within a mile of the shore batteries, and by General lansfield’s order, she was opened upon with four columbiads, one Jamnes forty-two-poundcler, three eight-inchl siege-howitzers, and two light rifled cannon. The shot fromn all these fell upon her as harmlessly as hailstones. She paid no attention to them, but kept up her work of destruction. When the Congress.had struck her flag,, the steamers Beaufort and Raleigh ran aloIngside to take off the wounded-the flag of truce flying on the Congress. General MLansfield, observing this, ordered Captain Howard, with two rifled guns, and Captain Brown, with two companies of the Tw,eiitieth Indiana, to open upon the steamer from the beach, six hundred yards distant. The steamers then drew out of range, anl the Ierrimac again opened fire upon the Congress with }Lot shot, until she burned to the water’s edgffe. The conflagration lasted through the night, throwing its lurid glare upon the surrounding blxy and strand. Her fifty-four shotted guns discharged in turn as thle flames reachled them, until the final explosion of the magazine closed the grand spectacle. A shot from one of the guns sunk a s.teamer at the wharf.

Lieutepnt J. D. Smith, of the Congress, was killed, and a great many others. The gunboat Zouave, while tending the Congress, was ridd(iled with shot, without, however, losing any men. The LIerrimac, which had been placed under the command of First Lieutenant Catesby Ap R. Jones, in consequence of Captain Buchanan having been wounded, accompanied by the Jamestown and Patrick Henry, now bore down upon the Minnesota, which was aground in a locality which prevented the Merrimac from coming 247

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. within a mile of her. She took, however, a position on the starboard bow, and the other two steamers on the port bow.

The latter were driven off with ease, but the broadsides of tlie Minnesota made no perceptible impression on the Merrimac. In the mean time the St Lawrence, Captain Purviance, got under way to aid the Minnesota, but grounded; she, however, opened upon the Merrimac, and received a shot in return, doing much damage. It was now seven o’clock, and the Confederate steamer withdrew towards Elizabeth River, with the intention of renewing the conflict in the morning. This delay, per haps made necessary by the state of the tide, was fatal to her further service, since in the night arrived a new enemy which was to prove her match. The Monitor was constructed by Captain Ericsson, and differed materially from any vessel before constructed. Her length was one hundred and seventy-four feet on deck, and her breadth forty-one feet. Her hull floated eighteen inches above the water, and was covered with six inches of wrought-iron plates.

Her deck was plated with two inches of wrought iron. A wrought-iron turret, twentyone and a half feet outside diameter, nine feet high, and nine inches thick, was placed near the centre of buoyancy. In this turret were mounted two eleven-inch Dahlgren guns. The turret re volved, and was turned around with great facility by steam, its move ments being controlled by the commanding officer inside. As she went into. action, there was nothing above her deck but the turret and a shot-proof pilot-house, and when she was anchored outside 4 fort or battery, the pilot-house was lowered below the deck. In that position, if she was boarded by the enemy, they could not get below nor into the turret, and her decks could be swept by her own guns loaded with canister. This vessel made her trial trip in New York Bay, MIarch 3, with success; her speed was six and a quarter knots, the engines ma king sixtyfive revolutions. She sailed for Fortress Monlroe under command of Lieutenant John L. Worden, a ndreported for duty at two A. M. March 9, amidst the most anxious preparations for the expected renewed attack of the 3ferrimac in the morning. Her appearance on the scene was greeted by the awful explosion of the magazines of the Congress, whose flames had lighted the entrance of the Monitor into Chesapeake Bay. Her singular and diminutive appearance, which was described by the enemy as that of a “cheese-box upon a plank,”

was not of a character to create much confidence in the minds of those who had witnessed the terrible efficiency of her gigantic rival on the previous day, but she was It least a friend in the hour of need. At six o’clock on the mlrning of the 9th, the Merrimac was again seen coming round C-aney Island, accompanied by the Yorktown and Jamestown, and immediately she ran down for the Minnesota, still aground, but prepared to receive the enemy. An eleven-inch shot entered the Minnesota under he!

counter, doing great damage. Captain Van Brunt signalled the Monitor to attack the enemy, and that vessel immediately closed in upon the Merrimac, delivering her fire at close quarters with great rapidity, and receiving in exchange whole broad 248

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F _ _ ~j LfflZThI ~ ~ Lw ION DOll 0 0 PONTOR 0100 JOHN L

WONDER R E

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ISTORY OF TIE GREAT REBELLION. sides from the enemy with apparent indifference. She plied her shot with great assiduity, seeking to drive them through the port-holes of her gigantic enemy. This extraordinary encounter lasted some hours, presenting the strange spectacle of two vessels, thirty or forty yards apart, armed with the most destructive weapons of modern warfare, pounding away at each other, without being able to inflict material injury. The shots, any one of which would have been fatal to the best woodeni ship afloat, rolled off from each combatant like dewdrops from a leaf From that hour the naval history of the world dates a new era. The relative military strength of nations was changed. Navies, blockades, defences, and even commerce, as an element of naval strength, were henceforth to assume new characters and to change their relative importance. As the thunder of those guns rolled across the Atlantic, foreign powers at once perceived that the day of wooden vessels had passed away, and that iron-plated ships were to replace the enormous three-deckers that had previously been their bulwarks of defence on the sea. The question of vulnerability being sufficiently tested, the MIerrimac no longer fired upon the Monitor, but turned her attention to the Minnesota, which delivered without the slightest effect, though every shot hit, a broadside which would have sufficed to blow out of water the most formidable timber-built ship in the world. The MIerrimac in return fired one shell from her rifled bow gun, which knocked four rooms into one, exploded some charges ofl) powder, and set the ship on fire. The second went through the boiler of the gunboat Dragon, which was attempting to tow the ship off. The boiler exploded, blowing.up the vessel, and killing and wounding six men. All the guns of the Minnesota were actively employed, together with those of the Monitor, and the gunner reported that sixty shot had struck and rolled harmlessly from the sides of the enemy, which now got aground through the ebb of tide. In this position she withstood the utmost efforts of the combined fire. Soon she got off and stood down the bay, followed by the Monitor. She suddenly turned, however, and ran full speed into her diminutive antagonist, inflicting no perceptible damage, and receiving from her a shot which penetrated the roof The fierce conflict between the two was then renewed until the Monitor hauled off for the purpose of hoisting more shot into her turret.

This was practically the termination of the fight, as the Merrimac retired soon after towards Craney Island, apparently in a disabled condition. Thus closed one of the most remarkable naval actions in the history of the world, when the amount of damage done is taken into consideration. Two frigates carrying seventytwo guns were destroyed; two others caryin lninety guns, and several gunboats were disabled, and, number of men were killed and wounded at the shore batteries. The loss in killed, wounded, and missing, was two hundred and sixty men. This’ havoc displayed the capabilities of an ironclad steamer of ten ilns; and the vessel of such capabilities was withstood for two hours by a much smaller one of two guns. Five times did the Merrimac attempt to ram the Monitor, but the low deck of the latter caused the iron prow of her assailant to run over 249

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HIIISTORY OF TIHE GREAT REBELLION. it, and did not, therefore, meet solid resistance. The tower of the Monitor was struck nine times. The vessel received in all twentytwo shot, one of which damaged the pilot-house, breaking a bar nine by twelv-e inches of the best wrought iron, and wounding Captain WVorden. Three men were knocked down by the concussion of the shot against the sides of the turret. The uproar on board the Monitor was terrific; when the guns recoiled, the noise of the massive pen(lulunms, swinging by and closing the ports, reverberated throughout the vessel; the striking of shot against the sides and the turret, the awful noise of her own guns, the whizzing of shot over the decks, and the explosion of the enormous rifle-shells when they struck, made a terrible din. The timely appearance of this steamer, in defence of the fleet, gave great cause of rejoicing. The consequences which might have followed from the success of the Merrimac strongly impressed all military men. General McClellan telegraphed to have the defences of the cities of Long Island Sound and other places immediately looked to, and General Wool telegraphed that the timely appearance of the Monitor had saved Fortress Monroe. Daily expectations were entertained of her reappearance, but she had sustained danmage in the colIision with the Monitor and from the bursting of one of her guns, which required repair, and it was not until the 11th April that she againi left port. On that day, at 7 A. M., she passed out of the Elizabeth River, accompanied by the Yorktown and Jamestown, and four othlier gunboats. When half way between Sewell’s Point and New r ews, the fleet stopped, with the exception of the Yorktown nal, Janestown and a tug: these continued their course, and taking i)ossession of two brigs and a schooner, towed them off without the slightest resistance being offered.

The other vessels in the harbor made all sail to escape. The fleet remained stationary until four o’clock, when the Merrimac fired three shot, which were replied to by the Naugatuck and Octorara. Soon afterwards the fleet returned up the Elizabeth River. This exploit created much feeling in the North, since it was evident that if the enemy could come out and capture Union vessels under the guns of Fortress Monroe, Without any resistance from our fleet, the great resources of the Army of the Peninsula were at his mercy. It began to be evident, however, that the ,Ierrimiac drew too much water to be very efficient in the waters around Fortress Monroe, where the other ironclads began to assemble in strength, and by the close of April there were so many formidable vessels there concentrated with the object of engaging and running her down, that she became very wary in her movements. a 250 a

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IlLSTORY OF TIHE GREAT REBELLION. CHAPTER XXL X Evacuation of Yorktown.-Retreat of the Enemy.-Pursuit.-Battle of Williamsburg. -WNVest Point.-Advance of MfcClellan.-Fort Darling.-Repulse of the Gunboats. As event now occurred which changed the current of interest, and which was fraught with the gravest consequences. The city of New Orleans was mainly defended by the formidable batteries of Fort Jackson, on the south side of the Mississippi River, and Fort St. Philip on the opposite side, by rafts laden with pitch and turpentine, and intended to be fired, and by chains across the river. It was deemed quite impossible for gunboats to pass; but on the 25th April, news was received that the Union gunboats had, on the previous day, forced their way up the river, and it became at once apparent to the rebels that the York River, although defended by the Yorktown and Gloucester batteries, was no longer safe. The Monitor, the new ironclad Galena, the Naugatuck, and other impervious vessels, could force the passage, and, as a consequence, Yorktown, how well soever it might be able to’ hold out against the land force, was no longer tenable.

It was in fact turned. The Confederate generals, Davis, Lee, and Johnston, decided upon the evacuation, although General Alagruider opposed it. The movement commenced Mlay 1st, and continued through Friday and Saturday, under cover of a heavy cannonade, and the fact of the evacuation was disclosed only by some deserters who came into camp on Sunday morning, May 4th, when the following dispatches were sent to Washington: ”’

HEADQUARTERS, ARMY OF THE POTOMAO, “May 4-9 A. M. ” To lon. IE. M.

STANTON, Secretary of War: “We leave the ramparts. ” We havn guns, ammunition, camp equipage. &c. ” We hold the entire line of his works, which the engineers report as being veiy strong. “I have thrown all my cavalry and horse artillery in pursuit, supported by in fantry. “I move Franklin’s Division, and as much more as I can transport by water, up to West Point to-day. “No time shall be lost. “The gunboats have gone up York River. ” I omitted to state that Gloucester is also in our possession. “I shall push the enemy to the wall. O ” GEORGE B. MCCLELLAN, Major-Genrul.”

This dispatch was followed by two more of the same day: IPAD-QUARTERS, ARMY OF TIE POTOMAC, “May 4 11.30 A. M. “To Hon. EDWIN M. STANTON, Secretary of War: “An inspection just made shows,that the rebels abandoned in their works at York. town, two three-inch rifled cannon, two four-and-a-half-inch rifled cannon, sixteen thirty 251

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. two-pounders, six forty-two-pounders, nineteen eightinch columbiads, four nineinch Dahlgrens; one ten-inch columbiad, one ten-inch mortar, and one eightinch siege howitzer, with carriages and implements complete, each piece supplied witlh seventysix rounds of ammnunition. On the ramparts there are also four magazines, which have not yet been examined. This does not include the guns left at Gloucester Point, and their other works to our left. GEORGE B. MCCLELLAN, Jlajor-General.” I}EADQUARTERS, ARMY OF TIlE POTOMAC, “May 4-7 P. M. “To Hon. E.,[. STANTON, Secretary of War: “Our cavalry and horse artillery came up with the enemy’s rearguard in their intrenchments about two miles this side of Williamsburg. “A brisk fight ensued. Just as my aide left, smnith’s Division of infantry arrived on the ground, and I presume carried the works, though I have not yet heard. “The enemy’s rear is strong; but I have force enough up there to answer all purposes. ” WVe have thus far taken seventyone heavy guns, large amounts of tents, ammunition, &c. “All along the lines their works prove to have been most formidable, and I am now filly satisfied of the correctness of the course I leave pursued. “The success is brilliant, and you may rest assured that its effects will be of the greatest importance. “There shall be no delay in following up the rebels. “The rebels have been guilty of the most murderous and barbarous conduct, in placing torpedoes within the abandoned works, near wells and springs, and near flagstaffs, magazines, telegraph offices, in carpet-bags, barrels of flour, ~c. “We have not lost many men in this manner-some four or five killed, and per. haps a dozen wounded. I shall make the prisoners remove them at their own peril. “GEORGE B.

MCCLELLAN,.eujo’- General.” The Federal,riny had just been thirty days before Yorktown, which time the enenmy had gained for the perfeetioii of the defences of Richmond. It had also prolonged operations i,nto the hot stoson, which to unacclimated persons is often fatal amidst the swamps of the Peninsula. The pursuit of the enemy was at once comnmenced. Generals Heintz(lman, Hooker, anmid Keainy, with their comnmands, preceded by artillery and cavalry, startedi in pursuit on the road to WVilliamsburg, hopling to overtake tllein before reaching that point. The swampy roads were, however, almost impassable, arid the enemy’s rearguard availed itself of every favorable opportunity for a stand; at the same time the gunboat flotilla passed up the York River to overtake the enemy at WeVcst Point, at the junction of the Rapidan and P:imunkey Rivers. The division of Genei-.tl Franklin was already embarked, with a view to land in the enremy’s rear. General 3IcClellan remained at Yorktown to send forwat-d these troops, who, it wvas hoped, mighlt be able to pef(ortn the duty originally intended for McDowell. They hladhot been diselmbarked since tlheir arrival. The ironclad steamer G.al,lena, with the Ar’oostook and Port Royal, passed up thie James River, pressing the enemy on his left flank. General Heintzelmaan was charged with the pursuit on the Yorktown road. Casey acd Couch, of Keyes’s Corps, went forward by the road from Warwick CourtHouse. General Stoneman’s caval’y brigade came up with the enemy’s rearguard two miles and a half from Williamsburg, at the junction 252 4

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. of two roads, one leading to Hampton and the other to Yorktown, by which the Union troops advanced. The rebels were strongly posted behind earthworks, and a cavalry skirmish occurred, with un important results. The enemy’s main work was Fort Magruder, at the junction of the road, on either side of which were redoubts, thirteen in number, extending across the Peninsula and connected by riflepits. By dark on the 4th, Hooker arrived in front of the works, after incredible toil in getting his guns through the twelve miles of mud which extended between Yorktown and the battlefield. It was only by the most strenuous exertions that the artillery was got for ward; the supply trains did not get through, and the men, with no other food than that contained in their haversacks, and worin out with toil, lay on their arms all night amidst a drenching rain, whichl turned the soft quicksands of the Peninsula into a slough. The ellemy’s works occupied an elevated plain, sloping east and south. Approachingr fiom the south either by the Yorktown or Hamp ton road, they were concealed by a heavy forest, but a belt of a mile in breadth in front of the works had been cleared, ill order that an enemny’s approach might be seen in season. Fort Mig(,i-uder had sub stantial parapets and deep ditches, and commanded the Yorktown and Hampton roads, while the neighboring redoubts commanded the ravines %which were not swept by its guns. Early on the 5th, General HIooker miade lhis dispositions for an attack, aild at halfpast seven A. m. General Grover was directed to take his brigade into action. He immediately sent the First Massachusetts into some felled timber to the left of the road(, with orders to skirmish up the cleared land and then turn their attention to the gunners of the foit. The Second New Hampshi’e hadl the same duty on the right; the Eleventhi Massachusetts ai(nd the Twenty-sixth Pennsylvania were sent ftlirtlher to the right until they should gain the Yorktown road. Webber’s battery was then sent to the firont of the felled timber, where, exposed to the fire of Fort’Magruder and two adjoining redoubts, it received such a stol’m of shot that the men were driven back. Volunteers were then called for, andl a number sprang forward to work the guns. Marshall’s battery then took position on the right of Webber, supported. by the Fifth Newv Jersey. The remainder of Patterson’s Biigaide protected the left of the road. Meantime the Eleventh Massachusetts and the Twenty-sixth Pennsylvania had reached the Yorktown road, and were advancing on it to clear it of obstructions. The battle was now general, but the enemy was constantly strengthening his right and ressing harder upon Grover, who, reenforced by part of Taylor’s Excelsior Brigade, was enabledto hold his own until one o’clock, when the remainder of Taylor’s Buigade was ordered up, and the Eleventh Massachusetts was recalled from the right to fiurther strengthen the left, where Taylor’s men were falling short of ammunition.

The enemy was now reenforced by Longstreet, and at thie same time made a vigorous attack upon The Federal batteries in front, by which five guns were captured. At about four o’clock, General Kearny with his division reached the field, replacing the exhausted lines of Hooker, which were withdrawn firom the contest. The loss 253

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. in Hooker s Division was one thousand two hundred and forty killed and wounded. While the left was thus engaged, General Hancock’s Brigade was deployed on the extreme right, under the supervision of General Keyes, and took possession of two of the enemy’s outer works. He then formed in line of battle in an open field, and opened upon Fort Paige. The enemy, perceiving that he was unsupported, attempted to get in his rear; as they advanced they were met by a brilliant bayonet charge, which drove them back effectually. During the nIight of Monday heavy Federal reenforcements were moved to the front, but as the rain continued, and the roads were made worse by the movement upon them, it was impossible to get up the supply trains, and the troops suffered for want of food. In the morning the Confederate army was seen drawn up in front of Williamsburg, but beyond the forts, which it was soon discovered had been abandoned. The enemy were already in motion, to the rear, and before their deserted works were occupied they were already beyond the city, marching to the northwest. There were no guns captured in the forts. The enemy reported his killed and wounded at two hundred and twenty, and that he captured six hundred and twentythree prisoners and eleven fieldpieces.

These results gave General McClellan, who arrived on the field at five o’clock on Monday, great satisfaotion, as appears from his dispatch as follows: “H HEADQUARTERS, ARMY OF THE POTOMAC, “WILLIAMSBURG, VIRGINIA, Tuesday, May 6. Hon. E. M. STANTON, Secretary of War: “I have the pleasure to announce the occupation of this place as the result of the hard-fought action of yesterday. “The effect of Hancock’s brilliant engagement yesterday afternoon was to turn the left of their line of works. He was strongly reenforced, and the enemy abandoned the entire position during the night, leaving all his sick and wounded in our hands. His loss yesterday was very severe. “We have some three hundred uninjured prisoners, and more than a thousand wounded. Their loss in killed is heavy. The victory is complete. I have sent cavalry in pursuit. “The conduct of our men has been excellent, with scarcely an exception. “The enemy’s works are very extensive and exceedingly strong, both in respect to position and the works themselves. “Our loss was heavy in Hooker’s Division, but very little on other parts of the field. ” Hancock’s success was gained with a loss of not over twenty killed and wounded “The weather is good to-day, but there is great difficulty in getting up food on account ofthe roads. Very few wagons have yet come up. “Am I authorized to follow the example of other generals, and direct the names of battles to be placed on colors of regiments? “We have other battles to fight before reaching Richmond. aDS~ “G. B. McCLELLAN, ,~~~~, “MajorGeneral Commanding.” The enemy retreated beyond the Chickahominy, to which stream *the cavalry pursued them,,finding no fortifications, but capturing some prisoners and guns. There is but little doubt that the battle of Williamsburg was, on the Federal side, one of the most poorly managed actions of the war. The place was strong and well fortified, an if the enemy fought 254

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ISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. there at all, he would, it was to be supposed, do so in great force. }Ience he should have been attacked by the main body of the Union army. Instead of this, however, the battle was commenced and fought by different corps, without concert of action, and without any general order. The cavalry of Stoneman overtook the enemy’s rearguard, under circumstances which forced the enemy to send back his infan try, already far in advance, to rescue them. Hooker attacked, and was severely handled. Kearny came to his rescue, outranked him, and continued the battle, which was sustained by the operations of Hancock.

General McClellan did not arrive on the field until the hardest fighting of the day was ended. In the night, the enemy re sumed his retreat. The Union loss was several thousand men, and the enemy had gained time for his trains to move on. The division of General Franklin arrived at West Point on the afternoon of the 6th, and was immediately landed on the south side of the Pamunkey River, half a mile below West Point. The enemy disappeared on the approach of the Federal gunboats, and on the same evening, part of General Sedgwick’s troops, under General Dana, arrived. On the morning of the 7th, these troops landed, and immediately advanced to drive the enemy, who were assembling in a piece of woods above. The latter, however, pressed so heavily on the left, that the Federals were forced back with some loss, until they came within range of the gunboats, the vigorous fire of which threw the enemy into confusion, and they retired. General Franklin then completed his landing, and further arrivals of troops from Yorktown and Fortress Mlonroe strengthened the position, which became an important base for the movement upon Richmond. The enemy retired slowly and in good order towards Richmond, skiTrmishing(r as they went, while the main body of the Federal army, under IMcClellan, followed slowly over the heavy roads. On the 9th of MAay, his headquarters were twelve miles from Williamsburg, and Stoneman defeated the enemy’s cavalry at New Kent CourtHouse; on the 10th, the enemy, under Longstreet, evacuated Cumberland, on the Pamunkey, which was occupied by the Federal cavalry. On the following day, May 11 th, the cavalry advance reached White House, a station of the Richmondcl and York Railroad, on the Pamunkey, twenty miles from Richmond. A junction was now effected with Franklin’s Corps, and, on the 14th, nearly the whole of the invading army was concentrated at Cumberland, on the Pamunkey, near White House. The troops were now permitted to rest, put their arms in order, recover from their fatiguing march, and recruit from their short rations. The advance was again ordered for the 19th, when the indefatigable Stonenln occupied Cold Harbor, ten miles northwest of Richmond, y turnpike and by New Bridge, over the Chickahominy, eight miles from Richmond. There was now no enemy. north of the Chickahominy. -In the march fiom Yorktown, innumerable hardships, as they serned to a raw army, had been overcome, and great labors had been performed; roads had been constructed, bridges built, and the enemy driven before them. The men were now recruited, and eager again to advance. 255 , I I -.1 I I, I,I, lw I, ,? I 11

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HISTORY OF I_IE GRIEAT rlBELLION. Soon after the evacuation of Yorlktown, the rebels retired from Norfolk, and blew up the M1errimiac, thus leaving the river open to the U nion war-vessels. The gunboats Aroostook, Galena, and Port Roy:l, wvithl the Naugatuck and the Monitor, immediately moved up, cet+in,r aground occasionally, but meeting no opposition until within eight iiles from Richmond, at Var d’s lluff, crowned by Fort Darlin. At that point vwere constructed twvo batteries of piles, sunken ste lmboats, and sail-vessels, secured by chains, and the banks of the river iwere lined with riflepits. The Galena ran UI) to the barrier, swiung across the stream, and opened upon the fort. The Monitor ran above her, but her guns co-ald not be elevated to reach the fort, which was two hundred feet hillgh. The Naugatuck’s one-hundredpolindler gun burst, and she was consequently disabled. The wooden vessels kept out of range around a bend in the river. The Galena, after four hours’ firing, expended her ammunition, and hauled off with thirteen killed and eleven wounded. The sides of the Galena, which sloped withl the view of causing shot striking her to glance off, were found to present only a fairer mark for shot from elevated points, and were too thinly armored to resist heavy metal. This was one of the first practical lessons in gunboat armor. CHAPTER XXIL

Taking of:-o-folk.-Chicahonmiiny.-Position of Enemy.-IHanover CourtHouse.

 Battle of Fair Oaks.-Advance of the Reserves.-Retreat of the Enemy. TnHr evacuation of Yorktown was immediately followed by another event which had important results. Norfolk, Virginia, had been held by the Confederates since the surrender to them of Gosport NavyYard with its vast military stores. It was the only naval d(‘pot then possessed bv them, and also the only harbor of refuge for the Merrimac. It had long been threatened on the south by the corps of General Burnside, who held Elizabeth City and Weldon, North Carolina, and it was.but inadequately defended by General Hu(ner with a small force. It was therefore determined to land troops, under cover of the gunboats, and cap)ture the place. The point selected for landin_r the troops wns inspected by President Lincoln, who, on the 8th of May, went across from Fortress Monroe to a spot (Willoughby’s Point) about one mile below the Rip Raps. On his return, a dozen transports were loaded we ith troops, and adaylight of the I 0th landed at the appointed place. The main body of the troops, under Generals Mansfield and WVebber, pushed directly for Norfolk, while General Wool and staff remained to superintend the disembarkation of the remainder of the force, all of whom were lamded and in motion before noon. The harbor defences at Sewell’s Point and Craney Island had been shelled on the previous day by the fleet under Flagofficer Goldsborough, and the Confederate comfnander abandoned Norfolk on the landing of 2 i-) C)

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i HIIISTORY OF TIIE GREAT lEBFJLION. the troops. As the latter approached, they were met by the mayor and other officials, who snrrendereed to General Wool, on his promise to respect plivate property. He issued the following proclamation: “HiIEAD-QUARTERs, DEPARTMENT OF VIRGTiNIA, } “

NORFOLK, May 10, 18(;2. “The city of Norfolk having been surrendered to thile Government of the United States. military posession of tile same is taken in behalf of the National Government, by Major-(General Joinm L’.

Wiool. ‘; B-igaodier-General Vielo is appointed Military Governor for the time being-. Hie will see that Ill citizens -re cref’illy protected in all their rights and privileges, taking the utmost caire to preserve order, and to see that no soldiers are permitted to enter the city except bv his orde(r, or b)y the written permission of the commanding officer of his brigade or regiment andll hlie will punish summarily any American soldier whlo shall trespass upon the rilghts of any of the inhabitants. (Signed) Jouth E. WOOL, iajor-General.” By the evacuation of Norfolk, the important works on Craney Island anti the Elizabeth River, which had barred the ascc.t of the James, also fill into the hands of the Federal troops. This event was followed by the destruction of the Merrimac, on the mnorning of the 1I th, by order of Commodore Tatnall. Ile stated that the p)ilots had assured him that if she was lightened she could be taken utip James Riiver. I-e accordingly threw her arinmament overboard, but without effecting the desired results. Being now disarmed, and having no place of refuge, she was set on fire, and shortly exploded. A court of inquiry subsequently stated that her destruction was unnecessary; that she could have been taken up James River to Hog Island, where, the channel being narrow, she could effectively have prevented the ascent of the enemy’s vessels. Martial law was proclaitmed at Norfolk, and the following proclamation issued: “NORFOLK, VA., May 10, 1862. “The occupancy of the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth is for the protection of the public l)roperty Snd tile maintenance of the public laws of the United State:-;.

Private assoc(ittionls aInd domestic quiet will not be disturbed(, Ibut violations of order and disrespect to the Government Dill be followed by thle imnried(liate arrest of the offenders. “Those who have left their homes inder the anticipation of any acts of vandalism may )be assured that the Government allows no man the lion,r of serving in its armies who forgets thie du,ties of aI citizen in discharging those of a soldier, and that no individual rights will be il,terfered with. ; The sale of liquor is prohibited. The offices of the Military Governor and of the Provost-Marslhal are at the Custom-House. “(Signed e EGBnERT L. SVIELr, “I’Brigaier-General U. S. A., and Military CG;verno’.” Immediate steps were talkn to strengthen the Union position. A force was pushed forward to Suffolk, twentytwo miles firom Norfolk, which forms thle junction of the Seaboard and Roanoke, and Norfolk and Petersburg Railroads. By thbeoccupation of this point a juno tion might be effected, by means of the former road, with General Burnside, who was supposed to be at Weldon, North Carolina. An internal route of communication was also established vies the Dismal Swamp Canal between Burnside and McClellan. The occupation of 17 257’.

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IISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. Norfolk apparently furnished a new basis for advance south of James River, while it relieved Burnside, in North Carolina, of an enemy on his flank, and enabled him, in ease of a projected march upon R-iiehmond, to give assistance to McClellan. The advance of the army from Yorkltown had been directed upon West Point for the purpose of forming a junction with Franklihn’s Corps, as well as to take advantage of the nature of the ground, which was less swampy on the York than on thle Ja.mes River. The Chickahominy River has its origin in Henrico and H-naover counties, and passing five miles to the north of Richmond, takes a southeasterly course through extended swamps, and empties into the James River thirtyfive miles below Richmond. llhe river thus forms a curve, covering Richmond to the north and southeast. Numerous bridges cross the stream, which is liable to sudden overflows. The Federal army marched to the north of this stream, and a junction being made with Franklin, the base of operations was fixed at White House, which is connected with Richmond by railroad. On the 20th of Miay the advance under Stoneman was at Gaines’s Mills, eight and a half miles north of Richmond, and one and a half north of New Bridge. The picklets of the enemy occupied the opposite bank of the river, but there were apparently few troops in the neighborhood. The army held different points of the Chlickahominy, at greater or less distances from the enemy’s capital. Headquarters were at Cold Harbor, on the turnpike, ten miles north of Richmond. The army was now thoroughly rested, and once more impatient of inaction. The commissary arrangements were completed, and trains of artillery were brought to the front. Two provisional corps under Generals Fitz John Porter and Franklin had been recently created by taking divisions from the corps already organized, malini five corps in all, besides the cavalry division of Stoneinan. Iii order to communicate with the tupnaoats on James River, it was necessary to send by land through the enemy’s pickets, who swarmed in the country between the Chickahliominy and the James. Lieutenant F. C.

Davis was detailed with ten men to make the attempt, and the perilous expedition was successfully performed. Rumors were now current that Beauregard was in Richmond with troops, arrived on their way from Corinth.

The corps of McDowell, which had been detained by the President, was at Fredericksburg, with pickets thrown forward in the direction of Richmond.

The reenforcements t)at McClellan had received were considered by that general not sufficient to make goodcl the waste by cannon and disease, and by the garrisons left at Yorktown, Williamsburg, add other points. To unite with McDowell would, however, ifsure sueeess. For thlis purl)ose, on the 22d May, the Sixth Pennsylvania Cavalry was detachled from the reserves, to reconnoitre the Pamunkev t6wards Hanover CourtHouse. In consequence of their report, forter, with his division, niarchlled rapidly upon that point where the railroads coming from Fredericksburg and from Gordonsville cross the river en ro?tlte to Richmond. The enemy held the place, under General Branch, the same who had been (March 258

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ISTORY OF TIVE GREAT REBELLION. 14th) driven out of Newbern, N. C., by General Burnside; but Porter easily defeated him, capturing a gun, five hundred prisoners, and the control of the bridges. Hie was now within fifteen miles of McDowell’s pickets, and a single day’s march would have united the two armies; but just at that juncture orders camne from the Secretary of WVar to burn the bridges thus captured, and for McDowell to proceed by forced marches to the Shenandoah Valley to succor Banks, who was hard pressed by a rebel column under General T. J. Jackson. The latter, by the celerity of his movements, had amazed all the commanders and disquieted the Government. There being no longer any hope of a junction with MIcDowell, it became necessary to hol both banks of the Chickahominy, which, from the shifting nature of its bed, was difficult to bridg,e. In a short time several good bridges were in process of construction to facilitate the passage, and enable each wing to support the other in case of e,ineirency. The different corps of the army continued to press the enemy upon the Chickahominy, and on the 23d Naglee, of Casey’s Division of Keyes’s Corps, crossed at Bottonl’s Bridge, and, after a sharl) struggle, made good his position three miles in advance on the Williamsburg road. On the 25th, Stoneman advanced from Newv IBr;d_ee u?) the river, and occupied Ellison’s Miills, driving out the enemy und(cr Howell Cobb. The Eighth Illinois was then sent three miles farther to destroy the bridge of the Richmond and Fredericksburg Railroad. The villacge of Mechanicsville, five miles from Richmond, was tihen occupied by the extreme right of the army. There are three roads which cross the Chickahominy at different points converging upon Richmond. The most southerly of these is the Williamsburg road, which crosses at Bottom’s Bridge, and passes through Seven Pines, seven miles from Richmond.

IRuiining parallel to this, and thlree-fourths of a mile to the north, is the Rlichmonold and York Rliver Railroad, which, crossing at the railroad bridge, l)asses through Fair Oaks, six miles firom Richmond. Still farther to the north, a road crosses New Bridge, and approaches Richmond at an angle w;ith the railroad; this is known as the Nine-mile road. A cross-roadl runs nearly parallel with the Chickahominy River f’om a house known as Old Tavern, near New Bridge, on the Nine-mile road, crossing the railroad at right angles with it at Fair Oaks, to Seven Pines on the Williamsburg road. The railroad runs from White House, the base of the army supplies, to Richmond direct; and Fair Oaks was obviously a strategic point to be defended at all hazards, since the railroad afforded the most ample means of bringinmg forward supplies unitr all contingencies. Why the enemy left the railroad wholeewhen he retired was a problem; but as he had done so, every advantage was to be taken of it. On the 25th of May, the Fourth Corps, Keyes, and the Third Corps, Heintzelman, both Under the latter, were ordered to advance to Seven Pines. An intrenched camp, consisting of a lunette and supporting abatis, was found one-fourth mile in advance of this station, and Casey’s Division of Infantry, with twenty pieces of artillery, were placed in it, supported by Couch’s Division Further down the 260

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HISTORY OF T’ E GREAT REBELLION. railroad were the two divisions of I/eintzelman’s Corps. The position of the army was now that of the letter V, with its point at Bottom’s Bridge. q he rig(ht wing, on the north of the Chickahominy, con sisted c!f the corp)s of Sumner, Franklin, and Porter, and was extend ed from B/ottomn’s Bridge to Mlechanicsville. The left, on the Rich inond side of the river, was composed of the four divisions of Keyes and HIeintzelman, disposed one behind the other, from Fair Oaks to Bottom’s Bridge. The uncertain and shifting stream which ran between these two wings was being bridged, in order that both might communicate for mutual support. This was the state of affairs Mlay 31st, when General Casey’s Corps was stationed as fbo lows: On the right, Naglee’s Brigade, extending across the railroad and approaching a point on the river, where General Sumner had erected the Grape-Vine Bridge; in the centre, Worrell’s second ‘Brigade (formerly General IKeim’s), extending from Naglee’s left across the Williamsburg road; and on the left, Palmer’s Brigade. General Couch’s Corps was mainly on the Williamsburg road, in the rear of Casey. The corps of Casey was by no means full, its strength being estimated at about six thousand men. About noon, the enemy, under General Hill, with the brigades of Rhodes, Garland, Rains, and Anderson, made a rapid advance, and attacked the intrenched camp with great fury, taking it completely by surprise, and in the words of General Richardson, “brushed away the division of Casey like chaff.” The division of Couch had hardly formed in order of battle ere the enemy were upon him with fierce yells, delivering at short range a deadly fire, which was received with steady courage and with a stubborn resistance, that caused the advancing column to swerve to the right. Abercrombie’s Brigade supported Naglee, that of Devens sustained Worrell, and General Peck supported Palmer on the left.

The enemy, in accumulating numbers and mad with fancied success, was pushing between Heintzei man and the river, and his success in this movement would be fatal to the army. Our men stood to their task with a constancy the oldest veterans could not excel, and which neither the evidentl superior numbers of the enemy, their determination to win, nor the deadly fire of their sharpshooters, could shake. Nevertheless, the swelling throng of the enemy’s columns seemed still to outflank our exhausted line, and at six o’clock disaster was imminent. Sedgwick, of Sumner’s Corps, now appeared coming from the bridge which ~~~~~~ 9 he had built, and went into action to the support of Couch, whose left the enemy had just turned, thereby, with a strong column, penes trating between him and Heint?lman, two miles, in the rear on the railroad. It appears that General Birney, of Kearny’s Division, had been ordered by General Ileintzelman to advance on the railroad in the direction of Couch one mile, and he did so, but immnediately received orders from Kearny to return to his original post. This movement and counter-movement left the opening for the enemy For this General Birney was relieved of his command, but he was reinstated at the request of General Kearny. Meantime, Sedgwick’s men coming up, excited with the march, with the dill of battle and 261 , -,,, “I 1.

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. the pride of anticipated victory flaming in their eyes, went eagerly to work, and at once smote the head of the enemy’s advancing column with a storm of canister-shot from the few pieces that had been laboriously dragged through the miry roads. The enemy staggered heavily back under this withering shower. The situation was fatal to them. The division, closing up ” shoulder to shoulder,” in line of battle, moved up with resistless vigor, and the shaken line of the Confederates was driven back effectually. Their forward impetus was lost at the first fire, and the long line of avencging bayonets presented by the Union front imparted a retrograde mnovemecnt to his steps that was not recovered. The rebel repulse was greatly aided by the confusion occasioned by the wounding of their commanding general, J. E. Johnston, of which, had the Federals been aware of it, great advantage might have been taken. lHe was succeeded by General Gustavus W. Smith. Richardson’s Corps then arriving on the left of Sedgwick, connected with Birney’s Brigade of Heintzelman’s Corps, the breach was thus closed and the position made secure for the night. The opportune arrival of Sedgwick alone saved the army from total disaster, since the gallant troops who had so long borne the brunt of overwhelming numbers, were ill danger of being overpowered.

They could not much longer have held out. A delay of half an hour would have insured total defeat. The enemy captured almost every thing belonging to Casey’s Division, camp equipage, and a number of guns. There had beenii a severe storm of rain, on which the enemy had counted to cause the river to rise so as to prevent the crossing of Federal re-enforcemnents. The rise did not take place as soon as was calculated upon, and that saved the army. On Sunday morning, June 1st, at dawn, the Confederates occupied the camps of Casev’s and Couch’s Divisions, having their left on the railroad near Fair Oaks. To our right, on the other side of the railroad, the divisions of Generals Richardson and Sedgwick were formed, in a semicircle, with their left resting on General Hooker’s right, at the railroad, and their right flanking the enemy. These divisions were composed of parts of the brigades of General Burns, General French, General T. F. Mleagher, with four batteries of artillery. General Hooker’s Division was camped in the wood on the WVilliamsburg road, occupying the centre, and a little in advance of the right and left wings. On the left the remaining portions of Couch’s and Casey’s Divisions rested, with reserves of fresh troops extending to our extreme left, near the middle road, under General Keyes. At seven o’clock, General leintzelman ordered Hooker to drive the enemy from a wood on tll extreme left. The attack was commenced by Hooker leading the Fifth and Sixth New Jersey, near the railroad, supported on the right by the brigade of Birney, now under the command of Colonel Robert Ward. General Sickles’s Brigade followed, and a portion of it having,,by order of Hooker, gone to the left of the Williamsburg road, the artillery found the ground too boggy to get through. The brigade of Sickles, finding the enemy showing a firm front before them, after some ineffectual firing formnned a line, and with fixed bayonets performed a charge that won the admiration of .262

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. both friend and foe, and with a determination and vigor that at once settled the matter in that quarter.

The Seventy-first and Seventythird New York showed that the bayonet was the true mode of winning ground with little loss. The example was followed on the right, and the ground trembled beneath the tread of a long line of men, before whose deadly bayonets the enemy’s line scattered in confusion.

The biting fire which the enemy poured upon them as they advanced did not for an instant check or retard the irresistible attack. They cleared the woods at once, and the enemy retired, leaving the Union troops masters of the field. About an hour after the firing had ceased, General McClellan arrived on the field. On Monday General Hooker was ordered to make a reconnoissance in force to the front, and he did so to within four miles of Richmond without resistance, when he was recalled by General McClellan.

For this McClellan has been severely censured. All accounts go to show that when the enemy retired towards Richmond after their defeat, of June 1st, they wvere in a complete state of demoralization, throwing away muskets, accoutrements, and whatever might impede their progress; and according to the testimony of many officers engaged in the battle, as given before the Congressional Committee on the Conduct of the War, the army could have pushed on to Richmond with little resistance. This was one of the many occasions during the war when the golden opportunity was needlessly thrown away. During this battle the balloon was overlooking the strife, and was in telegraphic communication with General McClellan at his quarters. The losses on both sides were as follows: Wounded. 4,303 3,627

Confederate, Union, The losses in the Third and Fourth Corps, reported by General Heintzelman, were three thousand eight hundred out of eleven thousand enia’ed. The enemy also, according to General Johnston’s report, claimed to have captured ten pieces of artillery, six thousand muskets, besides colors, tents, and camp equipage. The followiing are the dispatches forwarded by General IMcClellan from the field: ” FIELD OF

BATTLE, June 1, 12 o’clock.. “We have had a desperate battle, in which the corps of Generals Sumner, Heintzelnman, and Keyes have been engaged against greatly superior numbers. “Yesterday, at one, the enemy, taking advantage of a terrible storm, which had; flooded the valley of the Chickahominy, attacked our troops on the right flank. “‘General Casey’s Division, which wa in the first line, gave way unaccountably and’

disunitedly. This caused a temporary gnfusion, during which the gutns and baggage were lost; but Generals HIeintselman and Keyes most gallantly brought up their troops, which checked the enemy. “At the same time, however, I succeeded,.by great exertion, in bringing across. Generals Sedgwick and Richardson’s Divisions, who drove back the enemy at the point of the bayonet, covering the ground withhis dead. “This morning the enemy attempted to renew the conflict, but was everywhere repulsed. “We have taken many prisoners.among whom is General Pettigrew and Colonel Loring.

263 Killed 681 890 Missing. 814 1,222 Total. 5,798 5,739

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. “Our loss is heavy, but that of the enemy must be enormous. “With the exception of General Casey’s Division, the men behaved splendid!. “Several fine bayonet charges have been made. The Second LExcelsior Regiment made two to-day.” The following address was read to the army on the evening of the 3d, at dress parade, and was received with an outburst of vociferous cheering from every regiment: “IIEAD-QUARTERS ARMY OF THrE POTOMAC, “CAMP NEAR NEW BRII)GE, VA., June 2.

} SOLDIERS OF THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC:-I have flilfilled at least a part of my promise to you. You are now face to face with the rebels, who are held at bay in front of the capital. The final and decisive battle is at hand. Unless you belie your past history, the result cannot be for a moment doubtful. It’ the troops who labored so faithfully, and fought so gallantly at Yorktown, and -who so bravely won the hard fights at Williamsburg, West Point, Hanover Court-fIouse, and Fair Oaks now prove worthy of their antecedents, the victory is surely ours. “The events of every day prove your superiority. Wherever you have met the enemy you have beaten him. Wherever you have used the bayonet, he has given way in panic and disorder. “I ask of you now one last crowning effort. The enemy has staked his all on the issue of the coming battle. Let us meet him and crush him here, in the very centre of the rebellion. “Soldiers, I will be with you in this battle, and share its dangers with you. Our confidence in each other is now founded upon the past. Let us strike the blow which is to restore peace and union to this distracted land. Upon your valor, discipline, and mutual confidence the result depends. GEORGE B. McCLELLAN, “MajorGeneral Cosimaedi,ig.” This first dispatch of General McClellan gave great offence in two particulars: one was in not giving General Sumner proper credit, and the other in the censure cast upon Casey’s Corps. Asa consequ ence of this, the following dispatches were sent forward: “‘NEW BRIDGE, June 5, 10.30 A. K “To Honorable E. M. STANTON, Secretary of War: “Mfy telegraphic dispatch of June 1st, in regard to thle battle of Fair Oaks, was incorrectly published in tile newspapers. I send with this a co rect copy, which I request may be published at once. I am the more anxious about tliis, since my dispatch, as published, would seem to ignore the services of General Sumner. whichl were too valuable and brilliant to be overlooked, both in the difficult passage of the stream and the subsequent combat. Thle mistake seems to havo occurred in the transmittal of the dispatch by the telegraph. G. B. MCCLELLAN, “M
ajorGeneral Commanding.” “THE CORRECTED DISPATCIL “FIELD OF BATTLE, 12
o’clock, June 1. Honorable E. M. STANTON, Se.tary of War: “We have had a desperate battle, in which the Corps of Sumner, Heintzelman, and Keyes have been engaged against greatly superior numbers. Yesterday, at one o’clock, the enemy, taking advantage of a terrible storm, which had flooded the valley of the Chickahominy, attackedl oh troops on the right bantik of the river. (Casey’s Division, which was the first line, gave way unaccountably and discreditably. This caused a temporary confiusion, du:ing’which some guns a d baggage were lost, but Ileintzelman and Kearny most gallantly brought up their troops, wlich checked the enemy. At the same time,‘however, General Sumner succeeded, by great exertion4 264 “

(Signed)

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IIISTORY OF‘1 GRFE, AT REBELLION. in bringing across Sedgwick’s and Richardson’s Divisions, which drove back the enemy at the point of the bayonet, covering the ground with his dead. This morning the enemy attempted to renew the conflict, but was everywhere repulsed. ” We lave taken many prisoners, among whom are General 1Pettigrew and Colonel Loring. Outr loss is l]eavy, bit the loss of the enemy must be enormous.

Wlith the exception of Casey’s Division, our men behaved splendidly.

Several fine bayonet charges lhave been made. The Second Excelsior made two to-day. “(Signed) G. B. AICCLELLAN, General Commanding.”

“HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF TEE POTOMAC, June 5. Honorable,EDWIN M. STANTON, Secretary of War: “Mv dispatch of the first inst., stating that General Casey’s Division, which was in the first line, gave way unaccountably find discreditably, was based up(on oflicia.l statements made to me before I arrived upon the field of battle, and while I was there, by several commanders. From statements made to me subsequently by Generals Casey and Naglee, ] am induced to believe that portions of the division behaved well, and made a most gallant stand against superior numbers; but at present tlhe accounts are too conflicting to enable me to discriminate with certainty. When the facts are clearly ascertained, the exceptional good conduct will be properly acknowledged. “(Signed) “GEORGE B.

MCCLELLAN, “MajorGeneral Commanding.” The dispatch correcting the omission in relation to General Sumner being altered in relation to the conduct of Casey’s Corps, to read “discreditably” instead of “disunitedly”

makes the censure more severe: nevertheless, on the same date, portions of the division are in the other dispatch relieved from censure. The result was, that General F. J. Peck superseded Casey, who was given some employment at White House in the rear. CHAPTER XXIIL Genera,ql Jackson’s Movement.-Battle at Winchester.-Advance of Bankq. - Shields ordered to join McDowell.-Retreat of Banks.-Front Royal.-Banks driven across the Potomac.-Mountain Department.-Fremont supersedes Rosecrans.-LPattle at McDowell.-Fremont’s Corps ordered to support Banks.-Tlie Object of Jackson’s Raid.-Fremont’s Movement.-Retreat of the Enemy.-Harrisonburg.-Cross Keys. -Escape of Jackson.-McDowell concentrates at Fredericksburg.-Formation of the Army of Virginia under Pope. WIEN

General Jackson,* in the beginning of March, fell back before the advance of Banks, thus uncovering the communication by * Thomas Jonathan Jackson was born in Clarksburg,, Virgini,% January 21st, 1S24, and giadluated at Wvst l’(iut in 1 t46. lie was succesrivn brev tti(l calptain alnd is ij,,r. f or gallywnt cndditct in the Nl~xiuen war. and in 152 resign,ed his coinmissionl:retd became pr;,fsso. o) mathematics in the Mti~itiry Institute of Virginia. At the )utbreakof the rebellion he was alppointedi brigadliergeneral in the Confederate army, tontght at Bull ]Run, wheie he earned the sobriqtietof”Stone-! wall”,l:k Hison. altd during the winter of 1861-62, coiinian(l.id at Winchester. In llarch, 1862, he was (ileieateil near that lilace by Shields, ani in ]Mav con Vlucteyl his celebrated camtp aiannof the 1heudoah Valley, driving Banks across the Po tomac, and subsequently escaping fronm the combined forces of Banks,‘reii.,,it, andl Aculowell. In June he joinedt the rebt l armty at i-ichl.r[ond, and participated in the Sevell tays tigtiiiiig. In the succeeding August, ho Ioughlit tlh battle of Cedar Moutitain,and t,o,k a proii.it,-.nt)Itrt in the second Bull lIain cainpiign. alter hich he lI(I tilhe rebel invasion of Marylalttl, catur,(. lIHrper’s Ferry, September 15ti, andl two datys lat,r Ioight at Antietam. Ile ce,mmand-d, the rXtlh riglit wing at tihe battle of Fredi,ri,ksb’irg. I),ceiber 1 ih, was soon after app,oint~tda it]i,t(,nnt-genera], and at the i,attle at ChaiciellorsviI,-. May 2d, 183, wits mortally woutinded, wlile l.fiding a buccemful flank movement. Ile ditd May loth. 265

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IISTORY OF TIIE GREAT REBELLION. MIanassas Gap between the Confederate army and the resources of the Valley, the whole force of the enemy, in front of MIanassas, fell back to the Rappahannock, abandoning Fredericksburg, and that in the Valley retreated towards Staunton. The retreat of Jackson was, however, slow. He abandoned Winchester on the 12th of March, and it was occupied by General Banks wvith his advance, on the same day that General’IcClellan assumed the command of the Army of the Potomac. On occupying Winchester, General:)anks issued an order forbidding all depredations and marauding. This order had become necessary, since the people of the fertile but unfortunate Valley were exposed to the alternate operations of both armies. The mission of Jackson in the Valley was at that time to cover the retreat of that part of the rebel army, which, coming from Centreville by way of Strasburgl, wa.s destined to operate near Staunton, and to protect the road from the Valley to Gordonsville, to which point the main body of the Confederates had retreated. That object having been effected by the 15th of March, the subsequent movements of Jackson were at his own discretion. On the 17th, a force under General Shields left Winchester in pursuit of the enemy, who retired towards Strasburg. Hiis rearguard was overtaken near Middletown, and wilh four guns it disputed the ground foot by foot. The main force of Jackson was at Mount Jackson. On the 20th, Shields’s reconnoitring force returned to Winchester. The division of General Williams, forming onehalf of Banks’s command, at the same time moved off towards Battletown, through which a good turnpike runs from Winchester to Centreville. This movement led Jackson to suppose that nearly the whole army of Banks was about to reenforce McClellan. To prevent this, he determined to attack Winchester.

Accordingly, four regiments of infantry made a forced march firom Mount Jackson to Strasbur(, and advanced thence, on Saturday, the 22d to the battleground within three miles of Winchester. This rapid march of thirtyfive miles in two days was without supply trains, and the advance appeared in front of the Union pickets in the afternoon of Saturday. About four miles in advance of Winchester, on the turnpike to Strasburg, through Miiddletown, is the village of Kernstown. A mudroad branches from the turnpike about midway between Winchester, and runs to the right over Cedar Creek. The Fourteenth Indiana was on Saturday picketed on the turnpike half a mile beyond Kernstown, and at halfpast two discovered the enemy’s cavalry under Ashby, reconnoitring the woods on both sides of the turnpike, and steadily advancing. TheUnion troops then fell back, pursued by the cavalry, occasionally facilng about to fire upon the pursuing enemy. General Shields: ordered up four companies of infantry to support the * James Shields was borni in County Tyrone, and Minnesota. At the outbreakofthe rebellion Ireland, in 1510. lie eigr, to tt United he was ap pointed bri.t(lier-generl of voltnteers, States in lS26, settled in Illinois, and became succeeded General L,Iander in coimmand of his Judge of the Suprenme Court,f that State. He brigade, in March, 18(;2, and soon after defeated was brigadiergeneral of svluntetrls in the Mexi-Jackson at Winchester. IIis troops were siibsecan war. was piomoted to bl, nijor-reneral,and quently worsted in an enecolDter with Jackson, was woun(lded at Cerro Gordlo anl Chapultepec. June 9th. In the succeeding year he resigned hia l8bsequently he was U.S. Senator froma Illinois commiaassion. 266

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. Fourteenth Indiana, and hold the enemy in check until he could bring forward his division. A battery of artillery was also ordered forward to assist in checking the now advancing enemy.

While directing this battery, Shields was wounded in the arm by the splinter of a shell. He, however, remained on the field until dark, when the troops began to arrive. The enemy were now in advance of Kernstown, and about three miles from Winchester. They, however, did not press the attack, but bivouacked for the night. This respite was not unwelcome to Shields, who was waiting for the return of Villiams’s troops to reenforce him, although these did not arrive until after the action. The Union forces engaged in the battle embraced, with the exception of five hundred men, only the division of Shields (formerly that of Lander), composed of the brigades of Kimball on the ri,ght, Tyler in the centre, and Sullivan on the left. Inasmuch as Shields, ill consequence of his wound, did not appear on the field, General Kimball assumed command. The enemy’s centre was a little to the left of the turnpike, at the village, and his left extended one and threequarter miles west of the road, his right wing about one mile to the east of it. The mudroad branching from the turnpike passed through his left centre. Beyond this there was a grove of trees, and still farther a ridge of hills crowned by a stone wall about breast high. At eight o’clock, A. M., on the 23d, the enemy opened with four guns, which were replied to by six. The batteries were then reenforced on both sides. The enemy’s guns were so well served that it became necessary to storm them, and the infantry columns of the first and second brigades were massed for an attack upon the enemy’s left. General Tyler moved his column on the mudroad until he came in front of the stone wall, from which at two hundred yards distance lhe received a deadly fire; but his unwavering troops pressed oil without reply until within fifteen yards, when they delivered their fire with such effect that the enemy fell back across the field, unmasking as they didi so two six-pound guins, the canister from which tore open our rainks with great havoc, without stopping the advance of the men, who speedily captured one gun witlh its caisson. Two other brass guns were now unmasked with such effect that our tro(,.ps were forced back, upsetting the captured gun as they left it.

T’he Fifth Ohio and Eighty-fourth Pennsylvania now formed, and advancetd w-ith the bayonet. In the desperate encounter the Ohio rcyimenet lost its standard-bearer five times in a few minutes. The Fourteenth and One Hundred and Tenth Indianiia now advanced a, talle quick in support, and the enemy fell back again, leaving the captured gunl. It was now seven o’clock,. Mr., and the fring beg,an to lessein. T’he cavalry in pursuit of.the enemy captured about two hundred prisoners. The men slept upon the battlefield, and awoke to pursue the enemy on the morning of the 24th, who, however, retired on being attacked. At nine o’clock general Banks arrived on the icld from itarper’s Ferry, and assumed command. The Union loss in this battle -was one hundred and thirtytwo killed, five hundred and forty wounded, forty-six missing-total, seven hundred and eighteen.

The loss cf the enemy was estimated at nine hundred, of whom two 267

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HISTORY OF THE GP-EAT REBELLIONX. hundred and thirty-six were prisoners; two guns and four caissons were captured. The enemy had been reenforced at ten o’clock, Sunday morning, by General Garnett, and claimed that his whole force was then six thousand, of whom three thousand were engaged.

General Shields reported his own command at eight thousand. Tile enemy retii’ed beyond Strasbu,rg, which pl:ice Genei’al Banks held on the 25th Maich. The enemy continued in the neighborhood, occasionally haiassing the outpost, until, on the 1st April, General Ba,,ks resumed his forward movement to Woodstock, which was defended by Ashtiby’s cavalry and the shells of the enetmy. On the same day the advance passed through the town, and on the 2d it drove the endm o’s rear-guaid over Stony Creek, near Edenburg. The enemy destroyed bi’id-es ns he retired, and Banks rebuilt them withl great labor, as he followed. On the 11th, his advance under General Shields, who was so far le(,ove,(ed of his wound as to appear on the field in a carria(e, was i,e occupation of Edenburg, headquarters remaining at Woodslo.k. The enemy continued at Mloutnt Jackson. The enemy’s cavalry continued busy under Ashby, and firequent attacks were made on the lines of communication. Oii the 17th, Mount Jackson w:ts occupied by the Uiiion forces, Shields andl Williams making a combined attack upon it, aTid pushing their pickets five miles beyozid. New M:irket was occupied at the same timne. The advance of Banks’s column pressed, on the 18th April, close upon the heels of Jacksoii’.s retiring troops, which continued their retreat in the direction of Staunton. On the 20th, General Banks telegraphed as follows: “NEW MARKET, April 20, 9 A. ML ”’ To Ilon.

E. Mf. STANTON, Secretary of War: “The flight of Jackson from the valley by the w burg towards Stannardsville and Orange Court-H this morning by our scouts and prisoners. “N. P. BANKS, “Major-GeneraZ Comnmanding.” The advance pushed on under General Williams, who held Iharrisonburg (en the 24th, arid his scouts captured some prisoners nine riles beyorid. Batiks, whose headquarters were at New Market, visited Hariisonbllrg on the 29th, anld while there received news of the capture of New Orleans, an event which, by its influence upon the fate of Yo,‘ktowni, would, it was supposed, have a great effect upon his own position. The forces under Banks were now about sixteen thousand men. At this time Ja.ckson, who had been falling back before Ba,nks, formed a junction with General E.

Johnson, who had fallen back from the Mountaiii) Depaitment before the advance of Milroy, who, on the 23d of Apiil, had followed him to within seven miles of Staunton. The enemy supposed that the Union forces under Fremont and ]3ariks, meeting at Staunton, wotildlattempt to drive the Confe, lerates before them until tlI(ey cotlld form a junction with McDowell east of the mountain, and then tltrow their combined,forces upon Richmond. On the other hand, the Union generals anticipated that on the fall of ‘268

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. Yorktown, large forces would be released from its defence, and that with t’,‘se re-enfo)rcements, Jackson would swe-p tihe valle7, and threaten Washington. This proved to bA partially the case. Yorktown fell on the 5th of May, and on the 7th, Jackson advanced with a strong force against Milroy, driving him back to the mountains. He then rapidly returned to the ShenandoahValley, where his force, by concentration with Johnston and Ewell, now amounted to twenty thousand men. In this state of affairs, General Banks fell back, his retreat being hastened by an order received for General Shields’s Corps of ten thousand men to join McDowell, whose corps had been weakened by the withd.rawal of Franklin’s Division to reenforce McClellan. Accordingly, Shields left New Market, May 12th, and reached Fredericksburg on the 21st.

At the same time, Colonel Geary, who, on leaving Leesburg in Marsh, had been char:-ed with guard,ing the Manassas Railroad between the Junction and Front Royal, a length of fifty miles, and which had been destroyed by the enemy retiring before McClellan’s advance in ],Iarch, was also detached from Banks, and ordered to report to General McDowell. WAith these deductions, Banks’s force was reduced to about six thousand men, and he withdrew before the advancing enemy to Strasburg, which General Williams was ordered to hold as the key of the Valley. The Manassas road, which was essential to the safety of Banks’s Corps, and its communication with Washington, hadl been repaired, and was reopened 3lay 13th, between Manassas and Front Royal. On that day, Colonel J. R. Kenly, with one brigade of Williams’s Division, was sent from Strasburg, by General Banks, to take commandl at Front Royal, with instructions to retain the troops under MIajor Tyndell, belonging to Geary’s command. The troops numberedl about fourteen hundred men for the protection of the town, which is indefens’ble witlhout a very large force. The army of Banks had now retrograded fifty miles from its advanced position, and the enemy were cautiously advancing up the Valley. The fbrce of Colonel Kenly, at Front Royal, consisted of his own regiment, the First Maryland, seven hundred and seventy-five men, with detachments from other organizations. There were also a few companies scattered between Front Royal and Strasburg. On the 23d of May, the enemy in large force suddenly appeared at one o’clock P. M., and captured Kenly’s pickets before alarm was given. Colonel Kenly immediately drew up his force; the infantry in line a half mile in rear of the town; the artillery on a crest commanding the approach to the bridges, supported by five companies. Three companies were in the fort. These soonT
fell back before the advance of Ashby’s cavalry, supported by five regiments of infantry. After a severe strugHle of two hours, the men ere ordered to retire across the river. This was done, and the smaller of two bridges destroyed. The enemy were upon them, however, before the destruction of the other was effected. An attempt was now made to prevent their crossing, but the cavalry and two infantry regimrents forded the stream. The command now retreated, but was overtaken within three miles by the enemy’s cavalry, when a fearful fight ensued, resulting in the destruce tion of the command, and the wounding and capture of Colonel Kenly. 269

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. When this disastrous news reached Strasburg, it was deemed greatly exaggerated, but a regiment was sent to reenforce Kenly. Fugitives from the field soon came in, however, confirming the worst tidings. Orders were immediately given to halt the reenforcements, and dctachmnents of troops under experienced officers were sent in every direction to explore the roads leading from Front Royal to Strasburg, Lidldletown, and Winchester. It was soon found that the enemy’s pickets were in possession of every road, and his main body moving in the rear of his pickets, in the direction of Strasburg. The advance posts on the Woodstock road, however, found no sign of the enemy, from which it seemed evident that his whole force was moving to cut off the division from Winchester. Banks’s troops were put in motion at three o’clock A. M. of the 24th, the trains in front with Colonel Donnelly, Colonel Gordon in the centre, and Colonel Hatch with the rear. The column had advanced but three miles, when the enemy, in possession of Middletown, attacked the train and drove it back in confusion. The troops immediately took the front, and after a most severe skirmish resumed the march. In this affair, Colonel Abert, with the Zouaves d’Afrique, were cut off from the main body. The column pushed on, encountering several combats and sustaining losses, uniitil it reached Winchester, where an attack was made during the night on the Union left. The numbers of the enemy continued to augment, and after a sharp conflict of five hours the march was resumed to Martinsburg. At Martinsburg the column halted three hours, and arrived at the Potomac at sundown, fortyeight hours after the reception of the first news of the attack upon Front Royal. This was a distance of fifty-three miles, of which thirtyfiv-e were made in one day. The loss was thirtyeight killed, one hundred and fiftyfive wounded, seven hundred and eleven missing; total, nine hundred and five. On the 26th, General Banks tele graphed: “WILLIAMSPORT, May 26. “i Hon. EDWIiN -,. STANTON, Secretary of War: “We believe that our whole force, trains and all, will cross in safety. The men are in fine spirits, and crossing in good order. The labor of last night was fearfill. The enemy followed us last night on our march, but has not made his appearance this morning. Tlie news of our movements south has unquestionably caused them to look out for their safety. Your dispatch was read to the troops this morning amid the heartiest cheers. N.

P. BANKS, MajorGeneral Commancliny.” The enemy did not follow with much vigor beyond Winchester, althoulgh a cavalry force harassed the retreat nearly to Martinsburg. When General 3IcClellan was transferred from the command of Western Virginia to the hief command on the Potomac, July, 1861, General Rosecrans was appointed to succeed him in Virginia, and he continued in that command until the 29th of March, when he was superseded by General Fremont. The latter, it will be borne in mind, was deprived of his command in Missouri, November 8th, and remained till the latter part of Mtarch in retirement, although great exertions were used to procure for him a new appointment. It was finally determined to annex Eastern Tennessee and Kentucky to the I)epart 210

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“IISTORY OF TIE GREAT REBELLION. ment of’Western Virginia, and erect it into “the MIountain Depart. ment,” of -hlich General Fremont* was assigned the command, and on the 29th of -,arch he arrived at Wheeliing,. On the same day, Generil RItosecr ans took leave of the troops in a general order. The northeiri porition of the new department was called the Railroad District, and the command conferred upon BrigadierGeneral IKelly. In the beginninig of April, General Fremont’s headquarters were at Wheeling; and General Schenck’s Division was at 3Moorfield, west of Hlunting ),lountain, on the road to Winchester. He was employed in buildingcr bridges that had been destroyed, and in restoring communication w-ithl the Valley that had been interrupted by the enemy. General Milroy was at Franklin, forty miles farther south, whence several roads cross the mountains to the Shenandoah Valley, one running to Staunton, another forty miles to Harrisonburg, a third fifty miles to New 3arket. The enemy, three thousand five hundred strong, constructed fortifications, with rifled cainnon, on the crest of the mountain commanding these routes, and also threatened him at ionterey on the soutli, and menaced his communication with Schenck at Moorfield. On the 13th of April, they drove in his pickets at Mlonterey, and after a sharp skirmish retired. On tlhe 17th, Sehenck senit through an expedition from Moorfield, which restored tlhe communicatioti. The enemy under Johnson then fell back from the mountains, followed by 3iilroy, who on the 23(i came up with his rearguard ten miles east of the mountain, and at the limit of the department, inflicting loss upon him. He sent scouts within seven miles of Staunton, to which place the enemy had retired. General Cox, who hadcl been op:erating in Giles County to reach the Tennessee and Vir-in;ia R.ailroad, advanced on Parisbiurg, April 30th, and after thire sharp engagements drove the enemy out of Greenbrier, Mercer and Giles Counties. Little change tookl place in the position of affirs in this quarter until, soon after the hall of Yorktown, May 5th, a su(Iden autgmentation of the enemyv’s forces wa.s apparent, and they resumedl the offensive. On the 7tlh Mlay, Johnson advanced against Milroy, who fell back on the road to Franklin u,itil he reached McDowell, v-h:ch is situated at the foot of the mountain. The whole force of Milroy consisted of six he was tricl on cliarges preferredl by General Kearny, colhd(i in Ctalifti-iia, tnl dismf sllysed the service. The senitence was remiiittecl by Plresident lollk, blut Colh,,el Freniotit declined(l the executive chl,meney., an(d re,signed( his ceo,rmmiiEsion. He was electe(d Senator o)f tlha United Statte-s, from C’difitrniaL, in 1&S50. In 1856, he -as ii,,niniated for Presi(lent, but, was defea,ted by Mr. Btuchanian. When the rcb-ilion broke out Mr.

Fremriont was in Europe, atid hastenied home to t(n(ler his services. lIe rccciv,.d the app(,intment of majorgeneral of thc Weste rn 1)cl>. rtment, in wbich ctalpatcity he served nintil r~,calh(d on the 2d of Novemb(r.

Suibseqti, ntly al~l(,inte(t to the commandn of the Mlou(ntain liepa,‘tnlcnt. hc was relieved at his o(wni r(eqiest ipon bein lflace(
under Gener,, l’,p,. lie resigne(d his c,,]iimissioa of general in 1S64.,an( in the same year was nominated candidate f,,- I’lresident, but eventually retired from the canvasa. Jtohn harles Fremont was b)orn in Savannah, Georgi. ~,n1 lhe 21st of i.t-.l-y, lS13. Hills father w.s a Fr.eniclhiiian, ulho had settled in Norfolk, Virginia, as a teacler of tle iFench language. His mother -as, native of Vir,iniia. lWhen fifteen years of sRe hle entere(l Chti’leston College, and made good proeress. until exl,ileld l;,r some irregularity. Ile then irocurel a sitti,tion as private teaclherof mathemiatics. In 1533, he was appointed insthntor in the same b raceh, on boar( the T. S. sloopo,f-war Natchez, and saiel in that ve s sel on a cruise fo,r tvo years. In 1SS3. le was appointed lileuttenr.itof tolpgrgaI)hical (.ngineers. Afterwards he was connected(
with several expeditions. His rocky _M,luntain explorations snl adventures i n the then unknown re,ziin I -in bhetwecen them and the Pacific Ocean are fresh in the mrind(s of the public. lte,-as ma(le Goiverno(r of Cldifornia, in 1846, ard in the f o’mlowingd year, hol dmi ng ttwn the rank of lieutcnant-colonel of mounted riflemen, 271

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IIISTORY OF TlIE GREAT REBELLION. regiments. Of tlese, one regiment was sixteen miles in advance to wards S aunion, two were ten miles in advance, at,d the reilmaining three were at MAlcDowell. Thie pickets of the advan(-e regiment were driven in at noon of tli(, 8th, by the appIoaching force of Johnson. It fell back upon the other two, and all retired upon McDowell, c’ose!y followed by the enemy, who came up by six in the evening, and imnlie diately atticked. Milroy disposed his forces in front of the mouintain in an effective mannnei, with his guns on elevated ground in the rear. The onset of the e.lemy was firmly met, and the battle was general until seven o’clock when Scheuck’s column appeared on the,arounid, after a ma,ch of tliirty-.four miles through Frank;in, which it ha(l left atten and a half o’clo(k A. M. Theise exhausted men were, by some mistake, exposed to a severe attack at great disadvantage.‘rhc b:lttle raged with ienewed vigor, the enemy pressing on with fresh troops, until nine P. M., when, it appearing that the rebels we.e in stii)erior force, ordlers were given to retire. The retreat was directe(l upoi l’r;!nklii, the enemy f,llo,i,,g closely and skirmishing vigr,,rously for twvo or three days.

Mleantime, Firemonit was advanciug with his whole force upon Fianklin, which place lie reached( on thle 1 3thli, having b(,en joined by the divisioii of B:enker. Upon learning this, the enei,y retired as rapid’y as lie had advalleccd. O! the 24th 3lay, General Fremont receive]d a dispatch from the War Deparitiment, dit’ectiiig him, with his entire commani(l, to nmarch to the supplort of Ge,ieral Bantiks, and by twelve,:‘clock in that day the vw-hole army of over twenty tlhousand men were on the move. No one outside the general’s confidential advisers, of course, knew the object of the itiove. The march for the fi.rst twenty miles was slow and hard. The roads were r.ttled as deep as thley could be, anid the he-avy artillery was dragged along wish great ditlfficulty-many of the p)ieces iequii’ing(
six, eight, and even ten horses. On the night of the 31st, thle advance under Milroy reaclied a position four miles from Strasb:irg, aind on the same day, Geneial Shields, is the advance of McDowell, conling’ from Fredericksburg on the same errand, reached Front Royal. Tlius Milroy, drivtn backli from Staunton on the 7th of 3ay, when the troops of Jacklsoii swelJt d(own the Valley, swoope(l uponl Kenly at Front Royal, and drove Banks over the Potomac, had in the space of eigliteeii days marched more than one hundred miles, again al,peared in Jackson’s firont, as the advance of Fremont, forminig a jutnction, but too late, with Shields arid McDowell to drive back the invader. The sudden irrul)tion of Jackson caused great alarm in Washington The itimbbers of his troops yere gieatly exaggerated, and it was supposed that hl e i ntenided to attack the c:ipital, anid cii,’,y the war itito the Fr ee S tates. T he real object of his movement may in some degree be indicate d in t he following: “~ IEAD-QU2RTERs DEPARTMENT OF \ORTHEtN VIRGINIA, May 27, 1862, 9 o’clock 15 niinutes. f UTo General T. J. JAcrsoX: “GENERAL -I have just rdceived your letter of yesterday, by Lieutenant BoswelL A copy of a dispatch telegraphed by that officer from Staunton reached me tils morn 272

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLIONI ing. After reading, I wrote to you by a special messenger, suggesting a movement threatening Washington and Baltimore, unless the enemy still has in your vicinity force enough to make it rash to attempt it. He has no force beyond the Potomac to make it dangerous; only what he has on this side need be considered. “You cannot, in your present position, employ such an army as yours upon any enterprise not bearing directly upon the state of things here, either by preventing the reenforcements to McClellan’s army, or by drawing troops from it bv divisions. These objects might be accomplished by the demonstrations proposed above, or by a movement upon McDowell, although I fear, by the time this reaches you, it will be too late for either. The most important service you can render the country is the preventing the further strengthening of McClellan’s army. If you find it too late for that, strike the most important body of the enemy you can reach. You compel me to publish orders announcing your success so often, that you must expect repetition of expressions “Yours very truly J. E. JOHNSTON.” At nearly the same date as this dispatch, General McClellan continued calling for reenforcements, representing that the force of the enemy in his front w-as superior to his own, and that the force under General McDowell would do more for tile protection of Washington, if sent to his army, than in any other position in which it could be placed. In a letter written on the 21st of May, he asks th)at General McDowell’s Co-ps be sent him by water rather than by land, as the more expeditious mode, and that he and his forces be explicitly placed under his orders, “in the ordinary way.” He closes his letter by saying: “I believe there is a great struggle before this army, but I am neither dismayed nor discouraged. I wish to strengthen its force as much as I can; but, in any event, I shall fight it with all the skill, and caution, and determination that I possess. And I trust that the result may either obtain for me the permanent confidence of my Government, or that it may close my career.” In reply to the request of General McClellan that General McDowell should join his forces by water, the President states, on the 21st of May: “McDowell can reach you by land sooner than he could get aboard of b6ats, if tht boats were ready at Fredericksburg, unless his march shall be resisted, in which case: the force resisting him will not be confronting you at Richmond. By land he will, reach you in five days after starting; whereas, by water, he would not reach you in, two weeks, judging by past experience. Franklin’s single division did not reach youi in ten days after I ordered it.” Preparations were accordingly made for General McDowell to leare Fredericksburg, on the 25th of Mlay, to join General McClellan. Just at that time, however, Jackson commenced his expedition down the Shenandoah Valley, and General McDowell, together with General Fremont, from Western Virginia, was sent to the assistance of General Banks, and to intercept Jacksoiin his retreat. Upon being informed of this, General McClellan replied that the movement of Jackson was probably intended to prevent reenforcements being sent to h.im. The President replied, giving him informattonr as to the condition of affairs in the Valley, and closed by saying. “If McDowell’s force was now beyond our reach we should be utterly helpless.

Apprehensions of something like this, apd no unwillingness to sustain you, has always been my reason for withholding McDowell’s force from you.

Please understand this, and do the best you can with the forces you now have.” 1i 273.

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. The Government immediately ordered the concentration of McDowell and Fremont in aid of Banks, and at the same time telex graphed to Pennsylvania, New York, and New England, for fifty thousand additional troops for the defence of the capital. The order was promptly complied with. It reached New York on Sunday, and on Monday morning the Seventh militia regiment was already on its way to WVashington, and was immediately followed by other regiments. Fremont moved northward along the road which debouches in the valley by Brent’s Gap, north of Strasburg. Seven days were occupied in this laborious march of one hundred miles, over the worst possible roads, and the time so consumed enabled Jackson to make good his retreat. McDowell’s Corps coming from Fredericksburg reached Front Royal on the same day, and prepared to advance up the Luray Valley. ‘Jackson, aware of these movements’ on his flanks, and finding that Banks had got his troops across the Potomac, immediately began to retire. The emergency required all his skill and activity. In a few hours, the forces of McDowell and Fremont, advancing on both flanks, waould form a junction and close the door behind him. On tle 29th, he sent back his trains and prisoners. On the morning of the 30th, his advance left camp and reached Middletown at night. On ‘Saturday morning he was in Strasburg, his train having previously passed through.

On the same day, Ewell, with the rearguard which had been threatening Harper’s Ferry to the last moment, marched thirtyfour miles and encamped at Middletown. The corps of Fremoniit, having made a long forced march over bad roads without means of transportation, were not in a condition to press the enemy who was thus slipping off. On Sunday, June lst, Jackson turned fiercely upon Fremont’s advance under Milroy, which, after six or eight hours’ can. nonade, fell back, exhausted of ammunition. During this combat, Jackson’s main column was filing to the rear. On Monday morning, June 2d, Milroy having been reenforced by Blenker and part of Bayard’s Brigade, of McDowell’s Corps, pushed on to Strasburg, but found it evacuated. Jackson was already near Woodstock. The Union advance overtook the rearguard under Ewell at about on mile and a half from Strasburg. The enemy occupied a strong position, well defended by artillery, and a cannonade of some hours produced no marked results. In the afternoon, Ewell retreated through Wood stock, closely pursued by Fremont’s advance, which reached Mount Jackson on-the afternoon of the 5th, driving out the enemy’s pickets. The pursuit of our cavalry was delayed by the removal of a few planks from a little bridge jui outside the town, which gave the enemy’s pickets time to croks the river, about a mile distant, and fire the bridge behind them. The rearguard of the enemy, about three thousand men, drew up on a hill a mile or so from &he river, resting there with provoking cool ness. They put a section of artillery into position, and threw two or three shells at us, which fell short. We returned the fire with howit zers and Parrott gun, but without reaching them or disturbing their equanimity. 1 274

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ISTORY OF TME GREAT REBELLION. A pontoon bridge, replacing the bridge burnt by the enemy, was completed, and part of General Fremont’s force crossed June 4th, and at two o’clock on the 7th reached IIarrisonburg, on the heels of the retiring enemy. A cavalry force was sent forward to reconnoitre. It was met by a sharp encounter of infantry, resulting in a repulse of the First New Jersey Cavalry and the capture of Colonel Wyndham. General Bayard was sent forward to support the cavalry, and his attack was successful, driving out the enemy, and capturing his camp and stores. The Pennsylvania “Bucktail” Regiment suffered severely in this encounter, being driven back with a loss of fiftyfive, among them its LieutenantColonel Kane, who was wounded and captured. General Fremont made the following report of the affair: ” HEAD-QUARTEIS, ARdy IN THE

FIELD, IARRISONBURG, “June 7, 1862-9 P… S~~~s He _.~~~~~ 4 Hon. E. M.

STANToN, Secretary of War: The attack upon the enemy’s rear, of yesterday, precipitated his retreat. Their loss in killed and wounded was very severe. ” Their retreat is by an almost impassable road, along which many wagons were left in the woods, and wagon-loads of blankets, clothing, and other equipments are piled up in all directions. “During the evening, many of the rebels were killed by shells from a battery of General Stahl’s Brigade. “General Ashby, who covered the retreat with his whole cavalry force, and three regiments of infantry, and who exhibited admirable skill and audacity, was among the killed. “General Milroy made a reconnoissance to-day, about seven miles on the Port Republic road, and discovered a portion of the enemy’s forces encamped in the timber. “J. C. FRMo.-T, MajorGeneral.” The reported death of Ashby fortunately proved no delusion. On the 8th, the pursuit was renewed, and seven miles beyond Harrisonburg the enemy was discovered posted in a wood, at a place called Cross Keys, five miles from the river at Port Republic, where there was a bridge, over which lay the line of the enemy’s retreat, and which it was the business of Shields’s Corps, coming up the Luray Valley, to destroy.

When the position of the enemy was descried, the Union troops were formed on a line of two miles, General Schenck on the right, General Milroy in the cpntre, Blenker on the left, with the brigades of Stahl and Bayard in’

reserve. In this order they advanced ‘down into the valley and up the slopes, where the enemy were posted. The left became first engaged, and, after being rather severely handled, retired to a stronger position. The right encountered the most strenuous efforts to turn its flank, but resisted with heroic resolution against all the assaults of the enemy.

With the approach of night, the combat ceased. The troops encamped on the field, the Union troops bivouacking where they first formed line. The enemy, who had previously sent his trains forward, decamped during the night, and by ten o’clock the next morning, which we foggy, he had crushed Shields’s advance, passed the bridge, and burned-it The Union loss in the affair was one hundred and twentyfive killed, five hundred wounded and mising. General Fremont’s report was as follows: r 275 (Signed)

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBILLION. “HEADQUARTERS, MOUNTAIN DEI?ARTMENT, “PORT REPUBLIC June 9-12 M. ) “To Hon. EDwnI M. STANTON, Secretary of War: “There was no collision with the enemy after dark last night. This morning we renewed the march against him, entering the woods in battle order, his cavalry appearing on our flanks. General Blenker had the left, General Milroy the right, and General Schenck the centre, with a reserve of General Stahl’s Brigade and General Bayard’s. The enemy was found to be in full retreat on Port Republic, and our advance found his rearguard barely across the river, and the bridge in flames. Our advance came in so suddenly that some of his officers, remaining on this side, escaped with the loss of their horses. “A cannonading during the forenoon apprised us of an engagement, and I am informed here that Jackson attacked General Shields this morning, and, after a severe engagement, drove him down the river, and is now in pursuit. I have sent an officer with a detachment of cavalry, to open communication with General Shields. “This morning, detachments were occupied in searching the grounds covered by yesterday’s action at Cross Keys, for our remaining dead and wounded. I am not yet fully informed, but think that one hundred and twentyfive will cover our lost in killed, and five hundred that in wounded. The enemy’s loss we cannot clearly ascertain. He w-as engaged during the night carrying off his dead and wounded in wagons. This morning, on our march, upwards of two hundred of his dead were counted in one field, the greater part badly mutilated by cannon-shot. Many of his dead were also scattered through the woods, and many had been already buried. A number )f prisoners had been taken during the pursuit. “I regret to have lost many good officers.

General Stahl’s Brigade was in the hottest part of the field, which was the left wing. From the beginning of the fight, the brigade lost in officers five killed and seventeen wounded; and one of his regiments alone-the Eighth New York-has buried sixtyfive. The Garibaldi Guard, next after, sufiered most severely, and following this regiment, the Forty-fifth New York, the Bucktail Rifles, of General Bayard’s and General Milroy’s brigades. One of the Bucktail companies has lost all of its officers, commissioned and non-commissionei. “The loss in General Schenck’s Brigade was less, although he inflicted severe loss on the enemy, principally by artillery fire. “Of my staff; I lost a good officer killed, Captain Nicholas Dunnka. “M any horses were killed in our batteries, which the enemy repeatedly attempted to take, but were repulsed by canister fire generally. “I feel myself permitted to say that all our troops, by their endurance of this severe march, and their splendid conduct in the battle, are entitled to the President2s commendations, and the officers throughout behaved with great gallantry and efficiency, which requires that I should make particular mention of them, and which, I trust, will receive the particular notice of the President as soon as possible. I will send in a full report, but in this respect I am unable to make any more particular distinction than that pointed out in the description of the battle. Respectfully, “J. C. FREMONT, MajorGeneral Commanding.” ” HEADQUARTERS, MOUNTAIN DEPARTMENT, t “HARRISONBURG, VA., June 10. t “Hon. E. M. STANTON, Secretary of War: “In my dispatch of yesterday, I omitted to state that Colonel Cluseret’s Brigade, consisting of the Sixtieth Ohio and Eighth Virginia, afterwards supported by the Garibaldi Guard, formed our advance, and commenced the battle of Cross Keys by sharp skirmishing, at nine o’clock in the morning. During the day they obtained possession of the enemy’s ground, which was disputed foot by foot, and only withdrew at evening, when ordered to retire to a suitagble position for the night. “The skill and gallantry displayed byCluseret, on this and frequent former occasions iuring the pursuit in which we have been engaged, deserve high praise. ‘ ” Respectfully, (Signed) “J. C.

FREMON,r, MajorGeneral.” 276

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT RE3ELLION. While Fremont was thus pressing Jackson in the valley west of the Massanutten Mountains, Shields’s Division, forming the advance of AIc Dowell, had been pushing through the Luray Valley, but, as we have seen, too late to shut the upper door of the valley at Port Republic, as Fremont had been too late to shut that at Strasburg. On the 31st, a part of the division reached Front Royal under Bayard, and joined F,‘emont’s forces. On June 1st, the division of Ord, composed of Ricketts’s and Hartsford’s Brigades, arrived, and found there a deiach mient of Shields’s Division, the main portion of which had already mnarched up the valley. While Shields’s advance joined Fremont, his main body kept along the south fork of the Shenandoah River, the leading brigade being under command of Colonel CarrQll. At six o’clock on Sunday morn ing, June 8th, the advance reached Port Republic. Colonel Carroll at once rode into the town, and, after a sharp skirmish, captur’ed an aide of General Jackson. He determined to hold the bridge instead of burning it.

At this time the battle was in progress at Cross IKeys. At night, General Tyler, with the Third Brigade and twelve guns, arrived and took command.

In the morning it was proposed, under cover of the fog, which-was very heavy, to burn the bridge, but it was deemed impossible. WVhen the fog cleared away, at six o’clock, it appeared that the enemy had, in the night, planted twenty guns, overlooking the place. From these he opened with great energy. A line of battle was formed; Carroll on the right, Tyler on the left. The enemy, now coming from Cross Keys, which they had left in the night, with an overwhelming charge drove back Tyler’s force.

After sustaining a severe strtuggle against overwhelming numbers until ten o’clock, Tyler ordered a retreat, Carroll covering the rear. The enemy pressed heavily on the broken columns, which fell into disorder, and retired rapidly; closely pushed by Jackson, who had burned the bridge to prevent being followed by Fremont. While these events were taking place, the brigade of Kimball was twentyfive miles distant, at Columrbia Bridge, and that of Ferry still farther in the rear, and, therefore, not within supporting distance. After a retreat of ten miles, the weary columti met Shields advancing to its relief, and five miles farther the rest of his command was met, when the whole retired upon Luray, and Fremont retired upon Mount Jackson. On the 26th of May, Colonel Miles, who occupied Harper’s Ferry, sent forward a battalion to reenforce Banks at Winchester, but Banks had then reached Williamsport, and the troops returned to Harper’s Ferry, the command of which was assumed the same day by General Saxton, whose force was raised t about seven thousand strong through the arrival of reenforcements. With these General Saxton occupied Bolivar and Maryland Heights, and sent a small force to reconnoitre Loudon Heights, where a force of the enemy was reported. The command of Ewell, forming the advasce of Jackson, was kept very active, and demonstrated as if to cross into MIaryland, while preparations were made for a retreat, which began on Saturday, May 31st, and was pushed thirtyfour miles to NIiddletown the same night, as has been previously related. Towards noon on the same day, a reconnoitring 27Z

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBeLIION. party, sent forward by Saxton, discovered that the bird had flown, but General Saxton did not deem it prudent to follow. On Monday, June 2d, General Sigel assumed command at Harper’s Ferry, and proceeded to organize his force, for which many regiments had been recruited. Considerable delay occurred in the forwarding of these regiments, and Sigel remained inactive, while General Banks was exerting himself to recuperate his shattered column. Fremont, when he fell back to Mount Jackson, formed his line across the valley from the MIassanutten MIountain, with his right on North Mountain, south of AMill Creek. The lines of the enemy were five miles distant. Complaints were nmade against the conduct of Fremont’s troops, particularly those of Blenker’s Division, whose destructive propensities distinguished neither friend nor foe.

General Fremont, therefore, on the 13th of June, issued an address, denouncing “the excesses and wanton outrages upon property. There seems,”

he said, “to be an organized band of stragglers and plunderers who precede and follow the army, having outrage and plunder for their especial occupation.” He ordered that all parties detected in these outrages should be shot. The enemy were now once more receiving reenforcements, and MIount Jackson, exposed on either flank, being no longer tenable, Fremont fell back to Strasburg, where extensive fortifications were erected. The force in the valley was now, June 20th, well concentrated. Fremont at Strasburg, Banks at Middletown, and Sigel a few miles east of it, on the hill towards Front Royal. Shields was again on his way to Fredericksburg with McDowell’s Corps, the valley dangers being now, it was supposed, passed. The first brigade of Williams’s Division, formerly commanded by Donnelly, was now under General Crawford, who had been assistant-surgeon at Fort Sumter under Anderson. The brigade was disposed on the road from Winchester to Front Royal, replacing Kenly’s, which had been destroyed in the Confederate advance in May. There had been, when the Union troops followed Jackson up the valley, a large accumulation of stores at Front Royal; the threatening appearance of the enemy now induced the withdrawal of those stores, which were sent to Winchester. In this position of affairs, a new change was made in the command of the department. On June 23d it was ordered that the forces under MajorGenerals Fremont, Banks, and McDowell should be consolidated into one army, called the Army of Virginia, and MajorGeneral Pope was especially assigned, by the President, to the chief command. The forces under General Fremont constituted the First Army Corps, to be commanded by General Fremont. The forces under General Banks constituted the Second Aty Corps, to be commanded by him. The forces under General’SlcD.owell constituted the Third Army Corps, to be commanded by him. The order was received in camp June 26th, and Fremont, under whom Pope had served in Misouri, unwilling to be commanded by a junior officer, asked to be relieved of his command, and this request ‘wa s promptly granted ip the foll owing order: “WAR

DEPARTMzNT, June 27, 1862. ” MajorGeneral John C. Fremont having requested to be relieved from the corm 2 i8

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HISTORY OF TIHE GREAT REBELLION. mand of the First Army Corps of the Army of Virginia, because, as he says, the position assigned him by the appointment of MajorGeneral Pope as Commander-in-Chief of the’Army of Virginia is subordinate and inferior to those heretofore held by him, and to remain in the subordinate command now assigned would, as he says, largely reduce his rank and consideration in the service. “It is ordered that MajorGeneral John C. Fremont be relieved from command. “Second, that BrigadierGeneral Rufus King be, and he is hereby assigned to the command of the First Army Corps of the Arm. of Virginia, in place of General Fremont, relieved. ” By order of the President. “EDWIN M. STANTON, Secretary of 1War.” On the receipt of tlhis dispatchl, General Fremont turned over his command to BrigadierGeneral Schenck, and left for New York. General King declined the command of the First Corps, preferring to remain with his division, and General Sigel was assigned to the command.

This brief campaign of Jackson in the Shenandoah Valley at once made his namtne famous in America and Europe, and, by preventing the junction of McDowell with McClellan, had a most important influence upon the operations before Richmond. In all probability it saved that city for the time being, and paved the way for disaster to the Union arms. Jackson himself, after giving his troops a few days’ muchneeded rest, moved towards Richmond, where we shall presently see him, at a critical moment, overwhelming the Union right wing by a flank attack. CHAPTER XXIV.

Continued Operations against Richmond.-Combat of June 25th.-McClellan’s Dis patch.-Mechanicsville.-Gaines’s Mills.-Change of Base to the James River. White Oak Swamp.-Malvern Hill.-McClellan Addresses the Troops.-Jefferson Davis’s Address.-Close of Campaign.-Causes of Failure.

IT will be remembered that the concentrated attack upon General Casey’s Corps at Fair Oaks took place May 31st, being the same day on which Jackson, having driven Banks across the Potomac, commenced his retreat up the Valley of the Shenandoah before the combined forces of Fremont and McDowe!l, who had been sent to the succor of Banks. In fact, McDowell’s advance had reached Front Royal on the same day that Casey was attacked at Fair Oaks. It appears, then, that while McClellan was feeling his way towards McDowell at Fredericksburg, by extending his right to the north of Richmond, and had reached within awew miles of the latter’s left, Jackson, by his rapid advance up te valley, created an alarm at Washington, which resulted in hurrying McDowell, from the aid of McClellan, into the valley, which he reached on the-same day that a vigorous attack upon McClellan’s left compelled iim to weaken his right. The two armies that were upon the point of junction were thus violently drawn asunder in opposite directions. The retreat of Jackson disengaged McDowell, who returned to Fredericksburg, when McCall’s Division was, June 6th, detached from him and sent to McClellan. The corn 279 4

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EHISTORY OF TlE GREAT REBELLION. mand of Fortress Monroe having been restored to him, he drew thence some six thousand men. Jackson, having escaped from the valley might be expected to reenforce Lee at Richmond.

General MlcClellan wrote to the Secretary of War, June 2d: “The enemy attacked in force and with great spirit yesterday morning, but are everywhere most signally repulsed with great loss. Our troops charged frequently on both days, and uniformly broke the enemy. The result is, that our left is within four miles of Richmond. I only wait for the river to fall to cross with the rest of the force and make a general attack.

Should I find them holding firm in a very strong position, I may wait for what troops I can bring up from Fortress Monroe. But the mnorale of my troops is now such that I can venture much. I do not fear for odds against me. The victory is complete. and all credit is due to the gallantry of our officers and men” On the 8th of June, General McClellan telegraphed: “I shall be in perfect readiness to move forward and take Richmond the moment that McCall reaches here,.and the ground will admit the passage of artillery.” On the o10th or 11th of June, McCall’s troops commenced arriving at the White House. There arrived also two regular United States batteries from Fredericksburg, and a regular cavalry regiment from Fortress Monroe. The enemy, after the battle of Fair Oaks, busied himself in multiplying fortifications around Richmond, and in extending them towards the Union lines. A double row of earth works gradually rose in front of the Union lines on the west of the Chickahominy. The army of McClellan was also busy with the spade, and continued gradually to close the circle. Every advance movement of the pickets was obstinately resisted by the enemy. By the 13th June there were nine bridges across the Chickahominy, and the pickets of the whole line made daily approaches, carrying forward the trenches and extending the lines of communication with d6p6ts at White House. The first parallel or zigzag extended three miles over hill and through wood. The left was in an impassable swamp, and the right between the enemy and the river. Its general course was about four and a half miles from Richmond. A cannonade was kept up at different points as the batteries on opposite sides became annoying. West Points at the head of York River, was the base where supplies arrived fiom the North and from Fortress Monroe. From this point via White House, the trains ran daily to the supply d6pots at the front, from whence hundreds of wagons came and went continually to distribute food to the brigades and regiments. The accommodation for this immense work was limited at West Point, and the utmost regularity was required to prevent delay, which would occasion great suffering to the troops. a The enemy, meantime, were not idle. It being determined to reconnoitre the rear of the Federal position, General Stuart, with a con. siderable force of cavalry and two guns of the flying artillery, started from Richmond in the direction of Mechanicsville on June 12th, and reached Ashland at night. tt daybreak of the 13th the march was resumed, and by noon of the 15th the party completed the circuit of the Federal position, having passed through Hanover CourtHouse, Tunstall’s Station, New Kent, across tke Chickahominy by the Charles 280

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IISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. City CourtHouse road and back into the lines, skirmishingly vigorously by the way. They claimed to have destroyed two hundred laden wagonus, and a large amount of army stores, &c., losing but one man. The Union loss was estimated, at several hundred thousand dollars. The information gained by the raid was necessary to a projected attack upon the Union lines, and the whole occurrence caused great sensation at the North. t I The enemy were now organizing and concentrating their troops in great force. The conscripts under the act of April 15 were coming freely into camp, and every effort was made to give them consistence and to inspirit them for the work before them. To this end General Longstreet issued the following proclamation: “fHEAD-QUARTERS

RIGHT WING, } “ARMY BEFORE RICHMOND, June 17, 1862. “SOLDIERS -YOU have marched out to fight the battles of your country, and by those battles must you be rescued from the shame of slavery. Your foes have declared their purpose of bringing you to beggary; and avarice, their national characteristic, incites them to redoubled efforts for the conquest of the South, in order that they may seize your sunny fields and happy homes.

Already has the hatred of one of tlJeir great leaders attempted to make the negro your equal by declaring his freedon. They care not for the blood of babes nor carnage of innocent women which servile insurrection ttus stirred up may bring upon their heads. Worse than this, the North has sent forth another infamous chief, encouragingthe lust of his hirelings to thle dishonor and violation of those Southern women who have so untiringly labored to clothe our soldiers in the field and nurse our sick and wounded. If ever men were called upon to defend the beloved daughters of their country, that now is our duty. Let such thoughts nerve you up to the most dreadful shock of battle, for were it certain death, death would be better than the fate that defeat would entail upon us all. But remember though the fiery noise of the battle is indeed most terrifying, and seems to tlhreaten universal ruin, it is not so destructive as it seems, and few soldiers after all are slain. This the commanding general desires particularly to impress upon the fresh and inexperienced troops who now constitute a part of this command. Let officers and men, even under the most formidable fire, preserve a quiet demeanor and self possessed temper.

Keep cool, obey orders, and aim low. Remember while you are doing this, and driving the enemy before you, your cqmrades may be relied on to support you on either side, and are in turn relying upon you. Stand well to your duty, and when these clouds break away, as they surely will, the bright sunlight of peace falling upon our free, virtuous, and happy land, will be a sufficient reward for the sacrifices which we are now called upon to make. “JAMES LONGSTREET, “MajorGeneral Commanding.” Preparations continued to be made in Washington to send down by land fi’om Fredericksburg the remainder of General McDowell’s Corps, he being directed to co-operate fully with General McClellan, but retaining an independent command. This does not appear to have been in accordance with Genera McClellan’s wishes; for, on the 16th of June, he telegraphs to the Secretary of War:-. “It ought to be distinctly understood that McDowell and his troops are completely under my control. I received a telegram fromn him requesting that McCall’s Division might be placed so as to join him immedhtely upon his arrival. That request does not breathe the proper spirit; whatever troops come to me must be disposed of so as to do the most good. I do not feel that in such circumstances as those in which I am now placed, General McDowellu should wish the general interest to be sacrificed for the purpose of increasing his command. If I cannot fully control his troops, I 0 281 i. I

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. want none of them, but would prefer to fight the battle with what I have, and let others be responsible for the results.” On the 18th of June, General McClellan telegraphed to the Secretary of War that he had received information from deserters to the effect that troops have left Richmond to reenforce Jackson; that the movement commenced on the 8th; and( that if reenforcements had gone to Jackson, they were probably not less than ten thousand men. He could not, be said, vouch for the truth of the statement, but it was ;retty certainly believed in Richmond and among the rebel troops. To this the President replied on the same day, that the information was corroborated by a dispatch from General King at Fredericksburg, and remarked: “If this is true, it is as good as a reenforcement to you of an equal force.” On the same day General McClellan telegraphs to the President: “A general engagement may take place at any hour. An advance by us involves a battle more or less decisive. The enemy exhibit at every point a readiness to meet us. They certainly have great numbers and extensive works. If ten or fifteen thousand men have left Richmond to reenforce Jackson, it illustrates their strength and confidence. After tomorrow we shall fight the rebel army as soon as Providence will permit. We shall await only a favorable condition of the earth and sky, and the completion of some necessary preliminaries.” The trenches continued to creep gradually towards Richmond; and on the 18th a grand review of the forces was made by General McClellan, beginning on the left of the army and ending at the right wing at dark. On the 20th June the left of the army was still at Fair Oaks, six miles from Richmond. By the returns of General McClellan to the adjutanc-general’s office, it appears that on the same day the Federal army numbered one hundred and fifty-six thousand eight hundred and thirtyeight men, of whom one hundred and, fifteen thousand one hundred and two were present for duty, twelve thousand two hundred and twentyfive on special duty, sick, or in arrest, and twenty-nine thousand five hundred and eleven absent. The nearest point of the centre was at New Bridge, seven miles by direct road to the city, and the extreme right at Mechanicsville bridge, four and one half miles distant. On that day the corps of Franklin crossed the river, thus placing four of the five army corps on the right or Richmond side of the muddy stream. The situation now became critical, and on both sides there was a growing expectation of the impending battle. The weather was inclement, and the roads not altogether favorable for active movements. The right wing, consisting of McCall’s, Morell’s, and Sykes’s Divisions, comprising Porter’s Corps, less than twentyfive thousand strong, was well posted on the left bank of the Chickahominy, from Beaver Dam Creek to a point below New Bridge. Several military bridges formed the avenues of communication between the two portions of the army separated by the river. The centre, consisting of Slocum’s, Smith’s, Sedgwick’s, and Richardson’s Divisions, comprising Franklin’s and Sumner’s Corps, was extended from Golding’s farm, about a mile below New Bridge, on the banks of the river, to a point south of .282

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. the railroad. The left wing, consisting of Hooker’s, Kearny’s, Peck’s (late Casey’s), and Couch’s Divisions of Heintzelman’s and Keyes’s orps, stretched from Richardson’s left to a point considerably south of the Williamsburg stage-road, on the borders of White Oak Swamp. The whole line was protected by strong breastworks and redoubts. The necessary extent of the line left but few troops for supports. Peck’s depleted division guarded Bottom Bridge and the railway bridge. The two lines of battle now pressed each other so close on the right bafirk of the river, that neither could make a movement without provoking an attack. On the 25th, however, the pickets on the Williamsburg road were advanced to what was known as the Fair Oaks farm, Sickles’s Brigade being in the front. The brigade of Sickles, however, being promptly reenforced, held the ground gained against the utmost efforts of the enemy, and the conflict subsided after a severe struggle of two hours.

General McClellan sent the following dispatches in relation to the affair: “REDOuBT NO. 3, June 25-3.15 P. Y Hon. E. M. STANTON, Secretary of War: “The enemy are making desperate resistance to the advance of our picket lines Kearny, and onehalf of Hooker’s forces, are where I want them. I have this moment reenforced Hooker’s right with a brigade and a couple of guns, and hope, in a few minutes, to finish the work intended for today.

Our men are behaving splendidly. The enemy are fighting well also. This is not a battle; merely an affair of Heintzelman’s Corps, supported by Keyes, and thus far all goes well, and we hold every foot we have gained. If we succeed in what we have undertaken, it will be a very important advantage gained. Loss not large thus far. The fighting up to this time has been done by General Hooker’s Division, which has behaved as usual, that is, most hand somely. On our right, Porter has silenced the enemy’s batteries in his front. “G. B. McCLEru.” “REDOUBT NO. 3, June 25-5 P. K “Hon. E. M.

STANTlON, Secretary of War: “The affair is now over, and we have gained our point fully, and with butlittle loss, notwithstanding the strong opposition. Our men have done all that could be desired. The affair was partially decided by two guns that Captain De Russy brought gallantly into action under very difficult circumstances. The enemy was driven from his camps in front of this, and all is now quiet. (Signed) ~~~~~~” G. B.

MCCLELLAN, ” G ajor. Gen MCCLELLAN,g.” “ajrGnea Commanding.” To this succeeded the following dispatch of the same date, couched in a somewhat less jubilant vein — RimoUBT No. 3, June 25-6.15 P. M. “I have just returned from the field, and find your dispatch in regard to Jackson Several contrabands, just in, give informagon confirming the supposition that Jackson’s advance is at or near Hanover CourtHouse, and that Beauregard arrived, with strong reenforcements, in Richmond yesterday. I incline to think that Jackson will attack my right and rear. The rebel force is stated at two hundred thousand, including Jackson and Beauregard.

I shall have to contend against vastly superior odds, if these reports be true; but this army will do all in the poler of man to hold their position and repulse an attack. I regret my great inferiority of nuibers, but feel that I am in no way responsible for it, as I have not failed to represent, repeatedly, the necessity of reenforcements; that this was the decisive point; and that all the available means of the Government should be concentrated here. I will do all that a general can do with the 243

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELION. splendid army I hleave the honor to command; and if it is destroyed by overwhelming numbers, can at least die with it, and share its fate. But if the result of the action, which will occur tomorrow, or within a short time, is a disaster, the responsibility cannot be thrown on my shoulders; it must rest where it belongs. “Since I commenced this, I have received additional intelligence, confirming the supposition in regard to Jackson’s movements, and Beauregard’s I shall probably be attacked tomorrow, and now go to the other side of the Chickahominy to arrange for the defence on that side. I feel that there is no use in my again asking for reenforcements. GEO. B. MCCLEL AoN, ajO-Generaj. “Hon. E. M. SrTATON, Secretary of War.” The answer of the President is as follows: “WASHINGTON, June 26, 1862. “Your three dispatches of yesterday, in relation to the affair, ending with the statement that you completely succeeded in making your point, are very gratifying. “The later one of 61 P. M., suggesting the probability of your being overwhelmed by two hundred thousand men, and talking of whom the responsibility will belong to, pains me very much. I give you all I can, and act on the presumption that you will do the best you can with what you have; while you continue, ungenerously, I think, to assume that I could give you more if I would. I have omitted, I shall omit, no opportunity-to send you reenforcements whenever I possibly can. A. LINCOLN.

“MajorGeneral McCLELLAN.” This struggle at Fair Oaks farm, on the Williamsburg road, for a point nearer the enemy on Wednesday, the 25th, was proclaimed as a a great success. The general, with a sort of exultation, exclaimed, “The troops are where I want them!” and at the same time he telegraphed the President that he would be attacked the following day by two hiiundred thousand of thie enemy. The pickets of the enemy now gave token of some projected movement, thereby increasing the general excitement in relation to an impending battle, and Hooker was ordered to resume his position of the 23d. On Thursday, June 26th, at two P. M., the rebel corps of General A. P. Hill crossed the river, followed by the divisions of Magrulder, D. H. Hill, and Longstreet, who immediately attacked the works held by ]HcCall on the extreme Federal right. The affair opened with artillery, but the enemy soon shortened the range and closed in with great vigor. The brigades of Meade, Reynolds, and Seymour, of McCall’s Division, received the shock of the attack with the fortitude and nonchalance of old soldiers. In vain the accumulated masses of artillery showered death upon these gallant regiments; they replied to the volleying thunders with a fire equal in fury and destructiveness. This artillery duel was carried to an extent that had hardly been reached at any p’evious period of the war. It then apparently slackened, and there was a movement among the assailants which indicated an intention to make a general A’sault, while the Union lines were filled with rumors that Jackson was on their right flank. In a few minutes the rebels rushed forward with desperate bravery, but were met with a fire so cool and well directed, that they recoiled before it. Again and again they assailed the line *ith determined courage, but only to meet a ruthless slaughter.

McCall-was now reenforced by Griffin’s and Martindale’s brigades,, and with the approaching night the attacks ceased. Meantime Longstreet, with the brigades of Featherton and 284

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tISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. Pryor in advance, had crossed at Mechanicsville, and marched parallel with the river for some distance, when they halted for the night. This movement of the enemy was made in accordance with the de cision of a council of war, held on the 25th, at which it was deter mined that Jackson, who had just arrived in the neighborhood of Rich mond with his command, should move upon the right flank of the Federal army, while the main body of the rebels made a general and simultaneous assault upon MIcClellan’s lines. Consequently, while the action of the 26th was going on, Jackson was marching rapidly through Ashland and Hanover CourtHouse to Cold Harbor, where he could both flank Porter’s troops and threaten the Federal communications with White House. The raid of Stuart to his rear had already demon strated to McClellan how readily the latter design could be accom plished. In view of the large rebel force which he supposed to be in the vicinity of Richmond, of the rumors regarding the movements of Jackson, and of the heavy demonstration on the 26th against the Fed eral rioht, he now commenced to carry into execution a project which he hbld for several days contemplated, and which was nothing less than to transfer his base of operations, by a flank movement through White Oak Swamp, to the James River. Three months of campaigning in the Peninsula had culminated in this movement, which was practically a confessioti of failure. Accordingly, during the night of the 26th, tents, forage, commissary stores, &c., were removed across the Chickahominy, and whatever could not be removed was burned. At daybreak of the 27th the accuniu’ated masses of the enemy again moved to the attack in great force. The brigades of Featlierton, Pryor, and Wilcox advanced on the Uniion left, while that of Gregg carried Ellyson’s Mills, menacing the right flank. The order was therefore given to fall back upon Gaines’s Iill. McCall opened an active cannonade, under cover of which the troops fell back on two lines to the position assigned.

IHere a line of battle was formed some two miles in length, the extreme left on the Chickahominy and the right towards Cold Harbor. The firont was lined with woods, and a ditch through the woods formed the infantry line of defence. The force was composed of MIcCall’s, Morrell’s, and Sykes’s Divisions, with Cook’s cavalry brigade, in all about twenty thousand men, with fourteen batteries, eighty-four pieces. Of these, McCall held the left, Sykes the centre, and Morrell the right. The enemy followed in three columns, nntil they reached Hogan’s farm, one mile through the woods to Gaines’s Mills. The first attack was made by Piryor, on Martindale’s Brigade, on the left centre, at twelve M. The Fifth New York were skirmishing in front, and, falling back slowly, were supported, and the battle became genera at one o’clock. The line of the enemy, formed by Wilcox oi the right, Featherton in the centre, and Pryor on the left, opened fire with great determination along the whlole line, and the battle raged fiercely for some hours without mate. rial results, until suddenly the guis %f Jackson were heard on the extreme right, advancing through the woods. This column made a fierce onslaught on our right, threatening the rear, and compelling a change of firont. At the same time the whole line of the enemy ad 285

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HISTORY OF TH GREAT REBELLION. vanced, and as they did so, the play of sixty admirably-served guns did terrible execution in their ranks. Fresh rebel troops came up, but met the most determined resistance from Sykes’s regulars and Warren’s Brigade, which included the Duryea Zouaves and the Tenth New York. The Zouaves suffered severely in consequence of the conspicuousness of their uniforms. A part of Jackson’s corps now formed a junction with Ilill’s Division, led by, the North Carolina regiments. This formidable combination marched steadily forward, closing up and delivering their fire with terrible effect. They were met with equal firmness, and a wild cheer rose as the first volley told upon their skrinking line. The pressure was very great, however. The brigade of Griffin, composed of the Ninth Massachusetts, Fourth Michigan, Fourteenth New York, Sixty-Second Pennsylvania, stood the brunt of the attack. In overwhelming numbers, the enemy threw themselves upon the devoted little band, inflicting terrible slaughter, but it stood up to the work with a constancy that nothing could shake; repeatedly forcing back the rebels, who, reenforced from Longstreet’s corps, rallied in greater force, and again obtained the advantage. The centre was gradually weakened in the struggle, while Jackson contined to outflank us. The loss of the base at West Point was now imminent. This disaster seemed to McClellan to afford only an additional reason for cutting loose from York River, and seeking a new base on the James, under cover of the gunboats. Porter was therefore ordered to hold on to the last extremity, and the utmost exertions were used to send off baggage, tents, and munitions towards the left, and to destroy what could not be moved. At three o’clock the pressure became so great that reenforcements were indispensable. General Taylor’s First New Jersey Brigade crossed at Woodbury Bridge, and at four o’clock formed on the Union left. General Slocum’s Division then crossed the Grape Vine Bridge and proceeded to the right of the line, while the brigades of French and Meagher followed and took position on the left. The Union force was now upward of thirty thousand men, but was still outnumbered two or three to one, by the advancing foe. At about five o’clock, the enemy massed for a final attack upon the left of the line, held by Butterfield and Martindale. Brigade after brigade was hurled upon them with ceaseless force and determination, but was met with the resistance of men who were there to do or die. Suddenly the enemy broke through Martindale’s left, and rapidly attempted to encircle and capture Butterfield’s Brigade. The line was now fast giving way, and the crowds of men making towards the river momentarily increased. There was no recourse but to cut their way through to the river, and McCall’s troops, exhaustfl by two days’ fight, thus fell back, the centre and right following the movement. The withdrawal of the infantry supports uncovered several batteries, which became a prey to the enemy. The enemy, elated, pressed the retiring columns so hard that near the river a new line’as formed to cover the crossing, by the brigades of Meagher and French. The effect was to stop the crowd of stragglers. The enemy followed in solid column, and when within ene hundred yards of the Union line received a biting fire of canister 286

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. from the guns of Griffin and Martin. This, with the approach of night, caused the pursuit to slacken, and the army effected the passage in good order, blowing up the four bridges by which they had crossed. The losses in this great battle were severe on both sides, the enemy probe ably suffering the most in killed and wounded. The Federals were obliged, however, to abandon their wounded and the sick in the hospitals, besides losing a number of prisoners, cannon, and small arms. Meantime, the cavalry division of General Stoneman, on the 26th, proceeded to the right to reconnoitre the movements of Jackson, who was threatening the Federal communications. He took post at Old Church and Hanover Corners, and a-t noon of the 27th, during the battle, received orders to fall back upon White House. He arrived there on the 28th, and destroyed all the Government stores that had not already been placed on the transports for Fortress Monroe. Hle then burned thie White House, and embarked a part of his force on transports for Harrison’s Landing, James River, viac Fortress Monlroe. The reynainder went down the Peninsula, to the latter place. The enemy occu pied Gaines’s Hill in force, and threatened to cut off the retreat by Bottom’s Bridge. They also sent a force in the direction of White House, which it reached at seven P. m., but found all public property destroyed. At night a council of war was held at the headquarters of McClellan. Thile evacuation of the north side of the river, the general urg-d, accompanied by great loss, involved the abandonment of the base on York River, and the utmost energy of movement to reach the James River. The enemy had turned our right, evidently outnumbering us in great disproportion, was too strong in the front for us to break through, and was in position to crush us, in front and rear-and perhaps intended to strike on our left flank. Apparently his army was numerous enough for such a combination. These representations had weight, and renewed orders were issued on Friday night for the wagons to start on their way to the James River. Siege pieces, pontooiis, ambulances, batteries, prolonged the winding procession over the hills to White Oak Swamp. The retrograde movement thus really begun Friday evening, but did not swell into full proportions till nightfall of the next day. Saturday morning, the 28th, it was generally known that the army was to evacuate its line of intrenchments. To do this with the necessary celerity in the face of the enemy, nothing but the most essential baggage could be carried. In order to preserve thie miorale of the army as tfar as possible, and insure supplies of ammunition and subsistence, it was determined to carry through all the wagons loaded, and the ambulance train-making a migfhty caravanvastly increased by artillery tAins. There was but one narrow road to pursue. It struck almost due south from the Williamsburg road through White Oak Swamp to the Charles City road, into which it debouches about eight miles from Turkey Bend, in James River. The course then lay up the latter road towards Richmond, where it met the Quaker road, which terminated in the New Market road, leading from Richmond. The James was but a short distance south, and Malvern Hill a lofty bluff, overlooking the river,‘and commanding the surrounding country 287 *

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HISTORY OF TUE GREAT REBELLION. was the immediate goal of the army.

Although the single road-was a narrow ftinnel for such a mighty torrent of trains and men, fortunately it was smooth and dry, and had the adxvantage of passing through White Oak Swamp, which might in some degree be relied upon to protect the flanks. There was great danger that the enemy might cut us off by moving columns down the Charles City, Central, or New Market roads, or all three, but these chances were necssarily accepted. Ceneral McClellanl acted upon the supposition that the enemy would not guess his determinationuntil he was able to defeat their movements. At all events, he considered that it was the only hopeful course, because the enemy was watching for him oil the left bank of the Chlickahominy. The division of General Smith occupied, on the extreme right, a line of breastworks and redoubts, which partly convnanded New Bridge and Old Town, now held by the enemy. At seven o’clock P. M. of the 27th, a Georgia brigade, under Toombs, attacked the position, but were repulsed after an hotur’s lard struggle. At eight o’clock the next morning, Colonel Lamar, of the Seventh Georgia, led a new attack upon the redoubt at Golding’s farm, but with no better success. General’Smith obstinately maintained his ground, while arrangements were being made to start the trains with all that could be carried to James River. The amount of stores that could he sated was not large, and immense quantities were destroyed by fire, particularly at Fair Oaks, and many car-loads of ammunition were sunk in the river. Some wounded soldiers had been hurried off by cars to White House, until the raorning of the 28th, when the enemy were reported at Dispatch Station.

The railroad b)ridge wvas then destroyed, and the wounded notified to make for James River as best they could. Those who could walk limped away, and those who could not (about 2,500) were left to the enemy, a flag being displayed over the hospital, which was established at Savage’s, a station on the railroad, about midway between Fair Oaks and the river. Thus passed away Saturday, the 28th, the enemy, whose chief force was massed on the left bank of the Chickahominy, being apparently uncertain what course McClellan would next pursue. General Franklin was ordered to hold his position on the Chickahominv until the trains had passed. He did so, and at daylight on Sunday, the 29th, fell back, following the train. At 3 A.

M. on Sunday, Heintzelman, having relieved the outposts, obeyed the order to abandon the redoubts, and fell back from Savage’s to White Oak Swamp.

Keyes’s Corps had, on the previous day, moved off across the White Oak Swamp, to cover the right flank and form the advance of the army in the retreat. Sumner left the front at daylight of the 29th, had a sharp engagement at Peach Orchard with a body of the enemy advancing firom Richmondtlong the Williamsburg road, in which the latter was signally iepulsed, and in the afternoon joined Franklin at Savage’s. Hiere, at 4 P.

m., the two corps were overtaken by the main rebel force, which, having faithomed the intention of McClellan, had re built the bridges destroyed!

Porter, crossed the Chickahominy, and followed rapidly on the traces’ of the retreating army. A severe battle, lasting until nigtltfall, ensued, in which the rebels were again checked, and the Federal troops remained in possession of the field. % 288

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. The position of affairs admitted of no long pause at this point, how ever, and scarcely had the enemy been beaten off than Sumner and Franklin took up the march for White Oak Swamp, leaving behind a number’ of prisoners, all their dead and wounded, and the inmates of the hospitals. The trains, meanwhile, were pushing on to the James, along a road leading by a long circuit to Turkey Bend, and which was unobstructed by the enemy. They were convoyed by portions of Keyes’s and Por ter’s Corps, and reached the James River early Monday morning, the 30th, soon after which General McClellan arrived and took possession of Mfalvern Hill, previously described as a strong position, capable of a vigorous defence. Meantime, Heintzelman had been closely pressed by Longstreet and Hill down the road to Charles City, while Jackson, on the right bank of the Chickahominy, was repairing Bottomn Bridge to come in on our right. On the morning of MAfonday, the 30th, all the troops and all the trains were safely across White Oak Bridge on the way to the James River. Franklin, with his own corps and one of Sumner’s divisions, remained to guard the bridge, in firont of whick the enemy, under Jackson, had commenced to arrive, while Ileintzelman’s Corps, Sum ner’s remaining division, and McCall’s Division were distributed in front of the roads leading from Richmond. A heavy cannonade was main tained during the day between Jackson and Franklin, but the enemy gained no ground in that quarter, and after nightfall the Feler:.l troops retired securely toward the river. With HIeintzelman’s and Sumner’s troops, however, the case was very different. The country in that re gion is a swampy forest, dotted with clearings, having an area of fifty to one hundreds acres each. The Union artillery was posted in the woods, on the skirts of these clearings, and as the enemy approached near the openings thus commanded, their losses were heavy. They, however, pressed on with great vigor until within musket range, when the Union line delivered a staggering fire which brought them to a sudden halt. The conflict became now in the last degree terrible. The enemy was exposed point blank to the devouring fire of the double massed Union troops, and a cross fire from batteries admirably served. The air was filled with the shrieking missiles of death-the bursting shells and deep volleys of distant guns; every moment had its peculiar sound of terror, and every spot its ghastly horror. The enemy stood firmly to the work, although the weight of the Union artillery was evidently too much for him. Some fresh troops, now arriving, poured in such a volley as apparently decided the affair for the night, and General Hill withdrew from fe conflict. It was now halfpast ten. The enemy had been arrested, and the fight-one of the most stub bornly contested that had occurred-ended to the manifest advantage of the Federals. But in a few moriments the tired troops were again called to arms. At 11 o’clock, Miagruder’s Corps, of some eight Wri gades, coming direct from Richmond, the advance under tI. A. Wise, suddenly appeared at Charles City cross roads, on the Union left, flanking it, and capturing fifteen guns. This attack, had it occurred three hours earlier, according to Maglaruder’s instructions, might have proved 19 289

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IISTORY OF TTE GREAT’ REBELLION. serious. The corps of Porter and Keyes, that had reached James River early in the morning, were ordered back to Malvern Hill to resist the enemy, who was approaching armid a terrific cannonade under coves of the woods, aid in great force. But the enemy were now within range of the gunboats, which moved as near as practicable, and opened with their heavy guns. The shl)ells fell thick along the edge-of the wood, where the enemy was lodged. The firing became more vigorous, and raged with great fury along the whole front. Heintzel’man’s Corps was then formed in line, and the gunboats being signalled to cease fire, it executed a charge which compelled the enemy to give ground, and won the James River for the army as q base. This engageinent is known as tlhe Battle of Glendale, or Nelson’s Farm. The tent of General McClellan was pitched upon the banks of the river, near Turkey Bend, and he here wrote dispatches for the Government, which he sent off by his aides, the Duke de Chartres and the Count de Paris, who here took leave of the service, and, with the Prince de Joinville, embarked on board the “Stepping Stones.” On Tuesday, July 1, the last of this series of battles was fought upon MIalvern Hill.* The ground is there for the most part open and undulating, and along its sloping sides thle Union troops, during the night of the 30th, took up a strong position to receive the anticipated attack of the enemy on the following day. The corps of Keyes occu pied the extreme right, and next in order came Franklin, Sumner, eintzelman, Couch’s Division, detached from Keyes, with Porter on the extreme left. It was not until 3 o’clock that the skirmishers of the enemy engaged and drove in those of Couch’s Division, and a hot engagement took place, without material results. Later in the afternoon some fieldpieces were brought forward, but they were silenced by the batteries of Hooker and Kearny.

This cannonade was followed by a most determined attempt to force the positions of Porter and Couch, and turn the right. The efforts of the enemy became more desperate as night approached, and the battle was fairfy maintained until dark, when they drew back with fearful loss, and in so utterly demoralized a condition that any thing like a show of pursuit would probably have driven them in confusion into Richmond. In the night, orders were issued for the troops to retire seven miles to Harrison’s Landing, the position at Malvern being considered untenable. The night was very dark; and so much confusion took place among the retreating troops, that numbers of the wounded were abandoned. The position of the army was now, July 2, seventeen miles southeast of Richmond by land, and fty miles by water. It was five miles below City Point, occupied a space five miles on the river and three miles broad, entirely protected by the gunboats, and was well suited for defence. Thus from the evening of June 25th, when General McClellan telegraphed that the affair was over and the troops “where I want them,” the army had retreated to the James in six days of almost continual fighting, and had net serious losses of men, munitions, and stores. The base of the army, with all its advantages, on York River, had been lost, and the cover of the gunboats on James River gained by the most incredible devotion, endurance, and valor of the troops: 290

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HIIISTORY OF THiE GREAT REBELLION. these qualities were recognized by the general in his address to the troops: GENERAL M’ CLELLAN’S ADDRESS TO HIS

SOLDIERS. ” HEAP-QUARTERS, ARMY OF THE POTOMfAC, CAMP NEAR HARR1ISON’S

LANDING, July 4, 1862. } SOLDIERS OF THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAc I1-Your achievements of the last ten days have illustrated the valor and endurance of the American soldier. Attacked by superior forces, and without hope of-re-enforcements, you have succeeded in changing your base of operations by a flank movement, always regarded as the most hazardous of military expedients. You have saved all your material, all your trains, and all your guns, except a few lost in battle, taking, in return, guns and colors from the enemy. Upon your march you have been assailed day after day with desperate fury, by men of the same race and nation, skilfully massed and led. Under every disadvantage of number, and necessarily of position also, you have in every conflict beaten back your foes with enormous slaughter.

Your conduct ranks you among the celebrated armies of history. No one will now question that each of you may always with pride say, ‘I belong to the Army of the Potomac.’ You have reached the new base, complete in organization and unimpaired in spirit. The enemy may at any time attack you. We are prepared to meet them. I have personally established your lines. Let them come, and we will convert their repulse into a final defeat. Your Government is strengthening you with the resources of a great people. On this, our nation’s birthday, we declare to our foes, who are rebels against the best interests of mankind, that this army shall enter the capital of the socalled confederacy; that our National Constitution shall prevail; and that the Union, which can alone insure internal peace, and external security to each State,‘M.ust and shall be preserved,’ cost what it may in time, treasure, and blood GEORGE B. MCCLELLAN.” The aggregate of Federal losses fromni the 26th of June to the 1st of July, inclusive, was stated by General McClellan as follows: Killed. McCall’s Division………….. 253 Sumner’s Corps………….. 137 Hieintzelman’s Corps………….. 189 Keyes’s “………….. 60 Porter’s “………….. 620 Franklin’s “………….. 245 Engineers…………..

Cavalry………….. 19 The losses of the enemy in these engagements were very large, but were not publicly announced. Jefferson Davis, on the 8th July, made the following address to the troops; “To THE ARMY rs EASTERN

VIRGIAL “SOLDIERS:-I congratulate you on the series of brilliant victories which, under the favor of Divine Providence, you have lately won; and, as the President of the Confederate States, do heartily tender to you the thanks of the country, whose just cause you have so skilfully and heroically served. Ten days ago an invading army, vastly superior to you in numbers and i the material of war, closely beleaguered your capital and vauntingly proclaimed its speedy conquest; you marched to attack the enemy in his entrenchments; with well-directed movements and death-defying valor you charged upon him in his strobg positions, drove him from field to field over a distance of more than thirtyfive miles, and, despite his reenforcements, compelled him to seek shelter under the cover of his gunboats, where he now lies cowering before the army so lately derided and threatened with entire subjugation. 291 Wounded. . 1,200 1,476 1,051 507

2,460 1,313 2 60 Misiiing. 1,681 . 848 833 201’ 1,191 1,179 21 97 5,958

A2-gregate. 3,074 2,111 2,073 777 4,278 2,737 23 176 15,249 1,582 7,709

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HISTORY OF‘1 GREAT REBELLION. “The fortitude with which you have borne toil and privation, the gallantry with which you have entered into each successive battle, must have been witnessed to be filly appreciated; but a grateful people will not fail to recognize you and to bear you in loved remembrance. Well may it be said of you, that you have’ done enough for glory;’ but duty to a suffering country and to the cause of constitutional liberty, claims from you yet further effort. Let it be your pride to relax in nothing which can promote your future efficiency; your one great object being to drive the invader from your soil, and, carrying your standards beyond the outer boundaries of the Con. federacy, to wring from an unscrupulous foe the recognition of your birthright, com. munity, independence. The campaign of the Peninsula was thus virtually closed. The troops indeed remained at Harrison’s Landing some weeks longer, but without hope of renewing the attack upon Richmond. We may recall the leading events of the spring advance in Virginia. This had been in four columns, under Fremont, Banks, McDowell, and McClellan. The two first mentioned had made considerable progress, and at the date of the fall of Yorktown, threatened to unite at Staunton at the head of the valley. From that moment McClellan gradually advanced up the Peninsula and extended his right to the north of Richmond to give the hand to AicDowell, whose left was approaching from Fredericksburg. While MIcClellan was advancing up the Peninsula, Jackson came down thle valley of the Shenandoah, driving Fremont’s Corps back to the mountains, and Banks’s over the Potomnac, and creating so much alarm at Washington that McDowell was ordered to the valley. He arrived there on the same day that the left of McClellan under Casey was attacked at Fair Oaks. McClellan, as we have seen, failed to avail himself of the advantages which that battle secured to him. The important battle that he had announced May 25th, was deferred a month, when it was forced upon him by the enemy, who had then assembled a force, according to General McClellan, of two hundred thousand men. On the 13th June, instead of forming a junction with McDowell before Richmond, the division of McCall and other troops joined him by water, and were assigned to the extreme right, where, on the 27th, they were overwhelmed by Jackson, coming from the valley to aid in the main attack upon the Union line, which, the entrenchments being turned, was forced back upon the James River, completely on the defensive. Meantime tho corps of Fremont, Banks, and McDowell were combined under Pope, who menaced Richmond in front, while McClellan was preparing to evacuate the Peninsula. In all these movements, the bravery, en durance, and devotion ofethe Union troops were unsurpassed by any veteran troops of apy age or nation. It would be premature, perhaps, at the present time to go into any elaborate inquiry of the causes which led to the lame and impotent conclusion of a campaign commenced with such high hopes of suc cess. General McClellan has attributed his failure to the withholding of reenforcements by the President, to tile diversion of McDowell’s Corps at a time when its cooperation would have insured the capture of Richmond, and to the unprecedented rainy weather and bad roads which the army encountered from.the moment it landed on the Pen 292 (Signed) ” JEFFIPSON DAVIS.”

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. insula. The reasons for withholding McDowell’s Corps have been fully stated in a previous chapter; but two of its divisions, Franklin’s and McCall’s, numbering twentytwo thousand men, were subsequently sent to McClellan, in addition to which he received about eleven thousand men from Baltimore and Fortress Monroe, and, towards the latter part of June, some five thqusand men of Shields’s Division, making, with the army which he carried with him, a total of nearly one hundred and sixty thousand men in three months. The weakening of McDowell to reenforce McClellan made it necessary to strengthen the former by one of Banks’s Divisions, and we have seen how the last-named general thereby became so weak in May as to be incapable of resisting the advance of Jackson down the Valley of the Shenandoah. It was doubtless true, as McClellan telegraphed to the Presi(lent, that this movement of Jackson was intended to prevent reenforcements being sent to the Peninsula; but the widespread consternation and panic which it crteated, formed, to say the least, a plausible reason for dispatching McDowell to the aid of Banks.

“If ceDowell’s force,” telegraphs the President to McClellan, on the 25th of May, “was now beyond our reach, we should be entirely helpless.

Apprehensions of something like this, and no unwillingness to sustain you, has always been my reason for withholding McDowell’s forces from you.”

That the diversion of McDowell, when his pickets had almost met those of Porter, extended beyond Hanover CourtHouse, was unfortunate, there can be no doubt; but under the circumstances it was unavoidable, and, as has been justly remarked, “whether it was wise or unwise, it was one of those things resulting from the taking of a line of operations which did not then cover Washington.” But admitting that MC-Clellan might have had more troops, that the diversion of McDowell’s Corps was unnecessary, and that the roads were bad, there are still several points in reference to the conduct of the campaign on which criticisms adverse to McClellan have been pronounced. Some of these have already been alluded to, such as the unnecessarily long siege of Yorktown, defended at the outset by a weak garrison, the tardy march up the Peninsula, and the failure to follow up the success of the second day of Fair Oaks. In the opinion of many military meln, McClellan, after hearing of the destruction of the Merrimac, should have immediately marched his army for the James instead of the Pamunkey River. He would thus have secured a good water-base within less than twenty miles of Richmond, and would have avoided the deadly and almost impassable swamps of the Chickahominy, by whose pestilential exhalations many thousands of his army were prostrated. Again, with regard to the battle of Gaines’s Mill, General.lMcClellan has stated in his official report, that after Porter had retreated across the Chickahominy and destroyed the bridges, the whole Federal army, being concentrated on the right bank of the stream, while thq main rebel body was on the left bank, might have marched rapidly upon Richmond. But while he gives reasons for not pursuing this course, he omits to explain why he allowed less than two corps to withstand twice or thrice their number on the left bank of the river, when he could, without serious risk, have 293

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. sent the greater part of his army to their assistance. On this point, General Barnard, Chief of Engineers in the Army of the Potomac, speaks as follows in his official report of the Peninsular campaign: “At last the moment came when action was imperative. The enemy assumed the initiative. We had warning of when and where he was to strike.

Had Porter been withdrawn the night of the 26th of June, our army would have been concentrated on the right bank of the Chickahominy ltiver, while two corps, at least, of the enemy’s force were on the left bank Whatever course we then took, whether to strike at Richmond and the portion of the enemy on the right bank, or move at once for the James, we would have had a concentrated army and a fair chance of a brilliant result, in the first; and in the second, if we accomplished nothing, we would have been in the same case on the morning of the 27th as we were on that of the 28th, minus a lost battle and a compulsory retreat. Or had the fortified lines, thrown up expressly for that object, been held by twenty thousand men, as they could have been, we would have fought on the other side with eighty thousand men instead of twentyseven thousand. Or, finally, had the lines been abandoned, with our hold on the right bank of the Chickahominy, we might have fought and crushed the enemy on the left bank, reopened our communication, and then returned and taken I ichmond. ” As it was, the enemy fought with his whole force-except enough left before our lines to keep up an appearance-and we fought with twentyseven thousand men, losing a battle and niWe thousand men. By this defeat we were driven from our position, our advance for conquest turned into a retreat for safety, by a force probably not greatly superior to our own.” In his report of this campaign, General Robert E. Lee, who assumed command of the rebel army in Richmond after the battleA of Fnir Oaks, states that, perceiving it was MeClellan’s plan to attack the city by regular appro:aches, he determined to construct defensive lines so as to enable a part of his forces to protect the city, while the remainder would be at liberty to operate against General McClellan’s communications between the York and James Rivers. After Jackson, with the assistance of Ewell, in the Shenandoah Valley, had succeeded in “diverting the army of MoDowell at Fredericksburg from uniting with that of McClellin,” he summoned him to his immediate command. His works of defence were now completed; Stuart had made a raid around the Federal lines, acquiring thereby much valuable information; Jackson, after a forced and secret march, had arrived, and all things were in readiness to turn upon the besiegers. Huger and Iagruder remained behind the defences, while the four commands of A. P. Hill, D. H. Hill, Longstreet, and Jackson swept down the north bank of the James and engaged our forces At Mechanicsville. In the subsequent battles of Gaines’s Mill, Glendale, or Nelson’s Farm, as it is sometimes called, and Malvern Hill, he constantly speaks of attacking superior numbers, which affords a curious contrast to McClellan’s estimate that the rebel army numbered two hundred thousand men. Both generals are probably equally far from the truth, and there now seems little doubt that the -rebel force, as-General Barnard has observed, was “not greatly superior to our own.” Otherwise it is difficult to understand why it retired so recipitately firom the bloody field of Malvern and took refuge again behind the defences of Richmond.

During the progress of the Peninsular campaign the condition of the Confederacy had undergone a great change for the better. At the time the Army of the Potomac landed on the Peninsula, the rebel 294

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. armies were demoralized by the defeats of Port Royal, Mill Spring, Fort Henry, Fort Donelson, Roanoke Island, and other battles; and reduced by sickness, loss in battle, expirations of periods of service, &c.; while the conscription law was not yet even passed. It seemed as if it needed but one vigorous effort to end the war.

The day of the initiation of the carpr)aign of this magnificent Armny of the Potomac was apparently the day of the resuscitation of the Con federate cause, which seemed to grow pacri I)assut with the slow prog ress of its operations. The loss of a month before Yorktown was an enormous gain to the enemy. The bad roads, the nature of the obstacles offeredi by the Chickahominy to an advance, and, it may be added, the constitutional slowness and caution of the Federal commanrder, all prolonged the time so as to give the enemy two adiditional months. Thus, from the 1st of April, when McClellan landed at Fortress Monroe, to the 1st of Jtily, when his shattered columns reached James River, three months had elapsed, during which time the Confederates may be said to have raised an army by conscription, concentrated all their streniigth, and hurled it at the grand Army of the Potomac with fatal effect, because it was not concentrated, nor with all the digging were the important points fortified. There were no defenses at White House, nor were there any defensible tetes-depont or stroing positions prepared to cover the debouches from the bridges to the left bank of the Chickahominy. All this was taken full advantage of by an enemy who did not leave any means unused to insure success, and who struck with his whole concentrated force., CHAPTER XXV. Department of MissourL-General Halleck.-Negotiations with Price.-Van Dorn, Curtis, and Sigel.-Pea Ridge. IN resuming the thread of events at the West, we may recall the situation of affairs at the close of 1861, as we described them in a previous chapter. Missouri, then under Halleck,* had been cleared who, as a lawyer, was enjoying a lucrative practice at San Francisco threw up his business and offered his services to the Government. On the 19th of August, S1861, he was commisisioined majorgeneral in the regular ainiy. On the 18th of sNovember he app(eiied at St. Louis, Mo., to assumine command of the I)cpaitmtnet of the West, then temporarily held by Geneial Hunter. In April his comniandl wis extended to Kentucky and Tennessee. On the 15th of April he took cornmiand at Pittsburg Land(ling, condlucted the investment of Corinth to a successful issue, and on the 11th July was appointed Generalin-Chief at Washington, which position he held until March, 1864, when, on the appointment of General Grant to the chief comnimand, he became chief of staff to the army at Washington. In April and May, 1865, he held temporary command in Richmondi. *Henry Wager Halleck is a. n ative of New York. He entered the Military Acadlenmy at West Point in 1835, being then nineteen years of age, and on graduating stood third in his class. was brevetted second lieutenant’)f engineers, made assistant professor of engineering attest Point in 1839, andI in 1l45 was appointed-first lieutenant. In 1S47, Lieutenant Haleck was brevetted captain fo;r gallant conduct in Mexico and California. From 184T to 1849 he acted as secretary of state of the province of Calitro-nia, under Generals Mason and Riley. In lS47-4S he was also chief of the staff to Commodore Shtibrick fih the Pacific coast; and in 1l49 was a member of the convention an(] of the committee to form and draft the Constitution of the State of California. He was appointed captain of enigineersini July, 1853. bult in Atugust of the next year resigned. At the breaking out of the rebellion Mr. Ualleck, 295 N

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HISTORY OF TIIE GREAT REBELLION. of Confederates, and Kentucky and Tennessee had, under Buell, been restored to Union control. It was well known that the enemy enjoyed the most perfect means of information, by which the Union plans Were continually thwarted. In some measure to remedy this, General Halleck issued the following order: “GENERAL ORDER, NO. 3.

“HEADQUARTERS, DEPARTMENT OF MISSOURI, 1 ST. Louis, November 29, 1861. -

“1. It has been represented that important information respecting the numbers and condition of our forces is conveyed to the enemy by means of fugitive slaves who are admitted within our lines. In order to remedy this evil, it is directed that no such persons be hereafter permitted to enter the lines of any camp, or of any forces on the march, and that any within such lines be immediately excluded therefrom. “2. The General Commanding wishes to impress upon all officers in command of posts and troops in the field the importance of preventing unauithorized persons of every description from entering and leaving our lines, and of observing the greatest precaution in the employment of agents and clerks in confidential positions. “By order of MajorGeneral Halleck. ” WILLIAM MCMICHAEL, “Assistant Adjutart General.” The order, although, according to General Ilalleck, one of purely military inecessity, was made a matter subsequently of congressional discussion. Early in January. General Pope, in comnmand of Central Missouiri, was at Tifton, while Price was at Osceola, with Generals Rains and Stern in the neighborhood of Lexington.

Early in the year General Price opened a negotiation with General HIlalleck in relation to a number of guerrillas and “bushwhacker,” who had been captured while in the act of burningy railroad bridges, and in reply to threats of retaliation, the latter replied: “No order of yours (Price’s) can save from punishment spies, marauders, robbers, incendiaries, guerrilla bands, &c., who violate the laws of war. But if any of-Price’s men are captured in the garb of soldiers, they shall be treated as prisoners of war.” Missouri continued in a very disturbed condition, and martial law having been declared in St. Louis, General Halleck issued order No. 24, ordering the property of secessionists to be assessed for the benefit of the fugitives from the southwestern section of the State, where the Confederates held control. The property of those who failed to pay their assessments was seized under execution. Soon afterward he ordered that the president and officers of the Mercantile Association and of the Chamber of Commerce, who had shown unequivocal sympathy with the secessionists, should take the oath of allegiance, on pain of being Deposed and punished for contempt. The press in Missouri was subjected to the martial law. The publisher of the Boone Co(nty Jemocrat having been found guilty of criminal publications, under the style of “Letters from the Army,” was sentenced to be banished firom the state, and his business property confiscated and sold. General //llleek approved the findbig and sentence, and directed the printinr-office’to remain in charge of the qualtermaster until further orders; that the prisoner be placed outside the State of Missouri, and that if he returned during the war, without per C) 9 6

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HISTORY OF TE: GREAT REBELLION. mission, that he be arrested and placed in close confinement in the Alton military prison. These proceedings being returned to the War Department, they were approved by the Secretary, and an order issued that the form of procedure should be adopted in like cases by the commanders of all the military departments. Military movements began early in the year to show renewed activity. On the 29th January, the Confederate General Van Dorn * issued a general order, assuming command of the department comprising Arkansas, Missouri, and Louisiana, and aboutit the same time the National forces under General Curtis marched from their cantonments in Northern and Central Missouri in the direction of Springfield. Price gradually fell back from that neighborhood toward Arkansas. Early in January, General Sigel was in command at Rolla, awaitilg reenforcements, which it was alleged had been raised for him. Of the six regiments thus raised, two were sent to the Potomac, one was given to General Pope, one to General Hunter, and of the remaining two, four companies only were with Sigel, and those were not equipped. For these and other reasons Sigel tendered his resignation. The difficulties were settled, however, by the appointment of General Curtis t to command. The divisions of Sigel and Asboth followed Price by a road through Mount Vernon, while General Jefferson C. Davis and General Carr took the road through Cassville, over the old battleground of Wilson’s Creek. The columns came up with the enemy at Crane Creek on the 14th of February, but too late to attack. The enemy retired during the night, and on the morning of the 15th, at 1831, as brevet second lieutenant of the Seventh Infantr y. lie res igned o n the l0th of June, 1882. IGe practised as a civil en gineer in Ohio from tha t time until 1837. From April, 1837, to May, 139, he was civil engineer of the Mtuskingtum MRiver improvement. le next practised law in Ohio, undertook the colonelcy of the third regiment of Ohio v(olunteer s in the Mexicap war, and fbught in the United States service dutring-the ca,mpaign in Mexico. After the discharge of his regiments he served in the staff of’BrigadierGeneral Wool, as acting assistant adjutant ge ne-ral, and afterward acted as the civil and military governor of Saltillo, in Mexico, in 184T. On his return home he was appointed chief engineer of the Des Moines River improvement. in the State of Iowa. This position he filled from December 4, 1847, to January 1, 1850. He was afterward returned to Congress to represent a district of the State of Iowa. While serving in Congr-tess he commanded the second regiment of IowN Volutntecrs. Ile was appointed a brigad(lier-g-enerl-l of volunteers May 17, 1861, and resigned his seat in Congress. For some time he had charge of the city and district of Sty Louis. When General 1iellocek assumed command of the department, Ge ne ral Curtis was ordered to Rolla, as a d6pot of concentration of the troops now under his command.

In January, 1862, ass acting nmajor-general, he assumed command of a corp8
d’armie, and went in pursuit of General Price and his rebe l troops. Ile defeated the rebels at Pea Ridge, March 6-8, 1862, subsequently occupied IIelena, Ark., and,,,,s, March 21, appointed maijor-general. In the latter part of 1S62 he was assigned to the command of the Department of Missouri; was removed May, 18683 and, in 1864 appointed to the Department of Ka~
saB. * General Earl Van Dorn was a native of Mis. sissipl)i, and graduated at West Point in 1842. In the same class were Gustavus W. Smith and Mansfiell Lovell. On the 1st of July, 1842, ho was appointed brevet second lieutenant in the Seventh United States Infantry, and was made a full secondi lieutenant on the 10th of November, 1844. On the 3d( of March, 1847. he was promoted to a first lieutenancy, and on the 18th of April was brevetted captain for his conduct at Cerro Gordo. In the followin. August he received a further brevet of major, for his conduct at Contreras and Churubusco; and on the 13th of September he was wounded while entering the city of Mexico. He was aide to General P. F. Smith during the years 1848
and 1819. He was secretary and treasurer of the Military Asylum of Pascalgiiul, Miss., from January, 1852. to June, 18S55., and was imade full captain of the Second United States Cavalry in March, 1855. In Ju ly, 1S56, he nwas distinguished in the command of the expedition against the Camanuhes in Northern Texas. Atain, on the 1st of October, 1858 in the command of the expedition against the Camanches, near Witichita village, Texas. he gped a decided victory, but was himself four -times wounded twice dangerously. ( the 13th of Mav, lS59. he was again, in action with a body of Camanches, completely victorious. He joined the rebel cause, w%as appointed a brigadiergener ma,, and in J,nntiai-y. 1862. assumed command of the transMississippi district. ie fought at tPea Pid.ge.

Cor’inth, fnd in several lesser engagements, and was shot (en May 8, 1863, by Dr. Peters, of” Nashville, for improper intimacy with the wife of the latter. p t General Samuel R. Curtis was born in New York in 1507, and graduated at West Point. in I I I 2‘97 f

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HIISTORY OF rTE GREAT REBELLION. daylight, the pursuit was resumed and continued through the 16th and 17th, the enemy taking advantage of favorable positions to retard the advance. On the 17th he was reenforced by two Louisiana regiments, under command of Colonel Herbert. This officer had been a member of Congress from California, and, while acting in that capacity, killed a waiter at Willard’s Hotel in Washington. General Ben MIeCulloch also joined Price, who took up a position at Sugar Creek, whence he was driven after a brief conflict, and retired into Northyestern Arkansas, taking post in the Boston Mountains. On March 1st, General Curtis issued an address to the people of Arkansas, exhorting them to remain at their homes; and telling them that thle only object of the war was peace; and that in its prosecution the rights of all individuals would be respected. The enemy at Boston Mountain, about fifty nmiles from Sugar Creek, were now reenforced by Van Dorl)‘s troops, by a body of Choctaw, Cherokee, and Chickasawv Indians, under Pike, and the division of 3IcIntosh. The force of the enemy was then composed of nine thousand Missouri State troops, under Price, six Arkansas regiments, under Ben IMcCulloch,* five Texan regiments, under Earl Van Dorn, and, it was estimated, some three thousand Indians, under Pike and McIntosh; in all, between twenty and twentyfive thousand men, with seventy guns. Van Dorm assumed the chief command of them. When General Curtis received information of the reenforcements of the enemy, he fell back to Sugar Crieek, a short distance south of Pea Ridge, in expectation of being attacked. On the 5th of March, Sigel, thenii at Bentonville, ten miles in advance, received orders to join the army at Pea Ridge. He executed the movement on the 6th. His rearguard, embracing the T’hirtySixth Illinois and the Second Missouri, wele attacked by four Confederate regiments, but succeeded in cutting their way through, with a loss of tnwenty-eight killed and wounded, and a number of plisoners. Halting a section of his guns, with his infantry to sustain them, he would pour the grape and shell into the advancing rebel ranks, until, quailing before the murderous fire, they would break in confusion. Before they they could re-form, Sigel would limber up and fall back behind another portion of lis battery, planted at another turn in the road. Here the samne scene would be enacted, and so on continuously for ten miles. What mnade this malch a most difficult achievement was the condition of the roads, which were in many places very narrow and badly cut up. This brought General Sigel’s Division to the west end of Pea Ridge, where he formed a junction with Generals Davis’s and Carr’s Divisions. On the morning of the 5th, General Vani Dorn * General Ben MceCulloch, herer known hereto-rallied a band( of Texan warriors on the banks of fore as the major of tlhe Texan mangers, was born the Gua(laloupe, and set out for the seat of war in Rutherfrd county, Tennessee, in 1814. Ilejoin-on the lio Grande. IHis company was accepted ed the Texan army under Gen. Sam HIouston, au(‘y General’a’tvlor, and served with credit at served gallantly at the battle of San Jacinto, where Mhonterey and IBuena Vista. IHe afterward joined Santa Ainna was taken prisoner, and his any of General Se)tt’s army, and continued with it to fifteen thousand men killel or taken prisoners. the conquest of the city of Mexico. For his serMcCulloch afterwar(ls settled in Gonzales count, vices he was appointed United States Marshal of Texas, and was empll,ved on the fiontier sur-Texas by President Pierce. lie early joined the veying an(t locating lands. lie frequently led the secession movelnent, commanded at the battle of wild border scouts against th Indians and Mexi-Wilson’s Creek, and was killed at Pea Ridge, Mareli an” When the war broke out with Mexico, he X, 1862. 298

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. ordered his troops to take four days’

cooked rations, and mpved forward to the attack. As our camp near Sugar Creek was a strong natural position and difficult of access on either flank, General Van Dorn decided to make his attack in our rear, thus cutting off our base of supply iand reenforcement. The Union position was on the main road from Sp)ringfield to Fayetteville, and General Van Dorn, in marching northward, left that road near the latter town and turned to the westward, passing thi,ough Bentonville, and entering the’ main road again near the State boundary, about eight miles north of cilgar Creek. A small force was left to make a feint upon our front, anl a considerable body of Indians, under General Albert Pike, took position about two miles on our right to divert attention from the main attack in the rear. The Unioil force was in four divisions, the first under Colonel Osterhaus, the second under General Asboth, the third Colonel Jefferson C. Davis, the fourth Colonel Carr. The first two divisions were commanTdled by General Sigel. When the enemy drove in Sigal on the 6th, General Curtis became assured that their intention was to attack his right and rear, and early on the 7th he changed fiont, so that his right, which was at Sugar Hollow Creek, became his left, under Sigel, while Carr, at the head of Big Sugar Creek, held the new right. The line was across Pea Ridge. The division of Carr was ordered to advance up the road to within about four miles of the State line, and the brigade of Colonel Dodge filed of from the main road to a point east of the Elkhom hotel, and opened his fire upon the enemy, who, posted on a declivity in front, sheltered by a wood, promptly responded. The brigad( of Vandeveer passed a half mile beyond the hotel and took position on the left of the road. At the same time a battery opened upon the enemy with great effect, but the reply of the latter was very sharp, exploding two of the Union caissons. It was now nine o’clock, and the mwhole line being engaged, the enemy advanced with great fury, capturing one of the guns. The infantry supports (the Iowa Ninth), however, came up and delivered such a fire as compelled the enemy to promptly seek the shelter of the woods. The enemy seemed to be increasing in force, and the position was not well calculated to resist superior numbers. Hience Carr retired, fighting. The enemy made repeated charges, capturiing another gun and caisson, but after each charge the ground showed the effects of the steady fire of the retiring troops. The enemy were armed vith double-barreled shot-guns, loaded with ball anid buckshot, an effective weapon when the fire is reserved for short range. Carr was compelled still to retire, until about 4 P. mr. Colonel Asboth supported him with two regiments and a battery, with wshichl force he held his ground for the night. On the left, McCulloch commenced moving his forces to the south and east, evidently inteidini to form ajunction with Van Dorn and Price, and by so doing to surround our entire army on three sides, and at the same tinme cut off totally its opportunity of retreat. General Sigel, detecting this movement, sent forard three pieces of flying artillery, with a supporting force of cavalry, to take a commanding position, and delay their movements until the infantry could be brought up into proper position for an attack. 299 f

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HISTORY OF THlE GREAT REBELLION. These’pieces had hardly obtained their position and opened fire, when an ovxerwhelming force of the enemy’s cavalry came down upon them, driving our cavalry, and capturing tie artillery. This onslaught, which was made in handsome style, enabled their infantry to reach un molested the cover of a dense wood. Here MeCulloch was encountered by Osterhaus, and a very severe struggle took place until Davis was ordered up to support the Union line. The Third Iowa was ordered forward to clean* the timber, but the enemy were in great strength, and the cavalry were broken in disorder, followed closely by the enemy, who captutired three guns. It was now that the Indiana re,imenets, under Osterhaus, came up at the run, and, delivering a murderous fire, followed by a bayonet charge, sent the Indians and Texans to the rightabout and recovered the three pieces. Sigel then reenforced the command. The action recommenced with redoubled vigor. The enemy brought their heavy guns into position, and after an artillery dulel the enemy retired in confusion, leaving their opponents masters of this part of the field. Thus the day closed with Union success on the left and defeat on the right. At da}rk the firing had ceased at all points, and the wearied men lay upon their arms in quiet expectation of the morning conflict. Colonel Carr’s Division was now in thie centre, having been reenforced by Davis on the right, while Sigel still held the left. The enemy, during the night, had planted some of his batteries on an eminence about two hundred feet high, sloping away to the north, but precipitous on the side in our front. Batteries and large bodies of infantry were posted at the right base of this hill and at the edge of some timber to its left. Infantry and cavalry, with a few guns, were posted on his extreme left beyond the road. It was apparent that if we could dislodge the rebels from this hill the victory would be with us. At sunrise the right and centre opened upon the enemy with their batteries, while the left, under Sigel, advanced against the hill occupied by the enemy. Having learned theexact position of the enemy’s batteries, he commenced to form his line of battle by changing his front so as to face the right flank of the enemy’s position. He first ordered the Twentyfifth Illinois to take a position along a fence, in open view of the enemy’s batteries, which at once opened fire upon it. Immediately a battery of six of our guns (several of them twelve-pounders, rifled) was thrown into line one hundred paces in the rear of our advanced infantry, on a rise of ground. The Twelfth Missouri then wheeled into line, with the Twentyfifth Illinois on their left, and another battery of guns was similarly disposed a short distance behind them. Then another regiment and another battery wheelsd into position, until thirty pieces of artillery, each about fifteeni or twenty paces from the other, were in a con *

Jefferson C. Davis, in command of a division Volunteers. lie was commissioned brigadier-genunder General Curtis, was appointed, in 1S48, a eral of volunteers in December, 1861, saw much second lieutenant of the First United Sties Ar-service in Missouri, Arkansas, and Tennessee, and tillery. lIe was not instructed at West Point. On in September, 1862, killed General Nelson in an the 29th of February, 1852, he was promoted to a altercation and under great provocation. Ie subfirst lieutenancy, andl on the 14th of May, 18S61, sequently served unlder IRosecrans, and particiwas appointed captain in the slme regiment, pated with great credit in Sherman’s campaigns being allowed leave of absence to take the com-of 18465, commanding, finally, the Fourteenth and of the Twenty-second Rlegiment of Indiana.,Army CorpLs 300

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. tinuous line, with infantry lying down in front. Each peace opened fire as it came in position. The fire of the entire line was directed so as to silence battery after battery of the enemy. Such a terrible fire no human courage could stand. The crowded ranks of the enemy were decimated, their horses shot at their guns, large trees literally demolished; but the rebels stood bravely to their post.

For over two hours did the iron hail fall, until one by one the rebel pieces ceased to play. Onward crept our infantry; onward came Sigel and his terrible guns. Shorter and shorter became the range. No charge of theirs could face that iron hail, or dare to venture on that compact line of bayonets. They turned and fled. The centre and right were ordered forward, the right turning the left of the enemy, and cross-firing on his centre. This final position of the enemy was in the arc of a circle. A charge of infantry, extending throughout the whole line, completely routed them, and they retreated through the deep, impassable defiles of Cross Timber, making again for Boston Mountain, closely pressed by the cavalry.

The Union loss at the battle of Pea Ridge was, killed, two hundred and twelve; wounded, nine hundred and seventytwo; missing,, one hundred and seventysi. The loss of the enemy was reported at two thousand; among the prisoners taken were General Herbert, Colonel Stone, adjutantgeneral, and Colonel Price. Among the killed were Ben McCulloch, General M]cIntosh, and General Stark. General Price was wounded. On the 9th of March, General Van Dorn sent to request permission to bury the dead of the 7th and 8th. The permission was granted by General Curtis, who, however, complained that the Union dead had been, in some cases, scalped and mangled. This led to a correspondence, in which General Van Dorn, whilst expressing the greatest anxiety to repress the savagehorrors of war, stated that numbers of Confederate prisoners, who had surrendered, were reported to have been murdered in cold blood by the Germans. General Curtis replied that he had no knowledge of any atrocities committed by German soldiers under his command. The victory at Pea Ridge cleared the northern part of Arkansas of regular Confederate forces; those under Van Dorn and Price being called to the support of Beauregard at Memphis. Although there were now no enemy’s troops in Northern Arkansas, it was not deemed prudent to advance upon Little Rock, for the reason that a communi cation of three hundred miles by wagons was very difficult to keep up, and General Curtis withdrew his troops from the State, and established his quarters, April 12th, at Forsyth, on the White River, forty-five miles south of Springfield. AWhile here in camp, General Curtis issued the following special order, dated “HEAD-QrAXTERs, Acm Or TEE SoU’HiwM Ifarch 26. ‘ Charles Morton, Hamilton Kennrly, and Alexander Lewis, colored men, formerly slaves employed in the rebel service, and taken as contraband of war, are hereby confiscated; and, not being needed for the public service, are permitted to pass the pickets of this command without let or hindrance, and are forever emancipated from the service of their masters, who allowed them to aid in the efforts to break up the Governmeat and laws of our country.” I” d1 301

Jr,

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT’ REBELLION. On the 19th, the advance under General Osterhaus, with about two hundred and fifty men, met a superior force of rebels near Searcy, on the Little Red River, and after a sharp skirmish, put them to flight. They, however, succeeded in destroying the bridges along the route to the city. The news of the battle of Pea Ridge was telegraphed to Washington by General Halleck, on the 10th of ilarch, and on the 12th he published the following order: HEADQUARTERs, DEPARTMENT OF

THE MIssIssrPPi ST. Louis, March 12, 1862. “In compliance with orders of the President of the United States, the undersigned assumes the command of the Department of the Mississippi, which includes the present Departments of Kansas and Missouri, and the Department of the Ohio, and the country west of a north and south line drawn through Knoxville, Tennessee, and east of the western boundaries of the States of Missouri and East Arkansas. The headquarters of the Department of the Mississippi will remain, until further orders, at St. Louis. Cominanding officers not in the Department of Missouri, will report to these headquarters the strength and position of their several commands. IL W. HALLECK, “MajorGenal Commanding.” The effect of this order was to bring the active operations in Kentucky and Tennessee under the control of General Halleck.

He issued another order continuing Buell in his command, with the exception of de6p6t of prisoners, which were to report to Halleck. General Denver was assigned to the District of Kansas, and General Curtis to Arkansas. CHAPTfER XXVI. Island No. Ten.-Beauregard at Corinth.-Battle of Pittsburg Landing.-Huntsville. Fort Wright. WnEN the enemy, on the 3d March, evacuated Columbus, they fell back upon Island No. Ten, in the Mississippi River, a place of remarkable strength as far as the river is concerned, but which, as it proved, was easily turned by a combined attack of the army and navy. The general course of the river is south, but at Island No. Ten it makes a sharp bend to the northwest for about twelve miles, and then turning southeast, forms a tongue of land, opposite the northern point of which, on the Missouri side, is New Madrid, which was held by a strong Confederate force On the 3d of March, General Pope arrived before New M3adrid, the same day on which Columbus was evacuated-a fact of which he was, however, ignorant. He took possession of Point Pleasant, eight miles below New 3adrid, with five thousand troops, in order to cut off communication Trom below, and erected heavy batteries, which prevented the passage of the rebel gunboats. The enemy erected batteries of their heaviest guns directly opposite New Madrid, and, in conjunction wit4 their gunboats, attempted to shell Pope from his position, but without effect. New Madrid was defended by redoubts at the upper and lower end, connected by lines of entrench 302

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HISTORY OF TUE GREAT REBELLION. ments, and six gunboats were anchored along the shore between the redoubts. The land is there so low that the guns of the boats command the countryfor some distance. General Pope, instead of ni.aking a direct attack, took up a position below the town, cutting off supplies and pushing forward works to command the place. On the 13th,fire was opened from these works, by which several of the enemy’s gunboats were disabled. During the night, a furious storm took place, under cover of which the enemy evacuated the place, leaving behind thirtythree guns and several thousand stand of arms. The Union loss was fifty-one killed. The bombardment of Island No. Ten was begun on March 16th, by the gunboats, under Flagofficer Foote. His fleet consisted of the Benton, flagship, the Cincinnati, Carondelet, Mound City, Louisville, Pittsburg, St. Louis, and the Conestoga, all being ironclad except the last named, and a number of mortar-boats in tow of steamers. At 8 A. M., all the gunboats dropped down stern foremost, to a point within one mile of the head of Island No. Ten, where, formed in line across the river, all headed up stream, the flagship several hundred yards in advance, they opened fire. The mortar-boats were got into position on the Missouri shore, half a mile above Missouri Point, whence they commenced throwing across or over the point on Island No. Ten. The fire of the gunboats continued with great vigor for several days, and was replied to by the enemy. The siege, however, went on slowly, and the fire of the fleet seemed to make so little impression on the rebel works, that Flagofficer Foote, in a dispatch of the 8th of March, said: “Island No. Ten is harder to conquer than Columbus, as the island shores are lined with forts, each fort commanding the one above it. I am gradually approaching the island, but still do not hope for much until the occurrence of certain events, which promise success.” Of the “events” here alluded to, the most important was the cutting of a canal through the inundated forest on the base of the peninsula, opposite Island No. Ten, to New Madrid, with a view of thereby sending down to General Pope a sufficient number of steamboats and barges to enable him to cross the river and attack the enemy in the rear. General Pope, from New Madrid and from Point Pleasant, on the Missouri shore below New Madrid, sustained almost a constant cannonade.

The enemy had four batteries, of six guns each, on the shore, looking up the river as it approaches Island No. Ten. The island itself was heavily fortified, affd lying abreast of it in the river was a floating battery, carring twelve thirtytwo-pound guns. There were also in the river six gunboats lying between the island and New Madrid. The force of the enemy was Estimated at seven or eight thousand men. Although New Madrid *ad fallen, it was impossible, for want of transportation, for General Pope to cross the river and co-operate with the fleet in an attack on the island.

In this situation, General Schuyler Hamilton proposed to cut a canal twelve miles across this tongue, by which gunboats and transports could pass to New Madrid, ‘ r 1 O rl s I I 1 4’ r 3013 .r

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IISTORY OF TH GREAT REBELLION. and General Pope directed Colonel Bissell, of the engineers, to execute the plan. The route was, for two miles, through thick timber, and ten through narrow, crooked bayous, full of brush and small trees; but by almost incredible labor and skill, within nineteen days, an avenue fifty feet was cut across the peninsula, the trees, in many instances, being sawed off four and a half feet under water. The enemy, aware of the movement on the land, had erected strongbatteries to command the mouth of the canal, and one of their unboats, the Grampus, was lying in wait to stop the exit of our boats, or annihiliate them if they attempted to come out. Now, sonie daring act must be accomplished to relieve our boats. The rebels had made an excellent move, and we were in check. A conference of officers was held, at which it was decided that one of the gunboats must run past the batteries on the island. The Carondelet undertook it, and passed down on the night of the 4th, amidst a furious storm, towing a boat-load of hay on the side next to the enemy. While these events were happening, the enemy had been concentra ting their forces at Corinth, to await the attack of the Union troops Van Dorn and Price, in Arkansas, were drawing towards Memphis, and the troops that evacuated New Madrid had sought the same destination. The soldiers of Island No. Ten seemed to be intended to prevent Pope from reenforcing BuelL On the 5th of April, a new commander was sent to that point, who, on assuming command, issued the following order: “SOLDIERS: We are strangers, commander and commanded, each to the other. Let me tell you who I am. I am a general made by Beauregard, a general selected by Beauregard and Brag for this command, when they knew it was iii peril. They have known me for twenty years together. We have stood on the fields of Mexico. Give them your confidence now; give it to me when I have earned it. Soldiers, the Mississippi Valley is entrusted to your courage, to your discipline, to your patience. Exhibit the vigilance and coolness of last night, and hold it. “W. D. MCCOWN, BrigadierGeneral Commanding.” The transports for General Pope passed the canal on the night of the 6th of April, and on the same night the gunboat Pittsburg ran past the island, and attacked the enemy’s batteries at the point dew tined for crossing. Meantime the division of General Paine embarked in the boats that had come through the bayou, and was followed by the other corps. By twelve o’clock, at night, the whole army was over the river, and had made good its landing, immediately attacking the enemy, who abandoned hls batteries and retired upon the impassable swamps in his rear, where he was compelled to surrender. rhe capture was reported by C(neral Pope as follows: “Three generals, seven colonels, seven regiments, several battalions of infantry, five companies of artillery, over one hundred heavy siege-guns, twenty-four pieces of field artillery, an immense quantity of ammrnition and supplies, several thousand stand of small arms, a great number of tent% horses, wagons, &c., have fallen into our hands. “Before abandoning Island No. Ten, the enemy sunk the gunboat Grampus and six of his transports. These last I am raising, and expect to have ready for service in a few days. The famous floating battery was scuttled and turned adrift with all her guns aboard; she was captured and run aground in shoal water by our forces at New adrid.” 804

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IlSTORY OF THIE C DZXT I.5’E-ELLIO;V. While these events took place on the Tennessee shore, Island No. Ten surrendered to Commodore Foote, who ordered General Buford to take possession. He reported as captured “Seventeen officers and three hundred and sixty-eight privates, besides one hundred of their sick, and one hundred men employed on board of the transports, are in our hands, unconditionally prisoners of war. I have caused hasty examination to be made of the forts, batteries, and munitions of war captured. There are eleven earthworks, with seventy heavy cannon, varying in calibre from thirtytwo to one hundred pounders, rifled. The magazines are well supplied with powder, and there are large quantities of shot and shell, and other munitions of -Oar, and also great quantities of provisions. Four steamers afloat have fallen into our hands, and two others, with the rebel gunboat Grampus, are sunk, but will be easily raised.” Wlhen the retiring columns of Confederate troops from Fort Donelson and Mill Spring had been combined at Corinth, great efforts were made by the Confederates to defend the Mississippi at that point. Generals Floyd and Pillow were suspended from their commands, and on the fifth of March, General Beauregard took command in the following general order: GENERAL ORDER -No. 1. “HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE MISSISSIPPI, “JACKSON, TENN., March 5, 1862. SOLDERS:-I assume this day the command of the Army of the Mississippi, for the defence of our homesteads and liberties, and to resist the subjugation, spoliation, and dishonor of our people. Our mothers and wives, our sisters and children, expect us to do our duty, even to the sacrifice of our lives. Our losses since t e commencement of the present war, in killed, wounded, and prisoners, are now about the same as those of the enemy. He must be made to atone for those reverses we have lately experienced. Those reverses, far from disheartening, must nerve us to new deeds of valor and patriotism, and should inspire us with an unconquerable determination to drive back our invaders. Should any one in this army be unequal to the task before us, let him transfr his arms and equipments at once to braver, firmer hands, and return to his home. Our cause is as just and sacred as ever animated men to take up arms, and if we are true to it and to ourselves, with the continued protection of the Almighty we must and shall triumph. “G. T. BEAUREGARD, General Commnanding.” On the same day, General Bragg issued a proclamation, establishing martial law at Memphis, and requiring the Louisiana and Mississippi troops to rendezvous at Grand Junction, and the Alabama and Tennessee troops at Corinth. Requisitions were made on these States for troops, and General Beauregard sent a member of his staff to raise troops in Louisiana, besides requiring all plantation and other bells to be melted into guns. The Governor of Mississippi having issued a proclamation for the enrollment of new troops, Generals Bragg and Beauregard intrenched their forces at Jackson, Tennesee, and then gradually formed an army during the inaction of the Union troops after the fall of Donelson. There were no fortifications at Memphis, but the defences of the city were at Fort Pillow and Fort Randolph, on the Mississippi River, sixty miles above. At this point there is a bold and nearly precipitous bluff, about eighty feet above the level of the river, commanding a stretch of three miles, while the land approaches are protected by a rugged conformation of the ground, and by Hatchee River, a small affluent of the Mississippi 20

30.5

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. While the enemy were reorganizing and reenforcing, Andrew Johnson had been appointed Governor of Tennessee, and arrived there amidst the excitement which was caused by the Emancipation Mes sage of President Lincoln, sent to Congress, recommending the adop tion of a joint resolution that “The United States ought to co-operate with any State which may adopt a gradual abolishment of slavery, giving to such State pecuniary aid.” Early in March, a movement up the Tennessee River was projected, and the advance, under the cominand of MajorGeneral C. F. Smith, proceeded in the direction of Savannah, which place was taken pos. session of March 11th. It is situated on the east bank of the river, ten miles above Pittsburg Landing, on the west bank, and thirty miles from Corinth; The troops arrived in considerable numbers at Savannah, but for strategic reasons they were transferred to Pittsburg Landing by direction of General Smith. This disposition was ap poved by General Grant, on his arrival in the latter part of March. Meanwhile, General Buell, with the Army of the Ohio, was directed to march from Nashville and co-operate with Grant. The efforts of the enemy had collected a strong force at Corinth under Beauregard, to which were added the two divisions of General Polk that had evacu ated Columbus, and the corps of General Bragg, from Pensacola. The design of the Union general was to operate firom the Tennessee River, as a base, and cut off the communication of the enemy in West Ten nessee with he Eastern and Southern States. This being suspected by the rebels, it was determined to attack Grant at Pittsburg Landing before he could be reenforced by Buell from Nashville. Accordingly, General A. S. Johnston, who had recently assumed the chief command at Corinth, on April 3d issued an address to his army, and an order, dividing it into three corp)s d’armee: the first under General Polk, embracing all his troops except those detaclhed to Fort Pillow; the second under Bragg; and the third under Hardee; while General Crittenden was assigned to a reserve, consisting of two brigades-the whole under General Johnston, with General Beauregard second in command. The force thus organized was concentrated at Corinth, as the strategic point of the campaign, and numbered probably fifty thou sand men, in addition to which reenforcements Were daily expected under Van Dorn and Price. On the 5th of April the force under Grant, in the neighborhood of Pittsburg Landing, or Shiloh, as it is sometimes called, comprised five divisions under MajorGeneral McClernand, BrigadierGeneral W. II. L. Wallace (commanding in the absence of General C. F. Smith, who was sick), MajorGenera& Lewis Wallace, BrigadierGeneral Hurlbut, and BrigadierGeneral W. T. Sherman, the whole constituting what was known as the Army of West Tennessee. Of these, General Lewis Wallace’s Division was at Crump’s Landing, six miles below Pitts burg Landing, while the,remainder of the army lay immediately around the latter place. Buell’s forces were twenty miles distant from the river, which they were approaching from the direction of Nash ville as rapidly as thd heavy roads would permit. The troops on the west bank of the Tennessee occupied the following positions: On 306

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HISTORY OF TiHE GREAT,REBELLION. the extreme right was Sherman’s Division, resting on Owl Creek, about three miles fiom Pittsburg Landing; next came McClernand’s Divi sion; and next to him, on the left, was BrigadierGeneral Pren tiss, hlaving charge of a subdivision of McClernand’s command, resting on Lick Creek, at a distance of nearly three miles from the river. W. H. L. Wallace’s Division acted as a support to Sherman and I(.Clernand, and Hurlbiit’s as a support to the left wing under Pren-. tiss. The troops thus formed a sort of semicircle between Owl and Lick Creeks, which run at right angles with tile Tennessee River, and are about three miles apart. They were probably too widely scattered to be enabled to support each other readily in case of a sudden attack by superior numbers; but the field had been selected and the positions assigned by one of the ablest generals in the service, whose judgment has since been amply confirmed by the first military authorities of the country, and General Grant was additionally protected by several gunboats anchore(d off the landing, and was also in hourly expectation of the arrival of General Buell. Oi the morning of April 3d, Johnston gave orders for the rebel troops to march from Corinth en rotet for Pittsburg Landing.

In consequence of bad roads and inclement weather, the advance was unexpectedly slow, and it was not until the evening of the 5th that the attacking force was concentrated in the vicinity of the Federal position.

The rebel army was formed in three lines. The first, uncle General Hiardee, extended from Owl Creek onI the left to Lick Creek on the right.

The second, under Bragg, followed the first, at an interval of eight hundred yarids, and the coips of Polk formed the third line, iii columns of brigades, with batteries in rear of each brigade. The re rves were under Breckinridge. At six o’clock on the morning of the 6th, the advancing line suddenly drove in the pickets of Prentiss’s Corps. Into the half-aroused camps thronged the rebel regiments, firing sharp volleys as they came, and springing forward with the bayonet. Some of the Union soldiers were shot down as they were running, without weapons, hatless, coatless, towards the river. The searching bullets found others in their tents, where they still slumbered, while the unseen foe rushed on. Others fell as they were disentangling themselves from the flaps that formed the doors to their tents; others, again, as they were buckling on their accoutrements; and not a few, it was said, as they were vainly trying to impress on the exultant enemy their readiness to surrender. Officers were wounded in their beds, and left for dead, who, through two days, lay gasping in their,gony, and were subsequently found in their tents, still able to tell the tale. Thus were overwhelmed Prentiss’s subdivision and fildebrand’s Brigade of Sherman’s Division, which retired, leaving their camps and guns. The remainder of Sherman’s Division, roused by the al rm, had sprung to their arms barely in time to receive the onslaught of the enemy, who came sweeping against their front. They managed partially to check the advance and to retire upon a ridge in their rear, where they thwarted every effort of the enemy to flank the army on the right, holding, as General Grant said, “the key-point of the Landing.” 307

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HISTORY OF TIIE GREAT REBELLION. The shout of the men, the roar of guns, and rattle of muskets, were rousing rapidly the whole army, and McClernand soon formed his right to sustain Sherman. Prentiss’s Corps was partially rallied in an open space, surrounded by scrub oaks, which was filled with the enemy, who, thus covered, slaughtered them at his leisure. Two whole regiments, with General Prentiss, were captured, an(] marched to the rear with others, and the subdivision was practi.cally disor(anized. The first available brigade of W. H. L. Wallace’s Division now advanced to support Stuart, of Sherman’s Division, but lost its way and was repulsed. Soon after McClernand got into action he was compelled to draw in his brigades that had supported Sherman, to protect his left against the onset of the rebels, who, seeing how he had weakened himself there, and inspired by their recent success over Prentiss, hurled themnselves against him with tremendous force. A couple of new regiments, the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Iowa, were brought up, but to utterly raw troops the heavy fire was too severe a trial, and they gave way in confusion. To meet the attack, the whole division then made a change of front, and faced along the Corinth road. Here the batteries wvere placed in position, and till ten o’clock the rebels were foiled in every attempt to gain the road. This disposition, however, left a gap between McClernand and Sherman, which the rebels promptly availed themselves of for the purpose of turning the former’s right. Dresser’s Battery of rifled guns opened on them as they passed, and with fearful slaughter. The numbers of the enemy told terribly in the strife. The constant arrival of fresh regiments at last overpowered McClernand’s shrinking division. The line and general officers had suffered severely. The batteries were broken up and several of the guns lost, but the soldiers fought bravely to the last, under a fearful disadvantage. Gradually they began falling back, more slowly than had Prentiss’s regiments, and making more deterrmined, because better organized, resistance; occasionally rallying and repulsing the enemy in turn for a hundred yards, then being beaten back again, and renewing the retreat to some new position for fresh defence. The Union front to the left and centre was thus cleared of its original divisions, and at twelve o’clock the chief burden of the fight fell upon the divisions of Hurlbut, Wallace, and Sherman, which now stood between the army and destruction.

The troops of the broken brigades and divisions had fallen to the rear, some stragglers going as far as the river bank. These were brought back, and in some cases regiments were patched up and hurried to the front.

According to general understanding, in the event of an attack at Pittsburg Landing, MajorGeneral Lew. Wallace was to come in on our right and flank the rebels by marching across from Crump’s Landing below. But, through misdirection as to the way, he took a long and circuitous route, and never~reached the battlefield until the fighting was over for the day.

Meanwhile the divisions of Hurlbut and W. H. L. Wallace, extending somewhat to the left! nobly sustained an unequal struggle against the overpowering rebel masses. Three times did the enemy bear heavily with their full strength upon Hurlbut, and three times were they 308

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HISI-ORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. relt’sed with terrible slaughter. But the force of the enemy was too great, and it was handled with admtiral)le skill. Rtepulse was nothing to them. A rush on our lines failed; they took their disordered troops to the rear, and sent up fresh troops, who, ignorant of the fearful reception awaiting them, pushed forward without hesitation. The jaded division was finally compelled to yieldi, and, after six houis’ magnificent fighting, fell back to a point within half a mile of the Landing. The retirement of Hurlbut left W. H. L. Wallace’s Division still fighting with determined front. It had for some hours mlaintailed almost a continuous roll of musketry, and kept its ground against four separate charges of the enemy, but the supports being now gone, retreat was imperative. At this moment Wallace fell and was borne from the field, and the division fell back. It was now four o’clock in the afternoon, and both sides were some what exhausted by ten hours of almost continuous fighting. Natu rally enough, therefore, a lull took place in the firing, which was well improved by Grant. Sherman had meanwhile formed a new and strong line on the right, which was prolonged to the left by reformed brigades and regiments firom the remaining divisions of the army, while, with excellent judgment, Colonel Webster, Grant’s Chief of Artillery, placed the remaining batteries in a semicircle on the left, so as to pour a concentrated fire upon the enemy, who, it was supposed, were massing for a last desperate onset in this direction. The gun boats Tyler and Lexi)ygtoit also moved up to the mouth of Lick Cieek, to bring their guns within range of the enemy, scarcely more than half a mile distant. In addition to this protection, the hard pressed armny were cheered by the intelligence that Nelson’s Division, coInstituting, the advance of Buell, had reached the eastern bank of the Tennessee, and Nwould soon cross to their assistance. Suddenly, at about five o’clock, the enemy burst upon the Union left, only to be swept down by steady volleys of musketry and the withering fire of the batteries. To add to their consternation, the huge guns of the T/le. and ILexi)nton ploughed into their flanks. Again and again did the rebels attempt to break through the circle of fire wiithin which the Union army stood at bay. The position seemed inpregnable. Disappointed and disheartened, they at length retired at nightfall, and the battle w:is over bfor the day. So far was the Union army from being beaten, that General Grant had some time l)efore this issued orders to his division commanders to prepare to assume the offensive at an early hour in the morning. Thle rebels had suffered severely during the day, and experienced an irreparable loss in the death f General Johnston, who was killed at haltf-past two o’clock. His troops, exhausted by the previous march and twelve hours’ combat, could not collect and send to the rear the spoils captured, but slept on their arms.

General Beauiegard, now in command, established his head-qirters at Shiloh Church, hoping that some delay would prevent the arrival of General Buell, who he knew was on the march. Throughout the night the gunboats bombarded the rebel position, not only preventing an advance, but actually compelling the enemy to retire a short distance. 309

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MISTORY OF TIIE GREAT REBELLION. A drenching rain set in during the night, in the midst of which the troops of General Buell arrived. He had reached Savannah on the evening of the 5th, General Nelson leading the advance. On the morning of the 6th, the fiiring in the direction of Pittsburg was heard, and Buell sent orders for the division in the rear to leave the trains and hurry forward. Nelson was ordered at halfpast one o’clock to leave his guns to be carried in steamboats, the roads being imprac ticable for artillery, and to mnarch’the men opposite Pittsburg Landing, where General Buell himself arrived late on the 6th. ‘During the night of the 6th the division of Nelson crossed the river, and took position on the Union left. It was followed by the divisions of Generals T. L. Crittenden and McCook, which were posted on the left centre and centre, while the troops which had participated in the battle of the 6th occupied the right centre and right. The extreme right was held by General Lewis Wallace’s Division, which also arrived on the night of the 6th. The last-named general opened the action at an early hour on the 7th, by shelling some rebel batteries in his immediate front, and under cover of his fire the whole right wing advanced some distance. The fighting was by no means so severe as on the preceding day, but the enemy, nevertheless, made some desperate efforts on either wing to maintain the ground they had gained.

At one time Wallace was so hard pressed that he was obliged to send to Sherman for aid. Finally, however, the rebels on this part of the line were pushed back beyond the position they had held on the night of the 5th, and retreated from the hard-fought field. On the left the contest was more severe. Nelson’s Division was first engaged, and advanced so rapidly as to expose its right flank, which forced him to retire until reenforced by Boyle’s Brigade, of Crittenden’s Division, when he again moved forward, and drove back the enemy, capturing some of their guns, and occupying the rising ground in the front. On the right of Nelson came up Crittenden.

Between eight and nine o’clock, while keeping Smith’s Brigade on his left up even with Nelson’s flank, and joining Boyle’s Brigade to McCook on the right, in the grand advance, Crittenden came upon the enemy with a battery in position, and well supported. Smith dashed his brigade forward, and for a short time there was close work with musketry, until the rebels fled, leaving us three pieces-a twelvepound howitzer and two brass six-pounders.

For half an hour the storm raged around these captured guns. Then came the returning rebel wave that had hurled Nelson back. Crittenden, too, caught its full force. The rebels swept up to the battery, and down after our retreating column. But Ye two brigades, like those of Nelson to their left, took a fresh position, faced the foe, and held their ground.

Miendenhall’s and Bartlett’s Batteries now began shelling the rebel infantry, which paused, and finally fell back. A gallant charge secured the contested battery while the rebels retreated towards the left. Smith and Boyle holditg the infantry well in hand, Mendenhall again got their range, and poured in shell on the new position. Tie enemy’s line now, commenced a retrograde movement, which both Nelson and Crittenden vigorously pushed. The brigade of 310

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. Wood arrived soon after, and joined in the pursuit, and the left was safeb. Meantime, McCook, in the centre, after a fierce fight with the opposing toe, had driven him to the woods. As Buell’s fresh troops successively arrived upon the left and centre, the enemy, whose reserves were exhausted, commenced, about two o’clock, a general retreat. At a distance of eight hundred yards he made a stand and opened with his artillery, but, being pushed by Crittenden, retired with the loss of a battery. The rearguard of the enemy, under Breckinridge, held, on the night of the 7th, during a severe rain, the ground occupied by him on the night of the 5th. On the 8th, General Sherman started in pursuit, and succeeded in routing a body of rebel cavalry, whose camp he captured, with a quantity of ammunition. The line of retreat was found to be strewn with smallarms, clothing, and accoutrements. The constant rains had made the roads nearly impassable, and the pursuit, in consequence, soon terminated. The official report of General Beauregard placed his loss at one thousand seven hundred and twentyeight killed, eight thousand and twelve wounded, and nine hundred and fifty-nine missing; total, ten thousand six hundred and ninety-nine. Hlis forces did not retain any of the material captured on Sunday, except that the men who were badly armed exchanged their weapons for the superior rifles found on the battlefield.

The Union loss of cannon on the 6th was about balanced by their captures on the 7th. The Union loss in the t w o days’ fighting was reported as follows: GENERAL GRANT’S ARMY. Divisio n s. General McClernand…………. General W. H. L. Wallace……. General Lew.

Wallace……….. General Hurlbut……………. General Sherman…………… General Prentiss…………… Wounded. 1,351

1,033 257 1,449 1,275 562 5,927 GENERAL BUELL’S ARMY. Divisions. 2.

General McCook……………. 4. General Nelson…………….. 3.

General Crittenden………….. Wounded. 793 591 410 1,794 7,721 On the 9th, General Beauregard sent a flag to General Grant for permnission to bury the dead onthe camp-ground captured on Sunday. General Grant replied that he had already caused the dead of both parties to be buried. The number so buried was about three thousand, out of three thousand three hundred and forty-two reported killed on both sides. 311’ Killed. 251 228

43 313 318 196 1,349 Missing. 236 1,163 6 223 441 1,802 3,870 TotaL 1,848

2,424 306 1,985 2,034 2,760 11,356 4. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Killed. 95 90 80 265

1,614 Migaing. 8 58 27 93 3,963 . Total. 6 896 739 511 2,152 13,.508

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. Much hostile criticism has been expended on General Grant by ill informed or unfriendly persons, for his management of the battle of April 6th. Without going into any inquiry of the facts of the case, it may be sufficient here to say, that General W. T. Sherman, who bore so distinguished a part in the contest, voluntarily published, two years - after the battle, a statement vindicating General Grant from all charges of negligence, incompetency, and other improper conduct. From this it appears that the latter, far from admitting that he had been defeated, had actually made preparations to renew the attack on the th, before intelligence reached him of the arrival of Buell’s ad vance. On the other hand, Generals Grant and ilalleck speak in the strongest terms of the services rendered by General Sherman on the 6th, the former stating that it was to his individual efforts he as indebted for the success of that battle. While these events were taking place on the Tennessee River, Gen eral Mitchel * had occupied Shelbyville, Tennessee, and moved upon the line of the Memphis and Charleston Railroad with great rapidity and success. Colonel Turchin’s brigade of infantry, with Kennett’s cavalry, marched twentyfive miles over a broken road in fourteen hours, ad entered Huntsville on tile night of the 11th, capturing many locomotives, and two Siege-guns. Huntsville is an important point on the line of the Memphis and Charleston Railroad, and one of the most beautifl cities of Alabama.

Among the papers captured by Mitchel at this place was the following from Beauregard: “General SAMUEL COOPER, Richmond, Virginia: “All present probabilities are that whenever the enemy moves on this position, he will do so with an overwhelming force of not less than eighty-five thousand men. We can now muster only about thirtyfive thousand effective men; Van Dorn may possibly join us in a few days with fifteen thousand more. Can we not be reenforced from ‘emberton’s army? If defeated here, we lose the Mississippi Valley, anid probably our cause; whereas we could even afford to lose for a while Charleston and Savannah, for the purpose of defeating Buell’s army, which would not only insure us the Valley of the Mississippi, but our independence. P. G. BEAUREGARD.” Two expeditions were dispatched soon afterwards fiom Huntsville, one of which, under Colonel Sill, of the Thirty-second Ohio, went east to Stevenson, Alabama, the junction of the Chattanooga with the Mem phis and Charleston Railroad, where he captured two thousand of tilhe energy without firing a shot.

Colonel Sill also captured five locomo tives and a large amount of rolling stock. The other expedition, under Colonel Turchin, went west, and arrived at Decatur in time to save * Ormsby McKnight Mitchel was onative of Sidereal A1fessenger. From 1847 to 1S4S he was Kentucky, and graduated at West Point in 1829. adjutantgeneral of the State of Ohio, andl in 1848 On the 30th day of August, 135;, he was appointed was appointed the chief engineer of the Ohio and assistant professor of mathematics at the Military Mississippi Railroad. He was for some years conAcademy, which position he retained until the nected with the Dudley Observatory at Albany as 28th of August, 1881. He resigned his military director, which position he held when, on the 9th rank on the 80th day of September, 1882, and of Angutst, lS61, he was commissioned a brigadierpractised law in Cincinnati, from 1882 b 1834. general of volunteers. lie was then ordered to He next became a professor of mathematics, phi-report to the commander of the new Departmnent losophy. and astronomy, at the Cincinnati College, of the Ohio, which embraced his native Stats in Ohio, which position he held from 1834 to 1844. His exploits at Huntsville procured for him, He became the founder and directr of the obser-April 15th, the commission of majorgeneral; and vatory in Cincinnati in 1845, and edited and pub-subsequently,bhe succeeded General Hunter in comlished a noted astronomical journal entitled the mand at Port Uoyal, where he died ofyullow fever. 312

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. the railroad bridge, which was in flames.

Decatur is a post village of Morgan County, Alabama, situated on the left bank of the Tennessee River, thirty miles west by southwest of Huntsville.

It is on the route of the Memphis and Charleston Railroad, distant about forty-four miles from Tuscumbia. On the 24th of April, General Mitchel’s advance, under Turchin, reached Tuscumbia, opposite Corinth. Meantime, the gunboats on the Tennessee River effected a passage over the muscle shoals, anl extensive series’ of rapids, which are passable only at very high stages of water. CHAPTER XXVII. Halleck at Pittsburg Landing.-Fall of Corinth.-Pursuit. Memphlis Occupied.-Gen eral Grant.-End of Campaign.-Ialleck at Washington. GENERAL HALLECK was appointed to the command of the Depart ment of the Mississippi on the 16th of March, but it was not until the 15th of April, after the reduction of Island No. Ten had liberated Gen eral Pope’s command, and the severe battle at Pittsburg Laniling had caused a further concentration of the Confederates at Corinth, and General Mitchel had obtained control of the railroad, that he assumed command in the field. His operations were confined to the reduction of the enemy’s position at Corinth, whither Beauregard had fallen back from the battlefield of Shiloh. Ite had, by river, full communication with Cairo, whither his wounded were sent by steamer, and whence he drew in profiusion every needed supply, yet it was not until the close of May that he ascertained there was no longer aniiy enemy at Corinth-Beauregard having effected his retreat. Corinth is a very important strategical point, situated in a hilly, semi-mountainous countrv-a branch of the Appalachian range, which diverges from the Alleghany Mountains, and forms the mountains and gold-bearing regions of Georgia and Alabama. Here, also, is the junction of the Memphis and Charleston and Mobile and Ohio Railroads, which form the means of communication between the Atlantic and Gulf seaboards. Doubtless the troops were on both sides much disorganized, and time was required to restore the Cnorale of the army. Fresh horses were required, as well as caissons, gun-car’i.ages, and smnall-arms, but all these were within reach at Cairo and St. Louis. The enemy, with greater wants, had less means of supplying them. Gene’al Halleck proceeded with the utmost caution, and seemed determined to have his army reenforced and we equipped before making a forward movement. The troops of BuLell and Grant were concentrated, Pope was summoned with his command from the Mississippi, and Mitchel was directed to threaten the right flank and rear of the enemy at Itika, a few miles southeast of Corinth.. On the reduction of Island No.

Ten, the flotilla was transferred to Flagofficer Davis-Commodore Foote being disabled by a severe wound-and was ordered to follow the enemy to Fort Wright, fifty hiles above Memphis, to which place hie had fallen back. The fleet was accompanied by Pope’s troops in transports. 3113

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IIISTORY OF TIlE GREAT REBELLION On April 13th the fleet arrived off Fort Wright. In this neighbor hood the river flows east from Island No.

ThirtyTwo to Island No. Thirty-Thi,ee, when it takes a westerly direction, flowing round a bluff, and again takes an easterly course. It thus forms two points-that of Fort Wi’ight, on the Tennessee shore, and another nearly opposite in Arkansas. The latter point, flat and marshy, is protected from the overflow of the river by a levee which extends down the whole river to New Orleans; on that point the army of Pope wvas landed on the night of the 15th, the day on which Halleck took command at Pittsburg.

The enemy sent over small parties in skiffs and cut the levee in foutr places. The water poured through the cuts in torrents, deepening and widening them constantly, until the inundation not only of the point became a certainty, but on the bottom-lands of the whole eastern portion of Arkansas. Their object was doubtless to prevent anticipated operations by our army, and it compelled the re-emrbarkation of the troops upon the transports. On the 18th, General Pope received orders tqrepair to Pittsburg Landing, wheie he arrived on the 24th, and landed at Hamburg, foi’ming the leift of Halleck’s army, on the same day that Mitchel occupied Tuscumbia. The enemy’s force at the same time was augmented by the armies of Van Dorn and Price at Memphis, and the latter general was transferred to the command at Fort AYriglit. The enemy’s outposts still hovered around Pittsburg Landing. They had stirong advance forces at Purdy, Pea Ridge, and Monterey, respectively, six, eight, and ten miles from the landing. On the 27th of April, the several divisions of Halleck’s army began to move forward slownvly, and General Hurlbut occupied Shilohl Church, which had been held by Beauregard on the 6th, the enemy retiring with small loss. General Grant also moved his headquarters nearer the front. The impassable state of the roads, it was alleged, prevented a more rapid movement in advance. Beginning on the extreme right, the advanced divei sions of the army were pl:.Iced as follows: Sherman’s, McCook’s, Me Aithur’s (late C. F. Srnith’s), Crittenden’s, and Nelson’s, the centre resting on Hamburg, a landing on the river, some four or five miles above Pittsburg landing. The reserve divisions of the army, commen cing at the right, were Wallace’s, McClernand’s, IIurlbut’s, and Mc IKean’s. General Grant commanded the right and right centre of the army, General Buell the left and left centire, and General Pope the ex treme left, in all about one hundred thousand effective troops. The troops continued to press forward at various poilnts, as cir’cumstances svould permit, and on the 3d MIay, Geneial Paine’s Division of Pope’s Corps reconnoitred in foirl as far as Farmington, which is fiteen miles from Pittsburg Land;ing and five miles from Corinth. IIere he en countered a force of four thousand anld five hundred of the enemy, with ifour guns; after a sharp encounter, the enemy were driven back with loss, and the Union troops held te position, throwing out pickets towards Corinth. At the same time an artillery reconinoissance was made to Glendale, southeast of Corinth, on the Memphis and Charleston Rail, road, where the bridges were destroyed. On the 9th, a strong force of $-he enemy under General Bragg attacked the Union troops, occupying 314

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IISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. Farmington, but after a sharp engagement, with considerable loss on either side, was driven off. The lines of Halleck’s army were now twelve miles in extent, forming the segment of a ciircle, of which the right, threatening the Memphis road, was about a mile neaier Corinth than the left. The former wing had recently been transferred to Gen eral Thomas, while Grant became second in command under Halleck. On the 25th the army moved up to within threefourths of a mile of the enemy’s works and intrenched. It was now forty-five days since General Halleck had taken the command at Pittsburg Landing, and, moving forward by regular approaches, he had, with occasional skirmishes, gained about sixteen miles of ground, but the amount of labor done was very great. The long line of the advancing army, in order to keep an unbroken front, was compelled to make roads. Hardly a division made a movement that did not cut a new road through the woods, with biridges for the ravines, and long lines of corduroy for the swamps. Even brigades requ,ired short roads to the left or right of their division road to enable them to occupy their places in the line; and thus the whole country was covered with a netwoi-k of roads. In this immense labor the time was occupied. On the morning of the 28th, General Halleck sent Colonel Elliott, with a large cavalry force, to seize Booneville on the Memphis and Charleston Railroad, with a view of cutting Beauregard’s communications with the south; and three reconnoitring parties, one each from Thomas on the right, Bnell in the centre, and Pope on the left, advanced to feel the enemy’s position and ascertain his strength. They were met with great determination, but succeeded in holding the ground gained. While these events were in progress, the flotilla, that had reached Fort Wright April 13th, opened its fire upon the forts on the 15th, with fourteen mortar-boats. The siege was continued until the 8th May, wvhen the Confederate flotilla cf eight gunboats, of which several were rims, advanced up the river and engaged Davis’s vessels; after an hour’s conflict, they retired, with the loss of three boats. The operations against the fort were then prolonged until June 4th, wheni it was discovered that the place was abandoned, all the guns carried off, and stores and supplies destroyed. Perceiving that Memphis would soon be uncovered to the Union forces on the river, Beauregardl decided, as a consequence, that Corinth was no longer tenable.

When, therefore, General Halleck was finally ready for the assault of Corinth, he discovered it to be evacuated. The movement was complete; every thing had been carried off or destroyed. The case was similar to the fall of Yorktown. The combat of the 28th was described in General Hlalleck’s dispatch as follows:- *I HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE

MISSISSIPPI, ” CAMP ON THE CORINTH ROAD, May 28, 1862. Hon. E. Mf.

STANTON, Secretary of War: “Three strong reconnoitring columnsadvanced this morning on the right, centre, and left, to feel the enemy and unmask his batteries. The enemy hoptly contested his ground at each point. but was driven back with considerable loss. “The column on the left encoutmtered the strongest opposition. Our loss is twentyfive killed and wounded. The enemy left thirty dead on the field. Our losses at other 315

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HISTORY OF THE GREA&T REBELLION. points are not yet ascertained. Some five or six officers and a number of privates were captured. “The fighting will probably be renewed tomorrow at daybreak. The whole country is so thickly wooded that we are compelled to feel our way. “II H. W. IIALLECK, MajorGeneral.” ” NEAR CORINTHir, May 30, 1862. “Hon. E. M. STANTONN: “General Pope’s heavy batteries opened upon the enemy’s detachments yesterday about ten A. M., and soon drove the rebels from their advanced batteries.

“MajorGeneral W. T. Sherman established another heavy battery yesterday afternoon within one thousand yards of their Mworks, and skirmishing parties advanced at daybreak this morning. Three of our divisions are already in the enemy’s advanced works, about threequarters of a mile from Corinth, which is in flames. The enemy has fallen back of the Mobile and Ohio Railroad. “H. W. HALLEOK, MajorGeneral.” “NEAR CORINTHIT, May 30, 1862. “Hon. E. M. STANTON: “Our advance-guard are at Corinth. “Conflicting accounts as to the enemy’s movements. He is believed to be in strong force on our left flank, some four or five miles south of Corinth, near the Mobile and Ohio Railroad. “H. W. HALLECK, MajorGeneral.” These dispatches are dated on the 30th, and it is remarkable that, although General Halleck had in person been forty-three days within sixteen miles of Corinth, and had, on the 28th, sent forwarid three reconnoitring parties, he knew nothing( whatever of the movements of the enemy. In his dispatch of the 31st, he says: “The evacuation of Corinth commenced on Wednesday (the 28th), and was completed on Thursday night (the 29th), but in great haste, as an immense amount of property was destroyed and abandoned. “No troops have gone from here to Richmond unless within the last two days.” Thus, while Pope and Sherman were “establishing their batteries,” the evacuation had already taken place. At five o’clock on the morning of the 30th, some explosions were heard in Corinth, which excited attention in Pope’s Corps; and his pickets, fin(ling no,kirmishers in front, rode up to the enemny’s intienchments and foundl them deserteeL On report of this fact, the whole corps was ordered forward, and occupied the city at eleven A. M. At the slme time, General Granger, of the cavalry, left Farmington, in direct pursuit of the enemy. On the evening of the 30th, he overtook their iear-guard at Tuscumbiat Creek, eight miles south of Corinth. It was driven out on the 31st, and on the 1st of June the pursuitvas recommenced.

Granger overtook the enemy at Booneville.. MIeantime, Colonel Elliott, who had left camp on the 28th, had entered Booneville, and captured a number of stragglers, deserters, and invalids, and two thousand five hundred smallarms; also some cars which bad not passed the Hatchee River before the bridge was burned. He was too late, howeveri, to cut the enemy’s communications, as the greater part of Beauregard’s army had already passed Booneville in their retreat south. Both Granger and Elliott then continued the pursuit some miles 16

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HISTORY OF THiE GREAT REBELLION. farther without any material results. The enemy took position at Twenty-Mile Creek, twentyfive miles from Corinth, and remained there until June 8th. General Pope remained near Booneville, drawing his rations from Tennessee River; and the division of McClernand occulpied the country between the Tennessee River and the Mississippi Central Railroad, and north of the Memphis and Charleston Railroad.

General Halleck occupied Bolivar, and a force under Marsh seized Jackson, Tennessee. When the enemy evacuated Fort Wright, and also Fort Randolph, which is a short distance above, they carried away or destroyed every thing of value. The troops under Colonel Fitch landed and took possession without any opposition. The gunboat fleet, consisting of the Benton, Louisville, Carondelet, Cairo, and St. Louis, under Flagofficer Davis, and the ram fleet, under Colonel Ellet, got away at nooni of June 3d, for Memphis, and reached Island No. Forty-four, near Memphis, at night, having on the way captured the steam-transport Sovereign. Thie Confederate fleet-consisting of the following vessels: the General Van Dorn (flagship), General Bragg, General Lovell, Jeff. Thompson, Beauregard, Little Rebel, and Sumter-were discovered lying near Memphis. During the night the rebel fleet moved down the river, and at daylight were seen coming up in line of ba:tttle. Our gunboats had, in the mean time, weighed anchor, and, followed by several’rams, moved towards the enemy’s fleet.

The action was commenced by the Little Rebel, and terminated, in an hour and a half, in the capture or destruction of five vessels. The Van Dorn escaped. The Union ram Queen of the West was disabled. After the return of our gunboats from the pursuit, Commodore Davis sent the following note to the mayor of the city of Memphis: “UNITED STATES FLAG-STEAMER BENTON, }

“OFF MEMPHIS, June 6. f “I have respectfully to request that you will surrender the city of Memphis to the authority of the United States, which I have the honor to represent. “I am, Mr. Mayor, with high respect, your obedient servant “C. N. DAvIS, Fag-Officer.” In reply, the mayor says: “Your note received, and in reply I have only to say, as the civil authorities have no means of defence, by the force of cricumstances the city is in your hands. “JOHN PARK, MJyor.” At eleven o’clock A. M., Colonel Fitch, with the Indiana Brigade, arrived and took military possession. He immediately notified the judges of the courts to dismiss all causes based on the Southern Confederacy. Judg,e Swa)yne refused to hold a court under military dictation. The stores were all closed and the city was quiet, but a’ quantity of cotton that had been firedl was still burning. Memphis remained under command of Colonel Fitch until June 17th, on which day General Lew. Wallace, who, on the evacuation of Corinth, had been dispatched’ towards Memphis, entered the city, and took command by virtue of his superior rank. Meanwhile, Colonel 317

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBFLLION. Fitch had left Memphis on the 13th, to accompany an expedition com posed of the gunboats St. Louis, Lexington, Conestoga, and Mound City, accompanied by transports carrying the Fortythird and Forty sixth Indiana Regiments, for the purpose of removing the obstructions in White Rivei. When near White River, a Confederate steamer was captured. On the 17th, the expedition reached St. Charles, eighty-five miles above the mouth of the river, where the enemy had erected a battery. An engagement ensued, lasting anl hour and a half.

While the gunboats eng-ged the battery, the troops, under Colonel Fitch, landed a short distance below, and proceeded to storm the place. He carried it at the point of the bayonet, and with small loss. The enemy lost one hundred and twentyfive killed and wounded. During the cannonading a ball entered the boiler of the Mound City, causing a fearful explosion and loss of life. The crew consisted of one hundred and seventy-five men, of whom nearly one hundred and twentyfive were killed or wounded. Colonel Fitch took possession of St. Charles, Ar kansas, which he continued to hold. On the 26th June, General U. S. Grant was appointed to the command of Western Tennessee, headquarters at Memphis. The season of active operations was now passed, and three new divisions of the army which had operated against Corinth were created. The Army of West Tennessee, under General Grant, was assigned to a line running along to the Memphis and Charleston Railroad from Corinth to Memphis, and along the line of the Mobile and Oljio Railroad in the direction of Kentucky, where General Quimby was now in command of a division of Kansas troops. General Sherman’s Division was be, tween Grand Junction and Memphis; and that of General Lew. Wallace was on the line of the Mississippi Central, between Grand Junction and Jackson. The Army of the Ohio, under Buell, occupied the Memphis and Charleston Railroad, from the Alabama line towards Chattanooga. General Pope, after remaining for some weeks in the neighborhood of Corinth, was summoned eastward, and on June 26th appointed to command the Army of Virginia, comprising the corps of Fremont, Banks, and McDowell. The enemy, meanwhile, showed no immediate disposition to move. On the 15th June, General Beauregard turned over his command, which was reported eighty thousand strong, at Okalona, to General Bragg. He reached Montgomery on the 17th, and repaired in person to Richmond.

General Kirby Smith was reported twenty thousand strong at Chattanooga.

General Price with fifteen thousand at Fulton, while Van Dorn held Granada, Missisffppi, with a small cavalry force. The enemy had carried out hig policy of destroying the cotton by fire. On the Mississippi, from Memphis to Vicksburg, a belt of country fifteen miles on each side had been stripped of its cotton. The banks of the White and Arkansas Rivers were aso devastated by the torch, and many thousand bales were burned.

After the continued excitement of the ninety days that preceded the fall of Corinth and Memphis, a season of quiiet, in a military sense, fell upon the Western Department. During the active season, the Army of the Mississippi certainly achieved great 318

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IIlSTORY OF tIHE GREAT 1REBELLION. things, and in nothing so well served the country as in furnishing victory after victory at a time when delay and disaster at the East would have plunged the people in gloom, atind iii permanently restoring Missouri, entucky, and Tennessee to the Union. The National arms, pushed into the Gulf States, had secured possession of all the great rivers and routes of internal communication through the heart of the Confederate territory, and the enemy’s strength was so shaken as to prevent any immediate renewal of the war in that quarter. At the same time, reverses overtook the operations at the East; and, after the disastrous restilt of the Peninsular campaign, President Lincoln, in view of the gleat military reputation enjoyed by Halleck, determined to summon him to WVashington, and give him the chief direction of the war.

Accordingly, the following order was issued: “ExECUTIVE MANSTON, July 11], 1862. “Ordered, That MajorGeneral HIenry W. Halleck be assigned to the command of the whole land forces of the United States as generalin-chief, and that he repair to this capital as soon as he can with safety to the position and operations within the department now under his special charge. ” ABRAHAM LINCOLN.” In accordance with this order, General Halleck, on the 16th July, took leave of the Western armies, and proceeded immediately to Washington. CHAPTER XXVIII. Operations of the Army of Virginia under General Pope.-New Policy of Conducting the War.4 Cedar Mountain.-Line of the Rappahannock.-Flanking Movement of Stonewall Jackson. Second Battle of Bull Itun.-Chantilly.-Death of Kearny.

Evacuation of the Peninsula. Urox assuming command of the Army of Virginia, General Pope found that the three corps of which it was composed numbered less than forty thousand infantry and artillery, ard about five thousand cavalry, the latter being for the most part badly armed and mounted, and in poor condition for service. General Fremont, commanding the First Corps, upon learning that he was to be under the orders of Pope, was relieved at his own request, and succeeded by Sigel. At the close of June, Sigel’s and Banks’s Corps were in the Valley of the Shenandoah, between Winchester and Mliddletown, and McDowell’s occupied Fredericksburg and lnassas Junction, one division being at each place. The momentous engagements which ended in the retreat of McClellan to the James River were then in progress, and so largely had the rebels drawn upon their outlying forces to strengthen the army in Richmond, that no considerable body of the enemy was within a week’s march of any one of the above corps.

The object of placing them under the command of a single general was to increase their efficiency, and to prevent the embarrassments which were likely to arise from three separate armies, under as nimany commanders, at 319

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. tempting to act in concert. The experience of the recent brief but exciting Shenandoah campaign, had satisfied the President that in any similar future emergency it was indispensable that one head should control the military movements. As he had no disposition to do that himself, he called to his aid General Pope, then generally considered one of the most successful and capable of the Western generals.

Pope’s first care was to dispose his troops in such a manner as to cover Washington, to secure the safety of the Lower Shenandoah Valley, and, in accordance with the wishes of the Government, “to operate upon the enemy’s lines of communication in the direction of Goidonsville and Charlottesville, so as to draw off, if possible, a considerable force of the enemy from Richmond, and thus relieve the operations against that city of the Army of the Potomac.” These several objects he thought could b best effected by concentrating the greater part of his forces between Sperryville and Warrenton, east ofthe Blue Ridge, and about thirty-live mniles north of Gordonsville. From this position they could watch an army marching down the Valley, or approaching Washingtoni by the line of the Rappahannock, and would be prepared to strike with full strength at either; and they could also demonstrate against Gordonsville. The corps of Sigel and Banks were accordingly ordered thither fiom the valley, together with Ricketts’s DivNisioni of MIcDowell’s Corps from IManassas Junction; while Kinilgs Division of the same corps was suffered to remain at Fredericksburg to protect the crossing of the Rappahannock at that point, and the railroad running thence to Aquia Creek. Betore these dispositions were completed, occurred the seven days’ fighting before Richmond, the result of which was to interpose the rebe army directly between those of Pope and McClellan, and enable Lee, having interior lines, to strike at either of them in greatly superior numbers. The grave complications which this state of affairs seemed likely to produce, including possibly the capture of the Federal Capital, made it imperative, in the opinion of the President, that the Armies of Virginia and the Potomiac, though continuing distinct organizations, under their present commanders, should be controlled by an officer of higher authority than either of them.

Otherwise, there was no certainty of insuring harmonious cooperation between the two armies, and without such cooperation the Union cause would be greatly imperilled. For this reason, General Halleck was called to Washington, and placed in general command. Pending his arrival, and the military policy which should then be determined upon, General Pope occupied himself with reorganizing his forces, the cavalry of which was generally i poor condition, and with supplying them with the material necessary for active operations in the field. After two weeks spent in this manner, and in thoroughly acquainting himself with the country in which hlie was to operate, he issued the following address to his troops:  “WASHIINGTON, Monday, July 14. “To the Offcers and Soldiers of the Army of Virginia: “By special assignment of the President of the United States, I have assumed oommnand of this army. 320

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HISTORY OF H GREAT REBELLION. “I have spent two weeks in learning your whereabouts, your condition, and your wants; in preparing you for active operations, and in placing you in positions from which you can act promptly and to the purpose. “I have come to you from the West, where we have always seen the backs of our enemies-from an army whose business it has been to seek the adversary, and to beat him when found whose policy has been attack, and not defence. “In but one instance has the enemy been able to place our Western armies in a defensive attitude. “I presume that I have been called here to pursue the same system, and to lead you against the enemy. “It is my purpose to do so, and that speedily. “I am sure you long for an opportunity to win the distinction you are capable of achieving-that opportunity I shall endeavor to give you. “Meantime I desire you to dismiss from your minds certain phrases which I am sorry to find much in vogue amongst you. “I hear constantly of taking strong positions and holding them-of lines of retreatand of bases of supplies.

Let us discard such ideas. “The strongest position a soldier should desire to occupy is one from which he can most easily advance against the enemy.

“Let us study the probable lines of retreat of our opponents, and leave our own to take care of themselves. “Let us look before us, and not behind. “Success and glory are in the advance. “Disaster and shame lurk in the rear. “Let us act on this understanding, and it is safe to predict that your banners shall be inscribed with many a glorious deed, and that your names will be dear to your countrymen forever. ” JOHN POPE, “MajorGeneral Comv77anding.? Although the style of this address was not altogether in good taste, and the tone of it somewhat over-confident, it was accepted by the loyal people throughout the country as an indication that the newly appointed commander was prepared to push the war vigorously. In this opinion they were strengthened by the promulgation of several additional orders, showing that General Pope designed to,et in a somewhat different spirit from his predecessors in the East. IHlitherto the war had been conducted there on the principle that, by refraining from the exercise of the harsher measures to which generals in the field are entitled to resort, the rebels could be won over to their allegiance.

Great tenderness was accordingly manifested for every species of rebel property, as also for the personal rights and privileges of the inhabitants, however bitter might be their hostility, of the territory through which the Union armies passed. No perceptible benefit, it is true, had as yet resulted from this lenity, but the policy was persevered in as if there could be no doubt of its propriety. General Pope, however, with the approval of the War apartment, soon came to the conclusion. that if the war was to beconducted at all, it should be carried on with every means adapted to hasten its termination and restore the supremacy of the General Government. The rebels laughed at the “rosewater” policy, as it was called, Which sought to smooth their pathway back into the Union, and more resolutely than ever announced their intention to secure the independence of the Confederacy. Hence it became evident to reflective men that the hardships of war must be brought directly to the door of the enemy, if the latter were to be brought. 21 32-1 (Signed)

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT’REBELLION. to their senses; and this conclusion was arrived at in no spirit of wanton malice or revenge, but with the single object of crushing the rebellion, and thereby restoring the Union of the States. The first of the orders alluded to had reference to the question of subsistence, and consequently had an important bearing on the celerity of the army’s movements. I t w as a s follows: GENERAL ORDERS-NO. 5

“HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF VIRGINIA, “WASHINGTON, July 18, 1862. “Hereafter, as far as practicable, the troops of this command will subsist upon the country in which their operations are carried on. In all cases, supplies for this purpose will be taken by the officers to whose department they properly belong, under the orders of the commanding officer of the troops for whose use they are intended. Vouchers will be given to the owners, stating on their face that they will be payable at the conclusion of the war, upon sufficient testimony being furnished that such owners have been loyal citizens of the United States since the date of the vouchers Whenever it is known that supplies can be furnished in any district of the country where the troops are to operate, the use of trains for carrying subsistence will be dispensed with as far as possible. “By command of MajorGeneral Pope. ” GEORGE D. RUGGLES, “Col., A. A.-G., and Chief of Staff.” By another order, issued on July 20th, “the people of the Valley o f the Shenandoah and throughout the region of the operations of the army, living along the lines of railroad and telegraph, and along the routes of travel in the rear of the United States forces, are notified that they will be held responsible for any injury done to the track, line, or road: or for any attacks upon trains or straggling soldiers by bands of guerrillas in their neighborhood.” In such cases the citizens were to repair the damages. Any house from which a soldier should be fired upon was ordered to be razed to the ground, and the inhabitants sent prisoners to headquarters. Persons detected in such outrages were to be shot without awaiting civil process. These measures, severe as they may seem, were rendered necessary by the acts of the Valley population. Farmers by day, with protections in their pockets, showing that they had taken the oath of allegiance to the Federal Government, these men at night sallied forth as guerrillas, irregular horse. men, or spies, and plundered, burned, or murdered, as the opportunity offered. It was the purpose of General Pope to intimidate this class into good behavior, and had his orders been rigidly enforced, or had similar orders been enforced wherever guerrillas or marauders oper ated, there would have b~en fewer outrages of the kind aimed at to complain of. Another order was to the following effect: GENERAL ORDERS-NO. 11. % ” HEADQUARTE RS ARMY OF VIRGIN-, 1

“WASHINGTON,, July? 23, 1863. Commanders of Army Corps, Divisions, Brigades, and detached commands, will pro. ceed immediately to arrest A1
disloyal male citizens within their lines,,pr within their each. in rear of their respective stations. a Such as are willing to take the oath of allegiance to the United States, and will 322

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HISTORY OF TH 1E GREAT R]BELLION. furnisli sufficient security for its observance, shall be permitted to remain at their homes, and pursue, in good faith, their accustomed avocations. “Those who refuse shall he conducted South, beyond the extreme pickets of this army, and be notified that if found again anywhere within our lines, or at any point in rear, they will be considered spies, and subjected to the extreme rigor of military law. If any person, having taken the oath of allegiance, as above specified, be found to have violated it, h6 shall be shot, and his property seized and applied to the public use. “All communication with any persons whatever, living within the lines of the eaem is positively prohibited, except through the military authorities, and in the manner specified by military law; and any person concerned in writing or m carrying letters “By command of MajorGeneral Pope. “GEORGE D. RUGGLES, “Col. A. A.- G., and Chief of Sta”ff. In consequence of a misinterpretation of the first of the above orders, or of wilful abuses of its provisions, General Pope subsequently issued the following supplementary order: “HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF VIRGINIA, “NEAR CEDAR

MOUNTAIN, August 14, 1Sd2. “GENERAL ORDER-NO. 19. “The Major-GCTeneral Commanding discovers with great dissatisfaction that Genera Order No. 5, requiring that the troops of this command be subsisted on the countryin which their operations are conducted, has either been entirely misinterpreted or grossly abused, by many of the officers and soldiers of this command. It is to be distinctly understood that neither officer nor soldier has any right whatever, under the provisions of that order, to enter the house, molest the person, or disturb the property of any citizen whatsoever. ” WThenever it is necessary or convenient for the subsistence of the troops, provisions, forage, and such other articles as may be required, will be taken possession of and used, but every seizure must be made solely by the order of the commanding officer of the troops there present, and by the officer of the department through wlllch tlh issues are made. Any officer or soldier who shall be found to have entered the hlouse or molested the property of any citizen will be severely punished.

Such acts of pillage and outrage are disgraceful to the army, and have neither been contemplated nor authorized by any officer whatsoever. The perpetrators of them, whether officers or soldiers, will be visited with a punishment which they will have reason to remember; and any officer or soldier absent from the limits of his camp, found in any house whatever, without a written pass from his division or brigade commander, will be considered a pillager, and treated accordingly. “Army corps commanders will immediately establish mounted patrols under charge of commissioned officers, which shall scour the whole country for five miles around their camps at least once a day, and at different hours, to bring into their respective commands all persons absent without proper authority, or who are engaged in any interruption of citizens living in the country; and commanding officers of regiments or smaller separate commands will be held responsible that neither officers nor men shall be absent from camp without proper authority. “By command of MajorGeneral Pope. “R. 0.

SEFRIDGE, A. A.- G.” On the following day, Aufgust 15th, General Halleck issued from Washington a general order, stating that the oath of allegiance shall be administered to?to persoi against his will, and “no compulsory parole of honor be received.” The order also called attention to the articles of war, which punishea with death pillage or plundering, “either in our own or enemy’s territories.” Any private who leaves the ranks to enter a private hquse will be punished with death, and his officers held responsible. General Casey, at Washington, in command of provisional brigades, also issued an order denouncing for punishment 328

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HISTORY OF THlE GREAT REBELLION. whoever shall commit any waste or spoil upon property, or any acts of violence towards unarmed women or children.

Meanwhile, previous to the arrival of General HIalleck, cavalry expeditions were sent out by General King firom Fredericksburg to break up at various points the Virginia Central Railroad between Gordons ville and Hanover Junction. These were generally successful, and undoubtedly retarded the forward movement of the enemy in August towards the Rapidan.

On July 14th, Culpepper CourtHouse was occupied, but an expedition undertaken by General Hatch to gain possession of Gordonsville failed, and in consequence that officer, by command of General Pope, was superseded in command of the cavalry by General Buford. In the latter part of July, General Halleck arrived in Washington, and on the 26th visited the headquarters of the Army of the Potomac, at Harrison’s Landing. After much deliberation, the General-inChief decided that the army could be extricated from its false position in no other way than by withdrawing it from the Peninsula, and posting it once more in front of Washington, either to unite or co-operate with the Army of Virginia. Such union, indeed, was considered essential to the safety of the capital, and to the further successful prosecution of the operations against Richmond. It was therefore arranged that McClellan should retire down the Peninsula to Fortress Monroe, and that, for the purpose of covering this movement, Pope should demonstrate boldly towards and beyond the Rapidan, as if about to commence an aggressive campaign against Richmond. From Fortress Mlonroe the Army of the Potomac was to proceed with all possible expedition by water, either to Aquia Creek or to Alexandria, and thence march to form the junction with Pope. Should the enemy move with rapidity and in large force upon the Iatter, he was directed to delay their advance by every means in his power, so as to gain time for the arrival of the troops from the James. On the 29th of July, Pope left Washington and repaired to the headquarters of General Banks, in the neighborhood of Sperryville, where, as has been previously stated, the great body of his troops were encamped.

After some days spent in preparation, the army was, on August 7th and 8th, pushed forward on the road to Culpepper CourtHouse-the cavalry, under Generals Buford and Bayard, being distributed along the front towards the Rapidan, to cover the advance. This was the commencement of the movement which was to enable MIcClellan to retire unmolested from his position at Harrison’s Landing; and according to the orders of General Hlalleck, he ought now to have been on the marh. Pope’s available force, after deducting the division of Kidg at Fredericksburg-and troops left at Winchester, Front Royal, and other places-amounted to twentyeight thou.

sand infantry and artillery, and about five thousand cavalry. As early as the middle of July, the movements of Pope’s forces had induced Lee to send Stonewall Jackson, with his own corps and Ewell’s Division, to vatch the line of the Rapidan, and when Pope moved to Culpepper CourtHouse the enemy were at Gordonsville in full strength On August 7th, Jackson, learning that Pope’s advance 324 11 14

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HIISTORY OF TIHE GREAT REBELLION. was at the former place, marched rapidly thither with his whole force, with the expectation of cutting off the Federals before thi arrival of their main body. On the 8th, Pope was notified by Gen eral Bayard that the enemy had crossed the Rapidan, and were pushing for Culpepper CourtHouse. Accordingly, to support Bay ard, Crawford’s Brigade of Banks’s Corps was hurried forward, and Banks himself ordered to move up to Cedar Mountain, a wooded eminence of a sugar-loaf shape, about midway between Culpepper CourtHouse and the Rapidan, and join Crawford. On the morning of the 9th, Banks drew up his corps, consisting of less than eight thousand men, about a mile to the north of Cedar Mountain, along the slopes of which the enemy were stationed under cover of the woods. Three miles to the rear of Banks, on the road to Culpepper CourtHouse, was Rieketts’s Division of McDowell’s Corps, ready to support Banks, or to check an advance of the enemy from Madison CourtHouse, where they were reported by Buford to be concentrated in heavy force. Pope himself was at Culpepper, where, according to his orders, Sigel should have been on the 8th, although lie did not arrive until the next evening. At daylight on the 9th, it was discovered that the enemy hael advanced as far as Cedar Mountain, holding its wooded sides and cleared slopes. Only a small portion of their strength, however, was visible. They also held a range of elevations and ravines westward of the mountain. An elevated spot, a mile distant from the moin tain, and a mile long east and west, was selected by General Banks as the best place to receive their attack. At three o’clock in the afternoon, a battery on our front, at a mile and a half range, opened on us, awd the rebel infantry drove in our pickets in the woods on our right wing. Afterwards, battery after battery was unmasked on the mountain slopes and on every hill, making a crescent of batteries of nearly three miles, commanding our position for two hours. Our batteries were exposed to cross-fires and flank-fires at every point. The rebels evidently outnumbered us in guns and weight of metal. We replied shot for shot till five o’clock, when the rebels opened an enfilade battery on our right. General Banks here gave orders to cease firing and charge this battery. The duty was assigned to Crawford’s Brigade, of Williams’s Division, and the Forty-sixth Pennsylvania Regiment led the charge. Behind the battery was a thicket of shrub oak, and before the men could reach the rebel guns they were mowed down by a terrific fire firom the thicket. The rest of the brigade was quickl brought up, and subsequently Williams’s and Augur’s commands, but the rebels were found at every point. Finding that he was confronting an enemy numerically much superior, whl)o had also the advantage of position, and that’his own losses had been heavy, General Banks gradually fell back, between six and seven r. 3r., to meet the supports under Pope, which were close at hand. The latter general at once ordered Ricketts to the front, where the Federal artillery played with such effect upon the rebel infantry, who had ventured forth from their woodyvcover to follow up Banks, as to drive them back, in confusion and with considerable loss, to their original position 32,5 q “, -

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HISTORY OF THE OREAT REBELLION. on the mountain. Artillery firing continued on both sides until midnight, and the ground on which the battle had been fought was commanded by the guns of both armies, but occupied by neither of them. No fighting took place on the 10th, which was spent by both armies in burying their dead, and during the night of the 11th Jackson retired across the Rapidan in the direction of Orange CourtHouse.

The Union loss in this drawn battle was about eighteen hundred in killed, wounded, and missing; in addition to which, about one thousand men straggled back beyond Culpepper CourtHouse, and never entirely returned to their commands. General Banks was injured by being thrown from his horse in consequence of a collision with a runaway horse. Generals Augur, Geary, and Carroll were severely wounded, and General Prince was taken prisoner. The enemy’s loss was about equal, and included Generals Winder and Trimble killed. A strong cavalry force, under Buford and Bayard, was immediately pushed forward by Pope towards the Rapidan, and captured many stragglers. On the 13th, Pope’s forces advanced towards Orange, and Buford, returning from the pursuit, reported the enemy four miles back of the Rapidan, his main force at Gordonsville, holding the Central Railroad from Louisville to Charlotteville. The Union forces were advanced to the Rapidan, on a line sufficiently broad to observe and check any offensive move of the enemy, and yet with the division so posted as to be capable of immediate concentration. Head-ouarters were at Cedar MIountain. It now became evident to Pope that the enemy in his front were unnecessarily strong for purposes of reconnoitring merely, and suspecting that Jackson’s force constituted the advance-guard of Lee’s entire arty, which would soon be upon him, he made haste to call in all available troops. On August 11th, King joined him from Fredericksburg, followed on the 14th by General Reno, with eight thousand men of the forces which had arrived at that place under Burnside. The latter general had been ordered from North Carolina to support MIcClellan, but his troops halted at Fortress Monroe until it was decided what should be done with the Army of the Potomac, after which they at once embarked for Aquia Creek. The movement of the Army of the Potomac was unaccountably slow, considering that the order for its withdrawal fiom the Peninsula was given by ilalleck on August 3d, and it was not until the 14th of the month that the advance, comprising the corps of Fitz-John Porter, started from Harrison’s Landing for Yorktown.

The whole movement was detected by Lee, even before the departure of Porter, as appeared fiom an autograph letter from him to General Start, dated Gordonsville, August 15, which was captured by aocavarly expedition sent out towards Louisa CourtHouse on the 16th. This document made manifest to Popl)e the intention of the rebel general to overwhelm the Army of Virgiiiia before it could be reenforced by ai)n portion of the Army of the l’otomac, and warned the former to concentrate and fall back upon some less advanced line. On the 18th, Lee effected a junction with Jackson, and oli the succeeding day the united rebel army moved towards the Rapidan, Jackson keeping well to the left, with a view of flanking Pope. This 326

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IISTORY OF TIHE GREAT REBELLION. the latter had already anticipated by withdrawing behind the Rappa hannock, where, on the afternoon of the 19th, the whole Union army was concentrated, the left being a tKelly’s Ford, and the right three miles above Rappahannock Station. During the 20th, 21st, and 22d, heavy skirmishing ensued along the banks of the Rappahannock, and the enemy made many fruitless attempts to cross. Finding this impracticable, they began to move up the right bank of the river, as if for the purpose of turning the Union right. “My orders,” says General Pope in his official report, “required me to keep myself closely in communication with Fredericksburg, to which point the Army of the Potomac was being brought from the Peninsula, with the purpose of reenforcing me from that place by the line of the Rappahannock. My force was too small to enable me to extend my right further, without so weakening my line as to render it easy for the enemy to break through it at any point. I telegraphed again and again to Washington, representing this movement of the enemy towards my right, and the impossibility of my being able to extend my lines so as to resist it without abindoning my connections with Fredericksburg. I was assured on the 21st, that if I would hold the line of the river two days longer, I should be so strongly reenforced as not only to be secure, but to be able to resume offensive operations; but on the 25th of August, the only f)orces that had joined me, or were in the neighborhood, were two thousand five hundred men of the Pennsylvania Reserves, under BrigadierGeneral Reynolds, who had arrived at Kelly’s Ford, and the division of General Kearny, four thousand five hundred strong, which had reached Warrenton Junction.” On the 22d, the flanking movement of the enemy became so apparent that Pope massed his forces near Rappahannock Station, where the Orange and Alexandria Railroad crosses the river, with the object of suddenly passing to the opposite shore, and falling upon the rear and flank of the rebel army. So large was the force of the enemy confronting him, that unless this movement should prove successful, he decided that he must fall back from the line of the Rappahannock, notwithstanding Halleck’s instructions to him to “stand firm” on that line, to “dispute every inch of ground, and fight like the devil.” But during the night of the 22d a heavy rain set in, carrying away all the bridges of the Rappahannock, and rendering the river unfordable for a day or two. Advantage was taken of this circumstance to drive across the river at Sulphur Springs, on the extreme Union right, a body of the enemy who had effected a passage there on the 22d. During the 23d and 24th, th* enemy continued to push up along the right bank of the stream, their centre being at or near Sulphur Springs; and on the latter day a large body of them were seen to move off to the west of the Bull Run Mountains, in a northerly direction. These troops, as it subsequently appeared, composed the rebel left wing under Jackson, whose mission was to pass through Thoroughfare Gap, occupy Manassas Junction, in the Federal rear, and cut Pope’s communications with Washington, the main rebel force under Lee meanwhile occupying the attention of Pope at the front, and 3 2

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION being prepared to follow rapidly to the support of Jackson at the proper time. By the night of the 25th it became apparent to Pope that he could no longer keep open his communications with Fredericksburg, and also oppose the crossing of the Rappahannock, without leaving open to the enemy the route through Thoroughfare Gap, and all other roads north of the Orange and Alexandria Railroad. He, therefore, moved his whole force to the neighborhood of Warrenton and Aarrenton Junction, and requested that Franklin, who ought by this time to have arrived at Alexandria, might be sent at once to Gainesville, near Thoroughfare Gap, to watch the flanking column of Jackson, and that a division should be stationed at Manassas. These dispositions he supposed would effectually guard his rear; and not doubting that they would be carried into effect, he felt little uneasiness respecting the movement towards Thoroughfare Gap. His immediate command was at this time strengthened by the arrival of Fitz-John Porter’s Corps and the remainder of Heintzelman’s Corps. Meanwhile Jackson pressed rapidly forward during the 24th and 25th, and on the 26th passed safely through Thoroughfare Gap.

The expected Federal reenforcements had not reached Gainesville or Manassas, and the march of the rebel column was unopposed. On the same day his cavalry, under Colonel Fitz-Hugh Lee, surprised the small Union force at Manassas, capturing a battery and a considerable quantity of stores, and taking possession of the defensive works erected there. On the succeeding day a brigade of New Jersey troops, under General Taylor, coming up by rail from Alexandria to Manassas, to reenforce the garrison, and unsuspicious of the presence of the enemy there in force, were driven back in confusion upon Centreville. On the evening of the 26th the advance of Jackson’s force cut the Orange,nd Alexandria Railroad at Kettle Run, about six miles west of MIanassas, thus interrupting Pope’s communication with Washington, and establishing a hostile force directly in his rear.

Upon ascertaining the success of Jackson”s movement, Pope mlade immediate arrangements to throw his whole force towards Gainesville and Manassas, and crush the flanking column before the arrival of the main rebel army, which was pushing on to Thoroughfare Gap by the same route which Jackson had taken, with a view of uniting with him somewhere east of the Bull Run Mountains. hIaving a shorter line than Lee to traverse, he ought by all the chances of war to have overwhelmed that part of the rebel army which had passed through the Gap; and, if the repeated announcements from Washing,ton, that large reenforcements fiog the rapidly arriving army of McClellan were on their march to the front, could be depended uponl, the prospect of the destruction of Jackson’s Corps seemed reduced to an absolute certainty. The army which had held the line of the Rappahannock was for the mo4 part worn out by nearly nine days of constant skirmishingcr and marching in the face of a vigilant enemy, who outnumbered it three or four to one, and had also becomie greatly reduced by sickness and-the casualties of war. The corps of I-leintzeLman and Porter, which had just arrived, were comparatively fresh 328

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HISTORY OF TIIE GREAT REBELLION. troops, but they had come forward without wagons or artillery, and even without horses for the general officers and their staffs, and with but forty rounds of ammunition to the man. The cavalry on paper numbered about four thousand, but according to General Pope there were not present for duty five hundred effective horses. The infantry and artillery were estimated as follows: Sigel’s Corps…………………………………….. 9,000 Banks’s Corps……………………………………. 5,000 ,fcDowell’s Corps, including Reynolds’s Division………….. 15,500 Reno’s Corps……………………………………… 7,000 Heintzelman’s and Porter’s Corps……………………… 18,000

Total………………………………… 54,500 On the morning of August 27th, the Union army marched north ward in three columns. McDowell, with his own and Sigel’s Corps and Reynolds’s Division, moved upon Gainesville to intercept any re enforcements coming to Jackson through Thoroughfare Gap. Reno, with his own corps and Kearny’s Division of Heintzelman’s Corps, moved forward to Greenwich to support McDowell, while Pope him self, with Hooker’s Division of Heintzelman’s Corps, marched along the railroad to Manassas Junction, leaving directions to Porter to remain with his corps at Warrenton Junction until relieved by Banks, after which he was to push forward to Gainesville. The trains moved in the rear of Hooker. These several movements were successfully accomplished on the evening of the same day, the only fighting being between Hooker’s Division and Jackson’s advance under Ewell at Kettle Run, near Bristow Station, where the enemy were driven back upon the railroad with some loss. So rapid had been the advance of Pope’s army that Jackson now became seriously alarmed for his communications,,which were for the time being completely severed. He therefore at an early hour on the 28th evacuated Manassas Junction and retired across Bull Run to Centreville. Orders had been sent by Pope to lIcDowell and Reno to march directly eastward along the 3Ianassas Gap Railroad soon after midnight on the 28th, having their left thiown out well to the east. This would have forced Jackson to march southward along the Orange and Alexandria Railroad, overwhelm Pope at Bristow, and make for the Rappahannock to guard ag(ainst the anticipated attack. Should the rebel general undertake this movement, Pope had ordered up Porter’s Corps from Warrenton Junction. Thie combinations, however, failed. Sigel, who had the advance of’IcDowell’s column, never moved from Gainesville until eight o’clock on the morning of the 28thl, nor did Porter reach Bristow until near noon.of that day. In consequence, Jackson was enabled to escape unopposed in the direction of Centreville, his troops moving away comparatively at theirleisure during all the morning of the 28th. Upon perceiving the miscarriage of his plans, Pope about noon ordered Reno, Kearny, and Hooker to follow Jackson, and McDowell’s command, then’ on the way to MIanassas, to march for Centreville. Porter was at the same time directed to come for 329

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HSTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. ward to Manassas Junction. The two first orders were promptly obeyed, and the enemy, driven out of Centreville by Kearny, and retreating along the Warrenton turnpike towards Gainesville and Thoroughfare Gap, came about six P. M. upon the division of King, forming MicDowell’s advance, marching eastward to inters ceptthem. A sharp combat ensued, which terminated at nightfall, without material advantage to either side, and both armies bivouacked in the immediate neighborhood of the battlefield. Pope now felt sure that there was no escape for Jackson, and his forces were ordered to be so disposed on the night of the 28th, that twentyfive thousand men, under McDowell, Sigel, and Reynolds, should attack him early on the next day from the south and west, while an equal number, comprising the corps of Heintzelman, Porter, and Reno, were to fall upon him from the east. As Lee, with the main rebel army, was rapidly pushing on to Thoroughfare Gap to support Jackson, celerity of movement and implicit obedience to Instructions were absolutely necessary to insure the success of the Union arms. Unfortunately, however, during the night, King’s Division fell back towards MHanassas Junction, where Porter’s Coi’ps had recently arrived, and thus left the road to Gainesville and Thoroughfare Gap open to Jackson. This rendered necessary new dispositions of the troops. Accordingly, about daylight on the 29th, Heintzelman and Reno were ordered to push forward from Centreville towards Gainesville, establish communication with Sigel, who was near Groveton, and attack Jackson with energy, while McDowell and Porter moved upon him from the west and south. Sigel attacked the enemy at daylight, and Heintzelman’s two divisions coming up soon after, Jackson fell back several miles, and about noon took up a new position, having his left in the neighborhood of Ludley Spring, and his right a little south of the Warrenton turnpike. Upon arriving on the field at noon, Pope, seeing that Jackson was hard pushed by that portion of the Uriion army which had come into action, sent urgent orders to McDowell and Porter to advance rapidly on the left, and turn the rebel right flank. According to the calculation of General Pope, they ought to reach their new positions towards the close of the afternoon, and pending their arrival, the tired troops of Sigel, Heintzelman, and Reno were allowed a few hours’ rest. Soon after two P. M.

news arrived that IMcDowell would be on the field in a couple of hours, and at halfpast four peremptory orders were sent to Porter to push forward on the enemy’s right and turn his rear. Supposing that these orders would be fulfilled, Pope soon after five P. M. directed Heintzelman and Reno to recommence the attack. *It was made with great energy, Grover’s Brigade of Hooke;‘s Division distinguishing itself by a determined bayonet charge, which broke through two of Jackson’s lines. The latter again fell back, leaving the battlefield and his dead and wounded in the hands of the Federaltroops, and at sunset McDowell’s troops came into action along the Warrenton turnpike. By this time, however, the troops of Lee had begun to arrinve on the field, their progress through Thoroughfare’ Gap having been ineffectually opposed by Ricketts’s Division of McDowell’s Corps, left there for the purpose of 330

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HISTORY OF T’E’ GREAT REBELLION. delaying their march. The rebel advance under Longstreet offered such a determined resistance to the Union left wing, that the night fell on a drawn battle on that portion of the field, the National arms having been decidedly triumphant on the right. During all this time the corps of Fitz-John Porter, which Pope had repeatedly ordered to assail the rebel right, had remained inactive at Manassas Junction, within sight and sound of the battle. During the whole afternoon Porter had seen the troops of Longstreet hurrying forward to the assistance of Jackson’s hard-pressed army, and yet made no effort to check their movement. His excuse, that he encountered the enemy in flank in the direction of Gainesville and was compelled to fall back towards Manassas, was declared by Pope to be groundless. “I believed then, as I am very sure now,” says the latter general in his official report, “that it was easily practicable for him to have turtned the right flank of Jackson, and to have fallen upon his rear; that if ke had done so, we should have gained a decided victory over the army under Jackson before he could have been joined by any of the forces of Longstreet, and that the army of General Lee would have been so crippled and checked by the destruction of this large force, as to have been no longer in condition to prosecute further operations of an aggressive character.” Notwithstanding the failure of Porter to overwhelm Jackson’s right wing, and the successful junction of Longstreet with the latter general, the advantage of the day’s battle, fought on the old Bull Run fields, was so clearly with the National forces, that after the cessation of firing Pope sent the following dispatch to Washington: ” HEADQUARTERS, FIELD OF BATTLE, “GROVETON, NEAR

GAINESVILLE, AuguSt 30, 1862. To MajorGeneral HALLECK, Generalin-Chief, Washington, D. C.: “We fought a terrific battle here yesterday with the combined forces of the enemy, which lasted with continuous fury from daylight until after dark, by which time the enemy was driven from the field, which we now occupy. “Our troops are too muh exhausted to push matters, but shall do so in the course of the morning, as soon as Fitz-John Porter’s Corps come up from Manassas. “The enemy is still in our front, but badly used up. “Wre have lost not less than eight thousand men, killed and wounded, and from the appearance of the field the enemy have lost at least two to our one. Ile stood strictly on the defensive, and every assault was made by ourselves. “Our troops have behaved splendidly.

“The battle was fought on the identical battlefield of Bull Run, which greatly increased the enthusiasm of our men. “The news just reaches me from the front that the enemy is retreating towards the mountains. I go forward at once to see. “We have made great captures, it I am not able yet to form an idea of their extent. “JOHN POPE, MajorGeneral Commnanding.?I The Union losses in the battle -of the 29th were not less than six to eight thousand, and those of,the enemy probably considerably exceeded those numbers. In fact, so greatly were the latter shattered by the severe fighting, that during the night of the 29th, and up to ten o’clock on the morning of the 30th, every indication seemed to point to their retreat from the front. Their left wing receded in the 331

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. night along the Warrenton turnpike in the direction of Gainesville, to meet the remainder of the supports under Lee, which continued during the morning to pour through Thoroughfare Gap in great numbers. Every hour added immensely to the strength of the rebels, while Pope’s army had been not only greatly reduced by the incessant labors of the previous ten days, but had received no further reenforcements from the Army of the Potomac since the arrival of Porter’s Corps, notwithstanding repeated assurances that Franklin’s and Sumner’s Corps should be hurried forward without delay. On the morning of the 30th, Pope estimated his available force on the field at only forty thousand men, to whom were opposed an army of more than double that strength. In addition to their paucity of numbers, these troops were actually suffering for subsistence, and artillery and cavalry horses had been continuously in harness or saddled for ten days, and for two days had been without forage.

As hour after hour passed on, and no succor arrived to the exhausted Army of Virginia, Pope repeatedly telegraphed for rations, forage, and ammunition The following dispatch, received at daylight of the 30th, showed him how little prospect there was that his request would be complied with: ” August 29, 1862-8 P. M. ” b Commanding Officer at Centreville: “I have been instructed by General McClellan to inform you that he will have all the available wagons at Alexandria loaded with rations for your troops, and all of the cars, also, as soon as you will send in a cavalry escort to Alexandria as a guard to the train. “

Respectfully, W. B. FRANKLIN, “MajorGeneral Commanding Sixth Carps.”

“Such a letter,” says General Pope, “when we were fighting the enemy, and Alexandria was swarming with troops, needs no comment. Bad as was the condition of our cavalry, I was in no situation to spare troops from the front, nor could they have gone to Alexandria and returned within the time by which we must have had provisions, or have fallen back in the direction of Washington. Nor do I yet see what service cavalry could have rendered in guarding railroad trains.” Though discouraged by this message, and convinced that he could look for no kind of assistance from McClellan, Pope set resolutely to work to make the best fight he could with the means at his disposal. It was his object to cripple Lee, if possible, before the whole rebel army could arrive on the field; and he therefore advanced to the attack on the 30th, as rapidly as he could bring his forces into action. Between twelve and two o’clock, both wings of the Union army were pushed forward; but it’becoming evident that Lee was massing his troops as fast as they arrived on the field for an assault on the Federal left, Pope hastened to strengthen that part of his line. At about four P. x. the battle became general, and immense masses of troops were precipitated against the Union left, held by McDowell, Porter, and Sigel, who, in spite of fatigue and overwhelming numbers, offered a stubborn resistance. At the same time, the enemy were in such force in front of Heintzelman and Reno, on the centre and right, 3a3

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HISTORY OF THEE GREAT REBELLION. that no reenforcements could be sent to the left until late in the afternoon, when Reno’s Corps was thrown into action in that direction. By this time, the left, succumbing to the press of numbers, had fallen back more than half a mile, though still retaining its formation, and darkness fell upon the Union army, worsted in a most unequal encounter, but not routed or even broken. The right had not lost one inch of ground during the day. Before the close of the battle, Pope received intelligence that Franklin’s Corps, which, against the express orders of General Halleck, had been detained several days at Alexandria on various frivolous pretexts, was in the neighborhood of Centreville, followed at an interval of four miles by the corps of Sumner; but as his troops who had engaged in the battle of the 30th, were too exhausted to immediately renew the action, he decided to waive the advantage which this fresh accession of strength would give him, and fall back across Bull Run to the heights of Centreville, the defensive-works of which were readily available for a stand against the enemy, and would enable him to cover WVashington. Accordingly, between eight o’clock and midnight, the Union army retired leisurely and in good order to its new position, the enemy making no effort to pursue his advantage; and, on the morning of the 31st, was concentrated in and around Centreville, with outlying bodies to Chantilly, and on the road to Fairfax CourtHouse. During the 31st the army rested, and some supplies and ammunition were received Oni September 1st, the strength of the united Armies of Virginia and the Potomac, including the corps of Franklin and Sumner, and that of Banks, which had just arrived from Bristow Station, where it had been guarding the trains, was reported by the commanding officers at less than sixty thousand men.

As this force seemed to General Pope too small for offensive purposes under the peculiar circumstances in which he was placed, he determined to remain for the present in a defensive attitude, and await the further movements of the enemy. WAhat the circumstances alluded to consisted of may be determined from the following dispatch, sent on September 1st to General Halleck: “CENTREVILLE, September 1-8.50 A. M. “MajorGeneral Halleck, Generalin- Chief: “All was quiet yesterday, and so far this morning. Mymenall resting. They need it much. Forage for our horses is being brought up. Our cavalry is completely broken down, so that there are not five horses to a company that can raise a trot. The consequence is, that I am forced to keep considerable infantry along the roads in my rear to make them secure, and even then it is difficult to keep the enemy’s cavalry off the roads. I shall attack again tomorrow if I can; the next day certainly. “I think it my duty to call your attention to the unsoldierly and dangerous conduct of many brigade and some division commanders of the forces sent here from the Peninsula. Every word and act and intention is discouraging, and calculated to break down the spirits of the men, and to produce disaster. - One commander of a corps, who was ordered to march front Manassas Junction to join me near Groveton, although he was only five miles distant, failed to get up at all, and, worse still, fell back to Manassas without a fight, and in plain hearing, at less than three miles distance, of a furious battle, which raged all day. It was only in consequence of peremptory orders that he joined me next day. One of his brigades, the brigadiergeneral of which professed to be looking for his division, absolutely remained all day at Centrelille, in plain view of the battle, and made no attempt to join. What renders the 334

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. whole matter worse, these are both officers of the regular army, who do not hold back from ignorance or fear.

Their constant talk, indulged in publicly and in promiscuous company, is, that’the Army of the Potomac will not fight,’ that they are demoralized by withdrawal from the Peninsula, &c. When such example is set by officers of high rank, the influence is very bad among those in subordinate stations.

“You have hardly an idea of the demoralization among officers of high rank in the Potomac Army, arising in all instances from personal feeling in relation to changes of commander-in-chief and others. These men are mere tools or parasites, but their example is producing, and must necessarily produce, very disastrous results. You should know these things, as you alone can stop it. Its source is beyond my reach, though its effects are very perceptible and very dangerous. I am endeavoring to do all I can, and will most assuredly put them where they shall fight or run away. My advice to you (I give it with freedom, as I know you will not misunderstand it) is, that in view of any satisfactory results, you draw back this army to the intrenchments m front of Washington, and set to work in that secure place to reorganize and rearrange it. You may avoid great disaster by doing so. I do not consider the matter except in a purely military light, and it is bad enough and great enough to make some action very necessary.

Where there is no heart in their leaders, and every disposition to hang back, much cannot be expected from the men. “Please hurry forward cavalry horses to me under strong escort. I need them badly; worse than I can tell you. (Signed) “JOIN POPE, Vajor-GeneraL ” A true copy: ” T. C. H.

SMIITHI, “Lieut.-Colonel and A. D). C.” As the enemy showed a disposition to work round to the north, as if for the purpose of turning the Union right, Pope fell slowly back towards Fairfax CourtHouse, keeping a strong force under Hooker, Reno, and McDowell, at Chantilly, which lies west of the former place. At sunset on the 1st, the rebels made a sudden attack at Chantilly, and a severe engagement, uninterrupted by a terrific thunder-storm, was maintained until dark, when the enemy was repulsed at all points, and left the field in the possession of the Federal troops.

The latter, however, paid dearly for this success by the loss of MIajor-General Kearny and BrigadierGeneral Stevens, two of the most loyal and accomplished officers in the army. On the morning of the 2d, Pope’s whole command was massed behind Difficult Creek, between Flint Hill and the Alexandria turnpike, whence, at noon, in accordance with orders from Halleck, they marched for W~ashington, within the defensive works of which they arrived in good order and without further loss, on the evening of the 3d. Immediately afterwards, Pope, at his own request, was relieved of his command. He at the same time preferred charges of insubordination and negligence against General Porter, on which the latter was subsequently tried, and, having been convicted, was cashiered. e When General MiIcCleHlan had fallen back before the enemy, on the first of July, and collected his broken columns under cover of the gunboats on James River, he believed himself to be in a very perilous posi tion. To retreat down the Penisula, he thought, in face of a powerful enemy, was a hazardous proceeding. To emibark the army, even if there had been sufficient transports, while the enemy commanded the opposite shore, was not a promising operation. The army of General Pope was not yet ready to threaten Richmond from the north, and all 335 I

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT. REBELLION. the resources of the enemy were available for any exigency. Under such circumstances, there was no resource but to remain at Hlarrison’s Landing, and, by seeming to threaten Richmond, keep the enemy employed until time was gained for a new combination. Sutch were the arguments he employed, and such the dangers he imagined, to excuse him for remaining week after week at his intrenched camp on the James, with no enemy of importance nearer than Richmond. The Government had, on the first of July, promptly called for three hundred thousand men, and this was followed by a demand of three hundred thousand more. Time was required, however, for the enrolling and equipping of these new troops. To abandon the Peninsula before they were ready, would have been to release the victorious army of Lee from Richmond, and let it rush forward upon the troops which were about to be combined under Pope, thus placing the National Capital in very great danger. By continuing to hold Harrison’s Landing, therefore, McClellan pleased himself with the idea that he had saved Washington, although he did it at an immense loss of life. The mortality firom the malaria of the swamps was frightful, and a stream of troops continually poured off into the hospitals of the Northern cities.

The troops of General Burnside, arriving from North Carolina, did not ascend the river to the camp of McClellan, but landed at Fortress Monroe, where they remained until August 1st, when they got the order to proceed to Aquia Creek, which they reached August 2d. The difficulty of extricating the army from the Peninsula first occupied( the attention of General Halleck, as we have seen, when he reached W’shington to assume command, July 22d. On the 24th he left Washington, in company with General Burnside, for McClellan’s headquarters, to consult on the position of the army. McClellan required fifty thousand fresh troops to make an advance, but Halleck assuring him there were but twenty thousand to spare, McClellan agreed to make the attempt with that number. It is worthy of note that the Army of the Potomac then numbered over one hundred thousand men fit for duty. General Halleck returned to Washington on the 27th, and received a telegram from McClellan that thirtyfive thousand men would )e required. This was more than could be spared in the judgment of General Halleck, and the evacuation was ordered on the 3’ of August, against the strong protestation of McClellan. It was apparent that without celerity of movement after starting, the enemy could crush Pope before McClellan could reach him; but to move a hundred thousand men with their material required time, and it was calculated that by commencing the movement early in August, the greater part of the army could be transferred to the Potomac before the middle of the month. Halleck, after his return to Washington, immediately conferred with the President and Secretary of War. General Pope, after a long conference, left for Warrenton to put his troops in motion, and at the same time, Burnside’stroops embarked from the Peninsula and landed at Aquia Creek. Meantime, on the 4th of August, Hooker’s and Sedgwick’s Diviisions, with four batteries, all under Hooker, moved forward to attack Malvern Hill. This was duly proclaimed as the new forward move 336

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HISTORY OF TE GREAT REBELLION. ment. The position was occupied by two of the enlemy’s regiments of infantry, which retired upon Richmond. The enemy imme diately began to concentrate his forces round Malvern Hill, where Hooker remained until Sunday, the 6th, when he fell back to the en campment, and Butterfield’s Brigade crossed to the south side of James River. But although the order for the withdrawal of the army had been issued at the beginning of the month, anid was peremptory, McClellan, setmiiigly unaware of the precious time he was wasting, instead of actively promoting the movement, began to expostulate against it. Finally, on the 10th of August, he received a dispatch, saying, “They are fighting General Pope to-day-there must be no further delay in your movements. That which has already occurred was unexpected, and must be satisfactorily explained.” To this he replied with excuses about a want of transportation, which, from the evidence given be fore the Committee on the Conduct of the War, do not appear to be altogether well founded.

Finally, on the 14th, Porter’s Corps marched for Yorktown, and by the 17th the position at Harrison’s Landing was reported to be entirely abandoned.

Between the 19th and 21st, the Corps of lHeintzelman and Porter were embarked, and, as we have seen, they ari,ived in tinge to render assistance to Pope’s army. Sum ner’s and Fi’anklin’s C(rps were several days later, and, after their arrival at Alexandria, were delayed so long on one pretext or another, that Pope became very near overwhelmed by the enemy. Had they been on the field as early as the 28th, or even the 29th, which, in the opinion of General Halleck, was perfectly practicable, what was substantially a reverse, mig(ht have been changed into a brilliant triumph for the Union arms, notwithstanding the bad feeling among the officers which Pope complained of in his dispatch of September 1st, above quoted. The corps of Keyes was left to garrison Williamsburg, Yorktown, and other points of the lower part of the Peninsula. General McClellan reached Fortress Monroe on the 19th. All day the roads were filling up with the immense fleet of transports, presenting, as it turned the point of Newport News, a grand though melancholy sight. Melancholy, because it filled the mind with the recollection of the great and profitless events and scenes since the Potomac Army, the grandest the continent ever beheld, landed there in the spring, and commenced its proud, confident, even defiant march up the Peninsula; because it brought to mind the bloody contests it had seen, the tens of thousands slain, the tens of thousands more wasted by disease; because it overwhelmed the mind with the contrast of what that army waswith its promises, its hopes, and the expectations reposed in it, And what it had become, what it had done, and what it had failed to do-returning with less than half its numbers, along the route by which it advanced, almost every mile of which was marked by unenumerted graves of fallen heroes. So ended the campaign of the Peninsula-so returned the Army of the Potomac! 21 1I, f, I”,’ I-i’ I ,,I -I

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. CIIAPTER XXIX. The Expedition of Burnside.-Capture of Newbern.-Beaufort Captured.-0perations on the Southern Coast. Siege of Fort Pulaski.-James Island. THE expedition of General Burnside to the coast of North Carolina, the successful landing of which was described in a previous chapter, was designed, in its inception, to have aided the movement upon Richmond, by approaching that point from the southeast, on the line of the Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad. After landing at Roanoke Island, and occupying the adjacent shores-Edenton and other points -preparations were made to extend the occupation of the North Carolina coast. The events on the Potomac resulting in the evacuation of Manassas, and the concentration of the enemy at Richmond, changed the aspect of affairs for Burnsidle, for whom fears were entertamed, as he proceeded northward. The Governor of North Carolina had ordered a draft of citizens, for the reenforcement of the Confederate army. The citizens of Tyrrel County, who were opposed to the draft, invited the occupation of Columbia, which is on the north side of Albemarle Sound, supposing that, if captured and paroled, they would be enabled to remain passive during the contest. Accordingly, General Foster, with two thousand men, left Roanoke Island for (‘o lumbia. Meantime, however, the order for draft had been countermanded, and when the expedition arrived, it found Columbia deserted, and the expedition returned to Roanoke Island on the following day. While this operation was being executed, preparations for the whole force to move upon Newbern, North Carolina, had been completed, and on the o10th of March, the same day on which Centreville was evacuated, the whole force sailed for Pamlico Sound. NeWbern is a flourishing city, on the Neuse River, at the confluence of the Trent, where the Neuse widens into a broad arm before discharging itself into Pamlico Sound. It is connected with Raleigh, ninety miles distant, by the North Carolina Railroad. The expedition at HIatteras was joined by the fleet, under Commodore Rowan, and the whole reached the Neuse on the 12th, when the fleet began shelling the point which had been selected for landing(. At thirty minutes after eleven the disembarkation was effected, and the troops began to ad vance, under Reno, without meeting the enemy. After a march cf four miles, the army encamped for the night, and at daybreak of the 14th resumed the forward movement in three columns, under Gener als Foster, Reno, and Parke. The advance under Reno-soon encountered the enemy, who held a line of intrenchments extending about a mile from the river at Fort Thompson, where it was protected by a battery of thirteen guns. The force of the enemy was eight regiments of infantry, five hundred cavalry, and eighteen guns, under BrigadierGeneral L. O. Branch. Foster’s Brigade was ordered up the main country road, to attack the 338

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HIIISTORY OF TtIE GREAT PEBELLION. enemy’s left; Reno up the railroad, to attack their right; and Gen eral Parke was directed to follow General Foster, and attack the enemy in front, with instructions to support either or both brigades. As General Foster’s Brigade advanced up the main road, the Twenty fourth Massachusetts was sent into the woods to the right of the road, and, opening a heavy fire on the enemy, commenced the action.

The Twentyseventh was sent to their left to support them, and news being received that the enemy were trying to outflank us on the right, the Twentyfifth was sent out to resist the movement. The Twenty third being moved to the front next in line of battle, opened fire upon the enemy, which was replied to by very heavy volleys, and a cannonade from a park of fieldpieces behind the breastwork. The Tenth Connecticut moved to the extreme right, where the ground was very marshy, and had a difficult position to hold. The line of battle was completed by Parke’s Brigade, which, followingc up the main road, was placed in line between the Tenth Connecticut and Twenty-first Massachusetts, the Fourth Rhode Island holding the right of line, the Eighth Connecticut the next place, the Fifth Rhode next, and the Eleventh Connecticut on the left. The guns of the enemy played upon this line with great effect, and the Twenty-first suffered so severely that Colonel Clark determined upon storming the battery in his front. The regiment leaped forward at the doublequick, and won the breastwork upon the railroad. The colors were immediately planted upon a frame house, and the sight of them threw the enemy’s gunners into panic, and they fled. The regiment now charged upon the gins, but were taken in flank by a reenforcement of the enemy, and escaped over the parapet. Meantime the Fourth Rhode Island had been ably sustaining its ground against a battery of five guns. They got the order to charge, went at the doublequick directly up to the b:attery, firing as they ran, and entered the right flank between a brick-yard and the end of the parapet.

When fairly inside, the colonel formed the right wing in line of battle, and at their head charged down upon the guns at doublequick, the left wing forming irregularly, and going as they could. AVith a steady line of cold steel, the Rhodle Islanders bore down upon the enemy, and, routing, them, captured the whole battery, with its twoo flags, and planted the stars and stripes upon the parapet. The Eighth Connecticut, Fifth Rhode Island, and Eleve-inth Connecticut coming up to their support, the rebels fled with precipitation, and left us in undisputed possession. General Reno finally ordered a charge, wlhich was led by the Fifty-first New York, up an acclivity over brushwood and abatis into the redan. The Fifty-firstePennsylvania, for a long time held in reserve, was ordered up to. participate in the decisive charge of the whole brigade upon the line of redans, and passing through the Fifty. first New York, as it was lying on the ground, after having exhaust, ed all its ammunition, came tiuner the heaviest fire, and without flinching or wavering, moved to its place, and rushed, with the other regiments, upon the defences of the enemy. This movement was supported by the Fourth Rhode Island from the captured batteries, and the enemy, already demoralized by the breaking of their centre, fell 33Q

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. back before the grand charge upon the left and front of their position, and fled in confusion. The Union loss was ninety-one killed, four hundred and sixtysix wounded. By this victory our combined force captured eight batteries, containing forty-six heavy guns, and three batteries of light artillery, of six guns each, making in all sixty-four guns; two steamboats, a number of sailing-vessels, wagons, horses, a large quantity of ammunition, commissary and quartermaster’s stores, forage, the entire camp equipage of the rebel tr6ops, a large quantity of rosin, turpentine, cotton, &c., and over two hundred prisoners. The enemy, after retreating in great confusion, throwing away blankets, knapsacks, arms, &c., across the railroad bridge and country road, burned the former, and destroyed the draw of the latter, thus pre venting further pursuit, and causing detention in occupying the town by our military force. The fleet continued its way to the city, which was found abandoned. The enemy fired the railroad bridge and the county road bridge over the Trent, a number of cotton batteries, and also the city in several places. The army, in the mean time, had arrived in front of Newbern, but, the bridge being burned, it encamped on the outside. With the aid of two small steamers that the enemy had abandoned, the corps of General Foster were ferried over and took possession of the town. General Foster having appointed a provost-marshal, before nine o’clock in the night perfect order prevailed throughout the city. Citizens applied for protection to their property in many instances, and when real danger existed it was afforded. The negroes were the most difficult to control.

Relieved friom the strict rule which prohibits a negro from being abroad at nilght, they roamed about the streets until a late hour, but were quiet about ten o’clock. On the 15th the following order appeared: “

HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF NORTH CAROLINA, ” NEWBERN, March 15, 1862.

“SPECIAL ORDERS, NO. 51. “4. BrigadierGeneral J. G.

Foster is hereby appointed military governor of Newbern and its suburbs, and will be obeyed and respected accordingly. “5. BrigadierGeneral J. G.

Foster, military governor of Newbern, will direct that the churches be opened at a suitable hour tomorrow, in order that the chaplains of the different regiments may hold divine services in them. The bells will be rung as usual. By command of BrigadierGeneral A. E.

BURNSIDE. “LEWIS RICHMOND, Assistant AdjutantGeneraL” The enemy retired for some distance, and General Branch was superseded by General Ransom, who had been an officer of the United States army. The town of Beaufort, aving a population of six thousand eight hundred and nine, has the best harbor on the North Carolina coast, and is situated to the southeast of Newbern, on Onslow Bay. The harbor is commanded by Fort Macon, andi the Nashville steamier was then in port. General Burnside, at the close of the march, dispatched a force 340

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. to occupy Beaufort and reduce Fort Macon.

On the 1Sth of Mlarch, Generals Burnsi(de and Parke made a reconnoissance towards Beaufort, and General Parke’s Briigade embarked, on the 19th, for Moreliead City, which lies west of Beaufort on the coast, and found it, on the 22d, evacuated by the inhabitants. Lieutenant Flagler, ordnance officer, and a member of General Parke’s staff, crossed over to Fort Macon, a distance of two miles across Rogue’s Sound, with a flag of truce, and demanded a surrender, which was refused, and preparations were made for a regular siege. The fort is situated off a bluff on Bogue Island, one mile and threequarters from the town, and commands the entrance to the harbor, having a full sweep of fire over the main chan nel. Opposite the fort, at the entrance of thle harbor, is Shackleford Bank, one mile and a half across. The fortification is of hexagonal form, and has two tiers of guns-one in a casemated bomb-proof, and the other en barbette. Its armament consisted of twenty thirtytwo poundeis, thirty twenty-four-pounders, two eighteen-pouInders, three fieldpieces for flanking defence, twelve flank howitzers, eight eightinch howitzers (healvy), eight eightinch howitzers (light), one thirteeninch mortar, three ten-inch mortars, and two Coehorn mortars-making a total of ei,ghtynine guns. The fort was occupied by five hundred troops. The fire opened upon the fort from three shore batteries on the 25th of April, followed by a fire from a fleet of thriee steamers and a bark under Commander Lockwood. WNhen within range, and as near as the shoAls allowed the vessels to’,ipproach, the Daylight opened fire, followed in succession by the State of Georgia, Commander James F. Armstrong, the gunboat Chippewa, Lieutenant commanding A. Bryson, and the bark Gemnsbok, Acting Lieutenant Edward Cavendish. The three steamers moved around in a circle, delivering their fire as they came within range, at a mile and a quarter distant from the fort. The gunboat attack on the fort was not borne meekly, for the ellipse had not been sailed over before the garrison opened ocl the squadron from the heavy guns on the south angle of the upper terrapleine with great precision. The rebel columbiads and six-inch rifles awere served so well that a shot entered the Dayliglht oii the starboard quarter, breaking up several bulkheads; a shell tote through the Georgia’s flag; the Chippewa was grazed; and the Gemsbok l]ad some of her braces and backst:iys carried away. The sea now became so rough that the boats hauled off, after fighting one hour and a quarter. Meantime the siege ba’tteries haid beein energetically worked. These weire three in number-one of three thirtyp(olunder Pai’rott guns, commanded by Captain Lewis O. -orris, of Co;l,pany C, First Aiti!lery (regulars); one of four ten-inchl mortars, commanded by Lieutenant I). W. Flaoglcr in person; and one of four eightinch mortars, commanded by Second Lieutenanrt M. F.

Pi-outy, of Company C, Twentyfifth MaIssachusetts Volunteers. The batteries were stationed at Bogue Island, and were a!l constructed at the rear of the sand-hill, the sides and front being formed of sand-bags, of which the walls of the service-magazino were also made. The platforms were laid as substantially as the shifting nature of the sand would allow, and suitable embrasures were 341’

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IIISTORY OF TILE GREAT REBELLION. constructed for the Parrott guns. The ten-inch mortars were placed farthest from the fort, the distance being one thousand six hundred and fifty yards; the Parrott guns were two hundred yards directly in front; and the eightinch mortars twno hundred yards still fartl}er on, and a little nearer the beach. Besides these, a small rifle howitzer was taken firom the little capturcd st,yamcr North State and placed in battery, in charge of Captain Caswell, of that vesscl, and some of his crew. The whole siege-train, then, consisted of eight mortars and three rifled cannon (if’ we except the small lhowvitzer, which, however good in a ship’s launch, can hardly be termed a siege-piece). At nine o’clock of the 25th, the scene wais very grand. The squadron steaming slowly in their elliptical course, and filing by turns; the firt })ouring fire and smoke at two sides; our la:i(l batteries all engaged( at once; the smoke-l)uffs of the bombs showing clear and white against the blue shy; the Confederate flig flying over the green slopes of the work; and the bright sun above all shining on the picture. The thunder of cannon shook the solid ground, an(l the window-panes rattled in the houses as if they would be shivered the next instant. At ten o’clock the gunboats drew off, and the terrific c(annonade continued until four r. M., when a truce was agreed utipon, and on the next day the place surrendered.

The garrison were allowedl the honors of war. The officers retained their sid(le-arms and were paroled. The loss on either side was small. The ca,pture of Fort 3Macon gave possession of the harbor of Beaufort, and General Burnsidle could now receive supplies an(l ile-enforcements firom vessels of large class, which were unable to cross the bar at Hatteras.

Mleantime, General Reno lhad been sent by General Burnside to destroy the Dism-it Swamp Canal. He lande,l, accor,lingly, at Elizabeth City on the 19th, with five regiments. Colonel Ilawkins, leading the advance with three regiments, lost his way, and (General Reno encountered the enemy at South Mills, intrencled with batteries in position, in the edge of a wood, which comnianded the approaches over the open fields. Colonel Howard, of the marine artillery, in advance, fired upon the enemy, and our pieces were put in position for a three hours’ artillery duel. General Reno sent re(giments to the right arid left to outflank the enemy: the movement was finely executed. VWhen Colonel Hawkins came up, General lIeno ordered him to the right, but comning into the open field, he charged on the enemy with the baysonet. A charge was then made l)y other regiments on both flanks of the enemy, who retreated to the canal locks, and thence to Norfolk. Our loss in commissionte officers was killed, one; wounded, seven; noncommissioned officers, klfkled, two; wounded, thirteen; privat,es, killed, six; wounded, forty. Gen,er.al Reno, after remaining six hours on the field of battle, returned to Elizabeth City. Siventeen of our wounded who could not be removed, were left on the field in charge of a surgeon, with a flag of tru(,e. The einemy’s loss was repo:ted thirtyeight killed and wounded. General Reno then eml)arked his force. The Government at Waslington alp)pointe(l the IlIon. Edward Statily, a native and former Congressman from the State, military governor of 342

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HISTORY OF Trin GREAT REBELLION. North Carolina. He was invested with the powers, duties, and functions of that station, including the power to establish all necessary offices and tribunals, and suspend the writ of Iabeas corpus during the pleasure of the President, or until the loyal inhabitants should organize a State Government in accordance with the Constitution of the United States. His powers are exactly similar to those with which Governor Johnson, of Tennessee, was tinvested. Iis administration of affairs was calculated to develop the loyalty, if any existed, among the people, to thle old Union. ]Ieantime reenforcements had reached General Burnside, and his division was raised to a corps d’armee, of which the first division was under General Foster, the second under General Steno, and the third under General Parke. There were no efforts made to extend the conquest iniand; and in July, in consequence of affairs in the Peninsula, General Burnsi(le, with the large portion of his troop)s, was withdrawn. They took their departure through the Dismil Swamp Canal, via, Norfolk, for Fortress Aionloe, where they remained uiitil the evacuation of the P,:ninsula, when they joiiied McDowell at Fredericksburg. General Foster remained in commiand of the troops left to protect the military rovernor, Staily. The occupation of Hilton IHead, South Carolina, by General Sherman, was followed by a proclamation, in wlichl he exhorted the people to ileturni to their constitutional alle,iaitcc, and dcclaring that while he caine to cnforce obedience to the Federal laws, he sliould respect constitutiotnal oblig:ttions and local rights. Thie operations of his command were necessarily confined to the occupation and fortification of IHilton Head, Edisto, and the neighb)oring4 i.laiinds. Undei these circumstances, great eff(irts were made to support the latent Union feeling in that section.

Corr({spon,!lence opened( with leading men dvelo()ped the existeice of a Union party in Flori(la, whichl wolwll not be backward in showing itself itf tlhe military pressure was removed. Genetal Sht rman therefore combined a strong military and naval demonstration against Savannah, which produced the effect of concentrating there all the disposable forces of that section. But..s thle force at the command of General Shierman wouldnot suffice to attack Savannah, an expedition to Florida w-as arra,gedl un(er Fligofficer Dupont aid General Wiigh-t. The fleet, comprising sorie thirty vessels, including transports, left Hilton Head(

Februairy 27th, and arrived off the bar (ft Fein.nndina, Floiida, ]ilaich 4th. The gariiison at Fort Clinch abandotined the place on the arrival of the gunboats, and the place was quietly occupied, the citizens sl!owiiig no hostility. The Ottawat there proceeded to Jacksoiiville, Florida, which inliie,liatetly surrendered, there being no preparations for deferce. A meeting of loyal citizens was held, arid passed resolutions aga,inst secession. The stay of the troops was of very short duration, however, since, onI April 7th, orders came firom General IIunter, who had me:miltime succeeded General Sherman at Hiltoh Head(, to evacuaite the place, which was p)erfected on the 9th, the enemy’s cavalry entering as the troops left. On the 13th of March the city of Brunswick, Georgia, was occupied by a force sent by Dupont. The enemy retired and destroyed 343

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. the railroad bridge; at the same time, Commander Rogers, of the Wabash, received the surrender of St. Augustine from the authorities of the place, the military, consisting of two companies of Florida troops, hlaving retired on the previous day. Thus the fleet under Dupont, in connection with the force under General Wright, quietly occupied the ports of Brunswick, Jacksonville, St. Augustine, and Fernandina. The occupation of these places was followed by no military results, nor had public expectation in relation to the landing at Hilton Head been realized. The point is between the cities of Charleston and Savannah, which are connected by the railroad, and facilities were afforded for approaching either place. There had, however, not been sufficient strength to make the attempt. Government finally determined to place the district in the hands of an agent, who should take charge of the abandoned estates of the planters, and( direct the labor of the blacks in the cultivation of cotton and in the supply of food for the army. The result was the appointment of M1r. C. L. Pierce, Government agent; associated witll whom were a number of females, whose object was to establish schools for the blacks. The majority of these persons went under the auspices of the ” National Freedmen’s Relief Association.” It had been part of the plan of bthis movement that General Sherman should have a successor who would harmonize more with their views than did that officer.

Hence the arrival of the teachers was followed by that of General Hunter, who replaced General Sherman, and assumed command of the Department of the South, embracing South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. On IMarch 31st, by a general order, he divided the department into three districts, of which the first was placed under the command of General Benham, the second under General Brannan, the third under General Arnold. Almost the flist act of General Hunter was the recall of the troops from Jacksonville, and the evacuation of the place. This movement was attended with disaster to those citizens whlo, on the strength of Government support, had boldly declaired for the Union. It was no longer possible for them to remain after the troops had left, and they were compelled to abandon homes and property.

The forces under General Sherman lanl occupied Tybee Island, which is at the mouth of the Savannah River, commanding the point of Cockspur Island, on swhich is situated Fort Pulaski, which had fallen into the hands of the enemny early in the war, and which’had been originally built under the superintendence of General Benham, now besieging it. The movements of General Sherman had cut off communication between the fort and Savannah so effectu,illy as to prevent supplies from reaching the place. On the 13th of March, two of the enenly’s fleet attempted Co run down past the Union batteries established by General Sherman at Jones’s Island, Bir(l’s Island, and Long Island, but the attempt was unsuccessful. The batteries upon Tybee Island commanded the fort, and its investment was actively proceed, ing when General Hunter assumed command; and, on the nmorning of the 10th of April, the batteries under General Gilmore being ready, General Hunter sent a flag to demand the surrender of the place. Colonel Olinstead, in reply, stated he “was there to defend the place, 344

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. not to surrender it.” There were established eleven batteries, containing thirty ten and thirteeninch mortars, Parrott and James guns, at distances varying from one thousand six hundred and eighty-five to three thousand four hundred yards firom the fort. On the return of the flag, the fire was opened from a thirteeninch mortar, and the fort responded from a thirteeninch gun. The fire became general, and it was Sumtet over again, the parties being now reversed, tile enemy holding the fort in a circle of fitre. After three hours’

firing, the enemy’s flagstaff was shot away, but a new one was riggred, and the fire went on all day with great vigor, but without the loss of’.

man on the Union side. The fall of night brought a suspension of operations, which were resumed with the early dawn. The dismounted gunrs had been restored during the night, btlt soon the enemny’s wall began to crumnble before the ten-incli solid shot. The breach being very l:irge, several rifle-balls passed through it over the terrapleine, and began to batter the magazine on the northwest corner inii a manner ihat carried terror to the hearts of the enemy. From their experience they knew it was possible for a rifle shell to pass entirely throug:l toe walls of the magazine, and blow it up, and with it the fort aid all its occupants. This induced a surrender; and at halfpast two (o’clock on the afternoon of the 11th, the fort hungi out a white flarg, and the place was surrendered unconditionally. There were captured three hundred and sixty prisoners, forty-seven guns, with a large amo(unt t’ po,wder, and three months’

supply (of provisions. The fort was badlyv cut up, and afforded another proof that ma.on-work is of not much use before the terrific force of ten-inch solid shot and rifled guns. There were, after the fall of Pula,ski, several weeks of apparent military inaction, atlthough prepa,ations weie on foot to attack Charleston. The enemy, on their side, were equally active. Tihe women andi children mostly left the seabo.-ird, and the population of Cliarlestoii was reduced to its fighting popalation, the city being belted on every side with powerful fort’fi(.ations, covering its l:mnd aplproaches The harbor entrance was guarded on either side by the tremend(ous batteries of Forts Sumter and Mioultrie, about a mile,ipart. As for the city, the Governor and Supreme Executive Council of South Carolitia, on behalf of the State, notified the Confederate commanders that they would prefer rather to see Charleston razed to the cground and its assailants beaten off, than to see it surrendered or evacuated on any termis whatever. General Lee had been succeeded by General Peclnierton in the command of thle coast of Georgia and Sfluth Carolina. An attempt by Colonel Christ to sever the railroad connection betwecenii Charleston and Savannah failed; and the enemy were enabled to c,nceintrate large forces at Charleston toemeet the expected:ittack which the prog ress of the National troops on Coles Island and Stono foreshadowed; and they were in strong force on James Islai(nd. The f)i,ces under thee command of Brigadlier-Geieral Wrright crossed firom Edisto Island to Seabrook’s Point on the 29th,t0th, and 31st of May. The Sixtl Connecti(ut, the first regiment landed, had a skirmish with th,. rebel pickets on Sunday morling, June 1st, and, at the second attempt, drove the enemy across the river and obtained possession of the biridge. 4. 345

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HISTORY OF TIHE GREAT REBELLION. On the 1st and 2d, Generals Hunter, Benham, and Stevens proceeded to Stono Inlet, with all the available force at their command, accompanied by eight gunboats. The troops were landed on James Island without opposition. Frequent reconnoissances were made on Johns Island and James Island, resulting in trifling loss on both sides.

On the 10th of June, the Uniiion forces occupied Kimball’s plantation, James Island; and, on the 1 itlI, the pickets of General Wright’s Brigade were vigorously attacked by the Forty-seventh Georgia. A sharp skirmish ensued, without material results. The forice under General Benham consisted of Wright’s Division of two brigades, Chatfield’s and Williams’s; Stevens’s Division of two brigades, Fenton’s and Learned’s; altogether, some sixteen regiments. These troops occupied the southern portion of James Island, on Stono Creek, which takes a westerly direction, separating Johns Island from James Island. The latter is separated fiom the mainland by Wal)poo Creek, which runs from Ashley River, at a point opposite Charleston, to Stono Creek. Hence, if there were no obstructions, the gunboats that ascended Stono Creek could pass through Wappoo Creek to Charleston. The Pawnee and the Ellen were in Stono Creek, covering the troops encamped on James Island; and Waplpoo Creek had been rendered impassable by obstructions. The enemy held Fort Johlnston, on the extreme northern point of James Island, opposite Fort Sumter. He ha(l also a force of twelve thousand troops within four miles. General Hunter visited the isla.nd, and delayed the attack upon Fort Johnston until he should receive reenforcements, and returned to Hilton Head, leaving 13enham in command.

The enemy, however, established in front of Secessionville, and abou t a mile and a half in adv,ance of our works, a battery, fi’om wliich one very heavy gun threw its shells into our caml)s, and even over General Wright’s camp into the Stonlo River, where the gunboats iiy. This camp, as well as that of General Stevens, was liable to be swept by the enemy’s fire at any time; and the gunboats were powerless to prevent it, as they had no guns of sufficient calibre to reach the battery. General Benhamn, the1,efore, deemed it indisliensable to the se(urity of our position to capture that battery. A reconnoissance was ordered for the 16th, with the design of taking the work by a dash before daylight. Secessioiville is a small village on the eastern side of the island, lying on a (.reek which wind(s through the marshes between James and MIorris Islands, and empties into the Stono River ne;:ir its mouth. On the west of the village, a shoit, shallow creek makes its way towards the waters of Charleston Bay. Thus a tongue of land is formed between the two creeks, conIected with the body of the island by a narrow neck, thirty yards wide, four or five hundred yards south of Secessionville. Here Lamar’s rebel battery was located, flanked on each side by imai’sh and the creelSs. It was a simple earthworkl, heavily constructed, having a pl:iirffa(e, with an obtuse angle on each side, and ficingc south, in the direc(tion of the Stoiio River, which is about twno miles off. From this point the cleared highland stretches out to the Stono River. The front of the work was covered with thick abatis 346

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HIIISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. and riflepits. On the 15th of June, a Charleston regiment was a half mile in advance of the work, with other troops in the rear as a support. General Stevens, who led the main column of attack, advanced by a road on the right, while General Wright, on the left, reached his appointed position at four A. lM. of the 16th, where he waited for one hour and a half for the sound of the guns, which were to be the signal for his farther advance. This delay brought the attack into full dayli,ght, and exposed our men to the severe fire which it had been General Benham’s object to avoid. Imniediately upon the firing being heard, WVright’s column moved forward, and took up a position which completely protected its flank and the rear from assault by the main bodly of the rebels, who, to the number of twelve thousand, lay a few miles above, to our left. The attack of Stevens was made with two brigades, numbering about four thousand men, who arrived within four hundred yards of the works before they were discovered by the enemy. The latter delivered their fire of grape when the command was close upon the guns, making fearful l)avoc. The two advanced regiments succeeded, under the staggering fire, in reaching the abatis, where, exposed to a murderous rifle practice, thley waited for the remaining ]egciments, until comp,elled to lretire with heavy loss. 3leantime three regiments under Williams, of Wnright’s Brigade, which we,re to have supp(orted the left of Stevens, lost their way, and came out onI the right flank of the enemy’s work, from which they were separated by a deep stream and an impassa:ble marshl. There were two battalions of the enemy’s rifles facing them across the marsh. They, however, enfiladed the fort, and inflicte(l severe loss upon the enemy, until he was reenforced by a Louisiana battalion arriving oil the fiel(dl with a fieldpiece, and forming on the iight of thle enemy. This movement somewhat outflanked the Union troops, and they began to retire, their retreat being accelerated by the arrival of rebel reenforcements. The attack having failed, the order to retire to the former camping-grolund was given The engagement lasted four hours, and the IUnion loss, killed, wounded, and missing, was six hundred and sixtyN-eigllt. The enemy reported his loss at iorty killed and one hundred and fifty wounded, among whom was Colonel Lamai. When the inewns of this disaster reachea General Hunter, he immediately orde,ed General Benham to report himself un(der arrest, for alleged disobedience of orders. On the 27thl General Hunter ordered the evacuation of James Island, and transports were sent from JIilloil IIe:ad to bring off the troops. after the withdraw:l (,f the troops from James Island, military affairs in the department re lapsed into inaction, except in so far as the elterprise of the enemy caused occasional movements. The jurisdiotion of the department gradually contracted: Edisto, Stono, Otter Isl:nds, and St. Heena Sound were given up; the command of the Savannah River, with the forts on its banks, relinquished; and the troops lheld only Hilton Hea(P B)eauifort, Pulaski, and their immediate dependencies. Early in September, General Hunter was relieved of his command, and was succeeded by General MIitcheL

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. CHAPTER XXX. Financial Situation.-Legal Tender.-Interest in Coin.-Duties in Specie.-Gold Notes at a Premnium.-Deposits.-Ways and Means.-Debt.-Excise Loan.-Income Tax. -Paper Circulation.-Effect of Paper Money.-Rise in Price.-Premiumni on Gold.

-Commerce.-Government Expenses.-Growthli of Debt.-Immense Means. THE
expenses of the war continued to press heavily upon the resources of the Government, while the war itself interrupted the usual course of production and trade, thereby reducing the ordinary revenues of the Treasury to a low figure. N hen the year 1862 open ed, the prospect was sufficiently gloomy. The Government stocks were at a discount; the banks had suspended specie payments; fifty mil lion dollars of paper money had been paid out by the Government, on its face redeemable in coin and receivable for customs; the expenditure reached nearly two million per day; and there were heavy arrears to to be met to pay contractors and soldiers. The moment had come when the Government must choose between heavy direct taxation and paper money as a means of meeting current expenses. Uniifor tunately, all provision for the war had been iineglected until arrears accumulated, and there was now no time in which to collect taxes. This fact was accepted as a sufficient reason for authorizing paper money. And the Secretary was, by the act of February 25, 1862, authorized to issue, in notes of five dollars and upwards, one hundred and fifty million dollars, including the fifty million already out. While these notes were made a legal tender for all debts, public and private, except customs, the fact was overlooked that the fifty million out were not a legal tender, but were, by the terms of the law, receivable for customs.

Inasmuch as that contract could not be repudiated, a supplemental law was passed, March 16th, correcting that oversight. A twin measure of this issue of paper money was a provision that the interest on the national debt should be paid in coin. This was deemed necessary to reassure the national creditors who recognized in the paper medium a quacsi repudiation of their claims, since, if they continued to receive a fixed amount of paper annually for interest, and that paper, following the experience of all previous issues, should depreciate and ultimately become valueless, they would lose their revenues. This, it was also hoped, would operate to induce holders of other property to transfer it into Government stocks.

But if the Government was to pay coin, it must have some means of pro curing coin. To buy it in the open market in exchange for paper, would cause the latter rapidlyto depreciate. It was therefore resolved that all duties should be paid in coin. This plan also recommend ed itself to the manufacturing and protective interests, because it was in effect raising the cost of imported goods to the extent of the depreciation of the paper.

Thi duties for the year were estimated at fifty millions; and this amount, derived in specie, would, it was sup posed, meet the interest on the Government debt, and also furnish sufficient to pay diplomatic salaries and other claims on the Govern ment abroad. There was apparently a large amount of capital with 348

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. drawn from trade, that was accumulating in private hands. The owners did not seem disposed to invest it in the Government stocks, under the assurance, constantly reiterated in high quarters, that the war would have a speedy termination. They desired temporary employment for it, under the supposition that speedy peace would restore the usual occupation of capital. The Secretary of the Treasury was therefore authorized to receive money on deposit to the extent of twentyfive millions, returnable at ten days’ notice, and to pay five per cent. per annum interest in gold. This measure was successful, and the limit was soon filled. Congress subsequently raised the limit at various times, until it was fixed at one hundred millions, when interest was made payable in paper instead of gold. In addition to these measures, the Secretary was authorized to issue certificates of indebtedness to the national creditors, bearing six per cent. interest in gold, and payable in one year; subsequently the interest was made payable in paper instead of gold. There was no limit fixed to this issue. It was paid out at par to the public creditors, and by them sold in the market at a greater or less discount, according to the amount offered for sale. Meantime the deposits were the most ready means of meeting the wants of the treasury. The banks and the public held large amounts of Government paper, of the old or first issues, having the value of specie, which the new issue would not possess.

They would not, therefore, deposit their notes with the treasury without a stipulation that the same kind of notes should be received back. This demand was complied with, and the deposits became large. The fact that the treasury tookl all unemployed money at five per cent., caused that rate to become the 2fliimurm rate of interest in the market, since the Government would be the first choice of lenders. With all these provisions, the ways and means of the department now embraced twentyfive million dollars of 71
three years’ bonds not yet issued, one hundred million dollars of legal tenders credited by the law of Frebruary 25th, ten million dollars granted by the tariff law of March, one hundred million dollars of certificates of deposit, and an unlimited amount of six per cent. one year certificates to issue. These different credits began to make their appearance as fast as they could be prepared, and with this emission they began to depreciate as compared with gold. The premium on gold, which had been five per cent.

January 1st, had declined to one and a half. It now began to rise, however, and, at the close of the fiscal year, June 30th, 1862, was at ten per cent. premium. The debt on the 1st of July, 1862, was $514,211,371,*
not includ * The Federal debt was composed as follows: July, 1S61.

December, 1861. July, 186. Stocks, five per
cent………………….$30.595,092………. $ 30,595,092…………$

20.595.092 Stocks, six per cent……………………

41,65,558………… 189.929.856………… 104,595.505 Stocks, seven and three-tenths per cent………………….. 100,)0)0.000…………

122. 36,5)0 Treasury Notes, six per
cent…………..18,587,175……….. 22,464,762………… 2.830.641

One Year Certificates, six per
cent……………………………………………… 49,SS1.980

Deposits, four per
cent………………………………………………………..

14.015,894 Deposits, five per
cent…………………………………………………………

43.730.212 Paper Money………………………………………..

24.550.825………… 149,660,000 $90,867,828 $26T,540,035 $514,211,8T

349

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HISTORY OF TIIE GREAT REBELLION. ing the arrears, which were estimated at some one hundred million dollars. The funded debt had thus increased during the year, $423,343,543, or $1,163,000 per day, not including the very large sums not audited. The whole net revenue and expenditure for the fiscal year 1862, which was the first entire year of war, were, for customs, $49,056,397; bonds, $152,203; miscellaneous, $931,787; direct tax, $1,795,332; which sums, added to the increased loans, made $475,279,263, or $1,302,000 per day, of which amount nine-tenths was borrowed. This debt bore an interest of twentytwo million dollars per annum, payable in gold, which was now, July 1 st, at a premium of ten per cent. for Government paper. It was obvious that the regular revenue must be increased by taxation, however detrimental that might prove to the political interests of the party in power. The direct tax law of the previous session had been repealed, and the confiscation acts, under which it was alleged the war expenses could be paid from Southern property, were found to be delusive. It was therefore determined to pass an excise law, which was to levy taxes upon all departments of industry, and also a tax upon all incomes over six hundred dollars. The chief features of the excise law were stamp duties upon all transactions and legal demands, and a three per cent. tax upon manufactures. There were also some changes made in the customs duties, with a view to more revenue. The excise law would necessarily be a long time in getting into operation, and the income tax was not made payable until June, 1863. It was necessary, therefore, that further loans should be resorted to, and July 11 th a further issue of one hundred and fifty million dollars paper money was authorized, of which thirtyfive million dollars were to be notes of a denomination less than five dollars. Of the whole amount, fifty million dollars were to be reserved as a fund to meet the deposits, in case they should be called for. The estimates of the Secretary for the fiscal year 1863 embraced an expenditure of $693,346,321, and the revenue was estimated at $180,495,345, from all sources, customs, taxes, &c. There remained, then, $512,850,976 to be provided for, and in addition, $95,212,456 of public debt w-as to be met, makling $608,063,432. Soon after, however, military disasters caused the calling out of six hundred thousand more men, and raised the appropriation for 1863 to $882,238,800. To meet these expenses, Congress authorized the issue of five hundred million dollars, six per cent. stock, redeemable in five to twenty years, and also a further issue of notes for one hundred million dollars, exchangeable at par for the stock authorized. Subsequently, the Secretary was authorized to issue fractional notes, or for parts of a dollai-, to an unlimited amount. Thus there were authorized seven hundred and fifty million dollars, and in addition, as much fractional paper as the Secretary might deem proper.

With these resources the Secretary continued to meet the wants of the Government, under a maniestly growing discredit, since the price of gold rose rapidly in the market, and the five-twenty bonds, or those which were payable, after five years and within twenty years, were limited to sales at not less than the market values and the 850

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. holder of Government notes had the right to convert them at any time at par into those five-twenty bonds. When Congress again assembled, the Treasury was agamin much straightened in its means. Nearly the same situation presented itself as in the previous year.

The debt now amounted to 1,400 million dollars. There were large arrears pressing for payment, without the apparent means of meeting them. Early in January, 1863, Congress again authorized the issue of one hundred million dollars of paper money, to meet immediate wants. The Secretary then desired Congress to amend the law authorizing the sale of the five hundred million dollars five-twenty bonds, so as to restrict the right of converting greenbacks into them at par, to the 1st of July, 1863, and to remove the restriction upon selling them at market value. A new law was also passed, authorizing the issue of five hundred million dollars of six per cent. stock, redeemable after ten and within forty years; also, four hundred million dollars of notes, of denominations as low as ten dollars, to be legal tenders, or convertible into legal tenders, bearing six per cent. interest in paper, and redeemable in three years. There were authorized one hundred and fifty million dollars more legal tenders, into which to convert those snmall interest-bearing notes. The fractional paper currency was now limited to fifty million dollars. In addition to these provisions, a new National Banking Law was enacted, by which banks were to be authorized in all the States to circulate notes, redeemable in Government paper, and secured on Government stocks. The aggregate circulation was not to exceed three hundred million dollars. It was also provided that the one year certificates were to have their interest paid in paper, and also all future certificates of deposit. Between the passage of this act and the close of the fiscal year 1863, fifty million dollars of one year certificates fell due, and were paid off. The proceeds were deposited with the Government at ten days’ notice at five per cent.

interest in paper, and new claims on the Governmnent were met by the issue of new certificates, on which, however, gold was no longer paid f)r interest. The continued issue of the paper money had promoted a great rise in prices, and much speculative action in goods and specie. Gold rose to a premium of seventytwo in February, 1833. This rise had a twofold effect: it caused a great diminution in the consumption of goodls, on account of their dearness, and also a conversion of old stocks of goods into paper money. The money seeking investment filledl the bank vaults, and was employed in the Government five per cent. deposits, filling up the limit to one hundred million dollars. The Treasury Department then organized a system of agencies, or commissions, which effected considerable conversions of paper money into the five-twenties, before the expiration of the limit for conversion fixed by law. That limit was, however, not observed by the Secretary, who extended the time for conversion indefinitely, under the power granted by Congress to sell stocks at his own discretion A numibr of banks were also organized under the new banking law, and preparedl to issue notes secured upon the five-twenties. The deposits on five per cent. certificates, and the conversion during April, May, and June, nearly met the expenses of the 351

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MlSTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. Treasury during that period. The effect of this change of plan was to cause a contraction of the currency, and gold fell from seventytwo to thirtytwo, causing a corresponding decline in general prices, and great losses to the holders of goods. At the close of the fiscal year, 1863, the debt stood as follows: Stocks, 5 per cent., due 1865 to 1874…………………………. $30,483,000 6 ” ” 1868 to 1881…………………………. 87,871,391 6 ” ” “

5.20……………………………….. ]185,684,141 Bonds, 7.30 ” “

1864……………………………….. 139,920,500 Treasury Notes to 1863……………………………………. 717,100 Deposits 4 per cent., 10 d a y s………………………………. 28,059,295 ” 5 ” “

10 “……………………………….. 70,815,639 Certificates, 6 per cent., 1 y e a r………………………………. 157,093,241 Legal Tender……………………………………………. 387,646,589 “

Fractions…………………………………….. 20,192,459 Total debt, July, 1863……………………………………..$1,097,271,355

The appropriations, for two years, were as follows: July 1, 1861, to July 1, 1862………………………………. $313,261,629 ” 1862, ” “

1863………………………………. 882,238.800

Total…………………………………………….. $1,195,500,429

The amount actually borrowed up to July, 1863, was about equal to the actual appropriation of the two years. The amount of debt contracted from July, 186], to July 1, 1863, or seven hundred and thirty days, was at the rate of one million five hundred thousand dollars. The large expenditures of the Government, as a matter of course, afforded a great substitute for the legitimate demands of commerce which the war had annihilated, and many sections of the country, particularly New England, enjoyed an uninterrupted prosperity, with greater profits and wages, than in times of peace. The annuimal export trade of the country, in time of peace, was equal to a sale of three hundred and seventythree million one hundred and eighty-ninie thousand two hundred and seventy-four dollars of domestic produce abroad. Of this amount nearly two hundred million dollars was cotton. On the outbreak of the war the export trade fell to two hundred and twentyone million nine hundred and twenty thousand dollars; but this included an unusual sale of breadstuffs to England. That country imported, in 1862, the unprecedented quantity of ninety-seven million bushels of wheat. Of this, more than half was sold by the United States, because the stoppage of the sale of food to the South threw upon the Eastern States an unusual surplus, at such prices as enabled the United States to undersell the corn-growing countries of Europe. In this state of affairs the Federal Governmelnt came forw ard as the employer of one million men, and the purchaser of goods to the amount of seten hundred and fifty million dollars per annum. It did not extract the money for the expenditure from the people with one hand, while disbursing with the other, but, using its credit, it emitted paper’ that was received as money. Thus the ex 352

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. port trade of the country and the Southern markets were supplanted by the war custom of the Government. It may be expressed thus: 1863. Export…………. $212,000,000 War Exports……..

750,000,000 $962,000,000 1860. Export Trade…………….$373,189,274

Southern”…………. 500,000,000 Total amount sales…………$873,189,274 It would appear from this that the war was a gain to business, and there was a semblance of prosperity which was not real. The payments of the Government were promises yet to be made good from the earnings of future industry to be taxed. It had taken the labor and merchandise of the people, and given them promises which were to be made good only by taxing the people that held them. The export trade, of course, was paid for in substantial equivalents, but the Government expenses were an actual consumption of the national capital. It was probably the case that this Government consumption of capital was to some extent compensated by greater economy practised by the people, as a consequence of the high prices which goods commanded in the paper money of the day. For this reason exhaustion was far less rapid than would otherwise have been the case. The close of the second year of war then presented the following result: Debt at close. July 1, 1861, $ 60,189,406

“, 1862, 514,211,372 ” 1863, 1,097,274,366 Estimate ” 1864, 1,744,685,586

Appropriatio. Fiscal year, 1861………… $ 81,578,834 Al ”’

1862………… 313,261,629 ” ” 1863………… 882,238,800 ” “

1864………… 973,055,670 The debt of July, 1863, did not include the sixty days’ pay of the army and navy then due, and many other large sums, which carried the amount to one billion three hundred million dollars. The debt of 1864 is the estimate of the Secretary of the Treasury. The acgregate interest on the funded public debt amounted to forty-two million eight hundred thousand dollars per annum, mostly in gold. The paper money did not bear interest; but inasmuch as its effect was to enhance the prices of all commodities bought by the Government, an average of thirtyfive per cent., and which was payable upon all contracts, the interest actually paid was nearly thirty per cent. average on the expenditure other than salaries, and may be estimated at one hundred and eighty million dollars per annum. This would give an annual interest of two hundred and twentytwo million dollars paid by the Government, or twentyver cent. on its whole debt. The interest-bearing debt was as follows: Interest. $ 1,122,371.81 5,064,881.94t 25,876,552.48

10,214,196.50 $42,278,.002.73 180,000,,000.0.i 4 per cent…………… $

28,059,295.49 5 “……………..10296396 104 5.” “. * 101,297,638.91 6’

“…………… 431,275,874.71 7.30 “…………….. 188,920,500.00

Total……………’……$700,553,319.11 “

Unfunded………….396,721,056.88 23 35; Funded 11 It is

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HIISTORY OF THE GREAT REBFLLION. The average rate of interest on the funded debt is 6.038 per cent. The unfunded costs a great deal more;, but, if funded on as favorable terms as the first loans, would bear $32,803,263, making together $75,081,265 of annual interest on the actual debt to July 1, 1863. The annual charge of the British debt is $127,965,701, or $4.36 to each person. The United States debt is three-fifths of the British debt in annual charge, and $3.79 per head. The charge on the French debt is $110,000,000 per annum, or $3.05 per head.

The actual increase of the debt for the year 1862 was $1,450 each working day; for the year 1863, it was $1,862,800 each working day; for the last six months of 1862, it was $2,418,000 per day. This was the most extraordinary instance in the history of the world of the lavish expenditure of means for national objects. No country ever before manifested such resources, and no people ever before offered them up so freely to the service of the Government. It may here be remarked, that in the two years in which these marvels occurred, the Northern States sent nearly 1,000,000 bushels of grain to supply the wants of she people of England and Europe. CHAPTER XXXI. Thirty-Seventh Congress.-Foreign Relations.-Public Anxiety.-Surrender of Corn missioners.-War Conduct.-Executive Action.-President’s Message.-Coopera tion.-IHunter’s Order.-Border State Delegation.-Kentucky Legislature.-Presi dent’s Letter.-I-His Position.-Western Delegation.-Emancipation Action of Congress. -No more Slave Territory.-District of Columbia.-Cooperation Resolution. Military not to Surrender Fugitives.-Troops Authorized.-Conscription.-Work of the Thirty-Seventh Congress. ON the 2d December, 1861, the second session, or first regular session of the Thirty-Seventh Congress, convened at Washington under the most extraordinary circumstances. The war had continued with varying fortunes, and grave complications seemed to be surrounding our foreign relations.

The capture of the English mail steamer Trent, by Captain Wilkes, of the American navy, having on board the Confederate Commissioners, Messrs.

Mason and Slidell, on their way to Europe, had caused profound excitement at home and abroad. England complained of it as a violation of the rights of neutrals. Her attitude was so hostile as to render war imminent, and the action of the Federal Government was looked for with the most profound anxiety. The House, ca assembling, immediately adopted a joint resolution of MIr. Lovejoy, of Illinois, voting the thanks of Congress to Captain Wilkes for the arrest of Messrs. Mason and Slidell. This resolution was rejected in tlhe Senate. Two resolutions were then passed: one to request that%Mr. Mason be held as a hostage for the treatment of a UnIion prisoner in the hands of the Confederates; and the other, that Mr. Slidell be also so held to answer for the treatment of another. The passage of these resolutions was, however, immediately followed by the action of the Government in surrendering 354

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ISTORY OF ” GREAT REBELL ION. Messrs. Mason and Slidell to the English, and the war cloud passed over. The most important phase which Congressional action now assumed was in reference to the general war powers which the Government was authorized to assert, and of which the chief one was manifestly the control of slavery. The strict constructionists, in their zeal to prevent any infraction of the Constitution, denied to President or Congress the power, even in the exigencies which war created, to touch the peculiar institution of the South, or indeed to exercise any rights not directly conferred by the Constitution. General McClellan illustrated this policy when he wrote to President Lincoln from Harrison’s Landing, on July 7th: “Neither confiscation of property, political executions of persons, territorial organization of States, or forcible abolition of slavery should be contemplated for a moment;” and others, entertain ing similar views, went so far as to assert that unless the war could be conducted with a precise observance of every legal and political right to which the rebels bad been entitled in time of peace, a compromise had better be effected with them, or the rebellious States be allowed to secede quietly. With them the Constitution was an instrument of so sacred a character, that it was regarded as superior to that Union for whose government it had been framed. The Union thus became the creature of the Constitution.

Fortunately for the country, this class, though possessing no lack of talent, was without much influence, and the great body of the loyal people recognized the fact that no such state of affairs existed as should prevent that reciprocal influence and harmonious cooperation of the Union and the Constitution which was intended by the founders of the nation. As the Constitution was “ordained and established,” among other things, to “insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare,” it was assumed, with reason, that it contained ample provisions for accomplishing these several objects. Such provisions are in fact fully detailed in Article I., Section VIII., of that instrument; and in accordance with them were the war powers from time to time exercised by the President and Congress, against which the sticklers for strict construction so vehemently protested. Among these powers the confiscation of slave property, or the emancipation of slaves, was early recognized; but such was the tenderness in approaching this vexed subject, and so strong the hope that the rebellion might be crushed without resort to it; so great also the reluctance, in the early stages of the war, to offend the sensitiveness of the loyal Border Slave States on the subject, that the Thirty-seventh Congress fbore, at its first session, to interfere with slavery further thap to declare confiscated any slave property employed in military service in aid of the rebellion. This-however, was sufficient to enunciate a general principle, which, it will be seen, was soon carried to its extreme lnit. With the progress of the war it became evident to those who were in favor of carrying it on with all the means at the disposal of the Government, that a more vigorous policy on the subject of interfering with slavery was necessary. The forbearance of the Government had 3~5

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HISTORY OF IE GREAT REBELLION. ot only failed to disarm the hostility of the rebels, but had been conspicuously brought to the notice of European Governments as an indication that the United States authorities were bent upon preserving and perpetuating an institution which the civilized nations of the Old World united in condemning. Soon after the meeting of the second session of the Thirty-seventh Congress, a disposition to make considerable advances upon the legislation of the extra session began to manifest itself, and it was boldly affirmed that slavery was the cause of the war, that the whole power of the Government should be directed against the cause, and that emancipation was a preliminary to peace; that to emancipate slaves and destroy slavery should be the object of the war, because peace could never exist on other terms. These principles became the guide to the action of Congress, and were also the influences under which the separate action of the Executive took place. This action of the Executive was developed in a series of proclamations upon the subject of emancipation. The first of these was in the form of a message to Congress, as follows: “WASHINGTON, March 6, 1862. “Felow-Citizens of the Senate and ltouse of Representatives: “I recommend the adoption of a joint resolution by your honorable bodies, which shall be substantially as follows: “Resolved, That the United States ought to co-operate with any State which may adopt a gradual abolishment of slavery, giving to such State pecuniary aid, to be used by such State in its discretion to compensate for the inconveniences, public and private, produced by such change of system. “If the proposition contained in the resolution does not meet the approval of Congress and the country, there is the end; but if it does command such approval, I deem of importance that the States and people immediately interested should at once be distinctly notified of the fact, so that they may begin to consider whether to accept or reject it. “The Federal Government would find its highest interest in such a measure, as one of the most efficient means of self-preservation. The leaders of the existing insurrection entertain the hope that the Government will ultimately be forced to acknowledge the independence of some part of the disaffected region, and that all the Slave States north of such parts will then say,‘The Union for which we have struggled being already gone, we now choose to go with the Southern section.’ “To deprive them of this hope substantially ends the rebellion, and the initiation of emancipaion completely deprives them of it. As to all the States initiating it, the point is not that all the States tolerating slavery would very soon, if at all, initiate emancipation; but that, while the offer is equally made to all, the more Northern shall, by such initiation, make it certain to the more Southern, that in no event will the former ever join the latter in their proposed Confederacy. “I say’initiation,’ because, in my judgment, gradual, and not sudden emancipation is better for all. In the mere financial or pecuniary view, any member of Congress, with the census tables and the Treasury reports before him, can readily see for himself how very soon the current expenditures of this war would purchase, at a fair valuation, all the slaves in any named State.. Such a proposition on the part of the General Government sets up no claim of a right, by Federal authority, to interfere with slavery within State limits, referrifg, as it does, the absolute control of the subject in each case to the State, and its people immediately interested. “It is proposed as a matter of perfectly free choice with them. In the annual Message, last December, I thought fit ti say:‘The Union must be preserved, and hence all indispensable means must be employed.’ I said tifs not hastily, but deliberately. War has been. and continues to be, an indispensanli means to this end. A practical reacknowledgment of the National authority would render Lhe war unnecessary, and it would at once cease. L. “If, however, resistance continues, the war must also continue, and it is impossible 356

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. to foresee all the incidents which may attend, and all the ruin which may follow it. Such as may seem indispensable, or may obviously promise great efficiency towards end. ing the struggle, must and will come. “The proposition now made, though an offer only, I hope it may be esteemed no offence to ask whether the pecuniary consideration tendered would not be of more value to the States and private persons concerned, than are the institution and property in it, in the present aspect of affairs. “While it is true that the adoption of the proposed resolution would be merely initiatory, and not within itself a practical measure, it is recommended in the hope that it would soon lead to important results. In full view of my great responsibility to my God and to my country, I earnestly beg the attention of Congress and the people to the subject. “ABRAHAM LINCOLN.” Congress also showed its sense of the injuries to the national welfare which slavery had occasioned, and of which it was likely to be the future cause, by passing bills for its abolition in the District of Columbia and for its prohibition in the Territories; and in pursuance of the recommendation of the message of March 6, the following resolution was adopted by a large majority in either House: “Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States, in Congress assembled, That the United States ought to co-operate with any State which may adopt gradual abolishment of slavery, giving to such State pecuniary aid, to be used by such State, in its discretion, to compensate for inconveniences, public and private, produced by such a change of system.” On the 9th of May, General Hunter issued an order declaring all slaves in Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina “‘forever free.” On the 19th of May, Mr. Lincoln issued a proclamation abrogating the order of General Hunter, on the ground that it was in contravention of the resolution just quoted, which he described as “an authentic, definite, and solemn proposal of the nation to the States and people most interested in the subject-matter,” and reserving to himself, as Commander-in-Chief of the army and navy, the right to declare slaves free, should such a measure be considered necessary to the minaintenance of the Government. In pursuance’of the same subject, the President, July 12, invited the senators and representatives of the Border States to the Executive Mansion, and addressed them upon the subject. He began by informing them that if they had voted for the resolution he had sent to Congress, March 6, the war would, in his opinion, now have been ended. He then continued to urge upon them the subject of compensated emancipation, and stated that his repudiation of Hunter’s order had given offence to parties whose support the country could not afford,o lose; that the pressure from that direction upon him was increasing, and that he desired the border delegates to relieve him Aom the pressure by conceding his request The delegates replied that Congress had made no pledge whatever, and that the Border States could not be expected to act upon the expression of a sentiment. The majority replied in a lengthy statement, in which they urged the impossibility of acting upon so important a matter hastily; that it was an interference of the Government in State concerns; that the Government had no power to make such 357

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT.REBELLION. appropriations of money, which would reach at least five hundred millions of dollars; that the right to hold slaves appertains to each State of the Union; each has the right to maintain or abolish it; that the right is a part of the institutions of the Constitution and the Union, and cannot be taken away without destroying all. They alluded to the inaugural of President Lincoln, in which he affirmed that he had “no lawful right to interfere with slavery in States where it exists.” They did not see why sacrifices should be exacted from loyal Border States any more than from the other loyal States. They denied the proposition of the President, that the resolution, if passed, would have ended the war. They stated that the Confederate strength consisted in the union of classes, which had not been the case when the war commenced.

The Union had been brought about by the common resistance of all parties to aggressions upon their rights. The resistance had been strengthened by the non-adherence to the principles of the inaugural. A minority of the Border State members submitted a reply, in which they acknowledged the wisdom and patriotism of the President’s proposition, and pledged themselves to recommend it to the consideration of their constituents. The proposition was acted upon in the Kentucky Legislature, and a committee reported that the measure would have no influence on the war; that “the dominant party in Congress are bent upon the destruction of the Constitution and the Union. We have viewed with alarm the rapid strides it has made towards the prostration of every guarantee which the Constitution provides for the dearest rights of the people.” “They declare that they are against the restoration of the Union, unless slavery is abolished.”

The report closed with a recommendation that the proposition be declined, which course was followed. In July the President signed the Confiscation Act, which provided that the slaves of persons adjudged guilty of treason should be freed, and that if any other persons engaged in the rebellion should not, within sixty days after public proclamation duly made by the President, cease to aid the rebellion, all their property should be confiscated in the same manner. As public sentiment began to be developed in favor of immediate and unconditional emancipation as a means of breaking down the rebellion, the President was urged to avail himself of these provisions, and it was in reply to a letter embodying the views of the more radical friends of the Administration, published by the Hon.

Horace Greeley, that the following communication was prepared: ”’ EpCUTIVE

MANSION, WASHINGTON, August 22, 1862. “Hon. HORACE GREELEY; ” Dear Sir  I have just read yours of the 19th instant, addressed to myself through the New York Tribune. “If there be in it any statements or assumptions of fact which I may know to be erroneous, I do not now and here controvert them. “

If there be any inferences which I may believe to be falsely drawn, I do not now and here argue against them. “If there be perceptible ii it an impatient and dictatorial tone, I waive it in deference to an old friend whose heart I have always supposed to be right. 358 t

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HISTORY OF THIE GREAT REBELLION. 0 “As to the policy I’ seem to be pursuing,’ as you say, I have not meant to leave any one in doubt. I would save the Union. I would save it in the shortest way under the Constitution. “The sooner the national authority can be restored, the nearer the Union will be the Union as it was. ”’ If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could at the same time save slavery, I do not agree with them. “If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could at the same time destroy slavery, I do not agree with themn. “My paramount object is to save the Union, and not either to save or destroy slavery. “If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would also do that. “What I do about slavery and the colored race I do because I believe it helps to save this Union; and what I forbear, I forbear because I do not believe it would help to save the Union. “I shall do less whenever I shall believe what I am doing injures the cause; and I shall do more whenever I believe doing more will help the cause. “I shall try to correct errors when showr-to be errors; and I shall adopt new views so fast as they shall appear to be true views. “I have here stated my purpose according to my view of official duty, and I intend no modification of my oft-expressed personal wish that all men everywhere could be free. Yours, A. LiNacoLN.” Meanwhile, delegations from all parts of the North continued to urge upon the President the necessity of emancipation. His own opinions seem also to have been tending in the same direction; and just one month after the foregoing letter was written, the long-expected proclamation appeared in the following terms: BY THE

PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. A PROCLAMATIOT. “WASHINGTON, Septemnber 22, 1862. “I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States of America, and CommanderIn-Chief of the army and navy thereof, do hereby proclaim and declare that hereafter, as heretofore, the war will be prosecuted for the object of practically restoring the constitutional relation between the United States and the people thereof in which States that relation is, or may be, suspended or disturbed; that it is my purpose, upon the next meeting of Congress, to again recommend the adoption of a practical measure tendering pecuniary aid to the free acceptance or rejection of all the Slave States, socalled, the people whereof may not then be in rebellion against the United States, and which States may then have voluntarily adopted or thereafter may voluntarily adopt the immediate or gradual abolishment of slavery within their respective limits; and that the efforts to colonize persons of African descent, with their consent, upon the continent or elsewhere, with the previously obtained consent of the governments existing there, will be continued; that on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and,ixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State, or any designated part of a State, the peoplewhereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward and forever, free, and the Executive Government of the United States, including’ the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom; that the Executive will, on the first day ol January aforesaid, by proclamation, designate the States and parts of States, if any, in which the people thereof respectively shall be then in rebellion against the United States; and the fact that any State, or the people thereof, shall on that day be in good faith represented in the Congress of the United States by members chosen thereto at elections wherein a majority of the qualified 359 e

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HISTORY OF TE GRFAT REBELLION. & voters of such State shall have participated, shall, in the absence of strong counter vailing testimony, be deemed conclusive evidence that such State and the people there of have not been in rebellion against the United States. “That attention is hereby called to an act of Congress entitled’ An Act to make an additional Article of War,’ approved March 13, 1862, and which act is in the words and figures following — ”’ Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That hereafter the following shall be promulgated as an additional article of war for the government of the Army of the United States, and ahal be obeyed and observed as such: ”’ ARTICLE.-All officers or persons in the military or naval service of the United States are prohibited from employing any of the forces under their respective commands for the purpose of returning fugitives from service or labor who may have escaped from any persons to whom such service or labor is claimed to be due; and any officer who shall be found guilty by a court-martial of violating this article shall be dismissed from the service. “‘SECTION 2.-And be itfurther enacted, That this act shall take effect from and after its passage.’

“Also to the ninth and tenth sections of an act entitled’ An Act to suppress insurrection, to punish treason and rebellion, to seize and confiscate property of rebels, and for other purposes,’ approved July 17, 1862, and which sections are in the words and figures following: ”’

SECTION 9.-And be. further enacted, That all slaves of persons who shadll hereafter be engaged in rebellion against the Government of the United States, or who shall in any way give aid and comfort thereto, escaping from such persons and taking refuge within the lines of the army, and all slaves captured from such persons, or deserted by them, and coming under the control of the Government of the United States, and all slaves of such persons found on (or being within) any place occupied by rebel forces, and afterwards occupied by the forces of the United States, shall be deemed captures of war, and shall be forever free of their servitude, and not again held as slaves ”’ SECTION 10.-And be it further enacted, That no slave escaping into any State, Territory, or the District of Columbia, from any of the States, shall be delivered up, or in any way impeded or hindered of his liberty, except for crime, or some offence against the laws, unless the person claiming said.fugitive shall first make oath that the person to whom the labor or service of such fugitive is alleged to be due is his lawful owner, and has not been in arms against the United States in the present rebellion, nor in any way given aid and comfort thereto; and no person engaged in the military or naval service of the United States shall, under any pretence whatever, assume to decide on the validity of the claim of any person to the service or labor of any other person, or surrender up any such person to the claimant, on pain of being dismissed from the service.’ “And I do hereby enjoin upon and order all persons engaged in the military and naval service of the United States to observe, obey, and enforce within their respective spheres of service the act and sections above recited. “And the Executive will in due time recommend that all citizens of the United States who shall have remained loyal thereto throughout the rebellion shall (upon the restoration of the constitutional relation between the United States and their respec tive States and people, if the relation shall have been suspended or disturbed) be comr pensated for all losses by acts of the United States, including the loss of slaves. “In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States tn o be ffied “BIAAMLIcoN “Done at the City of Washington, this twenty-second day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, and of the independence of the United States the eighty-seventh. “By the President. _

“WILLAM H. SEwARm, Secretary of State.” In his annual message delivered in December, 1862, the President 360 0 II A]BRAHAM LIXCOLN.

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. alluded to the efforts he had made in relation to emancipation, and also in relation to colonizing the emancipated blacks; and proposed articles amendatory of the Constitution, granting compensation to loyal owners for emancipated slaves in the course of thirty-seven years, and appropriations for the colonizing of blacks; and urged that if the plan were adopted, the emancipation of slaves would follow in some of the States. The message proceeded to argue the matter at some length. The plan he stated was proposed as a permanent constitutional amendment, which cannot be passed without the concurrence of threefourths of the States. The plan, however, did not interfere with the following proclamation, which was issued January 1, 1863: BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. A PROCLAMATIOlN. ” Whereas, on the twenty-second day of September, in the year of our Lord on thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, a proclamation was issued by the President of the United States, containing, among other things, the following, to wit: ”’ That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a Stte, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforth, and forever free; and the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintan the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons or any of them in any effort they may make for their actual freedom. “‘That the Executive will, on the first day of January aforesaid, by proclamation, designate the States and parts of States, if any, in which the people therein respectively shall then be in rebellion against the United States; and the fact that any State or the people thereof shall on that day be in good faith represented in the Congress of the United Staps, by members chosen thereto at elections wherein a majority of the qualified voters of such State shall have participated, shall, in the absence of strong countervailing testimony, be deemed conclusive evidence that such State and the people thereof are not then in rebellion against the United States.’ “Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, by virtue of the power in me vested as commander-in-chief of the army and navy of the United States, in time of actual armed rebellion against the authority and government of the United States, and as a fit and necessary war measure for suppressing said rebellion, do, on this first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and in accordance with my purpose so to do publicly proclaimed for the full period of one hundred days from the day of the first above-mentioned order, and designate as the States and parts of States wherein the people thereof respectively are this day in rebellion against the United States, the following, to wit: Arkansas, Texas, Louisianaexcept the parishes of St. Bernard, Placquemines, Jefferson, St.

John, St. Charles, St. James, Ascension, Assumption, Terre Bonne, Lafourche, St. Mary, St. Martin, and Orleans, including the city of New Orleans-Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia except the fortyeight counties designated as West Virginia, and also the counties of Berkeley, Accomac, Northampton, Elizabeth City, York, Princess Anne, and Norfolk, including the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth, and which exceptedparts are, for the present, left precisely as if this proclamation was not issued. “And by virtue of the power and for the purpose aforesaid, I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States and parts of States are and henceforward shall be free; and that the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and navae authorities thereof, will recognize and main tain the freedom of said persons. “And I hereby enjoin upon the people so declared to be free to abstain from all violence, unless in necessary self,defence; and I recommend to them that in all cases when allowed, they labor faithfully for reasonable wages. 361

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HISTORY OF TH GREAT REBELLION. “And I further declare and make known that such persons, of suitable condition, will be received into the armed service of the United States, to garrison forts, positions, stations, and other places, and to man vessels of all sorts in said service. ” And upon this, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted by the Constitution, upon military necessity, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind and the graciousfavor of Almighty God. “In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. “Done at the City of Washington, this first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the independence of the United States of America the eighty-seventh By the President: - “ABRAEAi M LINCOLN. “WILLIAM IH. SEWARD, Secretary of State.”

During the summer of 1862, Congress passed an additional article of war, which’prohibits all military officers from returning any fugitive slaves to their masters, under pain of dismissal from the service; also a law, July 17, 1862, authorizing the President to call out the militia of the States for nine months. Under this act three hundred thousand men were called out, in addition to three hundred thousand three years men. The waste of life continued, however, and at the second session of Congress new means were deemed advisable to fill the ranks of the army. These were finally adopted in the Conscription Law brought in by Mr. Wilson, chairman of the Senate Military Committee, that every man drafted might furnish a substitute, or pay a sum not exceeding three hundred dollars, in money, for the procuration of one. This law placed all the arms-bearing citizens in all the States within the control of the President. After some months of delay, the necessary machinery was organized, and the draft put i force. In looking back upon the proceedings of the Thirty-seventh Congress., which expired March 4th, 1863, the most gigantic results are observable. It had inaugurated legal tender paper money, and a comprehensive national banking system, besides passing a tax law embracing an excise upon all articles of productive industry, a stamp tax upon all documents, and a tax of three per cent. upon all incomes over six hundred dollars; while the tariff upon imported goods had been raised to the highest rates. In addition to all this, it had amply provided for the needs of Government, and under its authority more than a million of men had been put into the field. The navy had been reorganized, the grade of rear-admirals had been created, and nine appointed, with sixteen commodores, thirty-nine captains, and ninety commanders. There were two hundred and eighty-two steam-vessels, carrying fifteen hundred and thirty-seven guns. Of these, fifty-three are ironclad, and thirteen rams; and one hundred and two sailingpvessels, carrying fourteen hundred and fifty guns. Total, three hundred and eighty-four sea-going vessels, with two thousand nine hundred and eightyseven guns. All this treasure, material, and men had been voted to the service of the Government, in perfeet accordance with public opinion. There were no murmurs heard from the loyal population at the extent of the armies, or at the lavish expenditure of money. On the other hand, the only clamors heard were for a more vigorous prosecution of the 362

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HISTORY OF THIE GREAT REBELLION. war, as if no possible action of Congress could keep up with the fierce impatien’ce of the public to have the war brought to a successful end. CHAIPTER XXXIL Expedition of General Butler.-New Orleans.-Its Defences.-Passage of the Forts by Farragut.-Capture of City.-Butler’s Administration.-Baton Rouge.-Vicks.

burg.-Ram Arkansas.-Her Destruction. Tnz expedition of General Butler against New Orleans, which had been so long in preparation, finally reached Ship Island on the 20th March, 1862, but, owing to the weather, did not land until the 23d. The defence of New Orleans had been intrusted to MajorGeneral ML Lovell, a graduate of West Point, and connected with Generals Quitman and G. W. Smith in the Cuban fillibustering expeditions.

When he took charge of New Orleans in October, 1861, he found the city comparatively defenceless. The troops of that section had gone north in the Confederate service, and the Mississippi was blockaded. The most active preparations were immediately commenced for defence; guns and munitions were manufactured; troops organized and drilled; forts placed in a position to resist, and with persevering efforts a system of formidable works gradually grew up. The lower river was commanded by Fort Jackson and Fort St. Philip, which had been seized by the Confederates. The former, situated on the west bank of the river, seventy miles below New Orleans, had cost the United States over one million dollars; it was a casemated fort, intended to mount one hundred and fifty guns, and hold six hundred men; opposite, on the east bank of the river, St. Philip mounted one hundred and fifty guns; it is also a very strong fort. These two forts completely commanded the river, and it was judged impossible to pass them.

The Confederates had, however, twice placed obstructions in the river, but these were swept away by the rising flood. There were five or six other forts which commanded the approaches to New Orleans by way of Lake Borgne.

As an additional defence, sixteen vessels had been prepared and armed on the river; of these, eight defended the upper river, and the remainder, including two ironclad rams, were destined to support the forts below.

Both forts were commanded by General J. K. Duncan, a native of Pennsylvania, and a graduate of West Point. He had been connected with the Lopez expedition to Cuba, and also with Walker, in Nicaragua, and was considered the best artillerist in the Confederate service. Cdobnel Higgins, formerly of the United States navy, and consid&eed a skilful officer, had the immediate command of Fort Jackson. A large proportion of the forces inside the forts were Northern men, and included many foreigners. The party that seized the fort, early in 1861, was a company of German Yagers. The Northern men were mostly sent down at an early stage of the war, and it was asserted that most of them volunteered, hoping in that way to avoid suspicion, and, per]aps, not have to fight against the Govern 3,63

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. ment after all. A chain had been placed across the rivqr, three quarters of a mile below the forts, and was a formidable obstacle. It was supported byheavy logs, thirty feet long, and only a few feet apart, to the under side of which the chain was pinned near the up-stream end. In a few months a raft formed on the upper side of this chain which reached up to the forts, and its weight swept away the whole obstruction and went to sea, carrying the buoys with it. It was then replaced by a lighlter chain, buoyed by the hulks of eleven schooners.

There were also fire-rafts and boats above, prepared to descend the river with the current and destroy any ascending fleet. The whole system of defence was such that the place was considered entirely im pregnable. No uneasiness was felt either in Richmond or New Orleans when it was announced that the attack had commenced. General Butler, after a consultation with Flagofficer Farragut, em barked his force at Ship Island and proceeded to the passes of the Mississippi to await the action of the fleet. This was the largest that had then ever been assembled under the stars and stripe& It consisted of eight steamships, sixteen gunboats, and twentyone mnortar schoon ers-in all forty-six sail, carrying two hundred and eighty-six guns. The mortar vessels were under Commodore D. D.

Porter. The fleet ascended the river twentyfive miles to the forts, and on the 18th of April began a furious bombardment, which lasted six days.

The fire rafts proved ineffectual. During this bombardment the fort was so much shaken that it was feared the casemates would come down about the ears of the defenders. It was observed that the bombs that fell in the ditch, close to the walls of the fort, and exploded there, shook the fort much more severely than any of those that buried themselves in the solid ground. During the bombardment the only guns of the fort that were much used were the rifled guns, of which there were three, and the colum biad and Dahlgren guns, eight in number. The mortars fired occa sionally. One of the rifled guns mounted on the fort proper before the bombardment, was sent, two days before the fire opened, to Island Number Ten. General Duncan telegraphed that the forts were safe, as the firing did not lead to results. Believing that the reduction of the forts by bombardment would prove a tedious operation, Farragut finally determined to pass the forts.

Before daylight of the 24th, the squadron was formed in two columns, of which one, under Captain Bailey, second in command, was composed of the following vessels, leading to the attack of Fort St. Philip: Cayuga, Pensacola, Mississippi, Oneida, Varuna, Katahdin, Kineo, Wissahickon; while Flagofficer Farragut led the Hartford, Brooklyn, Richmond, Scioto, Iroquois, Pinola, WVinona, Itaca, and Kennebec, forming the left column, which was to attack Fort Jackson. The steamers belonging to the mortar flotilla were to enfilade the water battery commanding the approaches to the forts. The vessels were rather late in getting under way and into line, and were not fairly started until halfpast three A. M. In an hour and ten minutes the fleet had passed the forts under a furious fire; the chain across the river having previously been shifted sufficiently to permit ,iv 364

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HISTORY OF TIE GREAT REBELLION. the vessels to penetrate the obstructions.

It was alleged by the enemy that the raft had not been closed since a storm had rent a chasm in it; that, by some fatality, the signals of both fleets were the same on that night; that orders of General Lovell, to keep the river lighted with fire-rafts, had been disobeyed; that the person in charge of the signals had neglected to throw up rockets on the approach of the fleet. In consequence of all these mishaps, the ships got abreast of the forts before they were discovered. When they were seen, however, all the guns opened upon the devoted ships with extraordinary fury, and this danger once surmounted, they were obliged to encounter the enemy’s fleet, of seventeen vessels, eight of which were armed. The Varuna, Captain Charles Boggs, led the right column, and was attacked by the enemy’s vessels on all sides. Although badly cut up, she drove off four of the enemy. A steam ram then attacked her, staving her side and setting her on fire. The flames were with difficulty extinguished. The enemy was so crippled in the encounter that he drew off, when another ram struck the Varuna, crushing in her side. Although then run ashore in a sinking condition, she delivered her fire as she went down so effectually, that her enemy suffered great damage.. The Brooklyn followed the Varuna. She was in the darkness butted by the ram Manassas without much damage. She proceeded, receiving a fire from a steamer and from Fort St. Philip as she passed, returning them with marked effect. She then encountered the fleet of the enemy, and was under fire an hour and a half, losing eight men killed and twenty-six wounded, and was much cut up. The steam rams impelled a fire-raft on board the flagship Hartford, running her ashore.

Commodore Farragut then drew off, and the fire was extinguished, but the Hartford was much injured. The Manassas drifted ashore in flames, and was deserted by her crew. The forts having been thus passed and the fleet of the enemy captured or sunk, as wa~ supposed, the Union vessels proceeded to New Orleans without encountering serious obstacles. On the 28th the forts, which Generals Butler and Phelps had begun to invest from the land side, surrendered to Commodore Porter. General Duncan alleged that he was compelled to yield in consequence of a mutiny in the garrison, to quell which he had been obliged to turn guns upon his own men, when he found that they were spiked. The rebel naval officers, meantime, placed all their munitions of war on board the Louisiana, a powerful floating battery, lying under the guns of Fort Jackson, and she blew up opposite Fort St. Philip. The forts were found to be well supplied with provisions and ammunition. There were around the city of New Orleans a number of vessels loaded with cotton and tobacco. These, to the estimated value of several millions, were de’stroyed by fire by order of General Lovell, who withdrew his forces from the city in order not to subject it to bombardment. The real reason of the evacuation was probably the fact that a single firigate anchored at Kenner’s plantation, ten miles above the city, would effectually prevent any troops from leaving it. On the 26th April the following correspondence took place: 365

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HMSTORY OF T GREAT REBELLION. ” UNITED STATES FLAGSHIP HARTFORD, “OFF NEW

ORLEANS, April 26, 1862. “To HIS EXCELLENCY THE MAYOR OF THE CITY OF NEW

ORLEANS: “SI:-Upon my arrival before your city, I had the honor to send to your honor Captain Bailey, United States Navy, second in command of the expedition, to demand of you the surrender of New Orleans to me as the representative of the Government of the United States. Captain Bailey reported the result of an interview with yourself and the military authorities. “It must occur to your honor that it is not within the province of a naval officer to assume the duties of a military commandant.

I eame here to reduce New Orleans to obedience to the laws of, and to vindicate the offended majesty of, the Government of the United States.

The rights of persons and property shall be secured. “I therefore demand of you, as its representative, the unqualified surrender of the city, and that the emblem of the sovereignty of the United States be hoisted over the City Hall, Mint, and Custom-House, by meridian this day, and all flags and other emblems of sovereignty other than this of the United States be removed from all the public buildings by that hour. “I particularly request that you shall exercise your authority to quell disturbances, restore order, and call upon all the good people of New Orleans to retire at once to their avocations, and I particularly demand that no person shall be molested in person or property, or for sentiments of loyalty to their Government. I shall speedily and severely punish any person or persons who shall ccmmit such outrages as were witnessed yesterday by armed men firing upon helpless women and children for giving expression to their pleasure at witnessing the’old flag.’ “I am, very respectfully, D.

C. FARRAGUT, “Fl-Officer Wesn Gulf Squadron.” THE REPLY OF THE MAYOR.

“MAYOR’S OFFICE, CITY OF NEW ORLEANS, “CITY HALL, A}pri 26, 1862. f FLAG-OFFICER D. C. FARRAGUT, United States FlagShip Hartford: “SIR: -In pursuance of a resolution which we thought proper to take, out of regard for the lives of the women and children, who still crowd the metropolis, General Lovell has evacuated it with his troops, and restored back to me the administration of its government and the custody of its honor. I have, in council with the City Fathers, considered the demand you made of me yesterday of an unconditional surrender of the city, coupled with a requisition to hoist the flag of the United States on the public edifices, and haul down the flag that still floats upon the breeze from the dome of the Hall. It becomes my duty to transmit to you an answer which the universal sentiment of my constituents, no less than the prompting of my own heart, declares to me on this sad and solemn occasion. The city is without the means of defence, and is utterly destitute of the force and material that might enable it to resist an overpowering armament displayed in sight of it. “I am no military man, and possess no authority beyond that of executing the municipal laws of the city of New Orleans. It would be presumptuous in me to attempt to lead an army to the field, if I had one at command; and I know still less how to surrender an undefended place, held, as this is, at the mercy of your gunners and your mortars. To surrender such a place were an idle and unmeaning ceremony. The city is yours by the power of brutal force, not by my choice or the consent of its inhabitants. It is for you to determine what will be the fate that awaits us here. As to hoisting any flag not of our ovA adoption and allegiance, let me say to you that the man lives not in our midist whose hand and heart would not be paralyzed at the mere thought of such an act; nor could I find in my entire constituency so desperate and wretched a renegade as would dare to. profane with hand the sacred emblem of our aspirations.

“Sir, you have manifested sentiaents which would become one engaged in a better cause than that to which you have devoted your sword. I doubt not that they spring from a noble though deluded nature, and I know how to appreciate the emotions which inspired them. You have agallant people to administrate during your occupancy of this city-a people sensitive to all that can in the least affect their dignity and self 866

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HISTORY OF re GREAT REBELLION. respect. Pray, sir, do not fail to regard their susceptibilities. The obligations which I shall assume in their name shall be religiously complied with. You may trust their honor, though you might not count on their submission to unmerited wrong. “In conclusion, I beg you to understand that the people of New Orleans, while unable to resist your force, do not allow themselves to be insulted by the interference of such as have rendered themselves odious and contemptible by their dastardly desertion of our cause in the mighty struggle in which we are engaged, or such as might remind them too forcibly that they are the conquered and you the conquerors. Peace and order may be preserved without resort to measures which I could not prevent Yotur occupying of the city does not transfer allegiance from the government of their choice to one which they have deliberately repudiated, and they yield the obedience which the conqueror is entitled to extort from the conquered.

“Respectfully, “JoHN F. MONROE, Mayor.” After the city had surrendered to Commodore Farragut, and was completely under the guns of the fleet, General Butler,* with a force composed of eight regiments, two batteries, and two companies of cavalry, commenced landing on the 1st of May, and established his headquarters at the Custom-House. He subsequently ordered the St. Charles Hotel, which was closed, to be opened for the accommodation of himself and staff. He then prepared a proclamation, which the papers refused to publish, whereupon he placed Northern printers in the True Delta office, by whom the document was put in type. It stated that the laws of the United States would be enforced, but to a certain extent, and for a limited period, proclaimed martial law. The payment of municipal taxes, with some exceptions, was suppressed, and the circulation of Confederate money forbidden. The telegraph was placed under the command of an army officer. For opposition to the new Government, General Butler sent the provost guard to arrest the mayor and common council, and bring them before him at the St. Charles Hotel. Pierre Soulc, formerly United States senator, attended, at the invitation of the common council. General Butler read his proclamation to them and addressed them. He was replied to by Mr. Soule6, on whose representations he was induced to modify a portion of it, and to permit the boats and railroads to bring in supplies of food to the inhabitants. Mr. Soule6 also asked that the soldiers might be withdrawn to the suburbs of the city, since their presence was a continual source of irritation to the people. This was naturally enough denied, and Soul6 was subsequently arrested, and sent to Fort Lafayette, New York. The administration of General Butler, though somewhat severe, was on the whole admirably adapted to the city and its inhabit part of 1S62 commanded the expedition which, wit h the a id of Farraut’s fleet, open ed th e Lower Mississippi and captured New Orleans. He p)resided over the Gulf Del)artmient until relieved by General Bank-% at the cla)se of 1S62, and was particularly distinguished by his administration of affairs in New Orleans. In the latter paot of 1S63 ‘he was appointed to the Departmnent of Virginia and North Carolina; anti during the campaign of 1864 he participated in the military operations .before Petersburg and Richmoind.

as comlnmander of the Army of the James. In January, 1l65, he was relieved of his commandl, and in the succee - ing spring he resigned his commission. * Benjamin Franklin Butler was born in Deerfield, New Hampshire, in 1515; graduated at Waterville College, Maine, in 1&35; and practisedew at Lowell, Massachusetts, from lS41 to 1S61. During this period he was a prominent member of the Democratic party in Massachusetts, and was for several years a State senator. In 1S60 he was the candidate of the Breckinridge Democrats for Governor. As brigadiergeneral of Massachusits militia, he accompanied the first three-month s volunteers of that State to the seat of war, was placed successively in command of Baltimore and Fortress Monroe, and in May, 1861, was commissioned majorgeneral of volunteers. II took part i; the expedition to Fort Hatterxa and in the early 367’

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. ants, and, considering the circumstances in which he was placed, was eminently successful. Meantime, Algiers was occupied by the Union troops, the Opelousas and Jackson Railroad seized, and General Phelps occupied Carrollton, about five miles up the river.

When the city of New Orleans had surrendered to the fleet, and the troops had landed to occupy it, the gunboats proceeded up the river, and the troops under General Williams occupied Baton Rouge. On the 12th, they reached Natchez, and surrounded the place. The mayor replied that they were a defenceless people, and could make no opposition to the force brought against them, and that there was no Confederate property in the place. Four gunboats remained, and the others proceeded up the river and landed troops at Grand Gulf and Port Gibson. Farragut’s fleet had been reenforced with heavy mortar-boats, and he was instructed to open the Mississippi River from one end ta the other. The enemy, in the mean time, after the retreat from Corinth, had concentrated a force under Van Dorn at Vicksburg, which is situated on the Mississippi River, three hundred and ninety-five miles above New Orleans, and seven hundred and ninety-nine below St. Louis. It is distant by water from Cairo about six hundred and thirty miles, and from Memphis nearly four hundred miles. It is also over a hundred miles above Natchez. The city is on elevated ground, on the east bank of the river, which just above it makes a sharp turn to the northeast, rounds a point and returns on its course southwest, thus forming a tongue of land twelve miles long and one wide, with intersections between Tucumbia and Vicksburg. The enemy had made the most of the natural advantages of the place; a bluff below the town was surrounded with a fort, mounting eight guns, and the defences were otherwise formidable. The bank of the river rises gradually for a couple of miles back, and on this curved slope lies the town, imbedded in a natural cradle. Above and below the city, on the sides of the slope, lay the batteries Above was a three-banked battery, with tiers rising one above the other, from a point half-way down the slope to the summit. Four heavy guns were in each tier. On the 26th of June, the fleet attacked the batteries, and continued to bombard them all day, with little result. On the 27th, the fire was resumed, and Commodore Porter ordered the town shelled. The women and children had been removed previously. On the 28th, Commodore Farragut, whose fleet was then lying about five miles below the city, got word to the mortars to open fire upon the batteries at four o’clock in the morning, and hlie would endeavor to run some of his vessels past the batteries. Accordingly, the bombardwent was recommenced at the hour named, and during its continuance, Farragut succeeded in passing the entire Confederate batteries with eight vessels, viz.: three men-of-war, two sloops-of-war, and three gunboats. The Federal loss in passing the batteries was four killed, twenty wounded The fleet passed up, and was joined by that of Commnodore Davis, descending from Memphis. Finding that Vicksburg would hold out, Farragut determined to open the Mississippi in another way, namely, by cutting a canal across the tongue of land opposite Vicksburg, thus opening a new channel for 368

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IISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. the river, and leaving Vicksburg far to one side. Instantly the work commenced. Negroes were gathered firom every plantation around, and three or four hundred of them set to work. The canal was finally cut with much labor, but was found to be of no avail.

The river was fast falling, and the water would not enter the ditch.

General Wil liams, with about three thousand troops, occupied the west bank of the river, and greatly aided the digging operations. Meantime the fleet occupied the river above Vicksburg, near the mouth of the Yazoo River, up which stream there were in process of construction some Confederate vessels. On the 26th June, Colonel Ellet, with the rams Monarch and Lancaster, proceeded sixtyfive miles up the Yazoo, with a view of destroying three new boats lying there, and of getting information of the ironclad steamer Arkansas being built. On his approach the boats were set on fire and cast adrift, compelling Colonel Ellet to leave the river in haste. The enemy now erected heavy batteries at Grand Gulf, and Ellis Bluff, below Vicksburg, supported by infantry under Generals Bragg and Gustavus W. Smith, and several vessels on their way to New Orleans failed to get past the batteries. On the morning of 15th July, the gunboats Carondelet and Tyler and the ram Queen of the West got under way, steamed up the river a short distance, turned, and headed up the Yazoo.

Upon entering the river the Queen shot up ahead of the rest, the Carondelet following, while the Tyler brought up the rear. They had proceeded about five miles only, when the Arkansas was encountered on her way down. The Carondelet met her with a full broadside, but the shot glanced harmless from her plated sides.& Tile ram ran into the Cariondelet, receiving another harmless broadside as she struck her opponent on the quarter, at the same time delivering her fire. Captain Walker boarded his enemy, but could find no en trance. He returned to his guns, but his vessel was a wreck, and a shot cut away the steam-pipe, scalding many men. The Arkansas then left her and steered for the Tyler, which made the best of her way out of the river, closely followed by the enemy, into the midst of the fleet, several of the vessels of which, by some fatality, had not sufficient steam to move. The Louisiana shore was lined with our transports, ordnance boats, &c., wqile directly opposite them, three or four abreast, lay Fairagut’s and Davis’s fleet, scarcely two of which could fire without pouring their broadsides into some of their owa vessels. The ram, keeping her guns busy, passed all the vessels in succession. The Richmond, the J. I-. Dickey, the Champion, and the Hartfobrd, were all fiiled into. The eleven-inch shot of the Oneida fell harmless from her sides, as dil the sm,aller missiles of others of the fleet, and she finally reached her destination unharmed, under the guns of Vicksburg. The Union loss was thirtyfour killed, sixtysix wounfled(l, and twenty-thlree missing. The Ailkansas was an ironclad bessel of one thousand three hundred tons, and was built at Mlemphis, but was removed fromn that point, ill an unfinished condition, previous to the evacuation by our troops. She was completed in the Yazoo River. I1er commander reported: 24 369 0

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. “VIcKSBURG,.JuIy 16. “We engaged today, from six A. M., with the enemy’s fleet above Vicksburg, consisting of four or more ironclad gunboats and two heavy sloops-of-war, and four gun.

boats and seven or eight rams. We drove an ironclad ashore with colors down and disabled, blew up a ram, burned one vessel, and damaged several others. Our smoke stack was so shot to pieces that we lost steam and could not use our vessel as a ram. We were otherwise cut up, as we engaged at close quarters. Loss ten killed and fifteen wounded, others with slight wounds. (Signed) “ISAAC N. BROwN, LieutenantCommanding.” The insult thus sustained by the fleet, so similar to that which the navy in the waters of the Hampton Roads, sustained four months previous, prompted the two commanders-in-chief to destroy her at all hazards. It was determined in council that the fleet under Commodore Davis should attack the batteries above Vicksburg, and the vessels of Farragut the lower batteries, and that, during these attacks, the Essex, under Commodore W. D. Porter, should run in and attack the Arkansas. On the morning of the 23d this plan was put in execution, but failed from want of combined action. The Essex, in running into the ram, missed her blow and ran ashore, exposed to all the guns of the place, numbering, as reported by Porter, seventy in battery, and twenty fieldpieces. His vessel, he reported, hit forty-two times, and the armor penetrated twice. She drew off and went down the river, whence she could not return to join Davis’s fleet. The fleet was now in a critical position; there was but eighteen feet of water in the river between New Orleans and Vicksburg, and the flagships and others drew sixteen feet; as the water was still subsiding, there were fears of grounding, until the fall rains. It was therefore necessary to abandon Vicksburg and to go down the stream. The vessels of Farragut, above the city, passed down amidst a shower of shot of two hours’ duration, and joined the lower fleet without important loss. The Arkansas took ho part in this movement, inasmuch as she was undergoing repairs. The force of General Williams was taken down and landed at Baton Rouge. On the 5th of August, the Confederates, under Generals Breckinridge and Ruggles, attacked the Union force, under General Williams, with great vigor. There were in the river five Union gunboats, which aided the defence of Williams. The Confederates expected the ram Arkansas and her guns to aid Me attack of Breckinridge, whose object was to possess the arsenal. After a severe struggle of five hours’ duration, he fell back without accomplishing that ol)ject, but with much loss, including General Clarke.

While the enemy’s column was advancing to the attack, it received a volley of musketry from a wood, where was retired a bok of partisan rangers, who fired upon their friends by mistake.. The Union loss was also large, including General Williams, who was shot throu,gh the heart. During the night, Farragut left New Orleans with the Brooklyn and four gunboats, and arrived at Baton Rouge at noon Qn the 6th. The cause of the failure of the enemy’s attack was an accident to the ram Arkansas. On her way down, under Lieutenant Stevens, one of her engines was disabled, and she anchored fifty miles above the town. On the 6th, she was attacked by the Union gunboats, when her commander ranil her ashore an(d le(L Sao

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. She blew up after the crew had made their escape. Thus ended the second ironclad vessel of the enemy. Each of them had a very short, butt very brilliant existence, powerfully illustrating the force of the new agents introduced into naval warfare. CHAPTER XXXII.

Privateers.-Confederate Navy.-Oreto-Her Operations.-The AlabamaHer Moved ments.-Diplomatic Correspondence.-Captures-Hlatteras Captured. THE
organization of the Confederate Government included a naval force, of which, however, they possessed only the officers, most of whom had been in the service of the Federal Government, and had embraced the Southern cause on the outbreak of the war. The Southern States had never been commercial, nor were they possessed of much shipping or seafaring population; hence the material of a navy did not exist, even if the strict blockade which the immense naval force of the North maintained on the Southern coast, had permitted ingress to and ingress from the numerous harbors of that section. Notwithstanding these difficulties, the naval authorities managed to get to sea the Sumter and several other small crafts, which did much damage upon the ocean to Northern property in the first year of the war.

The operations of that class of vessels closed with the year 1861, when the Sumter, having taken refuge at Gibraltar, was closely watched by the Federal steamer Tuscarora, and, being unable to procure coal, was finally abandoned. The successes of the Sumter and her colleague had, however, encouraged the rebels to undertake the formation of a more regular navy, and several large steamers were contracted for in England. The first of these was called the Oreto, and was in process of con struction in Liverpool in February, 1862. When MIr. Adams, the American Minister, called the attention of Earl Russell to the fact that an armed steamer was being built to cruise against the United States, Earl Russell replied that it was alleged that she was being built for the Italian Government, and he had no evidente to the contrary. On the 25th of the same month, Mr. Adams again addressed Earl Russell upon the same subject. Earl Russell replied: “With reference to your observations with regard to the infringement of the enlistment law, I have to remark that it is true the foreign enlistment act, or any other act for the same purpose, can be evadt by very subtle contrivances; but her Majesty’s Government cannot, on that account, go beyond the letter of the existing law.” Mr. Adams, having failed to secure her detention, she sailed, on the 22d of March, with a crew of,fifty-two British seamen, for Palermo and Jamaica, in ballast, which was alleged to be one hundred and seventy tons of arms. The Oreto arrived at Nassau, where, on the representation of the American consul, she was seized by the authorities, but was released on the arrival of Captain Semmes, formerly of 371 I

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SHITORY OF THIIE GREAT REBELLION. the Sumter. She was soon after again seized, and again released On the 4th of September, she suddenly appeared off Mobile harbor, into which she succeeded by a skilful ruse in entering.

The Oreto, once in port, was fully armed and equipped for a cruise, and received as commander John Newland Maffit, who had entered the United States naval service in 1832, as a citizen of Georgia, although born in Ireland, and was a son of the celebrated preacher of the same name. Maffit bore the reputation of a very bold and skilful officer. In January, 1863, the Oreto, thenceforth known as the Florida, left Mobile Bay on a cruise, in which she did great damage to the American shipping The most active and formidable of the cruisers of the enemy during the year 1862 was the “290,” orthe Alabama, as she was subsequently called. She was constructed at Birkenhead works, Liverpool, and it was commonly asserted that the funds were supplied by the subscriptions of two hundred and ninety merchants having business relations with the Southern States. Captain Raphael Semmes, formerly of the Sumter, was appointed to command her. The ship was eleven hundred and fifty tons burden, fourteen feet draught, with engines built by Laird & Sons, the senior of the firm being a member of Parliament. She was a wooden vessel, propelled by a screw, copper-bottomed, about two hundred and ten feet long, and carried three long thirtytwo-pounders on a side, a one-hundred-pounder pivot forward of the bridge a sixty-eight-pounder pivot on the main deck, and a twenty-four-pounder rifle pivot stern-chaser-all of the Blakely pattern.

She was bark-rigged, with long, black lower masts, and wire rigging, and was represented to go thirteen knots under canvas, and fifteen under steam. When this vessel was near her completion, it became known that she was destined for the Southern service, notwithstanding that rumors were spread that she was built for an Eastern Government. In August she was nearly ready for sea, and the Federal man-of-war Tuscarora cruised in St.

George’s Channel to intercept her passage. Before she sailed, however, a large bark left the Thames for Demarara, loaded with guns, stores, and munitions. The Alabama then left the Mersey, under Captain Bullock, with a set of English papers, and a crew of ninety-three old man-of-war’s men, TAany of whom were experienced gunners, and to avoid the Tuscarora, took the north channel out. She had on board no guns or warlike stores. After a run of eight days, she reached Tarissa, one of the western islands. On her arrival, she gave the Portuguese authorities the plea of damaged engines as a reason for making port there. In the course of a week, the bark which had left the Thames for I)emkara put in on pretence of having sprung aleak, and was quarantined three days. The Alabama immediately hauled alongside, and cranes were rigged by order of Captain Bullock. When in readiness, he began -to transfer the cargo. This operation drew a protest from the Portu,guese authorities against the infringement of the quarantine laws. But it was alleged that the bark was sinking, and it was necessary to save the cargo. On the following day there arrived in port tlie British steamer Bahama, having on 372 Iq I

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ISTORY OF I GREAT REBELLION. board Captain Semmes and other late officers of the Sumter, twenty of the crew, and the remainder of the Alabama’s armament, all of which was immediately transferred to that vessel. The patience of the Portuguese authorities, before sorely tried, was now exhausted, and they ordered all three vessels to leave port. They went a few miles to Angra Bay,and remained twenty-four hours, and were again ordered off. They took their departure at once, the Alabama towing the bark, which made sail for Cardiff for coals for the Alabama. Captain Semmes then mustered the crew of the steamer, and read to them his commission as a post-captain in the Confederate navy. The document was signed, “Jefferson Davis, President Confederate States of America.” He then opened and read his sealed orders, directing him to assume command of the Alabama, hitherto known as the “290,” on which he was to hoist the Confederate flag, and “sink, burn, and destroy every thing which flew the ensign of the socalled United States of America.” The Confederate flag was next raised and saluted, and the crew addressed by the captain, and informed if any of:them were dissatisfied or disinclined to enter the Confederate service, they had an opportunity to go on board the English steamer Bahama, about to leave for England. The offer was declined, and the vessels parted company. The officers of the Alabar.la were: Captain Raphael Semmes; first lieutenant, J. AI. Kell; second lieutenant, R. J.

Armstrong; third lieutenant, J. D. Wilson; fourth lieutenant, J. Low. On parting company with the Bahama, the Alabama gave chase to a whaler, and, on the 6th of September, burned the ship Ocmulgee, of Edgartown. In the same month she burned eleven others, and before the close of the year, she had destroyed thirty-seven vessels, of a value, with carg,o, of some millions of dollars. Inasmuch as the Alabama had no port where she might send vessels for adjudication and condemnation, she had no scruples against destroying whatever she might capture. The prize-money, or half the value of the vessels destroyed, was, it is stated, regularly paid in money to the crew, and the good pay and easy condition enabled Captain Semmes to keep a crew of picked men from the vessels captured. The prisoners captured by the Alabama were, in some cases, landed, and in others placed on board of captured vessels which were bonded. The bonds taken by the Alabama were generally payable six months after the recognition of the Southern Confederacy. These depredations upon the high seas produced the greatest excitement at the North. The Navy Department dispatched many cruisers to capture the enemy, but without success. The effect upon the United Slates commerce was very disastrous, not only in the actual destruction caused, but in the loss of trade occasioned to American botlorns. Numbers of vessels were transferred to foreign ownerships, and foreign vessels commanded the freights. In Encgland there was also much excitement, in consequence of the destruction of British property n the seized vessels. On June 23d, S1r. Adams addressed Earl Russell on the subject of the “290,” remarking: “Thiis vessel has been built and launched from the dock-yard of persons, one of whom is now sitting as a member of 373 t

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HISTORY OF TrIE GREAT R:EBELLION. the House of Commons, and is fitting out for the especial and manifest object of carrying on hostilities by sea. It is about to be commanded by one of the insurgent agents, the same who sailed in the Oreto. The parties engaged in the enterprise are persons well known at Liverpool to be agents and officers of the insurgents in the United States.” The note was accompanied by a letter from the United States consul at Liverpool, containing evidence as to the designs of the “290,” with other evidence to show the character of her intentions. On the 31st of July, Mr. Adams wrote to Mr. Seward: “In spite of all my efforts and remonstrances, which as yet wait the opinion of the law officers of the crown, I received, on the 29th inst., from Mr. Dudley, the consul at Liverpool, the news that she sailed without register or clearance from that port on that day. I immediately communicated the intelligence by telegraph to Captain Craven, of the Tuscarora, at Southampton. I learn from the consul at that place that the Tuscarora sailed thence at eight P.

m. on the 29th instant.” Earl Russell subsequently remarked in relation to the “290,” that a delay in determining upon it had most unexpectedly been caused by the sudden development of a malady of the Queen’s advocate, Sir John D. Harding, totally incapacitating him for the transaction of business. This had made it necessary to call in other parties, whose opinion had been at last given for the detention of the gunboat; but before the order got down to Liverpool, the vessel was gone. Ho should, however, send directions to have her stopped, if she went, as was probable, to Nassau. “I said,” he writes Ir. Adams, “I was aware that the gunboat was off; but I did not say, what I myself have little doubt of; that her sudden departure was occasioned by a notion, obtained somehow or other, that such a proceeding was lmpending. I added an expression of satisfaction that the law officers of the crown had seen their way to such an opinion, and that it was the disposition of her Majesty’s Government to do something to check this outrageous abuse.” Under date of September 26th, Sir. Adams wrote: “I have not been quite satisfied with the way in which my remonstrances respecting the outfit of the gunboat’ No. 290’ lead been left. In consequence, I seized the first opportunity in my power to remind Lord Russell that no written answer had been given me. This has had the desired effect. I have the honor to transmit copies of the two notes which have passed between us. In former days, it was a favorite object of Great Britain to obtain from the United States an admission of the validity of claims fXr damage done by vessels fitted out in their ports against her commerce. This was finally conceded to her in the seventh article of the treaty of 1794. The reasoning which led to that agreement may not be without its value at some future time, should the escape of the gunboat “290,” and of her companion, the Oreto, prove to be of any serious injury to our commerce.” Subsequently, Mir. Seward wrote to IMr. Adams: “The telegraph announces the destruction of another half-dozen American vessels on the high seas by the steamer‘290.’ The President is obliged to re 374

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. gard these destructions as being made by British subjects in violation of the law of nations, after repeated and ample notice, warning, and remonstrances had been given by me to the British Government. It is presumed that you have already brought the subject in that light to the notice of her Majesty’s Government. The legal proofs in support of a claim for indemnity will be collected and transmitted to you as speedily as possible.” 7 The most daring movement of the enemy’s cruisers was made in January, 1863. While a United States squadron, composed of the Brooklyn, Hatteras, and five smaller vessels, was cruising off Galveston, a steamer, just after dark, appeared, in the judgment of the officers of the Hatteras, endeavoring to escape. The crew of the Hatteras being at quarters, Captain Blake gave chase, when the steamer lay-to under steam. When within hail, she replied to Captain Blake:” Her Britannic Majesty’s ship Spitfire.” Immediately thereafter the Alabama ranged a little ahead; her commander hailed, declaring her the Confederate steamer Alabama, and delivered her fire. The two vessels then, under full head of steam, exchanged broadsides as rapidly as possible. The Hatteras, a much inferior vessel in size and armament to her antagonist, in a few minutes was in a sinking condition, and was compelled to surrender. The officers and crew were taken to Kingston, Jamaica, and paroled. In the action, the Alabama was hulled fourteen times w ithout much damage. The two vessels continued their depredations on the coast with complete impunity until the month of June, 1863, when the Florida, having captured the bark Tacony, put a crew on board, under Lieutenant Reed, to cruise on his own account. He made an excursion among the fishermen of the Grand Banks, capturing and destroying a great number, and threatening to break up the season’s business. A number of vessels were sent out in search of her, and Lieutenant Reed formed the daring plan of capturing the United States revenue cutter Caleb Cushing, then lying in Portland Harbor, her captain being sick on shore. The crew of the Tacony, who had previously burned their vessel to avoid recognition, and transferred themselves to a schooner, boarded the Caleb Cushing, on the night of June 24th, and, taking possession, made sail. The wind, died away, however, and they could not gain the offing. As soon as it was discovered that she was gone, two steam-vessels were sent in pursuit, with the intention of running her down. She was, however, blown up and abandoned by the crew, who escaped in a boat, but were subsequently captured with their commander. In the early part of 1863, a third privateer, the Georgia, was )uilt ox the Clyde, received her arimament on the coast of France, and joined in the work of destruction against American commerce. The operations ot these Confederite cruisers were in the greatest degree injurious to the Americah commerce. They sailed without the authority of any recognize& power, and althoug,h admitted to belligerent rights by neutral nations, vere not permitted to send in prizes for adjudication, and had no I)orts of their own to which they could gain access. Their work: therefore, was one of destruction; and to 375

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HISTORY OF TEE GREAT REBELLION. such an extent was this successful, that a great change was effected if the nature of Northern commerce. The degree of this change is ap)parent in the following table of the business of the port of New York, for the fiscal years ending June 30, 1860 and 1863, distinguishing foreign from American tonnage: Year 1860. Year 1863. In American In Foreign In American In Foreign vessels. vessels. vessels.

vessels. orts from Foreign Ports..$130,505,156 $104,549,748 $68,856,292

$106,630,141 orts to Foreign Ports…. 75,471,927 63,274,900 83,321,296

133,094,774 a Trade of 1859……… $213,977,083 $167,824,648

$150,277,588 $239,724,915

Increase……………………………………………… $71,900,267

Decrease………………………………….$63,699,495 In 1860 the commerce by American vessels exceeded that by foreign vessels to the amount of bforty-six million dollars. In 1862 this was reversed, and the commerce by foreign flags exceeded that by our own flag to the amnount of eightynine million dollars. A considlerable part of this change was doubtless owing to the greater employment of American ships as Government transports; part of it was also due to the fact that much of the importing business was done by the steamers, under the foreign flag; and still another reason for the change may be found in a covering transfer of vessels to a foreign flag for safety. But after making everiy allowance for these influences, it must be evident that the fear of depredations on our commerce, by the Confederates and privateers, drove a large portion of our foreign trade to neutral vessels. The fact that the vessels which did this damage to American commerce were built, armed, and to some extent manned firom English re-ources, and paid for by a loan of fifteen million dollars, contracted in England on Confedei-ate account, secured upon cotton, was productive of great ill-will towards that nation. It was evident in the increased employment of foreign vessels in the international trade that she found her advantage in the course she pursued. CHAPTER XXXIV. General Pope’s -krmy.-Its Condition.-MicClellan’s Armrny. Enemy cross the Potomac -McClellan in command.-lialleck refuses Troops.-South Motintain.-IHarper’s

Ferry.-Antietam.-Hooker.-Sumner.-Burnside.-Retreat of the Enemy -Ad vance of the Army.-McClellan superseded. GENERAL MCCLELLAN habcnever been formally dcepriived of his com, mand, which he retained at Aquia Creek and Alexatidria, over the troops that remained thiere; but all the tr oops were iil succession detached from his command in sdl)port of Pope, when they were no longer under his command, and he remained in Alexandria witlhout any command. On the 1st September, he was ordered verbally to take command of the defences of Washington, but not to assume control of the troops of Pope. On the 2d, Pope was ordered to retreat 376 I Imp Bxp Tot

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HISTORY OF T’E GREAT REBELLION. upon Washington, and a formal order then issued to McClellan to take command of the troops in and around Washington, comprising those of Pope. Meantime the enemy, moving by their left, with the design of invading Maryland, reached the Potomac above Washington. They crossed the river on the 4th, 5th, and 6th of September, marching at once upon Frederick, the capital of the State of Maryland, which was oc cupied by Geneial I). HI. HIill. At that time, Colonel Miles, with eleven thousand troops, occupied Harper’s Ferry, and the plan of the enemy seemed to be, for Jackson to move from Frederick by the main I:fagerstown road, and, leaving it at some point near Middleburg,.to cross the Potomac near Sharpsburg, and endeavor to capture the garrison of Martinsburg, commanded by General Julius White, and cut off the retreat of the garrison at Harper’s Feiry. General ]IcLawvs was ordered, with his own command and the division of General AInderson, to move out by the same Hagerstown road, and gain possession of the MIaryland Heights, opposite Hlarper’s Ferry. General Walker, who was then apparently somewhere rea,r the mouth of the 3ionocacy, was to move through Lovettsvllle and gain possession of Loudon Ileights, ‘thus completing the investment of HIarper’s Ferry. General Loi]gstreet was ordered to move to Hagerstown, with Iill to seicve as a rearguard. Their reserve traius were ordered to take a position either at Boonesboro’ or Hagerstown. After Jackson and the gene. als cooperating with him had taken Ilarper’s Ferry, they were to rejoin the main army at Hagerstown or Boonesboi-o’. Meanwhile the armies of Virginia and the Potomac were recruited by collecting straggle-s, by resting the men, and by the addition of such troops as could be spared from the galrison of Washiington, or of such of the new levies as were available. On September 8th, the united armies, now under the command of McClellan, were between lRockville, Maryland, and Waishington, and the general plan of cml:)ai,li) agreed upon was, for the Federal troops to move up the Potomac, sad, it possflle, get between Lee and the fords by which he had crossed into Maryland. The enemy on the 8th issued a proc!amationi to the people of Maryland, calling upon them to thbiow off the restraints of the Union Government, and join the South. A general uprising of the p)eople was no doubt expected to result from this invitation, which, however, received no response, and the disappointment in this respect no doubt frustrated the evident plan of the enemy, to remain in Maryland and invade Pennsylvania. So great was tie alarm in this resplet, that Governor Curtin, of Pennsylvania, called out the militia to defend the State, and seventy-five thousand troops responded to the call.

Perceiving that his avenue of retreat into Virginia was threatened, Lee made haste to coneentate his troops in the neiglibo: hood of Hagerstown, aid at the’same time sent various sIiall bouIies of troopS into Pennsylvania, to diveit the attention of the Unio(n coiiiiiiander.L These movements enabled him to press miore closely the investment of Harper’s Ferry, the capture df which place, with i:s garrison aced stores, was one of the prime objects of his campaign. During the 9th and lo10th, McClellan moved cautiously northward, and oT0 the 11th he telegraphed to General Hatleck, that, as Colonel iMiles could do nothing 377

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ISTORY OF THE GREAT -REBELLION. at Harper’s Ferry, he should be ordered to join him at once with his command. To this suggestion Halleck replied as follows: “WASHINGTON, D. C., September 11, 1862. ” There is no way for Colonel Miles to join you at present. The only chance is to defend his works until you can open a communication with him. When you do so, he will be subject to your orders. “H. W. HALLECK, Generalin- Chief.

“MajorGeneral McCiLELLAN, Rockville.” Sucb, in fact, had been the movements of Lee’s generals, to vest Harper’s Ferry, that an attempt by Miles to retire from the place and form a junctioll with McClellan would have resulted in his defeat by an overwhelming force, and probably ia his captui’e. The reply of ilalleck was, therefore, the only one which could have been made under the circumstances, and should have suggested to McClellan that the best plan for forming a junction with Miles was to push rapidly by tho direct route for Harper’s Ferry, if; indeed, it were not too late now to do that. Why he had delayed his recommendation for the withdrawal of Miles-which might have been possible a day or two previousuntil the 11th, is not very easy to understand. The following extract from a dispatch from McClellan to ilalleck, dated the 11th, is interestmg, as showing the views entertained by the former at this crisis, and also that his estirnate of the rebel strength, and his constitul jonal cautiousness, had in no degree been lessened since the Peninsula campaign I believe this army fury appreciates the importance of a victory at this time, and will fight well; but the result of a general battle, with such odds as the enemy now appears to have against us, might, td say the least, be doubtful; and, if we should be defeated, the consequeuces to the country would be dlsastrous in the extreme. Under these circumstances, I would recommend that one or two of the three army corps now on the Potomac, opposite Washington, be at once withdrawn, and sent to reenforce thi8 army. I would also advise that the force of Colonel Miles, at [Jarper’s Ferry, where it can be of little use, and is continually exposed to be cut off by the enemy, be immediately ordered here. This would add about twentyfive thousand old troops to our present force, and would greatly strengthen us. “If there are any rebel forces remaining on the other side of the Potomac, they must be so few that the troops left in the forts, after the two corps shall have been withdrawn, will be sufficient to check them; and pith the large cavalry force now on that side, kept well out in front to give warning of the distant approach of any very large army, a part of this army might be sent back within the intrenebments to assist in repelling an attack. But even if Washington should he taken while these armies are confronting each other, this would not, in my judgment, bear comparison with tl]e ruin and disasters which would follow a single defeat of this army. Jf we should be su cessful in conquering the gigantic rebel army before us, we would have no difficulty in recovering it. On the other hand, should their force prove sufficiently powerful to defeat us, could all the forces now around Washington Le sufficiout to prevent such a In reply, Halleck showed that very few troops were then arriving in Washiing,ton, and that Porter, who, at McClellan’s special request, had been temnporarily restored to his command, had, on the 12thi, taken away twenty thousand men. He added: “Until you know more certainly the enemy’s force southl of the Potomac, you axe wrong in thus uncovering the capital. I am of opinion that the enemy wil 878

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. .~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ e send a small column to Pennsylvania, so as to draw your forces in that direction, then suddenly move on Washington with the forces south of the Potomac, and those he may cross over. ‘,In your letter of the 11th you attach too little importance to the capital. I assure you that you are wrong. The capture of this place will throw us back six months, if it should not destroy us. Beware of the evils I now point out to you. You saw them when here; but you seem to forget them in the distance. No more troops can be sent from here till we have fresh arrivals from the North.” In his evidence before the Congressional Committee on the Conduct of the War, McClellan stated that the impression which he derived from this dispatch was, that Halleck thought he was wrong in going so far away from Washington. General Halleck, when examined by the same,committee, testified that he had conveyed no such impression, but had telegraphed to McClellan that “he was going too far, not from Washington, but fiom the Potomac, leaving General Lee the opportunity to come down the Potomac, and get )between him and Washlington.” The apprehensions of the generalin-chief were amply confirmed by events, since the failure of McClellan to keep near the Potomac enabled Lee, whose rearguard, under D. H. Hill, was ordered to amuse MicClellan by threatening the passage into Pennsylvania, to make sure of Harper’s Ferry. On the 12th, the forces destined to attack this place made their appearance before it, and while Jackson, with the mtin body, took position in the rear of Bolivar Heights, which had been strongly fortified by the Union forces, cooperating bodies occupied Maryland Heights on the Maryland slho:e, and Loudon Heights on the opposite bank of the Shenandoah, neither of which points, striange to say, had been permanently fortified, although they commanded the town of Harper’s Ferry and Bolivar Heights, and strict orders had been given to put them in a condition of defence. LTnd(ler such circumstances, but one result was to be expected. On the 13th and 14th the rebels erected batteries on both heights, whence, on the latter day, they opened file upon the Union garrison in Harper’s Ferry, who thius lay at their mercy.

The fire was resumed on the 15th, and almost immediately the place surrendered. A few hours previous, twentyfive hundred Union cavalry cut their way through the enemy’s lines; but the remainder of the gailison, numbering over eleven thousand men, became prisoners of war, and were paroled. The rebels also captured fifty pieces of artillery and a quantity of stores. In thle mean time, the main rebel body had fallen back from Frederick, before the advance of the Union army, towards thle fords of the UpI)per Potomac, in the IIagerstowii valley, to reach which it was necessary for the Union troop)s to force the mountain range, which commanded the valley, and which was defended by bodies of the enemy at Turner’s Gap and Crampton’AGap. The former was carried on the 14th by the troops under General Burnside, and the latter on the same day by General Franklin, who thus obtained possession of the mountain range, and opened the d(lebouches into thevalley. The enemy retired towards Shaipsburg, and the corps commanded by Generals Sumner, Hooker; and Mansfield were ordered to follow them rapidly along the main turnpike. The corps of Burnside and Porter were ordered forward by a small road parallel to an’d on the left of the main pike, thus being in 379

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELIO. position to support either Franklin or the right, as might be necessary. Frank’in was ordered to cross into Pleasant Valley, and to do all that he could fobr the relief of Harper’s Ferry. The orders given to the troops on the right were, that if they found the enemy on the imarch, to attack him at once; if they found him in a strong position, then to make all the arrangements for an attack and await orders. As has been already stated, Harper’s Ferry surrendered on the morning of the 15th, too late for Franklin to go to the assistance of the garrison; and Jackson, after securing possession of his prisoners and spoils, had ample time to recross the Potomac, and march to the support of the main army under Lee, now concentrating near Sharpsburg, behind Antietam Creek, nn affluent of the Potomac, to receive 3lcClellan’s advance. The Confeder:ates were formed in two lines perpendicular to the road and about six miles long each, their road ruimning through their centre, and had planted about sixty gtins to command the Antietam bridge, by which the Union troops advanced. General:McClellan arrived in front of the enemy on the afternoon of the ] 6th, and at once ordered Hooker to move thriee miles above Sharpsburg, cross the Antietam, and attack the rebel left wing. Meantime the enemy had fornmed his dispositions. IHis force, concealed by a cover of woods, occupied a crescen~t-slhaped heighlt commanding three lines of retreat to the Potomac, vid the Sheplicrdlstown road, the Hagerstown road, and the Williamsport road. Along the front of his position ran the Antietam Creek, crossed by tlire bridges corresponding to the three roads named. Ilis left was co1iiiman(ded by Jackson, his centre by Longstreet, and his right by A. P. 1Hi. The Union plan was generally as follows: Hooker was to cross on the right, establish himself on the elcmy’s left, if possible, fianking his position, and to open the fight. Sumner, Frankliln, and Mansfield were to send their forces a,lso to the right, cooperating with and sustaining Hooker’s attack while advancing also nearer the centre. The heavy work in the centre was left mostly to the batteries. On the left, Burnside was to carry a stone bridge, the lowest of the thiree already referred to, and advancing then by a road which enters the pike at Shlarpsburg, turn ait once the rebel flank and destroy his line of retreat. Porter and Sickles moved tlhe’r infantry in the hollows of the centre, as reserves for all contingencies.

The attack waqs commenced at dawn of the 17th by IHooker, and ~Ieade’s infantsry and Ricketts’s batteries opened the fire on the enemy’s left.

The engagement immediately became very sharp, and raged bfor half an hour in a sloping field of p!oughed land, terminating in tie rear in a cornfield, and skirted by a thick wood, at the end of which time the fire of the enemy began to decrease and his line to waver. As soon as this was.perceived, Meade and his Pennsylvanians rushed forward with a cheer.

The line carried before it the whole force of the retreating Confederates, who disappeared into the woods, leaving great numbers of dead and wounded on their path. As the victoirious brigade approached the skirt of the cover, a torrent of flame and shot swept through the advancing line, which hesitated, halted, closed up, Ed retired. It had sustained the overwhelming fire of fresh troops, 380

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HISTORY OF TE GREAT REBELLION. who now issued from the woods in vast numbers, with wild yells, recovering the ground their comrades had lost.

Hooker sent forward a brigade to stay the torrent, but it was insufficient. Hartstuff’s brigade then came into action with a run, and formed rapidly on a ridge in the cornfield. This they held for half an hour, when General Hartstuff was wounded. Meantime, Ricketts’s Division had fhllen back with part of Mansfield’s Corps, which had been sent to its relief, and which had lost its general, mortal’y wounded; nevertheless, with Doubleday’s guns in position, the left could hold its own. Orders were then sent to Crawfold and Gordon, Mansfield’s remaining brigades, to advance, and the whole line was ordered forward to take a point of woods to tlie right of the cornfield, and which was the key of the position. The advance was led by General Hooker, who, at that moment, was wounded in the foot by a rifleshot. It was now nine o’clock,,Od the battle had raged foul hours, leaving a large portion of Hooker’s broken, but his right and the two brigades of Mansfield still untouched. At this moment General Sumner arrived on the field and took command. Scdgwick’s Division was in advance, moving forward to support Crawford and Gordon. Rebel re-enforcemnents were approachingr also, and the struggle for the roads was again to be renewed. Sumner sent forward two divisions. Richardson and French on the left. Sedgwick, moving in column of division through the roads in rear, deployed and advanced in line over the cornfield. There was a broad interval between him and the nearest division, and he saw that if the rebel line was complete, his own division was in immediate danger of being flanked. To extend his own front as far as possible, he ordered the Thirtyfourth New York to move by the left flank. The manceuvre was attempted under a fi’e of the greatest intensity, and the regiment broke; so terrible was the fire, that half their officers wetre killed or wounded, their colors shot to pieces, the color-sergeant killed, every one of their color-guard wounded. Only thirtytwo were-afterwards got together. The Fifteenth Massachusetts went in with seventeen officers, six hundred men, and came out with sit officers, and one hundred and thirtyfour men. Sedgwick himself was woun(letl. General Howard, who took command of the division after Sedgwick was disabled, exerted himself to restore order, but it could not be done there. General Sumner ordered the line to be reformed under fire. The test was too severe for volunteer troops under such a fire. Sumnier himself attempted to arrest the disorder, but to little purpose. As it seemed impossible to hold the position, Sumner withdrew the division to the rear, an(i once more the cornfield was abandoned to the enemy. At the same moment, the enemy, perceiving their advantage, came forward with fiesh troops. It wass now one o’clock, and affairs on the right had a gloomy look. Hookei’s troops were greatly exhausted, and their general away from the field. Mansfield’s were no better. Sumner’s command had lost heavily, but two of his divisions were still comparatively fresh. Richardson, while gallantly leading a regiment under heavy fire, had been severely wounded. General MAleagher was wounded at the head of his 381

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. brigade. The loss of general officers was becoming alarming. Artillery was yet playing vigorously in front, though the ammunition of many of the batteries was entirely exhausted, and they had been compelled to retire. Doubleday held the right inflexibly.

Sumher’s headquarters were now in the narrow field where the night before Hooker had begun the fight, and all that had been gained in front had been lost The enemy’s batteries, however, were fortunately either partially disabled or short of ammunition. French sent word he could hold his ground, and Sumner was confident that he could hold his own, but another advance was out of the question. The enemy, on the other hand, seemed to be too much exhausted to attack. At this crisis, Franklin came up with fresh troops, and Slocum was sent forward along the slopes lying under the first ranges of the hills held by the enemy, while Smith was ordered to retake the cornfield and woods which all day had been so hotly contested.

It was done in the handsomest style. His Maine and Vermont regiments went forward on the run, and, cheering as they went, swept like an avalanche through the cornfields, fell upon the woods, cleared them in ten minutes, and held them. They were not again retaken. Four times they had been lost and won, but finally remained with the Union troops, who were bent upon preserving them against impending attacks. These, however, were suspended for some hours, perhaps through the exhaustion of the enemy. Meantime, affairs on the left were not more prosperous. Burnside was not ordered to attack until ten o’clock, and carried the bridge only after a most obstinate resistance at halfpast one o’clock; but the delay had been so great that at three o’clock but little real progress had been made. The rebels retired to a range of hills in the rear of the bridge, whence their batteries played with considerable effect on the Union troops. Thus, instead of the two attacks having been simultaneous, as was intended, the right had borne the whole weight of the enemy before Burnside made himself felt. At four o’clock, General McClellan sent orders for Burnside to carry the batteries in his front at all hazards, and for Franklin te carry the woods on his left front. This latter was countermanded at the instance of Sumner, who thought it was not prudent to risk a repulse of Franklin, since it would uncover his own left, which he held with difficulty.

Franklin therefore advanced his batteries to check the enemy on Burnside’s right, who was about to establish himself on the Sharpsburg road in rear of the enemy. For this movement he had sixteen thousand men. Getting his troops well in hand, and sending a portion of his artillery to the fiont, he advanced them with rapidity and the most determined vigor straight up the hill hi front, on top of which the rebels had maintained their most dangerous battery. The movement was in plain view of McClellal’s position, and as Franklin, on the other side, sent his batteries into the field about the same time, the battle seemed to open in all directions with greater activity than ever. The guns of Burnsile opened, from his new position, with a fire that controlled the enemy’s batteries. The long infantry columns 382

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. were seen moving up the green slopes with a rapid and determined step. As they reached the crest, a thick cloud of dust rose over the road, where were planted the Confederate batteries. A short but furious struggle ensued, when a sudden shout announced that the hill was carried. Burnside formed his columns in the near angles of two fields bordering the road, having high ground about them everywhere except in rear. In another moment, a Confederate battle4ine appeared on the brow of the ridge above them, and moved swiftly down in the most perfect order, though met by incessant discharges of musketry, to which they offered no reply. White spaces show where men are falling, but they close up instantly, and still the line advances. The brigades of Burnside are in heavy column; they will not give way before a bayonet charge in line. The firm front seems to intimidate the enemy. There is a halt, the enemy’s left gives way and scatters over the field, the rest stand fast and fire.

More infantry comes up. Burnside is outnumbered, flanked, compelled to yield the hill he took so bravely. His position is no longer one of attack; he defends himself with unfaltering firmness, but he sends to McClellan for hell). The latter, however, alarmed for the safety of his right wing, declines to send a single man of his fifteen thousand fresh troops in the centre to aid in offensive operations, and replies with a peremptory order to hold the bridge at all hazards: “Tell him, if he cannot hold his ground, then the bridge, to the last man!-always the bridge! if the bridge is lost, all is lost.” HIe, however, detached General Morrell, with five thousand men, to Burnside, to aid in holding the bridge, since if the enemy should pass over it on the flank and rear of the army, the disaster, he feared, would be fatal. At that moment the fire of the enemy slackened. It was sundown, and with the fading light the tumult of battle died away. Hooker, Sumner, and Franklin held all the ground they had gained, and Burnside still held the bridge and his position beyond. Every thing was favorable for a renewal of the fight in the morning. But the expected order to that effect never came. - McClellan deemed the army too disorganized and wearied to fight immediately, and the great battle of Antietam, with its immense loss of life, proved to have been simply the most bloody and one of the least decisive battles of the war. “I had arranged, however,” says McClellan in his official report, “to renew the attack at daybreak on the 19th, but I learned some time during the night, or early in thle morning, that the enemy had abandoned his position. It afterwards proved that he moved with great rapidity, and, not beingancumbered by wagons, was enabled to get his troops across the river before we could do him any serious injury. I think that, taking into consideration what the troops had gone through, we got as much out of them in this Antietam campaign as human endurance would bear.d’ The concluding remark of this statement was doubted by at least two of his corps commanders, Burnside and ~Franklin, and the opinion was very generally entertained by the authorities at Washington that 383

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HISTOPRY OF THE GItEAT EBLLION. by neglecting to renew the attack on the 18th, a signal opportunity to cripple Lee was thrown away. MIcClellan slowly followed the rebel army, and took up a position on the IM.‘Lryland Heights on the 20th, and recaptured Harper’s Ferry on the 23d. He stated the number of his army at ninety-three thou sand men, of whom seventy-five thousand were engaged, and he reported his loss at twelve thousand four hundred and sixtynine, which, with two thousand three hundred and twentyfive at South Mountain, made fourteen thousand seven hundred and ninety-four, and, added to the eleven thousand captured at Harper’s Ferry, twenty five thousand seven hundred and ninety-four. The number of the enemy engaged was somewhat less, and his total losses were estimated by MIcClellan at thirty thousand. Indecisive though it was, the battle of Antietam, by freeing Mary land of the rebel armies, whose presence in a loyal State had caused great alarm throughout the country, was generally hailed as a Union victory, and the star of McClell,n, whose lustre had been dimmed by the ig:noble ending of the Penilnsula campaign, was once more in the ascendant. So continuous had been the succession of Union reverses, that even a victory of this questionable character caused greater ex ultation, perhaps, than had been manifested since the commencement of the war, notwithstanding persons of calmer judgment showed that the boast:ed triumph of our arms was only another opportunity thrown away. Had MIcClellan now taken advantage of this reaction in his favor to follow up the retreating rebels with vigor; had he employed the vast resources again put into his hands to strike such a blow as the crisis required, and the opportunity offered, he might have regained and even increased tle enthusiastic admiration with which he was surrounded in the beginning of his career. But, unfortunately for himself and for the country, he seemed to have learned nothing by the sad experience of the few preceding months, and we shall find him again delaying and temporizing, pleading the demoralization of his troops and the superior strength of the enemy, urging the necessity of reenforcements and supplies, digging and foltifying, doing every thing in fact but move against the enemy, as the Government had ordered and his countrymen wished. So far as military acts may be presumed to show, his mind was always more occupied with pl:ns to secure his safe retreat, in case of necessity, from the presence of an enemy, than to assume the aggressive against that enemy; and, thanks to an ingenious pen and a lucid style, he had the faculty of framing excuses for his shortcomings, which satisfied many, and silenced, if they did not convince, others. The ill success of the summer campaign of 1862 had now also developed a~trong opposition party-which, protesting that official interference with the plans of McClellan, the radical views of the Admninistration on slavery and other subjects, and its evident intention not to restore the revolted States to their former condition, were the true causes of our defeats-gladly rallied round McClellan as their leader. A conservative himself, he sympathized with many of the views which this party publicly put forth, and thenceforth his military policy was trammelled By political dogmas distasteful to a majority of 384

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HISTORY OF T GREAT REBELLION. the people, and which experience has shown were inconsistent with a vigorous prosecution of the war. The battle of Antietam was fought in the middle of September, and as at least two months of dry weather, well adapted to military operations, would follow, it was confidently expected that, after a brief halt for rest and recruitment, the army would be pushed forward again against Lee. In this respect the country was destiiied to be grievously disappointed. McClellan advanced no further than Maryland Heights, where he at once proceeded to fortify, after making the customary demand for reenforcements. On the 27th of September he wrote to Halleck that it was his present intention to keep the army where it then was, watching every effort of the enemy to cross the river into Maryland. “1 When the river rises,” he added, “so that the enemy cannot cross in force, I purpose concentrating the army somewhere near Harper’s Ferry, and then acting according to circumstances, viz.: Moving on Winchester if, from the position and attitude of the enemy, we are likely to gain a great advantage by doing so; or else devoting a reasonable time to the organization of the army and( instruction of the new troops, p)reparatory to an advance on whatever line may be determined.

In any event, I regard it as absolutely necessary to send new regiments at once to the old corps for purposes of instruction, and that the old regiments be filled at once. “My own view of the proper policy to be pursued is to retain in Washington merely the force necessary to garrison it, and to send every thing else available to reenforce this army. The railroads give us the means of promptly reenforcing Washington, should it be necessary. If I am reenforced as I ask, and am allowed to take my own course, I will hold myself responsible for the safety of Washington.” In his reply to this communication, Halleck stated that the operations of the draft, then in progress, were so slow, that the army could not afford to await their results. Public expectation and military expediency could not brook such delay. “I am satisfied,” he said, “that the enemy are falling back towards Richmond. We must follow them and seek to punish them. There is a decided want of leys in our troops. They have too much immobility, and we must try to remedy the defect. A reduction of baggage and baggage-trains will effect something; but the real difficulty is, they are not sufficiently exercised in marching; they lie still in camp too long.” He also stated, what indeed was perfectly obvious to a large part of the community, that the allegetions that the troops needed long rests-. were unfounded, since the average marches made by the Union troops were less severe than those of the rebels, or of European troops im:; time of war. Early in October, President Lincoln visited the army encamped around A Maryland Heights, and after his return to Washington instructe(t McClellan, under date of October 6th, to “cross the Potomac and give battle to the enemy, or drive him South.” The President advised, but did not order him to take the interior line betwe,Waah 25 385

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EHISTORY OF TIE GREAT REBELLION. ington and the enemy, in which case he promised him a reenforcement of thirty thousand men. If the line of the Shenandoah should be selected, Mr. Lincoln, remembering how the capital had twice been imperilled by being left uncovered, declined to reenforce him by more than twelve or fifteen thousand men. On the succeeding day McClellan announced his intention to select the line of the Shenandoah. He thought it would be at least three days before the First, Fifth, and Sixth Corps, which were in need of clothing, could move from their camps, but added that not an hour should be lost in carrying the President’s instructions into effect. On the lo10th of October the rebel general, J.

E. B. Stuart, with eighteen hundred cavalry and four pieces of horse artillery, crossed the Upper Potomac, near Hancock, on a raid into Marylalid and Pennsylvania. Pioceeding through Mercersburg to Chamnibersburg, he thence turned south, and passing through Emmetsburg and across the Mono~acy, destroyed a portion of the track of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and on the 12th recrossed the Potomac at White’s Ford, near Poolesville, with one thousand captured horses, and with the loss of only seven prisoners. During the raid he destroyed nmany thousand dollars worth of public property. This daring ride around the Union lines, which was but feebly opposed by the Union cavalry, was the source of much alarm and mortification. Its success was ascribed by McClellan, writing on the 13th, to our deficiency in cavalry, and he took occasion to urge the necessity of at once suppl:ying thle army with horses, predicting that unless this was done, rebel cavalry raids would be of frequent occurrence. To this Halleck replied that the Government was making every possible effort to remount the cav:alry force. “The President,” he added, “has read your telegram, and directs me to suggest that if the enemy had more occupation south of the river, his cavalry would not be so likely to make raids Inorth of it.” On the 13th the President sent the following communication to General McClellan, with reference to the operations of the army: “EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, October 13, 1862. “MY DEAR SIR:-You remember my speaking’to you of what I called your overcautiousness. Are you not overcautious when you assume that you cannot do what the enemy is constantly doing? Should you not claim to be at least his equal in prowess, and act upon the claim? “As I understand, you telegraphed General Halleck that you cannot subsist your army at Winchester, unless the railroad from Harper’s Ferry to that point be put in working order. But the enemy does now subsist his army at Winchester at a distance nearly twice as great from railroad transportation as you would have to do without the railroad last named. He now wagons from Culpepper CourtHouse, which is just about twice as far as you would!rve to do from Harper’s Ferry. He is certainly not more than half as well provided with wagons as you are. I certainly should be pleased for you to have the advantage of the railroad from lIarper’s Ferry to Winchester; but it wastes all the remainder of autumn to give it to you, and in fact ignores the question of time, which cannot and mustnot be ignored. “Again, one of the standard maxims of war, as you know, is,‘to operate upon the enemy’s communications as much as possible without exposing your own.’ You seem to act as if this applies against you, but cannot apply in your fjvor. Change positions with the enemy, and think yoV not he would break your communication with Richmond within the next twenty-four hours? You dread his going into Pennsylvania. But if he does so in full force he gives up his communications to you absolutely, and you have 386

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. nothing to do but to follow and ruin him; if he does so with less than full force, fall upon and beat what is left behind all the easier. “Exclusive of the waterline, you are now nearer Richmond than the enemy is by the route that you can and he nust take. Why can you not reach there before him, unless you admit that hlie is more than your equal on a march? His route is the arc of a circle, while yours is the chord. The roads are as good on yours as on his. “You know I desired, but did not order, you to cross the Potomac below instead of above the Shenandoah and Blue Ridge. My idea was, that this would at once menace the enemy’s communications, which I would seize if he would permit.

If he should move northward, I wouldfollow him closely, holding his communications. If he should prevent our seizing his communications, and move toward Richmond, I would press closely to him, fight him if a favorable opportunity should present, and at least try to beat him to Richmond on the inside track. I say’ try;’ if we never try, we shall never succeed. If he make a stand at Winchester, moving neither north nor south, I would fight him there, on the idea that if we cannot beat him when he bears the wastage of comin to us, we never can when we bear the wastage of going to him. This proposition is a simple truth, and is too important to be lost sight of for a moment. In coming to us, he tenders us an advantage which we should not waive. We should not so operate as to merely drive him away. As we must beat him somewhere, or fail finally, we can do it, if at all, easier near to us than far away. If we cannot beat the enemy where he now is, we never can, he again being within the intrenchments at Richmond.

Recurring to the idea of going to Richmond on the inside track, the facility of supplying from the side, away from the enemy, is remarkable, as it were, by the different spokes of a wheel extending from the hub towards the rim, and this whether you move directly by the chord or on the inside arc, hugging the Blue Ridge more closely. The chord line, as you see, carries you by Aldie, Haymarket, and Fredericksburg, and you see how turnpikes, railroads, and finally the Potomac, by Aquia Creek, meet you at all points from Washington. The same, only the lines lengthened a little, if you press closer to the Blue Ridge part of the way. The gaps through the Blue Ridge I understand to be about the following distances from Harper’s Ferry, to wit: Vestal’s, five miles; Gregory’s, thirteen; Snicker’s, eighteen; Ashby’s, twentyeight; Manassas, thirtyeight; Chester, forty-five; and Thornton’s, fifty-thlree. I should think it preferable to take the route nearest the enemy, disabling him to make an important move without your knowledge, and compelling him to keep his forces together for dread of you. The gaps would enable you to attack if you should wish. For a great part of the way you would be practically between the enemy and both Washington and Richmond, enabling us to spare you the greatest number of troops from here. When, at length, running for Richmond ahead of him enables him to move this way; if he does so, turn and attack him in the rear. But I think he should be engaged long before such point is reached. It is all easy if our troops march as well as the enemy, and it is unmanly to say they cannot do it. This letter is in no sense an order. “Yours truly, “A. LINCOL’. “MajorGeneral MCCLELLAN.” The following is the reply of General McClellan: “HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE

POTOMAC, ” CAMP IN PLEASANT VALLEY, October 17, 1862. “S IR:-Your letter of the 13th instant reached me yesterday morning, by thl hands of Colonel Perkins. ” I had sent out strong reconnoissances, early in the morning, in the direction of Charlestown, Leetown, &c., and’, as sharp artillery firing was heard, I felt it incumbent to go to the front. I did not leave Charlestown until dark, so that I have been unablo to give to your Excellency’s letter that full and respectful consideration which it merits at my hands. “I do not wish to detain Colonel Perkins beyond this morning’s train. I therefore think it best to send him back with this simple acknowledgment of the receipt of your Excellency’s letter. I amr not wedded to any particular plan of operations. I hope to have, to-day, reliabld information as to the position of the enemy, whom I still believe to be between Bunker Hill and Winchester. I promise you p r 387

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. that I will give to your views the fullest and most unprejudiced consideration, and that it is my intention to advance the moment my men are shod, and my cavalry are sufficiently renovated to be available. “Your Excellency may be assured that I will not adopt a course which differs at all from your views, without first fully explaining my reasons, and giving you time to issue such instructions as may seem best to you. “I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, “GEORGE B. MCCLELLAN, “MajorGeneral, United States Armny. “H is Excellency the PRESIDENT.” Week after week had passed away since the President’s order of October 6th, and still no advance of the army took place. McClellan wa s asking for clothing, for horses, for quartermaster’s supplies, and multiplying obstacles in the way of progress. Without wearying the reader with further statements of the various excuses which he put forth for his delay, we give the following correspondence, which explains itself: “WAR DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON CITY, October 27, 1862.

“GENERAL:-It has been publicly stated that the army under General McClellan has been unable to move during the fine weather of this fall, for want of shoes, clothing, and other supplies. You will please report to this Department upon the following points: “First: To whom, and in what manner, the requisitions for supplies to the army under General McClellan have been made since you assumed command as General-inChief; and whether any requisition for supplies of any kind has since that time been made upon the Secretary of War, or communication had with him, except through you? “Second: If you, as Generalin-Chief, have taken pains to ascertain the condition of the army in respect to the supplies of shoes, clothing, arms, and other necessaries; and whether there has been any neglect or delay, by any department or bureau, in filling the requisitions for supplies; and what has been, and is, the condition of that army, as compared with other armies, in respect to supplies? “Third: At what date, after the battle of Antietam, the orders to advance against the enemy were given to General McClellan, and how often have they been repeated?

“Fourth: Whether, in your opinion, there has been any want in the army under General McClellan of shoes, clothing, arms, or other equipments or supplies, that ought to have prevented his advance against the enemy when the order was given? ” Fifth: How long was it after the orders to advance were given to General McClellan before he informed you that any shoes or clothing were wanted in his army, and what are his means of promptly communicating the wants of the army to you, or to the proper bureaus of the War Department? ” EDWIN M. STANTON, Secretary of War. “MajorGeneral HALLECK, Generalin-Chief.” “WASHINGTON., Oclober 28, 1862. “SIR:-TIn reply to the several interrogatories contained in your letter of yesterday, I have to report: “i’rst: That requisitions for supplies to the army under General McCGllan are made by his staff officers on the chietmof bureaus here; that is, for quartermaster’s supplies by his Chief Quartermaster on the Quartermaster-General; for commissary supplies by his Chief Commissary on the Commissary-General, &c. No such requisitions have been, to my knowledge, made upon the Secretary of War, and none upon the Generalin-Chief. “Second: On several occasions General McClellan has telegraphed to me that his army was deficient in certain supplies. All these telegrams were immediately referred to the heads of bureaus, with orders to report. It was ascertained that in every instance the requisitions had, been immediately filled, except one, where the Quartermaster-General had been obliged to send from Philadelhhia certain articles of clotlfing, tents, &c., not hav’ng a full supply here. 388

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HISTORY OF TIIE GREAT REBELLION. “There has not been, so far as I can ascertain, any neglect or delay in any depart ment or bureau in issuing all supplies asked for by General McClellan, or by the officers of his staff. Delays have occasionally occurred in forwarding supplies by rail, on ac count of the crowded condition of the dep6ts or of a want of cars; but whenever no tified of this, agents have been sent out to remove the difficulty. Under the excellent superintendence of General Haupt, I thinkl these delays have been less frequent and of shorter duration than is usual with freight trains. Any army of the size of that of General McClellan will frequently be for some days without the supplies asked for, on account of neglect in making timely requisitions, and unavoidable delays in for larding them, and in distributing them to the different brigades and regiments. From all the information I can obtain, I am of the opinion that the requisitions from that army have been filled more promptly, and that the men, as a general rule, have been better supplied than our armies operating in the West. The latter have operated at much greater distances from the. sources of supply, and have had far less facilities for trans portation. In fine, I believe that no armies in the world, while in campaign, have been more promptly or better supplied than ours. “Third: Soon after the battle of Antietam, General McClellan was urged to give me information of his intended movements, in order that, if he moved between the enemy and Washington, reenforcements could be sent from this place.

On the 1st of October, finding that he proposed to operate from Harper’s Ferry, I urged him to cross the river at once and give battle to the enemy, pointing out to him the disadvantage of delaying till the autumn rains had swollen the Potomac and impaired the roads. On the 6th of October he was peremptorily ordered’to cross the Potomac and give battle to the enemy, or drive him south. Your army must move now while the roads are good.’ It will be observed that three weeks have elapsed since the order was given. “Fourth: In my opinion there has been no such want of supplies in the army under General McClellan as to prevent his compliance with the orders to advance against the enemy. Had he moved to the south side of the Potomac he could have received his supplies almost as readily as, by remaining inactive, on the north side. “Fifth: On the 7th of October, in a telegram in regard to his intended movements, General McClellan stated that it would require at least three days to supply the First, Fifth, and Sixth Corps; that they needed shoes and other indispensable articles of clothing as well as shelter tents. No complaint was made that any requisitions had not been filled; and it was inferred from his language that he was only waiting for the distribution of his supplies. “On the 11th he telegraphed that a portion of his supplies, sent by rail, had been delayed. As already stated, agents were immediately sent from here to investigate this complaint; and they reported that every thing had gone forward. On the same date (the 1 lth) he spoke of many of his horses having broken down by fatigue. On the 12th hlie complains that the rate of supply was only one hundred and fifty horses per week for the entire army, there and in front of Washington. I immediately directed the Quartermaster-General to inquire into this matter, and to report why a larger number was not furnished. General Meigs reported on tile 14th that the average issue of horses to General McClellan’s army, in the field and in front of Washington, for the previous six weeks, had been one thousand four hundred and fifty per weEk, or eight thousand seven hundred and fifty-four in all; in addition, that a large number of mules had been supplied; and that the number of animals with General McClellan’s army on the Upper Potomac was over thirtyone thousand. He also reported that he was then sending to the army all the horses he could procure. “On the 18th General McClellan states, in regard to General Meigs’s report, that hle had filled every requisition for shoes’nd clothing:’ General Meigs may have ordered those articles to be forwarded, but they have not reached our dep6ts; and unless greater effort to insure prompt transmission is made by the department of which General Meigs is the head, they might as well remain in New York or Philadelphia, so far as this army is concerned.’ I immediately called General Meigs’s attention to this apparent neglect of his department. OR the 25th he reported, as the result of his in.

vestigation, that fortyeight thousand pairs-of boots and shoes had been received by the quartermaster of General MlcClellan’s army at Harper’s Ferry, Frederick, and Hagerstown; that twenty thousahd pairs were at Harper’s Ferry dep6t on the 21st; that ten thousand more were on their way, and fifteen thousand more ordered. Colonel Ingalls, aide-de-camp and chief quartermaster to General McClellan, telegraphed 38,0

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HEISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. on the 25th:‘The suffering for want of clothing is exaggerated, I think; and certainly might have been avoided by timely requisitions of regimental and brigade quartermasters.’ On the 24th he telegraphed to the Quartermaster-General that:’ the clothing was not detained in the cars at the depots; such complaints are groundless. The fact is, the clothing arrives and is issued; but more is still needed. I have ordered more than would seem necessary from any data furnished me; and I beg to remind you that you have always very promptly met all my requisitions as far as clothing is concerned. Our department is not at fault. It provides as soon as due notice is given. I foresee no time when an army of over one hundred thousand men will not call for clothing and other articles.’ “In regard to General McClellan’s means of promptly communicating the wants of his army to me, or to the proper bureaus of the War Department, I repeat that, in addition to the ordinary mails, he has been in hourly communication with Washington by telegraph. “It is due to General Meigs that I should submit herewith a copy of a telegram re.

ceived by him from General McClellan. [See documents.] ” Very respectfully, your obedient servant, “H. W. HALLECK, Generalin- C’hief.

“Hon. EDWIN M. STANrON, Secretary of War. On the 22d of October, McClellan announced to the President that he had decided to adopt the plan of advance originally suggested by the latter, and particularly explained in his letter of the 13th, and at length, on the 26th, the main body of the army began the passage of the river at Berlin, six miles below Harper’s Ferry. The advance proceeded by way of Leesburg, pushing forward scouts towards Aldie and Middleburg, and moving parallel to and east of the Blue Ridge. The enemy were in the valley west of the Blue Ridge, and spread from Winchester southward, with reenforcements at Gordonsville, seventy-five miles south of Winchester, whence the railroad runs to Richmond. A continued series of skirmishes of outposts and cavalry corps resulted in the Union possession of the passes of the Blue Ridge. On the 1st of November, an artillery duel took place at Philomonrit, between General Pleasonton and one battery of Stuart’s cavalry. The latter retired, leaving the Union troops in possession of the place. On the 3d, General Hancock occupied Snecker’s Gap; and on the following day General Porter sent a force through the gap to reconnoitre, which it did with small loss. On the same day General Stahl took possession of Thoroughfare Gap, driving out the enemy, and General Pleasonton reached Upperville, and the enemy were driven out of Ashley’s Gap. On the 5th, the enemy fell back before the cavalry of Colonel Wyndham, in the direction of Warrenton, which was occupied by the Union forces. At this juncture the country was surprised, though scarcely unprepared for the announcemnit, by the publication of the following order, relieving General McClellan from his command “GENERAL ORDERS-NO. 182. ” AR ADEPARTMENT, ADJUTANTGENERAL’S

OFICE,? “WASHINGTON, NVove7nber 5, 1862. “By direction of the President of the United States, it is ordered that MajorGeneral McClellan be relieved from the command of the Army of the Potomac, and that MajorGeneral Burnside take the dommand of that army. “By order of the Secretary of War.

“E. D. TOWNSEND, Assistant A’utantGeneral.” 390

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT RFBELLION. The reasons for this action of the President must have been sufficiently apparent from what has been previously related of General McClellan’s military career. Admirable as an organizer of an army, a skilful engineer, and possessing no mean knowledge of theoretical military science, he seems, from a constitutional cautiousness, to have been unsuited to play the many-sided part of an active commander in the field; and in great emergencies, such as the attack of Lee upon his communications, and the seven days’ fighting on the Chickahominy which succeeded, he utterly failed in that quickness of apprehension which detects the weak point in an opponent, and changes a threatened defeat into a success. From the moment he got his army upon the Peninsula, he seemed to have made up his mind to mnanceuvre it and conduct the campaign with the precision of an instructor in military art, illustrating his remarks by the movement of automaton figures. Beyond this pedantic style of warfare he never advanced, and hence each crisis found him wanting in every quality-except that of organizing escape-which the crisis demanded. His plans once deranged, he became bewildered and disheartened. In addition to his incapacity as an active commander, he had displayed a dilatoriness and unwillingness to obey his superiors in command, and a reluctance to aid a brother general when hard pressed, which excited grave suspicions in some quarters. The President had, with singular patience, already overlooked many instances of flagrant disobedience, and the result was seen in the failure of the Peninsula and Maryland campaigns. A new campaign was about to commence, the issue of which, to judge from the events of the few previous weeks, would be very similar. But the country ill relished the idea of fresh defeats, and McClellan was removed. CHAPTER XXXV. Burnside in (‘Command.-Change of Plan.-Pontoons Delayed.-Plans of Crossing. Two Attacks.-Franklin’s Movements.-Seizure of Fredericksburg.-Sumner. Terrible Slaughter.-Repulse on the Right.-Inaction.-Withdrawal of the Army. End of Campaign.-Intrigues.-Order No. 8.-Burndide Relieved. GENERAL BURNSIDE
having assumed the command of the army, the plan of operations, at his suggestion, underwent an entire change. Instead of moving upon Richmond by the Gordonsville route, it was determined to make a direct attack by the way of Fredericksb)urg. That city is situated on the south side of the Rappahannock, and is connected with Richmond, sixtyfive miles distant, by a railroad which has a double track forty-two miles to Hanover Junction.

Thirty-seven miles from Fredericksbirg, the railroad-crosses the Mattapony at Milford, and three miles further the Pamunkey. Thus between Falmouth on the north bank of the Rappahannock, opposite to Fredericksburg and Richmond, there are two main and two minor lines of defence. The banks of the Rappaharlnock, above Falmouth, are lined with high hills, which, with the narrow fords and rocky bottoms, make the crossing 3121 F —

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HISTORY OF TIE GREAT REBELLION. very difficult for large bodies of troops.

Below Falmouth, the river spreads, winding through spacious plains, forming numerous necks of land that command the south bank of each water stretch. In front of Fredericksburg, the northern bank commands the southern shore, which is a plain running back one and a half miles, and then rising into a succession of heights, which command the plains to the river. After the new plan of advance became known to the enemy, they occupied those heights, taking advantage of every natural means of defence. Their position then consisted of two lines of batteries, one a mile in the rear of the other, and both overlooking the city. They extended in a semicircle, from Port Royal to a p)oint six miles above Fredericksburg. The right, under Jackson, held the line from Port Royal to Genning’s Station, on the railroad. Longstireet, in the centre, reached to the Telegraph road; and the left, under Stuart, was west of the Massaponax Creek. The reserves were under A. P. Lee. This was the position which, after consultation between Generals Burnside, Halleck, and Meigs, November 12, at the headquarters of the former, it was determined to assail. It was then settled that the line of operations should be transferred from Warrenton to the railroad to Aquia Creek, where supplies could arrive by water, and the crossing of the Rappahannock be aided by the gunboats.

General Burnside stated that his plan was “to concentrate the army in the neighborhood of Warrenton; to make a small movement across the Rappahannock, as a feint, with a view to divert the attention of the enemy, and lead them to believe that we were going to move in the direction of Gordonsville, and then to make a rapid movement of the whole army to Fredericksburg;” for the reason that “we would all the time be as near Washington as would the enemy, and after arriving at Fredericksburg we would be at a point nearer to Richmond than we would be even if we should take Gordonsville.” It was indispensable to any sudden movement of this nature that the army should be provided with a complete pontoon train, and directions were at once sent to Washington for a sufficient number of pontoons to be sent to Aquia Creek to enable the army to cross the Rappahannock. Generals Halleck and Meigs then left for Washington to perfect their part of the operations, and the army commenced its march early on the 16th, General Sumner having the advance. The whole command now underwent reorganization. The Second and Ninth Corps formed what was called the right grand division, under Sumner; the First and the Sixth, the left grand division, under Franklin; the Third and Fifth, the centre, under Hooker. The Eleventh Corps was in reserve, under Sigel. The*dvance of the army, under Sumner, reached Falmouth on the 17th, but as the promised pontoons did not make their appearance until the 12th December, or nearly four weeks after the time anticipated, all hope of surprising the enemy had to be abandoned, and the important question of where and when to cross was debated in council. Several plans were proposed, but General Hooker opposed all that involved a division of the army, and urged that the whole force should cross at the United States Ford, twelve miles above. On the arrival of the pontoons, General Burside, governed by informa 392

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HISTORY OF THE GRIEAT REBELLION. tion that the enemy had thrown a force down the river, and by the consequent hope of cutting the enemy’s centre, decided to cross in two places; one at Fredericksburg, and one four miles below. In this view, he detached the command of Franklin with two divisions of Hooker’s command, altogether fifty to sixty thousand men, to the lower crossing. The orders to Franklin were, that the whole command was to be kept in readiness for a rapid movement down the old Richmond road, and while one division should seize the heights on the north side of the Massaponax, taking care to keep its line of retreat open, another column was to be sent to occupy the heights at the junction of the plankroad and the Telegraph road. The whole command was to be kept in readiness to march as soon as the fog, with which the day opened, should lift. On Friday, December 12th, the bridges being laid without much resistance from the enemy, the crossing took place, and the troops occupied Fredericksburg with little opposition. On the morning of the 13th, the attack on the heights commenced. The right of Franklin rested on the outskirts of the city. The centre was advanced about a mile from the city, and the left rested on the Rappahannock, about three miles below.

The attack of Franklin was made by the division of Meade, four thousand five hundred men, supported on its right by that of Gibbon, five thousand, and on the left by Doubleday. Birney’s Division of Stoneman’s Corps was formed directly in the rear of Meade. The attack was made with the utmost vigor and skill, but failed, for the reason that the enemy were in much reater force than had been supposed, and because Franklin, though having more than half the whole army under him, sent an inadequate number of men into action, and failed to support these properly. Both Meade’s and Gibbon’s Divisions were badly cut up, and the first was replaced by Doubleday’s. Those of Howe and Brooks held the right, protecting the bridges, and the enemy accumulating force towards three o’clock, handled them very severely. The men held their ground with a determination and heroism beyond all praise. The enemy then made a forward movement, under General Hill, and were repulsed with severe loss, but returned upon the left in such force as to threaten its safety. At nightfall, by dint of severe fighting, Franklin’s extreme left had gained a mile of ground, though at a fearfuil sacrifice of life. The attack upon the left was intended by Burnside to be the main operation of the day. The greater part of the Federal troops had been mnassed there, and upon the success of this wing, depended the operations of the right and centre. The failure of Franklin to accomplish the part assigned to him is thus commented upon by the Congressional Committee on the Conduct of the War: “The testimony of all the witnesses before your Committee proves most conclusively that, had the attack been made upoa the left-with all the force which General Franklin could have used for that purpose, the plin of General Burnside would have been completely successful, and our army would have achieved a most brilliant victory.” Meanwhile the right wing, of the army had also been hotly engaged. The Confederate forces occupied the woods and hil]s in rear of the city, ia a very strong position, and at ten o’clock the division of I 393

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HIISTORY OF THE GREAT. REBELLION. French, supported by that of Howard, was ordered to drive them out at the point of the bayonet. A stone wall ran across the plain in front of the ridge held by the enemy. The line advanced steadily until close to the wall, when there poured forth from it a murderous fire, which threw the column into some confusion, and it retired to the cover of a ravine. It was here reformed upon its supports, and again advanced at the doublequick, but the space which it was obliged to cross to reach the wall was now swept by a terrific fire of musketry and artillery, which thinned the ranks with fearful rapidity, and finally its centre broke and retired. With marvellous determination the line again formed, and again the storm of shot swept through it. Steadily the ranks closed up on the centre and pressed on, but the line visibly shrank up as it advanced, and for the third time its shattered ranks recoiled before that volcano. Sumner then ordered up his artillery to play upon the stronghold, and the fire, without much effect, was continued until dark.

During the morning, Hooker, in the centre, opened the attack with artillery upon the works of the enemy, which was replied to as long as the fog lasted, with little or no effect on either side. At noon an attempt was made to carry the works by assault, with the same results as those which attended Sumner’s movement. The attempt was repeated in the afternoon with no better success. At dark the firing ceased on both sides.

Early on the morning of the 14th, General Burnside sent the following dispatch to the President: “I have just returned from the field. Our troops are all over the river, and hold the first ridge outside the town and three miles below. We hope to carry the crest to-day. Our loss is heavy, say-five thousand. “A. E. BUIwSDE, MajorGeneraL” The army remained quiet during the 14th, and on the night of the 15th, Burnside, finding all his generals strongly averse to renewing the attack, withdrew his troops to the north side, and took up the bridges. The enemy, fortunately, did not perceive the movement until it was too late to do any damage. General Burnside then sent the following message to Washington: “The army was withdrawn to this side of the river, because I felt the position in front could not be carried, and it was a military necessity either to attack or retire. A repulse would have been disastrous to us.

The army was withdrawn at night, without the knowledge of the enemy, and without loss of either property or men. “A. E. BURNSIDE, MajorGeneral.”

The Federal loss was reported at twelve thousand three hundred and twentyone. The Cdpiederate loss was comparatively small, inasmuch as they were tinder cover. Thus ended the third campaign against Richmond. General Burnside, however, published a statement taking the blame of the failure upon himself, and exonerating’ tl* authorities at Washington. The matter became afterwards the subject of investigation, in the course of which was developed such a chapter of blunders, intrigues, and jealousies on the part of inferior officers as shocked and disheartened the country. The delay in procuring the pontoons was a prime cause of failure. 394

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HISTORY OF THIE GREAT REBELLION. The evidence given before the Committee on the Conduct of the War, in relation to this point, was as follows: General Woodbury stated that he received that order on the morning of the 13th of November. He testifies: ” General Halleck’s order to me of the 13th made it apparent that the army was preparing to march to Fredericksburg. As to the time when the movement would be made, I never received any information. Fearing, however, that the movement would be precipitate, I went to General Halleck’s office and urged him to delay the movement some five days, in order that the necessary preparations might be made to insure success. To this he replied that he would do nothing to delay for an instant the advance of the army on Richmond. I rejoined that my suggestion was not intended to cause delay, but rather to prevent it.

In making this suggestion I had reference not only to the pontoon train, but the landings still to be created for the quartermaster and commissary departments.” General Halleck testifies: “I will state that all the troops in Washington and its vicinity were under the com mand of General McClellan when he was relieved, and he issued his orders directly to the commanding officer at Washington, with one single restriction-that no troops should be moved from the command of Washington until I was notified by General McClellan or the commanding officer here. In all other respects they were all under his direction. General Burnside, when he relieved him, was told that they remained precisely the same as before. On my visit to General Burnside, at Warrenton, on the 12th of November, in speaking about the boats and things that he required from here, I repeated to him that they were all subject to his orders with that single exception. To prevent the necessity of the commanding officer here reporting the order for the boats here, the order was drawn up upon his table, and signed by me, directly to General Woodbury, on the evening of the 12th, I think-the evening that I was there. I saw General Woodbury on my return, and he told me he had received the order. I told him that in all these matters he was under General Burnside’s direction. I had nothing further to give him, except to communicate that order to him. In conversation with him and General Meigs, it was proposed that the train of pontoons should go down by land, as they could be gotten down sooner in that way, without interfering with the supplies which had to be sent to Aquia Creek. I gave no other order or direction in relation to the matter than that all other matters were under General Burnside’s direction. He also informed me, while at Warrenton, that Captain Duane, chief of the engineers, had also sent an order to Harper’s Ferry for the pontoon train there to go down.

The order had been issued. They being under General Burnside’s immediate and direct command, I did not interfere at all in relation to them.

“Qtestwon. Do you know whether there was any delay in starting them, or in their progress there? “Answer. I heard that there was a delay from the steamer’s getting aground with the pontoons, and there was a delay, as I understood, in the train going down by land, on account of the difficulty of the roads, and the inexperience, perhaps, of the officers in command, and it had to be taken by water part of the way; it could not get through by land. I considered, from the reports I received, that these delays resulted mainly from accident and the elements, that no man had any control over. General Burnside telegraphed to me in relation to Geeral Woodbury, thinking that he had not used due diligence; but afterwards told me he was perfectly satisfied with what General Woodbury had done, and that he did not know but what the commanding officer of the train that went down had done his duty also; that he was disposed to make no further investigation of that matter; that hE was pretty well satisfied.

“Question. Was there any request hr you to delay the advance of the men until the boats arrived, or any thing of that kind? “Answer. No, sir. I remember this, that General Woodbury, in conversation with me, said that General Burnside cpuld not get down for several days after I told him; and that he could not land the boats until General Burnside arrived; I think I remarked to him that I did not know exactly the day when General Burnside would v11 395

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MHISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. move; but I could not tell him, as the general did not know himself. While I was at Warrenton he proposed this movement, fnd he was directed to make all preparations for it, but not to begin it until the President was consulted. I returned on the afternoon of the 13th, and I think, on the morning of the 14th, I had an interview with the President, in which he consented to General Burnside’s plans, and I immediately telegraphed to him to go ahead as he had proposed. I understood that there was considerable delay in getting the boats from Aquia down to the Rappahannock River, on account of the bad roads, difficulty of transportation, &c., but no other delay than that which would naturally occur over a rough country like that; and accidental delay in laying the bridges was reported to me, from the experience of the pontonlers who laid the upper bridges; there was considerable delay in that. We could not commence the repair of the railroad until General Burnside took possession of it, as it was all in the possession of the enemy. That was understood between him and General Haupt, in my presence.

General Haupt went out with me to make the arrangement for repairing the roads as early as possible. I remember the conversation; he could not land any thing, but would have every thing down ready as soon as he could, and when he found General Burnside was in possession, he would commence.” Soon after the battle of Fredericksburg, General Burns;de devised a new plan for attacking the enemy in his front, in connection with which a cavalry raid was projected. A force of two thousand five hundred men was to proceed to Kelly’s Ford, where one thousand were to cross and destroy the bridges over the Rapidan, and continue through to Suffolk, blowing up and destroying bridges on the route. The other fifteen hundred men were to proceed in different directions to distract the attention of the enemy, while a general movement was to be made across the river. On the 26th of December, an order was issued for the men to take three days’ cooked rations, and ten days’ rations in wagons, and be ready to move at twelve hours’ notice. At this time occurred a remarkable intrigue, which is best given in the words of the committee: “Shortly after that order was issued, General John Newton and General John Cochrane-the one commanding a division and the other a brigade, in the left grand division, under General William B. Franklin-came up to Washington on leave of absence.

Previous to obtaining leave of absence fromn General Franklin, they informed him and General William F. Smith, that when they came to Washington they should take the opportunity to represent to some one in authority here the dispirited condition of the army, and the danger there was in attempting any movement against the enemy at that time. “When they reached Washington, General Cochrane, as he states, endeavored to find certain members of Congress, to whom to make the desired communication.

Failing to find them, he determined to seek an interview with te President for the purpose of making the communication directly to him. On proceeding to the President’s house, he there met Secretary Seward, to whom he explained the object of his being there, and the general purport of his proposed communication to the Presideint, and requested him to procure an interview for them, which Mr. Seward promised to do, and which he did do.

“That day the interview took place, and General Newton opened the subject to the President. At first the President, as General Newton expresses it,‘very naturally conceived that they had come there 396

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IISTORY OF THE GREAT RFBELLION. for the purpose of injuring General Burnside, and suggesting some other person to fill his place.’ General Newton states, that while he firmly believed that the principal cause of the dispirited condition of the army was the want of confidence in the military capacity of General Burnside, he deemed it improper to say so to the President’right square out,’ and therefore endeavored to convey the same idea indirectly. When asked if he considered it any less improper to do such a thing indirectly than it was to do it directly, he qualified his previous assertion by saying that his object was to inform the President of what he considered to be the condition of the army, in the hope that the President would make inquiry and learn the true cause for himself.

Upon erceiving this impression upon the mind of the President, Generals Newton and Cochrane state that they hastened to assure the President that he was entirely mistaken, and so far succeeded that at the close of the interview the President said to them hlie was glad they had called upon him, and that he hoped that good would result frtom the interview,” “To return to General Burnside. The cavalry expedition had started; the brigade of infantry detailed to accompany it had crossed the Rappahannock at Richards’s Ford, and returned by way of Ellis’s Ford, leaving the way clear for the cavalry to cross at Kelly’s Ford. The day they had arranged to make the crossing, General Burnside received from the President the following telegram: ”’ I have good reason for saying that you must not make a general movement without letting me know of it.’” General Burnside states that he could not imagine at the time what reason the President could have for sending him such a telegram. None of the officers of his command, except one or two of his staff who had remained in camp, had been told any thing of his plan beyond the simple fact that a movement was to be made. He conl(d only suppose that the dispatch related in some way to important military movements in other parts of the country, in which it was necessary to have cooperation. “Upon the receipt of that telegram, steps were immediately taken to halt the cavalry expedition where it then was (at Kelly’s Ford) until further orders. A portion of it was shortly afterwards sent off to intercept Stuart, who had just made a raid to Duiifries and the neighborhood of Fairfax CourtHouse, which it failed to do. “General Burnside came to Washington to ascertain from the President the true state of the case. He was informed by the President that some general officers from~he Armiy of the Potomac, whose names he declined to give, had called upon him and represented that General Burnside contemplated soon making a movement, and that the army was so dispirited and demoralized, that any attempt to make a movement at that time must result in.disaster; that no prominent officers in the Army of the Potomac were in favor of any movement at that time. “General Burnside informed the President that none of his officers had been informed what his plan was, and then proceeded to explain 391

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HISTORY OF THlE GREAT REBELLION. it in detail to the President. He urged upon the President to grant him permission to carry it out; but the President declined to do so at that time. General Halleck and Secretary Stanton were sent for, and then learned, for the first time, of the President’s action in stopping the movement; although General Halleck was previously aware that a movement was contemplated by General Burnside.

General Halleck, with General Burnside, held that the officers who had made these representations to the President should be at once dismissed the service. General Burnside remained here at that time for two days, but no conclusion was reached upon the subject. “When he returned to his camp he learned that many of the details of the general nmovement, and the details of the cavalry expedition, had become known to the rebel sympathizers in Washington, thereby rendering that plan impracticable.

When asked towhom he had communicated his plans, he stated that he had told no one in Washington, except the President, Secretary Stanton, and General Halleck; and in his camp none knew of it, except one or two of his staff officers, who remained in camp all the time. He professed himself unable to tell how his plans had become known to the enemy.” General Burnside then devised a new plan, and proceeded to put it in execution, but was obliged to abandon it because of the inclemency of the weather and the opposition of his officers. He then prepared Order No. 8, which dismissed Generals Hooker, Brooks, and Newton from the service, and relieved other officers of their commands, subject to the approval of the President. The publication of the order was delayed until General Burnside went to Washington and laid it before the President, whom he asked to sanction it or accept his resignation. The President acknowledged that Burnside was right, but declined to decide until he had consulted his advisers. After doing so, he relieved Burnside from the command of the Army of the Potomac, and appointed General Hooker in his place. Thereupon General Burnside nsisted that his resignation be accepted. This the President declined to do; and, after some urging, General Burnside consented to take a leave of absence for thirty days, with the understanding that at the end of that time he should be assigned to duty, as he deemed it improper to hold a commission as majorgeneral and receive his pay without rendering service therefor. Burnside objected to the wording of the order which relieved him from his command, and which stated that it was “at his own request,” as being unjust to him, and unfounded in fact; but upon the representation that any other order would do injury to the cause, he consented to let it remain as it then read. 0 On January 26th, General Hooker assumed command of the Army of the Potomac, and by an order issued by the War Department on the 28th, Sumner and Franklin were relieved from duty with the army, the former at his own request. 398

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. CHAPTER XXXVI. Situation in Kentucky.-Bragg’s Invasion.-Mumfordsville.-Buell’s Advance.

Perrysville.-Retreat of the Enemy.-Features of Campaign. ON the retreat of Beauregard’s forces from Corinth, the main body, under Bragg, fell back upon Tupello, Mississippi. General Kirby Smith was at Chattanooga, and there was also a force at Knoxville. These drew their supplies mainly over the railroad from Atlanta, Georgia. At the same time Grant held the line of West Tennessee, from Iuka to Memphis. General Buell remained at Stevenson, holding the Memphis and Charleston Railroad from that point westward, and threatening Chattanooga, and General Rosecrans was in command of Pope’s old troops. Early in June the guerrillas became very active in the lower counties of Kentucky, under Colonel John Morgan. On the 10th of June, General Buell left Corinth, in the direction of Chattanooga, and took positions at Battle Creek, Huntsville, and McMinnsville. In the mean time, General Bragg had suddenly broken up his camp, and, by forced marches through Alabama and Georgia, reached Chattanooga in advance of Buell. His force was then composed of three corps, of fifteen thousand men each, under Generals Hardee, Polk, and Kirbv Smith, which were severally occupied in preparations for an advance into the heart of Kentucky, for the purpose of obtaining supplies, and of recruiting their ranks from the secessionists of the State, while Morgan was very.active with his guerrillas, in the hope that the people of Kentucky would rise. On the 5th of July, Lebanon, at the termination of the Nashville and Louisville Railroad, was taken by them, while IMurfreesboro’, in Tennessee, was captured at the same time by a guerrilla force under Colonel Forrest. A Federal force at Cynthiana was defeated by Morgan, and Henderson occupied. Clarksville was captured, with large military stores, and a Federal force at Gallatin repulsed. At this time, August 22d, Kirby Smith, with a considerable force, forming the advance of Bragg’s army of invasion, broke camp from Knoxville, passed the Big Creek Gap, and marched upon Richmond, Kentucky, the capital of Madison County, and fifty miles southeast of Frankfort. A Federal force held the place, composed of nine regiments, with nine guns, and a squadron of Kentucky horse, under Generals Manson and Crufts. This force attacked Smith four miles south of Richmond, onougust 30th, and was defeated, with the loss of several pieces of artillery. As the retreat began, General Nel son, arriving from Lexington, endeavored to rally the troops, but was wounded, and obliged to retire. This defeat uncovered the State capital to the enemy’s advance. The Legislature was then in session, and immediately adjourned to Louisville, carrying the archives of the State and the treasure of the banks. The Governor, James F. Rob inson, issued a proclamation, calling upon all citizens to rally to the defence of the State. 399

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I I I 11 I 11 I i -MI 8:E I -1 c 0 I . V. a m FA Id I )A VA II Ir F i 0 I I I 0 1 1 P. I

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. Smith’s advance-guard entered Lexington on the 2d of September. lie at once issued a proclamation, to the’ effect that the Confederate army had come as liberators; and inviting the citizens of Kentucky to join in driving out the invading Federal force.

The capital of the State was occupied September 6ti, a government organized, and recruiting stations opened. In the namean time, Bragg, with the main rebel army, crossed the Tennessee on the 21st of August, and, pushing rapidly northward, occupied Bowling Green, on the line of the Nashville and Louisville Railroad, on September 5th, and thence moved on to Iumfordsville, which was held by Colonel Wilder with three thousand men. The garrison were attacked on the 13th by the Confederates, under General D)uncan, who were repulsed after seven hours’ struggle. On the following day the place was reenforced by Colonel Dunham, who assumed command. The Confederates renewed the attack on the 16th, and, after a stubborn resistance against greatly superior numbers, the Federal force, amounting in all to four thousand men and ten guns, surrendered. On the 18th, General Bragg issued an address to the people, dated at Glasgow, in which he reiterated the expressions uttered by Kirby Smith, stating also that he required supplies, which would be paid for. The Confederate force now moved in a direction to form a junction with Kirby Smith, Humphrey Marshall, and Morgan, apparently for the purpose of making a combined attack upon Louisville. From Bardstown, General Bragg issued the following address to the people of the Northwest, the object of which was to open separate negotiations for peace with the people of that section: ADDRESS

TO THE PEOPLE OF THE NORTHWEST. “HEADQUARTERS C. S. ARMY IN KENTUOKY, }

“BARDSTOWNi, KY., September 26, 1862. “On approaching your borders at the head of a Confederate army, it is proper to announce to you the motives and the purposes of my presence. I therefore make known to you: “1. That the Confederate Government is waging this war solely for self-defence; that it has no designs of conquest, nor any other purpose, than to secure peace, and the abandonment by the United States of its pretensions to govern a people who never have been their subjects, and who prefer self-governmenLt to a union with them. ” 2. That the Confederate Government and people, deprecating civil strife from the beginning, and anxious for a peaceful adjustment of all differences growing out of a political separation, which they deemed essential to their happiness and well-being, at the moment of its inauguration, sent commissioners to WVashirg,ton to treat for these objects, but that their commissioners were not received or eveli allowed to communicate the object of their mission; and that on a subsequent occasion a communication from the President of the Confederate Statce to President Liucoln remained without answer, although a reply was promisedby General Scott, into whose hands the communication was delivered. “3. That among the pretexts urged for the continuance of the war, is the assertion that the Confederate Government desires to deprive the United States of the free navigation of the Western rivers, although the truth is that the Confederate Congress, by public act, prior to the commencement of the war, enacted that’the peaceful navigatior’ of the Mississippi River is hereby declared free to the citizens of any of the States upon its border, or upon the borders of its tributaries’-a declaration to which our Government has always been, and is still ready to adhere. “From these declarations, people of the Northwest, it is made manifest, that by the 26 441 I

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HISTORY OF THIE GREAT REBELLION. invasion of our territories by land and from sea, we have been unwillingly forced into a war for self-defence, and to vindicate a great principle once dear to all Americans, to wit: that no people can be rightly governed except by their own consent. We desire peace now. We desire to see a stop put to a useless and cruel effusion of blood, and that waste of national wealth, rapidly leading to, and sure to end in national bankruptcy. We are, therefore, now, as ever, ready to treat with the United States, or any one or more of them, upon terms of mutual justice and liberality. And at this juncture, when our arms have been successful on many hard-fought fields, when our people have exhibited a constancy, a fortitude, and a courage worthy of the boon of selfgovernment-we restrict ourselves to the same moderate demand that we made at the darkest period of our reverses-the demand that the people of the United States cease to war upon us, and permit us in peace to pursue our path to happiness, while they, in peace, pursue theirs. ” We are, however, debarred from the renewal of former proposals for peace, because the relentless spirit that actuates the Government at Washington leaves us no reason to expect that they would be received with the respect naturally due by nations in their intercourse, whether in peace or war. It is under these circumstances that we are driven to protect our own country by transferring the seat of war to that of an enemy who pursues us with an implacable and apparently aimless hostility. If the war must continue, its theatre must be changed, and with it the policy that has heretofore kept us on the defensive on our own soil. So far, it is only our fields that have been laid waste, our people killed, our homes made desolate, and our frontiers ravaged by rapine and murder. The sacred right of self-defence demands that henceforth some of the consequences of the war shall fall upon those who persist in their refusal to make peace. With the people of the Northwest rests the power to put an end to the invasion of their homes; for, if unable to prevail upon the Government of the United States to conclude a general peace, their own State Governments, in the exercise of their sovereignty, can secure immunity from the desolating effects of warfare on their soil, by a separate treaty of peace, which our Government will be ready to conclude on the most just and liberal basis. “The responsibility then rests with you, people of the Northwest, of continuing an unjust and aggressive warfare upon the people of the Cotifederate States. And in the name of reason and humanity, I call upon you to pause and reflect what cause of quarrel so bloody have you against these States, and what are you to gain by it? Nature has set her seal upon these States, and marked them out to be your fi,rends and allies. She has bound them to you by all the ties of geographical contiguity and conformation, and the great mutual interests of commerce and productions. Whef the passions of this unnatural war shall have subsided, and reason resumes her sway, a eommunity of interest will force commercial and social coalition between the great grain and stockgrowing States of the Northwest, and the cotton, tobacco, and sugar regions of the South. The Mississippi River is a grand artery of their mutual national lives, which men cannot sever, and which never ought to have been suffered to be disturbed by the antagonisms, the cupidity, and the bigotry of New England and the East. It is from the East that have come the germs of this bloody and most unnatural strife. It is from the meddlesome, grasping, and fanatical disposition of the same people who have imposed upon you and us alike those tariffs, internal improvement, and fishing bounty laws, whereby we have been taxed for their aggrandizement. It is from the East that will come the tax-gatherer to collect from you the mighty debt which is being amassed mountain high for the purpose of ruining your best customers and natural friends. When this war ends, the same antagonisms of interest, policy, and feeling, which have been pressa upon us by the East, and forced us from a political union where we had ceased to find safety for our interests or respect for our rights, will bear down upon you, and separate you from a people whose traditional policy it is to live by their wits upon the labor of their neighbors. Meantime, you are being used by them to fight the battle of emancipation, a battle which, if successful, destroys our prosperity, and with it your best narkets to buy and sell. Our mutual dependence is the work of the Creator. With our peculiar productions, convertible into gold, we should, in a state of peace, draw from you largely the products of your labor. In us, of the South, you will find rich and willing customers. In the East you must confront rivals in productions and trade, and the tax-gatherer in all the forms of partial legislation. You are blindly following abolitionism to this end, while they are nicely calcu 402 I

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HISTORY OF TIEE GREAT REBELLION. lating the gain of obtaining your trade on terms that would impoverish your country. You say you are fighting for the free navigation of the Mississippi. It is yours freely, and has always been, without striking a blow. You say you are fighting to maintain the Union. That Union is a thing of the past. A Union of consent was the only Union ever worth a drop of blood. When force came to be substituted for consent, the casket was broken, and the constitutional jewel of your patriotic adoration was forever gone. “I come then to you with the olive-branch of peace, and offer it to your acceptance, in the name of memories of the past, and the ties of present and future. With you remain the responsibility and the option of continuing a cruel and wasting war, which can only end, after still greater sacrifices, in such treaty of peace as we now offer; or of preserving the blessings of peace by the simple abandonment of the design of subjugating a people over whom no right of dominion has been conferred on you by God or man. ” BRAIXTON

BRAGG, General C. S. Army.’ A few days after the issuing of this address, the ceremony of inaugurating the provisional rebel Governor of Kentucky, Richard Harris, was performed at Lexington, all the leading Confederate generals being present. General Bragg had issued an order, providing for the event, as follows: HEADQUARTERS, ARMY OF KENTUCKY, “LEXINGTON, October 2, 1862. Installation of the provisional Governor at Frankfort, on Saturday, October 4, at 12 M. MajorGeneral Smith is charged with the management of the military and escort guard and salute. The Governor will be escorted from his quarters by a squadron of cavalry, and accompanied by the commander of the Confederate States forces, MajorGeneral Buckner, BrigadierGeneral Preston, and their respective staffs. The commanding general will present the Governor to the people, and transfer, in behalf of the Confederate States, the civil orders of the State, and public records and property. “By order, “BRIXTON BRAGG, General Commanding.”

While these events were taking place, much alarm was felt in Cincinnati, and, under apprehensions of an invasion, business was suspended, and General Lewis Wallace, commanding in the city, proclaimed martial law, as follows: ” CININNATI, September 2, 1862. “The undersigned, by order of MajorGeneral Wright, assumes command of Cincina nati, Covington, and Newport. “It is but fair to inform our citizens that an active, daring, and powerful enemy threatens there with every consequence of war; yet the cities must be defended, and the inhabitants assist in the preparations.

“First.-All business must be suspended at nine o’clock to-day. Every business house must be closed. ” Second.-Under the direction of the mayor, the citizens must, within an hour after the suspension of business, assemble in convenient public places, ready for orders, and as soon as possible they will the* be assigned to their work. “This labor ought to be one of love; and the undersigned trusts and believes that it will be so.

Anyhow, it must be done. The willing shall be promptly credited; the unwilling promptly visited. “The principle adopted is:-‘ Citizens for the labor; soldiers for the battle.’ “Martial law is hereby proclaimsd in the three cities. Until they can be relieved by the military, the injunctions of this proclamation will be executed by the police. ‘ Third.-Ferryboats will cease plying the river after four o’clock in the morning, util further orders. “LEWIa WATI-A~ MajorGeneral Commanding.” 403

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION PROCLAMATION OF THE MAYOR. ” In accordance with the proclamation of MajorGeneral Wallace, I give the public notice that the police force will, until further orders, act as a lrovost guard; and I order and enjoin upon all good citizens to respect and obey them.

“All orders from the general commanding, through the police, will be enforced rtictly. ” GEORGE HATCH, Mayor.” CLOSING LIQUOR STORES. GENERAL

ORDER-NO. 1. ” HEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES FORCES, “CINCINNATI, September 2, 1862. “All places in the cities of Cincinnati, Covington, and Newport, where liquors of any kind are sold, must be closed at four o’clock this morning; and all soldiers are directed, upon any failure or refusal to obey this order, to seize the stock on hand, that it may be confiscated for sanitary purposes. “By order of MajorGeneral Lewis Wallace. “H.

ELSTON, JR., Aide-de- Camp and Chief of Staff.” The utmost efforts were made to place Cincinnati in a state of defence, and works for this purpose were formed in Kentucky, on the south bank of the river. Meanwhile, on August 23d, Buell’s army commenced evacuating its posts to follow Bragg, but although it had the shorter line of march to Bowling Green, the advance did not reach that place until September 14th, Bra,gg being then at Glasgow, thirty miles east. On the 21st, Buell reoccupied Mumfordsville, and on the 24th he reached Louisville. The whole command, numbering above thirtyfive thousand men, were marched to the river shores above the city, where they were temporarily encamped. A pontoon bridge, thrown over the river to Jeffersonville, carried them to the north bank, where the bulk of the Army of the Ohio reposed on the Indiana shore. While General Nelson was receiving and providing for these men, and reorganizing new corps, he was killed in an affiay with General Jefferson C. Davis, one of the defenders of Fort Sumter, whom he had grossly insulted. A dav or two after the arrival of Buell, an order was received firom General Halleck, directing a fusion and reorganization of the armies of Ohio and Kentucky. He was about carrying this order out, when Colonel MIcKibben, of General Halleck’s staff, arrived from Washington with an order directing him to turn over the chief command to MIajor-General Thomas, and assume command of the paroled prisoners and camp of instruction at Indianapolis. The dilatoriness of his movements had alarrwd the Administration, and in view of the serious danger menacing Kentucky, it was determined to intrust the chief command of the Union forces in that State to a more active gen William Nelson was born in Maysville, Ky., service, and commissioned a brigadiergeneral of In 1825, entered the navy in 1840, servedin the volunteers. Hle organized Camp Dick Robinson, Mexican war, and at the outbreak of the rebellion was successful in raising troops, and in the spring was a lieutenant on ordnance duty at Washington. of 1862 commanded a division in Buell’s army. He was then promoted to be lieutenant-coni- He took part in the second day’s fighting at mander, and detailed to command gunboats on Shiloh, was svbsequently commissioned a majorthe Ohio River; but for the purpose of strength-general of volunteers, took command at Louisville, ening the loyal sentiment in Kentucky he was, in when that city was mena,ed by Bragg, and was te autumn of 1861, transferred to the military killed there by General Davis on September 29th. 404

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IIISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. eral. General Thomas immediately telegraphed to Washington, ask ing for the reinstatement of General Buell, and Generals Crittenden, Rousseau, Jackson, Boyle, and one or two others, also sent remon strances, in consequence of which the order was rescinded, and General Buell restored. On General Buell’s restoration, the work of reorganization was completed. One regiment of new troops was attached to each brigade, and the Army of Ohio was divided into three corps-named first, second, and third. The brigades averaged fully two thousand five hundred men, giving a total infantry force for twenty-six brigades of nearly seventy thousand men. Of artillery, there was one battery attached to each brigade, giving twenty-six batteries, with a total of one hundred and sixty guns. Of cavalry, each corps had a small complement attached, while the main body of mounted troops operated in three independent brigades, representing an effective total of about six thousand men, and commanded by Acting-Brigadiers McCook, Zahm, and Gay. It thus appears that General Buell entered upon the campaign with an infantry and cavalry force at least one-third stronger than that of the enemy, and with double his strength in artillery. The Confederate troops were now scattered through Scot, Woodford, Franklin, Spencer, Anderson, Boyers, and Boyce Counties, to the south of Louisville, and busily engaged in foraging and recruiting No body of any considerable strength was within two days’ march ol Louisville. The following was the army organization of the forces in Kentucky. DEPARTMENT OF THE OHIO. Commander-in-Chief-Major-General D. C.

Buell. Commander in the Field-Major-General George W. Thomas. CORPS.

First-right wing-Major-General Alexander McDowell McCook. Second -left wing-Mlajor-General Thomas L. Crittenden. Thild-centrce Major-Genieral C.

C. Gilbert. DIVISION COMMANDERS. Third corps, first division-Brigadier-General Albion Schoepff; first corps, second division, Brig,adierGeneral Sill; first corps, third division, BrigadierGeneral Lovell Rousseau; second corps, fourth division, BrigadierGeneral W. L.

Smith; second corps, fifth division, Brigadier-Genieral Van Cleve; second corps, sixth division, BrigadierGeneral W. Wood; seventh Ovision, BrigadierGeneral George W. Morgan; eighth division, Brigadiei-General James L. Negley; first corps, ninth division, Brig-idier-Geneial Jackson; third corps, tenth division, MajorGeneral Granger; third corps, eleventh division, Bi,igadierGeneral Sheridan; third(l corps, twelfth division, BrigadierGeneral E. Dumont; third corps, thirteenth division, BrigadierGeneral Robert B. Mitchell. The enemy gathered an immense booty in cattle and supplies, as well as munitions. Some seven hundred wagons, left behind by Buell 405

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HIIISTORY OF THE GREAT EBELLION. at Bowling Green, were captured, with all their contents, clothing, tents, arms, &c. The whole territory between Louisville and Nash, ville and Cumberland Gap had been overrun by him. On October 1st the pursuit of the rebels was commenced by Buell. The main force of the enemy, about forty thousand, under Bragg, was encamped in the neighborhood of Bardstown, forty miles south of Louisville. Kirby Smith, with fifteen thousand, was between Frankfort and Lexington. Humphrey Marshall, with four thousand, was at Georgetown. In Central Kentucky two bodies of guerrillas, under Morgan and Scott, were collecting food and munitions. There were also three camps of rendezvous bfor two or three thousand men, recruited since the advent of Kirby Smith-one near Lexington, another at Camp Dick Robinson, and the third at Bryantsville.

The new levies were well armed with the pieces captured from our troops at Richmond, but were only indifferently drilled and disciplined. Upon the whole, the aggregate effective strength of the enemy was hardly sixty thousand, inclusive of about five thousand cavalry and ninety pieces of artillery. If united, this would have formed a formidable force; but the several portions being separated from each other, its momentunm was greatly weakened. These being the general positions, the army of Buell moved over four different roads, as follows: Of the First Corps, the Second Division, under Sill, took the direct road from Louisville to Frankfort, via Shelbyville; the Third, Rousseau, and Tenth, Jackson, of the same corps, under the immediate command of MajorGeneral McCook, followed the road fi’om Louisville to Taylorsville. The Second Corps, consisting of the divisions of Wood, Van Cleve, and Smith, moved upon Bardstown, over the direct road from Louisville. The Third Corps, composed of the divisions of Generals Schoepff, Mitchell, and Sheridan, marched also upon Bardstown, but by a detour vid Sheppardsville. General Dumont’s Division started in the wake of General Sill’s, three days after the latter had left Louisville. The general plan was to separate Kirby Smith and Marshall frSm Bragg by the movement of the First Corps, while Bragg should be attacked with the two other corps at Bardstown, where it was expected he would give battle, and where, if the movement was successful, his flank and rear would be turned. Although the First Division, under Sill, had the longest route, it moved the quickest, and reached Frankfort on the 4th, on which day McCook was at Taylorsville. On the same day the Confederate generals were all at Frankfort, attending the inauguration of thuGovernor. On the evening of the same day Smith commenced to evacuate Frankfort, taking with him his immense material and spoil, and proceeding vid Versailles on HIarrodsburg. The retreat from Bardstown commenced on the 3d, and was completed on the morning o! the 4th, on which day the place was entered by Crittenden’s Corps. Thus the hope of meeting General Bragg’s army at Bardstown vanished. The Confederates retreated through Springfield upon Perrysville, followed on the 5th by Gilbert’s Corps, with Crittenden in his rear. On the 6th, the enemy, having effected a junction of their forces, were already in possession of iHa 406

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. rodsburg, which was the point of rendezvous for the two bodies of 3IcCook’s Corps. The hope of dividing the enemy, equally with that of forcing a fight at Bardstown, proved fallacious. General Bragg was, however, impressed with the idea that he had only Gilbert’s Corps on his hands, and that it was by that body only that Hardee had been pressed in his retreat from Bardstown, while he supposed Sill’s Division on Smith’s rear to be the main Federal force. He therefore rallied three divisions, under General Polk, to give battle at Harrodsburg, and another corps of three divisions he sent to aid Smith against Sill. Thus Buell sent two corps against one of Bragg’s, and the latter sent two corps against one of Buell’s. The corps of Gilbert, which had arrived by the Springfield road, had orders to form within three miles of Perrysville, across the Springfield road. Crittenden’s Corps formed with its left on Gilbert’s and its right on the Haysville road. icCook’s Divisions, as they arrived from the Mackville road, formed on the left of Gilbert, having their line extended bevond the MIackville road. The three divisions of Hardee formed on the morning of the 8th, with their left on the heights overlooking Perrysville, and their left at Chaplin River, which they commanded. This brought the enemy’s right nearer to Buell’s left than was his left to Buell’s right. In other words, McCook was nearer to his line than was Gilbert. IMeCook’s Divisions got into line by two P.

M., but Buell postponed his attack until the next day, not dreaming of being himself attacked. Bragg, however, still under the impression that he had but one corps before him, orlde,ed a vigorous attack. In accordance with these orders the enemy fell with great fury upon McCook’s menl, mostly new levies, soon after they were got into line. These were five brigades-Starkweather’s Brigade on the extreme left; Terrell’s in front, and to the right of it, in the left centre; Harris’s in the right centre; WVebster’s in the rear of Harris’s, in the position of a reserve; Lytle’s on the right of Harris, as the extreme right of the line. Six batteries were distributed at suitable points along the line, and the fighting strength of the command was about eleven thousand five hundred.

Starkweather and Terrell encountered the first burst of the storm from overwhelhning numbers more than three to oneand Gelneral Jackson fell at the first fire. The troops soon gave way in confusion, and were driven from the field with the loss of a bat tery. The stubborn fighting of Rousseau’s veterans saved the line from disaster, wvhile Starkweather, with three regiments and two batteries, withstood the utmost efforts of the enemy to move him, until, his am munition failing, he was forced to fall back for a supply, after which he kept his ground until disk. When Harris’s ammunition gave out he had orders to f‘11 batck in line with Starkweather. Lytle’s brigade, on the extreme right, was not so fortunate.

It fought with great valor and success until four P. M., when it was turned on the right by fresh troops, anrd compelled to retie. At this moment McCook arrived from headquarters, and ordered Webster to support Lytle. In doing so, Webster was killed, Ind his men, being new troops, got into di order, and the enemy pressed his ad(vantage. Gooding’s Brigade arrived on the ground at this juncture, followed by Steadman, and these 4QT

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IMSTORY OF TIIE GREAT REBELLION. fresh troops, after a severe struggle, forced back the enemy, and the firing ceased for the day. The three divisions sent by Bragg to aid Smith against Sill did not come up with the latter, because he had, instead of pressing the pur suit of Smith, turned off from Laurenburg, in a westerly direction, to Chaplin. It was important to rejoin those divisions with Smith. Ac cordingly, in the night, Bragg moved from Perrysville, in an easterly direction, ten miles to Harrodsburg, which he reached on the 9th. Smith arrived on the 10th, and on the 11th the entire united force marched to Bryantsville and Camp Di(ck Robinson; thus having moved twentytwo miles in four days after the battle. Bragg then, with all the vast stores he had collected, resumed his march for Cunimberland Gap, to leave the State. The movement of Buell was very slow. It was not until the evening of the 12th October that ihe reached Harrodsburg, whence, on the 14th, the pursuit was renewed. The three corps moved, by parallel roads, to Danville, which they reached on the same day on which Bragg was at Mount Vernon with his trains, beyond Rockeastle River, and further pursuit was hopeless. The general result of the whole movement was, that while the campaign had given the rebels abundant spoils, it left Buell with the Uni(on army in about the same position it had occupied the year previous. The loss of the enemy in all the encounters hlad been five thousand two hundred men, and the Federal loss twelve thousand, including four thousand killed, wounded, and captured at Perrysville. At Richmond and Mumfordsville the rebels had captured ten thousand choice arms, and thirtyfour guns. They gathered, also, thousands of mules, cattle, hogs, wagons, and an immense stock of clothin)g, boots, shoes, forage, provisions, besides two thousand six hundred b.irrels of pork, and two thousand bushels of wheat, left at Camp Dick Robinson for want of transportation. The wagon train of supplies b)rought out of Kentucky was described as forty miles long. Their great success was due to the singular audacity of Bragg in venturing wiithin the grasp cf Buell’s army, with half his strength,,and firom which he escaped only in consequence of the culpable dilatoriness of Buell, when by all rule he should have met his destruction. Hiowever successful the campaign in Kentucky may have been for the Confederates in obtaining supplies, they were disappointed in the primary object of rousing the Stato against the Union, and obtaining recruits. CHANTER XXXVII. Cumberland Gap.-Morgan’~

Escape.-Iuika.-Price Retreats.-Corinth.-Repulse of the Enemy.-Vicksburg Expedition.-Reorganization of the Ohio Army by Rose crans.-His Advance.-Battle of Stone -River.-Defbat of the Enemy. WHEN the army of Bragg enitered Eastern Kentueky, it cut the line of communication betvween the Fed(lerd forces at Cnmberlaind Gap and the North, and compelled the evacuation of the Gap, which is about one hundred and fifty miles south from Lexinigton. The Cumberland 408

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. range of mountains undergoes a depression at this place, which makes the summit a little more easy of access, the mountains on each side of the Gap being twelve hundred feet high, and the Gap itself but four hundred’feet. Through this notch passes a good road, coming from Lexington. The occupation of this Gap was of great importance to the rebels, as it commanded the entrance to East Tennes see from the north, and gave them the means of passing into Eastern Kentucky. At the commencement of hostilities, a Confederate force occupied it, and held possession until June 18th, when it was taken, after a brilliant series of operations, by a Union force under General Georg,e W. Morgan, who retained possession, with a force of ten thou sand, until the 17th September.

Finding then his supplies cut off by the advance of Bragg, and his rations nearly exhausted, he evacuated the place, leaving his sick and four siege-guns, and made for the Ohio River, which he reached in safety October 4th. When the Uuion forces, early in June, were divided by the move ments of Buell towards Chattanooga, and subsequently by the invasion of Kentucky by Bragg, the remaining rebel forces under Lovell, Van Dorn, and Price, began to concentrate for a forward movement against Grant. As the Confederate movement began to threaten the line between Corinth and Tuscumbia, the Union advance at that point, under Colonel Mlurphy, fell back thirty miles upon Iuka. On the day following, a Confederate cavalry force charged into Iuka, and drove out the brigade of Murphy, capturing large stores, including six hundred and eighty barrels of flour. Murphy was placed under arrest, and his brigade ordered back to Itka, under Msower. It, however, was halted at Jacinto. Price then occupied Iuka in force, in the hope of drawing Grant fiom Corinth, which was about to be attacked b)y Van Dorn. The main object of Price was, however, to cross the Tennessee, and harass the rear of Buell, who then, under the pressure of Bragg’s advance, was falling backl upoi Nashville. This being the position of affairs, Generals Rosecrans and Grant formed the design of cutting off Price, and forcing him to surrender. In this view, Grant and Ord, with eighteen thousand men, were to make a direct attack onr Price in the direction of Burnsville, while Rosecrans, with a part of his army, mnoving by way of Jacinto, should take him in flank. The remainder of the Federal troops were to march by the Fulton road, to cut off Price’s retreat.

Rosecrans’s two divisions reached Jacinto in a drenching irain on the evening of September 18thi, and on the followingi morning encountered, at Barnett’s Corners, the enemy’s pickets, which they drove in six miles towards Iuka. The whole column had now arrived, and were listening for the guns, which, as Rosecrans supposed, should announce Grant’s direct attack on the west and north. After the lapse of two hours, a dispatch arrived from Grant, seven miles distant, saving that he was waiting for Rosecrans, who immediately moved forward until, within two miles of Iuka, he discovered the Confed. erates occlupl ing a position of much strengthl), and which comm:anded the country for some distanpe. The division of Ilamnilton, witll the Eleventh Ohio battery, had the advance, and were received withi a murderous fire of artillery and musketry. After a very severe stru,ggle of 409,

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. some two hours, the Confederates charged, and captured the six guns of the Ohio battery. The contest continued with great obstinacy until nightfall. And on the succeeding morning it was discovered that Price had made a precipitate retreat, abandoning the captured guns, a large number of wounded men, and quantities of stores. He retired in the direction of Bay Spring, followed some distance by the Federal cavalry. The Union loss in the engagement was one hundred and fortyeight killed, five hundred and seventy wounded, seventy-four missmg.

The Confederate loss was as considerable, including three generals, Lytie, Berry, and Whitfield, and nearly a thousand prisoners. Price, continuing his retreat via Bay Spring, in a southwesterly direction, reached Baldwin, Mississippi. He then marched upon Dumas, where he formed a junction with Van Dora, and soon after he was joined by Lovell, at Pocahontas. The combined rebel forces, numbering forty thousand men, then marched on Corinth, which they expected to find inadequately defended. On the 30th of September their advance encountered the brigade of Ogleby, which had been thrown forward by Rosecrans, upon the Chewalla road, in the design of falling back, and thus leading the enemy under the heavy guns at Corinth.

The resistance offered by Ogleby w,ls very solid, and McArthur was ordered forward to his support, succeeded by Davies. These three brigades were pushed back on the 3d, by the accumulating force of the enemy, with the loss of Ogleby wounded, and General Hackelman killed. The position of Corinthl was very strong. In addition to the original works, of great extent, built by Beauregard, to resist the Union advance under Halleck, the latter had constructed a new line of works, of less extent than those of Beauregard; and now Rosecrans, expecting the attack of Price, had constructed a third line, still more compact. These consisted of four redoubts, covering the whole front of the town, and protecting the flanks, where, also, the ground was broken and swampy. The Union army faced north.

Its extreme right was held by General Hamilton, on whose left was erected, on the night of October 3d, a new five-gun battery, which commanded the road from Bolivar. The Chewalla road, which, coming over hills, enters the town on the left centre, was commanded by Fort Williams, with its twenty-four-pound Parrotts, and Fort Robinson on a high ridg,e, enfiladed both roads. The Confederate plan included an attack b Price, by the Bolivar road, and a simultaneous attack under Van Domn, by the Chewalla road. General Davies’s Union Division was on the left of Hamilton. The Illinois and Missouri sharpshooters were on his left, and the line was prolonged by MeKean’s and Arthur’s brigades of Stanley’s Iivision. The cavalry were in reserve. The Confederates, following up the retreating brigades from the Chewalla road, on the night of the 3d, came in front of the Union position, and formed lines’one thousand yards distant. During the night they planted batteries at two hundred yards, and at daybreak of the 4th opened a, fierce fire upon Corinth. The batteries were soon silenced by the guns of Fort Williams. At ten o’clock dark masses of the enemy were observed moving up the Bolivar road 410

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HISTORY OF T.HE GREAT REBELLION. This was the force under Price. They advanced with great impetuosity, but, coming within range of the Federal batteries, were smitten with a storm of shot that opened great gaps in their ranks. They closed steadily up, pressed up the glacis, and, receiving the fire of the Union line with marvellous fortitude, returned it with such vigor that the division of Davies broke in disorder. The enemy rushed in at the opening, and took possession of the headquarters of Rosecrans. The retiring troops, however, were quickly rallied by the opportune advance of the Fifty-sixth Illinois, and, returning the charge, recovered the ground. The Confederates now wavered, and a general advance of the Union line drove them to the woods in front. Meantime, Van Dorn, having great difficulties to encounter, advanced much slower than Price, who had already suffered defeat before Van Dorn was in line. The two forts, Robinson and Williams, were one hundred and fifty yards apart, on high ground, the latter commanding the former. The Ohio Brigade of Fuller was formed behind the ridge. The Fortythird Ohio was on the right, and the Twentyseventh and Sixty-third, in succession, towards the left, which rested on Fort Robinson. The Fortythird stood at right angles with the Sixty-third, and extended between the two forts. The Eleventh Missouri was in the angle. The Thirty-seventh supported the Twentyseventh. The enemy avanced, with the Mississippians and Texans in front. As they approached, the batteries made havoc in their ranks, but they came on with a determined and unbroken front until they reached a ditch which lined the front of the position. The Ohio troops were lying fiat behind the ridge, with orders to reserve their fire until the enemy were at short range. As the latter advanced, under a storm of grape from the fort, they rose and delivered their fire with terrible effect. The rebels dropped by scores, and fell back upon their supports. These came on with terrible vigor. The Sixty-third Ohio, however, opened fire, and the Missourians came into line just as the enemy rushed in. A hand-to-hand combat ensued, until the enemy at last gave way, and the day was won. The battle had lasted two hours.

The enemy gradually drew back, masking his movements so skilfully as to keep up the impression that he would renew the attack. At three o’clock on the morning of the 5th, General Rosecrans, having been reenforced by fresh troops from Jackson, sent out a force in pursuit. The Federal loss in the battle was stated at three hundred and fifteen killed, one thousand three hundred and twelve wounded, two hundred and thirtytwo prisoners.

That of the rebels was over fourteen hundred killed, eighteen hundred wounded, andtwo thousand two hundred and fifty prisoners. They also lost fourteen stand of colors, two pieces of artillery, and a large quantity of smnall-arims and ammunition. The Confederate army retired by the way it came, and at the Iatchic bridge was attacked by a part of Grant’s command, under Generals Ord and Hurlburt, defeated and driven off with a loss of six guns This action interrupted Price’s retreat, but he finally crossed at Crum’s Mills, and was pursued to Ripley, losing one thousand prisoners, eleven guns, and much ammunition a’nd stores. The battle decided the fate of West Tenneshee, which was now securely held. 411 I

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. The Confederates, having fallen back, gradually concentrated and reorganized their broken force, and, having brought it into good condition, again advanced northeast, and occupied Holly Springs, near Grand Junction. In the meantime, General Rosecrans was ordered to Cincinnati to take command of the Army of the Ohio, vice Buell. General Grant’s force was increased by new levies, and he occupied Columbus, Trenton, Jackson, and Bolivar, on the line of the railroad; thus approaching within twenty miles of the position of Price and Van Dorn. The opposing forces remained in their relative positions, with little change, until towards the end of November. It was now determined to make a new attempt to capture Vicksburg, and an expedition for that purpose was organized at Cairo and Memphis, under General W. T. Sherman, who was to descend the Mississippi and attack Vicksburg in front, while General Grant should proceed by the railroad route, and operate on the rear of the city.

Accordingly, on the 28th of November, General Hamilton’s Corps was put in motion for Holly Springs, which point he reached on the following day. The remaining troops followed, and on the 1st of December Grant encamped at Lumpkin’s AIills, seven miles north of the Tallahatchie River. The enemy, commanded by General Pemberton, had thrown up extensive works, with a view of defending the passage of the river; but, simultaneously with the advance of Hamilton, General Hovey had bean detached with a division, seven thousand strong, of General Curtis’s troops, from Helena, Arkansas, to cross the river, and make a flank movement upon the Confederate position of the Tallahatchie. Intelligence of this movement caused Van Dorn, who held the Confederate advance, to fall back, and on the 3d he passed through Oxford, his rearguard skirmishing with the Federal advance. General Pemberton continued his retreat to Granada, under the impression that the combined force of Curtis and Grant, in his front, was very large. Hovey, however, after destroying some property on the railroad, and boats on the river, returned to Helena, when Pemberton immediately assumed the offensive. Grant’s headquarters were at Oxford, and his chief depot of supplies was at Holly Springs, thirty miles north.

Accordingly, a considerable cavalry force was organized, which, making a circuit, surprised Holly Springs on the 20th December, capturing the force there with immense stores. The prisoners were paroled, and the stores and cotton which had been purchased in the neighborhood were destroyed.

Simultaneously with this movement, attacks were made on Jackson, Tennessee, Humboldt, and Trenton. The latter place was surrendered by Colonel Fry, who was in command, and stores and cotton burned. These operations, cutting lp Grant’s line of commanication, compelled’him to retreat to Holly Springs, thus defeating his plan of cooperation. A division, ten thousand strong, of his troops, was, however, detached to support Sherman’s expedition. After the successful retreat of Bragg front Kentucky, the forces of Buell fell back in order to obtain forage and supplies; and in the latter part of October, Roseqrans was ordered to take command of the Army of the Ohio, Buell being relieved. The army, somewhat shattered by its campaign, required reorganizing and recruiting. The calls made by 412

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. the President for six hundred thousand men, under the laws of July and August, were now producing results, and the new troops arriving freely at camp required to be organized and drilled, and properly equipped for active service. To this task Rosecrans sedulously devoted himself. On the 1st of November, general headquarters were at Bowling Green, whence on the 7th they were transferred to Nashville. Rosecrans at once hastened the opening of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad in order to obtain supplies, and proceeded with the great work of perfecting the condition of his new army, which occupied a position southeast of Nashville and about ten miles distant from it. In the mean time, Bragg had brought off his army, with its immense spoils, into Tennessee; had rested his men, recruited by an inexorable conscription, and aided by bodies of mounted men, formed into a guerrilla-like cavalry, to avoid the hardships of conscription and infantry service. He had taken position at McMinnsville, Murfreesboro’, and Lavergne, facing the new position of Rosecrans. His force was estimated at about forty-five thousand, comprising the three corps of Smith, Hardee, and Polk, and was greatly superior in cavalry. The difficulties of an advance into that country, against such a force, and at such distance from his base of operations, with which he was connected by a single precarious thread, made it manifest that Rosecrans’s policy was to indu(e Bragg to travel over as much as possible of the space that separated them; thus avoiding for us the wear and tear and diminution of our forces, and subjecting the enemy to all these inconveniences, besides increasing for him, and diminishing for us, the dangerous consequences of a defeat. Both parties remained comparatively quiet until towards the close of December. At that time, Br.agg, under the belief that Rosecrans with his raw troops would go into winterquarters at Nashville, had weakened his force by dispatching Colonel Forrest to make an attack upon Grant’s communications, in aid of Pemberton, who had commenced his forward movement. He also sent an infantry force in the same direction. Aware of these facts, Rosecrans determined to seize the opportunity for a movement, which was appointed for Christmas night. The position of the Confederate army at this time was approachable by several roads. Hardee held the left at Nolinsville, Polk the centre at Lavergne, and Kirby Smith the right at Murfreesboro’. The right of the Union army, opposed to Hardee, was under McCook, at Franklin turnpike. The centre, under Crittenden, with Wood’s, Palmer’s, and Van Cleve’s Divisions, was at Breakville, and the left under Thomas, who had succeeded Gilbert, at Mill Creek. The general plan was for each corps to advance by the highway before it, while General ~-gley should attempt to turn the Confederate left. At dawn of the 26th, the men went forward with great enthusiasm. McCook drove in the advance posts of Hardee, capturing one gun, while Crittenden advanced to Lavergne, on the Murfreesboro’ pike, withont serious opposition. The Confederates retired, and were so sharply pushed that they had no time to destroy the bridges over which they passed on the Jefferson and Murfreesboro’ turnpikes. The Federals therefore followed uninterruptedly until they reached Stone River, where the Confederates were concentrated. On the 29tb. 413

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. McCook moved within seven miles of Murfreesboro’, having Thomas on his left, while Crittenden was on the left of Thomas. On the 30th, the commanders met at headquarters, and the plan of battle was ex plained to them. General McCook was cautioned that in his present position he faced too much to the east, and should change more to the south, and that the success of the whole plan of turning the enemy’s right depended upon his holding his position three hours. General Smith held the Confederate centre, masked by cedar forests. Their right comprised the three divisions of Cheatham, Breckinridge, and Buckner, under Polk, and rested on Lebanon Turnpike and Stone River. At this time there were several attacks on the Federal rear, by which some wag ons were captured and the communications threatened. The inorning of the 31st was very foggy. The troops were under arms at daylight, and at seven were preparing for battle, the opposing forces being separated by a valley, which narrowed towards the Feder al left. The corps ofIMcCook was dra’wn up with Johnson on the right, Davis in the centre, and Sheridan on the left. The movement on the Union side commenced by the advance of Van Cleve on the left. The enemy had, however, made earlier provision to attack the Union right. At halfpast six o’clock their batteries opened with a furious fire, under which the infantry advanced in heavy columns of regiments, at the doublequick, and attacked Willich’s and Kir-k’s Brigades of Johnson’s Division, which, being without support, were, after a sharp contest, driven back, leaving Edgarton’s and part of Goodspeed’s Batteries in the hands of the enemy. The enemy, following up, attacked Davis’s Division, and speedily dislodged Post’s Brigade; Carlin’s Brigade was compelled to follow, as Woodruff’s Brigade had previously left its position on his left. Johnson’s troops, on retiring, inclined too far to the west, and were too much scattered to make a combined resistance, though they fought bravely at one or two points before reaching Wilkinson pike. The reserve brigade of the division, advancing from its bivouac near Wilkinson pike, towards the right, took a good position, and made a gallant but ineffectual stand, as the whole Confederate left was moving up on the ground abandoned by our troops. Within an hour firom the time of the opening of the battle, a staff officer from General McCook announced to General Rosecrans that the right wing was heavily pressed, and needed assistance. The retreat of Johnson and Davis uncovered the division of Sheridan, which offered firmer resistance, and struggled manfully to maintain its ground, until the others night rally on the supports, and again come up. The effort was vain, however. The division retreated slowly, until it again got into line with the others, which had meantime reformed, but only again to break. They formed for the third time, under cover of the advance Qf the centre, under Negley, who came to their aid, and, being supported by Rousseau, succeeded in checking the Confederate advance. Sheridan, after sustaining four successive attacks, gradually swung his right from a southeasterly to a northwesterly direction, repulsing the enemy four times, with the loss, how 414

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HISTORY OF TIHE GREAT REBELLION. ever, of the gallant General Sill of his right, and Colonel Roberts of his left brigade, when, having exhausted his ammnunition-Negley’s Division being in the same predicament, and heavily pressed-after desperate fighting, he fell back through the cedar woods, in which Rousseau’s Division, with a portion of Negley’s and Sheridan’s, met the advancing enemy and checked his moyements, relieving Sheridan from the pressure. This violent irruption of the Confederates on the Union right prevented Rosecrans from throwing forward his left, as he had intended. He therefore massed his artillery in great strengh upon his centre, at the probable point of attack. The Confederate force, consisting of the centre and left wing, flushed with success, advanced with great impetuosity, when Negley’s covering force retired, and brought the Confederate line within a most destructive concentric fire of artillery, which staggered and caused it to pause, amidst the most terrible slaughter, then waver and partly retire. Meantime, McCook had succeeded in reforming his troops, and getting into line on the right of Thomas. It was now noon; the Rebels had fallen back, and firing had ceased along the entire line. The Union troops had been driven back between two and three miles, with the loss of twentyeight guns, two hundred wagons, four thousand prisoners, and three thousand killed and wounded. The Confederate loss was not known. Tihe left and centre of the Union army, occupying very strong positions, was now perpendicular to the Murtireesboro’ road, and the right was parallel to the road, being thus at right angles with the centie. The communication with Nashville,had been cut off by the Confederate cavalry, which had captured large quantities of hospital stores. With great promptness and skill, Rosecrans reformed his lines, and at about three P. x. the rebels resumed the battle with undiminished vigor. Four desperate assaults were repulsed with prodigious slaughter, and at nightfall Bragg drew off his discomfited troops, and both armies rested. Although the Union troops were worsted in the fighting, the day had not been one of unmixed disaster to them. Their new position was strong, and the ease with which the assaults of the enemy had been repelled in the afternoon showed that the defeat of the right wing had not demoralized the army. The enemy had, moreover, suffered terribly in the latter part of the day, and would be cautious of again pushing too hard an opponent, over whom he had apparently triumphed with so much ease in the morning. At a council of Union generals, held at Rosecrans’s headquarters, in the evening, it was determined to maintain the position then occupied by the army, and, if oportunity should offer, to turn Se enemy’s right, and get possession of IMurfreesboro’. ” We conquer or die right here,” were the words of Rosecrans, and the announcement jumped with the wishes of his officers, not one of whom counselled a retreat to Nashville. During the night of the 31st, the Union lineswere strengthened, and the morning of January 1st found them almost impregnable to the attacks of the enemy. In vain did the latter reconnoitre fiom right to left: everywhere he was met with al artillery fire which drove him back with heavy loss, and night fell without any decisive or important action. 415

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. Meanwhile, in pursuance of his plan of turning the rebel right, Roseerans had sent a portion of Van Cleve’s Division across Stone River, for the purpose of threatening Breckinridge, who held that part of Bragg’s line. Nothing of interest occurred on the 2d, until about three o’clock in the afternoon, when a large rebel force suddenly issued from the woods on the opposite shore of the river, and advanced, in three heavy lines, with great impetuosity, upon Van Cleve’s troops, who, after several ineffectual volleys, retired in confusion across the river. On came the enemy, in proud disdain of his opponents, expecting to double up and crush the Union left as readily as he had overpowered McCook’s troops two days before. But a far different reception awaited him now. The Union artillery, massed on the ridges that crowned the river bank, awvpited but the word to play with full force into the dense columns which swept up with yells of triumph and defiance. At length the range was complete, and a dozen batteries opened such a fire as would have staggered the best troops in the world. The rebels, brave and confidentt as they were, recoiled in confusion, but, as if by magic, the frequent gaps in their lines quickly closed up, and they resumed the advance, only to encounter a still more close and deadly fire of artillery, to which were now added volleys of musketry. The slaughter was here prodigious, but, with desperate resolution, a portion of the advance was pushed to the river’s brink, in the vain hope of storming the op)posing batteries. But scarcely a man of those who made the mad attempt lived to return, and gradually the whole force, refusing longer to obey their officers, fell back in irreparable confusion. At this moment, the Union troops dashing across the shallow river with fixedi bayonets, drove the routed foe in wild confusion within the shelter of the woods, whence they had emerged scarcely half an hour previous. In this brief but brilliant affair the Union troops inflicted a loss of not-less than twentyfive hundred on Breckinridge’s Corps, besides c.lpturing a battery, several thousand smallarms, and several sets of colors. Darkness alone prevented Rosecrans from ordering the pursuit to be continued to Murfreesboro’. The result greatly depressed Bragg, who judged wisely that the successes of the 31st of December had been more than neutralized by the afternoon’s disaster. At a council of rebel generals, held on the morning of the 3d, it was determined to retreat on the same night, and at the appointed hour the disheartened and tired columns moved sullenly off in the direction of Shelbyville, twenty miles south of Murfireesboro’. On the fifth, the advance of Rosecrans, under Thomas, entered Murfreesboro’, and the enemyhaving by that time got a considerable start, and the roads being almost impassable for artillery, no further pursuit was attempted.

After the fatigues of the previous week, the army was greatly in need of rest, and Rosecrans at once went into winterquarters. General Rosecrans’s statemnent of force and losses inr the three days’ fighting was as follows: We moved on the enemy with the following forces: Infantry……………………41,421

Cavalry…………………….3,296 Axtillery…………………..

2,223

Total…………………………………………………..46,940 416

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. We fought the battle with the following forces:Infantry………………….. 37,977

Cavalry…………………..3,200 Artillery…………………. 2,223

Total……………………………………………..43,400 We~~~2,2
los in…killed:-… We lost in killed: Officers……………………..

92 Ejplisted men…………..;.1,441

Total………………………………………………,……. 1533

We lost in wounded: Officers…………………….. 384 Enlisted men………………..6,865

Total……………………………………………….7,241 Total killed and wounded…………………………………. 8,778 Being 20.03 per cent. of the entire force in action, and three thouBand six hundred missing. He estimated the enemy’s force at sixty-two thousand four hundred and ninety men. The rebels estimated their loss at one thousand killed and thiity-five hundred wounded, which is probably not more than fifty per cent. of the whole amount. CHAPTER XXXVIII. Turn of the Tide of War.-New Combinations.-Vicksburg.-Sherman’s Attack. Arkansas Post.-Renewal of Attempt upon Vicksburg.-Passage of Batteries by the I Fleet.-Flanking March of Grant THE tide of victory, which had run so uninterruptedly in favor of the North from the beginning of the war, and which had excited the highest hopes of a speedy termination of the war, seemed to have reached its ebb at midsummer, 1862. There had been great success on the part of the Federal arms. Western and Middle Tennessee had been overrun and occupied by the Government troops. The Confederates had been driven out of Missouri. New Orleans had been occupied, and the Federal forces were ascending the Mississippi, while all its strong points above had been seized by the Government, Vicksburg and Port Hudson alone offering obstacles to the free navigation of the river. The seacoast, from Norfolk, skirting North and South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, was under the Federal rule, and the limits of the Confederacy seemed to be rapidly contracting under the pressure of the National power Suddenly the public vere startled with the announcement that the ironclads, for the first time, had failed to accomplish their object. The Monitor and her consorts had attacked Fort Darling, which had been looked upon as a slight obstruction, and had been repulsed, and that so effectually, that the attack was never renewed. From that moment, the general course of events was adverse to the Federal arms. The defeat of McClellan followed, and other reverses troubled the public mind. 417 0 I “.,,. I I ,.. . 1,. I I 11,. “.. k” I -. .. i I 27

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HISTORY OF TIE’ GREAT REBELLION. These were grave events, and resulted, as we have seen, in the act of July 1, calling for three hundred thousand volunteers for the war, and that of August 9, calling for three hundred thousand men for nine months, who were to be drafted unless they promptly volunteered. These six hundred thousand men were designed to open campaigns of great vigor. Rosecrans was to cross Tennessee and penetrate Alabama, the heartof the Confederacy, within irresistible force, andthea Mississippi was to be opened by a grand combination upon Vicksburg fi’om above and below, while the reorganized and re-enfoib’ced Army of the Potomac was to renew its march upon Richmond. The six hundred thousand men were soon mustered into the service of the Government, since the large bounties offered to volunteers sufficed to fill the.quotas without resort to drafting, and the expeditions and campaigns were opened. These grand combinations unfortunately produced no practical results. The Army of the Potomac, reorganized under Burnside; gained no ground towards Richmond.

The Army of the Ohio, under Buell, failed of its mission, and, under Rosecrans, succeeded only in holding West Tennessee, without penetrating Alabama. Grant had made some progress towards the rear of Vicksburg, but had suddenly retrograded when his communication was threatened. The an for the opening of the Mississippi contemplated an assault on icksburg on the 25th of December, Christmas-Day. In that view an expedition was fitted out under General Banks, for New Orleans, whence he was to ascend the river, in company with the fleet under Farragut, while an expedition under General Sherman was to leave Memphis and descend the river with Commodore Porter, and General Grant was to operate upon the rear of Vicksburg. The main strength of the combination was the expedition under Sherman. This rendezvoused at Memphis and Hlelena, and on the 26th of December entered the Yazoo River, which empties into the Mississippi River ten miles above Vicksburg. At this time, Sherman was ignorant of the fact that Grant had fiuled in his cooperative movement. Vicksburg is situated on a high bluff, rising nearly a hundred feet above the water, and facing very nearly to the west. This, as has been previously stated, furnishes a nitural defence against any force attempting to get into the rear of the city from the north, of which full advantage had been taken. Where the bluffs approach the Yazoo River there William Tecumseh Sherman was born in L~~~~~~~~~n attack on vicksbiirg in December 1862 and took~~~~~~~~ *

William Tecumseh Sherman was born in Lancaster, Ohio, in 1820, graduated at West Point in 1840, and inr the same year was appointed second leutenant of the Third Artillery He served in California diring the Mexican w ar, was brevetted captain in 1850, and in 1853 resigned his commisseion. After engaging in business in n Fiancisco, he became. in 1858, presidei of the military acad - emy in Louisiana, but resigned his office at the outbreak of the rebellion. In June, 1S61, he was commissioned colonel of the Thirteenth Regular Infantry, and subsqquently a brigadiergeneral of volunteers. IIe participated in the firs battle of Bull Run, and in the ensuing autumn and winter served in Kentucky and Missouri. In thesp,ing of 1862, he commanded a division in Grant’s army, and distinguished’himself at the battle of Bhiloh, earning thereby his promotion to be major%eneral of volunteers. He made an unsuccessful 418
attack on Vicksburg in December, 1862, and took part in the siibse,itient campaign -,igairist that place under Grant. Ile accoinl).tnie,t (,,i,ant to .ChattaDooga in October, 1863, soon -atter marched to the relief of Knoxville, and earl’y in 1S(4 conducted,t successful 1-aid through S,titliern Mis.issippi. In Alarch lie,,-ts placed over the iiii(idle division of tlie’Mississippi, and soon -,ift(,r c(,inmenced his successful campaign,igtinst Atlaiit %vhich he occupied in Septeriiber. In the siicceedini.zNovernber,after(irivin!,,]I,)o(I intoN(,itliern Alab,,im,,t, he commenced his march tbroii,,,h Georgi,% and reached Savannah in December. Theiice he north to Gol(lsl;oro’, N. C.,,tnl in April, lS65, received the surrend,r of Jobnston’s ariny. ITe now commands the military division of the Mississippi, with the rank of raa;orgeneral in the regular army. 0 I I -

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HISTORY OF THE GRPEAT RiE13ELLION. were constructed formidable batteries, that prevented the passage of all manner of craft. Just above these batteries, and defended bv them, they had placed a heavy raft of timber and iron in the stream, making a most effectual blockade. Thusit was impossible to flank this range of bltuffs, and they were to be attacked, if attacked at all, full it front. Against this the enemy guarded themselves by fortifying the entire range, from Vicksburg to HIaines’s Bluff. These fortifications consisted of abatis in front of the bluffs to a width on the average of a mile. At the foot of the bluff they had riflepits the entire way. Above the riflepits, and in the face of the bluff, they had constructed batteries mounting one gun each, at short intervals all the Way along. On the summit of tlle bluffs they had earthlworks thrown up, ready to cover field artillery whenever it should be desirable to biing it into action frotm any of these points. Thus these entire ranges of hills were one complete, briistling fortifica tion, dang,erous to approach and difficult to capture. These formidable works were held by the combined armies of Peim beiton and Price, amounting to some fifty t]lousaind trool)s, with one hundred and sixty guns, who had concentrated after Grant had re turned to Holly Springs on the 20th. The attack and reduction of these works promised to be a matter of extreme difficulty. On S’tur day morning, the 27thl, the Benton and other boats made an attack on Haines’s Bluff, about twenty miles fi’om the mouth of the Yazoo River. While this was in progress, the same day, General Sheliman landed( his forces on the right bank, ten miles up the river. The line of battle was at once formed. General A. J. Smith took thle right, General AIorgan L. Smith the right centre, General Steele the left ceiitie, and General G. W. MIorgan the extreme left. Our line was formed in this order parallel with the bluffs, and in the edge of the tiinber that skirts the abatis, bringing it about a mile from the enemy’s liies.

The advance of the line was through almost impracticable ground. - Thle old roads had been destroyed, and felled trees and other obstacles were profusely strewn in the path. It was therefore found to be impi,acticablle to carry out Genertl Sherman’s design of pushing on to the bluffs the same night. On iMonday morning there was a heavy fog until eight o’clock, when a bombarcd ment began from one hundred and fifty guns, which for some hours rained shot upoii the bluffs, withlout much apparent effect. Finally the line of ilfantlrybe(gaii to emerge from the woods in which it was formed. In firont o’f AlMorgan L. Smith, on the right centre, was a bayou which it was necessary fir the troops to pass. In front of Steele was a broad slain, covered with abatis, and cut up with gullies in which were sharpshooters, and Moigan on the left encountered similar obstacles. The advance of Smith to cross the bayou was made with great courage and determination, but was met with a terrific fire which staggered and forced back the column. Smith rushed to the head to hold his men to tneir work, when he received a shot which compelled him to quit the field, and his men, who were now without a leader, and exposed to a withering fire, fell back. On his right, General A. J. Smith crossed the bayou, lIut won the ground slowly, amid the gullies and felled trees, where his men were exposed 419 I

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to a biting fire, which they could not effectually return. Their numbers rapidly wasted in the fierce struggle, when they were opportiunely aided by the opening of a battery upon the Confederate force which was pressing hard upon the Fiftyfourth Ohio and Eighth Missouri. Meantime the divisions of Steele and Morgan had pushed through all obstacles, and with great determination had cleared the iifle-pits and gained considerable ground, some of the men, with rare courage, even reaching the bluffs, but in numbers too weakto hold tle ground. The position proved, however, to be too strong to be carried, and the line retired to the camping-ground of the previous night. A violent storm and rain, such as usually succeeds heavy cannonadiing, set in soon after, and drenched the weary men resting on their arms, causing snuffering to tile numbers of wounded that strewed the plain in front. In consequence of the wound of General MI. L. Smith, General A. L. Smith was placed in command of his division, and G(ieneral Burbridge succeeded to the command of Smith. On the 2d January, General IcClernand arrived and assumed command of the army, by virtue of his priority of commission. He held a council of war, in which it was determined to abandon the siege, since, through the failure of Banks, Farragut, and Grant to co-operate as previously intended, the force was not sufficient. The men were accordingly promptly embarked, and retired to Milliken’s Bend, twelve miles above the, mouth of the Yazoo. The Arkansas River was now navigable, and it was determined to strike a blow at Arkansas Post. General Gorman, who was in command at Helena, received orders to co-operate in the movement. The expedition proved completely successfull, and on the 1 ith Jannuary the place was captured, with five thousand prisoners. Three other forts were also captured-St. Charles, Duval’s Bluff, and Desarc. The main body then returned to Vicksburg, and, being largely reenforced by troops under General Grant, who now assumed the chief command, landed on the Louisiana side, five miles below the mouth of the Yazoo, and commenced to reopen the canal begun in the previous year across the tongue of land in firont of Vicksburg, and designed to turn the channel of the river. A force of five thousand men was put to work to enlarge the canal, with a view of floating through the troops and landing them for the attack of Vicksburg on its southern side.

The Union fleet concentrated there comprised one hundred and seven vessels, of which ninetysix were transports and nineteen gunboats, the latter being under the command of RearAdmiral D. D. Porter. While the canal was in process of digging, the troops were concentrated at Milliken’s Bend for reorganization and drill. Little of interest occurred in the proless of the work until the 2d of February, when the ram Queen of the West ran the batteries at Vicksburg down the river without injury, arriving at Natchez the same evening. She soon after made an excursion up the Red River to attack Fort Taylor. On the way up he captured, February 17th, the Confederate steamer Eva, and forced her pilot, John Burke, to take the vessel up to the batteries, which were not fair ahead, although when he was placed at the wheel under a guard, he informed the commander of the Queen that they were fifteen miles distant. HIe then ran close 420

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IIISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. into the batteries, which opened upon the advancing vessel with a shot that disabled her. The pilot jumpled over in the confusion and gained the shore. The steamner drifted ashore, and was captured, with eighteen of her men. She was soon repaired and placed in the rebel service. Me:intime, on the 14th of February, the gunboat Indianola ran the batteries in order to join the Queen of the West.

Unfortunately, however, she was almost immediately captured by the Queen of the West, and both were subsequently destroyed by the Uiiioii gunboats.

The operations on the canal were prolonged until it became evident that it would not succeed, and that even if’ it could be made passable fo the transports, its debouch upon the river was so commanded by thle new batteries erected by the enemy that it would not answer the object.

Finally, owing to a sudden flood which broke the dam and overflowed the adjacent country, it had to be abandoned. Attempts were next made to enter the Yazoo River by the old Yazoo Pass, which enters the Mlississippi many miles above Vicksburg, and subsequently by a more circuitous route throtigh Steele’s Bayou, Black Bayou, Duck Creek, Deer Creek, Rolling Fork, and Sunflower River, none of which succeeded, althouga abundant resources and energy were expended upon them. It was, however, the opinion of Grant that Vicksburg could only be turned f,‘om the south side, and as the canal had proved a failur,e, attention was turned to the project for cutting a canal from the Missis.ippi to Lake Providence, in Northeastern Louisiana, whence transports might pass thi,ourgh Bayou Baxter and Bayou MAacon, and the Tensas, Wachita, and Red Rivers. into the Mississippi, about a hundred miles below Vicksburg. This also proved impraetic~ible, and, aftei mature deliberation, Grant determined to adopt thie hazardous schemnie of running past the Vicksl-)urg battelies with a portion of the gunboats and transports, and marching his troops down the west bank of the MIiss.ssippi to a point whence they could be transferred to the opposite shore. This had been attempted with some success by the fleet of Farragllt* firom below, which passed Port Hudson the 14th of 3March, for the purpose of cooperating with Grant. The onemy’s batteries extended some four miles at that formidable point, yet the passage was attempted by seven vessels-the Hartford, Albatross, Richmond, Kineo, 3Iono.ng,ahela., Genesee, and Mississippi-while a number of mortar-boats kept up a bombardment from the rear. Of the fleet, the Hartford and Albatross succeeded in passing. The Richmond put back with dclamage, and the Mississippi was destroyed. About eighty * David G. F.rra_gut was born near Kntville, proaches to New Orleans, and during the next Tennesse, in 1801.

entered the na,,y in 1,S1, and two iriontls hlie was actively employed in the same saw much active service in the war of 1812, as a waters. In July he was promoted to bena reart-ad.midshiliian on the frigate Essex. lie subse-mirli. In Mairch, 1863, he p)assed the batteries at quently served in all lalts of the world, and in. Port Iuu,son, on the Mississippi, with two of his 1855 reached the grade of capltain. In the latter vessels, and(
rendeired valuable services to Grant, part of 186l he wass appiunted to comnmand hle then besieging Vicksbnurg. In August of the sucnaval part of the expedition -agtinst New Orleans, ceeding year hlie made his miemor’ble passage of and at the same time asstnumed( command of the the forts at the entrance of Mobile hlarl)bor, for West Gulf Blockading Squid(ron. In April, 1862, which he was afterwardls promoted to be vice-adhe successfiuly accompllished the passage of Forts iniral, which grade was specially created by ConJackson and St. Philip, commanding the ap-gress for him, 421 0

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IHISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. were killed in the passage. At Grand Gulf the Hartford again en countered the enerny’s batteries, and received fourteen shot, and on the 22d She anchored below Vicksburg. Soon after, on the 25th, the Lancaster and Switzerland, of Portei’s fleet, attempted to run past Vicksburg and join Farrgaut. The L.ancaster was destroyed, but the Switzerland got down in a disabled condition, but, being taken in tow by the Albatross, was again made serviceable. On the night of the 16th of April, a portion of Admiral Porter’s fleet and the transports Silver Wave, Forest Queen, and Henry Clay, ran the batteries. The boilers of the transports were protected as well as possible with hay and cotton. LMore or less commissary stores were put on each. All three of these boats were struck, and the Henry Clay, by the explosion of a shell, or by other means, was set on fire and entirely consumed. The other two boats were somewhat injured, but not seriously disabled. No one on board of either was hurt As these boats succeeded in getting by so well, General Grant ordered six more to be prepared in like manner f-)r running the batteries, viz.: the Tigress, Anglo-Saxon, Cheeseman, Empire City, Horizonia, and Moderator, which left Milliken’s Bend on the nigiht of the 22d of April, and got by in a somewhat damaged condition, with the exception of the Tigress, which received a shot in her hull, below the waterline, and sunk on the Louisiana shore soon after passing the last of the batteries. The crews of these steamers, with the exception of that of the Forest Queen, Captain D. Conway, and thle Silver Wave, Captain 3IcMillan, were composed of volunteers from the army. Upon the call for volunteers for this dangerous enterprise, officers and men presented themselves by hundreds, anxious to undertake the trip. The fleet concentrated at New Oarthage, where the troops continued to arrive. The roads from Mlilliken’s Bend to that place were intolerably bad. Nevertheless, on the 29th March, the Thirteenth Army Corps, 31cClernand commanding, was directed to take up its line of march thither, to be followed by the Seventeenth Corps, McPherson, moving no faster than supplies and ammunition could be transported to them. The Fifteenth Army Corps, W. T. Sherman commanding, was left to protect the communications and supplies and deceive the enemy. To prevent heavy reenforcements going from Vicksburg to the assistance of Grand Gulf, where Grant intended to land, he directed Sherman to demonstrate against Ilaines’s Bluff, and to make all the show possible. From information afterwards received from prisoners captured, this ruse succeeded admirably. Arriving at Smith’s plantation, two miles from New Carthage, it was found that the levee of Bayou. Vidal was braoen in several places, thus leaving New Carthage an island. It became necessary to march around Vidal to Perkins’s plantation, a distance of twelve miles more, making the whole distance to be marched from M1illiken’s Bwd to reach water communication on the opposite side of the point, thirtyfive miles. Ultimately the march was prolonged to Hard Timres, seventy miles from MAilliken’s Bend. Over thiis distance, witli bad roads to contend against, supplies of ord 422 0

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HISTORY OF TIE GREAT REBELLION. nance stores and provisions had to be hauled by wagons, with which to commence the campaign on thle opposite side of the river. On the 29thl April, the Thirteenth Army Corps got on b),,ard the transports and barges, and were moved to the front of Grand Gulf. It was intended that the navy should silence the guns of the enemy, and the troops land under cover of the gunboats, and carry the place by storm. The position of Vickibuirg would thus be effectually turned, and the garlison compelled either to evacuate or stand a siege, with the hope of succor from Bragg in Tennessee. CHAPTER XXXIX. The Flank Mfovement against Vicksburg.-Battles of Raymond, Jackson, and Cham pion Hills.-fnvestmn-at of tiho City.-Obstiaato

Defence.-Surrender.-CliChronology of Events.:-Grierson’s Raid. TIE: Federal Army was now below Vicksburg, supported by the fleet; and those formidable defences, which had so often defied the efforts directed from the North, were no longer of any avail. The southern side of the position was now to be approached, with much better hopes of success. The t’(;ops were soon concentrated and formed for a lod,(ment on the Mii~sissippi sid(e, which was effected at Bruinsburg, sixtyfive miles below Vicksburg, on the 30th April. On the sanie day the gunboats attacked Grand Gulf, without effect. The Thirteenth Corps immediately advanced, followed by thl Seventeenth, upon Port’Gibson, held by the Co:ifederates, under General Bowven, who were dlef(,atedl, on the 1st of blay, with heavy loss. The Union loss v.was five hundred an,l fifty kille(d,ld wounded. This placed Grant in the rear of Grand Gulf; which was consequently aband(loned by the enemy. Admiral Porter, two days after the engagement at Port Gihson, returned to Grand Gulf, and found it abandoned. He reported it to have been the strongest place on the 3Iississippi. Had the enemy succeederl in finishing the for’tifications, no fleet could have taken themi. General Grant then ina,le Girand Gulf his base of ol)erations. In the afternoon the army was again in motion in the direction of RPaymond. It had been Grant’s original intention to effect a jaiTtion with Banks, and reduce Port Hlludson, an,al then co-operate upoil Vicksburg. The state of affairs on landing, however, induced him to adVance at once upon Jackson.

Simultaneously with the movemrnent Just dcscril)ed, Slierman ha~lade a demonstration against ilaines’s Bl,uff on the Yazoo, to distract the attention of the enemy, after which he mnarchled rapidly down the river and crossed over to Gran(l Gulf. On the 7th of Mlay an advance commenced, lcPherson’s Corps keep)ing the ioad nearest Bl:acksRiver to Rocky Springs, 3IcClernand’s the iri(dge road from Willow Springs, and Sherman following(r with his corps divided on the two roads. All the ferries were closely guarded until our troops were well-advanced. It was the intention of General I 423 0

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Sam ~~ tke t a

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HISTORY OF TILE GREAT REBELLION. Grant here to follow the Black River as closely as possible with MIcClernand’s and Shernman’s Coirps, and get them to the railroad at some place between Edwards’s Station and Bolton.

McPherson was to move by way of Utica to Raymond, and from there into J:ackson, destroying the railroad, telegraph, public stores, &c., and push west to rejoin the main force. Orders were given to [IcPhers(,n accord ingly. Sherman was moved forward on the Edwards’s Station road, crossing Fourteen M1ile Creek at Dillon’s plantation; iIcClernand was moved across the same creek, further west, sending one division of his corps by the B:ildwin’s Ferry road as far as the river. At the crossing of Fourteen MAile Creek, both 3IcClernand and Sherman had considerable skirmishing with the enenmy to get possessioii of the crossing. On the morning of the 9th of Mlay, the advance cavalry of the Seventeenth Corps fell in with the enernmy’s horsemen at Ray mond, andl reported to General AlcPherson the presence of a large infantry force in front. The force proved to be four thousand men, under General Gregg, of Texas. In consequence of this report, the Second Ohio Brigade, of Logan’s Division, was ordered to advance in column of reginments towards the heavy timber which concalede the enemy, who o0peled upon them on overwhhelling fire. The fii.st and third bri,_.des we:e ordered forward in support, but couldt not dislodge the enemy, and( were compelled to give ground when the a!,til[ery of the eneniy opened upon them. This wvas replie(d to by the Eighth Michigan Battery. Thie enemy then made an attempt to take the battery by a charge, but were repulsed with loss, and fell back to a position in the rear of Farnden’s Creek. The brigades of Dennis and Smith then renewed the attack, bit were taken il flank by the enemy, and a terrible struggle eisued, in wliicli the Union loss was heavy. The Twentieth Ohio and Twentythird Indiana nalrrowly escaped annihilation, and the enemy was rapidly gaining ground, when the opportune arrival of Stevensoil’s Brigade restored the battle, and finally compelled the enemy to give ground, leaving to tthe Union troops a dearly-botight victory. The enemy, bei,ng mostly under cover, suffered miuch lees thl.n tlhe UIrion troops. General 3IcPherson moved on the 13th to Clinton, destroyed the railroad and telegraph, and captured some important dispatches f,‘oin General Pemberton to General Gregg, who h’td commanded the day befoire in the battle of R’,ymond.

Siherman moved to a parallel position on the MIississippi Springs and Jackson road; VIcClernand moved to a point ne:ir Iaymond. On the same day Crocker’s Division of IcPherson’s Corps left Clinton to encounter the enemy under Johnston, who had just ar. rived at Jackson with a force Of nine thousand. It was necessary for Grant to debeat this force before turning upon Vicksbtirg, in order to clear his rear. HIe therefore ass,tiled it promptly and vigorously. Crocker’s Division leading the advance, soon fell in with thle ellemy’s pickets, which fell back to within three miles of Jackson, where the main body of the enemy was in position on high ground. The rest of the corps of 3IcPherson supported the division of Crocker. The first brigade, Sauborne, and the second bi,igade, Holmes, of Crocker’s ;.r _ - 425

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IISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. Division, immediately formed in line to commence the attack. They advanced steadily over two hills in their front.

Between these hills swept a storm of shlot, and a halt was made under cover of a hillside, until the remainder of the force got into position.

The men rested, were larangued, and then resumed their forward movement up the slope, with a vigor so irresistible that a few minutes sufficed to plant the stars and stripes on the crest, amidst shouts of victory. The Confederates retired with comparatively little loss, since they were under cover. The Union loss was two hundred killed and wounded, mostly by artillery. The result of this conflict was the occupation of Jackson, with a number of pieces of artillery. Johnston retired on Canton, twventy-five miles north of J.ckson, and connecting with the road leading to Vicksburg.

General Grant sent the following dispatch to Washington; “‘JoACS0Or, MISS.,May 15 5 “Vi4 MEMPHIS, TENN., May 20. “MajorGeneral H. W. HALLrCK, Generalin-Chief, Washington: “This place. fell into our hands yesterday, after a fight of about three hours. Joo Johnston was in command. “The enemy retreated north, evidently with the design of joining the Vicksburg forces. “U. S. GRANT, MajorGeneral.” Mea.ntime, MIcClernand occupied Clinton with one division; Mississippi Springs with another, Raymond with a third, and had his fourth division, and Blair’s Division of Sherman’s Corps with a wagon train still in the reai, near Newv Auburn, while MlcArthur, with one brigade of his division of MicPherson’s Corps, was moving towards Raymond on the Utica roadI. General Grant now learned that General Johnston, as soon as he had satisfied hiimselfthat Jackson was to be attacked, had o’dered Pemberton peremptorily to march out from the direction of Vicksbtrg, and attack our rear. Availing himself of this informatian, hlie immediately issued orders to MIcClernand, and Blair of Sherman’s Corps, to face their troopl)s towards Bolton, with a view of reaching Edwards’s Station. These troops were admir’ably posted for such a more. McPherson was ordered to retrace his steps early in the morning of the 15th, on the Clinton rond, while Sherman was left in Jackson to destroy the railroads, bridges, fac tories, workshops, arsenals, and every thing valuable for the support of the enemy. This was accomplished in the most effectual manner. The arrival of General Johnston at Jackson was for the purpose of relieving Pemberton in Vicksburg, who was informed that if he could hold out fifteen days, one hundred thousand men would succor him.

Johnston therefore manoeuvred to keep open the commtunication with Vicksburg, and threaten Gr.nt’s flank, while awaiting the troops that were hurtying up from all directions. It was under these circumstances imperative upl)on Grant to strike quickly, since, although he was closing in upon Vicksbtiig, the enemy were also closing in upon him, and a little time” would -lace him between two fires. If Pember ton could hold Gi’ant before Vicksbl)irg until Johnston should be i strength, Grant would,be placed in a dangerous position. It was similar to the Marengo campaign, when Messena, by his obstinacy in 426

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HISTORY OF TIE GREAT REBELLION. holdcling Genoa, kept Melas in the southwest corner of Italy, until the legions of Napoleon had closed in on his rear. Grant had no recourse but to act promptly. The enemy, under Pemberton,* were posted at Baker’s Creek, some miles east of the Big Black River, numbering about twentyfive thousand men. On the morning of the 16th, at 8 A. M., Sherman left Jackson for Bolton. Blair was ordered to Edwards’s Station, McClernand was ordered to establish communications with Blair and with Osterhaus, of his own corps, and McPherson to join McClernand. A range of hills running north and south comes to an abrupt termination near Baker’s Creek, the last eminence being known as Champion Hill. The main road to Vicksburg runs to the north of it. The hill itself is covered with timber, and on each side are deep ravines and gullies, filled with scrub oak. Posted on this hill, the enemy were discovered on the 16th. Itovey’s Division of the Thirteenth Corps was disposed for attack on the road, while two divisions of McPherson’s Corps were on the right of the road, threatening the enemy’s rear. These were awaiting the arrival of MIcClernand’a Corps, which was advancing on a road about the centre of the enemy’s line, and two and a halfl’ miles distant. While waiting their arrival, the skirmishing of HIovey in front gradually became more serious, and assumed the importance of a battle by eleven o’clock, when the pressure upon him became very severe. His troops stood up to the work with marvellous energy, until reenforced by two brigades of Crocker’s Division. Logan’s Division of McPherson’s Corps had meanwhile proceeded up the main road to Vicksburg. on the enemy’s left and rear. The advance was made with increased caution, to allow of the arrival of the remainder of McPherson’s Corps in support. The engagement soon became very warmin, and relieved the pressure upon the fi’ont. The Seventeenth Corps then crossed an open field to the foot of the hill, at eleven o’clock, and commenced the action, which raged with great fury until 4. p. Mi. The enemy were deficient in artillery, but served some rifled six-pounders with great vigor. It appears that the Vicksburg road, after following the ridge in a southerly direction for about one mile, to where it intersects one of the Raymond roads, turns almost to the west, down the hill and across the valley in which Logan was operating on the rear of the enemy.’

One brigade of Logan’s Division had, unconscious of this important fact, penetrated of Molino del Prey. ITe was (listingulshed and aswoniide d in the caI)tlure of the city of Mexico. He was pr(loted to captain *)11 the(

16tll of SepIltemnber, 1S50. On the 19th of Alpril, 1861, he resignied his connection with the Unlited States’trm~s, and at once joined with its enemies. Ilel itas r(le a colonel (,f the r,-gl,liar alrmny, find for sorifc time lremt,incd with this rank, when sudde(lyjly he was raised to the rank of lieiitena-nt-general, and pla)ced ifl command of the woriks around Vicksburig and the De,partlnent of Mississil)l) and East Lotuisiana. On July 4, lS63, he ca.pIitula.ted to General Grant. lie stibseqtietitly held no impor. tant comimandL in the rebel serviw. *

Lictetena~ntGeneral John C. Pemberton, a native of Pennsvlvarnia,bhirn in 1S13, was aI~poi t oteh a cadet in 1S83. i gradItiated on June 30, 1S3T, standling No. 27 in a class of fifty noibers, am)ng X vhomn were Generals Benhain, Scainmm,n, L. G. Arnold, io)gdcs, Williainis(dead), French, Se(ldgwick, Ilooker-, Todd, andl others in the Union army; Braxton Brag,-, Mackall, Early, and others in the rebel army. lie w-as promoted to be secon d, lieutenant of the Fourth Artilleryv Julv 1, 1,.53T, aind to lie first lieutenant March 19, 1Ss42. IrP the Mexican war he was aid to General Wortlt fromL 1846 to 18SS, and was brevetted capltain Septembel 23, 1846, fir rallant conduct at Monterey, and major September 8, 184T, for services in the battle 427 0

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. nearly to this road, and compelled the enemy to retreat to prevent capture. As it was, much of his artillery, and Loring’s Division of his army was cut off, besides the prisoners captured He retired, closely followed by the troops of Osterhaus and Carr, of lcClernand’s Corps, who had orders to pursue to Black River and cross if they could. The enemy, however, retarded the pursuit, andl made good its retreat upon Black River Bridge, twelve miles east of Vicksburg. The battle of Champion’s Hill, or Baker’s Creek, was fought mainly by I-Iovey’s Division of IcClernand’s Corps, and Logan’s and Quimby’s Divisions (the latter commanded by BrigadierGeneral AI. 3i. Crocker) of Mc Pherson’s Corps. The Black River, on its way to the Alississippi, runs due south, after leaving. Bridgeport, until it approaches Cham pion Hill, when it bends westwardly for a few miles, and then re ne.ws its southerly course. The direct road to Vicksburg crosses the stream after it resumes its southerly course. The Conlfederates in trenched themselves on the east bank of this river, hoping to hold it until their material should have crossed, and occupied a strong position on the 17th, when 3IcClernand’s advance came up with them. At ten o’clock, Carr’s Division assaulted the works, and carried them with little resistance, capturing some guns, and about two thousand pris oners, comprising Green’s 3Missouri Brigade, and that of General Vaughn. The main body of the enemy, in the mean time, had crossed, and planted batteries so as to command the bridge, which was then destroyed. In this engagement the Confederate General Tilghman was killed, and General Osterhaus was wounded. The engineer corps immediately began the construction of pontoons, and many were sent to General Sheirman on the right, to enable him to cross in the direc tion of Haines’s Bluff. He crossed on the 17th, near Bridgeport. The corps of MIcPherson and McClernand crossed on the 18th, and the advance was resumed. Sherman, on the right, moved upon the Haines’s Bluff and Spring Dale roads, encountering the advance of Johnston, which retired on the approach of MicPherson. The centre followed the Vicksburg and Jackson roads, while 3IcClernand, on the left, took possession of Baldwin’s Ferry road, and the division of McArthur closed the road from AV arrenton to Vicksburg. On reaching Bovina, General Grant -as joined by General Dwiht firom Banks’s army. The three corps.now converged around Vicksburg, within supporting distance, and every approach to the place was closed. The whole army encamped in this position, in the open fields, on the night of the 18th.

General Pemberton, on retiring within his works, felt himself unable to defend so long a line as the heights from Vicksburg to IHaines’s Bluf, and ordered the evacuation of the latter place. The troops, and as many of the stores as possible, were removed before our arrival. A squad of cavalry, of General Steele’s escort company, found Haines’s Bluff evacuated,-and took possession. A force from Admiral Porter’s fleet also landed, and found the place evacuated. The works of the enemy consisted of a series of redoubts, arranged with great skill, and extending from the rear of Haines’s Bluff round to the Warrenton road, a distance of ten miles. The ground is singu 428

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HIISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. larly broken, being, in fact, a vast plateau, upon which a multidue of little hills seem to have been sown broadcast; and of course the rebel redoubts were so disposed as to sweep every neighboring crest, and enfilade every approach. The corps of General Sherman moved upon the Haines’s Bluff road, taking possession of the ground which he had once vainly attempted to gain. 5icPherson advanced on the Jackson road, covering the ground from Sherman’s left to the railroad, while McClernand’s corps occupied the front from the railroad to the extreme left, Smith’s Division on the right, Osterhaus on the left, and Carr in the reserve. These dispositions having been completed, an assault was ordered for the 19th. The action began by a slow fire from our artillery along the whole line, our guns having a pretty long range, and eliciting but feeble response from the enemy. About noon, Osterhaus’s Division advanced to the left, to within about six hundred yards of the enemy’s works, to find themselves confronted by-fifteen redoubts, with their riflepits, which vomited a terrific fire. At two o’clock the order for a general advance was given. This was attempted to be executed, but it was found, on attaining the crest of the ridge, that it was only the first of several ridges which were to be crossed, the ravines between being swept by the guns of the enemy. The advance was checked, and finally the whole line fell back and went into camp. During the night of the 19th heavy siege-guns were planted, earthworks thrown up, and the light artillery moved neared. The 20th was employed in endeavoring to level the enemy’s works, by means of artillery, but without success. The 21st was passed in comparative inaction. A regular assault along the whole line was determined for the 22d, or rather three simultaneous assaults by the three corps. At two o’clock on the morning of that day, heavy guns were opened upon the works to silence the leading batteries, but without much success.

Ten o’clock in the morning was fixed for the assault, and promptly at the hour the three corps moved forward to the attack, but were met by overwhelming numbers of the illtrenched foe. The fighting on the left was done by the divisions of Generals Carr, Osterhaus, and Smith, and was of a more desperate character and of longer duration than that upon the right or centre. McClernand and his men performed their part with energy and determination, but were unable to disloige the enemy from his works. The assault on the right was commenced by General Thayer’s Brigade of Steele’s Division, consisting of Iowa regiments. The men of this command marched forward heroically, under thqleadership of Thayer. The assault was made by them at a terrible cost; but the prize had to be abandoned. General Blair, on the left of the right wing, moved his men forward for the bloody work soon after its commencement by Steele. Assisted by Tuttle’s Division, tll troops made a desperate charge, but were repulsed with heavy loss. The Union loss was put at three thousand. The assault was gallant in the extreme, on the part of all the troops; but the enemy’s position was too strong, both naturally and artificially, to be taken in that way. At every point assaulted, and at 429 I

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IINSTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. all of them at the same time, the enemy was able to show all the force his works could cover. The-loss of the enemy was comparatively not large, and after the battle, General Pemberton addressed his men as follows: “You have heard that I was incompetent and a traitor, and that it was my intention to sell Vicksburg. Follow me, and you will see the cost at which I will sell Vicksburg. When the last pound of beef, bacon, and flour, the last grain of corn, the last cow, and hog, and horse, and dog shall have been consumed, and the last man shall have perished in the trenches; then, and only then, will I sell Vicksburg.” It now became evident to Grant that the works could not be carried by assault, and that a regular siege was inevitable to reduce the place. This was at once undertaken, and parallels were commenced against the northeastern and southeastern fronts, while every exertion was made to procure reenforcements, and tt) guard against Johnston, who continued to hover in the neighborhood, slowly gathering a force that might suffice to raise the siege. If fortifications and natural position alone could avail, Vicksburg might laugh a siege so scorn. Its weakness lies in the fact that communication with the outer world is cut off; the stock of ammunition and food once exhausted, there is no escape from surrender. The siege was prolonged, by the obstinate defence of the enemy under PeimbertoL until, the provisions and ammunition being entirely exhausted, surreruer became inevitable. General Johnston had been unable to collect a sufficient force to make any serious diversion in favor of the garrison. On the 30th June, however, he made a forward movement, corresponding with an attempted sortie by the enemy on the same day on the Union left. The movement failed. On the 3d, MajorGeneral Bowen, under a flag of truce, brought a sealed dispatch for General Grant, proposing to surrender, and tho followin,g corre. spondence took place: “‘ITEAD-QUARTERS, VICKSBURG, July 3, 1863. “MajorGeneral GRANT, commanding United States Forces: “GENERAL:-I have the honor to propose to you an armistice for - hours, with a view to arranging terms for the capitulation of Vicksburg. To this end, if agreeable to you, I will appoint three commissioners, to meet a like number to be named by your. self, at such place and hour to-day as you may find convenient. I make this propositioii to save the further effusion of blood, which must otherwise be shed to a frightful extent, feeling myself fully able to maintain my position for a yet indefinite period. This communication will be handed you under a flag of truce by MajorGeneral James Bowen. “Very respectfully, your obedient servant, ” T’

C. EMBERTON.” To this General Grant replied as follows: “HEADQUARTERS

DEPARTMENT OF TENNESSEE, u “IN THE FELD, NEAR VICKSBURG, July?, 1863.

aLieutenant-General J. C. PEMBERTO0, commnanding Confederate Forces, &c.: “GENERAL:-Your note of this date, just received. proposes an armistice’ of several hours, for the purpose of arranging terms of capitulation through commissioners to be appointed, &c. The effusion of blood you propose stopping bythis course can be ended at any time you may choose, by an unconditional surrender of the city and garrison, 430

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. Men who lhave shown so much endurance and courage as those now in Vicksburg will always challenge the respect of an adversary, and, I can assure you, will be treated with all thie respect due them as prisoners of war. I do not favor the proposition of appointing commissioners to arrange terms of capitulation, because I have no other terms than those indicated above. “I am, General, very respectfully, your obedient servant, “U. S. GRANT, JIajor-General.” GENERAL GRANT’S OFFER FOR

THE SURRENDER. “HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF TENNESSEE, } “NEAR VICKSBURG, July 3, 1863. “LieutenantGeneral J. C. PEMaERTOX, commanding Confederate Forces, Vicksburg, Mississippi: “GENERAL:-In conformity with the agreement of this afternoon, I will submit the following p:roposition for the surrender of the city of Vicksburg, public stores, &c. On your accepting the terms proposed. I will march in one division, as a guard, and take possession at eight o’clock tomorrow morning. As soon as paroles canl be made out and signed by the officers and men, you will be allowed to march out of our lines, the officers taking with them their regimental clothing, and staff, field, and cavalry officers one horse each. The rank and file will be allowed all their clothing, but no other property. “If these conditions are accepted, any amount of rations you may deem necessary can be taken from the stores you now have, and also the necessary cooking utensils for preparing them; thirty wagons also, counting two two-horse or mule teams as one. You will be allowed to transport such articles as cannot be carried along. The same conditions w-ill be allowed to all sick and wounded officers and privates, as fast as they becomnie.able to travel. The paroles for these latter must be signed, however, whilst officers are present, authorized to sign the roll of prisoners. “I am, General, very respectfully, your obedient servant, i “U. S. GRANT,-

MJajor-General.” REPLY OF GENERAL PEMBERTON, ACCEPTING ALL THE TERMS

OFFERED BY GENERAL GRANT. “HEADQUARTERS, VICKSBURG, July 3, 1863.

“MajorGeneral GRANT, commanding United States Forces: “GENERAL.-I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communication of this date.

proposing terms for the surrender of this garrison and post. In the main your terms are accepted; but in justice both to the honor and spirit of my troops, manifested in the defence of Vicksburg, I have the honor to submit the following amendments, which, if acceded to by you, will perfect the agreement between us: At ten o’clock tomorrow I propose to evacuate the works in and around Vicksburg, and to surrender the city and garrison under my command by marching out with my colors and arms, and stacking them in front cf my present limits, after which you will take possession; officers to retain their side-arms and personal property, and the rights and property of citizens to be respected. “I am, General, yours very respectfully, “J. C. PEMBERTON, LieutenantGeneral.” To this General Grant immediately replied as follows: “HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF TENNESSEE, “‘BEFORE VICKSBURG, July 4, 1863. “LieutenantGeneral PE.FBERTON, commanding Forces in Vicksburg: “GENERAL -I have the honor to aeknowledge your communication of the 3d of July. The amendments proposed by you cannot be acceded to in full. It will be necessary to furnish every officer and man with a parole signed by himself which, with the completion of the rolls of prisoners, will necessarily take some time. Again, I can make no stipulation with regard to the treatment of citizens and their private property 431 i I

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HISTORY OF TIHE GREAT REBELLION. While I do not propose to cause any of them any undue annoyance or loss, I cannot consent to leave myself uinder restraint by stipulations. The property which officers can be allowed to take-with them willie as stated in the proposition of last eveningthat is, that officers will be allowed their private baggage and side-arms, and mounted officers one horse each. If you mean b)y your proposition for each brigade to march to the front of the lines now occupied by it, and stack their arms at ten o’clock A. M., and then return to the inside and remain as prisoners until properly paroled, I will make no objections to it.

Should no modification be made of your acceptance of my terms by nine o’clock A. 31., I shall regard them as having been rejected, and act accordingly. Should these terms be accepted, white flags will be displayed along your lines, to prevent such of my troops as may not have been’notified from firing on your men. “I am, General, very respectfully, your obedient servant, “U. S. GRITANT, MajorGeneral a S. A.” To this the subjoined answer was received: “HEADQUARTERS, VICKSBURG, July 4, 1863.

“MajorGeneral U. S. GRANT, commanding United States Forces, &c.: “GE.XERAL:-I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communication of this date, and, in reply, to say that the terms proposed by you are accepted. “Very respectfully, your obedient servant, “J. C.

PEMBERTON, LieutenantGeneraL” In accordance with these stipulations the surrender took place at once, and three hours elapsed before the stacking of arms was com. pleted. At one o’clock the Seventeenth Corps was designated to take possession of the city. The number of prisoners exceeded thirtyfour thousand, and the killed, wounded, and stragglers reached nears ly twelve thousand. The Onion loss was officially reported by Gem eral Grant as follows: Wounded. 718 24 341 240 1,842 242 3,688

Killed. Port Gibson…………………………..130 Fourteen Mile Creek (skirmish)…………… 4 Raymond……………………………. 69

Jackson……………………………… 40 Champion’s Hill………………………..426 Big Black Railroad Bridge…………………. 29

Vicksburg…………………………….545 Of the wounded, many were but slightly injured, and continued on duty; many more required but a few days or weeks for their recovery. Not more than onehalf of the wounded were permanently disabled. There were captured in Vicksburg, and during the previous battles, three hundred and one cannon and forty-five thousand smallarms. The causes which have led to this stupendous result may be briefly summed up as follows: Te Vicksburg garrison was, in round numbers, forty thousand at the commencement of the siege. It was driven within the walls of the city after a hopeless attempt to protect the line of railroad communication with Jackson. Defeated, dispirited, and worn, the troops retired within their line of intrenchments, and at once set to work to repair their shattered organization and perfect their defences. In the two or three days which elapsed before Grant’s arrival, they r’allied. They had their provisions fobr thirty 432 Missing. 5 . 32 6 189 2 303

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. days left. Unless they could drive off the besiegers within that time, they were inevitably doomed. Johnston, who had arrived in Central Mississippi in time to gather together the fiagments of a demoralized army, found before him a herculean task in restoring it to shape and spirit. He was short of artillery, transportation, and cavalry;-and his supplies he had to draw from great distances. The insuperable difficulty was the strength of our army, and the great advantage of our position. Once on the top of the Chickasaw ridge, and we were almost impregnable, with our flanks defended by gunboats. The prime cause of the rebel defeat lay with the War Department at Richmond, which had drained the South to sustain the Virginia army. The second cause was the mistake of venturing beyond’the Big( Black River to give battle. This was Pemberton’s blunder. WVhat Grant remarked after the battle of Champion Hills was true. Vicksburg was virtually won then, and the great battle, decisive of the fate of the Aiississippi Valley, gained by the valor of our Western troops. The stock of provisions soon grew short. Already the garrison were reduced to the offal and dregs of their commissaries. Mule meat, while not eaten as a necessity, had become preferable to their pickled beef. Pork was all gone, flour used up. Corn unground, for the most part, was left in limited supply. But the worst difficulty was that of ammunition. Only ten percussion-caps to the man were found in their pouches. Originally short of this species of ammunition, they had received forty-two thousand through the lines since tke investment. Of cartridges they had very few.- Their medicines were scanty. Nearly six thousand men were in hospital, and continually exposed to the dangers of plunging shells; delicate women and children, crying for bread, and wailing for the loss of friends around them, were compelled to seek refuge from bursting shells and shot, in caves scooped out in the steep banks overhanging the Mississippi. It must have been a strong heart that could have held out longer. One cause for determining the time of surrender was undoubtedly the apprehension that on the 4th General Grant would attack. The result would be the sack and pillage of the city and great slaughter. The capitulation avoided all, without loss of honor. The following is a chronological record of the siege of Vicksburg, from its first inception: May 12, 1862.-Flagofficer Farragut demands the surrender. June 22.-Farragut passes Vicksbut with his fleet. June 23.-United naval attaok upon. June 24.-Naval siege raised by Farragut. December 28.-General Sherman defeated. January 2, 1863.-General Sherman withdraws from. January 22, 1863.-General McClernan[ prepares for siege operation& February 4.-General Grant arrives. February 18.-General Grant commences bombardment. March 21.-Admiral Farragut arrives. March 25.-Two gunboats run past. April 16.-Six gunboats run past. 28 433

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. A pril 27.-Fire opened from peninsula batteries. April 29.-Admiral Porter shells and passes Grand Gulf. April 30.-General Grant lands at Bowlinsburg, and moves on Port Gibson. Iay 3.-Grand Gulf and Port Gibson captured. May 12.-Engagement and victory at Raymond. May 13.-Battle of Mississippi Springs. May 14.-Occupation of Jackson. May 16.-Battle of Baker’s Creek. May 17.-Battle of Big Black River bridge. May 16.-Evacuation of Jackson by General Grant. May 18.-General Grant invests Vicksburg. May 18.-Haines’s and Chickasaw Bluffs captured. May 19.-General Steele carries the riflepits, and General Grant’s right and left tests upon the river. May 22.-An unsuccessful assault made by General Grant. July 4.-Vicksburg surrendered to General Grant. This short campaign of General Grant, so eminently successful, relieved the gloom in which the Union cause was at that moment enveloped.

A succession of defeats had resulted in the invasion of Pennsylvania, and in all sections the tendency of affairs was adverse to the Federal arms. A certain degree of despondency was beginiinig to be apparent at the North, and dissatisfaction with the Administration was more decided. The defeat of Lee at Gettysburg was the first gleam of light, but the defeat would probably have been less decided had not the news of the fall of Vicksburg decided General Lee to retreat. Meantime strong efforts had been made to have General Gr.ant removed. These, fortunately, had no influence on the President, who, in July, addressed the following letter to the conqueror of Vicksburg: EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASIIINGTON, July 13, 1863.

“MajorGeneral GRANT: “MY DEAR GENERAL:-I do not remember that you and I ever met personally. I write this now as a grateful acknowledgment for the almost inestimable service you have done the country. I wish to say a word further. When you first reached the vicinity of Vicksburg, I thought you should do what you finally did marchl the troops across the neck, run the batteries with the transports, and thus go below; and I never had any faith except a general hope that you knew better than I, that the Yazoo Pass expedition and the like could succeed. When you got below, and took Port Gibson, Grand Gulf, and vicinity, I thought you should go down the river and join General Banks, and when you turned northward east of the Big Black, I feared it was a mistake I now wish to make the personal acknowledgment that you were right and I was wrong. A. LINCOLN.” While these events were taking place in the imnmediate neihliborhood of Vicksburg, a remarkable cavalry raid was executed by Colonel Grierson, of the Illinois Cavalry. On the 17th of April, his troops, consisting of the Sixth and bventh Illinois, and First Iowa Cavalry, numbering one thousand seven hundred men, left Lagrange, Tennessee, for the enemy’s country. They took a southerly course running parallel with the Mobile and Ohio Railroad, until they were in the latitude of Vicksburg, when they struck a southwesterly course, and reached Baton Rouge on the 2d of May, having travelled eight hundred miles. In their journey through the enemy’s country they had numerous encounters, killing and wounding numbers of the enemy, and taking hundreds of prisoners, horses, and blacks-subsisted themselves-destroyed ‘434

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT RETELLION. much property in bridges and trestles, some two hundred cars, ammunition, stores, clothing-played havoc with the telegraphs and three principal railroads, by which the beleaguered troops on the Mississippi depended for communication and aid from the interior, and which would take them many weeks to repair, even if they had the facilities -and all this with the loss of only one killed and six wounded.

This daring feat produced great satisfaction at theNorth generally, and was received as an offset to some of the cavalry inroads of the enemy.

CHIAPTER XL. Expedition of General Banks.-Investment of Port Hudson.-Unsuecessful Assaults. -Brashear City.-Capitulation of Port Hudson.-Clironology of Events. EARLY in December, 1862, an expedition, which had long been in preparation with the utmost secrecy, left New York under the conmmand of Major-Geneial Banks.* T”he public were not aware of the destination antid objects of the expedition until, on the 15th of Deceinber, it arrined at New Orleans, and General Banks superseded General Butler, whose administration, able and severe, and admirably adapted to curb an insolent and turbulent populace, had not fiiled to raise against him hosts of enemies. There can be little doubt, however, that the course pursued by General Butler was the only one which circumstances permitted.

He f)und the city full of the elements of disturbance, and he transferred it to Banks pacified, and, if not loyal, at least resigned to its condition. Preparations were soon in progress for a movement up the river against Port Hudson, which barred the ascent of the river as Vicksburg did the descent. Port Hlludson is the Gibraltar of the Lower MIississippi. It is in East Feliciana parish, Louisiana, on the left bank of the Mississippi, about a hundred and fifty-six miles by rivet’ above New Orleans, and twentyfive mniles above Baton Rouge. Although a small village, it was noted for its extensive shipment of cotton and sugar, drawn chiefly from Mississippi by the Clinton Railroad. The fortifications were immensely strong, and the Confederates were confident of sue Stonewall Jackson to retreat across the Potomac. He had an active part in the camnpaign under Pope in Vir,-iniia, and commanded at the battle (of Ce,d(ar Mountain. In the ensuing winter he tool; charge of the expedition destined to cooperat(e in opening the Mississippi, and stucceeded General BEltler in command at New Orleans. In the spring of 1l63 he conducted a successful expedition througha Southern Louisiana. and after several months’ sieve received the capitulation of Por-t Hudson in July.

In the spring of 1864 he commanded the disastrous PRed River expedition, destined to open the region of Western Louisiana to trade, and defeat or disperse the rebel forces there. He retained his departrmient after this, but was not again actively emnlployed in the field. In MIa,y, 1865, he resigned hiskcommission and returned to civil life. * Nathaniel Prentiss Banks was born in Waltham, Mass., in 1816. and commenced life as an operative in a cotton-mill in that town. &ibsequently he became a lecturer and political speaker, was admitted to the bar, and in 189 elected to the lower H,ouse of the Massachusetts Legislature. lie otficiated as speaker of that body in 1851 and 1S52. In 18.53 he presided over the M,assachnsetts Constitutional Convention, and also entered Con-. gress.

Ite was reelected to the latter body i ro 1855, and became its sp eaker.

From 1858 to 1861 he was.Governor of Massachusetts. In Maya of the latter year be was commissioned a majorgeneral of volunteers, and in the succeed ifn summer took command on the Upper Potomac. In the spring of 1862 he drove the rebels up the valley of the Shenandoah, but was compelled by I 435,

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HISTORY OF TE GREAT REBLLION. cessfully resisting any force likely to be sent against them. Between Port Hudson and Vicksburg they had perfect control of two hundred and fifty miles of the Mississippi, anr it was through this territory that they were constantly receiving supplies of beef-cattle and other necessaries from Texas. The river, as at Vicksburg, makes a bend opposite the city, but not so sharp, and the batteries on the bluffs for four miles commanded the passage. The rear of the town is swampy, intersected with ravines, and very difficult of access. The place was defended by twenty thousand men, mostly from Western Texas, under the command of Van Dorn and Lovell. On the 13th of March, simultaneously with the departure of Farragut’s fleet, the army of General Banks left Baton Rouge for Port Hudson. The object of the movement at that time was only to make a diversion in favor of the fleet, and not a serious attack upon Port Hudson. A detached force, under Colonel Molineaux, diverged from the main body to keep clear the Clinton road on the right. At Cypress Bayou bridge the advance encountered the enemy’s force, which retired, after a short skirmish, with the loss of eleven killed and wounded. The main army was in three divisions, under Generals Augur, Grover, and Emory. On receiving the route, Grover’s Division moved at four o’clock P. M., Emory’s at seven, and Augur’s at three on the following morning; at two P. M. of the 14th the advance reached Springfield Cross Roads, within five miles of fort Hudson, and bivouacked for the night, during which the guns from Port Hudson, where Farragrut was forcing his passage, were distinctly heard. On the morning of the 14th, the Hartford and Albatross having passed up, General Banks declared the object of his movement accomplished, and ordered a return to Baton Rouge, greatly to the disgust of the troops. In the month of April an expedition was organized to operate in the region of the Bayou Teche. It is one of the most fertile regions of Louisiana, and numbers of salt works and founderies were there situated, which it was determined to take possession of. The supplies for Port Hudson were mostly drawn from that region, and to cut them off was a necessary preliminary to the reduction of that place. The expedition was quite successful, resulting, among other things, in the destruction of the Queen of the West, which, after being fitted up by her rebel captors, had run into the Atchafalaya. Preparations were now made to renew the attack upon Port Hudson, and on the 20th of May, the day after the investment of Vicksburg began, the troops of General Banks began a march upon Port hudson, of which a regular investment was commenced ok May 22d. As the forces of Banks successively arrived and,took position, the lines were drawn closely around the rebel works. The force of the enemy was represented at thirteen thousand, under General Gardner. There were two boats, the Star, light and Red Chief, moored just above Port Hudson, in the Big Sandy Creek, that ran into the MississippiL To destroy those boats, General Banks dispatched the Seventh Illinois Cavalry, under Colonel Price, who executed the order on the 25th. This cut off water communication, and the place was now encircled by land. Commencing at the extreme northwestern end of Port Hudson, and stretching round 436

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. in a southeasterly direction, the whole Union army was placed. General Grover, with the commands of Dwight, Paine, Dudley, and Weitzel, occupied the right, while General Augur occupied the centre, and General T. W. Sherman the left wing-the entire line extending over a space of several miles. Preparations being thus made, at dawn on the 27th the guns along the whole line opened on the devoted place. The cannonade continued until one o’clock, when orders vwere given to slacken the fire, with a view to an assault on the enemy’s left, in cooperation with which there was to be a simultaneous assault by General Sherman on the Union left. The line moved through the woodls in their immediate front, and came upon a plain, on the farther side of which, half a mile distant, were the Confederate batteries. The field was covered with recently felled trees, through the interlaced branches of which the troops were to advance in face of shot, shell, and grape. The field officers dismounted to lead, since horses could not penetrate such obstacles. The advance commenced at three o’clock, P. M., and for two hours the men braved the storm and shot while struLggling, through the obstacles, when, the task proving too difficult, they were then withdrawn. Among those who participated in this affair was Colonel Bartlett, of the Forty-nintlh Massachusetts, who, having lost a leg, was compelled to go on horseback or not at all. The enemy was so struck with his bravery that orders were issued not to shoot him. On the left, the attack of General Sherman, somewhat later in the day, met with the same results. The column retired, after suffering heavy loss, General Sherman himself losing a leg. On the right the attacking column included the First and Third Regiments of the colored troops raised by General Banks, who for the first time were brought into action, and acquitted themselves with such credit as to win high encomiums from their commander. “In many respects,” he said, “their conduct was heroic; no troops could be more determined or daring.” The whole loss of the army in this assault was about one thousand. The loss of the enemy was reported on their side at six hundred. On the 28th, General Banks sent a flag proposing a cessation of hostilities, for the purpose of burying the dead, which was acceded to. The state of affairs now began to change very perceptibly, and the position of Banks became somewhat critical. The troops with which he had left the North in December were mostly ninemonths’ men, one fourth of whose time had expired before they arrived in the depart. ment, and who then required instruction and drill before they could be of use in the field. The three-years’ men that General Banks found in the department were inured veterans, but their ranks had been greatly thinned by battle and disease. When the attacks upon Port IHudson began, the time of the majority of the army was drawing to a close, and this force had now sustained a repulse before works which vied with those of Vicksburg inl, strength and capabilities of defence.

The position of Grant’s army was not much different. The two armies were exposed to tho malaria of an unhealthy location, and compelled to drink peculiarly unwholesome waters, and the heat of njidsummer was rapidly approaching. In the meantime, the Mississippi had fallen 437,

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0 HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. twentyeight feet, a very unusual depression, interfering with the ofl;ciency of the gunboats and the means of obtaining supplies. The Confederate armies were also organizing and moving upon the Union communications flank and rear. General Johnston, it was supposed, continued to gather force on the northeast of Yicksburg, pressing Giant’s rear and forcing hiii to iintrelch, while Price and Malrinaduke, with twenty-six thousand men, were at IHelena, and General W\alker, of General Dick Taylor’s army, held Young’s Point with seven thousand men, thus threatening Grant’s supplies. At the same time, Buckner and Breckinridge, with a considerable force, were closing upon Bank’s rear. The whole Opelousas counitry, recently traversed by Bankls, had again fallen into the posseSSion of the rebels, and the remnant of Bank’s force, which had been left at Brasllhear City, was threatened by a cavalry force under Dick Tlaylor, who captured several steamers, also a number of Northern cotton merchants at Plaquemine, besides taking possession of Butte Station on the Opelousas Railroad. By this movement Brashear City was cut off, while a Confederate force of five thousand occupied Berwick City. On the morning of June 23d, the garrison of Braslhear City was surprised by a large force, which had, during the night, crossed Lake Palourde, and come up in the rear. Our loss on this occasion was large, including a camp of about six hundred convalescent soldiers. The enemy, also, by the capture of our force, gained possession of Fort Buchanan and Fort Schlene, and another smaller earthlwork farther down the bay. On these fortifications were mounted eighteen or twenity guns of heavy calibre, several of which were the finest rifled pieces we had in the department. Large quantities of commissary and ordnance stores, besides smallarms and horses, also fell into the hands of the enemy. This disaster extinguished the Union possession of Louisiana west of the Mississippi. Meantime, the enemy actively operated upon the communication between New Orleans and Port Hudson. A quantity of supplies for the besieging army was captured fifty miles above New Orleans; Banks was compelled to invigorate his operations, and efforts were made to concentrate all available troops at Port Hudson, and to recruit the black regiments. The deserters and prisoners fi’om Port Hudson generally stated that the place was on short allowance, but the appearance of the men belied these assertions. Occasional dispatches were captured, asserting that the garrison could not hold out beyond a fixed time. These rumors and dispatches had the air of ruse, to induce Banks to waste his men in attacks. The general situation was such, however, as to induce Ie Union general to hasten a crisis, since the starvation process promised but little success, and his own position was becoming critical. At lengthll, on the 13thl of June, a demand for the surrender of the place was made and refilsed, and a new attack was determined for the 14th. The plan contemplated a main attack by Grover, who was to Porce the woIrk-s in front, while Dwight and Augur were to make feigned attacks on the extreme left. These two attacks were made with a loss of three hundred men. The column of General Grover was formed as follows: The Seventy-fifth New York 488

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. and the Twelfth Connecticut were detailed as skirmishers, forming a separate command under LieutenantColonel Babcock, of the former. The Ninety-first New York, Colonel Van Zandt commanding, each soldier carrying a five-pound hand-grenade, with his musket thrown over his shoulder, followed next in order. The skirmishers were to creep up and lie on the exterior slope of the enemy’s breastworks, while the regiment carrying the grenades was to come up to the same position and throw over the grenades into the enemy’s lines, with a view to rout them and drive them firom behind their works. The Twentyfourth Connecticut, Colonel Mansfield, with arms slung in like manner to the grenade regiment, followed, carrying sand-bags filled with cotton, which were to be used to fill up the ditch in front of the enemy’s breastworks, to enable the assaulting party the more easily to se:le them and charge upon the rebels. Following these different regiments came Weitzel’s whole brigade, under command of Colonel Smith, of the One Hundred and Fourteenth New York. Next came Colonel Kimble’s and Colonel Morgan’s Brigades, under the general command of Colonel Birge. This force was held to support the assaulting column, which was under the immediate command of General Weitzel, who made the attack on the right. General Emory’s old Division moved in conjunction with General Weitzel on the left, forming a separate column. The two divisions, Weitzel’s and Paine’s, were under command of Grover. The ground to be traversed by the column was, for the first hundred yards, obstructed by an abatis of felled trees, to which succeeded a ditch forty feet wide, with six feet of water in it; and beyond that a glacis about twenty feet high, sloping gradually to the parapet, on which was a protection for the sharpshooters; behind, one hundred yards distant, was another line of works, on which field and heavy artillery was mounted.

At daylight, General Grover’s command were formed in the woods skirting the enemy’s position, and three hundred yards distant from the works. The skirmishers then advanced, and deployed right and left at the point to be attacked, suffering severely from the enemy’s fire. The whole command followed. The fire of the corvette Richmond in the river opened at the same time upon the place. As the troops left the shelter of the woods they encountered a sharp fire from the enemy. The skirmishers pushed on, in the hope that on reaching the ditch they should be able to keep the enemy down so that the advancing grenadiers should be able to perform their part of the work. The Seventy-fifth New York reached the ditch, but found it so enfiladed that nearly all were either killed or wounded. The grenadiers, on coming up, thaw their grenades over the rebel breastworks, but the enemy actually caught them and hurled them back among us. In the mean time, while the skirmishers were nobly endeavoring to sustain themselves in their position, General Weitzel’s column moved up as rapidly as possible and made a series of desperate assaults on the enemy’s works. At this time, the sun having fairly risen, the fight became general. A fog, which had partially obscured the contending armies, lifted and revealed their respective positions. The enemy was fully prepared for us, and they lined every part of their 43

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT.REBEILLION. fortifications with heavy bodies of infantry. The battle had begun in earnest, and General Paine’s column as well as General Weitzel’s was actively engaged. Colonel Smith was killed leading the first assault of Weitzel’s Brigade. LieutenantColonel Von Petten, of the One Hundred and Sixteenth New York, immediately took command of the brigade, and gallantly led the charge until all further hope of forcing the position was gone. Brigade after brigade followed in rapid succession, storming the works, until compelled to fall back under the terrible fire of the enemy. They were all eventually repulsed with great slaughter. The fighting ceased at eleven o’clock in t’. morning; and the soldiers, under command of their officers, laid themselves down under shelter of the gullies, trees, covered way, in fact everything that could afford them protection, and waited for the day to pass and darkness to come on. At nightfall we commenced the burial of our dead, and succeeded before the morning in carrying most of our wounded from the battleground.

Among the Union losses were General Paine and five colonels. The loss in killed and wounded was over twoo thousand. On the following day, General Banks issued the following order: HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE GULF, ) ” NINEREENTH ARMY CORPS, “BEFORE PORT HIUDSON, June 15, 1863. ) The Commanding General congratulates the troops before Port Hudson upon th steady advance made upon the enemy’s works, and is confident of an immediate and triumphant issue of the contest. We are at all points on the threshold of his fortifications. One more advance and they are ours. For the last duty that victory imposes the Commanding General summons the field men of the corps to the organization of a storming column of a thousand men, to vindicate the flag of the Union, and the memory of its defenders who have fallen. Let them come forward. Officers who lead the column of victory in this last assault may be assured of just recoglnition of their services by promotion; and every officer and soldier who’shares its perils and its glory shall receive a medal fit to commemorate the first grand success of thle campaign of 1863 for the freedom of the Mississippi His name shall be placed in general orders upon the roll of honor. Division commanders will at once report the names of the off cers and men who may volunteer for this service, in order that the organization of the column may be completed without delay. “By command of l[ajorGeneral Banks. “RICHARD B. IRWiN, Assistant Adjutant-Cenera The call was responded to by the Fourth Wisconsin and the Sixth Michigan, by which regiments the attack was made, resulting in the repulse and capture of nearly the whole assaulting force. The siege was now continued vigorously, batteries being erected across the river, which wge well served by United States regulars. One hundred and fifty paces from the enemy’s extreme right seventeen eight and ten inch columbiads were establislied, another battery of seven pieces was placed in the centre, and one of six guns on the left. From these a heavy fire was Znaintained day and nig,ht wvith little loss of life to the enemy, but with the effect of disabling mnost of his artillery. About the 20th of June the meat rations gave out, and mules were butchered for the use of the garrison, who also devoured rats. Soon after the ammunition began to fail. Amid these accumulating 440

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. difficulties the time wore on to the 7th of July, when the following correspondence took place: ” GENERAL GARDNER

TO GENERAL BANKS. “HEADQUARTERS, PORT HUDSON, “LOUISIANA, July 7, 1863.

“GENERAL:-Having received information from your troops that Vicksburg has been surrendered, I make this communication to ask you to give me the official assurance whether this is true or not; and if true, I ask for a cessation of hostilities, with a view to the consideration of terms for surrendering this position. “I am, General, very respectfillly, your obedient servant, ” FRANK GARDNER, “MajorCeneral Comnmanding C. S.

Forces. “To MajorGeneral BANKS, Commanding U. S. Forces, near Port Hudson.” ” GENERAL BANKS TO GENERAL GARDNER. ” HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF

THE GULF, “BELOW PORT HUDSON, July 8, 1863. “GENERAL:-In reply to your communication, dated the 7th instant, by flag of truce received a few moments since, I have the honor to inform you that I received yesterday morning, July 7th, at 10.45 o’clock, by the gunboat General Price, an official dispatch from MajorGeneral Ulysses Grant, U. S. Army, whereof the following is a true extract: ”’ HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE

TENNESSEE, ”’ NEAR VICKSBURG, July 4, 1863. “‘MajorGeneral N. P. BANKS, commanding the Department of the Gulf: “‘GENERAL:-The garrison of Vicksburg surrendered this morning. The number of prisoners, as given by the officers, is twentyseven thousand, field artillery one hundred and twentyeight pieces, and a large number of siege-guns, probably not less than eighty. ”’ Your obedient servant, “‘U. S. GRANT, MajorGeneraL’ “I regret to say that under present circumstances I cannot consistently with my duty consent to a cessation of hostilities for the purpose you indicate. “Very respectfully, your obedient servant, “N. P. BANKS, MajorGeneral Commanding. To MajorGeneral FRANK GARDNER, Commanding C. S.

Forces, Port Hudson.”. The Confederate garrison having now become exhausted, even their mules, and their ammunition being no more than twenty rounds per man, there was now no longer any hope of relief.

Vicksburg having surrendered, which gave the Federals the advantage of the Mississippi to transport troops fiom that point to Port Hudson, the reduction of the latter place, in a very few days, followed as a matter of course. The following capitulation was signed July 8th: “ARTICeWS OF

CAPITULATION. ‘ Article 1.-MajorGeneral Frank Gardner surrendered to the United States forces under MajorGeneral Banks, the place of Port Hudson and its dependencies, with its garrison, armament, munitions, public funds, material of war, in the condition, as nearly as may be, in which they were at the hour of cessation of hostilities, namnely, six o’clock A.

M., July 8, 1863. % “Article 2.-The surrender stipulated in Article 1 is qualified by uncondition, save that the officers and enlisted men composing the garrison shall receive the treatment due to prisoners of war, according to the usage of civilized warfare. ” Article 3.-All privato property of officers and enlisted men shall be inspected and left to their respective owners. 441

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HIISTORY OF T’IE GREAT REBELLION. “Article 4.-The position of Port Hudson shall be occupied tomorrow, at nine o’clock A. M., by the forces of the United States, and its garrison received as prisoners of war by such general officers of the United States service as may be designated by MajorGeneral Banks, withthe ordinary formalities of rendition. The Confederate troops will be drawn up in line, officers in their positions, the right of the line resting on the edge of the prairie south of the railroad depot, the left extending in the direction of the village of Port Hudson. The arms and colors will be piled conveniently, and will be received by the officers of the United States. “Article 5.-The sick and wounded of the garrison will be cared for by the authorities of the United States, assisted, if desired, by either party of the medical officers of the garrison. “CHARLES P. STONE, BrigadierGeneral. “W. N. MILES, Colonel Commanding Right Wing of the Army. “WMI. DWIGHT, BrigadierGeneral. ” G.

W. STEDMAN, Colonel Commanding the Left Wing of the Army. “MARSHAL J.

SMITH, LieutenantColonel, Chief Artillery. “1RY aV W. BIRGE, Colonel Commanding Fifth Brigade, Grover’s Division. (Approved.) N. P. BANKS, M[ajorGeneral. “(Approved.) FRANK GARDNER, fajor-General.” The place was taken possession of accordingly, July 9th, at 7 A. M. As the victors entered, they found the Confederates all drawn up in line of battle, with ai-ms stacked in front of them, and the hungry soldiers of General Gardner were soon well fed from the commissariat of the Union army, from which six thousand rations were drawn. The number of rebel soldiers drawn up in line when the surrender took place was about four thousand. In addition to this number thlci-e were about one thousand five hundred sick and wounded; the wounded numbered about five hundred. The enemy’s report was two hundred killed, five hundred and seventeen wounded, and six thousand prisoners.

The number of guns taken was fifty, of which, however, all but fifteen had been dismounted by the Union fire. The capture of small. arms was nearly forty thousand, including some that had been gathered by the enemy when burying the Union dead. The following dispatch was received at Washington: ” VICKSBURG, MISS., July 11, 1863-3 p. M. MajorGeneral IIALLECK, Generalin-Chief: “The following dispatch has been received from General Banks: “‘BEFORE PORT HLDSON, JuZly 8, 1863. ‘GENERAL:-The Mississippi is now opened. I have the honor to inform you that the garrison at Port Hudson surrendered unconditionally this afternoon. We shall take formal possession at seven o’clock in the morning. (Signed) ”’ N. P. BANKS, MajorGeneral.’ “U.S. GRANT, MajorGeneral.”’ The following is a chronological record of the operations against Port Hudson fi-om the first movnments of General Banks and the fleet: April 12, 1863.-General Banks moves from Brashear City and attacks Patersonvilla April 13, 1863.-Patersonville captured by General Banks. April 20, 1863.-General Banks captures Bute La Rose and Opelousas. April 21, 1863.General Banks ccupies Washlington, La. May 7, 1863.-General Banks’s advance occupies Alexandria. May 8, 9, and 10, 1863.-The mortar-boats bombard Port Hudson.

MIay 12, 1863.-Reconnois~ance in the rear of Port Hudson by General Dudley. May 19, 1863.-General Dudley makes another reconnoissance withlin a mile and a hal of the works. 442

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT B;ELLION. May 21, 1863.-General Augur’s Brigade has an engagement at Port Hudson. May 23, 1863.-General Banks lands above Port Hudson, forms a junction with his .in body, and closely invests the place.

May 27, 1863.-General Banks opens a combined assault, the gunboats participating. June 14, 1863.-General Banks summons G6neral Gardner to surrender, and upon being refused, commences a furious assault, which is repulsed. June 15, 1863.-General Banks announces that he will renew the assault, and calls for a forlorn hope. July 8, 1863.-Port Hudson surrenders unconditionally. These two great events, the fall of Vicksburg and the surrender of Port Hudson, put an end forever to the Confederate occupation of the Mississippi River, and left that mighty stream open to the free passage of vessels from the Northwest to the ocean. Thus the promise of the great Northwest to open the river was redeemed. CHAPTER

XLI. N ew Movement against Richmond.-Lee’s Flank Turned.-Battle of Chancellorsville. Retreat of Hooker.-Operations by Sedgwick. AF’r.ER
several months of delay, caused by the state of the roads, and the necessity of thorough preparation fobr so arduous a campaign as the movement upon Richmond was likely to prove, General Hooker * finally completed his arrangements, and with the improved state of the roads was prepared to march. This was the’ more necessary as a large portion of his army was composed of two-years and ninemonths men, whose terms of service were about to expire, and whose places no measures had been taken to supply. He had, to use his own words, ” the finest army on the planet,”

raised to that state of perfection by the profuse supply of all descriptions of munitions of war, and long months of camp instruction. He had the experience of McDowell’s campaign, of McClellan’s Peninsula campaign, of Pope’s Ianassas campaign, and of Burnside’s Fredericksburg campaign, to guide him. He was conducting the fourth attempt upon Richmond. He knew fillly the ground over which he was to travel, the enemy with whom lie had to deal, and was aware that in General Lee he had a skilful * Joseph Hooker was born in Hadley, Massa-Burnside assumed command of the Army of the chusetts, in 1819, graduated at West Point in 18S7, Potomac, was assigned to the centre grand diviand was commissioned in the same year a second sion. In Jantuary, 1S63. he succeeded Bturnside in lieutenant of artillery. He was successively bre-command of the Army of the Potonmac, fought the vetted captain, major, and lieutenant-colnel for battle of Chancellorsville in the ensuing May, and gallant conduct in the Mexican war, and in S1848 was relieved byMeade, June 27th.

Subsequently,in becamne lull captain. He resignedhis commission command of the Eleventh andTwelfth Army Corps, in 1853, and settled on a farm in California. Ile he was sent to relieve Rosecrans at Chattanooga, was appointed a brigadiergeneral of volunteers in and distinguished himself in the operations ending May, 1861. and for a number of months command-with the defeat of Bragg in Novetmber. As comed a division in Southern Maryland. lie bre a mander of tho Twentieth Corps, c(nsolidlated firom distinguished part in all the chief battles of the the Eleventh and Twelfthl, he lparticir)pte(I in SherPeninsula campaign. and also in the second Bull. man’s Atlanta campaign, but was relieved at his Pun caimpaign, and in September, 1862, was pro-own request, in the latter part of J ly v, 1S64. Soon moted to the command of the First Army Corps.

after, he was appointed to the T)elpar tment,f the In July, 1S6’ he was commissioned a’nlajor-gen- North. lie is at present a brigad(liergeneral in eral of v)olunteers. lie fought with great bravery the regular army, and commands the Department at Antietam, where he wae wounded, and, after of the East. 413

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. strategist, and in his army a powerful host of veterans, to overcome, General Hooker thus possessed all the advantages of personal training, experience, observation, and knowledge which a good leader, with his superior army, could reasonably ask, in order to insure complete success to his great enterprise. The confidence of the Government and the hopes of the country were with him. The enemy, under Lee and Jackson, still held Fredericksburg, hnd the formidable works which had been so fatal to Burnside in December. Their force was, however, a matter of conjecture. It was known that numbers of troops, including Longstreet’s command, had been sent to Suffolk and North Carolina to assist the operations there, and it was supposed that detachments had been sent in other directions. It was also known that the army at Fredericksburg was connected by railroad direct with Richmond, and southwesterly by way of Gordonsville, and that without those connections the Confederates could neither retreat nor receive supplies to maintain their position. The campaign was based on these facts. It was determined to send a sufficient cavalry force, under Stoneman, by a circuitous route, to the rear of the Confederates, and cut the bridges which cross the North Anna and South Anna Rivers on the Fredericksburg road. The former, one hundred and fifty feet long and eighty feet high, if effectually destroyed, would require a fortnight to replace, a time which, well employed, would be fatal to Lee. At the same time a portion of the army was to attack Fredericksburg in firont, to turn the right of the enemy, while the main force, crossing the Rapidan some distance above its junction with the Rappahannock, should come in on his left, thus reducing the enemy to surrender in case of defeat, while Hlooker would still have his retreat open in case of disaster. The army of Hooker was composed of seven corps, viz.: the First, Reynolds; Second, Couch; Third, Sickles; Fifth, MIeade; Sixth, Sedgwick; Eleventh, Howard (late Sigel); and Twelfth, Slocum. On the morning of April 27th, the Eleventh Corps, Howard, composed of the German Divisions of Schurz and Steinwehr, and of that of Devens, marched for Kelly’s Ford on the Rappahannock, near the line of the Manassas and Gordonsville Railroad, and twentyfive miles west of Fredericksburg. The troops crossed on the night of the 28th, followed on the next day by the Twelfth and Fifth Corps, which crossed at the United States Ford, nearer Fredericksburg. The three corps turned then eastward, and marched down the narrow strip of land between the Rapidan and the Rappahannock for Chancellorsville, nine miles from Fredericksburg. The Germania Ford, on the Rapidan, was reached at noon by the Fifth Corps, on the left. The cavalry pushed on towards Fredericksburg, but were met by the enemy six miles from the junction of the turnpike with the plankroad, and driven back. Meantime, on May 1st and 2d, the First, Third, and two divisions of the Second Corps, had crossed byBanks, and the United States Ford, and joined the other corps. Thus the entire Army of the Potomac, with the exception of the Thirteenth Corps and one division of the Second under Gibbon, which were left behind at the former position near Falmouth, opposite Fredericksburg, had crossed the Rappahannock, and, having 444

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HISTORY OF TIIE GREAT REBELLION. turned the left of the enemy, had gained his rear, and were concentrated near Chancellorsville. So promising did matters look, that Hooker, in the excess of this confidence, issued the following order: ” HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE POTOMAC, } “NEAR FALMOUTH, VA., April 30, 1863. “It is with heartfelt satisfaction that the General Commanding announces to the army that the operations of the last three days have determined that our enemy must ingloriously fly, or come out from behind his defences, and give us battle on our own ground, where certain destruction awaits him. “The operations of the Fifth, Eleventh, and Twelfth Corps have been a series of splendid successes. “By command of MajorGeneral Hooker. “S. WILLIAMS, AdjutantGeneral.” The effect of this movement of the army was to turn the formidable works behind Fredericksburg, the assault of which had cost Burnside so dearly, in December, and threaten the communication of the enemy with Gordonsville, which was his only line of retreat, in case the mission of Stoneman to cut the bridges over the North and South Anna Rivers should prove successful, and compel him to fight on ground chosen by Hooker. It resulted that the enemy was compelled to leave his works to clear the route to Gordonsville.

Although the movement of Hooker had been a complete surprise, the rebel commander took prompt measures to counteract it. Meanwhile, the Union troops were got as rapidly into position, around Chancellorsville, as circumstances would permit, and on the 2d of May were disposed in an irregular V, of which the longer leg, comprising four corps, had a southwesterly direction, and the shorter one turned rather to the north.

Chancellorsville was the apex. In the longer line, Meade’s Fifth Corps held the extreme left, near Scott’s dam on the Rappahannock, with its left extending beyond Chancellorsville, which is a single house at the junction of a plankroad and a turnpike leading from Fredericksburg to Gordonsville, ten miles southwest from Fredericksburg. The Gordonsville turnpike has a general southwesterly course, and along this road, to the right of the Fifth Corps, was the Twelfth Corps, the Third being on its right, and the Eleventh on the extreme right. On the shorter line, the Second Corps held the position next to Chancellorsville, and adjoining it, on the road to the United States Ford, was the First Corps. Chancellorsville was the key of the place, and Ilooker’s headquarters were established there. The Eleventh Corps had its extreme right in a densely wooded land covered with the closest undergrowth, and considered unassailable. The Union troops immediately began, lay 1st, to fortify the e’whole position, and await the devnelopment of the secondary movements-tlhose of Stoneman and Sedgwick.

On the morning of the 2d, a force of the enemy approached by the plankroad from Fredericksbu,, and attacked the Fifth Corps. The battery of Knapp opened upon them and caused them to return. In the afternoon they again approached in force, when Geary’s Division of Slocam’s Twelfth Corps was sent into the woods to flank the advance. They encountered a sharp fire, and Kane’s Brigade broke in disorder, 445

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MISTORY OF TIlE GREAT REBELLION. throwing the whole column into confusion.

The retiring troops weread drawn to the right of the road, in order that the artillery might play upon the advancing enemy. This it did with such effect that he soon re tired. This seems to have been a feint, however, since, during the night, the enemy had cut a road through the woods which covered the right front of Howard, at Wilderness Church, fifteen miles southwest ofFred ericksburg, and while the attack was going on in front, wagons were moving to the left of the enemy, and it was assumed that he was in retreat. To ascertain the state of affairs, a reconnoissance by Sickles’s Corps was made, resulting in the capture of some troops, who stated that the wagons were ordnance following General Jackson and staff.

General Sickles then advanced, in the hope of cutting the enemny in two, but at five o’clock in the afternoon, while the movement was in progress, a terrific crash of musketry announced Jackson’s appearance in force on the extreme right, where was Schuiz’s Division of the Eleventh Corps. With wild yells the Confederates rushed on in overwhelming numbers, and the Germans, overborne, broke and fled in helpless confusion. In vain officers stormed and entreated; the men sullenly made their way to the river, followed by portions of Devens’s and Steinwehr’s Divisions. The brigades of Bushbeck and AI(Lean held their ground for a time, but were compelled to fall back before the irruption of the enemy, who like a whirlwind rushed in at the opa,ning left by the retreating Germans. At this crisis, Captain Best rapidly got his batteries into position on a ri(dgec in a cornfield, and ]lerrvy’s DI)ivision of the Third Corps, throwing itself into the gap, stayed t’Ie torrent which had threatened to roll up the line in disastrous confuisionI. Manfully the small band bore up against the fierce assault of the desperate foe, and by dint of endurance succeeded in keeping the foe at bay until supports arrived The enemy’s force comprised the three strong divisions, A. P. Hill’s, Trimble’s, and Rhodes’s, of Jacson’s Corps, and greatly outnumbered the troops to whom they were opposed. In this affair the enemy sustained the irreparable loss of General “Stonewall” Jackson, whose left arm was broken by a shot, while another passed through his right hland. These wounds caused his death a few days later. General A. P. Hill succeeded him in command of his corps.

It became necessary to order a night attack, in order to restore the connection of the Union lines. This was performed by Ward’s Brigade of Birnev’s Division, at eleven o’clock, with some degree of success, and the line fell back upon Chancellorsville, where the exhausted men slept oqtheir arms, awaiting the events of a new day. In’i these operations, the enemy had completely turned the Union right, compelling a complete change of position, which would throwv him out of the rear into the front. Early on the 3d, the line of battle was soon formed. The left of the new position lay a little to the west and south of Chancellorsville, and was occupied by the Third and Twelfth Corps. Next, on the right, came the Fifth, and Reynolds’s First Corps held the extreme right. The Second Corps lay in the rear of the Fifth, and behind the former was the Eleventh, which had finally been rallied, 446 I

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. though still too much shattered for use.

At halfpast five A. or. of the 8d, the advance became engaged in the ravine, just beyond the ridge where Captain Best’s guans had made their terrific onslaught the night before. General Berry’s Division, which had then checked the enemy’s advance, engaged him again. In vain he advanced his infantry in overwhelming numbers, as if determined to crush our forces; the brave men of Sickles and Slocum, who fought their columnns with desperate gallanitryv, held him in check. The engagrement lasted, without the slightest intermission, from halfpast five A. or. to forty-five minutes past eight A. M., when there was a temporary cessation on our part, occasioned by getting out of ammunition. Somewhat later, the enemy, with the divisions of A. P. Hill, McLaws, and Anderson, added to those of Jackson’s Corps, pressed in front with wonderful persistence, althourh the batteries of the Third Corps did terrible execution. The rebel batteries replied with great effect, shelling and setting on fire the Chancellor mansion, a large brick structure occupied by General Hooker as headquarters. The Union troops held the position for nearly an hour with the bayonet, and then, as Hooker did not wish to bring his fresh troops into action at that time, an order was given to fall back towards the river, where a good position was taken behind intrenchments. This left the line of battle lying on the edge of the woods, threequarters of a mile north of Chancellorsville, parallel with the Ely Ford road, and crossing the main road leading to the United States Ford. This line was maintained through the 4th. In these movements General Berry was killed, Generals Devin and AIott wounded. It now became evident that the enemy were augmenting in force; and as nothing had been heard from Stoneman, it was inferred that his expedition had failed. The rations taken by the army for eight days were nearly exhausted, and the ammunition was getting short, since, for celerity of movement, only the caissons had been brought over to supply the guns. The men had taken forty rounds of cartridges in their cartouches, and forty rounds extra in their knapsacks, most of which was expended. One of those heavy easterly storms, common to the month of MIay on the Atlantic coast, now set in with copious rains, and the river rose rapidly behind the army, covering the fords, and threatening the pontoon bridges, of which there were three. The rapid rise in the water made it necessary to take up one to prolong the other two. General Hooker, under these circumstances, called a council, at which a retreat was decided upon. The heavy guns and wagons were sent over on Mlnday night, the 4th, and the troops began to follow, the FiftJi Corps covering the retreat. The terrible storm and the darkness of the night favored the retreat. One by one the various corps left the intrenchments, filed to the rear, and passed the river, standing once more on the north bank amid the mud that had so long held Burnside fast. The number of wounded left behind was large, and General Hooker sent over a flag offering to send surgeons, rations, and medicines. General Lee accepted the sur geons, but declined the rations and medicines. Meanwhile, Sedgwick’s Sixth Corps remained a short distance be 447

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HISTORY OF TIIE GREAT’EBELLION. low Fredericksburg, and on the same side of the river, awaiting the withdrawal of rebel troops to oppose Hooker, when it was proposed to carry the heights so fruitlessly attacked in the previous December. A reconnoissance at dawn of the 3d showed that Marye’s Hill, the position selected for assault, was held by a considerable body of troops, which proved to be a part of Early’s Division. With a view of diverting the attention of the enemy firom his movement, Sedgwick directed one of his divisions, under Howe, and Gibbon’s Division of the Second Corps, which had been left to garrison Falmouth, to attempt the works lying to the east of Marye’s Hill. Newton’s Division was selected to storm the last-named position, and at about noon accomplished the task in the most gallant manner, though with heavy loss. Howe’s attack was equally successful, and the two divisions captured seventeen guns, including the famous Washington Artillery’s battery, and nearly a thousand prisoners.

Sedgwick then pushed forward his whole corps in pursuit of the flying enemy, and in the afternoon came up with him at Salem Heights, about four miles west of Fredericksburg, occupying a position of considerable strength. Lee by this time had been enabled to send reenforcements towards Fredericksburg, so that the enemy now probably equalled his pursuers in numbers, and had also the advantage of position. Nevertheless, by resolute fighting, the gallant troops of Sedgwick carried the hill at dusk, and, not wishing to press their advantage in thle darkness through the wooded country extending westward, Livouaceled for the night on the battlefield. At dawn of the 4th, Sedgwick reformed his lines, extending his right to the Rappahannock, in the neighborhood of Banks’s Ford. Soon afterwards he learned that Lee had sent a force to reoccupy the heights back of Fredericksburg. This placed him in a critical position. His retreat to Fredericksburg was cut off, and the experience of the previous day had shown him the difficulty, not to say the im, possibility, of cutting his way through to Chancellorsville, to form a junction with Hooker. He therefore fell backtowards Banks’s Ford, where his command was soon confronted by an overwhelming force under Lee. From four o’clock in the afternoon until dusk, the Sixth Corps, single-handed, stood at bay on the river-bank against double their numbers, losing in the unequal combat one-third of their whole force, but at the same time inflicting fearful loss upon the enemy. At length Lee retired from what he termed the “bloodiest battle of the war,” and, at two o’clock in the morning of the 5th, Sedgwick led his exhausted and shattered columns safely across the river. The column of Stonemal?, on passing the river at Kelly’s Ford, was divided into two corumns, under Stoneman and Averill. The main column under Stoneman moved upon Richmond by Louisa Court. House and Montpelier, crossing the South Anna at Squirrel Bridge. Averill’s pushed on to Brandy Station, where it met the enemy’s pickets, and drove them back in a short skirmish. It then advanced to Culpepper CourtHouse, where Generals Fitzhugh and William Henry Lee were found with a rebel force of perhaps five hundred cav. alry, which fled precipitately back across Cedar Mountain. 448

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HISTORY OF GREAT REB3ELLION. At Culpepper CourtHouse, General Averill pushed on after the re treating Lees, following them to Rapidan Station, where they burned the railroad brid-e, over which they retreated after a smart fight, in which they lost Colonel Rosser (late of the United States Army), who commanded one of the brigades. Our loss there was inconsiderable, and they lost several killed besides Colonel Rosser, and also thirtyone prisoners, whom General Averill brought back with him. The object of Averill’s expedition seems to have been to destroy this (Rapidan) bridge, which the enemy in their panic did for him. After proceeding as far as Orange CourtHouse, he returned with his force to the mnain army, joining it at Chancellorsville on Sunday. One column of Stoneman’s force, under General Buford, pushed on directly towards Gordonsville, cutting the Central Railroad between Gordonsville and Charlotteville. The column under Stoneman, divided into several expeditions, proceeded through Hanover CourtHouse to within five miles of Richmond, causing great alarm in and about the Confederate capital, and returned either to the Rapidan or made good its escape into the Federal lines on the Peninsula. Numerous bridges and large portions of the track of the railroad between Richmond and Fredericksburg were destroyed. Thus the general plan of the cavalry expedition was carried out, bullt was barren of results. It did not materially inter. rupt the enemy’s communications. The small force was not only divided, but remained so; and Averill on his return was ordered under arrest by General Hooker for not carrying out his instructions and opening commu) nication with Stoneman.

Thus the exp)erlinent of an advance upon Richmond by way of Frederi’cksburg ended in failure. The awhole plan of campaign seemed to have been, on the part of the general, a grasping after great effects, without comprehending the situation or the means of execution. The dividing of the army was an error, unless it was to be combined in attack.

It was done to de. ceive the enemv, and did not deceive him at all. The enemy, having an, inside liie of communication, held Sedgwick in check, while by a rapid flank march he assaulted Hooker on his extreme right, whl-ile that general was expecting him on his extreme left. This attack was madb at 5 r. at. on Saturday, the 2d, and the army retired from its line making evNery preparation to attempt the hazardous experiment of a forced change of front in face of the enemy. Sedgwick did not carry the works behind Fredericksburg until 10 A. Mr. Sunday, arid, in attempting to communicate with Hooker, was checked at Salem Heights. At the same time the main Union *my retired to a new line of detbne, where it did nothing all day Monday, while the enemy turned upon Sedgwick in full force, Hooker making no attempt to succor him, although the two armies were but four miles distant. I Had Stoneman’s cavalry been with the main armyat its accustomed duty, the surprise and defeat of the Eleventh Corps on the right could not have occurred, and the defeat of’the enemy would have possibly resulted. Hooker commenced the campaign to’open the road to Richmond. He intended to surprise the enemy, to force him to fight on his (Hooker’s) ground. to 29 449

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HISTORY OF TIHE GREAT REBELLION. defeat him in battle, to cut his communication, and capture his army. The only thing attained was to cause the enemy to fight on the ground chosen by Hooker. The enemy was not surprised, nor defeated, nor captured, nor were his communications permanently injured, since he received all his reenforcements and supplies. The grand result was a severe check to the Union arms. The losses in this brief campaign probably exceeded fifteen thousand, including nearly five thousand prisoners. The rebels estimated their losses at sixteen to eighteen thousand. Among the Federal killed were MajorGeneral Berry,* who died gallantly leading his men in a repulse of the enemy on Sunday night; also General Whipple, who was shot by one of the enemy’s sharpshooters. The enemy had to deplore General Jackson (Stonewall), who lost his left arm on Saturday, and to that accident was ascribed the diminished vigor of the enemy’s nttacks during the remainder of the battles. The death of Jackson, who had carned the foremost military reputation of the war, was a severe 1b1ow to the Confederate cause, and one for which the victory illy compensated. CIIAPTER XLII. Second Invasion of Maryland.-Defeat of Milroy at Winchester. feade appointed to Command the Army of the Potomac.-Battle of Gettysburg.-Retreat of Lee.

AFrER the return of the Army of the Potomac to the north side of the Rappahannock, early in May, a period of apparent quiet ensued. The army of’ Hooker was largely composed of ninemonths and two-years men, whose time would expire in June, and as yet no means had been taken by the Federal Government to supply their places under the Conscription Law which had passed Congress ill February. The act itself was far firom popular, but its enemies made the m6st strenuous ol)jections to the clause which permitted a conscript to commuto for a sum of three hundred dollars. This, and other reasons connected with the enrolment, prevented any speedy arrangemients for the procurement of men; and as the month of June approached, the army of MajorGeneral niram Grerory Berrv of the battles, Jone 250s to July 1st. On tile 15th of MajorGeneral Hiram Gregory Berry, of the United States Volunteers, was born in Thoinaston (now Rockland), Maine, August 27, 1S24. lIle was a carpenter some years; afterwards engaged in navigation; was mavor of Rockiand, and held various offices in the Maine militia. Under the call for troops in the spring of 1861, he was iade colonel of the Fourth Maine Volunteers, anh oparticilnated In the battle (of Bull Ru;L where it boug ht in Hloward’s Brigade. Subsequently the conmmand was in one of the brigades commanded by General Bedgwick. The regiment was afterwards transferred to General Birney’s Brigade, Ilamilton’s Division, and participated in the sieg,of Yorktown. Upon General Kearny’s taking command of the division, Colonel Berry, who had been made brigadiergeneral of volunteers on the 4th of April, 1862, was placed in charge of a bariade of Heintzelman’s Army Corps, which chahge separated him from his regiment. He participated in the battleo of Fair Oaks, June 1,1862, and the Seven Days’ 450 battles, June 2r)tli to July lst. On the 15th of August, General Bei-ry inove,l with his lrigade to Yorktown, and tlieiic(,,, to Alexandria; thence by rail to Warrenton,Junction, from which Joint the ni,-,rched to tho ll,,tl,palitiinocl,., and,ii the 29tK and 80th of Au,,,ttst “Ill’ticipate(I ikith Keitrny’s Division in the battle s (If Alinassas or Second Bull P,.un. Sel)teiiiber Ist he took I,.,ti-t in the battle of Chantilly, where Ke,-trriy lost his life. At the battle of Fredericksbtir!,,, Dec(,mber 13, 1862, Berry’s Brigadc-drove back ‘rebel force, thereby saving ” goo’l portion of Birney’s Division from harm.

B,3rry Is nominated by the President majorgeneral of volunteers In January, 1863, with rank from November 29, 1862; was renominated on the Tth of March, and coiiflrmed March 9, lS63. He was placed in command of the Second Divl,,3!on of the Third Arti)y Corps, under General Sickles, and In that position fell at the head of his command, near Chancellorsyille.

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. Hooker saw itself about to be depleted by the return home of men who had served sufficient time to have learned their duties. The anxiety of Hooker to gain information of the movements of the enemy, finally induced him to order a cavalry reconnoissance in force on the 9th of June, on which day Pleasonton’s command crossed the Rappahannock at Beverly’s and Kelly’s Fords and at intermediate places, the two main columns pushing forward towards Brandy Station, five miles below Culpepper CourtHouse, with the design of getting in the rear of the enemy, who was between the CourtHouse and the Station. They captured his pickets, and thus prevented early intelligence of their movement being reported to the enemy. At seven o’clock in the morning the enemy were encountered, under General Stuart. After a severe fight, the rebels were driven with loss from their camp; but, having been largely reenforced, they returned, when, his objects being attained, General Pleasonton recalled his troops across the Rappah:-nnock, at Beverly’s Ford. In this battle the reputation of the cavalry arm, as compared with that of the enemy, was well sustained. The chief duty of the Army of the Potomac, as in former years, seemed to be to remain as a curtain between the enemy and the national capital. Fortress Monroe was held by General Dix, General Wool having been transferred to the military district of New York and the East; and General Schenck was in command at Baltimore, where he had been since the breaking up of Fremont’s Corps. General Milroy, who was under his orders, held Winchester with about seven thousand men. As far back as the previous November, General Cullum, chief of General Halleck’s staff, was sent to examine and report upon the condition of the works at Winchester, and his report was, not merely that the works were indefensible from bad location per se; but the lace itself required no works, and ought to have no heavy garrison, t being merely, in General Cullum’s own phrase, “an eye of the National army looking down the Shenandoah Valley;” an advanced outpost, from which information could be communicated at an early moment to Ilarper’s Ferry of any advance of the enemy in this direction. It was upon this report General Hialleck advised General Schenck to withdraw all forces from Winchester, leaving there merely strong cavalry pickets to act as scouts and vedettes. This being the position of the Federal forces, General Lee, who had recruited and supplied his army, was ready to execute his long-cherished project of a second invasion of the North. This movement was commenced about the 9th June, by the corps of Ewell, which moved off towards the valley of the Shenandoah Right across the State of Virginia, starting from the Potmac at Harper’s Ferry, and running in a southwesterly direction. to the southern limit of the State, stretches the Blue Ridge of mountains, intersected by infrequent roads or “gaps,” through which alone it is.possible for armies to penetrate. Upon the possession of these galo depended the mastery of the situation. If Lee had moved off prematurely from Culpepper CourtHouse and seized them, Ewell’s mission against the force of Milroy at Winchester would have been frustrated, since the latter would have heard that the whole army was moving, and would have slipped off to Har 451

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HISTORY OF TI-IE GREAT REBELLION. per’s Ferry. If, after Ewell had struck his blow at Winchester, Lee had been slow about seizing the gaps, he might have exposed himself and Ewell to great danger, if Hooker, acting promptly, had seized the gaps, and interposed between Lee and Ewell. As it was, the march of well against Winchester was swift, silent, and successful; the occupation of the three great gaps in the mountain range was timed to a ninute. When Hooker at last became aware of a movement of the enemy, he started off a body of his cavalry to race for the possession of the northernmost road through Snicker’s Gap. They found Fitzhugh Lee already in possession, and behind him one of the finest infantry divisions in the Confederate army. In vain did the Federal cavalry, under Pleasonton, race for possession of the next, or Ashby’s Gap, supported by a large body of artillery and infantry. There they found Stuart and his cavalry thrown out in advance of the gap at Aldie, and here, on the 17th and 19th instant, there were fierce skirmishes, in which the Union cavalry acquitted themselves with great credit, and if they did not drive the enemy away, at least prevented him from penetrating east of the Blue Ridge and flanking Hooker. But the blow had been struck at Milroy, and Lee was anxious to draw a Union force into the gap, in which, however, he did not succeed. At Chester’s Gap, the road which traverses the mountain near Front Royal was seized by General A. P. Hill, and with these three aps in his possession, General Lee could hold them with insignificant bodies of men, and behind the screen of the mountains manceuvre, unseen by and beyond the reach of General Hooker. Meantime, Ewell had come upon Milroy, and surrounded Winchester before the Union general had been warned of the approach of an enemy. On the 13th the Union pickets were driven into the town, and considerable skirmishing ensued. But in the night, ascertaining that an overwhelming force was confronting him, Milroy, with his troops, retired into two large forts in the rear of the town. Skirmishing continued all through the morning of the 14th, and at four o’clock in the afternoon the enemy assaulted and carried the outworks of the forts, but all his efforts against the forts themselves proved futile. So hot was the U nion fire that the rebels were compelled to retire with loss at dusk. At a council of Union officers held in the evening, it was determined that under the circumstances nothing was left to the garrison but to retreat upon the Potomac. Early on the morning of the 15th, the guns having been spiked, and all the surplus ammunition rendered useless, the troops marched quietly out, but had proceeded onily four or five miles when they were attacked by the enemy. The rearguard, facing about, kept the rebels at bay until the advance could get well on its way, when it also retreated. This manceuvre was repeated several times, and eventually about five thousand of Milroy’s command succeeded in crossing the Potomnac. His loss in men exceeded twentyfive hundred, besides twenty-nine pieces of artillery, numerous wagons, and several hundred horses. Hooker, on becomin’g convinced that the enemy in his front were moving towards the valley, sent forward the Sixth Corps, which had 452

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HISTORY OF TIE GREAT REBELLION. occupied the river below Fredericksburg.

Belle Plain and Aquia Creek, by which supplies were brought to the army from Washington, wsere evacuated and the property destroyed. The wounded and sick were sent to Washington. The Sixth Corps arrived at Dumfries on tlie night of the 14th, and the main body of the army held the Rappahannock from Banks’s to Kelly’s Ford. The Union commander was still somewhat in doubt in respect to the movements of Lee’s army. The day Ewell occupied Boonesborough, Hooker’s headquarters left Falmouth. When the news reached him that the advance of the enemy had actually crossed the Potomac, he put his columns in rapid motion for the north, and with as much secrecy as possible. On the 27th of June, the Union headquarters, by a long and forced march in the most intense heat, reached Frederick, Maryland, which had just been abandoned by the enemy. During the march, the thermometer ranged from 92~ to 98~ in the shade, and the soldiers suffered severely, there being reported more than one thousand cases of sun-stroke. Marching along the Blue Ridge, the rebels, on the other hand, found abundant springs of cool and excellent water, whereas the march of the Union troops was over one of the thirstiest plains in Virginia-a district which, in the previous year, retarded the troops of Stonewall Jackson for several days, and delayed the discomfiture of General Pope, and which took ample toll from the host of General Hooker. Accordingly, the two armies moving north attained their destinations in different condition. That of Lee crossed the Potomac on the 24th, in better condition than it had been for months, and two days afterwards the attenuated army of Hooker reached Frederick, almost exhausted with fatigue. On the advance of the enemy up the valley, great consternation prevailed at Washingcrton as well as at Harrisburg, the capital of Pennsylvania, and at Philadelphia. There had been some steps taken towards obtaining men under the Conscription Law passed at the previous session of Congress, but the exigency of an invasion of Pennsylvania was too pressing to allow of the slow progress of conscription. The President, therefore, on the 15th, issued the following proclamation: BY TIlE PRESIDENT OF THIE

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. “A PROCLAMATION. “WASHINiGTON, June 15, 1863.

“Whereas the armed insurrectionary combinations now existing in several of tlhe States are threatening to make inroads into the States of Maryland, Western Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, requiring immediately an additional military force for the sevice of the United States: “Now, therefore, I, Abrahnam Lincoln, President of the United States, and Com mander-in-Chief of the army and navy thereof, and of the militia of the several States when called into actual service, do hereby call into the service of the United States one hundred thousand militia, from the States following, namely: “From the State of Maryland, ten tlWusand. “From the State of Pennsylvania, fifty thousand. “From the State of Ohio, thirty thousand. “From the State of Western Virginia, ten thousand. “To be mustered into the service of the United States forthwith, and to serve for the period of six months from the date of such muster into said service, unless sooner 453

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HISTORY OF TIE GREAT REBELLION. discharged; to be mustered in as infantry, artillery, and cavalry, in proportions which will be made known through the War Department, which department will also designate the several places of rendezvous. “These militia are to be organized according to the rules and regulations of the volunteer service, and such orders as may hereafter be issued. “The States aforesaid will be respectively credited under the Enrolment Act for the militia service rendered under this proclamation. ” In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. ”’ Done at the City of Washington, this 15th day June, in the year of our Lord 1863, and of the United States the eighty-seventh. “( ABRAHnu AM LINCOLN. By the President: “WILLIAM IH. SEWARD, Secretary of State.” On the same day, the Governor of Pennsylvania issued a proclamation, calling upon all citizens “capable of bearing arms to enroll themselves in military organizations, and to encourage all others to give aid and assistance to the efforts which will be put forth for the protection of the State and the salvation of our common country; who love liberty and are mindful of the history and traditions of their Revolutionary fathers, and who feel that it is a sacred duty to guard and maintain the free institutions of our country.”

The State of New York was called upon for twenty thousand troops, and immediately the Seventh, Eighith, and Seventy-first Regiments of militia left for Pennsylvania, followed promptly by troops from other States. At the call of the President in the regular way for men, the troops crowded to the firont with an enthusiasm nowise diminished from the first burst of popular fervor on the outbreak of the war. The greatest exertions were made to remove the public property from Harrisburg, which seemed to be the point of attack. The State property was packed up and means t:ken to remove the archives. The same fears were entertained for Baltimore and Washlington, and measures were at once taken to strengthenl the formner city by earthworks at Federal Hill and elsewhere in the vicinity. The plans of the enemy in the mean time were matters of great doubt and im,ystery, and the alarm was in proportion to the mystery. Itis army was composed of three corps of some thirty thous.a,d men each, under Hill, Longstreet, and Ewell respectively, with a cav.lry force under Stuart. In throwing this force across the Potomac, it became necessary to depend upon the country for supplies, and upon victor’y for ammunition, since with each mile of advauce the difficulty of coi.nmunication became greater.

Accordingly, General Lee left Winchester with one hundred and twenty rounds for each man. TIe actual crossing of the Potomac, wvhich was effected by Lee with the cor)ps of Ijill and Lonstreet at Williamsport and Shepherdstown on the 24t1), had inl it much of the enthusiasm which accompanied thle enti:ance of the Confederates into Maryland before the battle of Shlaripsl)urg. It was then the impression of the Southern army thlt they were entei’i]i, into the friendly State of MIaryrand, ground downi under the iron lheel of a despotic government, and anxious and williig, ulpon the first ol)l)portunity, to arise and burst its bonds. But the unmistakable symiip::thy of Itagerstown, Boonesborough, Slharpsburg, and othe(r small towns in Western,Maryland with the Union, the jeers andi taunts of the waomen 454

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. at the expense of the rebels, taught the latter to expect in the western counties of Maryland no more aid and comfort. The march continued with celerity, and the advance reached Chambersburg June 27, when the follbwing proclamation was issued: “

GENERAL ORDER, NO. 73. “IHEAD-QUARERS ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRCINIA, “CaAlBERSBURG, PA., Jorge 2/. ) “The Commanding General has observed with marked satisfaction the conduct of the troops on the march, and confidently anticipates results commensurate withl the high spirit they have manifested. No troops could have displayed greater fortitude or better performed the arduous marches of the past ten days. Their conduct in other respects has, with few exceptions, been in keeping with their character as soldiers, and entitles them to approbation and praise. “There have, liowvever, been instances of forgetfulness on the part of some, that they have in keeping the yet unsullied reputation of the army, and that the duties exacted of us by civilization and Christianity are not less obligatory in the country of the enemy than our own. “The Commanding General considers that no greater disgrace could befall the army, and through it our whole people, than the perpetration of the barbarous outrages upor the innocent and defenceless, and the wanton destruction of private property, that have marked the course of the ellenly in our own country. Such proceedings not only dlisgrace the perpetrators, and all connected with them, but are subversive of the discipline and efficiencyv of the army, and destructive of the ends of our present movement. It must be remembered that we make war only upon armed men, and that we cannot take vengeance for the wrongs our people have suffered without lowering ourselves in the eyes of all whose abhorrence has been excited by the atrocities of oir enemy, and offending against I-im to whom vengeance belongeth, without whose favor and support our efforts must all prove in vain. “The Commanding General, therefore, earnestly exhorts the troops to abstain, with the most scrupulous care, from uinnecessary or wanton iinjury to private property; and he enjoins upon all oflicers to arrest and bring to summary punishment all who shall in any way offend against the orders on this subject. R. E. LEE, Geoneral” Qn the same day on which General Lee thus inauguratoti his entry into Pennsylvania hooker S army entered Fredcricl(, which li: been held by the encm S pclets; and on the following day Colonel ilardie arrived at the ii id qii titers of the Army of the Potomao by 51)Oti.il tiam from Vashintou js a bearer of dispatches, relieving Geuei’al hooker fr the comm nd of the Army of the Potomac, arid appointing MajorGenes Meade eoi imanding the Fifth Corps, his successor.

Soon after “IIEAD-QUARTERS ARMIY OF TIIE POTOMAC, } “FREDERI(CK, MD., June 28, 186:. “In conformity with the orders of the War Department, dated June 27, 1863, I relinquish the command of the Army of the Potomac. It is transferred to Alajor-General George (G. Meadec, a brave and aomplished officer, who has nobly earned the con. fidence and esteem of the arny on many a well-fouglit field. Impressed wAith the belief that my usefulnes as tihe commander of the Army of the Potomac is inlmpaired, I part from it.

yet net without the deepest emotion. The sorrow of parting with the comrades of so many battles is relieved by the conviction that the courage and devotion of this,rimy will never cease; that it sill yield to my successor, as it lias to me, a willing and hearty support. With the earnest )prayer that the triumph of its arms may bring successes worthy of it and the nation, I bid it fiarewell. IU ” JOSEPH HeOOiER, Major-CGeneral. ‘ S. F. I-P,STOw, Act;,g Adjulitant-General.” 455

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. General Hooker immediately left, and General Meade * assumed command in the following address: I’HEAl)-QUARTERS

ARaIY OF TIlE POTOMAC, } “June 28, ]1863. “By direction of the President of the United States, I hereby assume command of the Army of the Potomac.

As a soldier, in obeying this order. an order totally unexpected and unsolicited, I have no promises or pledges to make. The country looks to this army to relieve it from the devastation and disgrace of a hostile invasion. Whatever fatigues and sacrifices we may be called upon to undergo, let us have in view constantly the magnitude of the interests involved, and let each man determine to do his duty, leaving to an all-controlling Providence the decision of the contest. It is with just diffidence that I relieve in the command of this army an eminent and accomplished soldier, whose name must ever appear conspicuous in the history of its achievements; but I rely upon the hearty support of my companions in arms to assist me in the discharge of the duties of the important trust which has been confided to me. “GEORGE G. MEADE, MajorGeneral Commanding. “S. F. BARSTOw, Assistant AdjutantGeneraL” The enemy continued his forward movement, and his cavalry, which was very numerous, made demonstrations in various directions, collecting cattle and such drugs and merchandise as were most useful to him. A march in the direction of Pittsburg caused great excitement in that city. Business was suspended, and the citizens turned out to work on the defences. Ewell, in comnmand of the Second Corps, which constituted the advance of the Confederate army, had previously pushed on to Carlisle, and thence proceeded eastward towards York, where lihe cu t th e railroad which connects Harrisburg and Washington. Chambersburg was occupied, and many supplies drawn thence. The cavalry under Early entered York and levied a contribution of one hundred thousand dollars upon the place. He then issued the following proolamation: GENERAL EARLY TO THE PEOPLE OF YORK. “To the Citizens of York: ” I have abstained from burning the railroad bridges and car-shops in your town because, after examination, I am satisfied the safety of the town would be endangered; and acting in the spirit of humanity, which has ever characterized my government and its military authorities, I do not desire to involve the innocent in the same punishment with the guilty. Had I applied the torchwithoutregard to consequences, I wouldthen have pursued a course that would have been fully vindicated as an act of just retaliation for the authorized acts of barbarity perpetrated by your own army on our soil; but we do not war upon women and children; and I trust the treatment you have met with at the hands of my soldiers will open your eyes to the odious tyranny under which it is apparent to all you are yourselves groaning. “MJ. A. EARLY, . “Mejor-General, C. S. A.’ * George G..Meade was born in Spain in 1816, White Oak Swamp. In Septemrber, 1S62, he took during the temporary residence of his parents in command of a division in Reynol(ls’s First Army that country, and was graduated at West Pointin Corps, and subsequently sacceer(led to the com1839. He was brevetted first lieutenant for gal-mandof the Fifth Corps. On June 2Sth he aslantry at Monterey in 1846, and at the outbgeak of sumed command of the Army of the Potomac, the rebellion was captain in the Topographical which he retained with great crdit to hirnselfand Engineers. He was soon after commissioned a benefit to the country until the capitulation of brigadierg,eneral of volunteers; served through-Lee and the termination of the war. Ite now out the Peninsula campaign as conmander of a commands the several departments bordering on brigade in McCall’s Division of Pennsylvania Re-the Atlantic, and is a briga,ldier-general and brevet irves, and was severely wounded at the battle of majorgeneral of the regular army. 456 a

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HIISTORY OF TIHE GREAT RFBELLION. The designs of the enemy still remained a mystery, and this fact gave rise to many fears. It was surmised that he intended to hold the line of the Susquehanna, occupying Baltimore and reducing Washington. But there were many who supposed the sacking of Philadelphia was, if not the main object, a collateral design of the invasion. On the 29th the mayor issued the following proclamation: -

PROCLAMATION FROM THE MAYOR. “CTO ARMS!!! ” OFFICE OF THiE MAYOR OF THE

CITY OF PHILADELPIIIA, June 29, 1863. ” Citizens of Philadelphia: “One more appeal is made to you in the name of duty and of manhood. “You can close your eyes no longer to the startling danger and disgrace which hang over your State and city. The foot of the rebel is already at the gates of your capital, and, unless you arouse to instant action, it may in a few days hence cross your own threshold. ” There is yet time to prepare for defence. You number more than fifty thousand able-bodied men; the means to arm and equip yourselves are at hand. “Close your manufactories, workshops, and stores, before the stern necessity for common safety makes it obligatory. Assemble yourselves forthwith for organization and drill.

Come ready to devote yourselves to the protection of your homes until your services shall be no longer needed. Spurn from you those who would delude you to inactivity or disaffection. Their tongues and hearts are more false and hateful than even the invaders of your soil. Let no man refuse to arm who will not be able to justify himself before man and God in sight of a desolated hearth or of a dishonored family. “ALEXANDER HENRY, Hayor of Philadeliphia.” Meantime the attitude of the Union army decided Lee to turn his face eastward, and confront the only formidable enemy which he had to fear. Ewell, recalled from York, shaped his course southward and westward towards Gettysburg toJoin the army of Lee in its ad vance over the South Mountain, and to’constitute the left wing of that army. Stuart also approached the main body, having, in his passage through Maryland, cut the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and joined General EwNell on the extreme Confederate left. General Meade, on taking command of the army, which was situated at Frederick, immediately ordered an advance towards Gettysburg, at which point he could intercept the communication of Ewell, who commanded Jackson’s old corps, and was at York, with A. P. Ilill and Longstreet, who were at South Mountain. The First Corps, Reynolds, and the Eleventh Corps, Howard, proceeded due north and encamped at Emmitsburg, on the night of June 30th, followed by the Second and Twelfth Corps. At halfpast ten o’clock on the morning of the 1st July, Wadsworth’s Division, cowtituting the advance of Reynolds, met the advance of Ewell, moving south from Carlisle, in a wood about four miles west of Gettysburg.

This meeting, which led to a terrible engagement, seems to have been a surprise to both parties. The exact whereabouts of the enemy was not known to Meade, and Lee was unaware of the rapid northerly march of the Union troops, which brought them in his firont when hle supposed them much nearer to Washington. Early on the same morning, A. P. Hill, followed by Longstreet, had left the top of the South Mountain, and both generals were emerging from .45Z

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HISTORY OF TIE GREAT REBELLION. the mountain gorge at the moment that the guns of Rhodes and Early, the advance division of Ewell, opened upon the Federal troops. Heth’s Division of Hill’s Corps immediately advanced on Ewell’s right, while on the Union side, Robinson’s Division took ground on Wadsworth’s right, and Doubleday on the left. These troops received the onslaught of Heth, standing their ground firmly, until General Reynolds, finding that his artillery was not properly posted, rode to the front in search of a more effective position. Here he fell, pierced by a number of balls, into the arms of his acting-adjutant, Captain Bond. Doubleday succeeded to the command. The corps was now heavily pressed by Heth in front, and the two divisions of Ewell on the right, and was obliged to give way. The Confederate General Heth was wounded by a shot in the forehead, which glanced. The Eleventh Corps now came up, and Howard, assuming command, sent Steinwehr to occupy Cemetery Hill, on the south side of Gettysburg(, while Barlow and Schurz were ordered to support the First Corps. The two divisions nmoved through the town, and formed on the right of the First Corps. Ewell’s (late Jackson’s) Corps was now concentrated for the attack, which was promptly made with infinite fury.

It was, however, repulsed. The remainder of the corps of A. P. Hill then joined Ewcll, and outflanked the Union line. The fighting was now very severe, and Hloward sent to the rear for aid from Slocum and Sickles. They were too distant to be of use, however. Under the increasing weight of numbers, the Union lines soon crumbled. Schurz’s Corps giving way, the whole retreated through the town to Cemetery Hill. These were heights on both sides of the Baltimore pike, southeast of Gettysburg. General Howard succeeded in rallying his troops upon this position, when the Twelfth Corps, Slocum, and Third, Sickles, came up and formed on the right and left of Howard. The pursuit by the enemy, under Ewell, was stopped at the town by superior orders, for the night, during which General Aladcle and staff arrived in firont. He now disposed this force on the several hills, circling Gettysburg on the south and east, so as to form a continuous line of battle, the mountain in the centre, held by the First and Eleventh, the wvings, right and left, receding. The position was a most formidable one.

Just beyond the town of Gettysburg runs a horseshoe ridge of low, uniform hills, seeming1ly from two to three miles in leng,th, terminating at both ends in a steep sugar-loaf peak, which thoroughly protected either flankl.

On the Federal right and centre the hill was almost entirely bare of trees; on the Federal left the batteries were planted, under the shelter of forest-the sugar-loaf peaks at both ends of the line were densely clothedwith tirfiber. To attempt to march round these sugar-loaf l)innacles would have exposed the Confederates to the danger of weakening their front so greatly as to make it easy for ]Ieade to cut off the flankiilng tforee. There was nothingi for them to do but to attack the Unionsposition right in front, or shrliink back into the gorge of the South Miountain, from which they had just emnerged, and there to await the attack, or to move off by the right flank in the direction of the Potoniac, with their rear clinging to the South Mountain range. Each of these three courses was hazardous. To the second, 458

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. which might otherwise have been the safest, the great objection was that Ewell’s Corps could not be got within the mountain gorge, the single road of which was already occupied by the two corps of Long street and A. P. Hill. Lee, therefore, determined on the attack. His plan of battle appears to have been to attack the Union left with General Longstreet’s Corps, while At. P. Hill and Ewell pI,ess(ed heavily on the centre and right, with instructions to advance thei wNIlIole line should Longstreet’s attack meet with any success.

Two-thirdLs of the 2d of July wore away in making preparations for this general atta(ck, in getting the battalions of artillery into position, and disposing the troops, which had been on the tramp for the two previous d.ays, for tile onslaught. The Union position, from the nature of the form,ation, might be considered impregnable. The whole army, with the exception of the Sixth Corps, had here concentrated on Wednesday niglht, Juily 1st, and on the next morning the line was formed as follows: Slocum’s Corps on the right, Howard joining on the left; Hancock’s (Couch’s), Neiwton (Reynolds’s), and Sickles’s Corps in the celntre; and Sykes’s (Meade’s) on the left. Numerically, commencing with the right, the line was formed of the Twelfth, Eleventh, Second, First, Third, and Fifth Corps. Thus far the whole movement had been accidental. Reynolds had engaged a force of which he had no knowledge, aid( whieli was sufficient to crush his own and his support. Howard had b(‘ee driven back upon a strong position which lay in his way, and General Mleadle, on his arrival, found him in it, and held it. The rapid concentration of the arlmny upon this position had the effect of causing thle army of Lee for the first time to fight at disadvantage. The Army of tlhe Potomac now held the strong position, and Lee was become the assailant. The enemy’s skirmishers, thrown out early in the morning of Thursday, the 2d, continued for many hours to press up close upon the Union lines with more or less vigor, feeling the strength of the various fronts, andl seeking to ascertain the position of corps. Where the rebel attack was to be made, was a matter of uncertainty to the Union corimmandler. At four o’clock in the afternoon, tb enemy seemed satisfied with his reconnoissance, and from his left there burst forth a terrific cannonade, on the right centre of the Union line held by the Secoind and Eleventh Corps. During more than two lhours this was replied to with great vigor. This artillery duel was felt by all to be but the prelude of the real attack, and the utmost vigilance was exerted to detect the earliest signs of the coming storm.

Finally, dark masses of troops were seen assembling on the left. Soon they began to advance, the skirmimers became more numerous and holder, their suplport more solid. Sickles was ordered forward to a rifdge to the southwest, to connect with IIancock, or check the advance; lbt, exceedulag his instructions, he went a halfmile in adivance of the line. Scarceiv was he in position, whee suddenly the roar of (,rt’lleir (eased, and there poured forth from the woods a rushing coliuln (-f ]lIe combined troops of Lolngstrect and lill. On they came, forty-fi.ve thousand men, three columns deep, at the quick stel), gleas of light glancing firom bayonet and sabre as the solid earth shIook iunder the 4 5.9

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HISTORY OF TIEE GREAT. REBELLION. rushing mass. The tall form of General Hood, leading the Texans, went down in the melee. Robertson took command, and speedily met the same fate; and then General Law led the charge. The Third Corps met the storm with its wonted coolness, but separated from its supports, and, left to confront thrice its numbers, it was as nothing before the swelling tide of furious foes. Its commander, Sickles, was struck by a cannon-shot in the knee, and was carried from the field, while his devoted corps, overborne by the terrible irruption of the enemy, was pushed back with severe loss. On the enemy’s side, the division of MIcLaws, on Hood’s left, did not keep up with the rapid advance of the Texans, until Longstreet threw himself at the head of WVofford’s Brigade, and led them up the slope under such a fire as has been rarely witnessed.

The enemy, gaining new influence from their success, poured through the opening between the Third and First Corps with swelling fury. The Second Corps was ordered to the breach. It came forward with great alacrity, and threw itself into the melee without counting the odds, and suffered terribly from the fire, its commander, Hancock, receiving a severe wound.

The staggering column received support from the Fifth, now coming up from the left; and a portion of the Twelfth, from the extreme right, also reenforced the heroic troops of the centre. The terrible battle was thus fed by successive corps, which fought with superhuman courage and constancy. The enemy, however, pressed on with unwavering determination, and his swarming numbers seemed to swallow every fresh advance of the Federals, although he fought at great disadvantage against the well-placed Union troops. Back, inch by inch, fighting, falling, dying, cheering, the men retired. It was now that the Sixth Corps, Sedgwick’s, arrived on the field, hungry, footsore, and weary, firom a forced march of thirty-six miles. They were apparently too fatigued to stand. The dangers of the moment, however, and the excitement of battle, wrought a wonderful change in those brave men. They were promptly formed, and precipitated upon the enemy with irresistible force. This was too much for the enemy. His impetus had been lost before, and under this new attack, he staggered, reeled, gave slowly back, and finally broke and retired from the field, as the sun sank behind the western hills. While the attack on the Union left thus failed, another attack was formed by Ewell against the extreme right, which had been weakened to support the left. A portion of the Twelfth Corps had been sent to support Sickles, and the enemy, taking advantage of this, about dark formed a heavy column of attack and fell upon Slocum with such suddenness andfuryehat he was driven backsome distance. The divisions of Rhodes and Early actually carried a part of the Cemetery Hill, and had sent down a peremptory entreaty for support to Generals Pinder and Anderson of A. P. Hill’s Corps. But General Pinder lay at the moment desperately wounded. The request was, for some unknown reason, unheeded by General Anderson. Meantime, the pressure being now removed from the left, the First, Second, and Sixth Corps came to the support of Slocum. The battle was thus renewed with great fury, and, despite the utmost efforts of the 460

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT RElLION. UTnion right, the enemy remained masters of part of Slocum’s posi tion, when the contest, which had raged there from dark, ceased at ten o’clock. The night remained quiet. Early on the morning of the 3d, Slocum, with the design of recov ering his position of the night before, organized an attack upon Ewell. A division of the Sixth CQrps was added to the Twelfthil Wadsworth’s Division of the First Corps supported Howard’s left, and the Fifth Corps was in reserve at four o’clock. Slocum opened a terrific fire upon Ewell, which elicited a most furious charge from the enemy. The Union troops opposed a solid and impenetrable friont to perhaps the most furious charge of the war. The deadly fire, coolly delivered, strewed the ground in front with dead in fearful numbers. Officers and men were heaped in unnatural confusion upon the blood-soaked field, but their constancy seemed equal to the emnier ency, and again and again they were hurled against the Union defences, only to encounter defeat. The steady course and perseverance of Slocum’s Corps succeeded at last. A division of the Fifth Corps, Berry’s old Division of the Third, now under I-nliuphlreys, supported Geary, when he was close pressed. The enemy seemed now to concentrate his artillery fire, but was replied to with full effect, until a reenforcement of Union troops succeeded in bringing to bear upon him an enfilading fire, which settled the question, and he retired in confusion. At eleven o’clock the battle was over. The enllemy’s whole line at this time surrounded three sides of the mountain, the Union troops within; but such was the strength of the position that to take it by assault was a most hopeless undertaking. Nevertheless, Lee, undeterred by the failure of the 2d, made preparations to renew the attempt on the next day. Early in the mornling of the 3d, Longstreet’s line stood thus: On the extreme rioght was the division of Hood, commanded by Law, and next to him the division of MIcLaws, both of which were reserved by Longstreet, to launch against the Union troops should success attend the onward movement to their left. Next to lcLaws came the division of General Pickett, of four thousand men, which was to form the point of the contemplated attack, supported and assisted on its left by the far larger division of Pettigrew, belonging to A. P. Hill’s Corps, and ordinarily commanded by Heth, who received a wound on the first day. This division, with the brigade of Wilcox, numbered ten thousand; as a prelude to the attack, a heavy cannonade was opl)ened from all the Confederate batteries, numbering about a hundred and fifty guns; from all points, in a circle radiating around our own, began a terrific and concentrated firewn Cemetery Hill, which was held, as previously stated, by the Eleventh and Second Corps. To this a more than equal number of Union guns responded with infuriate vigor and effect. The storm of shot was beyond the experience of the most veteran troops; an eyewitness thus described its effects: “The storm broke so suddenly that soldiers and officers-who leaped, as it began, from their tents, or from lazy siestas on the grasswere stricken in their rising with mortal wounds, and died, some with cigars between their teeth, some with pieces of food in their fingers, 461

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. and one, at least, a pale young German, from Pennsylvania, with a miniature of his sister in his hands, that seemed more meet to grasp an artist’s pencil than a musket. Horses fell, shrieking such awful cries as Cooper told of, and writhing themselves about in hopeless agony. The boards of fences, scattered by explosion, flew in splinters through the air. The earth, torn up in clouds, blinded the eyes of hurrying men; and through the branches of the trees and among the grave-stones of the cemetery a shower of destruction crashed ceaselessly.” The hill, wihch seemed alone devoted to this rain of death, was clear in nearly all its unsheltered places within five minutes after the fire began. This continued until nearly three o’clock in the afternoon, when Pickett, with his long, flowing hair, affecting the recklessness of a Murat, sprang to the head of his column, which rent the air with a hideous yell, as the troops advanced from out the short, scrubby timber that had sheltered them. The Federal position was approached by a large, bare, sloping meadow, nearly a mile in width.

Across this ”’ valley of the shadow of death” the divisions of Pickett and Pettigrew had no option but to proceed, swept by the concentrated fire of the Federal guns, and exposed when nearing those guns to a storm of musketry bullets. The distance was too great to advance at the doublequick; it was necessary to move slowly and deliberately, that, as the men approached the batteries, there might be some dash left for the final onslaught. As the column advanced, its impetus increased. The men climbed fences and rushed along, each bent upon getting first into the cemetery. The cannon roared, and grape and canister and spherical case fell thick among them. Still they rushed onward, hundreds falling out of the line, until they came within musket-shot of the Federal troops, when the smallarms began to rattle. As the rebels mounted the low bank in fiont of the riflepits, a furious hand-to-hand conflict ensued, and for a time every man fought by himself and for himself. Hundreds of the enemy pushed forward into the works and up to the cemetery. All were shouting, and screaming, and swearing, clashing their arms and firing their pieces.

The enemy’s shells flew over their field upon the Federal artillerists on the hills above. These, almost disregarding the storm which raged around them, directed all the fire upon the surging columns below. Every available cannon on the Cemetery Hill, and to the right and left, threw its shells and shot in the valley. The fight was terrible; but despite every effort the enemy pushed up the hill and across the second line of works. The fire became hotter. The fightswayed back and forth. One moment the enemy would be at the railings of the cemetery; then a rush from the Federal side would drive them down into the valley. Then, with loud yells, they would fiercely run up the hill again into the cemetery, and have a fierce battle amongthe tombstones. It was the hardest fight of the day, and hundreds were slain there. Pickett had thus gained a partial lodgment.

But the division of Pettigrew, which was’to support him, was not in time.

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT RBELLION. As Pettigrew advances, and is near the guns, there appears a Union force on his left, descending the hill to outflank him. The line halts and falls into confusion. In vain Longstreet, anxiously watching, sends ]]ajor Latrobe to Pettigrew with orders “to refuse his left,” in other vwords, to throw out a line obliquely to meet the Uniion columns. Latrobe’s horse is shot under hinm-he urges his way on foot with desperate speeld-he is too late. The avenging column of Union troops is doing its work. The confused Confederates fell back. The victorious Uiion troops sweep round in triumph, overlapping Pickett, who is thus forced to let go his hold and retire with what luck he may. Then his corps suffered terrible slaughter. What they lost during the fierce onset up to the Federal guns, was as nothing to the devastation of their ralnkls as they retired broken and shattered across the s0Ol)e. Of four thous.andl five hundred who advanced against those fattal works, two thousand five hundred only were mustered on the followilng day. Three brigadiers lay upon the field, and one major oilly, of all the field officers, remained sound. Of thirteen colors carried into action, four only remained with the troops. With this repulse the battle was over. As it vwas, both armies, exhausted by their losses, were glad to rest on their arms and wait the conflict of the morrow. The following dispatch was at once sent to Washington by General Meade: “HEADQUARTERS ARiY OF THIE

POTOMAC, “NEAR GETTYSBURG, JUly 3-8.30 P. 31. “MajorGeneral HlALLrCK, Generalin-Chief: “The enemy opened at one o’clock P. v., from about one hundred and fifty guns, concentrated upon my left centre, continuing without intermission for about three hours, at the expiration of which time he assaulted my left centre twice, being upon both occasions handsomely repulsed with severe loss to him, leaving in our hands nearly three thousand prisoners. “Among the prisoners are BrigadierGeneral Armisted, and many colonels and officers of lesser rank. “The enemy left many dead upon the field, and a large number of wounded in our hands. “The loss upon our side has been considerable. MajorGeneral IHancock and BrigadierGeneral Gibbon were wounded. “After the repelling of the assault, indications leading to the belief that the enemy might be withdrawing, an armed reconnoissance was pushed forward from the left, and the enemy found to be in force. “At the present hour all is quiet. “My cavalry have been engaged all day on both flanks of the enemy, harassing and vigorously attacking him with great success, notwithstanding they encountered superior numbers, both of cavalry and infantry. “The army is in fine spirits. “GEORGE G. MEADE, Major. Ceneral Commanding.” This was followed by the fofowing: “WASHINGTOn, D. C., July 4-10.30. A. M. “The President announces to the country that news from the Army of the Potomac up to ten P. M. of the 3d, is such as tocover that army with the highest honor; to promise a great success to the cause of the’Union, and to claim the condolence of -Il for the many gallant fallen; and that for this, he especially desires that on this day, He, whose will, not ours, should ever be done, be everywhere remembered and reverenced with the profoundest gratitude.. II ABRAIHAM LiiTLN.1 463

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HISTORY OF T”HiE GREAT REBELLION. Lee, having by this time satisfied himself that his second invasion of the North was a more mortifying failure even than his first attempt, made preparations to retreat; and all day long on the 4th, while the guns on either side frowned at each other in angry silence, Ewell’s train, swollen by the plunder in horses and wagons, which he had collected, was filing off behind the Confederate centre and left, and pushing into a pass of the South Mountain, which leads obliquely to Hagerstown. Towards evening the wagon train of A. P.

Hill’s Corps, which occupied the centre, followed Ewell; and it was not till long after midnight that the train of Longstreet’s Corps got under way, and the army concentrated on the evening of the 6th, at Hagerstown.

Meantime, General Meade, having discovered the retrograde movement of Lee, occupied Gettysburg, and, as soon as his troops were somewhat rested, moved towards the Potomac. The last invasion of the North by the Confederate Army was now virtually brought to a close, at the moment when the news ofthe fall of Vicksburg and Port Hudson arrived to hasten the retreat of General Lee, and to inspirit the movements of General Meade.

The Union losses in this campaign were two thousand eight hundred anId thlirtyfour killed, thirteen thousand seven hundred and nine wounded, and six thousand six hundred and forty-three missing; in all, twentythree thousand one hundred and eighty-six. Upward of four thousand five hundred rebel dead were buried by Union bands at Gettysburg, and their losses in prisoners were over thirteen thousand. In the absence of any official report, their losses in the battle of Gettysburg are estimated at at least thirty thousand, including sixteen generals killed and wounded, and two captured. CHAPTER XLIII. Lee’s Retreat from Gettysburg.-Peace Mission.-Conscription.-Meade Reenforced. Draft.-Riots.-Lee Crosses thie 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 cavalry attack in the mountains, by which he lost a number of wagons and ambulances. The mountain passes being held by Lee’s rearguard, it was necessary for Meade to pursue by a flanking movement. The rebel train, guarded by Geneial Imboden, reached Williamsport on the 6th of July, where, on the succeeding day, he was worsted in a Warp combat with a body of Union cavalry and artillery, losing g number of wagons and prisoners. On the 8th, Lee’s rearguard of cavalry, under Stuart, was driven out of HIagerstown with loss, and on the 9th the whole rebel army was concentrated in a strong pqsition 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 464

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IHISTORY OF T~lE GREAT REBELLION. subsistence became very great, the more so that the swollen river stopped the working of neighboring mills. The pontoon bridge at Falling Waters having been partially destroyed by the UInionists, the Confederates wel-e 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 5Ieadp, who, 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 reconnoissance, 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 rearguard was vigorously assailed by Kilpatrick’s cavalry, losing two guns and upwards of’ fifteen hundred prisoners. In this encounter the enemy lost BrigadierGeneral 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 Martinsburg 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 Rapidan, near Orange Court-H ou se. The Union army occupied the north bank of the river, in the neighborhood of Culpepper CourtHouse. At the date of the battle of Gettysburg, a flal-of-truce boat arrived at Fortress Monroe, having on boaard Alexander H. Stephens, VicePresident of the “Southern ConfedCeracy,” 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-truce boat anchored above. I shall inform Mr. Stephens that I await your instructions before giving him an answer. “S. H. LEE, Admiral, &c2’ “CONFEDERATE STATES STEAMER TOPEDO, } ”’ IN JAMES RIVER, July 4, 1863. “‘SIR:-As military commissions, I am the bearer of a communication in writing from Jefferson Davis, Commander-in-Chief of the land and naval forces of the Conrifederate States, to Abraham Litcoln, Commander-in-Chief of the land and naval forces of the United States. Honorable Robert Ould, Confederate States Agent of Exlchange, accompanies me as secretary, for the purpose of delivering the communication in person, and conferring upon the subject tqwhich it relates. I desire to proceed directly to Washington in the steamer Torpedo, commanded by Lieutenant Hunter Davidson, of thb Confederate States Navy, no person being on board but the Honorable Mr.

Ould, myself, and the boat’s officers and crew. “‘Yours most respectfully ‘ TO S. H. LEE, AdmiraZ, &c.A~AD.SEII~~ 30 To S. H. LEE, dmira &c. 30 465
p A -L-EX A NDLM H. STFP8,’ “

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. ” NAVY DEPARTMENT, July 4, 1863. “Acting RearAdmiral 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 N.avvj.” The nature of the mission was not at that time made known, but the circumstance led to numberless conjectures. 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 Rapidan. 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 majorgeneral, and took leave of his brigade in a general order September 12th. BrigadierGeneral Wade Hampton was made a majorgeneral, and Colonels M. C. Butler, of South Carolina, and William C. Wickham, late commander of the Fourth Virginia Cavalry, were appointed brigadiergenerals, and the last named succeeded to the command of Fitzhugh Lee’s Brigade. The Union Army was at the same time reenforced 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 Southern conspirators, was quelled after considerable loss of life on the part of the rioters, and destruction of property; and, to hasten recruiting, volunteering by bounties was in many places adopted instead of the draft. The new levies obtained in the Eastern and Mliddle 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 manceuvre was deemed to indicate 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, considerable detachments had been made from the army of Mleade, to support Rosecrans; and pending the elections in Ohio and Pennsylvania, a considerable number of troops had been furloughed that they might enjoy the right of seifrage.

Taking advantage of this state of affairs in Meade’s army, which was encamped around Culpcpper CourtHouse, and thence to the Rapidan, General Lee, notwithstanding he had detached Longstreet to reenforce Bragg in the West, on the 9th October put his army in motion and crossed the Rapidan, 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 Le6, with his cavalry, to remain and hold the lines 466

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HISTORY OF TIE GREAT REBELLION. south of the Rapidan. Stuart, with Hiampton’s Division, moved on tho right of the column, and encountered the Union troops under Kilpatrick, near James City, on the lo10th. These retired on Culpepper, slowly followed General Lee, who arrived there on the 11th, 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 some loss. The main body of Lee’s army advanced and reached Warrenton Springs on the 13th. Meade, who had fallen 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 reenforcements arriving rapidly, the nion troops retreated across Broad Run, and on the following day proceeded to fortify Bull Run, extending the line towards Little River turnpike. Foiled min all his efforts to outflank or deceive his wary opponent, who was gradually drawing him into unpleasant proximity to the fortifications surrounding Washington, and away from his base, the rebel general gave up the pursuit on the ] 5th, and retired upon the line of the Rappahannock, which he reached on the 18th, after destroying the Orange and Alexandria Railroad from Cub Run to that point. The rear of the retreating 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 Leo 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 thirtyfour men stationed there, with their stores, and, what was of great advantage to the enemy, the transportation. Ho then rapidly retired before the advance of the Union troops from Harper’s Ferry. The results of the enemy’s movement were the capture of two thousand prisoners, for which his own losses in killed, wounded, prisoners, and artillery scarcely compensated. The events in East Tennessee 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 such demonstrations as would, it was supposed, deter Lee from sepding troops to the rebel army in Tennessee, and, perhaps, compel him to recall Longstreet. The new Union 467

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HISTORY OF THlE GREAT REBELLION. levies under the conscription began now to be more and more avail able, and so freely were they organized that from the middle of October to June, 1864, according to the declaration of the chair man 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 Washington, 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 fortifying the approaches to the river on the north side. Under 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 Rappahannock 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 Rappahannock Station, and were also in force to the south at Kelly’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, and the One Hundred and Tenth Pennsylvania, rapidly crossed the bridge. Having gained the opposite bank, the riflepits were charged, and the rebels, finding themselves 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 Rappahannock at Kelly’s Ford, the Sixth was effecting a crossing under more formidable difficulties at Rappahannock Station. On the north side the defences consisted of a strong fort, two redoubts, and several riflepits. These works were held by nearly two thousand men belonging to Early’s Division of Ewell’s Corps.

Commanding positions to the rear of the fort having been obtained, heavybatteries 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 Brigades, was formed, and the works carried by a very brilliant coup de main. Over fifteen hundred prisoners, four guns, and eight battleflags were 468

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. taken. General Sedgwick’s loss was about three hundred killed and wounded. The Third Corps, after the successful crossing at Kelly’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 toward Stevensburg. The rebels had all retreated but a few hours before.

Camps were found prepared for winterquarters. The following dispatches were sent by General MIeade: HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE POTOMAC, A 21Tovember 7-9.30 P. M. “MajorGeneral 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.

“MajorGeneral French advanced to Kelly’s Ford, driving the enemy in small force across the river, and captured several hundred prisoners at the F
ord. “GEORGE G. MEADE, Majur-General Commanding.” “HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF

THE POTOMAC, } “N,ovember 7-10 P. r. “General Sedgwick reports capturing, this P. M., in his operations, four colonels, three lieutenant-colonels, many other officers, and over eight hundred men, together with four battleflags. “General French captured over four hundred prisoners, officers and men. “GEORGE G. MEADE, MajorGeneral Commanding.” The following telegram was sent by President Lincoln to General Meade, and published to the Army on the.lOth: “WASHINGTON, Monday, November 9, 1863.

” MAJORGENERAL MEADE:-I have seen your dispatches about operations 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 df the Army of the Potomac firom the line of Cedar Run to the line of the Upper Rappahannock. Here General Mieade 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 CourtHouse, the river being thoroughly guarded. Its natural strength is considerable, since it commands the northern bank. The rebel defences on the outh side of the Rapidan were of a very formidable character, bing 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. 469 I

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. CHAPTER XLIV. Meade’s Advance across the Rapidan.-Recrosses.-Winter Quarters.-Draft for Three Hundred Thousand Men.-Reconnoissance.-Kilpatrick’s Raid upon Richmond. Death of Darhlren.

THE armies maintained their position without material change until Thanksgiving Day, November 26th, when General Meade, impressed with the idea that Lee was in retreat, issued orders for an advance. The cavalry crossed 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, taking the road to Orange CourtHouse, rid 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 Rappahannock 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. The strength of this position was such that it was not deemed prudent to attack. The soundness of this judgment 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 1st, and reoccupied the position whence he had advanced, near Brandy Station, on the Orange and Alexandria Railroad. The army of Lee resumed its former position at Orange CourtHouse, his advance guarding the fords of the Rapidan. The work of recruiting the army was now in progress. The President, under date of Octobetl 7th, issued a call for three hundred thousand men, to serve fbr three years or the war, and thle Governors of the States were called upon to raise and have enlisted tile quotas due from their States. In case the required number should not volunteer under this call, a draft was to be made on Januaiy 5th, 1864. By means of liberal bounties offered to veteran recruits, a large number of the men of Meade’s army, whose time would expire in the spring of 1864, were induced to reenlist under this call, thirty days’ furlough 470

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HISTORY OF T’E GREAT REBELLION. 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 undertaken. Towards the close of January, 1864, it was determined to consolidate the five corps, which then composed the Army of the Potomac, i n t o three, under Generals Sedgwic k H ancock, and Warren, who thereafter commanded respectively the Sixth, Second, and Fifth. The First and Third ceased to exist. The reenlistments went on rather slowly under the call of October, and on the 1st of February the following order appeared: ” EXECUTIVE MANSION,0

“WASHINGTON, February 1. “Ordered, That a draft for five hundred thousand men to serve for three years or during the war be made 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.” Bv a circular issued by the ProvostMarshal-General, it appeared that this call amounted practically to a call for two hundred thousand men in addition to those required by the October call. The Confederates, ou 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 commander for the Army of the Potomdc, which, however, proved to be utterly groundless. The two armies continued comparatively inactive until the 6th of February, when a reconnoissance in force was undertaken by General Sedclgwick. Kilpatrick’s Division of Cavalry, supported 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 Fredericksburg, 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 e’arly 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 divisions 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 rigit, and crossed at Barnett’s Ford. They had a brisk skirmish with some of Stuart’s cavalry, and recrossed on Sunday, the 7th inst. The results of the movement di(l not confirm the impression that had been current as to the demoralization of fhe enemny. 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. 471 I

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HISTORY OF TlE GREAT REBELLION. 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 confined in Richmond. That this dashing attempt did not meet with full success, does not detract from the originality of the 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-Ilouse to Beaver Dam, which they reached on the afternoon of the 29th. Much destruc tion of bridges and railroads here took place, and the column advanced across the South Anna at Taylorsville, and at halfpast ten A. M. of the 80th were within the outer defences of Richmond, on the Brook turn pike, 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, destroying property as he went. The command encamped at evening near the Chickahominy, repulsed an attack during 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, Cal)taili Dahl gren proceeded to Fredericshall to destroy munitions there, but, finding the place too strong, declined to attack, and moved off to the James River Canal, which he reached eight miles east of Goochland CourtHouse. 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 Kilpatrick. 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 Williamsburg. 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 paperis detailing a plan for destroying Richmond by incendiarism, and murderiing the members of the GoVernment. The report of the rebel Secretary of War gave particulars of the alleged intentions of Dahlgren; but the firiends of Dahlgren and the United States Government have denied that any such plan was devised, and the alleged instructions bear internal evi. dence of being a clumsy forgery of the enemy. A cooperating 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 knowb that at the time Richmond was defended by a totally inadequate force, and might, perhaps, by a vigorous exertion, have been entered by the Union cavalry. I 472 a

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HISTORY OF IT GREAT REBELLION. CELAPTER XLV. Creation of the Office of LieutenantGeneral.-General Grant Appointed.-Army Re organization.-Draft for Two Hundred Thousand Men.-General Grant assumes Com mand in Chief.-Powers of the LieutenanGeneral.-Country between Washington and RPichmond.-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 LieutenantGeneral, and recommending General Grant for the office, on the 10th March a general order issued relieving General Halleck from duty as generalin-chief of the army, and assigning General Grant to the command of the armies of the United States, with headquarters in the field. General Halleck was appointed chief ofthe staff. The command was assumed on the following general order: “HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMIES OF TIIE UNITED STATES, } “

ASHVILLE, TENNESSEE, M]arc~ 17, 1864. GENERAL ORDER, NO. 12. “In pursuance of the following order of the President: ”’ EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, M]arch 10, 1864. “‘Under the authority of the act of Congress to appoint to the grade of’ lieutenantgeneral in the army, of February 29, 1864, LieutenantGeneral Ulysses S. Grant, United States Army, is appointed to the command of the armies of the United States. “‘ABR lHARA LINCOLN.’ -I assume command of the armies of the United States. Headquarters will be in the fie]d, and, until further orders, hill be with the Army of the Potomac. There will be an office headquarters in Washington, to which all official communications will be sent, emcept those from the army where the headquarters are at the date of their address. “U. S. GRANT, Lieutelaat-Geciral.” Following this order was a new call for a draft of two hundred thousand men, as follows: “EXECUTIVE MfANSION, WASHIINGTON, Mfarch 14, 1864. GENERAL ORDERS, NO. 100. “In order to supply the force required to be drafted for the Navy, and 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 proportional quotas for the different wards, towns, townships, precincts, or election districts or counties, will be made knowmn through the Provost-MAarshal-General’s Bureau, and accounts will be taken of the credits and deficiencies of former quotas.

“The 15th day of April, 1864, is desgnated as the time up to which the numbers required from each ward of a city, town, &c., may be raised by voluntary enlistment, and drafts will be made in sucli 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 time 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) “ABRAIIAM LINCOLN. “Official: E. D. TOWNSENDZ), A. A. G.” 473

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 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 reorganization, as may be seen by the following order: REORGAINIZATION OF THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC. “HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE

POTOMAO, ” 1Thursday, March 24, 1864. “GENERAL ORDERS, NO. 10. I The following order has been received from the War Department: ”’ WAR

DEPARTMENT, ADJUTANTGENERAL’S OFFICE, } ”’ WASHINGTON, March 23, 1864. ”’

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 organization 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.-MajorGeneral G.

W. Warren is assigned by the President to the command of the Fifth Corps.

”’ Third.-The following general officers are detached from the Army of the Potomac, and will report for orders to the adjutant of tile army, viz.: MajorGeneral George Sykes, U. S. Vols., MajorGeneral W. H. French, U. S.

Vols., MajorGeneral John Newton, U. S. Vols., BrigadierGeneral J. R.

Kenly, U. S. Vols., BrigadierGeneral F. Spinola, U. S. Vols., BrigadierGeneral Solomon Meredith, U. S. Vols. ”’ By order of the Secretary of War. “‘E. D. TOWNSEND, A. A. G.’ Fourth.-The following arrangements are made to carry out the provisions 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 commanders of those corps for instructions. BrigadierGeneral J. B. Carr will report to Mlajor-Genera]IIancock, commanding the Second Corps, and BrigadierGeneral H. Prince to Majorteneral 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 o the corps commanders concerned, who are authorized to rearrange the brigades oT 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 headquarters. Special instructions will be given hereafter with respect to staff officers of the two corps temporarily broken up. “Fifth.-The majorgeneral commanding avails himself of the occasion to say, that in view of the reduced strength of nearly all 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 reasons for attaching the First and Third Corps, for the time being, to other corps, were in no respect founded upon any sup 474

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HIIISTORY OF T GREAT REBELLION. posed 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 Government and of the country. The First and Third Corps will retain their badges and distinctive marks, and the majorgeneral 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 MajorGeneral Meade. (Signed) “S.

WILLIAMS, A. A. G.” The following is a summary of the reorganization of the corps: FIFTH ARMY CORPS. MajorGeneral Warren, Commanding. De consolidation of divisions and arrangement 6f brigades is made as follows:-The oominmanding 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 BrigadierGeneral R. B. Ayres. The old Third Division, Fifth Corps, will remain as the new Third Division, Fifth Army Corps. The Second Brigade of tle Third Division, First Army Corps, has been transferred to the Second Division, First Army Corps, and this division will hereafter be designated as the Second Division, Fifth Army Corps. The First Brigade of the Third Division, First Army Corps, ha been transferred to the First Division, First Army Corps, and this division will here after be designated as the Fourth Division, Fifth Army Corps.

The designating 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. BrigadierGeneral J. S. Wadsworth, commanding Fourth Division. 2. BrigadierGeneral S.‘W. Crawford, commanding Third Division. 3. BrigadierGeneral J. C. Robinson, commanding Second Division.

4. BrigadierGeneral Charles Griffin, commanding First Division. 5.

BrigadierGeneral R. B. Ayres, commanding Third Brigade, First Division.

6. BrigadierGeneral L. Cutter, commanding First Brigade, Fourth Division.

/. BrigadierGeneral Henry Baxter, commanding Second Brigade, Second Division 8. BrigadierGeneral J. J. Bartlett, commanding Second Brigade, First Division. 9. BrigadierGeneral James Barnes, commanding First Brigade, First Division. 10. BrigadierGeneral J. C. Rice, commanding Second Brigade, Fourth Division The following is a portion of the corps staff: LieutenantColonel H. C. Bankhead, Inspector-General.

LieutenantColonel F. A. Locke; Assistant AdjutantGeneral. 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. MajorGeneral Hancock, Commanding. The original regiments of the Secqd Corps have been consolidated into two divisions, with a new assignment gf division and brigade commanders. The division formerly known as the First Division of the Third Corps, commanded by MajorGeneral 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 BrigadierGeneral 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.

The following is the arrangement of divisions and assignment of commanders: 475

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION FIRST DIVISION. BrigadierGeneral T. C.

Barlow. I 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 T.

R. Brooke, Fifty-fifth Pennsylvania. SECOND DIVISION. BrigadierGeneral 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. MajorGeneral D. B. Birney. First Brigade-Brigadier-General J. H. Ward. ,Second Brigade-Brigadier-General A.

Haye. FOURTH DIVISION. BrigadierGeneral J. B. Carr. First Brigade-Brigadier-General G. Mott. Second Brigade-Colonel W. R. Brewster, Seventythird 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 Divislon. 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 General Russell and General Morris. FIRST

DIVISION. BrigadierGeneral 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. SECOND DIVISION.

BrigadierGeneral 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. BrigadierGeneral H. Prince. First Brigade-Brigadier-General W. H. Morris. Second Brigade-Brigadier-General D. A. Russell. Colonel C. H. Tompkins, First Rhode Island Artillery, commanding Artillery. Each of the generals detached took leave of his troops in a general order. Major-Generial P. H. Sheridan was summoned from the West to take command of the cavalry of the Army of the Potomac.

LieutenantGeneral Grant arrived in Washington on Tuesday, April 8th, 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 commissien as lieutenantgeneral, and thus addressed bim: 476

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IISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION’X. ” GEERAL 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 LieutenantGeneral in the Army of the United States. With this high honor devolves upon you also acorresponding 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 personal concurrence.” To which General Grant replied as follows: ” MR. PRESIDENT:-I accept the commission with gratitude for the high honor conferred. With the aid of the noble armies that have fought on so many fields for our common country, it will be my earnest 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 leads both nations and men.” General Grant was then introduced to the Cabinet, and some time was spent in conversation.

The new general lost little time in commencing his new duties. He issued an order directing all civilians, sutlers, and their employes, to roceed to the rear with all their property, and stopped all furloughs. He personally inspected the several Eastern departments, visiting Fortress Monroe, Annapolis, and 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 il the construction of earthworks.

In illustration of the ample powers conferred upon General Grant, and of the policy pursued towards him by the President, the following correspondence is of interest: “EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, April 30, 1864. “LieutenantGeneral GRANT: i Not expecting to see you before the spring campaign opens, I wish to express E 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 wvish not to obtrude any restraints or constraints upon you. lWhile 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 yoo. ‘ Yours, very truly, A. LICOLN.” GRANT’S

REPLY. “HEADQUARTERS ARMIES OF THE UNITED STATES, CULPEPPER COURT-IHOUSE, May 1, 1864. THE PRESIDENT:-Your very kindletter of yesterday is just received. The con& dence 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 disappointed. 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 anti importance of success, I have been astonished at the readiness with which every thing asked for has been yielded, without even an ex 477 f

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION1. planation being asked. Should my success be less than I desire and expect, the least I can say is, the fault is not with you. i Very truly, your obedient servant, “U. S. GRANT, LieutenantGeneral.” With the approach of spring it became necessary to complete the arrangements for another advance on Richmond; and this time it was apparently determined that there should be no lack of force and no diversity of command that should interfere with the directness and efficiency 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 mn various stages of progress, the army of the invasion generally stop ping short at the Rappahannock and the Rapidan. The difficulty of assing these lines was beginning to be considered as insuperable. ut the Government was determined, 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 unexampled 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 uninterrupted 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 country between the Rapl)ahannock 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 CourtHouse, five hunmled men are required to protect the rear. AnI entire corps was in March employed by General M-eade in doing this firom the Rappahannock 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 exposod to capture by bands sweep g down from the mountains. 478

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]IISTORY OF TILE GREAT REBELLION. The rebel leaders fully understood all these circumstances, 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 Armty of the Po tomac. Meantime, they pursued the Fabian policy, and were not foolish enough to stake every thiing on the risk of a battle, except where invulnerably fortified. Their own rear needed no protection’; they had two railroad routes, besides all te ordinary roads. Thus they had all the advantage 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 com pel the enemy to retreat and Richmond to be abandoned. Second, it might be able to bring on anl engagement which would prove decisive. Thirdl, 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 Pamunkey or York Rivers, or by the railroad from Fredericksburg. It is risking nothing to say that the army could at any time go to Richmond, if relieved fi’orn the necessity of protecting its rear. This could have been done when General :Ieade crossed the Rapidan and was stopped by the rebel works on 3Iine Run. The army could transport fifteen days’ subsistence and forage, and with this be moved to Hanover CourtHouse, to operate on a new base.

Fifteen 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. In Virginia, our army could derive no advantage firom the country. It could not subsist itself for the most limited period. The portion of the State which had been thi scene of war was exhausted. Even among the fertile farms of the Pen insula it was difficult to obtain small supplies of forage; of subsist ence for the men there was actually nothing. The necessity of” bases” was therefore evident. The works occupied by Lee’s army on the Rapidan extended on the right tlhree miles below Raccoon Ford. Ewell’s Corps and Hill’s lay behind those defences, and stretched out on each side of Orange Court. iotiuse, 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 position on the Rapidan. Such had been the disposition ofthe 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), WVarren’s (Fifth), and Sedgwick’s (Sixth), recruited to over forty thousand men each; in ad-ditionii 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 constitute his reserve on the field. In connection with the direct advance of this army by land towards Richmond, there were to be cooperating movements up the James River from Fortress Monroe, and up the Valley of the Shenandoah, towards Lynchburg, the forrger to be conducted by the Army of the James, comprising W. T. (“

Baldy “) Smith’s (Eighteenth) Corps, and 479

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. Gilmore’s (Tenth), the whole under the command of General Butler; and the latter by the Army of the Shenandoah, comprising 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. CHAPTER XLVI.

The Army in Tennessee.-Results of Murfreesboro’.-Operations in Tennessee.-Minor Expeditions.-Advance of Rosecrans.-Retreat of Bragg.-Burnside’s Campaign in East Tennessee.-Occupation of Knoxville.-Evacuation of Chattanooga.-Concen tration of the Enemy.-Battle of Chickamauga.-The Two Generals.-Results of the Battle. THIE battle of Stone River, near Murfreesboro, which closed the operations of the year 1862 in Tennessee, left General Rosecrans es tablished( at the latter place with the Army of the Cumberland. The army occupied a position in front of the town, and a series of exten sive earthworks, completely encircling it, were constructed for the purpose of making it a d6pot of supplies and the base of future opera tions. The railroad track and the bridges in the rear towards Nash ille were also repaired. On the 9th of January, the army was disided into three corps, designated the Fourteenth, Twentieth, and Twenty-first, and commanded respectively by Generals Thomas, M1cCook, and Crittenden. Active operations were, however, sus pended, owing to the rains of the season. Large supplies were col e~~~~~C
lected in consequence of the rise of the Cumberland River at Nashville and MIurfireesboro’. But the enemy 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 commu nications between the Army of the Cumberland and its supplies. Thus also several of the steamers on the Cumberland River were cap tured and burned. On the 31st of January, 1863, General Jeff. C. Davis, with a divi sion of infantry and two brigades of cavalry, under Colonel AIinty, moved from camp on an expedition in the direction of Rover and Franklin. The force was absent thirteen dlays, during which it scoured the country, mal-ing many captures from the enemy. On the Confederate side there was much activity under Colonel Forrest, who operated to cut off supplis on the Cumberland. On the 5th of March a Federal brigade at Spring Hill was surprised by a large force under Van Dorn. The former consisted of the Thirty-third and Eighty fifth Indiana, Twenty-second Wisconsin, and Nineteenth Michigan, numbering fifteen hundred’ and eightynine men, together with the One Hundred and Twentyfourth 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 480

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HISTORY OF TE GREAT REBELLION. and artillery escaped. The enemy were followed to Duck River by General Sheridan, who succeeded in capturing some prisoners. On the 20th of M.-trch, 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 Mlurfreesboro’, and after a sharp conflict the assailants were driven off. MIany expeditions were sent out by both sides with more or less Access. About the 10th of April, Van Dorn, with a force of about ten thousand men, renewed the at tack at Franklin upon General Granger, whose force consisted of the divisions of BrigadierGenerals Baird and Gilbert, and sixteen guns, and BrigadierGeneral Smith’s cavalry b’igadc of eleven hundred and twentyeight men; also a cavalry force of sixteen hundred men and two guns, under Colonel Stanley. The command of Stanley was se verely handled by the enemy, who finally withdrew with the loss of mnany killed and wounded and two cannon. On the 28th of April, Gene~l Reynolds’s Division, with a mounted force, moved to attack the eneay at MeMinnville, whence supplies were sent to Chattanooga The operation was a success. In the first week of April a cavalr ex pedition, consisting of the First Indiana, Eightieth Illinois, and por tions of two Ohio regiments, under the command of Colonel A. D. Streigrht, numbering altogether 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, anddefeated the Confederate troops stationed there, with considera ble loss to thbm.

Thence he moved through Northern Georgia, aim ing to reach the important points of Rome and Atlanta. Meanwhile General Dodge, with his force, turned southward, to make a sweeping raid in Northerh Alabama, and return His head-qnarters at Corinth. No sooner had Colonel Streight commenced his march than infor mation of his movements was received by General Forrest and Colonel Roddy, who, with a cavalry force, happened to be within striking dis tance. By a rapid movement they came upon the rear of Colonel Streight, and commenced a running fight, which continued for four days, during which there were two severe battles and several spirited skirmishes. After the Federal troops had marched over a hundred miles towards the heart of Georgia, the rebel force increased to overwhelming numbers, and Colonel Streight, having expended his ammunition, and his men becoming exhausted, was compelled to surrender at a point fifteen miles from Rlome. His men, numbering thirteen hundred, were paroled and sent to Virginia, and exchanged about two months afterwards. But his officers were retained and imprisoned, on the demand of the Goverir 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 Federal Government to suspend the exchange 31 48i 0 6 WI -

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1[ISTORY OF THE GREAT RIEBELLION. of Confederate officers, and subsequently to imprison General Sohn 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 Richnmold. As tlle spring wore on without nny movement being commenced in Ten,iesse,,, the inactivity of Rosexans produced lmucli dissatisfaction. General Gr:int was at that time pressing the siece of Vicksbullrg, watched by Johnston in Mississippi, while Bragg was faciiig Rosecrans. It was supposed that in consequence of the pressing n(els of Peml)erton at Vicksburg. Bragy was sending troops to Johnston to enable him to ol)erate upon Grant’s rear.

Hence, Ro;ecranq, reenforced by Burnside, was ordered to attack Bragg while he was thus weakene(d. Rose(,rans replied, that |lis cavalry w:ns not yet mounted, that the enemy was not weakened materially, that the army could not advance with reasonable prospects of success,:nd that a decisive moveA(nt at that time was not advisabl!e. This op)iniori was shared by ne(arly al the commanders in the army. If Biragg was albout to aid Johnston, they argued], he could do so only by leaving Rosecr.ins’s front, wllich would give the opportunity to adv:.n( e. On the other hal,d, if Grant should be defe:tte,l, Johnston woul( join Bi,agg, and then Rosecrats should be near his base, to receive tlitir attack. Notwithstandin.g these reasons, PRosecrans commenced on June 25th a series of operations which, without bringing on a ge,er.l engagement, resulted ili the retreat of the enemy, on July 4th, uponI Chattanooga. At the same time, General Stan!ey occupied Shelbyville, and pushed on to lIuntsville, while Giaiigel held the former place. This retreat of Bragg, by a oning Middle Tennessee to the Federal troops, had a demoralizing’cct upoii his forces, and discoulraged the fi’ierids of the Confederacy in Tennessee. The Federal loss.es in. these olderations were eighty-five killed, four hundr,,d and six.ty-two woun(led, and thirteen missing. There were caiptu’ed from the eliemy one thl,)uand six hund’red and thirty-fqoir’ prisoners, and six pieces of artillery, many smallarms, muclh camp equipage, an(i large quantities of commissary and quartermaster’s storec. Biagg,, haviing retu,‘ned to Chattanooga on the south side ofthe Tennessee Rive,, now fortified hig position,.tnl tlhrew up defensive works at the crossing of the river and as far up as.Blythe’s Ferry. The pla:n of campaign adlopted for the capture of the entire upper mount:tin region of East Tennessee was an advance in doul)le exterior lines, co:icentric on the enemy. The main columnt, under Rosecrans, was to move from the front of operations at Tullahon):t a’nd Win(hester, on Chattanooga; andea cooperative coluimn, irnder Btirnside, to move from Lexington, Kentucky, on Knoxville, and then(‘e on Chattanooga. It will be observed that Rosecrans’s line of a(-dvance was. almost due east-about eiglhty miles-while Burnside’s was almost d.ue south, about two hundred inoes. As both timed at o,,e common objective point, and moved on it.from ol)posite points, with the eneiiy lying between them, the lines of advance were, as we have named them, exterior and condentric towards the enemy. 482

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IIISTORY OF T”IE G’.EAT r.ED-ELLIOi. Tile first object of General Rosec’rans was to repair tle railroad from Nashville to Stevenson in Alabama. At Stevenson the Naslvillc Rail road lnites with the AMtemplis and Charleston road. Stevenson is thirty-seven miles west of Cliattatnoo’a, on the line of the latter i(‘ad. Havilng completed hi4
prepara:tionls, he comrnenced( August 16tll his movement on Chattanooga and its covering mountain ri,tges onil tho southeast. On tha.t day, General Thoi.las imove I fioro Decher, I, with the division of Payne in adv:ln(e, and occupied Stevensoil. 0O) tho same day AIcCook’s Corps occupied Sa’enem, tea miles f:om Wincl,,!ster, onl the Huntsville loa(l, and moved ()n to Bellepont, twelve miles east of Stevenson, while Crittenden mnoved north of Cllattl)llooga. The front of the entire movement extended fi’oiIi tlie hea:( of S,’?qu:ltchie V.lley in E:ist Tennessee to Atlhens in Alabatlla, thus thireatening the lirhe of the Tenne.see River froiii Whitesburg to Blytie’s Ferry, a distance ofone lhundred and fifty miles. A gancie at tite ma:p will show that the Tennessee-River, after running due westward from Chiattalnoog’l for twenty liles, ttirns abruptly,‘nd takes an almost due southerly direction, and the line of advance of Rosecrans’s army eastwarld would iieet it allnos.

at iright angles. The river was crossedl on the l:ist d:ly of Augrust aL
three ])oints-lBri(lgeport, Stevenson, and Slie’l Mour(nd-th passage’be’nr effe(cted l)y tho for,is and one pontoonll brid,re. Whi’e, however. tlti( m:liiil body of tho army-conmpiising the rigltl (Cifc’s Corps, tlhe T%wentieth),and tho centie (Thom:ls’s, the Fourth)-w’lthro wn (iver the river aIt the l)oints indic:ite,l, for a fla:k mn:ir(h on Ch.ltt:inoo,a, by the,outh sid(le of lho river, the left wing of the araty (Crittenden’s Corp;, the Twenty-first) was swung round the I)end (if the uiver, on the nortti s:.de, f(r a (lirect att:l.k fiolli tlilat side. The task be’oie th1e two c,)l imis ()f the army, therefore, wa, lor the first, atl a,ivalce ovelr a: interval of thirty mi’es, betweei the poiints of cl()ss$ng the Teniiess.e a:id Chatt:ltlpoga (a country ex(ee,ling’y rugge(l:and inolllltaill()us);:tid, f)r the second a swinging movement by way ()f the Sequtatch.e Valley; on the fi’ont of ClI:ttt;niioga. After effecting th. pass:lg, (,f the rivi’, o0l the 31st, Rosecrans hablte-liis columns, fol someit, (Iys, for tlhe purpose of allowing part of the p:‘ograim,lle of combined ol)ei’atio:is a,ssiotiel to General Burnside to b)e firther develope,l. Bilrnsi(le had assillumed the colilman(l of the Dep’rtment of the Ohio in M:irch. O-l t’ie 30th of that month, General Gillmore eing:ged and defeated a large fo:ce of the enemy intile; Pegiam.

near Somnerset, I.entucky. OtlliC operatiolis co:.iisted of an attein;,ted iaid in Harrison Couity, Indian:i, firom whiclh the enemy were diive,i b:.‘ek with a loss of fifty-three made ploiei.s, and a movement uilder Colonel S.Lunders, with two p.ecces ot.lrtil’ery, the Fir.t Tt(nne.s;Ce cavalry, and sO.lle detachments ftoin General Caiter’s commaud, by wlich tle railroail ineir Knoxville.md the brilges at Stae Cieek. Straw berry Plains, and Mossy Creekl were des:royed, and tell pieces of arlt illery, onu. thoufatid stand of alrms, aild five iundred ]l)iisoainr.s w(e-re captu:‘ed. with a l,ss of’ one killed, two) wo:lnded’, and a few missing.

Tlie (leparture of the Niutli Army Corps Ao rie-entforce Graut delayed sonmewvhat Butrnside’s preparations for aii active caml)aigll in East Telnes.-ee. The no. 483

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. cessity, however, of his cooperating with the movements of Rosecrans, compelled him to take the field without awaiting the return of this corps, Aot this time Buckner was in command of the Confederate forces in East Tennessee, with his liead-quarteirs at Knoxville. His force numbered about twenty thousand 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 avoided that route. Concentrating his forces at Crab Orchard, on the southerly edge of Lincoln County, Kentucky, Burnside prepared for the movement over the mountains. His main column moved on three ro’ites, the objective point being Kingston, which place was reached on September lst. On the same day Knoxville was occupied by a force under Colonel Foster, Buckner having previously retreated with his troops to foirm a junction with Bragg, and Generail Shackelford immediately pushed folrward to secure the costly bridge of the East Tennessee and Georgia Railroad which crossed the Tennessee at Loudon. But it had already been destroyed by the retiring rebels. Meanwhile, a small column had mnarched irom entucky on Cumberland Gap, held by General Frazier, and Burnside, by a rapid flank march from Knoxville, cut off the retreat of the garrison, which surrendered unconditionally onptember 9th. The fruits of this well-executed maneuvre were t thousand prisoners, fourteen pieces of artillery, and a quantity of stores. Burnside 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 with Rosecrans. The main body of Burnside’s army was now ordered by the generalin-chief to concentrate on the Tennessee River, from Loudon west, so as to connect 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 Tennessee and Chaittanooga had to be made practicable, and it was onily after prodigious labor that he succeeded in reaching the valley bordering the southern slope of the first ridge on the 7th inst., on which day he established his headquarters at Trenton, eight miles south of the river. Meanwhile the left wing was swung round towards Chattanoogra, 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 retreat and of communication, the Western and Atlantic Railroad, was seriousF? threatened. At the same time, a body powerful enough to takt 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 Chattanoo ga. Bragg retreated towards Oleveland 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 484

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. Tennessee Railroad, the one at Cleveland, the other at Chattanooga Juiinction. At this time the authorities at Washington were led to believe that Lee was receiving re-ebforcements from Bragg. The slight resistance made by the enemy in East Tenliessee, and liis abandonment without defence of such an important position as Chattanooga, rendered plausible the reports of sfies and deserters from Lee’s aimy, tha-t re-enfi)rcements were arriving there. Fearing, therefore, that Rosecranis’s army might b’e drawn too far into the mouttains of Georgia, where it could not be’supplied, and might l)e attacked i,efore reenforcements could reach it firom Burnside, Halleck sent orders to Rosecians to hol(li the mountain passes west of Dalton, anrid to ascertain whether Brag, was reenfiorcin(, Lee. The troops of Hurlbut on Rosecrans’s right now crossed the Tennessee River towards Whitesburg to protect Nashville, and, if necessary, troops could be drawn from Shlerman, at Vicksburg. The occupation of Vicksburg by the Union forces had placed the troops of Johnston at the disposal of the Confeder:ites, antid part of themn, about this time, unitedi with Bragg.

Suspecting this, Halleck, on September 13tlh, teleg-‘aphed to Shermati as follows: “It is quite possible that Bragg and Johnston will move through Northern Alabama, to the Tennessee River, to turn General Rosecrans’s ri and cut off his communications. All of General Grant’s available forces shouldsent to Memphis, thence to Corinth and Tuscumbia, to co-operate withi Rosecrans, should the rebels attempt that movement.” By the occupation of Cumberland Gap and Chattanooga, the Federal troops now not only coverer the entire States of Tennessee and Keeitucky, but secured a base of iniland operations against Alabama, Geo;,‘gia, anil Souith Carolina. Two third(is of the nit’e-beds, and a large proportion of the coal which supplied the reb)el founderies, lay in East Telnessea, which, moreover, abounded in the necessaries of life. It is one of the strongest countries in the world, so full of lofty moulntains, that it has bee:X
called, not unaptly, the Switzerlaid of America. Its loss was felt to be a severe blow. On the 14th of September, the enemy had concentrated his forces near Lafayette, Georgia, to dispute the further advance of Rosecrans. His threatened movement to tle right and left proved to be merely cavalry raids to cut Rosecrans’s lines of supplies, and menace his comrn. mrnunication with Burnside. His main army had been re-enfoir(‘ed 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 &rmy extended at this time from Gordon’s Mills to Alpin,, a disance of some forty miles, occupying the passes of Lookout Mountain. By Wednesday, the 16th of Septemnber, the army had been concentrated on West Chickamauga Creek, about ten or twelve miles northwest of Lafayette, Georgia, headquarters being established at a place named Crawfish Spring.

An attempt of our advance to debouch through the passes of Pigeon Mountain, to c(mtinue the march southward, showed that the enemy held a strong position in our immediate front, beyond the Creek. Rtosecrans held the rising 485 t

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HIISTObY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. ground west of the stream ()is. left resting on Gordon’s Mills), while the enemy held a similar position east of it. The iiiterveiiing strenm would of couise serve the enemy to mask their movements, ald it bec,me ie(eess’iry for Rosecrans to watch pith extreme wainiiess what their designs might li)e. Rec,,nnoisances on the 17tl and 18th showed that Bi’airy was moving up par):llel with the creek, massingcr his troops in front of Rosecrans’s left centre and left, with the m:inifest purl,ose of (executing a turning movement that would )latce him betwee:i the Union army and Chi:-ttanooga. To’mieet thlis, the Union general effected a corrEspon(ding movement of his force by the left fl,iiik, wheeling the whole army back dowi the creek. During the night of the 18th, Thomas’s Corps (Fourl ceenth), forming the (entre of the armry, tog,eth(r with Johnson’s Division of McCook’s Corps, had moved to the left, past Critteiiden’s, thus beconiing the left wing of the army, and making Crittendeti’s Corps (the Twenty-first) the centre. The two other divis.ions of McCook’s Corps (Davis’s and Sheridan’s) wer( to mlove into the position ab)andoned by Thim~ls’is Co?‘ps, but had not time to assume it tfully before the commencement of the action of Saturday morning, the 19.h. On t!he morning of Saturday, the Union line of battle, as fo:‘ned, ran alolg the Rossville and Lafayette roads dlnorth and south, the right restipg at Gorilon’s Mills, the left at Kell l House. On the extremne left was Brannan, next B;iird anil 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 Slierilan’s Divisions, fai.ed a little south of east. Negley formed a defensive crochet at Owen’s Ford, higher up the valley. Detached from this line, covering the RiLnggold approach to Rossville, the reserve corps, unde-General Gordon Granger, was st.tioned, but, not operating with the main columnn, can hardly be said to have formed part of the line of l)attle. On the 18th, the Confederate army, which had been marciing through stiflitig beds of dust and crilml)ling rock since the I4th, crossed West Chickamaugra Creek, ard upon the morning of the 19th the only accessioll of st’ength which Bragg had received from Virginia consisted of three brigades under General Hood. The troops of Longstreet had not then arrived. At 10 A. M., Brannan, on the extreme left, attacked the enemy with the view of driving him over the creek. The battle, although it lasted until nightf ill, was little more than a struggle for p-itioii, man:intainied by the Confederates with a view to holding the ground w%here they stood, and by the Federals with a view of driving the enemny across the sty’eam. It resulted in a dr:iwn battle, both armies at the close of the day occupying the samne ground they held in the morning,. The strength (,f the encounter tell upon the divisions of V:in Cleve and Davis, of Crittenden’s Corps, on the Federal si(le; and upon the Confeder:ite side, on the troops of Cleburne, an Iritnhman by birth, and (nce( a pirivate ill the English army, who had risen. to the rank of majorgeneral in the rebel army., During the night of Saturday, General Rosecrans made some changes 486

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Bti,,knei-, ineluding the divisions of Generals Prestolfl alid Ste.“‘art, andl also, ou,,,.,ide of Btiekner’s -orn iiandl, thec divisioni of Ge’leeraiBl Hiiin4im,,a, WValker, -ind BusII rod Joliistt’n. Ti i-iilit wa C()niposed of Hilil’s Corps, of two tiivisions, un’ler Cleb4, anti Brckiilril(lge; ‘With the (iiv,isioii of Cheatliam, (-) Polk’s C,)rps, atnd th-. division of W. 1-1. T. Walker. The di,,I~ositioii of’tli(
wh-ole rebel -irrny from r,(,ht to left w:is Bireekinriidge, Clebtirtie, Cheitttham, Stew arl, hlood, i~itdrnan, Pres,ton. Bi-acl-s irlan of battle (thie same whtich lie invairiably. purs,iedi) was to -ittachc along his whiole li.ne, (-otiniflene’n,, on hiis, i-icht an1-d allowing e the attack to be, taken up suiccessively by (livis~on after div’sit~ll, iijtiti it reachid the extreme left. Aet.-orittigly~, Polk wa-s ordered to cornmene-c tire attiack- -.t daviNbrea-k- of ithe 20th, b-.it, o-,itig to.,-otne un-,foreseeti ditfictilti~es, tliis, diti i ot tak(- i)ace iiitit i fin,,i o’cloctk, when I-‘)i-cekjnri(ige and Clebut-ne o’e-ied tipon Thit)tntis’ti t command. The battle tioon raged Jam~ ~~~~~~~~~~~I L ei was hsrn i ot ioia le~ i t to) ieenf,) ir att atiti,t~tlv contrih aixint I~Jltttl ritttttttei at xt ittltt in tn4t. & vi,-,,)iy at;tkttttt lr lie tretettti ejitninan~l Iitijorfur’atnt Iwichi lie wa itci’ to e-aljitti-, Ktttt\ vilie and initu~~~t itt th~~~~ I’i (i’t vt,)tda h atirta (1Iv ttntl to f East l’in’i’.in whi-.h he of th ii )(lltiO
h’ltttite xi~ttiit if iavmatcr, ut~t,-i Iy t~ In Ajiril, 1bi64. li,’

itiiii’t,- lits tro,.ps IS i’kI~~it.. had’ jttineti the Sects-.itCO11(1‘5
iiit, tli-i a y (,f Lit, titi wts si,) se((I C. etitotnantitit ti Itrittade at e the an~l,,l -,t t’,te lVt,I f tile, WVi tlri first liitil it littli1~un, afer whtc tie wa con-Mi.y 6th. r I ttc incap’tcita,tt’ii f’,r iteuiitt M iv 5 h 8ev to te teconit Il 1)111 iiti~ii t’O iteit fll i,,ii Of r the (,ft( hri’r’sevI ith ttnit t~te 1 it 15101 ol Mate l nil ti ii tt as 1ii~ itti it ftr~t livtenanrio J a I scre-ce l~~e eti~~otiiandei Ijit C ii a. nio n waitir h,,- lii,,,itb.IcTnprcbt’l left with tI-c tal k ifton ltcnttV.-L.itnatintrt t il~li.-ryattl eava(ireat,-, c,, tPiit ~~~i lics~~~~~~~~ette ~~~~nilik IS0 al, frititi,, tilti liIti’ci 1iM y 8 i ~s as,iiittt,ctondi in May. lie cion ~~~ieinsdtin iitt of the he trte.n-a i iiitc~ T lie( dAei-tii~ ly S,i’,ltrillr ath 5ylvani~~~~~~t in that bit aid ioter.ttihtitnittrin 1h 1st.0, set’iii~tti~tslw iniittrie i servtI icf “t in part in the battle of Gtttysh t-urrI ijtene, tsr ia tleinc eetvciniig April, audi duinin, the aibum Jiaiitni.it f oi tajtr,- i’cet w,t then i So, ti l a.,.’,n, t t lol s’I g ( t h r li e d 14 w -.Ls le’ 55 i tirlreve to tie caitti,i ani ir ‘ iejon r f r Li-1 1 a ll Ii ti c,ramsuc i ni f i t he,t of ixic l wt’lt -,id ttt tlii i 1101 itLi frtI Icitl~l al 1 i-u.nit an-n l fiter oiiitt ttcln lii t e %v s c,i ], edci-klv i t’ tt in tli,-ti Lt 1 6 I I t awtil rieei su q t o tt y 1’ tieii I I II I

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EHISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. furiously vaong, this part of the fie’d, but the veteran troops of Thomas held tlheir ground ag,ainist the utmost efforts of the enemy. Agiin and again the rebels, advancing en echelowt by brigade from the cover of the woods into the open field, charged with impetuous fury aiid terrific yells towards the bre.istwoik of logs and rails; but elch time the fiery blasts from our battcri(.s and battalions swept over andi around them, and their ranks were crumbled and swept away.

In the mean time, Longstreet had at eleven o’clock commenced his attack oti the Union lett wing. Steadily advancing, he swept aw:.y the liea I ofevery formnatioin: though ofteni checked, and for the momelit repulsed, again and again he ro-le to the head of lhis troops, and, hat in hand, i-ising in his stirrups, with voice and gesture ani:n.ated his mene. The Western trool)s were brave and hardy men, the material of as fine an a)‘my as ever shouldered musket, but could not check the attacek of Loigstreet, who was pressing right on for the possession of Chattanooga. To meet this d:n,ger,, Rosecrans, having disposed otf Polk on his lett, comm,nced to move troops rapi,lly from left to right. Woosl was ordered to go instantly to the relief of Reynolds, who was iarid press,,ed by Loiigstreet, while Davis and Sheridan were to shift over to the left:n,l t’.us close up the line. Woo(l, though fiercely assaulted, succet,de l in i -echilug his destination. The Cotifed(,rate General Walker, observing this march {rom lhft to right, sent intelligenc-of it to Lo,gstreet. wilo immediately ordei-e,l for’ward B,icknrer, with twelve pieces. This torce fell heavily upon Davis,% who was coming ul) to fill Woo(l’s place, and, w!Io, being thais attacked with great suddenness and fury, was pushed to the right in utter disoider’ l )5sing m iny m?n. * Ieanw’,iile, Van Cleve’s aind Palmer’s Divisions, exposed( by the withdrawal of Davis, were attacket w%ith equ:l vehemence (,n the right, and forced back in great confusion.

The rout of the righit and centre was now complete, and, af, er that f ital bre:tk, the line ot’ battle was not ag-iin reformed during the day.

The army was in fact cut n twoMeCook, with Davis, Sherid:tti, and Wilder, being tlirown off to the right, and Crittenden, except one brigade of Wood’s, being broken in piece,. But before the interference of B3ucknet, Thomas had( crosse( from left to right, and in the afternoon det,,rminedly facoel L,)ngstreet, taking h’s stand upon the bare and bluff termiltation of Miissona,ry Ridge, upon which he had(l thrown ul) breastworks, and which,‘s being the last stronghold south of the Cli:tttanoota works, lie held with indomitable courage ag,ainst the ass.ults of the (-ne,my. His line was so formed that the left, ire.ting upon the Lafayette ioael, and the right at the Gap, repi’esented an arc of a circle,:ndl;t southeast hill aboit its centre formed the key to the position. Ihere wer(e collected the troops who hlad -o succe.sfully repulsed the rebel r:,ght in mer c,)mm.,nde(l a wing of the Army of the Ten-share in the vict)rv ofnovember 25th at that plact aessee. lie ce,innand.(l the centre or the Ar;nm it!)Lrtieipatd I in Slhertin’s c.t u titi. elltiing in of the Citnberlandl at the battle o’ St,one liyer tlh. c Litur, of Atl.ltita in rlepte boIei. 1 -S1. a’I( was particil)ated in the adivance tip,n and (seiiti,n then or(ere( to) N-shville, wihere,. )Li l)eember of Ch: Ltnooz-. and at the battle of hic’!;iamtiz: 15th anTi 16Ith. he practicelly annihil.teil tb,h armnr saved the tinion armny fr)m destruction. ih of rio)l, in:t seriesofbLttle., whi(.h minv’be sa:id October, he was al)pointed t) the D’.partinmnt of t,) have enldel the wir in the West. nl’isi n)w a the Cuinberland. and assumed cotinan.l of the brigalti,;r-“eneral in the regular armyv. a(It coumarmy at Chattanooga, and he had aa important mauds the miitary division of the Tennessee. a .‘488 i(I

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~~~~Y ~

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0

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IIISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. the forenoon, together with fragments-of Sheridan’s and other divisions, which h -d becei partially rallied.

Against this 1)osition L(,nt.treet DOW directed his battalions. That genieral’s onward c:ireei had not been checked during the day. Commnencing with his line running northe:st:ind souhwvest, he liad gra(lually swung ioun(d until it ran due e:.st and west, and comprised within its control the main road to Chattanooga; and at nightfall, havig described all but a circle, he found his lioes ag:iin stretching almost in the samne direction as in the mornilng, but with their bllcks tulrnjd at night towards the point whither their faces looke(l at daybrvak. It was shortly after the troops had gained the Ch:,ttaliooga road that Geneiral Hloo,l, riding iii front with his men, was struck by a MIini6 bullet, which shattt,red his thighbone four inches below the hip. Longtret ordered Kershawl, of McLaws’s Divi-ion, to attack Mlissionary Ri(dlge it fronrt.‘lie camne ff)rwaI-d with great vehemence, but siustaiiied a terrible repulse.’

Abo:it h:ilfpast three r. M., the enemy discovered a gap,) on the Uiiion iiglt fi:tnk, and b)egan pouring his c,,lumns througll the Opening. At this crisis Grangei reached the fie’.d with lhis ie.le ves, and by great exertions pushe(l the rebels l)ack f Omi tle gal). The fi,ht now IagcIc around the hill with redoubled furv. Generil Thomas forlled his t,’,,ops in two liie’, and as each m: iched up to the criest and( fired a de:-Ldly volley at the:idv:ncin, foe, it ie:l b:ck-a lit-le way, the men lay diown upon the groun,l to load, anrlI the seco,jd line tdvianced to take their place, and so on in succession. An attack b)y Ilindman met the same tate as that of IKershaWv. This was fo)lio wed by the division of l’iestoIi, a portion of which deploye Il in line and ascendled tlhe hill in face ot’ a fire whieli caused them to reel aind sta,gger. After a momentt’s hcsit;:tion they again came forwar,.l with fixeJ b.ayonets, butt were again tlriaen back witli l,s;. Finding eve-y eff.)rt to ca!ry the Union posiiion of no avail, the rebels fell back at dusk beyond the range of our artillery, and Thomas was left master of the we l-tbought field. As ino.:t of the troops of McCook and Crittenilten ha,ti by this time retire(]

wilhin the defences of Chattanooga, Thom-is fell b,ick during the night to Rossville, where, during the 21st, he offere-bitttle to the enemy, who, however, declited to renew the contest. Accorditigly, on the night of tihe 21st he withdrew his troopis into Chattaniooga. The Union loss in this battle was: MAllA-FOURITEENTH CORPS Nfen. 635 3,277 2,000 5,932

M’COOK.-SECOND O2cer. ~ Killed………… 40 Wounded…….. 168

Missing………. 7 285 489 Officer& Killed………… 36

Wotinded……… 206 3&issing……….. 127 369. Totak 6-i 1 3,503 2,127

6,301 - CORPS. If,en. 363 2,367 . 1,503 4,233 TotaL 403 2,5‘35 1,580 4,518

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HISTORY OF THE GAT ]EBELLION. CRITTENDEN.-TWENTY-FIRST CORPS. ODffcet &

Killed…………39 WVounded………131 Iissiug………. 22 3,108

AJ.GER.-RESERVE CORPS. m~en. 219 877 507 1,603 Of3actr. Killed…………

16 W\Voiunded…….. 59 Missing………., 4 129 TOTAL. TotaL a7 1,644 ;-

9,262 4,945 15,851 Killed………. 131 Wounded…….. 564

Missing………. 280 975 They also lost tlil’ty-six guns, twenty caissons, an(i several thlousand smal’-atrins an, 1 itliantry a,.co,itreziients, an, i cjptitied ovter two housand prisoners. The rebels siuffere(i even mnore severely than their ol,po. rient,:.nd their total loss, as stated by themiiselves, exceeded eig,hteen thou,s:iiid. It is now very we(1l known that thle rebels largely oulniinmb(,red the Uificn aimy in this battle.‘The following extract fion a letttr by Gene;ral [Rosecrans sho wvs how gireat was their advanttag,e in numbers: ” We have five independent ways of arriving at the fact that we fought ag,ainst teprible odds there:‘“1st. This was the opinion of the corps and division commanders, none of whom were ba(l jiid,es. “2d. The etiemy reports a loss of eighteen thousand seven hundred (18,. 00) killed and wounded; and admnits his loss to liave been twenlty per cenit. of’llis entire command -a very large loss-which gave himn ninety-three thousand live hundred at ClickainauLga. 3d. Bragg hlad thirtytwo thousand troops when driven fromi his intrellclled camp at Shell)yvilie tnd Talahoomna, across the mtountains and the Tennessee. Ituckner joined him with about ten thousand troops fr( m East Tennessee, Johnston with about twent-7-i ve thousand, and Longstreet with about twentyfive thousand more, giving again ninety-two thousand as his whole force. “4thl. General Grant and several of his subordinates estimate the force fought at MIission Ridge at from forty-five thlous.and to fifty thousand. Add twentyfive thousand for Long,street’s army, whicil had previously left, and was then in front of Knoxville, and ei’liteen thousand for those f hors de combat at Clickamauga, and it gives eighty eight tlhousand. “5;h. A Union merchant, of Cl!attanooga, who was at Marietta when the foe were advancing, on us, tried t) send me word, and subsequently saw and told me that tlhe enemy hatd re-enroree l Bragg with thirty thousatnd tpder Longstreet, and twetlity.five tlioitsinil iti,ier.lJoe Johnston, in adition to which Governor Brown had fifteen thousanl Geor,,ia militia; and so confident.

were they of overwhelming us. t’h:t tlhe Kentucky and Tennessee rebel refugees at. M-aietta had tired conveyances and loatded their househola goods, expecting to follow their victorious hosts back into Tentiessoo asnd Kentucky. 490 mean 296 2,157 655 TotaL 3:;5 2,288 6-i 7 3,29U 192

Totak 235 936 661 1,732 me n. 1,513 8,693 4,665 14,86G

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IISTORY OF TIHE GREAT PREDELLION. ” I coul I radl uel more corroborative evidence to shiow that the brave and devoted Army of tile Cur,berland sustained and successfully resisted ttie utinost power of a veteran rebel artny, filled with the spirit of emulation and hope, and mole than onehlalflarger thoa itseif; 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 ouir own, ani held it a”ter our enemy had been reenforced by as many men as we had ia our whole command.. After Roseerans’s retreat to Chattanoogn, the pas-es or Lookout ]Iountain, which covered liis com,iiiincat;on with B,idg”epoit, and were necessa,‘y tO seuIre the tra ispot,,ti,()n of supplies to the Union army, we:‘e ()c(.ul)ied by the ecemnv, wAho also sent a fore’lceross the Tenniiessee River and capturueIl 5IcMinnville, thus almost completely isolating Rosecr:lr)s fionm 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 fatal to the commanders on both sides. The Federal commander lost a high reputation and the confidence of his Government, by the faulty dispositions whichl led to a defeat more signal than any other of the war, except the iirst Bull Run. The.ebel commander lost an influence which had been waning sinee AIurfreesboro, through his inexplicable inactivity on the Alond:y 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 commaInders. It tay be well, therefore, to look back at the career of each, and the circumst-nces of the campaigl to which Chickamauga forined the termination. The origin of the Army of the Cumberland was a small body of Kentucky v olunteers, assembled under Colonel, afteverward General Ronsseau, near Louisville, in the spring of 1861. In the succeeding sunmmer, the military Department of the Ohio wa.s organized, and given to General Robert Anderson, of Fort Sumter fime. On the 11th of August, it was extended over the whole State of Kentucky and the State of Tenn,ss-e, and was designated the Department of the Cumberland. In October, General W. T. Sherman took command, Andersoni’s health failing. In November, Sherman was relieved by Bauell, and the limits ann 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 commanaders. Tennessee, east of the Tennessee River, and Northern Alabama and Georgia, were mnade a dep.,rtlent, under the revived name of the Department of the Cumberland, into which Kontuleky was again transferred. The department remained the same under 1.osecrans. It will be remnembered that when Beauregard retreated silently and saccessfally, some time after the battle of Shiloh, fi6m Corinth, leaving Ilalleeck, who was then.cing him, as ignorant of his movements as was the rest of thie North,‘he fell back with what remnained of his army to Tupelo, in,.Iississippi. Shortly afterwards Beauregard’s health gave way, and Bragg took his place. Bragg found thg 491 ” W. S.

ROSr,,CltA-.,S, Afaj)rGeneral.”

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HISTORY OF T‘1 GREAT REBELLION. 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 the worst possible condition of discipline, decimated by deser tion 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 organ izer of imperfect or broken-down army departments; and everybody confessed that Bragg was equal to the occasion.

HIe exhibited much of that firinness and indifference to popularity which 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-mar tial; and finally, by the total expulsion of whiskey firom hib camp, and by divers other salutary mneasures, restored his army to a higher degree of discipline and efficiency than it bad 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 reputation. It was then, however, that General Rosecrans, having defeated Van Dorn and Price at Corinth, was transferred to the command of the Army of the Cumberland. The condition of that army was not un like that of Beauregard’s when Bragg succeeded to it. Its r.ltik.s had been thinned by disease, battle, and the nameless vicissitudes of war. In every respect it was largely overestimated. Nearly seven tho/saflzd of its number had deserted. More than tweIdty-8six t/~ous(nd were absent by authority.. The consolidated semi-monthly reports for November 15th, two weeks subsequent to the change of commanders, show that a total of thirtytwo thousand nine hundred and sixtysix officers and men-at least one-third of the whole army-were absent from their command! The army was composed in about equal. proportions of veteran soldiers and raw recruits. The fornier were oorly clad and equipped, the latter were inexperienced in drill and discipline, with officers often ignorant, and sometimes incompetent. 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 Rosecrans 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. 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 showthat, even if he could not have avoided an engagement, 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 SaId 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 492

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 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 Chattanooga, one at Stevens’s Gap, twentyfive miles south, and one at Winston’s, forty miles from Chattanooga. The plan of the campaign was, to held the rebels in check at Chat tanooga, by a small force, sent for the purpose, up the north side of the river, opposite the place where the main body of the army, cross ing 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 sending a force from Chattanooga, by the pass around the point of Lookout MIountain, into Lookout Vallev, to interrupt or destroy our lines of communication with our d6pots at Bridgeport and Stevenson, Crittenden’s Corps was sent down Lookout Valley, to near the foot of Lookout Mountain, which latter was held by the enemy with infantry and artillery. The corps of Thomas and ecCook were moved rapidly up Lookout Valley, and across Lookout Mountain, the former by Cooper’s and Stevens’s, the latter by WVinston’s Gap. As soon as this movement was known to Bragg, who, as yet, had not received the bulk of his expected reenforcements, it became evident to him that if he remained in Chattanooga the army of Rosecrans would get between him and his expected reenforcements, and whip them in detail, besides taking possession of his lines of communication, without which he could not subsist his army a week. The evacuation of Chattanooga by the rebels was therefore a necessity. Bragg fell back rapidly, and evidently with the intention of retreating on Rome. Crittenden, discovering the evacuation, moved his corps into Chattanooga by the pass around the point of Lookout, and moved out in pursuit of the enemy. Facts soon began to be discovered 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 reenforcements, and that it was their intention 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 MIountain, and McCook was at Winston’s Gap, the distance from Crittenden’s position, at Gordon’s 3Mill to MIeCook’s right, near Winston’s, being upward of forty miles,ewhile, 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 withinf supporting distance. It was therefore necessary, in order to cker Chattanooga, for Rosecrans to concentrate his army rapidly, and ir 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 leading to Chat 4‘93’ f

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ISTORY OF TM GREAT REBELLION. tanooga: in the attempt to prevent this the battle was brought on. It was absoltutely necessary, under the circumstances, to secure the possession of Clhattanooga, which, it is very evident, Bragg never intended to permit us to hold. It was a common matter of wonder, when the Union army first occupied the place, why Bra(g left so many publ)iic buildings standing, all his hospital buildings and depo6ts, 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 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.

CHAPTER XLVII. Inaction of Brags. -ltis Position.-Tlis Indecision.-Rosecrans Recrniting.-Storms. Hooker Arrives.-Grant Ordered up.-He Supersedes Rosecrans.-Thomas in Com mand of Department.-Position of thie Army. Movement to open River. Defeat of the Enemy. Sherman’s Marchi. Combat.-Chl.ange of Route.-Burnside’s Posi tion.-Longstreet Detached from Bragg.-Siege of Kuoxvil e.-Burnside Hard Pressed.-Bragg Weakened.-Grant Attaeks.-The Movement Successtihl.-Sher man Relieves Burnside.-Retreat of Longstreet AFTEP. i he battle of Chickamauga the opposing armies ren.line,l for a long time inactive. The enemy’s forces.

cotititued before Chat:inooga, vhere Rose.rans was, receiving ie-enforcements. Br.igg emp)i!oved means to cut off supplies coilling to the Fed(-ral army Ily the direct route, while hismaii artlly, strong’y reenforced on the 20th and 21st, held a line from Briilgeport to Cleveland. Long.street occupied the extre,ne left on the Tennessee River, i-om Bridgeport to Trenton, Johnston the centre at Lafiyette, hol(ling L,)okoit Mountain, and Br:igg the right at Dalton, with his irght at Clevclalld. His cavalry, under Wtieeler, foraged in Rosecrans’s radar, and captured the I rain of the Fo. io-teeiith Corps. Some eight hundi’ed wagons and two thousand mule, were. ciptured and dt,stroye,l. Mo.t of the supp’ies for the Army of the CuinberlaI(d were carried over the iiiointainris by )a:ck iul,s, on accounit of the difficult transportation.

The trains were much annoyed lay rebel sl)arpshooters betweeni Brilgel)ort end Chattanooga, I\who (laily picked ofT teamsters, mules, aIl(i l]or.-es, and so closely was the Unlion army pressed that rations begaii to fall short in Chat, tanooega. The l(,ng inaction of Bragg greatly demorall:zed his army. Two days r.f er the battle it was?,:igieed, itanimously, by.a coicil of war, that tot Confederate army Aotild strike eat nrtcse iii the direction of Kiioxvil’e. But scarcely had the division geiera]s conmen(ed the execution of tli. resolve, whien Biragg antourticed that hlie h d citanged his plan, and the army sat down, and continued for nearly three weeks 494 0 4

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IIISTOR.Y OF THE GREAT. REBELLION. enveloping the town of Chattanooga and the treble lines which surroiunded it. In the mean time, R osecrans wa.s reorg,anizing hbs troops and working indu.striously with the spade to).-tre ngthen the de aln,ces, besides securing his liiies of conimunic:itioiis.nd ace,imulatiiig sup!)l’es. Thetse ope.,ation. were, however, greatly retarded by the storms (of an nnusuallv wet autum,i. On t)e 23(1 lf September, tle Eleventh and Twelfih Corps of the Army of the Potomac were deticheil under Hookcr to reenforce Rosecians, and were assigned for the protection of the li.,e of communication bet%ween BIid,el)or,.t anl NXash vi le. While thjese events were occurring, such of the forces of Grant at Vickshbr,r g and elsewhere in the Southwest as werle available, iwere put i n motion for Ten, uessee, and Grant himseif, who was then.Lt New Orlean s, was ordered to take coiiimand of’ the army iii Tenne.see. He arri ved at Louisviile October 18th, and issubd General Orders, No. 1: “HEAD-QUARTFRS MILITrrARY DIvIsIoN OF TTIE MISSTSSIPPI,?

“LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY, October 18, 18;3. “GENERAL ORDERS, NO.1. “In complianco withGeneral Orders, No. 337, of date Washington, D. C.. October 1 th, 1863, the undersigned hlereby assumes comniand of the’Military Division of the Missis.3.ppi, embracing the D-partnments of tlhe Ohio, of the Cumberland, and of the Tennessee.’ “Tlie headquarters of the Military Division of the Mississippi will be in the field, where all reports and returns required by army reg,ulations and existing orders will be made.

“U. S. GRA.Nr, MajorGeneraL”. On the 19th, Rosccrans took leave of the army, and Ma.jor-GeneraIl Geo:‘ge H. Thomas was pl:ced in comtjanil of the Departrilent ot’ the CuI)it)er’and, and W. T. Sherman of that (,f the Tennessee. The two corps of IMcCook anil Crittenden, the Tweitieth and Twenly-first, Consoli,lated into one, arnd designated the Fourth, were assigiiel to Gordon Granger. At this time Sherman was yet on the route fi’om 3fIe.nphis, and Hooker, Niit’li his two corps, had just arrived at Bridgeport, opposite the l-oiolts held by Lotgsitreet. The Qrmy o(cu)yinD(

Chattanooga ha,l its right at Cha’tanoog:.i Creek, near th(! base of Lookout MIountain, and the left at Citico Cieek. The picket lines followed these two creeks for some distancc.,:nd the.i passed a(.rosa the low grounds between, which lie also between the foot of Missiocary Ridge and the high grounds about the town upon whl)ichl the defensive woiks were construct(ed. These works were (eolinecte(d by a strong line of riflepits. Behin(l this line and around ihe,own the greater portion of the ali’ny was l)ivouacked, for very little camp equipage was to be ha,l.

This was the only point he’d by a Fe,leral force south of the ilver, while the noi-th side was occupie,l with troaps statiobed to gu:ttd the poitnts abo’.e. The base of the army at Clhattano,)ga was at Stevt.nsoii and Bridgeport, an(l waq supplied fi-orn depots at Louisville and Nashville by a single track of railroad. Thle south s;de of the river, however, from Lookout Motiutain to Bi’idgeport was in possession of the enemy, a 495

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/ISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. and the river road on the north side was rendered impassable by thee sharpsh,)olers st:ationed on the opposite b:tnk. It was thus necessary to bling-all s pplies to the army over a distance of fifty or sixty miles, taking’the road from Brid(gep)ort up the Sequalchic V-lley, over the miountai~,s into the Anderson road, thence to Chattanoo la. The Tennessee w:as 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 starveation. As it was very desirable to open the river and restore the transportation of supplies by that channel, General Thomas devised a plan havitig this object in view. Hooker, who held the right atBridgeport, ,was ord,-r(-d, oi October 27th, to cross the Tennessee at that point, and demonstrate against the eneiiy’s left flank, in Lookout Valley. At the sanie time a force under’General H.zten passed the river at Brown’s Ferry, b)elow the city, whlere pontoons had been skilfully laid by General WV. F.

Smith, and began ascending Lookout Mlount-iin, which was soon taken, the enemy giving way with very slight opposition.. When Hazen crossed the river and marched up the point of Lookout Moutntain, the retreat of the enemy’s forces iii that dire(.tio:i was cut off, and they could only retire u]) the valley towards Trentonil, Georgia, some twenty miles, thus making a long detour before they could join the main rebel army. This force consisted of two brigaded of infantry and one l)attery. Hooker crossed the river at Bridgeport, and moved up, unriting with the force at Brown’s Ferry. This opened the iiver, the road to Kelly’s Ferry, and the direct Iroad to Bridg,eport, as well as the river road on the north side around the b)end. 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 itmqtion, and during the afternoon the long, dark. thread-like line of troops became visible, slowly wending their way in the direction of Chattanocga. On Lookout Pea,k, gazing down upon the singular spectacle-a coup d’e’lI which embraced in curious contrast the beauties of nature and the achievements of arc, the blessings of peace and the horrors 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 fantoci/ii in a panorama, until, among all the’sundowvn’s sumptuous pictuies’ which glowed around us, there was not one like that of the great, fresh, busting 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 Federals had succeeded in effecting a julnction with tlhe army of Chattanooga. ” The question which naturally arises is, -why did not General Bragg throw his army in front of the advancing coltmns and check the movement? The answer is in the shape of one of those stolid fact 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 thousand mean, 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 of Chattano-)ga, where, after a brief skirmish with one of’ our regiments, they took possession of the hillsand 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 4 496 f,

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 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 reserved his strength; secondly, it would have necessitated a fight on both our front and rear, with the flanks of the Federals protected by the mountains. 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, twentyeight 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 Vicksburg was not unmolested. On the 21st the advance, under Osterhaus, moving east ward from Corinth, encountered near Cherokee Station, eightynine miles from Tuscumbia, a body of rebel cavalry under Generals S. D. Lee and Loring, estimated at from four to six thousand men. The enemy was discovered at eleven o’clock drawn up in line of battle, with skirmishers advanced. A heavy fog rendered it difficult to find out much about his position, and the fight opened somewhat to our dis advantage. Presently, however, our line was advanced, and the enemy vigorously attacked; and General Osterhaus, having succeeded in getting up his twenty-pounder Parrotts, the rebels, under their fire, broke in great confusion. The fight, which was very spirited through out 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 Sherman to change his route. It had been proposed to bring his column along the south bank of the Tennessee, in order that he might open the Memphis and Charleston Railroad from Bear Creek as far east as Decatur, and as much farther towards HIluntsville as possible, under intimations firom the War Department that this would be the main channel of communication with Chattanooga. Work was accordingly commenced, and by the 1st of November the road had been opened from Corinth, through Iuka 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 destructible. 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 detached from Bragg’s army to move on Knoxville, and on the 6th of November he captured the garrisons of ten of Burnsides’s outposts, fifty miles fiom Knoxville, threatening to compel the Union general to fight a4 disadvantage or uncover Knoxville. From that point the rebel cavalry advanced towards Knoxville, and on the 15th captured portions of two or three cavalry regiments, numbering three hundred men, at Marysville, fifteen miles from Knox 32 491

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. ville, in the direction of the Little Holston, andc 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 RPockville, eight miles firom Knoxville, diiving the Union outposts 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 Pegram, 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 skirmishing 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 (17th) the line of battle was formed around the city. At noon tile rebels appeared on the Lenoir road, two miles from the town, and heavy skirmlishing 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 wavs resumed, both parties losing severely. General S,tunders, a brave and excellent officer, was among the wounded, and died of his wounds oni the following day. Thursday and Friday, 19th and 20th instants, witnessed a continuation of the struggle, with the element of heavy artillery firing added, and on the 23d we find the following dispatch fiom General Bragg: ” MISSIONARY

RIDGI_ Novcmbier 23. ” To General COOPER: “We hold all the railroads leading into Knoxville, except the one between Holston and French Broad Rivers. General Jones’s cavalry might close that. The enemy’s cavalry is most broken up. Wheeler cut off his train between Cumberland Gap and Knoxville. The siege of Knoxville proceeded without any occurrence 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 tlhe aproaches to it on that side of the river. The fort was occupied by the Twenty-ninth Massachuses, the Seventy-ninth New York, and trvo companies of the Seoond 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. k space around the fort was cleaired. 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 Wolford’s. The 498 (Signed) 11 BILAXTO-.%7 DRAGG.”

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ISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. enemy 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 latter, al-d if possible separate him from Longstreet. The forces of Bragg held Missionary Ridge, the Chattanooga 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 Railroad. Their pickets occupied the south bank of the Tennessee River for miles above, and their supplies were brought by the railroad from Atlanta and Dalton. The principal rebel force was in the Chattanooga Valley, between Lookout 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 executed. Orders were sent to Burnside to lure Longstreet as far away as possible, and fill back to a position where he could stand a siege and subsist fiom 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 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 Chickamauga; 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 oct into the Tennessee and down it, until opposite the South Clickamauga (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 Tennessee 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 enemy) 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 Knoxville, and capture, disperse, or drive off Longstreet from before it. General Smith, chief engineer, took personal charge of the preliminaries necessary for the mbve on the left flank. The pontoons were ? 49,9,

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. put in the Chickamauga; the men encamped; the bridge trains ready to debouch at the proper point; and so completely was every thiing arranged 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 Mionday, November 24th, an armed reconnoissance was made by Thomas on his left, which developed the enemry’s lines and gave the Union general a line of battle in advance 6f his picket lines, at the same time allowing the Eleventh Corps (H-oward’s) to come into the position assigned it. At midnight the men entered the pontoons, floated down, and effected a landing. At daylight the pontoniers 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 24tIh) held what he had gained, andcl 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, Bi,agg was threatened on both flanks, with a heavy line of battle in his firont. It was difficult for him to determine what the Federal move would be. His railroad must be held, at all hazards, from Sherman. The amount of Hooker’s force he could distinctly see. He reenforced his right very heavily, leaving enough to hold his left and front, as he supposed. On the 25th, Wednesday, 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 friom the latter’s centre. Grant now ordered Thomas to advance and take the riflepits 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 musketry 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 thirtyfive out of the forty-four pieces of artillery on the hill, turned some of them a_ainst the masses in Sherman’s front, aid the rebel line fell back, wl}fe the rest of Bragg’s army, including Bragg and Hardee, fled, roufed and broken, towards Ringgold. Thousands of prisoners and smallarms and quantities of munitions of war were taken. Hooker took up the pursuit, and that night Mission Ridge blazed re. splendent with’Union camp-res. The next day, Hooker pushed the enemy to Ringgold, where he made a show of stubborn resistance, but was forced to retire.

Sherman and Howard pushed for the railroad, which they smashed completely.

The Union loss in this battle, 500 f

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HISTORY OF THIE GREAT REBELLION. in killed, wounded, and missing, was reported at about four thousand. Upwards of six thousand rebel prisoners, not including wounded, were captured, besides forty-two pieces of artillery, many thousand smallarms, and a large train. The rebel loss is not known. Sherman was now reenforced by the Eleventh Corps, and began his march to relieve Knoxville. Five miles above Loudon, at Davis’s Ford, the Eleventh Corps crossed the Little Tennessee, and at Morgantown, seven miles farther up, the Fourth and his owrn corps crossed. The Eleventh moved on the next day to Louisville, a distance of thirtyone miles. The other troops moved to MIarysville. 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 Longstreet, and he raised the siege and retreated towards Rutledge 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 position. Burnside was subsequently relieved from the command 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 Vaughan and Ransom, and he here made a stand which relieved Bragg from the pressure of pursuit, and remained there some time, exposed to many hardships. CHAPTER

XLVIII. Operations against Charleston.-Arrival of Monitors.-Montauk.-Attack by the Enemy.-Ironclad Attack on S’imter.-Capture of the Atlanta.-General Gillmore in Command.-Assault on Fort Wagner.-Bombardment of Fort Sumter.-Siege and Reduction of Fort Waguer.-Occupation of Morris Island THE operations in the Department of the South after the evacuation of James Island were for a long time unimportant, owing to the employment of troops in other operations. Early in 1863, a naval attack was contemplated 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 acceptable to General Hunter, then in command, he returned to North Carolina, leaving his troops and siege equipage. These, in consequence of t& failure of the naval attack, were never employed for the pwpose intended. The vessels engaged in blockading the coasts of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, comprised the South Atlantic Squadron, RearAdmiral S. J. Dutpont commanding. Early in January, 1863, the first detachment of iront-clads, destined to operate against Charleston, arrived, and the MIontauk was ordered to attack Fort McAllister, on the Ogeechee River, with a view of testing her capabilities. Accorcingly, on January 27th, the Montauk, supported by seven gunboats, opened upon the fort with her fifteen and eleven inch guns, and, having expended her shells, retired. ~ 501

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IIISTORY OF TIIE GREAT REBELLION. She was struck thirteen times, but received no material injury; and the fort, a powerful sand-woi’k, mounting several gains, was in no perceptible degree affected by the bombardment.

This settled the question of the efficiency of this species of defensive works as against ironclads. On the morning of the 4th Janiuary, the enemy’s ironclad steam rams, Palmetto State and Chicora, under Flagofficer Ingraham, ran out of Charleston in a thick haze, and attacked the blockading fleet. They disabled the 3Mercedita and the Keystone State, but retired on the approach of the Housatonic. The enemy claimned thl)at 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 combined attack by the ironclads 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: Weehawken, Passaic, MIontauk, Patapsco, New Ironsides, Catskill, Nantucket, Nahant, and Keokuk. Admiral Dupont was on board his flagship, the New Ironsides. The squadron was order,ed to pass up the main channel without returning the fire of Morris Island, and to engage Sumter on its northwest face, at a distance of firom eight hundred to one thousand yards. At halfpast twelve o’clock, the fleet began to ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~”

ATT~RY~ FT. JOH$ . i~~~~~~T~lNO IX, A 1’ 9 1. -A l ”’ , w ( 502

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q HISTORY OF TE GREAT REBELLION. move, the Weehawken, having a raft for clearing obstructions, being in advance. The fleet got within effective range of Fort Sumter and Sullivan’s Island shortly before three o’clock, and at ten minutes to three the batteries of Sullivan’s Island, MIori-is Island, and Fort Sumter opened upon it. In the channel between Sumter and Sullivan’s Island the obstructions proved to be of so formidable a character that the WVeehawken 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. MIeantime, the eniemy had concentirated a fire of three hundred guans upon the fleet, exceeding in rapidity of fire and weight of metal any previous cannonade known in warfare. The ironclads could reply but with sixteen guns, arid 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 ironclads 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 penetrated at and below the waterline, somne entering her turret. Shle drew off with pumps going to keep her afloat, having fired( but three times. The l em:nlirlgf vessels suffered far less than the Keokuk, and none were materially injured. The New Ironsides never got fairly into action, and discharged but one broadsi(ie. At halfpast tour, Admiral Dupont signalled to withdraw from action. During the forty-five minutes that the fleet had been under fire, five had beei partially disabled,, while the injuries inflicted by them upon the fort had be(n comparatively slight. Under these circumstances, the whole fleet, with the exception of the New Ironsides, returned on the 12th to Port Royal. 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.

Tiee most marked and extraordinary conflict within the limits of this squadron, or indeed in the seXrvice during the year, and in some respects one of thie most significant and instuinctive naval battles ofthe war, took place on tlre 17th June, in Warsawv Sound, between the Weehawkern, a vessel of the MIonitor c!ass,nrd the formidable armored steamer Atlanta.

Like the contest in HIIampton Roadis, in March, 1862, when the MIonitor anid Icrrimac were eng,’-aed, thi’s battle was between armored vesse’s and of great disparity in size, but the result was vastly more speedy and decisive. The Atlanta was a powerful steam2r, ha:d been iron-plated by the rebels, and prepared for war purposes at immense expense. In the confidence of certain victory over lher comparatively diminutive antagonists, tlre Weehawken and Nahant, she wis accompanied by boats loaded with gay parties to witness her triumph; but 503 0

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HISTORY OF TIlE GREAT REBELLION. 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 warfare, and concerning which there had been, as well as with respect to the vessels themselves, some variety of opinion. The con flict was so brief and decisive that only one of the two Monitor vessels, though not widely separated, 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 Wee hawken, in about fifteen minutes, and with only five shots from her heavy guns, overpowered and captured her formidable antagonist, be fore the Nahant, which was hastening to the work, could discharge a single shot at the Atlanta. This remarkable result was an additional testimony in favor 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. Gillmoie,* and about the same time RearAdmiral D)upont having expressed a willingness to relinquish the position which he had occupied for eighteenl months, RearAdmiral 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. Hlis associate and second in command, RearAdmiral John A. Dahlgren, 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 lHarbor. This ridge slopes from the shore inward, terminating in a series of salt-water marshes, intersected by narrow creeks, which lie to the west of it. The width of the portion disposable for the trenches in no point exceeds two hundred and twentyfive yards, while in others it narrows to twentyfive yards at high tide. the series of operations which led to the occupation of Morris Islaud, developel a new era ili the science of engineering and gunnerv.

IIe retained command of the Del)artineut of the South until the spring of 1S64, when he took the field at the head of the Tenth Army Corps, undler Butler, to co-operate in the movement against Richmond. Ilavitig come into collision with Bltler, he was relieved of his command, and in the latter part of the year undertook a tour of inispectioii among the flrtifications in the West. Ill the s)rillg of 1865, hlie was reappointed to the Department of the South. He now commands the Department of South Carolina, and is m,jor-generl (iof volunteers and a brigadiergeneral of the regular army. * Quincv Adams Gillmore was born in Lorain County, (Ohio, in 1825, and graduated at West Point, at the head of his class, in 1849. Previos to the b reaking out of the war he was much employed on the fortifDcations, and was also for,our years instructor of engineering at West Point. In October, 1S61, he was appointed chief engineer to the Port Royal Expedition, and in the succeeding April he planned and carried out the operations tor the capture of Fort Pulaski, in the Savannah River, of whch he published an account in 1863. In April, 1S6-2, he was appointed brigadiergeneral of volunteers. Having been transferred to the Departmnent of the Ohio. he defeated a larvae rebel forces near Somerset, Ky., on March 30th, 1863. In June, he assumed command of the Department of the South, and, in 0 504 t

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HISTORY OF TtIE GREAT REBELLION. The plan of attack proposed by Gillmore was: First, to effect a lodgment on the south 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 necessarily fall. Third, from the positions thus gained, to reduce Fort Sumter. Fourth, the vessels of war to remove 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 Morris Island, and rendered its capture by surprise comparatively bloodless. This was done July 10th, as appears by the following dispatch: ” HEADQUARTERS

DEPARTMENT OF THE SOUTH “IN THE FIELD, MIORRIS ISLAND, S.C., July 12, 1863. “Major-eneral T. W. HALLECK, Generalin-Chief: “SIR:-I have the honor to report that at five o’clock on the morning of the ] 0th 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, whilch includes Fort Wagner and a battery on Cummings’s Point, mounting at the present time fourteen or fifteen heavy guns in the aggregate. “Tile assaulting column was gallantly led by BrigadierGeneral Strong. It landed in small boats under cover of my batteries on Folly Island and four monitors led by RearAdmiral Dahlgren, which entered the maiti 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 11th 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 equip.aie. “‘The enemy’s loss in killed, wounded, and missing, will not fall short of two hundred. “Q. A. GILL’ORE, BrigadierGeneral Commanding.” The failure of two assaults on Fort Wagner led to a mnodification of the plan. As Fort Sumter kept up an annoying fire across Fort Wagner upon Gillmore’s trenches, some heavy guns were placed in battery, and at a distance 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 Folt 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, approachable only in front over the sand ridge whlich narrows down to twentyfive yards in width just in front of the asork, guarded on the east bythe sea and on the west by Vincent’s Ci-eek and the marsh from surprise, seen in reverse by Battery Gre-g 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 ait one point or another by all its guns, a more difficult problem had seldomn, if ever, been presented for the solution of the engineer than its reduction. The first parallel and the batteries in it were ready on July 18th, and . )* -4’ 505

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT RE,BELLION. 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 Gillmoie’s batteries and the frigate Ironsides; five nmonitors, two mortar schooners, and three wooden gunboats sootn joined in. The enemy replied briskly from Fort Wagnrer, 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 fite 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 determined upon. For this purpose two brigades, consisting of the Seventh Connecticut Regiment, the Third New Hampshire, the Ninth MIaine, the Seventy-sixth Pennsylvania, and the Fortyeighth New York, under Brigad(ierGeneral Strong, and the Seventh New Hampshire, Sixth Connecticut, Sixty-second Ohio, One Hundredth New York, and Fifty fourth MIassachusetts (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 coloredl regiment being in advance.

This movement was observed at Fort Sumter, and a fire was opened on the troops, but without effect. At dark the order was given for both brigades to advance, General Strong’s leading, and Colonel Put,nam’s within supporting distance. The troops went forward at quick time and in silence, until the Fiftyfourth 1assa.chusetts, 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, an(d a continuous filsilade of smallarms. 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, however, in a few minutes, with hand.-grenades, and( retired, leaving more than onehalf of their number, including their colonel, dead upon the field. The Sixth Connecticut Regiment, under LieutenantColonel Rodman, was next in support of the Fiftyfourth, and they also suffered terribly, being compelled to retire after a stubborn contest. The Ninth 1[ainie, which was next ill line, was broken up by the passag,e of the’remnant of the repulsed colored regiment through its lines, and retired in confusion, excepting three companies which stood their ground. It now devolved upon the Third New Hampshire Regiment to push forward, and, led by General Strong and Colonel Jackson in person, they dashed up against th* fort. Three companies rained the ditch, and wading through the water, found shelter against the embankmnent. Here was thile critical point of the assault, and the Second Bnrigade, which should have been up and ready to support their comrades of the Fiirs.t, weire unaccountably delayed. 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. 506 0

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HISTORY OF TE GREAT REBELLION1. 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 impetuously up the glacis, undeterred by the fury of the enemy, whose fire was not intermitted, several of the regiments succeeded in crossing the ditch, scaling the parapet, and descending into the fort. Here a hand-to-h:and 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 unfortunately of no advantage. The enemy rallied, and(, having received reenforcements, made a charge upon them and expelled them from their position by the force of numbers. One of the regiments engaged in this brilliant dash was the Fortyeighth Near York, Colonel Barton, and it came out almost decimated. The Fortyeighth 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 riflepits outside of thleir 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 hund,ed and fifty yards, on August 9th; and beyond this point the tren(ches were sometimes pushed forward by the fiyi,ig sap, some(times 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 fronm the enenmy, August 26th. Beyond this point the approaches were simply zigzags, making very acute angles with each other, as there was 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 effective range of Charleston, and notice was given to General Beauregard to evacuate Fdrt Sumter, and that Charleston would be shelled. Beauriegard protested, and threatened retaliation. The bombardment was commenced, with very little effect, however, on military events. Gillrmore now moved to the front all his lighlt mortars, enlar,ged the positions for his sharpshooters, obtained the cooperation of the Ironsides by day, Wued powerful calcium lights to blind the enemy by night, and opened fire with as many heavy guns to his rear as lie could without danger to hiS men in the trenches, thus essaying to keep the garrison confined to their bomb-proof, and to breach this through a breach in the work. These measures w%ere iinaugurated on the morning of September tth, and for forty-two i}ouis the fort was silent. The garrison were irimured 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 507

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H ISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 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 obstructions in the ditch removed. All being now ready for an assault, the order forit was given; but seeing the hopelessness of their position, the enemy evacuated just in time to avoid the result. .The evacuation was thus reported by Gillmore. “DEPARTMfENT OF THE SOUTH, HEADQUARTERS IN.} TIIE FIELD, September 7, 1863. f “MajorGeneral H. W.

HALLECK, Generalin-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 island, 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 Colonel Keitt, of South Carolina, and garrisoned by one thousand four hundred 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 terrifico bombardment to which any work was ever subjected. “We have captured nineteen pieces of artillery and a large supply of excellent ammunition. “The citv 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, Bfigadier-General Comimianding.” The captured forts on Morris Island were enlarged and new batteries erected by General Gillmore, which effectually commanded Fort Sumter, and could aid any naval attack on Charleston. But little further progress, however, was made in the siege during the remainder of the year. The forts of the enemy were occasionally bombarded severely, and the shelling of Charleston at intervals, during dlay and night, was continued. The portion of the city within the reach of the shells was greatly injured, 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 vessels. 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 Aray.-Burnside ordered Forward.-New Dispositions. -Advance of Hancock o 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 advance of the 508

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. Sixth. A plankroad, as our readers will remember, runs from Fred ericksburg west, past Chancellorsville, the former headquarters of Hooker, and Old Wilderness Tavern, and across Mine Run to Orange CourtHouse. Hancock, with the Second Corps, advanced 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 Lieutenent-General and General Meade had headquarters 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 fiom Orange CourtHouse, and the Sixth Corps was to follow on the Germania 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 operations were intended to be preserved until the trains could cross the river, when a general advance was to be made towards Orange CourtHouse, the presumed base of the enemy. These dispositions were, however, not suffered to be completed. The enemy, from his signal station on Clark’s Mountain, had observed the whole movement, devised its intent, and made preparations to defeat it. His movement began on Wednesday night, while the Second Corps was at Chlancellorsville. The corps of Ewell moved along the turnpike from Old Verdiervillc, 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 CourtHouse 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. Tihe 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 CourtHouse road in the rear of Warren. The danger was that IHill would force his way down this road and get possession of it before Hancock 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 considerable loss. It was supposed that Lee intended by a fierce attack upon the right centre to destroy the army; tnd to frustrate 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 ofthe Eighteenth Massachusetts, with the Eighty-third Pennsylvania, 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 509.

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 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 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 ill our line. Our loss, principally 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 skirmish ing in front of the Sixth Corps was becoming 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 boomn of a gun might be heard amid the quidkening rattle of the skirmish firing but the denseness of the wood prevented aW knowledge of what was going on at any distance. There was a volley at last-General Griffin’s Division of the Fifth Corps had opened the fight. “Forward! by the right Jflak, forwardI” 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 oncea glorious breathing-space-across a half-acre of open field, the obedient troops nmove 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, roaring tumult, mingled with wild cheers. The Fifth Corps has begun the fight in earnest-Griffin is pressing on. Wadsworth and Robinson and Crawford are going in: the latter, on the left, supported by Getty, is advancing towards the enemy at Parker’s Store. Behind Crawford and Getty, who are on the Orange CourtHouse road, is the junction of that and the Brock road, up which, firom 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, elsethe 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 Crawford’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 510 I

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ItSTORY OF TIHE GREAT REBELLION. 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 CourtHouse plankroad. The advance, the First Brigade, of -lott’s Fourth Division of the Second Corps, had barely formed junction with Getty, when A. P. I-Iill was upon them with great force. Bi,ney formed on Getty’s right, Mott and Barlow on the left of the line, and Gibbon’s Division wvas held in reserve. The enemy were checked, but their concentration continued. Troops were sent to the left from the Fifth Corps, and by four o’clock IHancock 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 supports move forward, taking equal death in return. Companies fall, regiments are thinned, brigades mnelt away. Stricken in the head by a bullet, General Alexander lhayes, commanding the Second Brigade of Birney’s Division, has rolled fiom 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. 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 ceeps up from the west, although no cheer of victory swells through the Wilderness firom either side, we have accomplished this much at least, with much sore loss: the concentration of our army, the holding of the junc(tion of the Orange Court-Hlouse and Brock roads, the turning back of the enemy’s right flank from our path towards Richmond, and the average gain of a halfmile of griound. In’some respects, however, we had gained decided advantages. 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 i the engagement. Finally, there was no longer any doubt as to the policy of calling General Burnside fromnt the further side of the river-the enemy’s force being obviously all in our fiont. The Ninth Corps, under General Burnside, came to the field of’battle on Thursday, afterea forced march, and was distributed, as occasion required, on the right, zight centre, and left centre. But our line remained substantially as during the day, stretching northwest and southeast over a line ntarly parallel to that from Germania Ford ‘511

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. to Chancellorsville, and with headquarters not much in advance 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-Warren in the centre, Sedgwick on the right, Hancock on the left, the latter still having the lion’s share of troops, 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 thiougch the forest and across the Locust Grove road to within half a nile of the Orange CourtHouse road. Across this road and far to the left the troops led by Hancock were disposed-Carroll’s and Haycs’s (now Crockler’s) Brigades on the right, and Ward’s and Owens’s Brigades onil the left of the thoroughfaire. The three brigades of Getty’s Division of the Sixth Corps, cammanded 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 ab:atis, 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 Buruside’s Corps was sent forward.* This was not done without much delay that w.as nearly fatal to the army. Orders were issued for both Sedgwick on the extreme right and Han cock on the left to attack at five A. M. on the morning of Friday, May 6th. Tihe enemy, however, made an attack twenty minutes earlier, but without much vigor. ie 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 gained a mile of ground from Brock road towards Parker’s Store, and had got possession of some of the enemy’s riflepits. This advance increased the gap between the Second and Fifth Corps, and Burnside’s man were still absent. Hancock had in his front the divisions of Heth and Wilcox, of Hill’s Corps, which had suffered greatly on the previous day, andl were to have been relieved at nighl. They stood gallantly for a while; but at last, shriinking befoie the compact masses hurled upon them, they commenced a retreat, which from a walk grew into a run, firom a run into a demoralized rout. At this moment the corps which Longstreet had so long led advanced Olong the plankroad. Into their leading files dashed at headlong speed and in wild disarray the broken ranks of Heth and Wilcox, mingled with fieldpieces, ambulances, caissons, runaway horses, and shlouting officers striving to bear up against the 512

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBFLLION. rout, but whirled along in its resistless current, Beside the road was Genierl Lee, irritated and excited beyond precedent, eager to stem 1he tor,_ rt of fli;,ht hy catching hold of any organized body of men and launiclin, lihem in person against the head of the Federal advmance. Upon tilis hulirly-burly of conftision and alarm supervened atthe most crit ical moim,ent Longstreet and lhis Corps. This fresh body of troops, with It.ersI: iws Division in advance, came forwvard upon the exlhausted Fed eral tioops in such force, over!appl)ing the left, that the Third Brigade, Colornel F1r,‘n-, broke and fled back. The pressure was so great along the whole line of the command thus assaulited, that it was also broken in seieral places. Portions of the front line retreated inll disorder. Officers Ai ho conmmanded there, commanded in some instances troops not theio oan, and of whose fighting qualities they knew nothing. Those offiTces did their best, but could not stem the panic. Gen!eral oa~ls Uoth, galloping, appealing, commanding, fell dead from his horsec in thle front of the battle, deserted by more than half his troops. The line fell back beore the advancing rebels, and the ground whence lethl ancld Wilcox hdcl been forced once more passed into their han(ls. Iancock’s whole force retired behind the line intrenched the day before on the Brock road. In this encounter the enemy lost Geneneral Jell-llls killed, and General Longstreet wounded. The cirerIIstances under which the latter was injured w-ere thus described by a Southe rn spectator: “At this moment (the retreat of Hancock) Lonstreet, after brief consultation with General Lee, suggested a flank mo.ve’ie:t i’ot dissimilar to that by which, twelve months before, t.c l cdc (!:.y cf Chanceilorsvil!e aws deided by J.ackson. It was corn’l’ “. p romise of the first iaovemv’-t was richly encore aoi.ng. Gel..’,;” Lo.gstcet and Jenkins rode in great glee withl their staff aloig’- thT plan kroad, when one of those iunoreseen accil cunts lieh are insepiarable fi om war, and doubly hazardous wvithl undisciplined troops, checked iil an instant all lalughter and merriment. A volley at short rang,e, issuing from MIahone’s Brigade of Confederates as they poured obliq ielv through the tangled undergrovwthl of the Wilderness, struck Lon, zti eet’s little party like a white squall; General Jenkins sprang higll -fro his saddle and fell (lead with a bullet through his brain; Longstreet himself lay stretched in the road pulseless and inanimate, and, as al thoutrht, with but few minutes of life left in him. Instantly the fl;nk movement was arrested. About an hour later, Longstreet, awaking floim his swoon, exclaimed to Dr. Cullen:’ In another half hour, but for my w-ound, there would not have been a Yankee regiment standing and unbroken on the south of the Rapidan.’” It is somewhat remarkable that this took pltce very near the spot where” Stone August, 1861, and in March, 1S62, became MAilitaryGovernor of Washinz,ton.

Ini the fall of that vear he was the Union candi(date for Governor of N/4ew ,York, but was deteated by Ieoratio Seytmiou)r. As commander of a division of the Army of tho Potornac he fought with reputation, at Fredericksburg, Chancellh,rsville, a-nd Gettysburg, 3nd fell at the head of the Fourth Division of the Fifth Corps, at the battle of the Wilderness, May 6th, 1864, as described in the text. * Jqamies Samuel Wadsworth was born in Geneseo,‘lw York. October 30th, 1So0T, was educated at liarvardl and Yale Colleges, and adlmitted to the bar in 1S3:3. But having inherited an immense landed estate in Western New York, he devoted himself chiefly to its improvement. IIe was a prominent memnber of the Republican party from the periodl of its formation, and a commisioner to the Peace Conference at Washingto n in 1M61. He embarked heartily in the cause of the Union, was appointed brigadiergeneral of volunteers, 33 513,

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. wall” Jackson, 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 concentrate 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, Crawfordcl’s Third Division of the Fifth Corps, Carr’s Fourth Division of the Second Corps, and Stevenson’s Division of the Ninth Corps suffering its brunt. The latter division, on Hancock’s right, giving way overpowevred, 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 man(euvre was most gallantly and successfully executed, the enemy retiring, with much loss, and our troops gradually gaining their old alignment. Theleft 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 la:ger 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 party 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 comnmanders, a few only escaping to Germaniia, Ford. This disaster on the right exposed the whole army to imminent peril. Amid the panic, however, are seen Sedgwick and the officers upon his stiff 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 flirther conquest.

For there is a line of steel which cannot be broken-Neill’s Brigade.

Against it, as # billow against a rock, the exultant 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 had the enemy been in a condition to follow up his advmatage. But so dearly was the advantage gained that their effort to thrust themselves between us and the Germania Ford was left unprosecuted, even when it was nearest being successful.. Artillery, however, had been posted to command the column of rebels, in case it should burst through and over the right flank 514

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. of our army. Our 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 neighborhood of three thousand. And our total losses in the two days’

fighting were not far froim 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 iil the two battles were Hayes and Wadsworth; and on the rebel side, Jones and Jenkins, with Longstreet, Pegram, and IIunter 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 i.iitiated the attack. At all events, it seems clear that both armies dsign,ed attack. On Tuesday our forces undoubtedly moved out to find the enemy, and discovered him advancing to oppose us. In like manner, it is certain that an attack both on the right and left was ordered for our forces at five A.

or. on Friday. On the left it was made, but on the right it sas anticipated by the enemy, who had the same intent, but had set the time of execution 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 Hlancock. It may be added, that this terrific infantry contest of Friday closed on a disputed field, neither army having gained great advantag.e, and firiend 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 the enemy’s last charge had wrought on that flank.

Except for this work, the night was comparatively quiet, our army lying silently along their hasty lines of riflepits, and the rebels still keeping their more formidable intrenchments on the edge of the woods, while the intervening space so often fought over was held by the dead and wounded of both the combatants. CHAPTER L. Movement upon Spottsylvania.-The Enevy on the Alert-Attack of May 10th. Deatli of Sedgwick.-Position of the Tryps.-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. TiHi 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 moire 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 515

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. the woods. Reconnoissances in the afternoon discovered that the main body of the enemy had fallen back somne distance. Prep:trations 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 eyewitness, gives a graphic description of the scene at headquarters at this moment: “The lieutenant-genieral 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 peisistent expression of the lip which held a constant promise of somiiething to be done. And there, at the foot of another tree, is General 3Ieade-a military hat, with the rim turned down about his cars, tap. piing a scabbard with his fuigers, and gazing Ltbstractedly into the depths of the earth through eye-glasses that should become listoric; General iIlmlphreys, chief of staff-a spectacled, iron-gray, middle aged officer, of a pleasant smile and manner, who wears his tlrowsers below, after the manner of leggins, and is in, all things independent and serene, paces yonder to and firo. That rather thick-set officer, with closely-trimimed whiskers, and the kindest of eyes, who never be tarays a harsh impatience to any comer, is Adljutant-General Williams. General Hunt, chief of artillery, a hearty-ftced, fiank-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 armny, than w-hom no more imperturbable, efficient, or courteous presence is here, plays idly and smilingly with a riding-wlip, tossiug a telling word or two hither and thither. Staff officers and orderlies and horses thickly strew the grove.” Amiid these reposing men drops an occasional shell fromithe 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-lIouse, rid Todd’s Tavern. The Fifth Corps nmarched in advance, the Sixth Corps next, Ilancock and Burnside following. The Sixth Corps marched oni the Chlancellorsville road, reaching Piney Branch Church towards the latter part of Sunday forenoon, the 8th. A part of our troops stretched across and occulied Fredericksburg. the Twenlty-second New York Cavalry entering that city at eight o’clock on Saturday eveneing. A d6pot for our wounded was established there, and a basis for supplies arranged. Hancock’s and Burnside’s Corps pressed onl, on Saturday night, resuming the chase again at daylight on StWday morning, and camping at nooii twenty miles away southerly from the Old WVilderness battlefield. The Fifth Corps, remaining till dark on the battleground, 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 tho direction of Spottsylvania CourtHouse, on the direvt road to Rich 516

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. mond. Orders were immediately issued for Anderson’s Corps (late Lonrgstreet’s) to march at eleven o’clock at night for that place, and preparations werie immediately made to put the whole army in motion for the same destination on the following day. The distance from the battlefield, which is near the western boundary of Spottsylvania County, to the Court-IIouse, is fifteen rpiles. WVarren’s Corps left the Wildern,ess Tavern with BIrtlett’s Brigade in the advance as skirmish ers.

These pushed forward with confidence, but incautiously advaning,, iwhen near Spottsylvania Court-IIouse, beyond the main body, were a.ssailed by a heavy fire and driven back with severe loss. General P,obinson fell, wounded in the leg. A line of battle was then formed, w-ith Griffin on the right, Ilobinson on the left, and on his left Crawford’s and AVadsw-orthl’s (now Cutler’s) Divisions. The troopB in the rear were brought up, and a portion of the Sixth Corps formed on the rilght.

3Ieantime, Ewell’s Corps had joined Longstreet’s (now Alld(,rson’s) at Spottsylvania CourtHouse, where Lee had succeeded in throwing(r his army in advance of Grant’s movement to the same pla(ce. IIill’s Corpls had not yet arrived, but was hourly expected. Tl,esc events of thlle 7th were officially given to the public as fol ]lows: “WASHINGXTON,.4ondiy, May 9-4. P. M. “A bearer of dispatches from General Mleade’s headquarters has just reached here. ife states that Lee’s army commenced falling back on the night of Frilday. Our army commenlced the pursuit on Saturday. The rebels were in full retreat for Richlmond by thlle direct road. Hancock passed through Spottsylvania CourtHouse at daylight yes terdtly. Our headquarters at noon yesterday were twenty miles south of the battlefiell.‘e occupy Fredericksburg. The Twenty-second New York Cavalry occupied tlht place at eight o’clock last night. The depot for our wounded is established at Fredericksburg. Sunday night, the 8th, found the Union army intrenched, facinlg the enemy northwest of Spottsylvania CourtHouse in an irregular line 2iondny, the 9th, was occupied by the two armies in getting into position and preparing for battle. There was more or less skirmishing throug,hout the day, and some artillery firing, whiclh began at dawn Thllre were some chaluges in the disposition of the troops. The enemy’s sharpshooters were very busy, depriving the Union army of many a valuable officer. General W. II.‘iorris, of the Sixth Corps, and numbers of others, were killed or wounded. The most severe loss was that of General Sedgwick,* who, accompanied by his staff, had w-alked *.Jlhn Sed-wlick was born in Connecticut, ville (campain, he stormed andl ecqttred Marye’s about 1815, anld gradutted at West Point in 1S37
l]leights, in tle rear of Fre dericksburg, aul(d subIIe vis brevetted(
captain and nlajor for galilt scqueiitly, after htlid fil’fitin, a’ainst overahelhrs c(,ini(lct ii the Mlexican war., andl at the outbreak iin!

nuiiib(rs, suciceded in crossin:a the l1a,pI~ ot’ tle i.ebeliion held the positionl of’lieutenalt-lannock withl his c(,uiiand. lie ha(l an hli(no(r ~,m,,f thl Seceond ( nited Statl s Cayal-ry. lie a se hre i n the GC’ttysbur-caml)i-,in. ai ial ws s))ioi aite,r promoted to thlt c(,lhmelcy of the Nove er, lS6b3, vas )blicly thanked by (liei Ifo-rt h C
v. aind on August 31st was coi s-ee o a wcll-e.\ecltd ianmouvre on thi l:tl)i sEiol:.~l llia:t(lier-ancal fht~ees. As cO(I-, dla, by-which we cap trerd,aL whole rebel (ieibsi( n, manlelr (‘t the Thi,-d Division,f Su Imrer’s Corps, w ith several guns and colors. lie di(( iII tle he l):teicilsat.d in the Peninsnlar cmpaiign, and rn ln.r dIscrlibe d in the text, leaviia a ire!,ilt.tioa partietilarlv d(listinguishe(i himself at Fair Oaks. as a brat,, j u(licious, and accomplisheid i,llcer, lie was w(
endedl at Antietam, was promoted in second t, that of no man in the army.

II( sevDec1”.b er. 1 (,2) t,, be a imajot-greneral of oln-el ties held tempary command of th(i Army teers andl in Febliiary, 1S53, took om maT(l of )f th Iot ac, andl more than once declined the the Sixth Aimy Colips.

1)uring the Chancellors-sluprecme cotmmanid. 517. ” EDWI.I STANTON, Secretary of War.”

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HIIISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. out to the advanced line of breastwo,rks occupied by his men. A con stant hum of bullets about this place caused the soldiers iii the works to dodge and duck their heads. The general smiled at thetn good naturedly. He had a winning smile. finally, one bullet hummned so near a soldier that he dropped down upon his face.

General Sedg wick touched him with his foot in huinorous disdain. “Pooh, pooh, man! Who ever heard of a soldier dodging a bullet? Wiy, they couldn’t hit an elephant at that distance.” There was a laugh at this, even though the straggling shot yet hummed unpleasantly around. Thle general was still smiliing over the banter, when Colonel MIcIahon 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 slicltly turned towards the officer at his side, a sad smile was upon it. Anotlher mio ment, and the form of the general fell helplessly b)ackward. It was caught by Colonel MIcMahon as it fell. A ball had entered the face, just below the left eye, pierced the brain, and passed out at the l)-ck of the head. He never spoke afterwards, though he breathed softly for a while. On Tuesday, our forces at dawn occupied a line stretching out a length of about six miles on the northern bank of the Po, and t-lkiiig the general form of a crescent, the wings being thrown forward; the Second Corps held the right wing, and the Sixth the left. Thle preceding night, Hancock had succeeded in crossing the Po, and now 11(ld a line on the right, nearly parallel to the road from Shady Grove Church to the CourtHouse. Warren held the centre, being on the east side of the Po; and Wright, who had succeeded Sedgwiclk in the commnand of the Sixth Corps, the left, facing towards the Court-lHouse. Farther out on the left was Burnside’s Ninth Corps, which, unknown to himself, and fortunately iUaknown to the enemy, was disconnected from its supports, ann in a very dangerouls position. Arnold’s, l’odger’s, Sleeper’s, and other batteries covered our right; iMeade’s, 3[artin’s, and others our left centre. In our front was a dense f’)rcst. Tile enemy still held Spottsylvania and the region north of the CourthIouse. On the preceding day, his left lested on Glady Run, sw-eel)ing, northward, and sheltered by strolig works. Ihis right curved in a s.milar direction, and rested on the Ny River; and his centre, a little thrown forward from the righit centre andl(l left centre, was posted o,w cominanding g(round. hIis position was well supported by breastw rlis, and along his centre was the forest and underbrush, lining a marish paitially drained by a run. In the morning the conflict ol)eiied by a terrific cannonade of ouiartillery ag ainst the advancing rebel lines; and for the first time in the campaign, this arm was brouIght into full and destructive use. 3Iott’s Fourth Division of thie Second Corps was then transferred to the left, and the advance continlued at this point. Orders, however, had been given to attack the rebel centre. Accordin,gly, Gii)bons’s Second and Birney’s Third Division of the Second Corps were dr:iwn back from the other side of the Po, to connect with Warren. The Lis

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. Second and Fourth Divisions of the Fifth Corps commenced 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 riflepits, but failing to capture them. Gibbons’s gallant Second Division, and especially Carroll’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 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. Hle pounced so sud deily and fiercely upon the division as to force it back firom the flankinmg position it held, and produce a momentary confusion. This was soon checked, and tle division, though pressed by superior numbers, fotught its way slowly backward, and, still fighlting, retreated across the river and joined the Second Corps, against the right of which the enemy continued to exert lois strength until aifter nightfall, when he was repulsed. Towards evening, a most energetic and gallant assault was ma(le 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 divisions 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 struggling hosts with the repulse of the enemy on the right of the Second Corp)s. UT)ton’s First Brigad(le of Wright’s First Division of the Sixth Corps, with Russell’s Third Brigade of the Third Division, moving steadily forward amid a raking and murderous fire, without firing a shot, s(caled the enemy’s works in gallant style, and captured more than one thousand of the very men who had stampeded the bri,gades 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 advan-e of the armiy, was compelled to fall back with his prisoners from his daringi assault. As always before, night closed on a hardfoug,ht but indecisive field. Our losses were perhaps more severe than those of any previous day. The Sixth Corps alone, in the battles up to that nighi’t, had lost over five thousand killqd and wounded. The followingv bulletin was issued upon the reception of the news of these events in WaVsliington: a ” WASHINGTON, aay 11. 11.30 A. M. To fMajor-General DIx: “Dispatches from General Grant, dated at eight o’clock this morning, have just reached this Department. HIe says:’-‘We have now enided the sixth day of very heavy fighting. The result to this time is ilutlch inii our favor. Our losses has been heavy, as well as those of the enemy. I think the loss of the enemy must be greater. AVe have taken over five thousand prisone,:s in battle, while he has taken from us but few except stragglers. Ipropose to fight it out o0 this li,e if it takes all,sumimer.’ The Government is sparing no pains to support him. “EDWIN M. STANTON, Secretary of War.” 519

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HISTORY OF THlE GPREAT PREBELLION. V’ednesday, mIay 11th, was a day of no extended operations, and was spent mostly in skirmishing and changing positions on botll sides. The enemy shifted his lines to the left, and corresponding m(o)vements were made on the Federal side. It had been determine(l to aissault on Thursday morning, and the Second Corps being selected to make the attempt, it was, during the nifflght, which was very stormy, mloved from the right to the left of the Sixth, between that anld 1-llrIlside, so that on Thursday morning the corps were disposed as followNs: the Fifth Corps on the right, the Sixth Corps next, the Second Corps iinxt, and Burnside, as before, on the extreme left. It was in fitont oft Hlan cock’s new position that the vital section of the enlemy l.y a strong salient angle of earthworks, ditched in front, defended lby ciannon at every point, and held by Johnson’s Division of Ewell’s Corps, Ewell’s whole corps adjoiining. On Thursday, the 12th, Hancock’s * Corps occupying a position exposed to the enemy’s guns, moved at dawn cautiously up) to the enemy’s lines amidst a dense fog. Barlow’s Division-Niell’s Brigadc leading -formed in column by battalions, took the advance, whfile Biriiey, 3Iott, and Gibbon, in two lines of battle, supported the attack.

The storming column advanced-silently, and without firing a shot, llup to the angles of the breastworks, over wlhich 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, BrigadierGeneral George II. Stuar’t in command. Over forty pieces of artillery were also captured. The point of the lines thus carried was at Eweli’s right and A. P. Hill’s left, and the captured division was a part of Stonewall Jackson’s famous old corps. It wvas an exceedingly important point, Ilancock being thus inserted like a wedge betweeni the eniemy’s centre and right. The charge of the Second Corps was followed by a heavy c:innonadle all alonig the line, to whichl the enemy replied with,reat vigor. Five furious charges w\ere miade by the enemy to retake tlhat piosition. Ewell’s Corps, driven fiom it in the morning, came down first ()4 iJt(sse and were repulsed. Hill moved down from the right, joilec Ewell, and threw his divisions into the struggle. General WVriglht moved up from the righlt, supporting IIancock to meet the surg’e.

Anderson came on from the extreme left of the enermy’s line. Varrerii sent in troops firom the left of ours. The lines of both armies, thus contracted, met in a continual death-grapple in and to the right of the aingle t:iken in the morning. The enemy’s columns dashed with uiiflincliiii determitiation against our lines, retiriing each time with great loss. At tin iiishc(d lhimnself at Fredeicksbi’:,z ( lqncilorsville, and(I Gettysbur,(,. Akt th le Il, t-ltmled battle lhe lilc(l coininanll(l of tile Sc(. is a,d wpas sev arely coundend. It to:r outinidtC i i the Ctm)iznl of wo lS64 ag ainst li(: On i o nizl tlhf ntsslllIt wiic ]inh t(, t lb: c.,Irre, ofi, 1n o’I dioisio, Alay 12thi. Ith ht,tr:‘t of S~lS(ivi.

iX, AIaYl II(1, t~( IT~!Il O th Ie h e, res ignlle( the (.0’;.1:1 t (,i’

tit.:: I,I,n d (‘!os.)s to Gen(er,d lluml)ilrcys.:tn(t as assig n ed to thlC Fiirst (Co.rp)s, thlenll i( 1 I’ tInli 1,r. Akt thlo cl-s-e of the,^
wa.rhe ctkilll[1:l-l]‘J’,] ill ltt,’ i}:t.lt::.ll(]oaiz alh’y. lis is n(ow n,.io-;1:!:l ot v dlu tecr anti has char ge o(,f theidlc, L)rt::;atL. *

Winriehl Scott Itancock was borin in M(ontgonmelry Coiunty. PennsylvantL, in 1 n24, and tyraiduated at WVest Po-int in 1S44. IIe,as evttcd first lieutellnant for gallant conlduct in the MIexic.i a war, sIlI)sequeltlv sixw much service in the W st andI at the bhi,akin, o,i t of the rebellion-ld tl, positioi of quarterm aster. le w as aMy,hintle brigi((iergeneral of wol)l inte, is in Sel&teiiter lS61, colnmanded a Ib rita(le in the Peninsulaar calpaign, and was highly commended f-r his conducet at the battle of Willialnisbiir,,, IMty 5th, 1562. After the battle of Antietam., hle assiumied e,,mniwand of a division in the Se,,conud Cuorps, and dis 520

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ISTORY OF TIE GREAT REBELLION. length, towards noon, they ceased their efforts to retake the position. But they had successfully disputed our further advance. Part of the ca)tured cannon remained covered by sharpshooters, so that neither party could carry thenm off. The only solid advantage gained was the possession of the angle surprised in the morning.

The enemy’s front renaiiin’d elsewhere apparently impregnable, every avenue of approach being swept by the withering fire of artillery, and their force be ing strong, enough to hold the position against twice the attacking numnbers. After many heroic attempts to force them, the design was abandoned. General MIeade began early in the afternoon contracting his line and massing troops on his left, with a vievw to turn the enemy’s right. All the afternoon the battle raged with great fury. The enemy m-nade correspoind.‘ing movements from his left to his right. Every inch of soil, mutddvy with gore, was fought over with desperation, and yielded only whlen it became impossible to hold it. Neither the rain nor the mire of the roads delayed the rapidity or intensity of the fight. The rival bayonets often interlocked, and a bloody grapple over the intrenchments lasted for hours, the rebel battleflags 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 fiirly 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 houtis after HIancock, had not advanced on the enemy’s front; but this wais not expected, as his position could not there be carried. On the ertrmni let, Burnside had severely suffered; while on the left centre, It:iiiceocll had stormed and held an important angle of the enemy’s workls, desp)ite all their efforts to repossess it. Official dispatches add that the day’s work also gave us more than three thousand prisoners, and also two general officers, and eighteen pieces of artillery actually bro..i(,lt into our lines. Between foity and fifty pieces had been at one time captured, but the remainder rested on debatable ground, and were sub::1 gently withdrawn by the einemy. The brilliant dash of the morninr ldtA secured a strong grasp on the enemy’s left centre, and an advaic.e of a mile in our line in. that direction. Five determined assaults were lad(le during the day to expel our troops, but all were fruitless. No mor gallant, desperate, or long,-continued fighting, on either side, for the possession of inltrenchments, had ocourred (uring the war; -while thel severity of the wounds gave proof of something more than must etry fighting. The foregoing IiovemeRts were thus described by the Assistant Seetet-ay of War, who accompanied the army in its advance: “SPOTTSYLV.A-A COUTRT-J]OUSE, VA., Friday, May 13, 1S81:-S A. M. Hion. E.

M,. STANTON, Secretary of War: “Lco ab:;audoned his position during the night, whether to occupy a new position ia the Vocinitr, or to make a thoroiigh retreat, is not determined. “Ole t(‘ivi’i;iol of Wright’s and one of lHancock’s are engaged in settlihg this question, and at halfpast seven A. m. had come up on his rear-giard. Tlho,igh our army is 521

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HISTORY OF P,I GREAT REBELLION. greatly fatigued from the enormous efforts of yesterday, 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 provious days’ fighting. This was owing to the great use made of artillery. “C. A. DANA.” 3leanwhlile, on May 9th, a picket body of cavalry, under the immediate command of General Sheridan,* chief of cavalry of the Army of the Potomiac, had left the front on an expedition to the irear of Lee’s almy, the ma’i, object of which was to cut off the rebel ctmmulllications and supplies. Moving rapidly south along the Negro Foot road towards Childsburg, he crossed the North Anna River at the fords andl suddenly pounced upon the Beaver Dam Station of thte Virginia Central Rililroad, where a rebel provost-guard, having cliarge of nearly four hundrced Union prisoners, was captured. The latter were promptly releAsed.

Thence moving towards Richmond, he s(.nt a detachmenit to Ashland Station, on the Flredericksburg RPilrotl, wlhcie the track, station-house, and considerable rolling stock weire destroyed. On the 11th the command, again concentrated, had reached a point within six miles of Richmond, where the rebel cavalry under General Stuartt was encountered, and, after a sharp fight, defeated, w itlh the loss of several gIuns, Stuart himself being mortally wounded. On the succeeding mornin,g a, detachment penetrated to the second line of dlefences of Richmond, but not being in sufficient force to make a (lash at the city, rejoined the main body, which was moving towardsMeadow IBri(dge, on the Chickahominy. The rebels, aware by this time of the intentions of Sheridan, wvere moving rapidly in superior force to surrould and cut him off, and upon reaching the river the Union cavalry found Meadow James river, and in the flankinc movement by which Lee wias dlriven ouit of Peter sl,lurir and evelntuatlly (lestroye(,d he held the clhie,f c~,znm d. defeatin(.- the rebels with se vere loss ait the b’ittle of Five Forks. At the conclusion ot the a r lie went to Texas as commnander (of the litary (diisiol *f the Gulf Iie is a majorgeneral of the regular army. t James E. B. Stuiart was borni in Patr-iek- Cono ntv, Virginin, about 1S32. and ga dte t West Iboii nt in IS54. Ie serv e(
in a clr re’iiiecit until th e outb ea of the r ebellion. when he retsin ed his couin c mission and entered tlhe lrell arii, in wi-ilich, in Se)ttemiber, 1861, he wats (,(,mmissi],ned a b)rigadir-general. In the ensu -initer he orgariiize(l the rebel cavalry forces in \i riniiia and durlin<the Penin sular esafl). iha ria-tinnuish d hit tr self b) a raid in McClellani’s re.”, whvlich was the preu]‘elsor of that general’s chun(re (I-base to the James R,iver, and of the seven (davs’ fiL-htin_L w hich accompranj)tii(e(l the moveme nt. lie c~mlman(led the cavah’ during the succee(linc inasiz,n,f Marylan(l, an(] a few weeks after the battle of Antietam again ro(le aroun(l the Union lines. }iringing off a considierable amtiotint of s poils. lth, (eIi:ncllorsville campaign and Lee’s seond invasion of tlhe North, his cavah yv wvas ac ti. an. ft’ter the txattle-of (‘Gettysblurg, effe ctuall y cov d tlhe rebel retreat. Ile wias mortally wmoin(l( z in an ncouinter with the IUinion cavhvlrv at Yelh<w Tavern, nea~ RIichmond. on the l1th, andi (died(l a few houris later. Ile then held the rank of lieutenant-6generaL * Philip Ilenry Sheridan was born in Perry Count,, (,hie, in 13:11, anrd,rradiated at West Poiit in 13. 1ie sw coll si(lerable service in the WIest. an,l after the utitbrea,-“k of the rebellion was com mrission ed a captain in the Thirteenth United States Iiifitrv. 1}‘or lnearly a year he aceted as chief quartern’mster in the Trans-Mississippi Departmen t, aI in M.ay, 1S62, was appointed colonel of the ec d ichin Cit lhiy. In Jun e he was put inl comimndi( of a c avalry bri rtade, l an d fo r nn brillian t vict ory ov r th e reb ml General Chalhiers, at Boonel ille, pissisril vi. Jly 1st, he was l)romotedi, o n Gener al G rant’s r econmend ation, to be a brigadier-geeral o olteers. Durin the invasion of Kentucek bv B1:,g’, in 1562, he was assined to the coniain tf a division in Buell’s athc,t ald stbseq Ii lv fotoht at lerrysv ille and cIurfteesborov’. earnin,,n bv hi s valor in the latter enga telient his tnotion to be majo ri-ieneral of oluhnanoteers. lie pftrticilpatedI in the ctheaib lof l ei63 t anainst rhtetta.io wa, and aain distingo uislhed hilstelf at ik a d o e:zt lotr th sutcceedi hni battle o n bissi,oa-v l’ie’on. In the slring of iS64 he was sulnallovle(c cstvard to assli me rommand of the cavaly (rf thn e A l ( of the Potomacd i n l htoeh capacity h; le(d isoval darinz expeditionskgainst the onenlye s C~,mlllunllllliecations. In Allust le took charge of the id!itury,-iisi~ m of the Shenandoah, tain(e(tlhe brilhaint victolies offSerTtember19thand 1st ov er Early. and onl Oct,I,t,r 19th won the hardfouig’ht battle of Ce(lar C eek. ehan~ing by his o~portune arrival a Union (leteat into a signal victory. In March, 1.OS, he moved his cavalry to the 522

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HIISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. Bridge destroyed and the Fredericksburg Railroad bridge, which crosses the Chickahominy near this place, commanded b)y defensive works. To add to Sheridan’s embarrassment, another rebel force nIow came up in his rear, cutting off his retreat and seriously icjeopardizing the command. IHeQmmed in between two fires, with a difficult river to cross, and a vigilant and confident enemy surrounding his tired troopers, Sherid(an acted with consummate coolness and judgment.

The railroad(l bri(ige being under the circumstances impracticable, he immediate!y commenced 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.

Ait length, the bridge was completed, and preparations were made to pass his ammuinition train across. But as this operation, under the hot fire of the enemy, would be attended with no little risk, he gathered ibis men up for a final charge, and, putting himself at their lhea.d, sabre in hand, drove the rebels in confusion to the shelter of the neigl borilng woods, their flight being accelerated by several well-aimed shots fi’olthe Union artillery. The trains were now quickly passed across the river, and thle 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 ba.ttleground of June 27th, 1862, and on the 14thl reached General Butlt’s healdquarters, near City Point, on the James River. He then olpcned coinmunications with Yorktown, and thence with Washington. CHAPTER LI. Retrograde Movement of the Enemy.-Bad Condition of the Roads.-Union Mfovement to the Left.-Relative Position of Armies.-Reenforcements.-Irruption on the Rear Repulsed.-Grant Crossing the North Anna.-Impregnable Position of the Enemy. -Northl Anna Recrossed, and Mlovement to the Left continued. FITDAY, the 13th, continued stormy, but the skirmishers 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 Ilancock. The roads were in such a condition that rapidity of nmov( ment w,ias out of tile question, and the day was occupied mostly in btirying tlhe dead. General AIeade issued a congratulaitory order to the trooI)s. Towards night, new dispositions were determined on. The enemy’s right being decemed the only practicable &oiut of attack, our lines were to be once more shlifted downL to the left, in the endeavor to fliaik. The Fifth and Sixth Corps were selected this time, for an a!teinpt reseinbling that of the Second and Ninth. The position of Thursdaiy, the 12thli, as already indicated, ran thus, fiom right to lcft: AV.trren, 5Vrirglt, htancock, Burnsitle. About nine o’clock, on Fiid:iy-night, the taco right corps were put in motion, and( marched all night to their new position.

The difficulties of the march tlirough the anlnle-deep and knee-deep mud, and amid thle furious storm, made tlhe movement 523

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HIISTORY OF TIIE GREAT REBELLION. slow and arduous, and only endurable by contrast with the severer experience of constant battle. On tile morning of Saturday, the 14th, the enemy was found to have fall,n back a little, and to have brought his line more to the east, still hol(Tilng the Court Touse and the forked roads. In this neighborhood, the y an(l the Po Rivers, branches of the ]Iattapony, approach each othier to form their junction. The Federal army was in the fork form ed by tiiese streams, and at right angles with the road fi’om Fredericks birl, to Sltottsylvania.

The several corps were posted as follows: Itaneock’s Second Corps on the right, Burnside’s Ninth on the right Ceitre, Vricght’s Sixth on the left centre, Warrenl’s Fifth on the left. Oii St urdaiy, Wright had not been able to get immediately into posi tion, andl was farther to the left and a little thrown back, as if in re secrie. The position was a good one, on the crests of rolling ridges ruinning nearly northwest and southeast, and covering the southerly banlk of the Ny River. There was also space for the sweep of the artil!ery. IUnfortunately, the almost indescribably bad condition of the roads lhad prevented the successful completion of the movement in seas,ion to authorize an attack. There was no hope of surprise, and befoie our artillery trains and infantry masses were in position the enemy was alert and hostile. Thie headl-quarters of Grant and Heade were at Gail’s IIouse, eight miles friom Fredericksburg and two miles from the CourtHouse. The extiemiities of the two wings were about equidistant from the house, and tlhe skirmishing line a mile in front. The enemy’s position was a semiiciircular line of earthworks, with riflepits 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 intiencehments building. A part of the works appeared to be sodded, sho-i an old construction, and the utmost activity was manifest in streng’tl,.zeig the position. Our forces soon commenced to throw up field-:vo:lks, and the great armies, so lately contending with bayonet am,l l)ullet, were now quietly and sedulously emulating each other with the spade. Suinday, the 15th, was the twelfth day since the army had left CulI-)pper, anld w-as the first of comparative rest that the men had enjoyed. TheLe was buet little skirmishing on either side. Oil M1onday, the 16th, GrCit sent word to Washington that operations would lbe suspendedd u:‘til toe roads should be passable. 3loniday and Tuesday passed in welcome rest for the army. The wounded were sent back in long ti-rai:- of anibulances to Fredericksburg, and the roads were ined w ithI ciLppled soldiers painlly making their way in the same directi~m.

ilosl)y’s guerri4las scoured the country oni both sides of the na.iid;:)i~, picking up squads of stragglers. Re-enforcenienits Ihad been rceeNe’el to the extent of tllirty-five thousand, aecording to the aniiouniemeuiit of the Secretary of Char, to fill up the terribl)le gaps made bin the previous ten days’ service. The time was similarly employed by the enemy. Aily Tuesday afternoon, the 1.7th, the ground had become somewhat improved, so as to admit of reconnoissances. Hiitherto the constant 524

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HISTORY OF THIlE GREAT REBELLION. effort of Grant had been to turn the eniemy’s right. It was now de termined to reverse the operation, and, if possible, to throw the enemy off his guard; the more so that the ground was more f.vo,able for manceuvriliilg on our right than on our left. In accordance with this determination a new disposition of troops was made duin,‘g Tuesdayv night, and the line was formed WVe(dnesday mo,Iing(, the 1 Sth, fi’om ri,glit to left, as follows: AV right, Hancock, Burnsi(de, W,rrei. The right andcl riight centre, Wright and Hancock, were to att.ckl.-. It was hoped by this means to surprise the enemy, as our movenlents of the p)ast week cefusing our ri,it constantly, and massing on tle l(ft seemed to indicate a fixed purpose on the part of -Ieade of t’rning the rebel right. The enemy, however, divined( the intcnioni, and(
were already perfectly prepared. When Hancock advanced he fobund th,em in an impregnable position. Hancock pushed through two cute: lnes of riflepits, which had been abandoned in apparent haste to dra,w him on, but presently strnck an extremely strong line of breastworiks, with abatis in front, and very hleavily armed with artillery. The position cotld only have been carried by an immense loss of life, if it coutld have been carried at all. The order for assault was, accordingly, at ten o’clock A.

-r. countermanded. A nearer view of the position it was in’eide(l to.assail convinced the commanding general that it couldl not be careried.

If it could be gainedcl by hard fighlting, he was not the man to flinlcl on that account; but success seemed hopeless. Getner.al Grant, finding it impossible to force the enemy’s fr ont, once mnoe c1eterminied to mlove by his left. On Wednesday ntght a cavallr?or:( i’t:1~er General Toberlt entered G-iinney’s Station, a point ott t’ S?!.i.n d, FredvieL’:“hurg,:ud Idoto’nac Railiroads, d:boti ten miles.n a direct line.sonthleasterly from Spottsylvania, acnor-s tlec Po, innl eo tsequn itly on the iight and rear of the enemiy’s position. Tlhe cavi:!ry destroyed the buildings and supplies, the telegriaph appaiatus, &c. ~This was only the precursor of a general movement in that d(irection. On Thursday a portion of the right began to move towards the left, and dispositions were in progress to carry out the w-lole r.movemnent, when an unexpected interruption took place, Ewell,* 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-roald in the rear of our righlt flank, where he captured ambulances.ind a sl)sistence train within threequarters of a mile of the headquarters of Generals MIeade 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 etch’of the * Richard Stoddard Ewell was born in the Dis-Run, and did not resume his command until after trict (,f ()Colutmbia about 1820, and graduated at the battle of Gettysburg. ie lparticil)Lte(l in the West Point in 1840. lie was brevetted captain invasion of Maryland and Pennsrylvaniai in 1863, for gallantr-in the Mexican war, subsequently distinguished himself at Gettysbiurg, and during saw considerable service in the West, and at the the campaign of 1864-‘65
comlntan(le(l one of the outbreak of the civil war resigned his commis-three corps of Lee’s army. On April 6th, 1S65, sion and entered the rebel army, of which he his corps was disastrously routed by Sheridan, was appointed a brigadiergeneral. He %mg sub-west of Burkesville,‘and he himself caprtured. He sequently promoted to be a majorgeneral, and was subsequently confined in Fort Warren, but took command( of a corps in the Army of Vir-after some months released. ginia. He lost a leg at the second battle of Bull 525

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RISTORPY OF THE GRIEAT IEBELLION. 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 skirmishers 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 enemiy, whose boldly-conceived movement might, under different circumstances, have produced disastrous results, rested with Tyler’s heavy artillery division, and partly also with Birney’s Division of the Second Cor1)s, 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, wben Torbert’s Cavalry left Guinney’s Station, on the Fredericksburg and Riichmond Railroad, and pushed on to Bowling Green, fifteen miles southeast of Spottsylvania, and thence to iMilford Station, hoping to capture Lee’s stores; but they lhad been already removed. At midnight of Friday, the Second Corl)s tfllowed the cavalry, striking MIassa)ponax Church abl)out four o’clock, GuinA,lley’s Station on Saturday morning, andl finally Bowling Green-reaching the latter point, after a march of about tw enty miles, by nightfall of Saturday.- The weather was fine but warm, and the roads good. Proceeding from Bowling Green, the Second Corps next struck the 3Lattapony at MIilford’s Bridge, five miles south, crossed the river, and formed line in a commanding position about a mile fiom the bridge. Iere. 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 3lattapony. 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, and, of 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,ur path. All the corps had more or less skirmishing-that in the rear being at one time q!ite lively, but no damage or delay was caused. The advance was conducted in a bold and confident style, the corps striking out, with, occasionally, long gaps intervening, causing no little trepidation in some quarters, lest a part of our force should be cut off by an attack of the enemy, while it marched by the flank. 526

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HIISTORY OF THE GREAT REB]ELLION. By Sunday the column began to consolidate, and a sort of line was formed, facing westerly, the Second Corps holding the left at -Iilford Station, and the Fifth the right at Guinney’s, with the centre in the direction of Bowliing Green. It was already clear to Grant that the enemy s I-)receding him in the direction of Hanover CourtHouse, and the whole army on Mionday pushed forward at a rapid rate, and reachled thle North Anna River in the neighborhood of Jericho Miills. The Second and Fifth Corps were in the advance, thle latter at the ri,ght of the Second. hIancock 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, Han cock succeeded in forcing the position. Meanwhile, AVarren’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, eithler of artillery or musketry. The attack resulted in a destructive repulse of the enemyll. At the position attacked by IHancock the rebels were iatreniched, and in considerable force, between the creek he had crossed and the river, and mlade a pertinacious resistance to his onset; but before dark he had forced them firom their works and driven themn 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 lad even on Friday night suspected Grant’s movement. lHe knew the inmpregnability of his own position. He knew that the Fed eral advance on his works had been abandoned without serious attack, and whlen Ewell’s attack on the Fedcleral 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 direct to the same point than that of Grant.

He accordingly 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 River, Longstreet and Ewell had been in position twenty-four hours. Tuesday, the 24th, was passed in getting the army into position on the south of the North Anna. Port Royal, on the Rappahannock, became the new base of supplie,, and headquarters were at Jericho Mills.

On Wednesday noon, the 25th, the line rested as follows, from right to left: \Yright’s Sixth Corps, Warren’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. Out own line extended about four miles. The 52’r

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IIISTORY OF THE GREAT PEBELLION. reconnoissances of the day showed that the enemy’s line lay northwest of Sextoin’s Juiictioni, in the general form of a V. The apex, or his centre, stretcleed towards the North Anna, his right wing resting on the formiilable marsh known as Pull Swamp, through which the creek of that name em)ties into the Northl Aunnl, a,,d exteniiding tcross the Fredericlksburg Railroad, protecting it and covering the junction. His left wing ran along Little River, crossing the Vi”rinia Ce,itral, and protecting it also at Sexton’s Jtnction. The salient, n obtuse angle, was pulS.,el Cout towards O’x F(ord, confrontiug Burnside. Ilineock’s Corps!ny p retty nealy para,llel with the enemy’s ri,ht. This lostion natutirl-strong, appeared to be fortified with extensive and e(!alorate intre:chme 4ets, to which the e,nemy was busily adding othlers. The hole position looked fo)rmidable, and the enemy did not yield to the s1i,ht 1)ressuiec of our reconnoi ss nce. On Thu,sday!Pex-quarters wee at Quarles’s Ford.,econnissances again w-cit o, b’t sIowed nothing new. The strength of tie rebel armv, v-itlli ti.e i,orass on the right and the river. onI the left, -itli its ceintre d..mnge’-ously inserted between the two fordcls, and threateniing to penetrate our o0.n centre, was again o)vious. In case of a lI)attle, the rapidity witlh -whch troops could be tlirown badcl and forth fi om flank to ak, as occasion required, was no less obvious. The position as s”iltillv eCl osen, and, it would seem, threatened our security, as well as prov ided for its own. A glanc at the position sufmced to showv that it was almost imprenabe, n:l oc:, t!‘C b(.‘en’t to the, left commenced. _’io malke thi::,::..:L:’.t: it:,;s,uces,,y to. ree:oss t1e Nortlh Ann, v!l’i’.h was swe!!i::,’-f:~,:,’ ” rc1eit alt ins, Ind no timne wYas to be lost. ANWith a vigilant ei.emy on his rear, the t.sk was not easy. To cover tle nmovement, a (etmionstration was made during Thursday, the 2cat, on the cneiy’s.1 ols, ancl tlc cavalry set to )buringll the track of tle Viighini Cent:al Rai ro0a. Utder cover of thli;.s attack, on Thursday evening, the Sixth 1o-ps quietly and swiftly withdrew to the north branch of the river, followed by the other corps in quick succession, and moved out esterly for the Pamunkey. Hancock protected the rear, and, nmeanvltile, a strong skirmish line was left in front, to eng.,nce the ene-iys astte ntion and disarm suspicion. At 9 o’clock o0n Friday mornlin’, T’oirbert’s First acnd Gre,g’s Second Division of Slecridan’s Cavalry too] possession of Hianover Ferry and HIanovertown, finding there only a rebel vedette. General Torbert captured sevcletv-five ca-alry, incltudling six officers. The First Division of the Sixth Corps arrived at 10. x., and the rest of the column closely followed. On the morning of the 27th, fhile our army moved dowin the north side of the Pu.iiunkey, Brieckinridge’s, Division was sent to move down on the south side of the stream, to Hanover CourtHouse, to act as a corps of observation; and a brigade of cavalry was sent still firtlier on, on the Piping, Tree road.

Handvertown is on the Pamunkey, fifteen miles northeast of Richmond, nine miles in an air line from Hanover Court House, and sixteen frqm White House, on the same river. But the exceedingly tortuous nature of the river makes the two latter dis tances very much greater by river and somewhat greater by road. It 528

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“ISTORY OF TIE GREAT REBELLION. was at once evident that the familiar spot known as White Hiouse 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, 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 headquarters were at Mlongohick Church, situated at the cross-roads on lMehixen Creek, in King William County, ten miles north of Hanovertown. On Saturday morning, the 28th, our troops had obtained complete possession of ‘lanovertown and the neighboring region, having marched probably twentyfive miles, in the heat and dust, since Thursday night. On Sunday, the 29th, the whole army was successfully across the Pamunkey, and fironted southwest, about three miles from the river. The corps moved cautiously 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. Reconnoissances were made from each corps, followed up by a gradual advance. It appeared that the enemy was in force half a dozen miles distant from our lines, across Tolopatomoy Creek, with his extreme right holding Shady Grove and Mechaniesville, his right centre in front of Atler’s Station on the Virginia Central, and his left still persistently covering Hanover CourtHouse. Trains now began to run to and from White House, and dispositions were made for battle. CHAPTER LIL Original Plan of Campaign.-Butler’s Expedition up the James.-Movement on Peters burg.-Fort Darling.-Repulse of the Union Forees.-Attack by Beauregard. Beauregard Reenforces Lee.-Smith sent to Support Grant. THE campaign of General Grant upon his appointment as LieutenantGeneral to the chief command of all the armies of the United States, comprised a simultaneous movement 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 IR’ailroad connection with Richmond, thus preventing Beauregard, who commanded on the south side of the James, firom going to reenforce Lee. This expedition, consisting of the Eighteenth Corps*MajorGeneral WV. F. Smith, known as Baldy Smith, and the Tenth Corps, MajorGeneral 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 attempt at City Point or elsewhere to dispute the landing, which was described in the official telegram as follows: 34 529

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EIISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. ” OFF CITY POINT, VA., May 5.

“LieutenantGeneral 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 there. 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 success. Generals Smith and Gillmore are pushing the landing of the men. General Graham, with the army gunboats, led the advance during the night, captutiring the signal-station of the rebels. “Colonel West, with eighteen hundred cavalry, mad(le several demonstrations from Williamsburg yesterday morning. General Kautz left Suffolk this morning with his cavalry, for the service indicated during the conference with the LieutenantGeneral. “The New York flag-of-truce boat wa s found lying at the wharf, with four hundred prisoners, whom she had not time to deliver.

She went up yesterday morning. “W e are landing troops during the night-a hazardous service in the face of the enemy. BENJ. F. BUTLER, Mzajor-General Comiandicig. “A. F. PUFFER, Captain and A. D. C.” General Kautz, with three thousand cavalry from Suffolk, on the same day with the movement up the James River, had forced the Blackwater, and burnt the railroad bridge at Stony Creek, below Petersburg, but not in time to prevent the troops under Hill reaching Petersburg in time to contest the progress of our troops. He also made a dash at Petersburg,, but was comupelledl to retire with loss. On iMonday, the 9th, our troops advanced in force against the Richmornd and Petersburg Railroad, with the purpose of more effectually disabling this main line of supply for GeneralLee.

Gillmore on the right and Smith on the left, feeling their wvay 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 Vicksburg, 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 # perfect connection across James River could be kept up. The moment the army on the south side occupied Manchester, Richmond would become untenable; and under any circumstances, with all communications cut, the city could not stand a ong siege; and though a portion of the rebel army might escape, it 530

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. could only do so in a demoralized condition. Such being the views of Grant, it is evident 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 communications between Rich mond and Danville. In support 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 advanced, skirmishing with the enemy, until he reached Proctor’s Run, three miles from Fort Darling, and Gillmore, 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 Hampshire, the One Hundredth New York, and Twentyfourth 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 stronger line, threequarters of a mile beyond. More or less skirmishing was kept up until the 16th, when thie enemy, under Beauregard, attacked vigorously. Our line was formed with Smith’s Corps on the right, and Gillmore’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 Hickman’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 iear with loss of some artillery, four stands of colors, and about three hundred prisoners. Here Colonel Drake’s Brigade, Weitzel’s Division, consisting of the Eighlth Maine and One Hundred and Twelfth New York, came to the rescue, and by hard fighting for a time stayed 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 Division, 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 captured on the right, firom Heckman’s Brigade, consisting of the Ninth New Jersey, and the Twentythird, Tweiity-fifth, and Twentyseventh Massachusetts. Ashby’i and Be] ger’s batteries lost tea gins. A large number of officers, including General IHeckman, 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. 531

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HISTORY OF TIE GREAT REBELLION. Thus the prime object of the expedition of General Butler 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 Appomnattox River, he had shown more vigor, it is difficult to see how Petersburg, distant some ten miles firom the James River, could have been saved. As it was, time was given to Beauregard to gather up a force fiom 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 perhaps have proved a success. The forces remained inactive until the 19th, when Beauregard moved in front of the Union lines, and about midnight 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 was a series of riflepits, between which and our intrenchments intervened a field devastated by fire, around which the woods formed an irregular semicircle. The enemy came down upon these riflepits in force, capturing them after a desperate fight. In an attempt to retake the riflepits, the Ninety-seventh Pennsylvania and Thirteenth Illinois Regiments wvere 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 unexpectedly upon a battery, which opened a murderous cross-fire, literally mnowing them down.

It appeared to the looker-on as though the entire force melted away before this terrific 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 Appomattox 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; HIlunton’s, B]urtonl’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 foI 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, Genernl 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 approaching White House, his new base of supplies, and required reenforcements 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 632 0

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. House vid Fortress Monroe. From the moment of the departure of the Eighteenth Corps, Butler was penned up between a watchful enemy and the river, secured, however, 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.

CHAPTER LIII. Position of Grant’s Army.-Warren’s Advance.-Further Development of the Union Left Wing.-Severe Battles around Cold Hlarbor.-New Flank Movement determined upon.-Crossing of the James and Junction with Butler.-Results of that Campaign. THE morning of Monday, 3fay 30th, found Grant’s line of battle disposed as follows: Wright’s Corps on the extreme right, extending in the direction of Hanover CourtHouse; Hancock’s on the right centre, on the Shady Grove road; Warren’s on the left centre, on the Mechanicsville road; Burnrside’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 railroad bridges over the Little River and South Anna, and to break up the roads leading thence to Hawe’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 firom 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, WVarren began to move slowly towar’ds Mechanicsville.

Crawford’s Division, which was in advance, towards Shady Grove, and a little detached, was suddenly assailed by Rhodes’s Division of Early’s Corps, with great vigor. The flank of WVarren’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 tiine to attack before dark, and he immediately dashed uponi the enenmv’s skirmish line, captured their riflepits, and held them all night. The enagement was rapid and brilliant, and the losses not large. Warren held his 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 Hancock inflicting more or less loss, Ibut without material success. On Tuesday, the 31st, 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 0ow occupied nearly the same ground that it had two years before, 0 533

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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 reenforced by the Eighteenth Corps of Smith, while the enemy was joined by Breckin ridge and Beauregard. The line of the enemy was disposed so as to cover the Chickahominy, which is the outer line of defence for Rich mond, with its right, and the V irginia Central Railroad with its left. Most of the ground between the Chickahominy and the Pamunkey is favorable for manceuvring, being open and dry. South of the former river are those well-known swamps which were traversed 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 Mechanicsville; and parallel with this road, and north of it, is another, 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. Hilt, Anderson, Ewell. The Federal line, consequently, faced westerly and southwesterly, and on Tuesday, May 31st, was disposed as follows, from right to left: Wright, Hancock, Buruside, 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 attempt to repeat what was known among the Confederates as his “crab movement,” began to manceuvre for position. Kershaw’s and lioke’s Divisions, of Anderson’s Corps (the latter temporarily attached to the corps), were sent to the right, to the old battlefields of Gaines’s M]ill 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 twentyfive 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, and Neill’s, of the Sixth. In front was a ploughed field, and beyond a strip of pine forest, where the enemy were intrenched. Our artillery opened on the left, and almost immediately the line moved briskly forward. The two centre divisions, Devens’s and Ricketts’s, with a cheer, ch,nged 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 enemy’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 HISTO RY OF THIE GREAT REBELLION. 534

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 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. During the night, the enemy made the most persistent efforts to recover their lost line, but without success.

The Federal loss was over two thousand; that of the enemy considerably less, as he was covered by his works. The result of the day’s fighting was the retention of Cold Harbor by the Union forces. The Union line was now eight miles long, extending from Bethesd.a Church to Cold Harbor, and, by reason of the march of Wright and the accession of Smith, was formed as follows, from right to left: Hancock, Burnside, Warren, Smith, Wright.

Cold Harbor, the left extremity, was simply an old house, the tavern at the junction of roads leading to the White House on the east, Dispatch Station and Bottom Bridge on the south, Richmond t.il Gaines’s 5Iill 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 firom li.novertowii to Shlady Grove, not far firom 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 field. The new disposition was completed by noon of Thursday, the 2d; but, owingv to a heavy rainstorm, the attack was postponed until the following morning. Heavy skirmishing continued during 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 IMahone’s Divisions of Hill’s Corps; his centre by Kershaw’s, Field’s, and Hoke’s Divisions of Andersoni’s Corps; and his left by Ewell’s Corps, all of which were protected by strong intrenchments. The rain having ceased, at four o’clock on the morning of Friday, June 8d, the assault was made. Our line was well massed and compact, novingic 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 Clickahominy. The ground was varied, along the line, with wood-lands, 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 road(s parallel to the river, of which particular description has before been given Promptly at the hour appoiiited, the skirmishers advanced, and very*quickly the whole line was wrapped in the fire and smoke of terrific battle. Although the struggle lasted five hours, the first ten minutes’decided its fate. In that first rush of adVance, ten minutes of time earried our whole front close up against a 535

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 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 Barlow on the left, Birnev being in reserve. The two divisions of Gibbon and Barlow dashed gallantly forward, across wood-lands 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 breastworks of a salient on Breckinridge’s left, where they capturedl three guns. But, General Finnegan, reenforcing 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 the 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 battleground, 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 work 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 mio-ht have been enfiladed. The Sixth and Eighteenth Corps at the same time emulated the determined courage of the Second, but with no better results. Charging throlugh 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 riflepits along its entire fi’ont, and got up 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 ini time to allowv 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 Ricketts’s Division, which was stoutly holding the advanced position, to a savage fire on the prolongation of its line. For a long time, these latter hung obstinately to the 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 works. The Fifth and Ninth Corps on the extreme right pushed out their skirmnish 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 536

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tISTORY OF TlE GREAT RBELLION. May at Spottsylvania CourtHouse. While he kept up a threatening attitude along the whole line, Grant massed a very heavy force and hurled it again and again with tremenduous 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 aldvanced close to the enemy-within fifty yards for a great portion of itc-and, on the extreme left, one brigade was reported to be but fifteen yards fromni the enemy. Both armies kept close to their breastworks, the exposure of a figure above the intrenbchments, at that narrow distance, being fatal. Un der such circumstances, when the Federal troops advanced, the concealed Confederate marksmen cut them down in wide swathes stretching far across the field. At Spottsylvania and Cold Harbor the Confeder ates were more completely behind breastworks than at any previous battle of the war. Hence their small comparative loss. The battle raged with great violence until halfpast ten o’clock A. rf., just five hours Among the Confederate killed in this battle were BrigadierGeneral Doles, of Georgia; Colonel L. M. Keitt, of South Carolina, fornmerlyv 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 thou sand. 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 nighlt, the enemy’s sharpshooters being very busy, and pursuing men and officers with fatal dexterity of fire. Our own marksmen retorted wlherever 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 F]riday. 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 evening he sent a communication to General Lee, proposing that, when the armies were not actually engaged, either party mig,ht, upon notification to the other, succor its wounded and bury its dead. Lee replied that he preferred that the party desiring to remove its wounded and inter its dead should do so through a flag of truces The care of the wounded and dead was accordingly effected by this means. The battle of Friday was oneof the most terrible of the war up to that time. The movements of the preceding days had drawn our lines close in front of the Cbickahominy, and reduced the military problem to the forcing of the passage of that liver-a problem wvhich, if solved in our favor, would decide whethe Richmond could be carried by a coal (lde Atain, if a decisive victory should attend our arms, or whether operations would settle down to a siege in form. The gireat 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 terrible 537,;

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HISTORY OF THIE GREAT.REBELLION. 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 consummateskill could do, was done, but it was in vain. The results of the attack on Cold Harbor made it evident that the rebel position could not be carried by a direct attack in front, and a repetition of the flank movement tothe 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 preparation to march for the James and then cross to join Butler. 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 appearing mn force as the U’nion 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 lIcIntosh’s Cavalry on our right flank, while the main cavalry force made demonstrations on the route between Richmond 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 following order: Bottom Bridge, Long Bridge, six miles farther east, and Jones’s Bridge, twelve miles from Bottom Bridge. The enemy held the river as far as Bottom Bridge, where hlie was intrenched. Wrighit and Burnside, on breaking camp, marched for Jones’s Bridge, crossed the river and moved rapidly for Charles City CourtHouse, nine miles fiom 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. Smithl’s Corps returned vid White House, in transports, to Fortress MIonroe 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 headquarters were moved firom Cold Harbor south of Summit Station, near Long Bridge, and at six the next morning, headquarters were in the saddle on the march. The whole movement was conducted with great success. The men moved cautiously from their intrenchments, which, for miles, as we have already said, lay under the enemy’s gunrs. And only a few shells thrown at the rear, as it moved off, betokened that the enemy had taken the alarm.

All nightand all day M3onday, the troops moved forward, with hardly mvre skirmishing or impediment than that of their first march from Culpepper to Chancellorsville. * On MIonday evening, the advance had reached Wilcox’s Landing, where also headquarters were. Before noon of Tuesday, our forces were all up, having made their movement in perfect security, and the only fighting being, a little cavalry skirmishing at its close. On Tuesday, the 14th, the crossing was commenced, our army was transferred to the south side of the James, and the change in position fully consummated. The little 538

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‘ISTORY OF TIEE GREAT REBELLION. 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 headquarters 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 fiftyfive miles march, crossing the Chickahominy and James Rivers, the latter two thousand feet wide and eigghty-four feet deep at the point of crossing, and surprised the enemy’s rear at Petersburg.” Grant was now exactly on the opposite side of Richmond from that at which he began his campaign. The Federal gunboats and transports planted Butler at Bermuda 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 indomitable perseverance, Grant only resorted to this manceuvre 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 determined struggle. CHAPTER 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 thrown across the Appomatox, at Point of Rocks, over which Kautz’s Cavalry crossed, followed by Brooks’s and Martindale’A Infantry Divisions. The skirmishers of the enemy were encounteredon the City Point road, along which the advance was made. At Harrison’s Creek, the enemy held a line of rifle-trenches with two fieldpieces, 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,,n the face of a hot artillery fire, carrying the earthworks with sixteen guns and three hundred prisoners. Thle Federal loss was about five hundred. After the battle, the Second Corps arrived, too late, however, to render 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 539’ 0

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MISTORY OF THR GREAT REBELLION. On Thursday morning, the 16th, General Butler conceived the idea of advancing in his front, to intercept the movement of Lee towards Peters burg. 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 Appomnattox, 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 Birney’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, Beauregard’s men again filled upl) so rapidly the trenches in front that it was necessary to hurry up Burnside to hold the ground won.

That corps at length coming ul), after a forced march from Charles City CourtHouse, a line of battle was immediately formed, Smith on the right, Hiancock in the centre, Burnside on the left. The ground in front was rather open, though rugged, with here and there fields of grain. At six A.

M. Oil the 16th, the attack was made. Barlow’s Division and Griffin’s Birigade, of Potter’s Division, made a handsome charge under destructive artillery fire, and succeeded in gaining a foothold in the riflepits outside of the stronger works. Here our troops were annoyed by the enemy’s fire, and IBarlow, in connection with Burnside, determined to try an assault on the main works. But meanwhile the enemy opened so severely on Biuriside 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 anI inmportant 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 firom fifteen hundred to two thousand. The enemy’s loss was probably much less, from their advantage of position. On Friday the attack was renewed, and some riflepits 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 adv.anlce. A little later, he made a desperate and successful effort to retake from Burnside the works captured during the day. He moved in two coluLmns, one in front, the other in flank. A very sharp fight followed. The enemy succeeded in loping 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 yieldir)ng up the works, a like loss was suffered by us. The enemy’s batteries cott..d the attack by vigorous shellinig. Early in the morning of this Pame 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 Gillmore had been relieved), held a line extending across from near Ware Bottom 540

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IISTORY OF TIE GREAT REI~LLI,ON. Church towards the Appomattox. The enemy were posted near How lett’s House, in his front. Our line was pushed back a little. It was now determined to make a new and more vigorous assault on Saturday morning, the 18th, and the line was formed as follows, from right to left: Iartindale’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. NTew combinations were necessary, therefore, for the day. These were completed, 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 enemy’s attention. Gibbon’s men moved promptly up to the works to be assaulted, which were situated near the Fredericksburg and City Point Railroad. 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, firom which even their veteran soldiers recoiled. The breastworks were approached, but not reached, and our men retired, leaving their dead and wounded oni 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 iMott’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 withering 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 proverbial 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 unsuccessfil. 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 army to the south bank of the James River 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 enesr were yet unprepared. The attack, as we have seen, failed. The enemy, having recovered from immediate apprehension for Petersburg, turned his attention in other directions Ile intrenched largely on the west side of the Appomattox, as Grant did on the east side of it. Havingeagain 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 demonstrations in front, and to raid towards the James. Oh the night of Sunday, the 19th, he destroyed the wharves at Wilcox and Westover Landings. 541.

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HISTORY OF TH GREAT REBELLION. CHAPTER LV. Relative Strength of Armies.-Grant Mowes against the Railroad Connections of Rich mond.-Combat of June 21st.-Repulsed the 23d.-Sheridan’s Expedition.-Move ment of Wilson and Kautz on the Danville Road.-Five Hundred Thousand Men called out.-Exp1losion 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 Southern railroad connections with Petersburg. The road running to Norfolk was in his possession, and it was proposed to occupy and destroy that leading to WeldonL 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, directly 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 orders 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 regiments so as to protect himself at the break. Mlott, meanwhile, had moved directly to the position indicated for him, 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 between the Fifth and Second Corps in the Wilderness. With more success in the present case than before, the enemy took advantage of the error. One entire division, with M.ahone’s Brigade in advance, came driving through the interval. Barlow’s skirmishers were of’course quickly overcome, and, with a quick appreciation of his advantage, and an impetuous rush, sweeping all before it, the enemy’s column glanced diagonally between the two corps, struck Barlow’s flank with great force, and almost instantane 542

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HISTORY OF TIE GREAT R-B’ELLION. ously 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 exposed him to the same disadvantage. In his turn, Mott fell back also, with the loss of several hundred prisoners, and thus ex posed 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 fi-ont, but in the rear. His right brigade was able to repel the comparatively trifling assault. 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 regiments 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 Jersey battery, came up, enabling Gibbon’s Division to rally on 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 strengthening 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 Petersburg. On Thursday, the 23d, 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 Anderson’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 breastworks, 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 southern bank of the James, Grant sent forth Sheridan, with a considerable cavalry force, to traverse the country between the Rapplannock and Richmond, and pass near Charlottesville, in the direction of Lynchburg, with a view of penetrating the valley, in order to give the hand to General Hunter, who was advancing on that point to close up upon Richmond. Sheridan set out on the 9th of June, and on the 11h reached Trevillian’s Station, on the Virginia Central Railroad,where he inflicted a severe defeat upon a large cavalry force in his front. On the succeeding day he thoroughl)ly destroyed the railroad between Trevillian’s and Louisa CourtHouse; and, early on the 13tb, the rebels under Wade Hampton and Fitzhugh 54;

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELION. 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 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 mniarch 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 CourtHouse, 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 rearguard 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 agcrainrst the Weldon and Danville Railroads. At Reams’s Station, on the Weldon road, considerable damage was done to the track and buildings; and at Sutherland’s 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 destruction 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 Staunton 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 expedition a costly failure, notwithstanding the damage it had inflicted on the enemy. There were no important operations undertaken for some time by the army before Petersburg. The state of 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 firom 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 Atlanta most impotant results were expected. Continual skirmishing was kept up in front of Petersburg, with alternate success, but no great operations were undertaken. The army had need of rest and recruiting. Nearly three months had elapsed since it crossed the Rapidan; and having fought its way to the northern bank 544 f

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aJ

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REIBELLION. 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 unsuccess ful attempt against the outworks 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 Peters burg of the 22d and 23d of June showed how fatigue was telling upon men and officers. On the former 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 Sherman was also very great; and in view of the necessity of filling up the thinned ranks of the army, the President issued the following call for volunteers:- - [Official.] ” BY THE PRESIDENT OF 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 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 district, or of a county not so subdivided, shall not be filled within the space of fifty days after such call, then the President shall 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 completed as that the aforementioned act of Congress may now be put in operation, for recruiting and keeping up the strength ofthe armies in the field, for garrisons, and such military operations as may be required for the purpose of suppressing the rebellion and restoring the authority of the United States GovernmenDin the insurgent States: “Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, do isse this my call for five hundred thousand volunteers for the military service; provided, nevertheless, that this call shall be reduced by all credits which may be established under section eight of the aforesaid act, on account of persons who have entered the naval service during the present rebellion, and by-redits for men furnished to the military service in excess of calls heretofore made. “Volunteers will be accepted under this cat 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 ser. vice for which they enlist.

“And I hereby proclaim, order, and direct that immediately after the fifth day of 35~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 545 I

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT. REBELLION. 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 hland and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. “Done at the City of Washington, this eighteenth day of July, in the year of our [L. s.] Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, and of the independence of the United States the eighty-ninth.

a 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 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 LieutenantColonel Pleasants, ofthe Fortyeighth 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 firont 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, extendiug 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 from every gun on the line.

This concentrated 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 Petersburg. To gain this would gain the battle. But thtinteiwvening space was difficult and arduous, entanglements and-abatis being planted near the fort, and the whole ground being swept by the enemy’s artillery. Our own lheavy guns had been brought up after much hard and dangerous labor through six weeks, and with much los* of valuable life among officers and men. They now numbered nearly one hundred pieces, some of which were eightinch and some even heavier mortars. The assault was fixed for the 30th of July, and preparations for it began by a feint on the right. Across the James at Deep Bottom, 546

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HIIISTORY OF TH]E GREAT REBPLLION. 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 brigade of the Nineteenth Corps crossed to hold it. These, with other demon strations, induced the enemy to add Kershaw’s Division to the other troops in front of Foster. On the 27th, the Second Corps left the ex treme 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 de monstrated throughout the day, inflicting 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 movements had the effect of causing Lee to send fifteen thousand 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 posit.on. 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. MIott’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 Potter’s (Third) next in support; and Ferrero’s (Fourth), the colored division, in the rear. The time for lighting the fuse was halfpast three o’clock on the morning of Saturday, the 30th. At that hour the troops were all prepared, and alive with excitement. An hour passed, and there was no explosion. The fuse had gone out in the damp gallery. Again it was lighted by some bold soldier. The sun had already risen, 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 doomed 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 swayiDg, quaking, and trembling of the adjacent earth were over. A yaw ning crater, one hundred feet aid 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, hen another, and soon a hundred cannon, fom every eminence along the line, joined in a fire which exceeded in intensity even that of Malvern Hill and Gettysburg. The enemy rqsponded 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 54T 1, 0 k

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. shock, and the steadiness with which he turned his fire to the storming party, in spite of the tremendous shelling with which the Union batteries endeavored to disconcert him and distract 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 advance, and Bartlett’s (First) Brigade in the rear. On the left of Ledlie was Hartranft’s Brigade of Wilcox’s Division, 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 riflepits, 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 disordered, fallen debris. The dense cloud of dust still rolled over the place, thickened by the heavy smoke of battle, which had now shrouded the whole field firom 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 storming 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 reformed, 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 fiont and either flank concentrated with greater fury on them, and, fiom the thickly-studded defences of Cemetery Hill, from redoubt and redan, salient and curtain, ploughed up their ranks with bloody slaughter. The charge was checkQd 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, recoiled, 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 veryfeu d’enfer, 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 648

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REB~LL1IO. 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 troops. This tmatter they were left to decide for themselves. 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. Hle 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 distant in their intrenchments. Now squads of men began the work of retreating. But this was a perilous undertaking. The enemy kept a deadly cross-fire on every rod of the space which intervened 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 repe!iig 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 Bartlett and most of his staff. By the middle of the afternoon the bloody day was done. Our loss was in round numbers about foulr 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 prisoners. It is conjectured that nearly two hundred men were destroyed by the mine. On Sunday, the 31st, a flag of truce was sent for permission to bury the dead. This, on account of an informality, was not granted until Monday, thirty-six hours after the close of the fight.

Immediately on the expiration of the time granted, the enemy again opened fiercely with his guns. CHAPTER 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 Valley and Invasion of Maryland.-Defeat of Wallace.-Washington Threatened.-Arrival of Sixth Corps and Retreat of Early.-Various Encounters iu the Valley.-Hunter Superseded by Sheridan. a THAT portion of the grand combined attack on Richmond, which consisted of a movement up the Valley of the Shenandoah upon Lynchburg, was confided to General Sige4. This movement, in connection with that of Grant in front and that of Butler ont 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 commands of Echols, Imboden, and 549 40

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HISTORY OF TH]E GREAT REBELLION. Breckinridge, Imboden having the advance.

In the early part of May the latter general was driven up the valley by Sigel, towards Newmarket, 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 infantry were without shoes. About one thousand had thrown away their arms in their flight, and had to be rearmed. He received reenforcements, 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 was joined by Averill, who had been operating in Southwestern 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 Waynesboro’ 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 fiom Lynchburg,. Lexington was held by McCausland, with special orders to make the defence good until reenforcements arrived from Richmond. He made the stand accordingly; but, finding the town directly under the guns of Hunter’s infantry advance, and that he was being flanked bv Averill’s Cavalry, who had bforded the river higher up, 3IcCausland 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 cooperation of Sheridan in the direction of Gordonsville, which, as has been pre viously 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 forti fied 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 tovwarfds 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 Potomac. Ewell’s Corps was selected, and with BPreckinridge’s command and two brigades from Hill’s Carps, the whole commanded by Early, pro teeded about the middle of June towards the valley. The enemy had signal officers upon’every hill around, and knew all Hunter’s move 550 40

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. ments, so that Ewell’s Corps was not dispatched from Richmond until its presence at Lynchburg was needed. The Union troops at this time were fifteen days’ march from regular bases ol supplies, and were subsisting upon the enemy’s country, while the enemy, by means of the railroad firom 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 com menced 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 Parkersburg, and thence by railroad, he could regain Martinsburg. 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 Lynchburg to Rockfish Gap or Waynesboro-, only twelve miles firom St:tunton, by means of which the whole of Ewell’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 qtuarter master stores at Meadow’s Bluff, about tive or six days’ march froinom Lynchburg. More than a million rations, about five or six days previous, had been left theire by Generals Crook and Averill, under charge of two regiments of Ohio militia.

These stor-es the enemy had destroyed. The enemy, in all about twentyfive thousand men, after driving Hunter over the mountains, lost no time in advancing down the valley, and oni Saturday-, July 2d, suddenly made his appearance at North [ountain, eighlit miles north of Martinsburg, thus flanking Sigel, who held comniand there. On the following morning Sigel was compelled to fail ba.k upol HIlarper’s Ferry, where he united with General Stahl. The sinall Union force then evacuated the town and held Maryland IHeights. It now became manifest that another invasion of Peznlsylvani;L was at hel(d. TIle enemy’s main line of advance was by w:ty of Martinsburg and North Mountain, across the Potomac to Ha(gerstown.

IRefigees, fairmers, and citizens soon passed east towards Baltimore, and the roads were filled with pedestrians, with droves of cattle, and with wagons of all species of construction, cairrying such goods and valuables as the frightened owners liad dared to stay to pick up. The terror of the fuigitives was extreme, aind( their stories of what they had seen and heard extravagant. Thedpanic was widespread and universal, and the region for miles became depol)ulated. The enemy atdvanced steanily, and by the 4th of July the country between Wihichester and Williamsport was occupied by him. On 551

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EHISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. that day a part of Mosby’s Cavalry crossed at Point of Rocks, while the enemy occupied Harper’s Ferry and the south bank of the Potomac, Sigel holding Maryland Heights. On the 6th, the enemy’s cavaliry, under McCausland, occupied Hagerstown. In view of the gravity of the sit uation, 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 garri son to reenforce 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 planning this invasion was to induce Grant to retire from before Richmond and eover the Federal capital; and the fact that the latter general thought it necessary to detach no more than a single corps for that purpose, showed that he took the proper view of the invasion, and was not to be enticed by his wily adversary fi’om re laxing 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 having 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 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 immediately 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 fortifications, it drove in the Federal pickets one mile on Sunday night. At daybreak on Monday morning, skirmishing commenced within rifleshot of Fort Pennsylvania, three miles from Georgetown. Simultaneously with the appearance of this force another division of troops appeared on the Seventh Street road, four miles from the city, directly north, and immediately in front of Forts Stevens and De Russey. Here they seemed in larger force. By Monday noon the enemy 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 Nineteenth from New Orleans, began to arrive in the Potomac, and at dusk the veteran troops advanced to the front, where the fighting became severe. The enemy began 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 proclamation 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 Government workshops, who had been previously organized and drilled, turned out several thousand strolg.

Three thousand convalescent soldiers were also obtained from the hospitals, in addition to the veteran forces, increasing hourly by fresh arrivals. The telegraph lines and, railroads having been cut, Washington was, for the time being, isolated, and provisions began to rise in price.

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HISTORY OF TIIE GREAT REBELLION. Wednesday morning, however, the enemy had disappeared: cavalry followed in pursuit, and found him retreating towards Frederick. A small battery had remained near Bladensburg, firing at the railroad train, long after the main line had retreated. In the mean time, on the 10th, the enemy’s cavalry approached within sixteen miles of Baltimore, and raiding parties made their appearance in various directions. One burned the dwelling of Governor Bradford; another captured a train in which was MajorGeneral Franklin, who managed to make his escape. Other forces busied themselves 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 persistent 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 Washington 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 Emory’s Nineteenth Corps. He crossed the Potomac at Edwards’s Ferry and moved towards Leesburg, where Ricketts overtook and joined him. The cavalry under Duffie, 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, Duffie was repulsed by Breckinridge, at Island Ford on the Shenandoah, with 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 bahk of the Potomac from Wil]iamsport to Shepardstown. The enemy manceuvred on the Potomac, effectively concealing their numbers and intentions, until the 30th, when McCausland, with a cavalry force, advanced upon Chambersburg and demanded a ransom of five hundred thousand dollars, which, not being paid, he fired the town, inflicting a loss estimated at one million dollars. In the mean time, Averill, who had retreated from Hagerstown towards Carlisle, turned upon McCausland, and on Sunda-y, August 9th, our cavalry again occupier Hagerstown. The same d.ly, Averill overtook the enemy at Moorffeld 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.t The pursuit was kept up for many niles. For this exploit Averill was promoted to the rank of majorgeneral. On the 7th of August, Hunter was superseded by Sheridan, who Was assigned to the command of the forces in the Middle Military I)ivision, consisting of the Department of Washington, the Middle 553 I

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UISTORY OF TIIE GREAT REBELLION. Department, and the Departments of the Susquehanna and Southwest Virginia,which it was now determined to unite under one commander. CHAPTER LVIL Dutch Gap CanaL-Movement North of the James.-Expedition of the Fifth Corps X to the Weldon Road.-Attack by Ifill.-Severe Fighting near Reams’s Station. Losses.-Repulse of the Enemy.-Subsequent Repulse of Hlancock.-Renewal of Movement North of the James and Capture of Fort Harrison.-Further Operations on the AWeldon Railroad. SHErIDAXN having, in the beginning of August, been detached from the Army of the Potomac and sent to supersede Hunter, Gregg assurned comimadcl of the cavalry. The monotony which had crept upon the operations of either army was varied on the 5th of August by the springin?g of a mnine by the enemy in front of the Eighteenth Corps This had been intended to countermine what was supposed to be a new work by the Federal troops.

No charge followe(l, however. On the 9th an ordnance boat at City Point accidentally exploded, involving 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 h.ilf a mile across, while the river winds six miles around the bend. This part of the stream was filled with torpedoes and swept by batteries. 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 proximity to Fort Darling. From tho very’outset the work upon the canal was obstructed l)y the fire of the enemy fromn Howlett House Battery, and, to relieve the working parties, it was determined to create a diversion.

Accordingly, 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 transports near DI)eep 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 elemy’s works Early on Sunday, the 14th, Foster moved out upon Strawberry Plains and encountered the enemy’s skirmishers, who fell back beyond his rifie-pits. The enemy had, however, reenforced from his right, and the ederal troops had before them D. H.

Hill and Longstreet’s Corp, The cavalry of Gregg covered She right flank, where was the Second Corps, with its left on Fourilile Creek, while the Tenth Corps, resting with its right on the other bank of the creek, had its left on the intrenched bluff at Deep Bottomn. These dispositions consumed most of the day, Generals Grant, Butler, Hancock, and Liriey being pre 554 II

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HISTORY OF TIE GREAT REBELLION. ent, 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, encoun tering a very severe artillery fire, gained comparatively little ground. On Monday, August 15th, amidst severe skirmishing, the line was extended to the right, and Malvern Hill threatened. As the right was extended, the enemy made corresponding movements, and the day was spent in manceuv’ing. on the 16th, the cavalry of Gregg moved on the Charles City road, where, being joined by Miles’s Di vision of the Second Corps, it encountered the enemy under Chainm bliss, who, after a sharp fight, were routed, with the loss of their leader. The column then pushed on to White’s Tavern, in the iiime-. diate vicinity of Richmonid, but, finding the enemy in strong force, withdrew. Meanwhile, in the centre, the Tenth Corps carried a line of works and captured two hundred prisoners, but, everywhere encountering strongly-manned works, it also withdrew, 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 enemoy’s skirmishers, of whom a part were captured. The first division, Griffiti’s, reached the railroad, and began to destroy it five or six miles from Petersburg; while the second, Ayres’s, the third, Crawfo, d’s, and the fourth, Cutler’s Marylanders, proceeded along the road towards Petersburg At Yellow Tavern they encountered the enemv’s cavalry under Dearing, who fell back to Davis Farm, two and a half m-,es from Peteisburg. Here General A. P. Hill was encounteredl, ith the divisions of Mahone and Hethli, Maihone, with his own brigades and those of Clingman and Colqiiitt, being east of the railroad, and Hill, with the brigades of Davis, Walker, and Ailcher, 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, confi onting Mthone, and Ayres on the west of the -road, opposite Heth, who came forward with great vehemence, driving back Ayres about one mile upon his intrenchments, the first line of which was lost, the enemy pouring in pellmell with the retreating troops. These, supported by Cutler’s Division, gained the main line, that li.d been greatly strengthened over night, and against which the advancing tide of rebels beat in vain. The Union troops, on Friday, August 19th, occupied an intrenched line, the left being on the Boltown plankroad, while across the railroad the ri,ght held the Jerusalem road, which it was necessary to connect with the main line at Petersburg. The line was formed as follows, f’om right to left: Wilcox’s Division of the Ninth Corps, Crawford’s, Ayres’s, and Griffin’s Diviqons of the Fifth Corps. Between Ayres and Crawford ran the railroad, and between the right of the Fifth Corps and the Jerusalem road was a dangerous gap. At four o’clock in the aftcrnoon, in the midst of a heavy rainstorm, Hill burst upo 555

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HISTORY OF TIE GREAT REBELLION. 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 thi’ough the gap like a torrent, thus separating Wilcox and Crawford. The latter was strongly intrenched in a thick wood opposite Davis Farm. Mahone, therefore, while fierce ly engaging him in firont with his own troops and the brigade of Cling man, sent Colquitt’s Georgians upon his flank, which was so effectually turned that nearly a thousand of Crawford’s Division were made pi’is oners. Meanwhile, on the left, the impetuous advance of Heth had carried the intrenchments erected since the morning, besides di’iving back the line, and enveloping the regular brigade of Hayes. But the ‘First and Second Divisions of the Ninth Corps now arrived to re-en force the Federals,afteranexhaustingforcedmarch. Theyformedquick ly, 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 wasone 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 position 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 impetuos ity, and, after a conflict of two hour’s, 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 Sun day the cannonade was heavy in front of the Fifth Corps. But on Monday it was discovered that the enemy had retired, and intrenched himselt 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 bv the Fifth Corps in their march to the Weldon Railroad. The other two divisions, Gregg’s Cavalry and the Tenth Corps, commenced a similar movement on Saturday night, and soon Foster remained, 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 Sunday morning. On Monday, Barlow’s Division (temporarily -under Miles) was occupied in tearing up the railroad track from the line of the Fifth Corps down towards Reams Station. On Monday night, Gibbon’s Division marched towards Reams’, 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 pftshed 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 556

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 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 complete fi’om 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 skirmishers lay near the Vaughan road, three and a half miles firom 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 suddenly 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 command 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 LieutenantColonel 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 horseshoe. In Gibbon’s line, the Third Brigade was on the left, the First in the centre, and the Second on the right, joining Miles. About two o’clock the enemy’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 Heth and Connor, with Pegram’s Artillery. At halfpast 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 enemy’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 0 the enemy sprang forward to a fourth assault, charging furiously with fixed bayonets, and witliout 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 MAiles back, and capturing several guns. To stop this irruption a portion of Gibbon’s men were hurriet to support Miles across a distance of half a imile, exposed to heavffire. This had the effect of checking the 557

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HISTORY OF TIHE GREAT REBELLION. enemy for a short space, but the dismounted rebel cavalry, under Wade Hampton, seized the moment to charge the defeated line of Gib. bon, and carried the works, and once more Gibbon was hurried back to restore the fight in that direction; 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 skeletons; of the Massachusetts-Twentieth, one of the best in the army, very few remained. As the night approached, Hancock withdrew his troops, leaving Reams’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 receiving severe punishment, is apparent from the following dispatches from General Meade: “SECOND CORPs-12.30 P.

M.-Augwut 26, 1864 “A safeguard that was left on the battlefield remained there after daylight 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, doubtless hearing of the arrival of reenforcements, they feared the results to-day if they remained. (Signed) “G. G. MEADE, MajorGeneral.” “SECOND ARMY CORPS, August 26, 1864-1 P. A.

” To LieutenantGeneral 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 enemny’s dead and wounded. He has seen a great many battlefields, 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, MajorGeneral.” The results of this battle put the enemy in possession of the Weldon Railroad as far as Yellow Tavern. Reams is ten miles fiom Peters burg. 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 enterprise, 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 onQ hundred shotted guns was ordered, to which the enemy briskly respqnded. On the 14th of September a remarkable raid was successfully performed by the enemy. A herd of two thousand five hundred head of cattle, defined for the consumption of the Army of the Potomac, was grazing near Coggin’s Point, on tbo 558

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ISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 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 Reams’s Station entirely around our extreme left, broke Kautz’s picket line, overpowered the Union Cavalry, and captured and carried off a number of prisoners 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 strategy, where force was unavailing. To this end, a simultaneous attack at both extremities of the line was organized. 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 compelling 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 faci ities for their transportation 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 Eighteenth Corps, General Ord, at daylight of the 29th, proceeded by the Varina road towards its junction with the Newmarket road, driving in the enemy’s skirmishers, as it advanced towards Chapin’s Farm, where a long line of intrenchments runs in a westerly direction to the ri’ter, terminating In a strong work known as Battery Harrison. These works did not form part of the defences 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 formedcl left to right of the brigades of Stannard, Burnham, Roberts, andl 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 guns and one hundred and fifty prisoners; but the fire 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. Ieanwhile the Tenth Corps, now commanded by Birney, proceeded from Deep Bottom towards Newmarket, encountering the skirmishers of the enemy, but no serious opposition until it reached the poir t where the Kingsland road crosses thi 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 roais, 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 fo 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 tih 559

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 30th. The Union line was now formed of the Eighteenth and Tenth Corps, and the enemy, having been reenforced fiom Richmond under Hoke, fell with great fury on the division 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 ironclads in the river, and an annoying enfilading fire firom 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 reformed, and made the charge. But, though they got near the works, it was only to be repulsed with great slaughter.

Our men had been instructed 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 hun dred prisoners, including twenty officers. The enemy’s total loss was probablv a thousand men, and ours probably less than five hundred Among the wounded officers was General Stannard, who lost an arm. 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 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 Divi sions, 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. Bir. ney held P.

strongly intrenched line, with the right flank refused. On the right was Terry’s First Division, lying along the refused flank, and coveriig the Newmarket road. His troops were in riflepits, in heavy woods. The griound 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 starnpede 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 be 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 doublequick, 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 frre. After a protracted engagement, the enemny, finding his efforts vain, withdrew in great confusion along the central road, followed closely by Terry. He finally retired upon the Charles City road, thus leaving 560

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 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 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. CHAPTER LVIII. Operations in Tennessee.-Sherman’s Raid through Mississippi.-Failure of Smith’s Cooperative Movement:-Invasion of Western Tennessee and Kentucky by For rest.-Massacre at Fort Pillow. LONGSTREET, after his retreat upon Rogersville, continued to remain some time in Eastern Tennessee, apparently threatening Knoxville. Hlis comtmunications with Lee, temporarily interrupted by Averill, in a darin, raid into Southwestern Virginia, were soon restored, and Lee had abundant opportunity, during the inactivity of the Army of the Potomac in the winter of 1863-4, to reenforce him, of which, however, he did not take advantage. Longstreet accordingly contented himself with merely threatening Knoxville, while Johnston, who had succeede(l Bragg, occupied Dalton, thirtyeight miles south of Chattanooga. Longstreet ultimately returned to the rebel army in Virginia, and upon his departure the Ninth Corps was sent to re-enfoi-ce the Army of the Potomac. During January, 1864, the enemy sent several expeditions into Tennessee.

Johnson’s Brigade, of Rhoddy’s command, crossed the Tennessee River at Boinbridge, thlree miles below Florence, and at Newport Ferry, six miles from the same point, intending to make a junction with a biigade of infantry which was expected to cross tlhe riveis at Lamb’s and Brown’s Ferry, and thence proceed to Alton’s, to capture the Union force there.

They were engaged, fifteen of them kille(l,’ and quite a number wounded and taken prisoners. Our loss was ten woutided. The operations of the rebel General Forrest were in lno degree more successful. At the close of January, General Rosecrans was assigned to the Department of Missouri, and General Schofiel(1 resumed command of the Twentythird Corps, constituting the Army of the Olhio, and, with it, of the Department of Ohio. A combined movement was now formed against the enemy in the Southwest. General Sherma was to march east from Vicksburg on the 3d of Februai-y intothe interior of the Gulf States, anid, in coperation with him, Generals Smith and Grierson, at the head of a cavalry force, were to move south fi-om Ailemuphis. In aid of these operations, Schofield was directed to threatn 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, 36 561 I

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HISTORY OF TnIE GREAT REBELLION. on February 3d, a strong column, composed of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Army Corps, under command of Sherman, took up an easterly line of march from Vicksburg, 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), Mlontgomery (three hun dred mniles), and double railroad and double river communica tions would be opened up with the Gulf. The Pearl, the Tom bigbee, and the Alabarna-rivers leading into the heart of Mississippi and Alabama-would thus be thrown open to our gunboats. In a word, the great centre of productive forces 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 M3obile and Ohio Railroad southwardl. On February 5th, the two corps, under Generals McPherson and Hurlbut, were across the Big Black River, and advanced, driving the rebel General Polk before them, and inflicting immense damage upon the enemy. At Meridian, the great railway centre of the Southwest, wldieh Sherman reached about the middle of the month, he destroyed the arsenal filled with valuable stores and machinery, burned a large number of Govern ment warehouses filled with military stores and amnmunition, and ren dered useless a number of mills.

At Mferidian 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 tpwns burned or desolated. Hav ing waited at Meridian a week without news of Smith, he retraced his steps to the Mississippi, carrying with him over eight thousand liber. ated 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 Mississip)pi. To supply troops for these movements, Corinth, and the line of the Mlemphis and Charleston road as far east as General Logan’s outposts, had been abandoned, the fortifications blown up, and the public property removed. Common repoit 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 tomorrow or next day with thousand cavalry; for the bowels of D)ixie. The rebels have about thousand in MIississipl)i, whic they can, if they like, coneentrate 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 mission. As it was essential to the complete achievement of General Sherman’s plan of e’tmpaign that this cavalry column should move forward promptly, eveily )precaution was taken to make it irresistible; and to riender assurance ldoubly sure, General Smith, General Grant’s chief of cavalry, was detailed to super’ise operations. All these piecautions, bowever, failed to accomplish 562

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. the desired end. The column, which was to have left Colliersville February 3d-the same day that Sherman got away from Vicksburgwas detained until February 11th, in order to enable General Waring to biing up his brigade. This delay seems to have been sufficient 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 mor6 difficult. After the expedition had finally started, various circumstances 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 Mlemphi%, an average of but little more than fifteen miles per day from Colliersville, the 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 expedition 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, Rhoddy, and Chambers combined against him, and after a heavy fight he was compelled to fall back, leaving three fieldpieces, four-pounder steel guns, on the field. They were spiked. All the ammunition was saved. In his retreat Smith burnt every trestle on the Memphis and Ohio Railroad, and destroyed miles of the track and large qu:antities of corn. There was heavy fightin,g in the rear throughout the 22d. The rebels moved on each flank with the evident design of reaching the Tallahatehie in advance of oir force, and forming a junction to prevent our crossing, and capture the whole command; but by forced marching Smiith passed both flanking columns, and, marching all night, crossed safely at New Albany. Skirmishing was k]ept up all through the 23d and tke 24th. On the 25th the expeditioni arrived at Colliersville, about twentyfive miles east of Memphiis, where the greater portion of the men remained. The enemy were now becoming more active. Forrest, having sueO ceeded in defeating the expedition of Grierson and Smith, recruited his forces in Mississippi, and appeared suddenly, on March 22d, at Bolivar, Tennessee, with a force between six and seven thousand strong. He advanced rapidly against Union City, which was garrisoned by about four hundred men, under command of Colonel Harkins. The enemy made severl ineffectual charges against the slight earthworkls which surrounded the town; but, finding it impossible to carry them by assault, Forrest demanded the surrender of the garrison, thi’eatening to bombard the town unless the demand was complied with.

Harkins, it is said, aeai1st the wishes of the garrison, surrendered on the 24th,just in time to anticipate the arrival of a large Union force from Cairo, under cominand of General MIason Brayman, who was marching to his relief. From Union City, Forrest marched northward across Kentucky, and 563

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HIISTORY OF’rIE GREAT REBELLION. on the afternoon of March 25th made an attack on Paducah, having first sent to demand the surrender of the fort.

This wais refused by Colo nel Hicks, who was in command, and the attack was immedialtely commenced. It lasted during the whole afternoon, the enemy making four assaults, in each of which they were rep)ulsed 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 pris oners of war, but if he were compelled to storm the fort they might expect no quarters. Hicks declined, and the battle continued. E:trly 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 direction of Columbus. Their loss was three hundred killed and one thousand wounded. The latter were taken to liayfield by rail, and the former were left unburied around the fort. The rebel Brigadiei-General A. P. Thompson was among the slain. The rebel General Buford appeared befo,‘e 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 pr’evious or subsequent history of the war, and which caused an almost unanimous outbreak of horror and indignation throughout the loyal States Threats of raising the “black fag,” of carrying on a war of extermination, 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, thoughtless words of heated and exasperated combatants. Bad as the rebel cause bad before seemed to loyal men, it grew immeasurably worse from the crime now associated 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, Foriest appeared before Fort Pillow, on the Mississippi River, a work of moderate size, mounting six guns, and garrisoned by about five hundred and fifty men, of whom two hundred and sixty were colored troops, the whole being commanded by Major Bradford, of the Thirteenth Tennessee Cavalry.

The fob’t 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 falling timber Extending back fron the river on either side of the fort was a ravine or hollow, the one below the fort containing several private stores and some dwellings, and some Government buildings, containing commnissary 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 belowv 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 hladbeen erected some log huts or shanties, which were occupied by the white troops, and also used fori kospital and other 4 ,‘564

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IIISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. purposes. Within the fort tents had been erected with board floors for the use of the colored troops. At sunrise the Union pickets w-ere driven in, and from that time until two or three o’clock in the afternoonl the rebels vainly endeavored to dislodge the garrison, who made a gallant defence, in which they were aided by the gunboat New Era, which, from her position in the river, shelled the enemy vigorously. The rebels, having thus far failed’in their att:acek, now resorted to their customary flags of truce. The first flag of truce conveyed a demand from Forrest for thle unconditional 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 comintinication 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 ibe ordered. To this Major Bradford replied that he would not surrender. During the time occupied by the communication betweeni the fort and the attacking party, and while the flag of truce was flying, the rebels, with a bad faith characteristic of tlheir conduct on several previous occasions during the same campaign, gradulally 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 captured by the enemy. What followed is l)est 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 reg,arding 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 opportunity 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 ill 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 followed 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 indiscriminate slaughter, sparing neither age nor sex, white nor black, soldier nor civilian. The officers and men seemed to vie with each other inl the devilish work. Men, women, and their children, whlerever 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 silck and wounded were butchered without mercy, the rebels even entering the hospital buildings and dragging them out to b&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 thl rebels stood upon the top of the hill or a short distance from its side and called oun to our soldiers to come up to them, and m they approached, shot them down in cold blood, and if their guns or pistols missed fir&, forcing them to stand there until they were again prepared to fire. ‘“All around were heard the cries of’No quarter I”No quarter”Kill the damned niggers I” Shoot them down I’ All who asked for mercy were answered by the most 565

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. cruel taunts and sneers. Some were spared for a time, only to be murdered under cir cumstances 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.

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 deliberately 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 lie 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 afterwards 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 Thirteenthi 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. Tile rebels themselves had made a pretence of burying a great number of their victims, but they had merely throwvn them, without the least regard to care or decency, into the trenchles and ditches about the fort, or the little hollows and ravines on the hillside, covering them but partially with earth. Portions of heads and faces, hands and feet were found protruding through the earth in every direction, and even when your committee visited the spot, two weeks afterwards, although parties of men had been sent on there from time to time to bury the bodies unburied and rebury the others, and were even then engaged in the same work, we found the evidences of this murder and cruelty still most painfully apparent. ” We saw bodies still unburied at some distance from the fort, of some sick men who had been met fleeing firom 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 reinterring the victims of the massacre, and although a great deal of rain had fallen within the preceding two weeks, the groutnd, 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 mighlt 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 voluminlous testimony herewith submitted.

Those statements were obtained]y them from eyewitnesses and sufferers.

3Many of them, as they were examined by your committee, were lying upon beds of pain and sufferirng, 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 inflicted on them and which they had seen inflicted on others. “In reference to the fate of MajorBradford, who was in command of the fort when it was captured, and who had up to thlt time received no injury, there seems to be no doubt. The general understanding everywhere seemed to be that hlie had been brutally murdered the day after he was taken prisoner. “SHow manly of our troops thus iell victims to the malignity and barbarity of Forrest 566

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ISTORY OF 1 GREAT REBELLION.’ and his followers cannot be definitely ascertained. Two officers belonging to the garrison were absent at the time of the capture and massacre of the remaining officers; but two are known to be living, and they are wounded and now in the hospital at Mound City. One of them, Captain 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 murdeed in cold blood after the fort was in possession 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 murdered 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 conscripts, had succeeded in making his escape. He testifies that while two companies of rebel troops, with Major Bradford and many other prisoners, were on their march from Brownsville to Jackson, Tennessee, Major Bradford was taken by five rebels, one an officer. led about fifty yards from the line of march, and deliberately murdered in view of all those assembled. He fell instantly killed by three musket-balls, even while asking that his life might be spared, as he had fought them manfully and was deserving of a better fate. The motive for the murder of Major Bradford seems to have been the simple fact that, although a native of the South, he remained loyal to his Govern ment.” The rebels admitted the wholesale slaughter at Fort Pillow, aind, if ashamned to justify it, at least excuse the occurrence by quoting historical instances where garrisons have been put to the sword; forgetting that such massacres have been committed, among civilized nations at least, only whiere the besiegers have suffered heavy losses during a long aid trying investment, and are in consequence incited to an extraordinary degree of exasperation against the garrison. No 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. CHAPTER LIX. Cooperative 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 Flanked and driven across the Chattahoochie. IN the middle of MNarch, 1864, Grant, then recently appointed lieutznant-gener-l and commander-in-chief, turned over to Sherman the command of the Military Division of the Mississippi, comprising the I)epa’.tments of the Cumnberlnd, the Tennessee, and the Ohio. The latter general was succeieded by General McPherson in the command of tile Department of the Tennessee.

The grand concert,l ),l:in of the sl,ring campaiign was then matured, the )art assigned to Sherman being to pushl the enemy steaily back up)on Atlanta, and if pIossible 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 rebut ainy in Yirginia, under Lee. All other movements of the Union forces were to be held subsidiary to these.

Sherman at 567

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. once bent every energy to the perfecting and enlargement of the communications between Nashville and Chattanooga, his primariy 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 Nashville, should the railroad connections between tho two points be temporarily severed by rebel raiding forces. By the end of April this work was successfully accomplished, and the great Army of the West was prepared to move from Chattanooga at the precise hotr, if necessary, that the Army of the Potomac should cross the R.apidan on its march towards Richmond. 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: ARMY OF THE CUMBERLAND, MAJORGENERAL THOMAS COMMANDING.

Infantry…………………………………………. 54,568

Artillery…………………………………………. 2,37 7

Cavalry………………………………………….. 3,828

Total…………………………………… 60,773

Guns…………………………………… 130 ARMY OF THE T.qNNESSEE, MAJORGENERAL M’PHERSON COMMANDING.

Infantry…………………………………………. 22.437

Artillery…………………………………………. 1,404

Cavalry…………………………………………….. 624

Total…………………………………… 24,465

Guns……………………………………… 96 ARMY OF THE 0HIO, MAJORGENERAL SCHOFIELD COMMANDING.

Infantry…………………………………………. 11,183

Artillery…………………………………………. 679

Cavalry………………………………………….. 1,679

Total………………………………….. 1‘3,541

Guns…………………………………… 28 Making a grand aggregate of eighty-eight thousand one hundred and eighty-eight infantry, four thousand four hundred aind sixty artillery, and six thousand one hundred and forty-nine cavalry, or ninety-eight thousand seven hundred and ninetv-seven men, and twio liundred and fifty-four guns. The Army of the Cumberland comprised tlhe Fourth Corps, General Howard, the Foiuriteenth Corps, Getneral P;lmuer, and the Twentieth Corps,.General Hooker; the Array of the. Tennessee, the Fifteenth Corps, General Logan, the Sixteenth Corps, General Dodge, and, later in the campaign, the Seventeenth Corl)s, General Blair; and the Army of the Ohio, the Twentythird Corpls, General Schofield. These several armies in the beginning of May lay a few miles south of Chattanooga, in supporting distance of eachi other. The rebel army, comptising, the corps of Hardee, Polk, and Hood, and the cavalry division of Wheeler, was wuader the comiaand of 568

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. LieutenantGeneral J. E. Johnston, whose reputation as a commander in the Confederacy was second only to that of Lee. It numbered about fifty tht)usand infantry and artillery, and ten thousand cavalry, of whom much the greater part w%ere veteran troops, and lay in and about Dalton, on the railroad conniecting Chattanooga with Atlanta, the advance being at Tunnel Hill, a station thiriy miles south of Chattanoogca. Directly south of Tunnel Hill is a level valley, three miles in length and abl)out threequarters of a mile wide, bounded at its southern extremity by a ruggedi mountain range, known as Rocky Faced Ridge, which dominates the valley, and is succeeded by a narrow defile cal’led Buzzard’s Roost, still farther to tile south, through which passes the railroad. Immediately south of Bazzard’s Roost is Dalton. This defile had been rendered nearly im)regnable to an army advancing directly upon Dalton fi’om the noioth, ind the mountains so enveloped the latter place that to attack an eneiny posted there in any other direction than firom the firont, a wide detour was necessary. A brief reconnoissance satisfied Sherman that Johnston could only be dislodged by a flanking movement to the righIt. Thomas was therefore directed to amuse the enemy in front of I)uzzard’s Roost, while MIcPherson, with the Army of the Tennessee, moved rapidly south through Snake Creek Gap and seized Resaca, a station on tlte railrs’ad, eighteen miles below Dalton. Should this manceuvre be successfully executed, the rebel army would be a.ttacketl in flank and rear, and its retreat upon its base, Atlanta, eftectually cut off. The superior strength of Sherman gave him opportunities for movements of this nature, of which we shall see that he firequently availed himself. On the 7th of Mfay, Thomas occupied Tunnel Ilill with little it sistance, pushling the enemy’s cavalry well into the defile below, and on the succeeding day, demonstrated with great activity against Johnston’s poition, while IcPherson, on the 8th, surprised the enemy at Snake Creek Gap. On the 9th, Thomas renewed his demnionstration on Biizz:ird’s Roost, and a portioni of the Fourth Corps, I-Howard’s, carried loekv F:.ced Ridge. These movements, though unavailable en force the strongI position of the enemy, occupied hil.l in firont and enabled AlcPherson to march within a mile of Res,-ic, which he found too strong to be carried by assault. Accordingly he fell back upon Snake Creek Gap to await the ar’ival of the main army. On thle o10th, Thomas was or(-dered to send Hooker’s Corps to Snakle Cree(k Gap in support of MIcPherson, and to follow with another corps, the F’ourteetith, Palmet’s, leaving Howard with the Fourth Corps to continue to threaten Dalton in firont, wlsle the rest of the army moved rapidly through Snake Creek Gap. On the same day, Scl}olieltl was ordered to follow by the same route, and on the 11th the whlole arny, excepting Howfard’s Corts, and some cavalry left to watch Dalton, was in m-oton on the west side of Rock# Faced( IRidge for Snakle Cileek Gap and llesaca. Thle next day the army moved against Resaci, )IcPherson on the direct road, preceded bv Kilpatrick’s Cavalrly; Thomas to come up on his left, and Se,()field on his. Kilpatrick, Nwhile moving in the advance, was disabled by a wound received in a cavalry skir 569

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HISTORY OF TEE GREAT REBELLION. mish. MicPherson drove in the enemy’s pickets near Resaca on the 13th, and occupied a range of hills in firont of. the town, with his right on the Oostatii,ula 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 Mlay 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 riflepits 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 MIay, Sherman vainly operated to turn the flank of the enemy ill 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 t-he loss of seven hundred and fiftyfive men. A simnlilar ittack on the left by a column composed of Judah’s Division of Schofieid’s Corps and Newton’s Division of Howard’s Corps, assisted finally by Cox’s Division of Schofield’s Corps, resulted in drivin(g the enemy from an outer line of iifie-pits. The fire was kept up until the close of day, when the enemy, having massed( a strong coluimn, fell suddenly upon Stanley’s Division of the Fourth Corps, driving it in confusion from the hill wheire it had been posted. The division was saved 1roin rout by the arriva,l of Hooker’s Corps, which had been ordered routnd from the iight centre to support the left wing.

MIeanwhile, 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 lne of riflepits in a position which afforded an enfilading fire upon the rebel Awoiks. The approaching night put a stop to active opera tions, and both parties proceeded to strengthen their positions. On the morning of MIay 15th, heavy skirmishing began on our centie and left centre, under cover of which our tr’oops were formed on the left for an attack upon the extreme right of the ecnemy’s line, where aii attempt was to be made to secure possession of two bfortified hills which coumanded each other, compelling a simultaneous attack on both. Hooker directed Butterfleld’s Division to assault, supported by tihe divisions of Geary and WVilliams. Forming under cover of a ravine in the forest our troops advanced, covered 1)y heavy skiirmish ing along the whole line of the army, and a heavy artillery fire, taking the enemiy at first by surprise, and carrying every thig(r before them, until, with the help of their supports, they secured a lod(ement m front of one of the enevy’s strongest positions. Here they found shelter from fire, while the iight anrid left flanks of the work were raked by our fire and their guns silenced. At about four r. m. an as sault was made on our new position by Hood’s Corps, which was repulsed witll heavy slaughter, and night closed with looker still in possessi(n of the heights he had carried. On the ni’rlit of the 15th, the en.emy qutietly abandoned his works and retreated toward(ls Cal houn, destroyiing the bridge across the Oostanaula. Our total loss inr this series of engagements was about eight hundred killed, and 570

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. something over four thousand wounded, 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 fobilowed in pursuit, on the morning of thei 16th, Thomas by the direct road, McPherson by Lay’s Ferry, and Schofield to the left. Tiie cavalry, under McCook and Stoneman, started in aldvan.lce of the infantry. Hooker crossed the river on pontoons near IIesaca, and Schofield in the same way near Pelton, farther to the left. T-he remainder of our army was afterwards thrown across, and on NWvediies(lay, the 18th, S’e,‘man reached Kingston, twentyfive miles by rail beyond Resaca. MIeanwhile, Rome was occupied by Davis’s Division of the Fourteenth Corps. A large amount of provisions and seven fine iron works and mnachine-shops were secured at Rome, where every thing appears to have been left undisturbed by the rebels. On 3Io’Iday evening, the ]6th, there was some slight skirmishing with the rebel rearguard. On Tuesday, the 17th, our centre reached and passed Calhoun-the capital of Gordon County, eighty miles noi’thwest of Atlanta, and sixty miles beyond Chattanooga. Three miles bieyond here, a brisk little fight occurred, the rebels hlaving occup)ied with their sharpshooters an octagon cement building, called the ” Graves House.”

After a fight of two hours, the skirmishers of Newton’s Division of Howard’s Corps (Fourth), aided by artillery, succeeded in dislodg.ng the enelmy. Early Wednesday morning (18th), the army was:rgain upon the marelc, the Fourth Corps leading the way, and before night our troops occupied Kingston. The Twentieth and Twentythird Army Corps advanced on the left by way of Crossville, skirmishing heavily by the way. The army here had a tew days’ rest, while supplies were accumulating for a new forward movement. Thle enemy, meanwhile, on the 19th, crossed the Etowah, burning the road( and railroad bridges near Cartersville, and fell back upon Allatoona Pass, in the Etowa-h mIountains, a position of vast natural strength, and almost impregnable against a direct advance on Atlanta by railroad. Sherman, who had previously order et away the newspaper reporters, now issued the following circular, which explains its owii object, and also the evil which the previous order had been intended to remedy: ” HIEAD-QUARTERS MILITARY DIVISION OF THE MIISSISSIPPI, KISNGSION, GA., May 20,1864. “Inasmuch as an impression is afloat that the Commanding General has prohibited the mails to and from the army, he takes this method of assuiring all officers and men that, on the contrary, he encourages them, by all his influence and authority, to keep up the most unreserved corresphdence with their families and friends. Wherever they may be, army corps and division commaners should perfect the arrangements to receive and transmit 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 an& fight, but who follow an army to pick up news for sale, speculating on a species of information which is dangerous to the anrtly and to our cause, and who ale more used to bolster up idle and worthless’officers than to notice the hard-working and meritorouis, whose modesty is generally equal to their courage, lnd who scorn to seek the flattery of the press. “WI. T. S8ERMAy, MajorGeneral” 572 *4

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 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 preparations for a flank movement to the right Accordingly, on May 23d, the army was put in motion in a direction almost due south, Allatoons 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 vid( Van WVert Davis’s Division moved directly from Rome for Dallas by Van 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 Johntiston, showing he had detected the move and was pre paring to meet Sherman about Dallas. On the 25th May, Thomas was moving fromn Burnt Hickory for Dallas, his troops on three roads, Hooker having the advance. WVhen he approached the Pumpkin Vine Creek, on the main Dallas road, he encotuntered the enemy’s cavalry at a bridge to hiis left. tie rapidly pushed them across the creek, saving the bridg,e, and followved out eastward about two miles, where he encountered the enemiy’s line of battle, anrid 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 poi-it known as the “New Hope” Church, where three roads meet from Acworth, 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 leading from Dallas to Marietta.

Accordingly, McPherson was moved up to Dallas, Thomas was deployed against New Iiol)e Church, and Schofield was directed towards our left, so as to str ike and turn the enerny’s right. Garrard’s Cavalry operated with .IcPherson, and Stoneman with Schofield. 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 MIcPherson’s closin)g on Thomas to his left, assaulted him with great vigor, but the Federal troops, being b)ehind breastworks, repulsed him with ease and with comparatively little loss. That of the rebels exceeded two thousand. Johlnston 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 recruited his army by all the available troops in his department, 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. Aebattle 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 migi,t have achieved a victory; but he must in’all probability have conice out of the conflict with a shattered, cripl:ed, weakened army. He might be unable for weeks to resume offensive operations. Then, again, the defensive line extending from Dallas northeast to Lost Mountain wras not only the best, but almost the only military position of any great natural Ir l’ It 5,’ ~,f I, r F e r,’ i-rra!,,-, r, r -‘ f r, 573 r,

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 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 intrenchments, 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 New 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 the roads leading back to Allatoona and Acworth, after which he pushed Stoneman’s Cavalry rapidly into Allatoona, 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 fiont 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 daylight to Acworth, on the railroad, some fifteen or sixteen miles northwest of Marietta by rail, and twothirds that distance on a straight line. Thus Johnston was again obliged by General Sherman’s strategy to abandon a strong position, and move out of his carefully and thoroughly prepared fortifications. Sherman, having examined AllatoonaPass, 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 fromn the latter placand Kenesaw Mountain, ten miles from Lost MIotintain, a little east of north fi’om it, on the railroad.

These two points were the right and left of the enemy’s position, their army stretching along the hills between the two. They are detached peaks, overlooking the plain beyond, and connected by a ridge, or series of low hills. Kenesaw Mountain, the larger of the two, rises to an elevation of one thousand eight hundred and twentyeight feet above the sea-level, extending some nine hundred yards on its summit from northeast to southwest. It is situated two and onehalf miles northwest of 574 I 11;, I. 11 11 “I, “,,

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HIISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. M3farietta, 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 sou}liwest 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 ill motion for At lanta. 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 garrisols left at Rome, Kingston, and elsewhere, and Sherman was enabled to renew the attack upon his wary adversary with as strong a force as at the commencement of the campaign. The order of advance was nowv somewhat different fi-om that previously observel during the campai,gn, McPherson being shifted to the left wing and Schofield to the right, while Thomas still held the centre. ilfcPherson was ordered to move towards Marietta, his right on the railroad, Thomas on Kenesaw an(l 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 communications. Our de1)6t was at Big Shanty. By the 11th of June our lines were close up, and dispositions were made to break the line between Kenesaw and Pine Mounrtains. Hooker was oil its ri,ght and front, Howard on its left and front, and Palmer between it and the railroad.

During a sharp cannonading firom Howard’s right or IHooker’s left, the rebel general Polk * was killed on the 14th, and on the morning of the 15th Pine Mountain was found abandoned by the enenmy. Thomas and Schofield advanced, and foundi him again strongly intrenched along the line of rugged hills connecting Kenesawv and Lost Miountain. At the same time McPherison 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 abandoned Lost:Mountaini and the long line of admirable breastworks connecting it Leonidas Po~lk waVs born in lialeigrh, North btl f~ufesoo.Fralgddsbdec Leonidas P~~lk was born in Raleigh, North Carolina, in 1S06, and graduated at West Point in 1827, butt resigned his commission in the army in the same year, in order to study for the minis’.

In 1S30 he -was ordained a deacon of the Priotestant Episcopal Church; in 1338 he was onsecracted Missionrarv Bishop of Arkansas and the Indian Territor solth of 36 30’, and in 1841 he became Bishop of Louisianq ile embraced with ardor the d(octrines of secession, was commissioned a majorgene’al in the rebel army,and until thel spring of 1562 held command in Tennessee and Kentutck. lie commanded a division at Shiloh, and, durn,n the siege of Corinth, participated in Bragg’s invasion of Kentucky in the autwmn of 1862 and distinguished himself at the hard-fought 575
b,,tttleofMurfreesboro’. For,-tlle,-e(ldisobe(lience of (,r(lers at the battle (,f Chickain.-LLIza,, viiereby, according to General Br.-ig, the ljni(,n ariny was alone saved froin,nnihil ation, he w.,ts placed tinder temporary a i-st. In the, cai-Jv part of ,r lS64 be remained h presti,-,e by skilful (Iispos,I*ons to prevent the junction of Sb,-t-man and ginith in Mississippi, and in consequence was ,tlypoiiited to comman(I,t corps in Johnston’s at-iny. lie was killed b’y,t cannon-sh(,t while reconnoitring on Pine,Voiiniaiii. At the time of his death he held the rank of lieutenant-genee-,il in the rebel service. 11, never resign(d his diocese, and intended, at the close of the war, to resume his episcopal functions.

,, 1..,, , ” , I - I. I r ” -I- - - ” , ‘, “

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HISTORY OF TIfE GREAT REBELLION. 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 for this movement was found in the fact that while our forces lih.d been so successfully at work upon their centre and left, McPherson on our left had put them in a dangerous position on their right, ])ressing it on that flank beyond Big Shanty an,l Brush Mountain. Sherman continued to press at all points, skirmishing in dense forests of timber and across most difficult ravines, un,il the enemy was found ag:lie strongly posted and initrenched, with Kenesaw as his 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 miles beyond Nose’s Creek, on the Dalton and Marietta road. This creek it had been fiund impossible to cross before, because of the swoll(n condition of the stiream. 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 fice of a raking fire of musketry, four regiments charged over the bridge at a doublequick, driving the enemy before them, and snaking way for our advance forces. No serious opposition appears, however, to have been made to this advance, the rebel left being; aready re,used. Their position in fiont of our right to the northeast remained at this time unchanged, their troops resting there behind strongI works. Our centre had worked up the base of Kenesaw Mountain, and had carried some knobs west of the mountain, thus securingr a position for an annoying enfilading fire upon the mountain These points, wahich had been lost by the enemy through ielgligence, were held by our troops so firmly that all efforts to dislodge them were in vain. Kenesaxw Mountain is made up of two elevations, joined almost at their summrnits, one being about e ight hundred feet high and the other about one hundred feet higher. Looking at them from the north side, they have the appearance of two immense mounds, surrounded at the base by gentle irregularities of surface adapted to evei,y department of agricultural labor. The outline of the mountain rises on the east side rather gradually, describing almost a half circle, thence falling uponi the west, about two hundred feet. The other portion joins the first and ri.es to a still greater height, and being a trifle more irregular. On the west side it then loses itself somewhat abrup)tly in a sniall valley beyond, by which the country is deprived of a mountainous character. The base of the Kenesaw is about tbur miles from east to west, drawing a straight line, and in breadth is about one mile.

Its sides are covered witlhthick forests, brush, and rock and bowlders of various dinme.sions. It would be impossible to take it in front. The defences of the mountain consisted of a line of workls on the summit, upon which were erected several batteries. Upon the sides, single guns were located A 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. It was no longer possible for our wings to make a further advance 576

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HIISTORY OF TIE GREAT REBELLION. without cutting themselves loose from the centre, whose further prog ress was stayed by the formidable defences of Kenesaw Mountain, the enemy on which was watched by McPherson, working his left forwar(d, %while Thomas was swinging as it were on a grand left wheel, his left on Keie.,aw, connecting with General McPherson, and General Schofield was all the time working to the south and east along the old Sand(town 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 s:-llied and attacked. 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 overwhelming numbers to outflatnk, determined to risk an attack. Accor(lingly, 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 onehalf miles, it would reach the railroad below MIarietta, cut off the enemy’s right and centre from its line of retreat, and then either part could be overwhelmed and destroyed. Accordingrly 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 (Lo,gai’s) the western slope of the mountain. On the centre, Davis’s I)ivision of the Fourteenth Corps and Newton’s of the Fourth consti tuted the ass:aulting column, supported on the right by Geary and But terfield of hlooker’s Corps. On the extreme right of our line was stationed Schofield, who moved forward his whole force, driving the enenmy 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 withering cross-fire on our troops engaged in forcing s passage up the steep sides of the mountain, and over the abatis aud rifle-l)its 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 twentyone.

Generals ilarker and McCook were among the slain. General Sherman did not rest long under this failure, and Sehofield was ordered to press strongly on the left, while, on July 1st, MlcPherson, l)eing relieved by Garrard’I Cavalry in front of Kenesaw, moved with his whole army by the right, threatening Nickajack Creek and Turner’s Felry on the Chattahoochee.

Stoneman was sent to the river below Turner’s. The result was the retireat of the enemy on the night of July 2d. At halfpast eight A.%r., July 3d, Sherman entered Marietta. Logan’s Corps of General AiePherson’s army, which had not moved far, was ordered back,into Marietta by the main road, and McPherson and Schofield were instructed to cross Nickajack and attaok I- “! il F i; iT Irf’ r, i rm F IF F r, r’ ro p, 7 r-I, 577 t 37

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. $ 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 movement well. IlHe 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. Hlere Thomas found him, his front covered by a good parapet, and his flank behind the Nickajack and Rottenwood Creeks. Ordering a garrison for Marietta, and Logan to join his own army near the mouth of Nick.ajack, Sherman overtook Thomas at Smyrna.

On the 4th of July hlie 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 mouth 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 harassed by th e movements of guerrillas, and on his arrival in the neighborhood o f Marietta he issued the following letter to the people of Tennessee and Geor gia, living with in the limits of the Department of the Cumberland, for their information, as expressing the sentiments of the departm e n t commander: “HEADQUARTERS MILITARY DIVISION OF THE ) “MISSISSIPPI, IN THE FIELD, BIG

SIIANTY, “GEORGIA, Ju2zc 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 seceded. 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 socalled partisans or guerrillas are nothing but simple murder, horse-stealing, arson, and other well-defined crimes, whlici do not sound as well under their true names as more agreeable ones of warlike meaning. “Now, before starting on this campaign, I foresaw it, and you remember, 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 Fis sweeping exhibition of power doubtless seemed to the Governor rather aritrary. “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, afid 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. 578 II “.1 “‘r” I. “I I 1, I r, I - , I-1, ” ” “..,

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HISTORY OF T’ GREAT REBELLI0ON. “1. You may order all your post and district commanders that guerri’ias are not soldiers, but wild beasts, unknown to the usages of war. To be recognized as Roldiers, 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 military 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 iu 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 steps in, and is rightful, constitutional, and lawful. Under this law everybody can be made to’stay at home and mind his and her own business,’ and, if they won’t do that, can be sent away, where they must 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 hive 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 hundredI will cause them to be 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. -” M”y own preference was, and is, that the civil authorities in Kentuckly 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, desolation, famine, and all the horrid attendants of anarcliy. I am, with respect, your friend, “W. T. SHzRMAN, Mfajor-General.” CHAPTER LX The New Position of the Enemy.-Johnston again Turned and Pushed Back upon Atlanta.-Rousseau’s Raid.-Hood Succeeds Johnston.-Investment of Atlanta. Battles of July 20th and 22d.-Death of McPherson.-Cavalry Raids of Stone man and McCook. Defeat and Capture of Stoneman.-Battle of July 28th. Pro longation of the Union Right Wing.-Changes of Commanders in Sherman’s Army. THE oft-recurring difficultyigain 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 b; 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 rail road bridge. This movement was completed July 7th, and a gun and some prisoners were captured. At the same time Garrard moved . 579

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HISTORY OF THIE GREAT REBELLION. with his cavalry upon Roswell, still farther up the river, destroying some cloth factories that displayed the French flag. lie was ordere ,to hol the iota at Rogwen, bIut Wag soon ieseel rn that auty b)y a division of Thomas, until MIcPherson’s Corps wnas transterjed fi-om the extreme right to the extreme left. By tlie 9th three good points of passage had been secured over the Cihattahooschee, above the rail road bridge. Johnston thereupon abandoned his tote (le 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 Fed eral army had now been advanced from the line of the Tennessee to) the line of the Chattahoochee,,and in view of the lowg marching and hard fighting to which they had been subjected, the troops were permitted to enjoy a few days’ repose. Meantime a cavalrv fi;rce under Rotisseau had been sent to cut the railroad at Opelika, Alabama, leading from Georgia to Alabama and Mississippi. Hle started on the 10th of July from Decatur, Alabamna, and reached Marietta on the 23d, hlaving accomplished his mission with considerable success 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 demanded more vigorous operations than those which had been conducted by Johnston, who, with a force considerably less than that of Sherman, had opposed him step by step, as he advanced firom Tunnel Hill to the Chattahoochee, inflicting-much loss, without himself sustaining any serious disaster. The arduous task imposed upon him was overlooked, and the fact only was noticed that Sherman 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, w ho, 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. On the 17th of July, Sherman, having rested and recruited his army, resumed his forward movement. Thomas was ordered to cross at Powers’s and Paice’s Ferry bridges, and to march by Bucklihead.

Scho the three corps of Johnstoni’s army in Georgia. In Juilv, 1864, he surpersedeed that general. and on the 20th, 22d, an(I 28th of the month had severe enicoun-iters with Sherman in fiont of Atlanta. in which he suffered pro(digiouis losses. On September 1st. tbein! flanked by Sherman, he evacuated Atlanta andl r-etire(l uipon McDonough. In Octob,er he m,,ve(I an inst Sherman’s ornmnunicationa, and, pa,ssinzr througi,h Northern Alabama. invaded Tennessee in the latte-r part of November. After the hard-fouight battle of Franklin, he moved upon Nashvill, in fr,ont of which place he was disastrou.sly defeated, on December 15th and 16th, by Thomas, in a series of battles, which broke the rebel str-enzrth in the Souithwest. lie re,tr-ented i nto Mississippi with the remnant of his army, and in January’, 15165, was relieved of his command. * 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 4ril, 1861, and joined the rebel army. He was appointed colonel of a Texas regiment. inkeptemiber, and illn the succeeding spring a brigadierg,eneral, anid for gallantry at the battle of Gaines’s Mill was promoted to be a majorgeneral. lie comtiiiadei a division in Longstreet’s Corps in the seen(il ul Tll IVun campaign and in the succeeding batles of Antietam and Fredericksburg, and at the battle of Gettysburg was severely wounded in the arTn. lie accompanied Longstreet to the Wes t, in the autumn of 1663, and lost a leg st the battle of Chickamauga. He was now commissionedI a lieutenantgeneral, and appointed to command one of 580

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION.1 field, already across at the mouth of Soap Creek, was ordered to miarch by Cross Keys, and ilcPherson was to direct his course from Roswetil straight ag,ainst the Augusta road at some point east of Decatur, near Stone MIomuntain. Garrard’s Cavalry act(d with MIcPllherson, and Stone man and SIcCook watched the river and roads below the railroad. On, the 17th, the whole army advanced from their camps, and formed a gen eral line along the Old Peach-tree road. McPherson reached the Au gusta Railroad on the 18th. On Tuesday, July 19th, a reconnoissance was pushed forward as far as Peach-tree Creek, an insignificant stream rising five or six miles northwest of Atlanta, and flowing southwest eily to the Chattahoochee, near the railroad bridge northwest of At lauta.

Behind this stream the rebels lay sheltered and awaiting our approach.

They sought by stratagem to take General Sherman at a 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, Blooker’s, on the right; Newton’s Division of the Fourth Corps, Howard’s, on the right centre; the Twe)ty-tl-)irdl, Schofield’s, on the centre; the Sixteenth, Dodge’s, on the left centre; and in reserve, the.Fifteeuith, Logan’s, end the Seventeenth, Blair’s, on the right. Our right was carr.ed by Garrard’s Cavalry Division. On the 20th, all the a’mies had closed in, converginv tovwards Atlanta; but as a gap existed between Schofieid and Tionas, two divisioiis of Howard’s Corps of Thomas’s Army were moved to the left to connect with Schofield, leaving Newton’s Division oi the same corps on the Buckhead road. MIeantime, the main body of the enemy lay concealed in the woods in fronts prepared to assaiM our columns while changing position and unprepared. They hoped by massing against our weakened centre to break through there, dciividing our army in twain, and leaving both wings openii 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 o’cl’ck, their columns emerged fromn the concealment of the woods, advancing without skirmishers againist our lines. The attack took Newton by surprise, but, being behind a line of hastily-erected r-.il-piles, his men were almost instantly ]allied, 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 off their retreat. Four guns were also now in position on Newtoii’s right, where they rendered important service. Almost at the instant of the attack on Newton, the advance division of Hooker, under Geary, was st,ick 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 Newto)n’s right, Wardl was advancing with his division, when the energy were discovered charging upon him. With promptitude the order was given to meet the charge with counter-charge, the two columns nlingingn 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 I t 5,5 1 0

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ISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. the evening, 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 fol lows: WVilliams’s Division, six hundred and twenty-seveni; Geary’s Division, four hundred and fifty-one; Wgard’s Division, five hundred and twentyseven-total, one thousand six hundred and five. Newton’a Division (official), one hundred and two; Fourteenth Corps, two hun dred-total loss, one thousand nine hundred and seven. On the night of the 21st, the day succeeding the assault, the enemy’, 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 dis. covered, the withdrawal of the enemy from their main line of fortifica. tions, one and a half miles nearer Atlanta, seemilig to follow legiti. mately from the repulse they had received on our right. But it was soon evident that Hood, determined on another assault, had sought, by retiring, to drag us on farther, that he might again attack our liines before they had opportunity to re-form in their new position nearer Atlanta. The first impression of General Sherman, when the lines of the ene my were found to be abandoned, on the morning of the 22d, was that it was no longer the intention of Hood to defend Atlanta.

Accordingly, our advancing ranks swept across the strong and well-finislhed parapet of the enemy, and closed in upon Atlanta, until they occupied a line in the form of a circle of about two miles rad(ius, where the enemy was again found, occupying in force a line of finished redoubts, which had been prepared for more than a year, covering all the roads leading into Atlanta, and busy in connecting these redoubts with curitains strengthene(l by rifle-trenches, abatis, and chevaux-de-frise.

MoPhlierson, who had advanced firom 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 Fifteenth conne(ting on the right with Schofield, who held the centre. Meantime, IMcPherson, 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 fighlt, driven tho enemy, which gave him a commanding position within easy view of the very heart of the city. lie had thrown out working parties to it, and was making preparattns to occupy it in strength with batter es. ,,p p ” ~ The Sixteenth Corps, on the morning of the 22d, was ordered from right to left to occuipy this position and make it a strong general left flank, and Dodg,e 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 oaid line of rebel 582

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ISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. trench, but it was fashioned to fight outward. A space of wooded ground of near half a mile intervened between the head 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 McPherson ordered across from the railroad. It came across on the doublequick and checked the enemy, though not in time to prevent the capture of Iulrray’s Battery of regtllar artillery, which was moving past, unsuspicious of dangelr. While Hardee attacked in flank, Stewart’s Corps was to attack in front, directly out of the main works, but fortunately 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 unrtil he encountered Giles A. Smitlh’s Division of the Seventeenth Corps, who was somewhat “in air,” an(l forced to fight first fiota one qde of the old rifle parapet, and then from the other, gradually withdrawing, regiment by r(giment, so as to form a flank to General Leg,gett’s Division, which hel(d the apex of the hill, which was the only part that WIs deecned 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 enemny’s attacks, whichl were numerous and persistent. The obstinacy with which the groundl was held discouraged the enemy, and at four o’(slock he gave up the attempt. In thl)e mean time, Wh(ele-i-‘s Cavalry fe!1 ipon General Sprague at Decatur, where the trains of the Army of the Tennessee were parked. Sprague succeeded in bringing them off; however, with the exception of three wagons. ]Ieantime, IcePhersoii,* who at ten o’clock in the morning was in consultation with General Sh(rman at h-ead-quarters, rode to the front on hearing the firing, antid having sent off his staff withl various orders, again at Corlnth in October. 1862, acting with so milch gallantry.as to be liro(lnotd(1 to a niajortgeieraicy, to (date fiolil Oct(obter td. FIrm that ti rie til l the close of the siege f icksbbtir, when his engineering I,owers caiuie into fuill iily, his care,er wa:s a coterso o’ triuilrhili. At the recommenidatitin of General Grant, he was ma(lde a brigadierg,nceratl of thle (retilar ariuy with rmik dating from Augtist lst, 1862. Two mnonths lIter h. con(lucteid a co,litnin ito Mississil,pi, anld repulsed the enemy at Catiton. In Febriai y, 1S4 hle was second in comnimand to Shermitn, in the lattelr’s fanmous niovaa,l cltitnn, which niarchile(l froin Vick sburg to Meridian. Finally, in thie first Atlainta campaign, hiiscoinin pd wia.s the l)epartment of the Tennessce, inelt(ldin the Fiftetith, Sixteenth, andl Seventeenith C oips, onistituting the fl aikiti force which, mIovini ralpiilly on one or a w ci W oteAmyoohen the ither win, was mlod to li-ce the eienmy back to Atlanta. In solne reslects, the litirden of the cinl.aign, ne xt itender She riiatn, fell on him. Ie fought at lesica, and( the l)attle, ne )ar I)las was w-holly his. At Allatoisna ani C(tli F’arm ha dawas a-‘ain dist inguishedl, was aetitvelv thniig_h itot bh tly enraged at Kenesaw, ani on’ the llth he culit the line between Lee an(,Jt,hnst(,n by ioectipyiii, Decatuir on the Atugusta Railroa-it. Three daya later he f)ihtit a severe battle, froin which he h ame out only to flil. shot thriough the lung; et e irly in the (lay of Friday, July 22d, at the early “ge of thirty-Eix years *James B. myclliherson was born in Sandoiuskv Couiinty, Ohio, in N1vember. 1S28, andl gradutateil nt West Ploinit in 18S3. j)ininig the EnginleerC(Crlps as brevet seco I lieutenant. Until Septemiiber, IS, he %as assistant instructor of practical enginee ain l at t he MIili tarLy Acal ademy. Firne tha t time till Aurattst. 1S61, hea was engaged, first on the alefences of New York It irbor, next in facilitating the mwi_-io rf the lIudson, next in constructing Fm’t -el:La’e, andi finally in fortifying Alcatra,z Island, in S,:n Francisco Bay. lHe tbecaine fuil secondi-lieutenant in December.

1S54, and fi:rst lieutenant in Deceinber. 1858. In AuguIst, 1861, he,as ordered fro.,n California to attend to the dcences of Bost,-n liaibor.

Soon after, he got his cap,ta.incv. dating from Augtist, lS61. In Novemibt,,r, IS‘1, he became aide-de-camp to Geneml It:Illeck. with the ralnk of lieutenant colonel, and ua8 chief eng,ineer of the Army of the lennessee, undi(ier Gclant, in the reduction of wrts Ilenry.nd I)onelson, receiving-for Ws service a nominationi as brev,et nI.ijor or eng-ineecrs, to date Februiary 16th, 1S62. Ile was a Shiloh, -nrd for services thier-e ren(lered w-a3 nominated for a brevet c)l,neley of’engineers, to date April 7th, 1862. lie lhad, a s colonel on tlalleck-‘s staff, thG chief enzineeinz charge of the approaches to Corinth. w-hich endled in its evacuation. On the 13th,If Mtav, 156;,. he became brigadiergene ral of volunteers, and, the next month, superi,ntended with grreat skill all the military i-ailroadgin General Grant’s department. He was at iuka, and 583
a P.

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLIOn. 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 fi’om the enemy, whose skirmish line had crept up to this road, struck hiln from his horse. He was shot through the lungs, and fell dead. General John A. Logan, 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 IIood’s massing troops for an assault on the Fifteenth Corps, which lheld the right of the Army of the Tennessee behind substantial breastworks. At four P. r., while a feigned attack was maintained against thle Union left, a heavy force suddenly appeared in front of the left of the Fif teenth Corps, driving before it a couple of regiments of skIirnishers, and capturili)g two guns. Pushing rapidly on, it forced Lightburn, who held this part of the line, back in disorder, taking from him a twenty-pounder Parrott and four guns, and separated Wood’s and Harrow’s Divisions of the Fifteenth Corps. Shernian, being present, ordered some batteries of Schofield to a position that comm:‘nded a flank fire upon the enemy. The Fifteenth Corps was then ordlered 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 terminatelz with a Federal loss of three thousand seven hundred and twentytwo, killed, wounded, and prisoners, and ten guns. The enemy’s loss equalled, if it did not exceed, twelve thousand, including over three thousand killedl and three thousand prisoners. They also lost eiglhteen stands of colors and fivne thousand stands of arms. On the 23d, Garrard, who had been dispatched to Covington, on the Augusta road, forty-two miles east of Atlanta, rettirne(-l, having sueceededa in destroying the biilges at Ulcofaullatchee aid Yellow Rivers, besides burning a train of cars, a large quantity of cotton (two thousand bales), and the d6pots of stores at Covington and C(onyer’s Station. Sheirman now addressed Ilijiself to the task of reaching tihe Macon road, over which of necessity came the stores and ammuiniition that alone maintained the Confederate ailmy in Atlanta.

For this -)iurpose a new movement by the Army of the Tennessee was ordered. It was to proceed by the right towards Ea.st Point, a station on the Atlanta and Macon Railroad, southwest of Atlanta, while simultaneously the whole of the cavalry was to strike a blowv 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 anl that of Garrard, and the latter a face of four thousand, comlprising his own troopers and the cavalry of,oiisseatu,just returned from O)elika. Stoneman w’is to move by the left around Atlanta to McDonolgh, 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 suppose(I thit this joint force woald be equal to any thing that Wheeler could bring against it. Previous to starting, Stoneman asked permission to extend his raid to Macon and Andersonville, with a view of releasing the Unioli pris. 584 0

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HISTORY OF THII GREAT REBELLION. oners c’)nfined there. After some hesitation, Sherman consented, on the condition that Wheeler’s Cavalry should first be put hIo)rs (e combat, and the railroad effectually destroyed. On the 27th the tw-o expedi tions starte(l fo),th, but Stoneman almost immediately pu:!)ed( for the neighborhood of MIacon, ninety miles distant, where h3 arrived on the 30th; Garrard remaining at Flat Rock to cover the movement. The enemy aplpear, however, to have beenTully apprised of his design, and had sent all the prisoners from Macon to Charleston.

5[eai.nwhile, the rebel General Iverson, who had beenl on Stoneman’s track since the 27t],, overtook Ilini on the 28th, at the junction of South and Yellow River:, some sixty miles northwest of MIacon. A spirited fright ensued. Kelley’s and E ime’s rebel cavalry fought the cominanid tlhat Stoneman detache,l for the purpose of delaying pmu’suit. Iverson susi)ected the maticeuvre, ajd left Kelley an(] u-Iniec to finish the fight, whi’ e lie passed around the party and continue(l the pursuit.

Stonernan, w}en he neared M i(‘on, detached a party to oper.‘te on Mille lge\ ile a,d( Ea tonton. Tlie country around was very unfavorable for caval ry opera tions, and it wvas soon discoveredl that a brigade of re bel infa itry had wheeled ti’om our flank and ha(l taken lup positionl aloi-l the imain loute, thus hea uing off Stoneman. The r,.bel Armnstrong’s ]‘i(g:dc of cavalry, comprisinog the First and Second Kentucky, had come dowvn on St,one man’s left flank ait the same time, thus, with the troops in hiis realr, com pletely suiroundit,g him. Here it.happenedl, by a stialige ci)‘ineidence, that the First and Second Kentucky of Adams’s Brigade were pitted against their rebel namesakes.

Stonemam now discovered Iverson’s command above Clinton, dis puting his return. Hle q,,ickly (ldecided that lie could no’ escape on eithe’ fl,ank, and determined to fight through the centre. II,s com ma,id nurtberedl nearly twentyfive hundred men, a portion of whom were dismounted, and sent forward as skirmishers. T}le enii(,iy continued to press himn more closely, an(, after various fruitless atteimpts to mnake head against them, orders were given to the c,mmiiindels of regiments to bieak throulgh the opposing lines and e.(lOe i, the readiest manner possible. Stoneman hlimself, with severial hlundred men and a sectionl of artillery, retiained to occupy the attention of the enemy, b,it was finally overpowered( and obliged to surreiidei,. Of his three brigades, o,ie returned uninjured, one was somewlhat scattered, but eventually found its way back to the Untiion lines, and the third was captured with him.

Garrard’s Division proceeldel farther than Covin,,ton on the Augusta Railroad. Stonemani’s total loss probably exceeded a thousand men, with three guns. Meantime, McCook with his fo;ce reachedl the rendezvous at the appointed time, after having burne-d fivc hundred wagons a,id g.tthcred up several hundred prisoners. The enemy collectin,g -iround him, however, he mroved to Newman utpon t}li Atlanta ann( West Point r(:ad. IlIe’e he wvas hemmed in, and w:as obliged to drop his captures ad( cut his way out, with the loss of five hundred men. The wf,ole expedition must be considered a costly failure, as the enemy’s communications were only temporarily interrupted.. 585

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IIISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. On the 26th of July, General I-Howard *
assumed command ofthe Army of the Tennessee by order of thle President, while General Logan re turned to his ow-n corps, the Fifteenth. About the same time l-ooker and’almer were relieved, at their own request, of their comman(is, and were succeeded, the former by General Slocum and the latter by Gen eral Jefibe,‘son C. Davis. As Slocum was thlen in Vicksburg, his place was temnpoi,arily filled by General:I-. S. Wiliams. General D. S.

Stan ley a:lso succeedeId Howard in command of the Fourth Corps.

M3ean-while tiie army had been makinlg a movement e;, echelo)? from left to light, by which the line was prolonged due south, facing east. The i-iglit 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 Tennessee from any studden attack in flank while this movement was min rogress, Davis’s Division of the Fourteenth Corps was posted so as to be within easy supporting distance of Itoward. The enemy, observing the movernellt, and perceiving that it was Sherman’s intent to swing around so as to hold the Macon Railroadl, massed his troops on the 28th in the same direction.

About noon Stewvart’s Corps attacked Logan, who had just got into position on the right, his corps having been the first detached from its former position on the left. At first the enemy was successful in his onset, lhis cavalry turning our flank and inflicting considerable loss. But, by the middle of the afternoon, tle fortune of battle had chang,ed, and our men, aided by hastily-built intrenchments, repulsed every charge of the enemy.

An advance was then orde e(l, atid the enemy was forced back to his own works, l(avi,g the fieldl in our possession. The fighting was very seveire til1 nightfll, although there was little artillery firing. Our loss was about six hundred, and the enemy’s nearly five thousand. Ilad Davis’s Divisioti come up on the Bell’s Ferry road, as ha(l been looked for, at any time I)efore four o’clock, what was simply a complete repulse would have been a disastrous rout to the enemy. Meaniwhile there was a general advance along the line, but our forces were dr(iven back, the enemy being stirongly p)osted. The Fourth and Fourteenth Cor ps were hotly eng:ged, and theire w:is hleavy artillery firing in their front all day and night, and on the day succeeding. But nig,ht fell ul)on a divided field. Our right was at one time in dan, ger, but was handsomely rescued.

iaiticipating in the victi’y of Novemnber 25th in rtt of that pace. Soi ate ars he iceived commiiitand1 i or the Fourth (Corl-s, and made the canm. pliaign froiii Clitttaniooga to Atl’tii it. lie succeeded Inel’herson as comn manlid r ort’ the A rui v of tlJe TenDessee, aoid in the ectxpe(ditioli Ato t tl niita to Sa v:r Bhll o he coriinian(1ed the iight iii of Sliertiian’s anrmt)y. Ie( also comm’rndedl a wing in the miiarch northwlard from Sa annahli which ter iiinati’i in the sairrend(er of General J,senh 1.. I,ohnston’rnd all the rebel forces under hist cimmand. Sin,‘e the conclusion of the war he has he 1(l the office of C,,immissioner of Free(lm(n. Ile is a matin of deezp religious principles, and has been called the “Havelock of America.” * O’iver Otis Ilward w tas born in Le,eds. M,Lairn(-. In 1l3o, ad _-,(rtdate at. Bowl(loin College in lS50, and it Wiest PIilit iii 1.54. IIe was alipoilited instrucetor,,f umathelm.atics at the Militarv Aca(demyv in 1’, bit e i sined his cotimission in 1861 to take commii~iandi f’.Ieaimiieiit of M’ dine v-Qluiteei s. He comnmau01cds~le,ln briga(le nt Bull lRun,,Al for gallant conditluct in th:Lt battle wa, comnmissioned a brigradlic r-?ncl:dl of Iolunteers. Ie fought at Wiliamillsrbmllgw lo,t “an arm at Fair Oaks. an(]

aft,.r the battle of Antietam loolk Se(d-wick’sl)ivision in Eiumnn(-r’s Corps. E]’-Ilv in 1868 howas assigne(d to the co inoandl’of tlhe ileventh Corpr)s He ws present at Chancellorsville and Gettysburg, anIin the autuulmn accompanied hlis corps to Chattanooga, 586 41 I

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HISTORY OF THIE GREAT REBELLION. CHAPTER LXI. Siege of Atlanta.-Position of the City.-Topography.-The Enemy’s Strength.-Sher. man moves to the Right.-Wheeler’s Raid.-Kilpatrick’s Raid.-Grand Flank Mfovement 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 Ilood.-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 gre,at force and skill. Sherman was now settled down to the siege of Atlanta, with little hope, however, of either taking it l)y assault or red,icing it while its communications were intact. A description of the locality maly 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 desce,nds from this giddy heiglht and travels min the direction of either point of the compass, his progress is ol)stru(cted by sharp “pitches” and narrow “ravines,” through mnany of which flow small rivulets. To such an extent is this the character of the surface, that scarc(ely an acre of level ground can be found in the limits of the city. The soil, where there is any, is light and san(ly, wiith a sub. stratum of red clay. Other portions are gravelly and sterile. The most of the country is still covered with a heavy growsth of timber. This description holds good until within a few miles noitlh of Marietta, twentyone miles north of Atlanta, including Dallas, lying a little northwest of MaIrietta. The city is laid out in a circle, two miles in diameter, in tlhe centre of which was the passenger depot, since destroyed by fire, fi’()m which radia:te r:ilroads to every quarter of the Southt.

On the nIorthl side of the depot is a p)ark. Opposite the three vacant sides were situated the three princip:l hotels, anid in the business portion of the city weree many fine blocks of buildings. Before the war these were mostly filled with consiugnments of goods from the large cities of the North and Northwest for the supply of the cotton regions. But the city ]ad( become one vast Government storehouse, containing the macliine-shops of the principal railroads, the most extensive rolling mill in the Sotith, founderies, l]istol and tent factories, &c., &c. In addition there were works for casting shot and shell, iiilaking gun-carriages, cartri(lge s, caps, shoes, clothling, &c., &c. Enrcircting the city was a line of iifle-pits, nine miles iil length and about thty inches high, upon slighlt eminences. At nearly regular intervals there were planted twelve or ifourteen batteries. The fortifications were constructed as a defence from raids, and for the ye:ar 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 Sherman had drawn:bout 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 ,r lF 7[I (‘ IrFrr 17’ [ ” 587 I

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HIISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. enemny hat] a decided advantage inI his fortifications, and the greater facility of moveuienit afforded by the interior p)osition. The tforee at, the disposal of General Hood was lnot, however, large, and lie w:s l,-)oking earnestly for reenforcements. Ttie strengthl of his at-my was not known. Johnstoii’s veterans, by his official report, Jutne 25th, 1864, liiuiii,ecred forty-six thousand six hundred and twenty-eighlt eil’bctive men of all arms, Wheeler’s Cavalryincluded. After tliat time he rieceiveti enough veteran tlo()ps and Georgia militia to bring his f(orce up tco sixtyfive or sevetIty thou.:and men, fi’om wlich were to be d(leducted the losses in subsequent battles. Hood’s line ot’battle extend(led fiom Dec:itu, to below East Point, a distance of fifteen milt s. General Sherm,an ha(i been re enforced I)y convalescents and soiie new troops, so th:tt his p)re1ponderance remai,,ed about the same as at the comnmencement of the campaign. Sherman now resorted to a further prolongation of lhis line to the south wa.rd, withl a view of getting possessionof the Macon roa(l. On the 1st of August, Schofield marched from the left to a position l,elow Utoy Creek, w here he joined on to Logaii’s right, an(l formed the right wing of the am y. The enemy made corresponding movements.”his process of extending by the right was continued fiom the 2d to the 5th, on which d ay Cox’s Division of Schofield’s Corps attacked( the enemy’s line a inuile below Utoy, and was repulsed with the loss of four hlndred men. On tlle liext day Schofield ad(vanced his whole line, in the hope of gaining a ioothold on either the West Point or:Maco,i Railroad, but did not succeed.

Tiis movemelt convinced Sherman that the whole army would require to be moved to rea.ch the Macon road. On the 10th lie slelled the city with four-and-a-half-inch rifled guns as an experimnent. On the 16th orders were issued for a grand fl:nk movenment on the 18th to F.iirburn, on the West Point road, and theicee across to the MIacon ro.id at Jonesboro’, twentytwo miles north of AtlaInta. This march fiom Fairburn to Jonesboro’

would tiaverse tlhe baise of a ti-ianf’le (f wihich the east side is the Macon road and the wNest side the We.; Point Railroad, both of which meet at East Point, whence they follow a comiiion track six miles to Atlanta.

This manceuvre would cut the oily two roarts into Atlanta. The necessity of moving the whole army grew out of the superiority of the enemy in cavalry, which w:is nia’iiested in the failure of the Union cavalry raids.

At this jutncture, however, Hood detachedl Wheeler with a cavalry force to proc(.ed east and north and ftal upon Thomas’s communications at Dalton.

Accordi-igly, on the 14th of August, Wheeler appeared before Dalton, denmading its suirrender, wlhich was refused. Some damage was done tothe lines, but sufficient protection had~een provided to preserve them from d(anger. Upon as(ceitaining this movement, Shierm.in supposed that the detachment of Whleeer would deplete the enemy in cavalry so far as to give the Union arny the preponderance. Hence he suspended the genelal movenment hie had contemplated, and ordered IKilpatrick, who hlad recently returiedl to duty, to p)roceed with five thousand cavalry on a raid against the two railroads. He was partially stecesftil, and retuirnedto camp on the 22d.

The damage he had done, however, was neaily all repaired by that time, and the original grand movement became neces 588

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HISTORY OF TIIE GREAT REBELLION. nary. General Sherman therefore renewed the order for a general move meait on his right on the night of the 25th, when, aill thin,,gs being ready, the Foulrth Corps, Stanley, direw out of its lines on the extreme left, and mar-che(d 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 mov ~nr r:apidly by a circuit well towards Sandtown and across Camp Creek, the Army of the Cumberl:,nd below Utoy Creek, Schofield remaining in position. The third move brought the Army of the Tennessee on the WVest Point Raiilroad, above Fairburn, the Army of the Cumberland about Red Oak, while Schofield closed in near Digs and Mims. Twelve and onehalf miles of railroad were here destroyed, the ties burned, and the iron rails twiste(d. The whole army moved(, the 29th, eastwaird by several roads: Howard on the right, tow:irds Jonesboro’; Thomais il the centre, by Shoal Creek; Church to Couch’s, on the Decatur and F’ay,tteville road; and Schofield on the left, about -Iorrow’s Mvills. ThI)e movement proceeded with signal success, and Howard, on the evening of the 30th, passed Flint lRiver 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 Uniol) army was moving upon his communications, he contented himself withl sen(ling Hardee’s and Lee’s Corps to Jonlesl-)ot(o’, where they intrenche(l, while he remained in Atlanta with Stewai-t’s Corps and the militia. On the morning of Augrlst 31st, Howard finding himself in the presence of a heavy force of the enen.y, he deployed the Fifteenth Corps -aid disposed the Sixteenth and Seventeenth on its flanks. The men covercd their front with the usual paral)et, and were soon prepared to act offiensively or defensively, as the case called for. On the morning of the 31st, Kilpatrick took a strong positioln on a hill in front of thile Fifteenth Corps, which the rebels had occtiped with a picket line and a few skirmishers. D,iring, the forenoon Kilpatrick ascertained that the enemy were massing infantry and cavalry in lhis front and on his left flank. To meet and check this movement, two regiments of infantry were sent firom Osterhaus’s command, First Division, Fifteenth Corps, and three regiments of infantry from the Third Division, Seventeenth Corps, as supports; and at the same time a bri.gade from the Sevetecenth Corps was ordered to take a position in the rear of the Sixteenth Corps as reserves, in case of an attack from the enemy. During the forenoon our artillery kept up aceaseless cannonade upon the rebel lines for the purpose of provoking an assault. The enemy’s batteries responded, after a few hours’ silence, most vigorously. At three o’clock on the afternoon of the 31st, S. D. Lee’s Coips assaulted the Fifteenth Corps and a porton of the Sixteenth Corps, advancing boldly up to our works in’three columns, with colors fiying. The first line approached within twenty or thirty yards of lIazen’s Second Division, Fifteenth Corps; but the deadly fire from our breastworks caused it to waver badly, and in fiteen minutes it was broken and irrevocably lost for that moment. The fecond line of rebels came to the rescue, and with yells dashed on to destruction, for tley, too, were swept away before they reached the impenetrable abatis and deadly 589 .0

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. palisades that strengthened our works and rendered a successful charge an utter imp)ossibility, unless attempted with vastly superior numbers. The officers endeavored to re-form their lines, with the shattered fi’ag ments 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. i The enemy lost severalgeneral officers, including MajorGeneral 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 Hllazen’s Division, which captured two flags. While this 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 Rough and Ready by Schofield, and with the occupation of the road lower down by Stanley. The whole army was then ordered to close down upon Jonesboro’ 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 advance, 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, supported by the Third Division, Baird’s, while the 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 intentions, and opened some twenty guns on Morgan’s lines, scattering, shells among his men at a terrible rate. Morgan now ordered up the Fifth Wisconsin Battery, and very soon quite an artillery duel was in progress, which lasted nearly half an hour; the firing being greatly augmented 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 firom 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 on the right, First Division on the lett, with the left resting on the Macon Railroad, and the Third Division in reserve. At halfpast three o’clock P. M., Carlin attacked the enemy’s works, sitated 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 tht enemy suddenly hurled a superior force of fresh troops upon them, and they were obliged to retire or be captured. At four o’clock the entire Fourteenth Corps attacked with great impetuosity the rebel works in two lines. One brigade of the Third ‘590 I

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IIISTORY OF THE, GREAT REBELLION. Division went into the fight, while the balance of the division supported the movement. Carlin, with the First Division, and the Third B3igade of the Second Division, struck the enenly’s works first, followed by MIorgan’s troops, and with such impetuosity was the attack delivered that a portion of the line was carried, an(d two batteriesone Loomis’s celebrated battery, taken from us at Chickamauga, of five guns, and another of four guns-ell into our hands.

Among the prisoners captured was Brigad(ierGeneral Govan of Cleburne’s Division, with eight hundred and eighty commissioned and noncommissioned officers and privates. Upon the approach of night, Hardee gathered up the shattered remnants of his own and Lee’s Corps, and fell back seven miles to Lovejoy’s, where he intrenched 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 of day on September 2d, Sherman, finding the enenmy had retreated, put his whole army in motion 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, tIoward on its right, and Schofield kept off about two miles to the east.

The enemy was overtaken aoain 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 of 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 morning of the 1 st instant, and at once gave the order for evacuating the city, as his only remaining line of railroad commu nication was severed, and he was in a precarious condition. Meantime, Slocum, with the Twentieth Corps, which had remained to guard the bridge over the Chattahoochee, seven miles distant, heard the explosion of ammunition 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 Waird’s, Geary’s, and Williams’s Divisions. They advanced to the city, which they found evacuated, and entered about eleven o’clock on the morning of the 1st 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: “CAPJTULATION OF

ATLANTA, GEORGIA, September 2, 1864. “BrigadierGeneral 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 noncombatants and private property ~ “JAIES M. CALHOUN, Mab’or 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 General Geary’s Division, which had entered 591

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HISTORY OF TIE GREAT REBELLION. the town simutltaneously with Ward’s, hloisted the stars and stripes upon the court-hiouse. General Slocium arrived soon aftei, and took formal I)possession of the town. Much i-ebel government prioperty, including four (engines, and fourteen pieces of artillery, chiefly sixty-fourpoun(lers, whicb the enemy abandoned, wvas secured. The news of the capture of Atlanta caused universal rejoicing, and elicite,l fi-()m the Piesident a special congratulatory order, and a recbmmnen(lation that the 11th of September should be observed as a day of solemn thanksgivii-g for this signal succ(ess. The fbllowing is General S-heimLii’s address to his troops on the termination of their arduous and brilliant campaign: “I HEADQUARTERS MILITARY DIVISION OF MIISSISSIPPI, }

“IN THE FIELD, ATLANTA, GA., Seltemeber 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 inChief; andll 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 courage displayed in the campaign of Atlanta. “On the I st of May our armies were lying in garrison, seemingly quiet, from Knoxville to Huntsville, and our enemy 1y bellind his rocky-faced barrier at D)alton, proud, defiant, and exulting. He had had time since Christmas to recover from his discomfitulre on the Mission Ridge, with his ranks filled, and a neW commander-in-chief, second to none ill the Confederacy in reputation for skill, sagacity, and extreme popularity. All at once our armies assumed life and action, and appeared before Dalton; threateningr Rcocky I’-:ce, we threw ourselves upon Resaca, and the rebel army only escaped by thl rapillty of its retreat. aided by the numerous roads with which he was famili r, IIand whl were stratnge to us. Again he took position in Allatoona, but we gave him no rest, and by a circuit towards Dallas, and subsequent movement to Acworth, we gainted th’e 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 thle Augusta road was most handsomely executed by us, and will be studied as an example in the art of war. At this stage of the game our enemies became dissatisfied with their old and skilful commande:, and select d one more bold and rash. New tactics were adopted. Ilood first boldly and rapidly, on the 20th of July, fell on our right at Peach-tree Creek, and lost. Again, on the 22d, he struck our extreme left, and was severely punlished; and finally, again on tlhe 28th, he repeated the attempt on our right, and that time mitst have been satisfied; for sins e that date he has remained on the defensive. We slowly and gradually drew our lines about Atlanta., feeling for the railroads whichl supplied the rebel army and made At!anta a place of importance. We must concede to our enemy that he met these eflorts patiently and ski]fully, but at last he maide the mistake we had waited for so iecg, and sent his cavalry to our rear, far beyond thle reacll of recall. Instantly our cavalry was on his only remaining road, and we followed quickly with our principal army, and Atlanta fell into ollr possession as the fruit of w-ell-concerted measures. backed by a brave and confident army. This completed the grand task which had been assigned 1us by our Government, and your general again repeats his personal and (offical thanks to all,le officers anld men composinig this army, for the indomitable’courage and perseverance whichl alone could give success. “We leave beaiten our Enemy on every ground hlie has chosen, and have wrested from him his o0en Gate City, where were located his founderies, arsenals, and workshops, deemed sccure on account of their distance from our base, and the seemingly impregnable obstacles intervening. Nothlling is impossible to an army like this, determined to vindicate a Government which has rightis wherever our flag has once floated, and is resolved to maintain them at any hand all costs. “In our campaign many, yea, very many of our noble and gallant comrades have preceded us to our common destination, the grave; but they have left the memory of 592’ I

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593, HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. deeds on which a nation can build a proud history. McPherson, Harker, McCook, and others dear to us all, are now the binding 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 Government; fidelity to our trusts and good feeling among each other, each $rying 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-Washington. W. T. SHERMAN, MajorGeneral Comziianding.” 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 Government. For the purpose of expediting the depopulation of the city, without needless inconvenience or suffering to the inhabitants, the number of whom had greatly diminished during the progress of the siege, he proposed to Hood a truce of ten days. The reply of Hood was as follows: “HEADQUARTERS ARHY OF THE TENNESSEE, “OFFICE CHIEF OF STAFF, Sedt. 9, 1864. f MajorGeneral SIIERMAN, Commanding United States Forces in Georgia: “GENERAL:-Your letter of yesterday’s date, borne by James W. Ball arid James R. Crew, citizens of Atlanta, is received. You say therein,‘I 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 purpose 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 orderat that place,.. and that the removal begin on Monday next. “And now, sir, permit me to say, that the unprecedented measure you propose transcends, in studied and ingenious cruelty, all acts ever before brought to my attentiom in the dark history of war. “In the name of God and humanity I protest, believing that you will find that yau are expelling from their homes and firesides the wives and children of a brave people. “I am, General, very respectfully, your obedient servant, “J. B. HOOD, General.” Accompanying this letter was the following from James M. Calhoun, mayor of Atlanta: “IEiAD-QUARTERs ARMY OF

THE TENNESSEE, September 9, 1864. “Hon. JAMES M. CALHOUN, Mayor: “SIR:-I have the honor to acknowlege the receipt of your letter touching the removal of the citizens of Atlanta, as ordered by General Sherman.

Please-fid en closed 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 effets farther south. “You have my deepest sympathy in this unlqoked-for and’ unprecedented afflictiol “I am. sir very respectfully, your obedient servant “J. B. HooD, Geal.” The following is the characteristic reply of General Sherman. 38

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. “HEADQUARTERS MILITARY DIVISION OF THE

MISSISSIPPI, 1 “AND IN THE FIELD, ATLANTA, GA., September 10, 1864. “

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 arrangements I had proposed to facilitate the removal south of the people of Atlanta who prefer to go in that direction. I enclose you a copy of my orders, which will, I am satisfied, accomplish my purpose perfectly. You style the measures proposed’unprecedented,’ and appeal to the dark history 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 removed the families all the way from Dalton down, and I see no reason why Atlanta should be excepted. Nor is it necessary to appeal to the dark history of war when recent and modern examples are so handy. You yourself 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 challenge any fair man to judge which of us has the heart of pity for the families 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 sacrilegious manner-you, who, in the midst of peace and prosperity, have plunged a nation into civil war,‘dark and cruel war;’ who dared and badgered us to battle, 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 ofall 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 result different from that of Rosecrans against Chattanooga But the relative conditions of the two armies mere also entirely different. Bragg had been promptly reenforced, and when Rosecrans threatened to flank his position at Chattanooga, he retired with his whole army concentrated. Subsequently, when joined by Longstreet, he was much stronger than Rosecrans, who had not been supplied with either men or material in proportion to his wants.

Be was therefore exposed to the blows of a superior enemy, and his defeat was only rendered nugatory through the inaction of Bragg. Sherman had the benefit of the recent conscription, made with much vigor by the Government, and under the 594

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. orders of the LieutenantGeneral, 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 remainder 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 delivered 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 infan try and artillery, Sherman most skilfully availed himself He did not make a flank march of his whole force, nor extend one end of his line round JolInston’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 distant 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 manceuvre being repeated again and again. The Federal generals carried out faithfully their commander’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 advanced the railroad was completely repaired, and its use for the future systematically secured. Intrenchments 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 system involved much delay; and Johnston was enabled to detain the Federals seventy days on their 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 difficules 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 indifferent terms with Johnston, had yielded to the clamhor raised against the latter for so repeatedly giving ground, and *now superseded him in favor of Hood, known hitherto as a gallant soldier and bold general of division, but in noway marked for the higher qualities of command. This step, so fatal to the Confederate interests in that quarter, was the more inexcusable, ia that Johnston’s policy of retreating when liable to be 595 -

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. thoroughly outflanked was just what Lee had used in Virginia, with out a word of blame from any quarter. CHAPTER

LXII. The Gulf Department.-Sabine Pass Expedition.-McPherson moves from Vicksburg. -Expedition to the Rio Grande, and Occupation of Brownsville.-Banks’s Red River Expedition.-Capture of Fort DeRussey.-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.-Cooperative 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 division officer, with orders to prevent the passage of the enemy’s troops across the river.

Early in September, 1863, the troops that had concentrated at New Orleans were formed into an expedition of four thousand men, under MajorGeneral Franklin, to effect a landing at Sabine Pass for military occupation, with the cooperation 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 defences at the Pass, it was estimated, consisted of two thirtytwo-pounders en barbette, and a battery of fieldpieces, and two bay boats converted into rams. It was concerted with General Franklin that the squadron of four gunboats should make the attack alone, assigted by 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 Septwnber, 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 difficulty (owing to the shallowness of the water) reached anchorage two miles from the fort at eleven A. M., the gunboats covering the transports. At three-thirty P. M., the Sachem, followed by the Arizona, advanced up the eastern channdl to draw the fire of the forts, while the Clifton advanced up the western channel; the Granite City to cover the land p I 1 PON 596

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. ing of a division 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 vessels 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 engint 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 trans ports were now moving out of the bay, the Arizona remained cover ing their movements, until she grounded and remained until midnight, when she was kedged 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 headquarters at New Iberia, which was made the base of operations, being at the head of naviga tion for ordinary steamers and fifty-two miles from Brashear City. The Nineteenth Army Corps, under the immediate command of General 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, remained at Vicksburg, and nothing of general interest occurred until early in October, when a rebel force, consisting of about two thousand five hundred mounted men, appeared on the east side of the Black River, at times approaching 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 Tuttle’s Divisions, with other detached portions of the Seventeenth Corps, which, leaving Vicksburg early on the morning of the 14th October, marched sixteen miles and rendezvoused 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. Mr. they reached Brownsville, the place having been occupied by our advance cavalry at noon, and on the following day the advance 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 Diviston, consisting of Maltby’s Brigade and two pieces of artillery, to dislodge them, our cavalry having dismounted and advanced through the woods, deployed as skirmishers. No sooner did our battery open than they wete replied to by the rebel artillery with excellent effect. While this was going on the remainder of Logan’s Division advanced by the Canton road, where they met another portion of the enemy, consisting of Whitfield’s Brigade of cavalry and artillery, composed 597.

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 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 reenforced during the night. The force then returned to Vicksburg, where they arrived on the 20th. There was little activity at New Orleans after the failure of the Sabine Pass expedition. The expiration of the term of the ninemonths men produced some changes, and until new troops arrived but little was done. There was, however, an immense contraband trade between the Southern 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 entrepdt of contraband commerce. Not less than twenity-five or thirty blockaderunners were sometimes there at one time. General Banks devised ail 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, under the command of MIajor-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 Rio 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 Marine regiment was ordered up to Brownsville to support the Unionists, 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 dlone in this department until the commencement of 1864, when a new expedition was organized by General Banks, having for its object the possession 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 Red 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 tlie Red River. At the same time a demonstration was to be made by the Federal force firom Brownsville, on the Rio Grande. The expedition embarked at Vicksburg on the 10th of March, and ?roceeded down the Missis,ppi 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 Chetimache(s. On the i3th a landing was efected at Simmsport, whence our forces marched to Bayou Glace6, where a rebel force, estimated at about two thousand, 598

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 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 earthworks, 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 gunboats. The unexpected appearance of our formidable fleet, consisting of three monitors, seven ironclads, three rams and four lighter gunboats, caused them to abandon the strong but unfinished works, and to hasten to the defence 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 waterbattery, 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 transports early in March, a few miles below this fort, to co-operate with the gunboats in an attack upon it. Taylor determined to attack him before the rest of the Union force should come up, and mnarched 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 communications, 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 hundred and twentyfive prisoners, ten guns, a lot of small-armns, and large stores of ammunition.

Thus, by a military 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 reenforcements. Magruder joined it with two thousand five hundred Texans, and Price with seven thousand infantry from Missouri and Arkansas. The entire force was commanded by General Kirby Smith. Alexandria, which is about one hundred and fifty miles above Fort days’ fighting before Richmond, defeated the enemy at Crampton’s Gap, in South Mountain, and sustained the advance, of the Union 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 he succeeding January was relieved from duty. In the summer of 1863 he assumed command of the Nineteenth Corps, and subsequently ti)ok part in the Sabine Pass expeditioni, and in the Red River expedition of 1864. After the termiiination of the latter he -vas relieved of his command and returned to the North. On July llth while travelling in a railroad train between Philadelphia and ]Baltimore, he was captured by a rebel cavalry force, but a dav or two afterwards effected his escape. He subsequently officiated m President of the Military Retiring Board.

*William Buell Franklin was born in York, Penn., in 1823, and graduated 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 Taylol; was assistantrofessor of natural and experimental pUhilosophy at West Point, 1S4S-52, and until the outbreak of the rebellion was actively employed by the Government in military elngineering, the coast survey, the inspection of light-houses, the construction of public buil(dings, and similar duties. In Max, 1S62, he was couimissioned colonel of the Twelfth Regiment of regular infantry, and soon after brigadiergeneral of volunteers. lie commanded a brigade at Bull Run, was subsequently appointed to a division of the Army of the Potom,,c, and in the Peninsular campaign commanded the Sixth Provisional Army Corps, with the rank of majorgeneral He participated with credit in the seven 599,

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IHISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. De Russey, having surrendered, the army was pushed forward, over land, against Shreveport, where the rebels, under command of General Taylor, were concentrating. Several rebel gunboats, which had been stationed at Alexandria, had steamed up the river to assist in the defence of the former place. Shreveport is near the southwest boun dary of Louisiana, and as the enemy inferred that it was the objective of Banks’s campaign, strong fortifications had been erected, formidable obstructions 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 positiosn advantageous; but after a short engagement with artillery and skirmishers, 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 retreated. Grand Ecore was passed. Natchitoches, capital of the arish of that name, was occupied without opposition; and on the 6th i f April the army continued its advance towards Shreveport. At Grand Ecore the road leaves the river-bank, and, passing through Natchitoches, four miles from Grand Ecore, enters heavy pine woods. A single road conducts through this uncleared forest, affording excellent opportunities for ambuscade. 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 Army 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 confidence, advanced with cavalry and artillery, without adequate in. fantry 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 to his assistance. Nothing like a general engage, ment was expected or prepared for. Ransom, indeed, urged awaiting the arrival of the rest of the army, but he was overruled. 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 the shape of an enormous-V. The devoted soldiers, enteringOhe open wedge at its base, charged upon the apex. The wings then closed upon them. They were mowed down by a terrific fire both 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 con cealed foe, were thrown into confusion by the retreating cavalry, who cantered in disorder through their lines. An attempt was made to withdraw and meet reenforcements from the Nineteenth Corps, farther 600

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT RB3ELLION. back; but the single narrow road was effectually blockaded by the cav alry wagon train. An orderly retreat was impossible. Soon all was in the utmost confusion. “Let every man take care of himself!” be came the universal cry. Ransom 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 reenforcements from the Nineteenth Corps and the darkness 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. lie 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; Frahklin, with the Nineteenth Corps, held the left. The Thirteenth Corps, exhausted and almost destroyed by the pre vious day’s fighting, was unable to participate in the anticipated battle. At four P. m. in the afternoon of the 9th, the enemy arrived in pur suit, and immediately advanced in overwhelming 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, they were met by a withering fire of artillery and musketry, 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 previous day, besides five hundred prisoners. Early on the 10oth, Banks, leaving his dead unburied, continued his retreat to Grand Ecolre. By this timely victory the enemy suffered severely, and were compelled to abate somewhat the ardor of their pursuit. Mieantime, the fleet under Porter,* comprising the Cricket, Eastport, Alound City, Chillicothe, Carondelet, Pittsburg, Ozark, Neosho, Osage, Lexington, Fort IHindman, 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 transports were sent along filled with army stores, and with a portion of Geperal A. J. Snith’s Division on board. It was intended that the fleet should reach Springfield L[iding on the third day, and then com * David D. Porter was born in Philadelphia repaired with his fleet to the James River, and in about 1SIl5. Ilie is theyoungestsonofCommodore October, 1S62, was placed in command ofthe Mis.

)David Portelr, distinguished as a naval officer in sissippi gunboat flotilla, which he retained for two the lest war with England, and was appointed * years, participating in the most important opera. midshipman in 1829. In S1861 he was promoted to tion occurring during that Interval,on the Western be a comnmanler, and put in command of the steam -‘aters. In October, 1S64, having been previously sloop Powhattan.one ofthe GutlfBlockadingSquad-promoted to be a full rear-adlmiral, he was apron. In the spring of 1862 he received co(nmand pointed to command the North Atlantic Squadron, of the mortar flotilla, which cooperated in the in which capacity he conducted the two memoreduction of the forts on the Lower Mississippi and rable bombardments of Fort Fisher, N. C., in theo capture of New Orlean, He subsequently December, 1864, and January, 1865.

Got

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HISTORY OF’TE GREAT’ REBELLION. municate 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 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, LieutenantCommander F. O. Selfiridge (ironclad), 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, keep ing 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 firom 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 con siderably imperilled. It was rescued from this position by a series of dams across the rocks at the falls, which raised the water high enough to let the vessels pass over. These were designed and superintended by LieutenantColonel Bailey, acting engineer of the Nineteenth Army Corps.

The work was commenced on May 1st by running out from the left bank of the iver 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 Neosho 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 upper falls just in time-the water rapidly falling as she was passing over. She then steered directly for the opening in the dam, through which the water was rushing so furiously that it seemed as if nothing but destruction awaited her.

Thousands of beating hearts looked on anxious for the result. The silence was so great as the Lexington approached the dam that a pin might almost be heard to fall. She entered the gap with a full head of steamn.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 602

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. into the bank. Thirty thousand voices rose in one deafening cheer, and universal joy seemed to pervade the face of every man present. The Neosho followed next, all her hatches battened down, and every precaution taken against accident. She did not fare as well as the Lexington, her pilot having become frightened 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, and the whole fleet brought off. On the 14th of May the army retreated from Alexandria under protection of the gunboats, and the city was consumed by fire. On the 16th, the enemy, who escorted the army a long way, and harassed its rear, attacked in force at Avoyelles 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 administered by General Mower, under the command of General 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 Mississippi. The next evening it reached Morganzia. While these operations were going on upon the Red 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 approaching Camden, the enemy was encountered behind a series of breastworks to dispute the passage of Tate’s Ferry. General Steele, however, moved his column forward, 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 gff 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 BrigadierGeneral Rice, who repulsed him. On the 3d of April both banks of the Little Missouri were in our possessiorn 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 reenforced by Kirby Smith,* now began to swarm upon Steele, and on * Edmund Kirby Smith was born IA Florida, of can war, was subsequently assistant professor of Connecticut parentages about 1824, and( gradlated(l mathematics at West P(int, and saw active serat West Point in 1845. He was brevetted first vice in the Indian wars in the West.

Hie resigned lieutenant and captain for gallantry in the Mexi-his commission at the commencement of the ret 603

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HISTORY OF’o GREAT’REBELLION. 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 of infantry, four pieces of artillery, and a proper proportion of cavalry. On the 25th news was received that the train had been captured, and LieutenantColonel Drake, of the Thirtysixth 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 reenforce Kirby Smi. Ilformation reached Steele that Kirby Smith in person, with eight thousand reenforcements, had made a junction with Pi-ice, 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. CIHAPTER LXIII. 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 Mis souri.-His Disastrous Defeat and Retreat into Arkansas. AFTEn the withdrawal of General Halleck from command 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 organizations. In September, 1862, the States of Missouri, Kansas, and Arkansas were erected into a military district under the command of General Curtis, end General Schofield* assumed the command of the bellion, 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 brigadiergeneral. In February, 1862, he was promoted to bea majorgeneral, and sit to take command in East Tennessee. He p/rticipated in Bragg’s invasion of IKentucky in the same year, fought at Murf’eesboro’, 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 18t al 1S64, and had the credit of defeating Barnks’siostly and unfortunate Red River Expedition. He was the last of the rebel generals holding important commands to surrender to the Unit(edStates authorities At that time he held the rank of lieutenantgene 1.ral * John McAllister Schofield was born in Cha tauque County, New York, in 1S31, and graduated at West Point in 1853. Hie served for five years as instructor in natural philosophy at West Point, and at the out break of the rebelFiotr was filling the chair of mor al philosopohy tt Washingtoi Univerd sity, St. Louis. He was employed in organizing troops in the West in the early part of 1861, was subsequently General Lyon’s chief of staft, and in November, lS61, was commissioned a brigadiergeneral of volunteers.

In June, 1862., he was appointed to the military district of Missouri, and a few months later received commnanid of the Army of the Frontier, with which he dr-ooze the rebel invading force under IHindman 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 Twentythird Corps, constituting the Army of the Ohio, he participated in Sherman’s campaign from Chattanooga to Atlanta, after which he was dispatched 604

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HISTORY OF TtIE GREAT REBELLION. ” Army of the Frontier” in Southern Missouri. In September a party of guerrillas under Colonel Porter made a raid upon Palmyra, and captured among other persons an old and respected citizen named Andrew Allsman, who had been of great service to scouting parti(s sent out to arrest disloyal persons. As he was not again heard of; the beliefgained ground that he had been murdered, particularly as the guerrillas 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 prisoners were shot in literal conformity with MlcNeil’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 Clarksville, Arkansas, and thence marched rapidly north towards Springfield, Mlissouri, with the intention of seizing the large amount of Federal commissary stores accumulated there. The design of MIarmaduke in proceeding so far eastward before making a movement northward into Missouri wvas to avoid all chance of collision or interference with his plans by Generals Blunt and Herron. Hie hoped to reach Springfield and accomplish his purpose before they could obtain intelligence of his approach, and this once accomplished, these generals and their army, deprived of all supplies, would, almost of necessity, be compelled either to surrender to General Hlindman or fly from Northwestern Arkansas. As Mairmaduke approached Springfield, Generals Brown and I-olland, 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 df forty-one killed and one hlundred and sixty wounded. Meantime, General Porter, who had been detached by Marmaduke with three thousand 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 HIouston, on the 9th of January, Colonel Merrill, with eight hundred and fifty men, to Springfield, to reenforce the Federal garrison there. They reached Hartsville on Saturday, thle 10th, and learned that Porter had been there the day previous. Leavning Hartsville at three P. M., they marched to Wood’s Forks, on the road towards Springfield, by nightfall, and encamped in line of battle. The next morning (January 11th), at daybreak, they encountered Marmaduke’ 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 defance. The Confederate attack was repulsed, and the rebels fell back upon Houston, and thence to Little Rock, where Marmaduke remained some two months. On the 17th of April, to Tennessee, under the orders of Thomas, to op-165
he accompanied his corps to North Carolina, pose the invasion of Hood. He checked the ad-and cooperated with Sherman in the final overvance of the latter at the hard-fought battle of throw of Johnston. At the close of the war he Franklin, Iovember 30th, 186S, and in the sue-received command of the Department of North ceeding month participated in the series of Carolina brilliant victories in front of Nashville. ]Warly in 0 605’

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 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 Arkansas Cavalry), under the command of Colonel M. La Rue Harrison. The attack was made on the 18th about sunrise, and resulted in the retreat of the enemy upon Ozark. In April, General Price, in connection with Marmaduke, collected a force, mostly Texans, with the view of capturing General Grant’s depot of stores at Cape Girardeau, 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 consisted 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 reenforcements. 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 September occupied Fort Smith, Arkansas. The Army of the Frontier having been greatly depleted to furnish reenforcements to Grant, while he was engaged in the siege of Vicksburg, Price and Marmaduke made an attempt on 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 Vicksburg, 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 d6p6t and hospitals 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 successful skirmishes, he reached the Arkansas River, and threw part of his force on the south side, to threaten the Confederate communications with Arkadelphia, their dep6t of supplies, and flank their position at Little Rock. MAarmaduke 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 losses 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 606

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. to press the retreating 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 Confederates. The same day the Federal cavalry occupied Arkaaelphia, the Confederates retreating towards the Red River. This operation completely restored Arkansas to the Federal authority, except a small district ill the extreme southwest, and the region of Northwest Arkansas, over which the guerrilla and other irregular troops of the Confederates continued to roam. At this time the rebel cause experienced the first defection 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 conviction 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, disappointment and discontent lower over all the land.” He accordingly advised submission, on the ground that the sooner the South laid down their arms and quitted the struggle, 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 citizens, 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 Generel Shelby, joined Coffeyat Crooked Prairie, Mlissouri, intending 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 Boonevi4le, where the Missouri State Mlilitia and the Enrolled Missouri Militiamet 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 General’ Ewing, the commanding general of the Missouri Border, who followed him to the old battlefield of Pea Ridge, 607

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 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, commandcling the Dis trict 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 12thli 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 prudent 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 defeated and the train burned near Rolla. Vague 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 headquarters 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 with 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 dep6ts at St. Louis, Jefferson City, St. Joseph, Macon, Springfield, Rolla, and Pilot Knob, guard railroad bridges against invasion, and protect, as far as possible, the lives and property of citizens from the guerrillas who swarmed over the whole country bordering on the Missouri River. Af’ter the defeat of Banks’s expedition, General A. J. Smith, with the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Army Corps, returned to Vicksburg, 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 Marmadake. 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 encountered Marmaduke, and defeated him. On the 7th, Smith’s forces re-embarked for Memphis. No sooner had Price commenced his march than Steele followed, reenforced by Mower’s Infantry and Winslow’s Cavalry, sent from Memphis, and A. J. Smith’s troops, passing Cairo towards Nashville, at the earnest solicitations of the general commanding, were ordered to halt 608

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IIISTORY OF TIIE GREAT REBELLION. and return to oppose Price, who was aiming for Jefferson City, the State capital. Crossing the White 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 south east. 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 ad vanced 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 by the garrisons of Pilot Knob and outlying posts, Ewing 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 Ironton, which was commanded, however, by adjacent hills. Confident of their ability to capture the place by a direct 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 thirtytwos, and four six-pound Parrotts, besides two six-pound Parrotts mounted outside; but the occupation by the enemy of Shepherd Mountain, a hill commanding the place, comnpelled Ewing to evacuate. After blowing up his magazine, he fell back to Hlarrison Station on the Southwest 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 communication both with St. Louis and Rolla. Ewing reached Rolla 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 reenforce 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 Rosecrans under the direction of Senator B. Gratz Brown. Brown concentrated at Jefferson City the troops of the Central District, and, reenforced 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 Riohwood’s for a day or two, and threatening St. Louis, started for the State capital. McNeil and Sanborn, moving with all their available cavalry, by forced marches reached the point of danger a few miles in advance of him, and, unitingwith Fisk and Brown, saved Jefferson City. Price then retreated upon Booneville, and Pleasonton, 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 Winslow, 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 In. dependence, where the rebel rearguard was overtaken and routed.

Curtis, who held Westport, was driven out by Shelby,.wNho in his turn 60-9

39

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HISTORY OF TI’ GREAT REBELLION. was defeated by Pleasonton. The retreat and pursuit were kept up with vigor, and, Curtis having united with Pleasonton, 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, including Generals 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 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 General Blunt, again routing the ejaemy.

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 smallarms, nearly all his trains and plunder, and, besides his killed, wounded, and deserters, upward 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 Southern Arkansas, and thenceforth Missouri enjoyed a greater degree of tranquillity than she had known since the outbreak of the war. CHAPTER

LXIV. Mobile.-Its Defences.-Concentration of Troops.-Combined Operations.-Landing ont Dauphine Island.-Order of Battle.-Tecumseh blown up.-Tennessee Attacks. Desperate Battle.-Mode of Attack.-Fort Powell blown up.-Fort Gaines Surren ders.-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 ap ointment of General Canby to the command of the West Mississippi Military Division, an expedition against Mobile began to be organized. The land defences of ldotile 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 ILight-house Battery, each of which consisted of thirtytwo-pound riled cannon mounted in earthworks. The land is, however, level and lowv, and presents no natural advantages for a defence. Forts Morgan and Gaines, commanding the entrance to Mobile Bay, are the filrst obstacles that a fleet encounters in attempting to enter from the Gulf. The former is situated on the southwest 610

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1ILSTORY OF THE GREAT REBONLLI0 ern 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 casemated fortification.

Between the forts and the city, the channels were obstructed by lines of stout piles driven in the mud, and a sloop loadedtwith 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 ironclad ram, the Tennessee, and four wooden gunboats, were 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 twentyeight miles from the city. Steamers, however, 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, tht fleet of Admiral Farragut, accompanied by a land force under Generals Canby and Granger, arrived off Mobile Bay. A consultation was held between Generals 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 |

NOTE Gil, + tewbe-. -Dat te -o &~ .. Obstrutctions I I.. itoadt,P I T.Pr o <n~sacot, tSPANS FORT -, aggert.ry,3 ::a iI I 1,I 1, I 611 I l’ a 4

AY A

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. some unavoidable delays, fixed upon as the time for landing. Mean. while, the enemy, under General Page, were busy throwing troops and supplies into Fort Gaines, which was commanded by Colonel Ander son, of the Twenty-first Alabama. Early on the 4th of August, the Federal fleet, twenty-six sail, in eluding two double and one single turreted monitor and an ironclad double-ender, commenced closing in their line southeast of Fort Mor gan, as with a view to concentrate their efforts on Fort Gaines, having during the preceding nights landed a force of from three to five thou sand 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 pas. sage of the forts with his fleet, and the vessels 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, LieutenantCommander C.

H. Green, on the port side; Hartford, Captain Perciv-il Drayton, with the Metacomet, LieutenantCommander J. E. Jouett; Richmond, Captain T. A.

Jenkins, with the Port Royal, LieutenantCommander B. Gherardi; Lackawanna, Captain J. B. Marchand, with the Seminole, Commander E. Donaldson; Monongahela, Comi’mander J. H. Strong, with the Kennebec, LieutenantCommander W. P. McCann; Ossipee, Commander W. E. Le Roy, with the Itasca, LieutenantCommander George Brown; Oneida, Commander J. R. M.

ilullany, with the Galena, LieutenantCommander C. H. Wells. The ironclads Tecumseh, Commander T. A. M. Craven, the Manhattan, Commander J. W. A. Nicholson, the Winnebago, Commander T. H. Stevens, and the Chickasaw, LieutenantCommander T. H. Perkins, were already 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 purpose of keeping down the fire from the waterbattery 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 theiring became hot. The Tecumseh careened suddenly, and sank, Destroyed by a torpedo, nearly all hands being lost.

The Hartford, flagship, then took the lead, and the fleet, pushing steadily forward, and maintaining a constant fire, passed the forts shortly before eighlt 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 Mlorg,an and Gaines drew off under the guns of Fort Morgan. The All 612

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MISTORY OF TIlE GREAT REBELLION. former,escaped to Mobile, and the latter was run ashore and destroyed. The Tennessee then stood down for the flagship. The monitors were immediately ordered to attack her. The Monongahela, Commander 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, Captain Marchand, was the next vessel to strike her, which she did at full speed; but though her stern was cut and crushed to the plank ends for the distance of three feet above the water’s edge to five feet below, the only perceptible effect on the ram was to give her a heavy lift. The Hartford was the third vessel 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 nineinch solid shot within ten feet of her. casemate. The monitors worked slowly, but delivered their fire as opportunity offered. The Chickasaw succeeded in getting under her stern, and a fifteen-inch shot from the Manhattan broke through her iron plating and heavy wooden backing, though the missile 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 the 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 Chickasaw was pounding away at her stern, the Ossipee 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 Hartford struck her until her surrender, she never fired a gun. As the Ossipee, Commander Le roy, was about to strike her, she hoisted the white flag? and that vessel immediately stopped her engine, though not in time to avoid a glancing blow. During the contest with the rebel gunboats and the ram Tennessee, and which terminated by her surrender 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 surrender 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 teri’ble 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 Hampton Roads. It had been imagined fhat as the ship channel led so very close to the powerfill Fort Morgtn, no ships would dare attempt the assage; or, if the attempt were made, none would succeed. But in arragut’s hands this peculiarity of the channel became an advantage to the attacking, and a weakness to the defending side. The novel 613 t

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HISTORY OF THE GRPEAT REBELLION. and ingenious expedient of lashing his vessels together, two and’two, showed how thoroughly the rear-admiral had considered the dan gers in his way, and how successfully he met them. 1st.

If the ex posed 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 perhaps fouling another; the Oneida wad disabled, but her consort pulled her through, and the Oneida’s men did not even leave their guns. 3d. If any ves sel 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 byFarragut’s admirable and novel disposition of his force. On the night of the 7th of Atugust, Fort Powell having surren dered, the commander of Fort Gaines, Colonel Anderson, 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, telegraphed repeatedly to Anderson to hold on to his post. The 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 admiral 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 calibre, and sixteen eight and ten inch mortars. In a short time three monitors and several wooden vessels opened, the former with eleven and fifteen inch shells, and the latter with rifled thirtytwo-pouiiders. The firing continued with great vigor and extraordinary accuracy until dark, when the fleet withdrew, and the firing was continued only at intervals 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. No sooner was this light discovered than General Bailey ordered all our batteries to commence firing, in order to prevent the extinguishment of the flames. At twenty minutes to seven o’clock on Tuesday morning, 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 fi’om General Page, proposing to surrender the fort, and asking what terms would be granted. General Grangerdpow 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 wvas received the terms of surrender would be dictated. In a shout 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 Morgman, with its garrison and all public property, 614

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IIISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. to the army and navy of the United States. With these terms Pagd was fain to comply, though he disgraced himself by destroying and injuring the property surrendered after he had accepted the terms. With Forts Morgan and Gaines eighty-six guns and fifteen hundred men fell into the possession of the Union troops, and Mobile was permanently sealed against blockaderunners. On the return of the troops to New Orleans, after leaving sufficient garrisons in the Mobile forts, a number 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 September, capturing that place after a stubborn resistance of several hours. The result was the capture of eighty-one prisoners of war (among them a brigadiergeneral and a colonel), ninety-five stand of arms, and large quantities of quartermaster’s and commissary stores. Our loss in killed and wounded amounted to thirtytwo, including 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, encountering 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 captain, ope 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, teleg,‘aph office, &c., and a considerable quantity of stores and amimunition. Among, the prisoners captured was LieutenantColonel 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. CHAPTER LXV. Expedition to Florida.-Occupation of Jacksonville.-Advance of General Seymour. Battle of Olustee, and Retreat of the Union Army.-Dernonstration against New bern.-Capture of Plymouth.-The Albemarle.-Her Fight with Union Gunboats.

-Her Destruction.-Rebel Privateers.-Combat between the Kearsarge and Ala bama.-Capture of the Florida and Georgia O THE early part of 1864
witnessed a series of disasters to the Union arms along the Atlantic coast, which, though involving the loss of no essential points, and having no direct influence upon the issue of the war, wei-e yet, in the aggregate so considerable as to cause a widespread uneasiness. The great aggressive campaigns of Grant and Sherman had not then comrnmenced, and these temporary successes of the rebels, taken in connection with the practical failure of the joint 615 -

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. expedition into Southern Mississippi, with the Fort Pillow massacre and the unfortunate termination of the Red River expedition, perplexed 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 operations, within his department, as he might deem best, on consultation with Admiral Dahlgren, then in command of the South Atlantic blockading squadron. Ile accordingly 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 d6pots 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 Department of the South, and that Gillmore might possibly be there in person, he had disp:tched Mr. Ihay, one of his private secretaries, to aid in the proposed construction. “It is desirable,” he said, “for all to co-operate; but if irreconcilable differences of opinion shall arise, you are master. I 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, Gillinore’s plans seem to have been perfected, and in a letter to General Halleck, the generalin-chief, he stated that the objects to be attained 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 commissary supplies, 3. To obtain recruits for any colored regiment. 4. To inaugurate me4asures for the speedy restoration of Florida to her allegiance, in accordance with instructions received from the President by the hands of Major John 11. Hay, assistant adjutantgeneral. Orders were issued by Gillmore to General Truman Seymour, on February 5th, to proceed with a force of six thousand men to Jacksonville, and, after effecting a landing, to push on to Baldwin, twenty miles further, with his mounted troops. The command of Seymour, convoyed by the gunboat Norwich, Captain Merriam, ascended the St. John’s River on the 7th, and landed at Jacksonville on the afternoon of the same day. The advance, under Colonel Guy V. Henry, pushed forward into the interior of the night of the 8th, passed by the enemy, drawn up in line of bhttle at Camp Vinegar, seven miles firom Jacksonville, surprised and captured a battery three miles in the rear of the camp about midnight, and reached Baldwin about sunrise. At the approach 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 service 616

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HISTORY OF THIE GREAT REBELLION. able 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 scattered fragments of General Finnegan’s command; we 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 established between Baldwin and Jacksonville on the lith, and Seymour was directed by Gillmore not to risk a repulse 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 concentrate at Sanderson and the south fork of the St. MIary’s, and, if necessary, to bring back Colonel Henry to the latter place. Having subsequently directed Seymour to make no further advance, without instructions, but to put Jacksonville in a complete state of defence, Gillmore returned onl the 16th to Hilton Head. On Thursday, February 18th, Seymour left his camp at J.acksonville, with ten days’ rations, for the purpose of destroying the railr,)ad near the Suwannee River, one hundred miles distant from Jacksoinville. He had received no directions from Gillmore to undertake this movelment, and the latter immediately sent positive orders to him to remain where he was; but these, unfortunately, arrived too late to avert the disaster which subsequently occurred. On the 19th, the column, numbering about five thousand men, reached Barber’s Station, on the Florida Central Railroad, about thirty miles fioom Jacksonville. Hei-e 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 forw,lrd his column, he would be able to defeat the enemy’s designs, and secure important military advantages. At seven A. M. on the 20tlt, the march was resumed along the line of the railroad, in the direction of Lake City, and at noon the troops passed through Sanderson. 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 so well prepared for battle as they would have been if Olustee had been the battlefield. The column moved forward in regular order, the cavalry in the advance, and 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 railltad, the enemy’s skirmishers were encountered. After some 1lisk firing, the rebels fell back on a second line of skirmishers, and ultimately upon their main forces, which were strongly posted between swamps, about six miles beyond S:iinderson. The rebel position was admniraby chosen. On the right, their line rested upon a low and rather slight earthwork, protected by riflepits, 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 617

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EHISTORY OF T1E GREAT REBELLION. 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 compelled to take a stand between two swamps, one in the front, the other m 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 movement 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 Hampshire, the Seventh Connecticut, the Independent Battalion of Massachusetts Cavalry, the Fortieth Massachusetts 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 tho movement on the right was in progress, Colonel Henry, in person, went over to the ]eft.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 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 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 Hampshire were doing fearful execution.

The Seventh Connecticut especially were standing their ground with marked valor, and every volley firom 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, Fortyeighth, 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,npt make head against the overwhelming force opposed to them. The unequal contest was sustained until it became evident that the numerical superiority of the enemy was too great to be successfully 618

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ISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. opposed. Our line was gradually drawn baclk, 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 Fiftyfourth 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 which was checked by the judicious dispositions of Colonel 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 after 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 ammunition, and was fifty miles 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. 3f., 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, arriving at the camping-ground, six miles out, M3onday afternoon, 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 Hamilton’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. The tl;ops on both sides were a few months later called away for morw important work in Virginia. For two years subsequent to the landing of Burnside on the North Carolina coast, the Union troops had retained uninterrupted possession of those places on the inland wters 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 Pamlico River, and Newbern, on the Neuse. 619

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 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 MIississippi. But previous to the renewal of active operations between the main contending armies, the rebel authorities determined, in the early 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 fiom more important objects, was undoubtedly 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 onl 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 Hloke, 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 reconnoissance, 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 breastwork with strong forts at different points along the line. A mile further 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 Albermarle. 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, Bombshell, Whitehead, and Ceres were at anchor in the river. On Sunday, April 17th, Hoke, with a force estimated at from ten to fifteen thousand men, and a heavy artillery train, appeared, before the town, and, late in the afternoon, 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 redllsecTwith severe slaughter to the enemy. The Bombshell, a small gunboat, steaming up to the aid of the fort, was sunk by the battery. At sunset the enemy desperately assaulted Forts Williams and Wessells, forming part of the main line of defences, and were repulsed three times, the glnboats aiding the forts by hurling shell among the rebel columns. At three A. M. of Tuesday, the 19th, the much-dreaded Albermarle, passing through the obstructions unharmed, silently ran down the river, el 620

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. dling our battery, and, obliquely crossing, struck her prow into the starboard bow of the Southfield, which sank in ten minutes. The Southfield was formerly a ferryboat plying between New York and Staten Island, side-wheel, eleven hundred and sixtyfive 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, maintained a brisk fire upon the Albemarle, which proved utterly ineffective. In firing on the ram, Lieutenant-Commader Flusser, commanding the Miami, a gallant and skilful sailor, was instantly killed, by the rebound of a shell from the impenetrable sides of the enemy. His death was especially disastrous at that time, when, most of all, his skill and courage were needed. The ram, having 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. MI., on Wednesday, Fort Williams was assaulted and the enemy handsomely repulsed in several distinct charges, with great slaughter. At halfpast ten A. M. General Wessells capitulated, and pulled the flag down fioom Forts Williams and Comfort. The garrison at Fort Gray persisted in holding out somewhat longer, but finally surrendered. Thie enemy took about two thousand five hundred prisoners, thirty pieces of artillery, several hundred horses, a large amount of proiAsions and stores, and the garrison outfit. The noncombatants of the town and some negroes had been prudently removed, before the main attack, to Roanoke Island. Our loss in killed and wounded was about one hundred and fifty-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 garrisons 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 of being 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 Plymouth, 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 Carolina waters threatened to destroy the uninterrupted supremacy which the Federal fleets had maintained there, se squadron was increased, and Captain MIelancthon Smith,anexperiencedofficer,placec’incommand. OnMay 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 halfpast four P.:., proceeded to attack the gunboats. The latter were mostly small craft, built expressly to navigate 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 6 ) I f

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 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 minutes, the crew of the Sassacus vainly endeavoring to throw hand-grenades down the hatch of the Albemarle, and to get powder into her smok-estack. 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 occurred to the Union fleet, and about halfpast seven the ram retired up the Roanoke River. Hler tender, the Bombshell, was captured early in the action. From reports 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. Cushing, a young officer who had gained an enviable reputation for coolness and intrepidity in hazardous enterprises. 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 Cushing: “Our boat succeeded in passing the picket, and even the Southfield, 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 sprung 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 me the ironclad, 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. Paymaster 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 the” The torpedo-boom was then lowered, and, by a vigorou~pull, I succeeded in driving the torpedo under the overhang, and exploded itat 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 continued 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 Commodore Hull, I met in the water half a mile below the *own, and assisted him as best I could, but failed to get him ashore. Completely .622

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HISTORY OF TIIE GREAT REBELLION. exhausted, I managed to reach the shore, but was too weak to crawl out’of the water until just at daylight, when I managed to creep into the swamp, close to the forte While hiding a few feet -from the path,‘two of the Albemarle’s officers passed, and I judged from their conversation that the ship was destroyed. 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 detachment 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 the inland waters of North Carolina. During the year 1864, the three English-built, equipped, and manned cruisers, the Alabama, Georgia, and Florida, whose depredations upon unarmed merchantmen had almost paralyzed the American carrying trade, terminated their piratical career.

Early in June, the Alabama, Captain Raphael Semmes, after an unusually prosperous career in the Southern Atlantic and Indian Oceans, arrived in the harbor of Cherbourg. At that time the United States corvette Kearsarge, Captain J ohn A. Winslow, 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. Semmes, ashamed possibly of his inglorious career against defenceless vessels, and desirous to 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 u nt i l the Alabama was put in fi ghting trim. This proposition was willingly accepted by Captain Winslow, and the Kearsarge was held in readiness 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 proportions being as follows: Alabama. Kearsarge. Length over all…………………………. 220 feet. 214* feet. Length on waterline…………………….. 210 ” 198+ “

Beam…………………………………. 32 ” 33 “

Depth……………………………….1 ” 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 mnucih-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 com. 623

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MifSTORY OF TIIE GREAT. lEBELLI0.L paring, their armaments; and herein we find the equality of the antage nists as fully exemplified as in the respective proportions 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.

Armament of the Kearsarge.- Two W1-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 Winslow had adopted the simple expedient of hanging her spare anchor cable over the midship section on either side. This had first been adopted by Farragut, in running 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 stories circulated by rebel sympathizers, and which Semmes himself gave publicity to, that the Kearsarge was a formidable ironclad, 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 immediate 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, sallied forth to meet the Union cruiser. So much publicity had been given to the announcement that the Union 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 hands, and the unners 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 gunners, 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 .6.1),4

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HIISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION., 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 worshippers to the house of God. Shortly after ten o’clock the officers of the Kearsarge descried their antagonist coming out of the western entrance of the harbor, accompanied by the French ironclad 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. Immediately 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 off 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 turned 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 rang,e of about a mile, she opened her full broadside, the shot cutting some of our rigging, and going over and alongside of us. Immediately I ordered more speed; but in two minutes the Alabama had loaded and again fired another broadside, and followed it with a third, without damaging us except in rigging. We had now arrived within about nine hundred yards of her, and I was apprehensive that another broadside-nearly raking as it was-would prove disastrous.

Accordingly I ordered the Kearsarte 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 engagemrnent. The effect of this manceuvre was such that, at the last of the action, when the Alabama would have made off, she was near five miles from the shore; and, had the action continued from the first in parallel lines, with her head in shore, the line of jurisdiction would no doubt have been reached. The firing of the Alabama from the first was rapid and wild; towards the close of the action her firing became better. Our men,who had been cautioned against rapid firing without direct aim, were much more deliberate; and the instructions given to point tio heavy guns below rather than above the waterline, and clear the dleck with the lighter ones, was filly 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 selling fearfully on the Alabama, and on the seventh rotation on the circular track she winded, setting foretrysail and two jibs, with head in shore. Her speed was now retarded, and by winding, her port broadside was presented to us, with only two gijps bearing, not having been able, as I learned afterwards, to shift over but one. I saw now that she was at our mercy, Cnd a few moro 40 625

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HISTORY OF IE GREAT REBELLION. guns, well directed, brought down her flag.

I was unable to ascertain whether it had been hauled down or shot away; but a white flag having been displayed over the stern, our fire was reserved. Two minutes had not more than elapsed before she aga.n 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 dispatched immediately for saving of life. The two boats not disabled were at once lowered, and, as it was apparent the Alabama was settling, this officer was permitted to leave in his boat to afford assistance. An English 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 hac come from shore. These boats were busy in bringing the wounded and others to theKearsarge, 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 disgraceful 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 Deerhoutnd made off with Captain Semmes and others, and also the very officeer 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 valuable personal effects of Captain Semmes the night before the engagement.” The Alabama, which fought seven guns to the Kearsarge’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. Thirteen or fourteen took effect in and about the hull of the latter, and sixteen or seventeen about the masts and rigging. The Kearsarge fired one hundred and seventythree projectiles, of which one alone killed and wounded eighteen 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 tile Kearsarge.

One hundreld 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.‘te Deerhound carried off fifteen officers, including Semmes, who was slightly wounded, and twentyseven men. The total ship’s company of the Alabama, so far as can be ascertained, amounted to about one hundred and fifty, the majority being British subjects, of whom probably hore than thirty were killed or drowned. The officers and crew of the Kearsarge numbered one hundred and sixty-three. The condupt of Sermmes in throwing overboard his sword after surrendering, and allowing himself to be conveyed to England, 626

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HISTORY OF TLE GREAT RBULLION. bras severely commented upon, and it was directed by the United States Government that he should be considered a prisoner of war until properly exchanged. 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 heutral authorities decided in favor of the vessel, which was permitted to proceed. Leaving Nassau, she went to Green Cay, where she re ceived on board the armament sent out for her from England, ran into Mobile, changed her name to Florida, and subsequently fleeing from all naval vessels, carried on predatory war on American commerce, capturing and destroying unarmed merchantmen, without ever sending i a vessel for adjudication. In February, 1864, availing herself of a dark night, she escaped from Brest, eluding the Kearsarg,e, which was off that port. In June she visited the neutral port of St. George’s, Bermuda, and remained there nine days, receiving all the coal and supplies necessary for a long piratical cruise. Leaving St. George’s on thQ 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 her, but she escaped, and was next heard from at Teneriffe, on the 4th of August. Subsequently, enter ing 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 WVachusett steamned 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 twoQ Brazilian mnen-of-war, which, however, failed to overtake her. The Florida was finally brought in a leaky and dilapidated condition to Hampton Roads.

Ilere, while at anchor, and pending the settlement of the questions of international law which her capture in a neutral port involved, an army transport 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 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. Coaven, of the Niagara, fell in with her in latitude 39~ 16’ north, lengitude 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 tho United States. I 62t,

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. CHAPTER LXVI. Depopulation of Atlanta.-Correspondence between General Sherman and Mayor Cal. houn.-Flank Movement by Hood.-Attack on Allatoona.-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 Mur freesboro’.-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 flourishing 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 mayor of Atlanta conveys in as clear and forcible terms, perhaps, as were ever employed for the purpose, the hardships which the people of the rebellious States bronght 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. “MajorGeneral W. T. SmHERMAN: “SiR:-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 recon sider the order requiring them to leave Atlanta. At first view, it struck us that the measure would involve extraordinary hardship ard 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 inconveniences, loss, and suf fering 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 having young children, whose husbands, for the greater part, are either in the army, prisoners, or dead. Some say:‘I have such a one sick at my house; who will wait on them when I am gone?’ Others say:‘What are we to do? we have no houses to go to, and no means to buy, build, or rent any; no parents, relatives, or friends, to go to.’ Another says:‘I will try and take this or that article of property; but such and such things I must leave behind, though I need them much.’ We reply to them:’ General Sherman will carry your property to Rough and Ready, and then General Hood will take it thence on.’ 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 peoplIPhere 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 thepeople 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 strang,es, who know them not, and without the power to assist them much, if they were willing to do so? “This is but a feeble picture of the consequences of this measure., You know the woe, the horror, and the suffering cannot be described by words. Imagination can only conceive of it; and we ask you to take these things into consideration. We know 628 0 “ATLANTA, G.EORGRA, September 11, 1864. i I.,

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 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 reflection, you, we hope, would not make this people an exception to all mankind; for we.know of no such instance ever having occurred-surely not in the United States. And what has this helpless 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 peop1e still here. Of those who are here, a respectable number, if allowed to remain at home, could subsist for several months without assistance; and a respectable number for a much longer time, and who might not need assistance at any time. “In conclusion, we most earnestly and solemnly petition you to reconsider 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, 2Mayor. “E. E. RAWSON, Councilmen.” “S. C. WELLS,% GENERAL SIMRMAN’S REPLY. “HEADQUARTERS

MILITARY DIvISION OF THE MISSISSIPPI, ” IN THE FIELI), “ATLANTA, GEORGIA, September 12, ] 864. “JAES M]. CALHOUN, Mayor, E. E. RAwSON and S. C.

WELLS, representing City Coun cil of Atlanta: “GENTLEMEN:-I have your letter of the 11th, in the nature of a petition to revoke my orders removing all the inhabitants from Atlanta. I have read it carefully, and give full credit to your statements of the distress that will be occasioned by it, and yet shall not revoke my order, simply because my orders are not designed to meet the humanities of the case, but to prepare for the future struggles, in which millions, yea, hundreds of millions of good people outside of Atlanta, have a deep interest. We must have peace, not only at Atlanta, but in all America. To secure this, we must stop the war that now desolates our once happy and favored country. To stop war, we must defeat the rebel armies that are arrayed against the laws and 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 accomplish our purpose. “Now, I know the vindictive nature of our enemy, and that we may have many years of military operations from this quarter, and therefore deem it wise and prudent to prepare in time. The use of Atlanta for warlike purposes is inconsistent with its character as a home for families. There will be no manufactures, commerce, or agriculture here for the maintenance of families, and sooner or later want will compel the inhabitants to go. Why not go now, when all the arrangements are completed for the transfer, instead of waiting till the plunging shot of contending armies will renew the scene of the past month? Of course, I do not apprehend any such thing at this 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 assert that my military plans make it necessary for the inhabitants to go away, and I can only renew my offer of services to make their exodus in any direction as easy and comfortable as possible. You cannot qualify war in harsher terms than I will. War is cruelty, and you cannot define it; and those who brought war on our eountry deserve all the curses and mdedictions 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 secure peace. But you cannot have peace and a division of our country. If the United States submits to a division now, it will not stop, but will go on till we reap the fate of Mlexico, 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 pro 629

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HISTORY OF TIIE GREAT REBELLION. teeters 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 hard ships of war. They are inevitable; and the only way the people of Atlanta can hope once more to live in peace and quiet at home, is to stop this war-which can alone be done by admitting that it began in error, and is perpetuated in pride. We don’t want your negroes, or your horses, or your houses, or your land, or 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 S,uth began war by seizingforts, 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 desperadoes, hlungry and with bleeding feet. In Memphis, Vicksburg, and Mississippi, we fed thousands upon thousands of the families of rebej soldiers left on our hands, and whom we could not see starve. Now that war comes home to you, you feel very different; you deprecate its horrors, but did not feel 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 can only be reached through Union and war, and I will ever conduct war purely with a view to perfect and early success. “But, my dear sirs, when that peace does come, you may call on me for 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 ple,ces proper habitations, to shield them against the weather, until the mad passions of men cool dotvn, and allow the Union and peace once more to settle on your old homes at At.anta “Yours, in haste, W. T. SIIERMAN, MajorGeneral.” 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 returning 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 clothing and equipments.

Meanwhile, the main body of Hood’s army reposed near Jonesboro’, twenty miles south of Atlanta, while his cavalry, under Forrest and other leaders, were raiding upon Sherman’s communications in Northesn 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 surrendered, together withl 630 a

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HISTORY OF THIE GREAT REBELLION. 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 garrison, attacked, on the 27th, the garrison of Pulaski, where General Rous. seau commanded. On the 29th he cut the Nashville Railroad near Tullahoma, but was soon driven off by Rousseau. At the same time General Steedman collected a force off 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 Steedman. General Thomas, by order of Sherman, accompanied 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 withdrew, 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 Washburn, 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 Tennessee, and Mo-gain returned to Athens. Hood, meanwhile, had kept his forces in tlhe neighborhood of Jonesboro’, and was sufficiently occupied for the time being in simply watching the movements of his adversary in Atlanta. To allow theilr principal Southitlei-n army to remain inactive was, however, no part of the programme of the rebel leaders, and in an intemperate and ],assionate speech delivered at Miacon, 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 Russiap conquests. These remarks foieshiadowred a new military policy in the South, of which the principal feature was to be the commencement of an aggressive campaign upon Shermani’s communications by the whole rebel army under Hood, very much after the fashion of Sherman’s final and successful movement against Atlanta. In aid of this movement, Forrest, by far the ablest cavalry officer iu the rebel army, was already operating( ag,ailnst the commuiiications between Chattanooga and Nashville, 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 thl merit of boldness, 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 situation, and completely outwitted his brve, 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 pushed, retreat into Southwestern Alabama. 631

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 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 Gen eral 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 Chatta hoochee, and moving rapidly updn 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 Allatoona, 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 reenforcement of nine hundred men under 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, soid you can commence the unnecessary effiusion 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 thousand men. During the heat of the contest, Sherman arrived on the summit of Kenesaw Mountain and opened telegraphic communication with the garrison, directing them to hold out resolutely, as succor was fast approaching. The fresh courage which this assurance gave to the beleaguered troops enabled them, doubtless, to maintain their heroic resistance. The rebefs now marched 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 garrison at Dalton. Sherman was a comparatively quiet but vigilant spectator of these operations, and, to those ignorant of his plans, seemed to have relaxed from the energy of movement which had previously characterized him. When finally, on the 15th, he marched from Resaca against Hood, compelling the latter to retire in a southwesterly direction towards Lafayette, his move ments were unaccountably slow. The rebel army, without, apparently, any unusual effort, escaped into Northern Alabama, whence on the 1st of November it marched for Warrenton, on the Tennessee River, Sherman being then at Gaylesville, Alabama, near the Georgia line. The object of Sherman’s strategy was now apparent. Hood had been pushed fair away from the Chattahoochee into Northern Alabama, and tempted into another invasion of Tennessee. His raid on the railroad between Chattanooga and Alanta 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 fi’ont, was now prepared to penetrate with-a large force into the heart of Georgia, arid miarch for the coast, with the almnost plositive certainty that no enemy of imT)ortance could oppose him. It was necessary, however, to provide first for the safety of Tennessee, thus threatened by a rebel army, and for that reason Thomas had been detached to Nashville. The Fourth Corps, Stanley, and the Twentythird, Schofield, were sent to his sup. 632

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HSTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. port, giving him, with the troops already in Tennessee, and the command of A. J. Smith, then on the march thither firom Missouri, an ample force to withstand Hood; and he was directed to continue to entice Hood north wvard and fight him in the neighborhood of Nashville, if ossible. 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 Sherman will be hereafter related; at present we have to do exclusively with events in Tennessee. Upon its arrival at the Tennessee, the army of Hood was reenforced by twelve thousand mounted troops under Forrest, who, on his way thither from Corinth, had captured two Union transports and a small gunboat at Johlnsville, an important d6p6t of supplies. With needless precipitancy the garrison destroyed public property estimated to be worth several millions of dollars. Hood remained for some time on the south side of the river, sending over only Lee’s Corps with some cavalry, and it was not until the 17th of November treat he moved his remaining troops across, timing his advance with that of Breckinridge, who was operating in Eastern Tennessee. On the 19th he commenced his march northward firom Florence on parallel roads, and oa 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 direction 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 his department could fulrnish, and as near as possible to his base. On the 26th, the enemy occupied Columbia, Schofield, who commanded the Union rear-g,uard, retiring across Duck River toward(s Franklin, twenty miles south of Nashville, where he arrived on the o30th. IHere he bformed his line of battle on the southern edge of the town, to await the coIningr of the enemy, and, in the mean while, hastened the crossing of the trains to the north side of Ilarpeth River. The enemy nieaintime pressed closely upon Schofield’s realr-guard.

At noon of November 30th, the main body of our armly, consisting of the Fourth and Twentythird Corps, and the detachments which had been collected fi-om various points, was concentrated at Franklin. At that hour several bodies of Forrest’s Cavalry were discovered hovering on the flanks, and reconnoitring the position which Sciofieltld had taken close to the town. Between three and four P. M., i-oodtl approachled rapidly, and, forming his column with the quickness for which lie 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 ofdivisions belonging to the corps commanded by Generals Cheatham and Stewart, and the impetuosity of the charge carried these troops over the breastworks arid iinto the heart of Schofield’s position.

The first blow fell upon the centre of the line, breaking it and driving the defenders back in disorddr. Thr ough the gap thus made the Confederates swarmed fiercely, nid fo)r upwards of an hour thie fight raged with terrible fury. Ilood’s troop)s pressed vigorously against the lines of Generals Wagner, Huyer, and Cox, and, 633 v

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HISTORY OF TIIE GREAT REBELLION. 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 reform their broken lines. As the Confederates 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 Opdvke, the latter commanding a reserve brigade of Stanley’s Corps. Whien order was fully restored at the second line and the troops rallied to the front, a charge was ordered to expel the Confederates from the line which they had captured. In the mean time, 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 arms’ length of each other, fighting like demons 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 opening 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 hundred and fifty; disabled and placed in hospital at Franklin, three thousand eight hundred, and seven hundred prisoners. 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 transports, and also General Steedman, with a command numbering five thousand men, composed of detachments belonging to Sherman’s column, left behind at Chattanooga, and also a brigade of colored troops. Hood followed closely upon the retiring troops of Schofield, and by noon of the 1st of December the IUnion line of battle was formed on the heights immediately surrounding Nashville, with A. J. Smith’s command occupying the right, his right resting on the Cumberland River, below the city; the Fourth Corps (BrigadierGeneral Wood temporarily in commandi in the centre; and General Scliofield’s troops (Twentythird Army Corps) on the left, extending to 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 tl)e Nolensville pike. This position, being regarded as too much exposed, was changed on the 3d, when, the cavalry 634

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HISTORY OF TIE GREAT REBELLION. having been directed to take post on the north side of the river at Edgefield, General Steedman 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 Richland Creek, and down that creek t6 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 seems 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 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, food 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 attacked( 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 section of artillery, under command of General MAilroy, came up from Murfreesboro’, attacked the enemy, and drove him off. During the 5th, 6th, and 7th, Bates’s Division, reenforced by a division firom Lee’s Corps, and two thousand five hundred of Forrest’s Cavalry, demonstrated heavily against Fortress Rosecrans, at lIurfrecsboro’, garriscned by a considerable force, under command of General Rousseau. The enemy showing an unwillingness to 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 Wilkerson pike, posted behind rail breastiworks, was attacked and routed, our troops capturing two hundred and seven prisoners and two guns, with a loss of thirty killed and one hundred and seventy-five wounded. On the same day Buford’s Cavalry entered the town o(f Murfieesboro’, after having shelled it vigorously, but he was speedily driven out by a regiment of infantry and a section of artillery. On retiring from before Murfreesboro’

the enemy’s cavalry moved northwar;d to Lebanon and along the bank of the Cumber.land 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 lving 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 cross ing, which was cordially and effcttially complied with by LieuntenantCommanding Le Roy Fitch, commanding Eleventh Division Mississippi squadron. At the same time General Wilson sent a cavalry force to Gallatin to guard the country in that vicinity. 635

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. Meantime, I-Iood’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 thie interval in remouInting his cavalry and accumulating transportation. Being prepared at length to move, he called a meeting of the corl)s coIn)ma)ders on the aifteriioon of December 14th, and, having discussed tlhe plan of attack until it was thoroughly 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: ‘: MajorGeneral A. J. Smith, commanding detachment of the Army of the Tennes see, after forming his troops on and near the Harding pike, in front of his present position, will make a vigorous assault on the enemy’s left. “MajorGeneral Wilson, commanding the cavalry corps, Military Division of Missis sippi, with three divisions, will move on and support General Smith’s right, assisting as far as possible in carrying the left of the enemy’s position, and be in readiness to throw his force upon the enemy the moment a favorable opportunity occurs.

MajorGeneral 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’s position is fairly turned, when it will rejoin the main force. “BrigadierGeneral T. J. Wood, commanding Fourth Army Corps, after 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 Hillsboro’ pike to support General Smith’s left, and operate on the left and rear of the enemy’s advanced position on the Montgomery Hill. MajorGeneral Schofield, commanding Twentythird Army Corps, will replace BrigadierGeneral Kimball’s Division of the Fourth Corps with his troops, and occupy the trenches from Fort Negley to Lauren’s Hill with a strong skirmish line. ]-e will move with the remainder of his force in front of the works and co-operate with General Wood, protecting the latter’s left flank against an attack by the enemy.

“MajorGeneral Steedman, commanding District of the Etowah, will 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 according to the exigencies which may arise during these operations.

“BrigadierGeneral Miller, with his troops forming the garrison of Nashville, 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 BrigadierGeneral Donaldson, will, if necessary, be posted on the interior line from Fort Morton to the battery on hill 210. “The troops occupying the interior line will be under the direction of MIajor-General Steedman, 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.”

The enemy’s line was formed with Chentham on the left, Stewart in the centre, and S. D. Lee onethe right. His most advanced position, from which he annoyed our lines, was a commanding eminence oli the Granny White pike.

On the crest of this stood the house of a MIrs. Montgomery. On the morning of the 15th December, the weather being favorable, the Union ahny was formed and ready at an early hour to carry out the plan of battle. The formation of the troops was partially concealed from, the enemy by the broken naiture of the ground, as also by a dense fog, which only lifted towards noon. The 636 I

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* mHSTORY OF TMIE GREAT REBELLION. enemy was apparently totally unaware of any intention on our part to attack his position, and more especially did he seem not to expect any movement against his left flank. To divert his attention still further 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, wheeling to the left, advanced against his position across the Har ding 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, Hatchl’s Division leading, and Knipe in reserve, moving on the right of A. J. Smith’s troops, first struck the enemy along Richnimond Creek, near Harding’s house, and drove him back rapidly, capturing a num ber of prisoners, wagons, &c., and, continuing to advance, while slightly swingilig to the left, came upon a redoubt containing four guns, which was splendidly carried by assault at 1 r. M. by a portion of Hatch’s Division, dismounted, and the captured guns turned upon the enemy. A second redoubt, stronger than the first, was next assailed and car ried by the same troops that captured the first position, 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 tilie right of Smith, enabling the cavalry thereby to operate more freely in the enemny’s rear. The Fourth Corps, Wood 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 aidvanced position, at 1 r. Mr. 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 advance. The First and Second Brigades of Beatty’s Division occupied the left, formed in single line, while Kimball’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 country bounded by belts of wood. An increasing slopl)e 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 irom the enemy’s artillery. A dense volume of smoke rose from the valley, shrouding the hills and rebel lines in our firont. The roar of the rebel artillery was becoming fainter, while the sound of our guns ang 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 pellmell from their works, while infantry, cavalry, and artillery were sweeping across the plain. A wild cheer rang from our lines, and the batteries redoubled their iron storm. Soon a column was seen emerging firom the woods on the rebel flanks, the stars and stripes floating proudly in their fi’ont. This was our right, which had swung around their flank. The air resounded with cheers as the Fourth Corps jumped to their feet and 637

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 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 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 smallarms, and about forty wagons. The enemy had been forced back at all points with heavy loss, and our casualties were unusually light. The whole command bivouacked in line of battle during the night on the ground occupied at dark, while preparations 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 botmunded by Little Harper and Mill Creeks. Fine residences and well-cultivated plantations cover the landscape back to Nashville. Here the city was shut out firom view by the hills, crowned with forts and batteries, their sides dotted over with white tents, and the dark forms of citizens crowding to see the battle, 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 skirmishers 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 during the night, on what is called Overton’s Hill, about five miles south of the city, and east of the Franklin pike. Steedman moved out from Nashville by the Nolensville pike, and formed his command on the left of Wood, effectually securing the latter’s left flank, and made preparations to co-operate in the operations of the da>. Smith’s command moved on the right of the Fourth Corps (Wood’s,) and establishing connection with Wood’s right, completed the new line of battle.

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 running perpendicular to Smith’s troops. Wilson’s Cavalry, which had rested for the night at the six-mile post o* the Hillsboro’ pike, was dismounted and formed on the right of Schofield’s command, and by noon of the 16th had succeeded in gaining the enemy’s rear, and stretched across the Granny White pike, one of his two outlets towards Franklin. As soon as the above dispositions were completed, Thomas, having visited the different commands, gave directions that the movement against the enemy’s left flank should be continued. Our entire line approached to within Ax hundred yards of the enemy’s at all points.

Ilis centre was weak as compared with either his right, at Overton’s 638 6

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HIISTORY OF THE GREAT PEBELLIOX. mull, or his left, on the hills bordering the Granny White pike; still there were hopes of gaining his rear and cutting off 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 iq front. This hill is the first im portant one of the Overton range-the extreme western spur of the Cumberland range of mountains, and is about one mile in front of Thompson’s house, where S. D. Lee had his headquarters, 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 ordered the brigade of colored troops, commanded by Colonel Morgan, to co-operate in the movement. The ground on which the two assaulting columns formed being open and exposed to * the enemy’s view, he, readily perceiving our intention, drew re-en forcemelnts 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 oninous. As the troops began to move, our batteries opened. As they rose the slope the ene my received them with a tremendous fire of grape, canister, and mus ketry, 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 lap ed, and the negro troops became mingled 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 a/nd calling his men to follow, when a discharge of grape and canister from the rebel battery mortally wounded him. Our line was at this time within twenty steps ofthe works.

The rebels rose from their works and poured in another terrific 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 niingled-lying amid the abatis. General Wood readily reformed 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 encounitered, 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 followed rapidly in pursuit of the other, captured it also, and with it several hundred prisoners. Simultaneous with the advance of Cox, 639

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.IlSTORPY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 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 with very stubborn resistance, but drove the enemy at every point. East of the ridge the enemy foueglt with little energy, but allowed their left to be enveloped with comparative 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 retired through the Brentwood Pass. The cavalry and a portion of the Fourth Corps overtook the rebel rearguard 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 thousand four hundred and sixty-two prisoners, including two hundred and eightyseven officers, fifty-three pieces of artillery, and many smallarms, and the enemy also lost three thousand killed and wounded. The total Union loss did not exceed three thousand. At daylight on the 17th, the Fourth Corps continued the pursuit towards Franklin by the directroute, while the cavalry moved on the Granny White pike and its intersection with the ranklin pike, and took the lead. The enemy fell back to the Harpet’ River. His rearoard p)osted 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 ofthe Harpeth River at Franklin was defeated by Johnson’s Division, which had been sent by Wilson on the Hillsboro’ pike direct to Harpeth River. Wilson now pressed the pursuit to Colunmbia, the enemy retiring before him slowly to a point five miles south of Franklin. There an attempt to make a stand was defeated, 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. GeneralThomnas in his report states: “The pontoon train coming up to Rutherford’s Creek about noon of the 21st, a bridge was ]aid during the afternoon, and General Smith’s troops were enabled to cross. The weather had changed ftrom dismal raia to bitter cold, very materially retarding the work in laying the bridge, as the regiment of colored troops, to whom the duty was intrusted, seemned unmanned by the cold, and totally unequal to the occasion.” Wilson’s Cavalry anrid Wood’s Infantry pressed the pursuit. Forrest’s Cavalry, which Hood had so foolishly detached from his main army while he was besieging Nashville, rejoined him at Columbia, and a strong rearguard was formed, which did good service in covering the retreat. On the 24th,Wilson overtook the enemy a, Buiford Station, inflicting some punishment; and on the 25th the enemy evacuated Pulaski. At Lamb’s Ferry he made a stand, and as the Dursuing force under Colonel Harrison came up, charged, drove him back, arid cartured a gun. The Fourth Corps was. within six miles of Pulaski, December 26th, and reached Lexington on the 28th. The enemy being now across the Tennessee, General Thomas ceased the pursuit. On the 30th December, the end of the campaign was announced to 640

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HiISTO1i’Y OF TIIE GREAT REBELLION. 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 concentrate the balance at or near Huntsville. On reaching the several ppositions assigned to them, the different commands were to go into winterquarters and recuperate for the spring campaign. These dispositions not meeting the views of the reneralin-chief, orders were issued on the 31st of December for Generals ‘chofield, Smith, and Wilson to concentrate their commands at Eastport, ,Mississippi, 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 minor operations by cavalry occurred in the pursuit of HIood’s army. The results of the operations under. Thomas were: thirteen thousand one hundred and eightynine prisoners of war, including general officers and nearly one thousand other officers of all grades, and seventytwo pieces of serviceable artillery.

During tlhe same period over two thousand deserters from the enemy were received, and to whom the oath was administered. Our own losses did not exceed ten thousand in killed, wounded, and missing. Thus ended the career of Hood as an active commander in the field. Receiving from Johnston a wompact 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 ill 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 reenforced and supplied, sallied 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. CHAPTER LXVIL Sheridan in Command of the Middle Military Division. Manceuvring in the Valley. Object of the Movements.-Battles ofO0pequan Creek and Fisher’s Hill.-Rout and Retreat of the Rebels.-Their qpw Position at Brown’s Gap.-Movements of Sheridan. ON

August 7th, General Sheridan assumed command of the Middle Military Division, comprising the MIiddle Department, and the Departmnents of Washington, the Susquehanna, and West Virginia.. On the same day he fixed his headquarters’at Harper’s Ferry, and at once commenced to concentrate his troops along the Potomac in te vicinity of the Shenandoah Valley.

Sheridan’s troops consisted now chiefly of the Sixth, Eighth, and Nineteenth Corps of Infantry, and the infantry 41 64 1”

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HIIISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. of the old Army of the Kanawha, under Crook. A part of the Nineteenth Corps, however, was still in Louisiana.

His cavalry comprised Torbert’s First Division of Potomac Cavalry, Averill’s Division, Kelly’s command, and Lowell’s Brigade. Wilson’s Secoind Cavalry Division arrived on the 13th from City Point. Against this strong and compact army, General Early wmas now able to muster about eighteen thousand men. His army consisted, first, of two infantry corps, under Rhodes and Breckinridge. Rhodes had -his own old division and Ramseur’s, and various reserves in the Valley, the whole estimated at about seven thousand men. Ramseur’s Division comprised the brigades of Lillian (formerly of Pegram), Evans, and Johnson. 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 consisted 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. At sunrise on Wednesday morning, the 10th of August, Sheridan began to move out his forces from Halltown, for the repossession of the Valley. The force reached Charlestown in two hours, where the Nineteenth Corps struck off to the left fr Berryville, preceded by the cavalry brigades of Custer and Gibbs. Still farther to the left marched Crook’s Infaintry, with mounted men in advance. Finally, on the eight, the Sixth Corps, preceded 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 advanced, 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 fieldpieces, held a strong position. This was assailed by Cesnola’s Fourth New York cavahly, which was repulsed. The Fourth, Sixth, and Ninth New York and Seventeenth Pennsylvania then advanced, dismounted, supported by Pierce’sBattery. 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 Millwood, which were evacuated by the enemy, and camped, on the night of the 11th, six miles to the southeast of the former place. Early, thinking it was the design of Sherid.n to flank him, had begun his withdrawal from Winchester to Newtown on the 10th, and continued it till Be 11th. About ten o’clock of the latter day, Lo*ell’s Cavalry charged. through the town, but effected nothing, for the rearguard had already moved out at the other end. The fighting of the ay was entirely conducted by Early’s rear-guartd. On the 12th, the enemy having again fallen back, the column resumed the advance, and on the following day reached Cedar Creek, three miles 642 0

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“ISTORY OF TIE GREAT REBELLION. north of Strasburg. Here they remained during the 13th and 14th inactive. Sheridan’s headquarters were now at the spot that had been used for the same purpose successively by Fremont, Sigel,‘and Hunter. On the 15th the enemy withdrew his skirmishers from Strasburg, but held Fisher’s Hill beyond, which conmmanded the town. The enemy now suddenly resumed the offensive. Sheridan, in this advance to Strasburg, had passed on his left 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 opportunity 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 Kenley’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 thenight 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 Lo6max and Wickham’s Brigades, with a part of Kershaw’s Division, which had come by rail from Malvern Hill afr taking part in the actions there, proceeded down the Winchester and Front Royal pike to cross the Shenandoah and attack the Federal troops in filank.

These encountered at Crooked Run the brigades of Custer and Devin, under General Mlerritt, and were repulsed. The retreat was prosecuted with vigor, and orders were given for the destrucetion 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 mnan or beast. With their immense cavalry, they extended their lines from Front Royal, in Warren County, to the North Mountains, west of Strasburg, and burned every bushel of wheat, in stack, barn, or mill. in Frederick, Warren, and Clark, as well as oats and hay; they have rely left absolutely nothing in these three counties. They drove before them every hoise, cow, sheep, hog, calf, and living animal from the country.” The enemy followed close on Sheridan’s heels, and occupied Winchester on the night of Wednesdr, the 17th, capturing three hundred men of Penrose’s infantry brigade, which had been left to cover the Union rear, and had been abandoned by its ca,valry’supports. During the retreat, Mosby’s gang had followed the army, treacherously killing or capturing where the opportunity offered. In retalialion, General Custer ordered the Fifth Michigan to destroy the ho’dsS 64t

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HMISTORY OF TIEE GREAT.REBELLION. 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 overlapping 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 attacked 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.

Headquarters 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, 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 engagement 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 Smithfield, 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’reconnoissance 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 Smithsfield, in season to escape the movement. Here they were met by Ricketts’s Division of Infantry, -, 4 , 644

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HIIISTORY OF TILE GREAT RIELLITON. 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 was fiercely attacked by a heavy rebel force approaching from the direction of 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 appointment of Sheridan to the command of the Middle Division, had hitherto been one of manceuvres rather than of decisive 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 comprehend his motives, it must be remembered that the possession of Lyncliburg was indispensable to Lee if he wished to remain in Richmond, and that the large force detached under Early, to drive away Hunter and demonstrate against Washington, was still in the valley. 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 reenforcements. 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 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 lieutenantgeneral 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 the irksome task of manoeuvring, and bade him strike when he found the opportunity. Reconnoissances undertaken on the 13th and 16th rendered it evident that the main body of the enemy had advanced to the Xicinity of Bunker Hill and Stephenson’s D6p6t, and General Sheridan’ resolved to take advantage of this opportunity, and by a rapid movement fall on Early’s rear from the 646

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HISTORY OF TE GREAT REBELLION. direction of Berryville towards Winchester.

Accordingly, on Monday, the 19th, pursuant to orders, the Sixth and Nineteenth Corps were ordered.to mnarch at three o’clock, and the Army of Western Virginia, under Crook, at five o’clock. The Sixth’Corps was directed to move out on the Winchester and Berryville Pike, marching in parallel columns on each side of the road, with the artillery, ammunition, and supply trains on the road-the Nineteenth 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 southwesterly 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 reenforced 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 confusion, never pausing in their flight until they reached Fisher’s Hill, thirty miles south of Winchester, where they took refuge behind some previously erected earthworks. The following is Sheridan’s dispatch announcing his success: “We fought Early from daylight til 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 battleflags, and all the rebel wounded and dead. “Their wounded in Winchester amount to some three thousand. We lost in killed General David Russell, commanding a division of the Sixth Army Corps, and wounded Generals Chapman, McIntosh, 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 tomorrow. This army behaved splendidly. I am sending forward all the medical sup plies, subsistence stores, and amklances.” Sheridan lost no time in following the retreating rebels, and the 21st found his army confronting their new position. The enemy was posted with his right on the North-‘ork of the Shenandoah, and his left on the North Mountain. His line,.running westerly, extended across the Strasburg Valley. There was considerable mancoeuvring for position till after mid-day. Crook’s command was on our right, Wright’s Sixth Corps in the centre, and Emory’s Nineteenth on the left. While 646 I

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IIISTORY OF TIE GREAT REBELLION. Emory demonstrated on the left, Ricketts’s Division of the Sixth Corp advanced directly in front, and Averill drove in the enemy’s skirmishers. Under cover of these demonstrations, 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 along 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 battle to Woodstock, and there halted next morning, for rest and rations Averill, pushing on in advance, drove the enemy to Mount Jackson, twentv-five miles south of Strasburg, where he halted and made a stand, checking our advance with infantry and artillery. From Woodstock 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 streams 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 infantry skirmish line. At every favorable position the enemy would halt and contest our advance; but the batteries, 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 headquarters were in Harrisonburg, and on Monday morning, Torbert, with his troopers, pushed out to Staunton, twentyfive miles away. Meantime, Early retired upon Brown’s Gap, in the Blue Ridge, eight miles southeast of Port Republ)lic, twenty miles east of Staunton, and fifteen northeast of Waynesboro’.

Sleridan pursued to Port Republic, destroying seventy-five wagons and four caissons. From Harrisonburg, Torbert, with Wilson’s cavalry 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 southeasterly to Waynesboro’, threw the iron bridge over the South Rivel at that point into the river, and destroyed the bridge over Christiana Creek, and the railroad from Saunton to Waynesboro’. At Waynesboro’ other Government prop s 647

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT.REBELLION. erty was destroyed. But finding the tunnel defended by troops, Torbert retired to Harrisonburg by way of Staunton. On the 27th, ofl;..nsive 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 Port Republic to Cross Keys.

Brown’s Gap remained in the enemy’s possession. The position of Early at Brown’s Gap was a very strong one. It had the advantage of covering Gordonsville and Charlottesville, and of threatening Sheridan’s flank and rear should he attempt to move from Lynchburg. It possessed also unusual facilities for defence. North of it are Swift’s Run and Semoll’s Gaps; south 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 throwing his flanks out as far as Rockfish Gap and Swift Run Gap. These are the gateways to Gordonsville and Charlottesville 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 evident 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 adlvance towards Lynchburg, or to retire down the valley. To reach Lynchburg had been a prime object with Sigel and Hunter, as it was now with Sheridan. But to move with Early upon his flank and rear would have been hazardous 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 valley were in danger, as before, when Mosby captured the train. On the 6th October, Sheridan retreated to Woodstock, whence hi sent the following dispatch: “WOODSTOCK, VIRGINIA, October 7, 1864-9 P. x “LieutenantGeneral U. S.

GRANT: “I have the honor to report my command at this point to-night. I commenced moving back from Port Republic, Mount Crawford, Bridgewater, and Harrisonburg yesterday morning. The grain and forage in advance of these points had previously been destroyed. In moving back to this point the whole country from the Blule Ridge to the North Mountain has been made entirely untenable for a rebel arrmy. I have destroyed over two tlhonsand barns filled withll 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 stoeek, and have killed and issued to the troops not less tlhan three thousand sheep. This destuction embraces thie Luray Valley and Little Fort Valley, as well as the main valley. A large number of horses have been obtained, a proper estimate of which I cannot now make. Lieutenant John R. Meigs, my engineer officer, was murdered beyond 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 tall 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 begn living in great abundance. I have not teen followed by the enemy to this point, with the exception of a small force of the rebel cavalry that showed tlhemnselves some distanc 648 t

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HISTORY OF TIrE GREAT REBELLION. behind my rearguard today. A party of one hundred of the Eighth Ohio Cavalry., which I had stationed at the bridge over the North Shenandoah, near Mount Jackson, was attacked by McNeil with seventeen men, while they were. asleep, and the whole party dispersed or captured. I think they will all turn up. I learn that fifty-six of them had reached Winchester. McNeil was mortally wounded, and fell into our hands This was fortunate, as he was the most daring and dangerous of all the bushwhackers in this section of the country. (Signed) ” “P. H. SHERIDAN, Major-Geeral.” ~ During his pursuit of Early, and on his retreat down the valley, Sheridan effected an immense destruction of public property, and in aocordance 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 indis ensable to carry out this harsh but necessary policy. It had also harbored perhaps the worst class of guerrillas to be found in the countryinen who were farmers by day and robbers by night; who, under the guise of loyalty, entrapped and murdered unsuspecting Union soldiers, and had, from the outset of the war, been systematic and successful spies over the movements of 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 influence in restraining the operations of the guerrillas and bushwhackers, and driving them to arts of the country where it would be less dangerous for the inEabitants to harbor them. This duty was efficiently performed by Torbert’s Cavalry. On the 8th of October the rebel’Genera] Rosser, 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. H was then pursued a distance of twenty-six miles. CHAPTER LXVIII. Position of Armies.-Early Advances.-Battle of Cedar Creek.-Opportiine Arrival of Sheridan.-Disastrous Defeat of the Enemy.-Sheridan’s Troops leave for tb Potomac.-Devastation. EARLY promptly renewed hi advance movement on the retirement of Sheridan to Cedar Creek. The losses inflicted upon him were soon made up by reenforcements, 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 twentyeight thousand Inen, 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 Virginia, General Crook, held the left, its right resting on the pike; the 649

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. Nineteenth Corps, General Emory the centre, its left resting on the pike; and the Sixth Corps, General Wright, the right, connecting with the Nineteeith Corps. The First and Second Cavalry Divisions were on the extreme right, Custer being in advance in front of the Sixth Corps, and Merritt in rear of Custer, his left flank just overlapping the right of the Sixth Corps. Thus the Sixth Corps was rendered partially a reserve. The line war formed from right to left acaoss 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 osition 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 headquarters 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 Tuesday night he slept at Winchester on his return. Wright, therefore, commanded the army on the morning of the 19th, Ricketts 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 fi-om a report that Sheridan was absent from the army. How nearly he succeeded, and how opportunely he was frustrated, are among the most remarkable facts of the war. Just before daybreak on the morning of the 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 gleamn 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 sigrnal muskets from right to left. Immediately afterwards the three divisions, under Pegram, Ramseur, and Gordon, advanced in solid columns down the turnpike 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 musketry, 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 650

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HISTORY OF TUE GUAT BTELLION.W camrp equipage and barely aroused soldiers, were powerful agents in promoting confusion. General Crook and his division commanders did 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. Manwhile, Kershaw’s Division, which had left Early’s position in a southeasterly direction, and had turned north and crossed the North Fork before dawn of Wednesday, was now closing on the ilitrenchments 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 artillery, and opening with it on the lines of the Nineteenth’Corps. Their opening fire was vigorous, an4 was followed 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. ColonelMcAuley, commandingthe 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 breastwo iks to perform the movement, when the 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 il line on the right of the Nineteenth Corps (the cavalry being in fronit of its right), partially in reserve, was ordered to change front, swing roundwhat had been its left before being the pivot-meet the advance of the enemy in the centre, and check it.

Another order was sent to the’cavaly 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 direction of the pike towards Middletown. The Sixth Corps, moving by tihe left flank, came up a short distance in rear of what had been General Sheridan’s headquarters, opened tb& right o’f 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 Njneteenth Corps, which finally rallied and formed on its right, repulsed 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 grouna on the pike towards Middletown. Great efforts were made to get away the trains of the two left corps, and iiost of those of the Nineteenth were saved. Most of the ambulance 651 I

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBFTLION1. 4 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 re treat, 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 Ricketts, conimandingthe SixthCorps, was severely wounded in the breast. The enemy now increased both his artillery and musketry fire to its utmost capacity, till the roar and carnage be came terrific. He still pressed our left flank, as if determined to drive us away from the turnpike, that he might seize our trains and insert himself between us and Winchester. His projects were aided some what by the necessity forced upon us to spend much time ill manceu vring to re-form theline, while he employed himself only in advancing and ouring 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 Middletown, 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 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 Custer had also taken part in the thick of the battle.

Both sides were using artil lery as well as musketry, but the enemy brought to bear the greater weight of meta, having reenforced their own batteries with our cap tured 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 Thor burn’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 Middletown. He continued to press us back towards Stephensburg or Newtown, which lies next below Middletown, on the turnpike, and about five miles distant therefrom. His artillery was served with great accuracy from the heights north of Middletown, which we had just vacated. Our principal aim henceforth was to successfully 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, intendingto proceed to Cedar Creek on the next morning. Unsuspicious of danger ahead, he started at about eight A. M. on the 19th with his escort at a leisurely pace. But soon the distant thunder of artillery in the direction of Middletown caused him to quicken his pace. Thinking that Early had possiblyventured to attack the position at Cedar Creek, he was desirous of witnessing the punishment which the rebel general, by all the chances of war, should receive for his temerity. Gradually the sound of the artillery swelled into a continu 652

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. ous 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 he had twice led to signal victory. But soon the first group of fugitives and camp-followers streaming northward told him that his army was beaten and in full retreat. 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 confidence and new courage intp the disheartened troops. Even wounded men b the roadside greeted him with cheers. At once he directed every effort to stopping the retreat and reforming 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 forming 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 morning, was thus reformed 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 cavalry 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. The enemy began throwing up breastworks. Their wagons and ambulances were brought across Cedar Run, and every thing indicated their intention to retain the position during the night. Having now become somewhat prepared to take the offensive, Sheridan, at three P. M., ordered an attack with a view of regaining 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 supporting. Between three and four o’clock Getty dashed forward on the charge, and the remainder of the line followed. A tremendous fire of artillery and musketry greeted our troops as they burst out of the woods.

For a time it seemed ]npossible to withstand it. Our lines once fell back, broken, but wertagain reformed, 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 Shenandoal pursued. Custer and Merritt, charging in on right and left, doubled up the flanks of the foe, taking prisoners, 653,

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT’ REBELLION. slashing, killing, driving as they went.

The march of the infantry 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 bat teries bn 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 infantry reached Strasburg, but the main army bivouacked in the old camp along Cedar Creek. The cavalry dashed through Strasburg to Fish er’s IHill, and there the victorious march terminated. The enemy sub sequently retired upon Newmarket, abandoning almost every thing in their flight. The total losses, exclusive of recaptures, were as fol lows: 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. HQ also lost twentythree cannon, besides all those captured by him in the morning, and a few caissons. The other losses, wagons, &c., exclusive 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 estimates 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 was conspicuous. His cavalry began at once to scour the Luray Valley, under Lomax, whence Y 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 drilling, clothing, and organizing his men, while Mosby and Imboden’s troopers were so busy on his flanks that it required a strong force along the lines to protect the communications. In the first week of November the enemy’s demonstrations were more marked, and his cavalry under Rosser threatened Sheridan’s communications north of Winchester. On the morning of the 7th, Sheridan broke up his camp and fell back to Newtown, four and onehalf miles distant on the turnpike, and about nine miles south of Winclester. The Nineteenth Corps was on the right of the pike in ad. vance, the Sixth on the lett, 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 afternoon of Friday, the 11th, 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 Rearmstown. After a sharp skirmish the enemy was forced to retire. 654

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HISTORY OF THIE GREAT REBELLIO1N. 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 infantry, with his cavalry thrown forward from his right. In the first week in December the Sixth Corps left the valley to’reenforce Grant, as did also a considerab!e portion of Sheridan’s infantry. In the same-way Lee was reenforced by Kershaw and other troops firom Early, leaving 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 Fauquiei Counties, which were the chief haunts of Mosby and his men. Every thing was laid waste-barns, houses, falms, 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 ac cordance with the policy initiated by Grant and Sheridan, and its results, officially reported, are as follows: PROPERTY CAPTURED. Second Brigade. 235 4 2,483 .2,130 110 Reserve Brigade.

86 474 100 * @oo First Brigade. Horses…………….. 147

Mules……………… 4 Cattle……………… 2,563

Sheep…………….. 3,607 Swine……………. 1,033 PROPERTY

DESTROYED. Barns……………… 474 464 230 1,168

Mills………………. 19 22 8 49 Factories……………….. 2…. 2

Distilleries………….. 1 4 1 6 Tons of H al……………. 17,620

10,000 27,620 Bushels of Whe at……….. 26,500 25,000 51,500 Bushels of Corn……… 5,400 57,500…. 62,900 Bushels of Oats……………

2,000… 2,000 Haystacks………….. 990 131…. 1,121

Wheatstacks……………….57…. 57 Tanneries……………….. 1

Stacks of Grain………. 104…….. 104 Estimated value of property destroyed and captured by the First Brigade, Colonel Stagg………………………………… $857,716 Second Brigade, General Devin…………………………1,239,520 Reserve Brigade……………………………………… 411,520

Total……………………………………….$2,508,756 Perhaps the statement of a rebel commissioner of the revenue in 655, 0 I TotaL 388 8

5,520 . 5,83.7 1,141

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 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 this county by the Yankees in the way of burning of tarns, 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 saw mills, 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, odder, &c., destroyed, but the quantity is very large.” CHAPTER LXIX. Political Parties.-Elections 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 Eleo tion.-Peace Negotiations.-Colonel Jaques.-The Niagara Falls Correspondence. THE failure of the Peninsular campaign of 1862, followed by the defeat of Pope in the second Bull Run campaign, the invasion of Maryland by Lee, anrid the indecisive battle of Anltietam, together with the aggressive strength exhibited by the rebels in the West by the invasion 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 Lin coln two years previous, were carried by the opposition. The gains of Congressmen made by the latter in these elections threatened to neutralize, and perhaps considerably overcome, the Administration majority in Congress. Incapacity, 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 method of conducting the war. Confiscation, arbitrary arrests, conscription, the emancipation of slaves belonging to rebels, and similar forcible measures initiated by Government, 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 carried to a successful completion without resort to so radical a policy, and that in point olfact it had better be terminated at once than conducted unconstittftionally. The political contest of 1862
may, therefore, be considered to have shown in some degree a public dissatisfaction with the course of the Administration during the year, though it cannot 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 defeat, the emancipation proclamation of September was a sufficient reason for trying to overthrow the Admninistration in Congress, and at the close of the year it looked as if their 656

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. efforts might be rewarded with success. It is worthy of note, however, that in those States in which the soldiers were allowed to vote, tile Re publican supr emacy was easily m:aintainted.

This was notal-ly 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 Fredericksburg and Charleston, and the defeat at Chancellorsville, followed by the second invasion of Maryland, seemed to presage further losses for the Administratioln. The opposi tion had meanwhile been busy in other ways. Undeterred by the as sertions of Government that its action in arresting suspected persons, at a time when the country swarmed with spies and secret traitors, was utterly disinterested, 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 P’resident in suspending the writ of /abeas corputs, and clothing him with full au thority 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 demand ing that the war should be brought to a close. While many were sin, cere 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, whichl prompted them to reoice in the humiliation of their country, provided the over throw of their political opponents could be thereby secured. The lat ter branch of the opposition formed the nucleus around which rallied a party whose watchword was “Peace on any Terms,” and whose num bers 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 the Golden Circle,” were themost conspicuous. One of the most act ive advocates of peace with the rebel Confederacy was Clemrnent L. Val landigham, a Democratic member of Congress from Ohio, who, after the adjournment of the Thirty-seventh Congress, made public speeches m his congressional district, denouncing and counselling resistance to the draft which was about to be enforced. IHe 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 denounced Order No. 38, issued by General Burnside, then comrnDding 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. For this conduct he was tried before a court-martial in May, 1863, and sentenced to be placed in close confinement within some fortress of the L7nited States. The President modified this sentence by directing that, instead of being imprisoned, 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. 42 I 65

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HISTORY OF THIE GREAT REBELLION. Vallandigham, after passing some time in Richmond, escaped in a blockaderunner to British America, where he remained some time, finding abundant sympathy from the rebel retfugees 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 againt the action of the Government, and the Democratic State Convention of Ohio finally capped the climax by nominating him as its candidate for Governor in the ensuing State election. The Republican or Union party, as it was now called, nominated for the same office John Brough, a former Democrat, 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 )etween the opponents 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 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 invasion of the North, and the captuire of Vicksburg and Port Hudson, followed by the opening of the Mississippi to cornmmerce, restored the prestige of the Union arms, and thle prospect of subduing the Confederacy seemed more hopeful than ever before. With this happy change in military prospects, the firiends of the Ad. ministration, 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 revealing, the existence of a powerful secession element at work to oppose the Government, strengthened the Administration party, and the fall elections of 1863 witnessed a complete reversal of the popular verdict declared a year previous. Val’andigl-am 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 Adminis trationi 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 rewlt of thie canvass was that every State, except New Jersey, voted.to sustaini the Administration. The ground taken by its friends was that helti by the President from the beginnintg-that the rebellion must be suppressed, and the Union preserved at whatever cost-that this could only l)e done by force, and that it was both the right and the duty of the Governiment to use all the means at its command, which were commonry exercised in time of war, to accomplishe this object. The result was, therefi)re, justly claimed as a decided verdict in favor of the Administration, and thenceforth the determination of the vast majority of the people to prosecute the war 658

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. to a successful completion remained unshaken, in spite of reverses which caused temporary depression, of conscriptions which drew fearfully upon the able-bodied, industrial population of the country, and ot’ taxation which surpassed the wildest predictions made by alai-mists 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 Replre.etlitatives. In his annual message, President Lincoln proposed a plan of reconstruction for the revolted States, which is flly set forth in the following proclamation: PROCLAMATION. “Whereas, In and by the Constitution of the United States, it is provided that the President shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offences 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 sulbverted, and many persons have committed and are 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 l’rewid, nt was thereby authorized at any time thereafter, by proclamation, to extend to per,oils who may have participated in the existing rebellion in any State or part thlereof, parllon and amnesty, with such exceptions and at such times and oa such conditions as be may deem expedient for the public welfare; and “
lVhereats, The Congressional declaration for limited and conditional pardon accords with the well-establishlied judicial exposition of the pardoning power; and ” Whiereas, With reference to the said rebellion, the President of thle United States has issued several proclamations with provisions in regard to the liberation ot slaves; and “Whereaq, It is now desired by some persons heretofore engaged in said rebellion to resume their allegiance to the United States, and to reinaugurate loyal State Governments within and for their respective States: therefore, ” I, ABRAHIAM LINCOLN, President of the United States, do proclaim, declare, and make known to all persons who have directly or by implication participated in the existing rebellion, except as hereinafter excepted, that a fuill pardon is hereby granted to them and each of tieri. w-itli restoration of all rights of property, except as to slaves. atd ill property cases where rights of third parties shall have intervened, and tupon condition that every stuch person shall take and subscribe an oath and thenceforward keep and maintain said oathl inviolate, an oath which shall be registered for permanent preservation. and shall be of the tenor and effect following, to wit: “‘1. -, do solemnly swear, in presence of Almiglity God, that I will henceforth faithfully support, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and the Union of the States thereunder; and that in like manner I will abide by and faithfully support all acts of Congress passed during tihe existing rebellion witlh r(eference to slaves, so long and so Tar as not repealed, modified, or held void by Congress or by decision of the Supreme Court; and tuit I will in like manner abide by aird faiithfully support all proclamations of the President made during the existing rebellion lihav ing reference to slaves, so long and so ~ar as not modified or declared void by d ce.sior of the Supreme Court. So help me Gok. “The persons excepted from the benefits of the foregoing provisions are: all wtho are, or shall have been civil or diplomatic officers or agents of the socalled Conlfederate Government; all who have left judicial stations under the United States to Diid tlJe rebellion; all who are, or shall have been military or naval officers of said So called Confederate Government, above the rank of colonel in the army, or of lieutenant in 654

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. the navy; all who left seats in the United States Congress to aid the rebellion; all who resigned commissions in the army or navy of the United States, and afterwards aided the rebeUllion; 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, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, and North Carolina, a number of persons not less than one-tenth in number of the votes cast in such States at the Presidential election of the year of our Lord one’thousand eight hundred and sixty, each having taken the oath aforesaid, and not having since violated it, and being a qualified voter by the election law of the State existing immediately before the socalled act of secession, and excluding all others, shall reestablish a State Government which shall be republican. and in nowise contravening said oath, such shall be recognized as the true government of the State, and the State shall receive thereunder the benefits of the constitutional provision which declares that “‘The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a republican form of government, and shall protect each of them against invasion, and on application of the Legislature, or the Executive, when the Legislature cannot be convened, against domestic violence.’ “And I do further proclaim and make known that any provision which maybe adopted by such State Government in relation to the freed people of such State, which shall recognize and declare their permanent freedom, provide for their education, and which may yet be consistent, as a temporary arrangement, with their present condition as a laboring, landless, and homeless class, will not be objected to by the National Executive. “And it is suggested as not improper that, in constructing a loyal State Government in any State, the name of the State, the boundary, the subdivisions, the Constitution, and the general code of laws, as before the rebellion, be maintained, subject only to the modifications made necessary by the 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 this 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 proclamation is intended to present the people of the States wherein the national authority has been suspended, and loyal State Governments have been subverted, a mode in and by which the national authority and loyal State Governments may be reestablished 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 eig,hty-eighth.

“By-the President: ABRAHAMI LINCOLN “Wm. H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.” a 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 Admininistration 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 States whose governments have been usurped or overthrown, a republican form of government.” This bill provided for the appointment of a provisional governor iu each State, and, as 660

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. soon as military resistance had ceased and the people returned to obedience, an enrolmnent to be made of all white male citizens, desi,gnating those who take and those who refuse the oath of allegiance. If those who take the oath are a majority, the governor shall invite the people to elect a convention to reestablish their State Government min conformity with the Constitution of the United States. The bill provided the mode of electing and assembling 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, and shall adopt the following provisions, heieby presceibed 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 person 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 mnemb)er of the legislature, or governor. Secoeed-Involuntary servitude is f)rever prohibited, and the freedom of all persons is guaranteed in said State. Third-No debt, State or Confederate, created by or undier the sanction of the usurping power, shall be recognized or paid by the State.” Constitutions 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 ce:tify the same, with a copy thereof, to the President of the United States, who, after obtaining the assent of Congress, shall, by proclalnation, recognize the government so established, and none other, as the constitutional government of the State, and firom the (late of such recognition, and not before, Senators and Representatives, and electors for President and VicePresident, may be elected in such State, according to the laws of the State and the United States.” In case the conventions 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 governol iii 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 Governrrlmet was overthrown by the rebellion, are faithfully executed within the State; butno 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 punishment of wlhite persons shall extend to all persons, andjurors shall have the qu:alifications of voters under this law. -for delegates to the convention. That until the recognition of a State Government the provisional government shall cause to be assessed, levied, arnd collected, for the year 1864, and every year thereafter, the taxes lwovided( by the l:ltws of such State, to be levied during the fiscal year preceding the overthrow of thle State Government. That all persons held to involuntary servitude or la:bor in the States aforesaid are hereby emancipated and discharged therefrom, and they and their posterity shall be forever free.

And if any such 661

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. persons or their posterity shall be restrained of liberty, under pretence of any:laim to such service or labor, the courts of the LJ)ited States shall, on habeas corpius, discharge them. That if any person declared free by this act, or any law of the United States, or any proclamation of the President, be restrained of liberty, with intent to be held in or re,luced to involuntary servitude or labor, the peison convicted befoire a court of competent jurisdiction of such act shall t)e punished by fine of not less than fifteen hundred dollars, and be imprisolied not less tha:.t five nor more than twenty years. That every pc.rson who shall hereafter hold or exercise any office, civil or milit:iry, except offices. merely ministerial, and military offices below the,cr,de 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 publication by a proclamation, iii which he said: “That while I am (,-s I +was in Deceinber last, when by proclamation I propounded a p.lan for restoration) unprepared, by a formal appioval of this bill, to be inflexibly committed to any single plan of restoration; and, while I am also unprepared to declare that the free State constitutions.ad governmnents already adopted and installed in Aikansas and Louisiana, shall be set aside and held for naught, thereby repelling and dis(.ouraging the loyal citizens who have set up the same as to further effort, or to decla.ie a constitutional competency in Congress to abolish slavery in States, but am at the same time sincerely hoping and expecting that a constituti(onal amend(ment, abolishing slavery throughout the n:tion, may be adopted, nevertheless 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 chosing 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 sufficiently returned to their obedience to tile 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 per. mitted drafted persons to be exempted from service by the payment of three hundred dollars into the national treasuiy was rel)ealed.

Negro soldiers, of whom one hundred thousand were enlisted in 1864, were placed on an equal footing with white soldiers in respect to p,ay and other matters, and a Bureau of Freedmen’s Affairs was established, which should determine al questions relating to persons of African descent, and make. regulations for their employment and proper treatment on abandoned plantations. Finally, to silence the eavillings of those persons who denounced the President’s emancip’itioil proclamation as unconstitutional, a resolution w:s adopted to submit to the action of the sever’al States an amendment to the Constitition of the United States, prohibiting tihe existence of slavery within the States and Territories of the U!nion forever. This met with much opposition from members of the border Slave States, who declared it was a palpable 662

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HISTORY OF ]IE GREAT REBELLION. violation of State rights for the people thus to interfere with any thing which State laws declare to be property.

But the objection was met by Senator Reverdy Johnson, of Maryland, who argued that when the Constitution was originally fiamed this prohibition might have been embodied in it, and that it was competent for the States to do now whatever they might have done then. To secure an amendment to the Constitution, it is necessary, after’it has been adlopted by a twothirds vote in both houses of Congriess, that it should be r’atified by the legislatures of twothirds of the States; and the question was seriously agitated whether twothirds of the loyal States would not be sufficient 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. So far as the amendment has been acted ul)on, every Free State except New Jersey has ratified it; but enough St:ates have not yet vote(-l for ratification to make up the requisite two-thirdls. The spring of 1864, whiich witnessed the commencement aid progress of the momentous campai,tis of Grant and Sherm:in, wAas destined also to witness a political struggle of more tl.n usual acerb.ty. The peace party had now become ftilly organized, and, despite its overwhelming, defeat in the previous autumn, hoped throough the apparent failure ot the military plans of the year, and the undoubt ed and widespread desire for peace, to insure the election of their candidate for the Presi(leiicy. It was deemed peculiarly u,,fortunate that the country should be involved at such a crisis in the excitement and confusion ordinarily attending a Presidental election, and the opinion prevailed among a large portion of the people, that the canvass, which had usually commenced after the nomination of candidates irt May or June, shoul(l be postponed unti] the autumn. Strong effoi,ts were made to have the Republican nominating convention adjourned to Septemnber or October; but popular impatience could not endure so lorig a delay, and on June 7th the convention met at Baltimore. On the first ballot Abraham Lincoln was unanimously renominated for Iresident, amid unmistakable demonstrations of enthusiasm, and subl)sequently And,iew Johnson, of Tennessee, formerly a United States Senator from that State, and since 1862 its military governior, was nominated for VicePresident.

The following is the platform adopted by the convention: “Resoleed, 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 and political opinions, we pledge ourselves as Union men, animated by a common sentiment, and aiming at a common object. to do every tiling in our power to aid the Government in quelling by force of arms the rebllion now raging against its authority, and in bringing to the punishment due to their crimes the rebels and traitors arrayed against it.

[Prolonged applause.] “Re’olrel, 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 “unconditionalsurrender” 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 npon the self-sacrifices, the patriotism, the heroic valor, and the undying devotion of the American people to their country and its free institutions. [Applause.] 663

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HISTORY OF TIHE GREAT REBELLION. 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 repub lican government, justice and the national safety demand its utter and complete extir pation 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 provisions, as shall terminate and forever prohibit the existence of Slavery within the limits cr 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 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 responsibilities of the Presidential office; that we approve and indorse, as demanded 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 anrid secret foes; that 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 constitutional measures essential to the salvation of the country into full and complete effect.

“Re,olved, 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 administration of the Government. [Applause.] aResolved, 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 redressa. [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. “]‘esolced, That we are in favor of the speedy construction of the railroad to the Pacific. “Rcsolved, 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.]

“Resolved, 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, onto supplant by fraud, the institutions of any republican government on the.Western Continent [prolonged applause]; and that they will view with extreme jealousy, as menacing to the peace and independence of this oul country, the efforts of any such Power to obtain new footholds for monarchical governments, sustained by a foreign militaryforce in near promixity to the United States. [Longcontinued applause].” ~ The nominations were generally reeeived with satisfaction by the Republican party, though a radical section of it had expre.sed a preference for Secretary Chase as a candidate for the Presidency. The 864

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IISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. name of Mr. Johnson, who was of Southern birth, but had been from the commencement 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, ostponed their convention to the 29th of August. In the interval between the meeting of the Republican 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 numerous 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 intrenchments at Petersbuirg, and preventing him from sending a single man to reenforce the rebel armies in the West. As this conviction dawned upon the public mind, confidence was restored, the faint-hearted plucked up courage, and the crisis was past.

This change of opinion, however, could not be foreseen by the leaders of the opposition, 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 Demo. cr’ttic politicians in connection with the Presidency, and that was General McClellant’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 opposition to the Administration, and prompting him to go beyond the line of his proper duty, impaired his usefulness as a soldier. Since his removal from the command of the Army of the Potomac, in November, 1862, hle had relinquishedcl no one of those political views, and his long retirement from active duty was regarded by his fi’iends as a species of martyrdom, prompted by the fears and hatwd of the Government. The popularity which he had once possessed, both in and out of the army, it was believed, had experienced no diminution. A man of undoubted ability, of many accomplishments, having the appearance and address of a polished gentleman, and of unblnished private character, he formed in some respects a marked contrasts 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 onl the first 665

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. ballot, the only competitor against him having any show of strength being Governor Seymour, of New York. This result was, nevertheless, tinpalat,tble to that wing of the Democratic party of which men like Vallandigl)am were the exponents, because McClellan was professedlv in favor of prosecuting the war aagainst the rebellion; and for the p,lrpose of securing their support, George H.

Pendleton, a member of the Thirty-seventh Congress, from Ohio, and one of their ablest men, was nominated for the VicePresidency. The ticket thus cotnprised a candidate for President in favor of war, and a candid:te for Vice-Piesi,lent pleldged in the strongest termns to oppose it. The following platform, adopted by the convention, expressed, it will be seen, the view s of the peace men: ‘ Resolved, That in the future. as in the past, we will adhere with unswerving fidelity to the Union under the Constitution, as the only solid foundation of our streigth, security, and happiness as a people, and as a framework of government equally conducive to the welfare and prosperity of all the States, both Northern and Southern. “Resolved, That this convention does explicitly declare, as the sense of the American people, that after four years of failure to restore the Union by the experiment of war, during which, under the pretence of a military necessity, or war power higher than the Constitution, the Constitution itself has been disregarded in every part, and public liberty and private right alike trodden down, and the material prosperity of the country essentially impaired, justice, humanity, liberty, and the public welfare demand that immediate efforts be made for the cessation of hostilities with a view to an ultimate convention of all the States,. or other peaceable means, to the end that at the earliest practicable moment peace may be restored on the basis of the Federal Union of the States.

“Reeolved, That the direct interference of the military authority of the United States in the recent elections held in Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, and Delaware, was a shameful violation of the Constitution, and a repetition of such acts in the approaching election will be held as revolutionary, and resisted with all the means and power under our control. “Resolved, That the aim and object of the Democratic party is to preserve the Federal Union and the rights of the States unimpaired, and they hereby declare that they consider the administrative usurpation of extraordinary and dangerous power not granted by the Constitution, the subversion of the civil by military law in States not in insurrection, the arbitrary military arrest, imprisonment, trial, and sentence of American citizens in States where civil law exists in full force, the suppression of freedom of speech and of the press, the denial of the right of asylum, the open and avowed disregard of State rights, the employment of unusual test oaths, and the interference with and the denial of the right of the people to bear arms, as calculated to prevent a restoration of the Union and the perpetuation of a Government deriving its just powers from the consent of the governed. “Resolved, That the shameful disregard of the Administration of its duty min respect to our fellow-citizens, who now and long have been prisoners of war in a suffering condition, deserves the severest reprobation, on the score alike of public, and common humanity.

“Resolved, That the sympathy of the Democratic party is heartily and earnestly extended to the soldiery of our army, who are and have been in the field under the flag of our country, and in the evenlf our attaining power they will receive all the care, prot ection, regard, and kiudness that the brave soldiers of the republic have so nobly earned.” When these resolutions wire made public, many earnest and patriotic men, who were sincerely in favor of the war, and who continued to support McClellan because they believed him to be equlally sincere, predicted that he would-decline the nomina:tion, if such a platform was to guide his public acts in the event of his election. All doubt as to 666

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. the course which the Democratic cand(lidate would pursue was, however, sooni dispelled by the following letter of acceptance: “ORANGE, N. J., SAtemrber R. lS Ct. “GENTLEMEN:-I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter, illfol’mirlng me of my nomination by the Democratic National Convention, recently assembled at Chicago, as their candidate, at the next election, for President of the l,Unrited States. “It is unnecessary for me to say to you that this nomination comes to me iiii.oiiiht. “I am happy to know that when the nomination was made, the record of my public life was kept in view. “The eflect of long and varied service in the army, during war and peace, has bten to strengthen and make indelible in my mind and heart, the love and reverence for the Union, Constitution, laws, and flag of our country, impressed upon mne in early youth. “These feelings have thus far guided the course of my life, and must continue to do so to its end. “The existence of more than one Government over the region which once owned our flag is incompatible with the peace, the power, and the hapl)iniess of the lp}() eI. “The preservation of our Union was the sole avowed object for whIichl the w-a.r was commenced. It should have been conducted for that object only, and in accordance with those principles which I took occasion to declare when in active service. “Thus conducted, the work of reconciliation would have been easy, and we might have reaped the benefits of our many victories on land and sea. “The Union was originally formed by the exercise of a spirit of conciliation and compromise. To restore and preserve it, the same spirit must prevail in our councils, and in the hearts of the people. “The reestablishment of the Union in all its integrity is, and must continue to be, the indispensable condition in any settlement. So soon as it is clear, or even probable, that our present adversaries are ready for peace, upon the basis of the Union, we should exhaust all the resources of statesmanslhip practised by civilized nations, and tatught by the traditions of the American people, consistent with the honor and interests of the country, to secure such peace, reestablish the Union, and guarantee for the future the constitutional rights of every State. The Union is the one condition of peace-we ask no more. “Let me add what I doubt not was, although unexpressed, the sentiment of the Convention, as it is of the people they represent, that when any one State is willing to return to the Union, it should be received at once, with a full guarantee of all its constitutional rights.

“If a frank, earnest, and persistent effort to obtain those objects should fail, the responsibility for ulterior consequences will fall upon those who remain in arms against the Union. But the Union must be preserved at all hazards. “I could not look in the face my gallant comrades of the army and navy, who have survived so many bloody battles, and tell them that their labors and the sacrifices of so many of our slain and wounded brethren had been in vain; that we had abandoned that Union for which we have so often perilled our lives. “A vast majority of our people, whether in the army and navy or at home, would, as I would, hail with unbounded joy the permanent restoration of’ peace, on the basis of the Union under the Constitution, without the effusion of another drop of blood But no peace can be permanent without Union. ‘ As to the other subjects presented in the resolutions of the convention, I need only say that I should seekl, in the Constitution of the United St~itcs, Cad tlhe laws fiarned in accordance therewith, the rule of mydiity. and the limitations of executive power; endeavor to restore economy in public expenditure, reestablish tlie stipreiacy of law, and, by the operation of a more rigorous nationality, resume our Commanding position among the nations of the earth. “Thie condition of our finances, the depreciation of the paper money, anid the burdens thereby imposed on labor and capitai show the necessity of a return to a sound financial system; vwhile the rights of citizens and the rights of States, and the binding authority of law over President, army, and people, are subjects of not less vital importance in war than in peace. “Believing that the views here expressed are those of the convention and the people you represent, I accept the nomination. 667

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. ” I realize the weight of the responsibility to be borne should the people ratify your choice.

“Conscious of my own weakness, I can only seek fervently the guidance of the Ruler of the universe, and, relying on His all-powerful aid, do my best to restore union and peace to a suffering people, and to establish and guard their liberties and rights. “I am, gentlemen, very respectfully, your obedient servant, “GEo. B. MCCLELLAN. , Hon. HORATIO SEYMOUR, and others, Committee.” From about the middle of September, when the canvass commenced to be actively conducted, there could be little doubt of the result, and the only question seemed finally to be respecting the majority which Mr. Lincoln would receive. The election took place on November 8th, and resulted in the choice of the Republican candidates, by the follow ing vote: Democratic. McClellan. 43,8‘41 42,285 8,767 158,o30 130,233 49,596

3,691 64,301 46,992 32,739 48,745 74,604 17,375 31,678 6,594 32,871 68,024

361,986 205,568 8,457 276,316 8,718 **3 13,321 10,438 65,884 1,811,754

STATES, Alabama……………. Arkansas…………….

California…………….. 4 Connecticut………….. 4

Delaware…………….. Florida………………

Georgia…………….. Illinois……………… 1I Indiana………………. 1 Iowa………………..

Kansas……………… Kentucky…………… Louisiana……………

Maine………………. Maryland……………. Massachusetts………..

1 Michigan……………. Minnesota…………..

Mississippi………….. Mi ssouri…………….

Nevada…………….. New Hampshire………. New Jersey………….

NeAw York…………… 3 North Caroli na………..

Ohio……………….. 2 Oregon………………

Pennsylvania………… 2 Rhode Island……. South Carolina………..!

Tennessee…………… Texas……………….. Vermont……………

Virginia…………….. West Virginia………..

Wisconsin…………… Total…………… 2,0 Net majority for Lincoln. !23,035 1,811,754 455,709 44,428 ………………………..

411,281 The year 1864 was marked by two indirect attempts to commence negotiations for peace, which resulted in nothing. In the middle of 668

Union Majorities 187293 2,406 Democratto Majorities. 612 30,766 20,189

39,479 12,750 36,515 21,122 7,414 77,997 . 16,917 1,685 41,072 3,232 3,629

6,749 59,586 1,431 20,075 5,631 29,098 1.2,714 17,574 455,709 7,301

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT RE]BELLION. July, Colonel James F. Jaques, of the Seventythird Illinois Volunteers, accompanied by Mr. Edward Kirks, was permitted to enter the rebel lines ill 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 nevrtheless 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 decidedly that no peace could be conrtemplated by him or his Government, without the recognition of the independence 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 tile peace party. Early in July, Mr. Horace Greeley, editor of the Nevw York Tribtune, received from W. Cornell Jewett, a political adventurer of some notoriety, information that certain prominent rebel refiugees 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 dispatch 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’s positive averment that his friends at the Falls have’full powers’ from J. D., though I do not doubt that he thinks they have. I let that statement stand as simply evidencing thle anxiety of the Confederates 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 widespread 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 pronounce 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 once. I would give the safeconduct required by tW rebel envoys at Niagara, upon their parole to avoid observation, and to refrain frmn all communication with their sympathizers in the loyal States; but you nay see reasons for declining it. But whether through them or otherwise, 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 OFP ADJUSTMENT. ‘“1. The Union is restored, and declared perpetual. “2. Slavery is utterly and forever abolished throughout the same. “3. A complete amnesty for all political offences, with a restoration of all the inhag itats of each State to all the privileges of citizens of the United States. 669.

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HSTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. “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 secession 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 ofthe 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 may be 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 joyously they would hail its achievement, and bless its authors.

With United States stock worth but 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, IIORACE 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 exhibit their credentials and submit their ultimatum. “H. G.” A few days later, Mr.

Greeley was infornmed 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 personal safety. To this Mr. Greeley replied as follows:  ” NIAGARA FALLS, N. Y., July 17, 1864. GENTLEMEN:-[ am informed that you are 2:y accredited from Richmond as the bearers of propositions looking to the establishment of peace, that you desire to visit Washlington in the fulfilment of your mission, and that you further desire that Mr. George N. Sanders 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 safeconduct on 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 GREELEY. “To Messrs. CLEMENT C.

CLAY, JACOB THOMPSON, JAMES P. HOLCOMBE Clifton House, C. W.” Clay and Holcombe relied on the succeeding day tnat tne safeconduct of the President-ha d been tendered to them under some misapprehensions of fa(.;s, since they had not I)e(-n accredite(d to him from Richmond as the bearers of propositions looking to the establishment of peace. “We are, however,’ they added, ” in the confidential employment of our Government, and are eiitirely famtiliar with its wishes and opinions on that subject;:ard, we feel authorized to lc,claie that, if the circumstances disclosed in this correspondence vwere communicated to Richmond, we would be at once invested with the authority to which your letter refers; or other gentlemen, clothed with full 670

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. powers, would be immediately sent to Washington, with a view of hastening a consummation so much to be desired, and terrlinatilig at the earliest possible moment the calamities of the war.” Under these circumstances, Mir. Greeley telegraphed to Washington for further instructions, and received on the same day the following memorandumn: “EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, July 8, 1864. “To whom it??ay 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 Government of the United States, and will be met by liberal terms, on substantial and collateral points, and the bearer or bearers thereof shall have safeconduct both ways (Signed) “ABRAtIlAMI LINCOLN.”

TlIis, 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 memorandum, they proceed as follows: “The application to which we refer was elicited by your letter of the 17th instant, in which you inform Mr.

Jacob Thompson and ourselves that you were authorized by the President of the United States to tender us his satfe-conduct on the hypothesis that we were’duly accredited from Richmond as bearers of propositions looking to the establishment of peace,’ and desired a visit to Washington in the fulfilment of this mission. This 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 advantageous to the Nolrth 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 conference 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 conflictitig opinions, and untrammelled effort to remove all causes of controversy by liberal negotiations. We, indeed, could not claim the benefit of a safeconduct which had be(en 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 Colngress, and their thrice repeated., and as often repulsed, attempts to open negotiations, furnish a sufficient pledge to a utro 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 profound regret thajI the spirit wlJich dictated the first step towards peace had not continued to animate’he counsels of your President.

Hlad the representatives of the two Governments met to consider this question, the most rnrmeneitoiis ever submitted to human statesmanship, in a temper of becoming moderation and equity, followed as their deliberations would have been by the prayers aud 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 saddening the universal heart, might not have been terminated; or if the deso lation and carnage of war must still be endured through weary years of blood and suf fering, 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 sup 671

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT. REBELLION. pose would be extended for the purpose of initiating a negotiation in which neither Government 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 mnay concern.’ it precludes negotiation, and 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.’ WIhat 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 bo 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. “While an ardent desire for peace pervades the people of the Confederate 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, the generation is yet unborn which will witness its resttution. If there be any military autocrat in the North who is entitled to proffer 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 right to subvert the social institutions of the sovereign States to overthrow their established Constitutions, and to barter away their priceless heritage of selfgovernment. 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 consolation to death. And if there be any patriots or Christians in your land, who shrink appalled from the illimitable vista of private misery and public calamity which stretches before them, we pray that in their bosoms a resolution may be quickenled to recall the abbsed 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 humlnane, 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. -Ses of Bonds.-Effect of Paper Money.-Policy of Mr.

Chase.-Gold Lawv, and its Effects. Mr. Chase Resigns.-Finances of 1864.

Sales of Bonds in Euro)e.-Statement of Debt.-National Banks.-Prices of Gold. THE financial resources of the Govei’nment were developed 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 coutinual depreciation of the value of that paper. In a pirevious chapter the finances of the Government were brought down to the close 672

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/IISTORY OF TlE GREAT REBELLION. 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, comprised $69,059,642 firom customs, and $42,340,124 from taxes, making together $111,399,766 from revenue. There was borrowed in that year 8776,682,361, making together $888,082,128, to meet an expenditure of 8895,796,630. 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 Government, by enhancing the cost of most articles of which the Government was the purchaser, and making it requisite 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 Mlay, 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 commodities upon the market. The property of the people 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 hlead depreciated to forty-twvo cents per dollar.

Highl 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 cone siderable amount of the 5-20 bonds. In the first quarter of thek 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 oftlie Treasurywasthen induced to stop the sale of the gold bonds, and to issue 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 interfbring with the freedom of individual iction. The issues of legal tender then became necessary, because the sales of the Government bonds were less firee. Meantime the customs revenues were very large, exceeding the estimates to a considerable extent. The’ law guaranteeing that the public interest should be paid in gold, haf required that the customs receipts should be applied, first, to the payment of interest on the public debt, and secondly, to the purchaqe 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 43 673

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. the open market the gold not required for the interest. This was refused; nevertheless, the Secretary caused to be issued the following notice: UNIT:ED STATES TREASURY, NEW YORK, March 23, 1864. “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 be receivable by the collector from the party to whom they are issued. “J. J. CIsco, “Assistant Treasurer of the United State u 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 certificate 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 payment of customs, in the view of checking the demand for gold. A considerable quantity of gold was also sent to London, 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, and a further rise in gold resulted. Congress now took measures to stop dealing in gold,* by passing a law which * [ecauC-o. 14.J gold coin or bullion, or of any foreign exchange gold coin or btullion, or of any foreign exchange, or any contract for any such purchase or sale, at any other place than the ordinary place of business of either the seller or purchaser owned or hired and occupied by him individually, or by a partnership of which he is a member. SEc. 8. A?d be it flIrtker enacted That all contracts made in violation of this act shall be ab solutely void. SEC. 4. And be it falrtaei. enacted, That any person who shall violate any provisions of this act shall be hell guilty of a nmisdlemeanor, and, on conviction thereolf, be fined in any sum not less than one th)usiand dollars, nor more than ten thousand dollars, or be iiiprisoned bfor a period not less than three months nor honzer than one year, or both, It the discretion of the court, and shall likew.ise be subjct to a Ipenalty of one thou sand dollars f,i’ each offence. SEC. 5. Aiid be it furather e?acted, That the penalties inliposed by the fourth section of this act may be recoveredl ill an action at law in any court of record of the Ilnited States, or any court of competent jtulisdliction, which action nay be brought in the name (of the Uniited States bly any person who, ill sue for said penalty, one half for the use vf the Uinited States, and the other half for the use of the person bringing such action. And the recoveryv and satisfaction of a judgmiuent in any such action shall be a bar to the imposition of any fine fo)r the same offence in any prosecution ilnstituted subsequent to the recovery of such judgment, biut shall not be a bar to the infliction of poulishment by imprisonment, as provided by said fourth section. SEc. 6.

And be it.f?i,rt~ier enacted, That all acts and parts of acts inconsistent with the provisions of this act are hereby repealed. Approved June 17, 1864. * [PUBLIC-NO. 104.] AW ACT TO PROHIBIT CERTAIN SALES OF GOLD AND

FOREIGN EXCIIANGE. Be it Renacted by the Senate and Blouse (f Representatives of the Uitited States ojfAmneric in Congress assemnbled, That it shall be unlawful to make any contract for the purchase or F ale and delivery of any gold coin or bullion, to be delivered on any (lay subsequent to the day of making such contract, or for the payment of any sum, either fixed or contingent, in default of the delivery of any gold coin or bullion, or to make such contract upon any other terms than the actual delivery of such gold coin or bullion, and the payment in full of the agreed price thereof, on the day on which such contract is ioade, in ijnited States notes or national currency, and not otherwise; or to make any contract for the piirchue or sale and delivery of any foreign exchange to be delivered at any ti me beyond ten days subsequent to th e making of such contract; o r for the payment of any esu m, either fixed or contingent, in Sdelailt of the deliverv of any foreign exchange, or up on any other terms th an t he actu al d elivery of s uch foreign exchange within ten days fern the making of such contract, and the ilnmediate payment in full of the agreed price thtreof on the day of delivery in United States notes or national currency; or to make any contract whatever for the sale and delivery of any gold coin or bullion of which the person making such contract shall n,et, att the time of making the same, be in actual posse.hm(n. And It shall be unlawful to make any loan of money or currency not being in coin to be repaid in coin or bullion,/or to make any loan of coin (r bullion to be repaid in money or currency bther than coin.

Ssc. 2. And be it further enacted, That it shall be further unlawful for any banker, broker, or other person, to make any purchase or sale of any, I 674

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLIION. 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 informers, 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 exchange 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 provisions 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 individuals and to the credit of the public Treasury. The construction given to the bill on this point, by the Treasury Department, will be found in the following communication from the Secretary: “TREASURY DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON, “June 27, 1864. “JOIIN J. Cisco, Assistant Treasurer, New York: ” I transmit an opinion of the Solicitor of the Treasury upon certain questions under the gold act, and concur in his opinion. “S. P. CHASE, Secretary of the Treasury.” TREASURY DEPARTMENT, SOLICITOR’S OFFICE, I “June 27, 1864.

SIR:-I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter dated to-day, submitting to me the following questions’The act to prohibit certain sales of gold and foreign exchange, approved June 13th, I 8SG4, requires payment in full of the agreed price of gold or bullion purchased on the day on whichl the contract is made in United States notes or national currency, and not otherwise. Can such payment be made by check for the amount of the purchase money in United States or national currency; or can it be made only by manual delivery of the notes or currency by buyer to the seller? “Second. The same act prohibits contracts for the purchase or sale and delivery of foreign exchange except on conditions of immediate payment in full of the agreed price thereof on the day of delivery in Unite* States notes or national currency. Would a payment for such exchange in gld coin of the United States be valid or otherwise? “In reply to the first inquiry, I have to say that I have no doubt that the delivery of a bond fide check for the amount of the purchase money, in United States notes or currency, drawn against such notes or currency, actually at the present credit of the drawer, and which if presented immediately would be so paid, is a payment withya the meaning of the act. In regard to the serond question, my opinion is that a paymnent for exchange in gold coin of the United States is a legal and valid payment. “I have the honor to be, with high respect, “EDWARD JORDAN, Soicitor of the Treasury. To Hon. S. P. CHASZ, Secretary of th4 Treay.”

675

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. On the strength of this opinion, the bankers, who had before refused to engage in any transaction liable to objection under the gold act, ventured cautiously forward, and thus aided in quieting the public excitement. The gold bill was finally repealed by a vote of twenty-four to thirteen in the Senate, and eighty-eight to twenty-nine in the House, June 30. The same day Mr. Chase resigned. The results of the financial operations for the fiscal year ending Juno 30, 1864, were as follows: Expenses. Civil, &c……. $10,273,530

War………. 690,791,843 Navy……… 85,733,293 Interest…….

53,685,421 $865,234,087 Receipts. Customs…………. $102,316,153

Lands……………. 588,333 Taxes……………. 110,216,783

Miscellaneous……… 47,511,488 Total…….. $260,632,757 Thus the expenses had exceeded the revenue by six hundred and four million six hundred and one thousand three hundred and seventyone dollars, which was borrowed, on Five-twenty bonds, act Feb. 25, 1862……………………… $321,557,283 31 Fractional currency, exceeding amount redeemed………………. 2,702,421 25 Six per cent.

bonds, act July 17, 1861……………………… 30,565,875 45

Ten-forty bonds, act March 3, 1864…………………………

73,337,600 00 Twenty years six per cents., act March 3, 1863……………….. 42,141,771 05 United States notes, act February 25, 1862…………………… 43,859,82146 One year five per cent.

notes, act March 3, 1863………………. 44,520,000 00 Two year five per cent. notes, act March 3, 1863………………. 152,864,800 00 Three year six per cent. compound-interest notes………………. 15,000,000

00 Certificates of indebtedness exceeding amount redeemed………….

4,098,758 35 Whole amount………………………………………..

$730,4642,410.97 Of which amount there was applied to repayment of public debt….. 112,52 7,526.05 Which left applicable to expenditures……………………….$618,114,884.92 There remained on hand fourteen million dollars at the close of the year. The miscellaneous receipts were composed mostly of the prenmiuLm on gold sold, and the commutation money of conscripts under the first conscription act. The receipts of gold bfor duties, add the intcrest paid, were as follows: Receipts from Customs……………………………..$102,316,153

Interest paid in Coin……………………………….. 53,685,421

Excess of reeipts………………………. $48,630,732 This amount under the law was to be applied towards the establishment of a sinking fund. Instead of that, however, the gold was sold, and the premium obtained, $19,298,896, was carried to the receipts under the miscellaneous held. An important revolution hhd been effected in the banking system of the country by the introduction of Mr. Chase’s National Banking scheme, which authorized the establishment of three hundred million dollari of bank capital, to issue three hundred million dollars of bank-notes 676

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. not convertible into specie, but redeemable in legal-tender notes; the bank-notes to be a legal tender for all Governmnent dues except customs, and secured upon Unlited States bonds. The advantages held out by this 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 I. Lincoln the whole amount of capital authorized was nearly engaged(l, and one hundred and eleven million dollars of the notes issued. A 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 banking system of the country. The tendency has accordingly been in that direction. Mr.

Chase was succeeded by Mr. William Pitt Fessenden, Senator from MNaine, and chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. The Government paper was worth thirtyfive cents per dollar, and the revenues were not large from taxes; but the revised law coming 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 decline, but the low price of the Federal six per cent. bonds, selling then in London at thirtyfive 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 imported. By the laws in force on the day Mr. Fessenden assumed office, he had authority to borrow on the credit of the United States the amounts following, to wit: First. Under the act of Mtarch 3d, 1863, so much of $75,000,000 advertised previously to June 30th, 1864, as had not been awarded to bidders, $32,459,700. S&coidt.

Under the act of March 3d, 1864, so much as had not been subscribed for and paid into the treasury, viz.: $127,603,520. Ttircl. Under the act of June 30th, 1864, $400,000,000. tote}ta. 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 provided with funds, he did not attempt any change from the course pursued by Mr. Chase. The policy of the department as, as far as practicable, to avoid the issues of legal tender by substituting for them bonds. The sales of the latter abroad facilitated this movement. MIr. Fessenden retained power to the close of March, 1865, iu which term the debt had increased from $1,733,810,119 to $2,i23,437,001, or $689,626,882, being 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. The whole progress of the debt was as follows: 617.

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HIIISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. The course of the gold premium from the first issues of the legal tender to March, 1865, was monthly as follows: PRICE OF GOLD IN LEGAL TENDER. 1862. 1863. 1864. 1865. Highest. Lowest Highest. Lowest. Highest. Lowest. Highest. Lowest. January……..105…

101…..160.. 133+…..159~…151…..234… 197+ February…….104..

102…..172}…152~……1603.. 1571…..2161…1961

March……….102…101+…..171…139……170.. 159+…..201…154+

April………..102(@ 101_3…..159+- 146…..189 164 May…………103+

@ 102+…..156 - 143+……195 - 167+ June………..109-@

103…..149i+-140+…..252 @ 167 July…………1203 @

109+…..145+-133+….290 @ 229 August……… 115 @ 112+…..128+@

122+…. 261 @ 231 September…….124+ (@ 116+…..142+ @ 127+…..254+ @

185 October……… 136+@ 122+…..156+@ 142+…..222+ 189

November…….133+@ 129i…..154+ @ 143+…..260 @ 2091

December…….133+ @ 130+…..153 @ 146j…..243@ 211 CHAPTER LXX Sherman Prepares to Cross Georgia.-Composition of Army.-Marching Orders.-Com bat at Griswoldville.-Appeal to the People of Georgia. Milledgeville Reached.

Army at Louisville.-Combat with Wheeler.-March to Savammiih.-Communicates with the Fleet.-Fort McAllister.-Evacuation of Savannah.-Sherman’s Dispatches. -Wilmington Expedition. Fort Fisher.-Powder Ship.-Bombardment.-Failure. Return to Hampton Roads.-Cooperation from Plymouth. WrHEr Sherman paused in his pursuit of Hood, he remained several days at Gaylesville, in Northern Alabama, and then with the Fourteenth, Fifteenth, Sixteenth, and Seventeenth Corps, the Fourth and Twentythird having been sent to Tennessee, returned to Atlanta, to commence preparations for a march through Georgia to the seacoast. Hood had made the mistake of going north into Tennessee, 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 division 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 (Lqgan being absent); the Seventeenth, General Blair; and the Twentieth, General Slocum. The cavalry was commanded by Kilpatrick. Finally, there was a full brigade of artil. lery for each corps, and one battery of horse artillery for the cavalry, numbering in all about sixtyfive, 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 estore the old regiments to their maximum.- The artillery arm was 679

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. organized into an independent brigade for each corps, commanded by a field officer, with his own adjutantgeneral, quarterm-naster, commis sary, ordnance officer, &c. Sherman, in his special field order No. 120,* announced the division of his forces, for the purpose of military operations, into two wings: “The right wing, MajorGeneral O. 0. Hloward commanding, the Fifteenth, and Seventeenth Corps; the left wing, MajorGeneral HI. W. Slocum commanding, the Fourteenth and Twentieth Corps.” Each wing had its due proportion of infantry, cavalry, and artillery. The men on commencing the miarch had in haversacks two days’ rations salt meat, two days’ hard breed, ten days’

coffee 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 November, 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 conflagration in Atlanta consumed over two million dollars of property, and the and for them this general p)rincip)le is laid down: In districts and neighborhlioo(is here thle army i* -unmolested, no destruction of such property should be permitted; but should guerrillas or bushwhackers molest our niarch, or should the inhabitants burn bridges, obstruct roads, or other wise manifest local hostility, then army corps commanders should order and enforce a devas tation more or less relesitless, according to the measure of such hostility. VI. As for horses, lillies, wagons, &c., belong i n g to the inhabitants, the cavaltiry and artillery, may appropriate freely and without ] inlit, discrim in ating, however, between the rich, who are usually hostile, and the poor or industrious, usually neutral or friendly. Foraging parties may also take mules or horses to replace the jaded animals of their trains, or to serve as pack mules for the regiments or brigaldes. In all forag iing, of whatever kind, the palrties engaged will refrain from abusive or threatening languaae, and may, when the oflier in command thinks 1roper, give written cer tificate s ef the ficts, but no receipts; and they will endeavor to leave with each family a reasonable p)ortion for their mainte nance. VII. Negroes Oho are able bodied, and can be of service to the se? erai coIm&lu s,: el be taken along; but each armiy comnlan(ldr will bear lri mind that the question of Stl)pli(,s is a very important one, and that his first duty is to see to those who bear arms. VIII. The organization at once of a good pioneer battalion for each corps, colmplosed, if -possible, of negroes, should be attended to. This battalion should follow the advamce-,uard, shlould repair roads, and double them it’ possible, so that the columns will not be delayed after reacliin,- b)ad places. Also, army conlitanlles shou](l study the habit of giving the artillery inl w( 1eons the road, and marchinrg~ their troops on ~,le bidle: andit also instruct their troops to assist ws at steep hills or bad crossings of streamus. IX. Captain 0. M.

Poe, Chief l,Engineer, will assign to each wing of the army a pontoon train fully equipped and organized, andi the com manders thereof will see to its being proplerly protected at all times. By order of Major-(General W. T. Sherman. L. M. I)AYTON, Aide-de.Clamp. SPECIAL FIELD ORDERS-N.o.

120.i HEADQUARTERS MILITARY DIVISION OF TIIE ) MISS., IN TIIE FIELD, KINGSTON, GA., Nrov. 9, 1864. I. For th pr se purpose of milit ary op erations this army is divided int to two w ing s, viz.: the right wineg, MajorGeneral 0. 0. Howar d comm anding, the Fifteenth and Seventeenth Corps; the left ito c w. lo coming, Majo-General I. W. Slocum commanding the Fourteenth and Twentieth Corps. II. Th e hab itual order of march will be, when ever practicable, by four ro ads, as nearly parallel as possible, and converging at points hereafter to be indicated in orders. The cavalry, Brigadier General Kilpatrick commanding, will receive special orders from the commander-in-chief. IlL There will be no general trains of supplies, but each corps will have its ammunition and provision train, distributed habitually as follows: Behind each regiment should follow one wagon and one ambulance; behind each brigade should follow a due proportion of ammunition wagons, provisionwagonis, and ambulances. In case of danger, each army corps should change this order of march by having his advance and rear brigade unencumbered by wheels. The separate columns will start habitually at seven A. M., and make about fifteen miles per day, unless otherwise fixed in orders. IV. The army will forage liberally on the country during the march. To this end, each brigade commander will organize a good and sufficient foraging party, under the command of one or more discreet officers, who wl11 gather near the route travelled corn or forage of any kind, meat of any kind, vegetables, cornmeal, or whatever is needed by the command; aiming at e times to keep in the wagon trains at least ten days’ pro. risionsfor t/, e conmmand, anathree daysforatge.

,Soldiers msvit not enter the dwellings of the inhabitants, or commit any trespass during the halt or a camp, they may be permitted to gather turnips, potatoes, and other vegetables, anal drive in stock in front of their camps. To regulff foraglng parties must be intrusted the gatherilg of provisions and forage at any distance from The road travelled. V. To army corps commanders it intrusted the power to destroy mills, houses, cotton-gins, &c, 680

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. defensive works were levelled to the ground. On November 16th the great march commenced, and the army, thus cut loose fron its base, movel in four columns on two general lines. The right wing, under Howard, marched throughEast Point, and, driving before it the enemy’s mounted troops under Iverson, arrited at Jonesboro’ on the 16th.

Leaving Jonesboro’, it moved west, through MeDonough and Jackson, to AMonticello and Hillsboro’, after crossing the Ocmulgee River, at Pianter’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 the enemy, and on the 23d Walcott’s Brigade, on the extreme right of the column, had a sharp encounter at Griswoldville, with a body of Georgia troops, under General Pilillips, whom they defeated with the loss of a thousand or up wards. On the 23d, the column reached the Oconee River, having destroyed the railroad to that point. 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 Sanidersville, a town twentytwo miles east of Milledgeville and of the Ocon,e, and five miles north of the Central Railroad. This flanking move forced the abandonment of the Oconee River, and compelled Wayne to retire to Davisboro’. Meanwhile, the enemy had usedl the utmost exertions to rouse the eople to the defence of the soil, and a series of appeals were made by different commanders and authorities. General Beauregard, at Corinth, issued the following: “CORINTH, NYeember 18, ” Vid SELMA, November 18. f “TO THE PEOPLE OF GEORGIA. Arise for the defence of your native soil I Rally around your patriotic governor and gallant soldiers.

O’)struct and destroy all the roads in Sherman’s front, flank, and rear, and his army will soon starve in your midst. Be confident. Be resolute.

Trust in an overruling Providence, and success will soon crown your efforts. I hasten to join you in the defence of your homes and firesides.

(Signed) G. T. BEAUREGARD.” This seems to have fallen upon indifferent ears, and the same fate attended the following from the Georgia delegation in the rebel Con gress: “RICHIMOND, Yovember 19. “TO THE PEOPLE OF

GEORGIA. ” We have had a special conferere with President Davis and the Secretary of War, and are able to assure you that they have done, and are still doing all that can be done to meet the emergency that presses upon you. Let every man fly to arms. Remove your negroes, horses, cattle, and provisions from Sherman’s army, and burn what you cannot carry. Burn all bridges, and block up the roads in his route. Assail the invader in front, flank, and rear, by nighft and by day. Let him have no rest. “JULIAN

IARTIRII)GE, “MARK BLAIRFORD, “J. A. REYNOLDS, “GENERAL N. LESTER, “JohIN

S. SHEWMAKER, “JAMES M. SMITH.” 681

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MISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. Still another appeal was made by Senator Hill, which was published in the Augusta papers: “RIcHMOND, November 18.

“TO THE PEOPLE OF GEORGIA. “You have now the best opportunity &er yet presented to you to destroy the enemy. Put every thing at the disposal of our generals, remove all provisions from the path of the invaders, and put all the obstructions you can in his way. “Every citizen with his gun, and every negro with his spade and axe, can do the work of a good soldier. You can destroy the enemy by retarding his minirch. Georgians, be firm I Act promptly, and fear not I B. 11. HILL.” “I most cordially approve of the above. JAMES A. SEDDON, Secretary of War.’ These appeals came too late to produce any appreciable effect. Not an arm was raised to oppose the march of the Federal troop)s, except by the organized force under Wheeler and a few under Hlartridge. Meanwhile, Slocum’s column, passing along the Augusta lIailroad, and destroying it as far as Madison, moved thence in a southerly direc tion upon Milledgeville, the capital of the State, which place it reached on the 21st and 22d. The Georgia Legislature and Governor Brown decamped at its approach in unseemly haste. On the 26th, Slocumn 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 originally in the line of Sherman’s march, all tending southeasterly-the Ocmulgee, Oconee, Ogeechee, and Savannah.

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 Alilledgeville. 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 firom Fen’s Bridge, in the centre of J/fferson County, which was reached by the Fourteenth Corps on the 29th. Thence the cavalry pushed out northeasterly in force to Waynesboro’, a station on the Augusta and Savannah road, thirtytwo miles south of Augusta. The main army remained around Louisville until December 1st. The time was employed in foraging and capturing mules and horses, and thoroughly breaking up the railroad.

On the 2d the Seventeenth Corps reached Millen, eighthmiles from Savannah and fifty-three from Augusta. The route fiom 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 cavallry of Kil)atrick and Wheeler, the latter being tSe 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 3Iillen the army pursued the direct route to Savannah, the 682

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JISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. Fifteenth Corps keeping on the west side of the Ogeeclce, and the others on the east side. The march was almost entirely unoblstructed. and on the 11th, Captain Duncan, dispatched by Sherman, after a hazardous voyage down the Ogeechee, entered Ossabaw Sound, and reached the flagship of Admiral Dahlgren, thus o)eni)g up communi cation between Sherman’s army and the fleet before Savatinalh.

When, on the 10th, Sherman reached Bloomingdale, fifteen miles north of Savannah, his line stretched across the peninsula formed by thle Ogeechee and Savannah Rivers. The next day, the left, under Sl)cum, moved down to where the Charleston Railroad crosses the Sav,llnah River, ten miles from the city, and then pressed foblward five miles nearer Savannah. The right, under Howard, meanwhile also m,rched towards the city, and passed to the west of it, skirting Rockingham, a station on the Savannah, Albany, and Gulf Railroad, on the ]2th. 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 firom Ossabaw Sound. It completely protected the rear of Savannah from the attack of our gunboats on the Ogeechee. Two severe engagements’between the fort and our monitor fleet, one on the 27th of January, 1863, the other on the 3d of March, 1863, 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 commtnunication with the fleet, Sherman ordered Ilazen’s Division of the Fifteenth Corps, to carry it by assault. At halfpast 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 firom 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. We gained also the navigation of the Ogeechee and communication with the fleet. No sooner was the fort taken than General Sheridan embarked in a row-boat on the Ogeechee, and a few hours later was taken on board the steam-tug Dan. delion, from the deck of which he indited the following dispatch to the Secretary of War: “ON BOARD DANDELION, OSSABAW SOUND, December 13-11.50 P. L “To-day, at 5

P. r., General Hazen’s Division of the Fifteenth Corps carried Fort McAllister by assault, capturing its entire garrison and stores. This opened to us the Ossabaw Sound, and I pushed down to this gunboat to communicate with the fleet. Before opening communication, w had completely destroyed all the railroads leading into Savannah, and invested the city.

The left is on the Savannah River, three miles above the city, and the right on the Ogeechee at King’s Bridge. The army is in splendid order, and equal to any thing. The weather has been fine, and supplies were abundant.

Our march was most agreeable, and we were not at all molested by guerrillas. “We reached Savannah three days ago, but, owing to Fort McAllister, could not communicate; but now we have McAllister, we can go ahead. We have already captured two boats on the Savannah River, and prevented their gunboats from comining down. “I estimate the population of Savannah at twentyfive thousand, and the garrison at fifteen thousand.

General Hardee commands. 683

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MISTORY OF’h GREAT REBELLION.; “‘We have not lost a wagon on the trip, but have gathered in a large supply of negroes, mules, horses, &c., and our teams are in far better condition than when we started. “My first duty will be to clear the army of surplus negroes, mules, and horses. We have utterly destroyed over two hundred miles of rails, and consumed stores and provisions that were essential to Lee’s and Hood’s armies. The quick work made with McAllister, and the opening of communication with our fleet, and the consequent independence for supplies, dissipate all their boasted threats to head me off and starve the army. “I regard Savannah as already gained. “Yours truly, W. T. SHERMAN, MajorGeneral.” On the fall of Fort MIcAllister, Sherman turned his attention 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 Bartow, also swept the cast side, which was the more unapproachable by reason of a wide stretch of swamps and rice-fields, which, being flooded, doubly increased the difficulties of approach. On the 16th, General Sherman sent a formal demand for the surrender of the city, to which IIardee 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 determined to hold the city to the last. Sherman proceeded vigorously with the siege. By the 19th, his base at Kingsbridge, twentyeight 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 impassable 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 Seventeenth on its left. Between the Seveniteenth and Fourteenth was a wide gap of swamps, and flooded rice-fields extended along a portion of our front. In the Savannah Rliver, the upper part of Hutchinson’s Island had instantly been seized by Slocum on our reaching the city. But a canal diviled 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 ironclads moved up the river and opened a furious fire on our left, supported 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 Navy Yard had been previously partially turned, and such stores as he could not take with him destroyed. The two formnidable rams, Georgia and Savannah, were blown up at night. Early next morning, the 21st, 684

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. Sherman entered the city, and received its surrender from the mayor. It was uninjured, the cannon never having been opened upon it. M1ore than a thousand prisoners were taken fromn the enemy, many having been left onil the lines till too late. The captures included one hundred and fifty guns, thirteen locomotives in good order, one hutndred and ninety cars, a large supply of ammunition and materials of war, three steamers, and thirtythree thousand bales of cotton safely stored in warehouses. All these valuable fruits of an almnost 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 up 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 twentyfive thousand bales of cotton. ” W. T

SHERMAN, MajorGeneral.” A few days later he issued the following order for the government of Savannah: ” HEADQUARTERS MILITARY DIVISION OF THE

MISSISSIPPI, “IN THE FIELD, SAVANNAH, GA., December 26, A864. “SPECIAL

FIELD ORDERS, NO. 143. “The city of Savannah and surrounding country will be held as a military post and adapted to future military uses; but as it contains a population of some twei,ty thousand people, who must be provided for, and as other citizens may come, it is proper to lay down certain general principles, that all within its military jurisdiction may understand their relative duties and obligations. “I. During war, the military is superior to civil authority, and where Interests clash the civil must give way; yet, where there is no conflict, every encouragement should be given to well-disposed and peaceful inhabitants to resume their usual pursuits. Families should be disturbed as little as possible in their residences, and tradesmen allowed the free use of their shops, tools, &c. Churches, schools, and all places of amusement and recreation should be encouraged, and streets and roads made perfectly safe to persons in their usual pursuits. Passes should not be exacted within the line of our pickets; but if any person shall abuse these privileges, by communicating with the enemy or doing any act of hostility to the Government of the United States, he or she will be punished with the utmost rigor of the law. “Commerce with the outer world will be resumed to an extent commensurate with the wants of the citizens, governed by the restrictions and rules of the Treasury Department. “II. The Chief Quartermaster ]d Commissary of the army may give suitable employment to the people, white anM black, or transport them to such points as they choose, where employment baay be had, and may extend temporary relief in the way of provisions and vacant houses to the worthy and needy until such time as they can help themselves. They will select, first, the buildings for the necessary uses of the army; next, a sufficient number of stores ti be turned over to the Treasury Agent for trade stores. All vacant storehouses or dwellings, and all buildings belonging to absent rebels, will be construed and used as belonging to the United States until such time as their titles can be settled by the courts of the United States.

“III. The Mayor and City council of Savannah will continue, and exercise their functions as such, and will, in concert with the commanding officer of the post and the Chief Quartermaster, see that the fire companies are kept in organization, the streets 685 (Signed)

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. cleaned and lighted, and keep up a good understanding between the citizens and soldiers. They will ascertain and report to the Chief Commissary of Subsistence, as soon as possible, the names and number of worthy families that need assistance and support. “The Mlayor will forthwith give public notice that the time has come when all must choose their course, viz.: to remain within our lines and conduct themselves as good citizens, or depart in peace. He will ascertain the names of all who choose to leave Savannah, and report their names and residences to the Chief Quartermaster, that measures may be taken to transport them beyond the lines. “IV. Not more than two newspapers will be published in Savannah, and their editors and proprietors will be held to the strictest accountability, and will be punished severely in person and property for any libellous publication, mischievous matter, premature news, exaggerated statements, or any comments whatever upon the acts of the constituted authorities; they will be heldl accountable even for such articles though copied from other papers. “By order of MajorGeneral W. T.

Sherman. 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 great Army of the Potomac still held Lee at bay before Petersburg, 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, comprising 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 inhabitants exhibited a remarkable degree of apathy and indifference. 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 expeditionary 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, mady thousands of whom joined the army on its march. While these events wvere happening in Georgia, an attempt was made on Wilmington, N.

C., which had been the great centre of blockaderunning during the year, and which, from the enormous difficulties attending the enforcement 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, ih spite of the blockade of the coast, may be estimated by the fact that the arount of ships and cargoes sent in by English capitalists, from January, 1863, to December, 686 “L. M. DAYTON, Aide-de- Camp.”

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HISTORY OF THlE GREAT REBELLION. 1864, nearly two years, was sixtysix millions of dollars.* A joint naval and military expedition, having for its object the closing of this port by capturing its outer defences, was organized early in August, under Admiral Porter; but owing to the difficulty of obtaining a cooperating land force, the squadron remained in Hampton Roads until D)ecember 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 divisions, as follows: First Division………….. 16
ship Second “……………..14 ” Third “……………..11 ” Fourth “……………..16 ” Ironclad…………….. 6 “

Flagships…………….. 2 ” Tugs for general service………. 7 “

Tender to flagship………. 1 ” ………… 164 guns. ………… 152

” ………… 119 ” ………… 165 “1 ………… 30 ” ………… 9

“. ………… 14 ” ………… 2i 655 Commodore Porter’s flagship was the Malvern, five guns. On the 15th of December, the fleet arrived off Wilmington 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. Of the strength of this work, some idea can be obtained from the following description by a spectator of the fight: “The easterly front carries the main battery of the fort and covers the approach into the channel from seaward. It forms a straight line across the point, its farther angle resting seemingly on the river. The main wall is about eight feet high, with a ditch in front, and is very thick. It carries not less than nine Brooks’s rifled guns, of seven and eight inch bore. Between the guns are very deep and thick traverses of sand, beneath which are bomb-proof quarters for the gunners.

These traverses securely protect the guns as well as the gunners, except in case of direct firing, and in that instance the guns are run far back, the gunners retire from their pieces, and a continuous cannonading of hours does no harm. On the seaward angle of the fort was a bastion covering the ditch in front of the easterly wall, and also carrying heavy barbette guns The total ventures made by kuglish capital-blcaei ieemots(tor1t,16,t The total ventures made by English capitalists and speculators, counting the values of ships and cargoes, amounted to more than sity-six millions of dollars (~13,241.000). The retrffes are made in six different tables, cavering various periods, the shortest being ten months. The general results are as follows: The quantity of cotton exported from Wilmington in twentytwo months (January 1st, 1863. to October 31st, 1864) was 187,937 ba23sor 62,S60.463 pounds, of which the larger part was Sea Island. The value of the export and import trade of Wilmington in one year (July 1st, 18re, to June 80th, 1864) was $65,185,000; the repelgovernment rating exchange five for one. The total number of vessels which ran the Ships at 15,000 each…S,045,000

2,910,000 5,955,000 Cargoes-Inw’d (~12,000), Out ward (~25,000) 2,436,000 4,850,000 7,286,000 Total…….. 5,481,000 7,760,000

~18,241,000 687 73 blockade in fifteen months (October Ist, lS63, to December 31st, lS64) wLs 39T. The avera,-e amount of capital Invested by Englishmen in tra(lin- -ventures with Wilmington during a period of fifteen in(,nths (October 1,3t, l, to December 31st, lS64) is stated in detail as follows -. Total Entra,n.-ce8. Clearance8. Venture& 203 194 897

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. This bastion received the hottest of our fire during the first day’s action. The seaward front of the fort is of very peculiar construction. The main wall appears to be from rix to eight feet higher than the rest of the work-in front of, and running parallel with it, and flanking its outer wall, or cover, casemated at its eastern end and covered with railroad iron. This cover also protects a formidable battery facing towards the extremity of the point. The main wall of the fort behind this cover carries an escarpinent battery as well as several guns in casemates.” 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 associated with him on this perilous service Lieutenant S. W. Preston, Second Assistant Engineer A. T. E. MIullan, of the United States steamer Agawam, and Acting Master’s Mate Paul Boyden, and seven men. This vessel, the Louisiana, disguised as a blockaderunner, was towed in on the 23d until within two hundred yards from the beach, and about four hundred from Fort Fisher. Commander Rhind anchored her securely there, and coolly went to work to make all his arrangements to blow her up. This he was enabled to do, owing to the blockaderunner going in right ahead of him, the forts making the blockaderunner signals, which they also did to the Louisiana.

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 explosion took place, but the shock was nothing like so severe as w-as 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 halfpast eleven A. M., the signal was made to engage the forts, the Ironsides leading, and the Monadnock, Canonicus, and Mahopac following.

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 defenders 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 coincided with that already formed by GeneraButler, orders were given to re-embark the troops, and the transports thereupon returned to Hampton Roads. The following correspondence between Butler and Porter explains itself: a H

DQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF VIRGINIA AND “NORTH CAROLINA, December 25, 1864.

” ADfMIRAL  Upon landingthe troops and making a thorough reconnoissance of Fort Fisher, both General WeitzeP and myself are fully of the opinion that the place could not be carried by assault, as it was left substantially uninjured, as a defensive work, by the navy fire. We found seventeen guns protected by traverses, two only of whicla 688’

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IIISTORY OF TIlE GREAT REBELLION. were dismounted, bearing up the beach and covering a strip of land, the only practi cable route, not more than wide enough for a thousand men in line of battle. “Having captured Flag Pond Hill Battery, the garrison of which, sixtyfive men and two commissioned officers, were taken off by the navy, we also captured Half Moon Battery, and seven officers and two hundred and eighteen men of the Third N. C. Ju nior Reserves, including its commander, from whom I learned that a portion of Hoke’s Division, consisting of Kirkland’s and Haygood’s Brigades, had been sent from the lines before Richmond on Tuesday last, arriving at Wilmington Friday night. “General W eitzel advanced his skirmish line within fifty yards of the fort, while the garrison was kept in their bomb-proof by the fire of the navy, and so closely lthat three or four men of the picket line ventured upon the parapet and through the sallyport of the work, capturing a horse, which they brought off, killing the orderly, who was the bearer ofa dislpatch from the chiefof artillery of General Wlating to bring a light battery within the fort, and also brought away from the parapet the flag of the fort. “This was done Awhile the shells of the navy were falling about the heads of the daring men Nwho entered the work, and it was evident, as soon as the fire of the navy ceased becalse of the darkness, that the fort was fully manned again and opened with grape and canister upon our picket line. “Finding that nothing but the operations of a regular siege, which did not come within my instructions, would reduce the fort, and in view of the threatening aspect of the weather, wind arising from the southeast, rendering it impossible to make further landing through the surf, 1 caused the troops with their prisoneris to re-embark, and see nothing further that can be done by the land forces. I slhall, therefore, sail for Hampton Roads as soon as the transport fleet can be got in order. “My engineers and officers report Fort Fisher to me as substantially uninjured as a defensive work. I have the honor to be, “Very respectfully, your obedient servant “BENJAMIN F.

BUTLER, Ha[;oq  General Commanding. “To RearAdmiral PORTER, commanding Northl Atlantic Blockading Squadron.” NORTH ATLANTIC SQUADRON, U. S.

FLAG-StIIP MALVERN, ) “OFF NEW INLET, December 26, 1864. “GENERAL:-I beg leave to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of this date, the substance of which was communicated to me by General Weitzel last night.

“I have ordered the largest vessels to proceed off Beaufort, and fill up with ammunition, to be ready for another attack in case it is decided to proceed with this matter by making other arrangements. “We have not commenced firing rapidly yet, and could keep any rebels inside from showing their heads until an assaulting column was within twenty yards of the works. “I wisli some more of your gallant fellows had followed the officer who took the flag from the parapet, and the brave fellow who brought the horse out from the fort. I think they would have fbund it an easier conquest than is supposed. “I do not, however, pretend to place my opinion in opposition to General Weitzel, whom I know to be an accomplished soldier and engineer, and whose opinion has great weight with me. “I will look out that the troops are all off in safety. We will have a west wind presently, and a smooth beach about three o’clock, when sufficient boats will be sent for them. “The prisoners now on board the Santiago de Cuba will be delivered to the ProvostMarshal at Fortress Monlroe, unless you wish to take them on board one of the transports, which would be inconvenient just now. “I remain, Generalrespectfully, your obedient servant, “DAVID D. PORTER, RearAdmiral “To MajorGeneral B. F.

BUTLER, Commanding, &c., &c.” The rebels, with some reason, claimed that the result of the expedition was a triumph to their arms, as the fort, notwithstanding a bomr bardmnent perhaps unequalled in force in modern warfare, had received no essential injury. The folkwing is takenfrom a Richmondpaper: 44 689 c

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. ” General Bragg has issued a congratulatory order on the defeat of the enemy’s grand armnada before Wilmington, paying a merited compliment to Generals Whiting and Kirkland, Colonel Lamb, and the officers and men engaged. The enemy’s attack on the first day lasted five hours; on the second day, seven hours-firing, altogether, over twenty thousand shots from fifty kinds of vessels. The Confederates responded with six hundred and sixty-two shots on the first day, and six hundred on the second. Our loss is three killed and fiftyfive wounded. The ground in front and rear of the fort is covered with shells, and is torn in deep pits. Two guns in the fort burst, two were dismounted by ourselves, and two by the enemy’s fire, yet the fort is unhurt.” While the expedition was operating against Wilmington, General Palmer made a cooperative move from Plymouth, North Carolina. He sent, on the 9th, an expedition, under command of Colonel Frankle, which proceeded to Gardner’s Bridge, beyond Jamestown, on the Roanoke River. The Ninth New Jersey charged the bridge in column of platoons, and soon swept away the small force which held it. At Spring Green Church, tie Ninth New Jersey and Twentyseventh Massachusetts again fell upon the enemy, inflicting considerable loss, and capturing five officers and thirty nien. On the 1]9th, our forces proceeded to Rainbow Bluff, on the Roanoke, and found the enemy in force. Unfortunately, the gunboats, which were to have cooperated, could not do so on account of the torpedo(,s in the river.

Colonel Frankle’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. TiiE Army of the Potomac, under Geieral Grant, remained 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 licutenant-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 woul( not commit the mistake of Hood at Atlanta, but would follow the system of defence by which Johnston had so long delayed the ad(vance of Sherman, it remained for (*ant to hold his enemy within his fortifications, and to make oecasional 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, 6130

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ISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. commissary stores, &c., were sent to City Point under protection of the gunboats. Three days’ rations and forage we,e issued to the cavalry, and four days’ rations to the infantry. The long line of intrenchments was divested of men, except a sufficient rearguard. The troops north of the James were to make an attack, while those south of the river were to form a combined movement upon Ilacher’s Run. In accordance with’this design, the Tenth and Eighteenth Corps, on Thursday, the 27th of October, began operations on the righlt. The Tenth Corps early occupied the ground between the I)aibytown and Charles City roads, the Fiust Division, under Ames (late Terry), holding the right, the Second, Porter (late Turner), the centre, and the Third, Hawley (late Biriey), the left. The centre havi,ig been pushed on to Da.rbytown, four an,,d a half miles firom lPichmlond, a sharp encounter with the enemy’s skirmishers soon took place, the latter failing back upon a line of intrenchments, fiom which a galling fi,‘e caused the Union troops to recoil with severe loss. To: warls evening the attack was renewed, with the same results. cMeanwhile the Eighteenth Corps, General Weitzcl commnand(ling, 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 battleground. At four o’clock WVeitzel was across the Williamsburg road, which the enemy’s woilks commanded. Still’s Pennsylvan,ia Battery moved up the road anid engaged the enemy’s batteries, while a brigade of MIarston’s Division, on the right of the road, and one of Heckman’s, on the left, advanced, supported by the remainder ofthe divisions. The enemy made but feeble resistance until the troops reached the locus of hlis fire, when a terrible dischartge decimated them and broke the organization. To retire was as fatal as to advance, and the enemy completed the d.saster by sallying out and capturing portions of the two advanced brigades, and driving back Still’s battery. Dusk ap roa(hing, tie remailder of the troops drew hack out of range. Holmanii’s colored division meanwhile 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 General Grant. The Federal loss was fiom twelve hundred to fifteen hundred men, and that of the enemy, accoi,ding to his own account, about two hundred men. Thus ended the feint on the right. The attack on the left was undertaken by the Second Corps, aided by Gregg’s Cavalry, which w-as to march round the enemv’s right flank, turn it, and seize his line of defences on Hatcher’s lRui’n, at the same moment that the Fifth ld Ninth Corps by direct approach should attack these works in firont. Accordingly, the Second Corps, on Wednes(iay evening, the 26th, marched across to the Church road, and at three and a half o’clock Thursday morning reached the Xaughan road, along which they proceeded, reaching Itatcher’s Run at half’-pa,st seven A. r. 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 Bovdton plankroad, which they reached at a quarter past eleven A. M. Here Gregg’s Cavalry connected on the left, about the 691

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. same time that Generals Grant anal Ireade arrived on the ground. Egan’s Division was deployed on the right of the Boydton planikrold, facing up towards the bridge over Hatcher’s Run, and MIott’s was deploved on the ]eft of the road. Do Trobriand’s Brigade c(onnected with Gregg, who held the extreme left. One brigade was left to take care of the enemy in our rear. In Egan’s advalce was Ru,g’s Bri gade, and his skirmishers, at the command, rushed forward to Ihatcher’s Run, seized the bridge, and crossed the creek. The next movement was to carry the enemy’s works beyond Hlatch er’s Run. Egan’s Division was accordingly disposed with Rugg’s Bricgade on thl)e left, Price in the centre, and Smyth on the iight, Beck’s Battery cooperating as before. 3icAllister’s Brig,de of.Iott’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 .bout and effect a junction with the Second. But, owing to the ex ceeding,ly perplexing character of the country, and the ucertainty 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 prefparing to advance, iahone’s Division, of Hill’s Corps, broke in on the right flank of Hancock, and instantly swept off IMectcalf’s section of Beckl’s Battery, which was there posted. Continuing his attack, lhe got across the Boydton road and bore down upon Egan’s Division. With commendable energy and promptitude, Egan changed fi ont with his own brigades and 3IcAllister’s, and, with the aid of the three bat teries, Beck’s and Roder’s Fifth and Fourth regular, and Sleeper’s Tenth Massachusetts (under Granger), succeeded ill repulsing the enemy, after a hard and prolonged fight. In the fury of lhis 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’ lilnes. Hancock’s prompt dispositions, and the firmness of Egan’s troops, soon arrested the dis aster likely to follow. In his turn falling upon the enemy’s flank, Egan drove him back, Smithl’s and McAllister’s Brigades behaving handsomely, while MIott promptly co-op)erated with De Trobiiand’s Brigade. The enemy abandoned AIetcalf’s guns and began to retreat. 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 ammunition and rations were growing scarce, notwithstanding that sufficient for four days had been served out. Tlhe rain fell in torrents, and the tpoops retraced their weary sttps to camp, leaving some of the wotmded on the field. Mleantime, the Fifth and Niuth Corps left camp at daylight on the 27th, and during the forenoon got into position with the Ninth on the right and the Fifth on the left, confronting the enemy’s works at Hatcher’s Run. 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, 692

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HISTORY OF TIrIE G.EAT REBELLION. which was to have had important results, terminated in a return to camp, with the loss on both sides of the James of about three thou sand men. The main attack was HIancock’s, and in case of success the Fifth and Ninthl were to join him in a genera] advance of the whole line. It appeared that the enemy were accurately informed of the whole enterprise, and no surprise was effected. Skirmishing and small encounters were frequent after this along the lines. On the night of the 30’h, the Sixty-ninth and Ilundied-andfourth New York were picketed before Fort Davis, being mostly raw troop.. 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 capl)tured.

Enterprises of this nature interfered with attacks of greater or lesser magnitude-continued tip to the first week in Noveml)e’, at which time Sherman started on his grand march. On the night of November 5th, a rebel brigade which occupied( a portion of the enemy’s line on the plankroad, and running northeasterly therefrom, secretly advanced, and thlrewv itself uponl the picket line of McAllister S brigade, MIott’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 entilre intrenched picket line for half a mile, with the capture of thirty plrisoners. The enemy imnmediately began to reverse our works, and to intrench himself wvith tools broulght for that purpose. At the samne 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 calle,t. The men soon rallied in force and recaptured the line of works. Early in December, most of Sheridan’s force from the valley joined the Army of the Potomac-the six corps nrriving between the 2(1 and 5th of D)ecember.

Early’s troops also joined Lea in great numbers, an,l aff.irs in the valley were once more quiet, Sheridan renmainil-g, at Winchester. The negro troops were nowv consolidated in one corps, the Twentyfifth, under the command of General Weitzei, and sent north of the James. The year 18u4
had now reached its close, and, after a series of brilliant campaigns, the prospect for the future waas full of hope, notwithstanding., tenmporary tlull in military operations. The only a.ctive 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(l, 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 fir up the Shenandoah, &nd hlood had been forced out of Tennessee by Thomas with the miserable wreck of an army. The enemy h:ld abandoned Missouri and most of Arkansas,.nd( only held goodcl his grasp upon Western Louisiana and Texas. We had also captured the defences of Mobile Bay. The enemy confronted us in force chiefly in Virg(inia, and the only problem yet remaining to be solved was holw long hle would be able to maintain the defence. This was dlecided by the march of Sherman thr,igh Georgia to Savannah, which demonstrated that the people were unable or unwilling to resist, and that the 693 I

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HISTORY OF TIE GREAT REBELLION. rebel government had exhausted its powers.

There was no force to oppose 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 publie eye achieved the least success, continued to occupy Lee, thus giving to others the opportunity to win the laurels of the year.

Aleantime, the President made a new call for three hundred thou. sand men.

The whole number of troops hitherto called for, whlether for temporary purposes merely, or for the wvar, amounted in round numbers to two millions 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 TCen called for were all needed, and had they been obtained to as great an extent as the above figures would seem to indicate, there can be little doubt that the rebellion would have terminated much soonier than it a(-tually did. The casualties of war, diseases inherent to a military life, and the necessity of garrisoning almost countless outposts and forts, as well as of guarding long lines of communications, drew largely upon each successive levy, so that the large armies, intended for active operations in the field, wsere barely kept up to their necessary strelgl,thi, and often fell below it. The following is the President’s call of Deceniber, 1864: ‘ WASHIINGTON, December 20. BY

TLE PRESIDENT OF TIIE UNITED STATES. A PROCLAMIATION. “Whlereas, by the act approved July 4th, 1864, entitled’ An act further to regulate and provide for the enrolling and calling out the national forces, and for other purposes,’ it is provided that the President of the Uiiited States may, at his discretion, at any time hereafter, call for any number of men as volunteers for the respective terms of one, two, or three years for military service, and that in case the quota, or any part thereof, of any town, township, ward of a city, precinct, or election district, or of a county not so subdivided, shall not be filled within the space of fifty days after such call, then the President shall immediately order a draft for one year to fill such quota, or any part thereof, which may be unfilled; and whereas, by the credits allowed in accordance with the act of Congress on the call for five hundred thousand men, made July lSth, 1864, the number of men to be obtained under that call was reduced to two hundred and eighty thousand; and whereas, the operations of the enemy in certain States have rendered it impracticable to procure from them their full quotas of troops under the said calls; and whereas, from the foregoing causes two hundred and fifty thousand men have been put into the army, navy, and marine corps, under the said call of July 18th, 1864, leaving a deficiency on that call of two hundred and sixty thousand. N’ow, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States of America, in order to supply the aforesaid deficiency, and to provide for casualties in the military and naval service of the United States, do issue this my call for three hundred thousand volunteers, to serve for one, two, or three years. The quotas of the States, districts, and sub-districts under this call, will be assigned by the War Department, through the Bureau of the Provost-MarsllrGeneral of the United States, and in case the quota, or any part thereof. of any town, township, ward of a city, precinct, or election district, or of a county not so subdivided, shall not be filled before the 15th day of February, 1865, then a draft sl-lhall be made to fill such quota, or any part thereof, under the calL which may be unfilled oni said 15th day -f February, 1865. ‘In testimony whe.-eof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the City of Washingtoh this 19th day of December, in the year of our [L. S.] Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, and of the independence the United States of America the eighty-ninth. “Bv the President: “AnBaa’ LINCOLN. “WILLIAM HI. SEWARD, Secretary of State.” 694

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HISTORY OF THlE GREAT REBELLION. The armies in the field, in the spring of 1864, numbered nearly six hun. dred thousand men; * and so creat 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 auring the year included one thousand seven hundred and fifty pieces of ordnance, two thousand three hund red -.nd sixty-one artillery carriages and caissons, eight hundred and two thousand five hundred and twentyfive smallarms, seven hundred and ninety-four thousand and fiftyfive sets of accoutrements and harness, one million 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 millionr. four hundred and nine thousand four hundred pounds of gunpowder, one hundred and sixtynine millions four hundred and nlinety thousand and twelity-nine cartridges for smallarms. These were complete articles, in addition to large quantities of the same kind of supplies partially made up at the arsenals. Tile ordnance sul)plies furnished to the military service during the year included one tlhousand one hun(ired and forty-one pieces of ordnance, one thousand eight hundred and ninetysix artillery carriages and caissons, four hundred and fiftyfive thousand nine hundred and ten small arms, five hundred and two thousand and foirty-fouir sets of accoutrements and harness, one million nine hundred and thirteen thousantd seven hundred and fift three projectiles for cannon, seven million six hundred anrd twenty-fo)ur tholus:nd six hundred and eighty-five pounds of bullets antd lead, four hundred and sixty-four thousand five hundred and forty-nine pounds of artillei’y am-! munition, one hundred and twentyfive thou,sand and sixty-seven sets of horse eqllipments, one hundred and twelve million eightyseven thousand five hundred an(d fifty-three cartridg(les for small-anrms, seven million five hundred and forty-four thousand and forty-four poundls of gunpowder. These supplies were in addition to large quantities of parts provided for repairs in tlhe field. The foices of the rebels at tlhe commencement of 1864 did not much exceed three hundred and fifty thousand mein, of w-hlom they lost during the year probably two hundl’el thousand. In the same period they were enalbled, bIy strenuous exertions, to recruit one hundred thousand men. Of these probably one hun(lre(l thousand were with Lee at Richm)ond, and the others detached utider HtIood, B eatre-gard, and other generals. Under these circumstances, the necessity of arming At Fortress Monroe, Noi-folk, &c.,there were 10.000 I r,North C~u. dina I he re were………….

10.000’ ()In thle P’iific roast there wvere………… 10.000 l lIn thle I -i-it Trritory there were…….. 10.000 n la Flol-.l da tliere w(ee………………… 5.000 At v%arious p-*iiits in the North there w~cre 40,000 Total available force of the ~North in April.

1S64………………….. 605.000 Of coiise tmany,f thes.’ were on the sick list nma-any were emiploed (,n inttien which (didt not lbrina theni into the fiecll. tn(l nmany also were ab sent withltiit lealve, in otiIer woi(Ids. hai(l deserted the service. Perhaps not iore than thlree-tobrths of theiim were available fo,r ot’ensive purpose& * These may be comnptutedl is followss:General Grant Il. including those un,l1m Gen erals Siiiith andl Gillnmior-e.on the Jaiiies lIirer, irt,d those co-wqlerating with him unicr Sigel, in tihe S-henan(doi V
alley………………..200,000 Slierini:n hadl………………1 0.000
vt i At rind n.ar Washington there were……. 40,000 G(en(ral Blanks in L,,uisiana had……….. 0.I00o lin K,.ntt.cky an(I Tennt0essee th ere v er en r4s000 In Mlissoultri an(d Arkanlsas there were…… 83,000 On the line of the Upper lPotomae an(i in Western Virro i nii………………….. 25.Oo0 On the NMississiplpi River there w,.re…. 25,000 At Cha,lest(on and (oni the coast of South Carolina-………………………….. 15,000 I I I II I 695

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HISTORY OF TIIE GREAT REBELLION. the negroes or employing them as soldiers was apparent, and(] the head of the rebel government recommended that course with the ad(lvice of General Lee, but the measure was not piromptly acted upon, and never had any practical result. The year 1864, therefore, for the rebels, approacl)ed its close without any apparent means of raising more mlen to offset the new levies called for by President Lincoln to ilvigorate the movements of Thomas, Sheiman, and Grant. The troops that hadl returned from the Fort Fisher expedition were reenforced at Fortress MIonroe, 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, e:trly in January, relieved from the command of the Army of the James, and( General Terry succeeded to the command of the expeditionary force, numbermiig somewhat over eight thous rnd men, and compIrising Ames’s Second Division of the Twentyfourth Corps, and lHawvley’s Second Brigade (nowv under Abbott) of Terry’s First Division, and Paine’s Division of the Twentyfifth (colored) Corps, with Alvrick’s and Lee’s Batteries. These went on board transports,,aed on the night of the 5th and the imoining of the 6th of January, left Fortress,Monriioe to co-opernte with Admiral Porter’s fleet, then ofi Beaufort. After some detentions, occasioned by the weather, the fleet, on the 13thi, moved upon Fort Fisher in five divisions, Admiral Porter opened the bombardment by sending the iro?i-clad column, with the New Ironsides at its he:ad, directly upon Fort Fih,ier. At half past seven A. i., the forts opened on them as they approached, but they quietly took up their old positions wvithin one thousalnd yards of Fort Fisher, and began to fire about halfpast eight. TIe landcling of the troops commenced at nine o’clock, fi’om 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 skinish line, atid all the force designed for the attack was ashore before three P. m., when they took possession of Hllf MIoon Battery. Before four, the trioops started down the beach towards Fort Fisher, with skirmuishers 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. B., their canmp-fires showed the long bivotiac line across the sand-s)it, about two miles from the fort. Their right fiaik seemed to be well covered by a sort of lagoon, running between it and the woods beyond. The (nemiy’s two gunboats, the Tallahassee and the Chickamauga, shelle(l our lines from Cape Fe(ar RTiver. During the eight hours’ action, t’le ironclads showcrei(l she’Is upoII the devoted( fort at the rate of four per inute.

The wlole inumb ter of shells thrown by ironclads and wooden vessels was conmputed at four pier second. During the night, tle enemy was re-ecifobced and t-he place strerngthened. The 14th was occupie(,i by the Union troops in building, breastworks between the Cap)e Fear River and the sea, and the 15th was fixed for the assault. As a Torce of the enemy, about five thousand stronge, 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 wIest end of 696

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IIISTOrY OF TIE GREAT R]EBELLION.

I~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1-1 itsll I/,,’ ;r

~~~~ ~WAtE -lF r 9 zN. C.j c4 ____’,,’#ho~>~i( <( \ ..;‘3; /

___________~~~~~~~~~~~-$- X.,-% the fort, the most difficult and arduous point. A column of fourteen hundred sailors,nd marines, under Capt’fin Breese, was detailed fiom the fleet to assault the sea front, w hich had been so terribly demolished by the bombardm,nent that it was thought a lotigment might more easily be effected there. At daybreak, the iron vessels, the Brooklyn, an~t the eleveii-incli gunboats commenced a terrible fire, under cover of which, Ames moved his men up to within one hundred an(d fifty yards of the fort. At ten, all the rest of tle fleet j )itied in the tremendous cannonade, vwhich was kept up, almost without intermission, until three r. u., whlen the ships changed their fire from the path of the assaulting columns to other works. At lialf-past three r.

M., the signal for the assault w-as made. The,gallant column from tlhe fl(eet(].ashe(i at the sea front wvith desperate eliergy, and gained tlie p.alret. Iut after a short conflict and heavy loss it was checked and driven ba’k in disorder. When reformed, it w: sent to the defensive or Wilmingrton line, to takie the place of Abbott’s Brigafle, wlich hadl joined Atles. The attack on the sea fi’ont, though a failure, diverted:u part of the enemy’s attention, and made the attack of the main stormnilig column by so much the easier. Promptly at the word of command, our gallant colinrmn of between three thousadcl and four tho-)usanl i men, prin(ci)ally of tlIe oltl Tenth Corps, rushed upon the works. The enemy’s force in tlhe fort wus over two thcusand two hundred stroing. Colonel Curtis led the attack, mI I I 697

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HISTORY OF THIE GREAT REBELLION. and, after a splendid assault, effected a lodgment on thle west end of the land firont. Pennypacker instantly followed with his briigade, and then Bell with his. Every one of these leaders fell wounded, the former severely, the second d-nge’io,isly, and Bell inortally. At five o’clock, after the most desperate fighting, fobot by foot, and with the severest loss, we got posse.sion, 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 splendid 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 eiglhteen hundred in all-stisurrendered unconditionally about twelve at night. All the works south of Fort Fisher’ fell also into our hands. The enemy’s loss was, first, Fort Fisher and all its chain of outworks, with all their contents-seventy-two guns, some 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 Fea.r R’iver and its facilities for running the l)lockade; thir(, a garrison of two thousand two lhundred men, of whom four hundred were killed and wounded, and eighteen hundred captured. General Whitniey and Colonel Lamb were wounded.

On our side, not n ship nor a transport was lost, and buet little damage was d(lone to the fleet. Our loss in officers and men was very largesomething over one thousand in all, of which about nine hundred fell upon the army, and two hundred on the fleet. Among these were Colonels Bell and MIooire, and LieutenantColonel Lyman, killed, and Colonels Curtis, Pennypacker, and LieutenantCol(rnel Coan, 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 ga,-rison. The official numerical reports of casualties sustained by our forces in the fight are appended: 

RKilled. Wounded. Missing, Officers. Men. Officers. Men.:ien. Curtis’s Brigade…………………….. 2 35 18 166 9 Pennypacker’s Brigade……………….. 7 24 15 183 72 Bell’s Brigade………………………. 2 15 4 105 - Abbott’s Brigade……………………..-……..3 2 18 ii Total…………………………. 11 77 39 471 92

Aggregate…………………………………………………. 631

698 0 4b

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EHISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. CHAPTER LXXIII. Capture of Remaining Defences on Cape Fear River.-Schofield Ordered from Tennes see.-Fort Anderson Taken.-Occupation of Wilmington.-Movement on Kinston.

Goldsboro.-Gillmore before Charleston.-Evacuation of the City by Ilardee.-Flag Restored to Fort Sllmter.-Sheridan in the Valley.-His Raid.-Great Destruction of Rebel Property.-Joins Meade. TIlE holding of the ports on the Cape Fear River was regarded by General Lee as of vital consequence to his position at Richmond; never theless, on the fall of Fort Fisher it became apparent that the other laces could not be defended.

On the 16th of January, the enemy blew up Forts Caswell and Camp)bell, 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 cap tured exceeded one hundred and fifty. A large number of siiinall-arms also fell into our hands, besides quantities of ordnance and commissary stores. On the s18th, General Paine reconnoitred(] in force towards Wilming ton, and found the enemy about two miles distant. After a slight skirmish he fell back to his intrenchments. 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 enenmy as before, two miles distant, ha(l another severe skirmish, and retired. The olrts which fell into the hands of the navy, up to January 21, and subsequently to the fill of Fisher, were officially reported as follows: Reeves’s Point-Two ten-inchl guns. Above Smithville-Two tel-inch guns. Smithville-Four ten-inch guns. Fort Caswell-Ten ten-inch gans, two nineinch, one Armstrong, and four thirtytwos (rifled), two thirtytwos (smooth), three eightinch, one Parrott (twenty-polunder), three rifled fieldpieces, three guns (bored)-twenty-nine guns. Forts Campbell and Shaw-Six ten-inch, six thirtytwos (smooth), one thirtytwo (rifled), one eightinch, six fieldpieces, two mortars -twentytwo guns. Smith’s Island-Three ten-inch, six thirtytwos (smooth), two thirtytwos (rifled), four fieldpieces, tayo mortars-seventeen guns. Reported at the other end of Smith’s lslald, six guns. Total captured, eighty-three guns. Wilmington, to which the enemy had gradually fallen back,,s the force accummulated in their firont wias defended by General Birag. While these events were occurring, General Schofield. who, with the Twentythird Army Corps, was on his way to Eastport, Mississippi, received orders to prqceed with his troopl)s to North Carolina. At that time the Department of North Carolina was created, and 699

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HISTORY OF THIE GREAT REBELLION. Schofield assigned to its command, with orders to occupy Goldsbore’ and open up communication with the coast, and unit. with Sherman. In pursuance of this plan, hlie landed at the mouth of the Cape Fear River, Febiuary 9th, with the Third Division, Cox, near Fort Fisher. At that time, General Terry, with eight thousmand mten, held a line across the peninsula, formed by the ocean and the Cape Fear River, occupying Smithville and Fort Caswell, with his flanlms (yovered( by the fleet, under Almiral Porter. The enemy occupied Fort Anderson, on the west bank of the river, with a collateral line running 1o a large swamp about threefourths of a mile distant, and a line opposite Fort Anderson, running across the peninsula from Cape Fear River to Maso.uboro’ Sound.

His position was impregnable against direct attack, and could be turned only by crossing AIasonboro’ Sound above his left, or passing around the swamp) which covered his rig(ht. On the lth of February, Schofield pushed forward Terry’s line, supported by Cox’s Division, drove in the enemny’s pickets, and intrenched in a new position, close enough to the enemy’s line to compel him to hold the latter in force. The weather presented many obstacles to a combined movement with boats on the enemy’s left. Hence General Schofield directed his attention to the enemy’s right, where he would not have to contend with the difficulties of both land and sea.

Cox’s and Ames’s Divisions were crossed over to Smithville, where they were joined by Mioore’s Brigade of Couch’s Divizion, which had just debarked, acd advanced along the main Wilmington road until the(y encountered the enemy’s position at Fort Anderson and adjacent woirks.

I-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 enemy’s right, to strike the Wilmington road in rear of Fiort Anderson. The distance to be travelled was about fifteen miles. The enemy, warned by his cavalry of Cox’s movement, hastily abandon,.d his works on both sides of the river, during the night of February 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 Creelk, behind which he was found intrenched, hlaving destroyed the only bridge. Terry also encountered the enemy in superior force in his new position, and, in consequence, Ames’s Division was brought over to the east bank during the night of the 19h. On the 20th, Cox crossedl Town Creek below the etetny’s position, and, reaching the enemy’s flank and rear, attacked and routed him, capturing two pieces of arti’lery and three hundred and seventy-five prisoners. The next morning lie pushed on towards Wilmington withoi opposition. Terry was unable to make any further advance, but occupivd the attention of all of Ihoke’s force, so that he could not send any to replace that which Cox ha/l destroyed. On the 21st, Cox secured a portion of the enemy’s ponitoon bridge across Brunswick River, which he had attempted to destroy, put a portion of 100

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. I’is troops on to Eagle Island, and threatened to cross the Cape Fear above Wilmington. 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 firom February 11th to the capture of Wilmington 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. 3lIeantime a force of fivNe thousand troops had been ordered forward from Newbern, under General Palmer, to occupy Kinston, with the view of lnoving thence upon Goldsboro’

and tapping the main railway line between IRichmond and Savannah. As soon as Wilmington was secured, Schofield sent Ruger’s Division, Twentythird Arily Corps, which was then arriving at Cape Fear Inlet, by sea to Morehead City, to reenforce the column moving from Newbern. On the 25th, finding that Palmer hid 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 seit thither, but owing to great d;fii(ulty of transportation, it was March 6th before the movement upon Kinston was commenced. On that day, Couch marched from Newberni with the Second and Third Divisions of the Twentythird Coip, and on the 8th, General Cox advanced to Wise’s Folks, where he was joined by Schofield in person. The force in front of the Union troops, consisting of Hoke’s Division and a small body of reserves, had fallen back behind Southwest Creekl, and General Cox had sent two regiments, under Colonel UlTham, Fifteenth Connecticut Infantry, to secure the crossing of the creek on the Dover road. The enemy, having been reenforced by a portion of the old Army of Tennessee, recrossed the creek some distance abl)ove the Dover road, came down in rear of Colonel Upham’s position, and surprised and captured nearly his entire command, about seven hundred men. The enemy then advanced 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 Division, 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 during the day, but no assault was made. On the 10th, the enemy, lhaving been largely reenforced, and, doubtless, learning of the approach of Couch’s column, made a heavy attack upon Cox’s left and centre, but was decisively repulsed, and with heavy loss. Both attacks were met mainly by Ruiger’s Division, a portion of that divisioihaving been rapidly transferred firom 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 wounded, and, during the night, fell back across the Neuse’, and burned the bridge. Our loss ia this engagement was about three hundred killed and wounded(; that of the enemy probably abort fifteen hundred in killed, wounded, and missing. Couch effected his junction with Cox on the following day. 701

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HISTORY OF THIE GREAT REBELLION. Having no pontoon train, Schofield could not cross the Neuse 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 Shermail from Fayetteville. Immediately upon the occupation of Kinston, Schofield put a lari-ge 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 supplies preparatory to a further advance. He moved from Kinston on the morning of the 20th, and entered Goldsboro’, with but slight opposition, on the evening of the 21st. The portion of the command which had remained at Wilmington, under Terry, moved from that point MIarch 15th, reached Faison’s D6p6t 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 headquarters at Hilton Head. The city of Charleston was then held by General Hardee with a force of twelve thousand to fifteen thousand men, comprising the regular garrison 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 stirong natural position, had been comparatively easy. But now it became exposed to a series of operations of an entirely different nature fi’om those which had formerly been undertaken against it. Sherman, from Savannah, w-as penetrating into North Carolina, and was, on February 11 th, at Branchville, on the South Carolitna Railroad, 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 entertained, and with the fall of Wilmington, communication with the North would be threatened. Under these circumstances, General Gillinore was no sooner in command than he landed a considerable force upon James Island, and after some sharl) 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 folIce 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 Jamnes 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 circumstances, as much as he could hope foi. This he succeeded in doing.

The evacuation commenced on the 16th, and by the next night the last of the troops handIeft. About midnight the enemy filed the upper part of the cif-, burning up the railroad buildings and several thousand )ales of cotton. The buildings contained, besides the cotton, a laige quantity of rice and two hundred kegs of powder. About half-l)ast three o’clock the ptwder blew up, with a terrific explosion, killingr 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. 02

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HISTORY OF TIlE GREAT REBELLION. On the morning of the 18th, the mayor of the city sent a note to General Gillmore stating that the Conifederate military authorities had departed, and at nine A. 3i. the city of Charleston, with Fort Sumter, Fort 3Ioultrie, Castle Pinckne y, and all its defen.sive 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, tlhe national flag once more streamed from the parapet of Fort Sumter. In the foit were nine guns-four columbiads, and five howitzers. The cruel firing of the city by the enemy, 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 twothirds of the place were destroyed. The lower part of the city within reach of oui’ guns was in effect a ruin, and was almost uninhabited. Comparatively iew 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. The 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, arsenauls, quartermaster stores, railr’oad bri(ldges, two ironclads, and some vessels in the ship-ya(rds. Some of the enemy’s troops remained to p!uiide, anid 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 off niorthwa,d, in numbers conjectured to be about fourteen thousand strong. There remained in thie city only about ten thousand persons of the poorer classes, who hadl had no means of mnaking their escape, and who were now suffering i from want of food. The surrender of Charleston too(k place on the fourth anniversary of the inauguration of Jefferson Davis as president of the-” Southern Confederacy.” The actual siege of the city was commenced July 10th, 1863, when Gillmore landed on Morrios Island, and had thus lasted five hundred and eighty-five days. The city had actually been under fire five hundred and forty-two days. The capture of the city was thus officially reported: “HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE SOUTH, 1 “CHARLESTON, S. C., I,:bruary 26, 1865. “LieutenantGeneral U. S. GRANT, and Ma3jor-General IIALLECE, Chief of Staff, WIash ington: An inspection of the rebel defences of Charleston shows that we have taken over four hundred and fifty (450) pieces of ordna~e, being more than double what I first reported. The lot includes eight and ten iclch columbiads, a great many thirtytwo and forty-two pounder rifles, some seven-inch Brooks rifles, and many pieces of foreign make. “We also captured eight locomotives, and a great number of passenger and platform cars, all in good condition. “Deserters report that the last of ITrdee’s army was to have crossed the Santee River yesterday, bound for Charlotte, N. C.+ and it was feared that Sherman had already intercepted their march. “It is reported, on similar authority, that the last of Hood’s army, twelve thousand strong, passed through Augusta last Sunday, the 19th, on the way to Beauregard.. 703

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IIISTORY OF TIIE GP-EAT REBELLION. ” Georgetown has been evacuated by the enemy, and is now in our possession. “‘Deserters are coming in constantly.

We have over four hundred already. (Signed) “Q. A. GILLMORE, “Ha,jorGeneral Comn??anding.” 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 authoiity, di rected MIajor-General 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 provisions were ex lausted.

The next seaport destined to full was 1Iobile, wlhich was, early in 1Iarch, occupied by the Con)federate General Dick Taylor, with Maury conmmanding the defiences of the city, and F. H. Gardner in the field. His for(es zunmbered about fifteen thousand mene. The defences of Mo bile were strong. Beauregard and Taylor had been at work upon them for months, employiing thousands of negroes ill iiitienchling.‘ihe garrison, however, w,as inadequate to man the elaborate works in tended to protect the place.

Not only had the operations of Lee and Johnston heavily drained the old army of’ Hood, but a cavalry demon stration of Wilson through Alabama and MIississippi, then in progress, distracted the attention of the forice whichl remained. Few but raw Alabama troops were around Mobile. Amnong the harbor defences was Sp)anish Fort, a,n iriregula,r,astioned( woik, with fortificaticns five miles in length, comimencing at D’Olive’s Creek and running to MIinetta Bay. It was built by DIe Soto in ]540. The guns were iii embrasures. The main defence of 3Molile was at this point. Frcm the land side, on the right of Spanish Fort, were two bastions, encircled with rifie-:Iits, chevetltx-de;’-fiie, t:‘eicliles, and torpedoes. The lortifi(.ations on the extreme righ!:t were covered by the works on the left of Blakeley. Pinto Island, to the righlt, coveis Spanish River,.and comnmands Christian Pass. Mobile Bay, beyond Blakeley River, was filled with torpedoes. A laige number of torpedoes were aIso burie(-l in the earth in fiout of S-)anish IFort, near the reb)el riflepits. Forits ITIuger, Bradley, Tracy, Battery Gladden, Spanish River Battery, Blakeley, and other rebel stlongholds, were in front and to the left. Preparations for attack had been in prowess sonie time. Granger’s Thirteenth Corps ha.d long been concentrated on Mlobile Point. A. J. Smith’s Sixteenth Corps was sent by transport from New Orleans to Dauphin Island, opposite Mobile Point, the greater part arriving at Fort Gaines on the 12th of SIaich. All the cavalry were under Grierson, and-re(tently laigely r-enforced from the Array of thle Cuti-el:land -had left for Mobile’Point, crossing Pont(hartrain. Genei’al Steele’s negro division was near Pensacola. On the ]8Sthl of iarich, Moore’s First Brigaude of Carr’s Third Division of the Sixteenth Coips, about two thousand strong, left Daitphin Island to effect a landing on Ced(ar Point, above Fort Powell, and to clear the way for the lest of the corps. On the day pi’evious, Bertram’s Brigade of the Second Division of the Thirteenth Corp’s, which had been transported across from 704

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. )auplin I,-l,id to Mobile Point, the mainland, for that 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 Barrancas, 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, marchiing by land along the shore of Bon Secour Bay, which forms the southeastern corner of Mobile Ba-y. 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 firom Fort Gaines, and thirty from Mobile. The next day Smith’s Corps moved on transports to the same point, McArthur’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. On the 25th, the advance through the pine forests was commenced, from Fish River towards Blakeley, MIcArthur’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 Thirteenth on the left, towards Spanish Fort, which commands Minetta Bay. The Thirteenth drove the eiemv’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 attempted to surprise the pickets of the Thirteenth Corps.

After a few moments’ brisk firing the 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 Thirteenth the left, the divisions being posted in the line as follows, from right to left: Carr, McArthur, Veach, Benton, Bertram’s Brigade. Garrard was in the rear, guarding 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 quarter to one P. m., doing considerable damage. Tbey 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 torped9, and instantly filled and sank. Only one man was injured, however, and as the water was but eleven feet deep, the crew were al} saved. Next day, the 29th, the Chickasaw, Kickapoo, Winnebago, and the Octorara, being il line, the Osage 45 705

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HISTORY OF rTHiE GREAT REBELLION. 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 Steele’s force, which was to have joined Granger on the 22d, was finally invested. Just before nightfall of the 8th, the final preparations were completed. Within half a mile of the fort over thirty heavy Parrott guns and mortars had been mounted, and three light batteries were thrown forward several hundred yards nearer. The entire artillery, siege-guns and fieldpieces, 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 within 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, he was silenced. An hour afterwards the enemy surrendered, our troops pressing upon his intrenchments, and entering them about two o’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 11th, at which time the work was complete. At halfpast ten o’clock on the 12th, our troops planted their colors on batteries Porter and Mackintosh, and, four hours later, in Mobile, the second seaport of the Confederacy. General Granger’s forces occupy the city. The tugboat Alle;na was blown up by torpedoes on the same day. The total loss of our fleet is said to have been two ironclads, 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. Th:,t 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 enemy’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 Military Division, as General Thomas had been in Tennessee, 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 4atter-named place, Neal’s and Woodson’s guerrillas in Hardy County, Gilmor’s Battalion in Pendleton County, Imboden’s command in Bath, and adjacent counties. At eight. M., on’February 27th, the troops began their march from Winchester, reaching Woodstock, thirtythree miles distant, by 106

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. dark. The enemy were not encountered in any force until the com mand reached Lacv’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, Rosser’s men falling back before the Union advance to Waynesboro’, 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 was ordered, and the place carried by a flank move ment, which induced 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 march along the Rivanna River to Columbia. The other column proceeded down the railroad to Lynchburg, destroying it for the distance of forty miles to Amherst. From Scotts ville, Devin’s Division proceeded 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 James on account of high water, he moved, with a view of ultimately joining the army before Petersburg, in a northerly direction from Columbia to the Central Railroad, striking it at the same time at several different points between Louisa CourtHouse 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 junetion. General Devin marched his column to the bridges on both roads across the South Anna, one of which was defended by a detachment 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. pngstreet, 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 adyance-guard, the advance of Longstreet’s column was encountered,.d drove them back. Subsequently, 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 707,

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HISTORY OF TIH GREAT REBELLION. River Canal, which was the main dependence for the support of Richmond, and also of all railroads and other means of communication 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 pressing around the rebel capital, as the anaconda tightens its folds about the body of its victim, b)eginning to have force and significance. CHAPTER LXXIV. General Sherman at Savannah. - The Advance Northward. - Pocotaligo. - SaLke hatchie.-Movement on Columbia.-Conflagration in Columbia, and its Origin. B3eauregard 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 tho 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 feeding the people. To this end the following notice was issued: HEADQUARTERS

MILITARY DIVISION OF THE MISSI3SSIPPI ”’ IN THE FIELD, SAVANNAH, GEORGIA, January 14. t “It being represented that the Confederate army,and armed bands of robbers, acting professedly under the authority of the Confederate government, are harassing the people of Georgia, and endeavoring to intimidate them in the efforts they are making to secure to themselves provisions, clothing, security to life and property, and the restoration of law and good government in the State, it is hereby ordered and made public: “Frst.-That the farmers of Georgia may bring into Savannah, Fernandina, or Jacksonville, Fla., marketing, such as beef, pork, mutton, vegetables of any kind, fish, &, as well as cotton in small quantities, and sell the same in open market, except the cotton, which must be sold by or through the Treasury agents, and may invest the proceeds in family stores, such as bacon and flour, in any reasonable quantities, groceries, shoes and clothing, and articles not contraband of war, and carry the same back to their families. No trade store will be attempted in the interior, or stocks of goods sold for them, but families may club together for mutual assistance and protection in coming and going. “Second.-The people are encouraged to meet together in peaceful assemblages, to discuss measures looking to their safety and good government, and the restolation of State and National authority, and will be protected by the National army, when so doing; and all peaceable inhabitants who satisfy the commanding officers that they are earnestly laboring to that end, must not only be left undisturbed in property and person, but must be protected as far as possible, consistent with the military operatons. If any farmer or peaceable inhabitant is molested by the enemy-viz., the Confederate army of guerrillas-because of his friendship to the National Government, the perpetrator, if caught, wl~ be summarily punished, or Ilis family made to suffer for the outrage; but if the crime cannot be traced to the actual party, then retaliation will be made on the adherents to the cause of-the rebellion. Should a Union man be murdered, then a rebel, selected by lot, will be shot; or if a Union family be persecuted on account of the cause, a rebel family will be banished to a foreign land. In aggravated cases, retaliation will extend as ligh as five for one. All commanding officers vill act promptly in such cases, and report their action after the retaliation is done. “By order of MajorGeneral W. T. Sherman. “L. M. DAYTrroN, Asistant Adjutant-GCal.”

708

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HISTORY OF TIE GREAT REBELLION. In relation to the political status of people, the following letter was published by General Sherman, in which he states explicitly, in his customary clear and vigorous style, that the only condition of peace would be to lay down arms and submit to the authority of the General Government: “HEADQUARTERS MILITARY DIVISION OF

THE MISSISSIPPI, “IN THE FIELD, SAVANAH, GA., January 8, 1865. f “N. W. -, Esq., County, Ga.: “DEAR SI:-Yours of the Sd instant is received, and, in answer to your inquiries, I beg to state I am merely a military commander, and act only in that capacity; nor can I give any assurances or pledges affecting civil matters in the future. They will be adjusted by Congress when Georgia is again represented there as of old. “Georgia is not out of the Union, and, therefore, the talk of’reconstruction’ appears to me inappropriate. Some of the people have been, and still are, in a state of revolt, and as long as they remain armed and organized, the United States must pursue them with armies, and deal with them according to military law. But as soon as they break up their armed organizations and return to their homes, I take it they will be dealt with by the civil courts. Some of the rebels in Georgia, in my judgment, deservedeath, because they have committed murder, and other crimes, which are punished with death by all civilized governments on earth. I think this was the course indicated by General Washington, in reference to the Whiskey Insurrection, and a like principle seemed to be recognized at the time of the Burr conspiracy. “As to the Union of the States under our Government, we have the high authority of General Washington, who bade us be jealous and careful of it, anid the still more emphatic words of General Jackson,‘The Federal Union, it must and shall be preserved.’ Certainly Georgians cannot question the authority of such men, and should not suspect our motives, who are simply fulfilling their commands. Wherever necesary, force has been used to carry out that end, and you may rest assured that the Union will be preserved, cost what it may. And if you are sensible men you will conform to this order of things or else migrate to some other country. There is no other alternative open to the people of Georgia. “My opinion is that no negotiations are necessary, nor commissioners. nor conventions, nor any thing of the kind. Whenever the people of Georgia quit rebelling against their Government and elect members of Congress and Senators, and these go and take their seats, then the State of Georgia will have resumed her functions in the Union. ” These are merely my opinions, but in confirmation of them, as I think, the people of Georgia may well consider the following words, referring to the people of the rebellious States, which I quote from the recent annual message of President Lincoln to Congress at its present session: ”’ They can, at any moment, have peace simply by laying down their arms and submitting to the national authority under the Constitution. After so much, the Government could not, if it would, maintain war against them. The loyal people would not sustain or allow it. If questions should remain, we would adjust them by the peaes ful means of legislation, conference, courts, and votes. Operating only in constitutional and lawful channels, some certain and other possible questions are and would be beyond the Executive power to adjust, as, for instance, the admission of members into Congress, and w hatever might require the appropriation of money.’ “The President then alludes’to the general pardon and amnesty offered for more than a year past, upon specified and more liberal ternis, to all except certain designated classes, even these being still within contemplation of’special clemency,’

and adds: ”’ It is still so open to all, but the tirn.may come when public duty shall demand that it be closed, and that in lieu more vigorous measures than heretofore shall be adopted.’ “It seems to me that it is time for the people of Georgia to act for themselves, and return, in time, to their duty to the Government of their fathers. Respectfully, your obedient servant, ‘~~~~~~~~~.T SHResecful, yaour obdentsrant,9 “W. T.

SEERaMAN, MajorGeneral.” 709

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. Having employed several weeks in refitting his army at Savannah, Sherman was, by the 15th of January, 1865, ready to resume opera tions. On that day Fort Fisher was captured and the road to Wil mington opened. The Twentythird Corps, Schofield, 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 Newbern to be ready by the middle of March to open the rail road to the former place. On the 18th January the command of Sa vannah 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, com posed of the Fifteenth and Seventeenth Corps, and other troops, num bering 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 Hilton Head. The left wing, under Slocum, was ordered to rendezvous at Roberts ville and Coosawattie, South Carolina, 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 ordered the Seven teenth 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 Slo cum, still struggling with the floods of the Savannah River, to hurry his crossing atSister’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’sand Smith’s Divisions on the 3d February. The weather was bitter cold, and Generals Mower and Smith led their divisions in person, on foot, waded the swamp, made a lodgment below the bridge, and turned on the brigade which guarded it, driving it in confusion and disorder towards Branchville. Our casualties were one officer and seventeen men killed, and seven men wNounded, who were sent to Pocotaligo.

The line of the Salkehatchie being thus broken, the enemy retreated at once behind the Edisto, at Branchville, and the whole army was pushed rapidly to the South Carolina Railroad at Midway, Hamburg (or Logy’s Station), and Graham’s Station. The Seventeenth Corps, by threatening Branchville, forced the enemy to burn the railroad bridge, and Walker’s bridge below, across the Edisto. General Kilpatrick * had, nmeanwhile, come up with his cavalry, and * Judson Kilpatrick was born in New Jersey succeeding year he was appointed to command about 1840, and graduated at West Point in 1861. a cavalry brigade, and in June, 1863, was commiisHe was immediately commissione,d as captain in sioned a brigadie:-general of volunteers. In this the Fifth New York Volunteers (Duryea’s year he became noted as one of the niost d(lashing Zouaves), and, during the summer of 1861, became cavalry officers of the army, distinguishing himcolonel of a New York cavalry regiment. In the self in the campaign of Gettysburg, and in tho 710

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. proceeded to threaten Augusta, skirmishing sharply with Wheeler’s Cavalry. General Slocum reached Blackville on the 10th. The rebels at this time occupied Augusta, Aken, Branchville, and Charleston. WVhen, therefore, the army on the 11 th was on the railroad firom Midway to Johnson’s Station, the enemy’s forces were divided, and he could no longer hold Charleston. Titfe Seventeenth Corps now pushed for Orangeburg, 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. Branchville, the point of junction of the South Carolina and Columbia Railroad, being turned, like Charleston, it fell of itself, and Sherman marched direct upon Columbia, 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 15th, 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 firont 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’, twentyfive miles north of Columbia. 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, dep6ts, and machinery useful in war to the enemy, but to spare all dwellings and harmless property, whether of a public or private character. General Wade Hampton, who commanded the rebel rearguard, 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 smouldering fires, set by Hampton’s order, and which soldiers and citizens had labored hard to extinguish, were rekindled 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 unmana-gable, and, until four A. M. ofthe 18th, 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.

Sherman, with many of his generals, was up all night laboring to save houses operations in Virginia during the autumn. After’ring Sherman’s march to the coast, commanded conducting a daring raid towards Richmond in the the cavalry of the expeditionary force. lie held a early part of 1864, he was appointed, in the spring, similar command in the succeeding campaign from to command a cavalry division id Sherman’s Savannah to North Carolina; at the conclusion of army, and on May 13th was wounded in a skir-which he was brevetted a majorgeneral of vol, mish near Resaca. In August he returned to uniteers. duty, accompanied the army into Atlanta, and, du 711

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HEISTORY OF TIIE GREAT’ REBELLION. and protect families thus suddenly deprived of shelter and home. “I disclaim,” he says 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 unconsumed. And without 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 stoi cism,’ but from folly and want of sense in filling it with lint, cotton, and tinder. Our officers and men on duty worked well to extinguish the flames; but others not on duty, including the officers who had long been imprisoned there, rescued by us, may have assisted in spread ing the fire 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 men dacious 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, destroyed the rail road, and reached Rocky Mount on the 23d, on which day he was joined by the Twentieth Corps. Kilpatrick followed and demonstrated on Charlotte, to which point Beauregard had retreated from Columbia, aind where he was expecting to be joined by Cheatham’s Corps of Hood’s old army. The rains continued 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 ulp the railroad between that place and Charleston. The latter was beaten back by the enemy’s horse. On the 3d of March the Seventeenth Corps entered Cheraw, the enemy retreating across the Pedee.

While these events were occurring, the proceedings of the rebel Congress had beaim 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 Government 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 fi’om which nothiig seemed likely to rescue it. Inl accordance with a resolution of the rebel Congress, and as a last means of making head agaiist the rapidly advancing armies of the IUn,ioni, Jefferson Davis had appointed Generil Lee to the chief command of the entire military force. Lee’s order announcing that he assume this post is dated February 9th. General Joseph E. Johnston, between whom and Jefferson D,ivis a deep animosity had long existed, had been virtually retired firom the almy after the fall of Atlanta. Public opinion so strongly demanaded( his restoration that Davis was forced to yield, and he w’.s reinst;ited(l, and placed in immediate command of the forces op)posed to Sherman, in the place of Beauregard, who wrote to the ]el-)el President that the general sentiment of the public, andcl partieularly that of the Aiiney of the Tennessee, was so urgent for Johnston’s restorltion to command that he was induced to join his wish to theirs; but hlie did not wish 712

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HISTORY OF’TH GREAT REIELLION. to be removed from his present field of operations, but preferred to serve under his old comrade. Johnston’s order assuming 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 11th 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 camnp of Colonel Spencer’s Brigade, and the house in which Kil atrick and Spencer had their quarters. The surprise was complete, but Kilpatrick quickly succeeded in rallying his men, on foot, in a swamp near by, and, by a prompt attack, well followed lup, regained his artillery, horses, camp, and e%very 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 Davidson here came up the river from Wilmington, and carried back dispatches fiom Sherman to Terry and Schofield. The gunboat AEolus also arrived at Fayetteville. At this time Johnston, the old antagonist of Sherman, had begun to get his forces well in hand, and to concentrate them at Raleigh, on Sherman’s flank. Beauregard, falling back firom Columbia, had been reenforced by Cheathamin’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 experienced Johnston, made up an army superior to Sherman’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 undertaken. He could no longer move at will with an overwhelming force, regardless of the enemy. Kilpatrick was ordered to move up the plankro.ld to and beyond Averysboro’, to be followed be four divisions of the left wing. In like mainer, Howard wag 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 o1n Wedtesday, the 15th of March. Slocum, preceded by Kilpatrick’s Cavalry, moved to Kyle’s Landing, Kill)atrick skirmishing heavily wib the enemy’s rear-guand about three aniles beyond, near Taylor’s Hole Creek. At Kilpatrick’s request, Slocum sent forward a brigade of infantry to hold a line of barricades. Next morning the column advanced in the same order, and developed the enemy, with artillery, infantry, and cavalry, in an intrenched posi 713,

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HISTORY OF TE GREAT REBELLION. tion, in front of the point where the road branches off towards Goldsboro’, through Bentonville. Hardee, with twelve thousand men, in retreating from Fayelteville, halted in the narrow swampy neck between Cape Fear and South Rivers, in hopes, by checking Sherman, to save time for the concentration of Johnston’s armies at some point to his rear, namely, Raleigh, Smithfield, or Goldsboro’. It was necessary to dislodge him, that we have the use of the Goldsboro’ road. Slocum was therefore ordered to press and carry the position, only difficult by reason of the nature of the ground, which was so soft that horses would sink 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 (Rhett’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 artillery (Winniger’s), well posted, under the immediate direction of Major Reynolds, Chief of Artillery of the Twentieth 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 Williams, was ordered to draw back his cavalry and mass it on the extreme right, and, in concert with Jackson’s right, to feel forward for the Goldsboro’ road. He got a brigade on the road, but it was attacked by 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 sixtyfive 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 River, and took the Goldsboro’ apad. In the mean times Howard’s column was moving towards Goldsboro’, vid Bentonville, and on the night of the 18th was at Lee’s Store, ten miles south of Slocum, who was on the road, five miles from Bentonville, and twentyseven miles from Goldsboro’, at a point crossed by the road firom Clinton to Smithfield. General Sherman, anticipating no further opposition from the enemy, directed Howard to move his right wing by the new Go]dsboro’ 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 Dibbrell’s Cavalry, but 714

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HISTORY OF THE GRXAT REELLIOl. soon found his progress impeded by infantry and artillery. Johnston had moved by night from Smithfield, with great rapidity, and without unnecessary wheels, intending to overwhelm the left flank before it could be relieved by its cooperating columns. The enemy attacked the head of the Union column, gaining a tem porary advantage, and took three guns’and caissons of Carlin’s Division, driving the two leading brigades back on the main body. Slocum promptly deployed 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 dis tinct assaults by the combined forces of Hloke, Hardee, and Cheatham, under the immediate command of General Johnston himself, without giving an inch of ground, and doing good execution on the enemy’s ranks, especially with 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, delayed somewhat by want of provisions, but able to march so as to make Goldsboro’ on the 21st, and Terry was at or near Faison’s Dcp6t. Orders were at once dispatched to Schofield to push for Goldsboro’, and to make dispositions to cross Little River, in the direction of Smithfield, as far as Millard; to Terry to move to Cox’s Bridge, lay a pontoon bridge, and establish a crossing; and to Blair to make a night-march to Falling Creek Church; and at daylight, the right wing, Ho6ward, 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 Goldsboro’ 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 lefti flank, and had constructed a line of parapet connecting with that towards Slocum, in the form of a bastion, its salient onahe main Goldsboro’ road, interposing 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 Slocurg. 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 Neuse, south of Goldsboio’, holdinm the rebel army in close contact with the enemy, ready to fight him if he ventured outside his parapets and swampy obstructions. 715,

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HISTORY OF‘1E GREAT REBELLION. Thus matters stood about Bentonville on 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 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 by the skirmish line fiom 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 mnen wounded, and three officers and two hundred and twentythree men missing, taken prisoners by the enemy; total, one thousand two hundred and forty-seven. Slocum buried on the field one hundred and sixty-seven rebel dead, and took three hundred and thirtyeight prisoners. General Howard reported the losses of the right wing, at two officers and thirtyfive men killed, twelve officeirs and two hundred and eightynine 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 eightyseven prisoners. The cavalry of Kilpatrick was held in reserve, and lost but few, if any. Our a.ggregate loss at Bentonville was one thousand six hundred and forty-six.

Thus the 21st of March found Sherman in virtual possession of Goldsboro’, the real objective of the campaign, together with its two railroads to Wilmington and Beaufort, 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 Savann,ah, and were now prepared to enjoy, i, the camps assigned to them around Goldsboro’, a period of muchneeded rest, and an opportunity to replenish their worinout clothi’ng and equipments. The followi,ng congratulatory order by General Sherman announced the result of his campaign: “tHEAD-QUAtTF.RS fMILITARY DIVISION OF THE MISSISSIPPI, “IN

THE FIELD, NEAPR ]ENTONVILI,E, SE. C., “i]~arch 22, 1865. “SPECIAL FIELD

ORDERS-N-o. 35. “The General Commanding announces to the army that yesterday it beat, on its chosen ground, the concentrated armies of our enemy, who lias fled in disorder, leaving his dead, wounded, and prisoners in our hands, and burning his bridges on his retreat. 716

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. “On the same day, MajorGeneral Schofield, from Newbern, entered and occupied Goldsboro’, and MajorGeneral Terry, from Wilmington, secured Cox’s Bridge crossing, and laid a pontoon bridge across Neuse River, so that our campaign has re ulted in a glorious success& After a march of the most extraordinary character, nearly five hundred miles, over swamps and rivers deemed impassable to others, at the most inclement season of the year, and drawing our chief supplies from a poor and wasted country, we reach our destination in good health and condition. “I thank the army, and assure it that our Government and people honor them for this new display of the physical and moral qualities which reflect honor upon the whole nation. “You shall now have rest, and all the supplies that can be brought from the rich granaries and storehouses of our magnificent country, before again embarking on new and untried dangers “W. T. SHERMAN, Maor-Ge.neral Commanding.” CHAPTER LXXV. Grant’s Preparations for a Final Movement.-Rebel Attack on Fort Steadman.-Disas trous 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 Rich. mond.-Pursuit of Lee.-His Surrender to Grant.-End of Campaign. As March approached its close, preparatious began to be made by Grant for that grand movement on the enemiy’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 laist 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 southward 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, certainly, 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 firequent reviews of corps and subdivisions, which were witnessed by President Lincoln and a distinguished party of visitors, gave the camps a festive appearance. At daylight on the 25th of earch, 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 carrying 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 Mcxilvrey. Just beyond Fort Steadman, and about three-eighths of a mile distant, was Fort Haskell; and between the two were mortar batteries 11 and 12. Simultaneously 717

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 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 Harrison, 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 off the guns and garrisons from the forts and batteries, and threat. ening 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 de6p6ts and supplies at that point. The seizure of our base would have effectually 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 hundred 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 inth 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 the captured guns against the rest of the line, and speedily occupied mortar batteries 9, 10, and 11, adjoining Fort Steadman.

His onward rush, however, was now checked by Fort Haskell, 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 nossed upon Fort Steadman. A tremendous cannonade burst frog 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, iiflicting on the latter a loss of Inearly two hundred men killed and wounded. But soon the concentrated fire of our artillery, and the determined advance of Hartranft on all sides, were too much for hinm He fell back into the fort, and then beyond the fort, down the hill, 718

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NISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 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 seventeen 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 al rules of discipline, began to plunder the officers’

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 advantsges 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 intrenchments, night closed upon our lines still advanced. The following are extracts from General Meade’s congratulatory order: “The Mfajor-General Commanding announces to the army the success of the operations of yesterday. “The enemy, with a temerity for which he has paid dearly, massed his forces, and succeeded, through the reprehensible want of vigilance of the Third Brigade, First Division, Ninth Corps, in breaking through our lines, capturing Fort Steadman, and batteries 9, 10, and 11. “The prompt measures taken by MajorGeneral Parke, the firm bearing of the troops of the Ninth Corps in the adjacent portions of the line held by the enemy, and the conspicuous gallantry of the Third Division of this corps, for the first time under fire, together with the energy and skill displayed by BrigadierGeneral Hartranft, its leader, quickly repaired this disaster; and the enemy were driven from Fort Steadman and our lines, with heavy losses in killed and wounded, leaving in our hands eight battleflags and over nineteen hundred prisoners. “The enemy being driven from the front of the Ninth Corps, the offensive was assumed by the Sixth and Second Corps; the enemy by night was driven from his in. trenched picket line, and all his efforts to recover the same, which were particularly determined and persistent on the Second Corps’

front, were resisted and repulsed with heavy losses, leaving with the Sixth Corps over four hundred prisoners, and with the Second Corps two battleflags and over three hundred prisoners. “The result of the day was the thorough defeat of the enemy’s plans, the capture of his strongly intrenched picket line under the artillery fire of his main works, and the capture of ten battleflags and about two thousand eight hundred prisoners-a result on which the MajorGeneral Commanding heartily congratulates the army. “Two lessons can be learned from thee operations: one, that no fortified line, however strong, will protect an army from an intrepid and audacious enemy, unless vigilantly guarded; the other, that no disaster or misfortune is irreparable, where energy and bravery are displayed in the determination to recover what is lost and to promptly assume the offensive. - “The Major.-General Commanding truststhese lessons will not be lost on this army. The total loss of the enemy in th6 several encounters of the 25tb must have reached five thousand; that of the Union army was offi. cially stated at two thousand three hundred and ninety. 719

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HISTORY OF THIE GREAT REBELLION. The design of Lee to evacuate Petersburg and Richmond 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 ene my 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 fruitlessly attempted, viz., to turn the enemy’s right by overlapping it, and to seize the Southside Railroad. The Sec ond 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 preserve the lines in front of Petersburg intact, the works evacuated by the Second and Fifth Corps were immediately filled by detachments firom the Twentyfourth and Twentyfifth Corps, com prising 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 Mlerritt, pro ceeded by the Jerusalem plankroad to Reams’s Station, on the Weldon road, and thence to Dinwiddie, which was reached on the same day. Meanwhile, the advance by the Second and Fifth Corps was rogressing favorably. The Sixth Corps had its Jeft on Hatcher’s Run. he 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 Vaughan 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 Miles’s Division of the Second Corps and the right of the Fifth Corps, the line of the latter extending across the Quaker road and within two or three miles of Dinwiddie CourtHouse. At Gravelly Run, the Fifth Corps encountered opposition for the first time.

Very soon our troops were drawn up in position, awaiting attack. 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 cverwIlm it, but Crawford and Ayres coming into position, he withdrew, after a sharp skirmish, with a loss of about five hundred. That of tle Fifth Corpl)s 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 catcher’s Run. A portion of the Twentyfourth Corps was on its right, vith the two divisions of the Twentyfifth on the right of the, latter. The Sixth and Ninth Corps were to the right of the Twentyfifth. Early in the morning, Sheridan connected I - 720

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MISTORY OF TILE GREAT REBELLION. his right with Warren’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’-s Five Foiks.

H-is right was com manded by Anderson, and Pickett’s Division of Anderson’s Corps held the extreme right. His intrenchmeuits completely covered the White Oak road, which runs from the Boyd*)n I()ad to the Southside Railroad. From the White Oak road up towards Hatcher’s Run the enenmy’s troops were in strong force. Ile baffled all oltir attempts 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-foulthls of a mile, and lay fronting northward, 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 right of the Fifth Corps lay the Second, which now had its right near Hatcher’s Rtn, while its left rested oil the Boydton plankroael, near Burgess’s Tavern, about one mile south of the bridge across Hatcher’s Run. Sheridan continued to cover our left flank, an(l remained at Dinwiddie. On Friday, the 31st, began a movement having for its object the po.w session 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 thlree of them lead hack to the Southside Railroad, the carrying of the juiction 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 advancte. Early on Friday miorning the Fifth Corps began by a left flank movement to advance upon the White Oak Toad, 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 Avres’s Division to break and fall to the rear. The enemy immediately rallied friom lois works and charged Ayres’s Division, with all his old elan. Our troops resisted stubbornly, and suffered severe losses before they would yield. But nothing could resist the impetuous onset of the enemv’s columns, which, handled with great skill, swept the field.

Crawfo;‘d, next attacked, followed the fate of Ayres, and Griffin followed the fate of Crawbford. 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 infintry advance so far, turned his forces towards tld task of cutting off the cavalry. The failure of the Fifth Corps to advance greatly exposed the cavalry, and c}ecked the intended movement on Five Forks. About noon the enemy attacked the cavalry, and by five 6’clock had drineii them also back several miles to the Boydton road.* But now he had encountered our entire force. -Ierritt’s troops were reformed, and Custer’s Division, witl Capeli:rt on the left and Pennington on the right, held a firm position. The enemy, who had been reenforced with a part of Pickett’s and Johnson’s Divisions-the troops.

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. employed against the Fifth Corps-came down with a furious charge, cheering and gallantly advancing. Very bard fighting took place here. But our artillery in position and our very large force of cavalry now rallied, and eventually forced him to desist. A few desperate charges left our men immovable, and the enemy, well content with his day’s work, drew off to the woods. Our forces immediately intrenched.

Meantime the Fifth Corps, having reformed again, advanced as tlhe enemy retired. Following up the advance, they carried an earthwork, and took position on the White Oak road, east of Five Forks. Si multaneous with this movement, the Second Corps swung forward in support, followed by the Twentyfourth Corps, the troops making a general advance of about threefourths of a mile. The results of the day were, upon the whole, a success to the enemy. He had driven us back firom our advaned positions and had foiled our plans. Thanks, however, to our weIl-served batteries and preponderance in numbers, he had been checked in turn. The Federal losses were about three thoiu sand. The eueney’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, threefourths of a mile fi-om 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 Twentyfourth Corps, which, being taken by surprise, immediately broke to the rear, and the enemy planted lhis coloi-s on the works. The men were, however, soon rallied, and drove the enemy out. Heavy skirmishing 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 ie now controlled upward of thirty thousand men. This large force was superior to any thing the enemy could oppose to it at Five FoPks firom his long line, reaching fi-omn Petersburg to Dinwiddie. The plan of Sheridan was to penetrate the enemy’s lines so as to envelop Five Forks and capture it. The cavalry started for Itheir appointed positions at daybreak of Saturday, Custer and Devin slowly driving the enemy towards the left of their works on the White Oak road.

These divisions now dismounted, and fought with 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 steadily up to the enemy’s intrenchments on all sides. The enemy fell slowly back through the broken countrrto his main position, delivering a terrific fire upon our men, wlo 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 enemy’s flank and rear, and the rest of his troops pressig 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. Th;e enemy fell back stubbornly for some distance, and then made a decisive stand. Strongly intrenched, and with a blt 722

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. tery in position, they raked the advancing columns of Griffin, Warren 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 whiz poured from the rebel works were too much for the men, and they staggered back appalled. Their high courage, however, 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 way, and Sheridan’s forces rushed in. After another fierce struggle the position was ours, and Sheridan stood, at halfpast one o’clock, P. m., upon the blood-stained works, master of from four thousmd to six thousand prisoners, eight guns, and several thousand muskets, having sustained a loss of about thirtyfive hundred dead and wounded.

Sheridan being thus in possession of the works on the enemy’s light, at four o’clock on the morning of Sunday, April 2d, orders fbr 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 reenforce his lines, so that the environment of PetersbLurg upon the south side was perfect, and so strong as to repel any attempt of the enemy to break through. The extension 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 prepared 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 firont of Forts Welch and Fisher. The Second Corps was in advance, with its three divisions arranged in numerical order firom right to left. A portion of the Twenty-tbourth Corps was brought up in support of the Sixth. While the formation was going on, a terrific cannonade showered missiles upon the columns. It was early dawn when the troops pushed forward. Getty and WVheaton, 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 Railroad, and commenced tearing it up. Here he found the Twelity-fourtlv Corps, which, between the Sixth and Second, had been equally fortunate., The right division of tie Second Corps and the two divnisions of the Twentyfourth had captur!d 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 Twentyfourth marching in to the support of the Sixth, and Wheaton pressing over to the aid of the Ninth. The enemy, from a strondhg position in the rear of the captured 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 sip. and the 7913

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. Twentyfourth, 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 left close to the Appomattox, south of the city. It had captured about two thousand prisoners, id about twenty guns. During the attack of the Sixth Corps, the Ninth, on the right, advanced against Fort Mahone, one of the strongest positions on the enemy’s lines, which had been weakened, 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 position was too important to be so sacrificed. Commanding Fort ahone was an interior work, from which the enemy opened a murderous fire on our troops. The latter advanced 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 oni Sunday afternoon began transporting troops to Richmond, and thence beyond. On Monday morning both cities were fot,lid 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 opl)ositioi), and on entering the city was greeted with hearty welcome fiom the mass of the people. The mayor went out to meet him and to surrender the city, but missed him on the road. General Weitzel fotind much suffering and povetrty among the population, who number’ed only about twenty thousand, half of them of African descent. Previous to evacluating 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 hundred pieces. Five thousand muskets were found in one lot, also thirty ocomotives and three hundred cars. All the rebel vessels had been destroyed except an unfinished ram. The Tredegar Works were unharmed, and the machinery was taken under General Weitzel’s orders. Libby Prison and Castle Tlunrder, 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 firom ]ichmond, reached Ameia CourtHouse on the 4th, and on the 5th Sheridan wias at Jettersville, whence he sent word to Grant that he could see no escal)e for Lee. The cavalry and the 724 f

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. Fifth Corps lay across the railroad, and in the rear was the Second Corps, with the Sixth supporting. The two last were under General Meade. On the 4th, two divisions of the Ninth Corps marched firom Petersburg to Ford’s Station, on the Southside road, about twenty miles west of Peteirsburg. On the 5th it started again, and, still mov ing on the-Cox road, towards Burkesville, along the railroad, camped at night at Wellesville, twentyone miles distant from the latter point.

The next day, the 6th, it pressed on along the same road, and en camped 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 nortihward. Custer’s Division of cavalry lay on the right flank, and ]iAcKenzie’s on the left. The infantry line was formed with the Sixth Corps on the right, the Fifth iii the centre, and the Second on the left. On the 6th began our final manceuvres. 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 Amnelia CourtHouse. Sooii after moving, trustworthy intelligence was received that the enemy was, moving towairds Farmville. The direction of the Second and Fifth Corps was imnmediately ch:nged firom 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 charges were promptly made, the Second Corps soon becoming engaged with the enemy near Deatoliville, driving him across Sailor’s Creek to the Appomattox. The Fifth Corps made a long march, but its positionl pi-evente(l 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 Lieutennnt-Ge)elral 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 Coips, and, after inflicting some loss, again retired across the Appomattox at IIigh Bridge, where he captured some troops stationed tlieie to hold the bridge, which hlie destroyed, and retreated upon Lynchburg. The position of Lee was now hopeless. His army had dwindled to a sm-all force, and this was now almost surrounded by troops greatly superior in ntlhbers and flushed with victory. Hancock’s column had left’*NVinchcster on the 4th, for a march up the Sheiiandoah Valley, well equipped and in good spirits, and ready to seize Lynchbbirg; but their services were not required. Stoneman’s column had alread(ly reached Bdonc, Noith Carolina, and would have aided in the capture of Lee’s army, were not Sheirman’s grantd army already advancing in overwhelming numbers upoii Johnston’s army, and the hour of surrender had struck. On the 7th April, after the battle of Barnesville, Grant opened correspondence as follows: 725

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT -REBELLION. L GENERAL GRANT TO GENERAL LEE. “April 7.

General R. E. LE, Commanding C. S. A.: “GENERAL:-The result of the last week must convince you of the hopelessness of further resistance on the part of the Arrpy of Northern Virginin in this struggle. I feel that it is so, and regard it as my duty to shift from myself the responsibility of any further effusion of blood, by asking of you the surrender of that portion of the 0. S. army known as the Army of Northern Virginia. “Very respectfully, your obedient servant, “U. S. GRANT, ” lieutenantGeneral Conmmanding Armies of the United States.” IL GENERAL LEE TO GENERAL GRANT.

“April 7. “GENERAL:-I have received your note of.this date. Though not entirely of the opinion you express of the hopelessness of further resistance on the part of the Army of Northern Virginia, I reciprocate your desire to avoid useless effusion of blood, and therefore, before considering your proposition, ask the terms you will offer, on condition of its surrender. “R. E. LEE, Geoers. “To LieutenantGeneral U.S. GRANT, Commanding Armies of the United States.” III. GENERAL GRANT TO GENERAL

LEE. “April 8. “To General R. E. LEE, Commanding Confederate States Army: ‘GENERAL:-Your note of last evening, in reply to mine of the same date, asking the conditions on which I will accept the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia, is just received. “In reply, I would say that peace being my first desire, there is but one condition that I insist upon, viz.: “That the men surrendered shall be disqualified for taking up arms against the Government of the United States until properly exchanged. “I will meet you, or designate officers to meet any officers you may name for the same purpose, at any point agreeable to you, for the purpose of arranging definitely the terms upon which the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia will be received. “U. S. GRANT, “LieutenantGeneral Comnmanding the Armies of the United Sateas.” IV. GENERAL LEE TO GENERAL

GPAN-T. of lt as )la iry en lhe ‘0~~ “R. E. LEE, ” General C(mfederate States Armies. ” To LieutenantGeneral GRANT, Commanding Armies of the United States.” 726 Vf

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HISTORY OF THIE GREAT RFBELLION. GENERAL GRANT TO GENERAL LEE. ” April 9.

“General R. E. LEE, Commanding C S. A.: “GENERAL:-Your note of yesterday is received. As I have no authority to treat on the subject of peace, the meeting proposed ten A. M., to-day, could lead to no good. I will state, however, general, that I am equally anxious for peace with yourself; and the whole North entertain the same feeling. The terms upon which peace can be had are well understood. By the South laying down their arms they will hasten that most desirable event, save thousands of human lives, and hundreds of millions of property not yet destroyed. “Sincerely hoping that all our difficulties may be settled without the loss of another life, I subscribe myself, very respectfully, your obedient servant, “U. S. GRANT, ” LieutenantGeneral U. S. A.” VI. GENERAL LEE TO GENERAL GRANT. “April 9, 1865. GENERAL:-I received your note of this morning on the picket line, whither I had come to meet you and ascertain definitely what terms were embraced in your proposition of yesterday with reference to the surrender of this army. “I now request an interview in accordance with the offer contained in your letter of yesterday for that purpose. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, p ” R. E. LEE, General. “To LieutenantGeneral GRANT, Commanding United States Armies.” VII. GENERAL GRANT TO GENERAL

LEE. ”’ April 9. “General R. E. LEE, Commanding Confederate States Armies: “Your note of this date is but this moment (11.50 A. M.) received. “In.

consequence of my having passed from the Richmond and Lynchbulrg road to the Farmville and Lynchburg road, I am at this writing about four miles west of Walter’s Church, and will push forward to the front for the purpose of meeting you. “Notice sent to me on this road where you wish the interview to take place winl meet me. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, “U.S. GRANT, Liutenant-General.” THE TERMS. “APPOMATTOX

COURT-HOUSE, April 9. “General R. E. LEE, Commanding C. S. A.: “In accordance with the substance of my letter to you of the 8th instant, I propose to receive the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia, on the following terms, to wit: “Rolls of all the officers and men to be made in duplicate, one copy to be given to an officer designated by me, the other to be retained by such officers as you may designate. 0 “The officers to give theiu individual paroles not to take arms against the United States until properly exchlanged, and each company or regimental commander sign a like parole for the men of their commands. “The arms, artillery, and public property to be packed and stacked, and turned over to the officers appointed by me to receive them. This will not embrace the side-arms of the officers, nor their private horses or baggage. “This done, each officer and man will be allowed to return to their homes, not to be disturbed by United States authority so long as they observe their parole and the laws in force where they may reside. Very respectfully, “U. S.

GRANT, Lieutenant-GeneraU” 727 0 T.

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HISTORY OF TILIE GREAT’ REBELLION. TIlE SURRENDER. “HEADQUARTERS ARMY Or NoRTHERx VIRGINIA, “April 9, 1865. “Lieutenant General U. S. GRANT, Commanding U.S. A.: GENERAL:-I have received your letter of this date, containing the terms of surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia as proposed by you: as they are substantialIy the same as those expressed in your letter of the 8th instant, they are accepted. I will proceed to designate the proper officers to carry the stipulations into effect. “Very respectfully, your obedient servant, “R. E. LEE, Gweneral.” On Sunday, the 9th day of April, 1865-a date which will ever hereafter be memorable in American annals-iin a farm-house near Appomattox CourtHouse, the capitulation 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-thle day which com memorates 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, n,t only at the unprecedented 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 throu gh the lines of Lee and his army. But it was urged that this would have been hu miliating to General Lee and lhis officers, and that it was not the wish or desire of the Government or the Union commtnanders to act towardl them in any way that would tend to irritate thelir feelings, or make their position more intolerable than it actually was. During Sunday night and MIonday, large numbers of the rebels, oflicers as well as pivates, made their escape fronm the lines, and scattered through the woods, many of whom returned at once to their homes. Althoughl Lee probably had upward 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 niuskets 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. Upward of ten thousand had been killed and wounided in battle, and( considerably over twenty thousand had been taken prisoners or had deserted. Our total captures of artillery, during the battles and pursuit, and at the surrender, amounted to;ae hundred and seventy pieces. The surrender of Ibee was followe(l by the voluntary surrender of most of the regular troops of the enemy in the Shenandoah. On the 15th, LieutenantColonel Farrell,’ of Miosbl)y’s cormmand, came, under flag of truce, to our picket lind!; on the Kerristown 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, 3losby surrendered his forces to General Chapman, at Berryville, receiving th)o )4v 2 8

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. terms granted to Lee. General Rosser was also permitted to have his command included in the cartel. The exact number of men in Mosby’s command did not vary much from sevene hundred.

WVith the announcement of the fall of Richmond and Petersburg, and the capitulation of Lee, the loyal population of the country surrenderied itself to rejoicing, and it eemed 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 le.s thankful for the speedy approach of peace than those who had sincerely deprecated hostilities and advocated peace on principle. Both parties had gained their end, and both, disregarding for the time the manner in which it had been gained, were brought into close sympathy. The war party, however, by the very extravagance of its delight, showed how severe had been the effort to reman true to its often avowed purpose of conquering a peace. Duri,g, the advance movement of Grant, President Lincoln remained at the headquarters 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 succeedilig morning, while Davis was attending service at the Monumtent.al Church in Richmond, an orderly, splashed from head to foot with mite, entered the building, strode hastily up the aisle, and handed him a dispatch fi’om 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 frequlently boasted his ability to hold aga,inst the utmost power of thie Union, and two days afterwards, Mr.

Lincoln 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.

CHIAPTER LXXVI. Raids in Kentucky and East Tennessee.-Dcfeat and Death of Morgan.-Successes of Stoneman and Burbridge. Destruction of Works at Saltville.-Stoneman’s Last Raid.-Capture of Salisbury.-Negotiations between Sherman and Johnston. Agree meat for Surrender by Johlnstoldisavowed at Washington.-Reasonris Assigned. Final Surrender of Johnston.- Wilson’s great Raid in Alabama and Georgia. Cap ture of Selma, Montgomery, and Macon. lExchanges of Prisoners.-Cruel Treatment by Rebels of Union Prisoners.-Ilorrors of Andersonville.-Rebel Plots in Canada. -The St. Albans Raid.-Execution of Beall and Kennedy.-Attempts to Fire Amer ican Cities and Introduce Pestileic% IT is now necessary to go back a fewv months, and notice briefly several events which had tn indirect, thouugi not unimportant, bearing on the grand result related in the previous chapter. It had long been a favorite theory with many experienced military men, that, in the 729

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. event of disaster before Richmond, Lee would retire with his army into Southwestern Virginia, 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 battle 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 Valley of the Mississippi, a Union army of corresponding strength was retained there. Knoxville was rendered doubly strong, and outlaying bodies of infantry and cavalry were pushed well up the railroad and the Holston River Valley, towards the Virginia 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. Neverthleless, the presence of scattered bodies of irregular rebel cavalry in Southwestern Virginia proved a source of constant alarm to the comparatively unprotected inhabitants of Eastei,n Kentucky. Darting unexpectedly through the gaps of the Cumberland [ountains, 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 Morgan, entered Kentucky through Pound Gap, St the head of two thousand five hundred mounted men, and pushe(d directly towards Lexingtoii, plundering and destroying on the waiy, and sprea(li-ing consternation on every side. Oii the 8th, Paris was captured and( plundered by a portion of his forces. The next day, however, General Buurbridge, who had been on Morgan’s track from Virginia, came up with him near Mllount Sterling, having marched ninety miles in twenty-four hours, and defeated him. By mounting his troopers on stolen horses, Moigan got rapidly away from Burbridge, and on the 10thl entered Lexington, where he burned the railroad station, and plundered the stores and private dwellings. The Union garrison, however, he]ld the fort. Thence he proceeded to CyntliMana, attacked and defebated two Ohio regiments under General Hobson, and captured the entire force, besides burning a considerable portion of the town. On the 12th, Burbridge, following hard on Morgan’s traces, overtook himn 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, cnearly four hundred prisoners, and one thousand horses. Burbridge also recaptured one hundred of Hobson’s men. The total Union loss did ot exceed one hundred and fifty.

A febw days later, Hobson and his staff were recaptured. By this defeat, the enemy were so completely broken up arnd demoralized, that they were glad to make their escape, in sniall scattered parties, into Virginia.

Morgan subsequently rallied the remnant of his force, but for some time no enterprise of consequence was undertaken by either side. The restless guerrilla could not, however, remain long unoccupied, and by the beginning of September his band was again in mo.ion, with the view of striking at the town of Greenvile, East Tennessee, on the 730

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HISTORY OF TiHE GREAT REBELLION. 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 comparative cessation of hostilities in East Tennessee, both sides merely watching each other. Publie 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 Breckinridge, who had been placed in command of the rebel troops in that quarter, and after pushing the enemy inside of his defensivre 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 this affair, Breckinridge, reenforced by the return of absentees 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 tlie 20th. The repulse of Gillem excited some apprehension for the safety of Eastern Kentuckly, and Burbridge began to concentrate troops beyond Lexington. Breckinridcge assumed the air of a conqueror in East Tennessee, issu mounted men, and a battery of horse artillery, he crossed the Cumberland River, attelurksville, and Uassing through Lebanon and Bardstown, reached rioandenh)urg, on the Ohio, onJuly 7th. Seizinga couple of s teamboats, h e trasportcd his me n across the river, and st arted on a rai d through St n ndi a n ou t fr thern Indiana and io. At first the unarmed populat ion, taken completely by surprise, could offer little resistance, but as the bohi raider adva nced, home guards and national troops bclcen to envie on hisp ath, until fin a l ly it becamne e nrecessary to make good his escape into Kentucky. lie moved towards Pomeroy, on the Ohio, with that object, but was. foiled in his attempt to ford the river, by the opportune arrivwl of Union gunboats, sent to head him (,ff. On the 21st his force, already greatly depleted by skirmishing and captures, was routed by General Ilobson, near Kyger’s Creek. Morgan, with five hundred men, succeeded in escaping; but, on the 26th, this remnant was surrounded and captured near Nqew Lisbon, Ohio, by Colonel Shackleford. In retaliation for the barbarous treatment of Colonel -Streight, who was captured by the rebels while on a raid through No)r-thern Georg,ia, Morgan wag confined in the Ohio penitentiary. whence, in the succeeding December, he succeeded in escaping. Early in January, 1864, he repaired to Richmond, was promoted to be a majorgeneral, and received[ a command in Southwestern Virginia. The remainder of his career is narrated in the text. * John II. Morgan was born near Lexington, Kentucky, about 1827. Ie serveld in the Metxican vwar first as private, then as second lieutenant in a regiment o,f Kentucky volunteers, and subse quently was eng:.ged a number of years in the mannficeture of domnestic goods. In the iall of 1 S61 he declared for secession, and raised an independent company of mounted men, which, in the succeed(lin spring,l hadl increased to a regiment. tie was now commissione(l a colonel in the reb el service, an(], after the commencement of military ope(rations in Tennessee, in 16S62, showed so much activity in harassing the Union rear, cutting off tr-ains, and interrupting railroad and telegraphic communication that he became the terror of the country through which he railed. T’he stories of his exploits at this time savored mnore of roman(e than reality. On May 5th he was strpl)jsed and routed at Lebanon, Tennessee, by Gilral Dumont, an(I in consequence took refilge for a while in East Tennessee, where he recruited his force. In July and August he was particularly active in indelpendient raidls against Union out During, the invasion of Kentucky by lragt, his command was attached to the re’oh army, and helped to cover the retreat, but sown afterwa,‘ds resumed the irregular wa,‘fare most congenial to his tastes. About this time he made a (lash into Huntsville, capturing v number of prisoners. In April, IS6m3, he was again surprised. and barely effected his escape. In the latter part of June, at the head of four thousand II i I 731. % y

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. ing a proclamation granting protection 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 consummation 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 Ten nessee. On the 10th he left Knoxville with three cavalry brigades, under Burbridge and Gillem, and moved with great rapidity upon Bris tol, one hundred and thirty miles fiom Knoxville, where he arrived on the 14th, having severed communication between the rebel brigades of Vaughan and Duke, and left the former far in the rear. At Bristol, three hundred prisoners 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, Vaughan had succeeded min getting on the pike to the left of Bristol. One of our columns had preceded him, and burned the d6p6ts at Marion and Thomas’s Furnace, but had then turned off to the right.

Vaughan, on reaching Marion, set his brigade at work intrenching; but in a few hours, Gillem, who had pursued in a hard 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, Gilleni had captured, besides what has been recorded, 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’gforces, retiring frome Wytheville, were encountered near Mariin and repulsed by Breckinridg.e, who had moved his troops out from Saltville for that purpose on hearing of our withdrawal from Wytheville. But,-fortinately, Gilleni came utip with his brigade, on returning fromMIax Meadows, just as our troops were giving way, restored the fortunes of the day, captured eleven pieces of artillery, two hunchded prisoners, one hunidred and fifty negroes, and ninety-three waoiis, and Breckinrridge’s own headquarters, and (1ove that general back on Mount Airy. The whole action of the 18th at 732

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 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 morning 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;niles from Knoxville, and Saltville, nine miles beyond. At three o’clock P. hr. 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 destroyed by trampling it in the mud. The immense works, which could turn out, it was said, over five thousand bushels a day, and are among the largest in the woild, were very seriously injured. Nearly all the kettles were destroyed by punching out their heavy bottoms, and the vats, engines, and b)oilers 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 cooperative movement into Virginial and North Carolina.

Starting on March o10th, he moved rapidly to Boonie, North Carolina, and thence passing into the Yadkin River valley, lpushed northward for the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad, which he destroyed between Wytheville and Salem, Virginia. On April 6th he moved vi(t 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 General Gardiner, and fourteen pieces of artillery, under command of Colonel (late LieutenantGeneral) Pemberton, 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 four. teen pieces of artillery, and one thousand three hundred and sixty-four prisoners, including fiftyfive officers. The remainder of the force was chased throligli and several miles beyond the town, but scattered and escaped into the woods. During the stay of Sherman at Goldsboro’, a considerable number of promotions took place, and tli*
united forces, after being recruited and refitted, were reorganizel in accordance with the following order: “HEADQUARTERS MILITARY DIvISION OF

TIlE MISSISSIPPI, IN THE FIELD, } “GOLDSBOIOo NORTH I CAROLINA, April 1, 1865. f SPECIAL FIELD OADERS, NO. 44-EXTRACT. “. The following is announced as the organization of this army: “Right wing Army of the Tennessee, Fitteenth and Nineteenth Corps, MajorGen, eral 0. O. Howard, commanding. “Left wing-Army of Georgia, Fourteenth and Twentieth Corps, MajorGeneral E A Slocum, commanding. 733 0

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IIISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. “Centre-Army of Ohio, Tenth and Twentythird Corps, MajorGeneral J. W. Schofield, commanding.

Cavalry-Brevet MajorGeneral J. Kilpatrick, commanding. “8. Each of these commanders will exercise the powers prescribed by law for a general commanding a special department or army in the field. “9. MajorGeneral Jos. A. Mower is hereby, subject to the approval of the President, appointed to command the Twentieth CQrps, vice Slocum, promoted to a command of an army in the field. “10. BrigadierGeneral Charles Walcott is hereby transferred from the Army of the Tennessee to the Army of Georgia, for assignment to the command of a division made vacant. “11.

BrigadierGeneral Charles Ewing, having been promoted, is hereby relieved from staff duty at these headquarters, and will report to MajorGeneral Howard, for assignment to duty according to his rank. By order of MajorGeneral W. T. Sherman. “L. M. DAYTON, As6ista?it AdjutantGeneral.”

Finally, on April o10th, Sherman started his road-worn veterans once more on the track of his old antagonist, Johnston. On that d.y, Kil patrick moved his cavalry out on the road to Raleigh, and next day, the 11th, the infantry started in light marching order. The march was, however, quite deliberate and easy, as the railroad, 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 occupied, with only a slight skirmish on the outskirts, Johnston filling back upon-lHillsboro’. 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 command. 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 LieutenantGeneral. 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 Wa(de Hampton, the point of meeting was agreed upon. At Mr. James Bennett’s, a little hut on the left ot’ the Chapel Hill road, five miles from Durhamn’s Station, and thirty firom Raleigh, the meeting took place. Sherman was accompanied by his 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 WVade Hampton. At the first meeting between the generals no arrangement was perfected, but at a subseque4 meeting on the 18th, at which Breckinridge, then holding the ofiice of Secretary of War in the Coufederacy, was present, an agreement for a suspension of hostilities, together with a memorandum for a basis of peace, was signed in the following terms ”’ Memorandum or basis of agreement, made this ]8th day of April, A. D. 1865, near Durham’s Station, and in the State of North Carolina, by and between General Joseph E. Johnston, commainding the Confederate Army, and MajorGeneral William T. Sherman, commanding the Army of the United States in North Carolina, both present. 734 6

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HIISTORY OF TIlE GREAT RER3ELLION. “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 fortyeight hours-allowed. “Second. The Confederate armies now in existence to be d(sbanded and conducted to their several State capitals, there to deposit their arms and public property in the State arsenals, and each officer and man to execute and file an agreement to cease from acts of war, and abide action of both State #nd 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 several State Governments, in their officers and legislatures, taking oath prescribed by the Constitution of the United States, and where conflicting State Governments have resulted from the war, the legitimacy of all shall be submitted to the Supreme Court of the United States. “Fourth. The reestablishment of all Federal courts in the several States, with powers as defined by the Constitution and laws of Congress. “Fifth. The people and inhabitants of all States to be guaranteed, so far as the Executive can, their political righlts and franchise, as well as their rights of person and property, as defined by the Constitution of the United States and of States respectively. “Sixth.

The Executive authority of the Government of the United States not to disturb any of the people by reason of the late war, so long as they live in peace and quiet, and abstain from acts of armed hostility, and obey laws in existence at any place of their residence. “In general terms, war to cease; a general amnesty, so far as the Executive power of the United States can command, or on condition of disbandment of the Confederate armies, and the distribution of arms and resumption of peaceful pursuits by officers and men as hitherto composing the said armies, not being fully empowered by our respective principals to fulfil these terms, we individually and officially pledge ourselves to promptly obtain necessary authority, and to carry out the above pro, gtaamme. “W. T. SHERMAN, “(rijor-General Commanding the Army of the United States in North Carolina. ” J. E. JOHNSTON, “General Commanding Confederate States Army in Noi’th Carolina.” Upon the reception of this memorandum in Washington, on April 21st, a Cabinet meeting was held, at which the action of General Sherian was disapproved by the President, by the Secretai’y 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 telegram, which was penned by Mr.

Lincoln himself, at the Capitol, on the night of the 3d of March, should govern his action:-* “MWASHINGTON, March 3, 1865-12 P. M.

“LieutenantGeneral GRANT. “The President directs me to say to you that he wishes you to have no colnference with General Lee unless it be for the capitulation of General Lee’s army, or on some minor and purely military matter. Hbinstructs 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 subfnit them to no military conferences or conventions Meantime, you are to press to the utmost your military advantages. “EDWIN Mf-. STANTON, Secretary of War.” 0 * On the night of the 3d of March, while Presi-ponderinn a few minutes, took up his pen and dent Lincoln and( his Cabinet were at the Cal)itol, wrote with his own hand the ab’(,ve rel)ly, which a teleram firom Genelil Grant was brought to the he submitted to the Secretary of State and the SecretLry of War.

informing him thai General Lee Secretary of War. It was then dated, addressed had reqlested an interview orconference, to make and signed by the Secretary of War, and telean arrangement for terms of peace. General Grant’s graphed to General Grant. telegram was submiLted to MIr. Lincoln, who, after, 135 I

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HISTORY OF TIE G P_T.E_ REBELLION. The following are the reasons given by Secretary Stanton for disapproving the proceeding of Sherman: “First. It was an exercise of authority not vested in General Sherman, and on its face show thliat 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 government. ” Third. It undertook to reestablish the rebel State Government, 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 subdue the loyal States. “Fourth. By the restoration of the rebel authority in their respective States, they would be enabled to reestablish 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 tho United States Government. “Seventh. It practically abolished the confiscation laws, and relieved rebels of every degree, who had slaughtered our people, from all painiis 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. “Nainth. It formed no basis of true and lasting peace, but relieved rebels from the pressureof our victories, and left tlem in condition to renew their efforts to overthrow the United States Government, and subdue the loyal States, whenever their strength was recruited, and any opportunity should offer.” ~, General Grant immediately started for Raleigh, Sherman’s headl quarters, where he arrived on the 24th. From that point, he sent a disp)atch dated at nine o’clock on the samne night, statting that he had delivered to General Sherman the reply to his dispatch announcing his terms of negotiation with the rebel General Johnston, and that John ston was immediately infornmed by Sheiman that the truce was terminated, that civil matters could not be discussed in any convention betweeni military commanders, and that the terms accorded to Geneiral 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 Chattahoochee River not previously surrendered l)y Lee. Then, the articles being signed, the LieutenantGeneral intervened 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, herefoie, the paroling took place. The number of men surrendered and paroled was in the neighborhood of twentyfive thousand. One hundred and eight pieces of artillery were parked, with limbers, caissons, &c., cemplete; littie ammiunition was captured. :About fifteen thousand smallarms were given up. Orore than ten thousand men strayed off with their guns anii 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 0 736

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. without parole. The same thing happened, also, in the paroling 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 WVest. Having accomplished this duty, he was directed to concentrate a force at Waterloo aid 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 bead 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 command of all Northern and Middle Mississippi and Alabama, and set vigorously to work to reorganize the cavalry in his department. But it was beyond the power of even so energetic a commander as he to infuse life into the torpid body of the rebellion; and notwithstanding he issued orders declaring that illegal organizations of cavalry must be placed regularly in the service or leave the country, the border swarmed with roving bands of deserters, 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 Elytown, 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 p?osts, planted firmly in the ground, five feet high, and sharpened 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(efore the works could be reached. After a brief reconno ssance, one division, under General Long, was directed to attack on the right of the Summerville 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 Gereral Chalmers having attacked L6ng’s picket, posted. on the creek to, cover his rear, Long, without waiting for the signal designated, imme  diately began the attack with two dismounted regiments from each 47 737

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION brigade, numbering in all but one thousand one hundred and sixty men; Long himself, together with his brigade commanders, 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 para pet, in a sudden and irresistible tide. The foe, though outnumbering the assailants, everywhere succumbed or fled. Nothing seemed able to stand before an onset of such swift and determined vigor. On parts of 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 Plantersville 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 hun dred 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 thirtypound Parrott 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.

Immediately 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 ill 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 rebellion. 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 Columbus, Georgia, situated on the east bank of the Chattahoochee, 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 hundred 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 Johnston. Suspecting, from the manner of the rebels, that this was only an expedient to gain time, Minty pushed rapidly forward, and rea(bed Macon just it time to save the fine briage across the Ocmnulgee, which the rebels were about to fire.

The city and defences were at once surrendered by Cobb. The captures comprised five general officers, viz., MajorGenerals Cobb and, Gustavus W. Smith, and BrigadierGenerals Mackall, Robertson, and Mercer, together with forty-five other officers, .0 138 0

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ISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. 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 exceedingly difficult country, had captured two hundred and forty pieces of artillery, of all calibres, 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 allude to other means employed by them to effect the same end, which were directly sanctioned by the rebel government, 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 suchi allusion the History of the Great Rebellion would be incomplete. If acts like the destruction of unarmed merchantmen 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 peacefut 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. For upward of a year after the commencement of the war, there was no regular system in operation for the general exchange of the prisoners captured on either side. Finally, 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 aftelr their capture. This remained in force until the succeeding summer, when difficulties occurred, inconsequence of the loose manner in which the rebel authorities 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 correspond. ence, the rebel Commissioner of Exchanges, Mr. Ould, proposed in the latter part of October, that’all officers and men, orr both sides, should be released in conformity with the provisions of the cartel, the excess on the one side or the other to be on parole. This proposition was rejected by General Meredith, the Union Commissioner, for the reason, among others, that the officer* and privates of the colored regiments, not being recognized 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 righlt to do so in accordance with the terms of the eartel had accrued to them, most of 739

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. the prisoners paroled by Grant and Banks at Vicksburg and Port Hud son. 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 considered hazardous to permit the rebels to have the control of so large an excess as twentyseven 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 unprecedented, and arose firom 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 encampments.

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 permitted to receive from the North, were, in many instances, stolen or withheld.

The rations issued to them were frequently of the most 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 ex changed, exhibited such frightful evidences of suffering and privation, that photographic representations of their appearance were taken, in order that the accounts of their condition might not seem overdrawn. The allegation of the rebel government, 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 thin disguise, and in terms too plain to be mistaken announced by their acts their intention to systematically destipy 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 This is a small island in the James Rlv&, op-Some found a poor shelter in a number of Sibley posite the Tredegar iron works, and in sight of the tents, rotten and full of holes; but thousands hal Libby Prison. Here, in an enclosure of less than sit no tents or shelter of any kind, and all were here acres. surrounded by an earthen wall and ditch, subjected alike to the heat of midsummer or the were confined at times from ten to twelve thou-cold of winter. Under such circumstances it is sand prisoners, who were turned in like so many not to be wondered at that the rate of mortality catte to find what resting-place they could was large. 740.

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. were attempted, and at Charlotte and Salisbury in North, Carolina, and E,illen and Andersonville 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 hideous reputation, and to the wretches who entered its precincts must have occurred the idea conltained in Dante’s inscription over the gates of Hell, “Who enters here must leave all hope behind.” It comprised an open space of about twentyfive 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 so covered with woods as to be nearly a forest, were frequently 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 unifortunate prisoners found a partial shelter by burrowing in the earth like wild animals, and upon the occupation of the place by the Union forces, the ground was discovered to be completely honeycombed 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 endured.

In a memorial addressed to President Lincoln in August, 1864, by Union officers confined in Charleston, occurs. the following passage with reference to the Andersonville prisoners: “They are fast losing hope and becoming 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 dreadful to believe. It was assumed that they must be greatly exaggerated, and that the rebel authorities were ignorant of the atrocities alleged to be committed there. Fortunately 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 termination’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 unnecessary cruelty to his pfsoners. The facts we have stated above were corroborated bymany Union soldiers, summonedas witnesses; but more valuable testimony, considering the source fromn 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 Rich mond, under date of August 5,1864: 741

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]HSTORY OF E GREAT REBELLION ” My duty requires me respectfully to recommend a change in the officer in command of the post, Brigadler-General J. H. Winder, and the substitution in his place of some one who unites both energy and good judgment with some feelings of humanity and consideration for the welfare and comfort (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 advocate 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 describe, and which is a disgrace to civilization-the condition of.which he might, by-the exercise of a little energy and judgment, even with the limited means at his command, have considerably improved.” Colonel Chandler, upon being called to the stand, verified the forego ing report, adding that he had nothing to retract; and stating that during his inspection he had a conversation with General Winder, who seemed very indifferent 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 shioul( be d(rained, better food furnished, and other sanitary measures adopted. Winder replied to him that he thought it would be better to let onehalf 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 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 barbalities 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 bythe 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 released from their sufferings. In contrast with the treatment 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 battlefield of the war, supplying to the sick and wounded the numberless little delicacies sd comforts 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. 1 742

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HISTORY OF GREAT RiBELLION. Among these men were some 6f 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 fbr any desperate enterprise. Their leaders, George N. Sanders, Beverly Tuckelr, Jacob Thompson, and men of like pro. clivities, spared no efforts to organize plots against the United States, in defiance of the neutrality of the country in which they resided, and, strange to say, the local authorities seemed indifferent to these attempts to abuse the right of asylum. In the latter part of 1863 a plot was set on foot by Sinders and his associates, under instructions fi’om the government at Richmond, to release twentyfive hundred rebel officers imprisoned on Johnson’s Island, in Lake Erie, who, in conjunction with a body of rebels in Canada, were to attack and destroy Buffalo and other lake cities. The American Consul-General at Miontreal, having received timely notice of this plot, laid the details before the Governor-General of Canada, by whom they were communicated on November I ith to the United States Government. The prompt measures taken by the latter to guard against the danger prevented the execution of the plot.

The British Government, however, seems to have taken no measures to arrest and punish the participators in this transaction. But 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 Vermont, fifteen miles from the Catiadiain 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 mortaily 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 discharged., 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 firom 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 attemnpting to throw a passenger train fiomn Buiffalo off the railroad track, which act he claimed to have perpetrated by virtue of his commission fbm the rebel government. He was tried and executed as a pitate, 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 railroa4
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 November‘25th, and, if successful, might have resulted e 743

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HISTORY OF g GREAT REBELLION. in a firightfiul sacrifice of property and life; but fortunately, it was committed to timid and unskilfil hands, and the fires kindled by them were soon extinguished. Captain Robert C.

Kennedy, of the rebel service, was subsequently arrested 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 passenger steamer Chesapeake, at New York, on December 19th, 1863, murdered one of the officers, and carried the vessel into a Nov:l Scotian port. She was subsequently restored to her owners, but her piratical captors, like so many of their associates in British America, went unwhipped 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. CHAPTER LXXVII. Peace Negotiations at Fortress Monroe.-Their Fruitless Issue.-Second Inauguration of Lincoln.-His Address.-Rejoicings at the Prospeot of Peace.-Assassination of Lincoln.-The Public Mourning.-Funeral Procession.-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 filed, 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 VicePresident, R. M. T. Hunter, of Virginia, and J.

A. Camrnpbell, of Alabama, who had been designated by Jefferson Davis as commissioners to act in behalf of the Confederacy. The President’s instructions were conveyed to Mr. Seward in the following terms:  “

EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, “fJariuary 31, 1865. ” Hon. WLIuAM H.

SEWARD, Secretqy of State: “You will proceed to Fortress MonroeL Virginia, there to meet and informally confer with Messrs. Stephens, Hunter, and Campbell, on the basis of my letter to F. P. Blair, Esq., of January 18, 1865, a cqpy of which you have. You will make known to them that three things are indispensable, to wit: First, the restoration of the national 7,14

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]ISTORY OF TILE GREAT REBELLION. authority thlroughout 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 message to Congress, andin the preceding documents. Third, no cessation of hostilities short of an end of the war, and the disbanding of all the forces hostile to the Government. You will inform them that all propositions of theirs not inconsistent with the above, wvill 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. ” ABRAIIAM LINCOLN.” On February 2d, the President himself left for Fortress Mlonroe, 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 conference was altogether informal, but enough was developed to show that the rebels would enter into no negotiations for peace, without first obtaining a recognition of their inde endence. ” What the insurgent party seemed chiefly to favor,” said Mr. Seward in a dispatch to the American minister in London, “was a postponement of the question of separation upon which the war is waged, and a mutual direction of the efforts of the Goveirnment, as well as those of the insurgents, to some extrinsic policy or scheme for a season, during which passions might be expected to subside, and the armies be reduced, and trade and intercourse between the people of both sections be resumed.” This was immediately rejected bv the President, who further declared that “the complete 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 emi by mutual agreement, without accomplishing any thing. In Fel)brury, 1865, the electoral vote for President was officially announce(d to be, for Lincoln, two hundred and twelve, for MicClellan, twentyone. Andrew Johnson was also announced to have received two hundred and twelve votes for VicePresident. On March 4th, Mr. Lincoln was, for the second time, inaugurated President, receivin(r the oathl of office firom ChiefJustice Chase, the late Secretary of the Treasury-, who had been appointed to succeed Taney on the bench of the Suplreme Court. The President elect then delivered from the Capitol the following address to the citizens in attendance: THE INAUGURAL

ADDRESS. “FELLOW-COUNTRYMlEN:-At this second appearing to take the oath of the Presidential office, there is less occasion for an extended address than there was at the first. Then a statement somewvhat in detail of a course to be pursued seemed very fitting and proper. Now, at the expiration of four year, during which public declariatlons have been constantly called forth on every point and phase of the great contest which still absorbs the attention and engrosses the energies of the nation, little that is new could be presented. “The pi’ogress of our arms, upon which all else chiefly depends, is as well knowi to the public as to myself, and it is, I trust, reasonably satisfa(,tory and encouraging to all. With high hope for the future, no prediction in regard to it is ventured. 745

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. ” On the occasion corresponding to this, four years ago, all thoughts were anxiously directed to an impending civil war. All dreaded it; all sought to avoid it. While the inaugural address was being de livered fi’om this place, devoted altogether to saviig the Union with out war, inisurgent agents were in the city seeking to destroy it without w,ar-seeking to dissolve the Union and divide the effects by negotiation. Both parties deprecated war, but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive, and the other would accept war rather than let it perish, and the war came. “One-eighth of the whole population were colored slaves, not distributed generally over the Union, but localized in the Southern part of it. Tlhese slaves constituted a peculiar and powverful interest. All knew that this interest was somehow the cause of the war. To strengthen, perpetuate, and extend this interest w:s the olbject for which the insurgents would rend the Union by wa:r, while the Government claimed no right to do more than to restrict the territorial enlargement of it. “Neither party expected for the war the magnitud(e or the duration which it has already attained. Neither anticipated tluit the clause of the coinflicet might cease, even before the conflii t itself should cease. Each looked for an easier triumph, and a result less funldamenital and astounding. “Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God, and each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should daie to ask a just God’s assistance in wr’ingilg their bread fiom the sweat of other men’s faces, but let us judge not, that we be not judged. The prayers of both should not be ainswelre(l. That of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has his own purposes. Woe unto the world because of offences, for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh. If we shall suppose that American slavery is one of these offences, which, in the pr’ovidence of God, must needs conme, but wvliih, having continued through His appointed time, He now wills to remove, and that He gives to both North and South this terrible wir as the woe due to those by whom the offence came, shall we discern there is any departure filom those D)ivine attributes which the believers in a living God always ascribe to him?

Fondly do we h1ol-)e, fervently do we pray, that this nighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bon(dman’s two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, anid luntil every drop) of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so, still it must be sad, that the judgments of the Lord are true and riglhteous altogethler. “WITH M3[ALICE TOWARDS NONE, WVITII CHARITY FOR ALL, WITH FIRMNESS IN TIlE RIGHT, AS GOD GIVES US TO

SEE RIGHT, LET US FINISH THE WORK W-E ARLE IN, TO BIND UP TIIE NATION’S

WOUNDS, TO CARE FOR HI3M WItIO SHALL ITAVE BORNE THE BATTLE, AND FOR HIS

WIDOW A-ND HIIS ORPHANS, TO PO ALL WHICII MAY ACHIEVE AND t”46 0

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. CIIERISII A JUST AND A LASTING PEACE AMONG

OURSELVES AND WITH ALL NATIONS.” The new cabinet was almost identical with the o1(1, the only impor tant change being the substitution of Hugh MIcCulloch as Secretary of the Treasury for Mr. Fessenden, who resumed his place in the Senate. 3ileanwhile, the important events related in the few last chapters followed each other in rapid succession, and with the fall of Richmond and the capitulation of Lee, a universal feeliilig, of joy thliilled( the country. The President, after witnessing the closing scenes of the great drama in Virginia, and visiting the late rebel caplital, returned on April 9th to Washington, followed a day or two later by General Grant; and, as an earnest of the good results which lwere to flow from the events which had just occurred, he caused the following oflicial bulletin to be issued by the War Department: “‘WAR DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON, April 1.,, ] 865-6 P. M. “This Department, after mature consideration, and consultation with the Lieutenant General upon the results of the recent campaigns, has come to the following determinations, which will be carried into effect by appropriate orders, to be immcdiately issued: “First. To stop all drafting and recruiting in the loyal States. “Second. To curtail purchases for arms, ammunition, quartermaster and commissary supplies, and reduce the expenses of the military establishment in its several branclhes. ” Tltii’rd. To reduce the number of general and staff officers to the actual necessities of the service. “Fobrth. To remove all military restrictions upon trade and commerce, so far as m.av be consistent with public safety. “As soon as these measures can be put in operation, it will be made known by public orders. “EDWIN M. STANTON, Secretary of Wkar.” On thle evening of April 14th (Good-Friday), Mih. Lincoln, in compliance with the request of the proprietor, visited Ford(‘s Theatre in AVasliiii,gton.

Pieoccupied as he was with public duties and questiotis of tuture poli(,y, hle felt little inclination to go; liit as the a.inounlcemelt that lie would be present had been niadle p)ul)lic, hle determiniied, rather than 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 Piresidential box, which adjoins the st:age, in cornmpany with his wife and two friends, he was attacked by ani assassin, wNho, brtitsting suddenly upon him, shot him in the back of thle head w-ith a pi.tol, and thet, leaping upon the stage and brand,ishitig a dagger, shouted, ” Sic Sejr)per T/r(,itiis-the Southl is avenged,” and disal)leared into the street. Theie, mounting a flee t horse which was in rea(diness, he effected his escape almost before the astounded audience were aware of the tragedy that had lhal)pened. Between the deed of blood and the escape of the assassin tliheec waas not the lapse of a Ininute. 3ir. Lincoln was conveyed in an unconscious state to a Abr’aham Lincoln was born in Hardin Co,nty, he assisted to clear. I)inn this pe1rii(o ho reIy., Febrtiary 12th, 1809. In 1816 he reniove(i Ceived in the aggreate al.it one vicst sehoolwith his p:arents t, what is now Spencer (‘otinty, ing. In 1830 he renoved l with his tather te IlliIndiant. wiete, for epwards of ten years, he was Iois, an3d for sev(eii yill’s was e:ttri,isly employed principally empl(oyed on his Ihtheir’s farm, which as ilatboat-man, farm laborer, and clelrk in a u)nu 747

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HISTORY OF TIE GREAT REBELLION neighbloringcr house, where he expired the next morning, April 15th, at twenty-twvo minutes past seven o’clock, surrounded by his cabinet and friends. The murderer was recognized by several persons in the audi ence 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 Sewaid, who was then confined to his bed in a crippled condition, in consequence of having 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 inflictiug dangerous, though fortunately not mortal, wounds with a knife on Ir.

Sew-ard and his son Frederick, effected his escape into the street. The horror and alarm with which these acts filled the comnmunity cannot be adequately described; and, indeed, the impression caused by them is too recent to render description necessary. The revulsion from unbounded delight 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 firiend and a father, one w-ho, 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 patient forbearance and unswerving trust ill the result of the war for the Union were about to meet their reward fronom a people whose confidence he had already largely received, he passed nmore deeply into the affections of his countrymen than ever before. At once the idea came uppermost to every mind that the Southern rebels, in whose behalf Booth had professed to commit his mad act, had lost in Abraham Lincolnr the man who, of all others, would havel 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 dellounce and misrepresent him, and who had even ridiculed his rugged features and ungai,nly form; nor to the rebels, who had exhausted the vocabulary for coarse terms of abuse to aplply to him; try store. In 1SE2
he served as captain of a companyof voltinteens in the Blackm llahwk War, and wa s subsequentlv an unsuccessfuil Whig candid.ate fio’ the Illiniois Leg,islature but from 1S34 to 1542 he helld a seat il that bodt. After a brief attempt to, keep a country store, he studied la,, and, in o tz. obti ned a license to practise. In 1S3T he settled at Sirinfield, and( rose rapidly to distinctioln ill his lpiofessi)n. Hle asat the same time, an active, of the Wliig party, by which he alas cict,d. in 16, to represent tho Central istit t ilisi Cio ngress. In that body he otel fi)r the Wiltitot Proviso. and advocated othrl-anti- lS her i teasureis. Ater several years, devoted im,aintly t(o pr(,fessional duties, he re-enteted Ipoiitica-il life up,,n the repeal of the Missouri Cnllu’omise. in 15.54, aide(I in securing the election o,f M.-. Ti-tirulm)ull as United States Senator fro-n Illintois, in place of General Shields, the Deiiio,cratic candlidate, antl betcam,ie.a decided .Uepublican. In 155S he wts the Republican can didate for IUni t ed States pSe nator, in oit position to Stephen A. Doulas, with w hom h e cond llucted an active c anvas s th roughout the State, both candidates speaking o n th e same dai y n t the setine pllace. The re sult of the e le c tion w s a larei r vot e of 125,275 for the Republican candid’.tes to the Legislature, who were pleurgen to vote for Mr. Lincoln; 121,190 for the Douglas cand~iidaites; S5,071 for t he LScoanlton candi(da tes. NBut e, thoginh Mr. Lincoln had a clear mads joaitv ovM r Mr. l)osglas, the la tt er was elted( Set, tor by the L(eg islattire, where his supp brters had a malijor-itv of eight on joint ballot. At the C;lnventi,ni in (‘Chicago in May, 1S60, he,as nominalte(d the Rcpu}llican candidate for P’eside,nt. and was eletc0 in the succeeding-No)vemtiber bv a large T)II1jaioity. receiving the votes of all the’Free States. (except three in New Jersey, given to Mr. Douglas.

lie was In. au,-tirated on March 4th, 1SG1. IIis subsequent career is related in the foregoing pages of this work. 748

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HISTORY OF TIHE GREAT REBELLION. and at the moment when the fatal bullet lodged in his brain, hle stood before the world, to use his own noble words, “w-ith malice towards none, wsith charity for all.” A kindly, humble, siml)le-lhearted, and upripet man, without learning, with little training in statesmanshli), and nith no great intellectual endowments, he had succeeded in fulfilling a great public trust, partly by the exercise of a natural saiacity, but chiefly by his moral rectitude and abiding trust in the providence of God. As the recollection of all that hlie had done and slfferedl in behalf of that Union he had sworn to maintain and defend, of his endearing private traits, and even of that quaint humor swhich he assumed to drive away, for the moment, the harassin(, cares of state, rose in the public mind, the people bowed itself and wel)t. Suchl a universal mourning had not been known in the memiory of living men the land seemed clad in the habiliments of woe. At noon, on the 19th of April, his obsequies were celebrated in the Executive Mansion at AVishlington, in the presence of the chief civil and military authorities of the nation; and at the same hour thlroufgh out the country the tolling of church bells and the booming, of minuteguns announced that the people were participating in the solenn ceremony. An imposing procession then escorted the body to the Capitol, where it lay in state until the 21st. It was then conducted in one lobg fiuneral procession, occupying several w-eekls, through the chief cities of the Union, to its final resting-place in the cemnetery at Springfield, Illinois. It may be added, that the untimely endc of MIr. Lincoln called forth in Europe expressions of horror not less vehement than those uttered by his own countrymen; and from all parts of the civiliz,,cd world went up unfeigned tributes of respect for his virtues and ability. -Ieanwliile the Government was on the alert to arrest the assassin and his accomplices. Booth was finally tracked to a I.iri-house, near Port Royal, on the Rappahannock, where, refilsing 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 afterwards.

Harrold, an accomplice, was captured with him. A few days later a man named Payne was arrested and identified as the assassin who had attemilted( the life of AIi. Seward. Other arrests followed, and on May 10thl, David E. Ilarrold, George A. Atzerothl, Lewis Payne, 3Ii(hael O’Laughlin, Edward Spangler, Samuel Arnold, Mary E. Stirratt, an(TI Samuel A. Mudd, were arraigned before a military tribunal, presidedl over by General David Hunter, as principals or atecessories to the miurder. After a trial, lasting nearly two months, in the course of wshich the existence of a pla to murder not only Mr. Lincoln and Mir. Seward, but VicePresident Johnson, General Grant, and others, was maple nmanifest, Harrold, Payne, MIrs. Snrratt, and Atzeioth were found oLrilty of murder, and were hung in Washington on the 7th of July; Mudd, Arnold, and O’Laughlin were sentenced to imiiprisonment for life, and Spangler to six’years’ imprisonment’It hlardl labor. By the Constitution of the United States, the office of President, in the event of the death of the incumbent, devolves l)pon the person holdiingl the office of VicePresident. Accordingly, a few hours after 749

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. Mr. Lincoln hadl bre.athed hIis last, the oath of office was administered by ChiefJustice Clhase to VicePresident Andrew Johnson,* in the resence of the Ca:biniet. After receiving the oath and being formally deelaredl President of the United States, iMr. Johnson addressed the following remarks to those present: “GENTLEiMEN-:-I must be permitted to say that I have been almost overwhelmed by the announcement of the sad event which has so recently occurred. I feel inticompetent to perform duties so important and responsible as those which have been so unexpectedly thrown upon me. As to an indication of any policy which may be presented by me in the administration of the Government, I have to say that that must be left for development as the administration progresses.

The message or declaration must be made by the acts as they transpire. The only assurance that I can now give of the future is by reference to the past. The course which I have taken in the past in connection w-itlh this rebellion, must be regarded as a guarantee of the future. My past public life, which has been long and laborious, has been founded as I, in good conscience believe, upon a great principle of right, which lies at the basis of all things. The best energies of mv life have been spentin endeavoring to establish and perpetuate the principles of free gove rnment, and I believe that the Government, in passing through its present trials, will settle down upon principles consonant with popular rights, more permanent and enduring than heretofore.. I must be permitted to say, ifI understand the feelings of my owvn heart, I have long labored to ameliorate anrid alleviate the condition of the great mass of the Aimericain people. Toil and an honest adv-ocacy of the great principles of free governmernt have been my lot. The duties have been mine-thie consequences are God’s. This has been the foundation of my political creed. I feel that in the end the Government will triumph, and that these great principles will be permanently establ)lished. In conclusion, gentlemen, let me say that I want your encouragement and countenance. I shall ask and rely upon you and others in carrying the Government tihroug,h its present perils. I feel in making this request that it will be heartily responded to by you and all other patriots and lovers of the rights and interests of a free people.” Of the new chief magistrate, thus unexpectedly inducted into office, it scarcely falls within our province to speak. His A(lministration belongs rattler 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 vwhich we hlave assumed to give the narrative. He was knowni to be a man of ability, energy, and integrity, who, from the cominencemielit of the rebellion, had pronounced unmistakably for tlhe Union. It wivs hoped and believed that he would pursue tile caurse already mnarked out by his predecessor, and although he was popularly supposed to have less of the mild clemency for which President Lincoli was noted, that circumstance rather accorded than otherwise with the prevailing temper of the people, whose hearts, for the time, were Andrew Johnson was hera in liatei-‘,h, North vass of 1840 was an active speaker in favor of the Andrew Johnson wfs born in Palei,,,h, North Carolina, Deceinber 29th, IS0OS, and at the age of ten w*ts aptprentice(1 to a tailor in hisative town, n with whomn he reinaitied seven years. He never had one day’s schooling in the course of his life, but bv his own exertions learned to read while an ai)prentice. A few years later his wife instrlicte(l him in writing and ciphering. In 1S26 he emierate(l to Tennessee, and settled in Greenville as a tailor. At twenty yeas of age he was elected an alderman of Greenville; was reelected in the two suceceeding years, and from 1S30 to 1&34 held the oitice or mayor of the town. In 1835 he entered political life as a Democratic ineniber of the Telnessee Legislature; was realected in 1539, ad during the Presidential cana 750 v,,tss of 1840 was an active speaker in favor of the I)erxiocratic candidate. In 1,1141 he was a member of the State Senate, an(] from 1843 to ISb3 hel,l a seat in C)n-ress. Fr,)rn lSb3 to 185T be filled the office of Goveri,or of Tennessee,,tzid in tllc latter ye,v was elected by the Legislature a United States Senator. At the outbreak of the rebellion he Pronounced strODgly in favor, of the Union, and was commissioned a bri,,,t(lier-gencral of volunteers. In 1862 he was al)p,,inte(I military governor of Tennessee, which I)osition he, held until his election as VicePresident )f the United States, on the same ticket with Mr. Lincoln. Jlo was in,,Liigiir,,tted VicePresi(lent March 4t)i, IS64 and on the lbth of April succeeded Mr. Lincoln as Prejaident.

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. turned away fi’om clemency, and who demanded that stern and exact justice shlould be meted out to the rebels.

This sentiment gr;i(dua.lly passed away, and the President and his cabinet, the sanme wlhoi Mir. Lincoln hadt selected, set themselves seriously to work to reconstruct loyal,overimeuts in the States which had attempted to form a new confedeideacy. Of the principles on which such reconstruction was to rest, an idea may be obtained from two important proclamations issued by the Presi(lenit within a few weeks of his entrance upon office. The first, a new amnesty proclamation, rendered necessary by the progress of events, was in the following terms: “WASIIINGTON, X[lay 29. ” rY TIIE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. “A PROCLAMATION.

“Wlc, Th,e Presi(dent of the United States, on the eiihthll day of December, A. D. eighteen lhundred andi sixty-thlree, and on the twenty-sixth day of Alarchli, A. ). eighteen hundred aInd sixty-four did, with the object to suppress the existing rebellion, to induce all persoiis to return to their loyalty, and to restore the authority of the Uiiited States, issue proclamations offering amnesty and pardon to certain persorns, lwho had directly or by implication participated in the said rebellion; and “IV ,c~, MaIyiii persons, who had so engaged in said rebellion, have, since the issuance of s.id proclhiiiatios, failed or neglected to tiake the benefits offered thereby; and “I; , {:iis. Ma yei pelsons, who had been justly deprived of all cl..ini to ani1ic.1ty or pardon thierc eI( ner, by Ia.oii of their participation, directly or )by iiiiplicatioii, in said rebellion, and( cotntinued hostility to the Government of the UnJ-ited( States since the date of said pIdroclimations, now desire to apply for and obtain amnesty and pardon; “To tlhe end, theriefore, that the authority of the Government of the United States may be restored and that peace, order, and freedom may be established, I, Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, do proclaimr and declare that I hereby grant to all pe1) l s Apliho have directly or indirectly participated in the existing rebeCllion, except as heicin:fter ecepted, amnesty and pardon, with restoralion of all righlts of propert-, except as to si ves, and except in cases where legal pro(eedings under the laws of the Plnited States providing for the confiscation of property of persons engaged in rebellioti liarve been instituted; but on the condition, nevertheless, that every suci person slhil takle and subscribe the following oath or affirmation. and thenceforward keep and maintain said oath inviolate, and which oath shall be registered for permanent preservation, and shall be of the tenor and effect following, to it: ‘ I..

(10do solemnly swear or affirm, in presence of Almighty God, that I will henceforth fiiitlifillv support and defend the Constitution of the United Stites. and the Union of the States thereunder. And that I will, in like manier, abide by andl faitlhfuilly support all lhl\s ted proclamations which have been made during the existing rebellion with reference to the emancipation of slaves, so help me God. “The followin, clsse of persons are excepted from the benefits of this proclamation: “i ilst. All whoi are or shall have been pretended civil or diplomatic officers, or otherwise d(omestic or foreign agents of the pretended Confederate Governmenit. “
gc,,( -i. All who left judicial station under the United States to aid tihe rebellion. “7ir d. Al11 elio shall have been milary or naval officers of said pretended Confederate Goverinment above the rank of colonel in the army or lieutenant in the navy. “Fourth. All who left seats in the Congress of the United States to aid the rebellion ” ifthl. All wh o resigned or tendered resignations of their cominsions i the arnmy or navy of the United States, to evade dui in resisting the rebellion. ” SiFth.

All who have engaged in any way in treating otherwise than lawfifilly as prisoners of war persons found in the United States service, as officers, soldiers, seamen, or in other capacities. “Seventh. All persons who have been or are absentees from the United States for the purpose of aiding the rebellion 751

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iIISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. “Eighth. All military and naval officers in the rebel service who were educated by the Government in the MAlilitary Academy at West Point, or the United States Naval Academy. “Ninth. All persons who held the pretended offices of Governors of States in insurrection against the United States. “Tenth. All persons who left their homes within the jurisdiction and protection of the United States and passed beyond the Federal military lines into the socalled Confederate States, for the purpose of aiding the rebellion. ” Eleventh. All parties who have been engaged in the destruction of the commerce of the United States upon the high seas, and all persons whlo have Inade raids into the United States from Canada, or been engaged in destroying the commerce of the United States upon the lakes and rivers that separate the British Provinces from the United States. Twlfth. All persons -who at the time when they seek to ol)tain the benefits hereof by taking the oath herein prescribed, are in military, naval, or civil confinement, or custody, or under bonds of the civil, military, or naval authorities or agents of the United States, as prisoners of war, or persons detained for offences of any kind, either before or after conviction. ” Thirt’eath. All persons who have volunhtarily participated in said rebellion, and the estimated value of whose taLxable property is over twenty thousand dollars. “Fouiteenth.

All persons awho have taken the oath of amiesty, as prescribed in the President’s Procl.m ntion of December eighth, A. D. eighteen hundred and sixty-three, or an oath of allegiance to the Government of the United States siice the dates of said Proclamation, and who have not thenceforward kept and maintained the same inviolate -provided that special apl)lication may be made to the President for pardon by any person belonging to the excepted classes, and such clemency will be liberally extended as may be consistent w ith the facts of the case and the peace and dignity of the United States. “The -eeretary of State will establish rules and regulations for administering and recording the said amnesty oath so as to insure its benefit to the people and guard the Government against fraud. ‘ In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United [L. s.] States to be affiled. Done at the City of Washington, the twenty-lirth day of May, in the eair of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixtyfive, and of the independence of the United States the eighty-ninth. “By the President: “ANDREW JOHNSON. “WTM.

H. SEWARD, Secretar y of State.” The second proclamation provides for the reconstrucetion of a State government in Alississippi, and may be taken as the model onl which all similar acts are to be formed: “BY TIIE PRESIDENT

OF THE UNITED STATES or AMIERICA. “A PROCLAMATION. “W Thereas, The fourth section of the fourth article of the Constitution of the United States declares that the United States shall guarantee to every State in the Union a republican form of government, and shall protect each of them against invasion and domestic violence; and wherea the President of the United States is, by the Constitution, made commander-in-chief of the army and navy, as well as chief civil executive officer of the United States, and is bound by solemn oath faithfully to execute the office of President of the United States, and to take care that the laws be faithfully executed; and whereas, the rrellion which has been waged by a portion of the people of the United States against the properlyconstituted authorities of the Government thereof, in the most violent and revolting form, and whose organized and armed forces have now b)een almost entirely overcome, has, in its revolutionary progress, deprived the people of the State of mississippi of all civil government; and whereas, it becomes necessary and proper to carry out and enforce the obligations of the United States to 752

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<;jjjj/;~~;;< ~~ ji/ji, ; C >~\~Q~;) ~

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. the people of Mississippi in securing them in the erijoynient of a republican form of goverament now, therefore, in obedience to the high and solemli duties imposed upon rme by the Constitution of the United States, and for the purpose of enabling the loyal )e0)1)e ol soi lid state to organize a State goverit.ment, whereby justice nmay be establislihcl, dooestic trainquillity restoredcl, and loyal citizens protected in all their rights of life liberty, and property; I, Andrew Johlnson, President of the United States and Co,nmiitetlndr-in-Chief of the armv and navv of the United States, dlo hereby appoint Willi mn L. Sliarkey, of Mlississippi, Provisional Governor of the State of Mississippi, lwhose duty it shl allbe, at the earliest practicable period, to presc(rilbe such rules and regulations as may be nceessary aoid proper for conveniing a co,iveiitiori, composed of deleg’tes to be chosen b; that portion of the people of sidcl State Aho Ire lo.yal to the TUnited States, and no others, for the purpose of altering aInd aimendiiin tlhe Constitution thereof, and with anthoritv to exercise, within the linits of said Stite,,ill the powers ne,enssary and proper to enab)le such loyvil people of thle Stite of Misisssipp)i to restore said State to its constitutional relations to the Fedeleril (Government, and to present such a reputl)liaii form of State gov er1,, iot as will eiititle the State to the guariantee of the United States therefor, aid ItS I) (,!p to protection by the ULiite(id States igaiiist invasion, irsturrection, and domestic oi lenc; prosvided, thlit in any eloctiiii that may be held lhereafter for chloosini( deleogaites to any State Conveiiition, as aforesaid, no person shall be q(ualif’ed as an elec tor, or shall be eligible as a naember of sclh convention, uinless he s!’

ll hlve previously tilkeii aiid subscrilbed the o.tll of aiimnesty, as set forthl iIn thc President’s prochldl0ation of May twenty-ninth, A. 1).

eiglllteen liunlinclreld Ind sixtyfive. and is a voter qun lified as prescribed by the Constitution,nI( l1tws of the State of Mississippi in force immeclditely before the ninth of Tll1:lrv, A. I). eicrl)teen hiundred andi sixty-onle, the (late of the socalled orditnance of secession. And the said convention, lwhen cciciovnd, or the Leogslature that may be thereaftcr assemnbled(l, will prescribe the qialii eation of electors, and the eligibility of persons to hold office under the constituiti)on and lawss of the State-a power the people of tlhe sever:l tates s((ol)osing the Federal Union have rightfiilly exercised from the origin of the (-toveoriinecot to the present timie. And I do herebv dire(.t: ‘ “st. That the military comniander of the department, and all officers and persoins in the military and ul.val service, aid and ssisit the said Provisional (ovevrnior in carryiiig lIlto efl’cet this I roclamation; acnd they are enjoined to alstaii froni in any way hindei’: 5, i-eing’, or discouraging loyal people from thlle organlization of a tt.lte (overninent, as elirniii ittlihorized. “e’ (,)z’l. I T.t the Secret-try of State proceed to put in force all laws of the United States, tlhe ad:cnioiistratioii whiereof belongs to the Stalte I)epl).irtient, applicable to the gcogr Lph’ ii-limits iforeslid. ‘ lir l. Thlit t!ie Secretary of the Treasury proceed to nominate for appointment nssess(rs of tixes arid collectors of customs iand of internal reveiliie, and such other officers of the Treosury Depaitment as are authorized by law, an,d lat in execution the revenue ]-ias of the l nite(-l St ites withini the geographlical limits iforesaid. JIn making al)pointlieit. thie prie fererice shall be given to qualified loyal persons residing within the distri,ts n liee tlheir recpe(.tive d(Ities are to be perfoirmed. But if suitalc residents of di’,tri; ts slhall not 1)e fotUnl, ltheni persons resicding in other States or districts Mliall be )ppoi1tdI. ” 1 ;Lbg.

TbiLt the Postnaister-(General lproceed to establis post-offices and postroites, anpl put into exection the post-il laws of the United States withlin the said States, giving to l],yal resi(leicts the preference of appointiment; but if suitable residents are not irurxd, tli,il to appointt agents, &-., fion other Stites. “Ji’i? That’ the District JTtdo e ~r tlhe judicial district in which Mississippi is ieluded, p,‘o(ee(e ti) hold (‘ouIItS withi, Said Stite, in accordance with the provisions of the act of Conigress. and thle Attorney-Gceneril will instruct tle proper offi(ers to libel and bring to jliciielt,’:ontfiscatioii, and sale, property slilject to confiscation, arid en’)roe the adilaiisitration of justice withinl slicl State, ii all iii(itters within the cogni raiace arnd jiirisdli( tioti of tlhe Fedleril courts. “Si:,:t/. Thliat the Secretary of thle N’a,vy take possession of all public property belong in7e to the Navy Department within said geograpliical limits, ant put in operation all acts of Congress in relatioii to naval aflhirs halvilng.ipplication to saiid State. Set,enthi. That the Se(retLir of the Interior put in force tlhe ltws relating to the Interior Department applicable to the geographical limits aforesaid. 48 753 - - 11

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. ‘ In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused tT o seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the City of Washington, this thirteenth [I s.] day of June, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty five, and of the independence of the United States the eighty-ninth. “By the President: “ANDREW JoHNsQN. WM. H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.” In a former chapter we have described how Davis, at the approach of dalnger, 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 ill Danville, and assumed, with such of his cabinet and offi cials as he could gather around him, to establish the fiction of a governmient. 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 crumbling to pieces around him, he still maintained an appearance of confidence and a decree of assurance which deceived no one; and at Charlotte, North Carolina, where he remained several days, he made a public speech, promising soon to have a l:lrger army thain ever before in the field. About the 25th of April he left Ch:,rlotte, alarmned by the approach of Stoneman’s Cavalry, who now becamne aware that the great head of the rebellion was in their neighborhood. Passing through Yorkville, South Carolina, with a train of several ambulances and a small mounted escort, he entered Georgia in the beginIniiing of May, and on the 4th reached Washington, a small townI northwest of Aug,ustal. Thence he moved rapidly southward, hoping, possibly, to reach the Gulf and there find a vessel to convey him to Cuba.

MIeanwhile, rumors of the flight of Davis through Georgia reached General WVilson at Macon, who sent out parties of cavalry to scour the neighboring country. At Irwinsville, about seventy miles south of Macon, the Fourth Michigan Cavalry, Colonel Pritchard, came upon the traces of the rebel ex-President, and at daybreak on the 9th of May his encampment, two miles outside of the town, was completely surprised and the whole party of fugitives captured, including Mrs. Davis and her sistei, the riebel PostmasterGenera], Reagan, and others. The following description of the mainner in which Davis was captured is touched for as true, to the minutest detail, by an eyewitness: “Andrew Bee, a private of Company L, went to the entrance of Davis’s tent, and was met by Mrs.

Davis,‘bareheaded and barefoot,’ as he describes her, who, putting her hand on his arm, said: ”’ Please don’t go in there tillRy daughter gets herself dressed!’ “Andrew thereupon drew bacK, and in a few minutes a young lady (Miss Howell) and another person, bene over as with age, wearing a lady’s’water-proof,’ gathered A the waist, with a shawl drawn over the head, and carrying a tin pail, appeared and asked to go to’the run’ for water. Mm. Davis also appears and says: “‘For God’s sake let my old mother go to get some water!’ “No objections being made, they passed out. But sharp eyes were upon the singular-looking’old mother.’ Suddenly corporal Miinyer, of Company C, and others at the same instant, discovered that the’old mother’ was wearing very heavy boots for an.aged female, and the corporal exclaimed: “‘That is not a woman I Don’t you see the boots?’

and, spurring his horse forward 754

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IIISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. and cocking his carbine, compelled the withdrawal of the shawl, and diseksed_Jeff Davis. “As if stung by this discovery of his -unmanliness, Jeff struck an attitude, andw d out: ”’ Is there a man among you? If there is, let me see him I’ “‘Yes,’ said the corporal,’ I am one; and if you stir, I will blow your brains l’ ”’ I know my fate, and might as well die here.’ “But his wife threw her arms around his neck, and kept herself between him and the threatening corporal. “No harm, however, was done him, and he was generally kindly spoken to; he was only stripped of his female attire. “As a man, he was dressed in a complete suit of gray, a light felt hat and high cavary boots, with a gray beard of about six weeks’ growth covering his face. “He said he thought that our Government was too magnanimous to hunt women and children that way. “Wh len Colonel Pritchard told him that he would do the best he could for his comfort, he answered: I’ I ask no favors of you.’ “To which surly reply the colonel courteously responded by assuring him of kitnd treatment.” 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 VicePresident, was captured about the same time, together with others, who had held high civil and military positions in the rebel government. A few words will suffice to relate the formal closing of the rebellion. On May 4th the forces under General Taylor, comprising all those troops east of the Mississippi who had not yet succumbed, were surrendered to General Canby on the same terms as those accepted by Gen. eral Lee; and a few weeks later the whole of Kirby Smith’s transMississippi 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 Richmond. On May 23d and 24th the armies of Grant and Shernianl 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 at steady stream of disbanded regiments, and by the 1st of September half a million of men had been discharged fiom the national service, leaving less than two hundred thousand tbfor duty in the recently revolted States. Over the whole country settled a profound peace. The South, from sheer exhaustion alone, was incapable of offering fuirth-er 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 aliy 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, prejuldice and habit could not at once succumb to the force of circuimstances, and the reciprocal relations and duties of those who had recently been masters’ 155

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. and slaves were not immediately recognized. In order to protect the interests of the latter class, a Freedman’s Bureau was organized by the Government, of which General Howard was appointed superin tendent, with agents distributed over every portion of the late insur gent 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 tle community, that during the spring and summer of 1865 the subscriptions, principally in small sums, to the authorized issues, sometimes reached the enormous amount of twentyfive or thirty mil lions a day. On the 31st of May the Secretary of the Treasury pub lished an official statement of the public debt, from which it appeared that the amount outstanding, bearing interest in coin, was $1,108, 113,842; the interest being $64,480,489.50. The debt, bearing inter est 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 indebtedness was $2,635,205,753.50; the interest, both in gold and paper, being $124,638,874. The amount of legal-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 aTnount 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 Rebellion. During four years of trial such as few people have lived through, of uneqtlalled filancial priessure, and of ceaseless warfare with a foe of our own blood and birth, the nation had struggled on to final victory. The aristocratic governments of the Old World, pleased at the idea of seeing the great republic of the West dismembered and displaced firom among the fimily 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 them in the field.

Within two years a petty navy, not greater than a third-rate European power would maintain, had 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 armies had been raised and maintained, this navy built and manned, without so much as one dollar obtained by loan* firom Europe; the men, the ships, and the money were furnished by our own people. Such a result was certainly astounding to those who could not appreciate the patriotism 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, depised for his awkwardness and unconscious of his powers, into a very 756

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. giant. The IUnited States at once took its place among the great powers of the world, more than ever before the bulwark of freedom, the hope of struggling 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-sacificing spirit, and the pure 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 chastening hand of God was heavy upon us, as many a desolated hearth-stone will attest, but in His providence He permitted us also to “Gain in moral height, Nor lose the wrestling thews that throw the world.” . 757

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INDEX. AcquVA CREEK, rebel batteries silenced at, 91. Acts passed by the Thirty-seventh Congress, 1‘25 t Act to prevent certain sales of glI(l, &c., 674. Acworth, Johnston compelled by Sherman to aban doni his works at, 574. Adams John Quincy, attempt to expel from the House of Representativ es, 26. Adaums, Mr., lepresentations of to Earl Russell, with reward to the Alabama, 874. A(lams. President, measures taken by. in relatio n to the Indian troubles in Georgia, 1825, 23. Address inaougural.

of Mr. Lincoln, 60; effect of, on the South, 61; Mr. Lincoln’s second inaugural, 745. Alabama, secession movements in, 3S; secession or(linance o f, 88; simall vote of the people of, in favor of secession, 89. Alabama, steamer, history of the, 372-3 s5; depre dationis of the, 373; action of the British G,,vern nent in relation to the, 374; claim of indemnity for depre(lations of the, 875; United States steamer H;Ltteras captured by, 375; details of her fight with the Keasarge, 62.3-627. ,lbemarle, rebel ran. imnportant assistanc e ren dered by, in the capture of Plymouth, 621; fight of, with the Sassacus 622; sunk by Lieut. Cush in,, 622; subsequently raised, 623. Alexandria, occupation of, by New York Fire Zouaves, &c., 90. Alexandria, La., occupation of, by Gen. Banks’s fo,rce, 600; perilous position of Porter’s fleet at~ 602; consiuned by fire, 603.

Algiers, occupation of, 36S8. Alien acts and sedi tion law, origin of, and opposi tion to, 19. “Alien enemnies” in the South, property of, seques trated, 117. Allatoona Pass, turned by Gen. Sherman, 578, 574; defence of, bv Gen. Corse, 632. Alisman, Andrew, rebel prisoners shot in retalia tion for the supposed murder of, 605. “Anaconda p)lani,” 146. Anderson, Major Robert, biographical sketch of, 64; transfers the garrison of Foi-t Moultrie to F ort Sum ter, 52, 65; attempts maCe to reenforce, 52; h i s d ef ence of F ort Sumter, 6s-72; placed i n command of S tate and National forces in Kentucky, 165: proclamation issued bo 165; ordt er issued by, at Louisville, 167; resigna tion of on account of ill heal th, 16S 2 succeeded by Gen. Sherman, 163; d irected to restore the Na tional fla, on Fort Sumter, 704. Andersonville, infamous treatment of Union pris oner,s at, 741. Annapolis. Gen. Butler given command of th’ele p.artmnent of, 82. AnitietamL, battle of, 8S0-386; indecisive results fr’om the battle of, 383. Anti-Fedleralists, opposition of, to the# alien acts and sedition law, 19. Anti-slavery agitation, growth of the, 26. Arkansas, w’dFinance of secession of, 43; operations of Gen. Curtis in, 298-02: operations of Steele in, towards Shreveport, 603. Arkansas, ram, passes through the Union flees abo)ve Vicksburg, 369; her commander’s report, 370; failure of a combined attack upon, 370; final destruction of, 371.

Arkansas Post, capture of, 420. Arlin_ztoni Heights, headquarters of Gen.

McDowell at, 90. Arnmies F8ederal and Confederate, in the field in 1864, statistics of, 695. Alrnies, Northern, origanization of, necessary, 139.

Arnmory at Harper’s Ferry seized by Virginia mili tia, 74. Armory at Sprinfiel(l, capacity of the, 96. Arms, great scarcity of, at the ouitbreak of the re bellion, 89, 95; iniadequtate supl)ly ot; in Missouri, 15di modern improvements in the manufacture of, 22.-228; relpeating, 225.

Army, strength of, at the outbreak of the rebellion, 62; organization, 94: number of troops in, in 1861, 122; number of troops in, in 1SG4, 695. Army of the Cumberlandl, reorganized by Gen. Rosecrans, 492; numbers and composition of, in May, 1864, 568. Army of the Ohio, force and composition of, in May, 1864, 56&. Army of the Potomac, demoralization in, 140

McClellan called to take command of, 140; Gen. Lana on the demoralization in, 141; rapid reor ganization of, 142; position of, in September, 1861, 143; position of, made impregnable by McClellafi, 145; movemnents of, 210; inactivity of, under McClellan, 228-245; general advance of, 234; concentration of, at Cumberland, 255;. operations of, against Richmond, 279-295; situa tion of, on the James, after the Seven Days’ bat ties, 290; address of McClellan to, 291; losses of 291; long detention of, at Harrison’s Landing, 826; Pope’s complaints respecting brigade and division commanders in, 834; return of, to Fort ress Monroe, 337; united with that of Virginia, under McClellan, 377; advance of, by way of Leesburg, 890; operations of, under IHIooker, 41. -450; chief apparent duty of, 451; Gen.

Meade supersedes Hooker in the command of, 455; movements of, after the battle of Gettysburg, 464-472; reorganization of, 474-476; list of gen erals and brigade commanders in, 475, 4T6; movements of, under Gen. Giant, from the Raps idan to the Chickaholniny, 508-529; movements of, till the crossing of the James, 533-589; oper ations of, against Petersburg, 539-549; effect upon, of the rapid succession of battles, 545; operations of, before Petersburg and Richmond, 690-693; operations o f, til l the su rrender of Lee, 717-728. Army of the Tennessee, numbers and composition of, 568; commandl lf, assumed by Gen. Howard. 586. Arrest of citizens without warrant of law, 130. I I

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INDEX. Arsenal at St. Louis, arms in, secured by Capt. Stokes, 104.

Article of war, additional, prohibiting the return of fugitive slaves, 362. Articles ofConfederation of 1778, insufficiencyof,,S. Artillery, improvements in the manufacture of, 225. Art of war, remarks on the, 134-139. Asboth, Gen., capture of Marianna by, 615. Ashby, Gen., death of; 275. Assassination of Mr. Lincoln threatened, 59; ac coniplished, 747.

Assessments, arbitrary, in the Confederate States, 128. Atlanta, siege of, 587-591; description of, 587; battles near 531-584, 586, 589, 590; evacuation of, by Gen. Hood, 591; civilians sent from, by Gen. Sherman, 593; remarks on Shermaii’s cam pign against, 584; correspondence between yor Calhoun and Gen. Sherman in relation to the depopulation of, 629, 629; destruction of property in, 60SO; abandoned by the army of herman, 681; march of Sherman from, to Sa vannah, 681-683. Atlanta, ironclad, capture of by the Weehawken, 504 Austerlitz, Napoleon at, 136. Averill. Gen., defeats a rebel force at Moorfield, 553. Averysboro’, battle of; 714.

Battle of Carricksford, 112. Cedar Creek, 630-O Cedar Mountain, 825.

Championi’s Hill, 427. Chancellorsville, 446 Chantilly, 335. Charlestown, Mo., 152t Cheat River, 112. Chickamauga, 486-491. Col d H arbor, 534, 535.

Cross Keys, Va., 275. Dallas, 573. Diarbytown, 691. DIainesville. 214. Dug Srpr-ings, 148. Fair Oaks, 261. Fishei’s Hill, 646. Five Forks, 721-723.

Fort Darling, 531. Fort Donelson, 17& Franklin, Tenn., 638.

Fredericksburg, 893. Gainies’t Mills, 285. Gettysburg, 463. Glendale, 290.

Griswoldsville, Ga., 68L Hainesville, Va., 109. Hatcher’s Run, 692.

Jackson, Miss., 426. Jonesboro’, 589. Kelly’s Ford, 468. Kenesaw Mountain, 5TT. Laurel Hill, Va., 111. Lookout Mountain, 500. Lost Mountain, 575.

McDowell, Va., 27T2. Malvern Hill. 290. Mansfiehi, 600. Marion, 782.

Mechanicsville, 583 Mill Spring, 172. Mon, cacy, 552. Murfreesboro’, 413417. Nashville, 637-640. Nelson’s Farm, 290. Olustee, 618 Peach-tree Creek, 581. Pea Ri(d,e, 299-30L Perrysville, Kv., 407. Pittsburg Landing, 807 812 Pleasant Hill, La., 601. Pumpkin Vine (reek, 56M. Rappahannock Station, 468. Raymnond, 425. Reams’s Station, 557. Rich Mountain, 111.

Romney, Va., 111. Salisbury, 733. Savage’s Station, 288, Selmla, 738.

Seven Days’, on the Peninsula, 284 2t Seven Pines. See Fair Oaks. Shiloh.

See Pittsburg Landing. South Mountain, 457. Stone River, 418-417.

Wilderness, 509-515. Weldon Railro)ad, 542, 556, 55M Williamsburg, 2~3.

Wilson’s Creek, 149. Winchester, 26T, 646. Bates, Attorney-Gener-al, opinion of, in relation to the Presi(lent’s power to suspend the habs corp?e, 130. Baton Rtouge, occupation of, by Gen. Williams, 368; Gen.

Williains attacked at, by Genis. Breck inridige and RPtigles, 370; raid of Grierson to, from Lagr,ange, Tenn., 434. Bautzen, Nape(leon at, 13T. Bayou Teche country, successful expedition to the, 436. Bailey, Godard, stocks of Indian Fund abstracted by, 52. Bailey, Lieut.-Col., Porter’s fleet on the Red River rescued by, 602. Baker, Col. E. D., death of, at the battle of Ball’s Bluff, 213. Baker’s Creek, battle of, 427. Baltimore, attack on the Massachusetts Sixth Regi ment in, 77; Federal authority restored in, by Butler 83; advance of rebel cavalry toward, 553; Republican convention of 1864 held at, 663. Bail’s Bluff, battle of, 213; results of the battle of, 214. Banks, Gen. Nathaniel Prentiss, biographical sketch of 435; supersedes Gen. Butler in Mary land, 108; transferred to the valley of Virginia, 108; operations of, in the valley or the Shenan doah, 2’-270; dislpatchles of; 268, 270; retreat of, 269,2 0; McDowell and Freminont sent to the aid of, 274; at the battle of Cedar Mountain, 325; supersedes Butler in New Orleans, 435; opera tions of, in the Southwest, 435-443; operations of, in Texas and on the Red River, 596-604, JBanks, national, organization of, 67T. Banks Southern, condition of, in 1861, 119. Banks’s Ford, battle of, 448. Bardstown, Kv., address of Gen. Bragg issued from, to the people of the Northwest, 401; retreat of the Confederates from, 406. Barnard, Gen., extract from his report on the Pen insula campaign, 294. Barron, Commodore, surrenders Fort Hatteras to Gen. Butler, 146.

Base, ldcClellan’s change of, 285. Battle of Antietam, 380-3i6. Atlanta, 581-584, 586, 589, $90. Averysboro’, 714. Ball’s Bluff, 213. Baker’s Creek, 427. Banks’s Ford, 448. Belmont, Mo., 179. Big Bethel, 92. *

Booneville, Mo., 106. Brier Forks, Mo., 106. Bristow Station, 467. Bull Run, 100. Bull Run, second, 331. Bunker Hill, Va., 109. Campbell Station, 498 760

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INDEX. Beall, John Y., execution of, as pirate, spy and murderer, 743.

Beauflrt, N. C., Burnside’s operations against, 840-342. Beaufort, S.C., occupation of; by Federal forces, 200. Beauregard, Gen. P. G. Toutant, biographical sketch of, 67; placed in command at Charleston, 67; his bombardlment of Fort Sumter, 68-72; rOClamation of, to the people of London, Fair fax, and Prince William Counties, Va., 86; at Manassas Junction, 97; confirmed filll general in the Confeder te service, 118; inactivity of, in Virginia,t 145; assumes command of the Confed erate Ar my of the Mississippi, 305; letter of, from Corinth to Samuel Cooper, Richmond, 312; evacuates Corinth, 31o5; late pursuit of, 316; ap peal of, to the people of Georgia, 681. Belle Isle prisoii at Richmond, description of, 740. Belmont Mo., defeat of Confederate troops at, by Gens. Grant and McClernand, 1 T9. Beman, John hung for refusing to take the oath to sastain the Confederacy, 129. Benham, Gen., his siege of Fort Pulaski, 844; dis astrous operations of. on James Island, 847; placed under airest.

347. Bentonville, Shermnan’s army at, 715. Berry, Gen. Hiram Gregory, biographical sketch of, 450; death of; at the battle of Chancellors ville, 450. Berryville, supplv train captured at, by Mosby, 643. Bethel, Big and Little, expedition against, 92. Betts, Judge, on misprision of treason, 182. Beverly, Vt., surrender of Col. Pegram at, 112. Big Bethel, battle of, 92. Bills, military, before Congress, 123; by whom opposed, 124.

Biography of Anderson, Major Robert, 64. Beauregard, Gen. P. G. Toutant, 67. Berry, Gen. Hiram Gregory, 450. Bragg, Gen. Braxton, 72. Buchanan, CaptL Franklin, 246. Buell, Gen. Don Carlos, 168. Burnside, MajorGen.

Ambrose E., 206. Butler, Gen. Benjamin Franklin, 367. Davis, Jefferson, 114. Dix, Gen. John Adams, 67. Dupont, RearAdmiral Samuel F., 19q.

Hl,well, Gen. Richa rd Stoddard, 525. Harragut, Admiral D avid G., 421.

Floyd, John Buchanan, 6.5. Foote, RearAdmiral Andrew H., 173. Gillmore, Gen. Quincy Adams, 504. Grant, Lietit.-Gen. IUlysses S., 150. /talleck, Gen. Henry Wager, 295. Hardee, Gen. William J., 152. Hood, Gen. John B., 580. Hooker, Gen. Joseph, 443. Howard, Gen. Oliver Otis, 586. Jackson, Gen. Thomas Jonathan, 265. Johnson, Andrew, 750. Johnston, Gen. Joseph Eccleston, 98. Kearny, Gen. Philip, 234. O Kilpatrick, Gen. Judson, 710.

Lee, Gen. IRobert Edmftnd, 86. Lincoln, Abraham, 747. Longstreet, Gen.

James. 487. Mc(,lellan, Gen. George B., 229. McCulloch, Gen. Ben., 298.

Mcl])owell, Gen. Irvin, 90. McPherson, Gcn. James B., 583. Magruder, John Bankhead, 93. Manlsfleld, Gen. J. K. F., 90. Meade, Gen. George G., 45(.

Mitchel, Gen. Ormsby McKnight, 312. Morgan, Gen. John H. 731. Biography of ]atterson, Gen. Robert, 96. Pemberton, Lieut.-Gen. John C.,42’ Pheips, Gen. J. W., 2 04. Pillow, Gen. Gideolln J, 152. Polk, Ge n. Le onidas, 575. Pope, Gen. John, 147. Porter, Ad mi ral David D., 601. Price, Gen.

Sterli ng, 151. DRosecans, Gen. Wi iliam S., l 111. Schofield, Gen. John NIcAllister, 604, Sewdglick, Gen. John, 517. Sher idan, Gen. Philil a lenry, 522. Sherman, Gen. Thomas W.. 199. Sherman, Gen. William Tecumseh, 418. Shields, Gen. James, 266. Si,el, Gen. Fran z, 1 48. Stephens, Alexander II., 114. Stone, Capt a in Charles P., 64. Stuart, Gen. Jame s B., 522. Thomas, Gen. Geo rge Henry, 481. Toombs, Robert, 114. Van Dorn, Gen. Earl, 29T. Wadsworth. Gen. James Sa muel, 516 e deat h of, 518. Ward, Capt. James H., 93. Winthrop, Major Theodore, 93. Wool, Gen. Jo hn E., 63.

Birney, Gen., hi s at tack upon Laure l IMill, 559. Black, Secreta iy, circular add ressed by, to minis ters abroad, 216. Blackmore, Dr., attempt of, to introduce yellow fever into the United States, 744. Blair, Col.

Francis P., complaints of, in relation to Fremont’s management in Missouri. 15’b; an, rested by Fremont, 15.5; joins Sherman’s army with the Seventeenth Corps, 575. Blockade of Southern ports declared, 74. Blockade of the coasts of Virginia and North Car olina proclaimed, 187. Blockade, law of, 190-192. Blockade of Charleston teim)orarily interrupted by Capt.

Ingraham, 502. Bolivar Heights, Va., Colonel Geary attacked near, 211.

Bombardment of Fort Sumter, 68. Booneville. Mo., defeat of the rebels near, by Gen. Lyon, 106-Shelby routed at, by the Missouri militia, 60T.

Booth, John Wilkes, assassination of President Lincoln by, 748; shot near Port Royal, 7491 trial and puni.hment of his accomplices, 749. Border States, hesitation of the, 42: propositions of a committee of the, 54; convention of, at Frankfort, Ky., 87; proposition of President Lincoln in relation to emancipation in, 857. Boston, petition sent from, in favor of the Critten den resolutions, 55. Bowling Green, Ky., occupation of, by Gen. Buck ner, 167; occupied by a Federal force under Gen. Mitchel, 175; occupation of, by Gen. Brag(,, 401. Bradfird, Mnjor, his defence of Fort Pillow against Forrest, 565; murder of, by rebel soldiers, 567. Bragg, Gen. Braxton, biographical sketch of, 72; succeeds Beauregard at Okalona, 318: address of, to the people of the Northwest, 401; olpera tions of, in Kentucky, 401-408; order of, in re lation to the inauguration of a rebel governor of Kentucky, 403; great quantity of spoils carried - off by, from Kentucky, 408; retreat of, fiom Murfreesboro’ befotre Rosecrans, 416; driven back upon Chattanooza by Rosecirans, 4S2: ablandons Chattanooga, 484; reenforced from the army of Johnston, 485; remarks on the care(r of, 492; inactivity of, before Chattanooga, 4‘4; driven from Lookout Mountain.

500. Brandy Station, retreat of Gen. M(ewlde to, 4n0. Brashear City, suiprise aind capture of, by the rebels, 438. 761.

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INDE. Buzzard Roost, Johnston’s position at, turned by t Sherman, 569.

Cabel, Gen., repulse of, at Fayetteville, Ark.. 606 raid of, in Southwestern Missouri, 607. Cabinet, Confederate, members of the, 48, 114.

Cabinet, Federal, changes in the, 51. t Cairo, apprehended Confederate movement& against, 170; fleet of gunboats prepared at, un der the direction of Flagofficer Foote, 173. - Caleb Cushing, revenue cutter, captured in Port land harbor, 375. Calhoun, a stong advocate of nullification, 24; error of Pretident Jackson in relation to. 25. Calhoun, Mayor James M., surrenders Atlanta to Gen. Ward, 591; letter of, to Gen.

Sherman, in re lation to the depopulation of Atlanta, 628; Gem Sherman’s reply to, 629. Calhoun, Sherman’s forces at, 572. Camden, Ark., occupation of, by Gen. Steele, 60& Cameron, Col., killed at Bull Run, 108. Cameron, Secretary, report of, to the Thirty seventh Congress, 122; visit of, to Missouri, to inquire into) Fremont’s management, 159; resig nation of, 2t5. Camp Beach Grove, fortified by Zollicoffer, 171. Campbell, John A., Mr. Seward accused of dupli city by, 62. Campbeil Station, battle of, 498.

Camp Dick Robinson, Ky., complained of as ani/ fr ingement of Kentucky neuttality, 162. Camp Jackson, surrender of Gen. Frost at, to Capt. Lyon, 104. Camp Wild Cat, battle near, between the troops of Zollicoffer and Sch(eff, 167. Canal, Dutch Gap, pr)oposed by Gen. Butler, 554 C, anal cut across the peninsula opposite Island No. Ten, 303. Canal from the Mississippi to Lake Providence, 421.’ Canal on the peninsula, opposite Vicksburg, re opened, 420; abandoned, 421. Cannon, improvements in the manufacture of, 225; large number of, captured at Vicksburg, 432. Cape Fear River, forts on, abandoned by the rebel&, 699. Cape Girardeau, defence of, by Gen. MeNtel, against Maruiaduke, 606. Capital, national, consumption of, 858 Carlile, Mr. J. S., admitted to the Senate from West Virginia, 124. Carrollton, occupation of, by Gen. Phelps, 868. C oasev, Gen., )ivision otf routed at the battle of Seven Pines, 261. Cass, ion.

Lewis. resignation of, 51. Cf attle, tw entyfive hundred head of, carried off by Wade Itariipton, 559. Cavalry, want of; in McClellan’s army, 386.

Cedar (,reek, battle of, 650-654; Sheridan turns defeat into victory at, 65.3. Cedar Mountain, battle of, 325. , Ceitreville, advance of Gen. Tyler to, 99; descrip. tioni of the Confederate works at, 231; army of Gen.

Popxe at, 834. Certificates, issue of, 251. Chambersburg. proclamrntion issued from, by Gen. R. E. Lee, 45; fired by rebel cavalry under Me ~

Causland, 553. Champion’s HiIll battle of, 427. Chancellorsville, battle of, 446-448. Chandler, Col. D. T., testimony of, as to Gen. Win der’s infamous treatment of Union prisoners 742. Change of base, McClellan’s, 2S5. Chantilly, battle of, 385. Charleston, Stoth C arlh ina, convention ad(journed to: 3i); notic e of the forts at, 64; iniiit.ry prepa rations made in, 65; Bcauregard’placed in com Breckinridge, J. C., resigns his senalorship, 168. Breese, Captain, his attack on the sea front of Fort Fisher, 697. Brier Forks, Mo., battle near, 106. Bristow Station, battle of, 467. Brough, John, elected governor of Ohio, 658. Brown, Col. Harney, secret expedition dispatched under command of, 67; arrival of, at Fort Pick ens with reenforcements, 72; operations of, at Fort Pickens, 208.

Brown, Gov., forts in Georgia seized by, 40. Brown, John, ra,id of at Harper’s Ferry, 33; exe cution of, 84. Brownlow, Rev. W. G., persecuted for loyalty, 129. Brown’s Gap, strong position of Early at, 64S.

Brownsville, occupation of, by the tloops of Gen. Dana, 59& Buchanan, Capt. Franklin, biographical sketch of, 246; wounded and captured in the ram Tennes see, 613. Buchanan, President, his message of Dec., 1860, 50; message of, Jan., 1S61, 52. Buckner, Gen. S. B., proclamation issued by, from Bowlingr Green, 167; his surrender of Fort Don elson to Gen. Grant, 1,7. Buell, Gen. Don Carlos, biographical sketch of, 168; succeeds Anderson and Sherman in com mand of the Department of the Cumberland, 168; advance of, on Nashville, 178; opportune arrival of his troops at Pittsburg Landing, 310; losses of. at the battle of Pittsburg Landing, 311; oper ations of, in Kentucky, 399-408; superseded by Gen. Thomas, 404; reinstated in his command, 405; Ilrge force under, 405; superseded by Gen.

Rosecrans, 412. Bull Runs, battle of, 100; effects of the defeat at, 104; beneficial effect on the North of the battle of, 113; paralyzing inlulience of the defeat at, 139-secotndi battle of, 330; losses at the second battle of 331. Bunker Hill, Va., battle near, 109. Burbridge, Gen., letter of Sherman to, in relation to the treatment of guerrillas, 578; routs Mor gan at Cynthiana, 730; attempt of, to capture S.alt% ille, 731.

Burnside, Mai.-Gen. Ambrose E., biographical sketch of, 206; operations of, on the coast of North Car olina 206, 383442; return of, to For tress Monroe, 343; important services of, at the battle of Antietam, 882; McClellan superseded by, in coulmmand of the Army of the Potomac, 890; account of his operations against Freder icksburg, 391-39S8; inquiry into the causes of his lailurc at Fredericksbu-g, 3S5; singular tele gram of the President to, 897; plans of, made known to the enemy, 398; superseded by Gen. Hooker, 398; capture of Knoxville by, 484; re lieved from the command of the department of the Ohio, 501. Butler, Gen. Benjamin Franklin, biographical sketch of, 367; placed in command of the Anna polis d,paltinent, 82; occupies Relay House, 82; maintains the Federa! authority in Balti more, 88; headquarters of, at Fortress,Monroe, 91, 10-; surrender of Fort Hatt(era.s to a force under, 146: account of his Ship Issnd Expedi tion, 202-206; attempts to raise troops in -Mas sa chuisetts without State authority, 201; expedi tion of, against New Orleans, 363-367; his occu pation of New Orleans, 867; administration of, in New Orleans, 867; superseded by Gen. Bnanks, 435; cooperative movement of, up tle James, 4SO; operations of, on the James, 5299538; dis patch of, from City Point, 530; attacked by Beauregard within his lines, 532; consolidi’tion of his ri my with that of Grant, 542 expedition of, against Wilmington, 687-690; relievedl of the c,,‘islanmd of the Army of the James, 696; letter of, to Admiral Porter, in relation to Fort Fisher, 6ss~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~. 762

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INDEX. Commissioners, Confederate, sent to Europe, 181L 216; reply of Earl Russell to, 220. Commissioners, Southern, reply of Mr. Seward to, 61; final letter of, to Mr. Seward, 62. Commission of the Virginia Convention, reply of Mr. Lincoln to, 62. Comnmissions, Christian and Sanitary, beneficent i ofiidcs of, 742. Compromise, measures of, proposed by Clay, tia relation to the tariff, 25. Compromise, Missouri, history of the, 22; repeal of, 28. Confiscation act, provisions of, 125; signed by tlh President, 858. Confiscation in the North of property belonging to rebels, 134. Congress, Confederate, early proceedings of, g,% 86; assembled in Richmond, July, 1861, 113; how constituted, 114; action of, in relation to Missouri, 116. the Thirtysixth Federal, action of, 5T. the Thirty seventh Federal, how con stituted, 121; acts passeld by, 125; see ond session of, 854; results of the pro ceedings of, 862. frigate, capture of; by the Merrima, 247. Conscription, Confederate, after the battle of Gettysburg, 466. law, Mr. Wilson’s, s62; unpopular ity of, 450; amended by Congress, 662. Constitution, Federal, history of the formation of the, 17; binding on the whole people, 18; ameDniments to, sum gested by the Hartford Conven tion, 21; amendments to, proposed by Mr. Crittenden, 54; proposed amendment to the, 58; Webster on the, 25; powers conferred by, upon the Government, 355. Confederate, 48; adopted by the Virginia Convention, 43; adopted by th e N orth Carolina Conven tion, 45. adopted by t he Montgomery Con. 2 fven ti on, 47. Convention of 1787 to amend the Articles of Coia. federation, 17. Alabama, secession o rdinance of, 89. Arkansas, ordinance of secession, passed by the, 43. Democratic, of 1864, pl atf orm of, 666. Hartford, resolutions adopted by the, 21. Mississippi, action of, 87;- secession ordinance of, 3S. Missouri, a ction of, 116. Mon tgomery, deleg ates to the, 47. of Paris of 1856, in relation to priva. teering, 115. Republican, of 1864, platform of, 663. S3outh Carolina, adjourned frmn Coc lumbia to Charlest~,i, 35; ordinance of secession of, 35; reasons otf for secession, 36; resolutions adopted by, 36. of States invited by the Virginia lea islature, 56. Texas, ordinance of secession passed by, 41. Virginia, reply of Mr. Lincoln to the comnmissioners of, 62; seecession ordi nance passed by the, 42; (onfeder ate constitution adopte,d by, 43. Washington, 46. Western Virginia, loyal action of” 8&

Corcoran, Col., made prisoner at Bluill Ruin, 103. Corinth, concentration of Co)nlederate troops at, under Gen. A. X. Johnston, 306; operations o mand at, 67: siege of, 345-847, 501-508; shelled by Gen. Gillmore, 508; movement of Gen. Gill more against, 702; surrenderof, 703. liarleston harbor, stone fleet sunk at the entrance of, 202. e Charlestown. Mo., battle of, 152. Charlestown, Va., capture of, by Gen. Imboden, 467. Chase, Secretary, measures taken by, to obtain loans, 127. r Chattahoochee River, Sherman’s army at the, 578; Johnston compelled by Sherman to retire from the, 5S0. Chattanooga, Gen. Kirby Smith at, with 20,000 men, 818; Bragg driven back upon, by Lonig st’eet, 4S2; retreat of Bragg from, 484; Rose crans at, after Chickamauga, 491; situation of Rosecrans at, 494; arrival of large reenforce ments at, 496 Cheatham, B. F., appointed brigadiergeneral in the Confederate service, 118. Cheat Mountain Pass, operations near, 182. Cheat River, defeat of General Garnett at, 112.

Cherokee Station, General Osterhaus repulses Lee and Loiing near, 497.

Chesapeake, steamer, seizure of, by Confederate passen,: ers, 744.

Chicago, Democratic Convention of 1864 held at, 665. Ohickahominy, advance of the Army of the Poto mae to the, 2,58; bridges over the, 260; Grant’s battles on the, 53-67. Chickainaiig-h battle of, 4S6491; killed and woutded(1 at, 4S9; remnarks on the camipaign ter miiiating faith the battle o0, 4.1i. Christian Co btmistim, beieficeiit oflices of, 742.

Christmias gilt, heri-na a, i. Cinci,liti, IalarL casiined in, by the approach of Gen. Bragg-, 403; martial law proclaimed in, by Gen. Wallace, 403; proclamation of the may or of, 404; liquor stores closed in, 404.

Circular adldressed to foreign ministers by Mr. Seward, 217. Circular addressed by Mir. Seward to the governors of States, 222. Circular addressed by Memminger to officers of Confederate States, 119. Circular of Gon. Sherman in relation to newspaper reporters and the transmission of mails, 572. Citizens, Northern, banished from Southern States, 117, 129.

City Point, explosion of an ordnance boat at, 55~ Clay, Clemient C., and others, letter of Horace Greeley to, 6;0; final reply of, to Mr. Greeley, 671. Clay, Hlenry, author of the Missouri compromise, 22; compromise measures proposed by, in rela tion to the tariff, 25. Cobb, lowell.

resigns his position as secretary of the treasury, 51; elected chairman of the South ern Convention, 46. Coercion, IPresident Adams’s measures for, in Georgian 23; President Jackson’s measures for, in South Carolina, 25.

Coggin’s Point, 2,500 cattle carried off from, by Wade Hampton, 559. Coin, interest on the national debt and customs duties to be paid in, 848. b Cold Harbor, battles at, 5&4, 535. Collins, Commniander, captures the Florida in the Bay of San Salvador, 627. Columbia, South Carolina, Convention adjourned firom, an account of small-pox, 35; surrender of,* to Gen. Howard, 711 burning of, 711. Colunlbihi-dLd n, descriptioi ot the, 226. Coluibis. Kv., ocO( upation of, by Gen. Polk, 163; fortification of.

bv the C(onfederates, 17(b; occu patioin of: by Federal trooI,s, ITS.

Columbus, Ga., ca.pture of, by Geo. Wilson, 738. Commrerce, American, hows affected by the dep redations of Southern cruisers, 3X6. 763

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DEX. - Gen. Halleek a,gainst, 8134.817 dispatches of Halleck in relation to capture of, 3183416; evac uatioi of, by the lorces of Beauregard, 315; siege or,; by P ice, Van Dirn, and Lovell, 410. Corse. Gcn., his defence of Allatoona Pass, 6.32. Cost of construction of Federal forts in the Slave States, S5. Cotton, export of, prohibited by the Confederate Qongress, 86, great destruction of, in the South west, 318 S; and atNew Orleans, 365; large quan tities of, ca.ptured at Savannah, 685. Cotton gin effect of the invention of the, 26. Covingtoi), Ga, raid of Gen. Garrard to, 584. Creditors, Northern, act of the Confederate con gress ill,elation to, 119. Creeks, titles of, to lanld in Georgia, extinguished by treaty of 1S25, 23. Crew of the Savannah, trial of the, 195. CrittendlenS Col.

Thomias L., troops raised by, in defence of Kentucky, 164. Critteiilen, Gen. George B., in command of the rebel iforce at Mill Spring 171.

Crittendeni, Mr., amendumeuts to the Federal CoTi stitution proposed by, 54; resolution moved b y, in the tHouse of Representatives, 124.

Crittenden resolutions, fate of the, 58. Cross Keys, Va., battle of, 275; dispatch of Fre niont in relation to the battle at, 276. Cilba, schemnes for the annexation of, 29. Culliiiii. Gen., his report on the works at Winches ter, 451. Culpepper CourtHouse, advance of Gen. Pope to wa.lrdl, 324. Clumberland, concentration of the Army of the Po. t)nimac at 255.

Cumnibe laLnd, frigate, the sinking of, by the Merri mac 246. Cumber land Gap, occupation of; by Gen. Zollicof fer, 1 64; descriptioni of; 408; capture of, by Gen. G. W. Morgan, 409. Cumberland River, description of, 173. Currency, Confederate, rapid depreciation of, 118, 119. Curtin, Governor, militia of Pennsylvania, called out by. 377. Curtis, Gen. Samuel R., biographical sketch of; 297; opierations of, in Missouri and Arkansas, 297-302; slaves liberated by, in Arkansas, 301. Cushinug, Lieut. W. B., how he sank the rebel ramin Albeinarle(, 622. Cynthiana, burnt by the guerrilla Morgan, 730. I i i Du ping o btleo,18 Dahlgren, Admiral John A., succeeds Dupont in cilt lan(id of the South Atlantic Squadron, 504.

Dahlgren, Col., death of, 472; papers said to have Early, Gen. A. J., contribution levied by, upon be, n found on his body, 472. York, Pa., 456; his invasion of l’ennsylvania Dahigren gul, peculiatity of the, 226. and Maryland, 551-553; operations of Sheridan Dallas, Ga., battle of, 573.

against, in the Shenandoah Valley, 641-656. Dalla. Mr., succeeded by Mr.

Adams at the Court East Tennessee, operations of Burnside in, 484; of St.

James, 217, 218. other military operatiois in, 494-501; Gen. StoneDalton, Johnston compelled by Sherman to aban-man appiintted to command in, 732.

don his works at, 569. Eightli Massachusetts Regiment, departure of, for Dam built by Lieut.-Col. Bailey on the Red Priv-Washington, 78; machinists in the ranks of er, 6(12. the, 79. Dana, Gen., expedition of, to BroWnsville, Texas, Election. presidential. of 1860, 82; followed by 598. secession movements, 84 Dana, Mr. C. A., dispatch of, from Spottsylvania Election, presideniial. of 1864. 668-668. CourtHouse, 521.

Ellet Col., expedition of, up the Yazoo, 869. Danville and Weldon railroads, expedition of Wil-Ellis Gov.. reply of; to President Lincoln’s call for son andl Kautz against, 54 - troops, 73. Darbytown, battle of, 691. Ellsworth, Col. Ephraim E., death of, at AlexanDavis, Commo(iore.

defeats the rell fleet near dria, 90. Memlhis, 317: fleet of, joins that of Far-agut ETmancipation, proposition of President Lincoln to above Vicksbturg, 868. Border States in relation to, 357. Davis, Gen.

Jeffiselison C., biographical sket’ch of, Emancipation proclamations. 356, 859, 861. 300; expedition of, toward Rover and Franklin, proclamination of Gen. Fremont ih 480; relieves Gen. Palmer, 586. Missouri, 154. Davis, Jefferson, biographical sketch of, 114; ex-England, relations with the government of, 21T. tracts from his first message, 83; message of, to I Europe, interference of; app)rehended, 140~ 64

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INDEX. Fort HIlatteras, surrender of, to a force under Gen Butler, 146.

Fort Henry, on the Tennessee, siege and capture (,f, 174; results of the c.-iptitie of. I 74. Forts Jackson andl St. Pl’i:l,, bombardment and surrender of, 864 365. Fort McAllister. attack on, bv the ironclad Mon tauk. 501; capture of, by Gen. Hlazen. 683; dis patch of General Sherman after the capture of 683. For-t Macon, N. C., siege of, 341; capture of, 342, Fort Mahone, Petersburg. capture of. 724. Fort Morgan, Mobiie, surrender of, 615. Fort Moultuie, garrison transferred from, to Fort Suniter. 52-65. Fort Piclens, Florida garr isoned by Federal t roops, 66; ie-enforced by Colonel Harvey JBrown, 72; fire opened frorn, on the ntaiy yard and de fences of Pensacola. 20S. Fort Pillow, description of, 564; taken by assaulk 565; details of the massacre at, 565-567. Fort Powell, Mobile, surrender of, 614. Fort Pulaski, siege of, 344; surrender of, 845.

Fort Steadman, near Pctersburg, capture and re capture of 717-719. Fort Sumter, garrison of Fort Moultrie transferred to, 52-65; attemptto reenforce, 5‘2-66;,mbarl ment ()f, 68-0; names of offlicers in diring!

the bouibardinenLt 68; arrival of Gen. Wigfall at. 70; surrender of, 72; effect of the fall of, 73; attack on, with ironclads, 503; made a “shapeless mass of ruins” by Gilliore, 507; national flag restored on, by Gen. Anderson, 704. Fort Wagner, siege ot, 505-50S. Fort Walker, S. C., capture of, 200. Fort Wriiht, siege of, 314, 315; evacuation of, 315; occupation of, by Col Fitch, S17. Fortifications, how fltr valuable, 135.

Fortificatio-)ns erected around St. Louis, 153. Fortress Monroe, head-quiarte rs of Gene ral Butler at, 91; army of McClellan at, 241; return of Mc Clellan’s army to from Harrison’s Landing, 83T. t Forts, Federal’ seized by State authorities, 67. Forts at Charleston, notice of the, 64. Forts in the Slave States at the outbreak of the re bellion, 85.

Forts on Cape Fear River, capture of, 699, 700. F oster Gen., part taken by, in tlie attack on New bern 339; appointed military governor of New bern, 840, assigned to command the Department of the Ohio, 501; opens communications with Savannah, 685. France, relations with the government of, 217; ac tion of the government of, in relation to the seizure of Mason and Slidell, 223. Franklin, Benjamnin, Federal Constitution not satisfactory to, 18. Franklin, Gen. William Buell, biographical skletch of, 599, at the battle of Antietam, 382); at the battle of Fredericksburg, 393; relieved from duty with the Army of the IPotomac, 398; expe dition of, to Sabine Pass, 596. Franklin, Tenn., attack upon by Van Dorn, 481; Hlood repulsed at, by Schofiel(, 634. Frautds in thle War Department, 52. Frederick, Md., minarch of the Confed(erttes upon, 37T’

arrival of Hooker’s army at, 453. Fredericksburg, Btirnsi(le’s operations against, 391; battle of, 393. Freedmeni’s Bureau established, 662.

Fremont, Gen. John Charles, biographical sketch of,;271; extensive command assigned to, 106; operations of, in the West, 147-16()0-martial lav *
declared in St. Louis by, 151; proclaiii..Lti,n of in Missouri. of August.

S1861; complaints made ag.Linst, by Col. Blair, 155; alleged exti-avagance of, 156; dispatch of, in relation to the tall ofLex ington, 158; advance ot; toward Lexington, 159; reoccupies Springfield, 159; order transmitted to, from the Secretary of War, 159; supersieded ]Ewell, Gen. Richard Stoddard, biographical sketch of, 525; advance of his corps upon Winchester, 451 drives Milroy out of Winchester, 452. Exchange of prisoners, 739, 742; questions in rela tion to, 196. ]Excise law, 350.

Executive, questions as to the powers of the, 130. iExports of the Confederate States, 118. Fair Oaks, battle of, 261; large destruction of gov ernlileIlt stores at, 2SS88. Falls at Alexandria, how passed by Porter’s fleet, 602. Farr.git, Admiral David G., biozraphical sketch of, 421; fleet or, pass the Mississippi f)rts, 364’ letter of, to the M,ayor of New Orleans, demand ing surrender; fleet of, pass the Vicksburg bat teries 368; fleet of, pass the Port Hudson batter ies, 421; operations of, azainst Mobile, 611-615. Fay, Col.. Gen. Zollicoffer killed byv 172.

Fayetteville, Ark., Gen. Cabel repulsed at, by Col. Harris)n, 606.

Fayetteville, N. C., occupation of, by Sherman’s forces, 713. Ferocity of the Southern press and people, 129. Fessenden, Mr. Will ia m Pitt, financ ial manage ment of, 6b7. Finance measures of Sec retary Chase, 127. F
inances, F ederal, disordered condition of, at the be-inninga of the w ar, 57; condition of, in 1861, 123; c hapter on, 348-354; in 1864, 672-679. F
inances of the Confederate States, 118-121. Fistler’s Hill, banttl e )f, 646. Fishersville, capture of, by Sheridan, 707. Fitchl, Col., occupation of Fort Wright and Mem phis by, 317-ba ittery at S t. Charles stormed by, 818.’ Five Forks, battle of, 721-723. Florida, sece ss ion mov eme nts in, 39; expedition to the east coas t of, 333; places occupied in, 344; Gen.

Asbo th’s expedition a, 615; other military operations in, 615-619.

Florida. steamtter, formerly the Oreto, sails fromn Mobile. 372: rebel cruiser, history of the, 627; capture of, in the Bay of San Salvador, 62o.

Floyd, Jehu Btuchanan, biographical sketch of, 65; r esigna tion of, 51; escapee of, f rom Fort Donel son, 177; compvelled by Gen. Rosecratns to retreat fiom the Gauley River, 183. Flusser, Lietut. Commander, singular de-th of, 621. Foote, Riear Admiral Andrew I., biographical sketch of, 1,3; fleet of,gtunboats prepared at Cairo under the direction of, 178; surrender of F1%t I-leim’v to, 174; wounded at the siege of Fort Donelson, 16,; death of, 504. Forrest, Gen., defeats Smith andl Grierson at West Point, 563; operations of, in Tennessee and Ken tucky, 56.567T; operations of, against Sherman’B communications, 630, 6:31; re-enfi)rces the army of General Hood, 633; defeated by Gen. Milroy near Murfreesboro’, 635; defeated and driven out of Selma by Gen. Wils)n, 738. Fort Beaureg,ard, S.

CJ., capture of, 200. Fort Darling; unsuccessful attack upon, by iron clads, 256; failure of Butler’s attempt upon, 531. Fort de Russey, La., capture of, 599.,4 Fort Donelson. description of, l75; siege and cap ture of; 175-17T; results of the capture ef, 177. Fort Fisher, description of, 687; torpe(do vessel ex ploded near, 68; failure of the attack upon, 688; correspondence between Porter and Butler in re lation to the attack upon, 683, 689, language of Gen. Brag in relation to the attack upon, 690 second expedition against. under General Terry and Admiral P,,rter. 690-696; capture o~, by as sault, 69S; killed and wounded at, 693. Fort Gaines, investment of, by Gens. Granger-and Canby, 611; Mobile, surrender of, 614.

165

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INDEX. Grand Gulf, occupation of, by Gen. Grant, 429; march of Gen.

Grant’s army from, toward Vicks burg, 423-427. Granger, Gen., attacked by Van Dorn at Frank lin, Tenn., 481. Grant, Lieut.-Gen. Ulysses S., biographical sketch of, 150; occupies Paducah. 163, 171; proclamation issued by, at Paducah, 163; surrender of Fort Donelson to, 177; army of, at Pittsburg Landing siu-prised by Gen. Johnston, 807; losses of the army of, 311; apology for, X; appointed to the command of West Tennessee, 31S; opera tions of, against Vickstliru, 420-430; corre spondence of, with Peinberton, in relation to the surrender of Vicksbur, 430-432; letter of Pres ident Lincoln to, after the fall of Vicksburg, 434; called to command the army in Tennes see, 495; drives Brace fiom Lookout MIoulitain, 500; appointed lieutenant-eneral, 573; formal presentation of his comnmission to, 477; cor re’spondence of, with President Lincoln. A7 his plan for the capture of Richmond, 30; cor respond(lence of, with Gen. Lee, in relation to terms of surrender, 726-728; sent from Wash ingtoni to Sherman, at Rtaleigh, 736. Graves House, Ga., skirmish at, 572. Greble, Lieut., death of, at Big Bethel, 93. Greeley, IIoLace, letter of President Lintcoln to, 358; letters of, in relation to propositions for peace, 669, 670; telegram of President Lincoln to, 671; final reply of Clay and Holcomnbe to, 672.*

Grierson, Col., cavalry raid of. from Lagrange, Tenn., to Baton Rouge, La., 434. Grierson and Smith, Gens., cavalry expedition of, fromn Memphis toward Meridian, 562. Griswoldville, Ga., battle of, S81. Guerrillas, activity of, in Western Missouri, 153; lettei of Gen. Slielulman in relation to the treat ment of, 578. Guinney’s Station, Gen. Torbert at.

525. Gunboats, fleet of prepared at Cairo, 173; Fort bHenry, on the’Tennessee, captured by the aid of, 174; conmpelled to retire from the attack on Fort Donelsoti, 176; screw, built for the navy, 189: ironclad, compelled to retire from Fort Darling, 2,56; impo,rtalnt assistance rendered by, at the battle of Pittsburg Landing, 8309; fight of, w ith the rebel fleet, near Memphis, 317; at ta ck made ith, on Sabine Pass, 596; capture of the rebel ram Tennessee by, 613. Gunboat Unadilla, description of, 190. Guns, calibre, veight, &c., of in the United Sta tes service, 227. Guyandotte, a /small body of Union troops sur prised at, 185: by Gen.

THIunter, 160; placed in command of the Mountain Department, 238; operations of, in Virginia, 270-279; dispatches of, to Harrison bur,, 275, 276; dispatch of, from Port Republic, Va, 2T6; severe measures adopted by, against plunderers, 278; resignation of, 278; order of StaLniton relieving, 279. French, Gen., at the battle of Antietam, 382; forces the passage of the Rappahannock at Kel ly’s For-d, 46S. Front Royal, Col.

Kenly surprised at, 169. Frost, Gen., surrender of, at Camp Jackson, to C,apt. L)on, 104. Fugitive slave law, opposition to, in the North, 27.

Gaines’s, Mills, battle of, 2S5. Galveston, operations at, 208. Gamble, Hamilton R., appointed provisional gov ernor of Missouri, 116. Gantt, Hon.

E. W., defection of, from the Confed erates in Arkansas, 60T. Gardner, Ge., correspondence of, with Gen. Banks in rela tion to the surrend er of Vicksbu rg 441. Garfield, (;ol., Humphr ey Marshall drive n out of Kentucky by, 172. Garnett, Gen., defeat and dea th of, a t Carrick’s Ford, 112. Garrard, Gen.,raid of, to Covington, Ga., 584. Garrisons in Federal forts in the Slave States at the o utbreak of the rebellion, 85. Gaolev Boidf ge, rapid tretreat o f Gen. Wise from, 1St; ope r ations in the vicinity of, 182-184. Gearn, Col., attacked by a rebel force near Bolivar Heights, Va., 211. Georgia, opposition to the National Government in,in 125, 22; Indian clai m tls t) lands in, extin gtuislhedl by treaty, 23; forts in, seized by Gov. Brown. 40; ol)etions o f Sherman in, 567-596

679-686; ap peals of Beauregard and the Georgia delegtation to the people of, 681; appeal of Sena tor tIill Lo the people of, 6S2. Georgia, privateer. where built and armed, 375; capture of the, 627. Georgia Conventi o eon, se cession resolution and o r d inan ce passed by, 40.

Gettysbt r d, battle of, 458 463. Gillem, Gen., defeated by Breckinri(le near Bull Go p, 731; operations of in S outhw est Virginia, 782. Gillnore, Gen. Quincy Ad,ams, biographical sketch of, 504; his capture of Fort Pulaski, 345; suc ceeds Huil nter in c ommand of the DIepartme nt of the S
outh, 504; operations of, against Morris Islan(l 505; dispatch of, announcing the captur e of Fort Wagoner, 50S,; in Butler’s attack on Fort Darling 531’; the Florida expedition planned by, 616; oporations of, against Charleston, 702; dispatch of. announcing the surrender of Charles ton, 703. Glendale, battle of, 290. Gold, rapid disapl)pearance of, in the Confederate States, 120; rise in the premium on, 349 851; measures of Congress to prevent dealing in, 674; effect of legislation on the price of, 675; montlhly course of the premium on, in 1862 1865, 6?9. Gold bill, repeal of the, 676. Goldshorough, ccuipation of, by Gen. Schofield, 702, 716. l Gordonsville, retreat of the.Confederate forces to, from Manassas, 235. Gortchakoff, Prince, remarkable letter of, 220. Gospoi-t Navy Yard, destruction of niional prop erty at, 74. Government, National, history of various ~ttempts to resist the, 18-30; war powers of the, 355. Governors of slaveholding States, reply of, to Pres ident Lincoln’s call for trooIls, 73. Grain, large export of, to Europe, 352, 5. dsabeas,Uorpus, suspension of, by the President, 130; opinions of Taneyand Bates asto the Presi dent’s power to suspend the, 130; opinion of PReverdy Johnson in relation to the suspension of, 131. IIageistown, troops concentrated at, 837; Stuart’s cavalry driven out of, 464. occupation of, by rebel cavalry, 552. 1Iaoines’s Bluff, attacks of Sherman upon, 419, 422, 423.

Ilainesville, Va., battle at, 109. HIalleck, Gen. Henry Water, biographical sketch otf 295; comma.tnd of the Western DIepartment assumed bM, 1,9, placed in command of the De partment of the Mississippi, 238; severe mneas ures of, with leg’trd to secessionists, 296; affairs in Missouri under the management of, 29-30’; order of, excluding fugitive slaves firom Federal camps, 296; appointed to the. l)ep,urtirent of the Mississippi, 802; disf).tches of, in relation to the evacuation of Corinth, 315-16; opera tions of, against Corinth, 313-317; made coin 766 0

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INDEX. Hollins, Capt. G. N, fleet fitted out by, at New Or ieans, 209.

fHolly Springs, Grant’s d6pdt of supplies destroyed at, 412. Holmes, Gen., retreat of, before Gen. Steele, in Ark., 606. Hood, Gen. John B., biographical sketch of, 580; supersedes Gen. Johnston, 580; letters of, ill re lation to the removal of the inhabitants of At lanta, 593; Sherminan’s letter to, 594; operations of, against Sherman’s comnmunications, 681; retires before Sherman into Northern Alabama, 632; army of, reenforced by Forrest, 633; repulsed at Franklin, 634; advances on Nashville, 684 operations of, against Nashville. 635640: driven over the Tennessee by Gen. Thomas, 640; end of his career, 641. Hooker, Gen: Joseph, biographical sketch o f, 44 3; at the battle of Antietam, 880; wounded at An tietam, 381; at the battle of Fredericksbu’g. 393; Burnside superseded by, in command (iof the Army of the Potomac, 898; his short cam paign against Richmond, 442-450; confident order of, 445; remarks on his Richmond cam paign, 450; superseded by Gen. Meade, 455; farewell address of, 455; at Lookout Mountain, 500; relieved by Gen. Slocum, 5S6. Hotels in New York, attempts of Confederates to burn, 743. Houston, Gov., adverse to the secession movement in Texas, 41. lHow ard, Gen. Oliver Otis, biographical sketch of, 586; at the battle of Antietam, 381; appointed to command the Arms of the Tennessee, 586. Howitzer, description of the, 227.

Hunter, Gen., wounded at Bull Run, 101; super sedes Fremont in Missouri, 160;‘retreat of, from Springfield. followed by Price, 178; transferred to the Kansas department, 179; laced in com mand of the Department of the SoLth, 844; sn perseded by Gen. Mitchel, 347; supersedes Sigel at (Cedar Creek, 550; deleats Gen. Jones near Staunton, 550; advances to Lynichburg, 550; pre cipitate retreat of, into Western Virginia, 551; s uperseded by G
en Sheridan, 5)3. Huntsville, Ala., capture of, by Mitchel’s forces, 347.

mander-in-chief, 319; correspondence of, with McClellan in relation to Harper’s Ferry, &c., 378; correspondence of, with Secretary Stanton, in relation to the condition of Gen. McClellan’s army, 388; testimony of, in relation to the delay at Fredericksburg 395; relieved from duty as commander-in-chief, and appointed chief of staff, 473. Hampton, Wra(le, carries off cattle from Coggin’s P oint, 559; accused by Sherman of having fired Columbia, 712. Hancock, Gen. Winfield Scott, biographical sketch of, 520; o rganization o f th e second a rmy corps under, 475-famous charge of his c orps near Spottsylvania Ctourt-House, 520. Hardee, Gen. William J., bio graphical sket ch of, 152; escape of, from Savannah, 68L HIarkins, Col., his surrender of Union City to For rest, 53. Harper-‘s Ferry, John Brown’s raid at, 88; armory a t, seized by Virginia militia, 74; railroad bnridge at, bu rnt by J ohnston’s troops, 108; command assumned at, by Gen. Sigel, 278; Col. Miles in comm and t, 37 abandonment of, recommend ed by McClellan, 3T8; investment of, by Gen. Jackson, 378; surrender of, to Confederate forces, 379; recapture of, 384; retreat of Sigel to, from Mlart insburg, 551. Harris, Gov., reply of t o Pres& Lincoln’s call for troops, 73; Louisville and Nashville road closed by, 161. Harris, Rich ard, inaugurated provisional rebel gon ve rnor of Kentucky, 403. Hla rrisburg, public property removed from, on the app roach of the re b(lls, 4o42 Hrrison, Col. A. La Rue, repulses Cabe ll a t Fay: etteville, 606.

Harrisonburg, dispatches of Fremont from, 2T5, 276. Halrison’s Landingf, Army of the Potomac at, 292; Pope’s movements intended to facilitate IcCf lel lan’s r etirement from, 324; delay of McClellan in leaving, 326; excuses of Gen. McClellan for notJeavinz, 3?,36. H:.rtforyl Convention, resolutions adop ted by the, 21. Haitsuff, Gen., wounded at Antietam, 381.

Hartsvilie,‘o., maovements of Marmaduke a nd Porter against, 60.5. Harney, Gen., su perseded by Gen. Lyon, 105. Iatch, Georgee,Mayor of Cincinnati, pr oclam ation of, 404. Hatchtv’s PRun, battle of, 692. Haves. den.

Alexander, death.of, 511. Hay-ne, of South Corolin,a, nullification advocated by, 23; declares the principles of State sover eigntv established, 25. Hazen. Gen., takes Lookout Mountain, 496; takes Fort McAc.llister, 6SS. Head-quiarters, scene at Grant’s, 516. Heekman, Gen., made prisoner in Butlers attempt on Fort Darling, 531. Helena, Ark., repulse. of Price and Marmaduke at, by Gen. Prentiss, 606. Helper, John Rowan, effect of the publication of his boo],, 34. Henry, Ale.xandiler, call to arms addressed’WI to the citizens or’ Philadelphia, 4.5T. Hicks, (‘ol., repulses Forrest at PacLucah, 564. Hicks, G-,v., extractfrom his address to the people of Maryland, 80; suggests Lord Lyons as “me diator,”

80. Hilton Ilead, operations of Gen. T. W. Sherman in the vicinity of, 343; wlhools for negroes gs tabMsbed at, 344. History of the Federal Constitution, 1T. History of various attempts to resist the National Government, 1830. HUobson, Gen., entire foree under, captured by Mor gan, 730. Illinois, imp orta nt contributions from, of officers and men, 169.

Inbobden, G en., wo rsted at Williamsport, 464; capture of Charilestow n by, 467. “Imptending Crsis,” effect of the publication of Helper’s, 34.

Inaugural address of Mr. Lincoln, 60; effect of, os the So)uth, 61; second, 74b. Income tax, 350. Indian lunrd, stocks of, abstracted by Godard Bailey, 52. Indianola steamer, capture of, 421. Indians, lands owned by, in Georgia, Alabama, &o., 22; t itles of, to lands in Georgia, extingu is he d by treaty in 1825, 23. Inflation of prices, enormous in the Confederate States, 119. Ingraham, Capt., his attack on the blockading fleet off C harleston, 502. Interest, large actual, paid by Government, 353. Interest-bearing debt of the United States, 353. “Interior lines,’

held by the Confederate armies 139. Intrigue among officers of Burnside’s armv, 390. Ironclads built for the navy, 189; attack with, on the Charleston forts, 502. Island No. Ten, operations against. 302-304; render of, to Commodore lFoote, 305. Italy, Napoleon in, 135. Iuka, occupation otf by Gen. Price, 409. 767

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INDEX. Jackson, Gen. Thomas Jonathan, biographical sketch of, 265; movement of, towards Hancock, Md., 186; operations of, in the valley of the Shenandoah, 265-270, 272-279; letter of Gen. J. Ei. Johnston to, 272; pursuitof, by Gens. McDow ell ano toFeresont,c 274; movement of, towards Thoroughfare Gap, 328: e scape of, fiom Pope, 329, 33i; after the capture of Hant-per’s Ferry, recrosses the Potomac, S0; operations of, ag ai ns t Hookesr, 446 death of, 446. Jaciksor, Go v., reply (of, to Pres. Lincoln’s call for troops, 73-10o4; flight of fr iom Jeffers o n City, 105; opposed to Uni ted States troops passing through MIissouri, 116. Jackson, Presi dent, mea sures ta ken by, for the coetrcion o f South Carolina, 25.

Jackson, capture of, by Gen. Grant, 426. Jacksonillie, occupation of by Federal troops, 848; evacuattion of bor of, by order of Ge. Hunter, 344f occuipa,tioni of, by G en. Seymour, 616. James Island, disastrous operations on, under Gen. Be dham f 347; abandonment of, 347. James’,i ve’, rossing of, by Grant’s army, 538. James l’oiver Ca nal, prop erty de stroyed on, by Col. Dahlren, 472. Jaques, Col. J am es F., visit of, to Davis at Rich niond, 669. Jeffeo-son T a, Th omas, F edera l C onstitution not satis factory to, 18; action of, in stipport of State rights, 19; langl,uag e o f, in relation to ” nullifica tion,” 20. Jeffer nso City, occup ation of, by Genr. Lyon, 105. Jenkins, Gen., d eath of, 513.

Johnson. Andresw. ot Tennessee, biogr aphic al sketch of, 753; r iesolution ioved by, in the Senate, 1i-,4; appointed military governor of T ennessee, 17S; n(,uination of, for the VicePresidency, 663; address of, on taking theo odth of office as President, 750; proclamations of, in relation to reconistrutctio)n, 751, 752. Johnson, Iever(ly, opinion of, as to the power of the President to suspend the habeas corpus, 131. Johnson’s Island, plot to release rebel officers con fined on, 743. Johnston, Col.

Samuel, notice of, to Virginia mili tia, 1292. Johnston, Gen. A. S., concentration of Confederate forces uIndIler, at Corinth, 306; death of, at the battle of l’ittsburg Landing, 309. Johnston, Gen. Joseph Eccleston, biographical sketch of, 98; at Winchester-, 9S; junction of, with Beurtiegard, 100, letter of, to Gen. T. J. Jackson, 27,; defeat of, bv Grant, at Jackson, 426; force under the command of, May, 1864, 569; superseded by Gen. ll(o(od, 5S0; reinstated in command of the forces opposed to Sherman, 712; concentia,tes at Raleigh, 718; details of his surrender to, Gen. Sherman, 734-786. Jonesboro’, battle of, 589. Jord(an, E/lward, (,pinion of, in relation to the gold bill, 6.75. Ju(dg-es of United States Courts, treason defined be-, 132. Kenesaw Mountain, description of, 574-576; battle of, 577. Keiily, Col., surprised at Front Royal, 269. Kennedlv, Capt. Robert C., executed for complicity in the plot to burn New York, 744. Kentucky, neutral policy,f, 45; Union sentiment in, S87; military operations in, 160-179; neutral ity policy attempted in, 161; Union majority in the legislature of, 162; action of the legislature of, in favor of expelling Confederate troops, 164; course of, decided by the Confederate occupa tion, 164; State and National forces in, placed under copninan’l of Gen. R. Anderson, 165; sta tions and numbers of Confederate troops in, 166; large number of Federal troops in, 171; opera tions of Bliagg and Kir by Smith in, against Buell, 899-408; Mor an’t raid in, 730. Keokuk, ir(on-clid(, injured in the attack on Fort Sumter, 503.

Kilpatrick, Gen. Judson, biographical sketch of, 710; l-aid of. from Stevensburg to Richmond, 472; operations o(f nis cavalry on the march to Savannah, 681, 6S2; surprise of, by Wade Hamp. toll, 718. Kingston, Sherman’s forces at, 5T2. Kinston, operations against, IJl; occupation oA 702. Kirke, Mr., visit of, to Davis at Richmond, 669. “Knights of the Golden Circle,” institution of the orde r of, 31. Knoxville, capture of, by Buirnside, 484; his de fence of, 498; Longstieet retreats from, on the apl)proach of Shetrmian, 501. Knoazville IWhig, suspension of the, 129.

Lafayette, Ga., Confederate forces concentrated at, 485. Lake Providence, attempt to cut a canal to, from the Mississippi, 421. Lane, Gen., remtiariks of, on the disorganization of the Army of the Potomac, 141.

Lancaste, Mr., carries off Capt. Semmes and others in the Deerhound, 626.

Lander, Gen, death of, 186. Lands in Geo)irgia, Indian titles to, extinguished by treaty, 1825, 28. La, irel Hill, West Virginia, battle of, 111; capturo of rebel camp at, 112. Laurel Hill, near lRichniond, attack upon, by Gen Bir-ney, 559. Law of blockade, 190-192. Lawrence, atrocities of Qniantrell at, 60T. Lee, Gen, Whiskey Rebellion of 1794 put downi by, 19. Lee, Gen. Fitzhlugh, repulsed by colored troops at Wilson’s Wharf, 632. Lee, Gen. Robert IEdmund, biographical sketch of, 86; commnissioned general in the Confederate service, 118; on the Peninsular campaign, 294; invasion of Maryland by, 877; tr-oopfs concen trated by, at Harper’s Ferry, 377; his invasion of Maryland and Pennsylvania, 4,51-460; retreat of; after the battle of Gettysburg, 464; appointed to command all the rebel armies, 712; crre spondence of, with Gen. Graut, in relation to the terms of surrender, 726-728; surrender of, 728. Legislature of Kentucky.

Union majority in, 162; action of, in favo r of expelling Confederate troops, 164; lbals and the calling out of volun teers authorized by, 165.

Legislatures, Northern, assistance tendered by, to the Feder,l G(,vernmenit, 53. Legs, want ,t with McClellan’s army, 885. Letcher, G(‘v.. reply of, to P-esidentLincoln’s call for troops, 73; (effrts oLr to induce Western Vir ginia to join in secession, 89. Letters of marqtue, &c, offered by Jeferson Davi, 74. Kansas, efforts to make a Slave State a, 29. Katiz, Gen., cavalry redid of, from Suff, towards Peter ibmt’g,,, 5830; cavalry e2pedition of, against the Rtichmond and Daniville Railroad, 581. Katitz aud Wilson, expedition of, against the Weldon and Danville Railroads, A44. - Kearny, Gen. Philip, biographical sketch of, 284; death of, 535. t Kearsarge, corvette, details of her fight with the Alatbama, 628-62T. Kelley, Gen, march of to Philippi, 110; rebel troops driven oit of Romney by. 185. Kelly’s Ford, battle of, 468. 768

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INDEX. bMcC(lellan, Gen. George B., biorap hical sketch of 229; al)oicitedl to the cominrnia of the Fourth Military I)elprtmeut, 1 0; oppeia.tiniis of, in Wiestern Virgiiiia, 110-113; called to take com bmand(I of the Ai my of the Potomac. 140; reformns cornmenced by, 141; precautionary Ineasuresof; 145; general order of, in relation to Sabbath oobseri.nee, 14.); improvemnent broiilit about by, in the Army of the Potomle, 210; order issued by, in l elatioti to (tepred(ltiolis by soldiers, 211; succeeds Gen. Scott in cotiiniaud of -he earmies of the Unitedl States, 214; iliaction ofthe Army of the Potonac under, 2I5;,l)eiations of . the Atnmy ofthe Potomac under, 22S-245; com mandI of, restric.ted to thec Delaltinent of the Potoiactc, 23S; a(l(lress of, to the Airmiy of the PotomMac, 23S; orders of, to A(jtit.lnt-General Thornas, 239; ait Fortress Monroe, 241; letter of Presi(d(ent Lincoln to, urging energetic actiont 242; dlsp,atthl(.s of, in relation to the capture of Y
rorkton. 251; (l disttch of in relation to the battle of Willias biur, 254; opportunity lost by, iftei the battle of S( ven Pines, 26:3; dispatch of 263; a,h(ress of, to the arrnv, 261; corrected tdisli)atche(s of, 261, 265; re-enflir;cinents demand ed by, 273 oiperations ot,.Tainst l1ichimond 279-295; (is patelh of, in relation to McDowell’s corrs, G2S ~ isp).tchl of, in relation to Jtckson’is8 inove-iienits, 2S2; various dispatches of, 283; reply of IPrlesi(lent Liecolu to, 2S4; idd(ress of, to the Armny of the PIotomac, ater the seven days battles 291; extlaor(linary answer of, to Pope’s requiest ifr ratioiis, 833; excuses of, for not Ieaviiiin lIarvisoii’s Lan(ling, 836; nrrival of the arnmy o)f at’Fortress Monroe, 837; langutage of, i((re sse(Il to Mr. Lincoln, in relition to the poliicv of lthe government, 35.5 troips gradually detachedl liii) the coinmaul(I of, 376; llaced in command of the troops in at(nd around Washing ton, 877; dispatch of, to llalleck, in relation to Ha-,pei-‘s Ferry, &c., 878; recaptures Ilarper’s F’ei-ry, S34; ordered by Mr. Lincoln to ct-oss the Pot(oiiiac, 385; dilatory policy (f, 384; corre spollnlence or, with Ilalleck. with regard toarmy mnovemitenits, 3S5; letter of the Pl-esi(lent to, urging more energetic,action, 886; reply of, to the lPrsilet’s le tte, 387; adlvance ofi by way of Leesbi,i-, 390; slpersedledl by Gen.

ltirnside, 390; ine-its an(I delnmerits of, 891; nomisnation of, for the C(residency, 665; his letter of accept ance, 667; vote for, 6GS. Maceon, surren(ler of, by Howell Cobb, to Gen Wilson. 73S MCoolk, Gen.. escape of, from a superior force at New-an, 585. McCill,-ch. Gen. Ben., biographical sketch of, 298; killed at the battle of l’ea tidle. 3 1. McDowell, Gen.

Itwin, biogral)hicil sketch of, 90; foirce ini(lei, at and near Aiexatn(drit, June, 161, 96; advance of, tow.Lrds Alnassas, 98; corps o f, retained lor the dlefence of Washington, 241; corps of, sent to the stl)ppor-t of Gen. Banks, 260. McDowell, Va, battle ot-fz7,. Mcintosh, (,i-eek chief, assassination of, 23. McKinstiy, Major J., appointedi lirovost-marshal in St. Loutis, 1.,1; supplresses the lIVr Bulletin and the,issouria;., 152. McNeil. Gcn John, rebel prisoners shot by, 605; repulses Mlarria(tiukie’s attaLeck on Cape Girardeau 606; suplpersedes Gemn. Bluniit, 60S. hMcPherson. Gen. Jatrns B., bi)gralphical sketch of, uf 3; d(efeats Gen. Gr-eg, near tayI’ond, 425; ol)erationis *f. fiom VicksbLuir-g-. 59;-; iore tunder the c-)mman(l o(f, Mav, 1861, 563; deathi of, 54 Mag,offin, Gov, reply of, to IPrles. Lin’)ln’s call for troops, 73; pro,tests against the occupation of 1lickman and Columbus by Confiederate troops, 163 Magrnder, Gen. John Bankhead, biographical sketch of, 93.

Lerington. Ky., occupation of by Ge neral Kirby Smith, 401. Loxingto, o., aanpce of the Confederates to, 15L2; tescril,ti(,n ot; 1.56i 1a 2 isl of, t re-entorce( bv Col. Mulii,,an, 156; siege an,d s,rrender of, 1.5t7; Gen.

P tIicc’s report in relation to, 15S; Fremont’s dislpatch in relation to the surrender of, 15S. Lieutenaint-ieneral, offic e of, revived by Con gress, 47,3. L incoln, Abraham, biographical sketch of, 47; great public interest in the views of. 58; jo urney to Was hlintn a nd t, 4atene; passassination of, 59;, ini leaCurantioi ofa e9; ipadgu r al a, hlress of 60, messa te of. to the Thiitn-sevent h i C,,n:ress, 121; extract of altter ttomn, to Fiem,,nt 155; first general w-ar order of; 215; letter o.

to Mc Clellan, iiring i enehetic acti,n, 242; reply of, to variouls disln tells of \cCllellan. 2S4; I)M,Cpos i tion of, to B(,,der States in relation to emancip,a tion, 85T; Ilet ter of, to Ilorace Gi eelev. 8S; emancidrtiot proclamations of, 356, 8a9. 361; letter ct d to \cCel(ellan.

it aginC more energetic ac tion, 8S 6 r r eply of M bcCl l in to, 8ST; letter of, to Gen. Grant after the fill of Vicksbn’rg, 434; proclamation o f, cilling o ast in ili tia, 453; an nourncement of. aft er tihe battle of Gettvsbari, 463; telegr-iamii of, t,, Gen M(eade, after the lIas sage of the Raplyahannock, 469; order of, for the draft of April,S(;4. 47.:3
corresp~ondtenec ot, with Gen. Grant. after hisal)pointment to the lietiten ant-g,enier-:,Ish)I-. 477; p)roc lamat ion of, or(ler-ing the draft,,t SepIteiiber 1 S64. 546; his reconstruc tion plhn. 659; vote for, in 1864, 668; instructions of, to. Sewv’l i-fr his coniferenice with S:el)hens and others, 744; intervietw of, with rebel co,n missioners at Foitress MIonroe, 74.5; inaugural address of, 745; assassination of, 747; obsequies of, 749. Little Osage crossing, defeat of Price’s forces at, 610. Little Rock. occupation of, by Gen. Steele, 606; retreat,t’ Geo,.

Steiele to, froin Camden, 604. Loan, tr,,,ttce. in th,- Conf’edleratte States, 120. Loans atithorized tby C,,grss, 127. Longstr,feet, Gen..lames, tbi(gi’aphical sketch of, 487; addresisof, to his so(liers. before Richmnond, 281-at thie battle (t Chick,a,tiauLe, 4SS; opera tions of, aigainist Buirnsid(e, at Kn(oxville, 498; compelle(l by Sherman to raise the siege of Knoxville. 501. C,okout Mlou(ntain, descripti(on of, 492; taken by Gen. Ilazen, 496. Lost Mountain, d(scription (,f, 575; battle of, 575. Louisiana. secession imovements in, 40; popular secession vote in, 41. l)uisia,na Cornvention. secession ordinance passed by, 40; action otf w,ithi reg,aird to the navigation of the Mississipl)i, 41. Loui.iana, We sterl n. lost to Union arms, by the fall of Brashear (‘itv. 438.

Louisvillh an(d Nashv ille Railroad(, important effect of the cl(osi ng of, 161. Lovell, Gen. M., defenec of Now Orleans intrusted to, 3863.

Lynchbuir, arrival of Ilunter before, 5j; his rapi(d retreat romin, 531.

yon, Gem., sturrend(ier of Gen. Frost to, at Camp Jackson, 104; carly ol,(ratit,ns otr in Missouri, 105; w-hv not re-intforced by Fremziont, 147; operatioms (t, in M,Nissotii,‘4S; death of, at the. battle *f Wilson’s Gi-reek-, 149. Lyons, Lo-d, suggested by Gov. Hicks as “n!wdi ator,” 80. McCauley, Commander, destrucetion of national property by, at Gasliort Navy Yard, 74; super seded bv CommrlinodoIre Pauhling, 74.

Mcausland, G/n., fires Chambersburg, 55. 49 769

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INDEX. Mails in the Confederate States in charge of John H Reagan. S87.

Malvern Hill, battle of. 290(: attack on the Con federate position at, by Hooker and Sedgwick, 337. Manassas, Gen. Beauregard at, 97; advance of Gen. McT)(,well’s foree towards, 98; description of the Coitfelerate works at, 231; sudden aban donmnciit of, bv the Confederate force, 234.

Manassas. the steamni ram, blockading fleet below New Orleans attackeed by,‘209. Mann, Mr., Confederate commissioner to Europe, 216. Mansfiel(I, battle of, 600. Mansfield. Ge. J. K. F., biographical sketch of, 90; force under, in Washington, Junre, 1861, 96, mortally wotinde(d at Antietam, 381. Mantua, Nitl)oleon at, 136. Manutfactutres, how c’dled into being in the North, 120; colmmenced in the Sonth, 120. Maarcv, Mr., pioposition of, to European powers, in relation to Iprivateerinlg, 115; language of, in re lation to p)r ivatecring, 191. Marianna, cal)turc of, by Gen. Asboth, 615.

Marietta, occupation of, bv Gen. Sherman, 57T. Marines, assautlt of, on Fort Fisher, 697. Maritoin, defeat of Breckinridge at, by Gillem and Burbridge, 732. Marinaduke, Ge., operations of, against Spring field, 605; defeat of: by Gch. Steele, 606; rep)ulse of, at Calpe Girardeau, by McNeil, 606; defeated by Gen. A. J. Smith near La-lke Village, 608.

Marshall Hrnmphrey, with four reciments, driven out of Kentuckyv by Col.

Garfield, 172. Marshall IIouse, Alexandria, death of Col. Ells worth at, 90. Martial law declared in St Louis by Gen. Fre mont, 151. Martinsburg, Sigel driven from, to Harper’s Ferry, 551. Maryec’s Hill, carriedl by Sedgwick’s troops, 448. Maryland, Ilositioni of, in relationi to secession, 45; preamble and resolution passed by the legisla ture of, 46; position of, at the outbreak of the rebellion, 80; action of the legislature of, S2; invasion of, by Gen. Lee, 377; rai(i of Gen. Stuart into, 3S6; second invasion of, 451; loyalty of the p(eople of, 4‘54; invasion of, by a rebel force undler Early, 551-55:3. Maryland Heights occupied by McClellan after the battle (‘f Antietam, 384. Mason a nd Sli(lell, s eiz ure of, by Car)tain Wilkes, 222; restoration of, to the British flag, 223; ac tion of Congress with regard to the arrest of, 854.

Massachsetts Sixth Regiment a ttacked by rioters in Baltimore. 77.

Massachusetts Eighth Regiment, departure of, for Washington, 78; machinists in the ranks of, 79. Massac re at Fort Pillow, repor t of the Congress ional committee on. 565. Matamoras, extensive contraband trade of, 598. 4Mathias Point, Va., death of C apt. Ward at, 93. Mea(le, Gen.

Getorge G, biographical sk etch of, 456; at the battle of Antietam, 380; succeeds Hooker i n coimannd of the Ai-my o the Poto mac, 455; (lispatch of, after the bat%le of Gettys burg, 463; retreat of, from.the Rapi(lan, beforo ,ee, 467; alvance of, towards the line of the Rappahannock., 468; dispatches of, after crossing the Rappahannock, 469; advance of, over the Rapidan, 470; retreat of, to Brandy Station, 470; illness o); 471; dispatches of, aftg the bat tles for the Welhlon Railroad, 55S. Meadow’s Bluff, Union stores destroyed at, 551. Meagher. General, wounded at the battle of Antie tam, 881. Mechanicsville, battle of, 583. Meigs, Lieut John R., retaliation ordered by Sheridan for the murder of, 648.

Memminger, C. G., circular of, addrewed to federate State officers, 119.

Memoirandutm of agreement between Gens. Shes man and Johnston. 736.

Memphis, naval en’:agement near, 817. Meridian, expedlitioni of Sherman to, 562. iMerrimac, exploits of off Fortress Monroe, 245 250; blown tip by the rebels, 256, 257. Merritt, Gen., destruction effected by, in Loudox and Faiiquier coulnties, Va., 655. Message of Pres. Buchanan of Dec., 1860, 50; of Jan., lS61, 52. Message of Pres. Davis, to the first Confederate Congress, extracts firom, 83; to the Richmond Congress, 115.

Messagea of Pres. Lincoln to the Thirty-seventh Congress, 121. Mexico, relations with the Government of, 221. Miles, Colonel, in cotrMinand at H-arl)er’s Ferry, 8‘77; surrenders Itarper’s Ferry, 37t9. Militia, call of Pres. Lincoln for t5,,000, 3; response of the Northern States to the call for, 76; called out for the defence of Pcnnsylvania, &,., 453. Militia, Virginia, arimory at IalI)er’s e iiy seized by, 74; notice of Col. Samulel Johinson to, 129. Millen, cruelties practised by the C(onfederate Government on the prisoners at, 741. Mill Spring, camp of Gen. Zollicoffer at 171; de, feat and death of Zollicoffcr at the battle of, 172. Mihoy, Gen. R. H11., Confederate camp in the Al leghany Mountains attacked by, I S); cimp cap tured by, it IHuntersv,ille, 186 iapid iiiarch of, to the supllport of Banks, 272; driven out of Winchester-by Ewell, 452. Mine at Petersbiur-, construction of the, 546; ex w)losion of, 547; the assault after the explosion, 548, becomes a sla,ughl-tcl pen, 549. Mine run, Gen.

Lce’s army at, 470. Mine sprung bv the enemy at Petersburg, 554.

Ministers, Ateriic an, circulir ad(llressedi to, by Secretarv 1‘1,,tck.

216; circular add(lressed to, by Secretary Sew-ar,d, 217. Minnesota fri’ate, fights o., wvith the Merrimac, 247-219. Mississippi, secession movements in, 7; ordinanoe of secession of, 38. Mississippi River, Louisiana convention in favor of free atvi-gation of; 41; navinaation otf, declared free by the (Conte(drate Con;:ress, 48; forts on, below New OErley ns, 363; opened by the fll of Vicksburgz and Port lIndson, 443.

Missouri, early operi itions of G n. Lyon in, 104 106; reI.tanilton o R.

Gamble atipointe.l provisional governor of 116 action of the Confederate Coon gress in relition to, 116; operations of Gen. F.etmont in, 147-160; situation of affbrirs in, after the death of Gen. L on, 150; martiatl law pro claimied in, by Gen. Fremont, 1;$’; important measures adoptedi in, by Gcn. IIlile, 179; affairs in, under the management of Gcn. Hal lel, 295-30t)2; military operations in, 604; in vaded by Gen. Price, 603.

Missouri Compromise, history of the, 22; repeal of the, 28. Missouri State convention, action o,, 116. Mitchel, Gcn. Orms)y McKnight, biograpuical sketch of, 312-Bowling Green, Ky., occupied by, 145; operations of, in Tennessee anil Ala baena, 312; supersiedes Gen. HIunter in command of the Department of the 0South, 3.17. Mob at 13altimnore attack the Massachusetts Sixth R’egiment, 77. St. Louis attack troops, 105. Mobil.-.

siege of, 610-615; description of the de feidues of, 610; cai)ture of the ram Tennessee in tIhe harbo r of, 613; surrenlder of the forts of, 614; -l.iit try operations against, 704-706; evacuation of, 706. Mobs, influence of, on the Northern press, 133. Money, paper, effect of 1.he xcessive issue of, }A 770

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IDEX. the Confed(lerate States, 120; large issue of, au thorized( by the Federal Government, 348, 350. Monitr, a rivl of tle, off Fortress Monroe, 248; firht of, witll the Merrinac, 24S. Monot.ecy Li cr defeat of Gen.

Wallace at the, 552. Molroe, John F., Mayor of Nev Orleans, surren dei-s thle citLV to Coiumno,lore Far’.l-iut, 366. /dunvtan, ironclad, attack of, on Forit McAllister, 501. Montgomiery, proceedings of the Confederate Con gress at, S3, 86; occupation of, by Gen. Wilson, 73S. Montgomtery Convention, delegates to the, 47; constitution adopted by the, 47.

Moreheid. ex-Governor, arlest of, 161. Morg ti, Gen. George WV., capture of Cumberland Gap by, 40 c9. Morgaii. Gen. John II., Iiographical sketch of, 731; activity of lgerrlillas uniler, in Kentucky, 399; raid ot il Ohio, iote, 731; his iaid in Kentucky, 730’; surlyfliliscl andl killedl, 731. Morris, Ge., operations otf in Western Yirginia, 110-113. Morris, Gen W. IT., death of, before Spottsylvania Couit-tlouse, 517. Morris Island, operations against, 504. Mortar, dlescr iption of the, 227. Mosby, suplily train captured by, at Berryville, 643; murders UInion cavalrymen, 644; surren der of, 728. Mounll City, steamer, explosion of the boiler of the, at St. Charles. Ark., 31S. Mulli’,‘ii Col., lhis defence of Lexington, Mo., 157; suor eid ler of, 157. Mutinmforlsville, fight near, betwveen Indianians and Texas Rangers, 169; cal)ture of, by Gen. Bragg, 401; reoccupation of; by Gen. Buell, 404. Murfreesboro’, battle of, 413417; fi)rtified( by Rose crans, 4S0; attack on, by Forrest and Bates, 635.

Mulrphy, Col., driven out of Iikca. Musket, old smooth-bore superseded by the rifle, 224. Neutrality, extract from an address to the people off Kenitucly, a d voca tin g, 161. policy of the British goveanlmet, 218; Seward on, 218. Newb ern ia f, descr iption o 338; Brnside’s o pera tion s against, 3:‘9; occupation oL 340; Gen. Fos tei appoin teh d m ilitary governor of, 340; Genm Pickett’s deanof6str ation a gainst, 690. New England, hostility to the N ational Govern aent in, in 18o7-1h, 23; State rights doctrine fi0, 21. Now Madrid, occupation of, by Gen. Pillow, 152; evacuiati(on of, by the Confederates, 3083. New Orleans, expedition of Gen. Butle-against, 363-367; destruction of cotton and tobacco at, 365; surrender of, to Commodore Farraguit, 366; occupation of, by Gen. Butler, 367; mayor and commnon council of, arnested, 367. Newspapers in the South com,,pelled to support the Confederate Government, 129. Northern disloyal, suppressed, 138. New York, memorials from, laid before Congress, 55; response of, to the Presidlent’s call for troops, 78; draft riot in, 466; rebel plot to burn, 743. New York Fire Zou.aves at Alexan dria, 90.

Legrislature, aid (offered by, to the Fed era,tl Government, 5:3. Seventh lle,gimnent, departure of, for Washington, 78. Nicaragua, Walker’s e xpe(dition into, 29. Noleman, Capt., defeat of a party of Confederate& by, in Missouri, 153. Nominations, Republican, of 1864, 663; Demo er.etic, 665, 666. Norfolk, destruction of national vessels and prop erty at, /4; evacui,ationi of’, by the rebels, 256; occupation of, by Gen. Wool, 2,57.

North Anna Rliver, crossed by Grant’s army, 527; recrosse(l, 52S. North Carolina, progress of secession in, 44; se cession ordinance of, 45; Confederate constitu tion adopte(d bv. 45; Burnsi(le’s oper’tions on the coast of, 206; operations of Burnside in, 33-42; Ilon. Edward Stanly api)ointed mili tar1y governor of, 342; milit’[ry operations in, 619-623, 699-702; Shel.man’s operations in, 713 716. Northwest, address of Gen.

Brag-g to the people of the, 401. Nullificationi, Jefferson’s doctrine of.

20. in Georgia and Alabama in 1825, 22; in South Carolina in 18232, 24; Presi dent Jackson’s opinion of, 25. Napoleon in Italy, 135; at Austerlitz, and at Man tua, 136; at Baiitzei, 137. Nashville, surrender of, to Gens. Buell and Nelson, 1-7S G-n. Thomas sent to direct operations at, 630 liaIl d avances on, 6.34; field order issued at, by Gen. Thomas, 636; Iood driven back from, 640. Nashville, steamer, cruise of the 194.

Nashville atdl Louisville IRailroad, important effect of the sig of the, 161. Natchez. sur ender of, to a Union force, 868. Nation.3l iFreedllen’s Relief Association, 344. Navigation law. s, action of the Confederate Con gress in relation to, 49. Navy, Federal, c,)ndition of, in 186S1, 122; condi tioni of, it the outbreak of the rebellion, 186; ves sels purchased for, 1SS; list of vessels built for, 1S9. Navy Yard at Gosport, destruction of national property at, 74. at Pensacola burned, 203.

Negroes, ChiefJustice Tanev on tlb rights of, 28; schllools for, established at Ililtoini Iead, 344; gal lantry of, in the assault on Fort Wagner, 506. Negro soldiers 1)ut on an equal footing with white, Nelson, Gen. William. biographical sketch of, 444; movement of, on Piketon, 169; proclamation issued by, from Prestonburar Kv., 169; advance of, on Nashville, 1-,S; kille(d by Gen. J. C. Davis, 404. Nelson, Judge, treason deflned by, 132; on piracy, 195. Nelson’s Farm, battle of, 290. Ocracoke Inlet, operations at, 199; stone fleet sunk in, 202. Office-holders, disloyalty among, 130. Officers, power to remove at pleasure given tothe President, 143. Ohio, Morgan’s raid in, note, 781. Okalona, Gen. Bragg at, with 80,000 men, 818; ar rival of the cavalry column of Smith and Grier son at, 5! 3. Olustee, battle of, 618. Oostenaula, crossing of the, by Sherman’s army, 572. Opelika, rai,d of Gen. Pousseau to, 580. ()range Couirt-HIouse, Lee’s army at, 465. Orders, special field, of Sherman, for the march to Savannah, 680 after the surrendler of Savannah, 6S5; after the occupation of Goldsboro’, 716; re organizing his army, 733. s Ordinance of secession of Alabama, 39; of Arkan aats, 43; of Florida, 39; of Georgia, 40; of Loui siana,40; ofMississil)Ii, 38; of North Carolina, 45; of South Carolina, 35; of Texas, 41; of Vir ginia, 42. Ordnance boat, explosion of, at City Point, 554 I 771

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INDEX. Oreto, steamer. See Florida. Organization of armies, American and(
foreign, 94. Osterhalls, Gen., repulses Lee and Loring, at Cher okeo 6tatiozi, 497. Philadelphia, citizens of, called to arms by Mayor lIenry, 457. Philippi, rebels driven out of, by Col. Kelley, 110. Pick tt, Gen., ait the battle of Gettysbiirg, 462; his ,lemonstr aioi tgainst Newbhern, 620. Pierce, Gen., (IefeLt of, at Big Bethel, 92. Pierce, Mr. C. L., al)pointed governlument agent at llilton lIeadl, 344. Pier-lpont, Go.

iFrancis II., extract from the speech of, on taking ollice, SS. Pike. ton, Ky., imiovem ernt of Gen. Nelson on, 169. Pillow, Gen. Gidleon J., biogrral,hical sketch of, 152; escal)c of, f:romii Fort Donels(mn, 17iT, Piracy, what constitutes, 195; ol)inion in England as to what constitutes, 196. Pittsburg, alarm ocas i oned in, by the approach of Lee’s cavalry, 456. Pittsburng LIanin99 pg, battl e of, 307-312; arrival of Gen. Buello t’s t boops at, 310. Platform of the Democrati c Co nvention of 1864, 666.

Platforrm of the R7epublican Convention of 1864, 663. Pleasant Hill, Lc., battle of, 601. Pleasants, Liet.-Col., the Peter sburg min e pro posed by, 546. Pleasontonr Gen., reconnoissance of, over the Rap piahannock, 451.

Ply mout h, capture of, by th e re bels, 621; reoccu Ppation of, 6t23.

Polk, Gen. Leotnidas, b iographi cal sketch of, 575; Confederate troops und eri, inito enche( ai t’ Hick man anod bColumrbbts, 162; I)roccl amtaltion issued by, from Columbus, 163; his reasons Rlr the oc ctul)ation of Colutbus and Hickman, 16G; death of, 575. Pontoons, fatal (yetention of, in the attack on Fred ericksbtur, 392. Polre, Gen. John, biogratphical sketch of, 147; operations of, in Alissohn i, lS0; operati, fns of, against New Madrid and Island No. Ten, 302-304; joins y the ailny rnder Gcn. lcalleck. 314; pl’,ced in command O the Army of t ne 6 o Virgrinia, 278;s ac count or his Virginia canmpaign. 319-335; address of, to the Army of Vircginia, 320; general orders of, 322, 323; combined movement of Lee and Jackson ageainst, 326; dang erous position of, 327; reenforced by l’oGter and Pleintzelrna n. 328; effective force uinder the command of, 329; lattguaoe of, with r egu ard to the miscon duct o f Porter, 331; dispiateli of, in relation to the sec ond battle of Bull l’in, 331; extraordinary an swer )f McClellan to his demand for r’LtionB, 333; army of, return to Washington, 335; his complaints to Ilalleck-of demoralization among officers of the Potomac Army, 335; atttacke(d at Chantilly, 335; relieved of his command, 335. Population, white and black, in WesternanidEast-i ern Virgini.a, IS0. Porter, Admiral David D., biographical sketch of,’ 601; surrender of the forts below New Orleans, to, o64; bombardment of Vicksburg by, 368; fleet of, )assthe Vicksbuig batteries.422; opera tions of, on the l’ed PRiver, 601; perilous posi tion of his fleet. 602; expedition of, against Wil mington, 6ST-690; letter of, to Gern. Butler, after the fitilure at Fort Fisher, 6S9. Porter, C(ol.

Andrew, appointed p)rovost-marshal in Washington, 141. Porter, Gen.

Fitz-John, culpable inactivity of, du ring the second ba,Lttie of B1u1I Irun, 331; charges preferred against, by Pope. 335. Potomac, Gen.

Patterson’s force on the, 96; posi tioll of the (Confederates along the line or the, in September, 1SO1, 144; navigation of, obstruct ed by rebel batteries, 233: crossinig of, by Lee’s army, after Gettysburg, 465. Port Gibson, defeat of the Confederates at, 423. Port Hudson, batteries at, passed by Farragut’ fleet; 421; regular investment of, by the forces Paducah, octcupation of, by Gen. Grant, 16G3; Grant’s procelaliation at, 163; occupltion of, by Gen. Grant. 1-1: relpulse of Forrest at, 564.

Palmer, Gen., relieved( by Gen. Jeff. C. Davis, 586; movement of, from Plymouth towards Wilming ton, 690. Pamienkey River, crossed hy Graint’s atrmy, 529. Paper currency, tiactioial, 350, 351. Paper money, effect of the excessive issue of, in the Confedlerate States, 120; large issue of, au thorized, 448, 350. Park, John, Mlayor of Mempihis, notice of, in rela tion to the impressitient of ci tizens, 12S. Parke, Gen.. in the attack on Newbern, 339. Parrott lin, descriplti(oi of the, 226. Parson B onwrilow persecuted fo2 loyalty, 129. Parties, Federal and State Rights, early conflicts of, 18. Parties, political, in 1864, 656. Passport systemn adopted in the North, 134. Patterson, Gen. Robert, biogrraphical sketch of, 96; force under, on the Potomac, June, lS61, 96; fatal ne,-lki,ence of, 99; operations of, in tile Valley of \Virinia, 108, 109; his reasons for not followinz up Gen. Johnston, 109. Paulding, Coriimino(lore, completes the destruction of national property at Gosport Navy Yard, 74.

Pay of volunteer troops, 142. Peace negotiations, attempts to commence, 668 672. at Fortress Monroe, 744. Peach-tree Creek, battle of, 581. Pea Ridge. battle of, 299-301. Peram, Col., surrender of, to Gen. McClellan, 112. Pemberton, Iieut. Gen. John C., biogral)hical sketch of, 427; oper ations of, in defence of Vicks burg. 412; correspondence ot, with Gen.

Grant, in relation to the surrender of Vicksburg, 430 432. Pendleton, George I., Democratic nominee for the VicePresi(de ncy, 666. Peninsular I) ttles. IeCiCellan’s, 280-292. Peninsutlar eassipatign, review of thle, 292-295;f ex tract frohn Gen. 3Ba rnaied’s report )f the, 294.

Pennsylvania,L militia of. c a l led out by Gov. Curtin, 877; raid of Gen.

Stuar t into, 3S6; invas ion of, threaten edl. 4a53; militia called, ut ioir the de fence of, 45G; measures t aken falr t he defence of, 454; invasion of, by a rebel force tinder Early, 551; Wester n, his tory of th e Whiskey RPebellion in, 18. Pennsylvania, ship-of-thc-line, burned at Gosport Navy Yard, 75. Pensacola Navy Yard seized by the Florida State authorities. 39: laulnches destroyed at, by Lieut. Russell. 207; burned.

20S. Perrysville, Ky.. b att l e of, 407; r etreat of Gen. Bragdr from, 408. Personal liberty bills repealed or modified in va rious States. 56.

Pettigrew, Gen., mortally wounad at Falling Waters. 465. Petersburg, Kautz’s raid towards, 530; operations of Gen. Grant against, 539-449, 554-561; attack on, by the Eighteenth Corps, 539; other Ducces sive attacks,n the defences of, 540, 541; con struction and explosion of the mine at, 546, 547; unsucce,ssful assau1lt on, 54S; Lee prepares to abandod, 723; evacuation of, by Lee’s-forces, 724. Phelps, Gen. J. W., biographical sketch of, 204: address *f, to the people of the Southwest.

204: address of, disavowed by Gen. Butler, 206; oc ~ation of Carrollton by, 686 772

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official repor)(t, 15 wonlln(ded(l at the battle. of Pea Rid,.e3,.q1; at FLultonll with 135,000 men, 31S; invles sMisslori aain, G0S; deft’ated ndi d driven out of Missouri by Curtis and PIle-sont ol, 610. Price of gl,,l in legal tender, in 1S62-1865, 679. Prices. grieat rise iin, 351; enorinouis inflation of, in the Confi, derate States, 119. Prisoners, questi,lIs ii relalti,n to, 196G crutel treat ii,ent of: by the Confkedertte govern ment, 739-742. rebel, sh)t b)y MIcNeil, 605. Privateer Geoi. ee built and( armed(l, 375. Priva’teei - Savantinli, captur e of. by tlle Perry, 19.5. PrinvateerinDI, action of Congress in relation to, 115; lantiage of Ml-. Marcy in relati,on ta, 191. Sou ther-n failure-c of, 37,1. Privateers, Soothel ea, 1‘3; p)olicy of Ermropean pow,ers in rel.tio n to, 193; ~lpinlion ini l,Fn,laid(I as to the character ot; 196; effect (f tlhe (depreda tions ot: upon Amiierican comm,lrrerce, 376.

Proclam,nation *f Gen. Bean r(-gard to, the people of Louti, Fairi fax, and Prince William Counties, Va.. 66. Proclaination of Gen. Fremont, of Auguist, 1S61, 153; rmo(ile(l bv order of the resident 155. Proclaiiiation of President Lincoln (allin.., f,)-r troolIs, eflect oi in tle South, 7,3; eff,.etoti in the 1N(rth, 7G; ho w tireatedl in the Conrife(lerate (‘ol gress S4’ ca lli ng ot tlhe niliti:a foi the Ilefenrce of 4el vania, 454; in relation to h]is r(eon atrutetion c lo licn, 6.9; in relation to the recon strueti,-n nct of Cionir1ess, 662. Procl:,linttions, eiiiatcilr.tion, 356, 859 361. Proclaminatioinis of President Johnson in relation to reconstrceti(on.,l, 0,52. Pro(luce l,an, ( pnfi_lerate, projected. 120. Proj-ctiles. (lesciilition of varioms, 227. Propeit beli,ntin to Soutlhern rebels confis*ted i n the north, 134.

Puml)kiii-vine Creek-, battle of, 5783. Pavyimo,n(l1, battle of, 425.

,glegan, Johnl I., (‘onfederate postmaster-general, 87. lRteamins’s Station, battle of, 557. 1’ebellion Whiskey, hiistory of the, 18.

R’eco)nistr-uction, Plresident Lincolni’s ldlan for, 659; provisions tf a, l ac-t of Collg(ress i relation to, 661; pioclamationis of Piesidelt Johnson in re lation L(,, 751, 752. tecodrdl, clllionolo(gi,il, of the siege of Vicksburg, 433; of the siere oY oit Ilu(ls,ll. 442. Rre(l l’ier, le-ilons l)osition of Porter’s fleet on the, 60‘2. Red River expedition, Gen. Banks’s, 59S-604. Ree f’s llill, defeat of Geni. Sigel by Breckinridge at, 550. RPelhtti,ns, foreign, 216-223. Relane 3y liollise, oclliipation of, by Gen. Butler, 82. 1Roe’n o, Gen, iii the attack oln Newbern, 339; expe (litioni of, to destroy the D)isuial Swamup Catnal, 342. iReon.rganization of the Arimiy of the Potomac, 474. Repeal o’ the Missorlli (Compnfr{,mise,, 2S. 1Lel)l,‘t of the Cl o gressi,-nal C(ummittee on the Forit Pillow,, maiissacere, 565. Poepnorts of Se eta ies to the Thirt y-sev e nth Con gless, 122’, 123. i tlhot tes, nspaperl, Slierman’s circular in re hitio,k to, 572. Rf-,Itiblican c,,ntvention of S64, plaltform of, M6. I W t clmri hPlican i lr tye, o( iriptil of tl(e, 29. les:i,.Jon,thnston co41peie by ShSerman to aban (ton this So o tks ati,; O 0. etevertuc ao;(i exl)oenses, nation4.7l, f or 1Sf4, 676.

R’ev-enuie cuitter-s seize(], 65-6;-. R’eynold(s, Gcni., t. tll of,.qt.

the battle of South MtraointoLin, 457. Re Islani d, lem son al libertv bill re,eKa led in. 56. Rsichrenohal. Confi.,dlerlate Congfr ess’tssenfified3 -~. 115 retr(at of the Contbiera-tes to, fi’)rn W
illiamns btirg, 2,i5: r:tual alq)r-,)h ot McCletlela n’s lines towvarld(s 2S2; camnpaign of Gen. ll ook,er ag,-ainst, 443-4 0); raid( )f Kiil)atrick to the vicinity of, fi’o,,, Stevensburg,7. 47i2; phy,sical ehrlia:,ctei -f tho country betw,eeni Washingtoni andi(. 478; threo ways of a,l)roaehiug i th,n aLmy. 49:; r-ant’s plaui for the (eapttlre of. i5: rec,,nn’) ssance of the Seeci(, and~l TI’(nth Colps towar dll(s. 5.54: Grant renew-s the attack uipon. 559: e vcuate d bv the f,)rces of Lee, 724: flight of Davis fromi, an(d en trance of Lin(oln into, 729. Richmondi and Danville Ra,,ilroad, Kautz’s opera tions against, 531. Rich Mountain, battle of, 111. Quantrell, the guerrill chief, atrocities of, at Law rence. 607. Qiieen of the West. steamer. captiure,of, in the PRd RPivel.

in an atttack on Fo)r-t Taylor, 421; uised by the rebe ls in the cal)tire of the In(dianola, 421; destruction of, in possession of the rebels, 436.

I Raid of Grierson from Lgrange to Baton Rouge, 42,t. I

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INDEX. Schofield, General Johln McAllister, biopraThical se o, 6 skietch of, 4; resmes cman of t Army of the Ohio, 561; fo rce id(eri-the c,llliiiian(l of, 1864. 568; Iepulses ltood at Frnklin, Tenn., 634; retires to Nashville, 634; assi(nedl to the command of the D)epartment of No rth Carolina, 700’ operations of, in N(rt-tlh Caro,liina, 699-702.

Schools for negroes established;.t Iilton Head, 844. Scot t, Ge n., sent to Cihaleston by Presilent Jack son, 25; retirement ot; 214. Scr-il), Southern,,‘apid depreciation of, 119. Secession, resolvd( on by the S ten leaders, 31; progress of; ifter the Presi(lential ElI(ction of IS60, o.5; consuinniation of, in South Caiiolina, 36. Se cession, popular vote for in Alal)ama, 39; in Louisiana, 41; in Texas, 41; in Virginia, 43; in Tenntle ssee, 45. Secession Or(liiance of South Carolina. 35; of Ala baiiia, 3S;, of Arlas oriass, 49; ofr Geol’:ria, 40; of LotisipLna, 4 0; of’

Aississil)pi, 38; of North Carolina, 45; of Texas, 41; f iginia, 42.

Secessionville, Idescription of, 846; Gen. Benham’s disastrons attack-on a battery r, 347. Secl eta,L’ies, lepolts of, to tlhe’lhiity-seventh Con gress, 122, 1 23. Se(lgwick, Gen. Jolin, biographical slketch of, 517; imslortaint services of, at thi( battle of Seven Pines, 262; woundedl at the battle of Antietam, 8S1; at the battle of Chancellois,,ille. 448-ser vices of, at tlhe battle of Gettysbbir, 460O forces the lass’age of the Rappahannoeck, at R1pl)pahan nock StLtion, 463; o rganization of the Sixth Ar my Corl)s tende,’, 476; death of, 517. Selmiia, battle of, 738. Sero iirnies, Clptaiii Raphael, command of the Ala bR ama assuimedl by, 373; challenges tle Kcar sar~:e, 623; riescued by Mr. Lantcaster in the D)eerlouint, 626. S ena tors, ith(lir.wal of Southern, from the United States Senate, 38; exptilsion of, 124. Sequestration act I)asse(l by the Confederate Con giess, 117. Seven days’ battles on the Peninsula, 284-292.

Seven Pines, battle of. See Fair O.,]is. Seventh te,imcdt, New York, departure of, for Washin g-ton, S. Seward, Win. 11., replv of to Southern commis sioneis, 61; ellair-ed with (lnlliicity by John A. Caanl)bel, 62; f i n al letter of the Soiuthel(in com missioire-s to, ti2; circular atddlresse(I bv, to fior eitnn ministers. 217; action of, in elti to the Paris Convention of IS56, 116; on the depreda tions of the Alibama, 375; life of attempted by an assassin, 74S. Seyinour, Gen. Trruman, operations of, in Florida, 616-619; defeatedl near ()lustee, 618. Shelby. Gen., routed at Boonville by the Missouri militia: 607. Shells, descriltion of various, 22S. Shenandoah Valley, operations of Jackson and Banls in, 265-270; operations of Gen. Jackson n, 272-279; operations of Gen. Ewell in, 451; operations )f Gens. Si!-el an(d Ilutntel in, 549 554; destruction of griiii an(l pro(visions in, 6483 S649 houses destroyed in, (44; operations of Gen Sheri(ldn in, 641-656. Sheridan, Gen. Plilil) lIenry, biographical sketch of, 522; appointed to com mnand the caval’y of the Army of the Potomac, 4i6; rai(i of, in rear of Lee’s armrny, 522; super-seiles Gen. lhunter, 553; exled(lition of, aaiust the Virlgifia Central a railroaml, 543; effect (of the olierations of, on the armies of Gens. Lee in(l 1ood, 6145; operations of, in the Shenandoah Valley, 641-656; riai(i of, from Winchester to the White IIouse, 706, 707; wits the battle of Five Forks, 723; i)irsuies Gen. Lee after the evacuation of lichmond, 724. Rifles,Mini6, Sprinofield, and Enfi eld, 224; Sharpe’s, Burnside’s, a,nd Mavnard’s, 225. Roanoke I sland expedition, 206. Rodgers, Commander, in the Port Royal expedi tion, 200. Rodman gun. description of the, 226. Rolla, a co nipany of Missouri cavalry defeated near, 60S. Rome, Sherman’s forces at, 5i2. Romney, Va., a bodv of sedession troops at, routed by Col. Wallace, ill; rebel troops driven out of’, by Gen. Kelley, 18.5. Rosecrans, Gen. W illiam S., bioraplhical sketch of, 11; ope,ati on s of, i1 Waestgeri m’irginile, 111; in command of the Del)artment oft the Ohio, 1S ); supeclsededl by Freino)it in Western Virginia, 270; his defence of Corinth against Piice, Van Dorn, and Lovell, 410: supersedes B[ueli in co)mn mandl of the Arm v of the Ohio, 412; reolranizes his force, 413; advance of towards Mui-free,sbolro’, 413; attacks the arimny of 41’ag, 413; occupies Murfi’ecsboro’, 416; drives Bragg back upon ChattaTnooga, 4S2; remarks on tlhe career of, 492; operations of, in Tennessee, 48t)-49J; letter of, in relation to the battle of Chickamauga, 490; shut up in Chattanooga. 494; takes leave of the army, 495; assigned to the Depa.;rtment of Mis souri, 561; succeeds General Schofield in Mis souri, 60S. Rtost, Mr., appointed Confederate Commissioner to Europe, 116, 216. Rousseau, Gen., iaid of, to Opelika, Ala., 5S0. Russell, Lieut., launches destroyed by, at Pensa cola Navy Yard, 207. Russell, Lord John, reply of, to Mr. Dallas, in re lation to Mr. Seward’s circular, 217; language of, to Mr. Adams, in relation to the Oreto, 3T1; his excuse f)r the escape of the Alabama, 374. Russia, relations with the go)vernmient of, 220. Sabbath, general order of Gen. McClellan in rela tion to the observance of the, 146. Babine Pass expeditioni, 596. St. Albans bank, robbery of; by Confederates from Canada, 743. St Charles, Ark., captured by Col. Fitch, 318. St. Louis, arms in the arsenal at, secured by Capt.

Stokes. 104; troops at, attacked by t iiiob, 105; martial law declared in, by Fremont, 151; forti fications erected rou, 153. Salem Icill. capture of, by troo fis of Sedgwick, 446. Salisbury, det moaat of Gen. Gardiner at, by Gen. S toneman, 7.33, Salkehatchie, crossing of, by Shermnn’s army, 710. Saltville, Confederate govcrnment salt-works de stroyedi at, 733.

Sanders, George N., and others, plot set on footby, to release rebel prisoners at Johnson’s Island, 743. Sanitary commission, benefilcent offices of, 742. Santa losa Island, inight attack on New York Zouaves at.

207. 8assacus, guinboat, fight of, with the rebel ram Albemarle, 622.

Saunders, Gen., mortally woundea near Knox ville, 49S. Savage’s Station, battle of, 8SS. Savannah, stonie fleet sent to the entrance of the harbor of, 202, march of Sherman to, from Atlanta, 6Sl-6S3; surxender of, 6S4; valuable captures made at, 6S5; notice and letter I)ub lished by Sherman at, 70S, 709; Gen*Foster ap pointed to command at, 710. Savannah, privateer, capture of, by the Perry, 195; trial of the crew of, as pirates, 195; threat of re tali:Ltion by the Confederate government in case the crew should be punished as pirates, 196. Schenck, Gen. R. C., surprised near Vienna, Va., 91. 774

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INDEX. Sherman, Gen. Thomas W., biographical sketch of, 199; in c,.mannid of the tilooIs in the Port Ioal expxe(lition, 199; piroclanmation address ed by, fI Poi t Roval, to the p )eolle (of South (, bbro lina, 200i op eration s of: in the vicinitv of Hilton Heael,‘33, superseded b)y Gcn.

Ilunter, 344; loses a lef at the sie(ie of 9 P ort Ilulson, 47T. Sherman, Gen. W4illiam Tec sh. bio9raphical sketch of; 41S; ose,’..iwms ,. atainst Vicksburg, 41mS; laceh l t n in e..,i,, i 0, of the Tei nessee, 495; Inach oa f:(3 iiksbu towards Chattainooaz.a 497: expelition,f fi’om Vicks buirg-to M\eridian. 5C2: olemtions of, in Georgia, 56ts-,596; foce under the copmm aid sof. 5b; ltt te r f o fin rlatirio to the tre ar tment of guerrillas, 5’S;a,i ad res o,; to his taloos, aiL er the capture of Atl anta. 592; l etteir-of. to Gen. Ioo(d, in rela tion to the re iowd i of civilians froro Atlanta, 594; letterl (f, to eliyor Calhoun, in relati on t o th e delopulation of A tlan ta, 62 9; opera tion-s of, in Geoe rgia, 679-6S6; march of, t o Sia annah, 681 68g; (lispateh of, after the capture of Fort Mc Allister, 6S3; special field orders of, for the ma rch to Satvannah. 6G0; orders of, after the cap ture of Savllnnah. 65: operations of, finom Sa vannah to Gol(tsbovo’. 708-716; notice and letter published b y, at Savanrnah, O08, r 709; efforts of, to stolu the progress of t he fire a t Columlbi1, 712; speciatl fiell oriders of. aifter the (bcfpl)a1tion of Goldsboro’, -16; or(ei-s of, reorganizin llhisai my, 73‘3; mee ting of, vw ith Gen. Johns ton, 734; basis -f agreement miia(le by, with Johnston, 734, 735; actio)n of, (lisapp)rove(d of at Washington, 735; Stantt n’s reasonis for d,isapI)roving of the action of, 736: receives the final surrender of Johnston, at Durham Stttion, 736. Shields, Gen..J es, bio,graphical sketch of, 2C6; at the battle of Winchester, 267.

Shlilolh. battle of. See Pittsburg Landing. Ship Island expedition, 202-206. Ship Islnmd, Gen. Butler’s flrce leaves, 364. IShrevreport.

movement of Gen. Bank-s’s force to w,ardls. 600. Sickles. Gen.. at the battle of Gettysbuirg, 459; wondllt.e(. 460). Siege of Atlanta. 5~7-591.

Beaiufbrt, N. C.. 840‘342. Charilesto)n, 345-347. 7 02. Corinth, bv Genr.

Iltlleck, 313-17. Corinth, by Price, Van Dorn, and Lovell, 410. Fort Darling, 531. Fort Donelson 175. Fort Fisher, 687-690, 696-698. Fort lIenry, 17i4. Fort’aI-con. N. (,., 341. Fort Pulaski. 344. Fort WVagtner, 505-508. Fort WriLzht. Tenn., 314, 315. Island Nmnl)er Ten, 303.

Knoxville. 498. Moobile, 610-615-), 704-706. New-berin, 3838-:40.

Petersbu,-,rg, 5)39-549, 55-56L Ply month, N. C., 620. Por t Iluidson, 435-43. Savannah, 634. 41* Yicklsbturg, 41-S4.4. Yorktown, 241-245. *

Sigel, Gen. Fra,nz, biographical sketch of, 148; retreat of, f’rom Brier Forks to Carthage, 106: defeat of }lis co(luminn at Wilson’s Cr-eek, 140; command~l assumel by, at Harper’s Ferry, 2.S; succeedis Fremnont in commtand of thP First Army Corps of the Armnv of Virginia, 279; im portant services otf at the battle of Pea Ri(le, 301; co-olerative mliovement of, in the valley of the Shenandoah. 4S0; defe,at of, by Breckinri(ge, at PReed’s Itill, 550; driven from Martinsburg to Harper’s Ferry. Sill, Col., large nufmber of prisoners taken by, at Stevenson, Ale., 312. Sl-9 o lavoer, g rea t ila easc of the denland for, 26. Slaivery, growtli of Northern oplposition to, 26 efforts to introduce into Kinsas. 29-abolition of, in the Disttict of Coluinbia anIl the Territo rie s, 35; amcn(lndment (of the Constitution in relation to, slbrilittedl to the States, 663. Sketheiry extension, question of, -supll,sedl to have been settled by the Missouri (,onlpromnise, 22. Slaves, f’nlitivc, (oder o f (.en. Iialleck in ielation to, 296; ad((l’drti rhiitionnal a r the returin of, 362. Slaves in (Confe,derate military service, ftct for the c(,nfiscatioln of, 125. Slaves ot rebels iu Missouri declared free by Gen.

Fremont, 154. Sla e otit css, fol t s in, at the outbreak of the rebel lion, Si,. Slave tdeliL(o, action of the Confederate Congress in relationi to the, 49. Slidlell and Masoin, seizure of, by Captain Wilkes, 222; restore(l to the lr,itish flag, 223; action of Co,n,ress vith re_:rd to, 354. Slocui, Gen., at the baittle of Antietam, 882; at the battle of Gettysbutrg, 461; relieves Gen Itoolker in Georgia 5S6. Sloo)ps, sere,,, butilt for the navy, 189. pSmcllt-pox, S1outli Cai rolna ( oiiv v.tioii adtjourned to Clharleston on accouniit ot’, 35. Smith, Ge. A. J., defeats Mariniaduke near Lako Village, 60S. Smith, (Gen. C. F., intrenchments at Fort Donelson stoirie(l by, 1 76. Smnith. Gen. E(imund irby, bio Kaphical sketch of, 603 at lBull i, 102; wriein(ll, 103; opera tiOIIs of, in Kentuclky, 399; suirren(ldt of, 755. STlithl, tGen. of. 1S., woundedi in Sheliinman’s attempt on Vicksbuilrg, 419. Smnith, Gen. W. F., in Botler’s attack on IFort Dar linS1, 531; detached firom IButler s aryiy, with the lEiglhteenth Corpis, to r e-enfbrce Grant, 532. Smith itnd Grierson.

cav.lry e xletition of, from Melmpl)his tow,ar(ds Meri(dian, 562. Swildake Cr(e-Giap, passage o1, by 6lhciiiian’s army, 569. Soul6, Pierrie, a rest (f. at New Orleans, 86T. Sotinds of N(itli Caiolina, occupation of, by Fed elal forces, 207. Southl Caroliia. opposition in, to the tariffs of 1828
and 1832, 23-26; nullification inr, in 1832, 24; Secession Ordinance of, 35; Convention of; ad journel to Ciai lest6ii, 85; p)roclamnation ad dressed to the people of, bv Gen. T. W. Sherman, 201; Gen. W. T. S herman in,‘11. South Mountain, 1),attle of 4,57. Spain. policy of the lgovernment of, 220. S o:pish Fort, Ilobile, siece and surrender of, 704 706. Specie payments, early suspension of, by Southern banks, 119. Spottsylvalnia Coirt-Iouse, movement of Grant’ -iarmy towards, 516; Lee’s atrmy at, 517; fighting Pefoe, 519-t)“5-1, Graiit’s olceraltions before, 519, P5; fiii tlier attem)ts ag ain st afllidonel, 525. Spt s)rale, Jiudge, on the law inII relation to piracy, 1935. Springfiel(d, Mo., occupation of, bv Gen.

Lyon, 148; occell)ationl of bv thle C(ontedferates nulder Gen. McCulloch.

149; Z g on -pi’s csktcha1g4 e ion the rebel re,ir-gla-rd at, 159, movements of Gen. Marma duke against, 605. Sp)ring,-fielld airmnory, capacity of the, 96. .Springrehl Srif le. descrilption of the, 2,24.

Spring Iii ll, Federal brigade surlIrisel at, by Van Dorn, 480. Stamp duties, 850. Stanlv, Ion. E(liward. appointed military governoP of Nortih C,arolina, 342. Stanton, Edwin M., appointed Secretary of War, 775

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INDEX Union City, surrender of, by Col. Harkins,to For rest, 563. tUnited States debt, tabular statement of the, 6S7. Ward, CapLt James II., death and biographical sketch( of, 93. Warren, Gen., organization of the Fifth Army Corps undler, 475; ol)erations of, against the Wel doii Railroi(l, 5o5; superseded by order of Gen. Sheridan, 723. Warsaw Soiin(lnd, contest in, betwveen the Atlanta and(I Weehawken, 503. Washington, Fe(leral Constitution not satisfactory to, 183; measures taken by, to suppress the Whi key PRebe llion, 19. Washingtoni, (‘ol. John A., death of. 1;‘9. Was Wshiiigton, Gen. Mansfield’s relor t of the number of troopl)s in, Jinne, iS6l, 96; disorderly crowds of tio,)ps in, 140; Co l. Pori til)terdloint provost maosh’,l in, 141; systei, of( e,arthwoirks con strctedl fir the defence of1 144; trlooIs einloyed in s tre n gthe niln the defences of, 210; force left for the defence of, under Gen. Watdsvorth, 240; corps of Mcl)oie ll rettinel for the defence of, 241; anxiety of I’Pesuidnt Lincoln for the secu rity of, 236, 3o3’ all in cause(d in by the move ments of Jac,kson, 27’ * 50,000 militia called for for the deteknce of W:‘shiington, 274; threatened by a rebel tirce in(iler EEarly, 552; the Sixth Corl-pI)S detached firom Grant’s army for the de fenlee of. 59.

Washington, N. C., evacuation of, by the Federal garr ison. 621. Webster, Daniel, the nullification doctrine anni hilated by, 23; (-n the Constitution, 25. Weehawken, monitor, fight of, with the ironclad Atlanta, 503. Weitzel, Gen., assault (,f, cn rort IIu(dson, 439; en trance of, into Richmot. d, 724. Weltl)n Railroadl, cetios aainst the, 542; ope rations of the Fitth (‘(,iis afainst, 555; Hill’s attack ul)pon the Fifth C(,iris near, 556; destruo tioin effected (n the, 557. Welilos andil Dunrville Railroads, expedition ofWil son and Kautz against, 544. Western Virgiiia. Mc(‘lellati’s coperations in, 110 118. See Virginia, Western-).

West Point, new oath adtOnlinistered to the cadets at, 143. West Point, Miss.. defeat of Smith and Grierson at, by Forrest, 56C3. West Point, )n the (Chattahoochie, capture of, 738. Wheeler, Gen., eil:tutes the trasin of the Four teenith C,rl)ps, 494. Wheelin, p riiceeding s of the Western Virginia collveluti,,n,It, SS. Whipple’, Ge., death ef, at Chancellorsville, 450. Whiskey Rebelli(n. Listory of the, 18. White li)use, (strti of stores at, 2ST87; be co-lies the new b,as(, t’ Grant’s army, 529. White PRivel-, exre(liticn to, 317. Whitworth gun, (descril,ti(,T of the, 296. Wi”ftll, Gei., visit o f; to Fort SIttter d(lurig the bombardment. 70. Wild(ler, Col., his d(efne of Mumfordsville, Ky., 401. Wilderness, battles of the. 509-515. ‘Wilkes, Captaini, accoui nt of his seizuire of Mason and Sli(lell, 222; actioil (f; itl)laroved by Congress, 854. Wilkins, Mir., measures proposed by, for the coer cion of South (‘arolin,a in 1X3, 25. Willey, Mrl-. W. T., t(liiitted to thle Senate from Western V’irgini,, 124. Williaml Aiken, revne cartter, surrender of, 65. Williamsburn, battl e of, 253. Williams, Gen.. 13aton lkoule occupied by, 368; attacked by Ge?ns. Breckinridge and tuggles, 370; death of, 370. Williamltsport, defecat of Gen. I-nbo(len at, 464 Lee’s army at, 46.5. Wilmington, *perations of Admiral Porter and Gen. Butler afinsk 687-690’ amount of English capital invested in the trade with, note, 687; Vallandighain, arrest and( banishment of, 657; Deinocratic nomlinee fo,r governor of Ohio, 658. Valley of the Shenandoah. See Shenandoah Val ley. Valley of Virginia, Gen. Patterson’s operations in the, 103, 109. Van Dorn, Gen. Farle, biii,raphical sketch of, 297; Star of the West seiz((e by, of f the Texas coast, 75; in coimand otl Co nfederates ut th e battle of Plea Piide, 29i; force concentrated under, at Vicksbur o,, oper6S ations of, in enne ssee, 481. Vicksburg, d 3cription of.; bombardmen t of, o Pr o by C omm fo deore Porte r, 363; b att eries of, passed by Farran0t’s f07et, 36S; canal on the peninsula opposite, a69; sieie of, abandoned.‘TO; an ex peditioi ogailnized atainst, und er Sl e s Pma n and Grant, 412; sie,c of, 41S-432; Portel’s fleet pass the batteries at. 422: assaults upon, 429; cobre spondlence between Gens. Grant and Pemberton in relation to the surrendler of. 430-432 chrono lorgical ecord f the siee o f t, 4-33 cheein effect in the North of t he fall of, 434; expedition of Shermian fIoni. to Mferidian, 562; operations of McPherson from. 597. Viele. Gen. Ezhept L., appoin ted military g overnor of Norfolk, 25T. Vienna, Va., Ge n. SchenckL surprisedl near, 91. Virginia, l) v,pular w,te ini. for secession, 43-decides to joi,, the Confi(lerbcy.

74; first Wadvaiene of Federal troops into, Sd, 69 physical formation o f, 97T. Viorgin i a C entr al aia, d estru ction effc tewd on, by Sheridfan, 543, 707. Virg-,inia Convention, secession ordinance passed by the, 42; Confed(erate Constitution adopted by, 43; replv of MIr. Lincoln to the Commission ers of the. 62. V~rginia Legislatutre, aetioin of, favoring the Crit tenden corlri se, 55; resoluti,ns passed by, inviting a C(onrventiomn,f’t’ates. 55. Virginiia ordin.lce of secession, 42.

Virginia, Western. action of the loyal convention, S3; senators fiont.

admniitted to Cong,ress, S9; McClellan-‘s, operations in, 110-113; other mili t,‘ry opler ations in, IS0-lS6. ~irzinia. Western andl Eastern, black and white pol)ulatio,n in, 1S1. Voltizeutrs, oroainiz,d(I by Napoleon.

137. Voltunitee,rs, the Prcsi(lent’s second call for, 93; abundance of.

95. Volunteer troops, p.ay,)o, 142. Vote, I)opular-, at the Presidlenitial election of 1S60, 39. Vote, popular, for secession, o9, 41, 43, 45. Votes foi-Lincoln and MIcClellan, in 1S64, 66S. Wachiisett captures the Florida in the bay of San Salvadlor. 627. Waldswvorth, Gen. James Samuel, bio-frastical sketchl of, 513; his relporit of thie forces lel’ttnder his coimmai nd fir the defence of Washington, 240; (deathl el; 513. Wallace.

C(lonlel. routs a b,idy of secession troops at Rolnne, 1ll. Wallace, Gen.

Less is. proclaims martial lawv in Cin cilnniati, 40:3; (let’, to,’ at the MonocaeyN,“55‘2 Walker, Williami, expeditions of, into Nicaragua, 29. War, art of, ear’s on the. 134-139. War Departmin( nt, Fed(-ral. treachery in, 00. L War Departmest fiatiis. 52. War order. Preisi(lent Lincoln’s first, 215.’ War powers of the Government, 3 5. I 777

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INDEX. operations of Gen. Terry against, 700; occupa tion of, by Terr-y’s fboces, 701. Wilson, Gen. James H. raid of, in Alabama and Southl,‘n Georgia, 737-739. Wilson and Kauitz, expe(lition of, against the Wel don and Danvill it lilroad(s, 544. Wilson, Mr.. conscription law brought into Con gress bv. 362. Wilson’s CeIek.‘Mo., lattle of, 149. Wilson’s Wh.‘lt, Fitzhugh Lee repulsed by colored troops at, 532. Winans, Al. I-‘oss, attempt of, to send a steamgun to Harper’s Ferry, 82. Winchester Gen. J.

E. Johnston at, 93; battles of, 267, 646; advance of Ewell’s corps against, 451. Winder, Gen. G. T., his infamous treatment of Union Ii,isonels at itd(lerson.ville, 741. Winslow, Caltain. details of his action with the Alabama, 623-626; his own account of the action, 625; his account of the conduct of the Deer hound 626. WiIthrol), MIjor Theo(ldore, bioraphical sketch of, 93; deaith of, at Biz Bethel, 93. Wirz, Capt.

Ifenry, tried for cruelty to Union prisoners, 741. Wise, Gen., rapid retreat of, from Gau!ey Dridge, before Gen. Cox 181. Woo(lbury, Gen..

testimony of, in relation to the Fredericksburg failure, 395. Woodstock, dispatch of Sheridan from, 648. Wool, Gen. Jol)n ]’., biographical sketch of, (; occull)ation of Noi-folik by, 257. Wornlen, Capt.. his fi,ht with the Merrimac, in the Monitor, 243. Yancey, Mr., appointed Confederate Commissioner to Europe, 116, 216. Yazoo Rie, exlpe(lition of Col. Ellet up the, 869. Yellow fever. atteu)l)t of ])r. Blackmore to intro duice into the UTnitedl St’ttes. 744. York, Pa., contril)llti(n levie(l lupon by Early, 456. Yoik t-iver, McClellan tbanhd(olls his base on the, 287.

Yorktown, description of the defences of, 248; siege of; 241-245; evacuation cf, by the Confed ec-ate forces, 251. Zagonyi, Major, notedl charzeo of, with the body ptianrd of Gen. Fremseorit, 159. Zeigler, pol., part of the town of Guyandotte buLrne(d by, 185. Zollicoffer, Felix R., appointed brigadiergeneral in the (,,nfederate service, 118; occutl)ies Cum berland Gap, 164; camp of, at Mill Spring, 171; defeat and (death of, near Mill Spring, 172. Zouaves, New Yo.)r-k Fir2e, nt Alexan(l,ia. 90; night attack on, at Sanlta l,osa sland, 207. THE END. APR 6 1915 778

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. MILITARY TERMS. ABATI8.-An intrenchment of felled trees, with their branches sharp ened so as to present a wall of pointed stakes to the enemy. ADJUTANT.-A staff officer who transmits orders, details and mounts guards, &c. The AdjutantGeneral is the principal staff officer of the army; he supervises the camp, and is the organ of the general commanding. AIDE-DE-CAMP.-Attendant of a general officer who receives and bears orders, &c. ALARM POST.-Place of assembly in case of alarm. ALIGNMENT.-Placing in line. APPROACnIIES.-Trenches by which besiegers approach a fortified place; they are opposed by counter-approaches. AroN.-The piece of leather or sheet lead which covers the vent of a cannon. ASSEMBLY.-Signal to form by company. BRNQUETTE.-An elevation of earth within a fort, three or four fee* wide, and less than five feet from the top of the parapet, to ena ble short men to fire over it. BARBETTE-Gu.NS stand on raised platforms and fire over the parapet, thus having a free range. BARRICADE.-TO block up, obstruct. BAsTIoN.-A work at one of the angles of a fortification, consisting of two faces and two flanks. BERM.-A narrow space between parapet and ditch. BIVOuAO.-TO
camp round fires without the shelter of tents. OADENCE.-Uniform time and step in marching. OAISso. The ammunition wagoni accompanying a cannon.

OALIBRE.-Diameter of the bore of a piece. CANTONMENTS.-Soldiers’ quarters in towns and villages. CAPITULATE.-To surrender on conditions.

CARTEL.-Agreement for an exchange of prisoners. CAscABsL.-The knob at tie breech of a gun. O.sEMATE.-Bomb-proof chambers in fortifications from which guns are fired through windows, called embrasures. C ABsn[R.-To dismiss ignominiously.

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT RE13ELLION. CAVALIZR.-A workl in the interior of a bastion. CIiASE OF A Grx.-Its leng,tli fi’oin trunnions to muzzle.

CIIEEK.-Tlhe timber side of a gun-carIiage. CnEVAUX-DE-FRISE.-S(-lare be:lns, six to nine fcet long, from which pointed stakes i)roject at riglht angles; used to stop breaches, &o. CIHCU.MVATLLATION, LINE or.-A low I)arapet and trenlch of earthwork encircling a besieged plac. CAMP

COLORS.-Flags cigliteen inchles square, to mark evolutions COMNMISSARY.-Provision )purchlaser. CoNVoY.-A detached guard to accompany supplies. CoRrps.-A body of troops under one conrander.

COUNTEnRSCARP.-Ouiter wall or slope of the ditch of a fort.

COU.N’TEESIGX.-Passwvord. CUIrAssIERs.-IIeavy cavalry with breastplates or cuirasses. CURTAIN.-Thle line of fl,it wall between tvo bastions.

DEPLOY.-TO manceuvre troops from column into line of battle.

DRAGOONS.-Cavalry whlo soeietimnes serve on foot. ECHELON. An arrageIUmeCIt of troops, by which front and flanks are alike protected.

EMBIHASURE.-An opening in a wall or defence, through which to fire guns.

ENFILADE.-To rakle the whole lengtlh of a work or line. EPPnOUVrETTE.-A sinall mortair lor testitng gunpowder. EScALADE.-An assault withl sc’tling ladders. FAI.SE ATTACK.-A strategic feint. FASCINEs.-Bound bulndles of long twigs used for fortifications, &o. FIELD OFFrIcErS.-Colonel, Lieutenanmt-Colonlel, and Major. FILE.-A line of men one behind the other.

FLAN.’:s.-Sides. FLYING SAP.-A line of gabions, behind which men approach a d fence. FOr.AGE.-Oats, hay and straw for horses. FORLOII.N HoiE.-A )iarty selected to beg,in an attack. FUGOLE-MAAN.-A driilled sol(lier w11o acts as guid(le in the manual, &. FUSE.-TeC mean s by whiclh a slell is exl)loded. GABION.-A bottomless cylindrical basket, used in building intrench nments. GENErAL OFFICER S.-All above the rank of colonel.

GLACIs.-Parapet of the covciered way of foirtifications. GIAIE..-Large shot packed in bags by nines, and used for cannon. GRENADE.-A shell tliirownv’rom the hand. GIENADIEPss.-Company on the right of a regiment, bearing hand-gre nades. GUIDONs.-Small cavalry and light artillery flags.

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HISTORY OF THE GREAT REBELLION. GimrowDEn.-Coinposition of 76 parts saltpetre, 14 charcoal, and 10 sulphur. IAVERSACK.-A cotton or linen bag for a soldier’s rations. HOLSTERS.-Pistol cases on cavalry saddles.

HOwITZEB.-Cllailbered cannon for firinig canister, hollow shot, &c.

INTERVAL,-Distance between platoons, comlpanies, regiments, &c. INVEST.-TO
shut up witliii a town or camnp. KNAPSACK.-Foot soldier’s traveling, bag,, strapped on his back, and containing clothing and necesslaries. LIGnT

INFANTRY.-Infailtry scaLttered as skirmislers. LINKS.-lThongs of leather to enchaini cavalry horses. MAGoAzInE. Chlamber for arms, amlnulnitioti, provisions, &c. MINE.-A passage dug under military works and stocked with pow der to blow themn up. MORTAR.-A short chambered gun with large bore, for throwing shells, &c. MUSTER.-Parade of troops for inspection.

ORDEILY.-A soldier attendant upon an officer. ORDN.ANCE Conrs.-A corps of officers in charge of arms and am munition. OuTr-PosT.-A body of troops posted beyond the regular lines. OUTWORKS.-Works outside the regular fortifications. PAIxIIA,.-A large howitzer. PARALLELS.-The lines or trenches by which besiegers approach a fort. PArAPET.-A barrier of earth to intercept the fire of an enemy. PARK.-A number of cannlon in close order. PARLEY.-Conference. PAIROLE.-WVord of honor given by a prisoner to his captor. PATROL.-Small guard under a non-coilmnissioned officer, whose duty it is to preserve order in the encalmpmient. PIaErT.-A smruall outpost guard. PoNToo.s. Smnall boats to aid in the formation of bridges. POnT-FIRE.-A match for firing canttlon.

PROVOST-MAP.nSHAL.-ArIny-sleriCi: QUARTERMASTER.-Officer providing quarters and clothing. RAN~.-A line of men side by side..Rank and file include privat and noncommissioned officers. RATION.-Daily allowvance of food. REoONNOITRE.-To survey, examine. REDOUBT.-A small fortifiction.

RZLIEF.-One-third d’ a guard. Each third is on duty two hours and off four. RusvL.-Select body of troops retained in the rear.

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HISTORY OF TIlE GREAT RELELLION. REVmLLE.- -Beat of the drum at daybreak.

RIcocHET.-PRebounding of shot from the ground at a very obtusto angle.

lIIrLE.-Any fire-arm with a curved groove in the barrel. ROSTER.-List of officers and men, by which to regulate their duties. RoUxND.-A gllenral discharge of cannon and musketry. RO-UNDS.-Visiting or personal inspection of the guards and sentries. SAFEGUAr.D.-A pf)assport. SALIExT. An advanced angle. SALLY-POPT.-Chief entrance to a fort. SAP.-An excavation by which to approach a fort or between trenches. SHELLS.-Hollow balls filled with explosive material, fired by a fuse. SKip.Mlsm.-A loose, desultory kind of engagement between small d tachments. SORTIEs.-Sally parties. SPHERICAL-CASE SIIOT.-Thin shells, loaded with musket-balls, for a howitzer. SQUADION.-Two troops of cavalry. STAFF.-Officers attached to headquarters. SUBALTERN.-Any commissioned officer below a captain.

SuaGEON.-Army doctor. TAcTICS.-Knowledge of the order, disposition and formation of troops. TATTOO.-Drum beat at 9+ P. M., for retiring.

TRAVEiRSS.-Parapets of earth thrown up as a protection agains ricochet shots. TREY. cuEs.-Ditches. TRoop.-Company of cavalry. VIDErrES.-Outpost sentries on horseback. VENT.-The passage of a gun or cannon which connects with the charges,-and through which the spark passes to discharge it.

WINDAGE.-Difference between the diameter of the shot and bor, WiNGs.-Right and left divisions of an army. ZoUAvEs.-Light infantry, originally Arabs and Moors.

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TO CANVASSING AGENTS. We want every adult person in the United States to have a chance to purchase Kettells’ one Vol. History of the Great Rebellion. It is by far the best adapted to the want of the people of any work on the subject. It is sold for a small sum; imparts a vast amount of information; is eminently a matter of fact History, not political in character; every letter was put in type long after the war was closed; consequently more reliable than any history could be, one volume of which was prepared twvo years before the close of the war. THE SECOND CANVASS.

We are satisfied that the second Canvass will in many places be more successful than the first; after the work has been distributed through the Country, people will have a chance to compare it’with other Histories and will find it so much more reliable, especially, than the first volume of the two volume Histories, and so much valuable information contained in it not found in others, that they will give it the preference. Thousands who have other works will purchase this for the valuable matter in it not found in the works they have. The Biographical Sketches alone are worth the price of this work. We want Agents to canvass every Town, City and Village that have not been canvassed. We also want the entire Country to have a second Canvass; would like some one to canvass their own town the second time, see how many they can sell, then order the books. Very liberal commission will be given. For Circulars, or any information, address as follows: New England States, Eastern Penn., Canada; L.

Stebbins, Hartford, Conn. New York State; H. E. Goowin, Syracuse, New York. New Jersey and Delaware; Geo. F. Tuttle, New York. Maryland, West Virginia, Western Penn.; P. Garrett & Co., Philadelphia, Penn., Ohio, Michigan and all States west; Henry Howe, CincinnIati, Ohio. The services of disabled soldiers are especially solicited.

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